Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Sir James Emerson Tennent (1804-69) combined the roles of traveller, politician and civil servant, publishing accounts of Greece during the war of independence, and several books on Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where he was civil secretary to the colonial government from 1845 to 1850. His other major achievement was as promoter of the Copyright of Designs Act of 1842, which secured the same protection for applied arts designs as existed for inventions and written works. This 1850 book describes the various missionary activities of the Portuguese, Dutch, British and Americans among the peoples of Ceylon since its first discovery by Europeans. The first Portuguese explorers observed that the inhabitants of the north of the island were Hindus, and those in the south were Buddhists, and the different approaches over time to these two belief groups form the core of this prejudiced but interesting book.