166 Portuguese of Ceylon. 
half European, is all that is necessary to procure the appellation 
of a Portuguese. 
These people are found in all the European settlements in 
India, particularly those belonging to the Dutch, who often 
form intermarriages with them. It is in particular very com- 
mon in Ceylon to see a respectable and wealthy Dutchman 
married to a Portuguese woman of this description ; a connec- 
tion which our countrymen look upon with the greatest ab- 
horrence, and would not enter into on any account. The 
Dutchmen alledge that the cause of these intermarriages being 
so prevalent is that scarcely any woman leaves Plolland to come 
to India except those who are already married. 
The manners of the Portuguese inhabitants differ from those 
of the Moors, Malabars, and other Mahometans. They affect 
rather to adopt those of the Europeans; and wear hats instead 
of the turbans, and breeches in place of the pieces of cloth 
which other Indians wear wrapped round their w'aists, and 
drawn together between their legs like loose trowsers. At pre- 
sent it is customary for any black fellow who can procure a 
hat and shoes, with a vest and breeches, and who has acquired 
some little smattering of the catholic religion, to aspire to the 
title of a Portuguese, a distinction of which he is extremely 
proud. 
Although the black Portuguese universally profess the Christian, 
religion, and are commonly Roman Catholics, yet they retain 
many Pagan customs, and their religion may be considered as a 
compound of both. They affect to derive their religion as well 
as their descent from the European Portuguese, though the 
name be almost the only thing they retain of either. The 
Dutch have alloAved priests and other missionaries to go among 
