in connection with the fresh water found in the Coral Islands, and the rise and fall of the wells, and the flow and ebb of the tide.  He advances the theory propounded by Darwin of the retention of the river-water, which he says, “does not mix with the salt water which surrounds it except at the edges of the land.  The flowing tide pushes on every side, the mixed soil being very porous, and causes the water to rise:  when the tide falls, the fresh water sinks also. A sponge full of fresh water placed gently in a basin of salt water, will not part with its contents for a length of time if left untouched, and the water in the middle of the sponge will be found untainted by salt for many days:  perhaps much longer if tried.”—­Vol. i. p. 365.  In a perfectly motionless medium the experiment of the sponge may no doubt be successful to the extent mentioned by Admiral Fitzroy; and so the rain-water imbibed by a coral rock might for a length of time remain fresh where it came into no contact with the salt.  But the disturbance caused by the tides, and the partial intermixture admitted by Admiral Fitzroy, must by reiterated occurrence tend in time to taint the fresh water which is affected by the movement:  and this is demonstrable even by the test of the sponge; for I find that on charging one with coloured fluid, and immersing it in a vessel containing water perfectly pure, no intermixture takes place so long as the pure water is undisturbed; but on causing an artificial tide, by gradually withdrawing and as gradually replacing a portion of the surrounding contents of the basin, the tinted water in the sponge becomes displaced and disturbed, and in the course of a few ebbs and flows its escape is made manifest by the quantity of colour which it imparts to the surrounding fluid.]

An idea of the general aspect of Ceylon will be formed from what has here been described.  Nearly four parts of the island are undulating plains, slightly diversified by offsets from the mountain system which entirely covers the remaining fifth.  Every district, from the depths of the valleys to the summits of the highest hills, is clothed with perennial foliage; and even the sand-drifts, to the ripple on the sea line, are carpeted with verdure, and sheltered from the sunbeams by the cool shadows of the palm groves.

SOIL.—­But the soil, notwithstanding this wonderful display of spontaneous vegetation, is not responsive to systematic cultivation, and is but imperfectly adapted for maturing a constant succession of seeds and cereal productions.[1] Hence arose the disappointment which beset the earliest adventurers who opened plantations of coffee in the hills, on discovering that after the first rapid development of the plants, delicacy and languor ensued, which were only to be corrected by returning to the earth, in the form of manures, those elements with which it had originally been but sparingly supplied, and which were soon exhausted by the first experiments in cultivation.