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of the precipice to the sea at low water along this pavement or causeway, which, from the artificial appearance it puts on, has, doubtless, in a rude age, given name to the place, is a length of 730 feet. It has been observed to proceed into the ocean as far as can be traced by the eye in a calm and clear day. To any person who has seen both this place and Staffa, the idea naturally enough suggests itself that they are parts of the same once continuous immense bed of columnar basalt. There are properly three pavements proceeding into the sea, distinguished by the names of the Great Causeway, the Middle Causeway, and the West Causeway. These are three large gently sloping ridges of the ends of basaltic columns, with depressions between them, covered with large blocks or masses, that seem to have from time to time been detached, and rolled from the precipice. height, pice. I had no opportunity of perceiving with what rocks the basalt of the Giant's Causeway is connected. I am told conchoidal white lime-stone meets it on both the east and west sides. There is in one place near the east side of the Great Causeway a green-stone vein eight or ten feet wide intersecting the basalt from north-west to south-east.

miles in a northerly direction, and I could observe no rock on our way but the trap formation. On crossing the river Bush at the village called Bushmills, the country begins gradually to rise, and we descry about two miles before us a ridge of considerable height, seeming to terminate quite abruptly on the other side. What we perceive is the land side of the precipice of the Giant's Causeway. It seems to have been a hill of basalt, with nearly perpendicular columnar concretions, cut in two, as it were, by a vertical section, and the half of the hill next the sea carried away. On getting in front of this precipice, which you do by a pass on the west side of it, a most stupendous scene presents itself. The precipice, extending for a mile or two along the shore, is in many places quite perpendicular, and often 350 and 400 feet high, consisting of pure columnar basalt, some of the columns 50 feet in perpendicular height, straight and smooth as if polished with a chisel. In other parts the columns are smaller, inclined, or bent; and a less length of them strikes the eye. From the bottom of this precipice issues, with a gentle slope of about 1 in 30 towards the sea, an immense and surprising pavement, as it were, consisting of the upper ends of the fragments of vertical columns of basalt that have been left when the seaward half of the basaltic hill was carried off. The ends of these columns are in general 15 or 20 inches in diameter, some of them of three sides, some four, five, six, seven, eight, or even nine. Five and six sides seem to prevail most. From the bottom

There was now pointed out to us by the guides a singular enough and curious phenomenon, and which is particularly interesting, as it has been thought by those who hold the igneous origin of basalt to be a confirmation of their doctrine. Nearly opposite to the West Causeway, and within about 80 feet of the top of the cliff, is

found

found to exist a quantity of slags and ashes, unquestionably the production of fire. On ascending to this spot, which can be easily done, I found the slags and ashes deposited in a sort of bed about four feet thick, and running horizontally along the face of the basaltic precipice 20 or 30 feet. The ashes are in general observed to lie undermost, and the slags above them. They are covered with a considerahle quantity of earth and stones, which all consist of basalt, are of a large size, some of them three or four feet or more in diameter, and the ashes likewise rest on the same sort of materials. What struck me here was, that these ashes and slags are entirely unconnected with any rock or formation which seems to be in situ, or in its original position. They are, therefore, in my opinion, distinctly artificial, and nothing more than the remains of some large and powerful fire which had been kept burning for a long while on the top of this precipice, either for the purpose of a signal, or some other which we cannot now ascertain; and that, owing to the part of the cliff on which the ashes were lying having given way and tumbled down, they have been thus buried beneath the ruins and there remain. This hypothesis may appear to some fanciful or extravagant, but I should have little hesitation in referring the truth of it to any unprejudiced person accustomed to investigations of this sort who will be at the trouble to scramble up and survey the spot. Nay, I think I could even trust the decision to a Huttonian himself! The mass of materials in which the slags and

It

ashes are found is clearly moved from its place, and has distinctly the appearance of a large slip of loose pieces of rock and soil that has been disengaged by means of frost or some other agent. It may have been effected by an earthquake: or the fire itself may have contributed to its own removal by the rents or cracks its heat made in the rock on which it stood. is not a great many years since these ashes were noticed. John Corry, one of the most obliging and intelligent guides about the place, picked up some of them on the beach below, and naturally enough concluding that they came from the cliff above, he climbed up and found their repository. One gentleman, he informed us, who is well known to have paid much attention to the appearances at the Giant's Causeway, and who has written upon the subject, will not yet believe that the ashes are found in the place which I have described, but insists (obstinately enough, no doubt!) that honest John and his colleagues have put the ashes there on purpose to deceive the public! He cannot be prevailed upon to scramble up and look at the ashes himself, verifying, it would seem, the old proverb, which says, that there is no one blinder than he who will not see.

A considerable way from the repository of the ashes and slags, and to the east of the Great Causeway, is another curious appearance. Here, in the pure basalt, 70 or 80 feet from the top of the cliff, is a horizontal bed of wood coal eight feet thick. The coal to all appearance rests immediately on the basalt below, and the ends of perpendicular basaltic columns

are

are seen distinctly to rest on it above. The basalt is not in the least changed by the contact of the coal, nor the coal by that of the basalt. The coal is very beautiful and distinct, and in one place is seen a coalified tree, if I may use the word, 10 or 12 inches in diameter, running directly in below the basalt.

Within sight of this spot, and about 300 yards to the east of it, are the beautifully conspicuous basaltic pillars, 45 feet long, and vertical, with the longest ones in the middle, and the others gradually shortening towards each side like the columns of an organ. From this appearance they have received the appropriate name of the organ. At the bottom of this cliff, by examining and breaking the loose columnar pieces of the rock that have fallen down, we found many fine specimens of calcedony, zeolite, and semi-opal. These occur in cavities in the basalt. Sometimes the cavity is not completely filled with the calcedony or opal; and when that is the case, the empty space is observed to be always the upper part of the cavity, while the rock is in situ. Moreover, the surface of the calcedony or opal next to the empty space is always found to be flat and horizontal, which would show that the substance must have been filtered into its situation in a fluid state, and afterwards consolidated.

merce.

Of Cinnamon as an article of Com-
By H. Marshall, Esq.
Staff Surgeon to the Forces in
Ceylon.

(From the same.)

cinnamon is in Exod. xxx. 23. It is again mentioned in the Song of Solomon, iv. 14; and in Prov. vii. 17. Casia a synonime of cinnamon is mentioned in Ezek. xxvii. 19, where it is enumerated among a large variety of articles of merchandise. As the ancients were supplied with cinnamon from Arabia, and the north and east coast of Africa, they without good foundation, supposed that this spice was the produce of those countries. There is much probability that from the earliest ages Europe has been indebted to Ceylon for part of its consumption of this article. It may have been exported from Ceylon by small vessels belonging to the island, or to the natives of the continent of India, to some of the emporia on the Malabar coast, and from thence to Sabea, on the south coast of Arabia, by the Arabs, who were the first who traded extensively on the Indian ocean. Here the ships belonging to the merchants of Phænicia and Egypt found large stores of the produce of India; and by this medium the demands from all parts of Europe were supplied. Even in modern times the commodities of India were chiefly imported into Europe by the way of Egypt. The enormous expense incurred by transporting cinnamon such a circuitous route, and a great part of it by land, must have greatly enhanced its price, and prevented the use of it from becoming general.

On some occasions, however, the quantity expended appears to have been considerable. At the funeral of Sylla 210 burthens of spices were strewed upon the pile. It is probable that cinnamon

The earliest notice we have of formed a great part of the spices

burned

burned on this occasion, as the produce of the Moluccas was then but little, if at all, known to the Romans. Nero is reported to have burned a quantity of cinnamon and casia at the funeral of Poppaa greater than the countries from which it was imported produced in one year.

In 1498 Vasco de Gama landed at Calicut. Indian commerce now took a different route, and the Portuguese supplied Europe with the articles which had formerly passed through the hands of the Venetians. Eager to engross the cinnamon trade, the Portuguese, early in the 16th century, arrived at Ceylon, and obtained leave from one of the chiefs to establish a factory, which led to the erection of the Fort of Colombo. Notwithstanding the permission of the chief, their landing was obstinately opposed by the Arab merchants, who had for many ages supplied Europe with cinnamon, and who dreaded an immediate termination of their monopoly. Shortly after a fort had been built, the Portuguese succeeded in concluding a treaty with the king of Kandy, wherein he agreed to furnish them annually with 124,000lb. of cinnamon on the part of the Portuguese, it was stipulated that they were to assist the king and his successors, both by sea and land, against all his enemies.

The thriving and rich settlements of the Portuguese in the East Indies eventually attracted the attention of the adventurous and opulent merchants of the states of Holland. Soon after they had gained some footing in India, they became anxious to engross the cinnamon trade, which,

as Baldeus emphatically observes, is" the Helen or bride in contest of Ceylon ;" and early in the 17th century found means to ingratiate themselves with the king of Kandy, who invited them to aid him to expel the Portuguese from the island.

In 1612 the king engaged to deliver to the Dutch East India Company all the cinnamon that he was able to collect.

In 1638 the garrison of Batticaloa was captured by the combined Dutch and Kandian forces. On this occasion a treaty was concluded between the king and the Dutch general, wherein it was stipulated that none of the king's subjects were to be permitted to sell the Dutch any cinnamon, &c. &c. except what was sold by his order. He retained the entire and exclusive privilege of preparing and selling this article of

commerce.

Peace was concluded between the Portuguese and Dutch in 1644 or 1645. By this treaty a moiety of the cinnamon trade was ceded to the Dutch. The cinnamon was collected in the following manner:

Both parties employed chalias to cut and prepare cinnamon, which was to be deposited in a convenient spot upon the river Dandegam, near to Negombo. At the end of the cinnamon harvest, the quantity collected was equally divided between the two parties; and each party paid the usual price to the chalias for peeling their share of cinnamon. again commenced in 1652. Colombo surrendered to the Dutch in 1656; and Jaffna, the last place of strength of the Portuguese, fell in 1658.

War

For

For many years previously to the entire surrender of Ceylon by the Portuguese, the Dutch had purchased and exported large investments of cinnamon from the Malabar coast. To obtain the exclusive commerce of this coast, they, in the year 1662 and 1663, wrested from the Portuguese the forts of Quilon, Cannanore, Cochin, and Cranganore.

The English merchants were desired to withdraw from this coast; and the natives were prohibited from supplying the English with produce under penalty of confiscation. The Dutch exerted all their influence and power to obstruct the peeling of cinnamon in the territories of the Malabar princes, except what was sold to themselves, for which they refused to advance the regular market price.

Notwithstanding a zealous perseverance, and a rigid exertion of their power, to prevent what they denominated smuggling on this coast, they did not succeed. Other nations, by paying nearly double for the articles they purchased, were readily supplied by the natives, even in opposition to the orders of their own princes. These fruitless attempts are stated to have been very expensive; which induced the Supreme Government to pass in 1697 a number of regulations. One of these regulations stated, "that it was determined not to obstruct any more, by measures of constraint and harshness, the navigation of the Malabars, and their trade in the productions of their country, consisting chiefly in areca, wild cinnamon, and pepper, which the Company could not exclusively purchase from them." VOL. LIX.

In 1687 the Dutch imported into Holland cinnamon to the amount of 170,000 lb. This quan. tity is stated to have been less than the usual annual importation. In 1730 they imported 640,000lb.

The Dutch continued to enjoy the exclusive commerce of this spice for many years. The means adopted for this end were well imagined, but not so correctly carried into effect. The correspondence between the Directors and the Supreme Government evince the care that was taken to "direct and command that no cinnamon should be exported but what was of an excellent quality." The Directors complain repeatedly that much of the cinnamon imported from Ceylon was of a bad quality. They enumerated the defects, and stated, in their letter bearing date September, 1768, that for several years it had been of such a bad quality that they had not dared to bring it to the sales, for fear of ruining the credit of the Ceylon cinnamon. On several occasions they returned a number of bales of " bad, illsorted cinnamon," that the Ceylon government might institute an inquiry respecting the causes why their commands were so much neglected. They complain much of the inspectors of cinnamon and add, that they must either be very deficient in a knowledge of their duty, or extremely negligent. According to oral information, the chief cause of defective cinnamon having been exported was, that the requisitions from Holland were always for a larger quantity than they were able to procure of an excellent quality.

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Before the Kandian war, which terminated in 1766, the Dutch 2 L annually

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