﻿OF THE PEOPLE OF CEYLON. 435 



a couTitrv where swinrliing and robbery are carried 

 to a iireat excess. riiey u'ouUl consider themselves 

 extremelv cri ninal if they cheated a Beda, who, 

 from his \r;iv of hvino', can never impose upon tliem. 

 Once a year t1ie Vcdas s-nd two deputies with honey 

 and other little presents to the king. When they 

 arrive at the gate of the palace, they send word to 

 his majesty that his cousins wish to see him. They 

 are immediately introduced. They then kneel, get 

 up, and inquire of the king, rather familiarly, about 

 his health. Ttie king receives them well, takes 

 their presents, gives them others, and orders that 

 certain marks of respect be sliewn them on their re- 

 tiring from the palace. These Vedas are black, like 

 all the Shigakfe, notwithstanding all that has beeu 

 said to the contrary. They inhabit the iFanie. 



DEATHS. 



It is recommended by the laws of BouDiiotj to 

 recite some chapters on mortality near a dying man, 

 in which the name of Boudhou frequent!}^ recurs. 

 If the dying man expire at the instant this name is 

 repeated, his soul is transported into one of the 

 heavenly regions. The law ordains that the body* 

 be burnt: but this custom has not beeti preserved, 

 except among the great. The people entertain an 

 idea that the dead delile a place : they, therefore, 

 get rid of the body immediately by burning it, or 

 carrying it to the neigh.bonring forest. The house, 

 in which a person may have died, is always deserted 

 for some months, sometimes for ever. The water 

 of the sea is the best to wash away the impurity : 

 and where this cannot be had. they use the water of 

 a stream, cowdung and curcuma. The following 

 custom fills one with horror, particularly as the only 

 cause of it is idleness: — When a sick man is despaired 

 of, the fear of becoming defiled, or of being obliged 



F F 2 'to 



