(Vol. vii., p. 65.)
Your correspondent AJAX asks information of me as to the best, or even a
tolerable, map of Ceylon. I am not surprised at the inquiry, as no
satisfactory map of that island exists to my knowledge. It may illustrate
this assertion to mention, that in 1849 I travelled through the vast and
interesting district of Neura Kalawa, to the north of the Kandyan range;
and I carried with me the map of "India and Ceylon," then published, and
since reprinted in 1852, by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge. In that map the country I was passing through appears as a large
blank, with the words "Unknown mountainous region." But I found it
abounding in prosperous villages, and tracts of land cultivated both for
rice and dry grain. So far from being "unknown," its forests have a
numerous though scattered population; and as to its being "mountainous,"
there is scarcely a hill in the entire "region." There is a meagre map of
Ceylon, drawn by George Atkinson, who was civil engineer and
surveyor-general of the colony, and published by Wylde in 1836. It is more
correct than others, but sadly deficient in information.
Mr. Arrowsmith, of Soho Square, published in 1845 an admirable map of what
is called the Kandy Zone, being the central province of the island,
prepared by the Deputy Quarter-Master-General, Colonel Frazer; assisted by
Captain Gallwey and Major Skinner, of the Ceylon Civil Service. Col. Frazer
has since placed in Mr. Arrowsmith's hands a map of the entire island: it
has not yet appeared; but when published it will be found to be as nearly
perfect in its details as any map can be.
In reply to the inquiry of AJAX as to the publication of my own work on the
history and {111} topography of Ceylon, it is still in hand; but the
pressure of official and parliamentary duties has sadly retarded its
preparation for the press.