NOTES. 147 



service in the Malabar war. It was very rarely indeed that Sinhalese 

 soldiers were employed bj^ the Dutch in service outside the Island. 



The grantee was a member of a distinguished family in the 

 south. Dissanayake Moetjaer of Dondure (Mohottiyar of Devun- 

 dara) is mentioned in the Thombo of the Heerlykheyt (Manor) of 

 Dondure as living about the year 1630, and when Galle was captured 

 from the Portuguese in 1640 Dissanaike MudaUyar resided within 

 the Fort as the chief representative of Kmg Raja Sinha the Second. 

 In 1752 another member of the family, Don Pauloe, was living in 

 banishment in Tutieorin, while strangely enough his nephew, Don 

 Simon Mudalij^ar, was seven years later given a gold medal by 

 Governor Schreuder for his eminent services to the Dutch. 



To-day the mention of Sinhalese in connection with military 

 service raises a smile ; indeed, there is a rumour that the application 

 of a Sinhalese for military employment during the Boer war was 

 referred to the Superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum for report. 

 It is, therefore, of interest to note the will of Don Simon, dated 

 December 2, 1764, when he was about to accompany Governor van 

 Eck on his disastrous Kandyan expedition , in command of the Gal le 

 and Matara Lascarins. From this will we learn that he was a 

 Christian and residing at Hittetiya at the time, and that he had three 

 sons, all minors ; to the eldest he bequeathed his best silver 

 mounted sword ; to the second a similar sword and belt, which he 

 was wearing for the M'ar ; and to the youngest a gold chain whic^h 

 he had received from the King of Kandy. 



P. E. PIERIS. 



22. A Sinhalese Toy. — There is a toy in Ceylon corresponding 

 to the " bull roarer," used by boys to keep the cattle away from the 

 paddy fields. It is made of a thin oblong piece of wood or bamboo, 

 attached to a stick by a string or a kitul fibre and swung rapidly 

 round ; its humming sound is said to resemble a cheetah's growl. 

 The toy is called " helibambara " (^a^^S^db), and the piece of 

 bamboo " kotipetta " (<^^^5)^3©^s^^>:j'^), koti = cheetah, and petta = 

 thin piece of wood. ARTHUR A. PERERA. 



23. Sinhalese Iron and St eel. '^- — The use of iron — and included 

 in this term is steel produced by the fusion or cementation process — 

 dates back to a very early period in the world's history. 



In a paper read before the Royal Society, Sir Robert Hadfield 

 has described some specimens of ancient iron obtained from the 

 buried cities of Ceylon. These include a steel chisel of the fifth 

 century, an ancient nail, probably of the same date, and a bill-hook. 



* Reprinted from The Times of November 28, 1911. 



