556 



THE NORTHERN FORESTS. 



[Part IX. 



for the protection of their own trade, and the Dutch, 

 Avdio seized it in 1658, were so conscious of its value, 

 strategetical as well as commercial, that they designated 

 it " the key of Jaffnapatam," and maintained in it at 

 all times an effective garrison, mider the apprehension 

 that the Portuguese, if they ever attempted a re-conquest 

 of Ceylon, would direct their first efTorts to the recovery 

 of Manaar.^ 



During the early ages, a considerable portion of the 

 trade between the east and w^est of India was carried 

 through the narrow channel wliich separates Manaar 

 from Ceylon, and active estabhshments w^ere formed, 

 not only at Mantotte on the mainland, but in the httle 

 island itself, to be used for unlading and reloading such 

 craft as it was necessary to hghten, in order to as- 

 sist them over tlie shoals.^ N^o other than commercial 

 motives could have led to the formation of populous 

 towns in the midst of arid wastes, around which fertile 

 lands extended on every side, and hence the peophng 

 of Manaar, whose barren sand-drifts, though mcapable 

 of producing a sufficient quantity of grain for the w^ants 

 of its inhabitants, were adapted to the growth of the 

 palmjTa and the coco-nut palm. 



Manaar also pelds in abundance the ch(n"a-root^, 

 which was once exported to Europe for the sake of its 

 brilhant red dye ; and its shores, besides producing salt, 

 afford favourable positions for the fishery of clianks^, 



1 ^'De sleutel van 't Eyk van 

 Jaffnapatam." — YALEyxTiir, Oucl en 

 Nievxo Oost-Indien, ch. xii. p. 150. 



^ See a paper by Sir Alexandeh 

 Johnston, containiii<r particulars of 

 the early settlement of tlie Mahome- 

 tans in Ceylon, collected from the 

 traditions of the Moors at tin; present 

 day. — Trans. Ray. Asiat. Soc, vol. i. 

 p. '5P,Sf ; Bektolacci, p. 20. 



^ Iledi/otis unihclhtta. 



* CosjiAS iNDicopLErsTES evi- 

 dently refers to chanks when he 

 speaks of the port of Marallo, 

 jiaWovira KoyXjovr, and AbOTTZETD 

 calls them '• schcnek, — mot par leqiiel 



on designe cette grande coqiiille qui 

 sert de tronipette et qui est tres-re- 

 cherche." — Voyof/es Arabes, ^'c, torn, 

 i. p. 6. Hence as early as the sixth 

 and seventh centuries, the vicinity of 

 Ceylon was fished for these valuable 

 shells. See Lassex, Alterthumsknnde, 

 vol. i. p. 194 5 Keinaud, Mem. sin- 

 rinde, p. 22!). Tlie fishery of chanks 

 was formerly a (iovernment royalty, 

 and was annually farmed, but the 

 monopoly was abandoned some years 

 ago. Bertolacci, p. 20.3, and a 

 writer in tlie Asiatic Journal for 

 1827, p. 409, both mention a curious 

 local pecidiarity observed by the 



