THE PEASANT OF CEYLON. 
183 
Finding there was no prospect of procuring the 
commonest necessaries of life in the neighbourhood 
where she had passed her childhood, this sad victim 
of Mohammedan treachery travelled by easy stages 
down the coast, and crossed from the continent to 
Ceylon, where, being unknown, she hoped to meet 
with more humanity than she had experienced among 
her own kindred. Her condition was sufficiently 
deplorable, and, though only in her nineteenth year, 
the extreme of human sorrow had already been . her 
portion. The prejudices of caste in the island to 
which she had retired existing but to a very limited 
extent, she found no difficulty in obtaining employ- 
ment among the peasants, who willingly procured 
her a regular engagement, and provided for her a 
humble but endurable home. 
Though unused to labour, the despised Brahminee 
soon became reconciled to her change of lot, and per- 
formed the duties imposed upon her with a cheerful 
and ready alacrity, adopting the costume of the pea- 
santry, and conforming to their rustic habits with 
resigned endurance. She might daily be seen, dressed 
in a flowing petticoat fastened loosely round the waist, 
the upper part of her person being entirely uncovered, 
trudging from the fields homeward with a long bam- 
boo on her left shoulder, and a bundle of dried grass 
upon her head to feed the cattle of which she had 
charge. Her feet swelled with the severity of her 
toil, and the sun tanned her body to a deeper brown ; 
nevertheless, this did not mar her beauty, and she 
became an object of general admiration among the 
strangers with whom she was now associated. 
