quinquina; and its leaves are fo by fermen for their nets and lines, infect that they will prefent pollelles of never decaying or rot. cheerious to moths and deftructive from the extraordinary quality it woollen cloths, linen, and books ing in water. It appears to be from being infestal by them deficient in elafticity; but that may arife from its never having in general admired by Europeans, fome experiments which have been ance, though their produce is not been fufficiently fteeped. From fuperior favour. The fruit of Cey- the proportion of five to four with who are accustomed to thole of a made, its ftrength appears to be in Jon is however, in general, fuperior European cordage. to that of the Peninfula, particu pospel-mas. The diftrict of Matura produces which infects depofe the laca. The larly its lemons, oranges, and fix different kinds of forub, on Thegarala is a pulpy fruit, whofe defcription of this infect by Rox. favour is blended with an agreeable burgh, in the fecond volume of deeply indented. The peal is em- ployed as a ance on the fhrubs where it is de. pofed, the inhabitants collect no more than is necessary for their par. ticular ufe. The Ceylon laca is the fame as that culinary article by the which is found in Pegu: but, natives. The tree that bears it, though it is found in great abund. yellowish rafin, which exudes a a tolerable varnish. This produces free has been generally confounded with the gockat tree, that diftills the gamboge, and from which feve ral hundred weight of this gum might be annually drawn. There is alfo a great variety of trees which grow fpontaneously in the woods: they bear different fruits, though generally more or lefs of an acid tafte, and much ufed by the people of the country in the confectionary, which forms fuch an important article in their entertain ments. The nux vomica, which must be ranked among the poifonous plants, is a native of this ifland; but is applied to no ufe whatever. In the fame clafs may be placed the palma chrifti, from whence the caftor oil : is extracted; which forms a small article of trade. The bané is a kind of pulfe, and might be rendered an article of very great utility. The ftem of this plant is from three feet and a half to four feet in length, and furnishes a flax, which is twisted into a long rope. It is particularly employed The plantations of cinnamon abound with a plant, which delicacy forbids us to defcribe. It is called baudura by the Cingalefe, and has received the fcientific denomination of nefeuthes diftillatoria by the botanists. It is inaccurate. ly reprefented by Burman, and in Pennant's View of Hinduftân. It has been equally confidered and examined by the antiquarian, the man of letters, and the botanist. It flourishes beneath the fhade of the cinnamon tree, whofe culture it interrupts. The trees and plants in Ceylon are very numerous. In the diftrict of Columbo alone, there are not lefs than three hundred fpecies. Many of them appear in the very inade quate catalogue of Palus Hermanus; from whence they have been tranf ferred, without any diftinctive defcription, to the Thefaurus Zeylanicus of Burman, and fo on to the Flora Zeylanica of Linnæus, and other botanical works. Indeed, of of one hundred Cingalefe names given by Hermanus, and adopted by Burman and Linnæus, there are not ten in ufe among the natives; and the reft are almost unintelligibly rendered in the German orthography. Of the timber used in domeftic articles, &c. thirty-nine of the most remarkable fpecies have been collected. Among them the kaloumidirié is diftinguished by very fine black and yellowish veins; the Europeans call it caleminder. The kad bumbirié has the fame ftreaks as the former, but not quite fo large. Very beautiful articles of furniture are made of them both. There are, alfo, the fatin-wood, called bourouth; the tekéa, or teak, employed for mafts, and every kind of fhipwright's and carpenter's work; the jack, one of the breadfruit trees, the wood of which, when fresh, is of a beautiful yellow, but changes in the courfe of time to a reddish hue; and the nedoun, or nindow, which is very strong. The two laft are employed in furniture and domeftic uses. To thefe may be added, the nuga gaba, the ebony, &c. The elephant must take the lead among the quadrupeds in every part of the world which it inhabits. In Ceylon there are two fpecies; the one called alleia, which has no teeth, or at leaft very fmall ones; and the other called aeta, which has teeth of a confiderable length. In the interior parts of the island they are very numerous; and there are a fufficient number of them in the English poffeffions, to do confiderable mifchief to every kind of agriculture. The royal tiger is not an inhabitant of this ifland; but the leopard is very common, and fome of them have been taken that measured five feet is length. There are two kinds of wild cat, one of which is not generally known, or, at leaft, has been very imperfectly defcribed. The wild buffalo is found in the forefts, and is as furious as that of Bengal. The wild boar is equally dangerous with the buffalo, and the wood also abound with them. There is the axis, or Ganges deer, and a ftag whofe colour is grey, tinged with a fhade of red. It bears a greater resemblance to the hart of Corfica, than to any other of its clafs. Of monkeys, there are three peculiar kinds, with long tails, and pouches under the chin. The hair of one is of a reddish hue, and that of the other two is very long: the one is white, and the other black; but they all of them have long beards, which spread over their cheeks. They are very fagacious, well-tempered, and tractable, as well as full of trick and amufing playfulness. The floth is not very common; it is from feven to eight inches in length, and is born with a thick covering of hair. The pangotin is very common in Ceylon, and called kabal-qaëïa. It is accurately defcribed by feve ral naturalifts; but the print of it, in Buffon, is ill-defigned. It is there reprefented as walking on its fore-feet, in common with other quadrupeds; whereas it actually walks on the metatarsus, turning the toes downwards. This animal can never be preferved alive, from the impracticability of providing a fufficient quantity of ants (which are its only food) to fuftain it. There is alfo the viverra ichneumon, which, by the Europeans, is called mongoos. It has been generally believed that this animal in ftinctively applies to the medicinal * B 2 aid whilft, further up the gulph, a pearl is fourd in almoft every fhell of a certain fize that is opened. There are the common cryftal. lizations of fapphires, rubies, topazes, kouroundous, tourmalines, and :ock cryftals. Remi de L'Ifle has given a defcription of a precious stone, that unites two diftinct colours; and fuch a ftone is faid, and generally believed, to have been found by the Adigar, or prime minifter, of the King of Candy, on his return from an embaffy to Columbo: it unites the colours of the fapphire, the ruby, and the topaz. The account adds, that it was inftantly prefented to the King. The foil around Columbo is a brittle clay, with a mixture of ferruginous particles. It is generally covered with a fand, whofe fertility is equal to that of the richeft earth. On the fea-fhore, and in fome diftinct parts, there are hillocks of a dark grey earth, which appear to compofe a ftratum immediately beneath that already mentioned. There is every reafon to fuppofe that there are extinguished volcanoes in Ceylon, from the fpecimens of volcanic ftores which have been collected at Trincomalee. This opinion is fupported by the account, that there is a lake near the fummit of Adam's Peak, whofe height is conjectured to be 1500 fathoms above the level of the fea. It received this name from the Portuguefe; but the Cingalefe call it Sanamalé. According to the tradi tion of the country, it was Buddah, the founder of the government, and to whom the inhabitants pay almoft divine honours, who left the mark of one of his feet on this mountain, while the impreffion of the other was found in Siam. TABLE of Obfervations on the general fate of the Atmosphere in Columbo, which proves the unexampled uniformity of its climate, both as to its temperature, and the regular denfity of the air. The variation of the barometer, in twelve months, is only 0.36 of an English inch; and that of Farenheit's thermometer, only 13 degrees. Jan. 1799 March April Point. Point. ence. Nov. 1798. 30.160 29.940 0.220 $0.053 82. 077. 05. 079.41 December.. 30.128 29.9880.200 $0.05781.50 75. 06.5078.77 30.114 29.988 0.076 29.952 80.75 75. 05.7578.29 30.090|29.940 0.150|30.020|82.50|76. 06.5079.93 30.114 29.914 0,200 30.02086. 080. 06. 082.71 30.124 29.9200.204 30.004 85.50 79.506. 082.71 May. 30.062 29.912 0.150 29.959 86. 0 80.50 6.5083,28 June & July No obfervations. Auguft 30.064 29.976 0.880 30.03084. 082. 02. 082.67 September 30.070 29.940|0.130 30.013 82.50 78.254.25 80.40 October... 30.070 29.970 0.092 30.027 82.50 80.25 2.25 81.12 November.. 30.080 29.900 0.180 29.979 83.50 79.50 4.50 80.83 December.. 30.150 29.800 0.350 30.002 82.50 73.50 9.5079.90 Average for 12 Months, } 30.160 29.800 0.360 29.98086. 073. 013.079. 3 80 86. 073. 018.0 A Narrative of the CAMPAIGN in BENGAL, in 1760. (Communicated by Colonel IRONSIDE.) In the latter end of the month of November 1759, Major Caillaud arrived at Fort-William with a reinforcement of troops from Fort St. George, to fucceed Colonel Clive and Colonel Ford in the command of the army in Bengal, both of whom, in the month of February following, quitted India to return to Europe. The difputes with the Dutch were by this time entirely at an end; yet the English troops ftill continued in the field, for it was deemed neceffary by Colonel Clive (when he could do it with fecurity) to fend another detachment this year to the weftward, to aid the Nabob in oppofing the incurfions of Shah Zadah, upon the borders of his domi nions. Early in this month, the Shah Zadah, reviving his former plan, began to entertain the fame views, which had in the preceding campaign been defeated by the skill and enterprize of Colonel Clive. An unpardonable negligence on the one fide, and the ufual and known caprice of the people of the country, ever afpiring after novelty, on the other, afforded him both the time and means he wished for, and encouraged him with no unreasonable expectation of a happy turn in his favour. From the time Colonel Clive left the field, no troops had been fent by Ramnarrain, the governor of Patna; nor were there any other measures undertaken by him, to re-establish the internal tranquillity, or to fecure the boundaries of the province. The petty Rajahs of the inferior diftricts were difregarded; and, while the whole country remained unfettled, and every chief was fetting up for himself, thefe people, utterly ne. glected and unobferved, embraced the lucky moment to affert an independency, and afterwards united with that power which they trufted could beft fupport them in it. There were fome included, whom a due afcendancy might have still kept in awe, and preferved faithful to their duty; but, being under no control whatever, they readily accepted of the offers which were made to them by the oppofite party. Others, again, and these not a few, or unimportant, fent fecret and repeated invitations to the Prince, and affurances of fupport whenever he fhould exert himself, Thefe were a people ftudious only of their own advantage, eager to perplex, and to profit from the misfortunes of the times, and prepared to join with any fide that should prove moft powerful. From fuch errors, and from fuch people, the party of the Shah Zadah, at the latter end of the year 1759, began infenfibly to be reftored, and his faction to extend, inconfiderable in the beginning, and so weak, that had a body of one thoufand horfe only been properly disposed at first, they might have then effectuated, what forty thousand proved infuffi cient for afterwards, and the name of the Shah Zadah would have no more been heard of. About this time, likewife, there was another favour. able incident, which contributed, more than all the reft, to augment the number of his friends, to add dig nity to his name, and to affemble fresh followers to his standard. The prefent young and enterprizing Vizier, Ghaze O'Deen Klian, by the murder of a former King, raited Allumgeer, the father of Shah Zadah, to the throne of Hinduftàn; * B 4 but, but, fome time after, being diffatisfied with his own election in the perfon of this Prince, he imprisoned him, kept him in clofe confinement for feveral years, drove his children, (among the reft Shah Zadah), from Delhi, and at length, to complete his fyftem, he murdered him alfo, and proclaimed another Sovereign at that capital. When the news of his father's affaffination reached the Shah Zadah, he did not long delay to advance his title to the inheritance of his anceftors. He caufed himself to be acknowledged King immediately, by his dependants; he was recognized as fuch by his followers; and he demanded homage and obeifance from the Nabob of Bengal. His right to the Crown being inconteftably a juft one, many principal Rajahs were, on that confideration, induced to unite with him to fupport his caufe: and at the commencement of the 'year 1760, he found himself at the head of an army of thirty thousand men, with a much ftronger and more popular claim than formerly. With this army he marched into the Nabob's dominions, eager to retrieve the difappointment of his laft campaign. In this manner were affairs circumftanced, when an English detachment of three hundred men, with fix field-pieces, and one battalion of fepoys, commanded by Major Caillaud, joined to fifteen thoufand horfe and foot, and twen. ty-five pieces of cannon, under the elde fou of the Nabob, named Miram, moved from Moorthedabad, on the 18th of January, towards Pat. na. The army having gained the paffes of Suckliagully, which di. vide the province of Bengal from that of Bahar, by the 30th, were detained there feven or eight days in a negociation with the Rajah of Paineah (a perfon whom there will be again occafion to mention), who, from fome difference arifing be. tween the Nabob and him, had col. lected forces to the amount of fix or feven thousand men, and threatened to declare for the Shah Zadah. Ma. jor Caillaud, however, unwilling at fuch a juncture to leave an ene my in his rear, interpofed to effect a reconciliation. Thefe difputes were, for a fhort time, amicably compromifed; and the armies were again permitted to pursue their march. The Shah Zadah, during this pe. riod, had penetrated as far as Patna, with a defign to attack Rajah Ramnarrain, the governor of that city, before he could be affifted by the forces then marching from Moorfhedabad. Ramnarrain, though he had been fo inattentive to his ene. my at a diftance, and, while regardless of him, fo unmindful of the real interefts of his mafter, was now amply provided for his own defence, and to oppofe his further progrefs. He had completed his forces in December, when the dan ger became more immediate, to the number of forty thousand, with twenty pieces of cannon: he was reinforced with 70 Europeans, two field-pieces, and a battalion of fe poys, under the command of Lieu tenant Cochran, from the English factory; and the Shah Zadah found this army encamped under the walls of the city. Upon his approach, Ramnarrain moved fomething nearer to him; and the two camps were many days within a short distance of each other: but nothing more paffed than a few fkirmishes between finall parties; for Major Caillaud had wrote peremptory ftructions to Ramnarrain, to protract the time by every means in his power, and upon no confideration whatever to hazard a battle until his arrival. The fame was the pur 10 port |