sandy plain, is heated almost to suffocation; while fh at part
which receives the winds from the marshy grounds rather
feels refreshed from the ••breeze. The violence of the land-
winds, in, their hottest state is almost inconceivable. The iii^
tense heat cracks every thing which comes in their Way: the
glass in the windows is often splintered- in pieces, on which
account Yenfeti n blinds are generally used instead.; Unless
precautions be employed, even the drinking glasses used' a t
table are apt to split and fall asunder among the -fingers of
the guests; an accident which has often occurred to thy self;'
The violence of this scourge being broken by the intervening
sea before it reaches Jafnapatam, the breezes which afflict
the continent serve here rather to agitate and refresh the
air; and the fields clothed with verdant pasture are the strongest
proof of the temperate nature Of th e climate. Fruits,
vegetables, game, and poultry, abound every where in this
district. There appears to be something in the atmosphere
here different from the other parts of the island ; for it , is
only in the tract whi'ch lies between Point Pedro and Jaffna
th at sheep have ever been reared rötfrlttCcéÉÈl
of foreign commerce produced hete are o f no ’great value, for
though it affords some cinnamon and pepper, yet they are of
an inferior kind to th a t which grows in the south-west of the
island.
The fort and town of Jaffna, the capital of the district,
stands at the distance of some miles from the sea, but communicates
with i t by mëans óf a river navigable by boats.
The river folk into the sea near Point Pedro*- where there is
also a fort and harbour,' in which the troops sént by general
Stewart from TrinComalee for the reduction of Jaffna disem-
5
barked, and met the fifty-secqud regiment which had been sent
over from Negapatam on the ^opposile coast for the same
purpose.. The passage from Point Pedro to -‘Negapatam is
usually made by boats in a few hours. The King o f Jafnapatam
built a small fort here against the incursions of the
Moors and Maldbars, I t was taken by .; the Portuguese in
1620; and lost by them in .I t was the lasl; station they,
retained in the island.
Jafnapatam was onee. a, kingdom by itsejf,, b u t-w a sd iy id e d
into .several provinces. It, is; .very , populous,,,arid has a great
number pf Milagesl and chprchjps „nil ABag various denomi-
nations of its inhahitauts^ rXhe^^DjJr }les,sgr1 province^, gmj^ained
in it are.Beligame, Tennerrearche, Waddermarchej and jPatehia-
palle. The Uuteh bnilt a church in 1658 at Telipoli, near,
a. /shady ands|)fcasaiitgrpye~ Several very" good, villages] Tie], along
here, .with churches and school houses for educating the, aatiye:i
children.
-rTh e fort ofridaffha was given» up by the P a tc h tp opr troops
as soon as. they ;appeared: before it. I t but exceed«
ingly neat and well built. The Pettah, or ,Black Town without
the walls,. which is of a quadrangular figufe, is larger and
more populous; than that of Tri'ncomalee. _Since .Cpliimbo was
taken; possession . of by the English, several Dutch families
have quitted it, and taken up their residence in the neigh?*
bourhood ot^ Jaffna; as this latter place is much cheaper, and
better supplied with ; all the necessaries of life* several of
which are scarcely to be procured in th^ other parts of the
island.
The inhabitants of Jaffna consist of a collection of various
races. The greatest number are Malabar» of Moorish extras