of Ceylon, it exhibits no traces of submersion.  It seems erroneous to regard it as a prolongation of the Indian chains; it lies far to the east of the line formed by the Ghauts on either side of the peninsula, and any affinity which it exhibits is rather with the equatorial direction of the intersecting ranges of the Nilgherries and the Vindhya.  In their geological elements there is, doubtless, a similarity between the southern extremity of India and the elevated portions of Ceylon; but there are also many important particulars in which their specific differences are irreconcilable with the conjecture of previous continuity.  In the north of Ceylon there is a marked preponderance of aqueous strata, which are comparatively rare in the vicinity of Cape Comorin; and whilst the rocks of the former are entirely destitute of organic remains[2]; fossils, both terrestrial and pelagic, have been found in the Eastern Ghauts, and sandstone, in some instances, overlays the primary rocks which compose them.  The rich and black soil to the south of the Nilgherries presents a strong contrast to the red and sandy earth of the opposite coast; and both in the flora and fauna of the island there are exceptional peculiarities which suggest a distinction between it and the Indian continent.

[Footnote 1:  LASSEN, Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. i. p. 193.]

[Footnote 2:  At Cutchavelly, north of Trincomalie, there exists a bed of calcareous clay, in which shells and crustaceans are found in a semi-fossilised state; but they are all of recent species, principally Macrophthalmus and Scylla.  The breccia at Jaffna contains recent shells, as does also the arenaceous strata on the western coast of Manaar and in the neighbourhood of Galle.  The existence of the fossilised crustaceans in the north of Ceylon was known to the early Arabian navigators.  Abou-zeyd describes them as, “Un animal de mer qui resemble a l’ecrevisse; quand cet animal sort de la mer, il se convertit en pierre.”  See REINAUD, Voyages faits par les Arabes, vol. i. p. 21.  The Arabs then; and the Chinese at the present day, use these petrifactions when powdered as a specific for diseases of the eye.]

Mountain System.—­At whatever period the mountains of Ceylon may have been raised, the centre of maximum energy must have been in the vicinity of Adam’s Peak, the group immediately surrounding which has thus acquired an elevation of from six to eight thousand feet above the sea.[1] The uplifting force seems to have been exerted from south-west to north-east; and although there is much confusion in many of the intersecting ridges, the lower ranges, especially those to the south and west of Adam’s Peak, from Saffragam to Ambogammoa, manifest a remarkable tendency to run in parallel ridges in a direction from south-east to north-west.

[Footnote 1:  The following are the heights of a few of the most remarkable places:—­