518 THE NOETHEEN FOEESTS. [Part IX. 



Dutch, for the accommodation of guards stationed here 

 to check the incursions of the Wannyahs and their 

 predatory followers ; one of whose last exploits was the 

 seizm^e of the fort at Elephant Pass in 1803, at the same 

 time that they succeeded in dislodging the garrison at 

 Moeletivoe. 



On crossing over into the peninsula of Jaffna, we 

 immediately perceive a strildng change in the soil, the 

 chmate, the productions, and the people. The country 

 presents one uniform level ; unbroken by a single hill, 

 and scarcely varied by an undulation of more than a 

 very few feet. So shght is its elevation above the sea 

 that, in addition to the principal gulf which separates 

 it from the mainland, several other inlets penetrate and 

 intersect the district, forming extensive shallow lagoons 

 impassable for boats, except at a considerable distance 

 from the shore. 



It has been akeady stated that the western coast of 

 Ceylon has been undergoing a gradual upheaval ; and, 

 at no distant period, extensive fields of madrepore and 

 breccia have been elevated throughout the peninsula, in 

 close proximity to the shore. The estuaries that cover 

 the portion still submerged, though scarcely available 

 from then" shallowness for the purpose of traffic or 

 carriage, are not without their salutary uses. They con- 

 tribute to the deposit and formation of quantities of the 

 finest salt, which is one of the chief riches of this dis- 

 trict; — and, in the total absence of rivers or streams, 

 they serve to fertihse the surrounding lands by filtration ; 

 whilst the evaporation from their surface so tends to 

 moisten and refresh the air that the chmate is never so 

 oppressive as that of adjoining portions of Ceylon ; 

 and by the Dutch as well as by the Enghsh Jaffiia has 

 always been regarded as one of the healthiest parts of 

 the island. 



Throughout this remarkable portion of Ceylon, the 

 characteristic of the landscape is the profusion of the 



