LETTERS FROM LANDS ACROSS THE SEAS

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 270, 13 November 1937, Page 3 (Supplement)

LETTERS FROM LANDS ACROSS THE SEAS

C/o Mrs. D. F. Basiah, East St., Kayts, Ceylon. Dear Peter Pan and Wendy,—

I would very much like to become a member of your club. I am a Ceylonese Tamil youth of 16 years of age, and my native place is Colombo. This town was named after Columbus by the Portuguese, who first settled here in 1518, under Lopez Suarez Albergaria; the Sinhalese name was Kolampa (seaport). The Dutch, under General Hulft, took the place in 1656, after seven months' siege; it capitulated to the British in 1796.

The present city is the capital of Ceylon, which the British regard as the key of the Indian Ocean; it consists of a European town or fort, and a native town or pettah. The fort was originally constructed by the Portuguese and Dutch, but has been replaced by a town laid out in European fashion, with streets shaded by trees and handsome commercial buildings. The Governor's residence (Queenshouse), general post office, and other Government offices are situated here; the clock tower stands on the highest part of the town, and the military barracks in the quarters of it.

The native town, or pettah, is separated from and situated eastward of the fort; its streets are narrow lines of shops kept by natives of various description. The Kachcheri (Government

Agent's Office), town hall and municipal offices are situated on it. The Law Courts, and near them All Saints' Church, with its conspicuous spire, are in the district known as Hults Drop, on the western boundary of Pettah, and on its northern boundaries Wolfendahl Church with a very grey dome-shaped roof, in which are the tombs of several Dutch Governors.

To the southward of the port is Gallface, a fine esplanade, having the sea on one side and a lake on the other, and the bouthern suburbs, which include Slave Island (where prisoners were kept during the Boer War), and on which are the military headquarters, native shops and a few European residences. South of Slave Island are suburbs including Kollupitya, having wide, shady roads, lined with bungalows of white population. These suburbs extend nearly to Mt. Savinia, some six miles south of the harbour. At Mt. Savinia there is an aerodrome being built, which will be ready by the end of this year, to link

From time to time letters arrive at Sunshine House bearing strange foreign postmarks and. telling of the long journeying* of our little Budget. Sometimes they come from America—gay, newsy letters, telling of schools and camps, of boy scouts and girl scouts; sometimes they are neatly written and come from an English school; or it may be they come from India or the far-off, restless East Recently there arrived at this office a letter from Ceylon, and as it tells of a land strange to us, and its people, Peter Pan publishes it for all his young friends to read. Young stamp collectors may care to correspond with the various overseas readers whose names appear in our pages to-day.

Ceylon, the pearl of the Indian Ocean, in the Empire airways.

Colombo has a very fine artificial harbour, and is a regular port of call for vessels plying from East to West. The h)arbour is completely encircled with breakwaters and in addition there are a graving dock, a guide pier, coaling jetties and coaling sheds. Lighthouses have been erected to guide the ships which call at Colombo from all parts of the globe carrying away with them our products of tea and rubber and bringing to our shores oommerce from other countries.

Now I have left this beautiful city and have come down to Kayts (an island in the northern part of Ceylon) where my parents live. Here I am studying navigation and seamanship and am going to make a long sea voyage to an Indian port, Akyab, situated on the mouth of Arakau river, to gain some sea service before I finish up my studies. If you refer to the Indian map you will find this rice port Akyab somewhere in

latitude 20 N. and longitude 94 E. I have joined the sailing vessel Seri Maha Lexshimx with many others and we are expecting to sail from Kayts by the loth inst., and hope to reach Akyab, which is 1000 odd miles, in nine to ten days as we have the south-west mpnsoons now. I think we will be staying at Port Akyab till the middle part of January, 1938. when we expect to sail homeward with our cargo of rice. Our homeward voyage will take some 20 to 30 days as we depend on wind. Again, in the latter part of February, we expect to sail for Akyab and will be home in June. From June to September (1938) we prepare our vessel for our season voyage to Akyab. Thus I will be spending my next couple of years at sea.

Well, dear Peter Pan and Wendy, I will ever appreciate your kindness if you care to put me in touch with some members of the club living in any part of the world, especially in New Zealand and South Sea islands, who are interested in reading and philately

The Ceylon Government issued King George V. stamps in 1912 with two or three varieties of each kind. In 1918 war stamps were issued. In 1935 Silver Jubilee stamps and pictorial stamps of 11 showing the important products of Ceylon were issued. This year a beautiful set of•-Coronation stamps are issued which will be replaced by George VI. pictorial similar to George V. stamps by the beginning of the New Year, 1938. Our present two-cent stamps, tapping rubber, will be put into a better design by next year. I have got the above stamps, Jubilee and Coronation sets, both mint and used, with Indian and Malay Jubilee sets for exchange. I would like to exchange the said sets for high value Australian and New Zealand Jubilee stamps and for New Zealand, South Sea islands, South Africa and other British colonies Coronation and Jubilee stamps. If you are interested in this letter I will write you more of Ceylon, its people, customs, etc., and also about my voyage to Akyab and all about Port Akyab in my next letters. I am, Yours faithfully, Rasiah Xavier.