458 THE NOETHERN FOEESTS. [Part IX. 



a few j^ears ; the former postal communication by the 

 circuitous route of Kandy and Trincomalie was found 

 inadequate to the wants of the planters ; and new roads 

 and canals have been eagerly projected to connect their 

 estates with the interior, and furnish the requisite facih- 

 ties for the conveyance of stores and the transport of 

 produce. 



The Moors are almost the only section of the native 

 population who divide this valuable cultm^e with the 

 Enghsh. They have numerous and flourishing villages 

 throughout the district, and almost monopohse the 

 trade of Batticaloa, exporting ebony, satin-wood and 

 timber, and 'introducing cotton goods and brass-ware 

 from the Coromandel coast. Their dhoneys ply between 

 Ceylon and the French possessions at Pondicherry 

 and Karical, and they export rice and Indian corn 

 to Colombo, and deer's-horns and wax to Point de 

 GaUe, collecting the latter from the Veddahs in barter 

 for coco-nuts and salt. They are hkewise manufac- 

 turers, and employ the Tamils in the village of Arra- 

 patoo in wea\dng cotton twist, imported from India, 

 into a coarse Idnd of damask, which is in such demand 

 that the supply is insufficient even for the consumption 

 of Colombo. 



Far less frequented by Singhalese and Europeans 

 than any other portion of Ceylon, the Eastern Province 

 has retained many ancient liabits, and presents more 

 frequent instances of curious social peculiarities than 

 are to be noticed in the rest of the island. In the 

 western extremity of the province adjoining Bintenne, 

 a custom prevails, and has acquired the recognition of 

 law, whereby nephews by the sister's side succeed to 

 the inheritance to tlie exclusion of tlie possessor's sons. 

 This anomalous arrangement is observed in various 

 parts of Jndia, in Sylhet and Kachar, in Canara, and 

 amoncrst the Nairs in the south of the Dekkan.^ 



^ " The Nairs are the military 

 caste iu Malabar; with them the 



not to leave her mother's house, or 

 even to consort witli her husband. It 



custom on marriage is for a woman is his duty to ]irovide liev with food, 



