No. 39—1889.] account op cbylon. 243 



such esteem that he may approach the king and speak 

 to him, and associate with him just as do the nobility 

 of the island. 



There is in the island a tribe so despised and outcast 

 that everyone is afraid to speak to them, or to have any- 

 thing to do with them. They must have special washermen 

 to wash for them, who are not allowed to come near other 

 washermen, especially those that wash for the nobility, who 

 are very jealous of their privileges. Next to the penalty 

 of death, it is considered the greatest punishment if the king 

 degrades a man to live with these outcasts. We ourselves 

 were reproved by him, because, being very thirsty, in exceed- 

 ingly hot weather, we accepted a little water from them. 

 They are only allowed half a roof for their houses, and must 

 always sleep on the floor with their head in a winnower,, 

 such as is used to clean rice. In truth, it must be confessed, 

 they stink so greatly that it is impossible to remain near 

 them. Their trade is to make ropes of the skins of elk and 

 deer to tie elephants with.* Despised as they are, they do 

 not allow you, if you ask them for some water, to put the jar 

 or the pot to your mouth ; on the contrary, you must hold it 

 high up, that the water may fall into your mouth from 

 a certain distance. The Moors, Persians, and the Javanese 

 have similar customs. 



The inhabitants have a queer way of killing fowls : they 

 seize them by the head, and twist it so quickly between two 

 fingers that the head remains in their hands, whilst the body 

 is thrown off, and runs about for a while until it bleeds to 

 death and falls down. When they want to kill oxen, cows, 

 or other quadrupeds, they first cut the sinews of the hind 

 legs, and after the animal has fallen in the way desired, 

 they tie it up and cut the throat. They do not eat the 

 flesh of animals killed by men of another nation. The 

 women cook, boil, and bake dishes very nicely and cleanly ; 

 for instance, fowls (of which you can buy thirty for a 



* For an account of the outcast Rodiyas, see, inter alia, Knox I.e., pp„ 

 70, 71 ; Tennent " Ceylon," vol. II., p. 187. 



