CuAP. VII.] FATE OF THE ABORIGINES. 373 



tations of the "devil dancers" in case of danger and b.c. 

 emergency' ; a Singhalese, rather than put a Cobra de ^^^' 

 CapeUo to death, encloses the reptile in a wicker cage, 

 and sets it adrift on the nearest stream ; and in the island 

 of Nainativoe, to the south-west of Jaffa, there was till 

 recently a little temple, dedicated to the goddess Naga 

 Tambiran, in which consecrated serpents were tenderly 

 reared by the Pandarams, and daily fed at the expense of 

 the worshippers.^ 



^ For an account of Demon wor- 

 ship as it still exists in Ceylon, see 

 Sir J. Emeeson Tennent's History of 



Christianity in CeyJmi, ch. v. p. 230. 

 - Casie Chitiy's Gazetteer, i^x,, 

 p. 169. 



B li 3 



