102 
The Pearl Fishery, 
occasion to be present at more than one, during my stay in 
Ceylon. The last I saw performed was at Columbo in 1799. 
when the cross beam broke, and the man falling to the ground 
was killed on the spot. A Moor of the Moply cast had pre- 
viously observed to the crowd, who were principally Malabars, 
of the same sect with the devotee, that the timber was not 
strong enough to bear the man, and would certainly break. 
This proving actually to be the case, the Malabars affirmed 
that the Moor had by his prediction bewitched it ; and in 
revenge they attacked him with such fury, that he would cer- 
tainly have been killed, had not I with a few other European 
officers and Sepoys, whom curiosity had brought to the spot, 
interfered, and rescued him out of their hands. 
The priests who attend at Condatchy on account of these 
and other ceremonies, as well as many other sects of religious 
mendicants, are a great nuisance there; for, besides being ex- 
ceedingly lazy and idle, they are likewise very impudent and 
troublesome. But they are not the only pests which annoy 
the multitudes collected at the pearl fishery. There are be- 
sides a crowd of jugglers, snake-catchers, dancing boys and 
girls of all descriptions, as well as many who follow no other 
occupation but to procure their livelihood by the arts of 
filching and thieving, at which they are exceedingly dexterous. 
This practice, however, is the more pardonable in them, as 
it appears to be an inherent propensity in an Indian. In 
their dealings with an European, whenever an opportunity 
presents itself, they never fail to employ their skill in over- 
reaching him. It is only however by pilfering and stealing 
that he suffers from them, for they hardly ever venture to 
rob or take his goods from him by open force. So great. 
