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



[Vol. JX. 



be expected in a savage. One of them, on being asked to show 

 how they steal upon their game, gave a most striking speci- 

 men of good acting. The keenness and intensity of his eye, 

 the lightness of his step, and the eagerness of desire displayed 

 in every limb and muscle of his body, could only be com- 

 pared to those of a cat or a tiger stealing upon its prey. 



Their whole appearance bespeaks the hardiness of their 

 condition. They are lower in stature than the ordinary 

 Sinhalese, but are meagre in their bodies and squalid in 

 their looks. Their figures denote that they might be active 

 in their movements, but they give no indication of being 

 possessed of much strength either of body or constitution. 

 Their limbs, however, though thin and slight, are well 

 turned. They are generally of a darker complexion than the 

 common Sinhalese, though some are of a much lighter shade 

 than the others. When not in the jungle they carry a white 

 staff about seven or eight feet long, and when they stand, 

 they plant this before them, grasping it with both hands a 

 little above the height of their forehead, and bend for- 

 ward in a most unmeaning and ungraceful position. 



(2) The hill Veddas are of the same caste and description 

 as the others, their habits and customs are much the same, 

 but they are described as being of a savage and ferocious dis- 

 position.* Persons who approach them are considered to be 

 in danger, and they are said to be at enmity with all their 

 neighbours.! There were certain seasons when the Veddas 

 had to render a tribute of honey and flesh to Government, 

 but, as the wild Veddas never entered a town or a village, 

 the Veddas of Horabora used to repair to a certain place 

 near their haunts, where they found the honey and dried 

 deer's flesh deposited. They, however, seldom saw the people 



* The hill Veddas are fast becoming extinct, first, from constant inter- 

 marriage between members of the same family, second, from the decrease 

 in the game of the country, and the consequent privation and lack of 

 food. 



f N.B.— This was written in 1820, 



