The Fort Stands Upon A Projecting Point Of Land, Which Rises To
About Seventy Feet Above The Level Of The Galle Face (The
Race-Course) Which Faces It.
Thus it commands the land approach
across this flat plain on one side and the sea on the other.
This same fort is one of the hottest corners of Ceylon, and forms
a desirable residence for those who delight in a temperature of
from 90 degrees to 140 degrees in the shade. Bathing is the
great enjoyment, but the pleasure in such a country is destroyed
by the knowledge that sharks are looking out for you in the sea,
and crocodiles in the rivers and tanks; thus a man is nothing
more than an exciting live-bait when he once quits terra firma.
Accidents necessarily must happen, but they are not so frequent
as persons would suppose from the great number of carnivorous
monsters that exist. Still, I am convinced that a white man
would run greater risk than a black; he is a more enticing bait,
being bright and easily distinguished in the water. Thus in
places where the natives are in the habit of bathing with
impunity it would be most dangerous for a white man to enter.
There was a lamentable instance of this some few years ago at
Trincomalee. In a sheltered nook among the rocks below the fort,
where the natives were always in the habit of bathing, a party of
soldiers of the regiment then in garrison went down one sultry
afternoon for a swim.
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