188 COLOMBO TO KAXDY. [Part VIT. 



Under the Kandyan kings their humiUation was utter 

 and complete. The designation Eodiya, or rodda^ means, 

 hterally, "fihh." They were not permitted to cross a 

 ferry, to draw water at a well, to enter a village, to till 

 land, or learn a trade, as no recognised caste could deal 

 or hold intercom^se with a Eodiya. Formerly they were 

 not allowed to build houses with two walls or a double 

 roof, but hovels in which a hurdle leaned against a 

 single wall and rested on the ground.^ They were 

 forced to subsist on alms or such gifts as they miglit 

 receive for protecting the fields from ^\dld beasts or biu"y- 

 ing the carcases of dead cattle ; but they were not 

 allowed to come within a fenced field even to beg. 

 They converted the hides of animals into ropes, and 

 prepared monkey-skins for covering tom-toms and drums, 

 which they bartered for food and other necessaries. They 

 were prohibited from wearing a cloth on their heads, and 

 neither men nor women were aUowed to cover their 

 boches above the waist or below the knee. If be- 

 nighted they dare not he down in a shed appropriated 

 to other travellers, but hid themselves in caves or de- 

 serted watch-huts. They could not enter a cornet of 

 justice, and if Avronged had to utter their complaints 

 from a distance. Though nominally Buddhists (but 

 conjointly demon-worshippers), they were not allowed 

 to go into a temple, and could only pray " standing afar 

 ofi:" 



Although they were permitted to have a headman, 

 who was styled then' hollo-icalhia, lus nomhiation was stig- 

 matised by requirmg the sanction of the common jailor, 

 who was likewise the sole medium of communication be- 

 tween the Eodiyas and the rest of the human race. So 

 vile and valueless were they in the eyes of the community, 

 that, under the Kandyan ride, when it was represented 

 to the king that the Eodiyas had so multii)hed as to be 

 a nuisance to the villagers, an order was given to reduce 

 their numbers by shooting a certain proportion in each 



Valkxtyx, Otitf cii Xici/ir ()o.<t-Iii(l!en, lutrotl. p. 7. 



