The BedaJis or Padddhs. 
283 
cl part of the native Candians, who chose to retain their an- 
cient savage freedom, when their brethren of the plains and 
vallies submitted to the cultivation of the earth, and the res- 
traints of society. This opinion rests entirely on those Bedahs, 
who are most known, speaking a broken dialect of the Cin- 
glese. It is, however, by no means ascertained that this is 
the universal language of the Bedahs ; nor is any account of 
their origin supported by the slightest shadow of proof. 
It will not seem strange that the origin of the Bedahs is so 
little known, when I inform the reader that I had lived a consider- 
able time in the island of Ceylon before I even heard that 
there was such a race in existence ; and numbers residing there 
to this day know nothing of the fact. The first time I un- 
derstood that the Bedahs inhabited Ceylon was in consequence 
of a party of them being surprised by our Sepoys in the be- 
ginning of 1798, while up the country against the rebellious 
' Cinglese ; they were brought to Columbo, where I had an op- 
portunity of examining their appearance. They seemed to be 
a race entirely different from the other Ceylonese : their com- 
plexions were fairer, and inclining to a copper colour : they 
were remarkably well made, wore long beards, and their hair 
tucked up close to the crown of the head ; their bodies had 
scarcely any other covering than what they had received from 
nature. 
Since I left the island, I have been informed by colonel 
Champagne that he had an opportunity of seeing some more of 
these savages. They had been making inroads and causing 
alarms in the northern part of the island, probably at the in- 
stigation of the Dutch ; in consequence of which several of them 
had been apprehended and brought before the Colonel. They 
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