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CASE XXIII. 



A man and woman of the Veddas, the aboriginal hunting caste or 

 hill tribe of Ceylon. The bark-cloth bag hanging against the side 

 of the case is made from the bark of the upara tree, Antiaris 

 toxicaria,cdX\ed. "riti" in Sinhalese, "metavil" in Tamil, belonging 

 to the same natural order (Urticaceae) as the Bread-fruit and Jak- 

 fruit trees. 



The Veddas used to be an interesting race of forest haunting 

 nomads, but they are rapidly falling victims to civilization, 

 exchanging their ancient skill as bowmen and woodmen for a more 

 sordid if less precarious existence dwindling towards extinction. 



They are chiefly to be found in the Province of Uva, but it is 

 possible to tramp through the Province from top to bottom 

 without seeing a sign of a Vedda. Occasionally persons are 

 paraded as Veddas, but when seen away from their natural 

 environment the effect must be pitiful rather than picturesque. 



All the models were executed by a local modeller, Mr. R. G. 



Andriesz. 



CASE XXIV. 



Ancient Bronzes. — On the top shelf a three-branched candela- 

 brnni from Munisseram, presented by Hon. Mr. F. R. Saunders ; 

 below this a pair of gold-plated bronze curtain frames from Kotte 

 near Colombo, lent by P. E. Pieris, Esq., CCS. ; numerous minia- 

 ture bronze figures of gods and animals from Dondra Head ; bronze 

 lamps from Munisseram. On the bottom shelf the central object is 

 a large bronze Kothali or drinking goblet, with spout fashioned 

 after the manner of an elephant's head and trunk, from Ratnapura, 

 lent by P. E. Pieris, Esq. ; also an ancient bronze tripod from Kuru- 

 negala ; bronze hiinsas or sacred birds from Munisseram : a heavy 

 bronze Contemplation Box with thirty compartments, some of 

 which contain a few coins and other offerings, presented by the 

 Royal Asiatic Society. 



SOUTH VERANDAH. 



Passing through the doorway at the side of the Bronze Case on 

 to the South Verandah, a Portugese cannon dredged up in the 

 Colombo Harbour in 1888 is an important relic of the Portuguese 

 occupation of the country. Here is also exhibited a polished pillar 

 of Ceylon gneiss from the Mahara quarries employed in the con- 

 struction of the Colombo Breakwater, presented by John Kyle, Esq. 



Returning through the Stone Gallery to the 



WEST VERANDAH 



a number of inscribed stones will be found, together with two 

 or three Dutch and Portuguese tombstones. The work of collect- 

 ing and collating the numerous ancient inscriptions scattered over 



