PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
29 
“ The population has increased gradually of late years, but it is not easy to say what re* 
lation it bears to former times, as no records appear to have been kept, and very little in¬ 
terest to have been taken about the people by the Dutch or the Kandyan Government. 
Our attention at present will be directed almost exclusively to the Veddah population of 
this region, forming, as is supposed, about one half of the number here given. Several 
intermarriages having taken place between the two peoples, it is not easy to make an ac¬ 
curate estimate of each. Various are the conjectures entertained as to the origin of the 
Veddahs.. That which obtains most credit is the following: that the Veddahs originally 
formed a part of a Singalese community resident on the coast of India, and were from 
thence transported to this island at a very early date for certain offences, before the 
Singalese as a people came to these shores. It is certainly probable that they were 
among the first, if not the first, inhabitants of the island. 
“Their language is a corrupt dialect of the Singalese; being mixed up to a large ex¬ 
tent with Singalese people, they understand the common language and can speak it, but 
among themselves they generally prefer their own inferior dialect. As they have little to 
do with the Tamuls, the majority of them, unlike the coast Veddahs, are quite unac¬ 
quainted with the Tamul language. Their present habits, as contrasted with their former, 
in many instances present the aspect of civilization and improvement. Formerly they 
lived entirely in holes in the rocks, and wandered about the jungle, living on nothing 
but yams, honey, and flesh, procured in hunting. They were very wild in their charac¬ 
ter and shunned human society as much as possible. They clothed themselves with the 
bark of trees and leaves, and had no fixed habitation. Since the English Government, 
about six or seven years ago, took an interest in these unhappy outcasts, and calling them 
together built them houses, planted trees for them, and supplied them with food, they 
were brought to abandon, to some extent, their old habits, and take an interest in agri¬ 
cultural pursuits. They began to cultivate chenas, sow natcherry, plant Indian corn, and 
attend a little to their cocoa-nut and plantain trees, some of which are now in bearing. A 
very few, however, attended to paddy cultivation. All of them now have small huts, built 
of sticks and straw, besides their rock houses, which belong to different families, and are 
divided into several compartments. 'To these latter they have still recourse, when out in 
the jungle during the inclement season. 
“ Whilst on a visit to them in October last (1849), I saw two or three families living 
on large rocks: here they cooked, ate, and slept, while others of their companions were 
away in the jungle, seeking roots for food or attending to agricultural operations: they 
will frequently exchange the few commodities they possess or grow for cloths or orna¬ 
ments of various kinds. The women are exceedingly fond of a profusion of beads, 
necklaces, ear-rings, and ornaments for the hair; and they load their children with rings 
round their waists, arms, and fingers, bells on the toes, and necklaces in abundance. 
Their food consists of natcherry, rice, pumpkins, brinjall, and other vegetables of native 
growth, as well as the flesh of the monkey, guana, and wild hog; they chew the bark of 
trees as a substitute for the betel and areca nuts, of which they are very fond when they 
can obtain them. A bow and arrow were their only weapons in former times. Now 
some of them possess guns. 
“ Murder was formerly exceedingly common among them, now it is less so; they were 
accustomed to cut their victims to pieces with axes, or to shoot them with bows, and if 
found out in the crime, they were required by their headman to make compensation to 
the surviving relatives by the payment of about five and twenty shillings, or something 
equivalent, this being the price of a slave. The uncle of the party aggrieved usually 
enquired into the matter in dispute, and the elders settled the case. An uncle had power 
to sell his nephew ; the price of a female slave was double that of a male. Adultery and 
polygamy are still common among them. If a man does not like a woman whom he has 
married, he will, after a year, take her back to her father’s house and give her into his 
charge. Theft and lying, too, are still prevalent. At the latter they are particularly 
expert, and seem to evince nothing like shame when discovered. I met with several 
instances of this amongst them. In the time of their headmen, those who committed 
theft were beaten or kept to hard work in the headmen’s houses. In particular cases, 
they were carried before the Kandyan kings. Their headmen were called Thissarvu. 
They received no salary from the Government, but practised extortion on the people. 
The only headman of themselves unconnected with the Government is called Kollah. 
He has no power over them, and can only give them advice. The Udeyar receives from 
Government five dollars per month, and the Yidahn is paid for petty cases. 
“ Of agriculture they know but little, some of them cultivate a chena for a year, and 
after reaping a crop, wander to some other place. Where they plant trees they will 
generally stay longer: they turn up the ground with mammotties, but know nothing of 
ploughing and manuring, and attend little to either fencing or watering; consequently, 
they frequently lose all the fruit of their trees and labour from the attacks of wild beasts 
that infest the jungle around them. Some of them keep a few buffaloes. For paddy 
G 
