No. 4. — 1848.] SINHALESE EUKAL ECONOMY. 



49 



which the natives dry in the sun after cutting it in pieces, 

 and use it to impart a powerful acid flavour to their curries. 

 The Kekuna and several other trees produce seeds from 

 which they express oil for anointing their bodies and lighting 

 their dwellings. The primitive mode of obtaining the oil is 

 by compressing the seeds previously put into a mat bag 

 between two parallel bars of wood, and catching the oil as 

 it flows into a chatty placed beneath. 



Cattle. 



Besides buffaloes, which are used in the cultivation of 

 their paddy fields, a great many other horned cattle are bred 

 in this District. The bullocks are chiefly hired by the 

 Moormen tavalam keepers, who at certain periods of the year 

 carry to the low country various articles of produce, which 

 they have collected, and bring up salt, cocoanuts, fish, &c, 

 for their bartering trade ; others are purchased for the bandy 

 traffic of Colombo, and the Galle and Kandy roads. The 

 numbers of cattle do not increase rapidly ; little attention is 

 paid to them, their food is only what the uncultivated hills 

 supply, with the occasional improvement of what may be 

 found in the stubble fields. I have no doubt that were the 

 natives more energetic, the number of cattle might soon be 

 doubled. They are extremely afraid of misfortunes occurring 

 to their cattle through the agency of evil spirits. To prevent 

 this, once a year they procure a quantity of ripe plantains, 

 which must be grown by the owner of the cattle, and place 

 them with a dish of boiled rice on a small platform made 

 for the purpose in the maduwa (grain store) attached to their 

 houses. A devil dancer (Kattadiya), who has been previously 

 engaged, then approaches and summons all the devils to 

 appear to him ; he then falls to and eats as much as he 

 pleases of the rice and plantains, and informs his employers 

 that no harm will happen to their cattle during the ensuing 

 year. The ceremony is concluded with the beating of 



