486 THE NORTH ERX FORESTS. [Part IX. 



the Bailli de Suffreiii, in the absence of the British com- 

 mander, compelled the English garrison to Avithdi'aw to 

 Madras, and took possession of the fort ; but in the fol- 

 lowing year, it was restored to the Dutch, by whom it 

 was held till the capture of Ceylon by Great Britain in 

 1795.1 



The condition of neglect and insecmity which Trin- 

 comalie exhibits at the present day, is painfully irre- 

 concilable witli the terms of exultation with Avhich its 

 capture was originaUy announced to the nation. Then 

 it was extolled, as the sole harbour of refuge to the 

 east of Cape Comorin, Bombay being the only capa- 

 cious port on the Avest coast of Hindustan ; and pro- 

 jects were in contemplation, to render it the grand eni- 

 ])orium of Oriental conmierce, the Gibraltar of India, 

 and the arsenal of the East. Eememberino; these ex- 

 citing assurances, and contemplating the capabihties 

 presented by the locality for their utmost reahsation ; 

 an extreme feehng of disappointment is excited now by 

 looking upon its incomplete fortifications, its neglected 

 works, and its reduced military estabhsliments — utterly 

 unequal to any emergency. These render Trincomahe 

 as insecm^e at the present day as it was un})repared 

 in the last century for the assaults of SiiiTrein and De la 



With all its natural advantages the country iiinne- 

 (hately around the bay is deserted ; the native })opu- 

 lation, with tlie exception of the Moors, are poor and 

 unenterprising ; and the town is consequentl}^ dependent 

 on Jaffna, Batticaloa, and the coast of India for its sup- 

 phes of rice, fruits, currj'-stuffs and coco-nuts ; which the 

 tacility of water-carriage renders cheap and abundant. 



' Sec fi/ite, Vol. II. Pt. vr. cli. iii. | I'Asie; " and the sui-prise excited bv 



p. 6(1 I its neglect, are forcibly expressed by 



^ The appreciation of tlie harbour IjAPLACE, CircuniHavu/otion de I'Ar- 



of Trincomalie a.s " lo meilleur port, fcmtW, toni. ii. cli. aIII. p. 157. 

 gaus contredit, de cette partie de 



