“ They also grow and export tobacco, but not enough rice for their own requirements. A steamer calls weekly, and there is considerable trade. The railway extension from Kurunegala due north to Jaffna and the coast was commenced in 1900. Jaffna is the seat of a government agent and district judge, and criminal sessions of the supreme court are regularly held. Jaffna, or, as the natives call it, Yalpannan, was occupied by the Tamils about 204 B.C., and there continued to be Tamil rajahs of Jaffna till 1617, when the Portuguese took possession of the place. ”