PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
33 
of these axes; it is a very useful instrument to them, for, if attacked by bears 
or other wild animals, they are capable of defending themselves with it, or they can 
cut out a hive of honey, or lop off the branches of a tree to construct their huts ; 
their axe-heads bear a very close resemblance to the celt of the ancient Irish in our 
museums. 
The diseases to which they are chiefly subject are intermittent fever and.dysen- 
tery, and result from exposure to wet and insufficient food ; these they treat in the 
simplest manner. A shady place is chosen for the sick man, and a few large leaves 
are placed over him, he is given plenty of cold water to drink, but no food; the bark 
of the wild mango and one. or two other jungle trees is collected, and pounded be¬ 
tween stones to express the juice, which is mixed with a little water and given him. 
Occasionally, when affected with chronic complaints, they obtain medicines from the 
Singalese traders. If they die, a hole is scraped with a stick near where they are, and 
the body is thrown in and. barely covered over; sometimes they merely throw some 
leaves over the body and leave it there, and, of course, it is soon made away with by 
wild pigs or jackals ; thus, it is very difficult to obtain a skull of these people: the 
one I was fortunate to make a drawing from is, as you observe, without any 
bones of the face.* 
This man spoke and understood the Singalese language, though some of his words 
were different to the ordinary Singalese spoken in the low country. I had a small 
vocabulary of names of familiar objects by me; but I regret to say I have put it by 
so carefully I cannot find it at present. The Veddah’s words were like Singalese, and 
appeared to differ only in accentuation and terminals. They have a patois, however, 
common among themselves, which a Singalese or Tamul could not understand. 
Turnour suggests that this dialect is the ancient Paisachi alluded to in the Maha- 
wanso. 
Mr. Greene, the Governor of Wallecodde Gaol, has appended to his report a short 
history of this man since his admission to gaol, he says :— 
“ On first beholding the works carrying on in the prison he expressed much 
surprise, and on being placed to work in the carpenter’s shop, commenced with 
much apparent interest and with some confidence, exclaiming, when the method of 
using the tools was pointed out to him, ‘ Oh ! I can do that.’ His progress has not, how¬ 
ever, been very encouraging, and bears no proportion to that of other prisoners who 
have been engaged a similar period. The same must be said of his progress in 
learning to read, since during the three months he has been attending school he has 
only mastered nine letters of the Singalese alphabet; but in arithmetic he has 
succeeded somewhat better, his knowledge of numbers not having extended beyond 
six when he was admitted, whereas now he is able to proceed as far as eighteen. 
His manner of expressing himself on any subject requiring figures is by immediately 
telling the numbers on his fingers. When he wishes to convey the idea of size or 
bulk, it is by placing his hands in a position similar to that which they would occupy 
if they grasped the article ; when telling the age of his children he places his hand 
at such a distance from the ground as the head of the child may be supposed to 
reach ; and in speaking of any particular time of day, he points to that part of the 
heavens in which the sun would be at such an hour. ** 
“ He has no idea of a soul, of a Supreme Being, or of a future state. He states 
that he sees the sun rise every morning and the darkness come in the evening, and 
that is all he knows. He is conscious of no difference between the wild beasts who 
roam through the forest and himself or his fellows ; and thinks there is no existence 
after the body is once dead. He does not know who made the world, but believes, 
now, that some one must have made it. He has heard some of his people talk about 
a superior being called ‘ Wallyhamy,’ but whether God or devil, good or evil spirit, 
he cannot tell, and only speaks of it because he hears others do so. He is not 
afraid of it, and does not pray to it. 
“ On his denying all knowledge of the devil, the discrepancy of this statement 
with the one made on his trial was pointed out to him. His reply was, ‘ I do not 
know anything of these things, but people in other parts know them, and I am 
afraid because these people can injure me.’ 
Vide plate iii., fig. 2. 
