No. 33. — 1886.] THE VEDDAS OF CEYLON. 



391 



The complexion of the Veddas is dark,— according to most 

 reports, darker than that of their neighbours, the Sinhalese, 

 of whom Davy says, that their colour varies from light brown 

 even to black. Bailey speaks of the colour as dark, or rather 

 dusky, by which, at any rate, a very deep shade is meant. 



The hair of the head and beard Davy describes as long and 

 matted ; it is never cut or combed. Sir E. Tennent* says : 

 " Their long, black hair and beards fell down to their middle 

 in uncombed lumps." Sirrj reports that "their hair, 

 beards, and whiskers are never shorn or cleansed, and these 

 re dundant tresses hang over their shoulders and bosom in 

 matted masses." Bailey calls the beard "short and scant ; 

 the hair of the head, which is not curly, falls in rusty, 

 tangled masses about the face," making the head appear 

 disproportionately large. Later, he speaks of " their wild 

 shaggy hair." When one sees the people, he says, with 

 their rugged, uncombed locks half-covering their faces, 

 they fully represent a preconceived idea of barbarous 

 savages. HartshorneJ calls the hair of the head "coarse" 

 and " flowing," and considers it necessary to add that their 

 bodies are by no means hirsute, and that there is no tendency 

 of the hair to converge towards the elbows, or to diverge 

 from the chin, or vice versa. 



Through the kindness of Mr. Bastian, two photographs 

 have been sent me of a company of Yeddas, which he obtained 

 in Colombo. They represent three men and three women in 

 full figure, but unfortunately of too small a size to give a clear 

 idea of them. This was the party, it seems, presented to the 

 Prince of Wales on the occasion of his visit to the Island. 

 Mr. Hartshorne, who, to be sure, only speaks of two men and 

 three women, is of the opinion that they came from the district 

 of Batticaloa, where the few Veddas still remaining, partly 

 through the influence of the missionaries, partly through 



* Tennent, I. c, vol. II., p. 449. 



f H. Ch. Sirr, Ceylon and the Sinhalese. London,il850, vol. II., p. 210. 

 X Hartshorn, I. c, pp. 408, 409. 



