Chap. IV.] CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. 177 



they are intended to draw aside the evil eye ; the Ma- 

 hometans suspend objects from the ceiUngs of their 

 apartments for the same purpose ; and tlie object of 

 the Singhalese in placing these whitened chatties on 

 their gables, is to divert the mysterious influence fi^om 

 their dwelhngs.^ 



It is chiefly from the country north of the Kalany 

 that supplies of provisions are brought to the bazaars 

 of Colombo ; and however scrupulously the disciples of 

 Buddha may observe his injunction to abstain from 

 taking hfe, a stranger in travelhng this road is shocked 

 at the callous indifierence to the infliction of pain 

 which characterises their treatment of animals mtended 

 for market. Pigs are suspended from a pole, passed 

 between the fore and hind legs, and e\ance by incessant 

 cries the torture which they endure from the cords ; 

 fowls are brought from long distances hanging by their 

 feet ; and ducks are carried by the head, tlieu* necks 

 bent over the bearers' fingers to stifle their noise. 



But the most repulsive exliibition of all, is the mode 

 in which the flesh of the tiu-tle is sold piece-meal 

 whilst it is still aUve, by the families of the Tamil 

 fishermen at Jafiiia. The creatures are to be seen 

 m the market-place undergoing this frightful mutila- 

 tion ; the plastron and its integuments having been 

 previously removed, and the animal thrown on its back, 

 so as to display all the motions of the heart, viscera, 

 and lungs. A broad knife, from twelve to eighteen 

 inches in length, is first inserted at the left side, and 

 the women, who are generally the operatoi's, introduce 

 one hand to scoop out the blood, Avhich oozes slowly. 

 The blade is next passed round, till the lower shell 



^ Amongst the Tamils at Jaffna 

 tlie same belief preyails as among-st 

 the Irish and Scotch, that their cattle 

 are liable to uijury from the blight 

 of an evil eye, thus recalling the 

 exclamation of Virgil's Shepherd, 

 "Nescio quia teneros oculus mihi 

 fascinat agnos ! " Queiy. Is there 



VOL. II. N 



any mysterious connection between 

 the proliibition to corct contained in 

 the tentli commandment, and the 

 hovvor o{ t\m cvi/ <i/i<, so often alluded 

 to in the Old and New Testaments, 

 especially I'roverbs xxviii. 22, and 

 Mark vii'. 22 ? 



