254 Terms of address in use 



Not so. The terms of endearment amongst the Singha- 

 lese are nearly as many as those of honor and rank. Take 

 for instance the ephithets for woman, neglected and degraded 

 woman. She is sonduru or vami 3 expressive of what Milton 

 describes her to be, the 



— — ■ — "fairest of creation * * and best." 

 She is vati ts wealth/' or f life of man,' tantamount to the ex- 

 pression " the better half," as when Milton describes her to be, 

 " Part of my soul, I seek thee, and thee claim 



My other half,"- ■ 



Other terms, like those which Mrs. Malaprop thinks, e profane 

 expressions of endearment,' are not wanting amongst us ; but 

 with them, we have no concern here. I may therefore pass 

 on to different other terms by which woman is designated. 

 She is paw a s the tempter ;' sanda * Moon-like beauty ;' piya 

 or kama ( the darling' vilasi or hatha ' the very delight of 

 man.' I am free to admit that the Singhalese, like other 

 nations, have not failed to notice the fraility, the weakness, 

 and the timidity of woman ; and to coin words expressive 

 of such qualities. The word biri, (fD<?t given by Mr. Stark, 

 at p. 76 ? being the classic form of the same word,) indicates 

 the timidity of her mind, as -O^^^cs tunu-anga expresses the 

 weakness of her frame ; and @cz> liya, ( winding shrub,' 

 signifies her dependence on man, like 



" the woodbine, the sweet honey suckle, 



Gently entwist, the female ivy so, 



Enrings the barky fingers of the elm." 

 If in this respect the Singhalese may be accused of want of 

 gallantry, it is, I apprehend, a charge to which they subject 

 themselves in common with the best and most enlightened 

 nations of the West. The reader will find a precedent in the 

 line where Ovid makes Hero write to Leander, thus : — 

 Ut corpus teneris ita mens infirma puellis. 

 In a country where the Natives closely imitate the man- 

 ners of the dominant race, one may naturally be inclined 



