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



51 



ing the first fire, lucky days must be consulted for. They 

 consider it unlucky to build their houses from north to 

 south, or vice versa, as these points are called gini kona 

 which means " fire end." They have the idea, that persons 

 living in houses so placed will be continually fighting with 

 each other, and subject to all kinds of sickness, and the 

 house itself will be sure to be burnt down. Sometimes a 

 man and his family will desert a house they have inhabited 

 all their lives, from the fear of devils. In this way 

 they practise greatly upon the credulity of each other, 

 frequently hiding near the house and pelting the roof with 

 pebbles after dark, which, under the belief in the agency of 

 evil spirits, causes the inmates to abandon their habitation. 

 A death in the family not unfrequently causes them to 

 abandon a dwelling in which the family have resided many 

 years. 



Frequently in taking up their lodging in one of the 

 temporary buildings erected on clearings for kurakkan, they 

 will strip the bark from the nearest trees of the standing 

 forest in order to arrest the progress of the demons from 

 whom they fear molestation. 



Many of the peaked mountains of this district have given 

 rise to legendary fictions, which still exercise an influence 

 upon the natives. The story mentioned in Major Forbes's 

 account of a journey from the Wilson plains to Balangoda 

 is still believed. The breaks in the Pettigala range of 

 mountains which form an important feature in the view in 

 descending from the zone to the romantic village of Gala- 

 gama, are ascribed to the arrows of R&ma. The mountain 

 itself,— at least the upper part of it, is called " God's 

 garden," and they believe misfortune will overtake any who 

 presumes to fell the forest for cultivation. This superstition 

 gave rise to much inconvenience to the Europeans who 

 commenced clearing the land for coffee cultivation, every 



