No. 45. — 1894.] THE MUSIC OF CEYLON. 



187 



Sinhalese lady ! Sinhalese lady ! 



I wish to marry. 

 Your house I want not, your lands I want not, 



Only your daughter give. 

 Only your daughter give, lady, 



Only your daughter give. 



The following (Tune No. 7) is supposed to be sung by a 

 spinster with a view to matrimony : — 



Anala d'oru, 



Setti peder juntu. 

 Quen here anala, 



Kasa minha juntu. 



I've a ring all of gold, 



With seven jewels set : 

 Want you that ring ? — 



Then wed me and get. 



The "Chikothi" and "Cafferina" are not merely efforts at 

 vocalization. They provide the occasion for dancing, which 

 the Mechanic dearly loves. The dance is performed in 

 couples, each consisting of a lady and a gentleman. Standing 

 apart on opposite sides of the room they dance towards each 

 other, following the music in rhythmic steps, and exchange 

 old-fashioned courtesies when they meet in the middle of 

 the room. Grotesque attitudes and alert movements are in- 

 dulged in while dancing to the lively tunes of the "Cafferina." 

 The slow measures of the " Chikothi " only call for stately and 

 dignified steps. These dances are got up on very little 

 provocation. A christening, a birthday, an anniversary of 

 any kind, is sufficient excuse ; and often on a moonlight 

 night families unite to enjoy themselves at open-air picnics, 

 known in Ceylon as Appa Surei Partei, to regale them- 

 selves on hot-baked hoppers and fresh-drawn toddy, and to 

 foot it merrily to the soft notes of the viaule and the 

 bander inha. 



A curious feature in the religious services of the Mechanics 

 is that their prayers are not merely read or recited, but are 

 actually chanted — a custom in which they have been copied 



