No.' 32.— 1886.] the veudAs of ceylon. 



341 



of the females, it is asserted that the men have more regard 

 for their wives than for their brothers and sisters. 



Strangers who reside in their country for any number of days 

 seldom escape jungle fever, and they are not a little exposed 

 to the baneful effects of the climate themselves. Besides 

 fever they are subject to cutaneous complaints ; but it does 

 not appear that either venereal disease or small-pox is known 

 among them. They attribute all sickness to the agency of 

 malignant spirits, with whom they believe their country to 

 abound. The use of medicine of any kind is not practised 

 among them. They trust entirely to incantations to propi- 

 tiate the demon who has afflicted them. In all cases of 

 severe sickness they devote a silver ring and a piece of cloth, 

 which are deposited in a particular place. After this, the 

 Yakdesa, or demon priest, who is always one of the eldest of 

 their own tribe, is sent for, and he dances and chants 

 certain incantations before the sick persons. He is then fed 

 with what they have to give him, which generally consists 

 of the cakes made of honey and rotten wood, and the cere- 

 mony is concluded by his carrying off the ring and cloth 

 offered in sacrifice from the spot where it was laid. They 

 pay no respect to the dead. The body is thrown into the 

 jungle without ceremony, to be devoured by wild beasts. 



Of an all-powerful beneficent being they have no idea, but 

 they believe in the existence of a plurality of malignant 

 spirits. Of a future state they have no notion, and are equally 

 ignorant of the religion of Buddha and the gods of Hindu 

 mythology.* 



Their knowledge and moral notions appear to be as limited 

 as their mode of life. They cannot count beyond five, and 

 the stupidity and apathy of some of them is very striking. 

 There is, however, something in their manner, when in their 

 native forests, like the independence or indifference that may 



* They also believe in the fostering care of the spirits of the dead, 

 whom, with the sun and moon, they constantly invoke in time of need. 



