THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
267 
formed any conceptions. Their trials are summary ; and 
their punishments, unless where the king interposes, immedi- 
ate. Their capital punishments are always attended with 
some aggravating cruelty ; having the criminal dashed to 
pieces by elephants, pounding him in a large mortar, or im- 
paling him on a stake, are the common modes practised. 
Where the offence is not adjudged worthy of death, the cul- 
prit is condemned to pay a heavy fine, to have liis property 
confiscated, to perform severe tasks of various sorts, such as car- 
rying heavy weights on his back, levelling hills, and raising them 
up again, &c. Imprisonment is a species of punishment never 
to be inflicted on a Candian, and only suited to the barbarity 
of Europeans. This may be alleged as the principal cause 
of their summary trials and punishments, as they never con- 
fine a culprit. Not only a prison, but any species of con- 
finement, seems to convey ideas peculiarly horrible to their 
imaginations. The Candian ambassadors could not even be 
prevailed upon to allow the doors of the carriage, sent to 
convey them to an audience with our Governor, to be shut 
upon them, as they said it looked like making them prison- 
ers: and the doors were actually obliged to be fastened back 
in order to remove their objections. 
The administration of justice is entrusted to the Dissauvas 
and Adigars ; but in capital cases an appeal lies to the king. 
As respect is paid not only to the merits of the cause, but 
to the rank of the offender, it is evident that the administra- 
tion of justice must be very defective. Presumptive proof is 
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