Ceylmi.] 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



195 



monsoon. Here is a fortress of two bastions, erected on the summit of a 

 small hill. The landing-place, which is perfectly free from surf, lies under 

 the rising ground on which the fort stands, having the ruins of a house a 

 little to the S. of it- About a quarter of a mile from the landing-place, 

 passing the fort, is a well containing good water. A pathway leads directly 

 from the fort to the well, where water may be filled, and the casks rolled 

 down the beach. 



BATICALOE. — This island is about two miles up a small arm of the 

 sea, in latitude 7* 45' N., and longitude 81° 53 E. It is about three miles 

 in circumference, and there is a pleasant walk on the sand beach round it. 

 The fort is of a square construction, liaving four bastions. The internal 

 dimensions arc small, containing only a low barrack, a granary, a magazine, 

 and the spacious mansion of the Commandant. A little village stands a few 

 hundred yards from the walls of the fort, and several huts are scattered over 

 the island. At the farther end of it are two Portuguese chapels within a 

 short distance of each other, neatly built of stone. The great body of the 

 inhabitants are Hindoos and Mahometans. The number of Protestant 

 Christians is very small. 



The inlet of the sea, which surrounds the little Island of Baticaloe, 

 extends thirty miles into the country, and contains several other islands of 

 similar dimensions. The frith in many places is one mile broad, and affords 

 excellent navigation for boats. Unfortunately a sand bar stretches across 

 the entrance, on which are no more than six feet water, so that only small 

 vessels can come into it ; but when once entered, they ride in complete 

 security. The anchorage is about two miles from the mouth of the 

 river, bearing about S., and the Friar s Hood, a remarkable mountain about 

 five leagues inland, S. S. W. The road is not always safe in the N. E. mon- 

 soon, but in the S. W. monsoon it is always so. 



Provisions and Refreshments. — You may water at the island^ 

 landing your casks at the wharf, and roll them to a well on the green. It is 

 necessary to carry funnels and buckets to draw the water up. Wood may 

 be cut on the banks of the river, near the bar, in any quantity. Bullocks and 

 other refreshments are in abundance. 



TRINCOMALEE. — This bay, the entrance of which is about five 

 miles broad, is formed by Foul Point, its S. E. extreme, and Flagstaff 

 Point, in latitude W 33 N., and longitude 81° 22 E. This point is the 

 N. extremity of a narrow and crooked peninsula that bounds the E, and 

 S. E« sides of Trincomalee Bay, and separates Back Bay from it, and from 

 the great bay to the S. Ships generally moor abreast the town. During 

 the S. W. monsoon ships lie in Back Bay, with Flagstaff Point bearing 



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