[Footnote 1: This gross absurdity is not worth contesting; but the fact is, that the real natives, the idolaters of the interior, refer both the tomb and the footmark to their false god, or lawgiver, Bodh.--E.] The principal places in Ceylon are Jafnapatam, Trinkamaly, Baracola, Punta de Galla, Columbo, Negombo, Sitavaca, and Candy. The Dutch East India Company are possessed of all the coasts of the island, and ten or twelve leagues within the land, and most of the before-mentioned towns, except the two last. While the Portuguese had possession, they built abundance of forts for their security, so that the Dutch found it a difficult matter to dislodge them; but having contracted a secret treaty with the king of Candy, the Portuguese were attacked on all sides, by sea and land, and were driven by degrees out of all their possessions. Since then, the Dutch have taken much pains to cultivate a good understanding with that native sovereign, from whom they have obtained almost every thing they demanded. They send every year an ambassador to him with various presents; in return for which his Candian majesty sends to the company a casket of jewels, of such value that the ship which carries it home is reckoned to be worth half the fleet. Punta de Galle and Columbo are the two principal places in the island, the latter being the residence of the governor, and the other, properly speaking, is only the port of that city. Though extremely hot, the air of Ceylon is reckoned healthy, and the country abounds with excellent fruits of many kinds. The sea and the rivers afford plenty of various kinds of fish. There are also on the land great abundance of fowls, both wild and tame, and many wild animals, particularly elephants that are larger than any other country in Asia, also tygers, bears, civet cats, monkeys, and others. _Cinnamon_ is the production for which this island is peculiarly famous, as that which is procured here is estimated far superior to any other. The Dutch East India Company have the entire monopoly not only of this, but of all the other spices, with which they supply all parts of the world. Cinnamon is the inner bark of a tree resembling the orange, the flowers of which very much resemble those of the laurel both in size and figure. There are three sorts of cinnamon. The finest is taken from young trees; a coarser sort from the old ones; and the third is the _wild cinnamon_, or cassia, which grows not only in Ceylon, but in Malabar and China, and of late years in Brazil. The company also derives great profit from an essential oil drawn from cinnamon, which sells at a high price; and it also makes considerable gain by the precious stones found in this island, being rubies, white and blue sapphires, topazes, and others.