Native Sinhalese Toddy collector #IMG775 Toddy (Raa) is the sap of palm trees used as a beverage. To collect palm sap, the flower bud is cut at the tip before it blossoms and a pot (clay pot) is hung to collect the sap. This tradition method of collecting Toddy is slowly becoming a rare scene.
Turner. Director of Statistics and Superintendent of Census, in 1922, states that the Ceylon pearl fisheries are very ancient, and appear to be carried on under much the same conditions for 2,000 to 3,000 years. Pliny refers to Taprobane (Ceylon) as the “the most productive of pearls of all parts of the world”. The most profitable on record was during the 1903 to 1907, the value of the 1905 fishery alone was Rs. 3.5 Million and predicts that there is an excellent prospect of a new series of fisheries in the immediate future, as large numbers of oysters have been found on the banks within the last year. This around the time the photograph was taken.