CEYLON BRANCH — ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



93 



conduct and refusing to work ; whereas in the case of the 

 Kandyans and Malays, there was violence with criminality, 

 and in the case of Singhalese and Moors disorderly conduct 

 and offences against property but unattended by violence. 

 Every one of the various classes of the inhabitants seems 

 thus to have its own distinct moral features, as plainly as 

 each has its peculiarity of countenance and physical frame, 

 and this not in their several locality as in the Swiss cantons, 

 but mingling together yet without those steady habits, 

 those sentiments in common, or those common Institutions, 

 which rapidly melt down individual distinctions into a com- 

 mon national character. 



These facts and others which might perhaps be drawn 

 from the interesting report referred to, open up to us as it 

 were, the very elements and materials of Society, and the 

 character, condition and doings of the people, within the 

 range of the Kandy Police. But, of course, to give such 

 documents their real value and importance, there shook! bo 

 a series to afford comparison and detect any error, and there 

 should also be a good census of the population which won id 

 shew the relative proportion of the accused to the rest of 

 the community. 



With respect to the age, education and religion of of- 

 fenders, I have received some Reports, from which it ap- 

 pears that of 133 prisoners in the Kandy goal in August 

 last, there were 77 Hindoos and 53 Budhists, 2 Roman Ca- 

 tholics and 1 Protestant; and of 190 prisoners in the Huls- 

 dorp and Wellicadde goals there were, 



Budhists 87 \ inQ 



Gentoos 22 S 



Mahometans 22 1 ^ 



Roman Catholics 32 J 



Protestants 27 — 27 



which makes the number of Budhists and Gentoos about 

 one half the entire number of prisoners — the number of 

 Mahometans and Roman Catholics one half the number of 

 Budhists and Gentoos — and the number of Protestants one 

 half the number of Mahometans and Roman Catholics, 

 Here is a field for Missionary enterprize. 



It farther appears that of the 190 prisoners in the Co- 

 lombo goals there were 49 under twenty five years of age, 

 116 between that time and forty, and 25 above forty years 

 old. This, agreeably to what was remarked in my former 

 paper, gives the greatest amount of crime between the ages 

 of twenty five and forty ; and within that period, there is 



