chap. vi. CHARACTER OF THE VEDDAHS. 109 



sandy gullies and pits. The Veddah watches at some 

 solitary hole which still contains a little water, and to 

 this the deer and every species of Ceylon game resort. 

 Here his broad-headed arrow finds a supply. He dries 

 the meat in long strips in the sun, and cleaning out 

 some hollow tree, he packs away his savoury mass of 

 sun-cooked flesh, and fills up the reservoir with wild 

 honey ; he then stops up the aperture with clay. 



The last drop of water evaporates, the deer leave 

 the country and migrate into other parts where moun- 

 tains attract the rain and the pasturage is abundant. 

 The Veddah burns the parched grass wherever he 

 passes, and the country is soon a blackened surface — 

 not a blade of pasture remains ; but the act of burn- 

 ing ensures a sweet supply shortly after the rains com- 

 mence, to which the game and the Veddahs will then 

 return. In the meantime he follows the game to 

 other districts, living in caves where they happen to 

 abound, or making a temporary hut with grass and 

 sticks. 



Every deer-path, every rock, every peculiar feature 

 in the country, every pool of water, is known to these 

 hunting Veddahs ; they are consequently the best 

 assistants in the world in elephant-hunting. They will 

 run at top speed over hard ground upon an elephant's 

 track which is barely discernible even to the practised 

 eye of a white man. Fortunately, the number of these 

 people is very trifling or the game would be scarce. 



