71 
District of Jafnapatam, 
barked, and met the fifty-second regiment which had been sent 
over from Negapatam on the opposite coast for the same 
purpose. The passage from Point Pedro to Negapatam is 
usually made by boats in a few hours. The King of Jafna- 
patam built a small fort here against the incursions of the 
Moors and Malabars. It was taken by the Portuguese in 
1620; and lost by them in 16*58. It was the last station they 
retained in the island. 
Jafnapatam was once a kingdom by itself, but was divided 
into several provinces. It is very populous, and has a great 
number of villages and churches for all the various denomi- 
nations of its inhabitants. The four lesser provinces contained 
in it are Beligame, Tennermarche, Waddermarche, and ^Patchia- 
palle. The Dutch built a church in 1658 at Telipoli near 
a shady and pleasant grove. Several very good villages- lie] along 
here, with churches and school houses for educating the native 
children. 
The fort of Jaffna was given up by the Dutch to our troops 
as soon as they appeared before it. It is small, but exceed- 
ingly neat and well built. The Pettah, or Black Town with- 
out the walls, which is of a quadrangular figure, is larger and 
more populous than that of Trincomalee. Since Columbo was 
taken possession of by the English, several Dutch families 
have quitted it, and taken up their residence in the neigh- 
bourhood of Jaffna ; as this latter place is much cheaper, and 
better supplied with all the necessaries of life, several of 
which are scarcely to be procured in the other parts of the 
island. 
The inhabitants of Jaffna consist of a collection of various 
races. The greatest number are Malabars of Moorish extrac- 
