THE FORT. 407 



upon them. The fort was built of stone, ele- 

 vated about sixteen or eighteen feet from the 

 ground, covered over with a thatch of palm 

 leaves, and having a look-out house upon the 

 summit. There were lamps, which are lighted 

 after dark, and remain so during the night, a 

 sentinel being also stationed there. From some 

 large rents in the walls of the fort, it was evi- 

 dent that the concussion of the guns, if fired off, 

 (which they had not yet been,) would bring the 

 whole fabric down about their ears : the minister 

 and "authorities" thought the same, and said 

 a stronger fort was to be built, when a sufficient 

 number of stones calculated for the purpose 

 could be collected.* Although abundance of 

 cocoa-nut water was given us to drink, yet 

 nothing was offered us to eat ; by which I should 

 infer, they conceived white people lived, like 

 humming birds, upon suction. 



On leaving the rajah's place, my guides took 

 me again to the bazaar, where it appears to be 

 a custom to take strangers : this I attribute to 

 their Mahometan prejudices, of not being de- 

 sirous of receiving christians under their roofs. 

 Here mats were placed, so that I might be 



* The fort is also partly surrounded by a palisade of bam- 

 boos, and a moat exterior to it, abounding on its banks with 

 a dense vegetation. 



