On the west coast embankments of this kind, although frequent are less conspicuous than on the east, owing chiefly to the comparative weakness of the current. For six months in the year during the north-east monsoon that side of the island is exempt from a current in any direction, and for the remaining six, the current from the south not only rarely affects the Gulf of Manaar, but as it flows out of the Indian Ocean it brings no earthy deposits. In addition to this, the surf during the south-west monsoon rolls with such turbulence on the level beach between Colombo and Point-de-Galle, as in a great degree to disperse the accumulations of sand brought down by the rivers, or heaped up by the tide, when the wind is off the land. Still, many of the rivers are thrown back by embankments, and after forming tortuous lakes flow for a long distance parallel to the shore, before finding an escape for their waters. Examples of this occur at Pantura, to the south of Colombo, and at Negombo, Chilaw, and elsewhere to the north of it. [Illustration: GOBBS ON THE WEST COAST] In process of time these banks of sand[1] become covered with vegetation; herbaceous plants, shrubs, and finally trees peculiar to saline soils make their appearance in succession, and as these decay, their decomposition generates a sufficiency of soil to sustain continued vegetation. [Footnote 1: In the voyages of _The Two Mahometans_, the unique MS. of which dates about A.D. 851, and is now in the Bibliothèque Royale at Paris, Abon-zeyd, one of its authors, describes the "Gobbs" of Ceylon--a word, he says, by which the natives designate the valleys deep and broad which open to the sea. "En face de cette íle y a de vastes _Gobb_, mot par lequel on désigne une vallée, quand elle est à la fois longue et large, et qu'elle débouche dans la mer. Les navigateurs emploient, pour traverser le _gobb_ appelé 'Gobb de Serendib,' deux mois et même davantage, passant à travers des bois et des jardins, au milieu d'une température moyenne."--REINAUD, _Voyages faits par les Arabes_, vol. i. p. 129. A misapprehension of this passage has been admitted into the English version of the _Voyages of the two Mahometans_ which is published in PINKERTON'S _Collections of Voyages and Travels_, vol. iii.; the translator having treated gobb as a term applicable to valleys in general. "Ceylon," he says, "contains valleys of great length, which extend to the sea, and here travellers repair for two months or more, in which one is called Gobb Serendib, allured by the beauty of the scenery, chequered with groves and plains, water and meadows, and blessed by a balmy air. The valley opens to the sea, and is transcendently pleasant."--PINKERTON'S _Voyages_, vol. vii. p. 218.