Fort Cornwallis was built at the place where Captain Francis Light landed in 1786. Its name, Cornwallis, is derived from the name of the admiral of the then East India Company. Initially, the fort was built from wood, but it was renovated with bricks in circa 1810, when several religious wars in Europe and superpowers' struggles to extend their influence in Southeast Asia had almost been resolved, but on the other hand, the war between Britain and newly-established America was about to break out. After walking around the fort, I entered the ruin of the fort. The statue of Francis Light stood in the back and a board for snapshots - I don't know how this kind of board is called in English - was in front of the statue. Looking at this scene, his statue looked like just only one of the tourist spots. Reading the description of the statue, however, I had an interest in his son, who explored Australia.
マラッカ海峡クルージング記： ジョージタウン観光 コーンウォリス要塞
１７８６年にキャプテン・フランシス・ライトが初めて上陸した場所に建築された要塞。コーンウォリスとは当時の東インド会社提督の名前。当初は木造だったが１８１０年頃に現在のようなレンガ造りに立て直された。１８００年頃と言えば、ヨーロッパでの宗教戦争が落ち着き、東南アジアでの植民地争奪戦争でも列強の住み分けが完了した頃だが、一方で英米戦争の兆しが見え始めた頃。外周を一周した後、内部に入ってみた。奧に彼の銅像があったが、単に客寄せの場に過ぎないようだった。説明板を読むと、彼の息子の一人が南オーストラリアを調査し、アデレードの街を作り上げたらしい。少し興味あり。
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