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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XXI. 



The basis of all primitive religions is the dread of forces, 

 against which man is powerless, and with regard to which he 

 receives no answer to his question "Why." Thus, the first 

 gods are always what we should call evil spirits. Among the 

 Sakeis I found such a belief in evil spirits All that is 

 pernicious is caused by the " Hantu." The object of the few 

 religious ceremonies of the Sakeis is to render the Hantu 

 harmless by persuasion or by force. 



The Vedda, according to my opinion, is not even so far 

 developed. 



If a Sakei falls ill, he is considered seized by the Hantu, who 

 then is driven out by a series of ceremonies, which I am 

 going to describe elsewhere. The Veddas, if anybody falls ill, 

 simply wait till he recovers or dies. Fear of death is almost 

 absent, and that is explained by the want of consciousness of 

 their individuality. In short, I do not believe the many tales 

 of a Vedda religion, or rather I believe that they are tales 

 and legends of civilized Veddas and not of Veddas in their 

 primitive state. No thoughts about the creation of the 

 world, about salvation, or about guilt and punishment trouble 

 the Veddas. The New Guinea race stands, as regards the inner 

 life of feeling and intellect, about on the level of the earlier 

 lithic period, and amongst the three peoples Vedda, Sakei, 

 and Papua, the Veddas rank lowest. 



The only genuine Veddas live, as I said before, in the forests 

 of the north-east corner of the Province of Uva, on the 

 Dunigala ridge near the villages Henebedda and Kolongala, 

 about 30 to 35 miles east of Bibile and the main road. 



They have no fixed abodes. Formerly they were considered 

 to be nomads or hunters or graziers. The Veddas have never 

 been graziers ; the few fowls and dogs they keep are of no 

 account. They have ceased to be hunters pure and simple ; 

 they plant, but they still remain nomads, just like their 

 cousins in Sumatra and New Guinea. They clear a bit of 

 forest, plant maize, tapioca (their prinicipal food), some 

 millet, and a few pumpkins, all produce of the field that does 

 not require much cultivation. They do not till the soil, but 

 only grow fruits. Where their plantings are they also build 

 their huts of mud, roofed with dried jungle grass. A year after 



