THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
273 
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 
instigation of the Dutch, in consequence of which several of 
them had been apprehended and brought before the Colonel. 
They were wild and savage in their appearance, and armed 
with bows and arrows. After enjoining them to live in quiet. 
Colonel Champagne made them a few presents and then 
ordered them to be released ; upon which they instantly fled 
away into the woods like deer. 
The Bedalis are scattered over the woods in different parts 
of Ceylon, but are most numerous in the province of Bintan, 
which lies to the north-east of Candy in the direction of 
Trincomalee and Batacolo. The tribe found in this quarter 
acknowledges no authority but that of its own chief and reli- 
gious men. The Bedahs are completely savage here, and 
have never entered into any intercourse with the other 
natives, or scarcely even been seen by them. Those border- 
ing on the district of Jafnapatam, and the tribes who inhabit 
the west and south-west quarters of the island, between 
Adam’s Peak and the Raygam and Pasdam codes, are the 
only Bedahs who have been seen by Europeans, and are 
much less wild and ferocious than those who live in the 
forests of Bintan, 
N N 
