252 J. HORNELL ON 



recent railway diversion of direct passenger traffic with Ceylon, these boats were 

 very numerous and carried on a popular service between the little ports near Point 

 Calimere and Kayts, the port of Jaffna, the northern capital of Ceylon. 



The position of the eyes is the same as in the Ganges boats already described ; 

 they are less elaborate, being incised upon the planking of the bows ; no eyebrows 

 are indicated, merel}^ a conventional eye bounded by elliptical lids. The pupil is 

 shown elongated. On the starboard bow, the eye is followed by a small square con- 

 taining the name of the patron goddess of the village — in the cases noted Ammai— 

 surmounted by the Hindus' propitiator^^ sign of i^. paravi {u7s9) or " horse " being 

 added, evidence of the dedication of the vessels to the goddess honoured, as her horse 

 or vehicle (fig. 13, p. 168). 



In Kodakarai, the village goddess, Mari Amman, is the one held in special esteem 

 by sailors and fishermen. Her temple was accounted very rich in the days of con- 

 stant trade communication between this village and Ceylon, the tindal or master of 

 each boat giving a rupee to the temple for each voyage safely accomplished. In 

 danger or storm the local seamen are still accustomed to call upon her for help, shouting 

 their appeal, Amma ! Amma ! and vowing offerings of money if they reach shore 

 safel}^ through her intervention. Usually the money vowed is tied in a cloth and nailed 

 to the mast there and then.' A Brahman officiates as pujari in her temple. With 

 the imposition of quarantine rules and the concentration of coolie emigration to 

 Ceylon, first through Tuticorin and then through Mandapam, the lucrative passenger 

 trade of these kalla dhonis collapsed and little money now flows to the temple coffers 

 as the pujari sorrowfully complained to me. 



In passing it is worthy of remark that, very generally in India, the protecting 

 deity of sailors and fishermen is feminine. The instance just given is one ; I have 

 seen another on the Gujarat coast where the local female deity of the harbour they hap- 

 pen to be fishing from, is worshipped in set form at stated times and her assistance 

 and protection implored, while at Madras the protection of Kanniamma, a sea-goddess, 

 is invariably sought both at launchings and during tempestuous weather — the latter 

 is believed to be a token of her anger. By this common association with a female 

 deity, the identity and sex of the protectress would merge eventually with that of 

 the boat itself ; as we may infer that other races have reasoned and acted similarly, 

 this becomes a sufficient explanation for the fact that ships are considered feminine in 

 Europe and especially in England. 



The fourth instance of the use of eyes in the Indian region is from the adjacent 

 coast of Ceylon, in certain boats belonging to Hindu owners. These craft, hailing 

 from Valvettithurai and the neighbouring .small ports, generally called Jaffna dhonis 

 by Europeans, are known as padagu in Tamil. They are antiquated craft quite 

 distinct in build and rig from the Kalla dhoni. They are rigged as two-masted 

 schooners, distinguished from other local types by the enormous development 



1 Cf. the custom of placing a silver coin under the njast in fishing boats on the east coast of England at the present 

 day ! 



