,889.] -i X<rninj/isrs RamNcs in Ccylou. 697 
a few miles he either finds himself in the dense jungle or the 
solitude of the tropical forest. « 
More than eighty per cent, of the population of Ceylon con- 
sist of the Singhalese, a very remarkable and interesting race, 
which has resided on that island for at least 3000 years, but 
probably much longer. The Singhalese differ in many respects 
from the inhabitants of the continent of India, especially from the 
Hindoos, with whom they have very little in c(mimon. While 
the average Hindoo is small, delicate, and by no means distin- 
guished for courage, the Singhalese is tall, muscular, extremely 
well-proportioned, and, moreover, bold and intrepid. (3nly in the 
fine antique cast of the features do these two races resemble each 
other and betray a common origin. It is hardh- necessary to 
remind the reader that the inhabitants of India are not negroes, 
although the English merchants and officials \x'r\- hrutalK" and 
indelicately call them niggers, but a nobly-fornicd antl highly 
developed race with entirely Caucasian features. >o that, except 
for the difference in color and dress, it would be ini])(>ssible to dis- 
tinguish them from Europeans. The Singhalese, as well as the 
Hindoos, have, on an average, beautiful and expressive faces, 
well-proportioned bodies, and surprisingly small hands and feet; 
it is rare to find a downright ugly specimen among them. They 
are Ar>'ans, a branch of that great Indo-Germanic race from which, 
as modern ethnology and comparative philology have clearly 
shown, most of the European races are derived. Sanscrit, that 
wonderful language of the ancient Hindoos, which has been a 
dead language for more than 3000 years, holds the key to many 
a puzzling mystery. In that language — embalmed, as it were, 
like mummies in an Egyptian tomb, and shrouded in myster}' — 
lay the histories of the origin of numberless races, including those 
pierce the gloom, and a Max Muller arose and threw the electric 
into the Rig-Veda and Rama>ana. 
The Singhalese have been Ikiddhists for the last two thousand 
years, for the teachings of the great Hindoo philosopher were 
generally accepted by the people already about 500 years before 
