30 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
they pay tithe to Government, but not for Indian corn or natcherry. They trade princi¬ 
pally with Moormen, with whom they barter their honey, fowls, &c., for rice, cloths, or 
ornament. They purchase bows from Vellase, and exchange various commodities among 
themselves. Many of them are beginning, however, to learn the value of money. 
“ They are fond of shooting and hunting, and will go out to the jungle for weeks and 
even months together; when out they procure honey from the rocks by attaching them¬ 
selves to long sticks fastened to bushes and trees on the sides of the mountain, and 
then, crawling down to the sheltered place in the rock where the honey is deposited, 
and having smoked out the bees and taken the honey, they pull themselves up again 
in the same way, and then descend the mountain with the spoil, which they divide 
equally among their companions. Many of them seem to prefer these pursuits 
to the steady and monotonous occupations of husbandry. Their love of a wandering 
life is not extinguished, and they court independence and freedom from labour. 
If introduced to the bustle of towns and the restraints of society, they break away as 
soon as possible to their beloved solitudes and their old companions, preferring a life of 
hardship in the jungle to pampered indulgence out of it. I tried hard to induce an 
orphan lad, of apparently bright parts, to forsake his home and come with me to the 
Mission station, that he might be boarded, fed, and educated, so as to be fit for some use¬ 
ful employment, but he was deaf to my entreaties. ‘ When I am hungry,’ said he, ‘ I 
chew the bark of trees and pluck roots; when I am cold, I light afire and warm myself; 
I want no books, nor learning, nor money; only give me an axe and I am content.’ 
“ Their medicines are made from the bark of trees, roots, and leaves. Some are said to 
be very efficient in curing diseases, and especially hurts from wounds and snake bites. 
For fever they take pills prepared by Singalese doctors. Like most natives, they use 
charms, and tie strings round their waists, which they believe will remove the disease 
under which they labour. Of late the Government has done little for them ; and as they 
have taken few precautions to provide for their own necessities, it is not easy to say how 
long they will continue in fixed habitations, should their crops fail. Doubtless, the aid 
formerly afforded them was designed not to supersede, but to stimulate, their own exer¬ 
tions ; but the philosophy of this they are scarcely at present able to understand. 
“ They assist the Singalese among whom they live in various matters by working for 
them, and thus a few of them learn to cultivate chemas and to take care of their crops in 
houses. 
“ Of education they are totally destitute. Formerly schools were established and sup¬ 
ported among them, but the labour and money spent thereon were in vain. The people 
had no taste for learning, and wanted their children to accompany them to the jungle in 
quest of food. They have no written language, and can only count to a very limited ex¬ 
tent. Their habits at present are certainly too migratory to present any encouragement 
to systematic efforts for their instruction. 
“ Their religion is devil-worship. They will acknowledge that there is one God, whom 
they believe to be greater than the devil, but him they neither fear nor worship. One of 
them said to me, ‘ When God gives us food, we are glad, and wish him to sit on our mat; 
when he does not, we curse him, and will not allow him to do so.’ They appear to know 
little or nothing of a future life, of heaven or hell, where the soul goes to when it leaves 
the body, or whether it will be happy or wretched. A number of them were formerly 
baptized* on a profession of faith in Christ and willingness to abandon their supersti¬ 
tions ; but almost all of these have gone back again to their former habits and follies. 
What they formerly heard they have forgotten. They declare it impossible for them to 
live without devil-worship. * When they did so, their children were sick, their cattle died, 
their trees would not bear fruit, and their crops were cut off.’ It was vain to expostulate 
and argue. They believe the souls of their departed relations to be devils who have 
power to hurt them, and therefore they perform ceremonies to them at regular seasons, 
and especially when they are sick. The Singalese who live among them exert a bad 
influence over them in these respects. It is very difficult, indeed, to get fit persons, who 
know their language, to labour among them. Without these, desultory efforts will be of 
little service. The Veddahs are mostly low in stature, but some of them are strong, 
active men, and most of them appear to be healthy and little subject to disease. They 
differ considerably from the coast Veddahs in their habits and dispositions. The latter 
appear to me far more tractable and hopeful. They have improved much by the instruc¬ 
tions they have received, and are tolerably well acquainted with the leading truths of 
Christianity.” 
It is by no means an easy matter to meet with these people in their native 
haunts, as the sportsman seldom sees them; and should he by chance come near one 
of their bivouacs, the men, women, and children rush into the jungle and hide them- 
* Up to 1844 there had been baptized in Bintenne 163 men, 48 women, and 85 children ; since 
hat time very few have received this rite. 
