340 



JOUKNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. IX. 



remain more than a few months in one place, and often shift 

 their residence more frequently. 



The men wear a string round their middle, with a piece 

 of cloth of the width of four or five inches passed between 

 the legs, a flap of which about eight or nine inches long 

 hangs over in front. The women wear a piece of cloth 

 about the size of a small handkerchief, and in the fashion of 

 an apron. The hair of both sexes is never combed, and is 

 disgustingly matted and filthy. They wear no ornament in 

 the hair, but sometimes tie a string round the head to keep 

 the hair out of their eyes. They wear small earrings of 

 iron or brass. Their bodies are never washed unless it be 

 by the rain. 



They speak Sinhalese, but it is so corrupted that it is very 

 difficult to understand. They make use of some words that 

 are not Sinhalese. Their voice is loud, harsh, ill-toned, and 

 disagreeable.* 



Polygamy is not practised either on the part of the men 

 or the women. When the females arrive at a proper age, 

 they are asked by the young men from their parents, who 

 never refuse their daughter to the first suitor. No marriage 

 presents are given on either side, nor is there ceremony or 

 marriage feast. The bridegroom merely calls, as they 

 express it, the bride from the hut of her parents to his own.f 

 Their wives are generally prolific, but the great majority of 

 their children die of fever when young. They speak most 

 favourably of the fidelity of their wives, and assert that 

 their caste is distinguished for chastity. They never 

 repudiate their wives, whose duties are purely domestic, 

 except that they assist in reaping the kurakkan. They are 

 kindly treated by their husbands. As to the relative rank 



* Many of the hill Veddas that I have come across appeared to have 

 lost the power of modulating' their voice, probably from disuse. 



t The bride ties a string- round the bridegroom's waist, and they are 

 man and wife. 



