PEOPLE OF CEYLON. 119 



the sportsman approaches his game in front, or perhaps, as the sailors would say, on the 

 quarter, that he may aim at either of the only two vital parts upon which a rifle hall will have 

 any effect, one heing directly in the forehead, through which the brain is penetrated, and the 

 other behind the ear. If the hunter chance to come up to his elephant in the rear, he raises a 

 shout or makes a noise, by which the huge animal is attracted, and, throwing forward its ears, 

 exposes the vital spot, at which his ruthless enemy aims the deadly ball and brings down his 

 huge victim. The elephants of Ceylon are not so large as those of other parts of India, and 

 but a small proportion of them have tusks. 



Of serpents, there are but twenty species_, four only of which are venomous, the cobra and 

 tic prolango being the most deadly. The latter is said to be endowed with great cunning, and 

 to lie in wait for the purpose of attacking the passing traveller. The stories which are told of 

 the anaconda, boa constrictor or python, seizing upon cattle and horses, and even horsemen, 

 must be received as fabulous. There is, however, a species of boa peculiar to the island, which 

 is capable of swallowing a deer whole, and after they have indulged in venison to that degree, 

 and become surfeited with so substantial a meal, they fall readily a prey to the captor. This 

 is believed to be the extent of the powers of deglutition of the Ceylon boas ; those enormous 

 serpents, which are said to swallow an entire ox, horns and all, being unknown in that region. 

 It may not be amiss to refer here to a remedy for venomous bites, for which popular opinion in 

 the east claims considerable efficacy, this is a paste made by moistening the powder of ipeca- 

 chuana with water, and applying it to the external injury. Some wonderful effects have been 

 reported from the use of this simple means in various cases, of not only bites from venomous 

 serpents, but of stings by the scorpion and various poisonous fish. 



The population of Ceylon is estimated at about 1,442,062, of whom 8,275 are whites, 

 1,413,486 colored persons, and 20,431 aliens and resident strangers. The inhabitants are 

 composed of the natives, termed Cingalese, of a small proportion of Europeans, principally 

 government officials, military officers and merchants with their families, and of negroes, Malays, 

 and Chinese. The Cingalese were less ugly in appearance than was expected, many of the men, 

 in fact, (as for the women few were seen, and none of the better class,) have expressive and even 

 handsome faces, and their forms are not without symmetry. They seem to be amiable in dispo- 

 sition and are remarkable for their eifeminate habits. So similar is the costume of the two 

 sexes that it is difficult often for the casual observer to distinguish the man from the woman. 

 The males allow their hair to grow to a great length, which they foster with much care, and 

 fasten to the tops of their heads with large tortoise shell combs, such as our ladies at home 

 might not be ashamed to wear. 



The common dress of the better class of the Cingalese is a jacket, worn next to the skin, and 

 from the waist downward a colored petticoat, wrapped in graceful folds round the limbs and 

 falling to the feet. The head, well protected as it is with the superabundant hair, is generally 

 bare of any artificial covering. Some of the common people, however, wrap a cloth turban-wise 

 around their brows, which they shift to their body when mingling with the crowds, and thus 

 eke out their scanty drapery, which ordinarily consists only of a petticoat. Some of the abori- 

 gines, who live in a rude condition within the fastnesses of the great forests, confine themselves 

 in dress to the simple wardrobe of nature. 



In addition to the Cingalese, who are doubtless descendants of the aborigines of the island, 

 there are the Malabars, whom tradition traces to the neighboring shores of India, and whose 



