July 2, 1908J 



NA rURE 



201 



is full of promise and interest. It seems clear from 

 the work up to the present that the retarding influ- 

 ence varying with the solar latitude felt by the spots 

 and lower lying vapours is not operative on the high- 

 level hydrogen. 



The rainy season at Mount Wilson having ended, 

 hopes are entertained that material for the further 

 study of these extensive vortices may be obtained, and 

 that' the theories of Faye and Emden, both of which 

 assign the origin of sun-spots to vortices, mav be 

 tested. T. F. C. 



A^ INVESTIGATION OF THE SOCIOLOC.y 

 AND RELIGION OF THE VEDDAS. 



THE Veddas have long excited the interest of 

 students, as they are generally believed to repre- 

 sent the aboriginal population of Ceylon, and to have 

 remained at that low level of culture which charac- 

 terises most of the hunting denizens of tropical 

 jungles. Drs. P. and F. Sarasin first investigated 

 the Veddas nearly twenty years ago, and published 

 their results in an important monograph in 1892, 

 which dealt mainly with the physical characters of 

 the people. They put forward the view that the 

 \'eddas are the nearest living representatives of that 

 stock from which the .Australians, on the one hand, 

 and the Dravidians, on the other, have diverged, and 

 the term Proto-Dravidian has been applied alike to 

 the Veddas and the race which they represent. 

 .Although a fair amount is known about the habits 

 and material culture of these jungle-folk, it was felt 

 that their sociology and religion should be thoroughly 

 studied by a trained investigator before it was too 

 late. The matter was brought before the Ceylon 

 Council in the autumn of last year by the Hon. John 

 Ferguson, C.M.G., and Dr. A. Willey, the director 

 of the Colombo Museum, and a grant was made, 

 which has since been raised to 500L, to enable this 

 investigation to be undertaken. Mr. Hugh Clifford, 

 C.M.Cj., Colonial Secretary of Ceylon, whose interest 

 in the jungle tribes of the Malav Peninsula is so well 

 known, gave the application his warm support. 



Dr. C. G. Seligmann was selected to undertake this 

 investigation, for which he was thoroughly qualified 

 bv his previous field-work in New Guinea and else- 

 where. Dr. Seligmann, accompanied by his wife, 

 arrived in Ceylon in December last, and remained 

 there for five months. During this time only one 

 week was so wet as seriously to interfere with work, 

 and the only real difficulty experienced was to obtain 

 a supply of carriers during the rice harvest, and the 

 period immediately preceding it. 



It is, of course, impossible tp give even a summary 

 of the results of the expedition until they are 

 published, but the following information will give 

 some idea of the scope of the inquiry. Dr. .Seligmann 

 gave most of his attention to the less advanced 

 Veddas, those whom previous writers designate as 

 "jungle-" and " rock-Veddas," but this distinction 

 does not seem to be warranted. The " village " and 

 " coast Veddas " have become so modified by contact 

 and mixture with other races that they do not aft'ord 

 a favourable field for the study of " primitive '" condi- 

 tions. The Veddas are divided into clans, some of 

 which are definitely of inferior status to others, and 

 have to perform certain duties for them ; this un- 

 expected circumstance seems to be of old standing. 

 In the majority of communities exogamy is the rule, 

 and with this is associated descent in the female 

 line. In other groups descent is in the male line, 

 and in these cases exogamy no longer exists. Cousin 

 marriages on both sides are the rule, or should be, 



NO. 2018, VOL, 78] 



but the c'.iildre[i of two brothers or two sisters may 

 no: marry. 



The three things that loom largest in the native 

 mind are hunting, honey, and the cult of the dead. 

 The last constitutes almost the whole of the religious 

 life and magical practices of the people; it is the 

 molif of almost every dance, and, indeed. Dr. Selig- 

 mann is inclined to believe it was originally the source 

 of them all. .According to most Veddas, the spirit of 

 everv dead tnan, woman, or child becomes a yaka 

 within a few days of death. .Some A'eddas, however, 

 say that when ordinary persons die they cease utterly, 

 and only a few strong and important men become 

 yaka; but in either case the basis of an elaborate 

 system of magic is "possession" by certain yaka, 

 who are considered as historical spirits, though little 

 more than their names and, in some instances, their 

 dwelling-places are known. Some yaka send success 

 in hunting", and the Seligmanns .saw the whole thanks- 

 giving ceremony over a fine buck, in which a cere- 

 monial arrow with a blade more than a foot long and 

 a handle scarcely longer played a prominent part. In 

 some communities the yaka beliefs are strongly tinged, 

 if not coloured, throughout by borrowings from what 

 appears to be a simple and probably early form of 

 Hinduism. Dr. Seligmann could not with certainty 

 find any magical practices that were not based on 

 communion with the friendly dead, except those w-hich 

 appear to have been borrowed from the .Sinhalese. 

 It is accordingly not surprising that it. is generally 

 considered necessary to present an offering to those 

 recently deceased. This must consist of cooked rice 

 and coco-nut scrapings; this food is difficult for them 

 to get, but every Vedda esteems it above all other. 

 The " shaman," called kapurale or di<gganawa,,ca\\s 

 upon the yaka of the recently deceased man to come 

 and take the offering. The kapurale becomes pos- 

 sessed by the yaka, who, speaking through the former 

 in hoarse, guttural accents, states that he approves 

 of the offering and will assist his kinsfolk in hunt- 

 ing, often, indeed, indicating the direction in which the 

 next hunting party should go. This is the simplest 

 form of death ceremony, but besides the ne yaku, as 

 the spirits of the dead are called, other ydku are in- 

 voked in most communities. Many generations ago 

 there lived a Vedda, a mighty hunter named Kande, 

 who on his death became Kande Yaka, and who is 

 constantly invoked to grant success in hunting. The 

 majority of Veddas believe that the ne yaku go to 

 Krmde and become in some sense his attendants. 

 Now Kande Yaka is usually invoked at the beginning 

 of the ne vaku ceremonv, and in more than one com- 

 munity it was pointed out that the ne yaku would not 

 come to the offering unless accompanied by Kande 

 Yaka, who was sometimes spoken of as bringing 

 them. 



The mental characteristics . of thes.e , jungle-folk 

 appear extraordinary' to oiie conversant , with 

 Melanesians, since they are really intelligent, and, 

 when cross-examined, are equal to a sustained mental 

 effort that would be beyond the possibility of the 

 brainiest Papuan. The onlv examples of decorative 

 art are rough rock-paintings in caves, and the village 

 Veddas are incapable even of this slight proficiency 

 in pictorial art. Personal adornment is of the 

 slightest. The absence of tales and legends is almost 

 unbelievable. Dr. Seligmann inquired on this matter 

 of almost every elderly and not too civili-ed Vedda, 

 and he obtained merelv some thirtv lines of bald state- 

 ments which can scarcelv be dignified by the name of 

 legends. 



Readers of Naturi! will remember that their atten- 

 tion was directed to the recent discovery of stone imple- 

 ments in Ceylon, many chippings and implements 



