70 District of Jafnapatam. 
sandy plain, is heated almost to suffocation ; while that part 
which receives the winds from the marshy grounds rather 
feels refreshed from the breeze. The violence of the land- 
winds in their hottest state is almost inconceivable. The in- 
tense heat cracks every thing which comes in their way: the 
glass in the windows is often splintered in pieces, on which 
account Veneti n blinds are generally used instead. Unless 
precautions be employed, even the drinking glasses used at 
table are apt to split and fall asunder among the fingers of 
the guests ; an accident which has often occurred to myself. 
The violence of this scourge being broken by the interven- 
ing sea before it reaches Jafnapatam, the breezes which afflict 
the continent serve here rather to agitate and refresh the 
air; and the fields clothed with verdant pasture are the stron- 
gest proof of the temperate nature of the climate. Fruits, 
vegetables, game, and poultry, abound every where in this 
district. There appears to be something in the atmosphere 
here different from the other parts of the island ; for it is 
only in the tract which lies between Point Pedro and Jaffna 
that sheep have ever been reared with success. The articles 
of foreign commerce produced here are of no great value, for 
though it affords some cinnamon and pepper, yet they are of 
an inferior kind to that which grows in the south-west of the 
island. 
The fort and town of Jaffna, the capital of the district, 
stands at the distance of some miles from the sea, but com- 
municates with it by means of a river navigable by boats. 
The river falls into the sea near Point Pedro, where there is 
also a fort and harbour, in which the troops sent by general 
Stewart from Trincomalee for the reduction of Jaffna disem- 
5 
