("^132 ) 
.3 given ^rom Valenfcyn's " Ceylon " showing 
that the house close by Wolfendahl Church 
was a Government House. Sir Alexander 
Swettenham k.c.m.g , Governor of British 
Guiana writes, " The scene of the picture 
is I believe, in the centre of the Port 
Church, Colombo, which prior to its dedi- 
cation (1818—1824) was the Dutch Governor's 
House, in which all Council meetings took 
place. You will see in Valentyn that the 
old Government House was where the Fort 
Church is." 
The other pictures are : — 
"Castle, Colombo, as seen from the Bear." 
It is not quite clear what the " Bear " was. 
Could there have been a " bar " at the entrance 
to the harbour; or possibly some sluice 
gate to a canal, for in picture No. 3 the 
sluice gate is marked in stone " De Beer." 
" Fortress, Caliture as seen from the River- 
side." This of course is Kalutara. 
" Colombo as seen from the Company's 
Roadstead" — a typical Dutch "scene with 
canal and sluices. The only Eastern thing in 
it is the distant palms ; we have no clue, 
as to the locality represented. 
Punto Gate as seen from the Land 
road " — this is a considerable fort and signal 
station with high coast hills near. 
Fortress Hamnienbiel, as seen from Kays," 
and another of the same forb seen from the 
sea, — is it possibly Kayts? It represents a 
fort to all appearance on a small islcet near a 
lowlying palm clad coast. 
"Fortress Mannar seen from the river," all 
trace of which has now gone. 
"View of Castle, of JafFnapatam seen from 
the warehouse " ; a longi low building with 
a large church on the right. " View of the 
Citadel of Jaffnapatam seen from the Land- 
side," all sliowing the church — of which the 
next is a picture of the interior ; a fine large 
building, extremely bare with smooth stone 
flooring. 
There is also another picture, date 1656, in 
Mr. Jo,seph's private office supposed to be the 
Port of Colombo, but it is such an evidently 
exaggera^.ed and misrepresented picture that it 
is most probably a bogus one, though there 
is no doubt of the genuine date of the picture. 
These pictures will be ot great interest to 
any studying or interested in the history of 
the island, and topographically are of considerable 
value. 
«, 
THE OLD DUTCH FORTS. 
Dec. 28th, 1903. 
DeAH Sir, —When giving particulairs 
recently of a series of photographs of 
pictures of Ceylon in Dutch times, recently 
obtained by the Colombo Museum you re- 
marked apropos of the picture of the 
• Fortress Mannar seen from the river,' ' all 
trace of which has now gone.' This is in- 
correct ; the Mannar Fort still exists in a 
very good state of preservation, and is the 
most conspicuous object in approaching 
Mannar by the causeway over the so-called 
river. The date over the main gateway is 
1686, and that on the quaint-belfry of the 
fort, 1757 ; so that the latter most probably 
appears in Steiger's sketch, which your article 
gays, was painted about 1760, 
You ask with regard to • Fortress Ham- 
menhiel as seen from Kays,' ' Is it possibly 
Kay ts ?' There is no doubt about the matter. 
Fort Hammenhiel still guards the entrance 
to Kayts Harbour— not from smugglers or 
a hostile expedition, but from the advances of 
plague or cholera, for it is now a quarantine 
preventive station and very spick and span. 
J. P. L. 
REiVIINISCENCES-LEGAL AND 
CLERICAL. 
(Communicated. ) 
The announcement by Sir Henry Blake, in 
his first public utterance in the Island, that 
his interest in its affairs dated from the time 
he had heard of it from one of Ceylon's 
greatest and most sympathetic Rulers, has 
struck a chord which will find an echo in 
many grateful hearts. In that view, no 
apology is needed for correcting a statement 
connected with Sir William Gregory's name 
which has obtained publicity within two days 
of Sir Henry's assumption of the reins of 
Government. The reference to Sir William 
Gregory and Sir Henry Dias, in the (com- 
municated ?) article on the Dissawaship of 
the North- Western Province, in Saturday's 
Observer, is not quite correct. Sir William 
was Governor of the Island from 1872 (when 
he was Mr. Gregory) to 1877 (the year after 
he got his knighthood.) Sir Henry Dias was 
not appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court 
till 1879; so it could not be Mr. Gregory's 
inference that a good seat on his horse pro- 
mised fitness for a seat on the Bench, which 
secured Mr. Dias' elevation to the Supreme 
Court, And if "the next Gazette " ?Litev the 
Governor's expressed admiration of the horsey 
Barrister, contained the appointment of the 
latter as a Puisne Justice, it was not a Gazette 
issued during Sir William's rule; and the 
Governor was not the genial sporting Irish- 
man who shared with the Sinhalese Lawyer 
both a love of horses and a good seat. The 
story told in Saturday's Observer needs revi- 
sion, therefore ; and the facts as I heard 
them 31 years' ago are as follows : — 
Mr. Gregory, a few days after his arrival 
in Ceylon, rode out one morning to Victoria 
Park, then known as the Circular, with his 
Aide-de Camp, and seeing a handsome dark 
man giving his horse a canter, followed by a 
pack of dogs, sent his A D C to him when 
he had moderated his pace, to say that the 
Governor of the Island wished to make his 
acquaintance. Mr. Dias rode up to His 
Kxcellency, and then followed an in- 
troduction which resulted in friendship and 
mutual admiration. Shortly after his 
assumption of the Government, Mr. Gregory 
recommended a countryman of his, Mr. 
H. W. Gillman, one of the ablest and most 
"judicial" members of the Civil Service, 
who was acting as District Judge of Kandy, 
for confirmation in that office. The Lawyers 
were up in arms against the appointment, 
and, led by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Richard 
Morgan, the official leader of the Bar, 
and Mr. Dias, the unofficial leader, 
sent a strong protest, claiming the District 
Judgeship as a professional prize with 
the Colombo District Judgeship. The 
