THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
19 
bushes, suddenly falling upon the enemy, and then hastily re- 
treating from one position to another, before he has an oppor- 
tunity of observing the course they have taken. By this 
method of warfare, the Dutch suffered as much after their 
victories as before ; and their communications with the coast, 
which, from the nature of the country, must at any rate have 
been difficult, was by this mode of warfare rendered almost 
impossible, as every convoy would have required an army to 
defend it. 
In addition to these difficulties arising from the nature of 
the country, and the manner of fighting practised by the 
inhabitants, the Dutch troops suffered dreadfully from the 
effects of the climate, which, in the interior parts, is exceed- 
ingly unwholesome to Europeans. The immense woods 
which cover the whole face of the country, naturally render 
the atmosphere moist and damp ; and the heavy dews that 
succeeded the intense heat of the day, which was not refreshed 
by any sea breezes, overpowered the constitution even of those 
who had for years been settled on the coast. The only method 
by which the Dutch could have obviated the disasters arising 
from the climate, would have been the employment of native 
troops, as we do the Sepoys in India; but this measure their 
own misconduct had rendered impossible. The Ceylonese of 
the inland parts, like all the other inhabitants of mountainous 
countries, are exceedingly attached to their native land, and 
have a proportionable antipathy to a foreign yoke. This at- 
tachment, originating in the nature of the country, supplies the 
