The return ferry ride from Nagadeepa - Nainatheevu, Sri Lanka.

A passenger ferry-boat.

Inside the ferry - collecting the fare Rs.20/- per passenger.

The small diesel engine powering the boat.

Boat being moored before disembarking at Kurikkaduvan.

A peaceful ride with lifebelts worn. When the sea is choppy the boat service is temporarily halted.

Nagadeepa - Nainatheevu, Sri Lanka.

Sculpture of a Naga's head.

Fresh and aged flower of the 'Poovarasu' - 'Soporiyagas'

The road leading to the 'Nagapooshani Amman' temple.

At Nagadeepa - Nainatheevu, Sri Lanka.

At the jetty near the Nagapooshani Amman temple.

At the Nagadeepa Vihara.

Scenes on the road to Nainatheevu - Nagadeepa, Sri Lanka.

Old type of fencing using palmyra leaves.

A village scene.

Market town.

Roadway through a village.

The old style Jaffna is still very much in evidence in these Islands. The Islanders were famous for tasty cooking and involvement in trade throughout Sri Lanka. In the 1950s almost every town in Ceylon had a 'Suruttu-kadai' (cigar-shop), and plantain fruit shop owned and managed by an Islander. They did wholesale and retail trade in grains. The repeated racial riots put an end to these shops. They are now a distant memory of the older folk in the Island. A genetic study of the old Islanders might give a clue as to the DNA peculiarities of the original Naga inhabitants of these Islands going back 2500 years.