No. 36, — 1888.] THE MOORS OF CEYLON. 



257 



in the case was the skull of a Tamil or not, and they were 

 unanimously of opinion that it might be as much the skull 

 of a Moorman or a Sinhalese as of a Tamil : so difficult 

 would it be to distinguish between the skulls of the three sec- 

 tions of our community ! The results of Prof. R. Virchow's 

 inquiry into the physical anthropology of the races of Ceylon, 

 as contained in his Paper on the Veddas of Ceylon and their 

 relation to the neighbouring Tribes, 1 are unfortunately of 

 little value from his want of local knowledge, which prevents 

 him from discriminating between the right and the wrong 

 information given by the writers on Ceylon whom he quotes, 

 and from his candid admission that the skulls submitted to 

 him were too few, if not of doubtful identity. Commenting 

 upon the Moorish skull, for instance, he says : — " So far as I 

 can learn, there is only one skull of a Moor in Europe .... It 

 is accordingly orthodolichocephalic and chamseprosopic. A 

 further comparison is scarcely desirable, because from a single 

 skull no judgment can be formed as to whether it is really 

 typical of the race." 2 And he mentions that, until of 

 late only a single Tamil skull was known in Europe, and 

 that his conclusions are based upon an examination of this 

 skull and of three others forwarded to him as Tamil skulls 

 from Colombo. Besides the question of the identity of 

 these skulls, it appears to me that four cannot be taken to be 

 typical of the Tamil race. As the upper classes of Tamils 

 cremate their bodies, a legitimate comparison with the other 

 races, class for class, would be always a matter of difficulty. 



I do not feel myself free to conclude this Paper without 

 making a few remarks on the name by which the " Ceylon 

 Moors" and the " Coast Moors" (Lebbes, Choliyar, Chamman- 

 karar) are known among the native races of India and 

 Ceylon in the midst of whom they live. The Sinhalese call 

 them Yonnu and the Tamils Chonahar. It is supposed by 

 those few of the Moors who would (like the Mauri of old, 



1 R. A.S. Journal, Ceylon Branch, vol. ix., pp. 850-495. 



2 B. A, S. Journal, Ceylon Branch, vol. ix., p. 451. 



