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JOURNAL, It.A.S. (CEYLON"). [VOL. XXI. 



enough, the birthplace of his successor, the present writer, 

 also), look quite neat when they are newly built and are 

 in use to guard the crops, but when the field is not under 

 cultivation they are allowed to fall down wherever they list, 

 and there are consequently great gaps in most walls, which, 

 with the stones of which they were built scattered about, 

 give the place a very untidy appearance. It is impossible 

 to climb over a wall of this kind without bringing down 

 an avalanche of stones. 



Delft has since 1902 had a Village Tribunal of its own. 

 Before that the Police Magistrate of Kayts used to pay it 

 monthly visits. The people seem to have taken kindly to 

 Gansabhawa litigation, which has been classified as follows :— - 



January to March . . . . Kavoti cases 



April to June . . * . . Toddy cases 



July to September . . . . Palmyra cases 



October to December . . Sowing cases 



The Delft people must have some sense^of humour. The 

 " gossip tree " will be described later. A recent apothecary was 

 nicknamed "The iron doctor" (irampu dakuttar), an allusion 

 apparently to his unsympathetic manner, possibly due partly 

 to deafness. The evidence given in court and the sayings of 

 the parties and witnesses, as in Gansabhawa cases elsewhere, 

 are often quaint and amusing. An old woman defendant was 

 asked whether she had any more witnesses, and replied 

 dramatically, " Do you not hear the gecko chirping ? He is 

 confirming what I have said. What more do you want ? Is it 

 not evident that the plaintiff is lying ? " She won her case, 

 and thanked the gecko for his evidence. 



Forts, &c. — The old Portuguese fort, a quarter of a mile west 

 of the Government bungalow on the north coast of the island, 

 is interesting, as having been in ruins when the Dutch took 

 possession of Delft. 



Baldseus gives a picture of this fort as it was when the 

 Dutch took it from the Portuguese. It certainly, even at the 

 present day, looks like a Portuguese building. But the 

 tradition is that it was erected by Mikamam, a king of the 

 fisher caste (Karaiyar). In October, 1903, X visited the ruins 



