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JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XL, PART I. 



the whole of the labour and expense of the crop. In such a 

 case the owner and the cultivator share equally, the former 

 appointing somebody to be present at the tramping, to see that 

 he is not cheated of his proper share. 



The rent or tax payable to the king was one-tenth of the 

 crop; except in the case of Gamardla (an obsolete title), 

 who, being obliged to furnish the king's messengers with food 

 when on journeys, were exempted. 



Animals committing depredations in the fields are frequently 

 caught in traps or killed by the watchers at night ; but it is 

 considered unclean to kill any animal for food in a paddy field. 

 Thus we find every circumstance of life connected with some 

 superstition. 



Hill' Paddy. 



Hill-paddy, of which there are many kinds, is sown in June. 

 Six months suffice to bring to maturity the following kinds : 

 Rat-elvi, Batu-kiri-elvl, Gonabaru-elvi, Mudukiri-elvi, Laina- 

 elvi and Vaikolla-elvi ; whilst PaMai-elvi grows so rapidly that 

 it ripens in three months. Hill-paddy is never sown more 

 frequently than once a year. It is planted upon land which 

 has been under forest or very fall-grown chena for many years, 

 it is so exhausting a crop, or the land is naturally so poor in 

 the ingredients for cereal production, that every crop taken 

 requires newly-cleared land. Artificial manure is never 

 applied: the ashes of the wood fires alone assist the fertility 

 of the soil. Chenas are largely cultivated in the Kuruwiti, 

 Navadun, Kukulu, and Atakalan Korales in the Sabaragamuwa 

 District. The crop of hill-paddy suffers more from drought 

 than the grain cultivated in swamps ; indeed any deficiency in 

 the seasonable moisture is sure to result in a total failure of 

 the crops. When the land is moderately good and the season 

 propitious, the return from this cultivation is generally ten- 

 fold. The work is generally conducted by the inhabitants of the 



