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gigotsleevesthewholeBurroundedby alarge pin-cushion 
hat, which Tennent likens to a goffted Vandyke— the 
tmt ensemble comprising a striliing national costume. 
" Five minutes elapse and in steps an apologetio- 
Iqokiug individual in a doubtful array of niiscellaneons 
European clothes, showing off his dignified mnslin 
circumference, his pin cushion hat, his radiant jacket 
and his state jewels, his face hidden by the depressed 
ruin of an ancientElwood, — a veritable j?ickdaw without 
his plumes, in this case not borrowed ! 
"Some officials in our opinion very properly refuse 
to give audience to such ill-clad Eandyans, while 
others do not mind it, with the result that the bad 
example, set by those who ought to know better, is 
widely followed by all ranks of society and breeds 
slovenliness and an indifference for elegance of dresa 
and the donning of the national costume on neces- 
sary occasions, a circumstance which is much to be 
regretted." 
AN IMPRESSION OF THE VEDDAHS. 
By Miss L M Hale, b.a. 
, I had been' looking forward to a visit to the Veddah 
Mission for^more than a year, and was very delighted 
when it was really arranged for us to go, and we 
were actually at the Kesthouse nearest to the '' Place 
of Grace" (Kirupeistanam). We started out early 
one morning and walked along the naain road a little 
way, then we suddenly branched aside, and seemed 
to dive right into the jungle ; for some time we 
walked along this jangle path, sometimes coming across 
little gassy dells with glimpses of the hills beyond, 
until at last we came to the Bund, that is the dam 
of the new tank which is being formed. Here we 
found the Veddah men at work. They are smaller 
than the average Tamil, and have quite a different 
type of face ; it was quite an easy thing to pick out 
a Sinhalese man who was working amongst them. 
However, the bund was by no means our destination, 
and after resting a few minutes we started off again 
and as we went the path grew rougher, and we had 
to cross the beds of dried up streams. We tried to 
imagine them torrents of water, and rejoiced that 
they were not so that day. At last we heard the 
welcome news that we had reached Kirupeistanam, 
but never a sign of a place could we see until we had 
clambered over a huge flat slab of rock, and before 
ns nestling at the foot of a precipitous and jungle- 
oovered hill was a cluster of small huts around a well 
for that indeed was their market square and town hall. 
The Cateohist took us to the nearest hut— a rough 
kind of hovel which one shudders to think of in the 
rainy season ; the walla were formed of upright 
sticks with strips of bark intertwined and plenty of 
holes left for ventilation. We were greeted outside 
the hut by some of the inmates, an old man and a 
young woman, the latter looking like a child herself 
r«ther than the mother of the baby clinging to her 
garment, she received us with smiles, and willingly 
showed us over her house to enter which even the 
shortest of us had- to stoop. Inside the one room 
there seemed absolutely nothing but a few cooking 
vessels, adjoining this was a kind of verandah with 
low walls around it— and that was a Veddah home 
and a fair type of all, though they say that these are 
an advance upon the habitations of the jungle proper. 
They might have better homes if it were not for the 
custom of abandoning their huts when a death occurs. 
Having seen as much as there was to be seen 
there, we went on to the Oatechist'a house, and I 
had a feeling of pity for the man living surrounded 
by those who could in no sense be companions 
for him, and cut off from his relatives and friends. 
Word was sent to the women to come to the com- 
pound to "lee us, and with few exceptions they soon 
arrived. I believe there were about fourteen of them 
and a few children. Some of them did attempt a 
little civilisation — in the shape of a jacket. It was 
amusing to see one who was evidently in a state of 
traoaitioD, with a jacket alung ia front f her, the 
sleeves hanging over shoulders at the back. They 
had not attempted to do anything with their hair, ex- 
cept one Sinhalese woman who [no doubt had set 
the fashion in jackets. They crouched in a row and 
really took very little notice of ns, although they 
had probably never seen more than one white woman 
before. We could not talk with them freely, as 
they speak only a corrupt form of Sinhalese. The 
woman seemed to have no ideas outside their little 
world, and the only thing that really roused them 
was the small gifts of money which they received. 
Then they trouped away to their homes, and we left 
Kirupeistanam wondering whether more primitive 
specimens of humanity could be found upon the earth. 
But the fact that the men will now work regularly is 
a step in the right direction, as at one time they 
would do no work at all. Their faces seem to show 
good humour, bat there are no apparent signs of 
strength of character. Neither do they look physically 
strong, bat Mr. Eestariok says they are looking much 
better than they used. 
We found the journey back in the heat of the sun 
rather trying, but we felt well repaid for oar six 
miles' tramp through the tropical forest. 
L, M. H. 
THE EMBASSY OF MR. ANDREWS TO 
KANDY IN 1796. 
Croydon, Nov, 13. 
Sir,— In your issue ol 9bh Oct. is the report of 
a committee meetinf> of the Ceylon Asiatic Society 
at which there was laid on the table a manuscript 
that had been bought for the Colombo Museum 
from Mr Francis Edwards, the well-known London 
book-seller, (not publisher, as your report calls 
him). I was glad to learu that the manuscript 
would probably be bought by the Ceylon Asiatic 
Society (who will, doubtless, print it in their 
Journal) : for when I saw this item in Mr Edwards' 
catalogue I went to his shop to inspect the manu- 
script, intending to recommend the Ceylon Asiatic 
Society to purchase it ; but it had already gone to 
Ceylon, as I now know. The extracts you give from 
the work whet one's appetite for the enjoyment 
of the whole. But you have some strange blun- 
ders. In the first place, the Ms. is intitled 
" Journal of a Tour from Colombo to Candia in 
the year 1796" — not to Canada, as you have it ! 
Then you say that the author " is apparently 
Mr Andrews," while Edwards' catalogue states 
that the journal was "apparently written by 
Lieut. Mahony," who " accompanied Mr Andrews 
privately," and who, I may point out, afterwards 
wrote several papers on Ceylon history, &c, in the 
Asiatic Researches. Lord " Hobbart" is, I sup- 
pose. Lord Hobart, But it is when I come to the 
end of the report that 1 rub my eyes in amaze- 
ment. I read there : " It will be interesting to 
find out who Mr Andrews was exactly," "Who Mr 
Andrews was" ! Have the members ot the OAS 
committee forgotten their Ceylon history ? I 
would refer any who want to know " who Mr 
Andrews was'' to Tennent's Ceylon, Volii. pp. 
72—73. It had been well for Ceylon had she never 
known " who Mr Andrews was" ! 
In this connection I may draw attention to the 
fact that among the Government records at Madras 
is the report of an embassy to Kandy by Sir 
Robert Chambers in 1795, which, as far as I know, 
has never been published (see Monthly Lit. Reg., 
Vol, iii. pp. 189—190). Could the Ceyion Asiatic 
Society not get a copy of this from Madras, and 
print id together witb the journal of Mr Andrews' 
embassy ? Yours &c, 
DONALD FERGUSON. 
