The island is intersected by a great
number of excellent roads.
From one of the neighbouring mountains there is said to be a very
fine prospect of Pinang, a part of Malacca, and the sea, and, on the
road to the mountain, a waterfall. Unfortunately, the few hours at
my disposal did not allow me to see everything.
The greatest portion of the population of this island consists of
Chinese, who perform all the manual labour, and engross all the
retail trade.
On the 11th of October we saw the small island of Pulo-Rondo, which
appertains to Sumatra. We now took the shortest line across the Bay
of Bengal, and beheld land no more until we came in sight of Ceylon.
On the afternoon of the 17th of October, we neared Ceylon. I
strained my anxious eyes to catch a glimpse of it as soon as
possible, for it is always described as being a second Eden; some go
so far as to affirm that our common father, Adam, settled there on
his expulsion from Paradise, and, as a proof of this, adduce the
fact of many places in the island, such as Adam's Peak, Adam's
Bridge, etc., still bearing his name. I breathed the very air more
eagerly, hoping, like other travellers, to inhale the fragrant
odours wafted to me from the plantations of costly spices.
