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JOUBNAL B. A. g. (CEYLON.) 



[Vol. III. 



that every shareholder has a right to all the land enclosed within 

 lines running across the field and passing through the two stakes 

 on the centre line which originally marked out his portion ; 

 that is, each man, commencing within his own portion at the 

 centre line, may clear to the right and left till he reaches the 

 high grounds which enclose the field ; but quarrels would 

 instantly arise if he were to clear either up or down, as it were, 

 round the share of another. So soon as a share is allotted to a 

 man, no matter whether he clears much or little, he comes under 

 certain obligations ; he must give one share of work to all 

 repairs of the tank, and to the watching of the fields by night, 

 and to the construction and tip-keep of a ring fence. The 

 original division is never lost sight of ; thus, if two shares, 

 even though they be contiguous, fall into the possession of one 

 man, he will never talk of having " one large share," but of 

 having " two shares," and will give two shares' work to 

 watching, fencing, and repairing of the tank ; so it is also with 

 half or quarter shares. 



The first and last shares, those at which the channel from the 

 tank enters and leaves the field, are generally less productive 

 than others. For this reason, and also because there is a 

 larger quantity of fencing there, these shares, called the ihala 

 and pallida elapata (shares at the upper and lower water- 

 courses) respectively, are invariably larger than the rest. 



It frequently happens, that either before or after sowings it 

 is found that the supply of water will not be sufficient to 

 irrigate the whole field ; in such cases the people resort to a 

 practice called betma or " division." A portion of the field, 

 of suitable size, is selected, and all the rest is abandoned. The 

 selected portion is now divided into the same number of equal 

 shares as there are original shares in the whole field, and 

 every original shareholder gets one betma share for each original 

 share in the whole field ; and this in no way depends on the 

 amount which he has cleared in his original share. Thus, sup- 

 pose a man through idleness has not cleared any of the ground 

 allotted to him, but has yet given, when required, labour to 

 fencing, watching, and repair of tank, then when betma is 



