PART IV.
SCIENCES AND SOCIAL ARTS.
CHAPTER I.
POPULATION, CASTE, SLAVERY, AND RAJA-KARIYA.
Population encouraged by the fertility of Ceylon Evidence of its former extent in the ruins of the tanks and canals Means by which the population was preserved Causes of its dispersion--the ruin of the tanks Domestic life similar to that of the Hindus Respect shown to females Caste perpetuated in defiance of religious prohibition Particulars in which caste in Ceylon differs from caste in India Slavery, borrowed from Hindustan Compulsory labour or Raja-kariya Mode of enforcing it CHAP.

II.
AGRICULTURE, IRRIGATION, CATTLE, AND CROPS.
Agriculture unknown before the arrival of Wijayo Rice was imported into Ceylon in the second century B.C.
The practice of irrigation due to the Hindu kings Who taught the science of irrigation to the Singhalese (note) The first tank constructed B.C.

504 Gardens and fruit-trees first planted Value of artificial irrigation in the north of Ceylon In the south of the island the rains sustain cultivation Two harvests in the year in the south of the island In the north, where rains are uncertain, tanks indispensable Irrigation the occupation of kings The municipal village-system of cultivation "_Assoedamising_" of rice lands in the mountains Temple villages and their tenure Farm-stock buffaloes and cows A Singhalese garden described Coco-nut palm rarely mentioned in early writings Doubt whether it be indigenous to Ceylon The Mango and other fruits Rice and curry mentioned in the second century B.C.
Animal food used by the early Singhalese Betel, antiquity of the custom of chewing it Intoxicating liquors known at an early period CHAP.

III.
EARLY COMMERCE, SHIPPING, AND PRODUCTIONS.
Trade entirely in the hands of strangers Native shipping unconnected with commerce Same indifference to trade prevails at this day Singhalese boats all copied from foreign models All sewn together and without iron Romance of the "Loadstone Island" The legend believed by Greeks and the Chinese Vessels with two prows mentioned by Strabo Foreign trade spoken of B.C.

204 Internal traffic in the ancient city of Ceylon Merchants traversing the island Early exports from Ceylon,--gems, pearls, &c.
The imports, chiefly manufactures Horses and carriages imported from India Cloth, silk, &c., brought from Persia Kashmir, intercourse with Edrisi's account of Ceylon trade in the twelfth century CHAP.