acked on the estates; but there is a
considerable amount of work still done in the Colombo stores in sorting,
blending and repacking such teas as are sold at the local public sales;
also in dealing with cacao, cardamoms, cinchona bark and the remnant
still left of the coffee industry. But it is to its position as one of
the great ports of call of the East that Colombo owes its great and
increasing importance. A magnificent breakwater, 4200 ft. long, the
first stone of which was laid by the prince of Wales in 1875, was
completed in 1884. This breakwater changed an open roadstead into a
harbour completely sheltered on the most exposed or south-west side; but
there was still liability in certain months to storms from the
north-west and south-east. Two additional arms were therefore
constructed, consisting of a north-east and north-west breakwater,
leaving two openings, one 800 ft. and the other 700 ft. wide, between
the various sections. The area enclosed is 660 acres. A first-class
graving-dock, of which the Admiralty bore half the cost, has also been
added. These improvements caused Galle to be abandoned as a port of call
for steamers in favour of Colombo, while Trincomalee has been abandoned
as a naval station. The port has assumed first-class importance, mail
steamers calling regularly as well as men-of-war and the mercantile
marine of all nations; and it is now one of the finest artificial
harbours in the world. The extension of railways also has concentrated
the trade of the island upon the capital, and contributed to its rise in
prosperity.

Colombo was originally known as the Kalantotta or Kalany ferry. By the
Arabs the name was changed to Kolambu, and the town was mentioned by Ibn
Batuta in 1346 as the largest and finest in Serendib. In 1517 the
Portuguese effected a settlement, and in 1520 they fortified their port
and bade defiance to the native besiegers. In 1586 the town was invested
by Raja Singh, but without success. On its capture by the Dutch in 1656
it was a flourishing colony with convents of five religious orders,
churches and public offices, inhabited by no fewer than 900 noble
families and 1500 families dependent on mercantile or political
occupations. In 1796 it was surrendered to the British.

COLON (formerly known as ASPINWALL), a city of the Republic of Panama,
on the Atlantic coast, in the Bay of Limon, and 47 m. by rail N.W. of
the city of Panama. Pop. (1908) about 3000, consisting largel