No. 24.— 1881.] VEDDA SONGS, ETC. 109 



it is impossible to resist the conclusion that the wild tribes of the 

 Veddas are not the mere remnants of the untamed aborigines, but the 

 descendants of the ill-fated Kuveni and the faithless Vijayo ; that 

 they are indeed, as they profess themselves, ' the descendants of 

 Kings.'"— J. B. 



" The Kandyans universally agree that they [Veddas] all belong to 

 the royal caste, and it is said that they used to address the king by 

 the now obsolete title * Hurd? or f cousin/ the term which they 

 applied to myself in conversation."* — B. F. H. 



No. 5. 



" The Veddas eat the flesh of elk, deer, monkeys, pigs, iguano, 

 and pangolin — all flesh indeed but that of oxen, elephants, bears, 

 leopards, and jackals ; and all birds, except the wild or domestic 

 fowl. They will not touch lizards, bats or snakes. The most choice 

 food in their estimation is, of land animals, the flesh of the pangolin, 

 or of the iguano." — J. B. 



No. 6. 



" They principally use [for their bows] the wood of dunumadala 

 (Sterospermum chelonoides), the kekala (Cyathocalyx Zeylanicus), 

 and a creeper called kobbd vel, or* the pander o tree. The strings, 

 which are exceedingly strong, are twisted chiefly of the fibre of the 

 niyada (Sanseviera Zeylanica), and the bark of a creeper called 

 aralu-vel" — J. B. 



No. 7. 



" They have a great dread of meeting elephants at night, and 

 have charms to protect them from them — not only to turn them from 

 their path, but to render innoxious the bear, the leopard, and the wild 

 boar."— J, B. " 



No. 8. 



"In their charms the sun and moon are frequently invoked, 

 although in their daily life neither luminary is respected." — J. B. 



* Hurd massind [g)<25 ©edS^Da] is still a common familiar expression among 

 the Sinhalese. — Hon. Sec. 



