The Veddahs of Bintenne. 85 



their old habits, and to take an interest in agricultural pur- 

 suits. They began to cultivate chenas, sow natchery, plant 

 Indian corn, and attend a little to their cocoanut and plantain 

 trees, some of which are now in bearing. A very few, how- 

 ever, attend to paddy cultivation. All of them now have small 

 huts, built of sticks and straw, besides their rock houses, which 

 belong to different families, and are divided into several com- 

 partments. To these latter they have still recourse, when 

 out in the jungle during the inclement season. 



Whilst on a visit to them in October last (1849) I saw two or 

 three families living on large rocks: here they cooked, ate, 

 and slept, while others of their companions were away in the 

 jungle, seeking roots for food or attending to agricultural 

 operations : they will frequently exchange the few commo- 

 dities they possess or grow, for cloths or ornaments of va- 

 rious kinds. The women are exceedingly fond of a profusion 

 of beads, necklaces, earrings and ornaments for the hair; and 

 they load their children with rings round their waists, arms, 

 and fingers, bells on the toes, and necklaces in abundance. Their 

 food consists of natcherry, rice, pumpkins, brinjall, and other 

 vegetables of native growth, as well as the flesh of the mon- 

 key, guana, and wild hog ; they chew the bark of trees as a 

 substitute for the betel and arecanuts, of which they are very 

 fond when they can obtain them. A bow and arrow were 

 their only weapons in former times. Now some of them pos- 

 sess guns. 



Murder was formerly exceedingly common among them, 

 now it is less so ; they were accustomed to cut their victims 

 to pieces with axes, or to shoot them with bows, and if found 

 out in the crime, they were required by their headman to 

 make compensation to the surviving relatives by the pay- 

 ment of about five and twenty shillings, or something equi- 

 valent, this being the price of a slave. The uncle of the 

 party aggrieved usually enquired into the matter in dispute, 

 and the elders settled the case. An uncle had power to sell 



