1o?> THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. vi. 



The dimensions of the Veddah country are about 

 eighty miles from north to south, by forty in width. 

 A fine mountain, known as the ' Gunner's Coin,' is 

 an unmistakable landmark upon the northern bound- 

 ary. From this point a person may ride for forty 

 miles without seeing a sign of a habitation ; the whole 

 country is perfectly uncivilised, and its scanty occu- 

 pants, the ' Veddahs,' wander about like animals, 

 without either home, laws, or religion. 



I have frequently read absurd descriptions of their 

 manners and customs, which must evidently have been 

 gathered from hearsay, and not from a knowledge of 

 the people. It is a commonly believed report that the 

 Veddahs 'live in the trees', and a stranger imme- 

 diately confuses them with rooks and monkeys. Who- 

 ever first saw Veddah huts in the trees would have 

 discovered, upon enquiry, that they were temporary 

 watch-houses, from which they guard a little plot of 

 korrakan from the attacks of elephants and other wild 

 beasts. Far from living in the trees, they live no- 

 where ; they wander over the face of their beautiful 

 country, and migrate to different parts at different sea- 

 sons, with the game which they are always pursuing. 

 The seasons in Ceylon vary in an extraordinary man- 

 ner, considering the small size of the island. The wet 

 season in one district is the dry season in another, and 

 vice versa. Wherever the dry weather prevails, the 

 pasturage is dried up ; the brooks and pools are mere 



