Ho. 62.— 1909.] 



NOTES ON DELFT. 



349 



An old woman gave a dowry in 1810. She brought the deed 

 to the Maniyagar for examination in 1903. 



Fences in Delft consist of walls of loose coral stones, supple- 

 mented, in the villages where there are palmyras, by leaves of 

 that tree tied upright against them, as well as crosswise. 



A Delft fence. 



These stone walls, which remind one of County Galway in 

 the west of Ireland (the birthplace, by the by, of the late Mr. 

 R. W. levers, whose name will be as long connected with Delft 

 as that of his fellow countryman Captain Nolan, and, curiously 



* He retired in 1826, but I think left in 1824. Edward Nolan was 

 gazetted a Second Lieutenant, 4th Ceylon Regiment, October 6, 1810, 

 Commandant of Caltura, January 1, 1811, and First Lieutenant. 

 September 25, 1811; took charge of Delft in 1811, and was confirmed in 

 his appointment as Superintendent of Delft island, June 8, 1814. 

 He was also " Sitting Magistrate and Fiscal for the Province of Delft." 



He retired on January 1, 1826, returned to Ireland, and died in 

 1840. I have the authority of Sir William Twynam for stating that 

 the Captain Nolan who carried the order for the charge of the Light 

 Brigade at Balaclava was his nephew. 



There is a tradition about him that in the last years of his life he 

 became very oppressive to the people, and that as a punishment he 

 was removed and sent to an island where there was no water. As a 

 matter of fact, he returned to his native country, Ireland, which, unlike 

 Delft, does not suffer from drought. 



He was succeeded as Superintendent and Sitting Magistrate by 

 Robert Atherton. These posts were abolished in 1833. 



"He had a salary of £500 a year, and the privilege of subscribing 

 to the Civil Fund for an annuity of £400 for life after twelve years' 

 service in that situation, but although that gentleman had the 

 troublesome duty of superintending the Government breeding stud, 

 he was most illiberally restricted from Civil promotion or increase of 

 salary.*' — Bennett. Capabilities of Ceylon, p, 125. 



