No. 62.— 1909.] 



NOTES ON DELFT. 



351 



of the other fort, which is known as " Vedi Arasan's Fort." 

 They are situated in the north-west corner of the island, 

 and some 3 or 4 miles from the Government house. The 

 building, of which they are the remains, was apparently 

 originally a square fort, and about 3 or 4 yards square, but 

 is now merely a mound of coral stones grown over with 

 prickly pear and erukkalad (Calotropis gigantea). It is 

 probably, like the first fort, Portuguese, but they are both 

 attributed to the traditional native kings, Vedi Arasan the 

 Mukkuvar king and Mikamam the Karaiyar king. I under- 

 stand, however, that there are places in. the Batticaloa District 

 called after these personages, in the same way that every 

 large tank everywhere is attributed to " KuUakondan," so 

 that much weight need not be attached to the fact that 

 particular places are called after them. 



From the Colombo Journal I annex a description of the two 

 forts as they were in 1832. The writer (who calls himself 

 " Penn") begins by stating that the Dutch went to considerable 

 trouble in the island. " At the south side nearly 400 wells 

 have been dug through a body of solid rock to obtain a good 

 supply of water."* This refers to the wells at Sarippiddi in 

 the south-west corner of the island. 



" Ruins of considerable extent are visible in various places — > 

 a small but secure harbour on the north was formed by 

 blasting through the coral reef,"f i.e., the harbour at Mavil- 

 turai, a mile to the east of the Government bungalow. 



The writer goes on to describe the more important of the 

 two forts : — 



" A building of ' strange structure and device ' was raised 

 for the protection and habitation of the island lords. To 

 call this a fort would be giving it too dignified a name ; to 

 designate it a house would be still less near the mark ! Neither 

 is it a tower, peel-house, or droog,J square, round, oval, or 

 oblong ; ' it is like itself only,' a fortified habitation, known 



* This is apparently the origin of the same statement in Casie Chitty's 

 Gazetteer published in 1834. Query : are he and " Penn " identical ? 



f A statement also in Casie Chitty, who, however, is apparently 

 quoting from this number of the Colombo Journal, March 22, 1832. 



% Sic. droog — dry, in Dutch, 



