NO. 61. — 1908.] RECEJST WORK AMONG THE VEDDAS. 79 



became Kande Yaka, and is constantly invoked to assist in 

 hunting. The majority of Veddas believe that the Ne Yaku 

 go to Kande, and become in some sense his attendants. With 

 Kande is often associated his younger brother, Bilinde, now 

 Bilinde Yaka. Now Kande Yaka and often Bilinde Yaka 

 are generally invoked at the beginning of the Ne Yaku cere- 

 mony, and it was pointed out more than once that the Ne 

 Yaku could not come to the offering unless accompanied by 

 Kande Yaka, who was even spoken of as bringing the Ne 

 Yaku. Some informants also stated that immediately after 

 death the spirit of the deceased resorted to Kande Yaka and 

 obtained his permission to accept offerings from his living 

 relatives, and in return to assist or injure them according to 

 their behaviour. 



Thus, Kande Yaka becomes a lord of the dead., besides 

 being of especial assistance in hunting. 



The great majority of the Veddas certainly believe that 

 Kande was a Vedda who lived the ordinary life of a Vedda on 

 earth, and some add that he killed his younger brother Bilinde 

 in a fit of temper. Kande Yaka especially helps in the tracking 

 and killing of sambur and spotted deer ; another yaka, Bam- 

 bura Yaka, is thought of as helpful in killing pig, and this 

 yaka especially assists folk to find yams, which form a large 

 proportion of the food of the wilder Veddas. When a deer 

 has been killed, the head is set aside, and with rice and 

 coconut milk (when procurable) dedicated to Kande Yaka, 

 after which it and the rice are eaten. This ceremony is 

 called Kirikoraha, and the photographs illustrating it were 

 taken near Bendiagalge caves in that part of the jungle 

 known as Henebedda. There are other yaku who have 

 similar departmental powers, and these are invoked on 

 special occasions, e.g., pregnancy, sickness, and before 

 gathering honey. 



Finally, a few words may be said about language. All 

 Veddas speak Sinhalese or a dialect of Sinhalese, which, 

 although at first difficult to understand, became intelligible to 

 my interpreter in twenty-four hours. Often there is a pre- 

 dominance of " ch " sounds, which makes Vedda talk sound 

 harsh. But many Veddas have also a small vocabulary of 



