No. 11.— 1858-9.] CRIME IN CEYLON. 307 



are large surreptitious sales of the spirit, which militate 

 against the price paid for the arrack rents ; otherwise it is 

 difficult to conceive, that a District which stands second on 

 the list, as regards the number of taverns to the population, 

 should yield less than half the amount per head than any 

 other division of this Province. 



I find that the number of stills licensed in the Western 

 Province has been gradually on the increase, having been in 

 1851, 196 : in 1855, 290 • in 1856, 332 ; in 1857, 211 ; and in 

 the first five months of this year, 339. This increase is, 

 however, attributable to the larger demand for arrack for 

 exportation to the Presidencies and the Colonies, rather than 

 to any greater local consumption, which is more likely to be 

 checked by the greatly enhanced price of the article. 



In the Tables contained in this Paper, no notice has been 

 taken of the age of persons convicted, no such data being in 

 existence. I may, however, remark, that juvenile offenders 

 are in this country entirely unknown. In the same way, 

 female criminals, who in Great Britain are as one to five 

 males, can scarcely be said to exist. 



The remarks which I have introduced into this Paper, are 

 necessarily of a limited character, bearing as they do on but 

 one section of this Island population. It will be highly 

 interesting to compare the state of crimes amongst the various 

 classes inhabiting the different Provinces of Ceylon,— the 

 Tamils, the Kandyans, the Moormen, the Malays, the Sinha- 

 lese, and trace the effects of growing wealth and intelligence 

 upon their morals. 



Should 1 succeed in obtaining the necessary returns from 

 the remaining Districts of the Island, I will hope to follow 

 up the present enquiry by a second and more copious Paper, 

 reviewing the Crime of the entire Island. 



