412 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CBYLON). [VOL. XVIIL 
H. E. the Governor : If I remember aright, Mr. de Vos points out 
that particular interest attached to the subject because probably the 
medal was struck at the marriage of the grandfather of a Governor 
of Ceylon — Governor Vreeland. 
Mr. R. G. Anthonisz said he thought that the chief interest in the 
medal arose from the well-established custom of the Dutch in Ceylon 
which it illustrated. The Dutch, like the Germans he believed, 
celebrated their silver weddings with a great deal of ceremony and 
some peculiar customs. 
One of these customs was the distribution and presentation of 
medals. Sometimes the medal would be struck from dies specially 
prepared, and these medals used to be distributed among the friends 
of the family. Sometimes again a couple of medals only would be 
engraved, and these were presented to the happy couple. 
He knew the custom was prevalent in Ceylon during the Dutch 
period, and even after that. It was within his own recollection that 
thirty or forty years ago medals used to be distributed at these silver 
weddings. The custom gradually changed, and in the course of time, 
instead of medals being distributed or presented extensively, two only 
used to be engraved, and two intimate friends, a male and female 
friend respectively, would present them to the married couple. The 
medal was often attached to a silver chain and thrown round the neck 
of the two spouses. • 
There were several of these medals still extant in the possession of 
representatives of the families to which they relate. He would 
mention two of them as being of particular interest. 
One was in commemoration of the silver wedding of Governor 
Thomas van Rhee, then Commandeur of Galle, who was married to a 
Miss Kriekenbeek. It was the oldest medal of the kind he remembered 
to have seen. He believed the celebration took place in 1684. A 
beautifully preserved specimen of this medal was now in the possession 
of a member of the jS^riekenbeek family in Colombo. The dates 
of the birth of the two spouses, of the marriage, and of the twenty- 
fifth anniversary, wibh other particulars, appeared on one side, and 
the arms of van Rhee and Kriekenbeek on separate shields were 
shown on the other. 
The second medal was somewhat later in point of date. It was 
distributed at the silver wedding of a Mr. Schroter and another 
Miss Kriekenbeek. . This was a medal beautifully stamped in relief 
from a die and bore emblematic figures. The specimen he saw was 
in the possession of Mr. Justice Wendt, who, he believed, acquired 
it as a family heirloom through the Kriekenbeeks. 
The Dutch were particularly fond of the custom of presenting 
medals on auspicious occasions. The medals granted by them to 
native chiefs for special services rendered to the Government were 
highly prized by their representatives of the present day, and worn 
by them on special occasions. 
Not long ago he saw a beautiful gold medal, which he understood 
had been offered for sale at the Museum but for a prohibitive figure. 
It was a gift from a Dutch Clergyman in Colombo, Mr. Gerardus Pot- 
ken, to his granddaughter on her first birthday. It had an inscription 
on one side and a quartered shield, being the Potken arms, on the other. 
5. Mr. C. M. Fernando then read the following Paper entitled 
" Notes on Paddy Cultivation Ceremonies in the Ratnapura District " 
(Nawadun and Kuruwiti Korales), by Mr. A. K. Coomaraswamy : — 
