12 



JOURNAL R. A. S. CEYLON, 



[extra no. 



up on one side [of the head.] Most of them wear only a cloth, 

 covering them from the navel to the ground : the rest of the 

 body remains uncovered. In this costume they promenade the 

 bazars and elsewhere. While I was invested with the dignity 

 of Kazi in these islands, I made efforts to put an end to this 

 custom, and to compel the women to clothe themselves : but I 

 could not succeed. No woman was admitted to my presence in 

 the trial of a case, unless she had her whole body covered : but, 

 saving that, I had no power over the usage.* Some women wear, 

 besides the cloth, chemises with short and full sleeves. I had 

 some young female slaves whose dress was the same as that of the 

 women of Delhi. They covered the head : but that disfigured 

 rather than embellished theh\appearance, as they were not used to it. 



The ornaments of the Maldive women consist of bracelets : 

 each has a certain number on both arms, indeed, so that the 

 whole of the arm from the wrist to the elbow is covered. These 

 trinkets are of silver : only the wives of the Sultan and his 

 nearest relatives wear bracelets of gold. The Maldive women 

 have also khalkhdl ( anklets ) called by them bail, and collars of 

 gold round the neck, called besdered.\ One of their curious cus- 

 toms is to engage themselves as house servants, in consideration 

 of a fixed sum, which does not exceed five pieces of gold. Their 

 board is at the expense of those who hire them. They do not 

 regard this as a disgrace, and most of the daughters of the 

 inhabitants do it. You will find in the house of a rich man ten 

 or twenty of them. The cost of all dishes broken by one of 

 these maids is charged against her. When she wishes to go 

 from one house to another, the masters of the latter give her the 

 amount of her debt, this she remits to the people of the house she is 



* Pyrard, 3rd ed., pp. 82, 124, says that all women in his time carefully 

 kept the breasts covered. [ A more modern innovation is the adoption by the 

 women on most Atols of a head kerchief.— J5.] 



f (i) Khalkhdl, Ar. (ii) hail, cf: M. fd 'leg, 5 fiyavalu 'foot/ takaholi 

 'anklet' ; (in) hesdercd — M= fattaru ' mcklace\—B.2 



