NO. 43.— 1892.] ETHNOLOGY OF CEYLON. 



kept. As to the change of s into A, and then the entire 

 elision of it, leaving only the vowel, compare the Sanskrit 

 suci, " needle," with the old Sinhalese hidi, and the modern 

 Sinhalese idi in idikatuwa : we then have Sinhala in 

 Sanskrit, Slhala in Pali or Prakrit. Long vowels are 

 shortened in Sighalese, and we next get the word Sihala 

 with a short i, as in the Subbdsita of Alagiyawanna. The 

 h was after a time not articulated, and the word was pro- 

 nounced Siala, from which by changing the si into hi we get 

 Hiala, This could not have lasted long owing to the hiatus, 

 and the two vowels having coalesced it became Hela, and that 

 which belongs to Hela is Eelu. We read in the Kdvyasekhara 

 of Sri Rahula Sthavira, of Totagamuwa : — 



Utum me Bisosand 

 Helu basini nisi padabenda 

 Kiyanuwa banak soiida 

 Kalen aradana mahanada 



Because this noble princess made a pleasing request (to me) t© 

 repeat a good bana in suitable verses in the Helu language. 



By the elision of the aspirate h we next get the word 

 Elu, and this is applied to Sinhalese generally, and not 

 necessarily to the pure Sinhalese of the poets. For we find 

 in the preface to an old translation into Sinhalese of the 

 Ummagga Jataka — a work read, and, with the exception of 

 some words, understood by the Sinhalese generally — the 

 following : — 



Budun desana karanalada madhuravu Dharmmaya Budun vadale 

 Magadha bhashawan vedeyi me nam Eluven vedeyi anadara nosita * ® * 

 gaurawayen sitahela isiya yutu. 



Buddha preached his sweet Dharma in Magadha language, that 

 is in Elu. Despise it not on that account, but listen to it with 

 respectful attention. 



This is an apology for writing a bana book in Sinhalese. 

 So Elu, Helu, Sihala, and Sinhala are one and the same. 

 As to the physical appearance of the Sinhalese, this is what 

 Prof essor Vircho w says : — 



All descriptions, and history confirmed by the Ramayana, as well as 

 the Wijayan legend, show that there can be no doubt that the Sinhalese 

 face is an importation from the Aryan Province of the Indian Con- 

 tinent, while directly to the contrary, all observers ascribe to the 

 Vedda face a foreign, and very frequently a Dravidian type. 



6. Mr. SenaTHI Raja strongly supported Mr. Nell's views. 

 He said most of them were in the habit of taking their views 



64—92 K 



