country, who afforded so complete a model for academic painting. They are admirable swimmers, and remain in the water many hours unfatigued. They possess great agility, and are well calculated for the business of sailors, or any employment which requires animated exertion and great pliability of body. They use no clothing except a slip of calico, not larger than a fig leaf, tied with a coarse string round their loins. Some of them, however, wore straw caps, of their own manufacture, in form resembling Grecian helmets. Their countenances presented an aspect of undisguised nature, and rural innocence rarely to be seen. In their national character, they are quiet, peaceable, harmless, contented, and strongly marked by habitual taciturnity. They are all nominally Christians, professing the religion of the church of Rome; and possess no other form of worship. But their knowledge of any faith is in the highest degree limited, if they be not entirely ignorant. We saw none of the females of this tribe; but may reasonably conclude that the distinguishing beauties of the sex are displayed in their persons with corresponding perfection.

Until within these few years last past, this obscure race lived in a state of the greatest poverty. Their only food was fish, which they caught, and a bulbous root which they gathered on the sea side as a substitute for better vegetables. Among the many improvements introduced by colonel

Barbut into every corner of his province, it is pleasing to observe that he has added to the comfort of the indigent inhabitants of the two brothers. Since they had the good fortune to attract his notice, they have been kept industriously employed, and their appearance has greatly meliorated. Excellent boats and nets are provided for them, and a plentiful supply of rice is served out as a reward for their toil.

The country is flat all the way from Manaar to Jaffnapatam. In many places the soil is sandy and barren; but in others highly cultivated and fertile, exhibiting a flourishing state of husbandry. The choultry, or resting-place, where we landed, was a large bungaloe richly decorated to receive the governor. A table placed in the centre of the hall was covered with a beautiful display of flowers and fruit, amongst which a profusion of grapes, disposed in tasteful clusters, made an elegant appearance. A native band of music played, and a company of female dancers exhibited all the wild steps and rude gestures peculiar to India. All the Dutch officers, and those of the English, who were not immediately employed in the garrison, surrounded with a concourse of native inhabitants, met his excellency here to pay their respects, and accompanied him the remaining two miles into the fort of Jaffnapatam. On his entering the gate of the outer barrier, a salute com

menced from the ramparts; and his arrival was celebrated with all the usual honours.

In the house of the commandant he was welcomed by a most accomplished hostess: and during the period of our residence at Jaffnapatam, we were entertained there with a degree of luxury and elegance excelled in no corner of the world. We had heard much in praise of Mrs. Barbut's charms, but after enjoying the pleasure of her society, her engaging qualities exceeded all our expectations. So much beauty and grace, combined with such attractive sweetness, and captivating politeness, are but rarely concentrated in one person. The colonel, uniting indefatigable attention to business with a cheerful disposition and gentle manners, is blessed with the innate talent of inspiring happiness in the bosoms of all around him. Several public dinners and balls were given in his house, on the occasion of the governor's visit, attended by the most respectable European inhabitants of the settlement, among whom were twenty young ladies born in Ceylon of Dutch parents. Brought up entirely in that remote corner, it is not to be supposed that their education is perfect: but they are, in general, comely, and possess a great deal of that artless vivacity and unconstrained deportment which accompany innocence. For many improvements in the style both of their dress and manners they are indebted to the kind patronage of Mrs. Barbut.

It is with deep regret that the writer of these sheets has occasion to add that lieutenant-colonel Barbut the agent of revenue, and commandant above mentioned, died from the effects of a noxious climate, in the service of his king and country, during the Candian campaign of 1803. His death was deplored as a public loss to the island of Ceylon; and he has left behind him the character of an able officer and an amiable man.

A British agent of revenue, or collector of rents in India, possesses all the power and consequence of a proprietor of land and governor of a province. The number of native assistants attached to his department is so great, that he performs his functions with as much ease, and undergoes no more fatigue in collecting the revenue of a province, than the richest nobleman in England experiences in receiving the rents of his estates. It is not therefore difficult to conceive how much the happiness of the people, and the prosperity of the country, depend upon the talents and dispositions of a man placed in a situation of such high importance.

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CHAPTER X.

ROUTE ALONG THE COAST OF CEYLON FROM TRINCOMALLEE TO

JAFFNAPATAM.

WHEN passing along the eastern coast of Ceylon from Trincomallee to Jaffnapatam, the route as far as the village of Cockly, on the north side of the river, is the same which we travelled on our way to Aripo. That part of the road is therefore already described, by the rude sketch which has been given of it in the preceding chapter. The writer of these sheets having first touched the shores of the island at Trincomallee, and having proceeded thence to Columbo by Jaffnapatam, had an opportunity of seeing a portion of the country, which was cut off from view by the direction of the tour in 1800. On that account a chasm is here filled up by the following extract from a former journal.

The road from Trincomallee to Molative runs almost parallel to the sea coast, which on that side of the island bends towards the north-west. After leaving the cottages