No. 24.— 1881.] HU'NIYAM IMAGE. 119 



It may be noted that the natives of the Maldives, though 

 they have been converted to the Muhammadan faith, still 

 continue to practise the same class of incantations as the lower 

 classes of the Sinhalese. This Huniyam image may therefore 

 possibly have been made by a native of the Maldives, many of 

 whom live near the neighbourhood where the image was 

 discovered, though this is unlikely. This is one of the many 

 points of resemblance between the low-country Sinhalese and 

 Maldivians.* 



NOTE. 



[ The Maldive Islanders — particularly those living on the Southern- 

 most Atols, Huvadu (Suvadiva) and Addu, which have been least 

 affected by foreign influence — retain to this day the character of 

 being "great necremancers,"f as old Duarte Barbosa (A. D. 1501-17) 

 described them three and a half centuries ago, and as the captive 

 Frenchman Pyrard found them a century later (A. D. 1602-7)4 



The difficulty all the world over of eradicating long-established 

 customs and deeply-rooted beliefs — more especially when these enter 

 into the exigencies of every-day life — is an accepted fact, confirmed 

 by the experience of ages. 



* At Mr. Nell's request a brief note is added with the intention of 

 partially illustrating the similarity between the superstitious practices of 

 the Sinhalese and Maldivians. The subject may be more fully dealt with 

 hereafter. — H. C. P. B., Hon. Sec. 



\ " As gentes dellas nao tern armas, e sao homens fracos, mas muito 

 engenhosos, e sobre tado grandes encantadores." — Noticias das Nagoes 

 Ultramarinas, Tomo. EL, p. 352, Lisboa, 1812. 



% " Les Mathematiques y sont enseignees, et ils en font aussi grand estat, 

 notamment de 1' Astrologie, a laquelle plusieurs persones estudieut, d'autant 

 qu'£ tout propos on consulte les Astrologes : il n'y en a pas vn qui voulust 

 rien entreprende sans leur en auoir demande aduis." — Voyage de F. Pyrard, 

 p. 135, Paris, 1679." 



