THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
243 
tortoise-shell replenished with these materials. An umbrella 
of the talipot leaf is their constant and necessary attendant 
when they walk abroad in the day time. They all wear 
rings on their fingers ; few of them in their ears, as this is 
one of those indifferent articles in which the king shews his 
supreme authority by entering his royal prohibition. The 
chief distinction in the dress of the higher orders among the 
Candians and the Cinglese, is in the form of the cap, and 
the immense quantity of cloth worn round the waist by the 
former. 
The appearance of the lower orders among both is in 
every respect the same, only that the difference in the shape 
of the cap is still observable. Of the Candian men in gene- 
ral it may be said that they are better drest than the Cin- 
glese, as Well as fairer in the complexion. 
It may seem strange, that after having lived upwards of 
three years on the island, and after having traversed the in- 
terior even to the capital, I should still be able to describe 
the Candian women only from the report of others. Such, 
however, was the watchful suspicion of that people, that 
during the whole progress of the embassy, not one female 
was permitted to fall in our way. This is one of the strong- 
est proofs of the apprehension which the conduct of the 
Dutch has excited among the Candians, as they are by no 
means particulary jealous of their women, and certainly ke pt 
them out of sight merely from a fear of intelligence being 
communicated to the Europeans. From the enquiries which t 
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