Chap. V.] COUNTRY XORTII OF TRINCOMALIE. 493 



preach, always gaining an advance beyond tlie last 

 vidette ; and finally the whole body, having ascertained 

 the absence of danger, advanced hastily but noiselessly 

 to the enclosure ; and having with inhnite rapidity se- 

 cured a sufficient supply of fruit, the troop dispersed 

 simultaneously, with a rush and an exulting scamper, 

 conscious that caution was no longer essential. 



After a rest of a few days at Trincomahe, to recruit 

 our footrrunners and coohes, we resumed our course 

 towards the north. My design w^as to keep the hne of 

 the sea-coast as far as Lake Ivokelai, and having made 

 the circuit of it, then to timi westward into the great 

 central forest of the Wanny, in order to reach the 

 ruins of the tank, at Padi\dl, the largest as well as the 

 most perfect of those ancient and gigantic works in 

 Ceylon. Afterwards, returning eastward again to the 

 coast at Moeletivoe it was my intention to proceed to 

 the north of the island, in order to visit the Peninsida 

 of Jaffna. 



The country to be traversed in this route presents, 

 so far as regards the sea-coast, many features similar 

 to those which characterise the region we had passed 

 after leaving Batticaloa ; with the exception, that 

 rivers occur less frequently and are less dangerous. 

 The salt formations cease a few miles north of Trin- 

 comahe, and the inliospitable swamps and marshes that 

 he between the Mahawelli-ganga and the sea, farther to 

 the south, are exchanged for tlie rich pastures and rice 

 grounds of the Wanny, wdiich occur at intervals in tlie 

 openings of the forests. The population of the intei'ior 

 is so scattered and meagre, that no cultivation is carried 

 on beyond the minimum requisite for the bare sustenance 

 of the locahty, and the only occupation which brings the 

 dwellers in this region into contact with strangers, is the 

 felhng of timber in the forests, to be floated down the 

 rivei's to the coast. 



Tlie parties engaged in this business lead a wan- 

 dering life, which is not without its attractions ; less 



