84 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
they,, however, chiefly occupy those regions which are 
most mountainous, consequently of least practicable 
access, and little known to Europeans. There was, 
at the period of our visit, a considerable number of 
them in the kingdom of Candy to the north-east, 
and these were by far the most savage of their 
tribe. Their only means of subsistence is by hunting, 
in which they are very expert, exhibiting extra- 
ordinary dexterity in catching deer and other wild 
animals, with which their forests abound. Their 
adroitness and activity in this pursuit, their principal, 
nay, their only pastime, being indeed at once a pas- 
time and a necessity, is truly amazing. When 
unsuccessful in the chase, they satisfy the cravings of 
nature with the fruits which grow spontaneously 
around them. A few of the less savage occasionally 
traffic with the Candians, exchanging ivory, honey, 
and wax, for cloth, iron, knives, &c. ; but the Rambah 
Bedahs, who are the most indomitable among them, 
are more seldom seen than even the wildest animals. 
They sleep under trees, and, when alarmed, climb 
them with the fearlessness and activity of wild cats. 
We soon grew heartily disgusted with the interior, 
and having paid a visit to the palace of the Candian 
king, which for a royal residence was but a very 
ordinary edifice, we resolved to make the best of our 
way back to Columbo. Whilst we remained in the 
neighbourhood of his Candian majesty’s residence, Mr. 
William Daniell was permitted to make a portrait of 
the queen, from which the accompanying engraving is 
taken ; it may be relied upon as a most admirable 
likeness. She was very young, extremely pretty, of 
