222 EVERYDAY LIFE ON A 



bits of bark about one and a half inches long by 

 one inch broad, one bit has a Sinhalese, the 

 other a Tamil inscription. In addition to these 

 there are a few pigs bristles tied up with a little 

 bit of coir, and a splinter of white wood about the 

 size of a match, supposed to represent a needle. 

 These were all tied up in a very dirty bit of rag, 

 which I discarded, and they all now fit into a 

 small match-box. 



When anyone wishes to do his neighbour an 

 injury, he places one of these charms either in, 

 or just outside, his Lines, even burying them 

 does not destroy the efficacy of the charm, 

 which is supposed to produce madness, or some 

 other horrible misfortune. 



I must here give an instance of how the super- 

 stitious nature of the native is worked upon to 

 his detriment by the priests. For some time we 

 have noticed the great scarceness, and difficulty 

 of obtaining, poultry and eggs. When I first 

 went to Raneetotem a year ago, the villagers 

 constantly brought cages of live chickens for 

 sale, the price varying according to size from 

 three to four rupees a dozen. We could also 

 obtain any amount of eggs for thirty-seven 

 cents a dozen. Now we never see such a thing 

 as a cage of chickens, a full grown fowl is 

 seventy-five cents instead of fifty cents, and 

 eggs are fifty cents a dozen, and difficult to get 

 even at that price. The reason of all this is 



