340 ON SECLUDED TRIBES OF, XTNCiyiLJZ^P l«E^f. 



dahs have no intercourse with the wilder branches of the tribe, nOr 

 the wilder ones with each other ; those, for example, of Bintenne 

 with those of Nilgala, although the places are only about fifty mil^a 

 apart. But it is observed that the usages and languages of all, how- 

 ever scattered, are similar, arguing, of course, a common origin. 



Mr. Bailey's theory as to this origin is exceedingly plausible. 

 Tennent, and I believe most ethnologists, have regarded them as th^ 

 mere relics of the aborigines who retired before the invaders from 

 the continent. But Bailey considers them, in accordance with their 

 own tradition, and with the respect shown for them by the Singha- 

 lese, as really of royal stock. To make his argument clear it is 

 necessary to give a sketch of the early history of Ceylon, inter- 

 mingled as it is with fable. The King of "Wanga, in the valley of 

 the Ganges, had a daughter who wedded a lion. She bore him twins 

 — a son and a daughter. The son escaped from the den, bearing off 

 his brother and sfister, and the lion, enraged, began to lay waste the 

 country. The king being dead, the government offered a reward for 

 the destruction of the lion ; and the son presented the head of the 

 lion, his father, to the subjects of his grandfather. He was then 

 elected king, and married his sister. His wife bore twins sixteen 

 times, and the eldest of the family was Wijaya, the invader of Ceylon. 

 "Wijaya proved to be a very troublesome prince, and the people de- 

 manded his execution. He was, however, turned adrift with seven 

 hundred followers, without oars or sails, and was carried by winds 

 and currents to Ceylon. On his landing, he had adventures pre- 

 cisely similar to those which befel Ulysses when he met with Circe. 

 The Circe of Wijaya was Kuweni, a magician and Takko. The in- 

 vader married, but afterwards deserted her. She then sought refuge 

 in the city of Lanka-pura, which she had formerly betrayed to her 

 faithless husband. She was put to death, and her children were 

 saved from a similar fate by their uncle escaping with them to the 

 country near Adam's Peak. Here, the elder having married his 

 sister, according to the custom of his royal ancestors, they relapsed 

 into the wild life of the mother's race. The progeny of these are 

 supposed by Mr. Bailey to be the Yeddahs of the present day. He 

 thus accounts for their various characteristics and usages. The dread 

 of their ancient persecutors would in early times generate a feeling 

 of timidity and a wildness of character, which we know from the 

 testimony of the "Theban traveller, was quite marked in his day ; 



