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CEYLON 221 native; thus the population connected with the Dutch Reformed church rose to 425,000 ; but after the cession of Ceylon to Great Britain the Dutch church soon died out. The Roman Cingalese. Catholic church has at present two vicariates apostolic, Colombo and Jaffnapatam, with a membership of about 140,000, and about 260 churches. Protestant missions have been es- tablished by the church of England, which has a bishop at Colombo, by the English Wesley- ans and Baptists, and by the American Congre- gationalists. The aggregate membership of these churches is about 3,000. The missionary efforts of the Catholics and Protestants induced the Buddhists to form in 1860 a society to prop- agate the doctrines of Gautama by itinerant preaching, the press, and colportage. Educa- tion is making great progress. There were in 1870 about 900 schools in the colony, attend- ed by 30,000 pupils, of whom about 1,500 were girls. The schools are partly free public schools supported by the government, and partly church schools established by the missionary societies, and aided by money grants from the governments. The most important govern- ment institutions are the Colombo acade- my, consisting of an upper and lower school, and a normal training school in the same city. Ceylon is what is known as a crown colony, the English sovereign possessing, through the governor, direct control of the colonial legisla- tion. It is divided into six provinces, which, with their population in 1871, are as follows: Western province, 776,930; Central, 494,626; Southern, 399,452 ; Northern, 340,169 ; North- western, 276,033 ; Eastern, 118,077. The gov- ernment is administered by a governor (in 1873 "William Henry Gregory, appointed in December, 1871), with an executive council of 5 and a legislative council of 15 members. All questions relating to the revenue of the island * must receive the sanction of the governor be- fore they can be debated in the legislative council. In 1871 the revenue was 1,121,679 ; expenditure, 1,064,184. The public debt was 700,000. The pearl fishery was long a source of annual income to inhabitants and govern- ment. After lying untouched from 1837 to 1855, the banks, which are situated off the western parts of the coast, have again yielded profitable returns. Rice is the staple grain. The cultivation of coffee dates only from 1834 ; the average production is from 6 to 9 cwt. per acre. In 1870 there were exported 921,- 506 cwt. of plantation, and 132,524 cwt. of native coffee. The yield of cinnamon varies, according to the mode of cultivation, from 50 to 500 Ibs. per acre ; in 1870 there were export- ed 20,716 bales, of 100 Ibs. each. The plant- ing of the cocoanut palm, for the sake of the oil, has within a few years been successfully carried on by Europeans; in 1870, 13,566 cwt. of oil were exported. From Great Britain are imported cotton manufactures, hardware, glass- ware, metals, tools, beer, wine, &c. ; from India, especially grain. The arrivals of vessels in the ports of Ceylon in 1868 were 3,257, of 614,947 tons; clearances, 3,182 vessels, of 631,- 647 tons. The value of exports in 1871 was 3,804,000 (to the United Kingdom, 2,633,- 000), and of imports 4,634,000 (from the United Kingdom, 1,462,000). Both imports and exports have enormously increased since 1850, in which year the imports were only 1,488,000, and the exports 1,246,000. The increase of imports has been most considerable in grain ; that of exports, in coffee. The bank- ing business is conducted by branches of the Oriental bank of London and the Mercantile bank of Bombay, the former establishment possessing the privilege of issuing notes of 10. and upward. The foreign trade of Ceylon is carried on mainly by European firms, the na- tive houses confining their transactions to Brit- ish India, and the small native dealers, called chitters, to their connections with Madras and Bombay merchants. Great exertions are made for improving the public roads ; in 1868 more than 230,000 were expended on them. Co- lombo and Candy have been since October, 1867, connected by railway, and nearly all the important places of the island by telegraph. Ceylon was known to the Greeks and Ro- mans under the name of Taprobane. Pliny relates that Onesicritus, a captain of Alexander the Great, first circumnavigated it, and thus discovered it to be an island. Before this it was supposed to stretch indefinitely south. Se- rendib was a former name of the island. Zey- lan, of which Ceylon is a corruption, is said to be from zinbal, Hindostanee for lions. The Cingalese annals profess to contain a histori- cal record of events for 24 centuries back. These, and the extensive ruins of ancient cities (see POLLANARBUA), show that it was thickly settled by a people of energy and civilization,