Chap. VII.] BADULLA. 267 



prince of OomxIi into a fort, defended by earth-works ; 

 and the modern town, in the activity of its bazaars and 

 tlie comfort and order of its dweUings, generally sm'- 

 roundcd by gardens of coco-nuts, coffee, and tobacco, 

 attests the growing prosperity and contentment of tlie 

 district. 



About four hundred yards from the Fort is tlie tepid 

 spring, called by the natives " the smoke-mouthed well," 

 which is held in equal veneration by Buddliists, Hin- 

 dus, and Mahometans. The Hindus believe tliat twcj 

 chank shells, still preserved in an adjacent dewale which 

 is dependent on the great temple of Kattragam, were 

 obtained from two cobra de capellos, wliicli rose with 

 them from tlie depths of tliis well ; and the Maliometans 

 liave a tradition that a devout Santon, on his pilgrimage 

 to Adam's Peak, died, and was buried near the spring. 

 It is remarkable, too, that in the mountains of Ooda- 

 Kinda, in western Oovah, there is a small connmuiity 

 known as the " Padua-guriiwas,'" who profess Islam, but 

 conform to Kandyan customs ; and it seems to be 

 doubtfid whether they are Mahometan converts, or the 

 descendants of a tribe from the continent of India. 



I have mentioned elsewhere \ the existence in Oovah 

 of a race of out-castes, the Ambatteyos, so degraded, 

 that even the Eodiyas prevent their dogs from eating 

 the fragments of food cooked by them. It is further 

 illustrative of the development of caste in Ceylon, that, 

 in the neighbourhood of Badulla, there is a class known 

 as Pareyos, or " strangers," and sometimes as Weediye- 

 ettos, or " people of the high road," who are beheved to 

 be the offspring of some Portuguese captives, made 

 slaves after the massacre of Constantiue de Sa y 

 Noroiia. They were permitted to intermariy with women 

 of rank who had been expelled from Kandy for crimes ; 

 but these, as a less punishment than consigning them to 

 the Piodiyas, were degraded to the condition of roval 



> 8ce and: \nl. II. Pi. vii. di. iv. p. I'.tl. 



