An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East Indies. Robert Knox
against him, yet would never assist either to make Invasions this way.
Their Towns how Built.Having said thus much concerning the Cities and other Eminent places of this Kingdom, I will now add a little concerning their Towns. The best are those that do belong to their Idols, wherein stand their Dewals or Temples. They do not care to make Streets by building their Houses together in rowes, but each man lives by himself in his own Plantation, having an hedg it may be and a ditch round about him to keep out Cattel. Their Towns are always placed some distance from the High-ways, for they care not that their Towns should be a thorough-fair for all people, but onely for those that have business with them. They are not very big, in some may be Forty, in some Fifty houses, and in some above an Hundred: and in some again not above eight or ten.
Many lye in Ruins, and forsaken; and upon what occasion.And as I said before of their Cities, so I must of their Towns, That there are many of them here and there lie desolate, occasioned by their voluntary forsaking them, which they often do, in case many of them fall sick, and two or three die soon after one another: For this they conclude to happen from the hand of the Devil. Whereupon they all leave their Town and go to another, thinking thereby to avoid him: Thus relinquishing both their Houses and Lands too. Yet afterwards, when they think the Devil hath departed the place, some will sometimes come back and re-assume their Lands again.
CHAP. III.
Of their Corn, with their manner of Husbandry.
The Products and Commodities of the Countrey.Having discoursed hitherto of the Countrey, method will require that I proceed now to the Products of it; Viz. their Fruits, Plants, Beasts, Birds, and other Creatures, Minerals, Commodities, &c. whereof I must declare once for all, That I do not pretend to write an Exact and Perfect Treatise, my time and leisure not permitting me so to do; but only to give a Relation of some of the chief of these things, and as it were a tast of them, according as they that occur to my Memory while I am writing. I shall first begin with their Corn, as being the Staff of their Countrey.
Corn of divers sorts.They have divers sorts of Corn, tho all different from ours. And here I shall first speak of their Rice, the Choice and Flower of all their Corn, and then concerning the other inferior kinds among them.
Rice.Of Rice they have several sorts, and called by several names according to the different times of their ripening: However in tast little disagreeing from one another. Some will require seven Months before it come to maturity, called Mauvi; some six, Hauteal; others will ripen in five, Honorowal; others in four, Henit; and others in three, Aulfancol: The price of all these is one and the same. That which is soonest ripe, is most savoury to the tast; but yieldeth the least increase. It may be asked then, why any other sort of Rice is sown, Page 8but that which is longest a Ripening, seeing it brings in most Profit? In answer to this, you must know, Grows in Water. Their Ingenuity in watering their Corn Lands.That all these sorts of Rice do absolutely require Water to grow in, all the while they stand; so that the Inhabitants take great pains in procuring and saving water for their Grounds, and in making Conveyances of Water from their Rivers and Ponds into their Lands, which they are very ingenious in; also in levelling their Corn Lands, which must be as smooth as a Bowling-Green, that the Water may cover all over. Neither are their steep and Hilly Lands uncapable of being thus overflown with Water. For the doing of which they use this Art. They level these Hills into narrow Allies, some three; some eight foot wide one beneath another, according to the steepness of the Hills, working and digging them in that fashion that they lye smooth and flat, like so many Stairs up the Hills one above another. The Waters at the top of the Hills falling down wards are let into these Allies, and so successively by running out of one into another, water all; first the higher Lands, and then the lower. The highest Allies having such a quantity of Water as may suffice to cover them, the rest runs over unto the next, and that having its proportion, unto the next, and so by degrees it falls into all these hanging parcels of Ground. These Waters last sometimes a longer, and sometimes a shorter Season. Why they do not alwayes sow the best kind of Rice.Now the Rice they sow is according as they foresee their stock of Water will last. It will sometimes last them two or three, or four or five Months, more or less; the Rice therefore they chuse to cast into the Ground, is of that sort that may answer the duration of the Water. For all their Crop would be spoilt if the Water should fail them before their Corn grew ripe. If they foresee their Water will hold out long, then they sow the best and most profitable Rice, viz. that which is longest a ripening; but if it will not, they must be content to sow of the worser sorts; that is, those that are sooner ripe. Again, they are forced sometimes to sow this younger Rice, for the preventing the damage it might otherwise meet with, if it should stand longer. For their Fields are all in common, which after they have sown, they enclose till Harvest; But as soon as the Corn first sown becomes ripe, when the Owner has reaped it, it is lawful for him to break down his Fences, and let in his Cattle for grazing; which would prove a great mischief to that Corn that required to stand a Month or two longer. Therefore if they are constrained to sow later than the rest, either through want or sloth, or some other Impediment, yet they make use of that kind of Rice that will become ripe, equal with that first sown. They sow at different times, but reap together.And so they all observe one time of reaping to prevent their Corn being trampled down or eaten up by the Cattle. Thus they time their Corn to their Harvest; some sowing sooner, some later, but all reaping together, unless they be Fields that are enclosed by themselves; and peculiar to one Man.
Their Artificial Pools.Where there are no Springs or Rivers to furnish them with Water, as it is in the Northern Parts, where there are but two or three Springs, they supply this defect by saving of rain Water; which they do, by casting up great Banks in convenient places to stop and contain the Rains that fall, and so save it till they have occasion to let it out into their Fields: They are made rounding like a C or Half-Moon, every Town has one of these Ponds, which if they can but get filled with Water, they count their Corn is as good as in the Barn. It was no Page 9small work to the ancient Inhabitants to make all these Banks, of which there is a great number, being some two, some three Fathoms in height, and in length some above a Mile, some less, not all of a size. They are now grown over with great Trees, and so seem natural Hills. When they would use the Water, they cut a gap in one end of the Bank, and so draw the Water by little and little, as they have occasion for the watering their Corn. These Ponds in dry weather dry up quite. If they should dig these Ponds deep, it would not be so convenient for them. It would indeed contain the Water well, but would not so well nor in such Plenty empty out it self into their Grounds. Aligators harbor in them.In these Ponds are Aligators, which when the Water is dried up depart into the Woods, and down to the Rivers; and in the time of Rains come up again into the Ponds. They are but small, nor do use to catch People, nevertheless they stand in some fear of them. The Corn they sow in these Parts is of that sort that is soonest ripe, fearing lest their Waters should fail. As the Water dries out of these Ponds, they make use of them for Fields, treading the Mud with Buffeloes, and then They sow Corn on the Mud.sowing Rice thereon, and frequently casting up Water with Scoops on it. I have hitherto spoken of those Rices that require to grow in Water.
A sort of Rice that grows Without Water.There is yet another sort of Rice, which will ripen tho’ it stand not alway in Water: and this sort of Corn serves for those places, where they cannot bring their Waters to overflow; this will grow with the Rains that fall; but is not esteemed equal with the others, and differs both in scent and taste from that which groweth in the watery Fields.
The Seasons of Seed-time and HarvestThe ordinary Season of seed time, is in the Months of July and August, and their Harvest in or about February; but for Land that is well watered, they regard no Season; the Season is all the year long. When they Till their Grounds, or Reap their Corn, they do it by whole Towns generally, all helping each other for Attoms, as they call