Hannadige Jeronis Pieris (1829-94). Printed within these covers are 24 letters written by Hannddige Jeronis Pieris in the period 1853-1856 and a letter of his, in Sinhala, sent from Britain in the year 1877. Using Jeronis Pieris' letters as a point of departure and assisted, by the stock of knowledge he has gathered during his researches into the island's history, the author analyses several facets of colonial history. This analysis is threaded by information on the Hannadige Pieris and Warusandrinadige de Soysa families and by attention to the various sources available to the historians of nineteenth century Ceylon.