CHAP. VLL] 



FATE OF THE ABORIGINES. 



573 



tations of the "devil dancers" in case of danger and B.C. 

 emergency 1 ; a Singhalese, rather than put a Cobra de 104 - 

 capello 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 Jaffna, 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^ 



1 For an account of Demon wor- 

 ship as it still exists in Ceylon, see 

 Sir J. EiiEESOJJ TEJ^TEXT'S History of 



Christianity in Ceylon, 

 8 CASIE CHITIT'S 

 p. 169. 



ch. v. p. 236. 



BBS 



