﻿OF THE PEOPLE OF CEYLON. 43:i 



Bcrcccias. — 'V\\\s> cast iiuUules all the players on 

 musical instruiiicnls, and those who heat the dif- 

 fcienr kinds of drums. 



OU'ias, the dancers and the minucs. The first are 

 obliged to be on the road ulien great people pass by, 

 and accompany the palanquin, for a leniith of time, 

 by their extravagant steps, whicli they call dancing. 

 The mimics put on a mask of the de\il Ua kseia, 

 who is very formidable here, and dance wi Ji the 

 mask on, in order to appease him. 



The Padouas are carriers of every.' kind. The 

 Galle ganc palieas, those who are charged with 

 cleaning the streets. 



The liodi, or Rodias, are tlie last and vilest of 

 all the casts. If one shonltl touch a Rodian even 

 uninteiitionally, one is rendered impure. These 

 "wretches are obliged to throw themselves on the 

 ground on their bellies whenever they see a vellala 

 passing, who gravely walks over them. But nature 

 seems to have come to the relief of these unfortunate 

 beings, by giving to them more beautiful women than 

 to any of the uther casts. But nsany of them are 

 forced into the harams of the great, who have laid 

 it down as a rule, that a Rodias woman is not im- 

 pure for the men of superior casts, but only for their 

 wives. This is the order at present of the different 

 casts in Candij. It is, however, probable, that for- 

 merly the order of casts in this island was not as it 

 now is, but as it exists on the continent. It may 

 be considered singular, that there is not a military 

 cast. But the reason of it is, that all the population 

 belonging of right to the king, every one, let his- 

 rank be what it may, is obliged to fight on receiv- 

 ing the king's order. . By this means he has as many 

 soldiers in time of war as he can procure arms for. 

 This order of casts is strictly observed in Candy. 

 But no individual suffers in the opinion of his cast 

 in doing for himself any work that may be within 

 the particular line of another cast. Therefore a 



2 F Vellale 



