THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
47 
be employed, even the drinking glasses used at table are apt 
to split and fall asunder among the fingers of the guests. 
The violence of this scourge being broken by the intervening 
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 strongest 
proof of the temperate nature of the climate. Fruits, vegeta- 
bles, 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- 
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 fort of Jaffna was given up by the Dutch to our troops 
as soon as they appeared before it. It is small, but exceed- 
