Recollections of a journey from Kandy to Caltura, by the way of Adam's Peak, made in the year 1819 / by Simon Sawers and Henry Marshall.

Date:
1823
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Recollections of a journey from Kandy to Caltura, by the way of Adam's Peak, made in the year 1819 / by Simon Sawers and Henry Marshall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Recollections of a Journey from Kandy to CaU tura, by the way of Adam's Peak, made in the Year 1819, By Simon Sawers, Esq. Commissioner of Revenue in the Kandyan Provinces, AND Mr Henry Marshall, Surgeon to the Forces, and Author of a Work on the Medical Topography and Diseases of the Interior of Ceylon. From Kandy to Gampoola, 15 miles. 1819, March 29.—AbOUT 6 a. m., Mr Sawers was waited upon by an astrologer, for the purpose of announ- cing to him that the lucky period for beginning his journey had arrived. The astrologers in the Kandyan country are generally weavers, or tom-tom beaters (drummers). They calculate eclipses, and profess to predict “ good days and good seasons.” The King of Kandy never commenced a journey, or any work of importance, without previously consulting an astrologer. Lands were held by the King’s astrologer as a remuneration for the performance of his duties. A