23 
THE ISLAND OF CEYLON, 
French; the latter found a secure retreat under the cannon 
of those forts, which their activity and the want of precaution 
on the part of their enemies had suffered to fall into their 
hands. And thus the attempts of the English to attain pos- 
session of Ceylon were for this time frustrated. 
The immense accessions of territory which the English have 
acquired in the East Indies since the conclusion of the Ame- 
rican war, have rendered them greatly an over-match for any 
other European power in that quarter of the world. On the 
vast peninsula of India in particular, there is scarcely a power 
either foreign or native that can oppose to them even a shadow 
of resistance ; and they are left at leisure to cultivate the in- 
valuable advantages which this rich country presents to their 
commerce. The chief obstacle to their enterprises is the want 
of stations where their ships might be enabled at all times to 
baffle the violent storms incidental to that climate. As the 
whole of that large tract, which we possess along the Coro- 
mandel coast, presents nothing but open roads, all vessels are 
obliged, on the approach of the monsoons, to stand out into 
the open seas ; and there are many parts of the coast that 
can be approached only during a few months of the year. 
As the harbour of Trincomalee, which is equally secure at all 
seasons, offered the means of obviating these disadvantages, 
it was evident that, on the first rupture with the Dutch, our 
countrymen would attempt to gain possession of it. Accord- 
ingly, the junction of the Dutch with the French Republic 
in the late war was the signal for the commencement of our 
