CHAPTER IV.

Poverty of Soil--Ceylon Sugar--Fatality of Climate--Supposed Fertility of Soil--Native Cultivation--Neglect of Rice Cultivation--Abandoned Reservoirs--Former Prosperity--Ruins of Cities--Pollanarua--The Great Dagoba--Architectural Relics--The Rock Temple--Destruction of Population--Neglected Capabilities--Suggestions for Increasing Population--Progress of Pestilence--Deserted Villages--Difficulties in the Cultivation of Rice--Division of Labor--Native Agriculture.