(!;6
Presented to the
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
LIBRARY
by the
ONTARIO LEGISLATIVE
LIBRARY
1980
L
I
1
I
Cambniifft aitftarologtcal anii (Etftnologiral Merits
THE VEDDAS
The Cambridge Archaeological and Ethnological
Series is supervised by an Editorial Committee consisting
of William RiDGEWAY, Sc.D., E.B.A., Disney Professor
of Archaeology, A. C H addon, Sc.D., E.R.S., University
Lecturer in Ethnology, M. R. James, Litt.D., F.B.A.,
Provost of King's College, and C. Waldstein, Litt.D.,
Slade Professor of Fine Art.
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THE VEDDAS
BY
C. G. SELIGMANN, M.D.
LECTURER IN ETHNOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
AND
BRENDA Z. SELIGMANN
WITH A CHAPTER BY
C. S. MYERS, M.D., D.Sc.
AND AN APPENDIX BY
A. MENDIS GUNASEKARA, Mudaliar
1
Cambridge :
at the University Press
1911
7^ r
5
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
ilontton: fetter lane, e.g.
C. F. CLAY, Manager
ffiUmbureJ): loo, PRINCES STREET
Berlin: A. ASHER AND CO.
ILttpjig: F. A. BROCKHAUS
i^eto gotk: G. P. PUTNAM'S SQNS
JSombBH anlr Calcutta: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd.
»^T,
All rights resef-ved
TO
L. B.
AND
E. W. B.
PREFACE
THE Veddas have been regarded as one of the most primitive
of existing races, and it has long been felt desirable that
their social life and religious ideas should be investigated as
thoroughly as possible. The welcome opportunity of conducting
this research was afforded me on the initiative of Dr A.C. Haddon,
who suggested to the Honourable Mr John Ferguson and Dr
Arthur Willey that it was desirable that the Ceylon Government
should continue its enlightened policy of studying the anthro-
pology, archaeology and history of Ceylon and its peoples. This
proposal received the warmest support of the Governor, Sir Henry
Blake, G.C.M.G., and his successor the present Governor, His
Excellency Sir Henry E. McCallum, G.C.M.G., A.D.C., of the
Colonial Secretary and of the other members of the Legislative
Council who made a liberal grant covering the expenses of the
expedition in the field.
Not only was the work urgently needed on account of its
scientific importance, but it was known that the Veddas were a
numerically small people verging on extinction, and so affected
by contact with Tamils and Sinhalese that if they were not
studied promptly there was every possibility that it would soon
be too late to study them at all ; indeed, with all my efforts
I was able to meet only four families, and hear of two more, who
I believe had never practised cultivation. Pure-blooded Veddas
are not quite so rare as this statement implies. The Danigala
community, the best known " wild " Veddas of Ceylon, are still
reasonably pure-blooded, though they have adopted many
Sinhalese habits, including cultivation, and have assumed the
role of professional primitive man. They are commonly fetched
to be interviewed by travellers at the nearest rest house, where
they appear clad only in the traditional scanty Vedda garment,
whereas, when not on show, they dress very much as the neigh-
bouring peasant Sinhalese.
viii PREFACE
In spite of the decay into which the Vedda social fabric has
fallen, I believe that the expedition may be considered to have
achieved a considerable measure of success, since it has brought
to lisjht a number of facts hitherto unknown. This result is
largely due to my wife, for I feel convinced that the measure of
success attained in gaining the confidence of these shy and
extremely jealous people was entirely due to her presence and
assistance. Not only would it have been impossible otherwise
to obtain certain important results in special departments, as for
instance the phonograph records of lullabies, but I should never
have had the opportunity of studying Vedda family life with
the degree of intimacy which her presence made possible. It
must not however be thought that the assistance she rendered
was of the somewhat passive kind which the presence of any
sympathetic woman would have given. Indeed, the opposite
was the case, for, with a single exception, the ceremonial dances
described in Chapter ix were recorded by Mrs Seligmann, while
I devoted the whole of my attention to obtaining a reasonably
complete series of photographs. So fully did she share in the
work in this and many other ways that when working up our
results I found that my original idea of a volume containing a
number of jointly written chapters by no means did justice to
her work, and her name therefore appears as that of joint author
of this book.
With regard to the dances photographed, those witnessed at
Sitala VVanniya and Bandaraduwa were performed in the depth
of the jungle under circumstances which necessitated under-
exposure in spite of the use of the most rapid plates. Hence
a number of the photographs reproduced in Chapter ix have
been more or less "faked," the detail being painted in on bromide
prints and fresh negatives prepared. Probably no one will have
any difficulty in recognising the photographs which have been
treated in this way, but in order to avoid any possibility of a
mistake those plates which have been touched up are indicated
by an asterisk.
The translations and transliterations of the charms in
Chapter viii and the invocations in Chapter x have been
prepared by Mr Henry Parker, late Assistant Director of the
Ceylon Irrigation Department, who has also read through and
PREFACE ix
criticised Chapters I, VI, VII, Vlil, XIV and XV. But the assistance
he has thus rendered is by no means the full measure of our
indebtedness, for there is scarcely a chapter in which we have not
availed ourselves of his great knowledge of Ceylon, and although
we have endeavoured to acknowledge in the text the help he
has given us, we feel we have scarcely done justice to the benefit
we have derived from discussing many points with him. Dr
C. S. Myers is responsible for the chapter on Music ; to him we
are greatly indebted for undertaking this work in spite of the
many other calls on his time.
We owe to Mr A. Mendis Gunasekara, Mudaliar, the trans-
literation and translation of the songs given in Chapter xiv,
Mr Gunasekara has also worked over the vocabularies we took
in the field and has added greatly to the value of these by the
derivations which he has been able to suggest for many of the
words, and we desire to express our appreciation of the energy
and knowledge he has brought to the task.
It is a pleasure and a duty to refer to the assistance rendered
by friends and officials in Ceylon. In the first place our thanks
are due to the Colonial Secretary, Sir Hugh Clifford, K.C.M.G.,
and the Hon. Mr John Ferguson, C.M.G., for constant advice and
help. We received the greatest assistance from Dr Arthur Willey,
F.R.S., until recently the Director of the Colombo Museum, who
not only placed his own knowledge and experience at our dis-
posal, but encouraged us to make the freest use of his department.
He thus saved us much trouble and a considerable expenditure
of time, and to him we owe a debt of gratitude which we cannot
adequately express. Our obligation to the officers of the Survey
Department is very great, and we desire to record the assistance
rendered by the Surveyor General, Mr P. Warren, C.M.G., the
Assistant Surveyor General, Mr R. S. Templeton, and Mr W. C. S.
Ingles. Encouraged by his success with plates exposed in
Colombo Mr Ingles took an immense amount of trouble with, a
number of colour-plates which had been exposed in the jungle,
but the results though interesting were not such as to be of
scientific value. Mr Frederick Lewis, F.L.S., of the Land Settle-
ment Department, who has travelled much in the Vedda country,
also rendered valuable assistance, and we have made free use of
his paper {Journ. Roy. As. Soc. C.B. 1902) giving the vernacular
«5
^ PREFACE
names of many trees and flowering plants of economic importance
to the Veddas. We are also under obligation to Mr J. Harvvard,
Director of Public Instruction, and we must not omit to mention
the attention shown to us by Mr G. A. Joseph, Hon. Secretary
of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
While in the field we received help from so many friends
from Government officers to peasant Sinhalese that it is im-
possible to mention all by name. We must specially thank
Mr H. White and Mr H. R. Freeman, the Government Agents
of Uva and the Eastern Province respectively, not only for much
kindly advice but for putting at our disposal such adequate
interpreters as Mr W. R. Bibile, Ratemahatmaya, the Muhan-
diram Kumarakulasinghe and Mr D. C. de Silva, Kachcheri
Interpreter. We are greatly indebted to these gentlemen as we
also are to Mr Samuel Perera for his assistance in locating a
group of Veddas, for whom we had been searching for some
weeks, and to Mr C. Herft, District Engineer, Batticaloa, who
twice supplied us with coolies when we were in serious difficulty
for transport. Our thanks are also due to Mr G. T. Bradley of
the Irrigation Department and Mr G. D. Templer of the Forest
Department as well as to Mr G. W. Woodhouse, District Judge,
who spent a whole day of his holidays interpreting for us.
We received much help from Mr G. P. Greene, General
Manager of the Ceylon Government Railways, and from Mr C.
Donald of Bandaravvela, whose assistance in the transport of
stores was of the utmost service. We must also refer to the
many acts of kindness and help rendered both officially and un-
officially by our friend the late James Parsons, Principal Mineral
Surveyor, whose recent tragic death has deprived the island of
one of the most scientific of its officials.
By the kindness of the Colonial Secretar}' and the General
Manager of the Ceylon Government Railways one of the
Government motor cars was put at our disposal for a week soon
after landing. For the benefit of others who may be engaged in
similar work we desire to refer to the value of a preliminary
survey of the country conducted from a motor car. Our survey
enabled us to gain valuable information without going more than
ten miles on foot from the main road.
We are indebted to the following gentlemen for help and
PREFACE xi
advice on various matters, Dr L. D. Barnett, Mr R. I. Pocock,
Professor Ridgeway and Mr Vincent A. Snnith. It remains
to thank Dr W. H. R. Rivers for the unflagging interest
he has shown in this volume, the whole of which he has
read in manuscript and discussed with us, to the very great
advantage of the work. We are also indebted to him for per-
mission to reproduce from the British Journal of Psychology the
block which appears on p. 403 ; while some of the figures of
quartz implements reproduced in Plate VIII have already
appeared in Man. The index and glossary have been prepared
by Miss M. C. Jonas.
C. G. S.
10 February 191 1.
NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION
The transliteration of unfamiliar oriental words must consti-
tute a difficulty to all who are not oriental scholars. In the
present instance the matter is further complicated by the
phonetic changes undergone by many Sinhalese words in the
mouths of Veddas and the peasant Sinhalese of the Vedirata.
Under these circumstances it seemed best not to attempt to
polish the dialect in which our informants talked, but to treat it
as an unwritten language, and to write all native words according
to some generally recognised and easily applied rule. We
selected the scheme recommended by the Royal Geographical
Society, under which consonants are pronounced as in English
and vowels as in Italian, only modifying it by writing c for the ck
sound in diurcJi. Satisfactory as this plan proved to be in the
field it is obviously wholly unsuited to that part of the work
which consists of the transliteration and translation of songs or
invocations written down in Sinhalese by our interpreters.
Mr Parker and Mr Gunasekara have therefore made use of.
a system of transliteration suggested by the former, con-
sisting of that prescribed by the Ceylon Government (cf.
Mr Gunasekara's Sinhalese Grammar, pp. 8 and 9) with the
following modifications :
( 1 ) Long vowels are indicated by the sign -.
(2) The letters C&7, S, ^, (£3 are represented by ae, c, ch, s
respectively.
S has been represented by v or w.
Hence the transliteration of the Sinhalese alphabet according:
to this modified system is as follows :
Vovvels-f^ a, Cf) a. c^, re, ^^ ae, © i, '6 or <^ I, ^ u, ^-^ u.
M3 ri, Was ri, r^ li. '^cr, II, 6 e, er e, ^t> ai, ® o, © o, ®<n au.
^ Consonants— cs< k, ^ kh, cd g, ^ gh, g I'l, © c, e^ ch, 6 j,
-^ jh, ^ n, a t, c^ th, © d, ^ dh, ^ n, -^ t, 6 th, L\ d, § dh'
■^ n, d p, er ph ^ b, «5 bh, ® m, d y, <^r, d 1, © v or w <^ ^
^ sh, cx5 s, K< h, (g5 1, o n, : h.
NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION Xlll
The semi-nasal sounds (represented by the symbol c , as
in 455 fig, ^ fij, e: nd, (^ iid) are represented by n, and the semi-
nasal sound (represented by the symbol S as in S)) of m is
represented by rfi.
The use of two systems of transliteration in the same book,
though far from ideal, has, we believe, not led to any ambiguity,
for the absence of all diacritical marks (with the exception of an
occasional - over a long vowel) will immediately indicate that a
word is written as it stood in our field notes. Thus in the
vocabulary the words are given as we took them down in the
field, while the more elaborate system of transliteration is used
by Mr Gunasekara in his notes on the origin of these words.
From one standpoint there may even be an advantage in the
use of a simple system of transliteration. Being ignorant of
Sinhalese we have recorded the sounds we heard, without the
modifications which a knowledge of the language would suggest.
Thus hatej'a is everywhere written for Jiatiira (bear) ; Bandara
pronounced Bandar by all Veddas and many peasant Sinhalese
will be found printed in both forms, and the spelling of many
other words is varied in the same manner. Perhaps the most
striking example of variation in spelling is in the name of the
people of whom this book treats. We have thought it best to
use the common English spelling and to write the word Vedda,
but this word is spelt in at least two other ways, in the verbatim
quotations from the manuscript or printed works of others.
C. G. S.
B. Z. S.
3 February 1 9 1 1 .
CONTENTS
lAPTER
page
Preface
vii
Note on Transliteration . . . .
xii
I.
Historical and Geographical .
I
II.
Present Condition of the Veddas.
29
III.
Social Organization. Genealogies
59
IV.
Family Life ....
81
V.
Property and Inheritance
106
VI.
Religion
122
VII.
Religion [continued)
146
VIII.
Magic ....
190
IX.
Ceremonial Dances
209
X.
Invocations .
273
XI.
Arts and Cr.\fts .
318
XII.
Coast Veddas
331
XIII.
Music, by C. S. Myers
341
XIV.
Songs ....
366
XV.
Language
380
XVI.
Senses of the Veddas
395
XVII.
Conclusions .
Vocabulary .
Appendix
Glossary ....
Index
413
423
451
455
457
LIST OF TEXT FIGURES
1. Plan of caves at Bendiyagalge .
2. Plan of Pihilegodagalge
3. Toy masliya ....
4. Plan of the Henebedda Territory
5. Plan of Sitala Wanniya Territory
6. Boundary mark ....
7. Arrow with wooden blade and wooden atide
8. Aude .
9. Some of the objects used in the Bambura Yaka ceremony
{a) Mulpola itiya, {b) Ule, (c) Haelapeta
10. Ceremonial bow and arrow of Bambura Yaka
11. Ran kaduwa .........
12. Masliya •
13. Verda bow and harpoon. Iron harpoon head
14. Plan of Verda temple and its surroundings . . .
15. Apparatus for testing Miiller-Lyer illusion
PAGE
83
87
93
108
no
"3
138
138
240
246
256
328
334
336
403
LIST OF PLATES
#
PLATE
I.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
X.
XI.
XI.
XII.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XIV.
XV.
XV.
XVI.
XVl.
XVII.
XVII.
XVIII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XLX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXII.
Frontispiece. The Vedda country, view from Bendiyagalge rocks.
To face page
Fig. I. View from the P. W. D. bungalow at Nilgala
Fig. 2. The Gal Oya river near Nilgala .
Danigala Veddas on the look-out rock
Group of Veddas of Henebedda and Bingoda
Poromala (Walaha), headman of the Henebedda Veddas
Sita Wanniya of Henebedda
Sita Wanniya of Henebedda
Poromala, a Henebedda youth
Quartz and chert implements
Steps cut in rock at Bendiyagalge
Fig. I. A chena settlement of the Henebedda Veddas
Fig. 2. Henebedda Veddas of the Namadewa clan inhabit
ing the chena settlement
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fie.
I.
Rough shelter on the Danigala rock dome .
Veddas of Bandaraduwa ....
Mixed Sinhalese and Vedda chena at Bandaraduwa
Uniche Veddas . . . . . •
Women and girls of Sitala Wanniya ....
Fig. I. Men of mixed Sinhalese and Vedda blood from
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
the neighbourhood of Maha Oya
46
Women of Omuni ....... 46
Vedda settlement at Unuwatura Bubula . . 48
Village Veddas of Dambani 48
Men of Yakure 56
Veddas of Ulpota 56
General view of the rock shelters at Bendiyagalge . 84
Uhapitagalge rock shelter 84
Pihilegodagalge rock shelter 84
Part of Pihilegodagalge rock shelter ... 84
Lower rock shelter at Bendiyagalge ... 84
Early morning scene in lower rock shelter
Bendiyagalge ........
Rough shelter built for isolation of women at Unuwatura
liubula
Locks of hair presented to brides at marriage .
Fig. I. Portion of Pihilegodagalge belonging to Kaira
Fig. 2. Boundary mark cut by Handuna of Sitala Wanniya
* An asterisk indicates that the photograph from which the plate is made has
been touched up.
2
16
16
16
16
16
16
20
22
36
36
38
38
42
42
44
84
94
98
112
112
LIST OF PLATES
XVll
PLATE
XXI IL
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVI.
xxvn.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXIX.
XXX.
XXX.
XXXI.
XXXI.
XXXII.
XXXII.
XXXIII.
xxxin.
XXXIV.
XXXV.
XXXV.
XXXVI.
XXXVI.
XXXVII.
XXXVII.
XXXVIII.
To face page
Seisin consisting of hair, tooth, quartz fragments and
strike-a-light
Messages scratched on a slip of bark and an ola leaf
Aude with inlaid silver Bo leaf ....
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
1. Arrow dance (Henebedda)
2. Arrow dance (Henebedda)
I. Itale Yaka ceremony. Arrow with Na leaves
attached (Bandaraduwa) ....
Fig. 2. Itale Yaka ceremony (Bandaraduwa)* .
Fig. I. Itale Yaka ceremony (Bandaraduwa)* .
Fig. 2. The Adukku Denawa ceremony (Henebedda)
Fig. I. Kirikoraha ceremony, censing the aude and
coconut (Henebedda)
Fig. 2. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman dances with
the aude and coconut (Henebedda)
Fig. I. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman dances with
the aude and coconut (Henebedda)
Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman breaking
coconut (Henebedda) . . . . .
Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman examines
offering of coconut milk (Henebedda) .
Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman tracking the
2.
the
I.
the
2.
sambar (Henebedda)
1. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman tracking the
sambar (Henebedda)
2. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman shoots the
sambar (Henebedda) ...
I. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman
his
bends
head over the coconut milk (Henebedda)
2. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman possessed by
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Bilindi Yaka promises good hunting (Henebedda)
Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman about to spin the
pot (Henebedda)
Fig. 1. Kirikoraha ceremony, the bulatyahana (Unu-
watura Bubula)
Fig. 2. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman before the
bulatyahana (Unuwatura Bubula) ....
Fig. I. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman salaams to
the offering (Bandaraduwa)
Fig. 2. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman pretends to
stab the offering (Bandaraduwa)* ....
Fig. I. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman possessed
falls into the arms of a supporter (Bandaraduwa)
Fig. 2. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman sprinkles
milk from the offering on the brothers of the
deceased (Bandaraduwa)
Fig. I. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman possessed by
Kande Yaka tracks the sambar (Bandaraduwa)* .
114
I20
172
214
214
216
216
216
216
220
220
220
220
222
222
222
222
222
222
222
230
230
234
234
234
234
XVlll
LIST OF PLATES
PLATE
xxxvin.
XXXLX.
XXXIX.
XL.
XL.
XLL
XLL
XLH.
XLIL
XLin.
XLIIL
XLIV.
XLIV.
XLV.
XLV.
XLVL
XLVL
XLVIL
XLVIIL
XLVIH.
XLLX.
XLIX.
To
Fig. 2. Nae Yaku ceremony, the brother of the
deceased falls back possessed (Bandaraduvva)
Fig. I. Nae Yaku ceremony, the other brother of the
deceased is also possessed (Bandaraduwa) .
Fig. 2. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman possessed
by the Nae Yaka embraces the brother of the
deceased (Bandaraduwa) . . . . .
Fig. I. Nae Yaku ceremony, the Nae Yaka shows his
power (Bandaraduwa) ......
Fig. 2. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman feeds the
members of the community (Bandaraduwa).
1. Bambura Yaka ceremony, preparing the tadiya
(Sitala Wanniya)*
2. The Bambura Yaka ceremony begins by
Handuna singing an invocation (Sitala Wanniya)*
1. Bambura Yaka ceremony, the boar wounds
the hunter (Sitala Wanniya)* ....
Bambura Yaka ceremony, the boar is at length
killed (Sitala Wanniya)*
I. Bambura Yaka ceremony, the bow of Dunne
Yakini (Sitala Wanniya)*
Bambura Yaka ceremony, Kaira dances with
the iadiya (Sitala Wanniya)* . .
I . Bambura Yaka ceremony, offerings and proper-
ties prepared for the ceremony by Wannaku of
Uniche (Maha Oya)
Fig. 2. Bambura Yaka ceremony, Wannaku kills the
boar (Maha Oya)*
Fig. I. Pata Yaku ceremony, the beginning of the
dance (Sitala Wanniya)*
Fig. 2. Pata Yaku ceremony, the shaman buries his
face in the ustnukaltya (Sitala Wanniya)* .
Fig. I. Pata Yaku ceremony, the shaman predicts the
sex of the child (Sitala Wanniya)* .
Fig. 2. Pata Yaku ceremony, Nila prays for his
daughter's safe delivery (Sitala Wanniya)* .
Dola Yaka ceremony, the offering to the Yaku (Sitala
Wanniya)* . . . _
Fig. I. Rahu Yaka ceremony, the beginning of the
dance (Sitala Wanniya)*
Fig. 2. Rahu Yaka ceremony, the shaman prophesies
good luck in hunting and honey gathering (Sitala
Wanniya)*
Fig. I. Wanagata Yaku ceremony, the shaman offers
betel leaves to the Yaku (Unuwatura Bubula)
Fig. 2. Wanagata Yaku ceremony, the shaman pos-
sessed by the Yaku (Unuwatura Bubula) .
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
face page
234
236
236
236
236
242
242
242
242
242
242
246
246
250
250
250
250
252
258
258
260
260
LIST OF PLATES
XIX
PLATE ^'^ face page
L. Fig. I. Alutyakagama ceremony, the beginning of the
invocation (Unuwatura Bubula) .... 261
L. Fig. 2. Alutyakagama ceremony, the shaman and his
supporter at the alutyakagama (Unuwatura Bubula) 261
LL Fig. I. Alutyakagama ceremony, testing the offering
(Unuwatura Bubula) 261
LL Fig. 2. Alutyakagama ceremony, the shaman comes to
us with an aude in each hand (Unuwatura Bubula) 261
LI I. Fig. I. Alutyakagama ceremony, the shaman about to
spin the pot of food (Unuwatura Bubula) . . 262
LI I. Fig. 2. Ruwala ceremony, the riiivala prepared by
Wannaku of Uniche (Maha Oya) . . . . 262
LIII. Fig. I. Kolamaduwa ceremony, the ^^/rt;;««^«wa(He-
nebedda) 268
LIII. Fig. 2. Kolamaduwa ceremony, the beginning of the
dance (Henebedda) 268
LIV. Fig. I. Kolamaduwa ceremony, the shaman and Sita
Wanniya become possessed (Henebedda)* . . 268
LIV. Fig. 2. Kolamaduwa ceremony, slashing the leaves
from the kolaniaduwa (Henebedda) . . . 268
LV. Nila holding bow while reciting invocation No. xxill.
When the name of the yaka causing the illness is
spoken the bow swings to and fro . . . . 290
LVI. Fig. I. Rock drawings in Pihilegodagalge cave . 320
LVI. Fig. 2. Rock drawings in Pihilegodagalge cave . 320
LVI I. Fig. I. Rock drawings in Pihilegodagalge cave . 320
LVI I. Fig. 2. Rock drawings of //a«^^/?^ in Gamakandegalge
cave . 320
LVI 1 1. Vedda drawings 320
LIX. Vedda drawings ' . . 320
LX. Vedda drawings 320
LXI. Vedda drawings 320
LXII. Vedda pots 324
LXI 1 1. Handuna of Henebedda stringing his bow. . . 326
LXIV. Handuna shooting 326
LXV. Deerskin vessel (tnaludemd) used for collecting honey . 328
LXVI. Gourd used as bee hive (Henebedda) .... 328
LXVII. Betel pouch made of monkey skin (Henebedda) . 330
LXVIII. Fig. I. Coast Veddas 332
LXV 1 1 1. Fig. 2. Coast Veddas of Vakarai .... 332
LXIX. Fig. I. Settlement of Coast Veddas .... 332
LXIX. Fig. 2. Settlement of Coast Veddas .... 332
LXX. Fig. I. Site of dance at Vakarai, showing kudaram
and pole IZ^
LXX. Fig. 2. Dancing round the kudaram .... 338
LXXI. The end of the dance at Vakarai .... 338
ERRATA
Page i6 line 25 to p. 17 line 4 for "mm." read "m."
Page 18 line 24 for " chaemaeprospes " read " chamaeprospes
Page 21 line 24 for "I" read "we"
Page 25 footnote line i for "I" read "we"
Page 35 line i for ^' ruwela" read ^' riiwala'^
Page 44 line 7 for " i -530 mm." read "i-53m."
Page 45 footnote line 7 for ^Uavilavi" read ^'tavalam"
Page 141 line 23 for " Panikki Yaka " read " Panikkia Yaka"
Page 149 line 26 for "Vijeyo" read "Vijaya"
Page 150 line 12 for "Galmeda" read "Galmede"
Page 153 line 34 for "Chapter vii" read "in the Addendum to this chapter"
Page 165 line 25 for " Wanegatha " and page 170 line 36, and page 172 line 20
for "Wanegata" read "Wanagata"
Page 167 line 12 for " Ganga Bandar" read " Gange Bandar"
Page 204 lines 6, 10 and 12 respectively read
"Go and cleave it in the tail, by the ribs"
"Go and cleave it in the neck, by the ribs"
"Go and cleave it in the stomach, by the ribs"
Page 204 for lines 20 to 22 read '^ Laetten is the ablative case of ila-aeta, rib"
Page 229 line 6 for " many jrt/'rt " read " many j«/^« "
Page 231 line 19 for "hangalla" read " kangala"
Page 245 line 21 for "Ala Yaka" read "Ale Yaka"
Page 302 line 11 and p. 333 line 14 for "Chapter viii" read "Chapter Vll "
Page 322 last line for " Chapter XV " read " Chapter xiv "
i
CHAPTER I
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL
The Vedda country at the present day is limited to a
roughly triangular tract lying between the eastern slopes of
the central mountain massif and the sea. This area of about
2400 square miles is bounded on the west by the Mahaweli
Ganga, from the point where, abandoning its eastern course
through the mountains of the Central Province, the river sweeps
northwards to the sea. A line from this great bend passing
eastwards through Bibile village (on the Badulla-Batticaloa
road) to the coast will define the southern limits of the Vedda
country with sufficient accuracy, vdiile its eastern limit is the
coast. So defined it includes the greater part of the Eastern
Province, about a fifth of Uva and a small portion of that part
of the North Central Province known as Tamankaduwa, and
is traversed by a single high road capable of taking wheeled
traffic. This runs from Badulla, the capital of Uva, lying at
the foot of the central mountain mass of the island, to the coast
a few miles to the north of Batticaloa, the capital of the Eastern
Province.
Excepting only the mountain scenery of Upper Uva and
the Central Province, the Vedda country even in its present
diminished form presents every variety of scenery met with
in Ceylon, including alike the magnificent Uva park lands and
the sandy mangrove-fringed flats of the Eastern coast. Within
its borders is situated Mahayangana (Alutnuwara) the ancient
assembling place of the Yakkas where, according to the Maha-
wansa, Buddha appeared and struck terror into their hearts
before propounding his doctrines to the hosts of deva who
s. v. I
2 THE VEDDAS
attended him there. Here was erected the Mahayangana
dagaba, the oldest in Ceylon, built over the relics of the very
Buddha and from its inception to the present day the goal
of countless generations of pious pilgrims reaching it by
descending the Gallepadahulla, the pass of two thousand steps,
that leads in less than an hour from the breezy uplands of the
Central Province to the steamy river valley two thousand feet
below. It is from this, the old pilgrim path, wending its way
above the pass through the pleasant hills of Uva from the
forgotten city of Medamahanuwara, that the best idea of the
Vedda country is obtained. A sudden rise in the ground gives
the first view of the Vedda country through a V-shaped frame
of hills, and from such a spot as this Knox must have looked
upon Bintenne. " It (the country of Bintan) seems to be a
smooth land and not much hilly, the great river running through
the midst of it. It is all over covered with mighty woods and
abundance of deer, but much subject to dry weather and
sickness. In these woods is a sort of wild people inhabiting,
whom we shall speak of in their placed"
Continuing along the path a little further, a wider view is
obtained where the track seems to end abruptly in a great rock,
the Ballangala or look-out rock, upon which the pilgrim halts
to gaze reverently upon the ancient dagaba and the flat land
spread out before him.
Here flows the Mahaweli ganga, soon to be hidden in the
great sea of forest-clad lowland stretching away to the north,
from which rise Kokagalla and other hills, the traditional homes of
the Veddas, like rocky islands in the distance. To the east tower
the Uva Mountains, stretching onwards in a diminishing series
towards the uplands of Nilgala. In Bintenne, including in this
term parts of both Uva and the Eastern Province, the jungle
consists of a forest of great trees without much undergrowth,
occasionally interrupted by open spaces, covered with coarse
grass, which, however, does not grow much higher than the
knee. These open patches are more numerous in the Eastern
Province than they are in Uva Bintenne (which is traversed by
^ An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East Indies, London, i68i.
Chapter ii, p. 5.
Plate I
Fig. I. View from the P. W. D. bungalow at Nilgala
Fig. 2. The Gal Oya river near Nilgala
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 3
many small streams) and it is generally supposed that they are
the sites of ancient cultivation ; there are comparatively few
streams in this country though swamps and small water holes
containing stagnant water are common ^
Northward in Tamankaduwa (a division of the North
Central Province) the great trees give place to poorer growth
and a scrubby jungle is found. On the east of the Badulla-
Batticaloa road lie the Nilgala hills, the best of the Vedda
domain and the most pleasing country in Ceylon. Here, broad
valleys lie between jungle-clad ranges of much weathered gneiss,
among whose rocky crags and rounded domes, bambara, the
rock bee {Apis indica), builds its combs. Here is no gloomy
jungle, but in the valleys are many thickets and small trees
growing scattered as in a young orchard, their trunks protected
by coarse lalang grass which often attains 5 or 6 feet in
^ The character of the Bintenne of the Eastern Province has been well stated by
Mr H. Freeman, Government Agent for tlie Eastern Province, in his Administration
Report for 1908, for the following extract from which I am indehted to Mr John
Ferguson: "This is an unsatisfactor)' region ; a wretched population of about 3,000
in the largest pattu of the Province has, with the exception of three or four small
patches of paddy land, nothing to live on except chenas and jungle produce; they
have not the advantage of the hundreds along the coast who can get a sort of living
by begging from their neighbours. Necessarily the Bintenna folk are miserable in
appearance ; nearly all of them are sick. There are many abandoned tanks, but the
people have neither the physique nor the will to restore them. There are no coconuts
to speak of in Bintenna ; the few trees are either infertile or barren. Still we must
take the people and the country as we find them, and rather than let the population
drift away from Bintenna to the chena country of Uva, I would concentrate them on
the more fertile spots about Kallodai, Maha-oya, PuUumalai and Tempitiya, on or
near the Badulla road, and endeavour to teach them to do tank work ; there are
promising, abandoned, tanks, which could be restored, and the land settled on the
people on easy terms. Plentiful chenas would be necessary to fill the stomachs of the
people to get work out of them ; maize grows well in Bintenna ; it is now imported in
large quantities from Uva ; large tracts of Bintenna could be turned into maize fields
for the supply of the people on the coast also, while Uva could then keep to itself its
supplies of this commodity sent down to this district.. ..In addition to the Sinhalese
population of Bintenna there are the Veddas,...and bands of gipsies find a good
hunting ground there. Some of these have just been prosecuted and imprisoned for
violating the Game Laws, and also made to pay road tax, payment of which they
have evaded for years ; the gipsies have considerable wealth in cattle and other
property; they also drink and steal. Since writing the above on the condition of
Bintenna I have explored other and remoter parts of that division, and find that
whatever prosperity in paddy cultivation it enjoyed in the distant past must 'have
been due to the Rajakariya system, in the absence of which Bintenna will probably
remain a wilderness for an indefinitely long period."
I 2
4 THE VEDDAS
height. Clear rock-strewn streams abound, their banks
brightened by the deep green leaves and the bright red flowers
of the ratmal {Ixora coccined). Scattered masses of rock often
of great size form convenient shelters for the Veddas, and assist
the rapid drainage of the country, which does not become water-
logged even during torrential rains. This beautiful country is
rich in game. To the east, where many Veddas have drifted,
the jungle is thicker, the land lies lower, and is generally less
healthy. The Nuwaragala Hills to the north of the Nilgala
ranges are perhaps the wildest part of the island and are more
densely clothed in jungle, but there are plenty of streams, while
the slope of the country permits of ready drainage.
The coastal zone north of Batticaloa inhabited by the coast
Veddas is flat and sandy, and the vegetation though dense
is often less tall and less abundant than in other parts of the
country. Salt water marshes are common, and the country
is cut into by numerous lagoons and creeks, often bounded
by a fringe of mangroves which stretches some distance up
the mouths of the rivers. Although this area may now, and
for yet a few years, be rightly called the Vedda country it must
not be thought that any considerable number of its inhabitants
are Veddas, or that they exercise any territorial or political
influence ; on the contrary, they constitute an insignificant
fraction of the Tamil and Sinhalese inhabitants before whom
they are rapidly disappearing, partly by intermarriage and
absorption, partly owing to misery and a high death rate
brought about by sheer inability to cope with the new state
of affairs that the increased settlement of this, the wildest part
of the island, has brought about.
Formerly the Vedda country is known to have embraced
the whole of the Uva, and much of the Central and North
Central Provinces, while there is no reason to suppose that their
territory did not extend beyond these limits. Indeed there is
no reasonable doubt that the Veddas are identical with the
" Yakkas " of the Mahavansa and other native chronicles.
The seventh chapter of the Mahawansa relates the arrival in
Ceylon, B.C. 543, of Vijaya who married Kuweni an aboriginal
princess {Yakkini) and by her assistance destroyed a great
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 5
number of her people, and established the earliest Sinhalese
kingdom. Later, after she had borne him a son and a daughter,
Vijaya being urged by his followers to take a royal bride sent
an embassy to Madura, asking for the hand of the daughter
of King Pandava. The latter agreed to the alliance. Vijaya
" receiving the announcement of the arrival of this royal maiden,
and considering it impossible that the princess could live with
him at the same time with the yakkini, he thus explained
himself to Kuweni : 'A daughter of royalty is a timid being;
on that account, leaving the children with me, depart from
my house.' She replied : ' On thy account, having murdered
yakkhas, I dread these yakkhas : now I am discarded by both
parties; whither can I take myself?' 'Within my dominions
(said he) to any place thou pleasest which is unconnected with
yakkhas; and I will maintain thee with a thousand bali offerings.'
She who had been thus interdicted (from uniting herself with
the yakkhas) with clamorous lamentation, taking her children
with her, in the character of an inhuman being, wandered to
that very city (Lankapura) of inhuman inhabitants. She left
her children outside the yakkha city. The yakkhas, on seeing her
enter the city, quickly surrounded her, crying out : ' It is for the
purpose of spying us that she has come back ! ' And when
the yakkhas were greatly excited, one of them, whose anger was
greatly kindled, put an end to the life of the yakkini by a blow
of his hand. Her uncle, a yakkha (named Kumara), happening
to proceed out of the yakkha city, seeing these children outside
the town, * Whose children are ye .-* ' said he. Being informed
'Kuveni's' he said, 'Your mother is murdered: if ye should
be seen here, they would murder you also: fly quickly.' Instantly
departing thence, they repaired to the (neighbourhood of the)
Sumanakuta (Adam's Peak). The elder having grown up,
married his sister, and settled there. Becoming numerous
by their sons and daughters, under the protection of the king,
they resided in the Malaya district. This is the origin of the
Pulindas (hill-men)."
Such chronicles though interesting tell us little or nothing
concerning the habits and customs of those Veddas who did
not adopt a Sinhalese mode of life ; the same may be said
6 THE VEDDAS
of the earliest foreign records such as that found in the tract
De Moribiis Brachmanoriim written about 400 A.D., the author of
which professes to have obtained his information from a Theban
traveller.
To Robert Knox, who wrote in 1681 after a captivity in
Ceylon lasting 20 years, belongs the credit of having first
accurately described the Veddas. " Of these Natives there be
two sorts Wild and Tame. I will begin with the former. For
as in these Woods there are Wild Beasts so Wild Men also.
The Land of Bintan is all covered with mighty Woods, filled
with abundance of Deer. In this Land are many of these wild
men ; they call them Vaddahs, dwelling near no other Inhabi-
tants. They speak the Chingidayes Language. They kill Deer,
and dry the Flesh over the fire, and the people of the Countrey
come and buy it of them. They never Till any ground for
Corn, their Food being only Flesh. They are very expert with
their Bows. They have a little ax, which they stick by their
sides, to cut hony out of hollow Trees. Some few, which are
near Inhabitants, have commerce with other people. They
have no Towns nor Houses, only live by the waters under
a Tree, with some boughs cut and laid about them, to give
notice when any wild Beasts come near, which they may hear
by their rustling and trampling upon them. Many of these
Habitations we saw when we fled through the Woods, but God
be praised the Vaddahs were gone.
" Some of the tamer sort of these men are in a kind of
Subjection to the King. For if they be found, tho it must be
with a great search in the woods, they will acknowledge his
Officers, and will bring to them Elephant-teeth, and Honey, and
Wax, and Deers Flesh ; but the others in lieu thereof do give
them near as much, in Arrows, Cloth, etc. fearing lest they
should otherwise appear no more.
" It had been reported to me by many people, that the
wilder sort of them, when they want Arrows, will carry their
load of Flesh in the night, and hang it up in a Smith's Shop,
also a Leaf cut in the form they will have their Arrows made,
and hang by it. Which if the Smith do make according to
their Pattern they will requite, and bring him more Flesh :
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 7
but if he make them not, they will do him a mischief one time
or another by shooting in the night. If the Smith make the
Arrows, he leaves them in the same place, where the Vaddahs
hung the Flesh.
********
"About Hourly the remotest of the King's Dominions there
are many of them, that are pretty tame, and come and buy and
sell among the people. The King once having occasion of an
hasty Expedition against the Dutch, the Governour summoned
them all in to go with him, which they did. And with their
Bows and Arrows did as good service as any of the rest but
afterwards when they returned home again, they removed farther
in the Woods, and would be seen no more, for fear of being
afterwards prest again to serve the King.
" They never cut their hair but tye it up on their Crowns
in a bunch. The cloth they use, is not broad nor large, scarcely
enough to cover their Buttocks. The ivilder and tamer sort
of them do both observe a Religion. They have a God peculiar
to themselves. The tamer do build Temples, the wild only bring
their sacrifice under Trees, and while it is offering, dance round
it, both men and women.
" They have their bounds in the Woods among themselves,
and one company of them is not to shoot nor gather hony
or fruit beyond those bounds. Neer the borders stood a Jack-
Tree; one Vaddah being gathering some fruit from this Tree,
another Vaddah of the next division saw him, and told him
he had nothing to do to gather Jacks from that Tree, for that
belonged to them. They fell to words and from words to
blows, and one of them shot the other. At which more of
them met and fell to skirmishing so briskly with their Bows
and Arrows, that twenty or thirty of them were left dead upon
the spot.
" They are so curious of their Arrows that no smith can
please them : The King once to gratifie them for a great Present
they brought him, gave all of them of his best made Arrow-
blades : which nevertheless would not please their humour. For
they went all of them to a Rock by a River and ground
them into another form. The Arrows they use are of a
8 THE VEDDAS
different fashion from all other, and the Chingnlays will not
use them.
"They have a peculiar way by themseh^es of preserving
Flesh. They cut a hollow Tree and put honey in it, and then
fill it up with flesh, and stop it up with clay. Which lyes for a
reserve to eat in time of want.
" It has usually been told me that their way of catching
Elephants is, that when the Elephant lyes asleep they strike
their ax into the sole of his foot, and so laming him he is in
their power to take him. But I take this for a fable, because
I know the sole of the Elephants foot is so hard, that no axe
can pierce it at a blow ; and he is so wakeful that they can
have no opportunity to do it.
" For portions with their Daughters in marriage they give
hunting Dogs. They are reported to be courteous. Some of
the Chitigidays in discontent will leave their houses and friends,
and go and live among them, where they are civilly entertained.
The tamer sort of them, as hath been said, will sometimes appear,
and hold some kind of trade with the tame Inhabitants, but the
wilder called Raniba- Vaddahs never show themselves."
From Knox's account it is evident that in his time or a little
before this, some of the Veddas were in touch with the court
and were even sufficiently amenable to discipline to be of use as
// an auxiliary fighting force, indeed, there is abundant evidence
j that long before this a part of the inhabitants of Ceylon, with
enough Vedda blood in them for their contemporaries to call
them Veddas, were politically organized and constituted a force
whom the rulers of the island found it necessary to consider.
Upon this subject we cannot do better than quote part of a
letter from Mr H. Parker in which this authority states his
views on this subject. " At the time when Sinhalese history
begins, a part of them [Veddas] had reached a far more advanced
state than the others. They were politically organised, and
according to the Mahavansa had a supreme king and subordinate
chiefs 80 years after Wijaya became king^
^ "He established the yakkhas Kalavela in the eastern quarter of the city
[Anuradhapura] ; and the chief of the yakkhas, Citta, he established on the lower side
of the Abhaya tank. He (the king), who knew how to accord his protection with
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 9
" The invaders, or rather settlers, from the valley of the
Ganges intermarried with these more advanced natives, and
became the Sinhalese of the present day (with a later mixture
of Tamil or Indian blood).
" The wilder natives continued to lead the life of their
primitive ancestors, and only to a very limited extent inter-
married with the Sinhalese.
" Three or four centuries ago the Vaeddas were spread over
the Matale district and the North-western Province, and I believe
Sabaragamuwa\"
discrimination, established the slave born of the yakkha tribe, who had formerly
rendered him great service, at the southern gate of the city. He established within
the garden of the royal palace the mare-faced yakkhini, and provided annually demon
offerings to them as well as to others.
"In the days of public festivity, this monarch, seated on a throne of equal eminence
with the yakkha chief Cilta, caused joyous spectacles, representing the actions of the
devas as well as of mortals to be exhibited
"This monarch befriending the interests of the yakkhas, with the co-operation of
Kalavela and Citta, who had the power (though yakkhas) of rendering themselves
invisible (in the human world), conjointly with them, enjoyed his prosperity."
Mahavansa, Chapter x, p. 44 (Tournour's translation). Further, the same king
" provided... a temple [or " tala tree," the readings differ] for the Vyadha-deva "
which Mr Parker states must refer to the Vedda God.
' Additional evidence for this is given by Nevill who says — •" I have unpublished
Mss. which represent the Vaeddas as found in the forests north of Putlam at the time
of Bhuwaneka Bahu Raja of Kotta (about 1466 A.D.), and another which represents
Vaeddas as the chief inhabitants of the Matale district in the region of Raja Sinha,
about 1635 A.D." {Taprohanian, Vol. 11, April 1883, p. 30). With regard to
Veddas in Sabaragamuwa, Bailey notes that- — "Though traces of their former
existence there are evident and numerous, there is every reason to believe that many
centuries have passed since they were there. Fields, villages and families yet retain
the name Veddahs, as Weddeya pangoo, Wedde coombore, Wedde watte, Wedde
ella, Wedde gala, Weddege etc Indeed, Saffragam, or Habara gamowa, means
the district of Veddahs, or barbarous people : and in this form of the word, the former
existence of Veddahs again can be traced, as Habara goddege, Habara kadowa, etc.
It is traditional throughout Saffragam, that once Veddahs predominated over
Sinhalese in that district, and that, as the latter gained ground, the former withdrew
towards Bintene and Wellasse Mr Macready, of the Civil Service, has given me
very important proof of the existence of Veddahs ' near the Sumanta mountains '
[Adam's Peak]. He has given me the translation of some stanzas from a Sinhalese
poem, written about 400 years ago, called the Pirawi Sandese, or the dove's message.
The poem treats of a message sent, by means of a dove, from Cotta (near Colombo)
to Vishnu at Dondera, at the extreme south of the island. The dove takes its course
exactly over the district lying below Adam's Peak. The poet addresses the dove, and
tells her she will see ' the daughters of the Veddahs ' clothed in Riti bark, their hair
adorned with peacock's plumes. So wild are they that the poet describes the herds
of deer as being startled at the sight of them." (" Wild Tribes of the Veddahs of
lO THE VEDDAS
" A 1 6th century MS. — the Wanni Kada-in Pota — records
the appointment of a Vaedda chief as Bandara Mudiyanse
(a title applied only to high caste chiefs) ; at the king's orders
(Bhuvanaika Bahu of Kotta) he fixed the boundaries of four
districts or " Pattus " of the North-western Province. His name
was Panikki Vaedda\ he caught elephants and took some to
the king, with another Vaedda chief, a Registrar or Secretary,
called Liyana Vaedda. I have an early 17th century MS.
which gives an account of part of a civil war in the Matale
District, carried on by his nephew against the king who
imprisoned Knox. Among the insurgent leaders were first,
three Sinhalese chiefs of Matale, and after them are enumerated
a number of Vaedda chiefs (including one woman) who are all
expressly said to be Vaeddas ; of the 'Vaedda wasagama'; one
of them was the chief of Bibilel"
Ceylon," Trans. Ethnol. Soc. 1863, Vol. Ii, p. 313.) Within the last few months the
matter has been rendered almost certain by the discovery by the late James Parsons
to the N.E. of Ratnapura of quartz implements of the type figured in Plate VIII.
■• The mention of the existence of a chief called Panikki Vedda is especially
interesting since Panikkia Yaka reputed to be the spirit {yaka) of a long dead Vedda
chief, who was especially skilled in hunting buffalo and elephant, is honoured among
the Henebedda Veddas. This record shows that the memory of this " Vedda" chief
has been maintained among the local peasant Sinhalese, who themselves are partly
of Vedda descent, until it recently passed to the Henebedda Veddas. (Cf. Religion,
Chapter vi.)
- The present day Sinhalese of the Vedirata say that such Vedda chiefs as those
here recorded were called -tvaitniya and repaired annually to Kandy with offerings of
honey, wax, and venison for the king, who might also invite their presence on special
occasions when they would attend, each wanniya bringing with him a ceremonial
fanlike ornament (still used by the Sinhalese chiefs) called atuupata (literally "fan "),
with an ornament made of wood or ivory on the top called koj-andmua, or kota.
Mr Bibile told us the following story of what happened on one occasion when the
wiuiniya stayed near Kandy with one Galebandar who seems to have been a Vedda.
The king instructed Galebandar to remove the kota from his guests' awitpata without
their knowledge. On the day of the audience these kota were missing, and as there
was no time to get others the Vedda chiefs had to go before the king without them.
The king questioned them: "Where are your kota'i Lost!" and the king said
" Henceforth only I will have the right to kota and you Vedda chiefs have no right to
them." And the king called the Veddr chiefs bandar, each zvan^iiya being given a
name, e.g. Mahabandar, Hantanebandar, Talabandar, Kirtibandar, Rangotibandar,
Rattebandar, Pebandar, Motubandar, Kapurubandar, and so forth, and henceforth the
Veddas must needs go to Kandy yearly taking tribute to the king. And their people
took their chiefs' names as community names, e.g. Danigala and Henebedda are
Mahabandar. It did not appear that bandar names of this sort were generally known
to the Veddas, and we confess that we at present attach no importance to the story we
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL II
Veddas are also mentioned in an old family record translated
by Nevill which he terms the Nadu Kadu Chronicle and which
he considers cannot be later than the sixteenth century^
The following references to Veddas are taken from the
chronicle, for, though they obviously refer to settled and civilised
Veddas who may have had little Vedda blood in their veins,
they are interesting as showing the social and political influence
exerted by these.
The first passage concerns two Pattani soldiers engaged by
the Sinhalese chief as guards.
" Then he took them with him, thinking they will be good to
guard against the troubles caused by the Vedas. He kept them
as a guard against the Vedas of Pala Vekama."
The next reference runs : " The chief of all the Vedas was
Karadiyan. What was their service ? It was to erect temporary
have cited, which is only given here because we feel that it is possible that in the
hands of competent historians it may prove to be of some use.
^ "Report reached me that a valuable record existed, kept in hereditary and
exclusive possession by an old family in the district of Nadu Kadu. Nadu Kadu
is the modern Tamil name of the Na-deaiya, or Naga-divayinna, of the Eastern
Province of Ceylon, and is situated to the south of Batticaloa. It was, in early times,
an independent or feudatory principality, sometimes one, sometimes the other; and it
was here Sada Tisa, brother of Dutugaemunu, ruled The record evidently refers
to a time when this district was depopulated of its former Sinhalese land-owners, and
all cultivation of rice had been abandoned. It tells us how a band of Sinhalese took
up these lands, and redeemed them, preserving friendly relations with the Vaeddas,
Malabars, and Mukkuvars, who held the forests and coast.
"The record is said to have been in Sinhalese, but was translated into Tamil by
the ancestors of the family from whom I procured it, the hereditary managers of the
Thiru Kowil temple. They said that during the guerilla warfare between the English
and the Vanni Chiefs and Dissavas of Uva and Velasse, the Sinhalese villagers of the
district migrated (? were deported) to the Kandian hills and their place was filled up
by emigrants from Jaffna, Tamil Vellalans. Hence the Sinhalese record became
useless, and was translated. It bears on its face the proof of this translation, in many
odd changes and expressions.
"The settlers were a family of Sinhalese nobles of high rank, whose ladies held the
hereditary dignity of foster-m. 'liter to the royal princes
" They were banished to Erukamam, then a deserted site, but anciently the capital
of Sada Tisa. We have incidentally an interesting glimpse at the household of a
feudal noble, of this period, about the thirteenth century,
"The work of cuttmg down the trees that had overgrown the rice-lands was done
by the Vaeddahs, doubtless for a share of the crop, and the powerful Wanni Rajas
were gratified with separate tracts, reclaimed for their exclusive benefit, just as among
their Kandian hills, the settlers had been accustomed to sow the mutettu lands, the
crop of which went to the feudal chief." Taprobanian, Vol. II, p. 127.
12 THE VEDDAS
buildings and screens ; and they were allowed if they erected
a dam for Sevuka field at Sunga Ford, and took charge of the
land, stacking the crop, to thresh and take each the grain of one
sheath. Over every one the Vedas were the chief men."
Again it says : " The Veda Puliyan was the chief of the
Seven Wanams of Akkara Pattu. On the way to Akkara
Pattu is Puliyan Tivu, he remaining there, used to send to the
Muthaliyar and his family, wax, honey and other things...."
" Because he supplied pingos (i.e. presents) for the Seven
Wanam, Rajapaksa Muthaliyar gave Kandi in marriage to the
Veda Puliyan and he lived at Puliyan Tivu."
The next reference is by no means clear, but it shows how
intermarriage between Veddas and Sinhalese might come about.
The last few lines of this passage are especially difficult to
understand ; they seem to show that the Vedda grandfather
of the girl given to the washer had recognised rights in his
grandchildren, and that he was of enough importance to be
propitiated with gifts of cloth.
" Besides this, Nilame Rala and his wife and people, going
to Sitawakka, returned by the Bintenne road to Nadu Kadu.
Whilst so coming, a Veda woman brought forth a child on the
path at Sellapattu, and without cleansing it or securing the
umbilical cord, left it on the path. They seeing that child,
brought it up. The Veda woman returning for the child could
not see it, but found the tracks of many people on the path, and
went away thinking they had taken it. They brought up the
child with the name of Para Natchi (Mistress Road). She was
given in marriage to one Muttuvan and had i6 daughters.
Of these fifteen were given in marriage, and the youngest was
unmarried. Then the washer who came with them, having lost
his wife, was single... they gave him in marriage the youngest
daughter of the Veda woman. Children were born to these.
The Sellapattu Veda hearing of this, year by year began to sell
the children. That custom exists among the Paravar also,
and among the Sandar. As he did so, saying they must
make gifts to that Veda, buying ten cubits of broad-cloth,
tearing it into pieces of four cubits, they gave it to the Veda \"
^ The Taprobanian, Vol. II, p. 140.
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 1 3
It is clear that in the condition of affairs here recorded
there must for many centuries have been a zone of contact
between Veddas and Sinhalese, and that contact metamorphosis
must have occurred in both peoples. There is abundant
evidence of this, and we should not insist further on this point
if it were not necessary to combat a view which, if not clearly
expressed, nevertheless seems to dominate much that has been
written on the Veddas. We refer to the belief that although
the Veddas have been much influenced by the Sinhalese, the
latter owe little or nothing to the Veddas. The former pro-
position finds its fullest exposition in the statement so often
made to us in Ceylon that "there are no real Veddas left"; but
with the exception of Nevill, we cannot find that anyone who
has written on Ceylon has held that the Veddas have strongly
influenced the Sinhalese^ That this influence was, however,
of importance is shown by the fact that the families of the
present aristocracy of the Vedda country are proud of their
Vedda descent, which is equally acknowledged by themselves
and the less wild Veddas. Thus Mr W. R. Bibile Ratema-
hatmaya pointed out to me that long ago his people were
Veddas, and that even after certain of his ancestors had settled
down and had intermarried so as to be classed as Sinhalese,
there were subsequent infusions of Vedda blood into the family.
It was clear that this relationship to the Veddas was the reason
for the prestige he undoubtedly enjoyed among the Danigala
and the Henebedda Veddas. For the same reason one of his
relatives was allowed to pasture his cattle on Henebedda
^ Since the above was written we have learnt from Mr Parker that he regards the
Kandyan Sinhalese as essentially Veddas with an infusion of foreign blood, and this
view is stated in Ancient Ceylon (cf. especially p. 30).
It appears to us that the considerable physical differences which undoubtedly exist
between the Veddas and Kandyan Sinhalese do not support this belief in anything like
its extreme form, though it is but reasonable to suppose that there is Vedda blood in
the inhabitants of the Kandyan districts. We do not think this is the case to any very
large extent for, although constantly on the look out for Sinhalese who resembled
Veddas, we did not see any except in the present Vedirata, and even there we did not
see many. Further, the measurements of the Sarasins show that there is a difference
of 61 mm. or nearly 25 inches in the stature of Veddas and Kandyan Sinhalese. The
actual figures which are taken from the tables at the end of the Sarasins' volume are
as follows, the average of 24 Vedda men was 1*553 m. and the average of 10 Kandyans
was I '6 1 4 m.
14
THE VEDDAS
territory in the neighbourhood of Pattiavelagalge cave described
in Chapter V. This was about lOO years ago, and may have
been connected with the troubles of the revolution which un-
doubtedly led to an influx of Sinhalese into the wilds of the
Vedda country.
Further, the eschatological beliefs of the Kandyan Sinhalese
furnish abundant evidence that these have been influenced by
the Veddas, and certain of these beliefs can be explained on no
other hypothesis, unless it be asserted that the beliefs of the
Veddas and those of the invading Sinhalese were from the first
nearly identical. We refer particularly to the bandara beliefs
described on pp. 141 to 145, which have probably attained to
the position they now hold because, as pointed out to us by
Mr Parker, it is in accordance with Sinhalese Buddhist teaching
that the spirits of the deceased may become yakii. This of
course might merely imply that Sinhalese Buddhism had
originally been influenced by the Vedda Cult of the Dead, but i
that this is not the explanation is shown by the fact — for
information concerning which we are indebted to Mr Parker —
that the Low-Country Sinhalese have nothing of the Kandyan
"hero and ancestor worship" as it is styled by this authority^
Sir James Emerson Tennant devoted a chapter of his
monumental work to the Veddas, but interesting as this chapter
is it contains " little else than a comparison of the habits of the
people of the island, as observed by the ancient voyagers in
the fourth and fifth centuries, with the traditional... customs
of the Veddahs as reported by Knox. The accomplished author
throws no new light on the wild tribes of the Veddahs as they
are. On the contrary, his account of them is in some important
particulars defective, and even inaccurate. He glances casually
at those tribes which are in the wildest state, touching with
precision none of their peculiarities, and dwells in detail upon
those only, which, from long association with the Sinhalese and
Tamil races, have lost much of their originality. Of the ancient
aborigines he has compiled much that is curious. Of the existing
Veddahs he has given us little besides an epitome of former
notices."
^ We again quote from one of Mr Parker's letters.
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL I 5
So wrote John Bailey in 1863 in a footnote to the paper
in which his own observations are reported, and no one who
knows the Veddas will disagree with him. Indeed, Bailey's paper
is a remarkably careful and critical piece of work, concerning
which all must agree with Nevill who recognised it as the first
scientific account of the Veddas^
It was succeeded in 1881 by a summary by Virchow of what
was then known of the Veddas, and measurements were given of
a number of Vedda skulls. This paper was translated into
English and published in 1886 in Vol. IX of the Journal of
the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. But no original
detailed study of the sociology of the Veddas appeared until
the extremely valuable observations of the late Hugh Nevill,!
to which we shall frequently refer, appeared in the Taprobaiiian,
to be followed in 1893 by a magnificently illustrated work
Die Weddas von Ceylon nnd die sie iwigebenden Volkerschaften,
published by the Doctors Paul and Fritz Sarasin, which however
deals less fully with the sociology than with the physical
anthropology of the Veddas^.
Three articles by Dr L. Rutimeyer, published in 1903 ^
describe the author's impressions of parties of Danigala and
Henebedda Veddas who visited him at Bibile Rest House and
review the then existing condition of our knowledge concerning
the ethnology of the Veddas, finishing with a summary of the
views expressed by the Sarasins concerning the relationship of
the Veddas to other races.
As this volume will scarcely touch on physical anthropology
we now give a short account of the chief physical characteristics
^ Taprobanian, 1887, Vol. I, p. 175.
2 It must not be thought, however, that the period from 1863 to 1893 was
absolutely barren ; Mr B. L. Hartshorne published a paper dealing with the village
Veddas of Uva Bintenne in the Fort7tightly Revitnu in 1876, and papers on the Veddas
continued to appear in Xhe Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
One paper, that by C. Stevens (Proc. Roy. As. Soc. Ceylon Branch, 1886), must
be regarded as absolutely misleadmg, and the value of many of these communications
is reduced by the absence of data concerning the origin and mode of collection of the
information given. Thus in Volume vii, i88r, Mr Louis De Zoysa published a
number of Vedda songs which would be of great value if a single word were said of
where, how, or by whom they were collected. This literature will be found in a
bibliography given by the Sarasins on p. 594 of their work.
"* Die Nilgalaweddas in Ceylon. Globus 1903.
l6 THE VEDDAS
of the purer Veddas in order that the reader may appreciate the
bearing of what will be said in other parts of the book concerning
the different groups of Veddas we visited.
The general appearance of the Veddas will be most readily-
appreciated by examining the photographs of pure, or nearly
pure-blooded Veddas reproduced in Plates II and III. The
first of these represents four men of Danigala and a half-breed
boy. The oldest man is Kaira (i), the " patriarch " or senior of
the Danigala groups Of the three other men, his sons, the
two in the foreground are Randu Wanniya (2), nearest to the
pole supporting the hut, and Tuta (3). Plate III is a group
of Henebedda Veddas, the relatively tall man with his hands
hanging by his sides is the half-breed Appuhami (4), and the
taller of the two men with axes over their shoulders, the
Henebedda shaman^, is also a half-breed. The man to the right
of the shaman with bow and arrows in his hands is Kaira (5),
the youth in front of him is Poromala (6), on whose left hand
Tuta (7) kneels by the side of Kalua who is in the same
position. The four men between Appuhami and the shaman
all appear to be fairly typical Veddas ; the man next to
Appuhami is Poromala of Bingoda, upon whose right stand
Handuna (8) and Randu Wanniya (9).
In stature the Veddas are short : the Sarasins measured
24 men of the " Central Vedda district " whom they considered
pure-blooded and obtained an average of I'SSS mm. (6o| inches)
with a minimum of i'46o mm. (571 inches) and a maximum
of I '600 mm. (63 inches). There was only one man of i'6oo mm.
and 20 of the 24 men measured were below i'S7S mm. (62 inches).
Eleven Vedda women of the same district gave an average
1 Two larger photographs of this man as he appeared some 15 years ago are given
by the Sarasins (Plate VII, figure 10), who consider him a "tolerably pure-blooded
Vedda." The numbers in brackets refer to the genealogy on p. 60. '
^ Shaman is the title which the Tunguz give to their "spirit-conjurors." In
Hohsoii Jobson (1903) it is said that the terms shaman and shamanism " are applied
in modern times to superstitions of the kind that connects itself with exorcism and
'devil-dancing' as their most prominent characteristic The characteristic of
shamanism is the existence of certain soothsayers or medicine-men, who profess a
special art of dealing with the mischievous spirits who are supposed to produce
illness and other calamities, and who invoke these spirits and ascertain the means of
appeasing them in trance produced by fantastic ceremonies and convulsive dancings."'
Plate II
'^A%
^
Danigaia Veddas on look-out rock
iJ
1)
•a
o
ho
n
- ^H
•a
c
nS
•o
•a
<u
XI
V
a
in
cd
•a
•a
D,
3
o
u
O
Plate IV
/
*',v«r:',:''*
Poromala (Walaha), headman of the Henebedda Veddas
Plate V
Sita Wanniya of Henebedda
Plate VI
Sita Wanniya of Henebedda
Plate VII
Poromala, a Henebedda youth
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL I7
height of r433 mm. (56I inches) with a minimum pf 1-355 ^^^
(53| inches) and a maximum of r5oo mm. (59 inches). The
median of the men was 1-545 n^rn- (6of inches),, that of the
women 1-435 mm. (56^ inches). Although Veddas do not
become unduly fat they have, when well nourished, sturdy
rather than slight figures, and a few of the older men may
present rather prominent abdomens. The hair is wavy, some-
times almost curly, and in old age not rarely turns white. There
is little hair upon the bodies of the purer Veddas and the growth
of hair upon the face can best be described as slight or moderate,
usually consisting of a rather thin moustache and sparse goatee
beard.
The skin of the Veddas varies enormously, that of the face
being generally somewhat lighter than that of the skin of the
chest. But apart from these minor variations, the skin colour
of any series of individuals will be found to vary from a deep
brown-black, through various shades of bronze, in some of
which a definite reddish tone can be detected, to a colour which
can only be called yellowish-brown. A medium brown-black
is perhaps the commonest, but apart from the darkest brown-
black every colour, even the lightest, occurs in individuals whose
general appearance suggests that they are pure-, or almost pure-
blooded Veddas, and we have no doubt that the bronze shades
occur quite as often among pure-blooded Veddas as among the
less pure. Indeed our experience suggests that the occurrence
of a skin colour of the darker shades of brown-black may be
taken as evidence of miscegenation. The eyes are always dark
brown. The head is long and narrow, the Sarasins give the
average cephalic index of 17 male skulls as 70-5 (minimum 64-9
and maximum 75*9, median 71). The length-height index of
the same skulls is 73 (minimum 65-4, maximum 79, median 73-4).
Generally the face is long rather than broad, but in this respect
there is considerable variation. Twelve skulls gave an average
facial index of 88*2 (minimum yyz, maximum 992, median 88-5),
but ten of the skulls were over 85, the two lowest both giving an
index of about yy.
The brow ridges are well marked so that the eyes appear
deeply set or even sunken. The chin is somewhat pointed and
s. V. 2
l8 THE VEDDAS
is rarely prominent. The lips, though well developed, are not
tumid (except sometimes in the young); sometimes the mouth
is rather flat. This when accompanied by moderately prominent
cheek bones gives some faces an expression of considerable
energy. The jaw is not prognathous, the nostrils are moderately
broad, the root of the nose is depressed but never flattened
to any considerable degree. The average of the nasal indices of
17 skulls gave the figure 527 (minimum 43"3, maximum 62-2,
median 52-3), which is just short of the index (53) at which
platyrrhiny is commonly assumed to begin. Nevertheless we
believe that the Veddas may more fairly be classed as mesorrhine
than platyrrhine, for certainly the impression made on us by the
living was that they were not specially broad-nosed. The
capacity of the 18 male skulls described by the Sarasins varies
from 1012 to 1502 c.c. with an average of 1278 c.c. : none of the
three female Vedda skulls from the inner Vedda district have
a capacity of less than 11 50 c.c, though there is a skull of an
adult Vedda woman in the Museum of the Royal College of
Surgeons with a capacity of only 960 c.c.
Summing up the physical characters to which we have
briefly referred we may define the Veddas as a short, wavy-
haired, dolichocephalic race, with moderately long faces and
moderately broad noses. Expressing the results of measurements
taken by the Sarasins we may say that chaemaeprosopes and
leptoprosopes occur in about equal numbers, and that the Veddas
are mesorrhine or present a low grade of platyrrhiny.
The latest Vedda literature of any importance is a volume
published by the Sarasins which records the work they did
in Ceylon during 1907 when they established the existence
of a stone age upon the island. This fact had not been realised
before, though two naturalists, Mr E. E. Green and Mr J. Pole,
both old residents, had already collected and recognised as
artifacts the quartz implements which were the typical product
of the stone age in Ceylon, and which, as pointed out by the
Sarasins, are most reasonably to be attributed to the Veddas.
A number of rock shelters were explored ; these were situated
at Kataragam in the south of the island where no Veddas now
exist, and in other parts of Uva, in the present Vedda country.
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 19
Not all the caves investigated yielded evidence of prehistoric
habitation, but from a certain number were obtained quartz,
chert and shell implements which put the matter beyond doubt
and conclusively show that Ceylon formerly possessed a stone
age. The greater part of the volume is taken up by an account
of prehistoric quartz and chert artifacts, and the excellent
reproductions given by the authors show that the quartz imple-
ments they discovered belong to the same type as those found
by ourselves and described elsewhere ^
But in addition the Sarasins found hammer stones, a few
pieces of worked bone, and a series of shells of the large land
snail {Helix phoenix), the curve of each shell being occupied by
a circular hole large enough to allow of its sharp edge being
used as a cutting tool-.
Plate VIII shows a number of typical Vedda implements.
All are of quartz except No. 2 which is of chert. Nos. i and 3
are worked on one side only, the unworked side being shown in
order to illustrate the well-marked bulb of percussion which
distinguishes many of the specimens. The general charac-
teristics of these implements are so well shown in the plate that
a description in detail is not necessary. Attention may, however,
be called to figures 6, 8 and 9 ; the first of these shows a large
part of the outer surface of the quartz pebble from which it was
made. No. 8 belongs to a type of which numerous examples
occur among European stone implements, this specimen is
thicker than is usual and measures 15 mm. from one surface
to the other. No. 9 can scarcely have been intended for
anything but an arrow head, two views are given of this
remarkable implement which comes from a cave on the
Scarborough Estate at Maskeliya, and for a drawing of which
I am indebted to Mi Pole. No. 2 is of chert and was found
in the same cave; two views of this implement are given. The
localities from which the other specimens were collected were as
follows : No. I was found by Mr Pole at Maskeliya, No. 3 we
picked up at Bandaravvela, No. 4, was collected by Mr Green
^ C. G. Seligmann, "Quartz Implements from Ceylon," Man, 1908, 63.
- These shells in fact constitute a primitive plane or spokeshave and resemble
those found in Queensland and some parts of South America at the present day.
2 — 2
20 THE VEDDAS
near Peradeniya, Nos. 5, 6, 7, and S are in I\Ir Pole's collection
and were found by him near Maskeliya.
The questions raised by the discovery of implements such as
those figured are so many and interesting that no excuse is
needed for considering some of the issues at length. The data
are the caves excavated b>- the Sarasins in which prehistoric
implements were found, and our own work in Ceylon including
the partial excavation of the Bendiyagalge caves which are
described and figured in Chapter IV.
In the first place if we accept the suggestion that Veddas,
the ancestors of those still existing, are responsible for these
implements, their distribution will give valuable information as
to the former extent of the Vedda country. It may be said
at once that the distribution of these implements, as far as it
is at present known, agrees with our historic knowledge of the
extent of the Vedda domain, and adds to it the heights of Uva
up to about 4000 feet (Bandarawela), the country around Kandy,
and the hill country to the south (Gampola) and in the neighbour-
hood of Adam's Peak (^Maskeli\-a)\ And since they have been
found in the neighbourhood of Matale they add an interesting-
confirmation to what ]\Ir Parker has said on p. 9 concerning;
the former occurrence of Veddas in this part of the country.
Within the last few months the range of these implements
has been extended south to the neighbourhood of Ratnapura,.
where a number of excellent specimens were found by the late
James Parsons, who wrote to us concerning them as follows :
"I dug out a cave in Sabaragamuwa m a ravine to the north-east
of Ratnapura which was most interesting. I have full notes
of the cave — briefly it is sufficiently high above the stream
for it to have been impossible for it to enter the cave in
1 We consulted the late James Parsons, Director of the Mineral Survey, concerning-
the geoloy;ical formation of the rounded grassy hills near Bandarawela called /<7/(z;/(7,
upon which we had independently collected many quartz artifacts. He informed us-
that the capping of these hills usually consists of more or less disintegrated granular
quartz rock, but that this did not seem to contain nearly enough clear quartz to-
produce the flakes even as a "survival of the fittest " in the process of disintegration.
Parsons did however find several water-worn pebbles, all broken, but there were
not enough to lead him to think they represented a capping gravel, although in the
case of the Peradeniya locality there is no doubt that there is river gravel on the
hill.
Plate \'III
Quartz and chert implements
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 21
geologically recent times. To a depth of 8 feet the cave is
full of black earth containing many shells of the big tree snail
mixed with the river shells, bellan {Paludina ceylonica), in such
abundance that these shells are now occasionally collected and
burnt for chunam. A shell is said to occur that is found only in
the river at Ratnapura, but I did not succeed in finding it. The
tradition is that the molluscs were used as food by ' an ancient
Tamil people.' The shells are not calcined, but with themi were
a number of flakes of clear quartz — mostly made from pebbles,
some of them the best I have seen and undoubtedly neolithic...
I do not think there can be any reasonable doubt about them.
At a depth of five feet very rotten fragments of the top of a
human skull and the region of the ear besides bits of long bones
and some pieces of chert not obviously worked. At the
entrance of the cave there is a sort of dyke thrown up, which
is full of flakes some of which appear to be ground and
polished."
Parsons' premature death renders it unlikely that a full
account of this find will ever be published, but owing to the
kindness of Mrs Parsons we have been able to examine a number
of the implements excavated by her husband. These include
a number of cores, worked flakes and scrapers, and one flake of
chert showing a bulb of percussion, but none of the specimens
that I have handled show any signs of polishing^
^ Since the above was written we have received the following account of the cave
from Mr W. D. Holland on whose property we understand the cave is situated.
"The cave is situated about a mile from my bungalow on the N. bank of a small
stream and some lo to 15 feet above present water level. The cave has been formed
by the weathering out of a soft core of rock from gneiss of the ordinary kind and
may have been assisted by the action of the stream when running at a higher level.
The cave is a fairly large one and would accommodate several families, say 15 or
20 individuals, and is quite dry inside. It appears to have been banked up in front,
but this may have been caused by debris falling from the cliff above. The strike
I believe 'coincides with the stream S.W. N.W. We dug a pit about 5 feet in
diameter and about 7 or 8 feet deep, and came upon a lot of shells of the belan
or water snail and some bones : a much shattered portion of the latter we thought to
be a portion of a human skull, and Mr Parsons subsequently informed me by letter
that this had been confirmed in Colombo.... The quartz flakes were not found in
the cave, but on the entrance bank where they had been exposed by the drip from the
rock above washing the earth away and leaving them. The old inliabitants would
naturally work at the entrance for the sake of light. I know only of this one cave in
this neighbourhood. The stream flows S.\Y. to the Kaluganga (eventually), and
22 THE VEDDAS
With regard to the distribution in time of these implements,
it seems that they are of respectable, but of no great antiquity.
They are found abundantly on the surface of the open grassy
patanas at Bandarawela and also on the surface of the soil near
Kandy and scattered everywhere in the neighbourhood of
Maskeliya over the ground planted with tea. Considering that
Ceylon is a well vegetated country with an abundant rainfall,
these facts do not point to any high antiquity even if it is
allowed that in the tea country the cultivation of a century
has lowered the level by 9 to 12 inches, the estimate given by
planters whom we questioned.
The evidence from the caves seems to point in the same
direction. The Bendiyagalge caves present well marked drip
ledges and many signs such as the steps (Plate IX) hewn in the
rock, between the upper and- lower caves, which show that they
were used by the Sinhalese during the efflorescence of Buddhism
before, or about the beginning of, the present era. This date is
made perfectly certain by the occurrence in one of the caves,
a few miles from Bendiyagalge and used by the same Veddas,
of a typical drip ledge associated with an inscription of which
Mr H. C. P. Bell, archaeological commissioner, says, " The
Brahmi [characters] are of the oldest type, therefore B.C." This
inscription has been read by the same authority as, — "(cave of)
the chief. ..son of the chief Vela." It is therefore clear that
these caves were at one time — about 2000 years ago — inhabited
rises about \\ miles (bee line) to the east in the range which forms the watershed of
the Kahiganga and Wallawe rivers. The elevation is approximately 1900 feet and
the cave faces S. (about). The Sinhalese have used this cave for a mine for the
shells of the belan, which they burn into lime to eat with betel leaf. A large number of
shells must have been removed but notwithstanding there must still be an enormous
quantity left. We were also informed by the natives that there are two kinds of
belan shells found in the cave, only one of which is found in the neighbouring streams
and the other must have been brought from some distance in the Ratnapura direction,
15 or 20 miles, and they inferred that these had been brought by whoever had
lived in the cave, presumably for food. We also found some fragments of pottery
(chatties) with the quartz flakes, which the Sinhalese said were of a thinner kind not
made now : these however were no doubt left by Sinhalese gemmers or refugees at a
later date, as caves in the jungle are still used by them if no houses are near. The
rainfall of the district is heavy, some 200 inches. The cave would I think well repay
a thorough exploration, but it should be undertaken by someone who has experience
in such work and would be expensive."
Plate IX
Steps cut in the rock at Bendiyagalge
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 23
by Sinhalese who, as the results of excavation showed, had left
behind them abundant evidence of their occupation of the cave.
This will be clear from the following short account of our partial
exploration of these caves.
The nature of its bottom made the lower cave the easier
to examine, accordingly a longitudinal trench about a foot wide
was dug in the long axis of the lower cave. The first six inches
yielded fragments of pottery and a number of bones, a much
rusted catty, and an areca nut cutter, both of the pattern in
common use. A good many fragments of charcoal were found
in the upper 12 to 18 inches, and several pieces of iron slag —
perhaps six in all — as well as a number of land shells lying
in groups, were found at a depth of from i to 2 feet. Bones
and fragments of pottery continued to occur until a depth of
about 2 feet was reached. Massive rock, which was taken to
be the bed rock of the cave, was reached at about 2^ feet, and
within a few inches of this were found many fragments of
quartz — some milky, some ice-clear, some faintly opalescent,
some smoky and some amethystine. A few of these were as
big as hens' eggs, the majority varied from the size of an apricot
to a haricot bean, some were even smaller. From the large
number of pieces of quartz — nearly 300 — collected at the depth
mentioned from this trench, and a small trench driven at right
angles to it, as well as the absence of pieces of country rock,
there can be no doubt that these pieces of quartz were brought
to the site in which they were found by man. They were not
water- worn, and the variety of colour and opacity they presented
make it certain that they had not weathered out in situ, in spite
of the fact that quartz (but not as far as we could determine
ice-clear quartz) occurs in segregation masses in the gneissic
rock of the neighbourhood. Further, when all the fragments
were carefully washed and examined it was found that some
three per cent, of the pieces of quartz obtained from this cave
showed signs of working. Additional proof that the fragments
of quartz had been brought by man to the site on which they
were found were afforded by some irregular digging done in
the upper cave formed by the same rock mass as the lower cave,
and separated from it only by a few feet. The floor of this
24
THE VEDDAS
cave was so rocky that a regular trench could not be dug, but
a number of holes, the largest perhaps 6 feet by 4 feet, were dug
down to what was apparently the country rock at the bottom of
the cave. Fragments of pottery and the bones of animals were
found in plenty in these holes, but altogether they yielded only-
four pieces of quartz, namely two water-worn pebbles and two
broken pieces of clear glassy quartz. As in the lower cave
a few small pieces of slag were found some 18 inches to 2 feet
below the level of the surface. Most of the fragments of pottery
found in both caves in the first 2 feet are decorated and are
certainly not the remains of Vedda pots, and since fragments of
iron slag are found associated with this pottery, the deposit
in which it occurs must be regarded as formed not earlier than
the Sinhalese occupation of the cave. As already stated massive
rock was found six inches lower, and from these last few inches
were obtained quartz implements and many unworked pieces
of quartz. Clearly then the people responsible for these occupied
the caves before the Sinhalese, but there is no obvious reason
for holding that the makers of these implements antedated the
Sinhalese by any long period. All that can be affirmed is that
no pottery was found associated with the quartz fragments
either by the Sarasins or by ourselves, but this is no sign of
great age considering the extreme roughness of the pots made
by the Veddas at the present day, and the fact that the art
is believed, doubtless correctly, to have been adopted from the
Sinhalese. One of us has already stated in Alan his beliefs
that these implements are neolithic and this is also the opinion
of Mr Reginald Smith. Considering the refractory nature of
the material, and allowing for the fact that it does not occur
in large masses, the better formed implements must be regarded
as neolithic in type, and in this connection it is significant that
the bones found associated with the implements by the Sarasins
are those of existing forms. These authors, however, believe
that the implements they found are paleolithic, arguing that
the absence of pottery and stone adze heads proves that they
cannot be neolithic, though they apparently admit that in many
respects the best implements approach neolithic forms.
The mention of these stone implements naturally brings
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 2$
US to the consideration of the advent of metal in Ceylon. We
know of no fact indicating that this was not worked in the
island before the advent of Vijaya, on the contrary, Vijaya and
his band were obviously only one of many parties of settlers
who came from India in prehistoric times. Perhaps the record
in the Mahavansa of the coming of Buddha to Mahayangana
refers to one such immigrant party, and the legend of Rama
may with even more probability be taken to refer to an invasion
from the mainland. It is quite certain that Vijaya found some
sort of stable political organization on his arrival in the island
to which he came after his followers had been repulsed from
Jambudipa on account of their lawless character. The account
in the Mahavansa by no means suggests that Ceylon was
absolutely terra incognita, and the readiness with which com-
munication with the mainland was kept up, and the facility with
which other bands of adventurers arrive, confirms this.
Although these bands probably came from the valley of
the Ganges there is evidence that there were highly civilised
maritime powers in Southern India 2000 years ago. The
Mahavansa states in the most matter of fact way that Vijaya
sought and obtained the hand of a Hindu bride, the daughter of
the king of an important Tamil state, and nothing is said as to
difficulties encountered by his ambassadors in proceeding to the
court of the Pandyan king, or by the princess in coming to
Ceylon. Again a Pandyan king twice sent ambassadors to
Rome to Augustus Caesar, B.C. 26 and 20, and Strabo records
that the annual exports to India reached the large sum of
55,000,000 sesterces (nearly ^^"500,000)^ There is therefore every
reason to believe that the early colonists from India were metal
workers. Indeed, the matter becomes almost a certainty when
it is remembered that no authenticated polished stone adze
or axe head has been discovered in Ceylon, although many
// ^ For these facts I am indebted to a work The Tamils eighteen hundred years ago,
by Mr V. Kanakasabhai Pillai (Madras and Bangalore, 1904). Mr Filial further
states (p. 3) that from a "careful study of ancient Tamil poems" he is "led to think
that some of the earliest works were undoubtedly composed more than two thousand
years ago, and that the Tamil people acquired wealth and civilization at this early
period by their commercial intercourse with foreign nations such as the Arabs, Greeks,
Romans and Japanese."
26 THE VEDDAS
ancient sites have been excavated in certain districts, and
gemming operations involving the digging out and examination
of thousands of tons of gravel have taken place.
Probably the Nagas referred to in the Mahavansa are an
immigrant race, and Mr Parker suggests that they may have
been an offshoot of the Nayars of South-west India. Whether
this is so or not the Nagas, according to Sinhalese historical
works, drove the aborigines out of North and West Ceylon and
" all Ceylon down to about Madawachchiya was known as
Nagadipa (the Island of the Nagas) for many centuries after
Christ^" Further, the compiler of the Mahavansa who wrote
about the end of the fifth century A.D. relates that after
appearing to the " yakkhas " at Mahayangana, Buddha visited
Nagadipa where he composed a quarrel between Mahodara
and Culodara a maternal uncle and nephew concerning the
ownership of a "gem-set throne." It is further recorded that
"the maternal uncle of Mahodara Mani Akkhika, the Naga
king of Kalyani " near Colombo, was visited by Buddha at
Kalyani on which account the Kalyani dagaba was subsequently
built".
^ This information is taken from one of Mr Parker's letters.
- The general tendency at the present time seems to be to regard the Nagas
as mythical beings connected with the water. We cannot regard this belief as
well founded, although it is only necessary to look through Brigade Surgeon
C. F. Oldham's book (The Sun and the Serpent, London, 1905), to appreciate how
many Nagas are regarded as demigods or heroes at the present day. But considering
the extensive distribution of ancestor worship throughout India, this cannot be taken
as an argument against the existence of human beings called Nagas, who must be
distinguished from their deified dead.
There are at the present day powerful tribes called Nagas in Assam yet, as pointed
out by Brigade Surgeon Oldham, the folklore of Northern India is full of legends
connected with the supernatural powers of the Nagas. "These demigods are still
propitiated, before any other deity, when the country is suffering from drought or
excessive rain. And tradition says that human sacrifices were common, on such
occasions, in days gone by." {Op. cit. pp. 49, 50.)
Burnouf (quoted by Oldham, op. cit. pp. 146, 147), records that in the time
of Asoka the Nagas were numerous and powerful, for when "this king wishing to
divide the relics of Buddha amongst the new stupas which he had built, went with an
army to remove the relics from the old stupa at Ramagrama, the Nagas refused
to allow him to do so. And Asoka, powerful as he was, did not persist.
"In the Vishnu Purana (iv, xxiv, 479, cited by Oldham, p. 147), it is said that
nine Nagas will reign in Padmavati, Kantipura, and Mathara," and Oldham quotes
Sir A. Cunningham t- the effect that "these serpent chiefs, whose names he gives
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 2/
All these facts suggest that metal must have been known in
Ceylon before the invasion by Vijaya, and once introduced,
there is no doubt that within a few years metal would have been
distributed throughout the whole island.
Although the Veddas are all agreed that they were never
otherwise in habits and culture than they are at the present
time, every Sinhalese in the Vedirata believes that they once
had great, powerful and wealthy chiefs and that they possessed
hoards of gold and gems. Nevill, who takes somewhat their
view, says : " Sinhalese, who are old and intelligent, and who
have lived among Vaeddas, all agree that in ancient times
Vaeddas...were often very rich and powerful. In such cases
their wealth was put into gold cooking vessels, and strings of
gems, etc., for their women. Poorer men had copper cooking
vessels. The last of these gold vessels were lost by them during
the long guerilla wars between the Kandians of Velasse and
Dumbara, and Europeans, especially the English. The tradition
is positive, and seems reliable. Nigala Banda, a splendid old
Kandian chief, now Ratemahatmaya of Lower Bintenne, whose
ancestors have lived amongst the Vaeddas of Nilgala from time
immemorial, assures me there is no mistake in this, but their
former use of gold cooking vessels is clearly true, and that
people now-a-days have no idea how proud and powerful they
were, until the inaha kaeraella (the long war with the English)."
We could discover no reason for this belief, which seems
to be effectually disposed of by the evidence of the very old
Sinhalese informant whom we quote at the beginning of the
next chapter. It is, however, firmly rooted in the minds of
the majority of the Kandyan Sinhalese and is probably in part
due to confusion between Veddas and Kandyans of mixed
Vedda descent who until recently called themselves Veddas
or were known as Veddas to their neighbours. Many such
men living in the Vedirata took care to keep in touch with the
from their coins, held most of the country between the Jumna and the Narbada ; and
that they ruled as independent princes during the first two centuries of the Christian
era" {loc. cit.). Mr Vincent Smith points out that the defeat of a Naga chief,
Ganapati Naga, is recorded on one of the pillars set up by Samudra Gupta who
reigned in the fourth century a.d. {Early History of India, 1908, p. 268).
28 • THE VEDDAS
Veddas, who to some extent looked upon them as chiefs and
protectors, and to whom they made presents of game and
honey. Another factor leading to the belief in the former glory
of the Veddas is the persistence in popular form of the legend
of Vijaya and Kuweni, which though absolutely unknown to the
Veddas is firmly established among the Sinhalese.
CHAPTER II
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE VEDDAS
We propose to treat the Veddas under three headings : —
(i) Veddas.
(ii) Village Veddas.
(iii) Coast Veddas.
Although it may not be easy in every case to say into which
group a given person falls, and although the proposed classifi-
cation rests on no natural or known physical basis, it seems
that at the present day the Veddas fall into these three groups
characterised by different sociological features. The term
"Rock" or "Jungle" Vedda will be avoided; it has been
applied by some authors to the wilder specimens of that class
which we propose to call simply Veddas.
The coast Veddas are briefly described in Chapter Xll. ;
they live in scattered villages on the east coast and are chiefly
to be found north of Batticaloa. They have much Tamil blood
in their veins, and though often taller than pure Veddas, some
still retain an appearance which suggests their Vedda origin.
This is far more marked in the males than in the females, and it
appeared to us that any of the latter might have been local
Tamils, whereas some of the men clearly differed from the
surrounding population.
Before giving an account of the present condition of the
different Vedda communities, we propose to give the substance
of a number of conversations with a remarkable old Kandyan
who in his boyhood, youth and manhood was closely associated
with the Veddas of the Eastern Province, and whose memory
certainly goes back for 80 or 90 years. In order to make his
30
THE VEDDAS
account intelligible we must anticipate certain later chapters to
the extent of defining the terms wanige and yaka, that is we
must refer briefly to the essential features of the Vedda social
system and religion.
Every Vedda belongs to a wariige or clan, as the term may
be translated, and among a large number of the Vedda com-
munities still existing, exogamy is the absolute rule. Further,
with exogamy is associated descent in the maternal line, so that
the fundamentals of the social system of the Veddas may,
perhaps, be summed up as a clan organization with female
descent. There is no evidence, as far as we can determine, of
any dual organization of the clans, but perhaps they had
originally a territorial distribution. Ignoring for a moment
such debatable matters, the Vedda clans are : —
(i) Morane zvariige.
(2) Unapane waruge.
(3) Namadewa or Nabudan waruge.
(4) Aembela waruge.
(5) Uru waruge.
(6) Tala zvaruge.
(7) A number of other so-called zvaruge of minor strength
and importance, which perhaps may be local groups that have
forgotten their origin and have assumed a name (sometimes
obviously a place-name) as a convenience.
Turning now to the Vedda religion the word yaka (feminine
yakini, plural yaku) is used to denote the spirits of the dead, and
since the Vedda religion is essentially a cult of the dead, it is
not surprising that the propitiation of the spirits of dead
relatives, called the Nae Yaku, is at once its most obvious and
important feature. With this is associated the cult of the
spirits of certain long dead Veddas who may be regarded as
legendary heroes. The most important of these is Kande Yaka,
the yaka of Kande Wanniya, a celebrated hunter who lived
many generations ago and whose assistance is invoked for good
hunting. Kande Yaka especially helps in the tracking of
sambur and spotted deer, and with him is often associated
Bilindi Yaka, the yaka of his younger brother Bilindi. When
a deer has been killed the head is set aside, and with rice and
PRESENT CONDITION 3 1
coconut milk (when procurable) dedicated to Kande Yaka, after
which it is eaten with the rice. An essentially similar ceremony
often spoken of by the same name {kirikorahd), but in which no
meat is offered, is held after a death in order to propitiate the
spirit of the dead man. The majority of Veddas believe that
the Nae Yaku go to Kande Yaka, and become in some sense
his attendants, and Kande Yaka, sometimes accompanied by
Bilindi Yaka, is generally invoked at the beginning of the
Nae Yaku ceremony. It was stated more than once that the
Nae Yaku could not come to the offering unless accompanied
by Kande Yaka, who was even spoken of as bringing the Nae
Yaku. Some of our informants also said that the spirit of the
deceased resorted to Kande Yaka and obtained his permission
to accept offerings from his living relatives, in return for which
the Nae Yaka would assist or injure them according to their
behaviour, so that Kande Yaka, besides being of the greatest
assistance in hunting, has also become the Lord of the Dead.
The Kandyan already mentioned, whose full title is
Karagahavella Adenayaka Mudiyanselage Tissahami, visited
us at Bandaraduwa ; he lived at Bakiyella some ten miles from
our camp. Mr Bibile, who was distantly related to the old
man, told us that he must be nearly a hundred years old, since
he had been brought to the wild country of the Eastern Province
by his mother during the rebellion of 1818, his father having
fallen in the fighting. His hair, of which he retained a fair
quantity, was absolutely white and worn short, his complexion
was pale with age, he had a slight unilateral facial paralysis and
he walked with the aid of a stick, his back being bowed and
both knees somewhat flexed ; but he was withal an extra-
ordinarily active old man, extremely intelligent and with an
excellent memory, the play of the muscles of his face showing
how well he realised the import of the questions addressed to
him and how much they interested him. Further, his frank
replies when he did not understand a question and the emphatic
manner in which he delivered his answers carried conviction of
the value of his evidence, and we believe that no one who
listened to the old man would have considered him other than
a good witness.
32
THE VEDDAS
There were both " wild " and " village " Veddas even in the
days of his youth, and the only difficulty experienced with the
old man was in keeping the two classes perfectly distinct in his
mind. The following facts were elicited in the course of three
interviews, each lasting somewhat less than an hour. He
stated that he was just able to walk when he came to the
Eastern Province, and that as he grew up he spent much of his
time with the Veddas hunting and collecting honey. The
Veddas of those days were a merry people, and with a most
eloquent gesture the old man showed how they would throw dry
leaves into the air and shout and dance for happiness ; he said
also that they were absolutely truthful. Every Vedda carried a
bow and arrows and an axe ; more arrows than one were
carried, but it was not clear that they only carried two ; it
seemed that tiidadi, a word that the old man said was used to
describe the number of arrows carried, may have meant a small
quantity or may have been a hunting term corresponding to
" brace " or " leash." The old man had seen Veddas shoot lying
on their backs and holding the bow with their feet, but this was
only for amusement and to show their skill, no serious shooting
was done in this way. The feathers of peacocks, herons and
hawks were especially used in feathering arrows ; any of these
birds would be shot with an ordinary arrow, and peacock was
eaten as was jungle fowl, though no one would eat porcupine or
buffalo ; for these abstinences he could give no reason. Traps
were not used. Fish were eaten, being caught by poisoning the
water of pools with the bark of dauiba, nahapata, piiselpata
(? Entada scandens) and the fruit of tinibiri {Diospyros etnbry-
opteris) and kiikuruman {Adenanthera bicolor). Pots and bark
cloth bags were made and betel pouches of monkey skin, though
even then some village Veddas had cloth betel bags, and these
occasionally reached the wilder Veddas. Among the village
Veddas both sexes bored their ears and the women wore ivory
studs in them ; whether the women of the Vv^ilder groups bored
their ears and wore these ornaments was not clear, certainly
the men did not. Fire was obtained from two pieces of wood
by drilling.
The wilder Veddas of those days built no houses but lived
PRESENT CONDITION 33
entirely in caves ; trading places called ivadia near the caves,
but out of sight of them, under a tree or rock, were used for
bartering, where all strangers would stop and shout and then
wait until their calls had been answered from the caves.
The Veddas were extremely jealous of their women, and
intimate as our informant was with them as a young man, he
was never taken to their caves while their women were there.
The wilder Veddas could not count, at least they used no
numerals beyond one, the method being to say " one " " and
one " " and one," etc., probably putting a piece of stick on the
ground or making a mark for each unit mentioned. Both hands
with fingers extended were held up for ten, or perhaps for any
number above six. The 'silent trade" was only a tradition
even among the wildest Veddas and had probably been extinct
in this part of the country for at least two generations. The
wilder Veddas had no areca nuts but chewed the bark of trees
mixed with lime which they obtained by burning land shells
which they called wantako.
Cousin marriage took place, the unions being arranged by
the parents of the young people. Honey, dried venison and
flesh of the monitor lizard were brought by the young man to
the girl's father\ who would call his daughter and give her in
charge of her husband, for whom she would immediately make
a waist string {dia lamnva). She made no pretence of running
away from her husband. Widows married an unmarried brother
of their first husband if this were possible, in any case they
might remarry and their sexual morality was as high as that of
unmarried girls.
The wilder Veddas of the district belonged to the Morane
and Unapane %uaruge\ each clan had its own set of caves,
though, since their members intermarried, there could have been
no rigid exclusiveness about the arrangement. There were
people of Uru waruge at a little distance; their status was lower
than that of the Morane and Unapane folk, neither of whom
would marry into this clan, and it was even said that the men of
1 It was not clear whether more than one formal present of food was made;
it must be remembered that a youth always gives part of any important kill to
his potential father-in-law, cf. p. 67.
s. V. 3
34
THE VEDDAS
Uru wartege should carry game and honey for the men of Morane
and Unapane.
Some of the village Veddas of those days had cloth, and
when dancing to the yaku they wore the long cloth garment
called haiigalla ; the wilder Veddas had no cloth and wore
leaves, but it was not clear whether they had not also a certain
amount of bark cloth which was their ordinary covering, and
leaves may have been worn in addition when they invoked the
yaku^.
The old man knew of the custom of a man keeping a piece
of human liver in his betel pouch ; it was universal and in his
young days every Vedda desired to have a piece. Strangers,
even Veddas, who intruded on the hunting grounds would be
killed and their liver taken, no other part of the dead man
being used, and the custom gave rise neither to warfare nor to
vendettas-.
Caves in which a death occurred were deserted, the corpse
being covered with leaves ; perhaps men very near dissolution
were left before death had actually occurred, but this did not
seem certain. Bones found in the cave when the group returned
to it after an interval of some ten or twelve years were thrown
away quite carelessly. The spirits of the dead became the Nae
Yaku who, with Kande Yaka and Bilindi Yaka, gave game and
prosperity. The kirikoraJia ceremony was performed for the
Nae Yaku, and adiikkn (cooked food), which even in the old days
consisted of coconut and rice, was offered to them. The wilder
Veddas gave nothing to the Buddhist priests and made no offer-
ings at shrines, nor did they know the Kataragam God, Kanda
Swami, though the village Veddas worshipped him and knew
that VValliame had been taken to wife by him, and honey was
presented to the goddess at certain shrines, especially one at
Kokote Sila, frequented by the village Veddas.
A few of the village Veddas would dance for the Sinhalese
in order to protect their cattle, bring prosperity to their
villages, and secure them from epidemics; they would dance
kolamaduwa which the old man pointed out was derived from a
^ Cf. p. 213.
- For details of this custom see Chapter vni.
PRESENT CONDITION 35
shorter ceremony ruwela, this being an older name than
kolaniaihiwa^.
It appeared that the invocations at present in use among the
Kovil Vanamai Veddas were those used in the old man's youth,
for although he had not, as he stated (truthfully we believe),
been closely associated with the Veddas for many years he
recognised a number of Vedda invocations which were sung to
him, as identical with those sung in his youth, and named the
occasions on which each was used. Maligi was recognised as
sung when honey was taken ; the invocation at the beginning
of the kirikoraha ceremony (cf p. 285) was promptly named,
and the occasions of its use pointed out, but the charm used
when driving monkeys was not recognised. A song sung for
amusement by the Veddas beginning Mamini mamini ma
deyo was immediately recognised, as were two of the invo-
cations of the Kolamaduwa ceremony, but considering how
Sinhalese in substance this ceremony is this is perhaps not of
much importance.
At the present day the number of Veddas living their
natural forest life is necessarily few, for their territory has been
gradually encroached upon by the Sinhalese who are inveterate
poachers. The Veddas, who were never numerous within
recent historic times, are now rapidly dying out, while many
have settled among the Sinhalese and so lost their identity.
We met with only four families who still led the life described
by Bailey in 1863, and these were not among the Nilgala but
among the Nuwaragala Hills. At Nilgala itself there are no
Veddas at the present day, though the local peasant Sinhalese
doubtless have much Vedda blood in their veins. The Henebedda
and Danigala Veddas are the descendants of those recorded by
Bailey in 1863, and the Kovil Vanamai Veddas are the de-
scendants of those known and described by the old Kandyan
who visited us at Bandaraduwa.
Hennebedda. At Hennebedda we met a number of
families living together in the Bendiyagalge caves. They had
come to this their largest cave, from several settlements all
ivithin a few hours' journey. The genealogies show that at least
^ These ceremonies are described in Chapter ix.
3—2
36 THE VEDDAS
in one instance there had been intermarriage with Sinhalese,
and we suspected this in other cases, though the majority appear
to be reasonably pure-blooded.
These people make chenas^ on which they live temporarily
in bark-covered huts; Plate X, figure i, represents the chena
settlement of the local group of the Namadewa waruge, some of
the members of which are shown in Plate X, figure 2. They
gather honey and hunt, several of them possess guns, and some
of them rear cattle for the Sinhalese villagers. Indeed, for
Veddas their lot is singularly happy, since they live in the heart
of the park country where game is still abundant. Bailey first
induced some Veddas in the Nilgala district to make chenas
about the middle of the last century, before which all the
Veddas in this district were probably living their natural hunt-
ing, honey-gathering life.
It is not often that a community that has taken to the semi-
civilised life of chena cultivation is seen, in which its members
are so healthy and well fed, for Veddas dislike settling down
and do not generally do so until they find they can no longer
subsist on the game in the country, when they either drift into
Sinhalese settlements, or make extremely rough chenas for
themselves, the produce of which is seldom sufficient to feed the
community. Besides which, as is the case with the Sinhalese
peasants themselves, the crop is often pledged to Moormen
pedlars before it is reaped. The poor Veddas then subsist
as best they can on yams, honey and berries, and usually fall
a prey to fever. Several Veddas in this wretched condition
were seen between Namal Oyaand Bandaraduwa, while those at
Godatalavva were scarcely better off".
In the Nilgala district the conditions are different. Chena
making and cattle rearing had been introduced while game was
still abundant, families are still able to leave the chena settle-
ment and hunt and gather honey, living during such times in
rock shelters within their own hunting boundary. However, the
^ Bailey defines a chena as "a patch of ground cleared from the forest for
cultivation. The jungle is burnt down, a crop taken off, and then suffered to grow up
again: it is recleared again after intervals of from five to ten years," Trans. EthnoL
Soc. N.S. Vol. n, 1863, p. 282.
Plate X
Figf. I. A chena settlement of the Henebedda Veddas
mmf
I
>(
V
'f^l
Fig, 2, Henebedda Veddas of the Namadewa clan inhabiting the chena
settlement •
PRESENT CONDITION 37
Veddas are coming more and more in contact with their
Sinhalese neighbours, and it is extremely unlikely that the next
generation will remain pure.
We visited two of the nearest chena settlements of these
people, the huts (Plate X, figure i) were about as well built as
those of the average Sinhalese chena, though the cultivation
itself was certainly less systematic and orderly. The Namadewa
folk lived in one settlement while the Morane and Unapane
inhabited another.
Although all these Veddas have come in contact with the
Sinhalese and are visited by Moormen hawkers for trade
purposes — as indeed even the wildest have been for many
generations — they have retained their old custom of not allowing
the stranger in the midst of their settlement where he might
meet their women. A rough shelter had been built at one
corner of the Namadewa chena in which the pedlars sat and waited
until the Vedda men came to bargain with them. Hence in the
main these people have retained their old virtues of truthfulness,
chastity and courtesy. The first, upon which practically every
observer has remarked, was modified in a particular direction,
for they all wished to show that they were pure-blooded Veddas
of the Morane and Unapane clans, which were considered
superior to the rest. So the Namadewa men lied freely, de-
claring that they belonged to Morane and Unapane, and one
young man, otherwise a good informant, insisted that he was
still unmarried, as he did not want to own that his wife was a
Namadewa woman. Cases of intermarriage with Sinhalese
were also emphatically denied, or only admitted after much
cross-examination. Plate III represents a number of the men
we met at Bendiyagalge.
Danigala. The Danigala Veddas of the Nilgala district
present a peculiar phase of the clash of civilization and barbarism.
They are the classical "wild Veddas" of Ceylon described by so
many travellers; their descent is pure but their own customs
have been almost entirely forgotten, and are certainly ignored
at the present day. They live in the park country, have a
chena and a banana garden, and do a good trade in cattle both
by herding for the Sinhalese, retaining every fifth calf as is the
38 THE VEDDAS
custom of the country and also selling those they have bred
themselves. However, all this was unknown to us when we
first met the people, nor would it have been possible to guess
their prosperous condition from the first sight of their settlement.
It was well known throughout the Vedirata that investigations
were about to be made among the Veddas, and all the village
headmen had been given instructions to render assistance. They
therefore told the Veddas to expect us, and would have sent for
them to come to the Public Works Department bungalow on
our arrival had we not expressly stated that we preferred to visit
the people in their homes. A very rough track led to the top of
the Danigala Hill, about 1200 feet high, where, on a rounded
shoulder of rock, stood the skeleton hut of the Danigala Veddas
shown in Plate l\. This was built on the pattern of the ordinary
village Vedda habitations but entirely lacked the slats of
bark which make the sides moderately weather proof By its
side was an even rougher shelter consisting of a large bough
with the smaller branches trimmed and overlaid with banana
leaves. Kaira the patriarch or "senior" of the group sat outside
the hut with three other men ; there were also present three
women, a boy of about 12, and two younger children, and
although both of the latter had many teeth they suckled
persistently. This hut and some of its occupants are shown in
Plate n, the rough shelter by its side in Plate XI, figure i.
Although Mr Bibile, whom all these people knew quite well,
was with us, they were quite apathetic, their attitude was clearly
not the result of shyness, but simply due to the fact that they
took no interest in our presence ; the women continued to suckle
their infants and the men squatted or lay upon the rocks and
chewed in gloomy silence, and when addressed they grunted
"yes" or "no." One of the infants who smiled and cooed and
tried to gain our attention was the only member of the group
who seemed to take the least notice of us. Kaira told us that
the people we now saw represented all that remained of the
Danigala Veddas. We noticed some bananas (which do not
grow wild in Ceylon) on the further side of the ridge and we
asked to see their plantation. A prompt denial of its existence
was the result, though Kaira afterwards told Mr Bibile that he
Plate XI
Fig. I. Rough shelter on the Danigala rock dome
Fig. 2. Veddas of Bandaraduwa
PRESENT CONDITION 39
would show him his chena but that he did not wish the white
people to know anything about it. Further talk with these
people showed that it was impossible to obtain reliable informa-
tion from them, they had been utterly spoilt as the result of
being frequently interviewed by travellers.
The Veddas have long been regarded as a curiosity in Ceylon
and excite almost as much interest as the ruined cities, hence
Europeans go to the nearest Rest House on the main road
and have the Danigala Veddas brought to them. Naturally the
Veddas felt uncomfortable and shy at first, but when they found
that they had only to look gruff and grunt replies in order to
receive presents they were quite clever enough to keep up the
pose. In this they were aided by the always agreeable villagers
ever ready to give the white man exactly what he wanted. The
white man appeared to be immensely anxious to see a true
Vedda, a wild man of the woods, clad only in a scanty loin cloth,
carrying his bow and arrows on which he depended for his
subsistence, simple and untrained, indeed, little removed from \
the very animals he hunted. What more easy than to produce
him .'* The Nilgala headman sends word when strangers are
expected, then the Veddas repair to their very striking hut on
the rock dome and often post a look-out on a big rock about half
way up, for on our second visit the leading man of our party who
was carrying the camera stated that he saw a Vedda bolting from
this rock as we came up. These folk, who when we saw them
wore their Vedda loin cloths and were smeared with ashes, are
reported to wear ordinary Sinhalese clothes when not in their
professional pose, and Mr Bibile, who has himself seen one
or more of them in sarongs, points out that the imposture is
kept up for two main reasons ; firstly, they fear that their
cultivation might be stopped (evidently an echo of the chena
difficulty of the Eastern Province), or that they might be taxed
if they did not appear to be poor fellows living on hardly won
jungle produce ; secondly, their pose of poverty interests strangers
and procures them visitors, whose generosity is the greater the
more primitive their mode of life appears to be.
As a matter of fact the Danigala Veddas like those of
Henebedda (with whom we became really friendly) keep cattle
40 THE VEDDAS
for the Sinhalese of Potuliyadde, receiving every fifth calf that
is born. The community has, or recently had, ten or more head
of cattle of their own and have sold bulls to the brother-in-law of
our tavalam'^ leader for as much as 30 Rs., indeed, our tavalam
leader stated that he had himself visited the Danigala chena and
had also seen the cattle. On this occasion Kaira and his sons
wore a coloured cloth as the Sinhalese do and their women wore
a kambaya and coloured breast handkerchief. Mr Bibile was
able to confirm some of these statements from his own know-
ledge and on making investigations among the local villagers
discovered that there was a whole community living on the
chena settlement, some of whom had married Sinhalese. Indeed
it appeared that not only have members of this community
learnt to play the part of professional primitive man, but there
has even been specialisation, for as far as we could learn, the
men we met at the look-out hut are those who always receive
visitors or come to Bibile when sent for, while the others whom
we did not see do not pose as wild Veddas. Probably the part
they now play had only recently crystallised into a professional
role, but it must be remembered that so long ago as 1863 Bailey
discussing these Veddas, or their fathers, says " they were
brought in from the forests to be 'looked at'" and he adds,
" I never saw that contempt for money which Tennant supposes
is still existing'-."
Kovil Vanamai. In the Eastern Province in the neighbour-
hood of Devulani tank the Kovil Vanamai Veddas are found,
this term being applied to a number of groups of Veddas living
in this neighbourhood. The name Kovil Vanamai means temple
precincts and seems to have arisen from there being one or
more temples in this part of the country, while some of these
shrines are traditionally associated with Veddas, apparently
with old settled coast and village Veddas, for we have no
reason to think that the ancestors of the folk we saw at
Bandaraduwa, or the other wilder Veddas of fifty years ago, were
in any way guardians of the temples or dependent on their
bounty. Although at the present day the Kovil Vanamai
Veddas are represented by scattered groups, for the most part
^ A tavalam is a train of pack bulls. 2 Bailey, op. cit. p. 28 s.
PRESENT CONDITION 4I
badly off and in varying conditions of ill health and malnutrition,
there is abundant evidence that only a generation back these
communities were composed of a large number of families who,
although they made chenas, led a healthy hunting life for a
great part of the year. Plate XI, figure 2, represents some
men and children of the Bandaraduwa chena settlement ; from
this photograph it is evident that in spite of their prosperity
even twenty-five years ago, there must have been much misce-
genation, and the appearance of a couple of old grey-headed
men alleged Veddas whom we saw in this neighbourhood cer-
tainly suggested that they possessed only a fraction of Vedda
blood \
The following account of the Kovil Vanamai Veddas as they
existed some 20 or 25 years ago was given us by Tissahami,
Arachi^ of Potuliyadde, a man who on account of his long
association with Veddas is often spoken of as the Vedda Arachi.
This man though presenting the appearance of a typical Kandyan
Sinhalese has Vedda blood in his veins, for his ancestors were
Veddas of Moranegala in the Eastern Province, his great grand-
father being a Vedda shaman who settled at Damenegama in
Uva Province. Although this man's descendants intermarried
with the local Sinhalese (who are themselves in part the
descendants of Veddas) and adopted the Sinhalese mode of life,
one man at least in each generation continued to act as shaman
(S. kapurale)^ and the father of the Arachi was a devil dancer
and wederale (native doctor) of some note. This man's son, the
Arachi, now a man of between 40 and 50, exerts a great deal of
influence over the peasants in his neighbourhood, who all
recognise that he is in more or less constant communication with
the spirits, to which fact his neighbours attribute much of his
success. In this manner was explained the quickness with which
he recently learnt blacksmith's work. VVe had not heard of his re-
^ Some of the "Veddas" living in the neighbourhood of Bandaraduwa and the
sea are comparatively tall, stoutly built men with no appearance of Vedda ancestry.
Two men from Uhene in Nadukadu Pattu measured 65 and 65^ inches respectively.
Two men, who looked like Tamils but called themselves Veddas, lived on big
Sinhalese chenas at Kotelinda ; one of them said that his wife's parents had belonged
to the Galmede group.
2 Arachi is the title applied to the headman of a Sinhalese village settlement.
42 THE VEDDAS
putation when he first joined our party, but it was very soon evident
that he was handier, quicker and more intelHgent in every way
than the other peasant Sinhalese with whom we came in contact.
Stih later we discovered that by his influence a large clearing
had been illegally made in a remote part of the jungle near
Nuwaragala, and that on account of this he was doing his best to
prevent our coming in contact with the Sitala Wanniya Veddas
in whose territory the clearing had been made. Although in
this he played us false and caused much needless trouble we
found him in other matters a perfectly trustworthy witness, and
as he had associated more or less constantly with the Kovil
Vanamai Veddas from the age of lo to 20, there is every reason
to accept his account of their condition 25 years ago. At this
time there were about 50 families, i.e. some 200 people, who led
a wandering hunting life for half of the year, during which time
they lived in rock shelters and depended largely on honey ; for
the rest of the year they paid more or less attention to chena
cultivation, growing especially maize and ktirakhan {Eleusine
coracaiia). Two or three families — not necessarily the same
year after year — would usually wander and hunt together ;
such groups of families might also make chenas together,
though five or six families would often join to make a single
chena.
Although they had a few guns even 20 years ago, bows and
arrows were in common use and much of their hunting consisted
of monkey drives. There were no mixed Sinhalese and Vedda
chenas then. The Arachi remembers three caves belonging to
the ancestors of the present Bandaraduwa Veddas, viz. Walim-
bagalagalge, Ellavellagalge and Vianbendegalge. Each family
was the recognised possessor of one or more rocky hills on which
there were colonies of the rock bee, but the whole of the small
hunting community would join to collect honey from each hill
and the honey was always equally shared.
The Kovil Vanamai Veddas belonged to Morane and
Unapane and Uru zvariige. The latter lived apart near Uniche,
i.e. between Tumpalamcholai and the coast. The Arachi states
that the language has altered during the last 20 years, Tamil
tending to displace Sinhalese, thus tirakodoi, " nothing," is said
Plate XII
Fig. I. Mixed Sinhalese and Vedda chena at Bandaraduwa
Fig. 2. Uniche Veddas
PRESENT CONDITION 43
instead of kodoi, tira being a Tamil word, so that a composite
word meaning "really nothing" is now used.
At the present day there are probably no more than a dozen
families left as representatives of the Kovil Vanamai Veddas
and all of these live on Sinhalese chenas and are in dire poverty.
The country has been referred to already as unhealthy, monkeys
although abundant are not easily approached especially in the
dry season, and other game is scarce. Isolated families have
settled down in Sinhalese villages to pick up whatever living
they can as occasional hired labourers, and some of these people
were seen in a wretchedly starved condition. The most pros-
perous are three families living on the large Sinhalese chena
(Plate XII, figure i) at Bandaraduwa near Devulani tank. But
even with the assistance of the chena these people are not well
off, and it appeared that they were no strangers to hunger .
Owing to their position on tiie border of the Sinhalese and
Tamil country, they had been influenced by both Hinduism and
Buddhism to a certain extent. In spite of this they knew
numerous Vedda songs and incantations, and the ceremonies
following a death which occurred in the vicinity during our
visit clearly demonstrated that foreign ideas formed but a thin
stratum overlying their own beliefs.
The Uniche Veddas were not seen in their own country but
some men were brought to us by the Forest Ranger, Mr S.
Perera, at Maha Oya, where the photograph shown in Plate XII
was taken. We have no note that these Veddas were Uru
wariige men, but it seems probable that they represented the
Uru warnge community recorded (as mentioned by the Vedda
Arachi) on the last page. They had retained their own customs
and beliefs very largely and appeared to be living in a condition
very similar to the people near Devulani, though perhaps they
were better fed.
Sitala Wanniya. After visiting so many decaying or
degenerate communities a refreshing state of affairs was found at
Sitala Wanniya. Here there were at least four families who
were living the life their forefathers had lived for generations
without perceptible change. They, still found game, honey and
yams in quantities sufficient not only to support life, but to leave
44 THE VEDDAS
a surplus to barter with the Moormen on their annual visit, or to
take into the nearest Sinhalese village to exchange for iron,
cloth, pots and occasional rice and coconuts.
Plate XIII represents the women of this group, the plates on
which the men were photographed were accidentally destroyed
shortly after we left Sitala Wanniya. Handuna whose height
was 1*530 mm. (60^ inches) looked a typical Vedda ; Vela who
was two inches taller also had a Vedda physiognomy though
his appearance was not so typical ; Kaira and Pema both looked
as though they were of mixed blood, and Nila, height I'SSS ^^^
(61^ inches), shown in Plate LV, would certainly not be taken
for a Vedda at all.
Neither the assurance of a regular supply of food, nor the
apathy produced by gradual starvation, had caused them to
neglect their old ceremonies, and we found that once these
people had overcome their shyness they were communicative,
extremely courteous and merry. When the men understood
they were free to come to our camp whenever they liked and
that areca nut and betel leaves were always ready for them, they
granted us the same freedom of their own cave, only stipulating
that we should never allow our servants to go near it.
When they first led us to their cave we noticed that they
stopped and shouted when about a quarter of a mile distant and
did not proceed until an answering shout was heard. This they
said was their custom and was equally observed whether they
were accompanied by strangers or not. The place at which they
stopped was their usual dancing ground as well as the spot on
which pedlars were received and barter carried on, for strangers
were never allowed to approach their caves or see their women.
Galmede. A family of Veddas of the Galmede group, seen
at Godatalawa, consisted of ten persons who had left their old
home in the Nuwaragala Hills, and who appeared to be moderately
pure-blooded. The old man of the community proved a good
informant, remembering a considerable number of old customs
and invocations, but he was not a shaman, and as there was not
one in the community most of the customs had fallen into desue-
tude. The members of this community were living on a very
poor chena and, when we saw them, were in great difficulties as
Plate XIII
Women and girls of Sitala Wanniya
PRESENT CONDITION 45
they had been called upon to pay a chena tax as well as i'5o Rs.
per adult male road tax. Of course they were unable to collect
this money and they dreaded the ensuing penalty, that of serving
on the roads, for should the two young men leave the settlement
the old man and woman and the girl must starve, the first being
too old to work and the woman a cripple. Their plight would
have been just as bad had the young man gone to work on some
Sinhalese rice fields in order to earn the money \
Degenerate Veddas in the neighbourhood of the main
Badulla-Batticaloa road-. The main road from Badulla to
the east coast passes through country that was once the centre
of the Vedirata, and on either side of it at a distance of some
2 — 6 miles are various settlements of half-bred and degenerate
Veddas who will soon be entirely lost among the Sinhalese.
Plate XIV, figure i, represents two men of this class: it is obvious
that the young man would pass for a Sinhalese, indeed in spite
of his bow and arrows and traditional scanty Vedda garb the
condition of his hair shows that he has at least been following a
Sinhalese mode of life. It is possible that the whole Vedda get-
up may have been assumed for our benefit, though in view of the
comparative skill with which he handled his bow we do not think
this likely. The old man was doubtless one of the last degenerate
Veddas of the district.
Before passing to village Veddas a word must be said con-
cerning the Omuni folk and those of Unuwatura Bubula. Sir
James Emerson Tennant, in his work Ceylon published in 1859,
states that Mr Atherton, A.G.A., in conjunction with the
Wesleyan Methodist Missionaries, attempted to civilise the
Veddas^. In 1838 "cottages were built for them in their own
district, rice land assigned to them, wells dug, coconuts planted,
two communities were speedily settled at Vippammadvo." A
' This is a not uncommon practice at the present day.
2 This road is only some forty or fifty years old, Mr Warren tells me that "the old
road from Badulla to Batticaloa joined the road from Alutnuwara. It crossed the
present cart road about Kallodi and must have worked its way in the neighbourhood
of the present road to Tumpalancholai and so to the ferry into Batticaloa." Part of
this track is still used as a short cut. " There was another road from Passera through
Medagama past Makakandiyaweva to Mandur; tavilain travel that way now."
^ Tennant, op. cit. Vol. n, p. 447.
46 THE VEDDAS
school was founded and two other settlements formed at
Oomany and Villengelavelly. However, the enterprise was soon
abandoned owing to the misconduct of some of the teachers.
"But," continues Tennant, "the good effects of even this tem-
porary experiment were apparent ; not one of the Veddas
returned to his cave and savage habits.... The other colony at
Oomany continues to the present day prosperous and successful,
twenty-five families are resident around it, rice and other grains
are produced in sufficiency and coconuts are planted near the
cottages. The only desertions have been the departures of those
in search of employment, who have removed to other villages in
quest of it. The school was closed in 1847 owing to there
being no more children at the time requiring instruction...."
The colony can no longer be called " prosperous and success-
ful," indeed, we found it in a state of semi-starvation. Before
1838, when these people were induced to settle, there can be little
doubt that they were living in a somewhat similar condition to
the Sitala Wanniya Veddas of the present day, but since then
there has been a considerable infusion of foreign blood, for it has
long been the habit of criminals and others desirous of conceal-
ment, to seek refuge with the village Veddas, who usually receive
them kindly and accept them as members of their community.
Since the artificial origin of this settlement is known it cannot
be regarded as belonging to the village Veddas, but rather to
a colony of degenerate settled Veddas.
Omuni. At Maha Oya three half-bred Veddas from Omuni
were seen who had been brought in by the Sinhalese headman to
work on the road as they had not paid their " road tax." It was
unnecessary for them to plead they were poor and hungry, for
their miserable condition showed this all too clearly. Happily
Mr S. W. Woodhouse, the district judge, was then in Maha Oya
and realising that while these men were absent from their
village, their women and children would be in a worse plight
than ever, he excused them their tax and sent them back to
Omuni. About a week later we visited Omuni and although we
were met with the customary gift of honey to which were added
a few berries, it was obvious that the settlement was really short
of food and this in spite of a number of families having left some
Plate XIV
Fig. I. Men of mixed Sinhalese and Vedda blood from the neighbourhood
of Maha Oya.
Fig 2. Women of Omuni
I
PRESENT CONDITION 47
months previously to wander into Tamankaduwa where they
hoped to get yams and perhaps some game. A number of
women left the village immediately after our arrival, explaining
that if they did not go and find some yams they and their
children would get nothing to eat that night. Some of the men
possessed bows and arrows but game was scarce, and their
living was obviously precarious, yams, monitor lizards, honey
and berries forming their staple diet. Fowls were kept and were
taken down to the road (10 miles distant) to sell. Like all
Veddas they possessed dogs, invaluable to them in catching
monitor lizards when there is no bigger game to hunt, and their
care for them was shown by a small shelter which they had
built in order to shade a bitch with a litter of puppies.
In physical characters these Veddas somewhat resembled the
neighbouring Sinhalese, but were less stoutly built ; this appear-
ance may however in part have been due to malnutrition. Their
headman is a short, well-nourished, exceedingly active and
intelligent individual, whose only Vedda characteristic is his
short stature. Plate XIV, figure 2, represents a number of
Omuni women.
Unuwatura Bubula. The position of the Unuwatura
Bubula Veddas is extremely difficult to understand, they occupy
two small groups of huts (one of which is shown in Plate XV,
figure i) a little distance from the huts of some peasant Sinha-
lese. They formerly lived at Mudugala and have doubtless
been in close contact with the Sinhalese for many generations,
but whether they are the remains of village Vedda settlements or
are settled wild Veddas cannot be stated with certainty, though
the latter seems more probable. It must be explained that
though this community has mixed much with the Sinhalese and
has doubtless been much influenced by them, they have their
own shamans and they perform their own rites quite apart from
their Sinhalese neighbours. Unfortunately the shaman of these
people who knew most about the customs and rites of this
community was ill, having overtaxed his strength at the first
ceremony performed for us, and was not able to talk much, but
he was present at most of our conversations and was thus a
check on the younger man, but for the reason indicated many
48 THE VEDDAS
points were left doubtful. The extent of their neighbours'
influence upon this community may be gauged to a certain
degree by the following fact. When visiting the shaman we
asked him to show us his aude and other sacred objects (as
will be seen later, certain beads are held sacred in this com-
munity), he replied that he did not keep them at his own hut
because of the noxious influence due to the presence of the
women ^ but that the Sinhalese gamai^ale"- took charge of them
for him. We then went together to the house of the gamarale;
this consisted of a hut divided by a partition at the back, one
room being the sleeping room and the other the granary, and a
large open barn in front, with its roof continuous with that of the
hut. In the part of the barn nearest the rooms, the women of
the household were cooking and pounding rice, while the back
was railed off to form a byre in which a number of calves were
tethered and into which the cows were driven at night. When it
was pointed out that there were also women living in this house
the shaman explained that their influence was counter-balanced
by the presence of the cows. Physically some of the Unuwatura
Bubula Veddas must be regarded as tolerably pure-blooded,
since they included some of the shortest men we met. One man
measured only about 1360 millimetres (53^ inches), but probably
he is to be regarded as almost a dwarf.
Village Veddas.
The village Veddas form a class which it is most difficult to
describe briefly, yet fairly. The term must not be taken to
apply to degenerate Veddas who have lost their jungle character-
istics and independent habits under Sinhalese encroachment.
Doubtless many such folk do live as Sinhalese in chena settle-
ments for a short time before their extinction in the surroundine
mass of peasant Sinhalese. But this is not the sense in which
the Sinhalese apply the term Gan Veddo (village Veddas), nor
is it the sense in which we use the term. Knox speaks of "wild"
^ We afterwards ascertained that kile was the name for the ceremonial un-
cleanliness of women.
- The gamarale of a Sinhalese village is the headman, who is responsible for
the cultivation of the village lands and generally directs the agricultural affairs of the
community.
Plate XV
Fig. I. Vedda settlement at Unuwatura Bubula
Fig. 2. Village Veddas of Dambani
PRESENT CONDITION 49
and "tame" Veddas, and to come to more recent times, there is
evidence that a hundred years ago there were organized com-
munities of house-building Veddas, while certain Veddas received
grants of land from the Sinhalese kings, and on these lived as
definite village communities until quite recently, probably till
within the last half century.
Village Veddas of Uva Bintenne.
Dambani. The present community of Dambani, in the
jungle between Kallodi and Alutnuwara, may serve as an
example of a village Vedda community. Some twenty families
living in tolerably built houses keep buffaloes and cultivate
chena, the latter being big enough not only to supply their own
wants, but to permit of a lively trade with Sinhalese traders.
These Dambani folk have been known to the Arachi of Belligala
as a flourishing community in the same social condition for the
last thirty years, and he states that they were in this condition in
his father's time. A short visit was sufficient to show that here
was a community which, though it had lost many Vedda beliefs,
still retained others, and was so strong and independent that
there was little likelihood of its immediate fusion with the sur-
rounding population. Physically these people (Plate XV, figure
2), though somewhat darker and often of a stouter build than the
Danigala Veddas, could not be mistaken for Sinhalese. The
Dambani people are unfortunately "show" Veddas, that is to say,
people who have been sent for so often by white visitors that
they have learnt certain tricks, which they show off directly they
see a European, and so constantly demand presents that serious
work with them is an impossibility.
A positive advantage which has, however, arisen from this
condition, is that these folk have kept up the remains of the
so-called Vedda language. The headman in whose district these
Veddas are situated is largely responsible for this, for he always
speaks to them in their own dialect in harsh tones. He is an
extremely kind old man, and answers definite questions perfectly
truthfully, yet like so many Sinhalese, he generally says only
what he thinks is expected of him, hence, the belief in the fierce
sullen ways of the Veddas and their inability to laugh has been
s. V. 4
50 THE VEDDAS
unconsciously fostered by him. A brief account of our visit to
Dambani will best show the present condition of these people.
While in the jungle we were suddenly met by four Veddas,
who greeted the Arachi in a deep and apparently fierce tone, he
returning the greeting in the same manner. To our surprise
these men came up to one of us (C. G. S.), shook hands, and
then turned and led us to their village, on the way to which
we passed a couple of "tame" buffalo that tried to charge
us. There were three huts in the village and the headman's
wife — not at all shy or diffident — after shaking hands took
one of us (B. Z. S.) by the arm and led her into a hut. This
had a good roof and walls of sticks, only one side being
closed by bark slats, it was full of pumpkins and other chena
produce, which were however soon removed. We then sat down
to take vocabularies, as the talk going on around us sounded
quite different from Sinhalese and they professed not to under-
stand our interpreter who was unable to follow them. So we
spoke through the Arachi. The headman's wife brought us each
some honey and yams and commanded us to eat. We sucked
the honey comb, but that did not satisfy her and she tried to
feed one of us (B. Z. S.) with yams herself and to pour water
down her throat. After giving us a few Vedda words, the Vidane
(headman) began to talk very angrily and then stalked out of
the hut. He complained that we had not given him presents
and refused to speak another word until we gave him something.
Other men came into the village making a total of about lo or
1 1 grown men and some boys, but only two middle-aged women,
the wife of the Vidane and another, so it was evident that there
were other huts in the neighbourhood. We told the Vidane
that our carriers would bring presents and made him and a few
other men come back to the hut. But after every two or three
words there were more angry protests and our interpreter ex-
plained that "other white men had not treated them so." When
they raised their voices theii talk sounded fierce, every word
being shouted with emphasis and accompanied by scowling
looks. Then we found out from the Arachi that these like the
Danigala Veddas were "show Veddas" who had been utterly
spoilt by presents from "distinguished visitors," some of whom
PRESENT CONDITION 5 1
had actually been to the village. They had been sent for often
to see others at Wewatte and Alutnuwara bungalows, and for
even greater folk had been taken to Kandy. And so they had
learnt to shake hands and had picked up exaggerated ideas of
their own importance and the value of their information, and
expected a present for every remark they vouchsafed. It was
a horrible change from the courteous behaviour of the Sitala
Wanniya cave Veddas.
As the Dambani folk were so very unfriendly we began
to hope the carriers would not come at all that night, there
was nowhere for them to sleep, and we thought the Veddas
might resent their presence. They told us repeatedly that
" Sinhalese men would not dare to come to their villaee," in
spite of the fact that there were two petty Sinhalese traders in
the village at the time, who did not even trouble to go away
before dark, but seemed naturally to expect a night's lodging,
which was granted them without any fuss, and there appeared
to be no difficulty about language with them. About six o'clock
our servants and the carriers arrived, and curiously enough
instead of resenting the intrusion the Veddas seemed very
impressed by their number, and presumably our importance, in
having so many dependents, for they became much more
friendly.
The next morning early, we set the phonograph going with
a Vedda song: immediately the whole village crowded round us,
intensely interested. They recognised the song and said it was
very good. The Vidane then sang a song into the machine and
was quite excited to hear it repeated, but again began his
demand for presents although besides a rupee we had now given
white cloth to him and the other men from whom we had got
vocabularies. Having obtained records we realised that it was
impossible to do any good work among such spoilt people
and decided to go to Belligala. We offered some beads to the
headman's wife, but she said the string was not long enough ;
this annoyed us and we asked her if she would prefer not to
have any, and on her repeating they were not enough we put
them away.
The Dambani men said they did not know to which zvariige
4 — 2
52
THE VEDDAS
they belonged, which suggested to us that perhaps they belonged
to Uru wariige or one of the other clans which are considered of
inferior status. Although the Arachi of Belligala did not know
their zvaruge and believed that they had really forgotten them
themselves, our opinion was confirmed by information obtained
later from the Arachi of Alutnuwara who said that they were of
the Uru and Namadewa warnge, while a Vedda of Horabora-
wewa told us that his mother came from Dambani and she
was a Namadewa woman.
As the Arachi of Belligala assured us the Bulugahaladena
Veddas lived in a condition precisely similar to those of
Dambani, we did not visit their village but arranged for two of
them to visit us at Belligala ; they greeted us in the same way
as the Dambani folk, with loud and guttural voices, accentuating
all the " chs," and shook hands. They brought some honey and
yams. They said they could not bring banibara honey (for it
was too early in the year) so they had brought honey from the
stingless bee. After a little while they gradually dropped their
guttural tones, especially when they were speaking to the
villagers and not to us, their voices, naturally deep, assumed
a sing-song tone not unlike that of Nila of Sitala Wanniya.
We consider that the gruffness of these Veddas is almost
entirely affectation. They have been expected to be sullen
and morose and never to laugh. For thirty years the Arachi
of Belligala has acted as " show-man " to the Veddas of his
district, and he always speaks to them in their "language" in
similar or even fiercer tones, and he has shown them so many
white men that he has quite lost count of their number. He
has thus helped to keep up the fiction of "wildness," for these
Veddas are not wild since they are not shy but come up, shake
hands, ask for presents, and offer to dance.
We believe that they keep up few, if any, of the old Vedda
customs ; they cultivate chenas and keep cattle, their bows and
arrows are probably more for show than use, for the Arachi told
us that some of them possess guns while others go to the
Sinhalese and borrow them. Deschamps says that Veddas never
laugh nor have they ever been seen to smile. Of course this is
not true of the Veddas of Nilgala, nor do we think it is true of
PRESENT CONDITION 53
these village Veddas, though they seem to be of a somewhat
morose disposition. He also said they take no interest in things
unknown to them. However, the phonograph attracted as much
attention and interest as it always had from Veddas and
Sinhalese alike, and we distinctly saw one Vedda smile when
his song was reproduced.
The chena settlement at Wallampelle was seen, but here it
appeared that much intermarriage had taken place with the
Sinhalese.
Malgode. There are a number of people very mixed blooded,
but calling themselves Veddas, living at Malgode on the shores
of Horaborawewa, a beautiful tank traditionally associated with
the Veddas. They have dropped their old Vedda customs so
entirely that the local Sinhalese no longer look upon them as
true village Veddas, an attitude that has perhaps been fostered
by the fact that here in Uva where the Veddas are exempt
from all taxation these people pay road tax. Such at least was
the point of view of the Arachi of Alutnuwara, " how can these
people be Veddas? — they pay road tax." In spite of this there
is no doubt that they are largely of Vedda descent and in many
instances remember their ivaruge. They live in very poorly built
houses and depend largely on the seeds of the lotus for food.
They still pose as pure-blooded Veddas to white visitors, and
have been recently described by Drs H. M. Hillier and W. H.
Furness, 3rd. " We followed the jungle path along the eastern
shore of the lake, sometimes over outcrops of granite, or down
by the lake side.. .and after following our guide through thick
undergrowth for half-an-hour, suddenly, and without warning,
we came out into a cleared space, where there was the merest
excuse for a hut, and beside it a man and woman squatting side
by side and cooking something in a blackened earthen pot,
which rested on a fire of twigs and branches ; a little beyond
them were more huts and more women and children— lo! the
Village Veddahs. The elderly man and woman whom we first
saw had between them scarcely a yard of coarse cloth as clothing,
their hair hung loose in dishevelled twists and strings about
their faces, and they both squatted so low that their knees stood
up above their shoulders. But the most impressive thing about
54
THE VEDDAS
them was their unhuman apathy and utter lack of interest....
Although we came upon them unexpectedly, and although, as
they told us later, they had never before seen white people,
nevertheless, neither of them showed the slightest astonishment
or interest in our appearance ; both glanced up for a second, and
then cast down their eyes, and continued silently shelling
the seeds of the lotus pods beside them, and stirring the
simmering pot over the fire. Near the other huts, women and
children were occupied at the same task ; some were sitting on
the ground around a pile of lotus pods, others were attending to
the cooking. At first the children seemed a little frightened
at us, but contrary to expectation, did not rush off to the
jungle....
" At the time of our visit there were but three men and
seventeen women and children in Makulugulla; these were
distributed in five shelters or huts. The chief's house was made
of four upright posts and a flat thatched roof of palm leaves, but
without walls or flooring. The other huts were shaped like
A-tents, one was thatched with coarse grass, the other covered
with large circular leaves of the lotus. The remaining two huts
were shaped like wall tents, the roofs of grass or palm-leaf
thatch, and the walls of bark. They all had dirt floors, and not
one of them was over eight feet square. In three of the huts
the utensils, such as earthen pots, baskets, gourds and mats,
were piled on the ground at one end ; in only two were there any
shelves. The floor of each, however, was neatly swept, and
even outside the huts, where all but the aged and the very
young slept, the ground had been swept clear of leaves and
twigs.
" The cooking was all done out of doors, at a fire-place
consisting of three stones ; and the cook was honoured by
having a seat, either a block of wood or the dried skin of the
Axis deer or the Muntjac. We were also surprised to see their
providence, in that they had quite a good-sized bundle of dry
firewood on store in the huts. We expected to find the village
reeking with refuse and decaying game, of which we heard that
they were fond, but the place was free from smells, and really
clean. The jungle at this spot was composed of large trees and
PRESENT CONDITION 55
sparse undergrowth, so that it was an ideal place for a camp,
within easy distance of water. They may remain at this place
three or four months, or even longer, before they seek a new
village site, but probably they never go far from Horabora tank,
on account of the great supply of lotus and other seeds which
the lake affords.
" None of them is tattooed, and they wear very few ornaments.
Both sexes, however, perforate the lobe of the ear, and through
the opening pass a wire, strung with beads or seeds. The women
sometimes enlarge this perforation, and wear in it a plug, made
by rolling a strip of palm leaf into a cylinder, from one half to
an inch in diameter.
" We got from them one of their earthen bowls that had
rough patterns drawn upon it, but saw no other evidence of
artistic ability. They make coarse mats and baskets of reeds
and strips of bamboo, and use gourds and coconut shells for
water bottles and cups. Spoons and ladles they make from
a piece of coconut shell, with two holes, on one side, and a
stick thrust through them to foim a handled"
Village Veddas of Tamankaduwa.
There are a number of communities of village Veddas in
Tamankaduwa, all of which show marked evidence of inter-
marriage with the Sinhalese and Tamils.
Elakotaliya. There is a large Vedda chena here, but most of
its inhabitants were away at the time of our visit, those present
appeared distinctly half-bred. Their mode of life is similar to
that prevalent at Dambani and Bulugahaladena, i.e. they are occu-
pied in chena cultivation, cattle rearing, and do a little hunting,
but as they have not specially preserved it for show purposes
they have forgotten the Vedda dialect. However, they re-
member their zvariige and practise exogamy ; they also reverence
the Nae Yaku.
Kalukalaeba. Another settlement was seen at Kalukalaeba,
here were about twelve mud huts, all empty on our arrival, as it
was the harvesting season and the people had gone to live
^ " Notes of a trip to the Veddas of Ceylon." Bulletin of the Free Museum of Science
and Art of the University of Pennsylvania, Vol. Ill, 1901.
56 THE VEDDAS
on their chena. We waited here a h'ttle while and two Veddas
passed, one carrying a gun ; we asked them to return to their
chena and fetch some of the other villagers. Soon some twenty
men and about as many women and children arrived bringing
us presents of honey, pumpkins and sweet potatoes. Scarcely
any of them presented the Vedda type, they were all distinctly
larger and more heavily built. Except their knowledge of their
waruge and recognition of the Nae Yaku all remains of Vedda
customs seemed to have been lost.
Yakure. The inhabitants of Yakure, a village about six miles
from Kalukalaeba, call themselves Veddas, though physically
(Plate XVI, figure i) they would pass as Tamils or mixed
Tamils and Sinhalese, and show even less evidence of Vedda
blood than do the Kalukalaeba people. Their village consists of
about 40 mud houses and is compactly built; a great number
of cattle was seen grazing outside the confines of the village.
Like the Kalukalaeba folk they know their waruge and invoke
the Nae Yaku, but they have a temple, a simple mud hut, and
worship a number of Sinhalese gods. Some men (Plate XVI,
figure 2) from a village called Ulpota near Gunner's Quoin were
seen here who also appeared to have mixed blood ; they knew
the " Vedda language," that is to say we were able to get from
them about the same number of words as we obtained at
Dambani. When one of them was asked when this dialect was
used he replied " only when we are sent for by the Government
agent or any other white man." Among themselves they speak
Sinhalese though they can also speak Tamil as it is largely the
language of Tamankaduwa.
Rotawewa. There is a settlement of alleged Veddas at
Rotawewa about six miles from Minerriya tank. Concerning these
we were told that they cultivated rice, and were in no respect
different from the neighbouring Sinhalese, while Mr Jayawardene
writes : " There is only one village of Veddas in Sinhala Pattu of
Tamankaduwa District, and that village is Rotawewa, about
six miles from Minerriya. These Veddas lived on the chase
and subsequently took to chena clearings, and when the place
began to be frequented by the low-country Sinhalese and other
traders, some of them were able to sell their meat to them and
Plate XVI
Fig. I. Men of Yakure
Fig. 2. Veddas of Ulpota
PRESENT CONDITION 57
they saved a little money and bought a patch of land of about
1 1 acres from Government, which land they now cultivate with
paddy.... There are sixteen houses in the Vedda Settlement of
Rotawewa, and the householders in every case are descendants
of Veddas. They are Sinhalese without any signs of Tamil
admixture."
They say they are of the Morane zvaruge, and they seem
not to know any other zvaruge. Mr Horsburgh however states
that "there is one other Vedda village in Sinhala Pattuwa
besides Rotawewa, viz. Gallinda, with about three families who
are the same people as those of Rotawewa."
As a matter of convenience we have prepared a tabular
summary of the conditions prevailing at the various settlements
of wild and village Veddas that we visited. Besides those
mentioned, many other families and even isolated individuals
exist scattered throughout the Vedirata, especially in the
neighbourhood of the Badulla-Batticaloa road near Maha Oya
and Kallodi. These folk are in the last stage of degeneration,
having given up their own wandering life and habits ; they have
mostly drifted into Sinhalese villages there to die out miserably.
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' y CHAPTER III
social organization
Genealogies.
The genealogies on the next two pages show the relation-
ship existing between the various individuals of the three Vedda
communities, which still retain enough of the old Vedda mode of
life to make a study of their organization valuable. At the first
glance it is obvious that these genealogies do not go back beyond
the memory of middle-aged men of the present day. We are
convinced that this is due, not to any general distrust of our
inquiries, but simply to certain peculiarities of the Vedda habit of
thought which is directly dependent on their mode of life. The
first of these is the extraordinary lack of memory shown by
every Vedda for the names of individuals of more than one
generation older than himself. This may perhaps be due to the
fact that the number of individuals whom any one knows well is
really small, being necessarily limited to the community to which
he himself belongs. The genealogies show how small are these
communities and, since every Vedda should marry a first cousin,
marriage does little or nothing to enlarge the number of his con-
nections. Further, each of the people with whom he comes in
contact is related to him in a definite manner and is called and
spoken of by a definite kinship term, so that personal names
come to play a very small part in the daily life of the Veddas.
It is this, doubtless, that has led to the frequent persistence of
the baby names Tuta and Tuti, "httle one" in its male and
female forms, as the only names by which many individuals are
known, and this together with the number of children called by
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62 THE VEDDAS
such favourite names as Kaira, Poromala and Handuna leads to
confusion, not only in the minds of strangers, but also we believe
in the minds of the Veddas themselves.
Sinhalese who come in contact with the Veddas find the same
difficulty, and the individuals of certain communities, e.g.
Danigala, have each a Sinhalese name by which they are known
to the peasant Sinhalese, and which in many instances they
themselves recognise, so that some Veddas actually know each
other by these Sinhalese names, and give them when asked their
own names or those of their companions. This is the explana-
tion of the majority of Sinhalese names occurring in the
genealogies. Again, the fact that among the Veddas there is
no system of hereditary chieftainship, or any other custom such
as the vendetta, forcing a man to know and remember his grand-
fathers, cannot but have assisted to bring about the forgetfulness
of previous generations, which with the rarest exceptions makes
everyone entirely ignorant of his grandparents. In the case of
the Danigala and Henebedda Veddas there was an additional
difficulty to be met in conducting our investigations. The men
of these communities who for the most part belonged to the
Morane and Unapane clans, traditionally the proudest and most
important of the Vedda warttge, had to a certain extent inter-
married with Sinhalese and also with the Veddas of Namadewa
clan, a zvarnge which in this part of the country is regarded as
of inferior status. They are most anxious to conceal instances
of both these classes of marriage and lied freely concerning them
and this is the reason for certain lacunae in their genealogies,
which in the case of the Danigala community could not have
been given at all had not Mr Bibile's position as Ratemahat-
maya, i.e. hereditary overlord or "laird" of this part of the
country, enabled him to make inquiries from the surrounding
peasantry, and thus check, and in many instances correct, the
information we obtained from the Veddas themselves.
A Vedda community consists of from one to five families
who share the rights of hunting over a tract of land, of gathering
honey upon it, fishing its streams, and using the rock shelters.
But the whole of the community does not commonly move about
its territory as one band, it is far more common to find only the
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 6^
members of single families or small groups of two families living
and hunting together.
Each family consists of parents and unmarried children to
whom, are generally added married daughters and their husbands.
It is rare to find a married son with his father and mother, and
a widow often marries the brother of her dead husband. We
may now give some examples of the communities we actually
met, premising that where a community such as that of Godata-
lawa consists of a single family only, this is probably due to
depopulation and "hard times."
By consulting the genealogies on pp. 60 and 61 it will be seen
that the Godatalawa family consisted of an old white haired
man, Handuna, the "senior" of the group, his wife Dilisini,
their daughter Kumi, a girl scarcely past puberty, and another
daughter, Mutumenike, whom we did not see. Besides these
there were Kaira (Hudubandar) and Kaira (Vinake), both sons
of the old man's sister Hudi, and therefore actual or potential
sons-in-law, and the two young children of the dead Ukumenike,
a daughter of Handuna by his first wife Dingerimenike.
The Sitala Wanniya community when we first met them
consisted of two families, those of Handuna the "senior" of the
group, and his half brother Vela. Handuna had with him his
wife Tandi and his two boys, his married daughter Kandi, and
her husband Kaira with his sister Selli and the two young
children born to Kaira and Kandi. Vela had only his wife
Bevini (sister of Tandi) and his two young children. After a few
days they were joined by another family consisting of Nila and
his wife Wiri, with their daughter and her husband Paema, an
unmarried girl and a small boy. The relationship between
Handuna and Nila was that their grandmothers were sisters and
their mother and father cousins who reciprocally called each
other akka (elder sister) and maleya (younger brother).
Kinship.
The system of kinship was studied by means of the
genealogies, and the following list of relationship terms com-
piled from the genealogies shows that the Vedda system of
64 THE VEDDAS
relationship is a late form of the kind known as classificatory.
Further, since the Vedda system closely resembles the Sinhalese
the one may have been borrowed from the other.
Mutia, father, grandfather.
Atta, mother, grandmother.
Puia or tuta, son, sister's son (fern, loq.), brother's son (m. loq.).
Duwa or tiiii, daughter, sister's daughter (fern, loq.), brother's daughter
(m. loq.).
Mtiniiburay grandson.
Miniberi, granddaughter.
Aiya, elder brother, maternal aunt's son, paternal uncle's son.
Maleya, younger brother, maternal aunt's son, paternal uncle's son.
Akka, elder sister, daughter, paternal uncle's daughter.
Naga, younger sister, maternal aunt's daughter, paternal uncle's
daughter.
Mama, maternal uncle, paternal aunt's husband.
Netidamma, paternal aunt, maternal uncle's wife.
Lokiiappu, paternal uncle (older), maternal aunt's husband.
Kudiiappu, paternal uncle (younger), maternal aunt's husband.
Lokuaiiuna, maternal aunt (older), paternal uncle's wife.
Ktiduanuna, maternal aunt (younger), paternal uncle's wife.
Hum, paternal aunt's son, maternal uncle's son.
Naena, paternal aunt's daughter, maternal uncle's daughter.
Baena, sister's son (m. loq.), brother's son (fem. loq.).
Yeli, brother's daughter (fem. loq.), sister's son (m. loq.).
It will be noticed that none of these terms, except hura and
Jiaena when used between individuals of the same sex, are
reciprocal.
The working basis of the Vedda kinship system is the
marriage of the children of brother and sister, but not of two
brothers or sisters. Thus, when a woman's son marries his
mother's brother's daughter the man's maternal uncle {mama)
becomes his father-in-law and his maternal uncle's children (his
hura and naena), except the girl he has married, become his
brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. None of these relatives, how-
ever, change their kinship term on this account, Jmra and naena
being only applied to individuals with whom intermarriage is
actually possible, or would be possible if the sex of the speaker
permitted it. On marriage the girl's paternal aunt {nendamma)
becomes her mother-in-law, but as before marriage this woman's
children remain her hura and naena.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 65
The words lage eto, lato or sometimes leto, the two last benig
abbreviations oi lage eto, were often added to relationship terms ;
as examples of this we may record mutta lage eto, atta lato,
maleya leto. We were told that the term in its various forms
had the sense " of" or " from my own people," and it would only
be used of near relatives, thus Poromala of Henebedda added
some form of this word to the terms by which he called almost
all his relations. This was not the case at Sitala Wanniya where
Handuna (being then in our camp) said that he might use the
term maleya lage eto when speaking of his brother who was up in
the cave.
A man usually spoke of his wife as his "woman," gani.
Addressing her he would probably say thopi, "thou." At Hene-
bedda the term meli was used. We have no record as to how
a Vedda woman of the Sitala Wanniya group addressed' her
husband ; at Henebedda we were told that a childless woman
addressed and spoke of her husband as wani lage eto but that
after children were born he should be addressed (as among the
peasant Sinhalese) as " father of so and so " using the name of
the youngest child.
At Unuwatura Bubula it was said that not all naena and
Jmra should marry, the correct marriage being for a man to
marry the daughter of his mother's younger brother. We were
not able to satisfy ourselves that this rule is especially observed
at the present day. Of fifteen marriages between cousins — none
of which are marriages of village Veddas — nine are marriages in
which the man married his mother's brother's daughter, five are
unions between a man and his father's sister's daughter, and one
man married a woman who was equally his mother's brother's
daughter and his father's sister's daughter, according to whether
the relationship was traced on the mother's or father's side.
The number of cousin marriages of which we have details is
too small to allow the definite statement that marriages between
a man and his mother's brother's daughter were especially
frequent, though as far as they go they support this idea, which
becomes all the more probable when the specially close relation-
ship existing between a man and his mother's brother (cf. p.
6^^ is considered.
s v. 5
66 THE VEDDAS
Since the children of two brothers or two sisters cannot
marry each other, they are not /iinn and naeiia but call each
other "brothers" and "sisters," using the terms for elder or
younger brother or sister according to their age\
Every Vedda so readily helps all the other members of his
community and shares any game he may kill or honey he may
take in so liberal a manner that at first it was difficult to deter-
mine who were the individuals who had a special claim on others
of the group. Certainly at first sight it seemed as if all game
were equally divided among the members of the group, but after
a little time we perceived that while an unmarried man looked
especially after his mother, a married man's father-in-law had
at least an equal claim on his son-in-law and in practice often
received more attention, since a man generally spent most of his
time with his wife's family. That the relationship between
father-in-law and son-in-law is very close was shown in a number
of ways, thus, when discussing children and their bringing up
with Handuna of Sitala Wanniya, we asked him whether Veddas
preferred to have a son or a daughter, the answer was prompt
and decided, "a daughter, for thus a man obtains a son-in-law" ;
and on another occasion when discussing relationship he stated
very decidedly, avivia mania ekei, mother and mother's brother
(i.e. father-in-law) are alike, and pointed out that as a man treats
^ It may be worth while to say something concerning the alleged intermarriage of
brother and sister among the Veddas, since Bailey and Hartshorne believed that such
marriages occurred, and the Sarasins considered further investigation advisable. Our
conclusions agree so thoroughly with Nevill's that we feel that we need do no more
than quote what he has written on this subject. " Much nonsense has been written
by persons who ought to have known better, about marriage of Vaeddas with their
sisters. Such incest never was allowed, and never could be, while the Vaedda
customs lingered. Incest is regarded as worse than murder. So positive is this
feeling, that the Tamils have based a legend upon the instant murder of his sister, by
a Vaedda to whom she had made undue advances. The mistake arose from crass
ignorance of Vaedda usages. The title of cousin with whom marriages ought to be
contracted, that is, mother's brother's daughter, or father's sister's daughter, is naga or
nangi. This in Sinhalese is applied to a younger sister. Hence if you ask a Vaedda,
'Do you marry your sisters?' the Sinhalese interpreter is apt to say, 'do you marry
your naga?' The reply is (I have often tested it), 'yes — we always did formerly,
but now it is not always observed.' You say then, 'What? marry your own sister
naga?' and the reply is an angry and insulted denial, the very question appearing a
gross insult : and if put by a Sinhalese, the Vaedda would probably not even reply to
him, but turn away with a gesture of contempt." Taprobaman, Vol. I, l886, p. 178.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 6/
his mother so should he treat his mama. A man's father and his
father's brothers are less important than his mama who receive
the largest share of all game killed by their actual or potential
sons-in-law.
The love and comradeship existing between father-in-law and
son-in-law was often very marked, and sometimes the voice of
Handuna of Sitala Wanniya took on a special tone of tenderness
when speaking of his baena; indeed, the importance of the
relationship existing between father-in-law and son-in-law is
shown in many ways. Thus not only do they very generally
hunt and move about together, but whereas when a girl marries
she is often given pots and gourds by her mother, a man receives
wedding gifts, which — as is shown in the chapter on land
transfer — often consist of tracts of land, not from his father but
from his father-in-law, who should be his mother's brother.
Again, although a man presents part of his kill to his father's
brothers and mother's sisters, a larger share is given to his actual
or potential father-in-law and mother-in-law, and before marriage
these may get a specially large share. A man would assist his
potential father-in-law and mother-in-law in house building and
chena cultivation as a matter of course, but he would only help
his other uncles and aunts if asked. When hunting, a son-in-law
will usually carry his father-in-law's kill, but he would show the
same consideration for his own father and probably for any older
man.
We may perhaps fairly sum up this matter by saying, that
whereas before marriage a man paid at least as much regard to
his future father-in-law as to his own father (and in theory he
should pay more), after marriage his father-in-law becomes more
important, and the association between father-in-law and son-in-
law becomes far closer and more intimate than that existing
between father and son. There are, however, certain matters in
which father and son are more closely associated than mama and
baena ; a boy's bringing up is essentially a matter to which his
father attends, and in which the mama takes no great part unless
the father dies.- Again, in theory, sons should take at least
as large a part in looking after their aged and infirm fathers as
do the latter's sons-in-law.
5—2
68 THE VEDDAS
All Veddas of a group are so nearly related that, with the
exception of the bond of the uiania and baena relationship, the
only duties which clearly fall to any individual on account of his
relationship to others are certain ceremonial avoidances. These
are limited to members of opposite sexes and practically in-
clude all the men and women whom an individual of either sex
might not marry. There is the most rigid avoidance between
mother-in-law and son-in-law, and at Godatalawa we had an
opportunity of seeing how sternly this rule is carried out.
Dilisini is the oldest woman of the community, the wife of the
patriarch or "senior" of the group ; she is physically unattractive
and apparently long past the menopause, nevertheless her son-in-
law Kaira who was standing a few paces off would not assist her to
rise from the ground, although she had an acutely inflamed knee
which was obviously extremely painful. In fact no man may
come into any physical contact with his mother-in-law or even
approach her closely. Thus, if a man met his mother-in-law in
the jungle he would move aside off the track. He may however
speak to her in the presence of others, though if he found her
alone in the rock shelter he would not enter it until there were
others present. Similarly though a man may eat food prepared
by his mother-in-law he would not take it directly from her,
it would be passed to him by someone else, most probably by his
wife. A man avoids his son's wife in precisely the same way, as
also his brother's wife, and a woman her sister's husband. It
was said that if a man attempted to speak in private to any
of these women, she would probably suspect him of endeavouring
to make improper advances to her which her kinsmen would
resent. A man should also avoid touching the daughters of his
mother's sisters and his father's brothers as well as all those girls
whom he calls " sisters " if these have attained puberty ; he
may, however, speak to these relatives. We are not quite clear
what is the correct attitude of a man towards his wife's sisters or
those of his naena whom he does not expect to marry, but we
believe that generally speaking any close contact is avoided
between adults of opposite sexes, and that practically nqjnari
may come in contact with anyjvoman of about his own age
except his wife. At Unuwatura Bubula these rules were so
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 69
rigidly observed that we were told that a man might not assist
his sister to rise from the ground if she had fallen down and
injured herself Further, it seemed that he should not see much
even of the girl whom he was about to marry until she was
handed over to him, though according to our Unuwatura Bubula
informants it was not really bad for a man to touch any of his
naena and he was allowed to do this in an emergency. At
Sitala Wanniya it was said that adult /mr^ and naena should not
speak to each other even when it had been arranged that they
should marry, and at Omuni we were told that if in the old days
a man was seen speaking to an unmarried girl, her outraged
relatives would seek to kill him. Children may of course come
in contact with their parents to any extent and at any age.
Second marriages are, and always have been frequent, a man
often marrying a sister of his deceased wife and a woman marry-
ing one of her dead husband's brothers. We believe that such
unions were regarded as both a privilege and a duty, though
according to Handuna of Sitala Wanniya a man married his
dead wife's sister principally becaase if he married any one else
his children would not be looked after so well. If a widow does
not marry one of her dead husband's brothers she may return to
her parents, though it seemed that if these were no longer living
she would generally stay with her late husband's group, whose
duty it would then be to look after her and her children.
With regard to name avoidance, a man does not speak the
name of his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and they also
refrain from speaking his name, relationship terms being used
instead. Nor does a man commonly speak of his son-in-law or
father-in-law, or his brother's wife or sister's husband, except by
the appropriate relationship terms ; beyond this we would only
point out that, as already mentioned, neither man nor woman
commonly speaks of his or her spouse by name, and there is
a general tendency to avoid the use of names and where possible
indicate an individual by a relationship term. In no case did we
notice any hesitation in giving the name of any adult which we
sought to obtain in the course of our inquiries. The objection to
saying a young child's name and the reason for this is referred to
on p. 103.
JO THE VEDDAS
Terms of respect were commonly used in addressing the aged,
thus although siya or mtitta really mean father or grandfather,
these words might be used as terms of respect in addressing
any old man, and in the same way the terms ku'iamma (grand-
mother) or atta might be used to any old woman, and we were
told that siya was constantly used by members of the group
in addressing the "senior" or patriarch. An individual of either
sex would call his or her father-in-law's father siya or kiriappa,
and a mother-in-law's mother is addressed as kirianmia.
Clan Organization.
It has already been mentioned that the Veddas at the present
day are divided into clans {warnge) ; almost every man who
calls himself a Vedda can give the name of his zvaruge and this
applies even to many village and coast Veddas in whom there is
a minimum of true Vedda blood. The clan organization of the
Veddas was first pointed out by Nevill, who says: " The Veddas
north of the Mahawaeli Ganga have lost their original divisions...
and reduced to a few isolated families.... The Vaeddas known as
coast Vaeddas have abandoned most of their ancestral customs
and I cannot even ascertain from them their original name.
Vaeddas of the forest districts do not preserve any tradition of
relationship with these Vaeddas of the coasts" Nevill then gives
the following nine names as those of the Vedda clans, to which
he adds the Veddas of Tambalagama Pattu, Kattakulam Pattu
and Anurajapura as true Veddas though their zvariige names
seem lost.
Morana waruge.
Unapana waruge.
Bandara or Rugam waruge.
Namada, Namadana or Nabadana waruge.
Ura-wadiya waruge.
Uruwa waruge.
Kowil waname.
Aembala or Ambala waruge.
Tala waruge.
^ Taprobanian, Vol. I, 1886, p. 176.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 71
In this list no account is taken of the coast Veddas, of whom
Nevill says that they "evidently belong to several distinct
sections Only the old men speak what they call Vaedda, which
is pure but quaint Sinhalese with a Vedda accent, as a rule,
though mixed with some words characteristic of true Vaedda
The Vaeddas say they never were related to these Coast Vaeddas,
and do not know when they came to the coast, or where they
came from, nor did they ever hear that they belonged to any
waricge of the race.
" The Coast Vaeddas do not know when they came, or how
they came, but they say that long ago their ancestors came from
the Gala, far beyond the hills to the west\"
The Doctors Sarasin state that they attempted to map the
territorial distribution of the clans given by Nevill, but on
account of the vagueness of his statement were unable to do
this. With regard to Nevill's clans we must point out that his
5 th, 6th, 7th clan names are open to criticism. Kovil wattame is
a descriptive term meaning " temple precincts " and, as has
already been stated, is the general name for certain Veddas who
live in the Eastern Province in the neighbourhood of Devulani
tank and who belong to the Morane and Unapane waruge. It
was formerly the general name for the Veddas who lived in the
neighbourhood of the Kataragam temple in the extreme south
of Uva.
As for Nevill's Ura-wadiya zvanige and Uruwa zvaruge, these
are not two waruge each having one of these names but are other
names for the Uru waruge mentioned on p. 33. The nine clans
given by Nevill are thus reduced to seven and, as will be shown
later, there is every reason to believe that this number must be
still further reduced by the exclusion of Rugam, i.e. Bandara
waruge, from the list.
We may now give the distribution of the waruge as deter-
mined by ourselves.
Morane. This clan is found at Nilgala, Henebedda, Banda-
raduwa (Kovil Vanamai Veddas), Sitala Wanniya, Godatalawa
(Galmede Veddas), and among the Mudugala Veddas now
settled at Unuwatura Bubula, as well as among many of the last
^ Taprobanian, Vol. i, 1886, p. 183.
72 THE VEDDAS
remains of the Veddas who lead a miserable existence in the
neighbourhood of the Badulla-Batticaloa road between Kallodi
and Maha Oya. The Morane clan probably also exists at
Bingoda near Mullagama, and a few Morane people are to be
found among the village V^eddas of Tamankaduwa. There is,
however, reason to believe that this clan has been recently intro-
duced from Omuni, where there are many people who in spite of
the Sinhalese blood in their veins say they belong to Morane
wariige.
Unapane. The distribution of this clan is the same as
Morane, and judging from the fact that all the Bingoda people
we met said they were Unapane, it must be especially strong
there.
Namadewa. This clan is found at Henebedda where that
part of the jungle known as Kolombedda was pointed out as
their property, and among the village Veddas in Uva Bintenne
(Dambani, Bulugahaladena, Girandura). It also occurs in
Tamankaduwa where it was one of the chief waruge of Elakota-
liya, Kalukalaeba and Yakure.
Uru. This clan is found at Uniche among the village Veddas
of Bintenne and Tamankaduwa and among the coast Veddas,
Its name was known to the Sitala Wanniya Veddas and to many
of the small settlements in the neighbourhood of Maha Oya.
Aembala. Some of the coast Veddas say they are of this
clan which is also found in Tamankaduwa, at Yakure and
Ulpota. The name of this zvanige was known to the Sitala
Wanniya Veddas.
Tala. This clan was only known at Yakure.
The distribution of Namadewa, Uru, Aembala and Tala
wanige described above agrees with that given by Nevill.
Besides the zvaruge, the distribution of which has just been
described, certain other alleged rvanige were mentioned to us.
In some instances it was certain that these were merely groups
of people who were named after the locality they now live in or
formerly inhabited. The most important of these territorial
names was Rugam. The Rugam waruge was accounted an off-
shoot of Morane, and since Rugam is the name of a large and
important tank some 12 miles from Maha Oya where Veddas
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 73
were formerly numerous, it seems reasonable to suppose that
Rugam zvariige was originally a local group called after the
territory they inhabited.
Dehigama is another wariige name given as one to which
a small number of Veddas of Uva Bintenne belonged and is
avowedly a place name.
Bendiya was also given as a zvarnge name and perhaps is also
a place name.
With regard to the origin of the names of the genuine Vedda
wariige, the only hint that any of them are recognised by Veddas
as springing from, place names was that conveyed by the state-
ment of a number of Morane men that their ancestors came from
Moranegala in the Eastern Province, but no Unapane man ever
suggested that his clan had originally come from the place of
that name near Kallodi. Moranegala is a hill name, and probably
the hill has been named from the mora trees {Nepheliicin longana)
which it may be assumed grew there, so that Moranegala means
" the hill of the viora trees," and it might be argued that Morane
wariige derived its name from the mora tree. Some support for
this argument might be adduced from the fact that in songs
collected at Sitala Wanniya both men and women of Morane
waruge are addressed as " mora flowers." We were unable to
discover that any Veddas had legends of the origin of their clans,
but this is not to be wondered at in view of the almost total
absence of myths among them. The Sinhalese on the other
hand have legends of origin for four of the Vedda clans, and
these legends, varying only slightly in form, can be collected
from the Sinhalese all over the Vedda country. This, as well as
the fact that Mr Bibile heard most of them many years ago
from his father, show that they are not of recent origin, or
invented for the benefit of European inquirers.
With the exception of the legend of the origin of Morane
waruge given by Mr B. Horsburgh the accounts here given of the
origin of the Vedda clans were obtained from the Vedda Arachi
of Potuliyadde, but the same stories with only slight variations
were also obtained from the Lindegala " Veddas " and the Arachi
of Belligala.
Mr Horsburgh obtained his account of the origin of Morane
74 THE VEDDAS
wartige from the " Veddas " of Rotawewa — a rice-growing village
in Sinhala Pattuwa of Tamankaduwa, the inhabitants of which
say they are descendants from Veddas — although all accounts
show that they are indistinguishable from their Sinhalese neigh-
bours. " When Kuveni was abandoned by Vijaya she returned
with her two children, a boy and girl, to her own people, who
killed her. Her children fled to the jungle and lived on the
fruits of the ' moi-a ' tree. One of their children came to
Minneriya and founded the Minneriya (now Rotawewa) Veddas
of the Morane Waruge." We have not visited these people but it
may be assumed that they are at least as sophisticated as the
" Veddas " of Yakure.
Unapane. Unapane ivaruge is an offshoot from Morane.
A chiefs daughter was given to another chief's son. When going
to the bridegroom's cave the girl got thirsty on the way and the
only water available was a minute trickle down the face of a
rock. The man allowed this to soak into a piece of cloth which
he squeezed into a bamboo from which the girl drank. This is
the origin of the name from una " bamboo " and pane " water,"
and the descendants of this couple were called Unapane.
Uru. A Morane girl became pregnant and refused to give
the name of her lover. She was beaten and driven away from
the group and brought forth her child in a hole dug by a wild
boar, ?/;-//, hence the name Uru ivaruge.
Aembala. Aembala waruge has sprung from Unapane. An
Unapane girl's husband died while she was pregnant, and all her
other relations were dead. When her child was born she left it
under a tree while she went to dig yams. On her return she
found that red ants {aembaleo) had blinded her child, whence the
child was called Aembeli, and her descendants formed Aembala
clan.
Namadewa. An Aembala woman brought forth a female
child under a namada tree ; this girl was therefore named Namadi
and from her descendants arose the Namadewa clan.
Exogamy prevails among the Veddas of Bintenne and
Tamankaduwa and clan descent is matrilineal. These conditions
also prevail at Godatalawa and therefore must be assumed to
have existed at Galmede whence the Godatalawa family had
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 75
come, but strangely this and the nearly related Sitala Wanniya
Veddas were the only communities to the east of the Badulla-
Batticaloa road in which exogamy prevailed. The Henebedda
and Kovil Vanamai Veddas all married freely within the clan.
It is, however, probable that this is a recent though not quite
modern innovation, since at Henebedda it was said that it was
particularly fitting that Morane and Unapane should intermarry.
Nevill recognised the existence of exogamy, and presumably
it was of the Bintenne Veddas that he made the following very
definite statement, which applies equally well to the conclition of
things existing at the present day, even among such sophisticated
folk as those of Omuni, where genealogies were taken in order to
make quite certain of this matter. " The rule for marriage was
stringent. The daughter represents her mother's family, the son
also represents his mother's family. In no case did a person
marry one of the same family, even though the relationship was
lost in remote antiquity. Such a marriage is incest. The penalty
for incest is death. Thus the daughter must marry either her
father's sister's son, or her mother's brother's son, neither of
whom would be of the same clan name. Failing these she may
marry any of their name, and should no such bridegroom be
available, marriage into a third family becomes necessary^"
If the distribution of these Vedda communities in which
exogamy prevails be studied on the map it will be seen that
with the exception of the Sitala Wanniya and Godatalawa
(Galmede) groups all the Veddas to the west of the Badulla-
Batticaloa road are exogamous, whereas those to the east of the
road contract marriage within the clan.
As a matter of convenience we now give a list confiplementary
to that on pp. 71 to 74 showing what waritge were represented
in each of the communities we visited. Danigala: Morane,
Unapane, Namadewa (the last not acknowledged). Henebedda:
Morane, Unapane, Namadewa (the latter properly forming the
Kolombedda community and settlement). Kovil Vanamai
(Bandaraduwa) : Morane, Unapane, Uru (the latter forming the
settlement at Uniche). In all these settlements marriage occurs
within the clan,
^ Taprobanian, Vol. i, 1886, p. 178.
76 THE VEDDAS
Sitala Wanniya. The Sitala Wanniya people said that
Morane and Unapane were the only wariige of which they had
any first-hand knowledge. They had, however, heard that
formerly three other warnge called Uru, Kabela and Aembala
existed, and that the folk of these zvarnge were of lower status
than the people of Morane and Unapane.
Godatalawa (Galmede). These people all belonged to
Morane and Unapane zvaruge.
Unuwatura Bubula. The zvaruge of this settlement were
Morane, Unapane and Bandara ivarnge. Exogamy was strictly
adhered to, and the children took their mother's warnge. As far
as we could determine, all the poverty-stricken Veddas settled
on chenas in the neighbourhood of Kallodi and Maha Oya on the
Badulla-Batticaloa road belonged either to Morane, Unapane,
Bandara (Rugam) or Uru warnge, the Morane and Unapane
Veddas of the large chena settlement at Rerenkadi holding the
last to be of inferior status.
Lindegala. Three men, the last remains of the Lindegala
Veddas, visited us at Kallodi. The oldest of these, the possessor
of the aude with inlaid silver work referred to on p. 171, was a
rather tall stoutly built man who looked like a Sinhalese. He,
however, remembered his zvarnge Morane and stated that his wife
belonged to Bandara warnge and one of his companions who
belonged to this zvarnge had a wife belonging to Morane warnge.
It was stated that children took their mother's warnge.
Elakotaliya. The warnge of this settlement are Namadewa,
Uru and Rugam ; exogamy was insisted on, and in all the nine
marriages of which we have notes the contracting parties were
of different zvarnge. In seven cases Uru and Namadewa zvarnge
intermarried, in one instance Namadewa and Rugam wariige,
while in the last instance the zvarnge of the woman was un-
certain. Although it was clearly stated that the children should
take their father's zvarnge, it was certain that in some cases they
took their mother's zvarnge.
It was said that a man should marry his father's sister's
daughter and not his mother's brother's daughter but we could
not establish this.
Kalukalaeba. Morane, Namadewa, Uru and Rugam warnge
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 'J7
are represented in this settlement. Although in conversation no
importance was attached to exogamy this must be taken to
exist since all of the ten marriages recorded are exogamous.
These include six marriages of Morane with Namadewa ivaruge,
two of Morane and Uru zvaruge and one each of Morane and
Rugam zvaruge and of Rugam and Namadewa waruge. Children
take their mother's waruge.
Yakure. The ivaruge existing here are Namadewa, Aembala,
Bendia, Rugam and Tala. Uru waruge was known by name
but not otherwise, Dehigama was recognised as belonging to the
Uva Bintenne and Morane zuaruge as existing in the neighbour-
hood of Omuni. Exogamy was the rule and occurred in every
marriage (8) of which we have records. Waruge descent should
be in the female line but in some instances children took their
father's ivaruge. Seeking to elucidate this matter it was said
that whereas girls took their mother's waruge boys took their
father's, but this rule certainly did not hold in all cases\ Cousin
marriage was said to be the old custom, but it was admitted that
at the present day this custom was more often neglected than
observed.
Ulpota. This is said to be the most important of four small
settlements of village Veddas in the neighbourhood of Dim-
bulagala (Gunner's Quoin). These settlements are Ulpota,
Kohombolewa, Alagonagoda and Gonandamene all of which,
according to Mutua our informant, consist of a small number
(Kohombolewa eight, Gonandamene three) of huts. Mutua, who
said that he was headman of the Tamankaduwa Veddas, gave
the waruge of these settlements as Rugam, Aembala and Morane ;
the last being to his mind less numerous and less important
than the others. The conditions as regards ivaruge descent and
exogamy are the same as at Yakure. Of fifteen marriages
recorded eleven are between individuals of Rugam and Aembala
1 We may here refer to a statement made while we were investigating this matter
at Yakure. " Properly speaking there are na waruge among the Veddas, who are
only classified into imruge for the purpose of marriage." We could not determine
what was in our informant's mind, and although we were subsequently told the same
by the Ulpota Veddas we could not obtain any light on the subject from either
community.
78 THE VEDDAS
wanige, the remaining four between Morane and Aembala (2) or
Rugam (2) wanige.
Dambani. These extremely sophisticated Veddas probably
belong to Namadewa wariige and descent is probably matrilineal.
Malgode (Horaborawewa). Our informants knew of
Namadewa, Dehigama and Kapatu ivariige and no others, but
when Morane wanige was mentioned to them one man stated
that he had heard of a zvaruge of that name.
Girandura. Here too exogamy prevailed though children
took their father's zvariige, and we could discover no exception to
these rules. The marriages we could trace took place between
Dehigama and Namadewa zvariige, and between Dehigama and
Uru ivarnge, we consequently assume that these are the waruge
represented in this community.
The Comparative Status of the Clans.
The members of the Morane and Unapane clans generally
considered themselves superior to the Namadewa, Uru and
Aembala wariige. This feeling was so strong at Henebedda
that much difficulty was at first experienced in collecting
genealogies. Representatives of the Morane, Unapane and
Namadewa clans were for the time living together at Bendiyagalge
caves, and the difference in status between the Morane and
Unapane on the one hand, and Namadewa on the other, was felt
so strongly that the members of the last-mentioned waritge
invariably denied their clan, while the Morane and Unapane
folk said the Namadewa were their servants. It seemed clear
that in the old days Morane and Unapane folk never married
into one of the servile clans, but two or three such marriages had
taken place within recent years, and in every case these marriages
were at first denied. The most striking proof of this feeling was
evinced when we had come to know all the members of the
community and pretence had been largely given up; Sita
Wanniya and Poromala our usual guides, both Morane men, led
us one day to the Namadewa chena. The Namadewa men
immediately began an angry protest. " These people," they said,
meaning Poromala and Sita Wanniya, " call us Namadewa ; it
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 79
is not so, we are as good as they," and again on leaving they
declared that even if they were not Morane folk they were
certainly as good, for had not the eldest born of Kaira the
patriarch of Danigala, a Morane man, married a woman from
their family? This last statement was proved to be true by the
genealogy. As neither we nor our guides said anything to
provoke these remarks the intensity of the feeling cannot be
doubted. At Bandaraduwa there were only Morane and
Unapane men, but they said that Uru tvaruge were their
servants, and that some people of this clan lived near Uniche ;
Wannaku seen later was doubtless one of these. At the chena
settlement at Rerenkadi one woman said the Uru tvaruge were
" dirt}/ " people. This was one of the first Vedda communities
we visited, and the significance of the remark was not realised at
the time. At Dambani the people professed to have forgotten
their wanige ; we therefore surmised that they might belong to
one of the inferior clans, and later at Horaborawewa a Vedda
boy said his mother was a Namadewa woman from Dambani.
Additional evidence in support of this view was furnished by
the statements of the Alutnuwara Arachi recorded on p. 52.
The services that the inferior clans were said to render to
other clans were as follows : when big game was shot and fish
caught the Namadewa men must carry it, and they must make
the creeper ladders for gathering rock honey. How much of
this work was really done by Namadewa people is extremely
difficult to say, it is scarcely credible that when living apart from
the servile clans the Morane and Unapane men would send for
them to carry a kill, but when Poromala of Henebedda (Morane)
had killed a deer and cut it up on the talawa near our camp, it
was noticed that Kalua, a Namadewa boy who had not been
hunting, came down from the cave and carried back the greater
part of the meat.
The Territorial Grouping of the Clans.
Although at the present day it cannot be said that a terri-
torial grouping of the clans certainly exists, or ever existed,
there is considerable evidence that this once prevailed. We
8o THE VEDDAS
would in the first place refer to what we have already stated to
be the geographical distribution of the clans at the present day.
The fact that Unapane warnge, so important to the east of the
Badulla-Batticaloa road and in its immediate vicinity to the
west, is absent in Tamankaduwa is extremely suggestive, as is
the limited distribution and importance of Morane warnge in
Tamankaduwa. The existence of only one known Tala tvaruge
centre (Yakure) and the limited distribution of Aembala wariige
which, as far as we can determine, only exists in the country
round Gunner's Quoin and among the coast Veddas who have
avowedly come from inland, points in the same direction, as does
the name Rugam zvaruge derived from the country round the tank
of that name and often applied to a sub-group of Morane who
are also called Bandara zvaruge. Turning now to evidence of a
rather different nature our old Kandyan informant, whose state-
ments have been quoted at length on pp. 29 to 34, was very
emphatic in assuring us that the local representatives of Morane
and Unapane clans, the two wariigc with which he was well
acquainted in his youth, each had their own territory and caves,
and even at the present day the information we were able to
gather strongly pointed to Bingoda being an old centre of the
Unapane clan, while Danigala was probably a Morane centre.
Again Kolombedda was quite definitely said to be the Nama-
dewa territory, and the Bandaraduwa community stated that a
certain area in the neighbourhood of Uniche was the domain of
the local group of the Uru wariige.
CHAPTER IV
FAMILY LIFE
The family life of the wilder Veddas centres round the rock-
shelters which are truly their homes, and even among those
Veddas who practise chena cultivation, but have not formed
permanent settlements, these rock-shelters play an important
part, the movements of the community or family group from
shelter to shelter being regulated according to season and
available food supply. Our experience leads us to believe that
the wilder Veddas so greatly prefer rock-shelters to huts that
they seldom build the latter, preferring rather to face the incon-
venience of travelling some distance daily in search of food,
and even to camp for the night under some temporary shelter.
Except in this particular Nevill's description of the movements
of a Vedda family still holds good if it be remembered that he
applies the term " Village Vaedda " to any Vedda who makes
even the roughest chena. " The Forest Vaedda forms a home
two or three times a year, as the season demands. Thus in the
dry hot months when brooks and ponds dry up, the game collects
in the low forests around the half dried river beds. He then
takes his wife and children, aged parents or crippled relatives,
and settles them in a hut close to a place where water can be
got. From this he makes his hunting forays, and returns to it
with his game. The rain sets in however, and the iguanas,
deer, pigs, etc. are scattered over the country ; the elk then seek
rocky hills, and are followed by the Vaedda. The little house-
hold goods, the children, and family party, again are moved up
to the high ground, avoiding the malaria that now hangs as
a shroud over the forest-clad lowlands. Here, if possible, a cave
is chosen for the home, and improved by a slight roof in front, if
s. v. 6
82 THE VEDDAS
too exposed, and around this the food winner ranges.... Besides
his high-ground residence, and his low-ground residence, if
a tract of forest burst suddenly into flower that attracts vast
swarms of bees, or into useful fruit, the family will make a little
pic-nic party, and go there for a week or month, if it be too far
from the home for daily visits. He cannot, however, be called
' nomadic,' any more than the European who has a town house,
and country house, though the climate during the dry season calls
for so trifling a shelter, that a permanent house is not required....
" The village Vaedda was originally, and indeed is still,
distinguished as one who had added grain cultivation to hunting,
honey collecting, and yam digging. When he moved into
summer quarters, he set to work and felled a suitable lot of
forest and burned it off, in the intervals of hunting. When the
rain approached, he put up a hut that would keep his family dry,
on this cleared space, and scattered grain seed over the charred
surface. Leaving such food as they had stored for use then, in
charge of his family, he would go off for days together to the
high ground in search of elk, lodging as before in caves. When
the weather cleared, and the grain ripened, they collected it,
paid away small shares to other less provident clansmen, who
had during the wet season sent the family little presents of flesh,
while the father was away, and then away they went to another
dry season division of their territory, where the mininnas and
iguanas abounded. There is thus little difference between the
forest and the village Vaedda, except that the latter makes his
dry season home sufficiently substantial to keep out rain as well
as dew, and that he leaves his family there, and does not take
them to the high ground. He has never yet learned to make
his clearing into a field or garden, or his six months' hut into
a permanent home. We now come to the dwellings themselves.
Where an overhanging rock can be found, it is of course sufficient.
Otherwise any rock is chosen, and some sticks being laid sloping
in front of it, it is roughly thatched with twigs, rushes, and large
pieces of bark. A few elk hides, if not bought up by pedlars,
will form a screen at one end. If it is only to exclude dew
a very few branches or bits of bark suffice ^"
^ Taprobauia>i, Vol. I, 1886, p. i36.
FAMILY LIFE
83
The protection from the weather offered by the majority of
rock-shelters (for they are all so shallow that they scarcely
deserve the name of caves) is somewhat scanty, and the drip
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ledges often cut in their rock walls show how fully this was
realised by the Sinhalese who formerly lived in them. Nor are
they in any sense capacious, as the plans of Pihilegodagalge
6—2
84 THE VEDDAS
(figure 2) and the Bendiyagalge caves (figure i) show. In the
former the shelter was constituted by the weathering back for
about five feet of a horizontal stratum softer than the rest of
the rock mass. The shelter thus formed was about five feet high
at its front and three feet at its back, and from personal
experience we can testify that it afforded comparatively good
shelter from the wet. This can hardly have been the case with
such caves as Bendiyagalge which appear to have been formed
by the weathering of a stratum with a dip of about 45 degrees,
or by the oblique tilting and subsequent weathering of a rock
mass such as appears to have formed Uhapitagalge (Plate XVII,
fio-ure 2). Indeed we were told that such shelters as Punchiam-
magalge and Bendiyagalge sometimes became uncomfortably
wet. Plate XVII, figure i, is a view taken to show as much as
possible of the rock mass in which the Bendiyagalge shelters are
formed, and this figure and that of Uhapitagalge when examined
in connection with the plan of Bendiyagalge will give a good idea
of the possibilities of a Vedda rock-shelter as a home. As will
be seen from Plate XVIII, figures i and 2 of Pihilegodagalge
(Sitala Wanniya), no care is taken to keep the cave clean. At
Bendiyagalge we noticed an unpleasant odour about the cave due
to the lack of sanitary precautions taken by the members of the
comparatively large community then living in these caves.
Plate XIX, figure i, shows the general appearance of these
caves including the steps (Plate IX) hewn in the rock between
the lower and upper caves and the worked edge of the upper
cave forming a drip-ledge. Plate XIX, figure 2, is an early
morning scene in the cave, and was taken soon after its occupants
had awakened.
The love of the wilder Veddas for their rock-shelters, as well
as their disregard for climatic conditions, is well illustrated by
a remark made by Handuna the oldest and most influential
man among the Sitala Wanniya Veddas, " It is pleasant for us to-
feel the rain beating on our shoulders, and good to go out
and dig yams and come home wet and see the fire burning
in the cave and sit round it."
Such a remark is in itself evidence of a cheerful disposition,
and before going any further we must describe the Vedda
Plate XVII
Fig. I. General view of the rock shelters at Bendiyagalge
Fig. 2. Uhapitagalge rock shelter
Plate XVIII
Fig. I. Pihilegodagalge rock shelter
Fig. 2. Part of Pihilegodagalge rock shelter
Plate XIX
Fig. I. Lower rock shelter at Bendiyagalge
Fig. 2. Early morning scene in lower rock shelter at Bendiyagalge
FAMILY LIFE 85
temperament. Travellers have called the Vedda morose, and
stated that he never laughs ; this belief has doubtless been
strengthened by the disagreeable behaviour of the " show "
Veddas (see p. 50), yet Veddas have told us how they throw
leaves in the air and laugh and dance for joy. Nevill was
certainly right when he said, " They are a merry people,
delighting in riddles, songs and jests. Mr Hartshorn observed
some Vaeddas who never laughed in his presence. They must
have been either terrified, or sulky and offended, for those
I have seen, of all clans, laugh often and merrily, a habit very
strongly contrasted with that of the Sinhalese, who scarcely ever
go beyond a smile. They burst into a verse of song, now and
again, apparently from sheer exuberance of spirits, and any
ludicrous incident amuses them ^"
At Bendiyagalge we were particularly well situated to
observe their behaviour, our camp being out of sight of the
Vedda cave but within 200 yards of it, here we could listen to
their unrestrained chatter and laughter which was especially
noticeable at sunset. It is true that their faces express no
emotion of pleasure or gratitude when they are given exactly
what they expect. Thus, white cloth, which the men like to
wear, is well known to them, they buy it themselves from the
Moormen pedlars, it is the usual present for a European to make
to Veddas, and they receive it with perfectly stolid faces, and
are hence dubbed sullen. We had an excellent example of this
at Henebedda when we gave a piece of white cloth to Poromala
the senior of the group, whom we knew well and who had
frequently smiled and laughed in our presence. When, however,
a sharp pruning knife was given him his face beamed like
a schoolboy's, he ran his thumb along the blade and tried its
edge on pieces of grass. Things new to them which we showed
1 Taprobanian, Vol. I, 1886, p. 192. Veddas often dance for a few moments
when pleased, thus a Henebedda Vedda on being given a piece of sacking to cover
himself with after complaining of cold, immediately held it over his head, bowed his
body forward and went through a few dance steps, singing the while. On another
occasion this man and three companions (all young men) began to dance spontaneously.
This was about 9 p.m. one night in the courtyard of the Ambilinne Rest House,
where they had visited us, their sense of well-being in this case may have been
stimulated by a liberal feed of curry and rice which had been given them, but we do
not think they danced in payment for this.
86 THE VEDDAS
them often provoked peals of laughter ; to see the eldest and
most venerable man solemnly have his thumb nail pressed by
a brass machine (algometer) was particularly amusing to the
rest of the community, one man actually rolling on the ground
with laughter. The old man took it all in excellent part and
smiled indulgently. Doubtless Veddas vary much in character,
but all except the " show " Veddas are genial and courteous,
and have always been rightly considered truthful. At Sitala
Wanniya Handuna was the most intelligent man, keenly in-
terested in all the new things we showed him ; he obviously
ruled the community by force of character, coupled with the
fact that he was a shaman, Nila, however, was also a shaman,
but he was obviously not so strong a man as Handuna, to whose
opinion he deferred, and naturally took second place. Vela,
half-brother of Handuna, was extremely shy but by no means
stupid, he generally tried to get out of doing things, professing
inability, but when urged by Handuna did everything as well
as the other men. Kaira, baena (son-in-law) to Handuna, was
intelligent and talkative and inclined to be boastful. Pema, baena
to Nila, did not speak much, chiefly we thought because he was
a young man and had not much to tell, for although he did not
chatter like Kaira he smiled and did not hang his head when
addressed, as Vela did.
Whether staying in a " private " or " communal " cave the
family life continues in much the same manner. If in a com-
munal cave, each family keeps strictly within its own limits,
the women may always be seen at exactly the same spot, and
when the men come in they sit or lie beside their wives,
keeping to that part of the cave floor that belongs to them
as carefully as though there was a partition dividing it from
that of their neighbours. Figure 2 is a plan of Pihilegodagalge
showing the actual division of floor space. Food is frequently
cooked by one woman and shared by all the members of
the community, in fact, although it might be cooked separately,
it did not seem that any food was private property. One
other fact was very noticeable in communal caves, namely,
that men never kept their bows and arrows in their own
division, but always put them all together in a particular
FAMILY LIFE 87
place. The " arsenal " at Bendiyagalge is well seen in
Plate XIX, figures i and 2, while at Pihilegodagalge all the
bows and arrows were rested on an old ant heap in the centre
of the cave.
Though men do sometimes dig for yams, hunting is essen-
tially their work, and yams were usually dug by the women
who also do the cooking. This is of the simplest kind ; yams
are roasted in ashes, in which way meat may also be cooked,
while practically everything else is boiled in a pot over three
stones. Many Veddas also know how to cook curry, and deer's
flesh is dried on a rack and smoked. A rack is built usually in
a sunny place, the meat is put on this and a smoky fire kept
burning beneath it, the flesh is thus dried in the sun and smoked
simultaneously. This process is usually superintended by men.
Fig. 2. Plan of Pihilegodagalge.
Plate XVII, figure i, shows a rack built to smoke meat on the
top of the Bendiyagalge rock-mass.
A Vedda will never sleep on the ground if there is any
rock upon which he can lie. If he has a deerskin or a
piece of cloth he will lie on it, if not he does not seem to object
to the cold rock, and so avoids contact with the ground damp
from the heavy dews. He always keeps a small fire burning
beside him ; this was noticed by Nevill, who says : " A Vaedda
never sleeps without a smouldering fire by his side. I am
assured, should accident oblige them to do so, they have usually
died from a fever caught by the omission \"
The Veddas are strictly monogamous, and we were able to
confirm Bailey's observations as regards their marital fidelity.
" Their constancy to their wives is a very remarkable trait in
their character in a country where conjugal fidelity is certainly
not classed as the highest of domestic virtues. Infidehty,
1 Taprobanian, Vol. i, Aug. 1886, p. 187.
88 THE VEDDAS
whether in the husband or the wife, appears to be unknown, and
I was very careful in my inquiries on this subject. Had it
existed, the neighbouring Sinhalese would have had no hesita-
tion in accusing them of it, but I could not obtain a trace
ofitV
The only case of suicide of which we heard took place in
connection with a breach of the common rule of conjugal fidelity.
Tissahami,the husband of Kumi, younger sister of the headman
of the Bandaraduwa Veddas, carried on an intrigue with his
naena, an unmarried girl named Kirimenike. When his wife
who was not one of his naena discovered the intrigue, she
scolded her husband most unmercifully, "Why go to another
woman while I live ?— better to have gone to your mother than
her." Although his intrigue with Kirimenike was of old standing,
Tissahami was so upset with the disgrace of publicity that he
killed himself in the compound outside his own hut early one
morning. He had a gun, and holding the muzzle to the supra-
sternal notch, he pulled the trigger with his toe. The dead man's
relatives were very angry with Kumi for driving him to despera-
tion but they did not threaten her, nor in any way molest her.
Kumi and Kirimenike belonged to the same waruge (Morane)
but were unrelated. Kirimenike subsequently married a Vedda,
and went to live at Syringawala where she remained until she
died.
In every respect the women seem to be treated as the equals
of the men, they eat the same food; indeed, when_^we gave
presents of food the men seemed usually to give the women
and children their share first ; the same applies to areca nut
and other chewing stuffs. The women are jealously guarded by
the men, who do not allow traders or other strangers to see
them, and those at Sitala Wanniya were too shy to visit our
camp, though they welcomed us to their cave, and the dances
performed for our benefit took place in the dense jungle so that
the women might be present and partake of the food offered to
\)i\Q: yaku. We had offered to clear a space by our camp where
the light would have been better for photography ; however, the
> J. Bailey, "Wild Tribes of the Veddahs of Ceylon," iS'^s, Trans. Ethnol. Soc.
Vol. II, p. 291.
FAMILY LIFE 89
men explained that though the ceremonies themselves might be
performed anywhere the women would not come to our camp, so
the dances must take place at the usual dancing ground in the
jungle. The day after hearing the phonograph at our camp, the
men came to us to request that we should take it to the cave as
they had told their wives about it, and they all wanted to hear
it too. From these examples the position of Vedda women
will be understood.
Writing in 1887 Nevill notices a similar state. "As a rule,
among the purer Veddas, the younger women are rigorously
excluded or rather protected from contact with strangers. They
occupy, however, an honourable and free position in the society
of their relations. I only once saw the good-looking girls of
the pure Vedda family. My guide was then ahead of our party
with me, and abruptly, without explanation further than the
word 'my house,' dived into the forest, beckoning me to follow.
We had only gone a few hundred yards from the path, when we
reached a glade with a little shed. Here a oarty of girls and
women and children were collected, and at sight of us the
younger women began to slip away into the woods, but at
a word from my guide stopped. They then advanced and one
by one stepped up to me with graceful courtesy, each making
a Sinhalese bow with both hands when quite close to me, and
then stepped aside, with or without a few words of simple
welcome. There was no haste or reluctance, nor any approach
to curiosity shown. I stopped talking with some of the elder
women for a short time, and then went on. Three or four of the
women had most exquisite figures, like statues of Psyche, and
a clear brown skin. They were bare to the waist, and from the
knees down. I never saw Vaedda women at all comparable to
these, and then only did I realise the stories I had heard from
Sinhalese, of the former great beauty of the Vaedda women.
On our return, the clan met us by official appointment ;
but these girls, and one equally statuesque young mother,
were conspicuously absent, and I saw it was understood I
should regard my interview as a confidential honour, intention-
ally arranged to make me feel T was personally trusted and
distinguished.
90 THE VEDDAS
" It is probable good-looking women have often been kept
back by others who had not equal confidence in me ^"
Veddas are affectionate and indulgent parents, never refusing
a small child anything it wants and giving it always of the best.
We have frequently seen men save for their children food which
had been given to them and which they considered specially
good, such as bananas or coconuts. The babies are generally
happy, but should they cry their wishes are immediately gratified
by either parent. We saw a naked boy of about two and a half
years strut proudly up and down outside Pihilegodagalge with his
father's axe hung on his shoulder, he was extremely happy and
all went well until he threatened one of the dogs with the axe,
then his mother was obliged to interfere and the child tried to
hit her with it; the father seeing this got up and tried to coax
the child into giving up the axe, but the boy was now excited
and would not give it up, at last he flung it at his father and hit
his leg. The man was obviously annoyed and threw the axe from
him into the jungle, but he did not attempt to scold or punish
the child who was now howling with rage, indeed, after a little
while some food was given him to pacify him.
Another time a woman who had been cutting yams with
a knife put this down, when her baby snatched it up, and
although she was obliged to watch lest he hurt himself, she
allowed him to play with the knife. Yet when a child is old
enough to wear a little rag in the way of clothing, possibly from
six to eight years old, he is expected to behave himself properly
and strange to say he does so. One day it was raining heavily,
and we were all sitting in the rock shelter at Pihilegodagalge ;
at the further end of the cave we noticed a lad of seven or nine
years old having a heated argument with his mother, suddenly
he turned round and went out into the rain, when he returned
he had controlled his temper ; later we remarked on this and
were told that the lad was considered old enough to behave as
a man ; a boy of this age would not hit his mother as a little
child might do and yet be excused. It may here be mentioned
that children of both sexes go naked until about six or seven
years old, though perhaps the general age for the assumption of
1 Taprobanian, Vol. I, 1886, p. 192.
FAMILY LIFE 9 1
clothing is younger in the case of girls than boys. The boy
assumes a piece of rag attached to a string in the same manner
as men, while girls wear a piece of stuff fastened round their
hips like a sarong. A child's first cloth is put on by its mother
without any ceremony. The only toys seen were bows and
arrows, and these are possessed by every male child. We never
saw a little girl play with a bow and arrow, but mothers make
them for the baby boys while these are still crawling about.
Such toys of course are small and roughly made, but bigger
boys of five years old and upwards make quite neat little bows,
and shoot with them tolerably well ; they do not feather their
arrows. Other children were seen playing with clay and sticks ;
and girls frequently play with broken pots with which they
pretend^ to cook.
As women take the children with them when they go out to
dig for yams, little girls soon learn to do this, and boys would
begin to be taken out hunting when about ten years old. It
was difficult to find out whether the fathers' or mothers' brothers
took the greater part in training the boys and it seemed that a lad
eager to go out hunting would be taken by any grown man, who
in the very small community is usually a relative. Lads would
be encouraged by their elders to shoot at a mark with their
bows and arrows, and later they would stalk small birds and
shoot fish\
When a child tells a lie he may be told " Go away, I do not
believe what you say," but it appeared that even young children
were usually truthful. One thing is taught the lads systemati-
cally, that is the method of collecting honey from the combs of
the rock bee. Whenever the caves are conveniently situated
a ladder of creepers is suspended from a tree in the jungle
above and hangs over the end of the face of rock which forms
the cave. On this the youths play at " honey getting." At
Pihilegodagalge the lads were quite willing to demonstrate to
us how it was done, and the elder men showed clearly that this
1 ffevill, in the Ttiprobanian (Vol. i, 1886, p. 189), says " a pellet bow is used
occasionally by small boys, and birds are often shot with it, though the aim seems
very uncertain." Pellet bows were seen at Henebedda, they are used regularly by the
Sinhalese in the neighbourhood, and we do not doubt that the practice was introduced
by them.
92 THE VEDDAS
was a game which they encouraged. A lad of about thirteen
collected some green leaves and tied them together with creeper,
then taking an arrow, a toy inasliya, and a broken gourd tied
with creeper, which hung over his arm, for a mahtdevia, he set fire
to the leaves and climbed the ladder^ While lowering the
smoker and letting the smoke blow into the crevice in the rock
where the comb was supposed to be, he pretended to cut round
its sides with an arrow and thrust at it with his vmsliya (figure 3),
from which he transferred the honey into the gourd. As he
descended from the ladder he beat his chest and sides as though
driving off the bees, and directly he reached the ground rushed
into the jungle to escape from them, all the smaller children
imitating him with great glee. Obviously this was a well-
known and favourite game, for even the elders took part in it,
throwing their cloths over their heads and running into the
jungle.
At Henebedda (which we visited before Pihilegodagalge)
there were no children present when we spoke about honey
getting, but four young men were eager to show us how it was
done and acted the scene with great spirit. They took from
our camp a piece of white and a piece of brown paper, and
fastened them with some wax to the roof of their cave, then as
there was no tree above the cave around which to fasten a
creeper, one man crouched on the top of the rock and held the
ends of the ladder in his hands, another stood above and lowered
a smoker of green leaves while a third climbed the ladder and
collected the honey from the white paper and the grubs from the
brown. Afterwards the collector divided the spoil equally and
amid much laughter they all sat down and pretended to eat,
one actually going through the pantomime of washing his
hands after the meal. They eat_the _grubs as wett^ as the
honey.
As regards clothing, pedlars have brought them cloth for so
long that no Vedda living knows what was done when they
could not buy it, but it is generally stated that they made bark
1 The nialudeiiia is the vessel made of deerskin in which honey should be collected
and the masliya the wooden four-pronged implement with which the comb is broken
up and transferred to the 7nabide7)ia. For figures of inalitdcm i and inasliya, see
Plate LXV and figure 3 (p. 93) respectively.
FAMILY LIFE
93
cloth of the riti {Antiaris innoxid) of which material the
Sinhalese still make rice bags. Men wear a
rag of " white " cotton about 9 inches wide
passed between their legs, and held in place by
each end being passed over a waist string. This
cotton material they prefer to anything else for
two reasons, firstly, it very soon becomes a dull
brown, and hence is less obvious when hunting
than a coloured cloth would be, secondly, it is
thin machine-made material from which they
can easily tear narrow strips for tinder, when
they make fire. The women wear coloured
cotton cloth of the kind that is woven at
Batticaloa, it is a strong material and is not
easily torn. A single width forms the length of
their skirt from waist to knee and is fastened
round their waists like a sarong. Thus, the men's
preference for " white " and the women's for
coloured cloth is purely economical, depending
on the kind of material it has been the pedlar's
habit to bring. These pedlars visit the wilder
Veddas once a year after the honey collecting
season ; they never approach the caves, but when
within about a quarter of a mile of them they
shout till a Vedda comes to them, then they
expose their wares and the Vedda returns to the
cave to fetch as many pots and gourds of honey
and as much dried flesh as he is willing to
exchange. The " silent trade," mentioned by
Knox \ is now a legend among the Sinhalese
of which no tradition lingers among the Veddas.
We have Bailey's evidence that it had ceased
before 1863, and the old Kandyan we met (see
p. 31) remembered it only as a tradition in the
days of the rebellion in 18 18. "They are not
now, nor have they been for very long, so shy as
to be prevented from bartering freely enough
Fig. 3. Toy mas-
*-f- P- ^- liya xJj (about).
94 THE VEDDAS
with the Sinhalese, although, unless for the purpose of barter,
they avoid intercourse with strangers. Their wants, however,
are so few, that they rarely emerge from their forests^.
" I need not say that they are very simple and primitive in
their habits. The ' wilder sort ' have had too little communica-
tion with Sinhalese to have acquired the vices of civilization.
The few necessities of life which the forest does not supply, such
as steel and iron for their arrowheads and^xes, and the very
scanty clothing which they wear, they obtain by barter, their
wax, and honey, elk flesh and ivory, being eagerly sought after
by the neighbouring Sinhalese, or 'the ubiquitous Moors' I"
There are no puberty ceremonies for either sex, except among
certain Veddas who have been much influenced by Tamils or
Sinhalese, among whom the girls are isolated for a short time at
puberty. Thus although the following ceremony is observed at
puberty by the Uniche Veddas, there is no doubt that it has
been borrowed from the local Sinhalese who have a similar
ceremony, though according to our information the latter people
do not break the pot. When a girl becomes unwell for the first
time one of her naena places a pot of water on her head and goes
with her to some place where there is a miga tree. Here the
naena takes the pot from the girl's head and dashes it on the
ground so that the pot breaks. The girl is then secluded in
a specially built shelter in which she stays until the end of the
period, when she washes and returns to her parents' house.
During her seclusion she is attended by a girl, always one of
her naena, who brings her food in a vessel set apart for this
purpose but which is not cooked at a special fire. Among the
wilder Veddas no special measures are taken when a woman
menstruates, she is allowed to eat the ordinary food, and to
sleep in the cave as usual. But among all the village Veddas,
and most of those who have mixed at all with the Sinhalese, the
menstruous women are strictly isolated, a little shelter being
built for them a few paces from the family hut (Plate XX). At
Bendiyagalge, where the Henebedda and Kolombedda people
were staying at the time of our visit, menstruous women stayed
apart at one corner of the cave, they were fed from the pot in
1 Bailey, op. cit. p. 285—286. 2 Bailey, op. cit. p. 29T.
Plate XX
Rough shelter built for isolation of women at Unuwatura Bubula
FAMILY LIFE 95
which the food for the community was cooked, but we do not
think they would touch it or assist in any way in the cooking. At
Omuni a menstruous woman is isolated under a rough shelter
where she is waited upon by a younger unmarried sister or
cousin who, it was stated, should not herself have attained
puberty. During her seclusion she may eat any food cooked at
the ordinary fire, but a special platter is kept for her use. The
girls who look after her suffer no restrictions. This happens
every time a girl or woman menstruates.
Marriage takes place at an early age ; it was said that girls
sometimes married before puberty, and as we heard of this at
Henebedda, Bandaraduwa, and Omuni, we see no reason to
doubt the truth of the statement \ At Omuni it was pointed
outjthat a certain amount of breast development was necessary
before marriage, so that it is probable that connection does not
antedate puberty by more than a short time.
With regard to the frequency of such child marriages, we
can only say that we never saw any very young girls with
babies. Perhaps at the present day prenuptial connection is
more common than marriage between the very young, though
it is obviously difficult to decide when prenuptial love-making
between individuals destined for each other gives place to
marriage, among people whose marriages are accompanied with
but slight ceremony. Itjnust be remembered that the marriage
vgift of landed or personal property to a son-in-law, which was
formerly customary, is obsolescent at the present day, and
this not only makes it more difficult to determine whether
marriage has taken place, but probably actually tends to make
the exact time of the assumption of the married state less
clearly defined.
On account of these considerations we are unable to express
any definite opinion as to the frequency of prenuptial connec-
tion, the few instances we heard of were between individuals
occupying the relationship of Jmra and naena, who would in any
case marry each other. Thus Kaira of Henebedda and his wife
grew up in the same group, and as they had played together as
1 We are indebted to Mr Frederick Lewis for the information that this is a common
practice among Tamils.
96 THE VEDDAS
children so they came together as they grew up. The com-
munity came to know of what had occurred, the couple were
considered married, and now go about together. We were
told that no resentment was felt or expressed by the girl's
parents or the community, and there was no formal giving over
of land or property to Kaira by his father-in-law, because,
as was pointed out, the fathers of Kaira and Hudi both
belonged to the same group and together moved about over the
same land.
We think it may be said that among most Veddas at the
present day, especially such as have come in contact with the
Sinhalese, there is no violent feeling against prenuptial connec-
tion of the sort here described, but we believe that formerly
public opinion was definitely and strongly against the practice,
though on this point we do not attempt to dogmatise. There
was no doubt as to the attitude of public opinion towards con-
nection between people who were not allotted to each other.
This was, and still is, strongly disapproved, and there is no
doubt that in the old days the guilty parties risked their lives.
It was, however, clear that intrigues of this sort did sometimes
occur, and we heard of two instances of what are regarded as
incestuous unions which occurred among the Kovil Vanamai
Veddas some fifty or sixty years ago. In both cases the girls
cohabited with their mothers' sisters' sons, and in both instances
the guilty parties were promptly killed by the outraged group.
The men were set upon in the jungle, their own fathers it was
said taking a prominent part in the assault, while the girls were
killed in the huts in which they were living^
As already mentioned the correct marriage among the
Veddas, as among the Sinhalese, is for a man to marry his
^ The matter has been well stated by Nevill who writing more than twenty years
ago says: "The Vaeddas marry young, and are strict monogamists. Consequently
the husband and wife are watchfully jealous, each of the other, and love-intrigues are
few and far between. Nothing short of murder would content the injured party.
This strict morality extends to unmarried girls, who are protected by their guardians
with the keenest sense of honour" ( Taprobaniatj, Vol. I, p. 1 78). We do not, however,
agree even partially with his statement as to the considerable liberty allowed to
widows, we believe that among the wilder Veddas their morality was as strict as that
of the maidens and it must be remembered that it was, and is, unusual for any but old
women to remain vvidows for any length of time.
FAMILY LIFE 97
father's sister's daughter. The children of two sisters or of two
brothers could not marry, and such a connection would be
considered incestuous. Thespian goes to his future father-in-law
with a present of hojiey^ yams, grain or dried deer's flesh tied to his
unstrung bow^hich he uses as a carrying stick. Whether he
generally repeats this visit or receives his bride immediately was
not clear, and probably the custom varies in this particular.
Handuna of Godatalawa told us that he did not take his bride
away until he had twice taken a present of food to his mother's
brother (father-in-law). The bride gives her spouse a waist
string of her own making which he never removes until it is
worn out, when he replaces it with another made by his wife.
In these particulars the marriage ceremony was essentially
similar fifty years ago when it was described by Bailey. " The
bachelor Veddah who meditates matrimony, himself selects the
lady of his choice, wisely preferring his own judgement to that
of others ; and providing himself with the greatest ' delicacies
of the season,' for example, a pot of honey and a dried iguano,
proceeds to her father's hut and states the object of his visit.
There being no objection to the proposed alliance, the father
calls his daughter, who comes forth with a cord of her own
twisting in her hand. She ties this round the bridegroom's
waist, and they are man and wife. The man always wears this
string. Nothing would induce him to part with it. When it
wears out it is the wife's duty to twist a new one and bind it
round him ^"
When a girl married, her "father usually m.ade over to his
son-in-law a tract of land, generally a hill known to be inhabited
by colonies of the bambara or rock bee {Apis indicd), or gave him
a 'piece of personal property such as a bow or one or two arrows.
The instances in which land was given are described in the
section on land transference, so that here it is only necessary
to mention instances in which personal property was given.
Handuna received a bow and one arrow from his father-in-law
who when presenting them accompanied his gift with the remark
" With this bow you must get food for my daughter." Some-
times a dog is given, and Knox was certainly right when he
~~~~~~ — ^ J. Bailey, op. cit. p. 293.
s. V. 7
98 THE VEDDAS
said " For portions with their Daughters in marriage they give
hunting Dogs." Among the village Veddas of Bintenne we
heard that an axe or catty was sometimes given, though the
Arachi of Belligala, who has been much in contact with the
Dambani Veddas, stated that these sometimes presented land
to their sons-in-law.
In one settlement of village Veddas, Bulugahaladena, we
were told that the bridegroom takes a first present to the bride's
father and leaves his bow and arrow in his hut until his second
visit with further presents some four days later. At the same
place the waist string is sometimes charmed to ensure constancy.
Among many of the village Veddas the custom of the gift of
the waist string is dying out, and the bridegroom gives the bride
a cloth as is the custom among the Sinhalese.
Another custom no,w dying out appears to .be„the gift from
the bridegroom to the bride of a lock of hair, presented at the
same time as the food to the girl's father.
We discovered at Bendiyagalge that it is a common practice
for women to wear false hair. Here we were told that it was
merely worn in order to make the knot look important, but only
by married women. It is improbable that the habit should have
arisen among a people so careless of personal appearance as are
the Veddas had it no other significance than adornment, for it
must be remembered that these folk never brush or oil their
hair, or even wash it ; indeed, some consider the last operation
extremely dangerous, so that the ornamental value of a vt
small wisp of hair may reasonably be doubted. Extra locks of
hair are worn by Sinhalese women, and we have seen some
hanging in the verandah of a mud hut in a small jungle village,
but among them it is a very different matter. They are usually,
and very rightly, proud of their masses of long glossy hair,
which they comb and oil carefully. A naturally large knot
is considered a beauty, especially when stabbed with a jewelled
pin, and girls as well as married women will wear an extra
lock to produce this effect, but that the custom should have
been introduced from the Sinhalese with no other object
than that of personal adornment, about which the Veddas
seem to care so little^ seems as improbable as does the
^ The Vedda attitude towards ornament generally is treated on p. 205.
Plate XXI
Locks of hair presented to brides at marriage
FAMILY LIFE 99
hypothesis that it should have arisen among them solely for
that object.
We believe that a lock of hair, either from his own head or
from his sister's, was a customary present from the bridegroom to
the bride, and therefore to be considered part of the wedding
ceremony. The evidence obtained at Bendiyagalge, though not
directly bearing out this point of view, supports the hypothesis
when considered in conjunction with the information given us at
Sitala Wanniya. The wife of old Poromala at Bendiyagalge
wore a piece of hair which Poromala had given her. He had
not cut it off his own head but had saved the hair which had
come out when combing his hair with his hands, and Handi his
wife considered this tail of hair as a valuable possession and said
she would leave it to her eldest married daughter when she died.
She told us that a woman would burn her lock of hair if she had
no daughters. She also said that women would only wear hair
from their husbands' heads and laughed at the idea of a man
wearing an extra piece of hair, although the men usually wear
their hair in the same way as the women.
At Sitala Wanniya each married man was questioned
separately.
Handuna, the oldest man and our best informant, said that
in former days a lock of hair was always given by the bridegroom
to the bride, and if he did not offer it, the young girl might ask
for it and insist upon having it. In that case the prospective
bridegroom would have to cut it off his own head, if his sister
happened tx> be away at the time or if he had no sister, for it
was her duty to give one to her brother if she knew that he
wanted it for a wedding gift. A man would always be loath to
cut his hair, and there are special regulations against this for
shamans, so if the girl is willing to accept him without his
present, and he is unable to obtain it from his sister or naena,
the gift will be allowed to lapse. This happened when both
Handuna and Vela married. No man would give hair to anyone
except his wife. Kaira gave his wife a lock of hair when he
was married, and he obtained it in the following way. He said
that when discussing the matter of his future marriage at home,
and feeling sore at having no hair to give his bride, his younger
7—2
lOO THE VEDDAS
sister said, " Don't be sorry, I will give you a lock of my hair,"
She cut a lock from her own head, which he kept until his
marriage when he gave it to his wife while she was still at her
father's cave. Then he took her to his own cave where she
made him a waist string on the second or third day after
marriage. To his sister who was then unmarried he gave an
axe out of giatitude. Nila cut a lock from his head to give
his wife, as his sister was away at the time he was married,
otherwise she would have given him one. Pema did not give
his wife any hair as her mother had given her some.
Among the village Veddas at Unuwatura Bubula the custom
of giving hair as a wedding gift was not known, yet the shaman's
wife had a lock which her mother had given her. She assured
us that only married women might wear it.
Anything like a formal divorce is unknown, but we heard of
one instance occurring three generations ago, in which a woman
who had gone to live with her husband left him and returned to
her parents. The daughter of a Bingoda man, whose nickname
Kupunkarea is still remembered, was given to a boy nicknamed
Kankuna " Sore Eyes." As he was lazy and took no trouble to
support his wife, so that she was frequently obliged to go to her
parents for food, they kept her with them. Kankuna was very
angry, but he did not threaten violence or attempt to bring back
his wife by force. Later she was given to a Vedda of Bandaraduvva
and after his death she went to live with a Sinhalese. It was
said that she was an unusually pretty girl.
It is quite certain that polyandry .aever existed among
uncontaminated Veddas, but at Henebedda we met with one
case that must, we think, be called by this name. Before
relating this we may, however, call attention to the fact that
polyandry is a tolerably common practice among the Sinhalese
peasants of the Vedirata, as ir is among the less educated classes
in other parts of the island K
1 Cf. Papers on the Custom of Polyandry as practised in Ceyloti, Government
Record Office, Colombo, in which Mr R. W. levers, speaking of the Kegalla district^
says : — " Having been for six years in charge of a Kandyan district (Kegalla), and
having to deal with land cases involving rights of inheritance, and having, as Registrar
of Kandyan Marriages, to hear divorce cases, I have found that the custom of
polyandry was almost universal ; and that in the case of a marriage registered under
FAMILY LIFE lOI
The individuals concerned in the polyandrous marriage at
Henebedda are Handuna (8), the Vidane Appuhami (4), and
Kandi (io)\ It will be seen from the genealogy that Handuna
and Appuhami are the sons of a brother and sister, both have
intercourse with Kandi, though the latter is nominally the w'ife
of Handuna who is the older man. Kandi is an unusually
pretty woman and considerably younger than either. We were
told that Appuhami at one time lived with Badeni (11), his
father's sister's grandchild, but was compelled to give her up on
account of the jealousy displayed by Kandi.
We have already pointed out that a man spends much of his
time with his father-in-law, i.e. with his wife's people, hunting and
wandering with them and having perfectly free access to his
father-in-law's hunting ground and fishing pools ; at Sitala
Wanniya we were told that after a few days spent in a shelter
on the territory in the man's community to which the bride-
groom carried his bride on first receiving her, the young
couple should return to the bride's group. Even at the present
day this is the case to a great extent, though among settled
communities as at Bandaraduwa there is a tendency for the
women to come to the man's community and stay there with
him I
Pregnancy is diagnosed after two menstrual periods have
been missed. The change in the breasts is not noticed. Birth
takes place in the cave (unless labour should come on suddenly
and occur in the jungle) ; no screen is put up, and any woman
will assist the parturient woman; the cord is cut with an arrow —
the common tool used for all cutting purposes — and the after-
birth is thrown away. The umbilicus is treated with cloth
and ashes, and the portion ofT:he umbilical cord which drops
frojnjthe navel is not preserved. We never heard of a case
of twins.
During labour the patient leans back with one shoulder or
the Ordinance the name of the elder brother was given as that of the bridegroom, but
everyone was aware that the girl would regard the other brothers as being equally her
husbands."
^ The numbers in parentheses refer to the genealogy on p. 60.
^ Both beena and diga marriages occur among the peasant Sinhalese but, according
to Mr BibiJe, diga marriage is the common practice.
102 THE VEDDAS
side supported by an angle of the rock, and a woman behind
her supports her and presses down upon her shoulders. The
woman remains in the cave for three or four days after the
birth. At Sitala Wanniya there are no food taboos, but at
Henebedda a pregnant woman avoids inadu, which fruits are
said to produce diarrhoea and vomiting, and two kinds of
yams which also purge and are believed to induce still-birth.
A nursing mother must eat neither the fat of the monitor lizard
nor rilawa flesh, as these are said to produce purging and would
kill the infant. She may, however, eat the meat of the grey ape
wandtiru. The fat of the spotted deer also spoils the milk, and
if the mother eats mora fruit the child will get worms. The
Henebedda Veddas, who are partially cave and hut dwellers,
say that if a birth occurs in the cave a screen is made round
the parturient woman. Among all the settled Veddas, as among
the rural Sinhalese, a special hut is built in which birth occurs.
The afterbirth is commonly buried in the hut among village
Veddas, and no Veddas seem to attach any special importance
to its disposal.
At Uniche a pregnant woman would not eat venison or hare's
flesh. The pains and danger of childbirth are so well recognised
by the Veddas that a special ceremony is performed by the wilder
Veddas, and a prayer offered for the safety of the young mother
(cf p. 251). We were assured at Sitala Wanniya that if this
ceremony were omitted the mother and child would die. At
Henebedda it was said that if a woman appeared to be danger-
ously ill in childbed, a Sinhalese katandirale (devil dancer)
would be called in. Death ^luring childbirth seemed fare, but
a few cases were recorded. Except among those Veddas who
havercome most under Sinhalese influence connection is not
avoided during pregnancy, or for any considerable period after
childbirth, narJS-Chastity enforced before hunting or dancing, „
Children are usually named within a month of their birth,
the name being decided upon by their parents. At Godatalawa
it was said that a child's name would be freely mentioned, but
at Sitala Wanniya and Henebedda we were told that, although
every child was given a name soon after birth, they were never
called or spoken of by their names until they were at least four
FAMILY LIFE IO3
or five years old. Before this they were called Tuta (male) and
'puti (female), i.e. "little one," and these expressions may persist
and replace their proper names which in many instances seem
to be forgotten, so that some children appeared to have no name
at all. Small babies may be called Goraka or Gorakki, because
they are reddish in colour, and so resemble the gorakka
fruit {Garcinia cambogid). Apparently these names are not
applied for more than the first few months after birth. __It
was said that the reason the names of young children were
avoided was that to mention their names might attract the
attention of evilly disposed yaku who might make the child ill
or even kill it. We did not ascertain what were the names
of the yakii who it was feared might injure the children, but
it must be assumed that these spirits belonged to the third
stratum of the Vedda religion defined on p. 149, and are
either foreign spirits who have been adopted without losing their
dangerous attributes, or the spirits of remote female ancestors
{kiriamma) who sometimes steal children.
At Bandaraduwa, where there was much foreign influence,
we had an example of the belief in the inadvisability of bringing
children too closely in contact with the yaku. This is recorded
on p. 216.
At Omuni we were told that in the old days there was no
fixed time for the naming of a child. The father and mother
give the child its name, usually choosing that of an ancestor,
for there is no harm in speaking or using the name of a dead
relative when the name is given to a child ; thus our informant,
the headman of Omuni, calls his second child by the name
of his own dead father, though in his lifetime he would have
addressed his father by his kinship term. Our informant gave
his father's name to his second child, not to his first, because his
father was alive when his first son was born. A woman's name
is generally given to a granddaughter born after her death.
Children are also commonly named after their maternal and
paternal aunts and uncles.
The following lists of the names of males and females
were given me by Mr Bibile and Tissahami, the Vedda Arachi ;
they were all said to be good Vedda names, and many of
I04 THE VEDDAS
them were avowedly the names of dead Veddas, but with the
exception of those printed in italics, they are none of them
common Vedda names, as tested by their occurrence at the
present day.
Names of males : Poromala, Sulliya, Karakolaya, Nila,
Kauwa, Boda, Mola, Pubbara, Kona, Dinga, Kalnwa, Hakken-
daya, Hapuwa, Bammuna, Peruma, Gobira, Badena, Kaira,
Kudahanniya, Naga.
Names of females : Bemmini, Tikki, Nagi, Suwadi, Mittu,
Viyani, Tandi, Hendi, Pinchi, Kalu, Selli, Burati, Milalani,
Kalumal nangi, Nilmal nangi, Kanni, Kalati, Poiomali, Aem-
bali^ Nambadi\ Uri\ Kendi, Gobire, Badani, Kiri.
In addition to the above the following occur in our notes.
Males : Randu Wanniya, Sita Wanniya, Poromasaka, Han-
duna, Kanda, Wannaku, Vela, Rata(?), Tiki(?), Hereta(?).
Females : Kandi, Bevini.
Nicknames are common among men, but we did not learn
of any instance in which a woman was given one. Nicknames
generally refer to physical peculiarities of the individuals to
whom they are applied. Poromala, the half of whose face had
been torn away by a bear, is usually called Walaha, i.e. bear.
An old man of Namadewa clan was called Ukusa, because his
hair appears ruffled like the feathers of an owl {kiisa), and
Randunu Wanniya, the shaman of the Henebedda community,
was nicknamed Uchia from the verb iichenawa, to raise up,
because after falling down in the shamanistic dances in which
he is protagonist he must be raised up by his fellows.
Other nicknames of the immediate ancestors of living Veddas
we met were: Mahakata, "big mouth"; Ogapalua, "loud talker,"
literally, one w^ho yells; Nakakuna, "stinking nose," applied to
a man with ozasna ; Nemma, " bent " ; Kankuna, " sore eyes " ;
and Kapunkarea, " man who cuts down trees." Although nick-
names did not altogether replace their owners' real names, men
were often called by them, and the frequency with which certain
names such as Poromala and Handuna occur, often made them
a real convenience.
^ These only mean woman of the Aembala, Namadewa and Uru clans re-
spectively.
FAMILY LIFE 105
Adoption is not practised, for the custom of a near relative
looking after children who have lost their parents cannot be
called by this name.
Dances play no part in the domestic life of the Veddas,
for, although Veddas may perform a few steps of a dance as
a sign of pleasure, their dances are mostly if not entirely
ceremonial.
CHAPTER V
PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE
All Veddas have a keen sense of ownership, and this is
equally developed with regard to the hunting land of the group
and the possessions of the individual. It was clear that of old
the boundaries of the former were accurately known to all the
men of the group and were seldom disregarded except in pursuit
of a wounded animal, a contingency especially provided for by
the Vedda game laws, and many writers have borne testimony
to the unwillingness of Veddas to trespass on the territory of
another group.
This was noted by Knox, whose remarks on this subject
have already been quoted on p. 7. The next mention of
this important feature in the organization of the Veddas is
made by the Dutch Governor of Ceylon, Ryklof van Goens
(1664 — 1675), the following account being taken from the
Drs Sarasin : " The jungle is so divided among the Veddas
that every one can easily recognise his boundary... they leave,
however, comfortable roads through the interior of their country^
for their own purposes as well as for strangers who are obliged
to travel from the hills to the plains and vice versa. Don Juan
de Costa has told us of such a journey made in the service of
Rajah Singha. It was 45 years ago (consequently in 1630)
that he descended from the mountains to these Veddah districts.
There he was stopped by an archer who was accompanied by
others who, armed in a similar manner, stood under the trees.
The first enquired his business, whither he intended travelling
and what was his mission, whereupon he explained his purpose.
He had then to wait there between one and two hours until
PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE IO7
word arrived from the elder of the district. Then one of the
archers accompanied him to the boundary which took between
two and three hours' walking. Here he had once more to wait
until word arrived from the elders of this district, whereupon
the first guide handed him over to a second and then returned.
In this way the second guide brought him to a third, and the
process continued until he had had more than twelve guides,
being over seven days on the way before he reached the province
of Batticaloa and the flat district which extended to the coast,
and is inhabited by Tamils. He and his ten or twelve com-
panions never suffered any want on the way, as the Veddahs
supplied them with food, consisting of good dried venison which
w-as preserved in honey, ground nuts (probably yams) and fruit.
But none of the Veddahs spoke a word with him or his com-
panions because it was so prescribed by their customs\"
Nevill's account of the life led by both the wilder and the
more sophisticated " forest " Veddas has been quoted on pp.
81 and 82, in the chapter on family Life. Nevill's experience
was chiefly gained among the Veddas of the Bintenne, but if
rather less emphasis be laid on the hut built "close to a place
where water can be got," and it be realised that even during the
hot dry season rock shelters are the common homes of the wilder
Veddas to the east of the Badulla-Batticaloa road, all that he
says on this subject can be implicitly accepted.
Commenting upon Nevill's account, the Sarasins point out
that since trespassing on land belonging to another group leads
to fierce quarrels, the condition described by Nevill must be
taken to imply that the territory of each group includes the
whole or a part of one considerable hill or rock massif. Our
experience enables us to confirm this suggestion, and it will be
shown later that not only are hills the property of particular
groups, but that subject to the rights of the group there is also
personal property in hills. Text figure 4 is a sketch map of
the territory of the Henebedda Veddas, and roughly shows the
position of their caves, which are named Bendiyagalge, Pattiavela-
galge, Hitibeminigalge, Punchikiriammagalge, Uhapitagalge,
Maladeniyagalge and Kirawanbalagalge. The last is almost
1 op. cit. p. 479.
io8
THE VEDDAS
too small and too exposed to be called a shelter, consisting as
it does of a small space under an overhanging slab which offers
scarcely any protection from the weather, for which reason it
seemed that it was never used. Bendiyagalge, situated about
the centre of the Henebedda territory, consists of two rock
81° «'
1
J mile
DAN (GALA -|{ jo^>^%7v.,\
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S>'
shelters formed by a single mass of rock, broadly speaking
rectangular in shape, with its long axis running roughly from
north to south. The rock mass is somewhat tilted so that
its southern edge is high above the talaiva towards which its
northern extremity slopes, and the whole rock somewhat
resembles an immense wedge. Its eastern face has weathered
PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE IO9
SO as to form two rock shelters, each of which has a well-cut
drip ledge in no respect differing from those admittedly cut by
the Sinhalese about the time that Buddhism was introduced to
the island, and the lower cave has in addition two square sockets
cut in its roof resembling those discovered by Mr F. Lewis at
Nuwaragala and figured by him^ Further, there are three steps
cut in the solid rock shelters, and other smaller steps and signs
of ancient working are to be found in the caves, though there
are no inscriptions on the rocks of either of these caves, as there
are below the drip ledge of Uhapitagalge.
Pattiavelagalge lies at a distance of rather less than an hour's
walk to the S.W. of Bendiyagalge, at the base of the rocky hills
forming the boundary of the territory of the Henebedda com-
munity. It was said that the name of this cave was derived
from pattia, a place where cattle were tied, and vela, a field,
the reason for the name being that about 100 years ago a
Sinhalese chief, recognised by the Veddas as being partly of
Vedda descent, was allowed to come and live here and pasture
his cattle. This man may have been a fugitive during the
rebellion of 18 18, but this could not be determined with
certainty. Hitibeminigalge lies a short distance due west of
Bendiyagalge.
Punchikiriammagalge is a small shelter situated almost due
south of Bendiyagalge and near the main track across the
country. At the present day it is often used by Tamil gall-nut
gatherers. Maladeniyagalge, about two miles from Ambilinne
rest-house, is also much used by gall-nut collectors. Uhapita-
galge, shown in Plate XVII, figure 2, has a well-carved drip
ledge, beneath which is the inscription in Brahmi characters
referred to on p. 22. .
The natural boundaries of the Henebedda territory as well
as the fact that they still have as neighbours the Danigala
Veddas, who exercise a jealous supervision of the border on that
side on which there is no well-marked natural boundary, made
this particularly easy territory to map out. The Sitala Wanniya
territory, which we have attempted to delimit in text figure 5
was more difficult and its boundary is only an approximation.
1 Proc. Roy. As. Soc, Ceylon Branch, Vol. XIX, 1907,
no
THE VEDDAS
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V
PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE III
Nevill has pointed out that besides the territory of the group
which is common land, every Vedda has "within this... a sub-
division of his own which compares with the manor." In this he
is no doubt right, though it was only at Sitala Wanniya that
we were able to trace even approximately the hunting grounds
belonging to individuals, which are theirs for the whole of their
life, and descend to their heirs unless voluntarily alienated with
the full consent of the group. So well is private ownership in
a portion of land belonging to the group recognised in this
community, that a man would not hunt even on his brother's
land without the latter's permission ; and if game started and
wounded on his own land were killed on another man's domain,
the man on whose territory the animal died would be given a
portion of the flesh, apparently that side of the animal which
touched the ground as the animal lay dead. Among other
Veddas it was said half, or more generally a quarter, of the
animal belonged to the man on whose land it died.
At Sitala Wanniya we not only found particular hills regarded
as the property of individuals, but besides the big cave Pihile-
godagalge, which was the property of the whole group of five
families, there were smaller caves which were the property of
the heads of individual families to which no others would have
been welcomed, even had they thought of intruding. An
exception was, however, made in the case of a man's baena (son-
in-law), who we were told would naturally come and go as he
pleased.
As has been shown in the chapter on Family Life, presents
are often given at marriage, and these may take the form of
personal property or hills or pools. In this section we shall deal
with such transfers of real property, which in normal circum-
stances were made only to children and sons-in-law, and even
then were not made over without the assent of every adult male
member of the group. As this difficult subject does not lend
itself to a general description, we shall limit ourselves to
giving actual instances of land transfer with which we became
acquainted.
When Vela of Sitala Wanniya married a woman of Bingoda
his father-in-law gave him a piece of land in Marniye paiigjia
112 THE VEDDAS
with a hill on it containing a cave called Marniyegalge and a
number of bainbara colonies. He was also given a number of
pools in a river in Damenegama\
Handuna of Godatalawa on his marriage was given a hill
with a cave in it called Balatgalagalge. This was handed over
to him by his father-in-law and the gift carried with it the sole
right to take rock honey on the hill, which was known to be the
home of six swarms of bajiibara. Kaira Hudubandar son-in-law
of Handuna of Godatalawa received on his first marriage a big
pool in the Tota Oya river.
When Kumi the sister of the Vidane of Bandaraduwa married
Tissahami, the bride's parents made over to her the hill Rajahele
near Walimbagala, upon which there were about ten banibara
colonies. Kumi also received Nalle Kotanwala, a stretch or
pool — we could not determine which — in the Kalugal Oya.
They also gave her husband the hill called Kuda Rasahele upon
which six combs of the rock bee were known.
When Badapisi married, her father gave her husband Sinawa
a hill called Bala Attahele on which there were known to be
eight bambara colonies and a pool called Adanewala in the
Kalugal Oya.
Tissahami the Vidane of Bandaraduwa received on his
marriage the hill Maha Yakini Hela, upon which there were
over twenty known bambara colonies^.
With regard to these gifts of land we must record that
although a man divides his landed property equally between his
children in preparation for his death, property given at marriage
to a son-in-law is counted as the daughter's share when the time
comes for a man to make his final disposition.
When the land belonging to a Vedda group was not defined
by natural features, such as a stream or hill, a mark representing
a man with a drawn bow was cut upon the trunks of trees along
the boundary line. It is doubtful whether these marks are
1 We believe this was a small stream, and the right to fish in it was not highly
valued, partly perhaps because not many fish were caught, but also because Veddas
do not often eat fish when they can get other flesh.
'^ The numbers of colonies of rock bees mentioned in these accounts are probably
inaccurate, except perhaps in the case of the Bandaraduwa hills, for most Veddas
became confused when attempting to count above five or iiX.
Plate XXII
Fig. I. Portion of Pihilegodagalge belonging to Kaira
Fig. 2. Boundary mark cut by Handuna of Sitala Wanniya
PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE
113
made at the present day, but Handuna readily cut with his axe
the mark shown in Plate XXII, figure 2, and of which a drawing
to scale is given in text figure 6.
The sign of transfer of a hill, pool, or piece of land, was a
stone ; we heard of this from so many independent sources that
we have no doubt that this was formerly the universal custom,
Fig. 6. Boundary mark.
but it was not until we reached Sitala Wanniya that we found
people among whom this sign of land transfer was still in vogue.
Here Handuna showed us a stone — a water-worn quartz pebble
about the size of a filbert — which he assured us represented the
" seisin " of his hunting ground. Besides one or more stones
a tooth was commonly given to the new owner by the man
handing over the land, but this was not essential, and if the
s. V. 8
114 THE VEDDAS
donor had not kept his old teeth as they fell out no attempt was
made to find a substituted
It was said that sometimes the donor would add his flint and
steel to the stone and tooth ; we believe, though we are not
certain, that this was only done when land was passed as the
result of a death, in which case a lock of hair from the head of
the dying man was added to the other objects and became a
most important part of the " seisin." The lock of hair would
only be cut from the head of the sick or dying man at his own
request by the man to whom his land would pass, who would
cut the lock with an arrow. It was necessary that the sick man
should be conscious and that he should himself give the lock to
his heir, to whom he might say, " If there is any dispute after
my death show this to whoever gives you trouble." Plate XXIII
represents the " seisin " of certain land at Damenegama given
by the last Vedda of the group to whom the land in question
belonged, to the father of Tissahami the Vedda Arachi referred
to on p. 41. The "seisin" here shown consists of a lock of
hair, a tooth, a metal strike-a-light and a piece of milky quartz.
All these objects were sent for our inspection in an old Kandyan
embroidered betel bag in which it was said they were always
kept, but we had no opportunity of discussing their significance
with the Arachi and thus cannot say whether the quartz stone
belongs to the strike-a-light or is an essential part of the "seisin."
It was explained that a Vedda would not give land to a Sinhalese
under ordinary circumstances, but only when a Vedda is the
last of his folk and knows not where to turn for food and shelter.
The father of the Arachi only obtained the Damenegama land
because the last of the local Veddas was a very old man, so
forlorn and feeble that he could no longer provide for himself
and his wife. He accordingly made over his land to the father
of the Arachi, in return for food and shelter for the rest of his
and his wife's days. Probably the fact that the man who took
over the land had Vedda blood in his veins and had always
associated with the Veddas made the transaction easier.
^ Teeth are generally kept. Some of the older Veddas were literally very " long
in the tooth''; as the gvims recede in old age the teeth loosen and fall out [pyorrhoea
alveolaris) .
Plate XXIII
Seisin consisting of hair, tooth, quartz fragment, and strike-a-light
PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE II5
The near relations, including sons-in-law of the dying man,
would come to him when death was expected, and it was a
matter of duty for the sons or other near relatives to send
information of a man's dangerous illness to his sons-in-law, and
the latter would be justly angry if this information were withheld
from them. We were never able to determine whether a son-in-
law actually benefited by being present at his father-in-law's
death, we believe that his presence was only an act of pious
duty, and that he derived no increased right to the dead man's
property by this. Certainly the land which came to a man at
his marriage from his father-in-law would not be given to
anyone else by the latter on his deathbed ; we have, however,
some reason to think that the unmarried sons of a man's sisters
might, as the result of their attendance at their potential father-
in-law's death-bed, be given land which otherwise would not
have come to them until their marriage, or perhaps not at all.
Handuna of Sitala Wanniya thought that a sick man might
sometimes give his son-in-law a lock of his hair, but unfortunately
it was not possible to discover under what circumstances, if any,
this occurred. That land was commonly given to sons and not
to sons-in-law by a dying man was clear from the very explicit
statement made by Handuna, " My sons will naturally take my
stones as evidence of their right to possess my land." With
regard to the division of land between a man's children, it was
pointed out that most people made their wishes on this point
clear during their lifetime and it must always be remembered
that no landed property passed without the consent of the grown
men of the group.
It seemed that the borders of each group's territory were so
well known to all the members that quarrels concerning land
were very rare, trespassing upon another man's domain was
almost unknown, though when it did occur it was strongly
resented. Knox's account of something very like a pitched
battle between two parties of Veddas which has already been
quoted on p. 7 shows this, and we were everywhere told that
until a few years ago a man trespassing on the territory of
others might have been shot without fear of this provoking
reprisals.
8—2
Il6 THE VEDDAS
The care with which the seclusion of the rock-shelter is
still maintained probably belongs to a different category of
ideas, and is an example of the jealousy with which Vedda
women are guarded.
At Sitala Wanniya we heard of the following method of settling
disputes concerning boundaries, though Handuna my informant
had never known of any example of a difficulty of this kind
arising, and had only heard of the method of settling them from
his father and father-in-law. When two Veddas, or groups of
Veddas, are not satisfied as to the position of a boundary, the
disputants each bring their " seisin " stone to the land over which
the quarrel has arisen. Here the stones are placed in pots
upon supports of the kind used in the Nae Yaku ceremony
at Bandaraduwa (Plate XXXVI, figure i). When this has
been done the disputants invoke certain spiritual agencies,
but who these are my informants could not tell me. As a result
of this, a wild animal, usually an elephant, would come and
destroy the pot set up by the party wrongfully claiming the
tract of land.
Every Vedda has one or two dogs with which he does not
readily part, though with characteristic generosity he is ever
willing to give away pups to any of his friends or relatives.
Vedda dogs are invariably well fed and well treated, and it was
clear that the warmest feelings exist between a man and his
dogs. As evidence of the importance of dogs in the community
we may cite their use as wedding gifts and refer to the process
of anointing them with a part of the offering dedicated to the
yakii described in Chapter VI. Bailey's account of the relation
of Vedda dogs to their masters brings out so much of this feeling
that it is quoted here at length. " They have dogs perfectly
trained to follow up and pull down the wounded deer. These
they value highly ; but they are of no distinct breed and do not
differ from the ordinary country dogs. But it would appear
that at a time when hunting was of more importance to them
than it is now, the dog was more valued
" But dogs are still prized by the Veddah. Of all his
possessions he values most his bow, which is placed under his
head when he sleeps ; and next in his estimation is the dog who
PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE II7
guards it, sleeping always at his master's head. ' What would
you do,' I asked a Veddah once, 'if your bow were stolen?'
* No one could steal it,' he replied, 'the dog would not let him.'
'But if anyone killed your dog?' His answer was significant.
He clutched his axe, and made a motion as though he would
cut down the man who did so.
" And this was no idle threat. In 1849, a Bintenne Veddah
deliberately knocked a man's brains out for having, as he
believed, killed two of his dogs by magic^ He never attempted
to deny what he had done. ' It is true,' he said at the coroner's
inquest, ' I killed him, and I did so because he had killed, by
witchcraft, the two dogs I had reared and hunted for my support-.'"
The following is a list of the names of dogs and bitches
obtained from the Henebedda Veddas :
Dogs. Kapura, Kadiya {kadi, black ant), Muranduwa (ob-
stinate), Hudena (white), Pandina (spotty), Dimbula, Boriya,
Taniya, Tambula, Senba, Katakaluwa (black mouth), Bahira,
Pulana, Kambiliya, Komiya (a Sinhalese corruption of " come
here," the name of a dog belonging to the Korale of Nilgala).
Bitches. Pandi (spotty), Katakalu (black mouth), Handani
(white), Dassi (clever), Dimbile, Makedi (like iron), Bosari, Hudu
Valli, Mukulu.
The following list represents the usual property of an elderly
Vedda, that is, of one of the influential men of the group, and
actually records the property of Poromala (Walaha) the " senior"
of the Henebedda Veddas ; one axe, bow and arrows, three pots,
a deerskin, a " flint and steel " and supply of tinder, a gourd for
carrying water, a betel pouch containing betel cutters and some
form of vessel or small box, perhaps of metal (e.g. an old brass
covered cartridge case), for holding lime. Most Veddas also
possess a certain amount of cloth besides that actually in use on
their person, and Handuna was no exception to this rule.
Kaira of Henebedda had only two pots, but otherwise the
list of his property is identical with that already given. Handuna
^ "The murdered man was not a Veddah, but a low-country vagrant; several of
whom have of late years, taken up their abode near the Bintenne Veddahs, to their
great annoyance."
'■^ Bailey, op. at., pp. 286 — 287.
Il8 THE VEDDAS
of Sitala Wanniya had three dogs, an axe, bow and arrow, one
pot, betel bag, betel cutters, " flint and steel " and gourd for
carrying tinder.
It seemed that adult sons inherited most of their fathers'
personal property, but certainly the sons-in-law had the right to
receive something. We have no doubt that what actually
occurs, or until recently occurred, is that the adult children and
the sons-in-law talked over and decided who should have each
article of property, the whole being fairly shared ; or if the sons-
in-law were well provided with goods the whole of the dead
man's property might go to his sons ; thus Poromala (Walaha)
told us that when his father died, leaving an axe, a bow and
arrows, a deerskin, " flint and steel " and a betel bag with
accessories, he took the axe and bow and arrows, leaving the
other articles to his brother Handuna. Poromala added that as
elder brother the division of the property was his affair. When
Poromala dies his property will be divided among his children,
and it appeared that his eldest child, his daughter Tuti and her
husband, would take the leading part in the distribution of his
personal property. Handuna of Sitala Wanniya says that his
property will be divided as follows ; he has three dogs, each of
his two sons and his baena will take one of these ; his axe and
bow and arrows will be divided between his sons ; his son-in-law
will take his strike-a-light and his wife his betel bag and its
appurtenances and probably his pots. Handuna added that his
landed property would naturally go to his sons, but pointed out
that his baena had a right to demand any personal property he
cared to have, though no baena would behave unfairly or badly
to his father-in-law's sons.
At Godatalawa, where Handuna the "senior" of the group
had no adult sons, it was said that his dog, axe and bow and
arrows would be divided between his sons-in-law ; his betel bag
and his deerskin would go to his son, a boy of eight or ten, who
would also take his rice mortar and divide his father's pots with
his baena. From these examples, it will be clear that a man's
personal property is fairly equally divided between his children,
the daughters' shares being often nominally given to their
husbands.
PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE II9
In concluding these remarks on property we may refer to
the list given by Rutimeyer {Globus 1903) of Vedda objects of
personal property in the Basle Museum, these are :
(i) Bow and ordinary arrows with iron heads of different
sizes,
(ii) Elephant arrows (i.e. ceremonial arrows or aude).
(iii) Simple sharpened wood arrows,
(iv) Boy's bow with wooden arrows, being an exact
facsimile of the iron tipped arrows,
(v) Axes,
(vi) Digging sticks,
(vii) Drill for producing fire,
(viii) Apron made of the bast of Antiaris toxicaria {riti
bark),
(ix) Tortoise shell from the Danigala used as a dish,
(x) Disc of wax from wild bees (trading asset),
(xi) Ball of bast cord for bow strings,
(xii) Fire lighting appliances with hollowed areca nut for
keeping tinder,
(xiii) Earthenware pot hanging in a bast net.
(xiv) Pouch made of squirrel skin,
(xv) Kilt made of leaves.
To this Rutimeyer would add a riti bark bag, the message
stick referred to in the anonymous report of 1820, printed by
Le Mesurier^ and clay figures and marbles mentioned by
Stevens, in order to have "a rather complete inventory of all
utensils of the ' Nature Veddas.' " This list, however, omits
dried deer skins and the skin and wooden honey-collecting
utensils described in Chapter XI. Further, no mention is made
of beads, which are certainly much appreciated by even the
wilder Veddas (cf Chapter Xl).
^ "The Veddas of Ceylon," by C. J. R. Le Mesurier, Journal Roy. As. Soc,
Ceylon Branch, Vol. IX, i886. The statement referred to will be found on p. 347
and runs as follows: — "They are totally unacquainted with letters, but the different
tribes hold a rude correspondence with each other with small pieces of wood cut into
different shapes. Fugitives used to be furnished with passports of this kind, when
they removed from one tribe to another, and the treatment they received depended
on the recommendation which the talisman conveyed."
I20 THE VEDDAS
With regard to the existence of message sticks mentioned in
the last paragraph, very careful inquiries were made of Veddas,
Sinhalese peasants and Sinhalese headmen, including Mr Bibile,
Ratemahatmaya. There seemed no doubt that among the
peasant Sinhalese messages were traditionally transmitted by
the conveyance of certain objects. We are unable to say
whether this system was ever well developed and applied to
many of the emergencies of life, but it seemed to be the general
impression among our informants that the practice was formerly
more common than at present. We were able, however, to hear
of two messages habitually sent in this way among the more
backward jungle Sinhalese at the present day. The first of
these was the transmission of a piece of creeper with one, two
or three knots tied in it. This was sent wrapped in a fragment
of cloth and was a call to the recipient to come to the sender,
the urgency of the latter's need being indicated by the number
of knots. We consider the use of this message object thoroughly
established as a Sinhalese custom, it was in use in the neighbour-
hood of Bibile until recently and is still used in remoter jungle
districts.
A lock of hair usually cut from the head of the dead man
and twisted round a small stick and wrapped in a leaf or
fragment of cloth was sent as a sign that a death had occurred.
Our impression is that at the present day this is essentially a
Sinhalese custom, for the Vedda Arachi of Potuliyadde told us
that among the jungle Sinhalese when a man died away from
his home, his people might be informed of his death in this way.
We could not hear of this custom among the least sophisticated
of the Veddas we met, though it was said to exist at Henebedda,
where however, if it really occurred, it may have been due to
Sinhalese influence. With regard to its existence among the
Veddas apart from Sinhalese influence, it seemed to us that the
importance of a lock of hair as evidence of land transfer (de-
scribed on p. 114) renders it unlikely that hair would be sent
as evidence of death. The care that the Vedda Arachi of
Potuliyadde took when bringing me his " seisin " to photograph,
of which a lock of hair was an important part, was very noticeable^
^ On the other hand the custom may have been derived from the Vedda practice,
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PROPERTY AND INHERITANCE 121
Turning now to the message sticks, certain conventional
signs scratched on leaves or flat slips of wood were at times sent
by Sinhalese chiefs to the Veddas as an intimation that they
required them to bring venison and honey. These signs always
took one form^ representing a carrying stick {pingo), to each end
of which a circular object representing a pot of honey was
attached. By the side of the pot of honey there were generally
drawn two short vertical lines, immediately beneath which were
a number of rather longer horizontal lines. Each pair of hori-
zontal lines represented a joint of venison and the vertical lines
immediately above them the cord by which they would be
suspended from the pingo. As far as we could determine no
other form of written message ever passed between the Sinhalese
and Veddas, but there is no doubt that although the Sitala
Wanniya Veddas knew nothing of such messages the Danigala
Veddas recognised their meaning and acted on them. Mr Bibile
told us that on one occasion when he had sent this message
scratched on an ola leaf to the headman of the Danigala Veddas
he had received the honey and venison he had asked for in
about a week. We were told that on receiving this message a
Vedda might say
Dik, dik, eii'uwdj kac kutta
Wata kuru ewicwaj paeni miitta^
Kota kota ewuiua; mac kuttaP:
Long long (ones I) have sent ; cut pingos
Round (ones I) have sent ; honey pots
Short short (ones I) have sent ; cut meat.
and represent this modified to suit the convenience of the peasant Sinhalese who,
as aheady mentioned, have much Vedda blood in them.
^ Mutla may be a verb, tnuttiya is a pot.
2 Kiitta appears to le derived from v. kotanawa, to chop or cut ; compare
colloquial bunna, "I have drunk," from v. honawa and other instances. We are
indebted to Mr Parker for these notes as well as for the transliteration and translation
of the message.
CHAPTER VI
RELIGION
When a man or woman dies from sickness the body is left
in the cave or rock-shelter in which death took place. The
body is not washed, dressed or ornamented in any way but is
generally allowed to lie in the natural supine position and is
covered with leaves and branches.
This was formerly the universal custom and still persists
among the less sophisticated Veddas, who sometimes in addition
place a large stone upon the chest of the dead man. This old
custom, for which no reason could be given, is still observed at
Sitala Wanniya where the body is still covered with branches
and left where death has occurred. As soon as these matters
are attended to, and it seem.ed that they are carried through as
quickly as possible after death, the small community leaves the
cave or place in which the death has occurred and avoids it for a
long time. It was sometimes stated that its members would
never return, but we know of at least two cases in which sons
returned to the cave in which their fathers died after many years,
and we have no doubt that this statement means no more than
that no one approached the cave for a long time. It was always
difficult to obtain even a crude estimate of the lapse of time
between events, but there was some reason to believe that in one
of the two instances the shelter in which death occurred was
untenanted for about twelve years. In any event it is certain
that Veddas did return to caves in which a death had occurred,
and that if any bones were left, no difficulty was made about
picking these up and casting them into the jungle^
1 This accords with the experience of the Drs Sarasin who say: — "We never
found the least difficulty when collecting skeletons of Veddas. They [the Veddas]
RELIGION 123
It should be mentioned that no fire was lit near the corpse or
water left by it when the living deserted the cave. Among the
majority, including^the^wcr wildest groups of Veddas, there is no
avoidance of any of the property of the dead man, aud_ the
contents of his betel bag would be eaten directly after his death,
but among the members of another group -of'Veddas (Hene-
bedda), who must be regarded as pure-blooded although their
system of magic shows Sinhalese influence, the betel bag, unless
it were a very good one, would be left with the corpse, and in
any case its contents would not be eaten, but left near the dead
man. The areca nut cutter and lime box, which during life were
always carried hrthe bag, would not be left^ with the corpse, but
before they were used by the living, measures were taken of
which the avowed design was to render these objects harmless.
Thus the old headman of the Henebedda Veddas exposed his
father's lime box and areca cutters under a bush for a period
which was certainly longer than ten but probably less than
thirty days. It was necessary to do this, since if these objects
had been used immediately, the individuals using them would
probably have contracted the same illness as that from which
the dead man suffered, and on further questioning the old man
explained that the yaka producing the illness from which his
father had died would for some time, and in some way which
he could not define, remain connected with the chewing apparatus
which the dead man had used constantly during his last
illness.
At Bandaraduwa we were able to ascertain what was done
after the death of a man named Tuta which had occurred in a
neighbouring settlement two days before our arrival. The grave
was dug by two of the man's brothers who carried the body to
it ; nothing was buried in the grave, not even the dead man's
were always ready to show us the place in which... they had buried. When we
proceeded to dig up the skeleton they for the most part looked on with interest and
without showing the least sign of e.xcitement, and when it was necessary to pick all
the small hand and feet bones out of the sandy soil they were perfectly ready to assist.
We were always told willingly who was buried in a particular spot. The place of
burial was always shown us by the relatives of the deceased... thus in Mudugala near
Omuni a father showed us the grave of his daughter and in the Nilgala district a son
led us to the grave of his father." Op. cit. p. 494.
124 THE VEDDAS
betel pouch, although he had lain with it supporting his head
during his last illness which was by no means short, but on the
contrary it was kept in the house and its contents were
immediately used. No water was left on the grave nor was a
fire lit, nor could we discover that the two men who carried the
body to the grave washed or in any way purified themselves.
Among the village Veddas of Omuni who have much
Sinhalese blood, though culturally they appear to owe more to
the Tamils of the east coast than to the Sinhalese, it was stated
that the betel pouch and its contents would be buried beneath
the head of the dead man and a coconut shell of water placed
by his side. These people, who settled some seventy years ago,
as Tennant records^ knew only of leaving the body in the cave
as a custom practised long ago by their ancestors, and there is
no doubt that the adults of the present generation have seen
nothing except burial in graves probably conducted in much the
same manner as that practised by the surrounding Sinhalese.
The Omuni Veddas mentioned two interesting points with
regard to burial. It should not take place in the immediate
neighbourhood of any of their scanty and primitive chena
cultivations, and the grave should be at least as far from the
village as it was possible to hear a " Hoo" cry.
An even more advanced stage of care for the dead has been
described by the Sarasins in the case of a " Culture Vedda "
whose grave they opened. Unfortunately it is not said in what
part of the country this grave was situated, though from the
description given it is clear that the burial was recent. " A small
structure {genist) was built over one such grave upon which a
coconut leaf was laid, and at each corner of the erection was tied
the inflorescence of a coconut palm. At the head of the grave
lay three open coconuts and a small heap of wood, at the foot
an opened and an untouched coconut. Three cacti were planted
on the grave, one at the head, one in the middle and one at the
foot. The grave was three or four feet deep.... The body
which was that of a woman was wrapped in much cloth and had
on it a necklace of glass beads...."
The authorities quoted further note that bows, arrows, axes,
^ Ceylon, London 1859, '^^ii- Hi PP- 446 and 447.
RELIGION 125
betel bags and strike-a-lights may all be buried in the graves of
male "Culture Veddas," and in one such grave they even found
bullets^.
When an attempt is made to discover the nature of the
noxious influence felt in the place of death, the usual answer
given is to the effect that " if we stayed where the death had
occurred we should be pelted with stones." Further questions
made it clear that in many instances there was no definite idea
that some part of the dead man was the active agent in the
stone-throwing; on the other hand some Veddas, and these
as far as we could judge some of the least contaminated,
definitely believed that it was the spirit ox yaka of the dead man
who would cause stones to rain on anybody staying near the
corpse. And in this instance it was admittedly fear of the spirit
of the dead individual that caused them to hurry from the site
of death. Stone-throwing jsjthe usual method^^y which the
yaku show their displeasure, using yoEii in the broadest sense,
and b>nio~Tneans limiting this term to the spirits of the recent
dead. It was clear that during certain disturbances described
as " stone-throwing " no actual rocks or stones were moved or
fell, and this was recognised by the Veddas who, however,
continued to speak of the upheaval as " stone-throwing," which
they ascribed to annoyance felt by the j«/^//. In one instance it
was possible to say that the aggrieved yakii were not those of
the recent dead. While camping within a couple of hundred
yards of the Bendiyagalge caves in that part of the Uva jungle
known as Henebedda we were startled between eleven and
twelve one night by a deep groaning sound of considerable
volume which was immediately followed by an outcry from the
caves. Men shouted, women and children cried out, and every
dog in the settlement howled its loudest. The noise which
alarmed the cave occurred only once, and can hardly have
lasted for more than ten seconds, but the chatter of people and
the howling of dogs must have continued for about a quarter of
an hour. We are entirely unable to state the cause of the noise,
but suppose that it was due to one rock slipping upon another,
or to the splitting of a mass of rock below the surface of the
^ Op. cit. p. 494.
126 THE VEDDAS
ground, but no freshly exposed rock surfaces or any displace-
ment of the soil was to be seen next morning in the neighbour-
hood of the caves or the country immediately round them. The
Veddas, however, had no doubt as to the cause of the noise and
described it as "stone-throwing," stating that a number o^ yakii
must have been annoyed with their proceedings on the previous
day, when, after going through the kirikoraha ceremony over a
fine buck which one of them had shot the night before, they
were tempted to show us some part of the kolamadtrcva ceremony
without providing the proper gifts for the yaku invoked on that
occasion. They pointed out that it was the yaku of long dead
Veddas who had manifested their displeasure by stone-throwing,
though they all admitted that no one had seen the stones thrown
or could show the stones with which the alleged bombardment
had been effected. This, combined with the fact that a minority
of Veddas frankly admit that the cause of leaving the site where
death has occurred is fear of the yaka, seems to point to the
whole process of desertion being due to fear of the spirit of the
deceased, which for a short but indefinite time seems to be
thought of as existing near the body it has left, though it was
never possible to discover that this was a clearly formulated
belief
The matter may indeed be said to have been put beyond
doubt by a discovery made by Mr Parker. The words mat
paennae wanna occur in a number of invocations to the Nae
Yaku. We could obtain no translation for these words in the
field, though it was said that they alluded to the dead man, but
by comparing a number of invocations to the Nae Yaku
Mr Parker ascertained that 7nal is used as the equivalent of both
" flowers " and " Veddas," so that this expression, which is un-
doubtedly a term of address to the dead man's spirit, is to be
translated " driver away of Veddas."
Although the fear of the dead (as expressed by leaving the
site of death) occurs among all the wilder Veddas, we met with
a few old men, notably Poromala (Walaha) of Henebedda, and
Handuna of Godatalawa, who were by no means confident that
all men on their death became yaku. Although they were sure
that all important and influential men, as well as those who
RELIGION 127
during life had the power of calling and becoming possessed by
the yaku, became yaku after death, they considered that it was
by no means certain that any part of quite ordinary individuals
survived death. At Godatalawa such doubts in the case of
particular dead individuals might be settled by calling upon the
deceased at a Nae Yaku ceremony when the following invocation
was used :
Lord ! New Driver away of Vaeddas, if it is true that there
are miracles, killing one wild monitor lizard in the jungle while
coming I must meet with a sambar deer. (Be pleased) to drink,
Driver away of Vaeddas, this young coconuts
If much game was killed after this ceremony the deceased
was considered to have become a yaka ready and willing to
help his friends and relatives.
To ascertain the actual condition of the spirits of the departed
for the first few days after death is a matter of some difficulty,
for although certain communities have perfectly definite views
on this point, others have not ; hence it will be convenient to
leave this matter for the present and to return to it when the
attitude of the Veddas towards their dead has been further
defined.
As each Vedda community consists of a small number of
families who, since cousin marriage prevails, are usually related
both by blood and marriage, the yaku of the recent dead, called
collectively Nae Yaku, are supposed to stand towards the
surviving members of the group in the light of friends and
relatives, who if well treated will continue to show lovingkindness
to their survivors, and only if neglected will show disgust and
anger by withdrawing their assistance, or becoming even actively
hostile. Hence it is generally considered necessary to present
an offering to the newly dead within a week or two of their
decease ; but this is not invariably the case, for a few Veddas
said that they would not hold a Nae Yaku ceremony until they
specially required the help of the yaku or until misfortune
threatened or had overtaken them.
Among most Veddas the offering must consist of cooked rice
d coconut milk, the food that every Vedda esteems above all
—'—The transliteration of this invocation vnW be found in Chapter X, p. 277.
1 2.8 THE VEDDAS
Other, but betel leaves and areca nut are often added and the,
oldest survivor oTa small group of comparatively unsophisticated
Veddas seen at Godatalawa stated thatT^n the old days this
offering would have consisted of yams and water, if, as vvas^often
the case, coconuts and rice — which were only to be secured with
difficulty and by barter — could not be obtained. In each
community there is one man called kapurale or dugganawa, who
has the power and knowledge^equisite to call \h€ yaku, and in
the ceremony of presenting the offering called Nae Yaku Na-
tanawa (literally the dancing of the Nae Yakii), this man calls
upon the yaka of the recently dead man to come and take the
offering. It was stated that dugganawa was an older word than
kapurale and was in fact a Vedda word, though it was soon
obvious that only a minority of Veddas knew it. The dugganawa ',
who throughout this book will be spoken of as the shaman,
becomes possessed by the yaka of the dead man^ who speaks
through the mouth of the shaman in hoarse guttural accents,
declaring that he approves the offering, that he will assist his
kinsfolk in hunting, and often stating the direction in which the
next hunting party should go.
Each shaman trains his successor, usually taking as his
pupil his own son or his sister's son (i.e. his actual or potential
son-in-law). Handuna of Sitala Wanniya learnt from his father.
At Henebedda we were told that a special hut was built in
which the shaman and his pupil slept, and from which women
were excluded. It seems probable that this is only done among
Veddas who have come under Sinhalese influence, as among
them, but not among the wilder Veddas, women are considered
unclean, and there was no isolation of the shaman and his pupil
at Sitala Wanniya.
Sella Wanniya of Unuwatura Bubula was instructed by his
father, and during his apprenticeship he resided with him in a
hut into which his mother was not allowed to come.
The pupil learns to repeat the invocations used at the various
ceremonies, but no food is offered to the yaku. At Sitala
Wanniya we were told that the shaman recited the following
formula, explaining to the. yaku that he is teaching his pupil:
■* See footnote, p. i6.
RELIGION 129
Ayu bowa. Matna ada sita 7nan golayek /ladanmva
Eyin kisi waradak gatida epd.
Mage golayaia man kiya deJtaivCi me piida topaia denda.
"May (your) life be long! From to-day I am rearing a scholar of the
mind. Do not take any offence at it. I am explaining to my pupil how to
give this offering to you."
The yaku understand that although the formulae invoking
them are recited they are not really being called, and so the
pupil does not become possessed while learning, nor do Xh^ yaku
hurt him. The jupiLaygids eating or touching pig or eating
fowl in the same way as the shaman, and Sella of Unuwatura
Bubula stated that while learning he avoided rice, coconuts and
kurakan, eating especially the flesh of the sambar and monitor
lizard.
^The shaman exercises complete control over his pupil and,
we believe, does not usually train more than one disciple. We
heard of one instance in which a shaman, considering his pupil
unfit, advised him to give up all idea of becoming a shaman.
This happened among the Mudigala Veddas, apparently between
20 or 30 years ago. No man, however highly trained, is accounted
the official .shaman of a community during his teacher's life,
although with his teacher's permission he will, when he is pro-
ficient, perform ceremonies and become possessed by the yaku.
At Sitala Wanniya we discovered that a shaman must not
cut his hair unless he takes special precautions. One of us was
collecting specimens of hair, and on asking Handuna for a lock,
was answered affirmatively but told that as he (Handuna) was
a shaman a cloth must be held over his head " because of the
yaku!' As we had used a great deal of cloth, we asked if a
piece of newspaper would do ; Handuna replied that it would
be as good, but he must keep it always to cover his head
when he danced. We explained that the paper would probably
rot ; then said he, " I shall die." He said he did not know why,
but he believed this, as his father had told him that even should
his son want a lock of his hair (hair is given as " seisin ") he must
cover his head with a cloth when it was cut, and ever afterwards
must cover it when dancing, or else the yaku would kill him.
Yet such was his politeness that rather than refuse our request
s. V. 9
130 THE VEDDAS
he was ready to suffer this inconvenience. Of course under
these conditions we did not take a lock of his hair.
His son-in-law Kaira, although he assisted Handuna in
dancing, offered no objection to our collecting a sample of his
hair, nor did any of the other members of the community.
Besides the shaman one or more of the near relatives of the
dead man may become possessed, but this though common is
not invariable. The yaka leaves the shaman soon after he has
promised his favour and success^ m^iuntthg, the sharnan^ often
collapsing as the spirit departs and in any case appearing in an
exceedingly exhausted state for a few minutes. However, he
soon comes round when he and all present, constituting the men,
women and children of the group, eat the offering, usually
on the spot on which the invocation took place, though this is
not absolutely necessary, for on one occasion at Sitala Wanniya
when a rain squall threatened, the food was quickly carried to
the cave a few hundred yards distant from the dancing ground.
It was clear that this eating of the food which had been
offered to the yakii was an act of communion, and an essential
part of the ceremony which was thought to bring health and
good fortune, for some communities even anointed the heads of
their dogs with the milk of the offering, explaining that this was
done because of their value. This was the case at Henebedda,
while the patriarch of the Godatalawa Veddas explained that
some of the offering was always given to their dogs to eat, for
the reason that they depended upon them in hunting. In one
Nae Yaku ceremony (Bandaraduwa) the shaman fed the nearest
relatives of the dead man immediately after the yaku left him,
holding the bowl containing the offering to their mouths, while
among the Sitala Wanniya Veddas, not only did the shaman,
while still possessed, feed the children of the group from the
bowl and smear its contents over their faces, but a number of
members of the group, including the grandchildren of the dead
man whose yaka possessed the shaman at the time, placed a
small portion of the offering in the shaman's mouth. The
strength of the desire for the companionship and comm.'' ''*^^^
with the spirits of the kindly dead was very strong, a ^ ^^'^^
.^ jr>' jsessed h r
generally felt that shamans, and those frequently pc y
RELIGION 131
the yaku, might expect to have especially good luck on account
of their close association with the spirits. Many instances
occurred which showed how strong was the feeling of good
fellowship which the living had for the spirits of their dead.
Thus at Sitala Wanniya, on the occasion of the performance
of a Nae Yakit ceremony got up at our request, Handuna, the
shaman and leading man in the small community, volunteered
the statement that he and his people were delighted to hold
the ceremony, since it was seldom that they were able to offer
their yakiL such food as that provided by us. After his own
father had been invoked and had expressed his unqualified
pleasure at the good things provided for him, there was some
discussion as to further dancing, because the dancer really felt
exhausted, but all urged the continuation of the ceremony, since
there were o\\\&c yakii who might well be invoked on an occasion
when an unusually plenteous supply of food was provided for
them. Again, in the ceremony which insured the safe taking of
f^ock^ honey, it was explained that every male member of the
little community must perform the dance, since only thus could
they certainly expect to share in the benefits to be reaped from
the goodwill of the yaku. But perhaps the best example of the
feeling of affectionate regard and of kindly good-fellowship
existing between the living and the dead is afforded by the end
of the invocation on the occasion of the Nae Yaku ceremony at
Sitala Wanniya, for surely there could be no closer communion
between the quick and the dead than that implied in the invo-
cation, which is fully carried into effect by every member of the
community sharing in the food that has been offered to the yaku.
" Salutation ! Salutation ! Part [of our] relatives having called [you] in
time (i.e. at the right time) [we] give you white rice. [You] eat [and] drink.
Do not think any wrong (i.e. do not form an unfavourable opinion of us).
We also eat and drink [the same food]."
The above account is an outline of the simplest form of
death ceremony such as was described to us at Godatalawa, but
usually the matter is complicated by the invocation of certain
yaku other than the A-ae Yaku. Many generations ago there
lived a Vedda called Kande Wanniya, a mighty hunter, who at
his death became Kande Yaka, and under this name is constantly
9—2
132 THE VEDDAS
invoked to give success in hunting. With Kande Yaka is also
associated the yaka of his younger brother Bilindi, who is
commonly believed to have been killed by Kande Wanniya in
a fit of temper and who according to another version is not the
brother but the brother-in-law of Kande Yaka. It is usual to
invoke Kande Yaka and also Bilindi Yaka at the beginning of
a Nae Yaku ceremony, and it was pointed out at different times
by a number of our informants that the Nae Yakii could not
come to the offerings unless accompanied by Kande Yaka, who
was even spoken of as bringing the Nae Yaku with him. In
fact, many Veddas stated that the Nae Yaku go to Kande Yaka
and become his attendants ; this point of view was illustrated
by the fact that in two death dances seen (one held for a man
who had died seven days previously, the other a rehearsal
performed for our benefit), Kande Yaka and Bilindi Yaka were
invoked, and possessed the shaman and gave signs of their
favour to the group of Veddas present, before the shaman
became possessed by the Nae Yaku. Further, many of our
informants, especially the less sophisticated, pointed out that
soon after death the spirit of the deceased resorted to Kande
Yaka in order to obtain his permission to accept offerings from
their living relatives, and to obtain power from him to assist
them in return for their offerings, or to injure them in the event
of their bad behaviour. Thus Kande Yaka, who is of especial
assistance in hunting, becomes Lord of the Dead. We have,
however, little doubt that to the majority of Veddas Kande
Yaka is especially the yaka who gives success in hunting, and
that his relation to the dead does not leap to their minds on the
mention of his name as does the idea of his helpfulness in
hunting, for Kande Yaka was essentially a friendly and helpful
yaka, who, unlike many other yaku usually beneficent, never sent
sickness; in fact, Kande Yaka the spirit scarcely differs as
patron of hunters from Kande Wanniya the mighty hunter,
still living and showing kindness and helpfulness towards the
people among whom he dwelt.
It is now possible to consider the condition of the spirit of
the deceased for a few days after death, according to those
Veddas who state that a definite period elapses before the spirit
RELIGION 133
becomes a yaka, for it appears that properly speaking the word
yaka should not be applied to the spirit of the dead for the
first few days after it has left the body. During this short period
the word prana karaya (living one) should be used for the spirit
of the deceased, for it has not yet attained the condition implied
by the term yaka. Among the Henebedda Veddas it was thought
that the prana karaya resorted to Kande Yaka a i^^^^ days,
perhaps three or five, after death, and then obtained permission
from him to accept offerings from the living, and thus become
numbered among his attendants, the Nae Yaku ; but beyond a
vague idea that the spirit might perhaps exist for a short time
at the site where death had occurred, these folk had no know-
ledge of its state before it reached Kande Yaka. The Bandara-
duwa Veddas, who had come more under Sinhalese and Tamil
influence, asserted that the spirit of the deceased spent some
days in the neighbourhood of the death scene, which it only left
to seek the Kataragam God and obtain his permission to become
a yaka and pass into the train of attendants on Kande Yaka,
and so become a Nae Yakii capable of accepting offerings from
the living and in return helping or injuring them.
The method of invocation oi Xho. yaku is essentiall}/ the same
in all Vedda ceremonies ; an invocation is sung-by the shaman
and often by the onlookers, while the shaman slowly dances,
usually round the offering that has been prepared for the yaku.
Sometimes the invocations are quite appropriate and either
consist of straightforward appeals to the yaka invoked for help,
or recite the deeds and prowess of the yaka when he too was a
man, as when Kande Yaka is addressed as " continuing to go from
hill to hill [who] follows up the traces from footprint to footprint
of excellent sambar deer." But at other times the charms seem
singularly inappropriate ; probably in many of these instances
they are the remains of old Sinhalese charms that have not only
been displaced from their proper position and function, but have
been mangled in the process, and have in the course of time
become incomprehensible. As the charm is recited over and
over again the shaman dances more and more quickly, his voice
becomes hoarse and he soon becomes possessed by the yaka,
and, although he does not lose consciousness and can coordinate
134 THE VEDDAS
his movements, he nevertheless does not retain any clear recol-
lection of what he says, and only a general idea of the movements
he has performed. Although there is doubtless a certain element
of humbug about some of the performances, we believe that this
is only intentional among the tamer Veddas accustomed to show
off before visitors, and that among the less sophisticated Veddas
the singing and movements of the dance soon produce a more
or less automatic condition, in which the mind of the shaman,
being dominated by his belief in the reality of the yaku, and of
his coming possession, really acts without being in a condition
of complete volitional consciousness. Most sincere practitioners
whom we interrogated in different localities agreed that although
they never entirely lost consciousness, they nearly did so at times,
and that they never fully appreciated what they said when
possessed, while at both the beginning and end of possession
they experienced a sensation of nausea and vertigo and the
ground seemed to rock and sway beneath their feet.
Some men, including Handuna of Sitala Wanniya, whom
we consider one of the most trustworthy of our informants, said
that they were aware that they shivered and trembled when they
became possessed, and Handuna heard booming noises in his
ears as the spirit left him and full consciousness returned. He
said this usually happened after he had ceased to dance. We
could not hear of any shaman who saw visions while possessed
or experienced any olfactory or visual hallucinations before,
during, or after possession. The Veddas recognise that women
may become possessed, but we only saw one instance of
(alleged) possession in a woman, which occurred at a rehearsal
of a dance got up for our benefit on our first visit to Bendiyagalge,
during which we are confident that none of the dancers were
really possessed. Although we did not see the beginning of
this woman's seizure we have little doubt that there was a large
element of conscious deception in her actions, for when we
became aware of her she was sitting bolt upright with her eyes
shut and the lids quivering, apparently from the muscular effort
of keeping them tightly closed, while opposite her was Tissahami
the Vedda Arachi muttering spells over a coconut shell half full
of water with which he dabbed her eyes and face.
RELIGION 135
It is not suggested that the conscious element is entirely
absent from the Vedda possession jiances, it is impossible to
believe that such a sudden collapse as that occurring in the
Henebedda kirikoraJia ceremony (p. 222) (when Kande Yaka
in the person of the shaman shoots the sambar deer), followed
by an almost instantaneous recovery, is entirely non-volitional,
and the same holds good for the pig-spearing in the Bambura
Yaka ceremony (p. 243) at Sitala Wanniya. We believe that
these facts can be fully accounted for by a partial abolition of
the will, that is to say, by a dulling of volition far short of
complete unconsciousness. The shaman in fact surrenders him-
self to the dance in the fullest sense, and it is this, combined
with a high degree of sub-conscious expectancy, which leads
him to enact almost automatically and certainly without careful
forethought the traditional parts of the dance in their conven-
tionally correct order. Further, the assistant, who follows every
movement of the dancer, prepared to catch him when he falls,
may also greatly assist by conscious or unconscious suggestion
in the correct performance of these complicated possession
dances. Again, we do not think there can be any doubt as to
the non-volitional nature of the possession, by the yaka, of the
bystanders, near relatives of the dead man, which may take
place during the Nae Yakii ceremony'.
One remarkable fact may be chronicled here, viz. that we
have never met a Vedda who had seen the spirit of a dead man,
that is to say, no Vedda ever saw a ghost, at least in his waking
hours. We have never been able to ol)tain any corroborative
evidence for Bailey's assertion that " the spirits [of the dead]
appear to them in dreams and tell them [the Veddas] where to
hunt." Veddas certainly dream, but Handuna and his son-in-
law Kaira, two most trustworthy informants, said that they did
1 There was nothing about the general behaviour of any of the Veddas with whom
we came in contact that suggested a specially neurotic or hysterical tendency. The
graver stigmata of hysteria such as would warrant a diagnosis of functional disease
were always absent and the Veddas, even when ill, were in no sense fuss makers
or inclined to magnify their ailments in the way so many Melanesians do. We are
indebted to Dr C. S. Myers for the suggestion that possession by the yaku can best
be explained as an affection (dissociation) of altered personality. If this be so
the condition is comparable to a number of well-known cases in the sphere of mental
pathology.
136 THE VEDDAS
not ^oftenjiave dreams. Dreams are considered uncanny, and
Handuna said that, although a shaman, he himself feared them.
He told us that a man would usually remain quietly in the rock-
shelter for a whole day after a dream, and would not leave it to
get food, even if staying in the cave meant going hungry.
Handuna once dreamt that he had shot a monkey and brought
it back to the cave, so he did not go out hunting the next day
but stayed in the cave. He said that he had never had dreams
that were of themselves of a terrifying nature, such as being
attacked by bears or falling over a precipice. He dreamt of his
father a few days after his death, but seldom or never since then.
In his dream his dead father invited him to come hunting with
him, and together they went into the jungle and found some
yams and cooked and ate them. Handuna said that he was
not afraid " because he was my father ; what was there to be
afraid of? Nevertheless I stayed in the cave, for I was sorry
that day." Handuna told us that children — even small children
that cannot talk — may wake up shrieking, but he has never
heard of people talking in their sleep.
With regard to the causation of dreams there was a real but
ill-defined belief connecting the dream-forms of dead relatives
with the spirits {^yaku) of the dead. Discussing this matter in
connection with his dream of his dead father, Handuna said,
" We think it is through love they come," but he showed that he
realised that living people who were not near relatives might be
seen in dreams, by volunteering the statement that at our
departure he might dream of one of us (C. G. S.) to whom he
was speaking.
Although the dream-forms of dead persons were vaguely
associated with ih^xx yaku, it was generally denied that the dead
seen in dreams told the living where to hunt, and it must be
remembered that the general opinion was that no living person
had ever seen a yaka, and it was only when specially discussing
dreams that it was said \h^.\. yaku were seen in dreams. Nor did
the Nae Yakii regularly make their presence known in any other
way than by possession, though some Veddas translated the
minor noises of the jungle into signs of the presence of \^\q yakn.
These facts also seem to militate against the idea that any
RELIGION 137
considerable part of Vedda possession is a fraud, deliberately-
conceived and perpetrated, for knowing, as many Veddas do,
of the frequency with which the Sinhalese see "devils" and
" spirits " of all sorts, nothing would appear easier, if fraud were
intended, than for a shaman to assert that he could see the
spirits which every Vedda believes are constantly around him.
Arrows play a considerable part in the Vedda religion, two
forms of arrow being used. The first is the ordinary arrow used
for shooting game, the second a ceremonial arrow called aude
with a blade 8 to 18 inches long, which is usually but not always
hafted into a handle often considerably shorter than the blade\
Both forms of arrows are used in the possession dances described
in Chapter IX, but in addition to this the shooting arrow is used
as-g^rotection to infant?, being commonly thrust in the ground
by^he side of a sleeping child when its mother is forced to leave
it. We heard^ of this custom in several communities, and at
Sitala Wanniya, where arrows were scarce, were shown a wooden
bladed arrow which was said to be used in this way (figure 7 {a))\
aude might also be made of wood when an iron blade was not
available, and figure 7 {b) shows a wooden mide made for us at
Henebedda. These facts are important as showing that the
power of the arrow lies in itself and not m its iron blade.
The protective power of the arrow was noted by Nevill, who
stated that the Nilgala V^eddas " regard the symbol of an arrow,
placed by their babe, as efficient protection for it. They leave
tiny babes upon the sand for hours together, with no other
guard than an arrow stuck in the ground by their side. Their
belief in the efficacy of this has received no shock. They never
knew such a child to be attacked by wild beasts, pigs, leopards,
jackals, etc. or harmed-."
With regard to the long-bladed and short-handled cere-
monial arrows, the handles of these are sometimes covered with
incisions so roughly executed that they do not form a pattern
and can hardly be decorative even in intention, so that probably
they only serve the useful purpose of preventing the hand from
' These ceremonial arrows are doubtless identical with the large blades described
by various authors as formerly used in shooting elephants.
2 Op. cit. Vol. I, p. 185.
138
THE VEDDAS
(«) (^)
Fig- 7-
Arrow with wooden blade and wooden atide.
1=1? m
i-j-ii
SI^S
£*flE?!
.^ii3
Fig. 8.
Atiae.
RELIGION 139
slipping. Such ceremonial arrows are generally heirlooms, not
necessarily passing from father to son but rather being handed
down in apostolic succession from shaman to shaman, and
among the village Veddas of Bintenne I have handled one such
blade with a history running back for five generations.
Figure 8 shows two ceremonial arrows which we were able to
collect. Besides these we saw similar andc at Omuni and were
told at Sitala Wanniya that Handuna had formerly possessed
one. Rutimeyer has figured one of these ceremonial arrows
about 14 inches long, obtained from Kaira the "senior" of the
Danigala Veddas. These arrows are carefully preserved by the
shaman, and just as he himself observes certain dietetic rules,
avoiding eating pig and fowl which are supposed to be particularly
repulsive to the-f aku, so among those more sophisticated com-
munities "whir^eireve in the periodical uncleanliness of women,
special precautions are taken to avoid the possible contamination
of the ande^. This is generally dene by keeping them in some com-
paratively remote spot such as a cave or in the roof thatch. It is
necessary that the shaman should hold one of these arrows uThts^
hand when invoking Kande Yaka ; he should also have one for
Bilindi Yaka, though as^aTiiTatter of practice Kande Yaka and
Bilindi Yaka were often invoked using the same audt\ another
aiide being reserved for invoking the Nae Yaku. Both arrows
were, however, commonly held in the hands during the whole of
the Nae Yaku ceremony, but in spite of this no confusion seemed
to arise nor had the onlookers the least difficulty in saying which
aude belonged to Kande Yaka whenever they were asked.
The offering of rice in the pot would be stirred with the aude,
and betel leaves might be ceremonially transfixed with it. Among
the Veddas of Unuwatura Bubula the testing of the quality of
the food provided for the yaku was performed with the help of
the aude, the shaman possessed by Kande Yaka using the aude
to remove from the pot a few grains of rice which the yaka in
the person of the shaman several times examined before ex-
pressing his approval of the offering provided.
1 The belief in the periodical uncleanliness of women has been borrowed from the
Sinhalese. It did not exist in the "wildest" group we met with, on the other hand
we found it among all the more sophisticated Veddas, attaining a maximum where these
had come under foreign influence.
I40 THE VEDDAS
Besides the important part in the Vedda cult of the dead
played by the propitiation of the Nae Yakit, and of the yakii of
certain other Veddas such as Kande Wanniya who as yakii have
attained to special importance (approaching that of culture
heroes in other forms of belief), there is a certain feeling of
reverence for a host of Vi\\x\z.n\Q.A yakti. Little attention is paid
to these but, since it is stated that they too were once men, the
suggestion may be hazarded that they represent the yaku of
the forgotten dead. These yaku, although all around in the
jungle, are in some instances thought of as vaguely attached to
special localities, especially to glades in the forest, unusually
large trees, and above all large rocks and rocky hilltops.
The yak^i of rocks and hilltops, indeed, tend to become
named, taking the name of the hill they inhabit ; even among
the less civilised Veddas they are sometimes identified with the
yaku of Vedda headmen who have lived on or near the hills.
On the other hand among the more sophisticated Veddas these
yaku tend to become less and less the spirits of dead Veddas,
and finally, under Tamil influence, are thought of as dangerous
spirits, immigrants from beyond the Ocean, each of whom with a
female of his own species haunts the hilltops and sends disease.
Somewhat akin to these yaku in their less dangerous forms are
the kiriajHPia (\itera.Uy milk mothers, i.e. grandmothers), the yaku
of Vedda women, generally the wives of Vedda headmen or
chiefs, many of whom are thought of as haunting the sides and
tops of hills where there are rocks and springs. They are some-
times jealous of people gathering honey — indeed there is a
tendency to avoid rocky mountain tops on their account — but
may be placated by a charm, though occasionally a little honey
is left for them with a muttered kapau kirianwiala — Eat O
Kiriamma. Although the}^ retain the fondness for children
which they felt in their lifetime they not infrequently send
sickness, at least among the more sophisticated Veddas.
A few kiriamma have become rather important j(7>('/^, notably
an old woman of the Unapane clan now known as Unapane
Kiriamma, but such kiriamina do not appear to be especially
associated with rocky or hilly sites.
We are now in a position to discuss the possible evolution of
RELIGION 141
such Specially important yahi as Kande Yaka and Bambura
Yaka who may without exaggeration be said to have attained
the position of heroes. It has been stated on p. 126 that
according to certain Veddas not all the dead become j/«/&?/ but
only the spirits of specially important men or those who during
life have the power of summoning \)i\t yakic to them. Further,
the general impression we gathered was that the stronger the
personality of the dead man, the more powerful and important
was his yaka, and it may well be that the yaka of a particularly
strong or skilled individual may be remembered by name and
continue to receive offerings, even after the death of those near
relatives to whom the spirit is one of the most important of the
Nae Yaku on account of the blood bond between them. This
appears to have happened in the case of Panikkia Yaka invoked
at the present day by the Henebedda Veddas, and we shall now
attempt to trace the history of this spirit.
It was stated in the first chapter that a number of the
Veddas were politically organized in the i6th century and that
one of the most important of their chiefs, described in a con-
temporary manuscript as Panikki the Vedda, was appointed to
the high office of Bandara Mudiyanse. Further, it is recorded
that Panikki the Vedda caught elephants and took them to the
king. Now at Henebedda at the present day Panikki Yaka is in-
voked in the Kolomaduwa ceremony to avert sickness alike from
man and cattle, and to confer prosperity on villages and cattle-
folds. Those Veddas, a minority, who know anything of this
yaka, state that he is the spirit of a long dead Vedda who was
especially skilled in capturing buffalo, and who on account of
his great knowledge of jungle craft is still able to confer safety
and jungle favour on those invoking him.
In Chapter I we have mentioned that the Vedda cult of the
dead has infiltrated the beliefs of the Sinhalese, and we will now
give some details of the Bandar cult to which we there alluded.
Concerning this Mr Parker writes : " It is a common practice of
the Kandian Sinhalese of that part of the country to make
offerings to the spirits of the deceased chiefs and important
ancestors
" They are all classed as Yakas by the Sinhalese and are
142 THE VEDDAS
generally hurtful ; but some have certain protective functions, and
protect cattle and coconut trees and crops.
" The offerings are kept up everywhere in that part of the
island to the present day at the Dewalas, and elsewhere.
Luckily, it is a branch of their religion to which I devoted special
attention... and although my lists are doubtless incomplete 1 have
the names of considerably more than lOO of them.
" Some were included in the lists as important ancestors ;
others, the majorit}', because of their power, others because of
their cruelty, or their sudden violent death.
" Panikki Vaedda occurs among them, and there are a [e\v
other names which may be those of Vaeddas, — such as Yapa,
Hiti, Hapu etc....
" I have been informed that every one for whom a da/ui or
funeral feast is not offered (at which the spirit is supposed to be
present) remains in the form of a homeless spirit {pretd) ox yaka.
These commonly disappear in time and are forgotten. Some of
them remain about their old abodes, and uncanny noises heard
during the night in the houses are caused by these ghosts, as in
Europe....
" The Sinhalese demonology is very intricate, and it is
extremely difficult to understand. There are many classes of
yakii ; but I believe that this Bandar worship is the only in-
digenous portion of it. I have traced practically all the other
demons to Southern India, although the kapurala claim that a
few others, in addition to the Bandaras, are of local origin.
They themselves admit that all the rest were imported from
India.
" The twelve Vaedi Yaku are, I believe, an entirely different
set of evil spirits
" The Vaeddas told me that they are extremely malignant.
Besides these, they said that the whole forest is full of local
nameless Yaku, who make strange noises in the night and
frighten people in various ways. This also is a firmly
rooted Sinhalese belief; their estimate of the number is two
millions."
The resemblance between this Baiidara cult and the Vedda
worship of the Nae Yaku is obvious and is still further shown by
RELIGION 143
the canonization as a Bandar of one Godegedara, an influential
Ratemahatmaya, first of Wellasse and then of Badulla who died
in 1872 and whose spirit now prevents disease among cattle,
increases their milk, protects man and animals from beasts of
prey, helps hunters and prevents their meeting wild beasts
suddenly in the jungle and in fact gives success in all things 1.
About three months after his death certain unusual happenings
suggested that one of the dead was trying to attract the attention
of the living. An elephant appeared at Damenegama in Uva
and in the neighbourhood, and although repeatedly shot at
continued to come to the villages and tear the roofs off the
houses, but did no other damage. This unusual behaviour led to
the suspicion that one of the dead had sent the elephant, and
accordingly the turning stone {paena balanawa)w&.=> consulted as
to whether one of the old or recent dead was responsible. When
it was ascertained that it was the latter, a ceremony kamba
kanuwa natanaiva was undertaken to discover whose was the
spirit. The kapurale became possessed, when the Spirit within
him announced that he, Godegedara, had sent the elephant and
that he desired to be honoured and inv/oked to help men. It
was explained that the spirits of the dead always approach the
living for the first time through animals, or signify their desire
for offerings by making a man sick. The rank of the deceased
is roughly estimated by the animal sent, in which, however, the
spirit of the deceased is not immanent. The lion is said to be
highest, then comes the elephant ; the leopard indicates the
spirit of a rather less exalted person.
It appears that the dead have no power to interfere in human
affairs and take offerings until permission has been obtained
from one or more high gods, of whom the chief is the Kataragam
God. How the spirit obtains this permission was not clear, but
the early signs of the power of the deceased were always in some
way connected with the Kataragam God. Thus Godegedera
caused the elephant of the Kataragam God to go mad at the
perahera ceremony, and when Kosgama became a Bandar a
leopard sent by him rode round the Kataragam temple on the
1 A translation of the invocation used when calHng upon Godegedera is given
in the addeiTdum to this chapter.
144 THE VEDDAS
back of one of the God's bulls, i.e., one of the tavalam bulls,
bringing provisions and salt to the temple,
Kosgama Bandar is associated with Kosgama, where he
lived in the i8th century or earlier. He refused to pay tribute
to the king and from his invocation given elsewhere^ it may be
gathered that he rebelled and was betrayed by an adherent whom
he trusted. He was captured, tied to a tree and shot to death
with arrows. Kosgama Bandar was said to be especially help-
ful in litigation and in recovering lost cattle, but in fact he is of
assistance in all ways.
We may now return to Panikki Yaka, who Mr Parker agrees
with us may safely be identified as the spirit of the i6th century
" Vedda " chief, Panikki the Vedda, In the same manner as this
yaka has been remembered and has developed the characters of
a Vedda hero, so we believe Kande Yaka and other hero Yaku
of the wilder Veddas have arisen, for it is as a mighty Vedda of
the old days that the Veddas rbvere Kande Yaka.
We need only assume that such heroes were unusually
successful hunters, stronger personalities than their neighbours,
so that their names were held in honour among a people more
numerous than their immediate family circle, to see clearly how
after their death their names would be continued in memory and
their spirits be invoked by those who had admired and feared
them, and by their children and children's children. It is
entirely in harmony with this view that Kande Yaka should
have become the Lord of the Dead, to whom the lesser spirits
resort to obtain permission to accept offerings and to aid their
still living relatives and former companions.
No reverence is paid to the heavenly bodies, and our old
Kandyan informant knew nothing of any worship of the sun or
moon. He nevertheless agreed that in his youth as at the
present day the Veddas would call the moon Hande Deyo or
Sande Deyo and the sun Ira Deyo respectively-.
^ "Note on the Bandar Cult of the Kandyan Sinhalese," Man, 1909, p. 77.
^ We found Deyo to be''commonly used for "god," the proper word for which is
deviya, pi. dt'tdyo; but as explained to us by Mr Parker these words are often altered
to deyiya and a'^jy/yc? and the Sinhalese "always say 'Kataragama Deyiya' or 'Deyiyo. '
The plural forms are used honorifically with a singular meaning."
religion 145
Addendum.
The following translation of the invocation of Godegedara
Bandara has been prepared by Mr Parker from a manuscript
given me in Ceylon by the Arachi of Potuliyadde.
The Song of the God Godegedara.
1. He is a god of a distant country in the Uva region,
Having come to this side in the Wellassa region,
Having raised my joined hands to my head I worship (him) that there
may be good luck.
He is coming, I shall say, the God of (this) region.
2. Is not every one staying in (some) place ?
Having died in its heart what pulse will ripen ?
The God sleeps in the upper heavens.
The God Godegedara is coming.
3. For an endless time being on the watch we utter songs to the God.
Should there be mistakes (in them) in the name of charity (or merit)
pardon the mistakes.
Endlessly songs are sung accompanied by beating of the five (kinds of)
tom-toms.
The God Godegedara is powerful (enough) even to give a tusk elephant.
4. When it rises the dusk of the moon lights up the round universe
and Dambadiva (India).
The God Godegedara appears like an inextinguishable lamp (lit. a
lamp with its fire enduring by (divine) orders for many years).
The hair of his head sports in the midst of his back like the play of
golden rays acting as his retinue.
Should King Godegedara come to the seat I shall now receive the betel
altar (i.e. the offering will be made, and the officiator will then get
the betel which has been offered).
" In the last line there is some doubt about the title of
Godegedara ; either the expression dera{na) devi means king,
that is literally ' god of the earth,' or dera has been written by
mistake."
s. V. 10
CHAPTER VII
RELIGION (Continued)
We have now described the fundamental ideas of the Vedda
cult of the dead, but superposed upon these there are two other
strata of belief both of which have influenced the religion of
certain groups of Veddas to a greater or less extent. Before
discussing these we may briefly indicate the views of the more
thorough of previous investigators. In this as in other matters
Knox was better informed than many of his successors when
he said of the Veddas, " The tmner do build Temples, the wild
only bring their sacrifice under Trees, and while it is offering
dance round it, both men and women ^" Tennant's account
adds little to this ; Bailey's account, undoubtedly the most
complete and trustworthy that has been given to date, is not
quoted here because it will be found almost in full on pp. i6o
and i6i where the religious beliefs of the Nilgala Veddas are
discussed. Tennant writes, " They have no knowledge of a
God, nor of a future state... in short, no instinct of worship,
except ... when sick, they send for devil dancers to drive away
the evil spirit, who is believed to inflict the disease. The dance
is executed in front of an offering of something eatable, placed
on a tripod of sticks, the dancer having his head and girdle
decorated with green leaves. At first he shuffles with his feet
to a plaintive air, and by degrees he works himself into a state
of great excitement and action, accompanied by moans and
screams, and during this paroxysm, he professes to be inspired
with instruction for the cure of the patient I"
1 op. cit. p. 63.
^ Tennant, op. cit. pp. 441 and 442.
RELIGION 147
Even Nevill missed the essentials of the Vedda cult of the
dead, though he shows that he knew something of what actually
occurred. " The Vaedda religion seems to have been such that
the spirit alone was recognised as human, and the flesh, when
the spirit has left it, receives neither veneration nor superstitious
reverence. Where the life left the body, there the body was
left Two or five days after the death, however, the relations
were invited to the scene of funeral and a feast was held... to
satisfy relations there had been no foul play
" The Vaeddas of Bintenne, however, having assembled rela-
tions and neighbours, procure rice, or other grain, and decorate
the pot in which it is cooked with sprays of the liniya tree% a
shrub with leaves like our hazel, but with bright scarlet flowers.
If no flowers can be got, bits of red cotton or other cloth should
be used. The celebrant then dances round the pot of food,
with an arrow in his hand, singing any chant he knows, and
making obeisance to the food by a wave of the arrow. The
food is then distributed —
" It is evident this custom cannot apply to those who formerly
did not eat grain. These, however, were few. Roasted game
would probably with such take the place of grain, and the latter
seems only used as the best and most unusual food procurable,
much as our poor try to provide cake, and not bread and cheese,
etc. at weddings....
" Bodies were never buried until the English Government
endeavoured to enforce burial. The Vaeddas have not the
least objection to the corpse being buried, but object greatly to
being forced to dig the grave... I"
Although the Sarasins underestimated the importance of
the Vedda cult of the dead, and failed to discover that even
*' Nature " Veddas make offerings to the spirits of their departed,
their opinions and conclusions are necessarily given at some
length on account of the undoubted importance of their work.
" The Veddas of Dewilane told us that after death they became
spirits or yakas, but as to whether these persisted {lebten) or not
they never thought ; they did not pray to them nor honour
them. The 'Nature' Veddas from Danigala...told us in 1885
^ Helideres isora, L. ^ Taprobanian, Vol. i, p. 179.
10 — 2
148 THE VEDDAS
that they worshipped neither their ancestors, nor a devil nor
a god. Five years later the Veddas settled at Henebedda in
the Nilgala district told us that they believed that the dead
became spirits or yakas ; but they did not make offerings to
them. At Wewatte they likewise believe that the dead become
yakas and there they invoke them in cases of sickness... gods
they have none. A Vedda from the neighbourhood of Kalodai
(Pallegama district) named Manikrala informed us that they
worshipped children, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother —
in short their dead relatives. In remembrance of the death
of such relatives they gave a present to the first Buddhist priest
whom they met. We therefore asked this ' Culture ' Vedda
whether his relatives continued to live as spirits after death,
but he replied that he did not know ; the present of rice was
simply in remembrance of the deceased man. In answer to
the further question whether they had a definite religion or
worshipped a god, he replied that he had never thought about
it, and he gave us the impression that this question and the idea
it suggested were new to him.
" We found the idea of the existence of the departed as spirits
further developed in an old 'Culture' Vedda of Mudagala
near Mahaoya, named Sella. He said they had no gods besides
their departed. Every year at the full moon they consumed
yams and other food at the burying place. On this occasion
they hold a dance in honour of the departed, invoke the dead
by name and pray them to help them. At Omuni the corpses
were buried in Sinhalese fashion and provided with burial
presents ; but two Veddas when we questioned them about their
religion could tell us nothing on this point, and said that the
departed were not honoured as gods^"
From these data the Sarasins conclude that "genuine 'Nature*
Veddas either lack, or at the most have a quite uncertain idea
of the persistence of the souls of the dead at the site of death,,
and that they make no offerings to their manesl" Further,
they state " that among ' Culture ' Veddas this idea has de-
veloped but little, for they either answered that they did not
know whether they persisted as souls after death, or that they
^ op. cit. pp. 497 and 498. * Loc. cit.
RELIGION 149
had never thought the matter over. Nevertheless they honour
the names which like the Sinhalese they call Yakas with food,
dances or offerings. Any monotheistic idea of God is absent
both in 'Nature' and in 'Culture' Veddas^"
The three strata of belief to which we referred at the begin-
ning of this chapter and which exist among the Veddas of the
present day, have not fused so thoroughly that there is any
great difficulty in isolating them. We believe they may be
tabulated as follows :
I. The Cult of the dead, including the cult of the spirits
of recent ancestors, i.e. of the Nae Yaku and the j'ahi of certain
Veddas who have been long dead and may well be regarded
as heroes. The most important of these is Kande Yaka.
II. The Cult of foreign spirits, who have become naturalised
and have taken the friendly protective nature of the Veddayaka.
III. The Cult of foreign spirits who, though not often re-
garded as such, have retained their foreign nature and are in
the main terrible or even hostile.
Another feature of the last stratum of thought is the endow-
ment of true Vedda jfaku with foreign attributes I When the
history of the island is considered, it is not surprising that the
first condition, which may be considered the primitive religion
of the Veddas, should nowhere be found standing alone at the
present day. It is impossible to say how much the Indian
invaders influenced the aboriginal inhabitants of Lanka (Ceylon)
when they took possession of the island under Vijeyo about
500 B.C., for the few references made to Veddas in the ancient
chronicles of the country throw no light on this subject.
Knox mentions that Veddas paid a tribute of game and
honey to the Sinhalese, and in his day there were "wild and
tame" Veddas, and it is certain that from the middle ages
onwards there was a considerable amount of intercourse between
at least the tamer Veddas and the Sinhalese. Therefore it is
natural that foreign beliefs should have gradually infiltrated the
native Vedda cult.
1 /did.
^ The invocation (No. XLi)to Ambarapoti Kiriamma given on p. 316 is an excellent
example of this. Bilindi Yaka is here treated as if he were a Sinhalese or Tamil deity.
150 THE VEDDAS
To illustrate and prove these propositions we must examine
in detail the beliefs of some of the communities in which each
stage is respectively dominant. The Veddas met at Godatalawa
and Sitala Wanniya form the best example of the first stage of
belief In comparing their beliefs it must, however, be remem-
bered that the Godatalawa family have drifted away from their
hunting grounds and are in dire want, and that their oldest
man and leader (now quite infirm though still mentally vigorous)
was never a shaman and consequently could give only the lay
opinion of his group on religious matters. It must then not be
assumed that no spirits beyond the Nae Yakti, Kande Yaka,
and Bilindi Yaka were known to the shaman of the Galmeda
community, although the fact that the laymen only knew of
these spirits shows how vastly more important they were than
any other.
The Sitala Wanniya people, on the other hand, were living
in a condition which must have been general from ancient times
up to about 70 years ago. Four of the five families had never
made even rough chena or built bark houses, but lived on game,
honey and yams and wandered about from rock-shelter to rock-
shelter within their territory.
At Godatalawa Kande Yaka and Bilindi Yaka were both
known though they were not recognised as brothers, and Kande
Yaka was said to be greater than all other yaku. They are
the two principal yaku invoked in order to obtain game, but
with them there are invoked three other yaku, who, it was
stated, are not the spirits of the dead but have existed ^s yaku
from the beginning. These were, however, of little importance,
and our informant, an old man the senior of the group but not
a shaman, did not remember their names. Kande Yaka and
Bilindi Yaka would be invoked in order to obtain game at the
kirikoraJia ceremony, or simply when dancing round an arrow
struck in the ground. These dances were not in gratitude for
game already killed, but when the hunting had been successful,
pieces of flesh from the neck and chest of the kill were cooked
on the ashes and Kande Yaka and Bilindi Yaka were invoked
to come to this offering which a few minutes later would be
consumed by the Veddas. If part of the meat were not thus
RELIGION 151
presented to Kande Yaka the hunters would expect bad luck
in future, and might even be bitten by snakes or attacked by
bears.
The Nae Yakii are the spirits of the dead, they must report
themselves to Kande Yaka as the chief of all \k\^ yahi and from
him obtain permission to help the living and accept their offer-
ings. Kande Yaka comes to the Nae Yakii ceremonies since
the spirits of the dead could not be present without him. It
was definitely stated that the spirits of the dead did not become
yahi until the fifth day after death, but my informant knew
nothing of the state of the spirits during this period though
it was surmised that at least part of the time would be passed
in seeking Kande Yaka or in his company, though there was
no idea as to where Kande Yaka had his being. It was how-
ever stated, that the spirits of the dead were in hills, caves and
rocks. The Nae Yaku including the spirit of the dead man are
invoked on the fifth day after death. An offering is made of
coconut milk and rice, if these are obtainable, but if not one
consisting of yams and water is substituted. The shaman
dances, holding in his hand a big ceremonial arrow for which
no special name could be elicited, while the remainder of the
community gather round. The shaman invokes the Nae Yakit
and also Kande Yaka and Bilindi Yaka. The shaman becomes
possessed and is supported lest he fall while the spirit of the
deceased promises that yams, honey, and game shall be plenti-
ful. He then sprinkles coconut milk or water from the offering
on the relatives of the deceased as a sign of the spirit's favour.
One or more of the relatives of the dead man may also become
possessed. The shaman gives the relatives water and yams,
putting their food into their mouths himself while he is pos-
sessed, and it appeared that this might cause the relatives to
become possessed. At the end of the ceremony he asks the
Nae Yakii to depart to where they came from and the spirits
leave the offering.
Nothing was known concerning the Kataragam God or the
kolarnadiia ceremony, though our informants said that they had
heard of other Veddas performing this ceremony. Gale Yaka
was not known, nor yet Wanagata Yaka.
152 THE VEDDAS
At Sitala Wanniya the principal yaku are Kande Yaka,
Bilindi Yaka, Bambura Yaka and the Nae Yaku. According
to these people Kande Wanniya killed his younger brother
Bilindi when the latter was only an infant. The story is that
their parents were out hunting when Bilindi, feeling hungry,
began to cry and would not desist in spite of the endearments
lavished upon him by Kande. At last Kande threw the child
on the ground in despair and so killed him.
It appeared that as a hunting hero Bambura Yaka is on the
whole as important as Kande Yaka, though he is certainly not
looked upon as so benevolent nor so loved as the latter, who
helps men to kill deer and never sends sickness. Bambura
Yaka is a somewhat grim spirit who although he gives yams
and helps men to kill pig, also sends sickness and must be
invoked to remove it, and he is also invoked when dogs are
lost or taken by leopards. Because of his giving yams he is
sometimes known as Ale (yam) Yaka, and yams are offered
to him together with other vegetable food when this can be
obtained.
The kirikoraha ceremony is performed to obtain game, in
gratitude for which the head and a portion of the flesh from
the breast of every deer killed is cooked as an offering to Kande
Yaka and is afterwards eaten by the community. If this were
not done Kande Yaka would be angry and little game would be
killed.
The kirikoraha seen at Sitala Wanniya is described on
pp. 223 to 226, and the ceremony at which Bambura Yaka is
invoked on pp. 237 to 245.
The spirits of the dead become the Nae Yaku and with
Kande Yaka are invoked for success in hunting; a description
of this ceremony will be found on pp. 230 to 233. A few days
after a death the dead man is invoked for assistance in hunting,
being addressed as mal paenae wa^ina, and when the relatives or
the group leave the cave to look for game they repeat the
invocation as they move along. After this, if they are successful,
they know that the spirit of the dead man has become powerful
as a Nae Yaku and invoke him at the kirikoraha among the
Nae Yaku called upon. The Nae Yaku must obtain permission
RELIGION 153
to accept offerings from Kande Yaka, and Kande Yaka must
be invoked before the Nae Yakii to come to the offering, which
should consist of coconuts, rice, areca nuts, betel leaves and,
when obtainable, bananas.
We consider that the beliefs so far described represent the
first stratum or basis of the Vedda religion and to be of its
original substance. This is not the case with the remaining
portion of the religion of the Veddas of Sitala Wanniya, which
relates to certain foreign spirits who have become naturalised
N Q.d.6i2L yaku. The Rahu Yaku are spirits of this sort. A fire
ceremony occurs in the dance by which they are invoked and
there is no doubt that these j^'/v/ are derived from the Sinhalese
demon Gini Rahu Bandar. Yet in spite of this they have
acquired a Vedda history, being regarded as long dead Veddas
quite unconnected with the Rahu Bandar of the Sinhalese.
The story concerning them is that long ago three Vedda
brothers occupied a shelter together and one day one of them
returned from hunting to find a stranger in the cave with his
wife. The unknown rushed away and made good his escape,
but the injured husband made up a big fire and in his rage and
despair jumped into it. His jaka is one of the Rahu Yaku, the
other two being the j'akii of his two brothers who did not,
however, burn themselves to death.
The help of the three Rahu Yaku is asked to cure sickness,
to obtain success in hunting, and in collecting rock honey.
Hunting and honey collecting both have their true Vedda
patrons Kande Yaka and Dola Yaka, therefore the Rahu Yaku
seem superfluous in these capacities. Further evidence as to
their foreign origin is afforded by the fact that they carry
" swords " {kaduwd), a weapon unknown to Veddas except in
incantations\ and that all three are considered somewhat
dangerous, and cause sickness.
Indigollae Yaka, a foreign spirit (whose origin will be con-
sidered at length in Chapter vil), is looked upon as an attendant
upon Kande Yaka in this community.
The names of certain spirits residing on various hills and
^ Even these swords, one of which is shown in figure 11 (p. 256), had been
naturalised and were said to represent aiide.
154 THE VEDDAS
rocks were known ; they were said not to be worshipped, although
they were looked upon with awe and respect as they were
believed to cause sickness.
These spirits are the Maha Yakini who are especially asso-
ciated with the hills Nuwaragala, Walimbagala and a rock called
Kalumal Ela. The chief of the Maha Yakini is the Maha
Kiriamma, and the other Maha Yakini are her attendants.
Although associated with rocks and hill-tops they are not in-
voked before taking honey in these places. It was stated that
the Maha Yakini were formerly living people — old women —
and that they were especially fond of children and might even
steal them. It is for this reason that infants are protected by
an arrow struck in the ground, and it is clear that something
of their character as old Vedda women still survives in spite of
their generally more or less unfriendly attributes.
Concerning the Maha Kiriamma nothing definite could be
learnt : our informant had heard it said that she had been
invoked in the old days, but knew nothing of this himself.
Handuna said that what little knowledge they had of the Maha
Kiriamma had travelled to them from the Bintenne Veddas
near Horaborawewa^
In the Sitala Wanniya community, therefore, the second
stratum is well developed and the third is indicated. The
second and third strata, though probably not recently introduced,
are, however, entirely subsidiary to the primitive cult of the
friendly dead.
The Bandaraduwa community is one in which the second
stratum is so highly developed that at first sight it appears domi-
nant, for after a death offerings are made to the Buddhist priest,
but this is only done as an additional means of propitiation of
the Nae Yaku who are still considered of the first importance, to
whom an offering is made on the seventh day after death. Further,
Kande Yaka is still closely associated with the Nae Yaku and
is invoked with them, but he is no longer formally regarded as
the Lord of the Dead, that function has been usurped by Kanda
Swami or Skanda known to these Veddas as " the Kataragam
^ An invocation to the Maha Kiriamma (No. xxxiii). i fragment of a much longer
formula (No. xxxix), unknown to our informants, is given in Chapter x.
fc>
RELIGION 155
God." He is one of the four gods who protect Ceylon, said
to have come from India, and is worshipped chiefly by Tamils,
who coming from the north-east frequently pass through the
territory of the Kovil Vanamai Veddas on their pilgrimage to
the temple of their God in the south of the island.
The following information concerning Kataragam is taken
from Mr Herbert White's Manual of Uva.
Although the present temple is of brick and of no archi-
tectural pretensions it is the lineal descendant of the temple
endowed some 2000 years ago by Dutugamunu, King of Mo-
gana, as a thank-offering for assistance in overcoming the Tamil
King Elala\ But Kataragam was a holy place before this,
for the Mahavansa describes how the princes of Kataragam
assisted at the planting of the shoots of the sacred Bo tree and
how one of the miraculously produced offshoots was planted at
Kataragam itself"-.
" The aspect and natural features of the country surrounding
the temple of Kataragama are not calculated to make a favour-
able impression upon the eye when they first meet it. There
is nothing in them to attract and invite it. Everything, with
the exception of the temple and the river on which it stands,
at the village of Kataragama and its vicinity looks wild, dreary
and monotonous
"The population of the village may be estimated at forty,
including women and children ; but it is liable to fluctuation at
different periods of the year, from the influx and efilux of the
pilgrims who resort to the temple. And I need scarcely add
that the village, its adjacent hills, and the surrounding country,
are all temple lands, and their occupants are attached to the
temple service as its tenants^"
The guardian of the temple and its lands, the latter including
a domain of some 60,000 acres, is a Buddhist headman resident
at Badulla, and although there are now no Veddas near Katara-
gam, tradition states that there were formerly many Veddas in
1 Kataragam is situated at the south-east of the island, on the left bank of the
Manik-ganga, at a distance of more than forty miles north-east of Hambantota and
about sixty miles south-east of Badulla.
^ Mahavansa, Chapter XIX.
* Manual of Uva, p. 47.
156 THE VEDDAS
the temple forests who in some sense served the temple and
were known to the Sinhalese as the Kovil Vanamai Veddas,
Concerning these Nevill says : " This name means Vaeddas of
the Temple wilds, and they were from time immemorial guards
of the Katthiragam temple. Their district was from Kumbukan
Ara to the Temple precincts, and north as far as the settled
villages of Butala and Maha Vaedda Rata They are said
traditionally to descend from the Vaeddas who found the noble
babe Valliamma left in the forest, and reared her as their child \"
Writing in 1886 Nevill points out that he had himself met the
last remnants of these people most of whom were, however, "too
reduced by want and disease to retain any memory for old
customs."
At the present day the sanctity of Kataragam is reputed
to be due to the tradition that the god halted on the highest
of its seven hills on his return homeward from the conquest of
the Asuras. " The particular spot... where Kataragama first met
Valliammal in the guise of a hungry and thirsty paiidaram, or
mendicant, and begged of her to appease his hunger and quench
his thirst, when she was watching her chena cultivation as the
adopted daughter of a Vedda chief, and preparing cakes from
a composition of honey and savii or milled flour, is pointed out
at a distance of more than four miles from the temple. The
precise spot again, with footmarks of an elephant on a rock,
where she had suddenly encountered the ponderous brute and
entreated the patidaravi to protect her from its attacks, is also
shown to the enthusiastic pilgrim-."
Now Valliamma was the daughter, or the adopted daughter,
of a Vedda, and to this day such Veddas as those of Bandara-
duwa who have come under the influence of Hinduism, although
acknowledging that the Kataragam God, whom they do not call
by any other name, is greater than the Nae Yakti, nevertheless
hold him in less awe and treat him with less formality than do
the Tamils and Sinhalese.
These Veddas know nothing of the other three great gods
who protect Ceylon, and they regard Valliamma as a Vedda
and speak of her as their elder sister {akka), while the Kataragam
1 Oi>. at. Vol. I, p. i8o. ^ Manual of Uva, p. 50.
RELIGION 157
God is almost, if not quite, thought of as their brother-in-law.
In fact the divinity of the God and of his consort has not
among the Veddas reached the proportions it has among the
Sinhalese and Tamils. It has already been stated that among
the Sinhalese the spirits of the dead who desire to become
Banddra present themselves to the Kataragam God, and from
him obtain permission to receive offerings of cooked food {adiikkii)
in return for benefits to be conferred, or to smite men with
sickness and other disasters, and we were told that the Kata-
ragam God would not refuse any spirit who approached him
with this requests
Further, these Veddas hold that the man may become pos-
sessed by the Kataragam God in the same way as by the Nae
Yaku, and the god is worshipped at certain shrines in the Kovil
Vanamai district which are traditionally associated with Veddas
and are said to be of Vedda origin. One of these at a place
called Kokkadichchola is said to have arisen as follows.
A Vedda and his wife were cutting the trunk of a tree for
honey when the tree began to bleed and they found in it not
a bee's nest but an infant. The Vedda became possessed and
while this condition lasted the God within him announced
that he was the Kataragam God and that a temple must be
built to him there. When the Vedda returned to his senses the
child could not be found, but in its place was an image of the
God.
Returning to the beliefs held by the Bandaraduwa people
concerning the Nae Yaku, these can be best illustrated and
explained by considering the events following the death of a
Kovil Vanamai man called Tuta.
The day after our arrival at Bandaraduwa a Vedda called
Kaira came to our camp sobbing and shaking and protesting
that he could not stay long with us as his brother was dead.
He seemed deeply affected, though another brother, Kaurale,
who was with him appeared quite calm, which led us to suspect
that his uncontrollable agitation was due to something more
than mere affection for the dead man, and we soon discovered
^ This belief in spirits of tlie dead obtaining license from the Kataragam God is
also held by some rural Sinhalese.
158 THE VEDDAS
that this brother had h'ved with him and died in his hut, and
that it was his duty to make an offering to the nearest Buddhist
priest and to provide the necessities for a dance to the Xae
Yaku, and that he had not the wherewithal to do these things.
If these duties were neglected the spirit of the dead man would
be angry, and after seven days when the spirit had become a
yaka would cause misfortune and sickness and perhaps kill him.
His manifest relief when we offered him the money needed to
purchase the offerings showed that his sorrow for the loss of his
brother was the least of his troubles, and he was quite gay when
he started on his twenty mile walk to the nearest boutique with
Rs. 3"50 in his betel pouch, and readily assented to our con-
dition that he must return with his purchases so that the Nae
Yaku ceremony might be performed near our camp. The local
shaman, who was Vidane of the Vedda settlement, was perfectly
ready to agree to this, indeed it suited him well, for it saved
him the trouble of walking some eight miles to the scene of
the death, and as he pointed out, the Xae Yaku could be in-
voked as well in one place as in another. It was important
that the Nae Yaku dance should be held on the seventh day
after death, since it was thought that the spirit of the dead man,
which became a yaka on the third day after death, resorted to
the Kataragam God and on the seventh day obtained authority
from him to accept offerings and to help or molest the living
according to the way in which he was treated by them. We
were assured that whatever the intentions of the relations might
be with regard to the spirit of the dead man, no danger was
to be apprehended until the seventh day when the Nae Yaku
ceremony should be performed, though this could not be done
unless alms had previously been given to a Buddhist priest.
The offerings which must be given to the priest are worth nearly
three rupees and consist of the following foods and other objects.
The numbers in parentheses after each object show the price
in cents at the nearest boutique, some fifteen or twenty miles
from Bandaraduwa. Rice 3 measures (60), 2 coconuts (20),
50 balls of jaggery sugar (15), 25 areca nuts (6), 5 tobacco
leaves (12), 100 betel leaves (18), i plate (30), i cup (25), i mat
(25), I handkerchief (36), half a bottle of coconut oil (50), the
RELIGION 159
total amounting to 2 Rs. 97 cents. The offering made to the
Nae Yaku cost only 40 cents and consisted of a coconut, 50 betel
leaves and a measure of rice.
The actual ceremony at which the spirit of the dead man
was invoked and offerings made to it is described in Chapter IX,
pp. 233 to 237.
Certain of the invocations used by the Kovil Vanamai
Veddas, for instance, in invocation (No. xxxiv) to IndigoHae Ki-
riamma for success in hunting and the invocations sung at the
kolamaduwa ceremony, especially that to Unapane Kiriamma
(No. xxxvill), show how greatly foreign influence has altered the
character of spiritual beings who existed in the original Vedda
religion.
The Veddas of Uniche form a community in much the same
stage of belief as the Veddas of Bandaraduwa. A few days
after death the spirit of the deceased obtains permission from a
"chief" to accept offerings and a.-sist or harm the living. Our
informants could not tell us who this chief was, but appeared
to think that he had lived in comparatively recent times, and
were confident that he was not Kande or Bilindi Yaka.
The Nae Yaku, including the spirit of the dead man, are
invoked a few, perhaps five, days after a death has taken place.
A pot of coconut milk with betel leaves in it is placed upon a
rice pounder, and the shaman, holding a ceremonial arrow in
each hand, dances round this, invoking the spirits, including
that of the dead man. When possessed, the shaman sprinkles
some of the coconut milk on the relatives and places betel
leaves on their chests ; the shaman also feeds the relatives
from the bowl of coconut milk. The object of this dance is
said to be to enable the prajia karaya to become a Nae Yaka.
It is clear that this is simply a condensed account of the
ceremony we witnessed at Bandaraduwa, described on pp. 233
to 237.
The conditions prevailing at Henebedda, which at first were
most puzzling, were found to be largely due to the influence
of Tissahami " the Vedda Arachi," whose strong personality
has been already referred to on p. 41. This man had taught the
present Henebedda shaman much of his lore, and the latter
l6o THE VEDDAS
was but too anxious to assimilate and practise all that the
Arachi would teach him. The knowledge he thus acquired
spread to the younger members of the tribe, such as Sita
Wanniya, who obviously took more interest in the ceremonial
observances of his religion than any other of the younger men
we met, and it was said that he would probably be the next
shaman. The older men, on the other hand, appeared to know
little of the developments introduced by the Arachi. To them
Kande Yaka, Bilindi Yaka and the Nae Yaku were not only
the most important spiritual powers, but appeared to be the
only ones who were at all well known ; the simplicity of the
eschatological beliefs of these older men has already been re-
ferred to on p. 126 and agrees wonderfully well with those
described by Bailey in 1863. "The result of the most patient
inquiry is, that the Veddahs have a vague belief in a host of
undefined spirits, whose influence is rather for good than evil.
...They believe that the air is peopled by spirits, that every
rock and every tree, every forest and every hill, in short every
feature of nature, has its genius loci; but these seem little else
than mere nameless phantoms, whom they regard rather with
mysterious awe than actual dread. ...But besides this vague
spirit-worship, they have a more definite superstition, in which
there is more of system. This is the belief in the guardianship
of the spirits of the dead. Every relative becomes a spirit after
death, who watches over the welfare of those who are left
behind. These, which include their ancestors and their children,
they term their ' nehya yakoon,' kindred spirits. They describe
them as 'ever watchful, coming to them in sickness, visiting
them in dreams, giving them flesh when hunting.' In short in
every calamity, in every want they call on them for aid ; and it
is curious that the shades of their departed children, ' bilindoo
yakkoon,' or infant spirits, as they call them, are those which
they appear most frequently to invoke....
" The ceremonies with which they invoke them are few as
they are simple. The most common is the following: an arrow
is fixed upright in the ground, and the Veddah dances slowly
round it, chanting this invocation, which is almost musical in
its rhythm :
RELIGION l6l
' Ma miya, ma miya, ma deya,
Topang koyihetti mittigan yandah ! '
' My departed one, my departed one, my God !
Where art thou wandering ? '
The spirit of the dead is here simply called upon, without even
the object for which it is invoked being mentioned. And this
invocation appears to be used on all occasions, when the inter-
vention of the guardian spirit is required, in sickness, preparatory
to hunting, etc.
" Sometimes, in the latter case, a portion of the flesh of the
game is promised as a votive offering, in the event of the chase
being successful ; and they believe that the spirits will appear
to them in dreams and tell them where to hunt.
" Sometimes they cook food and place it in the dry bed of
a river, or some other secluded spot, and then call on their
deceased ancestors by name. * Come, and partake of this ! Give
us maintenance as you did when living ! Come ! wheresoever
you may be ; on a tree, on a rock, in the forest, come ! ' and
they dance round the food, half chanting, half shouting, the
invocation.
" They have no knowledge of a Supreme Being. ' Is he on
a rock ? On a white ant-hill ? On a tree ? I never saw a God ! '
was the only reply I received to repeated questions. They
have no idols, offer no sacrifices, and pour no libations. They
cannot be said to have any temples, for the few sticks sometimes
erected, with a branch thrown over them, are, I imagine, simply
to protect their votive offerings^"
Although in essentials this account is accurate, certain cor-
rections and suggestions must be made. The "bilindoo yak-
koon" are not "infant spirits" but obviously represent Bilindi
Yaka who became a.j/aka while still a child. The arrow dance
is clearly described and agrees with the dance we saw and
photographed near Bendiyagalge, figures of which are given in
Plate XXVI.
With regard to the spirits of the dead appearing in dreams
and stating where game will be found, this, which is quite con-
tradictory to our experience, has already been referred to on
^ J. Bailey, oj>. cit. pp. 300 — 303.
S. V. II
1 62 THE VEDDAS
p. 135, but it may be noted that Bailey clearly did not know
of the existence of shamanistic ceremonies and we have little
doubt that the information given him, which he took to refer
to dreams, in fact described the experiences of possession. The
"few sticks... with a branch thrown over them" are clearly
remains of the maesa upon which the offerings are placed.
The MaJia Yakino are the spirits of old Vedda women, the
chief of whom is the Maha Kiriamma, who, as Bailey pointed out
in 1863, is more feared than loved, and in many cases is sup-
posed to send sickness. It was said that her name was Anami
and that she lived at Okegala near Alutnuwara, dying of old
age ; but in spite of these circumstantial details, which are
perhaps due to the teachings of Tissahami, neither the name
nor the memory of her husband has survived.
Unapane Kiriamma is another important Maha Yakini who
lived near Unapane^
Unapane Kiriamma also gives luck in honey getting, and
it is thought that she in some way causes bees to build good
combs, in fact, all the MaJia Yakino are associated with rock
honey from the belief that they especially affect the rocky
crests of hills-.
Although the Maha Yakino are looked upon as the spirits
of old Vedda women and are reputed to show their fondness
for children by kidnapping them, they are regarded with con-
siderable awe, for they are considered to send disease, and it
is necessary to make an offering to them in order that this
may be removed. This is generally done at the kolamaduiva
ceremony described on p. 268. With the exception of the
■■ She is known to the jungle Sinhalese of the Vedirata, who state that with her
husband Unai^ane Kaiia Wanniya she made the Unapane paddy fields. She is
particularly invoked by barren women, and those who have brought forth still-born
children, for increase of cattle and milk, to prevent cattle being taken by leopards or
damaging the crops and to give good harvests.
^ Offerings of honey made to the Maha Yakino are described elsewhere. The
belief that the Maha Yakino are especially associated with hills is also found among
the Sinhalese of the Vedda country, who especially associate these spirits with hills
on which springs are found or on which streams arise. One such hill near Nilgala,
which at the end of the rains has many small streams running down its face, is known
as Yakini Ela and is especially associated by the neighbouring Sinhalese with the
Maha Yakino, who they say can be heard moving about the crest at night.
RELIGION 163
invocation of the MaJia Yakino at the kolaniadmva ceremony
the beHefs of the Henebedda people, old and young, as far as
we have described them, belong to the true Vedda stratum, but
we must now record a number oi yakii including Panikkia Yaka,
who are equally believed in by the peasant Sinhalese of the
Vedda country and who, like Panikkia Yaka, are probably all
yakii of important Veddas who were village Veddas or lived
in more or less organized contact with the Sinhalese. These
yaku are :
Mawaragala Panikkia, invoked to give good fortune and
avert sickness from man and beast.
Rerangala Yaka who lived in the Uva Bintenne and was
particularly expert at noosing elephants, though it is not known
whether he first practised this art. He died of old age, and is
invoked to prevent sickness, particularly epidemic diseases, and
to give prosperity in all things.
Lepat Yaka lived at Lepatgala in the Bintenne and was
called Lepatgala Wanniya ; nothing is known of his life or
death. T\i\s yaka is invoked during epidemics and before hunt-
ing to prevent danger from wild animals.
Hantane Mahavedi Unehe who lived on Mawaragala, and
of whose life and death nothing is known, is invoked to cure
sickness and to give good fortune in hunting.
Walimbagala Yaka, whom the Veddas of Uva call Walim-
bagala Panikkia, formerly lived on Walimbagala between
Bandaraduwa and Madana in the Eastern Province. He was
a great and important chief and his spirit is invoked to cure
sickness, to send game and to safeguard men taking honey.
Galaridi Bandar lived on Veragodagala near Nilgala. He
was an expert at capturing elephants, which he used to present
to the Kandyan kings. Galaridi Bandar is reputed to have
constructed dagobas and to have brought a range of paddy
fields under cultivation.
Kadaelle Nalla Panikkia was sO good a huntsman that he
could run down deer. It is not known where he lived, he is
invoked at the kolamadiiwa only.
Rangrual Bandar is invoked to prevent men falling when
collecting honey, and also at the kolamaduwa.
II — 2
1 64 THE VEDDAS
Irugal Bandar is invoked to prevent epidemics and at the
kolamaduzva ceremony ^
Sandugal Bandar is invoked before hunting and safeguards
men from the attacks of wild animals and snake-bite.
Ranhoti Bandar, a Vedda chief who lived at Hamanawa in
Nilgala Chorale. His spirit is a very important yaka and not
to be invoked carelessly along with others at the kolaniaduwa, but
when properly approached will help his suppliants in many ways.
Gauge Bandar was in charge of rivers and also of insect
pests. It is said that he belonged to the Morane wartige,
though his place is not known. He is invoked at the. kolamaduwa,
and when there is not enough rain or too much.
With these yaku, all of whom were said to be the spirits of
dead Veddas, there were invoked two spirits of whom it was
definitely said that they were not Veddas. The first of these
was Peradeneya Bandar who lived at Peradeneya near Kandy,
where he was dissava. He prevents harm from wild beasts, and
his protection is invoked during storms and at the kolamadttwa.
Clearly t\ns yaka is the spirit of a man of great local influence,
probably comparable to that exerted by Godegedara whose
canonisation is recorded on p. 143. The other yaka Kalu
Bandar is more imiportant and is widely feared throughout the
Vedda-Sinhalese zone from Alutnuwara to the Eastern Province.
According to the Vedda Arachi he was a native of Mallawa in
India^. King Vijaya was frightened by a leopard and this man
cured him of the sickness produced by fear ; he is invoked to
procure game and at the kolamadinva.
We must point out that although we give these yakii as if
a belief in them constituted an organic part of the Henebedda
creed, and although the kolaniaduwa ceremony is certainly
performed by the Henebedda community, we consider that the
belief in many of them is purely formal ; we are convinced
that a number of these yaku are never called upon or even
considered except when invoked as part of the routine of the
kolamadiiwa ceremony. Further, we think it probable that a
1 Mr Parker informs us that " Irugal Bandara was a Sinhalese chief who is said to
have lived at Bandara Koswatta( where Knox dwelt) in the roign of King Wijaja Bahu."
^ Mr Parker suggests that this may be Mahva in the Central Provinces of India
or more probably Malawara, Malayalam.
RELIGION 165
number of these jaku, especially Irugal Bandar and the other
Bandar, may have been introduced since Bailey's time. It is
even possible that Tissahami may be responsible in part.
The reference to King Vijaya shows that Kalu Bandar has
nothing to do with the primitive beliefs of the Veddas, for no
Vedda knew anything of Vijaya or Kuweni.
Before describing the beliefs of the village Veddas, among
whom the third stratum of thought is dominant, the condition
of the Veddas of Unuwatura Bubula (who have moved there
from Mudugala) must be considered and compared with those
of both the wilder and the village Veddas. Many of the j/aku
of the less sophisticated communities were known to them, and
some invoked by the village Veddas were also called upon at
Unuwatura Bubula. Although Kande Yaka was known and
considered powerful to send game and cure sickness, apparently
he was no longer Lord of the Dead, as he was not invoked at
the alutyakagania (see p. 260) to which the Nae ]akji were
called. A structure called a bulatyaJiana was built for him and
a Hindu trident as well as an mide was held when he was
invoked. Bilindi Yaka was known, but we have no note as to
whether he was considered the brother of Kande Yaka or no.
Bambura Yaka and his attendants known to the Veddas of
Sitala Wanniya and Uniche were unknown here. Pata Yaka
(Sitala Wanniya) had been heard of but had never been invoked.
The Wanegatha Yaku were of considerable importance here,
they were said to be the yaku of long dead Veddas who had
perished in their rock-shelter owing to a fall of rock. Indigollae
Yaka (the attendant of Kande Yaka at Sitala Wanniya) was
known here and considered extremely powerful ; when really
short of food, offerings are made to him and his wife Indigollae
Yakini, and the shaman thrusts an aiide into the roof of his hut
and hangs on it a string of beads which are kept specially for
this purpose, and then Indigollae Yaka sends game. We were
told that no charm or invocation accompanied this action.
We did not realise at the time of our visit that Indigollae
Yaka might be another name for Gale Yaka, but this appears
not unlikely in view of information furnished by Mr Parker,
and the fact that Gale Yaka was here invoked with the Nae
-.66 THE VEDDAS
Yaku, while at nearly all the village Vedda communities Indi-
gollae Yaka was said to bring the Nae Yaku. Certainly Gale
Yaka, Indigollae Yaka and Kande Yaka were all known by
name, but there seemed much confusion between them all :
perhaps Gale Yaka had become Lord of the Dead as he was
invoked before the Nac Yaku in the same ceremony ; Kande
Yaka and Bilindi Yaka were invoked at a separate ceremony.
No hint was given us that Gale Yaka and Indigollae Yaka were
names for the same spirit, but of course this may have been so.
The information that Indigollae Yaka was extremely powerful
both to bring evil upon man and to help them to get game
was, however, volunteered and, as already mentioned, some old,
specially valuable beads were kept to be offered to him.
Gale Yaka was also invoked to give success when gathering
honey ; he appeared to be associated with a certain rock near
Mahaella, and we were told that beads were worn during the
ceremony.
The Maha Kiriamma was said to be one of the most powerful
of the Maha Yakino, a class of female spirits who were said to
send sickness \ Unapane Yakini (Unapane Kiriamma) was
another yakini of the same class who was thought to live at
Omunigala. Here as among many other groups of Veddas the
Maha Yakino were associated with hill tops, and it was the
custom for people collecting the honey of the rock bee to leave
a piece of the comb in situ, saying, " Eat, O Kiriamma-."
When the Maha Yakino are invoked to cure sickness a
basket is used in which are put a bead necklace and bangles and
the leaves of a Jia tree. The shaman becomes possessed and
raises the basket above the patient's head and prophesies re-
covery. The leaves are subsequently thrown away, but the
beads and bangles are preserved for the Yakino. Presumably
this is the origin of the similar or identical use of these objects
in the kohiniadinva ceremony which, however, appears to be of
Sinhalese origin.
^ Nothing was ever said to cause us to suspect that she was connected with Gale
Yaka or Indigollae Yaka.
^ Kiriamma is in the plural in the Sinhalese, showing mat all the Maha Yakino
in the neighbourhood were invoked to partake.
RELIGION 167
Gauge Bandar, unknown among the wilder Veddas but
worshipped by all village Veddas, was known at Unuwatura
Bubula.
Omuni.
The history of this settlement dating back to the first half of
the last century has been given on pp. 45 and 46. The Omuni
folk believe there are spirits {yakii) everywhere in the jungle, but
none have seen them ; further, there are many yakic of each
kind or species such as the Indigollae Yaku, the Dadayan Yaku
and many others including the Gale Yaku called the Jungle
Yaku, who do not, however, frequent the jungle around Omuni.
It was said that Ganga Bandar Deyo who lives in rocks in the
river is greater than any of these. Omuni was one of the first
Vedda settlements we visited, and as the importance of Sinhalese
and Tamil gods and demons was not then appreciated no
questions concerning these were asked. It is, however, reason-
able to suppose that the Kataragam God and other mighty
deviyo are worshipped. The spirits of the dead {^Nae Yakii) are
believed to be associated with rocks ; on the whole they are
kindly spirits, but it is necessary to invoke and propitiate them.
A Nae Yaku ceremony is held some little time after a death
has taken place, at which the shaman dances with an imde before a
viaesa on which is placed an offering of cooked yams and other
food, and the maesa is decorated with special clothes kept for that
purpose. The aude is held in the smoke arising from gum-resin
thrown on glowing charcoal, and then pressed on the head of all
the male members of the community. If this were not done
little game would be killed.
We have an account of another ceremony performed to cure
sickness and when the chena had been reaped, but it is not clear
what spirits were invoked at this ; presumably the most im-
portant of these were certain of the yakjt other than the Nae
Yaku, though the Nae Yaku may have played a subordinate
part. A shed or very rough house is built and hung with special
clothes reserved for this purpose, those shown to us being rather
old and worn pieces of linen woven at Batticaloa. A roughly
made shelf forming a sort of altar is built in the shed on which
l68 THE VEDDAS
the offering is placed. The dance is held at night and continues
until morning when the whole community eat the offering,
though only the men dance. We were shown a pot in a small
cave near the settlement which was said to be kept there pur-
posely, and w^hich it was stated was used for boiling rice for the
ceremony.
We may now consider the religious beliefs of certain com-
munities in which the third stratum of belief already alluded to
is dominant. Such communities are the village Veddas of Uva
Bintenne and those of the Eastern Province and Tamankaduwa,
among all of whom the Nae Yaku were known and reverenced,
but the great Vedda heroes have all disappeared, their place
having been taken by numerous Sinhalese gods and demons.
Some of the village Veddas even build temples, rough bark or
mud huts like their own habitations in which the various
symbols of the dcviyo zxiA yakii are kept and in which the shaman
dances.
Such a temple was seen at Yakure dedicated to Gauge
Bandar Deyo, here also were two rough stones leaning against
a tree on the bund of Yakurewaewa which were held sacred to
Gane Deyo (Ganesa).
At a place called Nadena, where there were said to be
Veddas until a few years ago, on the road running inland from
Patrippu in the Eastern Province, there is a temple containing
an image of Ganesa and this is looked upon as a Vedda shrine.
Other temples or shrines in the Eastern Province are traditionally
associated with Veddas though none survive at the present
day, except, we believe, at Portiv near Patrippu and at Mandur.
Village Veddas of the Bintenne.
At Dambani and the neighbouring settlements of Buluga-
haladena and Wellampelle the Nae Yaku are held to be of
great importance. Reference has already been made on p. 50
to the difficulty of working with these village Veddas, and our
information concerning the religious beliefs of the Dambani folk
was obtained from the Arachi of Belligala; with regard to
Bulugahaladena and Wellampelle the litt'j information we
possess was obtained at first hand and carefully checked, and
RELIGION 169
though incomplete we have no doubt of its substantial accuracy
as far as it goes. We had considerable doubts as to the relia-
bility of our Dambani information, but these have been removed
lately as far as they affect Kande Yaka and the Nae Yaku
owing to the kindness of Mr Hartshorne who allowed us to
look through a number of notes collected among these people
thirty years ago. And since the information obtained from the
Arachi of Belligala was correct on these points, there seems to
be no reason to disbelieve the rest of his information.
According to the Arachi, who, it must be remembered, as
stated on p. 49, knows the Dambani folk well, there are three
important classes of yaku.
The first of these are the Nae Yaku who do not go to Kande
Yaka but to Indigollae Yaka, who lives on a hill {kande) called
Indigollae Kande which never has been seen. Indigollae Yaka
is first invoked at the Nae Yaku ceremony and with him come
the Nae Yaku. An aude is used in calling upon Indigollae
Yaka in this ceremony, while the Nae Yaku are invoked by
means of a cloth and beads ; as among other Veddas an offering
of food is made.
We could not discover with certainty at Dambani what was
the relative importance of the Nae Yaku and the two other
classes of yaka, but at Bulugahaladena and Wellampelle our
informants made it quite clear that the yakii of recent ancestors
were the most important. Thus Kuma stated that he con-
sidered his father's yaka to be the most important of all and
that this spirit was invoked alike to send game and in thanks
for game killed.
Bandia of Wellampelle said the most important yaka he
knew was Punchi Badena, his father's father ; his mother is dead
but her yaka is not so important ^ Punchi Badena is invoked
to get game and honey or when people are sick. At all three
villages a structure, which from the description given to us
resembles an alutyakagama, is built for the invocation of the
Nae Yaku, to whom the customary offerings are made before
1 We have no note that the father of Kuma was dead ; although we do not
remember definitely inquiring about this our impression is that both parents had been
dead for some time.
I/O THE VEDDAS
being eaten by the community. A man becomes a.faka directly
he is dead, nothing is buried with him and the contents of his
betel pouch are used in the ordinary way. The Nae Yaku
ceremony is held some days after death, one, or according to
another informant two, aude being used.
At Bulugahaladena and Wellampelle neither Bilindi Yaka
nor Bambura Yaka was known, and these two yaku were also
unknown at Dambani where, however, the Belligala Arachi said
that Kande Yaka gives luck in hunting. This has been con-
firmed by Mr Hartshorne's notes, so that although our informants
at Bulugahaladena and Wellampelle stated that they did not
know \X\\'& yaka, too much stress must not be laid upon this.
The other two classes of yaku invoked at Dambani are
tree and rock yaku. Both send sickness and are invoked with
dancing and offerings to remove it, the stone magic described
on p. 143 being used to determine which yaka is responsible for
the disease. The most important rock yahi are Mawaragala
Yaka, Rerangala Yaka, Barutugala Yaka, and Mehaluku Yakini.
The latter is associated with a rock Batugala near Alutnuwara,
the others with the peaks whose names they bear.
Two tree yaku were mentioned, each having a number of
attendants. These tree yaku are named Na Gaha Yaka (Na
tree Yaka) and Bo Gaha Yaka (Bo tree Yaka), that is to say
they are called after the trees with which they are associated,
and the Arachi pointed out that tree yaku habitually lived in
trees of the species after which they are named. We could not
discover any facts suggesting that these tree yaku were con-
sidered to represent the life of the tree.
HORABORAWEWA.
The surroundings and physical characters of the Veddas of
Horaborawewa have been described on p. 53. The shaman is
the local Sinhalese headman, who stated that the samejv^/lv/ are
invoked by Veddas and Sinhalese alike. Seren (Riri) Yaka is
the most important yaka, Wiloya Yaka and Kalu Yaka are also
known, and it was stated that the latter spirit was also called
Wangata Yaka. Our informant had not he-rd of Kande Yaka
or Bilindi Yaka, and it was certain that the worshipped yaku
RELIGION 171
were generally associated with rocks and were not the spirits of
the dead. There is however an exception, namely, Dehigole
Yaka, whose history is as follows. A man from Dehigole, a
Vedda, went to Kandy to see the king, probably Sri Vikram
Rajah Sinha, the last of the Sinhalese kings, who was dethroned
early in the last century. On his way back he was killed by an
elephant, and now his spirit looks after the chena and prevents
elephants breaking into and destroying the crops. A leafy
branch is tied to a pole or dead tree in the chena, and Dehigole
Yaka and other spirits are invoked, an offering of sweetmeats,
jaggery, coconuts and rice cooked in coconut milk being made
and subsequently eaten by the owners of the chena. There was
said to be no invocation of the yaku of the recent dead, nor
before taking honey which is obtained from trees.
LiNDEGALA.
The "Veddas" described on p. "jG from Lindegala in the
neighbourhood of Kallodi worship a large number of male
and female spirits including the Bo Gaha Yaka and the Na
Gaha Yaka^
As already indicated the people of Lindegala are Veddas in
scarcely more than name. The most important of them, an old
man with his son and son-in-law, visited us at Kallodi. The old
man who is tall and presented typical Sinhalese features is
a renowned vederale (medicine-man) and is employed by the
Sinhalese for miles round. He brought with him to show us
two ceremonial arrows with which he invoked the spirits. One
of these arrows is of the shape of a Hindu trident, the other is
of the usual Vedda shape and is notable on account of the silver
bo leaf with which the blade is inlaid. This aude is shown in
Plate XXV. Both of these had been presented by the Sinhalese
king to one of his ancestors, apparently about 100 years ago.
^ Although these jrt/v^ were spoken of in tlie singular there were many individuals
of each species. Some of the other more important ja/^« which were worshipped were
named, Wategala Wanniya, Gala Degala Wanniya, Gurugala Wanniya, Maldampahe
Yaka, Lepat Yaka, Eheregala Yaka, Meheregal Yaka, Komal Yaka, Walmat Yaka,
Hilihungale Yaka, Mikmal Naida Yaka, Kehelpotagale Yaka, Mawaragala Yaka,
Hereng Yaka, Inihangala Wanniya, Muluhangala Wanniya, Gara Rajah Wanniya.
These were only an insignificant fraction of the total number of yaktt known to our
oldest informant.
1/2
THE VEDDAS
The story told us was that when this ancestor, who was a Vedda
headman and a shaman of great fame, gave up his jungle life
and began to cultivate, the Sinhalese king sent him the two
aude as tokens that he granted the land on which he settled to
him and his descendants for ever. It seems that previously
to this they had led a more or less unsettled life, or had
perhaps been dispossessed of their own territory during the
troubles of the period. The arrows were in fact " seisin " and
were considered the equivalent of a sannasa, the inscribed metal
plate or rock face on which grants of land were formerly
recorded. Inquiry showed that it was by no means uncommon
for a man to be given a ceremonial example of an implement of
his trade or profession as a santiasa. Thus, in the Kandy
Museum there is a beautifully worked Bull's bell (ygomninigediya)
given as sannasa to Rantun Mudianse of Walala head of the
Pattiya or Nilamakkara people by King Narendara Singhe of
Kundasale who reigned 1706— 1739. We may also refer to a
ceremonial weaver's shuttle in the Colombo Museum and to the
lacquered arrows described in Chapter XI.
The Nae Yakn, Kande Yaka, and Wanegata Yaka are con-
sidered less important than the tree yakn and the host oi yaku
alluded to above. Indigollae Yaka and Rahu Yaka are
recognised but not considered very powerful, though it was said
that all these were formerly invoked to give success in hunting.
The kolaviaduwa ceremony is known, very many spirits being
invoked including Unapane Kiriamma. The Nae Yakii become
attendants on some of t\iQ yaku mentioned in the above list and
these are invoked first and bring the Nae Yakii with them, but it
appeared that it was no longer the custom to hold a Nae Yakic
ceremony within a few days of a death. Among the Nae Yaku
mentioned was the spirit of the man on whom one of the last
Sinhalese kings had bestowed the land of which the inlaid aude
shown in Plate XXV is the sannasa. Another yaka greatly
venerated is that of Kimbul Otbe,an important individual living
a few generations ago concerning whom Nevill has written at
some length \
1 Nevill, who says that he could find no clue to his identity, still regarded Kimbul
Otbe as "a great historical personage," for "The Sinhalese of the Eastern Province
Plate XXV
Aiide with inlaid silver Bo leaf
religion 173
Kalukalaeba.
The most important spiritual agencies are the following : —
Gange Bandar Deyo, Kataragam Deyo, Indigollae Yaka,
Rerang Yaka, Riri Yaka (Sinhalese), Marulu Yaka, Rahu
Yaka, and Elle Yakini.
In spite of the fact that the people of Kalukalaeba keep
cattle and are predominantly agriculturalists Gange Bandar
Deyo, who lives on the hill Yangala beyond Hemberewa and
gives luck in hunting and honey gathering, was said to be
especially important. He is invoked when game is scarce, but
it is the Kataragam God who gives increase of yams and
vegetable food. They do not dance to him but make offerings
of cooked brinjal and pumpkins, which are left for half-a-day on a
rude altar and then eaten. Chena are also under the protection of
the Kataragam God to whom offerings are made after the produce
has been reaped, some of every kind of fruit being cooked and ex-
posed in the chena for some hours before it is eaten by the people.
At Kalukalaeba Kande Yaka, Bilindi Yaka and Bambura
Yaka were unknown. The spirits of the dead are recognised as
the Nae Yakic, but they are certainly thought of as far less
important than a number of other spiritual beings to be imme-
diately considered. They are however invoked, but it seemed
that this was not done habitually immediately after a deatli, but
at quite uncertain intervals to remove sickness. The father of
and Bintenne, and Nilgala, alike agree that he was a great and powerful prince. They
speak of him often, and call him Barangala Kimbul-Herat mudiyanse Rajapat Wanni-
unaehe. From the name Herat it is manifest he headed some great political movement....
Raja-pat probably means king-maker, and the whole title may be translated as 'His
Excellency the General Kimbul-Otbe of Barangala, the king-maker Lord-of-the-
Marches,' or else the 'King-made Lord-of-the-Marches,' wanni, literally a forest or
waste, being used exactly as we use the term 'marches,' of Wales or Scotland. The
respect of the Sinhalese, and this elaborate title of highest honour, show that this great
Vaedda Chieftain headed an army that replaced one of the Sinhalese kings upon the
throne of his ancestors. I think it is more probable he figured in a comparatively
modern war than in a very ancient one. ...It is perfectly likely that Kimbul-Otbe was
a prince of the Sinhala royal family, who married a Vaedda....
" The supposition that Kimbul-Otbe was a Sinhala, and that he married either a
Bandara or an Unapana lady, would thus account for the otherwise unexplained fact
that the Sinhalese say some of their oldest and best families also descended from
Kimbul-Otbe, though they did not know whether he was really a Vaedda or was
claimed by the Vaeddas in mistake, having been their prince." Op. cit. Vol. I, p. 176.
1/4 THE VEDDAS
the present shaman was called Suwanda, and no dance to his
spirit was held till a long time, perhaps as much as a year, after
his decease. But when the shaman's mother became ill he was
invoked and offerings were made, with the result that the patient
got well. In connection with this it was explained that it was not
unusual for theiV^^ Yakn to make even their nearest and dearest
relatives ill for the sake of the offerings they would then receive.
It was stated that the Nae Yaku are not allowed to kill
people but only to make them ill, permission to do this and
to accept offerings being obtained from Kataragam Deyo, Saman
Deyo, and Numeriya Deyo. We could not ascertain with
certainty whether the Nae Yaku have anything to do with
sending luck in hunting, but if they are concerned in this they
clearly play quite a subordinate part. When taking honey
a little is left at the foot of the tree, this was said to be for the
Nae Yaku, who may be called to it by some such expression as
" here is honey, be pleased to eat ^"
A female spirit Elle Yakini is invoked when a woman is
pregnant, to protect mother and child ; beads which belong to
the shaman, who seems to keep them for this purpose, are
placed on a piece of cloth and invocations are spoken. After
childbirth a bower apparently resembling the kolainadinva is
made, Elle Yakini is invoked and an offering of food made
to her. At the time of our visit it was said that a dance would
shortly be held to Elle Yakini in thanks for having given a
woman, who at first had difficulty in nursing her child, an
abundant flow of milk. Elle Yakini will be invoked with an
ordinary hunting arrow, and when possessed by her the shaman
will gasp out some such formula as this " Now I have made you
well, remember me in future." Offerings would not be made to
Elle Yakini until her help was again needed.
Elakotaliya.
The most important spiritual agencies are the gods and
demons who are worshipped at Kalukalaeba. Indigollae Yaka
is said to give good luck to hunters, for neither Kande Yaka,
1 The geographical position of Kahikalaeba allows the Veddas of this group no
opportunity of collecting rock honey.
RELIGION 175
Bilindi Yaka nor Bambura Yaka is known. The Nae Yaku
are of the company of Indigollae Yaka, and with the latter are
invoked after a death, but the Nae Yahi are not asked for good
luck in hunting-. The Nae Yaku are invoked after every death ;
coconut, jaggery (palm sugar), and rice are placed on a inaesa,
offered to the yaku and afterwards eaten by the shaman and
other members of the community. While invoking the spirits
the shaman holds a cloth in his hands but no aude.
Ulpota.
The Kataragam God, Gane Deyo and Vihara Deyo, are
worshipped, as probably are many others. These spirits are all
considered more important than the Nae Yaku, and it is to their
aid that success in hunting and in honey getting is largely
attributed, nevertheless it was clear that the A^ae Yaku were
thought of as helpful in these activities. Our informant stated
that they had never heard of Kande Yaka, Bilindi Yaka, or
Bambura Yaka, nor had they heard of the gods of the coast
Veddas Kapalpe or Kadupe.
The spirits of the dead become Nae Yaku, and it is customary
for a ceremony to be held eight days after a death, at which the
spirits of all the recent dead are invoked. It was said that these
spirits of the deceased joined the other Nae Yaku without asking
permission from any other spiritual being and that the Nae
Yaku came when they were invoked unaccompanied by any
other spirit. The shaman does not hold an aude in his hand
when invoking the Nae Yaku, but some rice and cooked pumpkin
are put upon a Diaesa before which he dances. At the side of
this is a pot of rice covered with a cloth supported on a rice
pounder. The shaman faces the east whilst dancing, and appeals
to all remembered Nae Yaku by name. It was said to be rare
for any but the shaman to become possessed.
The Nae Yaku give honey and luck in hunting, and it is in
order to obtain their favour that they are invoked, for if they
were not they would give bad luck. When collecting tree honey
the name of a dead man is called and he is requested to accept a
little honey which is left at the foot of the tree for a short time, after
which it is eaten by the honey gatherers. After killing game
1/6 THE VEDDAS
a piece of flesh is offered to the Nae Yaku who are called by
name, and then the Veddas eat it themselves.
Vihara Deyo is considered to send sickness, and he is invoked
to make men whole again. Rice is cooked with milk usually
obtained from the Tamil village of Horawila, and this with betel
and areca nut is put upon a maesa. Only the shaman dances,
and after the ceremony the offering is eaten by the whole com-
munity, including the sick man. Our informant did not know
how the yaka or deyo causing the sickness was discovered, that
being left to the shaman.
Yakure.
The important spiritual agencies are : — Gange Bandar
Deyo, Genikandia Deyo, Palugamman Deyo, Vihara Deyo,
Mangara Deyo. Our informants knew of IndigoUae Yaka
but did not know if he ever was a man or had always been
a spirit. Nothing was known of Kande Yaka, Bilindi Yaka, or
Bambura Yaka, Dead shamans are thought to become yak?i,
and it is the spirits of these people who are the Nae Yaku : the
fate of the spirits of ordinary folk is uncertain, but they do not
become A^ae Yaku. The Nae Yaku are danced to and invoked
with the other yaku in order to cure sickness, but apparently
they are not considered particularly important, A maesa is
made and a cloth put over it, and on it are laid flowers of many
kinds, betel leaves and areca nuts. Incense is burned before
these offerings, in front of which the shaman dances facing the
east. In some instances the maesa is built inside the temple, the
shaman holds a cloth in his hand and a pot of rice cooked
in milk is placed by the maesa on a rice pounder \ This is not
tasted during the dance, but is eaten afterwards by the shaman
and the sick man and other individuals of the community^.
Kataragam Deyo is invoked especially to protect the chena,
and at harvest an offering is made which is afterwards eaten as
at Elakotaliya.
^ It must be remembered that Yakure is a great cattle breeding centre.
^ This is an interesting contrast to the practice which Mr Parker informs us prevails
in the south of the island, where food given to spirits is not eaten at all but is exposed
in the jungle or some deserted place. The fact that at Yakure food offered to spirits,
many of whom are of Sinhalese or Tamil origin, is eaten, is clearly a remnant of the
Vedda belief that the spirits invoked are in the main beneficent.
RELIGION 177
Mangara Deyo is invoked to protect cattle. About a month
before our visit a nephew of the shaman suffered from headache
and fever and woke up in the middle of the night in a great
state of alarm. It was ascertained by stone augury that Mangara
Deyo had sent the sickness, offerings were made to him, and the
youngster speedily recovered.
There are no dances at a man's death or invocations to the
spirits of the dead, nor did there appear to be any particular
spirit who gave luck in hunting, indeed it seemed that game was
little sought, the whole activity of the community being con-
centrated on cattle breeding.
The temple of Mangara Deyo is a small bare hut, with the
roof projecting a few feet beyond that wall in which the door is
cut. The inside of the temple is quite bare except for a narrow
wooden rack about a foot wide which runs round the two side and
back walls at a height of about four feet from the ground. In
one corner of this was a pile of ande of all shapes and sizes which
were said to belong to Mangara Deyo.
ROTAWAEWA.
Mr G. W. Jayawardene writes as follows concerning the
beliefs of the Tamankaduwa "Veddas" described on p. 56,
" They regard Adukganna Hulawali Yaka and Vedi Yaka
as the important yakii. Adukganna Hulawali Yaka is the
spirit to whom they look to be cured of sickness. When any
one is ill he or she or someone on their behalf puts aside
one or two cents which are wrapped in a clean piece of cloth
and from each house an offering of food is made. Vedi Yaka is
the spirit they look to for help in getting game. When an
animal is killed the heart is taken and roasted and offered on
a stick with the end split into four to hold the heart under
a tree." Commenting on this Mr B. Horsburgh writes, "Aduk-
ganna Hulawali Yaka is the spirit of a Vedda who was killed by
King Mahasena for refusing to leave Minneriya tank when he
was going to restore it. The name Adukganna Hulawaliyaka
means Hulawali Yaka who takes the adukkiiwa or present of
food (from the offering made to him). He is only seen in dreams,
s. V. 12
178 THE VEDDAS
when he takes the shape of a well made young man dressed
in white and with a white stick in his hand. Vedi Yaka also
appears only in dreams, as a black man in a cloth with nothing
else particular about him^"
The Avoidance of Certain Foods.
It must be assumed that the following prohibitions are of
a religious or of a magico-religious nature, and for this reason
they are included in the present chapter. They do not appear
to be connected with totemism, yet we do not feel confident that
they are derived from Hinduism, as is suggested by the Sarasins^
In this doubt we have the support of Mr Parker who writes:
" This prohibition appears to have no connection with Hinduism,
or the common Brown Monkey, Rilawd {Macacus pileatus),
would be included, and also the Rat, as the vahana of Ganesa,
and the Turtle as representative of Vishnu ; or some of these^"
Bailey writes, " The Veddahs eat the flesh of elk, deer,
monkeys, pigs, the iguana, and pengolin — all flesh indeed, but
that of oxen, elephants, leopards, and jackals ; and all birds,
except the wild or domestic fowl. They will not touch lizards,
bats, or snakes,
" They can assign no reason for their abstinence from the
flesh of these beasts and birds which I have enumerated, but
their objection to beef and fowls, though quite unexplained,
is decidedly the most marked, so much so that during my
inquiries I found that they spontaneously expressed their
antipathy, though it required cross examination to elicit the
fact that they also avoid the other kinds of fleshy"
We are able to confirm Bailey's statement as far as it
concerns the flesh of mammals, with the reservation that most
Veddas do not eat porcupine. With regard to birds, the Veddas
of Henebedda said they would not eat fowls or eagles. The
majority of Veddas, including even the degenerate Veddas of
the coast, avoid eating fowl, though many of the settled village
Veddas keep them for sale or for the sake of their eggs, and in
1 Both the passages quoted are from a report by Mr Horsburgh to the Colonial
Secretary.
^ Op. cit. p. 415. ^ Ancient Ceylon, p. 191.
* Op. cit. pp. 287 and 288.
RELIGION 179
many places the flesh of the jungle cock is avoided as well as
that of the domesticated bird. Many Veddas when questioned
about fowl said, that though they did not eat it themselves
other Veddas would, and some alleged that the reason for
their abstinence was that fowls eat dirt. The lay members
of the Sitala Wanniya community had no objection to
eating fowl, though Handuna avoided it because he was a
shaman.
Further, those Veddas who eat fowl, avoid eating it when
about to take part in a dance. When discussing this matter at
Sitala Wanniya, Vela, who was not a shaman, was about to take
part in the Dola Yaka ceremony described in Chapter IX, and
it was then explained that this day he must avoid fowl, though
at other times it would not matter if he were to eat it or not.
The reason was not clear, while one man said that it was because
ihe^'a^u did not like fowl, and so would not readily enter him after
he had eaten it, another said that should a man become possessed
after eating fowl it might be difficult to regain consciousness. It
is equally necessary for shamans to avoid eating pig, though the
reason for this was more definitely stated, namely, that the j/aku
disliked this animal.
Although shamans will not eat pig, they have no scruples
with regard to killing it, but they must not touch it or cut it up.
If they were to neglect this observance they would be ill and
shiver for four or five days afterwards, even when seated comfort-
ably in the cave. The arrow with which a pig had been killed
must be cleaned by a man who is not a shaman, and may then
be used again by the shaman. The shaman of the sophisticated
Veddas said that he would eat only rice, coconut milk, salt,
bananas and cow's milk for some days before invoking the
yakii, and this man insisted on having a daily ration of rice for
several days before the Nae Yaku ceremony held after the death
of Tuta. But as all these foods are foreign to the wilder Veddas
and must be obtained by trade, these abstinences have assuredly
been introduced, and certainly no custom of this sort is observed
at Sitala Wanniya or even at Henebedda.
The suggestion that these prohibitions have been taken over
from Hinduism will not explain the equally strong objection to
12 — 2
l8o THE VEDDAS
fowls of the majority of Veddas, or the abstinence from the flesh
of fowls of the shaman in communities, the lay members of which
eat fowl except before dancing. Nor does it explain the similar
abstinence from pig which Mr Parker suggests may be due to
the unclean nature of its food, for it is "an eater of dead bodies
which might be those of human beings^" Further, the abstinence
from the flesh of elephants, leopards and bears is hardly to be
explained as due to foreign influence; we believe that these
animals are not eaten because they are, and always have been,
difficult to hunt by a people as poorly armed as the Veddas,
who were not driven to attempt to kill them on account of the
scarcity of game. There was in fact no necessity to attempt to
kill them, for deer were easier to hunt and more pleasant to eat ;
so the Veddas gave them a wide berth and their flesh was not
regarded as food, and if come by accidentally, as when a dead
elephant was found in the jungle, its flesh was not eaten because
it was new and strange-.
In the same way the flesh of buffalo was not eaten, for
buffalo are perhaps the most dangerous of all Indian animals to
hunt, and as for the flesh of the domestic cattle, it is obvious
that no Veddas except those who kept cattle or were village
Veddas could have had the chance of eating this meat. Once
this stage of sophistication had been reached, abstinence from the
flesh of cattle might easily be dictated by contact with Hinduism,
but hardly before. It is of course questionable how far the
avoidance of strange food because it is strange and has not been
eaten before in the community is a matter of religion, but we have
thought it best to discuss the matter in this place because of the
view which connects these observances with Hinduism.
Addendum.
Since our return to England we have received from Mr Parker
important information concerning the popular beliefs of the
Kandyan Sinhalese of the North Western Province. This in-
formation bears in a most interesting manner upon the beliefs
^ Ancient Ceylon^ p. 191.
^ At Bandaraduwa we were told that once, two or three generations ago, a dead
elephant was found in the jungle but its flesh was not eaten.
RELIGION l8l
which we have classified as belonging to the second and third
strata of the Vedda religion. We therefore propose to give a
short account of these Sinhalese beliefs, but before doing this
we may indicate that in our opinion the Kandyan Sinhalese
must not be considered the pure or nearly pure descendants of
invaders from the Ganges. On the contrary, we believe with
Mr Parker that everywhere throughout the old Vedirata and in
the hills west of the Mahaweliganga the present day Sinhalese
possess a varying and sometimes large amount of Vedda blood.
It is therefore only natural that the beliefs of these peasants
should present a mixture of the beliefs of the aborigines and of
the races which came later into the island. The actual workinsf
beliefs of the Sinhalese are exceedingly complicated ; there is
first the belief in a number of High Gods of whom Skanda — the
Kataragam God — appeared to us to be the most important ^
Then comes the ever-present fear of a countless number of
demons who are responsible for misfortune and disaster, who
must be constantly propitiated. The worship of these has given
rise to a prodigiously elaborate system of demonology compli-
cated by endless local variations and beliefs, intermixed with
which there exists the Bandar cult of the Dead already referred
to in Chapter VI. A reverence for Buddha which, as far as
we could judge, is stronger in the large towns than in the jungle
villages loosely holds together this mass of beliefs which the
people call Buddhism-. It seems obvious that the Bandar cult
represents the remains of the primitive Cult of the Dead which
appears to have been the religion of the early non-Aryan in-
habitants of the whole of Southern India.
This view has the support of Mr Parker, who writes, " The
' Mr Parker writes, "The most important of the Hindu Gods in the opinion of the
Kandian Sinhalese is Vishnu, termed by them Ma Vis Unnanse. I rather think that
Ganesa, termed Gana Deviya, should be placed next, the statues of these two, only
being found in the wiharas.
" The name of Skanda, Kataragama Deviya, is perhaps oftenest on their lips; but
on the whole he does not appear to hold quite as important a position with the
villagers as Ayiyanar, the son of Mohini. Both are powerful Forest Gods."
^ The orthodox Sinhalese Buddhists separate their beliefs in the Indian Gods and
in demons from Buddhism. Mr Parker points out that " even the erection of the
statues of Vishnu and Ganesa in the wiharas is of comparatively recent date, and is
not altogether approved of by the monks."
l82 THE VEDDAS
Sinhalese demonology is very interesting There are many
classes of Yaku ; but I believe that this Bandara worship is the
only indigenous portion of it. I have traced practically all the
other demons to Southern India, although the Kapuralas claim
that a few others, in addition to the Bandaras, are of local origin.
They themselves admit that all the rest are imported from
India."
Among these immigrant spiritual beings is one, the Gale
Deviyo, who appears to be originally identical with the Gale Yaka
of the village Veddas and the Indigollae Yaka of other groups.
Mr Parker states that the Gale Deviyo is popularly supposed
to have come from India with his Prime Minister Kurumbuda ;
he is worshipped in Uva, the North Central and North Western
Provinces. " He is a beneficent God, who gives food and rain
and guards the crops and prevents or checks epidemics." Two
miles from the temple at Nirammulla are two caves, and in one
of these Kurumbuda killed sixty priests who were there assembled,
in order to take possession of the cave himself. Gale Deviyo is
danced to annually in July or August on the summit of crags.
The dancer, called anmtiaetirala (i.e. one subject to command)
represents the god ; in the temple he assumes a three-tiered hat
and holds a golden katty {ran kaettd), and the spirit of the god
enters him without any of the usual phenomena of possession.
The man who made the katty (or one of his descendants) and the
dhobie who washed his clothes accompany the dancer to the
foot of the crag which he ascends alone. The hat, katty, and
flounces which the dancer wears are kept in the temple.
" In the North Central Province the chief temple of the God
is at Indigollaewa, on the southern side of Kalawaewa, The
'dancing rock' {natana gala) near it is called Andiyagala. In
the North Western Province his chief temple is at Nirammulla,
15 miles N.E. of Kurunegala ; and its two 'dancing rocks' are
on Devagiriya ' the Hill of the God,' where his original temple
was established in a cave which he took by force from the monks
killed by Kurumbuda."
Mr Parker points out that it is quite certain that the Gale
Deviyo is identical with the Gale Yaka of some at least of the
village Veddas, for " there is the same service to him everywhere.
RELIGION 183
and the same tradition of his coming from Malawara-desa, our
Maleiyalam, accompanied by his minister Kurumbuda, called
a Yaka, but also by the Kandians a Devata or Godling.
" I got the same account of him from the Tamil-speaking
Vaeddas, the Vaeddas of Maha Oya district, the forests south of
it, Maduru Oya district, and the extreme south of the Batticaloa
district, and the Sinhalese of Uva, North Central Province and
North Western Province. He is worshipped in all these three
Sinhalese districts. There can be no doubt as to his being
a God of the Village Vaeddas..., All in these districts appeal to
him in cases of epidemics The Tamil-speaking Veddas told
me that although called yaka he is really their God of all, who
taught them everything they know and the names of things
and animals, and instructed them regarding their dances.
" The Tamil-speaking Vaeddas address him as ' Lord God/
' Lord of the Country,' ' Hill Lord ' (Maleiya Swami).
" The Tamil-speaking Vaeddas give me the very same account
of the arrival of the Gale Yaka and the Gale Deviyo as those of
Bintenne and the Sinhalese of the Noith Western Province.
They all agree that he came from Malawara-desa — the Malayalam
country — with one minister, and the only point where they do
not agree is as to the place where he landed. Some say Kokka-
gala, others Valeichena on the coast, and the Sinhalese say he
came to some hills in their part."
Mr Parker states that the Sinhalese all call Gale Deviyo the
god of the Veddas, and the village Veddas told him that a
ceremony similar to that described in the North Central Province
is performed on Omungala and Kokkagala in the Bintenne.
There are temples to him throughout all the village Vedda
districts "just like their own huts that might be passed without
notice unless specially informed what they are." Where there
is no rocky crag on which to dance, the ceremony is performed
beneath a tree, and this occurs among the coast Veddas.
Mr Parker points out that Gale Deviyo must not be confused with
Gale Bandar who came with four or five followers in a stone
boat from India and landed near Galle.
To sum up, Mr Parker's observations show that the Gale
Deviyo of the Sinhalese of the North Central Province is regarded
1 84 THE VEDDAS
as an immigrant God from beyond the ocean. Mr Parker
states that he is also the most important God of the coast
Veddas, and this is supported by our observation that the coast
Veddas call their most important God Kappalpei, " Ship Spirit"
(Mr Parker suggests " ship demon "), and say that he came from
over seas. It is therefore clear that among Sinhalese and coast
Veddas a foreign spiritual agency is considered the most
important of the Gods and temples are raised to him. This
God is danced to on certain crags by the Sinhalese, and similar
rites occur among some of the sophisticated Veddas of the
Bintenne who also say that the spiritual agency Gale Yaka
whom they invoke in this ceremony is a foreigner.
In many communities of Veddas, far less sophisticated than
the village Veddas, we were told about spirits who inhabited
rock-masses or hills such as Walimbagala, but these did not at
all correspond to the Gale Deviyo of Mr Parker. It was perfectly
clear that to the majority of Veddas they really were simply
local unnamed yakti, who were spoken of by the name of the
peak or rock supposed to be their favourite haunt, and in only
one advanced community were these spirits bearing hill names
considered to be immigrants from India'. We therefore consider
that the Gale Yaka of the village Veddas has been adopted
from the Sinhalese by the more advanced communities of Veddas
where alone he is known, and that although the foreign rite of
dancing to him on crags is still retained, he has to some extent
taken on Vedda characters as witnessed by his invocation at
the ahUyakagavia ceremony described in Chapter IX.
The temple of the Gale Deviyo at Indigollaewa in the North
Central Province has already been mentioned. His wife the
Kiriamma is worshipped here with him, and God and Goddess
are sometimes spoken of as Indigollaewa Devia and Indigollaewa
Kiriamma. Concerning him Mr Parker writes, " I collected
accounts of him in all parts, and about Indigollaewa in the North
Central Province where his temple is, and they all agree that he
is the Gale Yaka, while the Sinhalese of Indigollaewa know him
^ Cf. Chapter IX, in which is described the ruwala c-jremony by which these
spirits are propitiated.
RELIGION 185
only as the Gale Deviyo." "The Sinhalese of Indigollaewa and
some of the settled Vaeddas near Maha Oya make offerings to
the Gale Yaka and the Kiriamma, as his wife, together ; no
offerings, however, are made to her on the hill tops, which are
reserved for the Gale Yaka.... She is a great food provider for
the Vaeddas. Some call her Indigollae Kiriamma ; others
Kukulapola Kiriamma ; but both names referred to the same
person, they said."
At Unuwatura Bubula, where there is a small settlement of
Veddas, we saw Gale Yaka invoked (see ahityakagamd) in a
dance in which the Nae Yaku and Rahu Yaku were also
invoked. At the same dance a female spirit came, about whom
there was some confusion, she may have been one of the Nae
Yakini, or she may have been the Kiriamma who was certainly
known. Unfortunately the Kapurale who performed this dance
became ill after it and so was unable to discuss the matter with
us. Certainly Gale Yaka, Indigollae Yaka and Kande Yaka
were all known by name, but there seemed much confusion
between them all, perhaps Gale Yaka had become lord of the
dead and so usurped the place of Kande Yaka, as he was invoked
before the Nae Yaku in the same ceremony. Kande Yaka and
Bilindi Yaka were invoked at a separate dance (see p. 229,
btdatyahana). No hint was given us that Gale Yaka and
Indigollae Yaka might be names for the same spirit, but of course
this may have been so. The information that Indigollae Yaka
was extremely powerful both for good and evil and for successful
hunting, was volunteered, and some especially v^aluable beads
were kept to offer him.
At Sitala Wanniya we heard of Indigollae Yaka. The invo-
cation given in Chapter X (No. XXlll) clearly shows that he is of
foreign origin, and we were told that Riri Yaka was another name
for the same spirit. Now Riri Yaka is the Sinhalese and Tamil
blood-devil, a demon with particularly well marked characteristics
and considered extremely dangerous. There is thus no doubt
that at Indigollaewa the "God of Indigollaewa" is the Gale
Deviyo, and he retains this character among the village Veddas,
but among the wilder Veddas he acquires Vedda characteristics,
becomes an attendant on Kande Yaka, and as a foreigner may
1 86 THE VEDDAS
be confused with other adopted and therefore Httle known
yakic.
The position of the Indigollaewa Kiriamma and her relation
to the Kiriamma of the Veddas is comparatively simple. Among
the wilder Veddas there are certain female spirits, ^cyaku of old
women called kiriamma (lit. grandmothers) who were especially
fond of children, and would occasionally steal them. They
sometimes caused sickness. Most of these live on rocks, and at
Sitala Wanniya we were told that the Maha Kiriamma was
the chief of these and the Maha Yakini were her attendants.
All \\iQst. yakino vv^ere said to be the wives of Veddas who lived
long ago and in no case was the Kiriamma ever mentioned as
the wife of the Gale Yaka or of Indigollae Yaka. At Unuvvatura
Bubula a Gale Yakini was mentioned, and this may have been
the female spirit who was invoked after Gale Yaka, and in that
case it seems reasonable to suppose that she was the original
Maha Kiriamma or Maha Yakini of the Veddas, who has become
confused with the foreign Kiriamma (identified by Mr Parker
with Mohini in Ceylon), the wife of the foreign Gale Deviyo,
who probably was introduced through the Sinhalese to the
village Veddas at a very early date ^
Although she does not appear to have passed from the
village Veddas to the wilder Veddas, her consort has been
carried on as Indigollae Yaka. Further, although when investi-
gating the beliefs of the less sophisticated Veddas we knew
nothing of the foreign Gale Yaka and the Indigollae Kiriamma,
we feel confident, from much information volunteered to us, that
Indigollae Yaka was an attendant spirit, and there was no con-
nection in the minds of the Veddas between him and their own
kiriamma who were the wives of long dead Veddas.
Even among the Sinhalese the relationship between the Gale
Deviyo and the Maha Kiriamma varies in a manner that suggests
that the connection between the two is late. Mr Parker writes,
" The Kandians of the North West Province know of no wife
of the God of the Rock, and I believe that they alone have pre-
served the correct tradition in this respect... for it is everywhere
^ Reference is made on p. 188 to Mr Parker's view that Gale Deviyo is the original
supreme god of the Veddas.
RELIGION 187
agreed that when the Gale Yaka came to Ceylon he was accom-
panied only by Kurumbuda. No doubt she had been taken
over from the Tamils, through the Sinhalese of the North
Central Province, to provide a suitable wife for the Gale Yaka.
Probably she is the one called the Alut Devi, the New
Goddess."
There is another matter to which we may refer, namely,
a suggested relationship of Kande Yaka to Kanda Swami the
Kataragam God. This is a matter to which we paid much
attention in the field. The circumstances which at first suggest
the identity appear to be the similarity in name, and the fact
that " Kandaswami's brother... an important deity in the Hindu
temples is commonly called Pillaiar or 'the child.'" Further,
it has been suggested that because " Kandaswami's favourite
weapon is the vel or lance," therefore it is " most probably the
original of the" ceremonial arrow "which plays so large a part
in Vedda ceremonies." The passages between quotation marks
are by Mr P. Arunachalam and are quoted because he has put
the case for the identity of Kande Yaka and the Kataragam
God more strongly than anyone else \
Remembering that the Veddas are bowmen and that until
a few generations ago all genuine Veddas were dependent for
their livelihood on the bow, the last argument seems to us of
little force.
We have already (in Chapter vil) made mention of the
celebrated temple at Kataragam and of the extent of its influence
among the Veddas-. At Bandaraduwa and other places where
the temple at Kataragam is known by repute, and at Henebedda
in the Nilgala district, the god is called the " Kataragam God "
and not Kanda Swami {swami " lord "). At these places Kande
1 We quote from the report in the Ceylon Observa- (May 26th, 1908) of
Mr Arunachalam's remarks in a discussion on a paper read by one of us before the
Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
2 Cf. Bailey [op. cit. pp. 304—305), "The far-famed Hindu Temple of Kataragam
which attracts thousands of pilgrims annually from India and is regarded with awe by
the Sinhalese is dedicated to Skanda...of the existence of Skanda or of Kataragam the
Veddas are profoundly ignorant."' Bailey spoke of the Nilgala Veddas who at the
time he wrote must have been in much the same condition as the Sitala Wanniya
community is to-day.
1 88 THE VEDDAS
Yaka is also known, he is always looked upon as a Vedda hero
famous for his prowess in killing sambur, he is regarded as
a powerful but benevolent spirit who never causes sickness, and
who, when invoked and given certain offerings of food, grants
luck in hunting. The Kataragam God on the other hand is
everywhere held in awe, and acknowledged to be the most
fearful of all gods.
Although we do not consider Kande Yaka and Skanda
identical we are inclined to agree with Mr Parker that " the two
may have been confounded by the Gangetic settlers, Skanda
being also known as Kanda Kumara, and being a Hill-god."
Any such confusion would be bound to react on the beliefs of
the village Veddas or of those communities which later gave
rise to the village Veddas. Mr Parker continues, " In Ancient
Ceylon I have pointed out that Kataragama was an important
station in the third century B.C., and suggested that the first
settlers who landed near Kirinde... may have concluded from the
similarity of names that he and Skanda were the same deity."
Since the above was written Mr Parker has been so good as
to send us for perusal a part of the proof sheets of his work
Ancient Ceylon. We may perhaps be allowed to comment on
his main thesis that the Gale Yaka or Gale Deviyo is the god of
the earliest inhabitants of Ceylon, and therefore of the Veddas.
In the first place Mr Parker's information concerning the
Gale Deviyo was obtained from village Veddas, and the Tamil-
speaking Veddas whom we call coast Veddas. He also states
that the cult of this God is widely spread among Sinhalese
villagers of the North Central and North Western Provinces.
We have noted that we found no trace of the Gale Yaka
among the wilder Veddas, although allowed to participate in
their ceremonies. However^ we heard of Indigollae Yaka as an
attendant on Kande Yaka, and although it may be that among
the peasant Sinhalese and village Veddas these names are
synonymous, this is certainly not the case among the less sophisti-
cated Veddas. Again, Mr Parker states that the emblem of the
God is the Ran-kaetta the "Golden Bill-hook" {^Ancient Ceylon,
p. 189). This cannot be regarded as a ^'edda emblem, for
the bill-hook is unknown to the Veddas, who are essentially
RELIGION 189
bowmen, and among whom the arrow in its ordinary or cere-
monial form is associated with the invocation of their dead and
the other j/aku whom they worship.
It therefore seems reasonable to suppose that the Gale Yaka
is an immigrant god introduced by the Sinhalese to the village
Veddas. The fact that politically organized Veddas are men-
tioned in the Mahavansa as possessing a temple dedicated to
the Vyadha Deva^ — the Vedda God — in the great city of Anurad-
hapura in the fourth century B.C. does not seem to us to bear
upon the condition of the wilder Veddas, nor do we follow
Mr Parker's identification of this God with the Gale Yaka. All
the facts adduced by Mr Parker seem to us to be most readily
explained by the interaction of Sinhalese and village Veddas as
indicated in Chapter I.
^ Mahavansa, Chapter x, p. 43 (Tournour's translation).
CHAPTER VIII
MAGIC
In the chapters upon religion we have described those
ceremonies and observances of the Veddas which depend for
their efficacy upon the successful appeal to some extra-human
personal influence. In this section we shall discuss a number of
actions which we consider magical, that is, actions which are
expected to produce the required result automatically by virtue
of their own intrinsic qualities.
One of the first things we noted during our stay in the
Vedda country was the very slight part which magic played in
the life of the Veddas. The more we saw of the people the
more convinced we became of this. It seems to us that among
the uncontaminated Veddas of two or three generations ago
magical practices were almost entirely absent, and even at the
present day the few remaining Veddas who have not been much
exposed to foreign influence have scarcely any customs that are
truly magical.
We include in this chapter the custom which formerly
existed of eating a small piece of human liver in times of
great stress, for even if this custom be not considered magical in
the strict sense, it is clearly based on principles which lie at the
root of many magical beliefs.
Since it is important to make thoroughly clear the absence
of many forms of magic, we shall consider the condition of the
different communities with regard to some of the most commonly
occurring forms.
Magic directed against the Individual.
This is completely absent except among the village Veddas,
which is all the more surprising in view of the extraordinary
MAGIC 191
prevalence among the Sinhalese of magic having for its object
the production of disease and death. Even the Henebedda
Veddas, who have adopted a number of Sinhalese charms
against animals, do not believe in this form of magic. The
presence of a woman with wasting of both legs and contracture,
the result of a long-standing ulcerative process of obscure origin
which developed spontaneously, enabled this to be tested.
Although we discussed this woman's condition with a number
of Veddas it was only once suggested, and then very doubtfully,
that it might have been due to Sinhalese himiyam magic\ and
it was clear that to the community generally this woman's
disease was simply an accident, the origin of which they did not
understand and did not trouble about.
Though Veddas, and especially Vedda women, are extremely
shy there is no belief in the evil eye, or in the danger of being
" overlooked."
Charms protective against Animals.
The bear is the only animal that the Veddas really fear, and
there is no doubt that a number of Veddas and jungle-dwelling
Sinhalese are mauled each year, indeed, at least one man in
each community that we visited bore the marks of the bear's
paws. Bear's flesh~is not eaten and we doubt if Veddas ever
voluntarily attack a bear, though there is no doubt that they
sometimes kill one that has attacked them. Hence, the bear is
called the " enemy " and his name is seldom mentioned nor is he
represented among the rock paintings at Pihilegodagalge
although the leopard, who steals the Vedda dogs and is hated
in consequence, is represented. When questioned on the subject
our male informants said nothing, but a number of women
looked surprised and one said quite decidedly that no one would
paint a bear. The words used in speaking of the bear are of
1 That the huniyam idea was foreign to the one Vedda who suggested it, was
proved by the results of further questioning, when our informant gave an outhne
of one of the commonest Sinhalese beliefs as to the method of preparation and action
of huniyam charms. The reference to huniyam in one of the "Vedda charms"
published by Mr De Zoysa (Journal Ceylon Branch R. A. S., Vol. vii, 1881, p. 103),
cannot be taken to invalidate our conclusions, for many of these charms show
undoubted Sinhalese influence.
192 THE VEDDAS
interest from this standpoint. We believe that in most Vedda
communities walaJia the ordinary word for bear is seldom or
never used^ certainly this was the case at Sitala Wanniya where
the word ordinarily used for bear was keria. This word was
not considered a dangerous word to use when all bears were at
a distance, but when there was any possibility of coming in
contact with a bear the animal was spoken of as hatera, the
meaning of this word being "enemy" or "adversary." On one
occasion when with Handuna of Sitala Wanniya we came to
a hill covered with irregularly weathered rocks and known to be
the haunt of bears, Handuna shouted hatera yanda ("enemy
begone") before taking an abrupt turn in the track which here
skirted a mass of rock. He repeated this sentence two or three
times in a loud voice and assured us that we could now proceed
without running the least risk of meeting a bear, and he himself
led us round the rock with every appearance of careless ease,
explaining that even if bears were about they would have heard
what he had said and would have moved away. Two of the
Henebedda Veddas exhibited the same appearance of careless-
ness when guiding us to a rock-shelter which though sometimes
used by Veddas had not been tenanted for some time and bore
obvious signs of being the lair of a bear. Sita Wanniya, our
guide, explained his attitude by his belief in the power of the
charms with which he was confident he could put any bear to
flight.
These charms were recited in a loud voice, in fact the last
words were almost shrieked and would doubtless have turned
any bear, for it is a well known fact that the Sinhalese bear
fears man and only attacks when surprised or cornered. This
is shown by the circumstances in which the majority of accidents
with bears occur. A man coming silently along a narrow jungle
track suddenly meets a bear, or disturbs one grubbing behind a
white ant heap. It is then that the bear, as much frightened as
the man, charges inflicting severe though seldom, fatal injuries.
1 We met with one obvious exception to this rule, the Henebedda youths Sita
Wanniya and Poromala used the word walaha quite freely even in the jungle, and old
Poromala, half of whose face was torn away by a bear some years ago, has been
nicknamed Walaha, the Bear. This name was, however, given him by the Sinhalese.
MAGIC 193
Bailey's remarks on these charms, which unfortunately he does
not quote, are extremely pertinent. " I shall never forget the
first time one of these Vedda charms was recited for my
edification. It was midnight ; I was in the heart of a dense
and gloomy forest, twenty miles from any habitation....
I was chatting to an intelligent Vedda at my side and then
learnt for the first time, that they had charms....! begged
him to recite one — and, in an instant, the forest re-echoed with
such unearthly yells, that I felt he would be a bold bear indeed,
whose heart did not die within him, and whose legs did not
carry him far out of hearing of the repeated and discordant
' behegang ! wirooowee ! wiroowah ! ' which formed the burden
of the charm. Of its perfect efficacy, my friend had no doubt ;
nor indeed had I, but he was rather huffed when I suggested
that the mere noise may have had something to do with its
success^"
A youth, Kaira of Bingoda, wore a number of bone beads
on his waist string. He refused to sell these or exchange them
for other beads or cloth, and though obviously not desirous of
discussing them, stated that he had made them by grinding
down the bones of a bear which he had found in the jungle.
Although the remains of animals are not commonly found we
did ourselves find the remains of one bear which we identified
with certainty by the skull which was tolerably well preserved.
The wearing of these beads as a matter of personal feeling by a
single Vedda, if not exactly an example of magic, seems to us
to be an example of the mode of thought from which magical
practices spring and perhaps an example of an early experiment
in magic, which under favourable circumstances might give rise
to an amulet of bear's bone.
The Veddas of Sitala Wanniya have no charms against
bears or other animals and the only charms directed towards
this end that we could discover were a number obviously of
Sinhalese origin which we collected at Henebedda. Probably
these are not of very recent introduction, for we obtained some
of them from old Poromala, nicknamed Walaha. Poromala
is one of the oldest men of the community and is its leader as
1 op. cit. p. 289.
s. V. 13
194 THE VEDDAS
far as a leader can be said to exist, and he told us that he had
learnt these invocations as a boy.
We regret that the names of our informants were not noted
in every case in the following charms, but we give them where
possible. The transliterations and translations of these charms
as well as the comments on them are by Mr Parker who points
out that the word On occurring in a number of them is the
Indian Otn'^.
The first two charms are directed against bears.
Arini kurini, naga paid ge ja hure, jah.
Venerable one of noble family (?). O Lord, born in a house in a rock-
hole. Be off!
Mr Parker writes, " I do not know the meaning of the first
two words of the spell, arini kiirini. Probably arini is derived
from drya and the honorific ending ;//, meaning ' the venerable
one.' In that case the second word may be kiilina, ' of noble
family,' and the whole translation would be as given. Patd for
pataJia, a hole, hollow or pool."
This charm was given us by Poromala of Bingoda who said
he had known it a long time. Its meaning could not be
ascertained in the field. The next charm was obtained from
Tissahami, the Vedda Arachi, who said it had been used in his
youth by the Kovil Vanamai Veddas.
On Dahasak Budunne kunu goden upan Nila Kandige bade ttpan
JVildda Ntltda, nil, po add, 7nl, po adi, poh.
On/ Born in the womb of Nlla (the blue-black) Kandl, born from the
Jieap of filth of a thousand Buddhas (or sages), whether (you are) Nlla or
Nlll (the blue-black one, m. or f.). Stop ! Go thou (m.) ! Stop ! Go thou
(f.). Be off !
The first part is ordinary Sinhalese ; the orders to go are in
Tamil.
1 "This word begins nearly all invocations, and it is stated in the Vishnu Piirana
(Wilson, p. ■273) that 'The syllable Otn is defined to be the eternal monosyllabic
Brahma.' On p. 274 Wilson adds (f. n.) 'The daily prayers of the Brahman commence
with the formula Om bhiiii, biiiivali, swar; Om, earth, sky, heaven.'
"In the Sacr-cd Laws of tlie Aiyas (Buhler), i. 4, 6 (Aphorisms of Apastamba) it is
said ' The syllable " Om " is the door of heaven.' At i. 4, 8 also ' And in common life,
at the occasion of ceremonies perfoniied for the sake of welfare, the sentences shall be
headed by this word, as, for instance, " ((9w) an auspicious day! " " (Om) welfare." "
MAGIC 195
Mr Parker writes, " This looks like a very modern spell.
The speaker treats the bear contemptuously ; but I cannot
explain the reference to the sages. He wishes the bear to
understand the very inferior position he occupies, in his
opinion."
The next charm applies to the elephant.
On! Aeri sinna ivayird naeri sinna suwdgayd, natno. St.
On ! Excited (or strong) elephant, angry one, stout elephant. Saluta-
tion ! homage ! Be ofif !
We could obtain no satisfactory translation of this charm.
Mr Parker writes, " The difficult words in this spell are aeri
and naeri. Such spells as these almost always commence
by applying honourable epithets to the animals, and there-
fore a probable derivation of the former word is from airya
(Skt root zr), with the meaning ' excited,' ' aroused,' or from
iraya ' strong.'
" Naeri is perhaps derived from neriyanawd, to grow stout
or obese, although the change from e to ae is unusual. The
translation would then be as above.
" Sinna, for sringa, a horn ; compare sringin, an elephant,
derived from the same word.
" Wayirawd. This was translated in Ceylon as Bhairava, but
the Sinhalese form for this deity is Bahirawa, and I prefer the
meaning given above, from the Tamil vayiram, angry, and
avan, he.
" Snwdgayd appears literally to mean ' may you go to
heaven,' szuarga ; but compare swdgata ' salutation ' from sinua
and agata."
Mr De Zoysa gives the following charm as a protection
against elephants but he does not give its origin.
Ichchata vallay
Pachchaia vallay
Dela devallay
Situ appa situ.
A hanging member in front (trunk)
A hanging member behind (tail)
On two sides two hanging members (the two ears)
Stay, beast, stay !
13—2
196 THE VEDDAS
The next two charms were given by Tissahami the Vedda
Arachi as protections against the leopard and the buffalo
respectively. They were said to be in use at Bandaraduwa but
owing to an oversight this statement was not verified.
OnJ Sinhan Sivattha vedippiilaya ttam ata kata am. Si.
On I O Lion, for the sake of Siva, if you are one who has escaped from
shooting, may (your) foot and mouth be appeased. Be off !
The words of this charm are chiefly Tamil.
Sivattha from Siva and atthain, on account of.
Vedippiilaya for Vedippileiydr (honorific) from Vedi " a shot,"
and pilei to escape from a danger.
Am, V. dru, "to cool," "be appeased," "repose."
Si for isi, an expression used in driving away cats.
Mr Parker points out that " remembrance of the danger from
which he himself escaped is expected to cause the leopard to
sympathise with and to spare the man."
On. Nd Waeraellige pitta Rana Devatdwd Andungri paruivate waeda
indagena Kalugal rusiydtayi to anne mata no weyi. Howu dda howu.
On. Rana Devata, son of Naga-Waeraelli (f.), thou shalt strike the
Kalugal (Black-rock) Ascetic who sits on the Andun-giri (Black-hill)
mountain ; not me. Be off, be off !
Mr Parker does not know anything about the Rana Devata
(Godling of Fighting) or his mother, or the Ascetic, but the
charm suggests to him that the Devata is believed to inspire
the buffalo to attack men.
Bailey gives the following charm against an animal called
okma which he says is the wild boar, though Mr Parker considers
that the okma is the buffalo and this view is also taken by
Mr De Zoysa. We are inclined to agree with them and there-
fore quote this charm here.
Iri deyyanne dktna
Sanda deyyanne okma
Pase Budunne okma
Situ okma situ
Okma of the Sun-god I
Okma of the Moon-god !
Okma of the Pase Budu !
Stay, Okma, stay !
MAGIC 197
The great interest of this spell is that Bailey obtained it
from the Nilgala Veddas over fifty years ago, and that he was
able to trace the Sinhalese charm against toothache — from
which it was derived.
Ira deyene ceyd !
Sanda deyefie ceya !
Passe Budutte ceyd !
Date nositoo dat ceyd!
Worm of the sun-god !
Worm of the moon-god !
Worm of the Passe Buddha !
Stay not in the tooth, thou tooth-worm.
Bailey recognised the importance of this discovery, for he
wrote, " These are identical ; yet the Veddahs and the Sinhalese
certainly do not associate so closely as to borrow one another's
charms... .The term okma I can get no satisfactory ex-
planation of It is not Sinhalese, certainly I assume it means
' wild boar,' and this is the charm to arrest a boar in the path ;
but it is not the term used by the Veddahs for a boar in ordinary
conversation. The allusion to the Base, or Bache Buddha, is
curious as occurring in both... .The other Veddah charms
are, I believe, quite unlike those of the Sinhalese, but on that
point I am still making enquiries... ^"
The next two charms are against snakes and were obtained
from Boromala (Walaha) of Henebedda and Boromala of
Bingoda.
It is necessary for the efficacy of the first of these charms
that a string of human hair be bound round the limb above the
bite. The hand of the operator is then carried down the limb
repeatedly as he mutters the charm, the thumb nail being flicked
against the ground each time the hand has passed down the
legl This is to drive the poison into the ground. The string
of hair is not the purposeful beginning of rational treatment ;
we believe that it was not considered necessary to tie the hair
^ Op. cit. p. 304.
There can be little doubt that this and similar charms crept into the beliefs of the
wilder Veddas at the same time and in the same way as the yaku of village Veddas,
e.g. Unapane Kiriamma, became known to the wilder Veddas.
- Snake bites in the jungle are invariably on the leg.
198 THE VEDDAS
String at all tightly and our informants were perfectly certain
that the benefit derived from this treatment (which Poromala
assured us he had seen succeed more than once) was due to the
virtue of the hair of the head w^iich might equally well be that
of the snake's victim, or of any one else.
Nanid. Nayin gini kelemi, polangun daratia kalani, karaivalu malu
kalemi, pansiyak sarpayin in aes gaesi, is gaesi, dala gaesil, luisa baesi
maha polowata deswdha.
Salutation ! I set fire to cobras, I coil up (or split up) polongas {Daboia
russelli), I make curry of karawilas {Bungarus sp.). From five hundred
snakes the eyes are knocked out, the heads are beaten, the teeth are knocked
out, and the poison is sent down to the earth. Eswaha !
'' Namo is a Pali expression, borrowed from Buddhist
works etc. in which it takes the place occupied by oni in India.
It is derived from the Skt. root nam, to bend, bow etc.
" Malu is the colloquial word for curry ; also for meat, but the
latter word is not suitable here. The Sinhalese never say
'I made meat of anything.
'' D eswaha from da, the conjunction 'and' in combination
with csiuaha. The last two words of the charm should be
polozvatada eswaha."
Ahasata guru kawitda guru ? Aha(sa) la guru ira sanda
de guru..
Polawata guru kawuda guru? Polawata guru Mihikat
devuru.
Nayiiida guru katvuda guru ? Nayida guru Ndga guru.
Viseta guru kawu{da) guru ? Viseta guru mamayi guru.
Vise basin Hid guru mdtd. Me dese gurun anen yayi dese.
Polon vise ddra vise. To nedana to daesta kale nam.
Man daena visa bannam, vise naeti bahu Gurupprardja yd nam.
On namo.
The preceptor of the sky, who is the preceptor ?
The preceptor of the sky, the Sun and the Moon are the two
preceptors.
The preceptor of the earth, who is the preceptor ?
The preceptor of the earth, the great Goddess Mahikantawa
is the preceptor.
And the preceptor of the cobras, who is the preceptor .?
MAGIC 199
The preceptor of the cobras, the Naga is the preceptor.
The preceptor of poison, who is the preceptor ?
The preceptor to poison, I am the preceptor.
For casting down poison (there is) the mother of the teacher
of the three worlds (Buddha).
The preceptor of this country will go to another country
(after death).
The poison of Polangas is the limit of poison. If thou, not
knowing (me), shouldst make (it) for (thy) two eyes, I will
bind (on thee) the poisons which I know, going (afterwards, out
of thy reach) to the excellent king of many garuda, who have
no poison. On ! salutation !
" A giirii, is a teacher or preceptor, one who has complete
knowledge of the subject. A student's teacher is his guru.
The word is also especially used to indicate a Brahman who is
thoroughly acquainted with the Vedas and the forms of religious
ceremonies, and who acts as a king's chaplain. Brihaspati, the
deity of the planet Jupiter, was the guru of the Gods\
" Mahikantawa is the Earth Goddess, or personification of
the earth.
" Ndga are supernatural beings who take either a human
form or that of cobras, at will. I think the reference to Maya,
the mother of Buddha, means that by bringing into the world
such a son she has reduced the poison of evil deeds and
thoughts, which are compared to those of the poisonous snakes.
The poison of the polanga {Daboia russelli) is said to be the
most powerful of all snake poisons. It is stated that persons
sometimes die within five minutes after being bitten by this
snake, and usually within half an hour. There is an idea that
some snakes have the power of projecting poison from their eyes.
" The garuda is a fabulous bird which feeds on poisonous
snakes, especially cobras."
We failed to obtain any coherent account of the meaning of
1 In the Ordinances of Mami (Burnell's translation) ii, i and 2, it is stated "That
Brahman is called Guru who performs according to rule the rites on conception and
the like, and feeds (the child) with rice (for the first time)." At ii, 149 it is said,
"He who confers the benefit of the Veda on anyone, be it little or be it much, he
should know him to be here his Guru, by reason of that benefit through the Veda."
200 THE VEDDAS
this charm in the field and are indebted to Mr Parker for the
following explanation. " I think I understand the meaning of
this invocation quite clearly. The reciter says ' As the Sun and
Moon are the preceptors, or the beings or deities who have a
complete knowledge of the sky ; as Mahikantawa has complete
knowledge of the earth ; as Nagas have complete knowledge of
cobras, so I have complete knowledge of all poisons.' He first
wishes to impress the snake with a belief in his powers, and then
he threatens it."
The next charm given by Poromala of Bingoda cures the
bite of the centipede, but neither Poromala nor Tissahami the
Vedda Arachi could tell us the meaning of the spell.
Nangara gtirn, nangara guru, nangara potakun aeragena vtsakutt.
Man atu bmdagena, rattaeyd pdgdgena, aeli inodard pita siiagena, ape
guriin sihikaragena, mama yanne visa bdgena, to nedana to daesta kale nam
man dae7ia visa baemjtan, eyin taekaeij) vise naeta bahu Gurupprardja
yanam. On namo !
Vile preceptors, vile preceptors, poisonous ones taking (with youj vile
young ones !
I, breaking branches, trampling on the Centipede, sitting on the back of
the White Peacock, reflecting on our preceptors, I will go (only after) casting
out the poisons. If thou, not knowing (me), shouldst make (poison) for
(thy) two eyes^, I will bind (on thee) the poisons which I know, after (?) that
going to the excellent king of many garudas, who have no poison. On,
Salutation !
" The centipede is here treated with much less respect than
the vertebrates, and the last two words must be said ironically.
The breaking of branches refers to the custom of making ofTer-
ings of leafy twigs when asking for the protection of the forest
Deities. I do not know the white peacock, aeli inonard. (The
bird is sometimes colloquially called mondard.) It may be the
peacock that is the riding animal or vahana of the God Skanda,
which is carved at the Tanjore temple with a snake hanging
from its bill. Peacocks kill centipedes as well as snakes.
" The preceptors on whom the exorcist reflects will be those
mentioned in the spell for cobras — that is Buddha, the Sun and
Moon, Mahikantawa, and the Nagas who are guardian deities.
Possibly also Skanda and Ayiyanar, the Guardian Forest Deities
' Another reading is, If thou (even) unwittingly, hast inade (poison) for (thy) two
eyes.
MAGIC 20 1
of the Sinhalese. I do not understand taekae, there may have
been some mistake in writing down the charm."
Charms to Obtain Food.
Neither amulets nor verbal formulae are used to insure
straight shooting or the killing of deer or sambar, the two
animals providing the greater part of the flesh consumed by
the Veddas ; nor are there amulets or charms to obtain success
in pig hunting. Doubtless this is because the yakjc when
properly invoked give success in these matters. There are,
however, no yakti whose special business it is to give success
in the monkey drives which are, or were until recently, practised,
and we found that certain formulae were sung by the members
of the driving party, and in some case muttered by the men
who waited in ambush for the monkeys to be driven to them.
And we were told that the singing or reciting of these formulae
was necessary to the success of the drive.
Mr Parker uses the diminutive "doggie" in the translations
of the two following charms collected at Bandaraduwa in order
to retain the sense of the originals, which clearly indicates that
the reciter is speaking coaxingly to the monkeys. The words
of the charm are literally "dog" and "bitch," the use of which
in the translation would give a wrong impression. In one
charm the hunters call the monkeys to them assuring them
that they are quite safe, for certainly they cannot shoot them.
Charm sung while driving Wandura monkeys (Bandaraduwa).
Avivtd may a ?ia kolanddni
Kolandan kando pita yannt
Eki kiyald inno kdto,
Ekit awald yandama yanni.
" Taek^ taekj'' kiyald wdren balld.
'•'• Kik, kik" kiyald wdren baelli.
Ndivini niigaii kando pito,
Ekita dun7iak widala kodoyi
Eki yajidatna yandama yanni.
Keliyen keliyata wdren balld,
Keli 7nadaldgena duwagena ware.
Mother mine, the leaf-clad chief,
Pops behind a leafy trunk ;
202 THE VEDDAS
Tells another who is there ;
She, excited, runs away.
" Taek, taek," crying, doggie come ;
"Kik, kik," crying, doggie come.
In the Na-tree forest hid.
Safe behind a banyan trunk,
With a bow she can't be shot,
Setting off to go, to go.
Playing, playing, doggie come.
Stop your games and running come.
Charm sung while driving Rilawa monkeys (Bandaraduwa).
Amma mdye nd rosdm
Rosait kando pita yaiini
"/?^, i?(?" kiyala wdren balld.
Burutak kande pito yantid.
Keliyen koliyata duwagana ware,
Keli madaldgena duwagena ware.
Mother mine, the lovely chief,
Pops behind a cotton trunk,
" Ro, Ro" crying, doggie come.
Behind a satin stem she goes.
Playing, playing, running come ;
Stop your games and running come.
The Sinhalese heading of this charm, collected at Henebedda
(where it was dictated by Poromala of Bingoda) runs Wandiirmi
nawa tanaka wiya, the translation of which is " said at a place
where wandiira stay."
A ill surd da?nanni
O tnan kaiideta pdiiinnT.
''^ Ah, OJi^'' klyd wdre nam
Kola surd datnanni,
Me man kande natanni.
Bald silo aeyi dennd ?
The branches they scratch off and throw down.
They spring on to that trunk (?).
Come, indeed, saying "Ah, Oh."
They scratch off and throw down the leaves.
They dance on this trunk (?).
Why did they stop and look, both of them ?
We could find no trace of any ceremony having for its object
the control of the supply of game and honey or the increase
of the number of yams and edible berries. It is assumed that
MAGIC 203
these are beyond human control, though the yakii, who in an
indefinite way are considered to be concerned with them, give
success in hunting, yam digging and honey gathering.
Nor could we discover any trace of weather magic in spite
of the preference for rain indicated in a number of the invoca-
tions given in Chapter X, as well as by the remark on this
subject made by Handuna, quoted upon page 84.
We could not discover among the wilder Veddas any magic
connected with the bow and arrow, and certainly these were
never personified or named. We, however, obtained the follow-
ing "song" from the village Veddas of Bintenne. It was taken
down just as we were breaking camp and so no special attention
was paid to it, as we were assured that it was of the same
nature as other songs we had collected. Mr Parker, who has
provided the following transliteration and translation, points
out that, in his opinion, this "song" must be regarded as
a charm said over an arrow in order to kill monitor lizards.
To our suggestion that this song might be sung mockingly to
a particularly bad shot, urging him to tiy again and see if he
could not hit the lizard in some part of its body, Mr Parker
replied that this did not seem probable to him. " If this were
addressed to a person who was a bad shot I hardly think
expressions would be used such as i inaela which would then
require to be translated ' younger brother of arrows.' " We
accordingly treat this formula as a charm and include it in the
present chapter.
Mundi Kanda pita waetirl gd,
Ekata ividapd kiri hure.
Ettama arapa Z maeld,
Pitata acctii paldga.
Etanaina arapa i macld,
Tomtnaia laetien {paldga).
Ettafna arapa i meld.,
Tomtnaia aeccen paldga.
Etanama aerapa i juaeld,
Bellata laetten paldga.
Etanama aerapa t maeld,
Badata laetten paldga.
Etaftama aerapa i maela.,
Kihila maedden laewiga.
204 THE VEDDAS
Go and drop behind the body of the monitor lizard ;
Pierce it, dear cousin.
Leave that place, arrow-brother.
Go and cleave it in the angle (or edge) of the back.
Leave that place, arrows-brother,
Go and doubly (?) cleave it in the tail.
Leave that place, arrow-brother,
Go and cleave it in the angle of the tail.
Leave that place, arrow-brother.
Go and doubly (?) cleave it in the neck.
Leave that place, arrow-brother.
Go and doubly (?) cleave it in the stomach.
Leave that place, arrow-brother,
Go and fix (yourself) in the middle of the armpit.
" In order to rhyme all the lines ought to end in a long a.
" Eitama is an evident mistake for etanania.
" Tonnna is for tumba, a Vaedi word for tail, the Sinhalese is
Uibu.
" Acceu and aeccen are for assen, abl. of assa, angle or corner.
" Laetten is a word I have not previously met with. The
only probable derivation with which I am acquainted is the
Tamil iratta. Sin. rette, double, two-fold.
" Maeld means younger brother.
'' Kiri hurd, lit. milk cousin, simply means dear cousin."
Love Charms.
Love magic or charms to compel love do not seem to exist
among the wilder Veddas, though in the Bintenne we were told
that women may charm the waist strings they give to their
husbands, in order to ensure their fidelity.
Amulets.
Before discussing the existence of these it is necessary to
determine to what extent the Veddas now wear, or formerly
wore, ornaments.
Disregarding the stories current among the Sinhalese that
the Veddas formerly had valuable jewellery and pots of pure
gold — legends of which the Veddas themselves are quite
MAGIC 205
ignorant — the evidence for the use of jewellery or personal
ornaments worn for their own sake is limited to the former
wearing of ear ornaments by the Vedda women. Bailey states
that the women "have their ears pierced and wear in the
lobes round studs of ivory \" and this was confirmed by our old
Sinhalese informant, whose evidence as to the former condition
of the Veddas has been given in Chapter .11. It seems that
men did not wear ear ornaments, although we met some village
Veddas (Dambani) who wore earrings, and a few men in other
communities were seen with pierced ears. This point of view is
confirmed by Nevill who wrote, " Men occasionally v/ore a few
large beads on their waist string, if they could afford it, but no
other jewels," and he describes the women's ear ornaments as
" ear-jewels, the size of a man's thumb made of ivory, white
horn, or bone, and carved or etched... worn through the lobe
of the ear^."
At the present time among the wilder Veddas neither men
nor women wear beads or ornaments of any kind, though the
women are pleased to accept beads as presents.
It is otherwise among the more sophisticated Veddas of the
Bintenne. At Omuni all the women and girls wore beads, and
though they could not account for their origin, we were able to
ascertain that they had been in their possession at least five
generations. They descended usually from grandmother to
granddaughter, some strings being given to each girl-child at
birth, the rest being usually given when the girl married, or
on the death of the grandmother. These beads are of glass,
mostly red though some are green and a few white. They have
been identified by Mr C. H. Read as 17th century Venetian
beads, and were doubtless a present from some notable who
required assistance from the Veddas as he passed through their
country.
This summarises all we have been able to learn concerning
the use of personal ornaments among the Veddas, and though
Nevill states, presumably of the Veddas of the Bintenne, that
they " delight to deck their hair with bright or fragrant flowers,"
we were unable to find any trace of this practice occurring
1 Op. cit. p. 284. * Oi). cit. p. 190.
206 THE VEDDAS
among the wilder Veddas at the present day. It therefore
appears that although beads are worn as ornaments by the
members of certain communities in the Bintenne there is no
evidence for their use as such among the Veddas to the east of
the Badulla-Batticaloa road.
We may next consider certain facts which seem to indicate
that beads may be sometimes treated as amulets, or at least as
having magical power. At Bandaraduwa where there has been
a great deal of Sinhalese influence, one woman wore a piece
of knotted string round her throat which had been charmed
and put on by a Sinhalese to cure her of some ailment. When
we gave her a string of beads she was very pleased and im-
mediately broke the old charmed string and put the beads
round her neck in place of it.
At Bendiyagalge all the women were particularly anxious
for us to give beads to their children and immediately put these
round their necks, but those given to themselves were not
usually put on in our presence. In both these cases there is
only the suggestion that beads were regarded as anything more
than ornaments, and this also holds good as regards the beads
of bear's bone worn by Kaira of Bingoda already recorded,
but in the following cases the relation of beads to the yakii- is
perfectly clear. The women of Unuwatura Bubula, though
they possessed beads of the same kind as those worn by the
women of Omuni, were afraid to wear them, and gave them
to the shaman to keep and use in yaku ceremonies. In this
village we found that women would not accept red beads as
presents because "they were afraid," though they readily took
the white beads offered them, and the shaman when dancing
to the Alut Yakini wore cross shoulder straps of old beads,
and similar beads were kept for Indigollae Yaka.
There is equally strong evidence of the definite association
of beads with \\iQ yaku in other communities, though the reason
for this association could not be determined. At Sitala Wan-
niya a band of bast was placed upon the offering to the Rahu
Yaku, and our informants said that they would have used beads
instead of the bast had they possessed therr. At the same
place when preparing for the dance to Dola Yaka, who gives
MAGIC 207
success in honey gathering, the shaman asked us for two strings
of beads. These beads he placed over betel leaves upon two
arrows thrust in the centre of the dancing ground which were
surrounded by betel leaves offered to the yaka. These beads
were said to represent the rough rope of creeper with which the
green twigs forming the smoker were secured and the rope by
which the smoker was lowered to the comb.
When it is remembered that Veddas do not tattoo or paint
themselves, and have never been seen wearing any kind of seeds
as ornaments, it seems reasonable to assume that where beads
are sought after by the Veddas they are valued for their sup-
posed magical properties.
In conclusion we may give the only perfectly clear instance
of a Vedda wearing an amulet with which we are acquainted.
The shaman of Bandaraduwa wore on his wrist a small silver
cylinder such as is commonly used to contain a written charm.
The cylinder was empty and had never contained a charm, but
the shaman told us that he wore it in order to be cured of an
illness from which he had suffered formerly, and that presently
he would give the cylinder to some pilgrim proceeding to Kata-
ragam in order that he might deposit it in the temple there.
The Eating of Human Liver.
Every group of Veddas except the most sophisticated village
Veddas believe that it was formerly the custom for a man to
carry in his betel pouch a small piece of dry human liver. But
the majority of our informants were not clear as to the exact
reason for doing this, though they were all agreed that it had
something to do with raising a man's valour and making him
strong to bear trouble. It was essential that the liver should
be taken from a man killed by the individual who proposed to
carry a portion of the dried liver in his pouch. When a man
had been killed the slayer would open his belly and take out
a small portion of his liver which he would dry in the sun in
a secret place. This custom appears to have ceased about
three generations ago, but the following instance, said to have
occurred about fifty years ago, was given us at Bandaraduwa.
208 THE VEDDAS
The headman of a small group of Kovil Vanamai Veddas
killed a Sinhalese simply because he required a piece of human
liver to keep in his betel pouch. In spite of this example the
Bandaraduvva people could not tell us exactly how it was used,
and it was only at Sitala Wanniya that it was ascertained that
the purpose of the dried liver was to make men strong and
confident to avenge insults. A man would bite off a piece of
the dried liver and chew it, saying to himself: "I have killed
this man ; why should I not be strong and confident and kill
this other one who has insulted me .'' " As far as we could
understand a Vedda might thus work himself up into a con-
dition of berseker fury, but this was only done after very serious
insult, as when a man's wife had been carried off or been
unfaithful, or when his bow and arrows had been stolen or an
attempt made to take his land or caves^
^ It was doubtless an exaggerated account of this practice that led Gillings to
accuse the Veddas of cannibalism (Jotirn. Roy. As. Soc, Ceylon Branch, 1853).
CHAPTER IX
CEREMONIAL DANCES
With a single possible exception the dances of the Veddas
are ceremonial and are performed with the object of becoming
possessed by a yaka in the manner that has already been stated
in Chapter VI where the subjective phenomena of possession are
discussed. The majority of the ceremonial dances described in
this chapter are pantomimic, and so well illustrate the objective
manifestations of the condition of possession that little need be
said on this subject, though it may be well to repeat our con-
viction that there is no considerable element of pretence in the
performance of the shaman. The sudden collapse which ac-
companies the performance of some given act of the panto-
mime, usually an important event towards which the action has
been leading up, is the feature that is most difficult to explain.
According to the Veddas themselves it occurs when a yaka
suddenly leaves the individual possessed, but it does not
invariably accompany the cessation of possession, and it may
equally occur when the individual becomes possessed, as at the
Bandaraduwa Nae Yaku ceremony described on pages 233 to
237, where the first sign of possession shown by the brothers of
the dead man was their collapse into the arms of their sup-
porters. This can be explained as the result of expectancy,
they expected to be overcome by the spirit of the deceased,
and in fact this happened. In this connection we may refer to
a Sinhalese " devil ceremony " which we witnessed in the remote
jungle village of Gonagolla in the Eastern Province. One of us
has described this ceremony elsewhere^ but we would here
^ Brenda Z. Seligmann, "A Devil Ceremony of the Peasant Sinhalese," /ournal
Roy. Anthrop. Inst. Vol. xxxvni, 1908.
S. v. 14
2IO THE VEDDAS
specially refer to the condition of the katandirale or "devil
dancer" when dealing with the dangerous demon Riri Yaka.
Although he took special precautions to prevent the demon
entering him, that is to say to avoid possession by the demon,
he almost collapsed, requiring to be supported in the arms of an
assistant as under the assaults of \\\q yaka he tottered with drawn
features and half open quivering lips and almost closed eyes.
Yet avowedly he was not possessed by the demon, but on the
contrary was successful in warding off possession. His whole
appearance was that of a person suffering from some amount of
shock and in a condition of partial collapse, while the rapidity
with which he passed into deep sleep immediately Riri Yaka,
and his almost equally dreaded consort Riri Yakini, had left
him, also favour the genuine character of his sufferings, con-
cerning which he said that although he had never completely
lost consciousness he had been near doing so and had felt giddy
and nauseated \ Here we have a condition only a degree short
of possession, occurring in an individual who not only hoped and
expected to avoid being possessed by the spirit whom he invoked
to come to the offering, but took elaborate precautions to prevent
it. Had he become possessed it would have been a disaster
which would have led to his illness and perhaps death, and
would certainly have frustrated the object of the ceremony.
Here there can have been no desire to lose consciousness, yet
as the result of anticipation of the attack of the yaka the
katandirale came near collapse.
This in our opinion throws a flood of light on Vedda
possession and the collapse which may take place at its
beginning, but it does not directly explain the collapse often
experienced when a yaka leaves a person. But here we may
seek assistance in the idea of analogy ; when a spirit leaves the
body, collapse and unconsciousness, permanent (death) or
temporary (swoon, fainting fits or sleep), ensue. When the
yaka leaves the body which for the time it has entirely
^ During the condition of partial collapse the dancer's face was covered with sweat
and so felt clammy, but this may only have been the resul' of his previous exertions;
his pulse was small and rapid and was certainly over 120 though the conditions
prevented it being accurately counted.
CEREMONIAL DANCES 211
dominated, what more natural than that collapse should occur
or be feigned by the less honest or susceptible practitioners ?
There is no doubt that the Vedda ceremonies make con-
siderable demand on the bodily powers of the dancers, but
this is not so great as in the case of the Sinhalese devil
ceremony of Gonagolla, since the Vedda ceremonies are of
shorter duration — none we saw lasted over two hours and the
majority certainly did not take so long. In spite of this we
noted, after more than one ceremony, that the shaman was
genuinely tired, and this was the case at Sitala Wanniya,
where Kaira appeared actually exhausted at the end of the
Pata Yaka ceremony.
We may now refer to the steps of the Vedda dance. The
Drs Sarasin have described the steps of the arrow dance of the
Henebedda Veddas in an elaborate and rather formal manner.
We shall shortly quote their description of this dance and mean-
while content ourselves with summarising the movements of the
Vedda dances. Essentially, these appear to consist of steps
taken alternately with each foot, each step being followed by a
couple of pats on the ground delivered with the ball of the foot
that is in advance, and after each such movement with right or
left foot a half turn is made. The rhythm of the dance is kept
by swaying the body gently from the waist, the hands (when
not beating the body or holding an object) being allowed to
swing freely ; with each half turn forward the body is inclined
forward and the head bent so that the hair falls over the face,
and with each half turn backwards the head is thrown back-
wards. The dance always begins slowly and gently, the back
foot still touching the ground while that foot with which the
step has been made performs the double pat, so that just at first
it is little more than a shuffle, soon, however, the feet are raised
more and more and longer paces are taken, the back foot no
longer remains on the ground while the double pat is made and
the swaying and bending of the body is greatly increased.
When the faka enters the person of a shaman it is customary
for him to inspect the offerings, and if he is pleased — which is
almost invariably the case — he will show his pleasure. This is
usually done by bending the head low over the offering, then
14—2
212 THE VEDDAS
springing away and shouting "Ah! Ah!" while taking short
deep breaths. The natural outcome of the yaka's gratitude is
a promise of favours to the community. When prophesying
good luck, the shaman places one or both hands on the
participant's shoulders, or if he carries an aitde or other sacred
object, the shaman holds this against the latter's chest or, more
rarely, presses it on the top of his head. His whole manner is
agitated and he usually shufifles his feet, speaks in a hoarse
somewhat guttural voice taking short deep breaths, and
punctuates his remarks with a deep " Ah ! Ah ! "
With regard to the arrows and other special objects which
are used when invoking the yaku, in which class we include such
bower-like structures as the alutyakagama, the ruwala and the
kolomadtnva, all described in this Chapter, we must point out that
these simply act as conductors and resting places for the yakn.
It was stated that Kande Yaka could not and would not come
when invoked, unless his arrow were held, and the same idea
accounts for the arrow dance, performed round an arrow struck
in the ground in order to obtain game. Again the leaves in
the bower-like structures with the aid of which the yakii were
invoked were considered the resting place of the yakii which
they left in order to enter the shaman. The number of yakit
who came to the bower was not thought to be limited to those
who possessed the shaman, on the contrary, important j«/^z^ were
thought to bring their attendants {piriwari), who remained
among the leaves which their lord left to possess the shaman,
and it was to drive away the yaku who might unduly prolong
their stay in the bower prepared for them, that the leaves were
beaten and more or less stripped from the bowers at the end of
the ceremony.
Before leaving the subject we would point out that though
yaku might be spoken of as arrow-yaka (Itale Yaka), bow-yaka
(Dunne Yakini) and so forth, such names do not imply that the
yaka in question is immanent in the object or is believed to
stand in specially close relationship to all objects of that class.
In the case of Itale Yaka the idea was '' \h& yaka who is invoked
by means of an arrow " ; in the case of Dunne Yakini the name
simply refers to the skill of the nameless heroine who killed the
CEREMONIAL DANCES 21 3
boar wounded by the companions of Bandura, as is related in
the Bambura Yaka dance.
The Henebedda Veddas washed before performing or assisting
at the kirikoraJia seen by us, and every Vedda who invoked the
yaku, either let down his hair before beginning to dance or while
dancing, in the latter instance presumably as he felt "possession"
coming upon him. Many Veddas put on the hangala before
dancing, this being a length of white cloth worn round the waist
as is shown in many of the photographs reproduced in this
chapter. Presumably this was not worn for the arrow dance,
which is especially performed by unsuccessful hunters without
any special preparation. We do not think that a leaf girdle was
ever worn as a ceremonial garment when dancing. Handuna of
Sitala Wanniya said that at some time, which he put more than
three generations ago, there were Veddas, whom he called
AWikola Veddo, who lived so remote from the Sinhalese that
they had no cloth and so always wore leaf girdles, but he was
quite confident that no Veddas who had cloth ever wore such
girdles especially to invoke X)\^ yaku. This agrees with Nevill's
conclusions^ and does not conflict with the experience of the
Sarasins^
The Roman numbers in parentheses after references to in-
vocations in the accounts of the ceremonies described in this
chapter refer to the invocations given in Chapter X.
The Arrow Dance.
This, the simplest of the Vedda dances, has been described
at length by the Drs Sarasin w^ho saw it danced by " Veddas of
the Nilgala districts ' We have already quoted Bailey's account
of the arrow dance as he found it danced by the ancestors of
these Veddas two generations ago, and Monsieur Emile
^ "I have especially questioned the best informed Vaeddas whether leaves were
worn, either at ceremonies or otherwise. They all say yes, they were worn once,
when cotton cloth was hard and dear to get, by those who lived where there were no
Riti trees. They were only worn by the poorest, and from necessity, not choice.
The leaves chosen were those of shrubs, the branches of which ended in rather
pendulous sprays of foliage, and these were tucked under the waist string as a sort
of apron." Op. cii. p. 188.
- Op. cit. pp. 387—389. 3 Op. at. pp. 512—514.
214 THE VEDDAS
Deschamps has given an account of the same dance as it
occurs among the village Veddas of Bintenne, while it has
also been mentioned by other authors including Davy and
Tennant.
Figures i and 2 of Plate XXVI show this dance as we saw it
performed at Henebedda. An arrow was thrust into the ground
and round this the Veddas circled, singing an invocation and
keeping time by slapping their flanks with their open hands.
The Drs Sarasin have carefully analysed the movements per-
formed in this dance, and the following account is taken from
their work.
" Only men dance. They form a circle round an arrow
thrust into the ground ; they do not touch one another and
move slowly round the arrow.... Each dancer turns once towards
the left, in doing which he keeps the right leg motionless
and steps convulsively forwards on the ground with the left,
keeping time and giving the body a slight jerk backwards ; then
when he has executed a half turn he remains standing on the
left leg and makes spasmodic trembling movements with the
right as he pushes off from the ground. Thus continually
executing half turns, and after completing one half turn using
that leg which has just been moved as a support, the dancer
slowly proceeds backwards in a circle round the arrow. Each
dancer pays no regard to his neighbour while executing his
circling movements, his sole object being to get round the
arrow in the manner described ; so that all the dancers are
not making precisely the same movement at one time. For
example, if one dancer turns on his left leg and his neighbour
on his right leg at the same time then it happens that the two
sometimes have their faces and sometimes their backs towards
each other. ...Although the legs, as described, come comparatively
little and at all events not extensively into play, there being no
jumping or hopping... the arms are moved the more vigorously.
As the body swings round they are extended and flung about
and at the conclusion of the turn they are violently flung
away from the body ; after the performance of every half turn
the dancers beat hard on their bellies, which take the place of
musical instruments of which they have none. ...The head which
Plate XXVI
Fig. I. Arrow dance (Henebedda)
Fig. 2. Arrow dance (Henebedda)
CEREMONIAL DANCES 21 5
is thrown back at the completion of every turn is flung forward
and downward in the direction of the movement while this is
taking place. In doing this the mane-like bush of hair is tossed
forwards like a horse's tail over the face ; subsequently on the
completion of every half turn it is tossed back again as the head
is flung back, so that the hair is constantly being swung through
the air from the right back to the left front and vice versa; this
happens independently of the direction of movement round the
arrow.... As the dancers at the same time gasp out loudly a
monotonous song with which their movements keep time — they
work themselves up into a state of extreme nervous excitement
and the sweat pours down them ; the beating on the stomach
becomes louder and louder... then after a time one after another
falls full length on the ground exhausted, and remains on his
back for a time still uttering howls between his gasps and
trembling convulsively at the same time in all his limbs. Then
suddenly all rise at once and the dance is at an end\"
Although this account shows that the dance performed for
the Sarasins was rather more vigorously enacted than the one
danced for our benefit, it recalls in violence of gesture the figures
of a dance which we saw at Wellampelle among the village
Veddas. One of these men evidently knew what was expected
of him by strangers, for almost directly he saw us he began to
dance and soon 'lay quivering on the ground. Obviously such
exhibitions as this are not examples of genuine possession, nor
was the arrow dance we saw at Henebedda which was danced
at our request, and we believe that all, or almost all, the arrow
dances described in literature must simply be regarded as more
or less accurate rehearsals^
Further, the accounts given by various authors show that the
dances they saw were danced with varying degrees of frenzy,
the difference in some instances being so marked as to give
force to the Sarasins' suggestion that the arrow dance varies
in detail in different communities.
1 Op. cit. pp. 512, 513.
2 The pantomime of honey gathering enacted for our benefit by the Henebedda
-Veddas, and those of Sitala Wanniya, show that the Veddas are good actors and enter
thoroughly into the spirit of the parts they take.
2l6 THE VEDDAS
We were told at Bandaraduvva that if men had no luck in
hunting they might thrust an arrow into the ground, decorate it
with leaves of the na tree {Messtia ferrugiiied) or the inille^ and
dance round it. If a shaman were present, which was not
necessary, he would naturally take part in this, and any
number might participate. This dance was performed at our
request, the shaman and a Vedda called Tambia taking part in
it. Two clusters of na leaves were tied to an arrow, one just
below the feathers and another immediately above the blade.
This was struck in the ground (Plate XXVII, fig. i) and the
dancers slowly moved round it singing an invocation (No. XV).
Soon they both became possessed, the shaman falling into the
arms of his supporter (Plate XXVII, fig. 2), almost immediately
after which he came to one of the onlookers and promised him
a sambar deer if he would hunt in a westerly direction early the
next morning. Several times during the dance the performers
touched the leaves tied to the upper part of the arrow, and
bending low gathered them up to their faces (as in Plate XXVIII,
fig. i), while their hair mingled with the leaves. The shaman
afterwards explained that the yaka first came to the arrow and
the leaves tied to it, and then entered the persons of the dancers
who became possessed. Before the yaka left the dancers bent
low over the arrow shaking their heads violently, and after the
dance both men salaamed to the arrow.
The yaka invoked in this dance was sometimes called Itale
Yaka (Arrow Yaka), and though identical with Kande Yaka,
there was nevertheless a tendency to think of Itale Yaka as a
separate spirit, who was not so generally well disposed as Kande
Yaka. We discovered this by the shaman refusing to sing the
invocation into the phonograph when we were surrounded by
children, lest his attention being attracted, \}aQ yaka should come,
which might be dangerous to the little ones. It must be
remembered that the Bandaraduwa community had been much
exposed to foreign influence, so that there is nothing surprising
in their yaku having to a certain extent assumed the dangerous
complexion of Sinhalese and Tamil demons.
Although the arrow dance originally had, and still has, a
religious significance, since it is danced to procure game and as
Plate XXVII
Fig. I. I tale Yaka ceremony. Arrow with Na leaves attached
( Bandaraduwa)*
Fig. 2. Itale Yaka ceremony (Bandaraduwa)*
Plate XXX'III
Fig^. I. Itale Yaka ceremony (Bandaraduwa)"
Fig-. 2. The Adukku Denawa ceremony (Henebedda)
CEREMONIAL DANCES 21/
a means of propitiating Kande Yaka or interesting him in the
hunters, it may also be danced for pleasure. In this case it
seems to lose much of its peculiar character and tends to de-
generate into a dance made up of fragments of the dances proper
to a number of different ceremonies, which varies in constitution
according to the fancy of the dancers. But that such per-
formances are derived from ceremonial dances is shown by the
imitation of the actions of the shaman which one or more of the
dancers may introduce.
The dance we cite next was performed in the courtyard of
the Public Works Department bungalow at Ambilinne, where
we gave a night's lodging to four of the Henebedda Veddas.
These were some of the first Veddas we met and the dance
they performed that evening was the first Vedda dance we had
seen, and it was not until we had seen a number of Vedda
ceremonies that we recognised that the dance in question was a
parody of their own religious dances, performed for their own
amusement after what was to them an unusually good meal\
After a little singing three or four men began to dance, the
time being about 9 p.m. Their action was quite unconstrained,
and each man went his own way, though a rhythm was supplied
by the song refrain and the slapping of their hands on their
chests and flanks. In the opening figure, in which an arrow was
planted in the ground, the performers began to move round it
right hands inwards and clockwise, but very soon one performer
was circling anti-clockwise between the other two going clock-
wise. The two performers who had not planted their arrows
held these in their hands in front of them, one hand lightly
grasping the blade and the other the head of the arrow, while
with body somewhat bent forward they moved the arrows from
side to side as they danced. The steps were taken with legs
tolerably wide apart, the weight of the body being supported on
one leg while the other was scraped along the ground by some-
what tilting the pelvis. This movement took place alternately
on the two legs, though sometimes a double pat was substituted
1 In this respect our dance resembles that witnessed by M. Deschamps {Aie Pays
des Veddas, pp. 387, 388), which was danced spontaneously by a number of village
Veddas of Bintenne.
2l8 THE VEDDAS
for the simple scrape of the ground. After some time when the
circle had become quite broken the three dancers grunted loudly
"Oh-h-h," and held their arrows up to the sky toward which
they waved them before suddenly falling flat on their backs.
They were lifted up and supported by a companion, and they
then approached the Sinhalese headman who was present and
promised him and one of us a white buffalo each for the next
day. This was done in a manner we afterwards recognised to
have been an excellent imitation of the actions of one possessed
by thejaku, though it is certain that this dance was not a real
possession dance, while the condition of the pulse in the dancers,
surprisingly quiet in view of the violent exercise they had taken,
showed that the falling down was not due to exhaustion. In
other figures no arrow was planted in the ground and the dance
did not begin with a circular movement; in some of these figures
the point of the arrow which is in the right hand may be lowered
almost to the ground, and the obliquely inclined arrow swepj:
forward and backward perhaps in imitation of a shaman possessed
by Kande Yaka tracking the sambar in the manner described in
the account of the kirikoraha.
The Kirikoraha Ceremony.
The pantomimic ceremonial dance by which the favour of
the spirits {yakit) of the hunting hero Kande Wanniya and his
brother Bilindi is secured is called kirikot-alia. It must be noted
that this term, literally translated, signifies "milk bowl," and
though the presentation to the yaku of a kirikoraha, i.e. a pot
containing coconut milk, is essential in several other ceremonies
they were not called kirikoraha. The "milk" consists of the
fluid which can be squeezed from the shredded meat of the
coconut and is mixed with water. If the coconut juice be not
diluted excessively the fluid so produced has a very pleasant
flavour, and in appearance is not unlike milk^ Whenever
"milk" is spoken of as offered to \hQ yaku this fluid is meant:
the "water" of the coconut is not valued, and though it may be
used in preparing the milk instead of water (as was the case at
^ This is the usual method throughout Ceylon of making the coconut milk so
largely used as a flavouring agent.
CEREMONIAL DANCES 219
the Henebedda kirikorahd) it is usually poured on the ground
without any ceremony.
A description of the phenomena of "possession" of the Vedda
shaman by the yakii has already been given in Chapter VI, so
that nothing need be said on that matter in connection with this
dance or any of the ceremonies described in this chapter, in all
of which "possession" occurred.
The essential features of the kirikoraha are two in number.
The first of these is the offering of coconut milk and generally
of other food to Kande Yaka and Bilindi Yaka and sometimes
other yaku regarded as their attendants. Secondly the panto-
mimic representation by the shaman, while possessed by Kande
Yaka, of Kande Wanniya tracking and shooting a sambar deer.
This pantomime seems to occur only when " possession " by
Kande Yaka takes place, for whenever any pantomime of this
sort was enacted, even in the most shortened and conventional
form, as in the Nae Yaku ceremony (described on pp. 233 to
237 of this chapter), the shaman was held to be possessed
by Kande Yaka.
We witnessed four kirikoraha ceremonies during our stay in
the Vedda country. One was performed by the Henebedda
Veddas in thanksgiving for a fine buck which one of them had
shot, and the other three were undertaken at our request, but we
have no doubt that they were accurately performed; for the
Veddas were always pleased to perform any ceremonial dance
provided the correct offering were given, as thereby they gained
the favour oiXSx^ yaku, and it was seldom that they were able to
offer such food as we gave them for the purpose. The kirikoraha
ceremony appears to be held equally as a thanksgiving for game
killed and in order to obtain success in the future.
The Kirikoraha at Bendiyagalge. A fine buck was killed
late in the afternoon of the 7th of February, 1908, and was
carried to a flat rock between our camp and the Bendiyagalge
caves and rapidly skinned and cut up during the short tropical
twilight. A kirikoraha ceremony was performed the next
morning, before taking part in which all the men went to the
neighbouring stream and bathed, and afterwards made an offering
of food to the yaku.
220 THE VEDDAS
Some rice with coconut and chillies had previously been
cooked at the cave together with certain portions of the deer,
the flesh from the head, sternum and front of the ribs, and the
whole was brought down to the talawa. This food formed the
offering iadiik), and the ceremony oi adukku denawa or "offering
the food " was performed before the dance began. The shaman,
Randu Wanniya, squatted in front of the food, and with his
hands together repeated a dedicatory invocation to Kande Yaka
and Bilindi Yaka, which lasted nearly ten minutes, and con-
sisted mainly, if not entirely, of repetitions of invocation No. XIX.
It was performed in gratitude for all deer and sambar killed, and
in it \\\Q yakit were invited to accept the offering of food which
was left for them for a short time and afterwards eaten by the
Veddas themselves. Fig. 2 of Plate XXVIII shows the shaman
invoking the yakii with the offering in front of him. This
ceremony, called adukku denawa (literally "the giving of cooked
food "), is always held before a kirikoraJia when game has been
killed, but it is not itself part of the latter ceremony.
An open part of the talawa near the caves was selected as a
dancing ground, and a tripod called mukkaliya was made by
binding three sticks together on which an earthen pot, the kiri-
koraha, was placed, and a ceremonial arrow {aude) laid upon it.
The shaman took a coconut and the aude, held them to his
head and salaamed while Poromala smeared some resin on a
stick and afterwards censed the aude which was held so that the
smoke might eddy round it, for thus would Kande Yaka smell
the incense and be pleased (Plate XXIX, fig. i). At the same
time the shaman repeated the invocation (No. XIX) to Kande Yaka.
This appeared to be one of the many incidents pointing to
the fact that when yaku are invoked they first come to their
special vehicles (Kande always to an a2ide, other yaku to leaves,
swords and various articles), and from these enter the person of
the shaman.
AH sang the invocation, and the shaman danced round the
tripod holding the aude and coconut together in both hands and
waving them rhythmically as he performed the orthodox Vedda
step, i.e. one pace with each foot followed by a couple of pats on
the ground with the ball of the same foot, every step being
Plate XXIX
Fig. I. Kirikoraha ceremony, censing the aude and coconut (Henebedda)
Fig. 2. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman dances with the aude and coconut
(Henebedda)
Plate XXX
Fig. I. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman dances with the aude and coconut
(Henebedda)
Fig. 2. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman breaking the coconut (Henebedda)
CEREMONIAL DANCES 221
followed by a half turn of the body to the accompaniment of
sounds produced by some of those who were not dancing slapping
their sides. The shaman next sang the invocation to Bilindi
Yaka (No. xxi), and after a short time he showed signs of
becoming possessed; he shivered and shook his head, and with
the aiide in his right hand he struck the coconut which he held
in his left and broke it in half (Plate XXX, fig. 2), letting the
water fall into the kirikoraha. The way in which the nut split was
prophetic; if a clean break was made the animal to be promised
later would be a female, but if the edges were jagged a male would
be shot. The shaman was now possessed by Bilindi Yaka, and
with half the nut in each hand came to each of us in turn, placed
his arms on our shoulders, and in the hoarse gasping voice of the
yaka promised us good hunting and protection from wild animals.
Two of the younger Veddas, Poromala and Sita Wanniya,
scraped the meat of the coconut with the aude to make the milk,
and afterwards placed one half shell on the end of one of the
sticks forming the tripod, and the other below the kirikoraha.
Leaves taken from any tree, but said to represent betel leaves,
were also placed in the kii-ikoraha. There was no reason for
the particular position of the coconut shells, but as they were
considered part of the offering to the yakn, it would have
been considered disrespectful to the yakn to place them on
the eround. This rule was observed in all the dances that we
witnessed. All sang the invocation again, and the shaman,
Randu Wanniya, continued to dance, holding the handle of
the atide in the right hand and the point of the blade in the
left, turning it with a rotatory movement as he danced, gradually
swaying his body more and more and lifting his feet higher
from the ground. He went to the kirikoraha and inspected
the milk, letting it run through his fingers (Plate XXXI, fig. i),
and dropping some on the aude to see if it was rich enough.
Apparently he was satisfied with its quality, and soon he fell
back into the arms of Sita Wanniya who supported him. After
a short time he revived with much quivering of muscles and
gasping for breath, and taking a handful of the coconut milk he
shouted and approached Tissahami the Vedda Arachi^ (who
^ This man, concerning whom something has been said on p. 41, was known to
222 THE VEDDAS
was then staying in our camp) and scattered the milk over him,
while with the right hand on his shoulder he expressed his
pleasure in seeing him and promised him luck in hunting.
Then after prophesying good hunting to each of us in turn and
to several of the Veddas, Bilindi Yaka left the shaman.
Randu Wanniya again danced eastward round the kirikoraha,
holding the aude in both hands, but soon he began to crouch
and point it to the ground, and then pretended to thrust it at
imaginary footprints (Plate XXXI, fig. 2). His excited manner
showed that he was now possessed by Kande Yaka, whom he
represented following the slot of a sambar. Soon Sita Wanniya
took the a7ide away from him and gave him a bow and arrow, and
the tracking continued amidst intense excitement (Plate XXXII,
fig. i). Sita Wanniya followed closely, ready to support the
shaman if he should fall, while others pointed out the slot to
him till at last, a basket having been placed on the ground, he
drew his bow and transfixed it.
Plate XXXII, fig. 2 shows the group round the shaman as
the arrow left the bow. As the arrow sped the shaman fell
back seemingly exhausted and almost senseless. The yaka did
not, however, finally depart from the shaman, but merely went
to the quarry to ascertain if his arrow had proved fatal. The
shaman soon came to himself, apparently satisfied, and bent
his head (Plate XXXIII, fig. i) over the kirikoraha, and then
shouting "Ah, ah!" in the usual agitated manner of one possessed
by the yakit came to each of us in turn and placed the aude on
our heads, thereby granting us jungle favour, after which he
went to several of the Veddas prophesying good luck in hunting
to each of them (Plate XXXIII, fig. 2). Then taking the half
shells of the coconut in either hand and waving them about, he
danced round the kirikoraha and bent his head over the pot so
that the yaka might drink, and afterwards fell into the arms of
Sita Wanniya, who had been following, ready to support him.
Again the shaman revived, and, putting his arms on our in-
terpreter, promised him victory in all undertakings. Then
returning to the kirikoraha, and having given the aitde to one of
the Henebedda community and was much respected both because of his Vedda blood
and because of his renown as a charmer and medicine man (vederale).
Plate XXXI
Fig. I. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman examines the offering of coconut
milk (Henebedda)
Fig. 2. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman tracking the sambar (Henebedda)
Plate XXXII
Fig. I. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman tracking- the sambar (Henebedda)-
Fig-. 2. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman shoots the sambar (Henebedda)
Plate XXXIII
Figf. I. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman bends his head over the coconut
milk (Henebedda)
Fig. 2. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman possessed by Bilindi Yaka
promises good hunting (Henebedda)
Plate XXXIV
Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman about to spin the pot (Henebedda)
CEREMONIAL DANCES 223
the onlookers, who were all willing assistants, he filled the palms
of his hands with milk and bounded forward, and raising his
hands with every step he scattered the milk, and in this manner
the yaka within him showed his pleasure. Next he took the
kirikoraha from the tripod with both hands (Plate XXXIV,
fig. i), spun it on the ground, and immediately it left his
hands he fell back. The spinning was prophetic, for in that
direction towards which the bowl dipped as it came to rest, there
game would be found; and on this occasion it dipped to the
north. When the shaman revived a few seconds later, Kande
Yaka had left him, and he was possessed by Bilindi Yaka again.
With shouts, gasping and trembling, he came to most of the
onlookers and promised good hunting in the usual manner, then
he took the kirikoraha and spun it, but when it left his hands the
spirit departed from the shaman and he fell back.
The dance was now over, and all were eager to partake of
the coconut milk which had been offered to the j^/^^/, for none of
it might be wasted. All the men took a little, and also fed the
children with it, but the vv^omen were not allowed to partake of
it. However, as the mere contact of the milk had virtue the
shaman rubbed some on their heads. In other less sophisticated
communities women were not looked upon as unclean, and they
shared in this and other food offered to the yakti. As has
already been stated there is little doubt that the idea of
women being unclean has been borrowed from the Sinhalese,
among whom it is very strongly held. A little of the contents
of the kirikoraha might also be rubbed on the heads of the dogs
which were supposed to be more likely to hunt successfully
after this.
The Kirikoraha at Sitala Wanniya. Kande Yaka,
Bilindi Yaka and Indigollae Yaka were all invoked at the
kirikoraha held at Sitala Wanniya. Indigollae was held to
be the principal attendant of Kande Yaka, and though the
invocation sung to him refers to " seven pots of blood " our
informants were unable to give us any meaning for this\
Handuna, the shaman of the Sitala Wanniya community, did
^ This matter is briefly discussed in Chapter x after the invocation (No. xxxii) to
Indigollae Yaka.
224 THE VEDDAS
not possess an aude, having given his to a white man who knew
not its value, but since an aiide must be used when invoking
Kande Yaka and BiHndi Yaka, Handuna unfastened the blade
from one of his shooting arrows to represent an aude. Having
put on the Jiangala he burnt some resin and censed the
kirikoraJia. This had been placed on a support of the usual
form in the centre of the dancing ground, and the arrow blade
and some betel leaves had been placed in it. Two pots of
boiled rice had been placed upon a small platform or altar
{maesa) which had been built for, and used in, another
ceremony.
The shaman raised the coconut and salaamed to the
kirikoraJta and then danced round and round it, singing the
invocation given in Chapter X (No. xvi) and exhibiting the
nut to the yakii and thrusting at the pot as he danced though
not actually hitting it. The step was the usual one with many
half turns and performed clockwise. Handuna now invoked
Bilindi Yaka (Chapter X, invocation No. xvill) and soon he
fell back and was supported for a few seconds, but revived
almost immediately, when he became possessed by Bilindi
Yaka. An axe was given him by one of the Veddas with which
he hit the coconut so as to split it, letting the water pour out on
the ground. Then with a half coconut in each hand he danced
up to Vela shouting " Houh! houh!" and held the nuts against
his chest while with head bent and body swaying he said,
" You have offered me coconut, and I have come, why did you
call me?" For coconut, instead of the usual word pol he used
sudii ewa, literally "the white one" or "the white thing." Again
he danced round the pot and bent his head low over it, in this
way showing his satisfaction with the offering. Whilst he
continued to dance Vela and Kaira made the coconut milk,
putting the remains of the flesh of the nut on the pots of rice
which had been placed on the inacsa. Handuna now took the
arrow blade from the kirikoraha and danced with it, holding its
ends in either hand and twirling it round between his fingers;
taking it in his right hand, he stabbed sharply at the pot as
he danced round it, taking care, however, nevjr to hit the pot.
He dipped the arrow into the pot and examined the milk on the
CEREMONIAL DANCES 22$
blade, then scattered it to show that he was pleased, shouting
several times Has Bilindil Has B Hindi! to which Kaira always
answered divas or " Lord." He danced again, stretching alter-
nately his right and left arms, and about this time Bilindi
Yaka left and Kande Yaka entered him without any outward
signs, so that we did not recognise the change which had taken
place until presently he danced round the kirikoraha with one
arm extended and holding the arrow blade by its centre. We
were told that he was possessed by Kande Yaka, who in his
person performed the traditional pantomime of tracking the
sambar by its slots, pointing at them with the arrow. This
scene was not acted so thoroughly as it was at Bendiyagalge.
Handuna picked up a i&\N leaves and held them across the
arrow to represent a bow whilst he crouched in a position ready
to shoot ; then, dipping his hand in the kirikoraha he dropped
some milk on the leaves and got up and danced. Filling
the palms of his hands with the milk he went to Kaira and
said: "The sambar you shall shoot shall bleed like this milk
dripping." Coming to one of us he placed one arm on his
shoulder, holding a betel leaf moist with milk in the other out-
stretched hand, and prophesied sambar to the bow of Kaira.,
With head slightly thrown back and rapt expression he told of
Indigollae and the seven pots of blood — and now it seemed
that Kande Yaka went and Indigollae Yaka came\ Before
going back to the kirikoraha Handuna gave one of us (C.G.S.) a
betel leaf as a sign of favour, and then taking another from the
kirikoraha he allowed some milk to drip over it before he let it
fall to the ground. Then with the arrow head he made two
slits in the leaf not quite extending to the base, and again
dipped it in the milk. Next he went to Vela and passed the
slit leaf slowly over his head and finally slapped it on his chest.
He did the same thing to Kaira with an uncut leaf, and it was
noted that when the leaves fell to the ground off the men's
chests they were picked up carefully and put in the kirikoraJia.
The cuts in the leaf denoted that the sambar promised to Vela
would be horned. The manner in which the leaf falls is also
considered prophetic ; when, as in this case, it falls with its
^ His invocation is given in Chapter x, No. xxxn.
S. v. 15
226 THE VEDDAS
under surface upwards, the quarry will take long to kill; if, on
the other hand, the leaf fall with its upper surface upwards,
death will be speedy.
After this Handuna again danced round the kirikoraha,
holding the arrow in it, and showed his favour to each of the
male onlookers by passing a milky betel leaf over their heads
and placing it on their chests. This was repeated several
times alternating with dances and quiverings over the pot
before Handuna finally shook his head over the pot and fell
back with a shout, the yaka having left him.
Now Indigollae Yakini, the wife of Indigollae Yaka, was
invoked, and we were told that Kaira who performed this dance
would have worn beads on his wrists had he possessed them.
He danced in the usual way round the kirikoraha with the
arrow head which transfixed a betel leaf in one hand, when
suddenly dropping his head over the kirikoraJia he shouted
and apparently became possessed by the yakini. Gasping and
shaking he went to both Handuna and Vela and put milky
betel leaves on their chests, and spoke to them, raising his arms
alternately and shuffling his feet. He returned to the pot and
danced, stretching his arms and then crossing them across his
body as he would have done had he been holding a couple of
aude, swaying his body and moving vigorously. Several times
he bent over the kirikoraha and each time leapt back with a
shout and danced again. At last Handuna pointed to the
offering of rice on the inaesa, which he approached and inspected
while gasping and shaking, then evidently satisfied with this he
sprang forward to the kirikoraJia, dropped his head over it and
fell back exhausted, but no longer possessed by ^x\y yaka.
The Kirikoraha at Uniche. The kirikoraJia performed at
Maha Oya by Wannaku of Uniche seemed to be intermediate
between the ceremony of the wilder Veddas where the original
idea, namely Kande Yaka tracking the elk, was the dominant
feature, and that danced by the village Veddas at Unuwatura
Bubula v/here this motif was omitted.
A maesa was built (though not elaborated into a buhityaJiana
as at Unuwatura Bubula), a white cloth was laid over it and
betel leaves, areca nuts, bananas, coconuts, and two pots of
CEREMONIAL DANCES 22/
cooked rice were placed on it, as well as the kirikoraha itself
containing the coconut milk, in which two atide had been
placed. All these offerings were then covered with a red cloth,
the red colour being said to be necessary.
Before describing the dance it must be explained that the
U niche Veddas had come to Maha Oya, some twenty- four
miles from their home, and the shaman had not brought his
aude with him, so we offered to lend him two, a small one we
had collected at Unuwatura Bubula, and a particularly fine
one lent to us by Tissahami, the Vedda Arachi, the Sinhalese
headman already referred to, who in his youth had lived a
great deal among Veddas, and from whom he had received the
aude. This aude, evidently an old one, pleased Wannaku
greatly and he exclaimed with joy: " This is indeed an aude for
Kande Yaka^" We did not tell him whence we had obtained
them, but he seemed impressed that a white man should possess
such a good Vedda atide.
Wannaku put on the hangala and salaamed to the maesa.
and whilst the drum was beaten sang the invocation given in
Chapter X, No. xxii, to Bilindi Yaka. He danced in front of
the maesa facing east, slowly at first, but gradually he began to
sway his body more rapidly and with greater vigour and soon
became possessed by Bilindi Yaka. The shaman now picked
up the large aiide and, after dancing with it in his hands for a
few seconds, flung it from him to the ground with disgust,
exclaiming angrily: "This is not my arrow, this has been used
by a Sinhalese." Someone handed him the small aude and he
seemed satisfied and danced with this. Of course it was quite
possible for Wannaku t^' have discovered the history of the aude
from our servants or from the villagers, or it may even have
been mentioned quite casually in conversation with them and
not have made much impression on him at the time, but
flashing into consciousness in the excitement of the dance it
may have appeared an important and till then unknowm fact.
On questioning Wannaku after the dance he denied any
previous knowledge but said quite simply that he was possessed
'^ However, when the dance took place the next day he used this aude when
invoking Bilindi Yaka.
15—2
228 THE VEDDAS
by Bilindi Yaka and " as a man knows his own betel pouch so
BiHndi Yaka would know his own aude."
The shaman bent his head over the kirikoraha and in-
spected it, then putting his hand into it he scattered the milk
on the ground two or three times, before filling his palm with
milk and letting it fall over the aiide, in this way testing
the quality of the offering. With the arrow in one hand he
stood in front of the maesa shaking and shouting. Now he
took a betel leaf from the kirikoraha, fixed it on the point of
the aude and as a sign of favour put this on an old Vedda's
chest, asking at the same time why he had been invoked:
" Is anyone sick ? " The old man replied that no one was ill,
they had merely called him to take the offerings on the maesa.
So the yaka was pleased and with rapt expression the shaman
danced, and again dripped milk over the aiide, saying at the
same time that he must go. He repeated this several times,
all the while quivering and gasping and saying that now he
would leave, but before finally departing the spirit again showed
favour to the old Vedda, influencing the shaman to put a milky
betel leaf on his chest ; then the shaman leapt back suddenly and
Xh'Q. yaka left him.
After a short interval the shaman danced again and soon
became possessed by Kande Yaka, whom he called by the
invocation No. XVII ; soon he made signs that he wanted some-
thing, when the Veddas understood that he lacked a second
aude, and not having another, one of the Veddas gave him a
knife, which the shaman preferred to the rejected aiide. He
held the ande and the knife crosswise, these now representing
the bow and arrow of Kande Yaka, and dancing wildly the
shaman feigned to test the imaginary bow, then leaning both
arms on the maesa he shivered and shook, at the same time
declaring that the bow was a strong and good one. Again
holding the arrow blade and knife like a bow and arrow he
followed the track of an imaginary sambar for a few yards; he
pointed to a spot on the ground and said the next kirikoraha
should be built there. Then taking some milk from the
kirikoraha he let some fall on the arrow and spilled some on the
ground, and we were told that this represented Kande Wanniya
CEREMONIAL DANCES 229
drinking after the kill. After a little more dancing the shaman
fell back into the arms of his supporter and the spirit left him.
The Kirikoraha at Unuwatura Bubula. When dancing
to Kande Yaka at Unuwatura Bubula the Veddas made a
biilatyaJiana(?\2iXQ. XXXV); this, we were told, would be builtwhen
invoking v^dcciy yaka, but the kirikoraha would never be danced
without it. The bidatyahana seemed to be an elaborated maesa
with the framework carried up to form a back and slanting roof
over which a cloth, specially kept for this purpose, was hung
and fastened down. On the shelf of the biilatyaJiana two aude
and a trident of the ordinary Hindu pattern were placed
together with betel leaves and areca nut. The kirikoraJia
containing coconut milk and betel leaves stood on a rice-mortar
beside it and a pot of cooked rice was put on the ground.
The shaman danced in front of the bidatyahana holding in
his hands a new piece of cloth (a. coloured handkerchief which
we gave him) specially obtained for the purpose. He swayed
his body and raised the cloth to his head while lifting his feet
and patting the ground alternately with his right and left foot,
but not moving from the front of the bidatyahana, that is to say
confining his dancing to a space three or four feet long. He
exchanged the handkerchief for the trident and placing a betel
leaf on the point he danced with this and soon became possessed
by Kande Yaka. Putting his hands into the kirikoraha, he
examined the milk and expressed his satisfaction by shouting
and clapping his hands. Again he danced to and fro in front
of the bidatyahana with the trident in his hand. The kirikoraha
was taken off the rice-mortar and put on the bidatyahana,
and the pot of cooked rice was put in its place on the rice-
mortar.
The dancer then approached a sick shaman who, as men-
tioned on p. 263, had coughed up a considerable amount of
blood at the end of the alutyakagama ceremony performed
previously, and fed him with some rice which he brought to
him in a betel leaf. In this way Kande Yaka showed his
benevolence towards the sick man, for it was considered that
the yaka food would cure him. Returning to the bidatyahana
the shaman quivered and shook his head and examined the
230 THE VEDDAS
rice, then he came to us and in the usual agitated manner of
one possessed by the yaku said that he had come because we
had asked for him. After some more dancing a little longer in
front of the bidatyaJiaiia and after much bending and shaking
over it and the rice pot the yaka of Kande Wanniya left the
shaman and the ceremony ended.
Nae Yaku Ceremonies.
The large part the Nae Yaku play in the life of the Veddas
and the great deference paid to them have been treated in the
chapters on religion. We witnessed two Nae Yaku ceremonies
which took place at Sitala Wanniya and Bandaraduwa respec-
tively. The Bandaraduwa ceremony was performed on the
seventh day after the death of the individual whose spirit was
invoked, and we were allowed to prepare a dancing ground
in the jungle, where it seemed that a tolerably good series of
photographs might be obtained. However, the Veddas were
obviously apprehensive of the spirit of the deceased until the
ceremony had taken place, and insisted on performing it early
in the morning with the result that the photographs obtained
were all underexposed. We have however thought it best to
publish a number of these without retouching them, an excep-
tion being made in the case of the two photographs reproduced
in Plates XXXVI, fig. 2, and XXX VI II, fig. i, the value
of which do not depend on the facial expression of the per-
formers while they were so underexposed that all detail would
have been lost in a reproduction.
The ceremony performed at Sitala Wanniya was danced
expressly because we wished to see it, but Handuna, the most
important man in this community, was delighted when we
suggested that they should dance to the Nae Yaku, because he
said it would please the yaku, for when alone the community
could seldom provide such good things to offer them as we
promised to give.
Nae Yaku Ceremony at Sitala Wanniya. Although
the Sitala Wanniya Veddas told us that the Nae Yaku could
not come without Kande Yaka, Kande Yaka was not invoked at
Plate XXXV
Fig. I. Kirikoraha ceremony, the bulatyahana (Unuwatura Bubula)
Fig. 2. Kirikoraha ceremony, the shaman before the bulatyahana
(Unuwatura Bubula)
CEREMONIAL DANCES 23 I
the Nae Vaku ceremony that they performed for our benefit ;
the spirits of certain named relatives being called upon imme-
diately. This may have been an omission caused by the
ceremony having been begun in the spirit of a rehearsal (though
it was certainly continued in earnest), but it seems more pro-
bable to us that this was not a mistake, as it was clearly stated
that when a Nae Yaka is invoked for the first time after a death
Kande Yaka is called upon at the beginning of the ceremony to
bring the new yaka. The two yaku invoked at this ceremony
were remembered by the community as influential men, and had
probably been invoked frequently, and thus though still looked
upon as attendants of Kande Yaka in a general way, they had
probably gained a certain independence. Two pots of rice were
cooked with coconut milk and placed on the niaesa which was
already in existence, having been built for one of the other
dances, and an earthenware bowl of coconut milk was supported
on a stake driven into the ground in the centre of the dancing
plot. This bowl, the kirikoraJia, was filled with coconut milk,
and betel leaves were put in it. Kaira put on a hangalla, and
held a piece of cloth in his hands. It was decided that the
father-in-law of Handuna should be called, therefore an invoca-
tion was sung to him, and Kaira danced with the piece of cloth in
his hand holding it at times over his head, and soon began to shout
and leap showing that he was possessed. He went to Handuna,
shouted and waved his cloth before him, and he too fell back
and became possessed. There seemed to be no doubt that both
Handuna and Kaira were considered to be possessed by the same
yaka, i.e. by the spirit of the former's father-in-law Tuta Gamarale.
Both bent their heads low over the kirikoraha and inspected
the milk, then examined the offering of cooked rice, and re-
turned to the kirikoraha quivering and gasping, and scattered
some of the milk as a sign of pleasure. Then Kaira spoke
to Vela in the low gasping voice of the yaka and stretched his
arms towards Vela's child, who was suffering from yaws, and
covered both the child and its mother with his cloth. He treated
the other children in the same way, and also sprinkled coconut
milk on their heads, and in the hurried yaka manner of one
possessed smeared their faces with the milk, and we were told
232 THE VEDDAS
that this was the manner in which the yaka of Tuta Gamarale
usually showed favour to his grandchildren. Handuna and
Kaira both returned to the kirikoraha, and shivering and
quaking they bent their heads over it, shaking their hair over
their faces, then both danced wildly (Handuna with an arrow in
his hand), scattering the milk about, in this way showing their
satisfaction with the offerings prepared for them. Both Handuna
and Kaira went to several of the Vedda onlookers, and waving
their cloths promised luck in hunting or favour of some kind.
Then coming to each of us, they said while shuffling their feet
and shaking their cloths " My grandchildren called me to help
them, now you are here too, do you help them also." After
feeding some of the small children with coconut milk they both
returned to the kirikoraha and bent their heads low over it, crying,
" Oh," and fell back, and the yaka of Tuta Gamarale left
them.
A good deal of discussion followed among the Veddas, as
many considered that the father of Handuna should be invoked,
but all declared they were too tired to dance. At last Handuna
prevailed upon his son-in-law Kaira to dance, explaining to us
that they seldom had such good food as that which they were
able to offer to-day and it pleased the yahc greatly, so his father
should be called to share it.
So Kaira took the handkerchief and danced again, soon
becoming possessed by Huda the father of Handuna. After
showing favour to the progeny of Huda as before by holding
the cloth over their heads he fell supine into the arms of Vela
and it seemed as if the yaka was about to depart. Some of the
men and boys began immediately to repeat the invocation to
prevent this from happening, and after some seconds of immo-
bility Kaira began to tremble slightly, and raised his right hand
limply, let it fall again, and once more became inert. Then
all joined vigorously in the invocation, and the wife of Kaira
smeared his face with coconut milk, and with the aid of a leaf-
cone fed him with the milk, that is to say, she managed to convey
a few drops into his mouth, but still he remained unmoved. As
this was ineffectual several of the grandchildren of the man
whose spirit possessed Kaira fed the latter in the same way ;
CEREMONIAL DANCES 233
Vela did so also, with the result that Kaira dropped his head
forward, shook violently and nodded his head sideways in
a clumsy drunken fashion, and in a few seconds, still supported,
jerked his limbs forwards and moved to the offering, after which
he came back to where the women were standing and fell again
into the arms of Vela. His chin was thrown back and his
whole body trembled, while he gasped a word or two oc-
casionally and fanned himself with his cloth vigorously. He
held the cloth over the child suffering from yaws and promised
to cure him, then putting both hands on Handuna he let his
head fall on the latter's chest, and while trembling and shuffling
his feet asked how Handuna fared. Handuna replied that game
was scarce, and Kaira then spoke to the wife of Handuna and
again to Handuna, and promised help. Then leaving Handuna
he danced with wild leaping steps round the kirikoralia and
gasped that now he must go and so leapt to the viaesa,
bent his head over the offering, and fell back exhausted. But he
soon began to dance again, twirling the arrow blade between his
fingers, till after a short time he returned to the niaesa, and again
bent his head over the offering ; then with a great shout he took
the pot of rice in both hands and spun it on the ground, and as
he did so the yaka left him and he fell back.
Spinning the pot had the same significance here as at
Henebedda, the direction towards which the pot dipped showing
where game would be found. In this instance the pot was so
full of rice that it did not dip at all, but this was considered
a good omen as game might be expected on all sides.
After all was over Handuna took an arrow, and standing by
the viaesa pointed the arrow to the pots, and called upon all
the Nae Yakii to feed. The pots were soon removed, the rice
they contained was eaten, and the betel leaves from the kiri-
koraJia chewed, but the milk in the kirikoraha was poured over a
heap of twigs laid on the ground, being thus devoted to theyaku.
Nae Yaku ceremony at Bandaraduwa. Some account
has already been given in Chapter II of the abnormal conditions
prevailing at Bandaraduwa, so it will only be necessary to touch
lightly upon this subject here. Some twenty years back these
Kovil Vanamai Veddas, of whom the Bandaraduwa Veddas
234 THE VEDDAS
are the remains, lived much the same life as the Henebedda
Veddas now live, and like them were in transition between
a purely hunting, honey-collecting life and the settled condition
of the village Veddas who are mainly dependent on their chena
produce. When we visited Bandaraduwa the Veddas were in
a sorry condition and had settled down among the Sinhalese.
It is true they dwelt in separate huts, but they were built on the
same chena which had been allotted by the Government to
them all, and like the Sinhalese they were paying taxes^
Naturally living in such close contact with the Sinhalese they
have been influenced by them, and intermarriage has taken
place, so that in many cases the Vedda identity has been lost.
However, those of them who still considered themselves Veddas
have retained a number of their old songs and many of their old
customs, as comparison with the uncontaminated Sitala Wanniya
Veddas showed. But even these customs, though Vedda at
root, had been largely coloured and often overlaid by Sinhalese
beliefs, so that when a death occurred not only was it necessary
to make offering to the new Nae Yaka but it was equally
important to propitiate the nearest Buddhist priest.
A kirikoraha was prepared in the usual way, and betel
leaves put in it as well as the coconut milk. The shaman
Tissahami, wearing a hangala, placed two aiide on the kirikoraha
and salaamed to the bowl. (Plate XXXVI, fig. i.) Then he
began to dance in the usual manner to the accompaniment of
a drum played by a Vedda lad, first holding one aiide and then
one in each hand, that in the right hand being for Kande Yaka
and that in the left for the yaka of the deceased Tuta. The
use of the drum, which was of Sinhalese manufacture, must be
regarded as an innovation, for although these people used them,
and the Bendiyagalge people said they would if they had them,
the Sitala Wanniya Veddas declared that true Veddas never
possessed or used a drum^.
^ It must be remembered that about sixty years ago Bailey, a Government official,
encouraged the Veddas of Nilgala to make chena and since then the custom has spread.
Sixty years ago these Veddas, and in fact all except the long established coast and
village Veddas, must have lived a life very little different from that of the Sitala
Wanniya group of to-day.
- The readiness with which this community accepted an innovation was demonstrated
Plate XXXVI
Fig. I. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman salaams to the offering
(Bandaraduwa)
Fig. 2. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman pretends to stab the offering
( Bandaraduwa) ''
Plate XXXVII
Fig. I. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman possessed falls into the arms
of a supporter (Bandaraduwa)
Fig. 2. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman sprinkles milk from the offering
on the brothers of the deceased (Bandaraduwa)
Plate XXXVI 11
Fig. I. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman possessed by Kande Yaka
tracks the sambar (Bandaraduwa)*
Fig. 2. Nae Yaku ceremony, the brother of the deceased falls back
possessed (Bandaraduwa)
CEREMONIAL DANCES 235
At the same time an invocation was sung, presumably to
Kande Yaka and the Nae Yaka, but our notes are not quite clear
about this ; it was however certain that Kande Yaka, Bilindi
Yaka and the Nae Yaka all came, indeed that the last was
unable to come without Kande Yaka, but it was not clear when
each yaka came and went, and it seemed quite possible for the
shaman to be possessed by ^q.vqx2X yakii at once.
As the shaman danced he stabbed at the kirikoraha with
both the aiide (Plate XXXVI, fig. 2), in this way the Nae Yaka
by whom he was possessed was pleased to show his power.
Sometimes as Tissahami made the usual half turn on his heels
he held the aude against his hips pointed end outwards. Soon
he began to quiver and bend his head forward, and was imme-
diately supported by one of the onlookers, into whose arms
he fell back (Plate XXX Vll, fig. i). After lying still for a few
seconds he revived and began to dance wildly, stabbing the
aiide in the air ; this was in order to frighten people, for although
the feeling of the Nae Yaka towards his living relatives was
friendly, provided always that he had been well treated by them
and had been offered sufficient rice, coconut milk and betel
leaves, the yaka was not averse to showing his newly acquired
power. After this, in order to show his favour to his relatives
the shaman went to both the brothers of the dead man in turn
and sprinkled them with coconut milk from the kirikoraha
(Plate XXXVII, fig. 2), he put his arms on their shoulders and
promised them luck in hunting, and taking two betel leaves from
the kirikoraha he put one on the chest of each man, and the
leaves being wet with the milk stayed where they were placed
for a short time. Suddenly leaping away the shaman, now
apparently possessed by Kande Yaka and probably with the
spirit of the Nae Yaka still within him, tracked an imaginary
sambar round the dancing ground, holding the two aude cross-
wise to represent a bow and arrow. This is shown in Plate
XXXVIII, fig. I, which also shows the betel leaves on the chest
by the shaman who wanted to wear Sinhalese leggings with bells, although he said
these had not been worn before in a Vedda ceremony. The leglets, which he greatly
admired, had been worn by a peasant Sinhalese at a devil ceremony which had been
held two days before at a village a few miles distant.
2S6 THE VEDDAS
of each of the two brothers of the deceased. The shaman made
no feint to shoot but soon put the aude on the kirikoraha, and
taking a pot of rice which had been prepared twirled it vigorously
in his hands, and though this may have represented Kande
Wanniya spinning the rice pot for prophecy, the shaman put the
pot down without actually spinning it. Supported by one of
the Veddas he again danced round the kirikoraha and swayed
his body violently; at times he would spring suddenly to one
side stabbing fiercely at the air, after which (bending over the
kirikoraha) he fell back and remained perfectly still with rapt
expression and head slightly bent, one hand resting on the
edge of the milk pot. It seemed as though the Yaka was
about to leave the shaman, but as the relatives did not desire
this (perhaps because the Yaka had not yet fed them as a sign
of greater favour) they all sang the invocation together. The
Yaka heard them, for suddenly the shaman began to tremble,
the trembling grew to a vigorous shaking, and he sprang forward
and again bent his head over the kirikoraha ; then with body
bent and head drooping he moved a little way, taking short
leaping steps, and again fell back exhausted. But he soon
revived and took the atide and approached the dead man's
brothers in turn, who both became possessed by the Nae Yaka
and fell back. Then the shaman smeared their bodies with
coconut milk, throwing some into their mouths, and they soon
showed signs of life again. Plate XXX VII I, fig. 2, and
Plate XXXIX, fig, i, show the two brothers of the deceased
possessed by the Nae Yaka ; in the latter figure the body of
the unconscious man has been smeared with the contents of the
kirikoraJui, while the remains of that with which he had been fed
hangs about his mouth and chin. It will be observed that in
both these figures the supporters are Sinhalese ; this was because
there were not enough grown Vedda men in the community to
support the men possessed by Yaku. All this time the invoca-
tion was being repeated by one of the youngest Veddas present,
who we were told was the dead man's sister's son, that is the
dead man's potential son-in-law. The shaman now fed the dead
man's brothers with rice from the offering, and then fell ex-
hausted to the ground. One of the onlookers immediately came
Plate XXXIX
Fig. I. Nae Yaku ceremony, the other brother of the deceased is also
possessed (Bandaraduwa)
Fig. 2. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman possessed by the Nae Yaka
embraces the brothers of the deceased (Bandaraduwa)
Plate XL
Fig. I. Nae Yaku ceremony, the Nae Yaka shows his power ( Bandaraduwa)
Fig. 2. Nae Yaku ceremony, the shaman feeds the members of the
community (Bandaraduwa)
CEREMONIAL DANCES 237
to his assistance when he began to quiver and sway, then
moved and put both arms round one of the dead man's brothers
as a sign of kindness from the deceased. (Plate XXXIX,
fig. 2.) The brothers said: " It was good of you to come. See
we have given you food, now do not come back again," and the
yaka agreed. The shaman then took the aiide and transfixed
a betel leaf with each and danced and again showed favour to
the relatives by giving them each another betel leaf, after which
one of the relatives danced, but the shaman threatened to stab
with the aiide the men who were not relatives of the dead man.
(Plate XL, fig. I.) Soon both the shaman and the two brothers
fell back and the Yaka departed from them. When the shaman
revived, he bent his head over the kirikoraJia as a sign of respect ;
then holding both hands over the rice pot he repeated a silent
charm, asking any of the other yah( who might have come to the
ceremony to depart peacefully. After this he fed each relative
of the dead man, holding the kirikoraha to their mouths, as is
shown in Plate XL, fig. 2.
The Invocation of Bambura Yaka.
The Veddas invoke Bambura Yaka for help in getting pig
and yams, both staple foods, the latter being an extremely im-
portant element in their diet. The dance is pantomimic, and
depicts a boar hunt in which Bambura, the boar-hunting hero,
was aided by a Vedda woman, who killed the pig with an
arrow she shot from her husband's bow and whose spirit is
therefore called Dunne Yakini (Bow Spirit), while the spirit
of this woman's husband who turned the boar with his yam
stick {iile) has become Ule Yaka, that is (Yam-stick Spirit).
This ceremony, though not so widely spread, is as dramatic as
that in which Kande Yaka stalks and kills sambar deer. We
saw it danced by Kaira of Sitala Wanniya and by Wannaku of
Uniche.
The invocation of Bambura Yaka at Sitala Wanniya.
The dance at Sitala Wanniya will be described first, since the
story was told us here in its more complete form. Once long
ago many Vedda men and women went out in search of yams,
238 THE VEDDAS
and they took their dogs with them. While all were busy
digging yams, the dogs strayed in the jungle and soon put up
a boar, to which they gave chase, giving tongue. The men
hearing the dogs followed them and soon came up with the boar
at bay, which immediately charged them. None of the men
could kill the boar, but a woman, whose spirit afterwards became
Dunne Yakini, picked up a bow and arrow and killed the boar
with the help of her husband Ule Yaka and his brother, who
became Kuda Ule Yaka, i.e. Little Yam-stick Yaka. Although
Bambura Yaka takes no part in the story as it was told us, he is
the importSLnt faka of the ceremony ; it is he who is especially
invoked, Dunne Yakini, her husband and brother-in-law coming
in as his attendants, as do a varying number of other j/aku, pre-
sumably the spirits of those who joined in the boar hunt^
During the dance Bambura Yaka and all his attendants
were present, so that it was not at all clear which part of the
dance represented the actions of Bambura Yaka himself, since
after the first complete possession yaku entered and departed
from the shaman without any obvious signs. But we were told
after the dance that Bambura was returning to his cave at
Lewangala carrying yams and a couple of the large monitor
lizards when he came across the hunt.
The properties for this dance are rather complicated and
were carefully prepared on the dancing ground, all the men
helping in the work and charms being sung the while. The
necessary sticks were cut and two flat reddish stones found by
a stream were placed below the maesa which was built with
a double platform, a bundle of grass, leaves and twigs bound
together to represent the boar being suspended from the lower
platform. The stones were called Kuda Lewangala and Maha
Lewangala respectively, and represented the red rocks or rocky
hills of Lewangala, the unknown land in which Bambura lived
and which is still the chief abiding place of his yaka. The
majority of these properties are well seen in Plate XLIV, fig. i.
1 We may here refer to a matter we discuss at greater length in Chapter X. It is
certain that the invocations (Nos. xxvii and xxvni) used at the Bambura Yaka
ceremony and specially addressed to Bambura, which were only partially understood
by those who sang them, originally applied to honey collecting.
CEREMONIAL DANCES 239
On the stones Handuna and Kaira mixed their pigments, lime,
turmeric, water and charcoal, while all chanting together they
decorated with spots and bars the various sticks which were
to form the bows, arrows, yam sticks and carrying sticks sacred
to the yahi who were soon to be invoked ^
As already stated the boar was suspended below the maesa
by a creeper, and another creeper fastened to the " boar " was
held by a small boy who stood a little back in the bush.
The objects prepared for the Bambura Yaka dance at Sitala
Wanniya were as follows :
(i) The mulpola itiya ; the meaning of these words is
doubtful, though itiya was said to signify an ancient weapon.
This was said to be for the use of Mulpola Itiya Yaka, and is
a rough stick about 5 feet 6 in. long (figure 9^) pointed at one
end, above which the bark is shaved off for about 6 in., which part
was decorated with bars of red and black pigment. This was
said to be a yam stick, and it was explained that because of this
the bark was not peeled except at the point, for a man would
cut any stick in the jungle and dig up yams with it.
(ii) The ule (figure 9 b) or ceremonial arrow belonging to the
Yaka is a peeled stick about 6 feet long, pointed at one end and
decorated with rings of red and black pigment. Three pieces of
bast are tied to the upper end, a few inches from the top, to
represent the feathers of an arrow.
(iii) The harimitiya is a stout stick about 3 feet 6 in.
long, decorated with rings of red and black pigment, and was
used by Bambura Yaka as a staff.
(iv) The haelapeta (figure 9 r) is a peeled stick nearly
6 feet long, spatulate at one end and decorated with bars of red
and black in the manner indicated in the drawing.
(v) The ran kadiiwa (literally " golden sword ") is similar
to the haelapeta, and totally unlike the ran kaduwa used in the
Rahu Yaku ceremony and figured on p. 256.
(vi) The bow of the Dunne Yakini has the bark stripped
from the outer surfaces only, and is decorated with spots of red
1 On asking the reason for this ornamentation of the properties we were told that
the yaku would be pleased when they saw the decorations, for the spots of pigment
represented the flowers of Lewangala.
240
THE VEDDAS
{a) (d) {c)
Fig. 9. Some of the objects used in the Bambura Yaka ceremony.
{a) Mtdpola itiya x y\. (b) Ule x ^. {c) Haelapeta x xV-
CEREMONIAL DANCES 24I
and black pigment. It closely resembled that used in the
Bambura Yaka ceremony at Uniche.
(vii) The tadiya is well seen in Plate XLI, fig. i. It is
a short stout stick, and represents a carrying stick ox pingo which
is used throughout Ceylon ; however, it was quite unlike one,
as these are long and springy and resemble a bow ; moreover,
Veddas usually unstring their bows and use them as carrying
sticks.
(viii) The nimiti or book (explained as book of omens,
and said to be borrowed from Sinhalese ceremonies) was made
of a couple of broad strips of bark in imitation of the ola books
used in Ceylon ^
The Jiaelapeta and ran kadnwa were said to belong to
Devatayo of those names, but nothing was known about them.
Devatayo or Dewa are Sinhalese spirits distinct from the yaku
according to Sinhalese beliefs, but Handuna, our best informant
at Sitala Wanniya, said Devatayo were the same as yaku.
Obviously they had been introduced and assimilated to the
Vedda yaku.
After all the sticks had been painted some cooked yams
were tied up in leaves and bound to one end of the tadiya, and
some wisps of grass were tied to the other to represent monitor
lizards (Plate XLI, fig. i), the whole was then put on the lower
stage of the inaesa with cooked yams for all the yaku, while
a portion of yams was placed on the upper stage for Koriminaala
Yaka, but no reason could be discovered why his food was kept
apart from the rest. The dance began by Handuna singing an
invocation (No. xxix) to Mulpola Itiya Yaka, and Kaira, who
wore a hangala, held the mulpola itiya in his right hand, letting
the decorated end rest in his left, then he danced slowly round
and round in front of the 7/zrt'^j-rt facing east, the direction whence
the boar of the story came. The nitdpola itiya was soon changed
for the ran kaduzva, and now Kaira made long leaping steps,
widening his circle as he moved in front of the inaesa and
^ The nimiti omen or book is perhaps the most curious of all the properties.
It was said that Bambura Yaka could read and write, and that he was the only Yaka
who had these accomplishments, though nothing was known as to how he had learned
them. But certainly this part of the ritual was old and must be the result of quite
ancient contact with a Buddhistic people.
S. V, 16
242 THE VEDDAS
turning the stick over in his hand. At this time he became
possessed by Ule Yaka, and after dancing in a circle for a few
minutes he began to leap to and fro in front of the maesa and
thrust at the ground with his stick, at the same time warning
\\\Q. yaku that the boar he was hunting was very dangerous and
that they must be prepared to help him should it charge him.
Then he approached Handuna and one of us, saying "The boar
is very fierce but I will kill it." Again he went to Handuna
and laid the ran kadiiwa across the latter's chest and held it to
him with both arms and repeated his boast of killing the boar,
but he also begged for assistance if he should meet with an
accident. He again leapt to and fro beating his sides, and,
taking the tadiya from the maesa, held it first on his shoulder
then behind his head and brandished it in the air so that
Bambura Yaka might see the good things attached to it, and if
he were pleased with the offering he too might come to assist
Ule Yaka if the boar should attack him. Then taking Vela by
the hand, he spoke to him quietly and pointed as though
he saw the boar, and crouching, he stepped forward noiselessly,
but again sprang back and danced with the ule and tadiya, then
putting the tadiya down, turned the tile over in his hands and
danced with long leaping strides. Soon he left off dancing
and merely bounded to and fro trying to thrust at the " boar "
below the maesa, but the small boy holding the creeper attached
to it pulled the " boar " away each time Kaira thrust at it. After
a few attempts he came to each of us in turn, pressing the iile
against our chests, and with head bent forward and taking short
steps alternately to the right and left he spoke to us as
though we were Bambura Yaka and said, " This boar is difficult
to kill, grant that I may succeed." As he spoke he raised his
hand and pointed. Then shouting iisi 2isi nam (the words with
which dogs are put on a trail) he called the dogs (mentioned in
the story) Sanjala, Bahira Pandi, Neti, and Kali, and went
through the pantomime of laying them on the trail, gasping and
panting the while and hitting his chest saying, " This is a fine
big boar and I will kill it." Again he leapt to and fro and
thrust at the " boar " without success, then with a great charge
and a shout wounded the " boar " and fell back exhausted into
Plate XL!
Fig-. I. Bambura Yaka ceremony, preparing the tadiya (Sitala Wanniya)*"
Fig. 2. The Bambura Yaka ceremony begins by Handuna singing an
invocation (Sitala Wanniya)*
Plate XLII
Fig. I. Bambura Yaka ceremony, the boar wounds the hunter
(Sitala Wanniya)*
Fig. 2. Bambura Yaka ceremony, the boar is at length killed
(Sitala Wanniya)*
Plate XLIII
Fig. I. Bambura Yaka ceremony, the bow of Dunne Yakini
(Sitala Wanniya) '
^
Fig. 2. Bambura Yaka ceremony, Kaira dances with the tadiya
(Sitala Wanniya)"
CEREMONIAL DANCES 243
the arms of his supporter. However, the " boar " was not yet
dead and the yaka did not leave Kaira, who rested for a few
seconds, and when he sprang forward with a shout and danced
again and spoke to Handuna, saying, " I have succeeded in
wounding the boar, now I will kill it" he was still possessed by
Ule Yaka, Then the whole pantomime was repeated, the
boasts, the attempts to kill the boar, and the laying of the dogs
on the scent. At last the " boar " was wounded again, for
a squeal was set up by the small boy who manipulated the
creeper ; then with a final thrust the yaka killed it, and as
the ule was carefully withdrawn the "boar" gave a long dying
squeal. Then the yaka left Kaira.
Soon Kaira began to dance again still holding the ule, and
moving slowly at first but soon more energetically, and now he
became possessed by Koriminaala Yaka. He danced as before,
calling the dogs in the same way as when he was possessed by
Ule Yaka and thrust at the boar in like m.anner, but this time
the boar must have turned on him, as with a grunt " honk, honk,"
the boar swung forward and Kaira stumbled and then hobbled
painfully supporting himself on the ule, his right leg dragging
stiffly on the ground (Plate XLH, fig. i).
The other men came forward and " medicined " the leg, that
is, while one of them supported Kaira the other took a leaf and
hurriedly wiped the limb from the back of the knee downwards.
This evidently cured him, and he made another attempt to kill
the boar, and was again wounded and again cured in the same
way. Then he made one more charge, and the ule pierced the
back of the " boar," wounding it mortally, and as Kaira fell back
exhausted the Yaka left him (Plate XLH, fig. 2). As the z^/i? was
extracted the dying boar again gave forth a last squeal. After
a short rest the ceremonial bow prepared for Dunne Yakini
was wrapped in a cloth, and Handuna knelt down and held it on
his head with both hands while Kaira and Vela sang an invoca-
tion almost certainly to Dunne Yakini, but unfortunately no
note was taken of this (Plate XLH I, fig. i)^ Kaira salaamed
^ There was some experimenting before Kaira took the bow ; the plate shows one
of the younger members of the community holding it, but as he was not found satisfactor}'
Handuna took it himself.
16 2
244 THE VEDDAS
to the bow and said, " Behold this golden bow is brought,
covered by a clean cloth," and taking it from Handuna proceeded
to dance with it at first holding it behind his head, then bringing
it forward unwrapped it, placed it on Handuna's shoulder, and
spoke in the usual yaka voice. He again danced with the
bow and tried the string, and expressed his pleasure by gasping
and hitting his chest. Then he put it on the inaesa and fell
exhausted.
Although we have no definite note it seems quite evident
that at this time Kaira was possessed by Dunne Yakini.
Kaira then danced with the hariinitiya taking the usual
dance steps but supporting himself with the Jiarimitiya, and he
soon became possessed by Bambura Yaka. One of the lads now
held the tadiya, then Kaira made a mock search for it for some
minutes before he took it from the child. He danced with it
over his shoulder with body bent and the hariinitiya still in his
hand (Plate XLHI, fig. 2). He thus enacted Bambura Yaka
returning to the cave with good things on his tadiya, and he
shouted as every Vedda does when within hearing of home.
Seeing the children he seemed to threaten them with his
stick, and they ran away laughing ; this was repeated several
times. He tried to frighten the children away as he did not
want them to see the food he had procured. Then he led Vela
behind the inaesa, and pointing and speaking in a whisper with
a great air of secrecy told him that if he went to a certain place
where " there was high land by a stream " he should find a wild
pig and kill it. For pig he used the yaka word hossa dikka,
which apparently means "long snout." He led Handuna
in the opposite direction, and speaking with like precaution
promised that he should find and kill sambar, using the yaka
name gowra inagalla.
He took the book, spoke to Handuna and Vela, and next
taking yams from the inaesa presented some to each of us
and to all the Veddas present, for in this way Bambura Yaka
showed his good will. All the time he was distributing the
yams Kaira hurried, gasped, and trembled. Before Bambura
Yaka left him Kaira hit the upper stage of the inaesa with the
hariinitiya, and shouted " Hoi, hoi," to drive Koriminaala Yaka
CEREMONIAL DANCES 245
away. Then he fell back, Handuna took the tadiya, and the
dance ended.
All the properties of Bambura Yaka and his attendants were
replaced on the inaesa and some water was sprinkled over them,
this we were told being water for them to drink, for as no man
eats without drinking afterwards, so the yaku require water to
drink after food has been offered to them.
Handuna repeated charms over them, saying, " We have
given you food and treated you well ; if we have made any
mistakes excuse us and do no harm to our families or ourselves."
The whole ceremony was remarkable for the general feeling of
cheerfulness and goodfellowship, jokes were frequently made,
and obviously the Veddas had nothing to fear from the yaku in
the ordinary course of events.
The Bambura Yaka Ceremony at Uniche. The dance
to Bambura Yaka performed by Wannaku of Uniche differed
only very slightly from that performed at Sitala Wanniya, yet
in order to show these differences it will be necessary to describe
the dance in detail. Wannaku, who visited us at Maha Oya in
the Eastern Province, told us that Bambura Yaka was some-
times called Ala Yaka, i.e. Yam Yaka, as he helped men to
find yams.
A viaesa was built and leaves laid on it over which a white
cloth "^ was laid, and on this yams, a coconut, and a pumpkin were
placed, while some of the properties of the Bambura Yaka
ceremony leaned against the viaesa. These objects consisted of
a roughly made bow decorated with bars of red and black
(figure 10 a), two ordinary arrows and two long sticks which
represented the special arrows of the yaka. They are well seen
in Plate XLIV, fig. i, leaning against the maesa ; a ring of bark
is left at the top of each stick, and this is split to represent the
feathers of an arrow, the peeled portion of both sticks being
decorated with bars of red and yellow pigment. The upper
ends of these sticks are pared down so as to represent two
flattened surfaces as is shown in figure 10 b, which is drawn
1 Among the Sinhalese and Tamils it is customary not only to hang a ceiling cloth
but even to cover the walls, table and chairs with cloths when receiving an honoured
guest.
246
THE VEDDAS
Fig. 10. Ceremonial
bow and arrow of Bam-
bura Yaka. x y\-.
to a scale of about one-tenth. Below the
maesa, suspended by a creeper, is the
welenmla, which is merely a bundle of
leaves filled with sand to represent the
wild boar.
Wannaku, the shaman, put on a haiigala,
and salaamed to the maesa, and then sang a
curious invocation (No. xxvill), while a lad
beat the drum. Wannaku now exhibited
all the yaka properties, dancing with each
in turn. Wannaku did not tell us the story
of Bambura Yaka, and as our many ques-
tions did not elicit it we may presume that
he did not know it, so we did not find out
whether all the properties belonged to
Bambura Yaka or whether, as at Sitala
Wanniya, which we visited afterwards,
some belonged to his attendants.
After a short time Wannaku bent his
head over the maesa, shouted, let down his
hair, and became possessed. He picked up
each of the big yaka arrows in turn and
danced with them shouting, and thus show-
ing that he was pleased with them. Up to
this time he had not danced round the
maesa, only in front of it, that is, facing
east towards Inginiyagala, the home of
Bambura.
The shaman next took up the bow and
arrow and danced wildly in all directions,
pulling at the bowstring to see if it were
strong enough, although he did not let
fly. Being at last satisfied with his weapon
he aimed at the %velemtcla and shot, and
although he hit it he only wounded the
" boar," so the shaman ccutinued to dance
as though following the animal, but
although he occasionally pulled hard on
Plate XLIV
Fig. I. Bambura Yaka ceremony, offerings and properties prepared for
the ceremony by Wannaku of Uniche (Maha Oya)
m^--^^
Fig, 2. Bambura Yaka ceremony, Wannaku kills the boar (Maha Oya)*
CEREMONIAL DANCES 247
the bowstring aiming in the air he did not loose his arrow.
Soon he sh'pped down on one knee letting the other leg trail
on the ground, and we were told that the wild boar had turned
and charged him. Immediately one of the Vedda onlookers
sprang forward and " medicined " the leg, that is to say, he
wiped it down with a leaf as though he swept the pain from
the leg to the earth, and the shaman, apparently cured, con-
tinued to hunt. Three times he shot at the xvelenmla and hit
it each time, then leaning back in the arms of his supporter
he gasped : " I have shot the boar, now I am going." After
more gasping and quivering he fell into his supporter's arms
and the yaka left him.
After the ceremony all the food was eaten except the
pumpkin which was left to rot on the maesa. Wannaku told us
that \.\\Q.yakii would come and eat this, getting under the maesa
and sucking the goodness out of it ; the pumpkin would remain
there and would look perfect, but should anyone cook it and try
to eat it, he would find its substance was gone, so that it would
be like trying to eat grass. As we asked to keep the bow and
arrows, which would otherwise have been left to rot on the maesa,
Wannaku sprinkled some water over them and muttered an
explanation to the yaku before giving them to us.
The Pata Yaku Ceremony.
All Veddas recognise childbirth as a time of extreme pain
and even danger to women, and the individuals of the Sitala
Wanniya group invoke the aid of the yaku as soon as pregnancy
is diagnosed \ A week before we arrived at Sitala Wanniya
this ceremony had been held on behalf of Bevini, the wife of
Vela, who did not appear to be at all far advanced in pregnancy.
On the other hand, Mari, the wife of Pema, on whose account
the Pata Yaku dance which we witnessed was performed,
appeared to be quite six months pregnant. The delay had
probably been caused only by the lack of the good things which
it was necessary to offer to the yaku on these occasions, and
both Pema and his father-in-law Nila seemed very gratified when
1 We did not hear of this ceremony among the Veddas of any other group.
248 THE VEDDAS
we provided the rice and coconut necessary for the ceremony.
This food is always eaten by the community after the yahi have
inspected it.
The j'aku invoked to ensure safety during pregnancy and
childbirth are three in number and are called Pata (bark) Yaku.
No story could be discovered concerning them, nor could any
reason be elicited for the name Pata (bark) or the large quantity
of bast which is used in the dance. This can be taken from any
tree in the jungle, and is torn into strips about half-an-inch
broad. It may, however, be suggested that these particular
jya^u require the inner bark of trees as a resting-place just as the
yaku invoked to come to the kolomadinva or ahityakagama
come first to the leaves used in making these structures, and
then may or may not enter the person of the shaman, while they
may take refuge again in the leaves after they leave the shaman.
In the instances cited the leafy structures were beaten with
sticks after the ceremony to drive the yakii away ; this ritual was
not observed in the Pata Yaku ceremony, but it must be
remembered that only XhxQO. yaku were invoked and the shaman
may have been thoroughly satisfied that they had gone away
from the place, while, on the other hand, in the two other
ceremonies we were told that hosts of attendant yakit rested
amid the leaves, and that the more important spirits alone
entered the persons of the dancers.
The properties used in the Pata Yaku ceremony held for
Mari at Sitala Wanniya were as follows : three stout posts,
which were thrust into the ground in a line ; the tallest was
about 2 ft 6 in. high and the shortest somewhat less than 2 ft,
the upper ends of all being forked and large quantities of strips
of bast lashed to them. These bast covered stakes are called
the nsniukaliya^ inedaninkaliya and balakanua, i.e. the high,
middle and young post respectively, and each one belongs to
one of the Pata Yaku. The ivilakodiya or knde (umbrella),
which belongs to all the Pata Yaku, is a similar bunch of bast
strips tied to a rather longer stick which is not driven into the
ground. The aviamula is a stout stick about 18 inches long, to
which bunches of bast are tied at each end and doubled back so as
to present somewhat the appearance of a dumbbell. All these
CEREMONIAL DANCES 249
properties had been used previously in the ceremony performed
for Bevini^
Two dancers must take part in the ceremony, and one of
them should be the woman's father, whether he be shaman or
not ; if the woman has no father, or if he is unable to dance,
her paternal uncle or her husband may take his part. In the
ceremony we witnessed Nila, the father of Mari, and Vela, who
was no relation to her, both wore the hangala. Nila also wore
wristlets and cross shoulder straps of bark which represented beads.
As usual all the women and children collected at one side of
the cleared space to watch the ceremony, and Mari joined the
other women in preparing the offering of cooked food. An
arrow was struck (Plate XLV, fig. i) in the ground beside the
usmukaliya, and Nila, standing in front of the three posts,
began an invocation (No. xxx) which was soon taken up by the
other men. Nila salaamed, took the arrow out of the earth and
began to dance round the three posts, and then in and out
between them, without observing any particular order, holding
the end of the shaft with one hand and the head of the arrow
with the other. The usual steps and movements were performed,
the knees bent, the body inclined from the waist and swaying to
and fro, the arms with the arrow between them being moved to
and fro, but not raised higher than the chest. Vela followed Nila
closely; it appeared that he should have held an arrow, but not
having one, he did the next best thing and pretended that he
had one, holding his hands as though there was an arrow
between them.
Suddenly when between two of the posts Nila dropped the
arrow on the ground and leapt over it. Kaira, one of the
onlookers, immediately picked it up and returned it to Nila.
Nila then dropped the arrow between the other two posts and
again leapt over it. This was repeated several times, Kaira
always picking up the arrow and returning it to Nila, whose
movements Vela imitated. Although we asked numerous
questions as to the meaning of this figure no reason could be
supplied, " Our fathers did it " was all the information we could
obtain. The movements had gradually become quicker and
^ See genealogy, p. 61.
250 THE VEDDAS
wilder till after a final leap between the posts Nila fell supine
with outstretched arms, and was immediately supported by one
of the onlookers. The ;}'aka of the high post now possessed Nila
who, after a few minutes' imimobility, began to shiver and gasp,
then springing forward he danced to the posts with shuffling
feet and head bent forward, and examined each one in turn.
This he did by dropping his head on them so that his face was
partly buried in the bast, his supporter always close behind him
(Plate XLV, fig. 2). We were told that Nila was now possessed
by all three yakii, who appear to have entered him as he bent
over the posts. The exact moment of the entry and exit of the
yaka into the person of the shaman was often very ill-defined,
although in this instance, and indeed in most cases when
more than one yaka was present at a dance, it was clear when
the first yaka arrived, it seemed that the other yaka entered
the shaman without giving any immediate sign of their presence.
The yakii speaking through Nila signified that they were
pleased with the posts built for their reception. Then Nila
picked up the wila and shouting, apparently with approval, held
it up by each end and whirled the handle round making the
bast strands fly out, then he approached Mari and waved it over
her head and rested it there, so that her head was buried in the
bast for several seconds while Nila predicted a male child
(Plate XLVI, fig. i)^ Nila then danced to Handuna and
waved the zvila over him. No particular reason was given for
this, Handuna being no relation to the woman, but he was the
most important old man in the community.
After covering Handuna with the wila, Nila danced wildly,
always with the rapt expression of a man possessed by a yaku,
showing his pleasure by holding the wila aloft and whirling it
round and round. Then Nila put down the wila and took the
amamula and dancing with it in his hand he approached Mari
stretching it out towards her, but he only stayed a ^q-w seconds
and passed on to Handuna and falling on the latter's chest spoke
and again foretold the birth of a male child to Mari.
^ The sex of the child is determined by the position assumed by the strips of bast
as they fall over the woman's head. If most fall over the woman's face the child will
be a girl, if over the occiput a boy.
Plate XLV^
Fig. I. Pata Yaku ceremony, the beginning of the dance (Sitala Wanniya)"
f-O
Fig. 2. Pata Yaku ceremony, the shaman buries his face in
the lisuiiikaliya (Sitala Wanniya)*
Plate XLVI
y - T
Fig. I. Pata Yaku ceremony, the shaman predicts the sex of the child
(Sitala Wanniya)*^
Fig. 2. Pata Yaku ceremony, Nila prays for his daughter's safe
delivery (Sitala Wanniya)'-
CEREMONIAL DANCES 25 I
Nila exchanged the avtanmla for the wila, and coming to
Mari again, raised the wila above her head and lowered it to the
ground, letting the bast strips brush her face and body and then
sweep the ground. This was done in order to wipe away the
pain of labour. Then he leapt back to the centre of the cleared
space and danced in and out between the three posts, hitting
them with the wila. This was probably a sign of pleasure, for
the driving away of yaku by striking their resting place would
probably only take place at the end of the ceremony. He again
approached Mari and fell back into the arms of his supporter,
only remaining quiet for a few seconds until, trembling and
gasping, he bent his head over the usmukaliya and buried his
face in the bast. After doing this over each post he returned to
the usnmkaliya and said he must go, speaking in the usual husky
and gasping yakii voice ; then he fell exhausted into the arms
of his supporter. All the Veddas now began to sing the in-
vocation, and it was clear that the yahi had not departed from
Nila for he soon began to quiver and gasp again, and sprang
forward and danced between the three posts ; then he began to
search for something, lifting the strands of bast on the usmukaliya,
and after an exaggerated pantomimic search he found the wila,
turning this in his hands so that the bast swung at right angles,
he waved it over each of the three posts ; then turning to the
usmukaliya, bent his head low over it and fell back exhausted.
'Y'Wo.yaku now left him and he recovered consciousness without
any quivering or trembling, salaamed to the usmukaliya and sat
down to rest. All the properties were immediately piled
together under a tree. It may be noted that although Vela
began to dance with Nila, he did not become possessed and so
took no part in the latter portion of the dance.
After a short rest Nila went to the pile and holding a few
strands of bast in one hand (Plate XLVI, fig. 2) repeated the
following prayer to the Pata Yaku for his daughter's safety a
number of times : —
Ane ! maye dariiwata kisi antardwak wenda apd me war a.
Goda yanta denda onae.
Ane I (May) any harm not happen to my child this time.
(You) must permit (her) to land (i.e. to escape from her sea of troubles).
252 the veddas
The Dola Yaka Ceremony.
Collecting honey is almost as important to the Vedda as
hunting, for not only is honey valuable as food but it is one of
the most important articles of barter, and every year at the end
of the honey season the Moormen pedlar^ penetrates into the
wildest parts of the jungle with iron, cloth, pots and beads to
exchange for the highly prized jungle honey.
Nor is honey collecting without risk, for the " Little People
of the Rocks" can be very angry, and their sting is deadly.
Hence the Veddas ask for success in honey collecting from their
natural protectors theyaki^, and Dola Yaka is especially invoked
for this purpose. Although there is no tradition concerning his
actions or his dwelling place his aid is invoked for success in
collecting bavibara honey from trees, and for the more dangerous
task of cutting the combs from the craggy hill tops and rock faces
in which the colonies of the rock bee make their homes. The
successful invocation of Dola Yaka can only take place in the
early afternoon at the time when the bees are most active in
visiting flowers.
A niaesa with a single platform about 4 ft 6 in. from the
ground was built, and two arrows were fixed in the centre of
the space cleared for the dance (Plate XLVII). A betel leaf
was placed on the top of each and pressed down on the shaft so
that it rested on the feathers, and a small bead necklace was
looped over the head of each arrow and rested on the betel leaf.
These leaves were said to represent the large bundles of leaves
which the Veddas use to smoke the bees from the comb, and the
necklaces represent the creeper by which the twigs would be tied
together and by which it would be lowered over the clifi* edge.
It was noted that one arrow was taller than the other, and we
were told that the taller arrow was the one which would be used
in cutting the comb, and that when the honey was taken it would
be thrust through the withy binding the bundle of leaves used
^ The term Moormen is applied to the numerous Mohammedans who make their
living as shopkeepers and pedlars. Many of them are proud cT their alleged Arabic
descent, but it is only in a minority that skin colour or features suggest Arab blood,
and the appearance of the majority of Moormen scarcely dififers from that of the
Tamils of the East Coast, among whom their most considerable settlements are found.
Plate XL\'II
Dola Yaka ceremony, the offering to the Yaku (Sitala Wanniya)*
CEREMONIAL DANCES 253
as a smoker; the other was "just an arrow" and did not appear
to fulfil any specific purpose. Small leafy twigs from the sur-
rounding trees were placed on the ground round the arrows, and
on these a number of betel leaves and areca nuts were placed as
an offering, the twigs being a device for preventing the offering
to the yakti from touching the ground.
All the adult men of the community decided to take part in
this dance, as only those who become possessed by Dola Yaka
would derive benefit from the ceremony, that is, obtain special
favour and help from him in gathering honey. In order to
provide a supporter for each man, the dance was performed in
two parts, Nila, Kaira and Pema taking part in the first per-
formance. The ceremony began by these men walking several
times round the arrows singing an invocation (No. XXXl) as
they moved clockwise and occasionally salaamed to the arrows.
Soon they began to dance and at times passed their hands,
palms downwards, over the top of the arrows. This was the
old custom ; the reason for it was not known. After a little
while Nila fell and was supported, soon all three dancers became
possessed and bending forward shook their heads over the
arrows. Then Nila taking the lead, they all moved to one
end of the dancing ground, where they assumed the strained
attitude of men listening attentively for the distant hum of bees,
with body bent forward, one hand to the ear and the other
raised as if to impose silence on their companions. Suddenly
they all leapt back to the arrows and danced round them wildly,
and shook their heads low over them ; again they listened for
the bees and beat their chests v/ith joy, crying, "We hear many
bees, there will be plenty of honey."
Returning to the arrows they danced round them again, at
times falling back into the arms of their supporters, and again
springing forward to dance. Nila gave each of us a betel leaf
as a sign of favour from Dola Yaka, and then spoke in a gasping
voice to Handuna who answered him. All beat their bodies
with both hands, driving away imaginary bees. Again they
listened for the bees, and this time picked up some leafy twigs
and pretending they were alight shook them beneath the maesa,
which now represented a comb, but they soon sprang back and
254 THE VEDDAS
rushed to the opposite side of the dancing ground to get away
from the angry bees. After repeating this pantomime, Nila,
with much gasping and shaking of the arrows, promised
bambara combs to Handuna, wherever he went. More dancing
round the arrows followed and another mock smoking was per-
formed, after which the three men fled from the maesa brushing
the bees away and even feigning to pick some off their bodies.
Then they returned to the arrows round which they danced until
they all fell back and Dola Yaka departed from them.
Handuna explained to us that in dancing to Dola Yaka it
was usual to hold a cloth over the head, and that Dola Yaka
had remarked on the absence of cloths and warned the dancers
that evil might befall them if they were to slip and fall with
their heads uncovered. So two pieces of white cloth were pro-
vided for Handuna and Vela, who put on hangala and repeated
the dance. The ceremony was identical with that already
described except in two respects ; in the first part of the
dance Handuna and Vela held their cloths in their out-
stretched arms, frequently putting them over their heads and
always doing so when listening for the hum of the bees, and
when they prophesied to their fellows each held his cloth so as
to cover both the man to whom he spoke and himself Both
men, however, put down their cloths just before the end of the
dance and, pulling the arrows out of the ground, went through
the pantomime of cutting the combs from below the maesa with
them.
The Invocation of the Rahu Yaku.
Sitala Wanniya was the only place at which we saw this
ceremony, though the Rahu Yaku were also invoked at the
alutyakagajna ceremony at Unuwatura Bubula. At Sitala
Wanniya the Rahu Yaku are called upon to cure sickness
and to give good luck in collecting honey from trees. It
seemed that they were not invoked to grant protection or
good fortune when rock-honey was sought, this being the
function of Dola Yaka. The offerings necessary to propitiate
them are coconuts and rice, and each dancer must wear a piece
of white cloth and cross shoulder straps of bark.
CEREMONIAL DANCES 255
The story relates that there was once three brothers, and one
day the youngest was very angry and quarrelled with his wife.
He left her in his cave and went out hunting, and when he
returned he found a strange man in the cave with his wife. The
stranger escaped so quickly that the angry husband could not
shoot him ; but he then beat his wife, and though he did not kill
her he jumped into the fire and v/as burnt to death and became
Gini Rahu Bandar or Yaka. When they died his two brothers
became Rahu Yaku also.
A post was placed in the centre of the cleared dancing space,
the upper end was split and bound so as to form the support for
a pot containing coconut milk, a few areca nuts and betel leaves.
This was called the wilkoraha (lake pot), for once in the old
days water was required to make the coconut milk for an offering
to the Rahu Yaku, and as there was no stream near by it had
to be fetched from a lake ; hei.ce the name wilkoraha. A niaesa
(well seen in Plate LXVIII, fig. i) about 4 ft 6 in. high was
built of sticks at one side of the dancing ground, and two pots
of cooked rice and coconut milk were put on it as an offering to
the yaku. A piece of bark to represent a necklace was put on
the wilkoraha ; it was not known why it was necessary to offer
a necklace to the Rahu Yaku, but it was always done\ Wooden
kadiiwa (swords) were used when invoking Rahu Yaku ; these
were two flattened sticks about 18 ins. long decorated with bands
of red and yellow pigment and with guards made of twigs of
fresh green leaves. One of these kadttwa without its guard is
shown in fig. 1 1.
The use of the sword {kadiizua) and the objects themselves
are both curious, for Veddas have never used any weapon but
the bow and axe, and Handuna explained that though these
were called kaduwa they really represented ceremonial arrows
^ It was quite clear that Vedda men never wore necklaces, but yaku, especially
dangerous yaku, as the Rahu Yaku were declared to be, were sometimes offered
necklaces or pieces of bast to represent them. Thus at Unuwatura Bubula, Indigollae
Yaka was considered especially dangerous, and the shaman kept a particular string of
old and highly valued beads and used it only when making invocations to \}i\\% yaka.
These and other instances strengthen the idea expressed in Chapter viii that beads
are prized among the Veddas for their magical properties, the idea of ornament being
quite secondary.
256
THE VEDDAS
or ande, yet ran kadiiwa the " golden sword " is mentioned in
many of the songs and invocations, so that
it seems that the whole of the Vedda cere-
mony of the invocation of the Rahu Yaku
has been taken over from the Sinhalese, among
whom the cult of Gini Rahu Bandar occurs.
This borrowing must have occurred in ancient
days, perhaps as long ago as the time when
the Sinhalese invaded the Vedda country
and carved the drip ledges on the caves, for
as already mentioned the Sinhalese Rahu
Bandar has become identified with three Vedda
brothers whose spirits have retained only
traces of the fierce nature of the Sinhalese
demon. Once having borrowed the idea of
a sword {kaduwd) and invocations in which
it was mentioned, its name would remain,
though in course of time the implement
would become assimilated to the Vedda aiide.
Handuna and Kaira put on hangala and
stood in front of the wilkoraJia with the
kaduwa in their hands, and Handuna began
to recite the invocation to the Rahu Yaku
(No. xxxv). Kaira took up the words and
repeated them, always a few words behind
Handuna. Soon they began to dance slowly
round the wilkoraha holding the kaduwa in
the same way as the aicde is held in dances,
i.e. right hand on point and left hand at the
base of the handle, and as they danced they
twirled them slowly in their fingers (Plate
XLVni, fig. I). After a short time they
both swayed their bodies more and the dance
became more vigorous ; then they began to
shiver and shake their heads and became
possessed by the two elder Rahu Yaku.
They shouted, leaped and raised their kaduwa
in the air, twirled them round with their
Fig. II.
kaduwa.
Ran
CEREMONIAL DANCES 257
arms straight above their heads, and then stretching over the
zvilkoraha exchanged kaduiva. They danced a few steps
and exchanged kadiiwa again, and yet once more before they
bent their heads low over the tvilkoralia, by which action the
yaku inspected the coconut milk and pronounced it very good.
The exchange of swords was merely in imitation of the Rahu
brothers who were said to have done this in their lifetime.
After approving of the offering of milk Handuna and Kaira,
both followed by their supporters, danced to Nila, and Handuna
placed his sword on the latter's chest while swaying his body
and moving from one foot to the other, prophesying that Nila
would have good luck in hunting and would take many combs
(Plate XLVIII, fig. 2). Nila answered; Handuna and Kaira
still gasping and trembling said that the yaku possessing them
must go now, and that their brother the Fire Chief would come.
There was more wild dancing round the wilkoraha, and both
men were so overcome that had their supporters not held them
in their arms they must have fallen. We could not determine
the exact time of the departure of the two elder Rahu Yaku and
the advent of the younger brother^ Handuna and Kaira bent
their heads simultaneously over the wilkoraha, inspected the
milk, were satisfied and continued to dance, and while a bundle
of grass was brought and set on fire they raised both arms, and
after holding hands over the wilkoraha they rushed to the
burning grass and danced on the fire till they put it out, then
again holding hands they danced and bent their heads over the
wilkoraha. More grass was set alight, and after repeating their
dance on it both fell back into their supporters' arms. In a iew
seconds they sprang forward and danced up to Nila: Handuna
spoke in the gasping yaka voice and covered the swords with a
cloth. More grass having been set alight the dance continued
as before, first round the pot, then on the flames, and then
round the pot again. While Handuna placed his sword on the
chest of Nila the spirit within him spoke saying he must go
soon, but both Handuna and Kaira danced again before
^ It was perfectly clear that the idea of one yaka possessing two people at the
same time presented no difficulty to Handuna and the rest of the Sitala Wanniya
community.
s. v. 17
258 THE VEDDAS
returning to Nila and giving him their kadnwa to hold. This
they did because they wanted to put them down, and they con-
sidered them too sacred and dangerous to be put on the ground,
or even to be held by anyone who was not a grown man who
had frequent intercourse with the spirits.
Handuna took the necklace from the wilkoraha and showed
it to one of us (B. Z. S.), to whom he gave it, asking for a real
necklace instead of the bast one. Kaira followed Handuna and
gave to each of us betel leaves from the wilkoj-aJia as a sign of
favour from the youngest of the Rahu Yaku. Then both went
to the maesa, looked at the offering, and then fell back into their
supporters' arms. We were told that the yaka was well pleased
with the offering and was about to depart from them, but Nila
sang the invocation and soon the two dancers began to tremble
and shake their heads, then shouting hah ! hah ! they sprang
forward and danced again. They picked up their kaduwa from
the wilkoraha, where they had been put for safety, this being
considered a sufficiently sacred spot. Using the leaves which
formed the hilts of their swords, they scooped out the coconut
milk from the wilkoraha and scattered it about, and those on
whom it happened to fall considered themselves lucky. Then
the yaka spoke to Nila saying that he wished to go, and Nila
answered " It is well." But before the yaka left Handuna and
Kaira, the two men danced toward that side of the cleared spot
where the women and children were grouped together, raising
their kadinua and pointing at the group. One woman was
carrying a baby suffering from yaws, and Handuna held his
kadiiwa over the child's head and promised that its sores should
be cured. Then Handuna and Kaira gave their kadiiwa to
Nila ; both bent their heads over the maesa and theyaka left them.
The necklace was replaced on the ivilkoraha which was put
with the kaduzva on the maesa. Handuna and Kaira repeated
a charm over them and all were removed from the maesa.
Handuna picked a few leafy twigs, put them under a tree,
then took the leaves from the kaduwa and placed them on
the freshly picked leaves, so that the hallrvved leaves might
not touch the ground ; he then poured the remains of the
coconut milk from the wilkoraha over them.
Plate XLVIII
Fig. I. Rahu Yaka ceremony, the beginning of the dance (Sitala Wanniya)'
Fig. 2. Rahu Yaka ceremony, the shaman prophesies good luck in hunting
and honey gathering (Sitala Wanniya)"
CEREMONIAL DANCES 259
When later we asked Handuna for the kadiiwa as specimens,
the request was not granted until something was given in
exchange to the Rahu Yaku, as Handuna said they might
cause trouble if their property were taken from them.
Wanagata Yaku.
The story of the Wanagata Yaku was that once a family
became imprisoned in their rock-shelter by the fall of rock
which blocked the entrance to the cave, so that the whole family
died and their spirits became Wanagata Yaku, who are now
invoked for help in hunting. In spite of this the ceremonial
with which these yahi are invoked did not appear to have any
reference to the story.
A sapling rather more than six feet high with its head and
branches was stripped of its bark and thrust into the ground in
the centre of the space cleared for dancing; its upper end had
been split previously so as to form a support for small objects,
and long strands of bast were tied to it. A handkerchief was
thrown over the top and pressed down between the split ends,
and some betel leaves were placed on this.
The shaman wearing a hangala danced slowly round the
post with a handkerchief in his hand, while the invocation was
sung. The handkerchief was soon exchanged for an aude^ and it
was noted that this was not the same one that had been used
v/hen invoking Kande Yaka in a previous dance. In order to
avoid putting the handkerchief on the ground the shaman tied
it round his shoulder. Then taking some betel leaves he danced
with these and the aude in his hands, then transfixing the betel
leaves on the point of the aitde he raised them to his head, thus
offering them to the Wanagata Yaku (Plate XLIX, fig, i).
Soon he became possessed and bent his head, shaking his hair
over his face as he clung to the post with one hand while his
whole body quivered and shook. With a shout he seized two
aude, and holding one in each hand came to one of us (C. G. S.)
and holding both aude over his shoulders said, as he quivered
and shifted from one foot to the other, " You have called us,
what do you want } " He returned to the post, when a rice
17 — 2
26o THE VEDDAS
mortar was brought and a bowl containing coconut milk in
which betel leaves floated was placed upon it. The shaman
placed a betel leaf from the bowl on the ande and presented one
to each of us in turn, as a sign of favour on the part of the
Wanagata Yaku, speaking in a hoarse gasping voice and raising
his arms alternately the while. He returned to the post, and,
grasping the bast streamers, bent his head (Plate XLIX, fig. 2)
and quivered all over before dancing round it with both aude in
his hands; finally he clasped the post with bowed head, and the
yaku left him.
The Alutyakagama Ceremony at Unuwatura Bubula.
The structure of the alutyakagama is well shown in a number
of the figures illustrating this ceremony, and is especially clear in
fig. I of plate LII.
It seems probable that this is not a pure Vedda ceremony,
but is to be regarded as an amalgamation of a dance to Kande
Yaka and the Nae Yaku, whom this people called the Alutyaku
(i.e. New Yaku), and of a dance to Gale Yaka only met with
under this name here and at Omuni. We were unable to de-
termine whether the alutyakagama structure had always been
used when dancing to Gale Yaka, and had been carried from
his cult to that of the Nae Yaku, or had long been considered
necessary for the invocation of the Nae or Alut Yaku. Perhaps
neither of these events occurred ; indeed, we consider it most
probable that both dances have been confused with the kolo-
Diaduwa or one of its early forms such as the rinvala ceremony
which is described later on in this chapter, and which is almost
certainly of foreign origin.
Unuwatura Bubula is a small and extremely poor settlement of
Veddas, of whom a general description has been given on p. 47.
The dance began by Sela Kaurala repeating an invocation
with a handkerchief on his head\ while Naida Kaurala holding
■^ Unfortunately we have no exact note stating to whom this invocation was sung.
It is most probable that it was to Gale Yaka, as this was the yaka by whom the
shaman was first possessed. If this is so the fact of the hanciKcrchief being held over
the head is of interest, as Mr Parker identifies Gale Yaka with the Sinhalese Gale
Deviya who is depicted with a three-tiered hat, which is also worn by his dancer, called
Plate XL IX
'^^'}. i^.r. .::'•■. ■-
:^-'
*#g,;>*;
Fig. I. Wanagata Yaku ceremony, the shaman offers betel leaves
to the Yaku (Unuwatura Bubula)
Fig. 2. Wanagata Yaku ceremony, the shaman possessed by the Yaku
(Unuwatura Bubula)
Plate L
Fig. I. Alutyakagama ceremony, the beginning of the invocation
(Unuwatura Bubula)
Fig. 2. Alutyakagama ceremony, the shaman and his supporter at
the alutyakagama (Unuwatura Bubula)
Plate LI
Fig-. I. Alutyakagama ceremony, testing the offering (Unuwatura Bubula)
Fig. 2. Alutyakagama ceremony, the shaman comes .0 us with an
aitde in each hand (Unuwatura Bubula)
CEREMONIAL DANCES 261
a handkerchief between his hands danced first round the
alntyakagama, and then in and out between the posts, at times
holding the handkerchief over his head (Plate L, fig-, i). We
were told that these handkerchiefs would be kept apart for the
yakii and would never be used for any purpose other than
dancing. The shaman, Sela Kaurala, soon became agitated and
was supported, and the Gale Yaka entered his person. Now he
assumed the rapt expression of one possessed, pulled down his
hair, and with a shout caught hold of the leaves hanging from
the aliiiyakagama, where he continued to dance in and out of the
structure, shaking and hitting the hanging leaves as he passed,
but frequently stopping at the west front to take hold of the
bunches of leaves while quivering all over and shouting (Plate L,
fig. 2). Now a rice-mortar was brought into the altityakagama,
and the shaman placed the offering of cooked food upon it for
the yakii to see and appreciate the good things provided. The
mide was then placed on the rice pot, and the shaman, holding
the leaves with both hands, shouted and shook his head, and
then, taking an mide in either hand, picked up a few grains of
rice on one of them (Plate LI, fig. i), which he smelt, and
although he did not eat them the yaka now pronounced the
food to be good. About this time the shaman became possessed
by one of the Nae Yaku. Three times the shaman inspected
the rice, being possessed by a different Nae Yaku each time, and
each spirit shouted his satisfaction. We were unable to discover
the names of these as the shaman was taken ill after this dance,
but there seemed no doubt that the dancer would know the
Nae Yaku by whom he had been possessed. The shaman now
wore two long necklaces of beads, putting them round his neck
and under his arms, so as to form cross shoulder ornaments; we
were told that these were for the yakini, but we were unable to
discover whether this was one of the Alut Yakini or Gale Yakini
who was mentioned in this locality.
The ceremony continued for some time as before, the shaman
frequently shaking the leaves, shouting and gasping, and again
inspecting the food. There was very little dancing, but this may
anwnaetirala, when dancing to him. Sometimes, however, when a three-tiered hat
could not be obtained the dancer held a handkerchief over his head.
262 THE VEDDAS
have been because the shaman was an old man who suffered
from a severe cough. At one time, instead of picking up the
rice with an ande, he did it with the corner of his handkerchief.
Great care was always taken that neither the aude, the beads nor
the handkerchief should be put on the ground, and when the
shaman wanted to get rid of either of the two former he placed
them on the rice pot ; at one time when he did not require the
handkerchief he tied it over his shoulder, for to place anything
belonging to the yaku on the ground would be to offer a serious
insult to them.
After some time the first rice pot was removed, and a second
one was brought. Sela Kaurala squatted beside it and sang,
while Naida Kaurala danced with the handkerchief in his hands.
One pot of food was for the yaka, and one for the yakini. The
shaman exchanged the handkerchief for an mide and danced
with that, but soon picked up another ande and danced with
one in each hand singing an invocation (No. XXXVIl). Now he
became possessed by Rahu Yaka, with the usual accompaniment
of shivering and quaking and pulling at the leaves hanging from
the ahityakagaina. Some grass was brought and put under the
alutyakagama; this was lit, and the shaman danced on the fire:
more shaking and holding of the leaves followed, and then with
an ande in each hand, which he held by the blades, he approached
us (Plate LI, fig. 2) and spoke. He returned to the alntyakagama,
and, holding the leaves with both hands, bent over the rice pot,
and then danced round and in and out of the structure, hitting the
pendant leaves. Meanwhile the Rahu Yaka song was repeated ;
at last stopping at the west side he bent his head over the rice
pot and fell back. After a short rest Sela Kaurala put on the
hangala and danced in the same way that Naida Kaurala had
done, becoming possessed, by Gale Yaka. There was no ex-
ceptional feature in this dance; the shaman danced at one time
with the handkerchief and afterwards with the ajide, and inspected
the food, and there was much holding on to the leaves and shaking
and speaking in the hoarse yaka voice. Before the yaka left the
shaman he took the rice pot from the pounder and spun it
(Plate LII, fig. i); the second pot of food was brought and
he spun that too. After the yaka had left him the shaman,
Plate LI I
Fig. I. Alutyakagama ceremony, the shaman about to spin the pot of food
(Unuwatura Bubula)
Fig. 2. Ruwala ceremony, the vii-wala prepared by Wannaku of Uniche
(Maha Oya)
CEREMONIAL DANCES 263'
Still dancing, stripped the leaves from the alutyakagaina, and,
holding on to the horizontal cross bar, shook the framework
violently in order to drive away any of the yaku who might still
be resting there.
Unfortunately we were not able to get much trustworthy
information about this or any of the other dances at Unuwatura
Bubula, as Sela Kaurala, who appeared to suffer from asthma
and chronic bronchitis, coughed up a good deal of blood after
this dance, and was unable to discuss the ceremony with us
afterwards. His pupil, Naida Kaurala, was not nearly so well
informed. There were several points which we were unable to
settle satisfactorily; Gale Yaku, we were told, were many and
not one Yaka, yet Gale Yaka or Yaku seemed confused with
Kande Yaka, for we were told that the big aude was for Kande
Yaka and the smaller one for Bilindi Yaka. Nevertheless the
shaman held both when dancing to Gale Yaka, and he spun the
pot of rice, which in several other communities had been done by
the shaman when possessed by Kande Yaka.
The Ruwala Ceremony.
This ceremony was danced by the Veddas of Uniche. It
began by Wannaku, who was wearing a haugala of new white
cloth, moving slowly round the centre post of the ruwala holding
a bunch of leaves in each hand and reciting an invocation to
Ruwala Yaka and Yakini, who live on Nuwaragala. He stood
close to the central pole of the ruwala, and at first faced towards
the north, that is, not in the direction of Nuwaragala but towards
the quarter whence came the yaku who live on Nuwaragala and
other hills who are invoked in this dance. These yaku were not
the spirits of the dead, but had always existed as yaku. The
original home was on the other side of the ocean in Handun
Kaele, the "sandal-wood jungle," which the educated, but not
the peasant, Sinhalese recognise as being in India. Long ago
the yaku made a raft and crossed the ocean, and the sail (Sin.
ruwala) and mast of their raft are represented by the centre pole
{ruwala) of the structure of that name, while the streamers
represent the "silver" and "golden" stays of their mast.
264 THE VEDDAS
Plate LI I, fig. 2 shows the ruwala built by Wannaku and his
comrades at Maha Oya.
The dance began by Wannaku moving slowly round the
central post. As he did this he sometimes waved the bundle of
leaves which he held in his hands, at other times he held his
hands close together in front of his body. As his dancing
became quicker and more vigorous, Sina, his eldest son, placed
himself behind him, and following his movements prepared to
support him when he became possessed. Suddenly Wannaku
fell forward assuming a cruciform attitude, his arms held stiffly
at right angles to his body and his neck rigidly extended so that
his head was pressed against the centre post of the rinvala, his
supporter bearing the whole strain of holding him in this position.
He still grasped the leaves in his hands, and his face was buried
in the leaves tied to the centre post of the rmvala. He remained
in this position for perhaps half a minute, then shaking violently
he clutched the post in both hands. It was explained that the
yaku were in the leaves tied to the ruwala, and that thence they
passed into the body of the shaman, in whose shaking and
quivering person they inspected and approved the structure
of the rinvala, while the shaman clutched the central post.
After a few moments the shaman danced again, this time more
energetically than before, moving in and out of and round the
structure of the rinvala, while he struck at the leaves pendant
from its framework with the twigs he held in his hands. His
movements became more violent, and he shouted several times.
All this was explained as play on the part of the yakii, who
thus showed their pleasure in the ruwala that had been built
for them. Wannaku clutched at the side posts and bast
streamers, and struck these with the leaves he held in his hands.
The yak// thus examined the streamers to ascertain if they were
properly made and of the right number. Wannaku then danced
very energetically, and leaving the ruzvala dragged Sina to where
Mr Perera stood a few paces from the rinvala, and shaking and
gesticulating violently spoke to him promising him success in all
he undertook^
1 Mr Samuel Perera, Forest Ranger, was an old friend of the Uniche community,
and it was owing to his presence and assistance at our first interview with Wannaku
iind his fellows that we were immediately on the best of terms with them.
CEREMONIAL DANCES 265
Wannaku again danced in and out and round the structure,
then after striking the leaves and clutching the uprights of the
ruwala he dragged his supporter towards an elderly Vedda on-
looker, before whom he quivered and shouted as he had done
before Mr Perera. We were told that in this case he prophesied
success in hunting. After this he returned to the rtnvala, and,
still dancing and quivering, took a streamer in his left hand and
shouting and dancing wiped its length with the bunch of leaves
that he held in his right hand. He began this manoeuvre at the
east front of the rtnvala, and taking each streamer in turn, went
round in the opposite direction to the hands of a clock, but he
soon turned and went round the reverse way; we were afterwards
told that he should have gone clockwise all the time, and that
when he did otherwise " it was a mistake." After this he danced
round the central post, clutching at the leaves that hung from
the roof of the ruwala, and at last moving so energetically and
violently as to get away from his supporter Sina, who had been
following his movements as best he could. About this time
Sina himself became possessed, and after a few moments of
extremely energetic dancing both men fell supine at the north
front of the ruzvala. Wannaku came to himself almost immedi-
ately, but Sina appeared to remain unconscious, even when
lifted up and propped against the central post of the riavala,
while Wannaku shook bunches of leaves in his face and over
his head, Wannaku meanwhile dancing energetically and re-
peating two words, to which the onlookers answered "Eh-h."
We were told that the yakii in this way announced their satisfac-
tion with the ruwala which had been built for them, and indicated
that they were now ready to go.
Then Wannaku stumbled to the central post, to which he
clung in a seemingly exhausted condition, partly supported by
a Vedda, who had been following him since Sina fell to the
ground. As Sina, who had been helped up by another man,
still appeared in a semi-conscious condition, water was splashed
over him, with the result that he soon came to himself This
was the end of the ceremonial as far as Ruwala Yaka and
Ruwala Yakini were concerned, but after a short break another
Vedda invoked two other yaku, Milalane Yaka and Milalane
266 THE VEDDAS
Yakini, who live on a hill called Milalanegala. This Vedda
danced in very much the same way as Wannaku had danced,
and the few differences noted, such as his less energetic steps,
were doubtless due to personal idiosyncrasy. However, he did
not bury his head in the leaves tied to the central post on
becoming possessed, but shook the leaves which he held in his
right hand in his own face, having previously struck these
against those pendant from the ruwala. After dancing for a
short time he staggered up to Wannaku and spoke, the spirits
possessing him asking why they were called and whether there
was sickness amongst the people. To this Wannaku answered
" No," telling the spirits that he had called them at the request
of the white man who wished to know them. After this the cele-
brant again danced in and out of and round the ruwala, striking
at the pendant leaves. Soon he buried his head in the leaves
tied to the central post, his whole body quivering, then he quickly
jumped away from the pole and made his way to the Ratema-
hatmaya of the district, who was an onlooker, and shook the
leaves in his right hand against the latter's chest, telling him he
would be successful in the business he was about to undertake.
This was in answer to a question that the Ratemahatmaya had
shouted a short time previously. There was more dancing round
the central pole, the performer striking it with the leaves which
he held in his hand ; after a few minutes he approached
Wannaku, and striking him with the leaves said something,
and again danced round the central pole which he seized in his
hand and shook four times, once facing each of the cardinal
points of the compass, shouting loudly as he did so. This was
the means adopted by the yaku to test the solidity of the
structure. We were told that this dance was generally per-
formed in order to cure sickness, and if the pole fell or the
structure came to pieces the patient for whose benefit it took
place would die or others would become ill. At last with many
quiverings and clutchings at the central post the yaku took their
departure.
A similar dance lasting a shorter time, di./ing which the
dancer was possessed by Moranegala Yaka, then took place,
after which Wannaku, who appeared to have- quite recovered
CEREMONIAL DANCES 26/
from his previous fatigue, invoked Walimabagala Yaka and
Yakini. The dancing of these yakii exactly resembled that
described at the beginning of the ceremony, and is therefore
not further recorded.
The Kolamaduwa Ceremony.
It seems very doubtful whether the kolamaduwa as it exists
at the present day should be described as a Vedda ceremony at
all, though as it was danced by the Henebedda Veddas at
Bendiyagalge it merits a description. It is in any case certain
that the kolaviadtnva is not often performed, as the amount of
food and other properties necessary could scarcely have been
found by one small Vedda community^; also its main objects,
the curing of disease in cattle and epidemic sickness among
men, would not appeal greatly to small communities of hunters
dwelling in healthy surroundings. At the present day the
Henebedda Veddas make rough chena and herd cattle for the
Sinhalese, but the cattle have not yet become an important
factor in their lives, and the people themselves do not suffer from
epidemics. Further, at Bandaraduwa, on the borders of the
Eastern Province, the only other place where this dance was
known among Veddas, we were told that they would perform it
for the Sinhalese, and that each dancer would be paid Rs. 5
for his trouble besides being given his food. Our aged Sinhalese
informant, mentioned on p. 31, told us that the kolamaduwa was
not danced by these Veddas when he was a boy, and that he con-
sidered it had arisen as an elaboration of the rinvala ceremony
which used to be performed in those days. The riiwala —
already described in this chapter — itself shows signs of having
been introduced from the Tamils of the east coast, though
probably at a comparatively remote period. Great numbers of
yaku and yakini should be invoked at the kolamaduwa; some,
■' According to Tissahami all the following offerings were necessary for a full
ceremony. Eight measures of rice and two large pots in which to cook it, 10 coconuts,
5 bundles of yams, 50 plantains, 2 sugar canes, 200 betel leaves, 12 candles, i lb.
sandal wood, 100 balls of jaggery, \ lb. turmeric, i lb. of resm, 4 coloured cloths,
5 yards of white cloth, 4 necklets of beads, 8 small baskets and 8 cloths to cover them,
4 pairs of metal bangles, i bottle of ghee and flowers of various kinds.
268 THE VEDDAS
the spirits of people who frankly were not Veddas, such as
Peradeniya Bandar; others, spirits of men like Panikki Vedda
already referred to, famous for catching elephants and buffaloes,
who were Veddas in little more than name. Others, if Veddas
in name, yet behaved like Kandyan chiefs, if we may judge from
their deeds quoted in the invocations, such as building dagabas
and bringing paddy fields under cultivation. Some of the Maha
Yakini are regarded as the wives of such chiefs, and Unapane
Kiriamma is in this community regarded as the wife of
Unapane Wanniya, the chief who first brought the paddy
fields at Unapane under cultivation.
The Kolamaduwa Ceremony at Bendiyagalge.
This was admittedly not a full ceremony. Although the
bower was built the correct offerings were not made nor were
all the yakii invoked, and a disturbance which took place the
next evening was said to be due to the anger of the yaku on
account of the lack of offerings (see p. 125). Plate LI 1 1, fig. I
shows the kolaviadinva with bunches of leaves hanging from the
horizontal bars of the framework and a circle of leaves called
kolavegeiia suspended from the centre, that is, the crossing of the
horizontal bars. The shaman, Sita Wanniya, Randu Wanniya
and Kaira, holding bunches of leaves in their hands, walked
round the circle within the upright posts while they sang an
invocation to the yaku to come to the leaves of the kolamaduwa.
Soon they began to dance (Plate LI 1 1, fig. 2) with the usual step,
gentl} at first, but gradually swaying and bending more and
more they brushed the leaves of the kolamadinva with those
they held in their hands at each step.
A basket covered with a cloth had been placed on a tripod
in one corner of the bower, and this should have contained
various offerings for the yakini, including flowers and beads;
not having either to offer, a few leaves had been put in it.
Sita Wanniya seized this basket called pakiidaina, and danced
with it in both hands, then after a short time he shouted " Ah, ah ! "
and became possessed by the Maha Yakini. When the Sita
Plate LIII
Fig. I. Kolamaduwa ceremony, the kolamadifwa (Henebedda)
Fig, 2. Kolamaduwa ceremony, the beginning of the dance (Henebedda)
Plate LIV
Fig. I. Kolamaduwa ceremony, the shaman and Sita Wanniya become
possessed (Henebedda)*
Fig. 2. Kolamaduwa ceremony, slashing the leaves from the kolamaduwa
(Henebedda)*
CEREMONIAL DANCES 269
Wanniya picked up the basket the shaman put his head inside
the circle, and a Vedda immediately made ready to support him
if he should fall. The shaman, now possessed, held on to the
horizontal pieces and trembled violently, while his head and the
upper part of his body were hidden by the leaves. Soon he left
it and danced in and out of the kolajuaduwa, followed closely by a
Vedda ready to support him. Sita Wanniya hid himself in the
leaves of the circle in the same way for a few seconds, his whole
body swaying to and fro the while. On leaving the kolavegena
he danced about wildly, but soon returned to put his head into
the circle again, and then, swaying and tottering, danced up to
us, and, speaking with the voice of the yakini, said, " Why have
you called us ? there is nothing in this basket for us, and there
is no food provided." Then he returned to the circle, into which
he thrust his head, while several men surrounded him and fanned
him with leaves. When he emerged he again came to us, and
in the person of the yakini asked us for bangles, and again
returned to the kolavegena; then several of the dancers pushed
their heads into it at once, Sita Wanniya returned to us and
placed the basket on each of our heads in turn, presumably as a
sign of favour. Then the shaman put his head into the kolavegena,
and all the other dancers, having put down their bunches of
leaves, now held peeled sticks to represent swords, and raised
these over the shaman's head, and then slashed the leaves off
the kolaniaduwa (Plate LIV, fig. 2). Shouting and gasping,
they all came to us, those possessed by the yaku gasping out
that they must leave ; then they returned to the kolaniaduwa
and danced in and out, raising and crossing their sticks. This
was continued for a little while, the shaman several times putting
his head into the circle and all using their sticks as before. The
spirits left those who were possessed quietly, without producing
collapse, and the performers ended the dance by silently putting
their sticks on the top of the kolavegena, this being done to
avoid putting them on the ground, as they were now sacred to
the yaku.
After the dance the shaman cut the kolavegena from off the
kolamadtiwa and tore off the leaves still remaining on it, in order
to prevent tSxe yaku returning to it.
270 THE VEDDAS
The Avana Ceremony,
The avana ceremony which we saw at Henebedda may be
described here. Mr Bibile told us that he had heard of it having
been performed in his father's time by Sinhalese in the neigh-
bourhood of Bibile, and the former Korala of Bakiella in the
Eastern Province, a man particularly versed in magic and
spiritual matters, knew all about this custom, while on the other
hand many Veddas did not know of it. Our impression is that
we are here dealing with an original Vedda custom, consisting
of an offering of part of the game killed, which has been modified
by the peasant Sinhalese of the Vedda country, and again
adopted from them in its modified form by the Veddas.
The following account of the avana custom records what we
actually saw done on the night of February 7th, at Henebedda
on the occasion of the death of a fine buck. The stag, which
had been shot a short distance from Bendiyagalge caves, was
carried to a convenient slab of rock between our camp and the
caves and there cut up, an arrow being most skilfully used to
skin and disjoint the animal ; the throat was opened low down
in the front of the neck, one or more big veins being severed,
and three double handfuls of blood were smeared upon a heap
of mora leaves which had previously been laid on a rock. Then
six long narrow pieces of muscle called anda inalu (eel flesh,
because the strips of muscle are long like eels) were cut from
the root of the neck as well as two morsels from the tongue, the
nostril and the ears. These twelve pieces of meat, constituting
the offering called avana, were put on the blood-smeared leaves
for the Kadawara Yaku, who were said to be the spirits of eleven
Veddas who were named and described as follows :
Avana Vedda. the first Vedda who instituted the rite.
Le Vedda, the first man who smeared blood on the heap of
leaves.
Mas Vedda, the first man who laid meat upon the heap of
leaves.
Buta Vedda, the yaka of the Vedda who sent the animal
whose blood and flesh were used at the first avana ceremony.
Atu Holaman Vedda, the yaka who makes noises in the
CEREMONIAL DANCES 27 1
forest near the hunter to make him beheve that the game he is
following has run away.
Bedi Holaman Vedda, the j'aka who breaks sticks and causes
dead branches to fall and so frighten game away.
Kili Mas Vedda, the _yaka of the Vedda who cut up the
animal whose flesh and blood were used at the first avana.
Polu Mas Vedda, who smoked part of the meat of this
animal.
Melihi Vedda, the yaka who blinds hunters so that they
cannot track the wounded game.
Ahuru Gahana Vedda, the Vedda who first snapped his
fingers to call his dogs.
Ihurun Gahana Vedda, the Vedda who first whistled to his
dogs to come hunting.
These eleven yakii are considered strong enough to kill
folk and to send sickness; it appeared to us that the individuals
of this group were not carefully differentiated but rather regarded
as one power.
The Korala of Bakiella who has already been mentioned
said that a leaf cone {goiiiwa) containing blood was placed
on a heap of leaves with flesh from the throat, tongue and ears
of the kill and the whole offered to the 64,000 Maralu Yaku and
64,000 Kadawara Yaku. The leaf cone is a distinctly Sinhalese
feature and the ceremony described by the Korala had become
entirely Sinhalese in character. This is borne out by the
invocation which was written down for us by the Korala.
A tit avane le dena man tray a Kadawara Riri Yaka t a
Yakinnita.
Vetdla miwara slndpoti bisaivun xvahansege hradaya paid bihi
turn Kadazvera Riri Yakshayd Yakshinlta atu awanak aetun kotu
awanak aetiin, aniii mas amu riri aetun.
Adat mama andagasd kaepa keradenne. Mama yana issarata
rubera an mnnayak genddin, elle pddii kera dild, vedl mune
is{sard)ta kera dfla, amaren giyat {ci) maren pitat zvild, marana
patkera dild, waessi langata miden ennd tvdge, kambe kanuweta
magid aetek baenda palikera zvdge, ella pddu {ka^ ra denda
Kadawera Riri Yakshayd Yakshlgen zvarami.
2/2 THE VEDDAS
" The invocation to Kadawara Riri Yaka and Yakini, when
presenting blood in the shelter (made) of branches.
"There was (on a former occasion) an (open) shelter of
branches, there was an enclosed shelter, there were fresh meat
and fresh blood for the Kadawara Riri Yakshaya and YakshinI,
who having guarded (?) the pool of the General Queen at Vetala
Nuwara (the Goblin city) became demons.
"To-day also having summoned (you) I present the (same)
offering. Before I go I solicit from the Kadawara Riri Yakshaya
and YakshinI that they will bring a head with beautiful horns
(to me), that they will make good all deficiencies, make my
shots unerring [lit. present (the game) before the point of the
shot], should I get into difficulty that they will overcome it,
decree that I shall kill (game), (enable me) to approach a calf
(fem.) like the buffalo cow comes up (to it) [i.e. without alarming
it], rope a lucky tusk-elephant to the post, as though defending
it (?), and that they will make good all deficiencies."
The above transliteration and translation have been prepared
by Mr Parker who points out that the written invocation is full
of errors, and therefore difficult to translate, but it does not
contain any " Vaedi expressions" and "only a few difficult
words." We have consulted Mr Parker in the hope that he
might be able to throw some light on the matter of the origin
of the avana, but although his remarks are in many ways inter-
esting and suggestive, they do not really explain the origin of
the ceremony, though he is inclined to agree with us that the
ceremony is of Vedda origin \
^ Mr Parker writes : "The Sinhalese have also some Vaedi Yakas though these
have no connection with the eleven spirit yakas of your ceremony, who are chiefly
protective. There are also 'Vaedi' Kadawara who are minor subordinates of the
Kohomba (Margosa) demon or Yaka. Kadawara is a compound Tamil word meaning,
according to a story that was related to me both in Ceylon (N.C.P.) and at the Tanjore
temple, 'the celestial who escaped' compression by Siva the Indian god, when he
clasped in his embrace six others created by his wife, and thus made them into the
Kataragam God Skanda, the Indian war God, called also Kanda Kumara, with six
faces and twehe arms."
CHAPTER X
INVOCATIONS
The translations of the invocations given in this chapter
have been made by Mr H. Parker who has spared no pains in
working out very compHcated and often incomplete material.
The invocations themselves were written down by our interpreters
to the dictation of the Veddas, and thus naturally contained
a certain number of mistakes and contractions. These are noted
and explained by Mr Parker, and it should be realised that the
philological and mythological explanations appended to many
invocations are entirely his work and are therefore placed between
inverted commas.
Neither the Veddas themselves, nor our interpreters, could
give a translation of some of the invocations or even explain the
meaning. In others no translation could be supplied and it was
noted in the field that the meaning was probably only correct in
a broad sense. In yet other invocations more or less accurate
translations of the words themselves were given, but the signi-
ficance could not be determined. Under these circumstances
we have thought it best to give Mr Parker's translation in every
case, indicating how this differs in sense from the version given
us in the field in those instances in which we have reason to
believe that our field version peculiarly expresses what our
informants believed to be the meaning of the invocation.
These invocations fall into two main groups ; the first, dis-
tinguished by their simple form, are straightforward requests
to the spirits of the dead to provide game and yams, or to show
their loving kindness by partaking of the food provided by their
descendants. The second group although embracing a con-
s. V. i8
274 THE VEDDAS
siderable range of beliefs are all longer and more complicated,
and often contain references to events which happened before the
spiritual beings to whom they are addressed attained their full
power as yakit.
For convenience the invocations are consecutively numbered
and grouped according to their purpose, for we believe that
this arrangement, though not ideal, is on the whole the most
suitable^ In each group the invocations progress from simple
to more complicated.
It will be noted that in many if not all of these invocations
animals and articles of food are not mentioned by their usual
name, but are called by some other name or described by
a periphrasis. A special vocabulary, largely but not entirely
the same as that used in invoking the yaku, is used by the
Veddas when hunting and indeed whenever travelling through
the jungle. The relation of this jungle language to the other
languages of the island will be discussed in Chapter XV, mean-
while it is only necessary to note that in one form or another it
is spread over a great part of the island and that it is known by
the name kae/e basa "jungle language." The object of the
kaele basa has been well explained by Mr Parker who has
allowed me to take the following quotation from the proof-sheets
of his work Ancient Ceylon. "Strange to say, the Kandian
Sinhalese and the Wanniyas apparently imitate the Vaeddas
while they are hunting in the forests,... and use another series of
expressions... for many... animals, to the exclusion of the usual
names for them. They have acquired a belief that unless a
1 An alternative arrangement would have been to group these invocations
geographically; the following list will enable the reader to do this with ease.
List of Invocations and the localities from which each were collected.
Bandaraduwa. Nos. 7, 15, 26, 34.
Bulugahaladena. Nos. 9, 10.
Dambani. Nos. 1, li, 13.
Godatalawa. Nos. 3, 5, 20, 24.
Henebedda. Nos. 14, 19, 21.
Kalukalaeba. No. 6.
Sitala Wanniya. Nos. i, 11, 16, 18, 23, 27, 29, 30, 31. 32, 33, 35, 36.
Uniche. Nos. 8, 17, 22, 28.
Unuwatura Bubula. Nos. 25, 37.
Wellampelle. No. 4.
INVOCATIONS 275
special dialect be employed while they are in the forest, they
cannot expect to meet with any success in seeking honey, or
hunting, or in avoiding dangerous animals.
"This dialect... consists of the employment of new words
not only for animals but also for a few other nouns, and for
verbs used to denote acts most commonly performed on such
trips. In addition, all negative (that is, unlucky) modes of
expression are totally debarred from use on such occasions, as
well as the words meaning ' insufficient ' and ' too much,' which
are inauspicious as indicating dissatisfaction with the number or
quantity to which they are applied."
Although in some instances the word used when addressing
the yaku is not the precise word used by the same Veddas while
hunting it is convenient, and we think reasonable, to. regard the
yaka language as a part of the kaele basa.
The only other linguistic feature of these invocations that
requires comment is the abundant use of the adjective ran
" golden." The significance of this in a particular and somewhat
puzzling instance is discussed in a footnote to invocation
No. XXI, so that it suffices here to record our belief that among
the Veddas the expression is laudatory and is the equivalent
of " excellent," " admirable." In invocations used while
collecting honey the expression "jewelled" is used with almost
equal freedom, e.g. "golden jewelled cord" in invocation
No. XXVI, and is simply to be understood as a laudatory ex-
pression.
Invocations to the Nae Yaku.
Sitala Wanniya.
I. Ayu bowd. Ayii bowa. Nae kottaewe'^, nae sendivd.
Hudu hambd welata adagaha dunnd kaewd bunnd.
Kisi waradak sitanna epd, apit kanawa bonawd.
Salutation ! Salutation ! Part of (our) relatives !
Multitude of relatives ! Having called (you) at the (right) time (we) gave
(you) white samba (rice) ; (you) ate, (you) drank. Do not think any wrong
(of us) ; we also eat (and) drink.
1 Kottaewe for kottasaya, a part, section.
18—2
2/6 THE VEDDAS
Dambani.
II, E Iowa giya ape appd me Iowa ward. Depalullan and kalapin.
Huda mangaccapawu kankund bota danimantia^ kabareya bota dammanna.
Me paengiri kola aeno kalapin. Hani hanikata mangaccapawu. Atnmalaye
aetto hudata mangaccapawu. Depatulla7i aeno kalapin^ gal miccak aeno
kalapin., paengiri kola aeno kalapin. Kankutid bota dammanna, kabaraya
bota dammanna tiani haniyata mangaccapaw.
Our father who went to that world come to this world. Take the rice.
Come quickly to place (for us) the sambar deer, to place the spotted deer.
Take this betel leaf Come very quickly. Come quickly my mother's
people. Take the rice, take the rock honey, take the betel leaf To place
the sambar deer, to place the spotted deer, come very quickly.
'^ Dcpatullan from depata, 'double' and ///rt;, ' point.' Rice is
the grain with two points, not rounded like millet.
" Mangacca from man, ' path,' and gassanawd, ' to strike (with
the feet),' hence to proceed in either direction, that is, to come
or to go.
" Kaiikiind bota, ' the dirty-eared beast,' the sambar. The
long ears of some animals are liable to become dirty inside with
the wax, etc. and ticks often collect in them. Hence the appli-
cation of the term ' the dirty-eared beast ' to the sambar.
" Kabaraya bota, ' the spotted beast,' the axis.
"Paengiri kola, 'sour leaf,' may include any leaf of acid
taste for chewing, but the expression is especially applied to
betel, as in the kaele basa. The commonest word for ' sour ' is
aenibul but paengiri is also often used.
''Aeno kalapin for anna {aran) kardpan, ' take.' In another
invocation (No. IV) we have aeno kdldnna, ' I will make another's,'
that is, ' I will present.' "
Godatalawa.
III. Ayu bow a! Mai paennae wanna. Ada 7'akshdwak nae. Bin
batewwa ada denta otiaeyi. Hatarak pa aettanta goyun alia de7ita onaeyi.
Eyift paeyin pussd angiirii fnas yahanak oppu-kara detinayi. Ada raekuma
rakshdwa bale baendala denta onaeyi.
Salutation 1 ! Driver away of Vaeddas ^. Today (there is) no livelihood.
^ Lit. may life he long.
2 Mai paennae 'waund. "The word mat in another invocation of the Nae Vakd
is evidently applied to the Vaeddas, and therefore there cannot be much doubt re-
garding the meaning, here and elsewhere, of the expression mat paennae wanna, when
INVOCATIONS 277
Today you must give wild brinjal ; you must allow the four-footed persons^
to catch iguanas. Having roasted (part) of them in an hour^, I will make
and give (you an offering of) an altar (furnished with) meat (fried on)
charcoal^. Today (you) must furnish (and) give protection (and) livelihood
by (your) power.
Wellampelle.
IV. Depatullan aeno kdlantia, paengiri kola aeno kaldnna, gal tnlcciyak
aetio kaldniia appalaye aettanna mori ydnak aeno kdldhfia. Kankund maye
ekata aeno kdldpa adana iti bota damd.
I will present rice, I will present betel leaf, I will present rock honey,
I will present an altar for the dead to (my) father's people. Make over as
mine the sambar, having placed (for me) the wearing-spikes beast (i.e. the
porcupine).
"Aef/o kdldnna for Anya karanfia, I will make another's, that
is, I will present or make over.
'■'Mori, from root mri (Skt) to die.
" Ydnak for YahanakJ'
Godatalawa.
It was stated that the following invocation was said to
determine whether the deceased had attained power as a yaka.
V. Hdtnaduruivd, A hit mal paennae wanna, haskain tiyenawd haebae
nam eka wal mandiyak ival mardgana ena weldta ?nata gawara tndgallck
hambawenda onae. Me unkiri daluwata, mal paennae Wanna, eli bdnaiud.
Lord, New Driver away of Vaeddas, if it be true that there are miracles*,
killing one wild iguana in the jungle at the time while coming I must meet
with a sambar deer. (Be pleased) to drink-', Driver away of Vaeddas, this
young coconut".
applied to the spirit of the recent dead. Dr Seligmann learnt that the cave in which
a Vaedda has died is avoided by his relatives as a residence for several years after-
wards ; and this appears to afford a satisfactory explanation of the expression."
1 Dog?, a kaele bdsa term.
^ The Sinhalese unit of time here translated "hour" has a duration of twenty
minutes.
'^ Lit. charcoal meat altar.
* "The words haskain tiyenawd haebae nam ' if it be true that there are miracles '
were explained to Dr Seligmann as signifying ' if it is true that you have attained
power (or become powerful) as a yaka.' "
^ '^ eli bdnau'd means 'having thrown down (the throat), to swallow.' In the
kaele basa, kota bdnawd, which means 'to eat,' is literally 'having chopped, to
swallow.' "
" Unkiri daliiwa is 'the bud deficient in milk,' that is, the young coconut before
the ' milk ' is formed in it. "
2/8 THE VEDDAS
Kalukalaeba.
VI. Ayibo tainunnanse raekima rakshawa laebenna onae yana iaenata
ena taenata ehen kiri dalu itirenna wage maha 7naede^ warakan ennd wage
raekima rakshawa diyunu diyumc karala denna onae.
Hail. You must (cause us) to receive protection and means of support
while going and returning. As the young shoot springs up from the eye (of
the seed), as the south-west wind comes (causing) great delight, you must
bestow two-fold two-fold protection and maintenance.
Bandaraduwa.
VII. Willi ft mardl nangi si id, gangln mardl nangit si to, pcliyen peliyata
willito no bin no bin kiyanno. Ayiyo Deyyd.
From the pool the Brahmany kite has risen, from the river the Brahmany
kite has also risen, from line to line at the pool (i.e. flying round it in circles)
saying "no place, no place." Alas ! O God.
'' M drain is a kaele bdsa word for the Brahmany kite. Its
cry is said by villagers to be no bin, no bin, one meaning of which
is 'improper,' which does not appear to be suitable in this
invocation. 'There is no place for me now' seems to be the
meaning. The spirit of the deceased is compared to the kite
which is accustomed to circle round high above the water,
uttering this cry."
Uniche.
VIII. Pelaka nagd mar ana gat, pelaka gangi mardna gat wilita
sitagana no bin kiydlo.
IVanni allapu diiriu kanu ital simin siniitat no bin kiydlo.
Me godanwala goda tarana mal kadanna kadanna ntal adu welu.
Ayiyo, Deyiyd.
The part (?of the dead) whom the cobra killed, (and) the part whom the
river killed, having said "^There is) no place (for us)," are stopping at
the pool-.
The bow-sticks (and) arrows- seized in the Wanni (the forest), having
said "(There is) no place (for them," go) from boundary to boundary (Pin
other people's possession).
(Through) continuing to break, in these lands, the Vaeddas* that pass
over the land, the Vaeddas* have diminished. Alas, God I
1 Maede is the genitive case of mada, "pleasure," " delight," " rejoicing."
2 " The context may possibly imply that the spirits of those who die of snake-bite
or drowning are left to fly about like the kites, as homeless shades, that is z.% preta.'"
3 " This doubtless refers to the bows and arrows of the deceased."
4 "The word here translated Vaeddas usually means 'flowers.' It is however
quite clear that it is also used to mean 'Vaeddas,' cf. invocation No. III."
INVOCATIONS 279.
Bulugahaladena.
IX. Dematamali Dematamald Kotakaecci uccumbaye tndhatnmd, uccum-
baye mdhappd depatullan pojja tiidld weda mdl puccal topanta aeno kdlae
we topaenut kaepallawu.
Dematamali and Dematamala, excellent Great Mother (and) excellent
Great Father of Kotakacciya, (we) having washed rice in a pot (and) having
roasted meat shot with the arrow, may they be made over to you. Eat ye
also.
" Uccumbaye for usaba, excellent.
" Kotakaecci appears to be the name of a place.
" PoJja for pocca, pot.
" Weda for vaidya or vidha.
" Mdl for main, meat.
" Puccal for pulussald, roasted."
" Dematamali and Dematamala are two flower names, which
like numerous others in Sinhalese are used as personal names.
Dematamala means flower of the demata tree {Gmelina asiatica)
the last vowel being lengthened by the addition oi a, as is usual
in personal names. Dematamali is simply the feminine form."
X. Dematamali uccumbaye md ammd, Dematainald Kotakaecci uccum-
baye maha appa kafikundwa^ kabareya, hocca dikkd, tnuftdi, perumd, gayi
bokka md maeda aeno kalapa aena baccapa.
Dematamali, excellent Great Mother, Dematamala excellent Great Father
of Kotakacciya, make over (and) take (and) send down (to us) the sambar,
the axis deer, the pig, the iguana (fem.), the large buffalo (?), (and beehives)
inside trees hollow (and) large.
" Hocca dikkd, ' the long-snouted one.'
" Mundi is the fem. of mimdd, the noosed one.
"Perumd. This word is doubtful. It has the form of a
kaele bdsa word like the others, and thus must be descriptive
of the animal ; it may mean 'the large Great one.'
" Gayi, pi. oi gd, tree.
" The word for beehives, maehikaeli gam, has been omitted."
Sitala Wanniya.
XI. Aro rajo Kappun selliya penena, nillin anduru deyiyd Aluta
Wanniye, tanidge kanata tanapi katie kadukkan kanamaediran se dilennaiv
balamia duwana warew, Aluta IVanniye.
28o THE VEDDAS
Kapunselliya (Monkeys' Hill) appears (like) the king of health (?), the god
dark with verdure, O New Wanniya. The ear-rings made for his ears shine ^
like fire-flies. Come running to look (at it), O New Wanniya.
Mr Parker writes : " This invocation is a poetical description
of Monkeys' Hill, on which the fire-flies remind the reciter of
shining ear-rings. The speaker of the invocation hopes by his
glowing description to attract the 'new spirit.'" Our informants
at Sitala Wanniya stated that Kapunselliya was a hill on the
far side of Walimbagala (Friar's Hood) where their ancestors
gathered honey. They said that the invocation first stated that
Kapunselliya was dark, and they informed us that this was due
to mist or fog. The invocation then appealed to the spirit
invoked as " new Wanniya," asking that he should come running
to see the ear-rings which had been prepared for his ears and
which shone like fire-flies. In spite of the more practical appeal
made to the Nae Yaka according to the Vedda version, this
account coincides in essentials with Mr Parker's translation,
since both agree that the object of the invocation is to attract
the spirit of the deceased.
Dambani.
XII. Urdgamat ga?Jta Aejnbiilogamat gama ive aeta kehela7t watte, paela
kehelan watte waetten de waetta kola wihuduwana parakktiwayi. Me parak-
kuwa viilaine nild e Kambura galata waedatd pilunmvan paid idinnd weda.
On some occasions (lit. from occasion to two occasions) in the wild
plantain garden and the house (i.e. cultivated) plantain garden at both
Urogama village and Aembulogama there is delay in the unfolding of the
leaves. On account of this delay will the chief Nlla having proceeded to
that Kambura-gala, by the great amount of (his) skill cause the trees to fruit
and the fruit to ripen ?
We give this invocation with all reserve. As stated else-
where in this volume the Dambani folk are village Veddas
accustomed to parade their " wildness," and it was difficult to
work with them, so that it is not improbable that this formula
has really nothing to do with the Nae Yaku. These remarks
apply equally to the following invocation (No. XIli). Mr Parker
suggests the possibility that it implied "that as the chief Nlla
could twice preserve the plantain trees he might have preserved
the Vaeddas if he wished."
1 "Wrongly put in the Imperative mood."
INVOCATIONS 281
XIII. Ace nidana ^anna nedenne Acakala Devi visin tama, polawe
mihi kata ganna tiedenne polawe Mihikat Devi visin tama^ kiri bona
waccata botina nedenne Kande Alut Devi visin tamCi.
Sat mude e dese sita tne deseta enneda nalali palagana bo lali ena
■welemo, udu wiyan baendagana wata wiyan baendagana ennamo no weyi.
Ran anduwa elin toran ate elanno ward deva rode allagana ennamo. Eluwan
allanno gawuran allan hossa dikka allanno enmo newe.
To take the hidden treasure of the sky is not permitted by the Goddess
(of the sky) Akasakala herself ; on the earth to take the gems of the earth is
not permitted by the Goddess of the earth, Mahikantawa herself; the milk
drinking calf is not permitted to drink, by the new Goddess of the hill
herself.
Are you coming from that country of the Seven Seas to this country,
having split the forehead (i.e. made your appearance out of the forehead),
and shaking violently at the very time when you come? You will not come
(? unless we) have tied clothes overhead and have tied side cloths (at the
shed or maduwd). Come and hold in your hand ornamental arches {toran)
in which is suspended a golden chain. You will come holding a divine
wheel (?). Goat catchers, sambar deer catchers, pig catchers will not come
(i.e. to ask your assistance on this occasion).
" A ce for dkdse, in the sky.
" Kata appears to equal Kdntah, a gem ; or it is derived from
the root k/ian, dig, excavate.
" IVacca for wassd, calf.
"Anduwa for andu, chain.
"Rode may be rodaya, a vi'heel, but it does not occur else-
where, and the meaning is doubtful.
" Hossa dikka, ' long snout,' a kae/e bdsa word for pig."
With the possible exception of the reference to the " New
Goddess of the Hill" which may refer to one of the Maha
Yakini (Kiriamma), there is nothing in this invocation belong-
insf to the Vedda form of belief, and we do not doubt that
the whole formula has been taken over from foreign sources.
Mr Parker writes that he has "no knowledge of Akasakala, the
Sky Goddess," but that " Mahi-kantawa is well known as the
personification of the earth, literally ' Earth ' {mahi), ' woman '
{kdntdiva)."
The appearance of divine children by other means than birth
per vias nattirales is a common Hindu belief of which Mr Parker
cites the following instances: " Ayiyanar, the son of MohinI,
282 THE VEDDAS
an incarnation of Vishnu, is said in Ceylon and India to
have appeared from Vishnu's hand there is the well known
story of the production of the four castes from the body of
Brahma'."
Henebedda.
The heading of this invocation Pattiwelata Panikki Yakd
makuta kiyana kavi signifies " Song sung for the cattle herds to
Panikki Yaka the Chief" i:\i^ yaka invoked is the spirit of the
sixteenth century chief Panikki Vedda, whose history is given in
Chapter I. To some extent this invocation bridges the gap
between the nameless Nae Yaku and the Vedda heroes, though
it is obvious that the worship of Panikkia Yaka is allied
to the Bandara cult to which we have alluded elsewhere.
Our informants, however, did not regard Panikkia Yaka as a
Bandara.
XIV. Asa guru kapayi^ Sola topa yaluwd.
Polo guru kapayi, Bola topa ydlunva.
Gasajinct sulaninayi, Bola topa yaluwd.
Igalennet pa{n)claralmayi, Bola topa yaluwd.
Kasd irata pifen ira kendi adinuawu ddinnawu,
Muna muna pdrakkuda, Ntlame N'lld ?
Kudd ?iaenbi raid itaewatun, bdlannada, bdlannada?
Kudd naetibi raelat kodimaeyi, Bola topd ydluwd.
Mahd naenbi raelo naewatun bdlannada Bola topd ydluwd ?
Madd naenbi raelet kode Bola topd ydluwd.
Dunna gatat sonda widanian, Panikkiyd.
Polla gatat sonda naewatun., Panikkiyd.
Manda gatat sonda bandaman, Patiikkiyd.
Ada metauata eyi, Gombara Panikkiya.
1 This is given in the Purana as follows (Wilson's translation, p. 44) : " Formerly,
oil best of Brahmans, when the truth-meditating Brahma was desirous of creating the
world, there sprang from his mouth beings specially endowed with the quality of
goodness; others from his breast, ...others from his thighs, ...and others from his
feet...."
The Vishnu Purana records (p. 50) that when Brahma found that his mind-born
progeny were unsuitable for peopling the world, "he was filled with wrath capable of
consuming the three worlds, the flame of which invested, like a garland, heaven, earth,
and hell. Then from his forehead, darkened with angry frowns, sprang Rudra,
radiant as the noon-tide sun, fierce, of vast bulk, and of a figure which was half male,
half female."
INVOCATIONS 283
The sky is becoming purple, O thou Friend !
The earth is becoming purple, O thou Friend !
Blows even the wind also, O thou Friend !
Even the small birds are flying also, O thou Friend !
From behind the yellow sun, draw, draw the sun's rays.
What is the (reason of the) delay, Chief Nlla?
Shall I look, shall I look if a small heifer has stopped in the herd ?
(that is, is in the herd).
Even a small heifer is not in the herd, O thou Friend !
Shall I look if a large heifer has stopped in the herd, O thou Friend?
A large heifer is also not in the herd, O thou Friend !
Should he take the bow, he is able to shoot well, the Panikkiya.
Should he take the cudgel, he is good at stopping (the buffaloes), the
Panikkiya.
Should he take the noose, he is able to tie well, the Panikkiya.
Today he will come here, the speckled Panikkiya.
Invocations to Kande Yaka and Bilindi Yaka.
With a single exception (No. XXIII) all these invocations are
recited in order to procure game. No. XV was sung whilst
dancing round an arrow struck in the ground as is described in
Chapter ix.
The remainder (with the exception of No. XXIII already
noted) are sung at the kirikof-aha ceremony. Although the
invocations used at the kirikoraha ceremony present almost
every stage of development, and some invocations such as
Nos. XVIII and XXII are obviously composed of fragments
belonging to different strata of belief, in every case the yaku
called upon are the spirits of Kande Wanniya and his brother
Bilindi.
No. XXIII is especially interesting, as it shows that such
powerful foreign spirits as Riri Yaka and Indigollae Yaka when
adopted into the Vedda system assumed Vedda characteristics,
and so became subject to Kande Yaka.
Bandaraduwa.
XV. Kande sita Kandakato nd kola andan
Bo kola aftdan itala fand
Sonda sonda gal ga-warunge piyen piyaiia
On yanne niaya kande mul pola Wanniya.
284 THE VEDDAS
Having made arrow-heads of the shape of Na leaves,
Of the shape of Bo leaves, from hill to hill,
From foot-(print) to foot-(print) of excellent sambar deer.
There (he) goes, my Wanniya of the Chief Place of the hill.
Mr Parker explains that the "chief place of the hill" is its
crest or summit, but in every case in which the expression Kande
mid pola Wanniya occurred in an invocation our informants
explained that the expression was one of the names of Kande
Yaka, and they clearly regarded these words as constituting
a proper name. Wanniya is a common constituent of Vedda
names, and has something of the significance of chief or leader.
Mr Parker points out that it means "he of the Wanni" or "he of
the forest track," and that it is a title given to Vedda chiefs in
former times. Mr Parker considers this invocation important,
" since it shows that the arrow heads were of two shapes, a
narrow one with nearly parallel sides (resembling the leaf of the
na tree or ironwood) like some Sinhalese arrows, and a broader
one (resembling the bo leaf"). At the present day the heads of
Vedda arrows are long and relatively narrow, that is, roughly of
the shape of a leaf of the nd tree. We have not seen any arrow
heads whose shape recalled the leaf of the bo tree.
Invocation to Kande Yaka at the Kirikoraha
Ceremony.
Sitala Wanniya.
XVI. Kandaka si fa kaiidakata yanna yanna kandu niriitdu waesi
wasinnaw. Reranne damane sila kande damaneta sonda sotida gal-gawa-
runiie piyen piya kurippi elayanna kande inul pala Wanniya.
King of the Hills, who continues to go from hill to hill, cause rain ^ (He
is) the Wanniya of the Chief place of the hill, who causes to fall the hoofs of
excellent sambar deer, from foot (prmt) to foot (print), from Reranne Damane
(the grass plain of teals) to Kande Damane (the grass plain of the hill)^.
" Nirindu from nara and indra, a poetical expression meaning
' chief of men.' It is never used colloquially by Sinhalese.
" Ktirippi = kiirippu (Tamil) ' mark,' ' traces.' "
' " Lit. rain rain."
* "These names signify respectively ' the grass plain of the teal' and ' the grass
plain of the hill.' Dr Seligmann was told that these hills teemed with game though
on inquiry it appeared that no man had visited them or knew their situation."
invocations 285
Invocation to Kande Yaka at the Kirikoraha
Ceremony.
Uniche.
XVII. Me kanda pita yanna yanna me kande inul polaWanniyayi. Me
guru poda nili poda waesi wahinna wahinna honda honda 7nagallatine piyen
adi tora yanne kanded mul pola Wanniyd.
It is the Wanniya of the chief place (crest) of this hill who continues to
go onto this hill. The Wanniya of the chief place of the hill, who continues to
cause (lit. to rain) this rain of great drops, drops from a dense (cloud), makes
out foot-print by foot-(print) of excellent sambar deer.
Invocation to Bilindi Yaka at Kirikoraha
Ceremony.
Sitala Wanniya.
XVI I I. An aeti dese nan naeti gona a tin alia dena saeti Bilindi Rajo.
Tandena tanina tana tandena tdnine. Masd mdyd mudu tnaedde e ran
kodiyaki suwaniine.
Like (one) catching with (his) hand and giving the nameless sambar
deer in the country where there are horns, (is) King Bilindi. Tandena tanina
tana tandena tanine. There is a golden flag in the midst of the sea full of
fish, O Lord !
We consider that this invocation is certainly corrupt; further
there can be no doubt that it should refer to an unnamed
country and a horned sambar, as in invocation No. XXII,
where, as pointed out by Mr Parker, the "unnamed country" is
the applicant's own country which it was unnecessary for him to
name.
Dedication of flesh and rice to Kande Yaka and
Bilindi Yaka'.
Henebedda.
XIX. Ayibohoivd^ dyibohowd. Kande haeta hat kattnwakata ndyakawtl
Kande niulpola alut deyiyanndnsheta Kande Watiniydtaj Kan Miran
Watiniydta, Miran alut deyiyanndnsheta j Dahcmura Wanniydta, Dalumura
1 This was recited at Henebedda over the food the dedication of which we have
described on p. 220. Plate XXVIII, fig. 2 is a reproduction of a photograph taken
while the shaman dedicated the food.
286 THE VEDDAS
alut deyiyannansheta ; Ru adukku Wanniydta, Ru adtikku alut deyiyan-
ndmsetaj Dadayan Wanniydfa, Dadayan alut deyiyanndnisheta ; B Hindi
Wan?iiydta, Bilindi alut deyiyanndnsheta. Adat man me oppii karadena ru
adukkuwata tamunndnseld isareti wedi'saren kokdsaren piyd'saren diwas
karund karagena tni dada ivaedddta aeli gawarun gal gawarun atin alld di
imuneta wedimune awu karawd detida yahapoti. Ayibohowd, dyibohowd.
Long life, long life to Kande Wanniya, to the new god of the chief place
of the hill who has become the chief of the Group of the Sixty-Seven of the
Hill ; to Kan Miran Wanniya, to the new god Miran ; to Dalumura
Wanniya, to the new god Dalumura ; to Ru adukku Wanniya, to the new
god Ru adukku ; to Dadayan Wanniya, to the new god Dadayan ; to Bilindi
Wanniya, to the new god Bilindi.
Today, also, granting your divine favour to the beautiful cooked food of
this offering which I give, as quickly as an arrow, as quickly as a gunshot,
as quickly as an egret, as quickly as flying, having caught with the hand and
given to this hunting Vaedda axis deer and sambar, may it seem good (to
you) to arrange them at the point of the arrow, at the point of the gun-shot,
and give (them there). Long life, long life !
"The ' Group of the Sixty-seven,' the Haeta-hat Katpiwa, is
well-known in the North-western Province. These are nearly all
Bandara or deified chiefs. Though still called ' the Sixty-
seven,' their number is now well over a hundred.
"Kan Miran Wanniya and his three associates are the
subordinates or the attendants on Kande Yaka. I cannot
explain the duties of Kan Miran Wanniya; Dalumura Wanniya
is the one who presents Kande Yaka with betel; Ru Adukku
Wanniya presents him with cooked food, and Dadayan Wanniya
kills game for him.
" Wedi is the word always used for a gun-shot by Sinhalese
and Tamils; also for the explosion of the charge when blasting."
Godatalawa.
XX. Hdt Bilindevatdwd anguru mas yahana baldgalld.
Kande Wanniyd anguru mas yahana baldgalld.
Dalumuru Wanniyd anguru mas ya/uina baldgalld.
Puluttd anguru mas yahana baldgalld.
Riddc Wanniyd anguru mas yahana baldgalld.
Seven Bilindi godlings, look at the altar of meat (fried on) charcoal.
Kande Wanniya, look at the altar of meat (fried on) charcoal.
Dalumura Wanniya, look at the altar of meat (fried on) charcoal.
Pulutta, look at the altar of meat ("fried on) charcoal.
Ridde Wanniya, look at the altar of meat (fried on) charcoal.
INVOCATIONS 287
This formula was given us by an old man Handuna of
Godatalawa, both as a dedication of food to Kande Yaka, and
an invocation asking for game. We cannot explain the ex-
pression Hat Bilindevatdwd; to Handuna it was a synonym for
Bilindi, and he assured us that the first line was addressed to
Bilindi Yaka. Mr Parker points out that Pulutta may mean
" fried meat Wanniya " and Ridde Wanniya, " the Wanniya
who caused pain," If this be so Pulutta must be regarded as
the Wanniya who fried meat for Kande Yaka \ We can offer no
suggestion as to the significance of the expression "the Wanniya
who caused pain."
Invocation to Bilindi Yaka at the Kirikoraha
Ceremony.
Henebedda.
Sung while the shaman dances with a coconut and ande as
shown in Plate XXIX, figs, i and 2.
XXI. Tandana, fdntna, tana tandena; tandana tdnina tdnind.
Appiiga wayasat boso awi{ri)di naeti, sat awuruddayi pasu line.
Sat awiiruddeta edde weld gos e ran Bandara., Sdnime.
Tandana tdnitia tana tandena; tandana tdnina tdftind.
Appusdmita iviyapu kacciya piyun ddsayi, Sdmine.
Appiisdmita wiyapu ptituwe piyun ddsayi, Sdmine.
Elatnal kira md ae7idapu kacciya sana ganga raeli vihidune.
Tandana tdnina tana tandena j tandana tdnina tdnind.
Kavi kiyandat baye baeri mata, udahasak ivat weda ? dyiyo !
Nan naeti baedde an aeti gona dten alld dena Saiudtni.
Kanda udin daeniu sulan nillata miwan ka7idule?i teme mine.
Kuse upan nubema nialayd maeruwe mujta tanikamatada, Nayide
Kuse upan nube malayat aeragena sellan karapaji, Nayide
An aeti gaward alld dena heki Maenik-taldwe Bilindi deviyo.
Tandatia etc.
The age of the Chief's Son was not many years ; seven years had gone by.
A time equal to seven years having gone (he became) the Forest Chief,
O Lord.
Tandana etc.
^ There is another possibility ; on the analogy of the ai'ana ceremony described
at the end of this chapter it may be suggested that Pulutta was held to be the first
Vedda to offer fried meat at this ceremony. We do not consider this probable
however.
288 THE VEDDAS
There were a thousand flowers on the cloth woven for the Chief's Son,
O Lord !
There were a thousand flowers on the seat plaited for the Chiefs Son,
O Lord!
The cloth he wore, worked with elamal flowers and the parrot (?), like the
waves of the river is spread out.
Tandatia etc.
Through fear I cannot sing songs (properly). Will there be any anger (on
account of it) 1 Alas !
The (rain) wind which he sent down from above the hill to the verdure is
wetting with tears the face
(Of) the Lord who in the nameless jungle catches with his hands and gives
the sambar deer possessing horns.
For what (fear of) solitude did (you) kill your own younger brother born of
the same mother, O Nayide.''
Taking your younger brother born of the same mother play games (with
him), O Nayide.
(Addressing Bilindi) You are able to catch and give sambar deer possessing
horns, O God Bilindi of Maenik-talawa.
The words rari Banddra which are here translated Forest
Chief might also mean Golden Chief. As already stated it
appears to us that in the majority of these invocations the
adjective "golden" is used to signify "excellent" or "admirable,"
but concerning this Mr Parker writes :
''Ran as an adjective almost always means 'golden,' but
in such a case ought to be spelt with n. I inserted preferentially
' Forest ' in this case, as there is no reason given why he should
suddenly become golden. I should generally understand 'golden'
to mean ' of a golden nature or colour ' ; I do not think it would
ever be applied to a person or deity who is dark coloured,
however excellent he might be. I have heard a path termed
' like gold ' by way of emphasising its excellence, but it is very
unusual to employ it with this meaning."
In spite of the weight that must be attached to Mr Parker's
opinion we do not agree with him in this matter, and in support
of our opinion adduce the expression "golden jewelled cord" in
invocation No. XXVL We may also mention that in the
invocation to Kosgama Bandara, the hero's corpse is described
as " golden V
^ Cf. Man, 1909, where is given the translation of the invocation used in calling
upon Kosgama for assistance.
INVOCATIONS 289
Mr Parker points out that in line 7 nid may stand for mahd
or niasd, sewn. Line 12 may be understood in two ways
according to whether we read " For what (fear of) soHtude," etc.,
or " For what need of solitude," etc. According to one account
Kande Yaka killed his younger brother Bilindi because he felt
lonely as a yaka and yearned for his company. This was the
legend we heard at Henebedda, but another version makes
Kande Wanniya kill his infant brother in a fit of temper because
Bilindi being hungry annoyed him by constant whining. The
thirteenth line, in which Kande Yaka is addressed as Nayide,
suggests that the Henebedda version of the legend is here
referred to in the preceding line. We were told that Nayide
was here used as a name for Kande Yaka but could not discover
the reason for this. Mr Parker points out that in Sinhalese
nayide simply means artificer.
Invocation to Bilindi Yaka at the Kirikoraha
Ceremony.
Uniche.
XXII. Kapd maettik gal obid, bapata lela-didl tafnd, ela kirala aendapic
kacciya sema raelipata vihi-duna. Appiige^ wayasat boho kalak aeti tun
awuruddayi pasit wune. Nan naeti dese, an aeti gond alia denawada
Bilindi Raja.
Having cut the Gem-rock thereby himself removing the command
(regarding it), like the folds of the waves are spread out is the bleached cloth
he wore. It will be a long time since three years of the Chief's son's age
passed. In the unnamed country will you catch and give a sambar deer
with horns, King Bilindi .''
This invocation obviously consists of two parts, embodying
ideas belonging to very different strata of thought. The last
sentence requires no more than a reference to invocation
No. XVIII, to explain "the unnamed country." The sentence
before this refers to the belief that, Bilindi was three years old
when Kande Yaka killed him. Probably these two sentences
belong to the same stratum of belief, and certainly the Veddas
understood what they meant. It was otherwise with regard
to the first part of this invocation, our informants could not tell
1 Appu for Appuhami, the former title of the son of a chief.
s. v. 19
290 THE VEDDAS
US what this meant or even translate it, though our interpreter
stated that he thought it had something to do with the dress
of the yaka. Clearly this part of the invocation is foreign, and
Mr Parker suggests that since Bilindi means " the child " there
is " a possibility that he is Ayiyanar, the guardian Forest Deity
of Ceylon, who is represented at Tanjore as a youth. Bilindi is
said by Nevill to be the son of the (Indigollaewa) Kiri Amma,
who is identified by the Sinhalese as Mohini, a female personifi-
cation of V^ishnu ; and Ayiyanar is the son of Mohini." This is
supported by the reference to the Gem-rock, for as Mr Parker
writes " the Kiri Amma split the sapphire gem at the sapphire
mountain." Thus in the later part of the invocation, Ayiyanar
may have been assimilated to Bilindi Yaka.
Invocation with bow to determine what Yaka has
CAUSED illness.
Sitala "Wanniya.
XXIII. Ayibowil, dyibowCi. Tumma?ikada suwamin wahansa gal
penata^ tUinu petiata^ suba penata ahu karala denda onae. Maye penata enda
OJiae. Kande Wanniya boru pena at-haera leda kala yaka tnata ada ahu
karawanda ofiae. Riri Yaka Indilegolle Yaka, Rdhu Yakutt, Patta Yakun,
me suba penata ahu karala denda onae.
Long life ! Long life ! Lord of Tamankaduwa, through (my) stones'
soothsaying, through bows' soothsaying, through auspicious soothsaying,
(you) must catch and give (him). Through my soothsaying, (he) must come.
Kande Wanniya, having laid aside false soothsaying, (you) must cause me
to seize today the Yaka who caused the sickness. (Whether) Riri Yaka,
Indilegolle Yaka\ Rahu Yaku, or Patta Yaku, through this auspicious
soothsaying (you) must seize and give (him).
Riri Yaka or Siri Yaka is the blood demon of the Sinhalese.
The Rahu Yaku appear to correspond to the Sinhalese demon
Rahu Yaka"-. We consider this invocation important as it definitely
expresses what we found to be the general opinion among the
^ Clearly a slip for Indigollae Yaka.
^ He was originally an Asura who surreptitiously drank some of the amrita
produced by the Gods and Demons. Mohini cut off his head, but it had become
immortal and was transformed into the planetary sign (personified) which causes
eclipses by trying to swallow the sun and moon because they drew the attention of
Mohini to him. For the substance of this note we are indebted to Mr Parker.
INVOCATIONS 291
wilder Veddas. Kande Yaka is called upon to help, he is the
spirit of a dead Vedda, one of themselves, and would never
be suspected of sending sickness. It is only the stranger who
brings evil things. But Kande Yaka is more powerful than the
foreign yakii and by his help it is discovered which of them has
caused sickness. In the field we found reason to believe that
Indigollae Yaka and Riri Yaka and the Rahu Yaku were foreign
in origin, we did not however suspect Patta Yaka, but Mr Parker
says, " The Patta Yaku are diseases personified, and are male
and female. The Sinhalese enumerate twelve or eighteen called
Gara (m.) or Girl (f.) ; of these two are Patta Gara and Patta
Girl. They especially afflict women and children."
Invocations used while collecting Honey.
Godatalawa.
XXIV. Alut devi hatnuduruwd^ maehikeli gamak pennanta onae ada.
Kotala hangati yanhan.
Lady New Goddess, (you) must show (me) a bee-hive today. Having
chopped (it out) I will hide (it) and go.
Mr Parker suggests that the honey gatherer "hints to the
Goddess that he and she will divide the honey between them,
unknown to the other Vaeddas and that thus she will obtain
a larger share than usual." This would be quite contrary to
Vedda ethics, and it seems to us more probable that the honey
is hidden in order to prevent the bees carrying it away. The
gatherer might well be fatigued after his exertions and would
certainly not attempt to rest in the immediate neighbourhood of
the bees he had robbed, nor would he leave the honey exposed
where it would attract the bees,
Unuwatura Bubula.
XXIV A. Raja Omungalliye
Me gurwwen Anima.
Guru bale 7'akifta
Me waewael kapdla bassala
Duni paliyen pannald
Kaduwen kapdla
19 — 2
292 THE VEDDAS
Paliyata damala
Alirae miriya paeni genaedin
Genen gemn badagini
Aerenna kanna.
O Omungalla Sovereign I
Mother — by this respect (paid to you) —
Who protects (us) by (your) great authority 1
Having cut and lowered the (ladder of) great cane,
Having driven off (the bees) by the shield of smoke.
Having cut (the comb) with the sword,
Having put (it) down into the vessel,
Having fetched the sweetest honey ^. Bring (it),
Bring (it) {ox us) to eat, to lay aside (our) hunger.
Nevill has recorded a very similar invocation which he
obtained from a Vedda of Wahmbagala (^Friar's Hood)-. He
also records the following invocation which was given him by a
Vedda of Omuni.
Maehi-keli Waniya
Gal naewili Waniya
Maehi kelanne niaehi urdl
Hind-tnaten keli kopayen
Oppu ganauid tobd deyiyen.
Bee Wanniya,
Wanniya of rock worship 1
(Ofj the honey-comb of the bees,
Laughing at the anger of the bees,
Be pleased to take the offering,
O thou from the Gods !
The above translation has been prepared by Mr Parker and
is rather more literal than either of Nevill's translations, for he
gives two. That printed below shows " the sense that the
construction and words of this invocation convey '"' to a Vedda.
" Oh Lord of the Bees :
Oh Lord of the Rock !
Honeycombs of honey bee,
With laughter and with merriness,
I oft'er them to Thee.''
^ Or " sweet honey like toddy."
* Op. cit. Vol. II, p. 127.
INVOCATIONS 293
Nevill records that " after each Hne " his informant " threw
a little honey, the first cut from the cliff, to the Spirit of the
Rock, and then proceeded to take the rest of the combs. He
told me it was an ancient custom his ancestors followed, called
' paeni adina yadinda,' or to ' charm the drawing of honey.' "
Henebedda.
XXV. Bori, Bori, Wafintye.
Nilivan paliya neden kiya, e kimata katfi ipal welen gaca widiniiayi kiya
daelen daelata. Aendun waeti enni maye kumala IVanmye.
Eke inokat kodeyi kzyd, daelen daelata katu tpal gasa widinm wldinni.
Diya aendu7i waetigena yandomo yatini nan yatmi.
Mai aendun waetigena yanni nan yanni.
Guru aendun waetigena yandomo yannt nam yan?n.
Ela aendun waetigena yandotno yanni nam yanni.
Aenga wCite baendlgena yandomo yanni nam yanni.
The translation of the heading of this invocation is " Stanza
said by Veddas when cutting bambara on a hill or tree."
(Their sound is) bori., bori., O Wanniya ' !
When (I) said 2, "(I) will not give (you) the dark-coloured vessel^" (con-
taining the honey), at that remark company by company (of bees) said,
"From (this) time, having beaten (you as if with) thorny rods, (we) will
pierce" (you with our stings). (My) clothes are falling off (on account of the
stinging), O my dear Wanniya !
When (I) said "There is nothing in it" (the vessel), company by company
(of bees) having beaten (me as if with) thorny rods are piercing, are piercing
(me with their stings).
(My) watered clothes (i.e. cloth with waved pattern) falling off, (I) am
indeed setting off to go, (I) am going.
(My) flowered clothes falling off, 1 am indeed going, I am going.
(My) dark clothes falling off, I am indeed setting off to go, I am going.
(My) white clothes falling off, I am indeed setting off to go, I am going.
Tying (the clothes) round (my) body I am indeed setting off to go, I am
going.
" Maligi is presumably vidlim, a form of stanza.
^ Bori, bori is onomatopoeic of the humming of bees.
^ Lit. "having said."
3 Mr Parker considers that iiihvan paliya should be translated "blue-coloured"
but that it may also mean " black " or " dark-coloured." As the result of our examina-
tion of the colour sense and colour names of the Veddas detailed in Chapter xiv we
are convinced that in the present instance "dark-coloured " is the correct reading.
294 THE VEDDAS
" Pdliya, a vessel. The word occurs with this meaning in
another invocation.
" Kmnala, that is kamala, tender.
" Yaiidomo yanni for ymidama yanne, a common expression
in Sinhalese.
^' Aendun (properly aeuduui), 'clothes,' is in the plural, and
means much more than a loin cloth, A European's dress — the
various articles collectively — is called aendtim.
" Guru often applied to a purple sky may also mean ' ex-
cellent'; perhaps it might here mean dark."
This is one of the invocations of which we obtained no
satisfactory translation in the field. Mr Parker holds that "the
whole invocation is devoted to explaining to the Wanniya the
suppliant's urgent need of his assistance, without which he will
be compelled to abandon the work."
We consider it far more probable that the honey collector is
essentially talking at the bees while apparently talking to the
Wanniya and his companions at the top of the crag^ While
helping himself to the honey he explains — for the benefit of the
bees — that having heard their determination to sting him, he
was hurrying away in such haste that his clothes are falling
from him, notwithstanding that he has told the bees that there
is nothing, i.e. no honey, in his collecting pot.
Invocation before taking Bambara honey, sung by a
MAN as he is lowered OVER THE CLIFF.
Bandaraduwa.
XXVI. Tobd deyiyani^ tobd deyiyani, alitt mala upan naewini sendwa
hiteii, hamddiye?!, maehikellatme maehi iiral otpti aeragana, issara aeki
maekicci alut mala upan naewini sendwa, passe aeki maekicci mala upan
naewini sendwa, inaehikellan ammd appd wdge kella, me ran mini kendata
diva di7vas pdla, tobd deyyani, tobd deyyani, tobd deyyani.
Ara maya, ara maya, dluta Wannl Hurun,daele?i daelata kdtu ipal gasd
yaiine, alula Wanni Huruniye.
^ There is nothing to show who is the Wanniya addressed. If— as appears
certain — the honey gatherer speaks to another Vedda on the cHff above him, this
formula scarcely comes under the heading of this chapter (Invocations), but it is
undoubtedly convenient to keep this with the other invocations sung while collecting
honey.
INVOCATIONS 295
Ara maya^ ara nmya, telliin bado nangl padarna kawudat adtin padiin
kodoyi kiyald^ isata kdrata piten duwo yanm^ aluta Wanni Hiiruniye.
You Gods, You Gods ! By the good will and superiority (?) of the newly
dead and reborn new host (of spirits), taking (these) offerings of honey-comb
of the bees, you who may be the first destroyed of the newly dead and reborn
new host (of spirits, and) you who may be the subsequently destroyed of the
newly dead and reborn new host (of spirits), — having caused the bees to
sport (round me) like a mother or father, protect this golden jewelled cord
(i.e. the ladder of creepers) by (your) divine eyes, you Gods, you Gods.
That (honey) is mine, that is mine. New Wanni Lords. Company by
company, (as if with) thorny rods, (you) keep beating (me), O New Wanni
Lords (i.e. the bees).
That (honey) is mine, that is mine. (Regarding your) hard (or excessive)
blows on the very feet that ascended (the ladder of creepers), no one having
said there are deficiencies, (yet) you are going running from my back to my
head and neck, O New Wanni Lords (i.e. to give still more blows or stings).
" This invocation contains several expressions not met with
previously, and I can only give doubtful translations of part
of it.
" Naewini probably nawma, ' fresh ' or ' new.' I think it has
nothing to do with ndc wenaivd, to become a relative, the first
word of which is always pronounced with a long vowel by both
Vaeddas and Sinhalese.
" Hamddiya, from saema ' all ' and ddiya ' first,' or ddika
' great.'
" Otpii for oppit, proofs, evidence ; but used by Vaeddas and
Wanniyas for offering.
" Maekicca, from v. makanawd, ' to obliterate,' ' to destroy.'
" Kella, from v. kelinaivd, ' to sport.'
'' Aekl for haeki, possible.
'■'■Ara maya is unlikely to be aeruma.v&rhdX noun o{ arinatvd,
' to leave,' or ' to let go.'
' Tellicn, pi. of taelluma, v. noun of talanawd, ' to beat.'
" Bddo may be ddda, ' hard,' ' solid ' or bddha, ' promise ' or
' much,' 'excessive.'
"■ Adim padiui, pi. oi adupddinva, 'deficiency.'
" Kodoyi means ' it is not,' or ' there is not,' from kodawa,
' not.' In the last paragraph of this invocation the negative
is expressed thus : ' some having said there are not de-
ficiencies.' "
296 THE VEDDAS
This is one of the invocations of which we could only obtain
an explanation in part, but luckily our informants were perfectly
clear as to the meaning they attached to the first part of the
invocation, and we feel confident that the following lines give
the significance attached by them to this part of this invoca-
tion.
You spirits, you spirits of the recently dead and of the old
dead, you Jiae (relative) spirits, take this ofi'ering of honey comb
and protect me as a father and mother. Protect this rope.
Concerning the word 7ipan which in this invocation Mr Parker
translates " reborn, ' this authority writes, " Upan which I have
translated reborn, literally means ' born ' ; but the other word
more correctly expresses the meaning.... The view I should take
of the matter is that the person died and was buried. Then
when the Vaeddas find him or his spirit in existence again they
term it a re-birth in the world of spirits. This kind of expression
is common in Buddhism ; compare kelawara devlowa upa^ineya^
'he was (re)born in the final god-world ' (Dhatuvansa)."
Although the Veddas of Bandaraduwa have come very much
under foreign influence we feel convinced that they have no such
carefully formulated ideas of re-birth as Mr Parker suggests, and
we believe that the words of the invocation and the significance
that the Veddas attach to it, can be harmonized without doing
violence to Vedda modes of religious thought, by considering
the translation as being from the comparatively unimportant
preta to the full powered yaka, though as pointed out by
Mr Parker, this would not be re-birth in the usual Sinhalese
(Buddhist) sense.
With regard to the expression nde (relative) spirits in the
Vedda version, Mr Parker writes : " If Jiaewini were a mistake
for nde wena, the translation of the first part after ' Gods' would
be, ' By the goodwill and superiority of the newly dead and
reborn host who are becoming {our) relatives!" The words in
italics indicate only the meaning of the words ahit mala upan
naeivini sendwa.
Nde wena sendwa is nde, "kinsfolk," wena, 'becoming," and
sendwa, " host," " multitude."
invocations 297
Invocations to Bambura Yaka.
The invocations to Bambura Yaka are the most puzzling
of all those we collected. None of our informants understood
them and the translations given were fragmentary, or else we
were told that although the words of the sentences could be
translated so as to make some sort of sense, the significance
of the invocation was unknown, or if appreciated did not
necessarily agree with the meaning of the literal translation.
Further, although it is certain that Bambura Yaka especially
gives success in searching for yams and hunting pig, Mr Parker's
translations make it quite certain that these invocations really
apply to honey collecting. The reference to the " golden
creeper," i.e. the ladder made of jungle creepers and used in
taking honey, lowered across the face of the Inginiya rock
makes this certain. Nevertheless both at Sitala Wanniya and
Uniche, invocations with these expressions in them were recited
as invocations to Bambura Yaka to send pig, and none of our
informants regarded Bambura Yaka as having anything to do
with honey. It may be suggested tentatively that the re-
semblance in sound of Bambura the home of the yaka and
bambara, the word for the rock bee, may have brought about
this confusion.
Sitala W^anniya.
XXVII. Me mage Bamburani, Bamburani. Mage Bamburo bat kaddi
nadaiv nadaw gala gala suniyaniye.
Me masa muratata godu tnadane madnkat kdpii katata sindu dendo
bana tto kiya?tdd. Me kuda Inginiya galata bapu ran waela galat gala
gala me wara waeti gold.
This is my Bambura, Bambura. While my Bambura is eating rice make
a sound, make a sound, "gala, gala" — save, save (him) — by magic.
At this very instant destroying the mounds (on the face of the rock)
be pleased to give to the mouth that has eaten honey (the power to sing)
songs (correctly and) not to speak nonsense. Save, save (both) the golden
creeper that has been lowered down this little Inginiya rock and the rock,
(or otherwise) this time the rock will fall.
" Bamburo (pi.) and Bamburani are honorific forms of Bambura.
Compare Ma/iarajaui, used in addressing a king.
298 THE VEDDAS
" Nddaw for ndda karapan, or pernaps ndda weyan, ' may
there be a sound.'
" Gala gala. Compare galawanawd, ' to save,' ' deliver.'
" Masd, probably inrisa, from root mris, Skt. ' to touch.'
" Mtirata for muhurta, a moment.
" Godii, pi. o{ goda, a mound.
" Maddne for madajia, from root mrid, Skt. to crush, destroy.
" Bdpti from v. bdnawd, to lower.
" Bana kiyanda, ' to repeat the Buddhist Scriptures,' is used
colloquially with the meaning here given.
" Gold for galo, ' rock,' as in another invocation addressed to
this yaka."
Mr Parker writes : " This is a prayer for the protection of the
ladder of creepers down which the honey gatherer descends, and
also to prevent the fall of loose pieces of projecting rock on his
head. First the suppliant asks for magical words to arouse the
attention of the yaka. The rest of the invocation is evidently
addressed to \h^ yaka himself."
Uniche.
XXVIII. Me Itigitiiya gala/a bdpu ran waela ivaelat ivael me wara
"waetlye. Me apa Bamburo bat kana ran tnande. Mdrtu mal andan saedi
galo. Me apa Batnburo bat kaddi nddaw, nddaw gal gala sutnyane.
The golden creeper and the jungle creepers lowered down this Inginiya
rock will fall this time (unless protected by the Yaka). This (rock) is the
golden plate ofif which our Bambura eats rice. It is a rock made in the
form of the Marut flower. While this our Bambura is eating rice make
a sound, make a sound, " gal, gala " — save save (him) — by magic.
" Waelat is probably wala plus /, forest or jungle.
"Mdrtu for marut, a plant.
" Audan for audama, manner, state.
" Galo for gala, rock.
" Apparently it is the rock which is expected to emit a noise
that will arouse the attention of the yaka. The suppliant
praises it in order to propitiate it."
This invocation was not understood by Dur informants, nor
could we ascertain that it was sung to any yaka other than one
who was called Mulpola Hitiye Yaka, ''\)[\&yaka who stopped at
INVOCATIONS 299
the summit of the hilP." Unfortunately we omitted to ask
whether this was a synonym for Kande Yaka who, in other
invocations, is addressed as Kande Mulpola Wanniya, but the
tone of the whole invocation with its reference to the "sword
called Golden " is as unlike any other invocation to Kande as it
well can be. This invocation is thoroughly foreign in form and
sentiment.
Sitala "Wanniya.
Invocation addressed to Mulpola Hitiye Yaka, "the yaka who
stopped at the Chief Place," i.e. the summit of the hill, at the
Bambura ceremony.
XXIX. Ran nan kaduwe tiawa danitot
Apald Wannige naiva no kiya.
Apald Wannige nawa danitot
Ran nan kaduwe nawa no kiyd.
Angara naetun natana IVattnita
Sonda sonda bera pada gasdpaw.
Sellan naetun natana Wanvita
Sonda sonda bera pada gasdpaw.
If you know the eulogy of the sword called Golden
Do not say the praise of our Wanniya.
If you know the eulogy of our Wanniya
Do not say the praise of the sword called Golden.
To the Wanniya who dances gesture-dances
Beat excellent tunes (lit. verses) on the tom-tom.
To the Wanniya who dances sportive-dances
Beat excellent tunes on the tom-tom.
Our informants, though providing a translation of the words
of this invocation which approximates to the translation given
by Mr Parker, could not tell us the significance thereof Indeed
they were only clear on one matter, that in spite of what the
invocation said they had no drums and never had had drums.
Handuna stated that the translation of the second verse
should be: —
Sing loudly to him who dances the angeru dance.
Sing loudly to him who dances playful dances.
None could say wliat the angeru dance might be.
^ Or perhaps the yaka to whom the Mulpola Hitiye belonged. Hitiye whatever else
it may signify is also the ancient name for a particular form of pointed weapon.
300 THE VEDDAS
Mr Parker suggests that the meaning of the first verse " may
be that the Wanniya is too important a personage for anything
else to be praised in the same breath (even his golden sword), and
that ' at the same time ' is to be understood at the end of the
second and fourth lines of the translation."
Mr Parker also suggests that Mulpola Hitiye Yaka may be a
synonym of " Gale Yaka (Yaka of the Rock) who danced on
hills, and whose worshippers dance on many hills or crags of the
Vaedi-rata as well as the North-western Province. Hitive is a
participial adjective derived from hitinawa to stay or stop ; the
literal translation oi mulpola hitiye Yaka is 'Chief-place-stopped-
Yaka ! ' "
Invocation at Pregnancy Ceremony.
Sitala Wanniya.
Us Miikkdliya ' Song, at pregnancy dance.
XXX. Us mtikkdliya wato, inaeda mukkaliya wato, bdla kanuwa wato
paena daeivafi ennau, devatdwayi.
Having jumped round the high tripod, round the middle tripod, round
the small post, come, wrapped up. (He) is a Devatawa (godling).
This invocation was recited by the dancers at the pregnancy
ceremony described on pp. 247 to 251. We do not understand to
whom the last sentence "(He) is a Devatawa (godling)" applies.
On receiving Mr Parker's translation we suggested that this
might refer to the unborn child, but Mr Parker pointed out that
he would not expect a child to be called a devatawa, and that
" it is of the worst augury to speak in terms of praise of any
child." Mr Parker therefore understands "the word devatawa
to refer in a complimentary manner to the spirit which is asked
to come." This idea agrees with the information we obtained
in the field, where a somewhat doubtful translation of this invo-
cation v/as given as follows : those who jump between the
us mukkaliya, the meda mukkaliya, and the balakanuwa are
devatawa (pi.). It was explained that the invocation referred to
the performers, and that the expression " are devatawa " was the
1 Mukkaliya is formed from two Tamil words, mundu " three," and kal " legs."
INVOCATIONS 301
equivalent to saying " are possessed o{ yaku" since to Veddas of
Sitala Wanniya devatawa was a synonym for yaka.
DoLA Yaka Ceremony.
Sitala Wanniya.
Invocation to Dola Yaka.
XXXI. Kadat kada Doliye. Mai bandina iaena andagola saddaviayi.
Bindoli damamia dainanna bindoliye, fnal bandina patnawayi.
Our informants could not translate this invocation or even
state its meaning. Mr Parker supplies the following " doubtful
translation ":
Bit by bit, O Doliya. At the place where the flowers (or necklaces) are
tied there is a noise of calling (for us) The fixing of the demon offerings
{dold) on the ground, the fixing of the demon offerings on the ground causes
delay in tying the flowers (or necklaces).
" Doli is usually a swing, but apparently this cannot be the
meaning here. Dola is especially an offering to evil spirits who
are demons, such as Riri Yaka.
"It is uncertain if the first doliye should be translated * O
Offering ! '
"In Clough's Dictionary one meaning of kada is 'arrow,'
but it is very doubtful if the Vaeddas ever use it with this
signification, indeed, I have never known kada used for arrow.
Everywhere the Vaeddas and Sinhalese say f, lya, tgaha, Itala.
The translation — ' arrow by arrow ' — would, however, suit the
ceremony."
Invocation to Indigollae Yaka at the Kirikoraha
Ceremony.
Sitala W^anniya.
XXX I I. Itiriya-koAida Madarac gala wddiyd. I dahasak gena sarasdpu
duHU dtyd, Indigolle devi waediyot subd iviyd. Mini rlri oruwakata
tibamin bomin lama.
Madara-gala at Itiriya-kanda (is your) lodging. Having brought a
thousand arrows (and) decorated bowstrings, God of Indigolla, should you
302 THE VEDDAS
come may (you) be fortunate. While putting (your mouth) to a boat (shaped
vessel) of human blood (and) while drinking (may you be) delighted'.
At Sitala Wanniya Indigollae Yaka was regarded as an
attendant upon Kande Yaka. It is therefore obvious that this
invocation did not arise at Sitala Wanniya or among any Veddas
retaining their original yaka beliefs, and it is in fact an excellent
example of the foreign element in the Vedda religion, and is
especially interesting because it is possible in this case to indicate
how an invocation of horrific nature has been introduced.
This matter has been discussed in the addendum to
Chapter Vlll; we may, however, suggest that the boat -shaped
vessel of blood may refer to the murder of the 60 priests.
What we have written on p. 165 concerning the attributes of
Indigollae Yaka among the village Veddas of Unuwatura
Bubula shows that he has entered their beliefs as a powerful
but beneficent spirit, though revengeful of neglect or insult.
At Sitala Wanniya he is a yaka attendant on Kande Yaka.
He may have attained this position immediately on his adoption,
in which case his terrifying invocation must have been sub-
sequently introduced and carelessly attached to the friendly
yaka. Or the invocation, which is clearly only a fragment of a
long formula, may portray something of his character when first
adopted, and though his attributes have been softened to the
usual friendly quality of Vedda yakii, a portion of the invoca-
tion appropriate to him may have lingered. We consider the first
of these hypotheses the more likely, but in any case the existence
among the Veddas of Sitala Wanniya of the foreign Indigollae
Yaka as a beneficent attendant on Kande Yaka, who is never-
theless invoked with a formula typical of a bloodthirsty
Sinhalese demon, is a most mteresting example of the foreign
elements that we now find in the Vedda religion.
Invocation to the Maha Kiriamma.
Sitala Wanniya.
XXXIII. Sorambara ivaeive sonda sonda nelun aeti. Ewd nelunnaia
sonda sonda liyo yati, eka inunu badii'^ baendana yali scnaga pam bard
Sorambara pasu karana yati Paiigara-gammana.
^ Deriving latiid from ram.
2 eka viunu badu for ek-emunu badu, things strung together.
INVOCATIONS 303
In Horabora tank there will be excellent lotus. To gather them excel-
lent women go ; tying on strings of beads they go. The multitude who
cherish affection, leaving Horabora behind, go to Pangara gammana.
The Veddas of Sitala Wanniya told us that they did not
invoke the Kiriamma with offerings for the cure of sickness
though they had heard that the Veddas of the Bintenne did so
and Handuna gave us these hues as part of the Bintenne invoca-
tion, which he said he had learnt from his father. He only
understood the first few words which he translated "There are
fine lotus in Horaboraweva and fine women go to pluck them."
A variant of this invocation — if such it be — has been published
by Mr Louis De Zoysa^ as a song of the Veddas of Horabora-
wewa.
Sorabora veve sonda olu tielum e
Miivd nelannata sonda liyo e
Kalu karald kudu karald uyd de
Olu sdle bat kannata nidlu ne.
Fine, fine water-lilies and lotuses grow in Sorobora tank !
These to gather come fine, fine women.
They make them into black and white curries ;
To eat the water-lily-seed rice there are no curries.
Obviously both versions are corrupt and have been derived
from an invocation (No. XXXIX) sung at the kolamaduiva cere-
mony.
Invocation to the Kiriamma of Indigollaewa asking
for success in hunting.
Bandaraduwa.
XXXIV. Iri kanda Monara galada wddiya
I dahasak wida tara karapu dunu diyd
Yanda enda diya pa. ?iia>i baldpiyd
Indigolle Devi waediyot subd wtyd
A ell gigiran pita in da walu katitia latnd
Diya gigiraji pita inda diya damana lama
Naddunne dtinii diya ata kudil laind
Riri oruwa pita saknian karana lama
1 Note on the Origin of the Veddas, with a few specimens of their songs and
charms. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of (lie Royal Asiatic Society, 1881, Vol. vii,
Part II, p. 102.
304 THE VEDDAS
Oba tula rajuta oba tula wddi aeraepu lu
Moba tula rajuta moba tula wadi aeraepu lu
De pile rajuta de pile wadi aeraepu lil
Tawa muna tiidida? Dan tula raju marapulu lu.
Iri-kanda (Sow-hill) and Monara-gala (Peacock-rock) are (her) resting-
places.
(She has) a thousand arrows, and bow-strings made with strength to pierce.
Look at the path on which her watery feet come and go.
Should the Goddess of Indigolla proceed (along it) there will be good luck.
(She is) the Lady who spins the clouds (in order) to sit behind the thunders
of the waterfalls,
The Lady who subdues the water (in order) to sit behind the thunders of the
water.
The Lady whose hand is small for the bow-string of the sounding bow (?),
The Lady who walks behind the boat (shaped vessel) of blood.
To the great king on that side that great resting-place was given up, it is
said ;
To the great king on this side this great resting-place was given up, it
is said ;
To the kings on both sides the resting places on both sides were given up,
it is said.
What (opportunity was there) still for sleep } The wealthy great kings were
killed, it is said.
" Oba and moba are Sinhalese or Elu words for ' there ' and
' here ' according to Clough ; but are never used colloquially by
Sinhalese, whereas they are in common use by the Vaeddas,
and I was told by them they meant ' on that side ' and ' on this
side,' otta (Sin, ohata) and metta (Sin. mehata) being used for
' there ' and ' here.'
" The penultimate lu of the last line appears to be pleonastic.
" The translation of the third line of the second verse is
doubtful. It may mean ' the little lady whose hand (guides) the
bow-string of the sounding bow,' and this would agree with her
title Lama, but as she is not elsewhere referred to as being
young or small I have not inserted this translation in the verse."
This invocation was written down for us by Tissahami the
Vedda Arachi. It is therefore not surprising to find that it
contains little that belongs to the Vedda stratum of thought.
The invocation is headed Indigollae Kiri Ammd dadayamata
INVOCATIONS 305
natana kavi " Song danced for hunting to Kiriamnia of Indi-
gollae." We did not have the opportunity of discussing the
meaning of this invocation in the field, and indeed knew nothing
of its contents until Mr Parker translated it. With regard to the
significance of this invocation Mr Parker writes: "Indigollae
Kiriamma is here treated as the Huntress Goddess of the
waters, who sends the rain which enables the hunters to track
the deer. The boat of blood is referred to in an invocation
of her husband, the Indigollaewa Yaka.
" Apparently two other Yakas endeavoured to take from her
the two hills which she haunted, but in the end she killed the
intruders and regained these resting-places^"
Invocations to the Rahu Yaku.
These are invocations to a Sinhalese demon who has been
taken over by the Veddas and assumed Vedda attributes. The
most striking alteration that the demon has undergone is that
instead of the single Rahu Yaka of the Sinhalese the Veddas
speak of three Rahu Yaku (Sitala Wanniya) or of male and
female spirits Raku Yaka and Yakini (Bandaraduwa). The
Sitala Wanniya story of the Vedda brothers who became the
Rahu Yaku has been given in Chapter Vll, but we do not know
anything concerning the origin of the Yaka and Yakini who are
completely foreign in character.
Sitala Wanniya.
XXXV. Ran adiikkii aedcwa, ran kadu aetuwa, gas mada aetuwa^ hudu
hainbd aetun bdra du?tnd. Yam antardwak wenda epd. Oppic galld.
Together with golden cooked food, with golden swords, with toddy
(lit. tree spirit) we gave white samba rice. We do not want any danger to
occur to us. Take the offering.
With Handuna's help a translation of this invocation was
prepared which is practically identical with that provided by
Mr Parker. Handuna explained that in this invocation gas
mada^ lit. " core of a tree," stood for " coconut."
1 " Her origin has not been mentioned in any of these invocations; the Sinhalese
state that she is Mohini, the beautiful incarnation of Vishnu, and mother of Ayiyanar,
the great Forest God of Ceylon."
s. v. 20
2o6 THE VEDDAS
XXXVI. Narusayi saedutie, bornsayi saediine. Gini RaJiii Bandara
ena velata kadu hewakamak saedi go.
The Na tree is made, and the B5 tree is made. At the time when the
chief, Gini Rahu, comes, a fight with swords will be made.
The Veddas could neither explain the meaning of the words
of this invocation, nor state the significance of the whole.
Unuwatura Bubula.
XXXVII. Gini wahalak sadala, ran kdla pandamak sadala, ran I iti
saddla, Gini Rahu Bandara ran I iti sadala me magul maduwata wadinrta
7'an niolat balanna.
As we have constructed a Fire Palace, as we have made a light (resting)
on a golden support (?), as we have made with wax golden arrows, O Chief,
Gini Rahu, as we have made with wax golden arrows, be pleased to proceed
to this festival shed and to look at the golden mortar also.
The Veddas of Unuwatura Bubula understood this invocation
in a somewhat different sense.
Gini Rahu Bandar come to this shelter, look upon the golden mortar.
The shelter has a roof of fire, within it is a golden torch and golden bees'-
wax.
Invocations sung at the Kolamaduwa Ceremony.
We were told that the kolamadinva ceremony was performed
until recently with considerable pomp and circumstance by the
Veddas of Bandaraduwa. Tissahami, the Vedda Arachi, gave
us the following invocations as some of those that he learnt to
sing when as a youth he lived among the Veddas. Tissahami
wrote down these invocations after the partial rehearsal of
the kolaviadmva ceremony which w^as arranged for our
benefit at Henebedda, a description of which is given in
Chapter IX.
When discussing the kolamadinva we were told that Veddas
were sometimes sent for by the peasant Sinhalese because of the
superior protection afforded to the cattle fold by their mvocations
and dances. The tradition as to this practice was quite definite
INVOCATIONS 307
and we do not doubt that it occurred formerly, but we could hear
of no recent instance in which Veddas alone officiated.
This did not surprise us for we met with no Veddas who
knew these long invocations, and we believe that this practice
must have ceased throughout the Vedirata at least two or three
generations ago. The necessary conditions existed in those
days when, as we were assured, there were communities of village
Veddas with shaman of repute such as no longer exist, and we
may instance the history of Lindegala given on pp. 171 and 172 as
a case in point. Nevertheless the custom survives in a modified
form, for Tissahami with three Veddas performed a kolaniaduwa
ceremony at Damenegama in 1903 with the object of stopping
an epidemic, alleged to be dysentery, which was then raging in
the neighbouring villages.
A very large number of spirits are invoked, but as has been
indicated in Chapter IX Kande Yaka, Bilindi Yaka, and the yak u
of the recent dead were not of the number. This demonstrates
that the ceremony as it at present exists is essentially foreign,
and therefore the length and nature of the three invocations
given are not surprising. The invocation to Unapane Kiriamma
which recites her deeds agrees well with all we could find out
about her independently, and suggests that these invocations
arose among such settled village Veddas as those mentioned in
the Sinhalese chronicles referred to in the first chapter.
The four invocations written down by Tissahami were dis-
cussed at length with him, the shaman of the Henebedda Veddas
sitting with us, though as this man — a half bred — knew only
parts of these invocations and greatly admired Tissahami, the
translations obtained in this way only represent the opinion of
Tissahami, and presumably that of the Kovil Vanamai Veddas
from whom he learnt them in his youth. In these circumstances
it is not surprising that two of these translations differ con-
siderably from those furnished by Mr Parker, and this difference
is so great in the invocation (No. XXXIX) which should be sung
while the leaves are being slashed from the kolai)iadiava (cf.
p. 269) that we have thought it best to give our field version as
well as Mr Parker's translation. Some of the allusions, for
instance, the reference to the shark contained in the first portion
20 — 2
308 THE VEDDAS
of No. XXXIX, were equally unintelligible to our field informants
and to Mr Parker,
Invocation of Unapane Kiriamma at the
KOLAMADUWA CeRExMONY.
XXXVIII. I. Udu-tiuwara kotdgena
Yaeti-imwara kotagena
Sal ilyan saddgena
Pol fiyan sdddgemi
2. Aeli detd saddgena
Ru miwd saddgena
Udu wiyan sdddgena
Wata wiyafi sdddgena
3. Ran piyowili sdddgena
Netti male sdddgena
Ran kara iral sdddgena
Mottaekkili sdddgena.
4. Sltino dtarata
Miildwak luaeti sita
Miya gtidiji sat dawosata
Ran diiuas waeti sita.
5. Sat Pdttitti Deviya/ifiem
Teda ivd7-an Idbdgena
Mottaekkili labdgena
Kataragan wdhdlen
6. Kada hdngal labdgena
Teda wdran ladde:ena
Sidda Mdngra Deviyan>ie)n
Kiri ddluwd Idbdgena
7. Valli Jiatn A mind go
Kalii ambara pattiyeta
Hiidu ambara pattiyeta
Ru wdhun niuttdweta
8. Deva diiuas eldpu
Undpdne Kiri Ammd
Sat peretn Kiimdri
Udu wiyati Kumdri
9. Wata wiyan Kumdri
Mottaekkili Kumdri
Ran piyowili Kumdri
Ran kara p;al Kumdri
Viddgama Kumdri/ —
INVOCATIONS 309
10. Aeyi pdind niuna pdmada
Hu?i klri sdddpKum
Kada hdngal sdddpufiiu ?
Ran dnvas eldpaji
Ran 7iadu kiydpan.
1. Cutting Udu-nuwara (jungle),
Cutting Yati-nuvvara (jungle),
Planting Sal gardens,
Planting Coconut gardens,
2. Training elephants (f.) and the tusk elephant.
Training the riding buftalo,
Making ceiling cloths,
Making side (wall) cloths,
3. Making golden coverings,
Making forehead ornaments,
Making golden necklaces (?),
Making head cloths,
4. While (you were) living ;
Having fallen into adversity,
Seven days after (your) fatal sickness.
After (their) golden divine eyes had fallen (on you),
5. From the seven Pattini Goddesses
Receiving their gifts of power ;
Receiving head coverings
From the Kataragam palace,
6. Receiving a pair of robes ;
Receiving the gift of power,
From the deity the God Mangala
Receiving coconuts^
7. (Receiving from) the mother called Valli, cattle
For the black cattle (lit. horn-bearer) fold
(And) for the white cattle fold,
(And) beautiful chatties for cooking-pots ;
8. (You) who cast down (on us your) divine eyes,
Kiri Amma of Unapana,
The Princess foremost of seven (Kiri Ammas),
Princess of ceiling cloths,
9. Princess of wall cloths.
Princess of head coverings,
Princess of golden coverings,
Princess of golden necklaces.
Princess of Vidagama ! —
1 Cf. note ^ p. 277.
3IO THE VEDDAS
lo. Why (are you) late, what is (the cause of) the delay
When we have made ready young coconuts,
When we have made ready a pair of robes ?
Cast (on us your) golden divine eyes ;
Declare (your) golden decision.
" Mottaekkili is formed of two Tamil words, nioddei (pro-
nounced mottei), a bald head, and kill a strip of cloth. The
word does not occur in Winslow's dictionary.
" Piyowili is a verbal noun derived from piyanawa to cover
or shut.
''Kara gal may here mean 'stones for the neck,' i.e. beads ;
the usual meaning is whet-stones.
" Ainbara, horn-bearer, is a kaclc bdsa word which usually
means buffalo.
'' Peretii iox pcratii, foremost.
" SadapHviH is a peculiar form, the past participial adjective
with the termination of the first person plural."
The first three verses enumerate the works that Unapane
Kiriamma is traditionally supposed to have performed during
her life on earth. The fourth and fifth verses indicate that
she died after a prolonged illness and on the seventh day
after her death received power, i.e. became a yaka. Verses
four to seven mention her and the gifts presented to her by
various superior gods who, as Mr Parker writes, are all Tamil
deities, " by Pattini the Goddess of chastity and controller of
epidemics, who has seven manifestations or forms ; Skanda the
god of the Kataragam temple ; Mangala, who may be Ayiyanar ;
and Walliamma the wife of Skanda, who according to the
traditions of Ceylon married her at Kataragama." Mr Parker
suggests that in the third line of the eighth verse " The Princess
foremost of Seven " refers to the position of Unapane Kiriamma
as " the most important personage among the seven minor
Kiriammas to whom worship is paid by the Southern Vaeddas.
Four others among them are local princesses or chieftainesses, and
tv/o are the sakti or female manifestations of minor deities. In
another district Miriyabaedda Kiriamma is considered to be the
most important one of this group, and the Unapane Kiriamma
is there held to occupy only the third place."
invocations 311
Invocation sung at the Kolamaduwa ceremony.
XXXIX.
1. Masdmasa mfida maedde masa mora, kapdgena le keliyatada mas
keliyatada giye ara Walimba gala dun wedi panikkiyd.
2. A^d kadiiwcn kota Bd kaduiven di?tii?t dakiniiayi.
Bo kadiiweti kotd Bo kadwiueit dinun dannayi
Dinun dakiniiayi, topd ydluwa.
3. Kadii hcwdkan karagattd
Hat hewdkan kafanilada karanita{da) ?
Hat hewdkan karagano
Kadu he^i'dkan karanada karaniiadac ?
4. Obama obama oba Horabara waeivd tioj
Mobama mobama moba Mdwilingangd no,
Andd diya duwana Mdwilitigangd no,
Enawd kiyannan Nihnal gangd no.
5. Horabara waewe kdnwwa pita iniiada?
Aela tvele ivel eliyen ennada ?
Daena walalu nada dild ennada ?
Kariya kiyannata Nihnal ennada ?
Pdlii ratayi, Wanniya, otanin bhataj
Golu gena panini zvael hinno aengata,
Re7-u aeivit diya kelind sonda rtiwata.
Ydlii topit giyoda Sorabora waewata ?
Sorabora waewe egodat innan Vaeddo ;
Sorabora waewe me godat innan Vaeddo j
Sorabora waewe de godama innan Vaeddo,
Apafat nelun mal awulanda deddo?
Sorabora waewe sonda sonda olu ttelun aeti;
Ewuwd nelannata sotida sotida liyo eti ;
Kalu karald kudu karald uyd deti.
Olu sdle bat kannata main naeti.
6. Me kalumal aella wicdre
A tat damd yana murd gamanayi bdlanne
Me Kadagat gdla wicdre
Isata ddmd ydno is mottaekkili bdlanne
Me Niyandaward gala wicdre
A lata payata ddmd yano gigiri ndnda aesenne.
Kalutnal Nangita bdendapu paeni mula kelen rata waeti go.
Kalumal Afangita baendapu amd mula kondeft rdtd waeti go
Angara naetun natana Wannita hottda honda bera pada gdcdpd.
Kori kat bori kat dpafa epd toba paengiri kola benddpd
312 THE VEDDAS
Kaha kirillan taldwe ndld perati Hannaehaelage nilrd gatnan penenne
Atata wCidan pdyata wadan daeta gigiri sdlanne^
Ndld perati Hantiaehaeld rnulpolatayi diiwa eiine.
Mini kobo taldwe ndld perati Hannaeheld ?iurd gdman karanne.
Ddeta ddmd ddeta gigiri sdldnne.
1. Cutting- the shark fish in the midst of the Masaniasa Sea, did that
skilful elephant catcher to whom Walimba-gala is given go for the
sport with blood or for the sport with fish ?
2. Having cut with the Na sword I shall see victories (i.e. I shall be
victorious) with the Bo sword.
Having cut with the Bo sword I shall gain victories with the Bo sword ;
I shall see victories, You Friend.
3. (When) fighting with swords shall I fight shall I fight with (my) hands
(also) ?
(When) fighting with (my) hands shall I fight shall I fight with swords ?
4. There, there, there is Horabora waewa ;
Here, here, here is the Mahawaeli-ganga
The Mahawaeli-ganga in which the water laments as it flows.
"I am coming, Nilmal-ganga," I shall say.
5. (He longs to return to distant Horabora, and his thoughts now dwell
on it.)
Shall I stop on the sluice of Horabora?
Shall I come from the open ground of the field on the channel.''
Shall I come now, making my bangles resound .-'
Shall I come to Nilmal Cganga) to declare the matter? (i.e. to tell the
truth about the district. He means that he need not go there
to tell it).
It is a deserted district, Wanniya, from end to end (lit. from there
to there) ;
Bringing their pupils (young ones, with them) the small creeping ants
spring on to my body.
Teal come (to the tank) and sport very beautifully in the water.
Friends, have you also been to Sorabora waewa ?
There will be Vaeddas on this side of Sorabora waewa ;
There will be Vaeddas on that side of Sorabora waewa ;
There will be Vaeddas on even both sides of Sorabora waewa.
Will they permit us also to collect lotus flowers?
There will be very lovely white lotus in Sorabora waewa ;
Very handsome women will have been sent to pluck them ;
INVOCATIONS 313
After preparing and cleaning and cooking them they will give them (to
be eaten).
For eating (with) rice made from seeds of the white lotus there is no
meat (the game having been driven away).
6. (When 1 examine) this Kalumal waterfall
It looks (as though) I am joining in a love (making) journey.
In the examination of this Kadagat-gala what is fixed on the head
(.? of the rock) looks like a head-cloth.
In the examination of this Niyandawara-gala the sound of the jingling
bangles placed on the hands and feet is heard.
From the end of the bundle of honey tied up for Kalumal Nangl it is
falling (?on the ground).
From the mouth of the bundle of rice (?) tied up for Kalumal Nangl it is
falling (.'' on the ground).
For the Wanniya who dances the angara dances beat excellent tunes on
the tom-toms.
We do not want lame women's pingo loads, or sham (or refuse) loads ;
tie up desirable betel leaves.
The reed pipes of Kaha Kirillantalawa (Orioles' plain) being in front,
it seems to be the love (making) journey of Hannaehela (hill).
Having garlands for the hands and garlands for the feet (she) shakes
the jingling bangles of both hands.
The reed pipes being in front Hannaehela comes running to the Chief
place (summit) — (or, they come running to the chief place of
Hannaehela).
7. The reed pipes of Mini Kobotalawa (turtle doves' plain) being in front,
Hannaehela makes (her) love journey ;
Having placed them on both hands (she) shakes the jingling bangles of
both hands.
" In this song the Masamasa Sea is again mentioned ; there is
probably some legend regarding the shark that was killed in the
olden time. In Ancient Ceylon I have given reasons for believing
that the early Vaeddas were in part a race of fishers.
" The ' blood-game,' le keliya, of the first section may have
some connection with blood offerings to demons. The other
expression, mas keliya, would commonly mean 'meat-game,' but
as meat is termed nidhi at the end of the fifth section it appears
to mean here ' fish-game,' the sport of fishing.
" In the fourth section, the singer, living near the Mahawaeli-
ganga, thinks he will hear the Nilmal-ganga, apparently a river
near Horabora, calling him back to that district. The last
314 THE VEDDAS
words of the fifth section give the reason why the Vaeddas have
left it, — the want of game. The expression kahi, karald, 'having
made black,' must refer to some part of the process in preparing
the lotus seeds.
" I do not understand the sixth section, in which I have
adhered as closely as possible to what appears to be the literal
meaning. It would be much more intelligible if pronouns had
been inserted ; there is only one, apata epd, ' we do not want,'
which explains nothing.
" Apparently the hill Hannaehela, with reeds growing in
pools on the plains near it (from which the reed pipe, naldzva, is
made), reminds the singer of a girl decked with garlands, who is
going to be married (or possibly only visiting her younger sister),
preceded by men playing these pipes. As I understood it, she
takes with her pingo loads of betel, honey and cooked rice, to
present to her younger sister, the Kalumal waterfall.
" The meaning of rata in the second verse of this section is un-
certain. The word anid may be hanibd or samba, a kind of rice.
Angara is defined in Clough's Dictionary as 'anointing the body
after bathing with perfumes made from sandal wood.'
" Paengiri kola is a kaelebdsa expression for betel. Mini
kobo should be mini kobeyiyo (jewelled) turtle doves ; some other
pigeons are called bowd in Sinhalese, an onomatopoietic word
imitating their cooing.
'" Kori kat borikat\s an expression I have not heard, and the
meaning is doubtful."
On account of the great difference between Mr Parker's
translation and the meaning of this invocation as it was explained
in the field, we now give the translation we wrote down while
discussing the matter with our informants. It does not pretend
to do more than explain the significance which our informants
attributed to the invocation, and at the time we noted it
we realised that it was far from being a literal translation.
Explanatory remarks are enclosed between square brackets.
(i) Did the Panikkia of mist covered VValimbagala go to
the great sea to kill the great shark and bring his flesh and
blood ?
[The Panikkia is a spirit whose home is Walimbagala
INVOCATIONS 315
(Friar's Hood). He is doubtless the Walimbagala Yaka of
other groups of Veddas.]
(2) Friends I will cut with my sword of Na and Bo and
I will be victorious. [The Panikkia speaks to a host of spirits
known as the Maha Yakino.]
(3) Did he go to fight with the sword, or to charm with his
tongue ?
(4) Horaborawewa is far away, the Mahawelliganga the
waters of which are blue, is far away. [It was explained that
this verse referred to the Veddas of Horabora being far away.]
(5) Are you on the sluice of Horaborawewa? [The j/aku of
dead Veddas are thus addressed.]
They [the j'aku] will be coming by the fields of Elavella
[well-known rice fields].
Are you coming shaking your bangles in your hands?
Nilmal (Kiriamma) are you coming to favour us?
The country of the Wanniyas is abandoned in that direction.
Bears growl and roam (in the abandoned country).
Friend have you been to Horaborawewa where teal swim ?
There are Veddas on the far side of Horaborawewa.
There are Veddas on this side of Horaborawewa.
There are Veddas on both sides of Horaborawewa.
Will they allow us to pick lotus flowers .'*
There are fine 0/0 [a plant] and lotus in Horaborawewa.
Beautiful women come to pick them.
(They) cook and give white and black (seeds) [i.e. cleaned
and uncleaned seeds].
(There is) no curry to eat the 0/0 rice [i.e. the seeds].
(6) See how (they) go along Kalumalella [the stream below
the sluice] swinging their hands ;
See how (they) go along Kadagangala [a hill] with their
heads covered.
Hear the jingling of bangles on the hands and feet of those
going to Niyandawaragala [a hill].
The parcel of honey [tied up in leaves] for Nilmal Nangi is
slanting.
The parcel of rice for Kalumal Nangi is erect.
Beat the tom-tom for the Wanniya to dance well.
3l6 THE VEDDAS
Do not give small and torn betel leaves to us.
See how Pereti Hannaehela going and coming from Kaha
Kirillan talawa jingling the bangles on her hands....
Pereti Hannaehela is coming running to the Kolamaduwa.
(7) Pereti Hannaehela of Minikobo talazva comes jingling
bangles on her hands.
"ts'
Invocation of the Maha Yakino Ceremony.
XL. Kolainaduwo bat tnul ba{n)dina-kuia kiyafia ka-viya.
Kaye rate rate game yandada me ran dmd itiul bddinne badinne. Kay a
wat rate game yanda neweyi. Tope rate game yandayi me ran dmd mnl
badinne badinne. Muna muna wel gan kotdld do me ran dmd mill badinne
bddinne. Kdye rate game yandada me nd kola iviyan badinne badinne.
Tope rate game yanda me 7Jd kola wi bddin dinne, bddinne.
Song which is sung while tying up the bundles of rice for the
kolamaduwa.
To go'to a village in whose countries are (we) tying, are (we) tying these
bundles of golden Ambrosia.-' Not to go to a village in the country of
anyone (else) whatever, (but) to go to a village in thy country (we) are tying,
(we) are tying these bundles of golden ambrosia. Having cut which fields
are (we) tying, are (we) tying these bundles of golden ambrosia.? To go to
a village in whose country are (we) tying, are (we) tying these tid leaf
canopies ? To go to a village in thy country (we) are tying, (we) are tying
these Nd leaf canopies.
Our field translation of this invocation substantially agrees
with Mr Parker's, though as might be expected our informants
gave "rice" in place of " Ambrosia."
Invocation of Ambarapoti Kiriamma at the Kolama-
duwa Ceremony.
XLI. Gawara wil mdnedi elaivdld kele yudda
Bambard mala pita indagena karayi ndnda wenama sadda
Ambai'dla pusma sundun palandinawd itd sitdda
Ambarapoti Ammd misa me nadinvafa kawiiru aedda
Mondarinju kara nila tamba pota semayi
Bilindiiga dsana ruwa yodund
Baden koson mal maldan semayi
Bella watata gombara isutid
Sagga puskola e ran todii gena
Ndsikdwa nalalata obind
INVOCATIONS 317
Kumala patul deka derana tabdgena
Waediyayi Ambarapoti Atiif/td.
Said didi raela 7)iatupita petiyek perelena andan
Wald yaetin pdeyu sande deviyo waedawena andan
Ran iorane'ka ramba toraiieka deviyo saetapena andan
Uva tedeti inal sdint viaduwata saerasiina andan.
While the sambar deer trusted to the pool, being driven away it was
attacked in the jungle.
The Bambara bee sitting on the flower will make quite another cry
(i.e. objects) about bathing.
It is very cleanly to put on frequent sandal-wood after grinding it (to powder).
Except Ambarapoti Amma who is there (to undertake) this business ?
The sapphire of the peacock's neck (shines) like a plate of copper.
The throne of Bilindi is made beautifully.
From his body (hang) margosa flowers like a garland,
Round his neck are scattered freckles (light patches),
He has ear-rings of gold joined to talipat leaf,
His nose is worthy of his forehead.
The child placing his two feet on the earth
Is greater than Ambarapoti Amma.
As a petiyd (fish) is rolled over on the top of the eddying wave.
Like the moon risen from under the cloud, the deviyd advances.
Like an arch of gold, an arch of ramba grass, the deviyd reclines,
Like the Lord of Vaeddas, who has renown throughout Uva, adorned for the
(wedding) hall.
The first four lines of our field version of this invocation
agree tolerably well with Mr Parker's translation except that
nothing is said about bathing, the second line running " The
bees seated on the flowers make humming noises." The next
eight lines were given to us as follows :
" The child should be like the colour of the peacock's neck.
"The body (of the child) should be like the flowers of the
kohomba tree (margosa tree), like the flowers of the damba tree
are the goine7'a^ round the neck (of the child).
" The earrings made of talipot leaves look beautiful (when
worn) in the face.
" Ambarapoti Amma came striding across the firmament."
Of the remaining four lines only the last is substantially
different from Mr Parker's. It runs " See how the Malsami who
has authority over Uva comes to the niadtca."
1 Gotnera are light flecks on the skin which are much admired.
CHAPTER XI
ARTS AND CRAFTS
It is not our purpose in this short chapter to attempt to
describe systematically the crafts of the Veddas, this has already
been done by the Sarasins and we shall, therefore, limit ourselves
to touching on matters which especially interested us, or con-
cerning which we have unrecorded information.
The arts and crafts of the Veddas are of the simplest nature,
their belongings are few, and there is no certain attempt at
ornamentation on any of these. Even personal adornment is
so lacking that it may be disregarded. The highest artistic
attainments of the Veddas seem to be their songs and in-
vocations, and these, with their ceremonial dances, in which
they may be said to have specialised, seem to have absorbed
all that part of their mental energy which remains after pro-
viding for their daily necessities. There is no reason to believe
that their artistic development was ever any higher than it is at
the present day, when the only form of decorative art in which
they indulge for its own sake, is rude drawing on rocks which
we shall now described
Rock Drawings.
Figs. I and 2 of Plate LVI show rock drawings made by the
Veddas of Sitala Wanniya at Pihilegodagalge and another cave
near it. Since our return we have ascertained that other Veddas
1 It is possible that a few individuals are pleased by simple geometrical patterns.
There are traces of ornamentation on two of the pots shown in Plate LXII although
this had avowedly been copied from foreign pots.
ARTS AND CRAFTS 3 19
make drawings \ but unfortunately we did not pay attention to
this matter until we had seen Pihilegodagalge.
This was due to the frequent occurrence of rough drawings
and scribblings made by Tamil gall-nut collectors in some of the
rock-shelters sometimes used by the Henebedda Veddas. The
Veddas obviously had nothing to do with these, and they denied
that they were responsible for the only other drawings that we
saw, namely those of an elephant and two men in Punchikiri-
ammagalge.
Probably drawings are made in many of the sloping rock-
shelters and are habitually washed away by the monsoon.
Indeed this view was put forward by the men of the Sitala
Wanniya group who stated that all Veddas could make
pictures.
Pihilegodagalge was, however, specially well situated for the
preservation of the drawings, and the pictures on the back wall
of the cave were never touched by rain. The drawings were
usually made by women, who said they did them when they
were waiting for the men to return from hunting, apparently
merely to amuse themselves. We feel confident that no magical
import attaches to these pictures, the usual subjects of which
are men and women, various animals and the hide vessel
niahidema (Sin. hangotii) in which honey is collected. Ashes
were mixed with a little saliva in the palm of the hand and
streaked on to the rock with the forefinger of the right hand,
the spots of the leopard being put in with a charcoal paste
prepared in the same manner.
Plate LVI, fig. I shows on the right a vialudeina, a vessel
made of deer's hide in which rock-honey is collected. The
radiating lines which make this drawing appear like the sun's
disc, represent handles made of loops of creeper, while the spots
inside indicate the honey. The vialudevia (a photograph of
which is given in Plate LXV) is a favourite subject and occurs
in a number of rock paintings. Below the maliideina on the
right is a dog and below this a leopard is represented. On the
1 Mr H. C. F. ISell has written to us that he has seen drawings in the rock-shelters
used a few years ago by the Veddas of Tamankaduwa, and Mr Alfred Clark formerly
of the Woods and Forests Department has also observed them.
320 THE VEDDAS
left the two long figures which might be taken for centipedes
really portray the big monitor lizard ( Varanus bcngalensis), the
vertical lines representing ribs.
Plate LVI, fig. 2 shows on the right a leopard and dogs
while on the left men and women are seen. This illustration
does not show very clearly the difference between men and
women which was pointed out to us. Lines pointing upwards
were drawn from the heads of women to show that their hair
was tied in a knot. This distinction is very difficult to under-
stand. The hair of both men and women is equally unkempt,
the women certainly tie theirs into a knot behind, but this is
quite frequently done by men also as a matter of convenience ;
and to the uninitiated these lines radiating from the head rather
give the appearance of loose hair than the reverse.
The drawings in Plate LVTI, fig. i are the work of a man,
the grandfather of Handuna, the leader of the group. He is
considered to have been an exceptionally good draughtsman.
He was once obliged to go to Batticaloa the official head-
quarters of the province, the reason was difficult to follow, but
it appeared to have been connected with a murder which had
taken place. On his return to the cave he made a picture of
what had impressed him most, namely, " the white man on
horseback." Two representations of this are seen on the left,
on the right there is a group of men and women surrounding
a man who holds a bow above his head. The lower horizontal
line represents the bow while the upper is the string and the
vertical line the arrow. The dots scattered around the arrow
represent its feathers.
Plate LVn, fig. 2 represents a number of drawings of inahi-
denia in a cave near Sitala Wanniya.
Plates LVHI to LXl are photographs of pictures made for
us on brown paper by several members of the Sitala Wanniya
community. The upper part of Plate LVHI shows a leopard
attacking a dog, this was made by Vela, below it is a row of
men drawn by the wife of Handuna. On Plate LIX a nialu-
denia is depicted on the left, next on the right are three women,
two drawn horizontally and the third vertically, but upside
down ; in all of them the body has been carried down too far,
Plate LVI
Fig. I. Rock drawings in Pihilegodagalge cave
Fig. 2. Rock drawings in Pihilegodagalge cave
I
Plate LVII
Fig. I. Rock drawings in Pihilegodagalge cave
Fig. 2. Rock drawings of hangotu in Gamakandegalge cave
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Plate LXI
Vedda drawings
ARTS AND CRAFTS 321
SO as to project downwards between the legs : the radiating lines
above the head were said to represent hair. In the lower part
of the photograph in the centre is a dog. The next three
figures represent a bow and arrow, a woman and a man, looking
at them from above to below. On the right is a group of men.
The lower figure in this plate shows a sambar deer in the centre
and four dogs, two men and a woman. Plate LX shows a
leopard, a dog and several men and women.
The figures of elephants and a man with a bow and arrow
on Plate LXI were drawn on grey millboard and were so faint
that it was necessary to blacken them before reproduction. The
carelessness with which the trunk is put in is noteworthy.
The only other occasions on which we saw pigments used
were at the Bambura Yaka and Rahu Yaka ceremonies de-
scribed in Chapter IX, black and yellowish-brown marks being
made on the properties prepared. The black marks were made
with charcoal paste, the brownish marks with turmeric.
Pantomime.
The only other art practised by the Veddas is that of
pantomime from which they undoubtedly derive real pleasure.
Within the limits of their daily experience they are good actors,
and will most faithfully portray their own method of doing
things. The zest with which a number of Henebedda Veddas
spontaneously prepared the properties for a pantomimic ex-
hibition of honey gathering, and then enacted the scene at
Bendiyagalge caves, was very striking and has been referred to
in Chapter IV.
Another piece of pantomime which we never saw enacted
spontaneously but which was performed at our request, was the
stalking of game. Directly the object to be " stalked " had been
indicated, the stalker fixed his eyes on it, and then approached
noiselessly and warily, with body bent and head forward, every
muscle ready for instant action, till within a few paces of the
object when he would straighten his body and return to the rest
of the party at his usual easy pace.
S. V. 21
322 THE VEDDAS
Legends.
There is an extraordinary absence of legend among all
groups of Veddas who have not been greatly influenced by
Sinhalese, Concerning the origin of men, natural features, and
things the Veddas seem absolutely incurious, nor do their songs
refer to any of these subjects. There are no stories of talking
animals or of how their rock-shelters were formed; they have
not even a tale of their own origin. Apart from a few accounts
of the origin of particular yaku and the deeds they performed
(e.g. the pig-hunting of Bambura Yaka) the following two
legends were all that we could hear though the most diligent
inquiry was made.
The Origin of Fire.
There was a man who had fire ; he distributed this to
animals, trees and stones, but a little remained to him at the
end and this he swallowed. His name was Wasawatiya. " We
cannot say whether he was a Vedda. Because he swallowed
this fire we all get hungry, for we all have fire within us. There
were men before Wasawatiya but they could not talk ; other-
wise they were as ourselves. Wasawatiya made and sent the
first dog to those people, and the dog barked at them ; so that
those people feared greatly and stammering and stuttering began
to talk, and the first words were ballakai, ballakai — 'dog will
bite.' " Handuna of Sitala Wanniya was our informant and he
also gave the following account of the rainbow.
The Rainbow.
When there is rain there is a "kind of yellow bow" (rain-
bow) in the sky. One of our women made a bow of wood like
it and that is all.
How the hill Yakagala came by its name.
The following story was told by Wannaku of Uniche ;
a variant occurs as a song at Sitala Wanniya and is given in
Chapter xv. Once upon a time two families of Veddas lived
ARTS AND CRAFTS 323
at Aralu Talawa about two miles east of Peria Pillumalai in
the Eastern Province on the Badulla-Batticaloa road. Now
these Veddas possessed elephants and cattle, so that when two
Moormen pedlars came and saw the Veddas living well and in
comfort, they thought how good it would be to kill them and
take their goods. The Moormen asked the Veddas to barter
honey with them, and Moormen and Veddas went to the hill
now called Yakagala, for there were bambara colonies among its
rocks. The Veddas went down ladders of creepers to the combs,
but before they could take the honey the ladders were cut by
the Moormen and the Veddas were dashed to pieces. The
Moormen came back to the settlement and when the Veddas'
wives questioned them as to the whereabouts of their husbands
the Moormen said they were bathing in a stream close by. The
women did not believe this and, suspecting foul play, went to
look for their husbands and found the bodies at the foot of the
precipice. They went back to their houses, let loose the cattle
and fired their houses, for they determined to kill themselves.
The elder sister saw the Moormen running towards them, so
standing on the edge of a precipice she called her young sister
to her saying that her bangle was broken. As her younger
sister stood near her she suddenly grasped her round the body
and jumped over the cliff. The yaku of these women and of
their husbands still remain in the neighbourhood of their old
dwelling-place which because of them looks clean, as if folk still
lived there. The rock bee still lives on this hill to which the
Veddas resort to take honey.
Pottery.
The Veddas make very rough pots. A lump of dark coloured
clay is taken, patted into the desired shape, left to dry in the
air, and then baked. The Henebedda Veddas who made the
pots shown in Plate LXII said that these pots were placed on
the fire and covered with pieces of dried wood so as to be
submitted to heat on every side. The less sophisticated Veddas
of Sitala Wanniya stated that they simply placed the air dried
pots on the fire, when they were soon baked hard.
21 — 2
324 THE VEDDAS
In both communities it was said that men and women make
pots, and of five pots bought at Bendiyagalge at different times
three were said to have been made by men and two by women.
Further, it was agreed that pots had been made for a very long
time and our informants at Sitala Wanniya said that they were
made in their grandfather's grandfather's time, the longest period
we ever heard a Vedda mention. A small pot, the upper right-
hand pot of Plate LXII, made by Poromala of Bingoda, has a
rough chevron pattern upon it ; no importance or meaning was
attached to this, which was avowedly copied from a pot obtained
by barter. The thick open pot without a lip shown in the
lower right-hand corner was made by Poromala (Walaha) who
volunteered the information that the oldest pots were lipless.
The large pot in the centre of the upper row was made by his
wife. The pot to the left of this was made by Poromala
(Walaha) and the pot underneath this by Randu Wanniya. It
is worthy of note that though many fragments of wheel-made
pottery were found in the upper layers of the floor of the
Bendiyagalge caves, no trace of pottery was found in the
deepest layer associated with the quartz implements figured
in Chapter I.
Tools and Weapons.
The bow and arrow with the axe are the only iron tools
used by the Veddas for the chase, for fighting, and for general
domestic use. The iron arrow and axe heads are obtained by
barter, as are the areca nut-cutters and strike-a-lights which
most Veddas now possess. To a limited extent the areca nut-
cutters are used as tools, for we have seen the final polishing
and trimming of arrow shafts performed with these.
No spells are recited or other magic used when making axes
or bows and arrows. At Henebedda the wood of the kobbevel
{Allophyhis cobbe) is used for the bow ; a sapling is peeled and
shaved down until the desired amount of flexibility is obtained,
it is then stained black. The bow string is made of the bast of
a tree called aralu {Terniinalia cJiebuld), the same is used to bind
that part of the shaft of the arrow pierced by the tang of the
arrow head, the binding being afterwards covered with gum or
X
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ARTS AND CRAFTS 325
resin obtained from the timbiri tree {Diospyros embryopteris).
The shaft of the arrow is commonly made of the wood of the
welan tree {Pierospermunt siiberifolmni). The arrow is still the
almost universal cutting tool, as we had good opportunity of
ascertaining at Henebedda. There was no knife in the com-
munity, and we noticed the skill with which a deer was skinned
and cut up with an arrow. The Veddas certainly desired no
better tool, and when we pressed a butcher's knife on one of
them in order to see how he would handle the unaccustomed
tool, it was interesting to note how slowly he worked and how
poor the result was compared with that he obtained with an
arrow, which he held just above the blade somewhat as a
European holds a penholder. No less astonishing was the skill
employed in removing the skull cap with a few strokes of the
axe, not only was the brain lifted out and cooked entire, but it
was removed so neatly and cleanly that the result was more
suggestive of an anatomical preparation than a piece of butcher's
work.
The Veddas we met were all bad or indifferent shots, and
we have no doubt that game is seldom shot at a distance
much beyond fifteen or twenty yards, the marvellous stalking
of the Veddas enabling them to approach within this distance.
The bow, to which the string is securely fastened at one end, is
carefully unstrung when not in use. To string it, this end is
placed upon the ground, the upper end of the shaft and the
string being held in the hands, the sole of one foot is then
placed against the middle of the shaft which is steadied, we
might almost say gripped, between the great toe and the second
toe. Much of the weight of the body is thrown against the
middle of the shaft while the hands pull down the upper end to
which the string is quickly secured, as is shown in Plate LXIII.
Plate LXIV shows the position of the hands and arms imme-
diately before the arrow is released. The bowman is Handuna
of Henebedda, who is left-handed and who in spite of being the
father of a large family remains the only left-handed individual
in the community. The length of a bow collected at Henebedda
was 172 cm., while four arrows also obtained at Henebedda
varied from 88 to 105 cm. in length.
326 THE VEDDAS
It appears that painted and lacquered arrows were some-
times presented to the Veddas by the Sinhalese kings as signs
of gratitude or favour, just as ceremonial forms of other objects
were presented to particular Sinhalese\ Dr Willey told me of
a lacquered bow and arrow which he heard of among a com-
munity of sophisticated Veddas, and which he was told ultimately
found their way to the Kandy Museum. Among the peasant
Sinhalese of Nilgala we heard of a lacquered arrow — said to
have been lost recently — which, according to tradition, had been
presented many generations ago to the Vedda ancestors of its
last owner by one of the kings of Ceylon. With regard to the
specimen in the Kandy Museum, the arrow is feathered in the
usual Vedda style, the condition of the lacquer on it shows that
it is of considerable age. The iron which is said to belong to it
is loose, and it is entirely unlike any arrow head we have seen.
Instead of having a tang it has a socket into which the end of
the shaft must have fitted, and there is a shoulder or " stop "
upon the iron. The bow shown us as having been acquired
with the arrow was in much better condition and had a small
band of silver or some metal resembling silver round it.
According to the account given at the museum both specimens
were procured from a priest who gave a history of the specimens
which does not connect them with any Veddasl
Traps and snares are unknown among the least sophisticated
Veddas, but at Danigala we saw a small deadfall trap avowedly
introduced.
Honey.
The importance of honey in the Vedda diet has been men-
tioned in Chapter IV as well as the large part it plays in barter.
The honey of the bmnbara {Apis indica) is taken in June and
July, though at other times of the year small combs are taken
•* There is in ihe Colombo Museum a beautifully lacquered weaver's shuttle, pre-
sented to certain cloth makers by one of the Sinhalese kings.
"^ It was stated that the bow and arrow had been found in the verandah of a
disused house with some broken articles said to have been inrown there, having been
taken from the ivalaiiwa (house) of MoUigoda Adigar. The house was in the Kegalle
district. The villagers gave the bow and arrow to a priest who brought them to the
museum.
Plate LXIII
Handuna of Henebedda stringing his bow
X
I
ARTS AND CRAFTS 327
from trees. Besides the bambara other species including the
small stingless bee supply a considerable quantity. The first
two months of our sojourn in the Vedda country (January
and February) was at a time when honey was particularly
scarce, and even at the end of March and in April it was
not abundant, yet such was the courtesy of the Veddas that
each community managed to make us a small present of
honey, though this often entailed a long search and the combs
were frequently full of grubs. In two communities only, which
were better off than the others, namely Danigala and Kulu-
kalaeba, were we given large pots of strained honey, the remains
of the previous year's store.
The manner in which bambara colonies are regarded as
property has been discussed in Chapter V. Writing in 1886
Nevill says, " Honey forms a great part of their diet. It is
eaten fresh in large quantities, wax and all ; combs with young
bees in them being considered especially wholesome. It was
also the practice formerly to store strips of dried meat in honey,
filling in a cavity of some tree with it, the cavity being first
lined with clay. At present they barter away their surplus
meat and honey, during the hunting season, and keep no store
for the rainy season. This often brings privation and is one
cause of the rapid decrease in their numbers.
" They tell me their health is never so good as when their
food largely consists of yams and honey.
" To procure honey they rapidly cut open hollow trees, even
of the hardest wood ; and to take the hives of the large black
bambara bee, they make long ladders of cane, called ' rang
kendiya,' by which they descend precipices, and cut off the
combs adhering to their sides.
" They do this at night, generally, as the bees are not so
savage then ; and smoke them with a sort of resin. The hives
are often cut off with a sort of wooden sword, made for the
occasion. These frail ladders swing fearfully, and the task is
so dangerous, only the boldest and most athletic attempt it.
While engaged on the task they sing lustily, songs specially
made, which appease the spirit of the rock, and prevent him
from dashing the hunter off the ladder. They also go about
328
THE VEDDAS
the work with songs, so as to get up a certain degree of excite-
ment, necessary to carry them through the task.
A song is chanted, and a little honey sprinkled
for the spirits, before the combs are cut off the
rock\"
Before honey collecting as many pots as pos-
sible are made and old pots and gourds are over-
hauled. The wooden sword which Nevill mentions
is probably the viasliya (fig. 12). This is a stout
stick about 2^ metres long with four prongs at
one end, which the Vedda carries hanging by a loop
from his forearm and which he uses to detach the
comb and convey it into the vessel called a vialu-
dema in which the honey is collected. This is also
carried hanging from the forearm and should be
made of deer's hide so that it may not be broken
against the rocks as the honey collector swings
to and fro. Plate LXV shows a mahidema collected
at Sitala Wanniya. An arrow is also carried and
is largely used in detaching the combs from the
rock.
Before taking the honey a bundle of green
leaves is .set alight and lowered in order to stupefy
the bees. The smoker is called odiya (Sin. hula)
and the creeper attached to it yotwella^. Several
men of the community join together to collect
rock-honey, the whole spoil being equally divided
without any special consideration for the owner of
the land, though it seemed that the owner would
decide when the honey should be collected. The
women accompany their men to crags and gulleys
where the bambara build their combs. They hold
torches and sing while the honey is being collected.
Plate LXV I shows a gourd, used as a hive for
a colony of the stingless bee, hanging outside one
1 Op. cit. p. 190.
Fi". 12. '^ For the use of these see Chapter IV where the pantomime of
Masliya x j^^. honey getting is described.
Plate LXV
Deerskin vessel (maludeiua) used for collecting' honey
Plate LXVI
Gourd used as bee hive (Henebedda)
ARTS AND CRAFTS 329
of the huts in the Morane chena settlement at Henebedda.
It was shown us with pride by Handuna who said he was
keeping it for his twelve year old son. He told us that in the
old days the hollow branches, the homes of colonies of these
bees, were frequently kept in the rock-shelters.
The ladder with the help of which bambara honey is collected
consists of a greatly elongated loop of cane, apparently derived
from a species of CalamiLS, across which rungs of creeper are
stretched. In Plate LV (p. 290) there can be seen the bottom
of the ladder some fifty feet long, used for training the young,
hung from the top of the cliff across the face of the rock mass
at Sitala Wanniya. In spite of the fact that honey is usually
gathered at night the Veddas do not travel or hunt at night
and know only two stars by name. One of these is a star or
more probably a planet which often appears close to the moon
and is called pantarii which, we were told, is the name by which
the Sinhalese know it. The other named star appears soon
after sunset, always in the same place and before the other stars,
and is almost certainly Venus ; this is called irabada tarua,
i.e. " side of sun star." Although the Veddas hunt in the dusk
of the dawn the idea that anyone would roam about at night
seemed absolutely ludicrous to them (Sitala Wanniya), they
roared with laughter at it, " why should one go into the jungle ?
it would be too dark to see to shoot, besides bears are about,
absurd idea," they laughed again, in fact it was quite ten minutes
before Kaira had forgotten the joke.
Masticatories.
All Veddas chew eagerly, but as they can rarely obtain a
supply of areca nuts they commonly use instead of these the
bark of the demata tree {Gmelina asiaticd) and the dawata tree
{Carallia iiitegerrhna). Concerning the other plants that they
use as masticatories Nevill says, " They occasionally chew the
leaves of several aromatic herbs, particularly AnisocJiiliis siif-
fruticosus, a sort of sage that grows on rocks. The areca does
not grow wild in the Eastern Province, but Veddas are very
fond of the seeds of the lakada bush, Gardenia carinata, a
330 THE VEDDAS
beautiful species of Gardenia with fragant flowers and crimped
laurel-like leaves. These seeds or nuts are astringent and to
me resemble exactly in taste those of the areca palm. They
are only an occasional luxury however. The bark which he
chews is almost a necessity to a Vedda, the leaves or seeds a
mere luxury^"
It is not always that the Veddas can obtain lime, which they
make by burning the shells of a land snail wantaeko {Cyclo-
phoriis iuvolvulus). The shells are laid on red hot pieces of
charcoal, more glowing embers are heaped around and upon
them, and the whole is fanned with a tuft of green leaves for a
few minutes, when the embers surrounding the shells are raked
away and the shells allowed to cool before being crushed and
dropped into the vessel in which the lime is carried. This is
often a tin match box or it may be a brass covered cartridge
case. Specially made lime spatulae do not exist, but one Vedda
of Henebedda had a long broad nail with which he removed the
lime from his tin match box.
The betel pouch is usually a roughly sewn bag of trade
cloth, but the Henebedda Veddas also make pouches of monkey
skin, one of which is shown in Plate LXVII. We omitted to
inquire how the hair was removed, but probably it was singed
off, the whole skin being subsequently scraped.
^ Op. cit. Vol. I. p. 191.
Plate LXVII
Betel pouch made of monkey skin (Henebedda)
1
I
CHAPTER XII
COAST VEDDAS
The Coast Veddas or Verdas occupy a number of settlements
in the Tamil zone on the east coast. They exceed in number
both the Village Veddas of Bintenne and their wilder neighbours
of the borders of Uva and the Eastern Province ; this is no
doubt due to the fact that in the majority of Coast Veddas there
is a large admixture of Tamil blood, and the comparatively
thriving condition of their settlements must be attributed to the
same cause. The date of their first arrival on the coast and of
their subsequent intermarriage with the Tamils is quite uncertain;
the latter state that there have always been Veddas in the
neighbourhood of the sites they now occupy, but the Veddas
themselves have a tradition that they come from inland. Knox
does not mention them, but Nevill considers that they come
from Sabaragamuwa (Sufferagam), being driven thence in the
17th century.
" The Vaeddas say that they never were related to these
Coast Vaeddas, and do not know when they came to the Coast,
or where they came from, nor did they ever hear that they
belonged to any waruge of the race.
" The Coast Vaeddas do not know when they came or how
they came, but they say that long ago their ancestors came from
the Gala, far beyond the hills to the west. They also sometimes
say they came from Kukulu-gammaeda and spread out along
the Coast. Some say this is Kukulugam near the Verukal ;
others suppose it to be somewhere far away^"
1 Op. cit. Vol. I. p. 183.
332 THE VEDDAS
We found that the Coast Veddas spoke of themselves as
Verdas and said that long ago their fathers came from inland.
They all speak Tamil, but some assert that they still know, and
at times use among themselves, their old Vedda language, but
when we asked the men who made this statement to speak in
their ancestral dialect they spoke Sinhalese\ Besides this a few
of the older men know the names of some of the Vedda wariige,
while others are able to trace their descent to them.
The Coast Vedda is darker, taller and more stoutly built
than the true Veddas. In fact they generally resemble low
caste Tamils, yet in almost every settlement there are one or
two men shorter than their comrades and presenting an almost
typical Vedda caste of countenance. The women are all much
bigger than true Vedda women and would pass for Tamils, after
whose fashion they dress.
Plate LXVIII, figs, i and 2, represent Verdas from settle-
ments to the north of Kalkudah.
The Verdas build comfortable huts in small clearings, usually
within a mile of the sea ; they cultivate maize and pumpkins
and other easily grown crops round their houses and in patches
of clearing in the surrounding jungle.
They have plenty of pots and baskets and also possess drums
and fishing gear, so that their mode of life differs but little from
that of the poor and low caste Tamils who are their neighbours.
One, two, or more rarely, three houses stand in each clearing, and
it seems that the people living in each clearing are closely related
by blood or connected by marriage.
The chief Verda settlements north of Batticaloa are Pellan-
chenai near Kalkudah 20 miles from Batticaloa and at Varkanari
some 10 miles north of Kalkudah on the far side of the river
which is crossed by a ferry at Valarchchenai. At Panichchen-
keni some 14 miles further north is another ferry, where the local
Verdas act as ferrymen, while there are two other Verda settle-
ments some three miles beyond the ferry at sites called Vellaiade
and Kandaladi respectively.
1 Nevill (loc. cit.) noticed the same state of affairs, he said " Only the old men
speak what they call Vaedda, which is pure but quaint Sinhalese with a Vaedda accent,
as a rule, though mixed with some words characteristic of true Vaedda."
Plate LXVIII
Fig. I. Coast Veddas.
Fig. 2. Coast Veddas of Vakarai
i*
Plate LXIX
Fig. I, Settlement of Coast Veddas
Fig. 2. Settlement of Coast Veddas
COAST VEDDAS 333
There are a few Verdas at Panichchenkeni, while near Vakarai
still further to the north there is a Verda settlement of consider-
able size. Some eight miles beyond this are two Verda settle-
ments Parchenai and Nargantonai situated close together. We
heard of other smaller settlements of Coast Veddas in the
neighbourhood of Batticaloa, but these were not visited as time
was short and it appeared that those Verdas we did not see
differed in no respect from those we met. We were told that
formerly there were Coast Veddas south of Batticaloa and we
later discovered that there were, and still are, certain shrines or
temples within a few miles of the coast (e.g. at Mandur), which
were generally recognised as Vedda shrines at which Veddas
especially worshipped. This matter has been alluded to in
Chapter Vlll, and here it is only necessary to point out that the
religion of the Coast Veddas is strongly tinged with Tamil
customs and beliefs; indeed, many Verdas had Hindu sect marks
upon their foreheads.
Some, but not all, of the Coast Veddas know the names of
the wanige to which they belong, and a i&^N also know the names
of some of the more important ivanige of the Veddas inland.
Uru wariige appears to be the tuaruge to which most of the
Coast Veddas who remembered their ancestral jy^r//^^ belonged,
but a few men stated that they belonged to Ogatam, Kavatam,
Umata or Umatam, Aembalaneduwe and Aembale luarnge ; the
last named and the one before it probably being the same as the
Aembela waruge found inland. Some of the Coast Veddas
whom we questioned said they had heard of, and still knew of
certain of the old Vedda wariige, and such men were generally
able to mention Morane zvaruge while fewer also knew of
Unapane zvaruge.
The Coast Veddas have become expert fishermen and make
and use various forms of nets including a cast net. They also
spear and shoot fish, using a bifid iron spear-head which they
have adopted from the Tamils. For shooting fish they use the
usual Vedda bow, but the arrow has become a harpoon with a
shaft as long as the bow into which the iron with its running
line fits loosely. One of the nets used by the Coast Veddas is
seen drying behind the house in the background of Plate LXIX,
334
THE VEDDAS
Fig- 13- Verda bow and
harpoon x -^.
Iron harpoon head x \.
fig. 2, while Mr Storey's book con-
tains an excellent photograph of these
people spearing fish^.
The length of the Verda bow and
harpoon shaft shown in fig. 13 are
208 cm. and 220 cm. respectively. The
bow is an extremely powerful weapon,
its diameter at its thickest part being
about 3'3 cm.
In spite of the perfectly obvious fact
that the majority of the Verdas are more
Tamil than Vedda the old Vedda pride
of blood survives and some of the older
Verdas denied that they intermarried
with Tamils.
Children of marriages in which the
wariige of the contracting parties were
known took their father's zvariige, but it
seemed to be a matter of no account
whether or no individuals of the same
wariige intermarried.
Everyone avoids eating fowl and all
our informants both male and female
denied that they ever ate it, though
often suggesting that others might do
so. On the other hand, one informant
who bred fowls for sale summed the
matter up with an emphatic " Veddas
don't eat fowls." No reason was given
for this abstinence but all agreed that
their ancestors had not eaten fowl,
though the majority of our informants
admitted that they would breed fowls
for sale and kill and prepare fowls for
others to eat. Beef was said to be
generally avoided though it was not
1 Hunting and Shooting in Ceylon, London, 1907,
P- 330-
COAST VEDDAS 335
clear what opportunities existed for obtaining it. Deer and pig
would be killed and eaten, and snakes were said to be killed
without a scruple though one informant denied that he would
kill a cobra.
Time did not allow of any systematic study of the religion of
the Verdas, but it was clear that this had been much affected by
Tamil influence while yet retaining some of the more obvious
outward features of the Vedda cult of the dead. Unfortunately
we had no opportunity of ascertaining definitely whether the
Verdas have also retained the essence of the Vedda cult, i.e. the
belief in the loving-kindness and the guiding influence of the
spirits of their dead, though since the leader of the dance seen
at Vakarai showed the classical signs of " possession," there
seems to be every reason to hold this belief at least provisionally.
The dance we saw rehearsed at Vakarai was said to be performed
for sickness and in thanksgiving when a good harvest had been
gathered. The dance took place at night, the men dancing in
relays till daylight, the women squatting on the ground, but
taking no part. No food is taken during the dance, but some is
placed upon the " altar " kndarain (lit. cage or small shed, T)
which is eaten by all in the morning.
The temple seen at Pellanchenai, of which a rough plan is
given in fig. 14, was a building some 12 feet long by about
10 broad ; it faced east and the roof was carried forward for a
few feet beyond the front wall in which was a door. A stout
pole (marked P), thought to be some 30 feet long and consisting
of a young tree with the bark removed, stood in front of the
temple about 30 feet from the entrance. To the north of the
pole and about 8 feet from it was a hole in the ground F, really
a small well containing water, while to the south of the pole and
at a distance of about 12 feet from it there was a young tree
before which a small platform T {kndarain) was built, on which
a rough stone rested. Some distance beyond the pole and
somewhat to the south of it stood a tree H, apparently quite
dead, with a fringe of dried leaves and small twigs round its
trunk, before which were the remains of a kndarain ; to the
south-west of the pole and roughly in the position of Y in the
plan, a limb of a tree was planted in the soil. The branches
336 THE VEDDAS
springing from the upper end of this limb had been removed
with the exception of three which were left to support between
them a rough earthenware pot. The remains of a kiidarani also
existed somewhat to the south-east of the doorway about the
spot marked X on the plan. The post supporting the weight of
that portion of the roof extending beyond the door had tied
round it a fringe of dried shredded coconut leaves. Within the
temple stood a kudarani (marked K) behind which in one corner
of the temple was a model of a sailing boat about two feet long
partly square-rigged and clearly meant to imitate a European
ship. The temple was for the worship of Kapalpei, Ammal and
F
K
A
Oe op
Ot
5! ^^
OH
Fig. 14. Plan of Verda temple and its surroundings.
Komara Devam. The name Kapalpei means ship-demon. We
could only discover that he is regarded as the most powerful of
the beings worshipped and that he is a foreigner who reached
the country in a ship. Ammal is a Tamil Goddess who sends
smallpox and skin diseased
We could at the time discover nothing concerning Komara
Devam, though doubtless he is the same as Kumara Deva, an
immigrant deity, whose characteristic weapon is a silver sword,
who was one of the chief spirits invoked to remove sickness by
1 Mr A. Barr Kumarakulasinghe tells me that there are temples to this Goddess
at Jaffna, but that there are none in Batticaloa though possibly there may be some in
the neighbourhood.
COAST VEDDAS 337
the inhabitants of GongoUa a primitive jungle village some 20
miles from the coast in the Eastern Province^
When the dance, of which we saw a partial rehearsal, is
about to take place the inside of the temple is decorated with
cloths and the green branches of trees including coconut leaves,
and the model of the boat which commemorates the arrival of
Kapalpei is hoisted to the top of the tall pole standing
outside the temple. If the dance is undertaken in order
to cure a sick man, milk is placed in the pot which is sup-
ported on the rough stand (fig. V) mentioned above. The
sick individual, and probably the dancers, are fed from this and
at the end of the night's dance the last portion is thrown out
into the jungle for Kapalpe.
The dancers should wear a petticoat made of strips of coco-
nut leaves and green leafy twigs of other trees, and it was stated
that the ministrant wore these just as did the other dancers.
After the dance a number of these ceremonial garments are
preserved in the temple where they are allowed to dry. Rice,
plantain and chewing material are piled on the kiidarain during
the ceremony and camphor is burnt. Kapalpe sees the food
provided and the honour done him and is propitiated.
The stonQ pilliyar has been frankly adopted from the Tamils
though Mr Kumarakulasinghe pointed out that no sacred Tamil,
stone was so rough^ ; further, according to the same informant
Tamils do not dance round either /?7/zj^?r or kiidarain.
At Kalkudah it was said that there was a special " priest " or
ministrant whom we did not see. We gathered that in some
way he officiated in connection with the land cultivated by the
community and he perhaps corresponded to the Sinhalese
gamarale.
Some idea of the actual character of the ceremony and of the
nature of the kiidarain and pole can be derived from the dance
rehearsed for our benefit at Vakarai. Plate LXX, fig. i
^ Cf. Brenda Z. Seligmann, "A Devil Ceremony of the Peasant Sinhalese, "y(?«;-«.
Roy. Anlhrop. Inst. Vol. XXXIX, 1909.
- This may be true of the Tamils of the east coast, but we have seen some shrines
containing equally rough stones set up by Tamil coolies on plantations. Worship
may be performed at such shrines, offerings of rice and chewing materials being made
at them and afterwards eaten.
S. v. 22
338 THE VEDDAS
shows the site selected for the dance and the arrangements
made. The dancing ground consisted of one of those sandy
spaces surrounded by a growth of scrub and low trees which are
so common on the east coast. A kiidaravi, the upper part of
which was covered with leaves, had been prepared, the top of
this was depressed so as to present a sort of tray upon which a
white cloth was laid ; within the tray were laid flowers, which in
this case did duty for the food offered in the ceremony. No
model of a ship was hoisted to the top of the pole, which was
encircled by wreaths of small leafy bunches at heights of about
6 to 12 feet from the ground.
There were five dancers, each of whom held a bunch of leafy
twigs in. each hand, which when the dance began were held
against the body just below the umbilicus.
The leader of the dance was an old man who held a piece of
cloth instead of a bunch of leaves. Behind each dancer stood
a man who supported him by clapping his hands round the
dancer's body below the latter's hands, i.e. over the hypogastric
and epipubic region. At first the dancers faced the kudarain,
their hands being held low against their thighs, but soon they
began to move round the altar in single file (Plate LXX, fig.
2). As they danced they began to quiver, the rippling motion
of their muscles from the knees upwards becoming progressively
more violent, until as the dancers moved round the altar the
majority of their superficial muscles all over the body were
twitching irregularly. As the dance became quicker the dancers
feigned exhaustion, leaning or falling back into the arms of their
supporters, but this did not last long and dancing was not inter-
rupted ; soon the men left the altar and danced round the pole,
the irregular quivering of their muscles being very striking. At
times they shouted and raised the bunches of leaves which they
held in their hands above their heads. They continued to
dance round the altar and round the pole alternately; as they
danced round the pole their movements became more violent,
the men supporting the dancers let go and the latter now danced
and leapt round the pole and beat the leaves tied to it with the
leaves they held in their hands. As the vigour of their move-
ments lessened, their supporters, who had been following their
Plate LXX
Fig-. I. Site of dance at Vakarai, showing kudaram and pole
Fig. 2. Dancing round the kudaratn
Plate LXXI
h ^^'
i^:» : .. ^^
"^ti'flMfi
***
The end of the dance at Vakarai
I
COAST VEDDAS. 339
motions, once more put their arms round them, soon after which
the dancers fell limply into their arms. The leader of the dance
seemed especially excited at this stage and, trembling and
quivering all over, stood back to the pole and wildly waved his
scarf in the air. Soon his movements became less vigorous, his
head nodded on his shoulders and hung down on his chest
as he addressed the other dancers in a harsh and broken voice
(Plate LXXI). In view of the Vedda ceremonies which we sub-
sequently saw we have no doubt that he prophesied good fortune.
It appeared to us that this old man really presented the ordinary
characteristics of Vedda " possession," i.e. the dance, though only
a rehearsal, had produced the customary effects associated with
it, and certainly this old man's muscles continued to quiver
irregularly for some time after the dance was over. As for the
remaining dancers we have no doubt that the dance remained
for them as it had begun, simply a rehearsal and an amusing
piece of acting.
Such dances are held only to cure sickness or in return for
good crops, and it was emphatically denied that anything similar
took place after childbirth or death.
Very little was elicited concerning death and mourning cere-
monies. The corpse is washed, and it seemed that although this
is usually done by a barber or dJiobie (professional washerman) it
might be done by one or more of the relatives of the dead man.
The grave must be at some distance from the habitations of the
living and also from their cultivation patches. No fire is lit on
the grave. A feast is held a few days after burial, which
appears to be called bati bane, and the food for this, especially
rice, is provided by the near relatives of the dead man and
distributed. A kudaram is built upon which the food is placed
for " a short time " as an offering to Kapalpei, after which it is
eaten by the assembled people.
This account agrees with that given by the Sarasins, who
record that a coast Vedda, Pereman, when asked about his religion
" laughed and said they had that of the Tamils, they honoured
their dead by cooking rice in front of their house, folding their
hands, saying a few words and then eating the rice. As they
did this they spoke the name of the deceased and said : ' Help
22 — 2
340 THE VEDDAS
US in danger, sickness etc' When we enquired whether their
dead Hved on as spirits he repHed, they did not consider whether
the departed were Hving or dead, they were just spirits, in Tamil
sanii or deivi, in Sinhalese yako ; all spirits were alike, neither
good nor bad. Another coast Vedda named Patiniya told us
that their religion was that of the Tamils. In memory of their
dead, whom they called jF^-^^, they cooked rice and ate it; they
invoked the j'aka in sickness, etc.^ "
Just as Kapalpei sent sickness, so death was also attributed
to him, but perhaps not epidemics, for it appeared to be generally
considered that a single death would satisfy him for the time, so
that it would be days or weeks before he would be expected to
send sickness or death again.
1 0J>. cii. p. 498.
CHAPTER XIII
MUSIC
By C. S. Myers.
Introductory.
The account of Vedda music given in this section is based
upon an examination of thirty-four phonographic records of
songs obtained from the Veddas by Dr and Mrs Seligmann^
These songs are probably simpler in structure than any other
native songs hitherto studied.
Nine of the tunes are composed of only two notes. In three
others the tune consists also of two notes, but with the addition
of one or more unimportant grace-notes. These twelve songs
may be conveniently classed as belonging to Group A.
Twelve other songs consist of three notes only. These we
shall class under Group B.
Nine songs contain four notes, and one consists of five notes.
These we shall consider as Group C.
Of the songs in Group A, in no case is the range sensibly
greater than our whole-tone interval. With the exception of
two anomalous songs, no song in Group B has a range sensibly
greater than our minor third. With one exception, no song in
Group C has a range greater than a fourth.
There is evidence that the songs of Group A are more
archaic than those of Groups B and C. For, unaware of the
above system of classification, Dr Seligmann was asked to
indicate those songs which appeared to him (on grounds of
language, ceremonial, etc.) most probably archaic and those
[^ We received the manuscript of this chapter from Dr Myers in November 1909,
but owing to our absence from England, publication was deferred for six months.
Meanwhile, in the Quarterly Magazine of the International Musical Society (Year xi.
Part 2, 19 10) there appeared a short account of Vedda music by Herr Max Wertheimer,
based on an examination of four phonographic records obtained by Frau M. Selenka.
Dr Myers has thus had no opportunity of alluding to Herr Wertheimer's observations
in this chapter.]
342 THE VEDDAS
which were hkely to be modern or foreign. Of the ten songs
which he considered to be probably archaic, four belong to
Group A, four to Group B, and only two to Group C ; while of
those in which he suspected modern, or foreign influence, only
one belongs to Group A, five to Group B, and five to Group C.
None of the Sinhalese songs collected by Dr Seligmann belongs
to Group A.
In this connection it is also noteworthy that the Sitala
Wanniya Veddas are considered by Dr Seligmann to have been
less exposed to outside influence than other Veddas, and that of
the three songs sung by them belonging to Group C two are
believed by him to be late or foreign. There are altogether
eight songs of the Sitala Wanniya Veddas, in only two of which
is an interval sung sensibly greater than a whole-tone.
While the Sitala Wanniya Veddas may be considered the
most primitive, the Veddas of Dambani and Bulugahaladena
are semi-civilised, having absorbed much Sinhalese culture,
and the Bandaraduwa Veddas are also much affected by the
Sinhalese, with whom they are now living. The Henebedda
Veddas have only lately begun to be affected by the Sinhalese.
Not only is Vedda music primitive because the notes of each
song are so few and the range so small, but also because the
natives are ignorant of any other than vocal music. Dr Seligmann
writes that the " uncontaminated Veddas," e.g. those of Sitala
Wanniya, have no musical instruments whatever. Others, how-
ever, e.g. those of Henebedda, although they had no drums at
the time of his visit, borrowed them, when opportunity offered,
from the Sinhalese, especially for songs belonging to the
kolaviadmua ceremony. The two oldest Vedda ceremonies,
namely, the dancing round an arrow in order to get game
(p. 213), and the kirikoraJia ceremony in which the dance is
round an offering of coconut milk (p. 218), were accompanied
by the rhythmic slapping of the hands on the abdomen and
thighs. At Bandaraduwa, the Veddas were found to possess
drums of Sinhalese pattern and make.
The songs of the Veddas may be divided according to their
purpose into two main classes, the one consisting of charms and
invocations, the other of lullabies and songs sung for amuse-
ment. Dr Seligmann observes that among all Veddas the
MUSIC 343
invocation songs are accompanied by dance movement, and that
the purpose of such song and dance is to produce possession by
the yakn or spirits.
Methods of Analysis.
The speed of the phonograph used for studying the records
of these songs was so regulated that every record reproduced
a tone ^' = 256 vibrations per second, a tone of this pitch, emitted
by a pitch-pipe, having been always sounded into the recording
phonograph just before each record was taken by Dr Seligmann
in the field. Consequently when the reproducing phonograph
emitted the note, one was sure that the speed of this instrument
agreed with that of the instrument into which the song had been
sung. That is to say, the reproducing phonograph reproduced
the exact tempo and pitch of the recorded song.
A rough notation was then made of the song, a metronome
being employed to determine its approximate tempo.
Finally a more accurate determination of the pitch of the
various tones was made by means of an Appunn's Tonmesser,
an instrument consisting of a box of carefully-attuned metal
tongues, any one of which could be sounded at will by means
of a bellows worked by the feet. The particular instrument
employed contained 65 tongues, the pitch of each tongue differing
by two vibrations per second from its neighbour and the extreme
range being an octave, from c" to c , i.e. from 128 to 256 vibra-
tions per seconds
The songs are transcribed as accurately as our European
notation allows. Bars are only inserted when the regularity of
the rhythm clearly permitted their use. A + or — above a note
indicates that it should be somewhat sharpened or flattened.
Greater precision may be obtained by observing the numbers
written beneath the notes. These give the mean vibration-
frequency of the tone in question, obtained by comparison
with the standard Tonmesser. The sign V indicates a " breath
mark," i.e. a short rest during which the singer draws a breath.
^ For further details in manipulation, the reader is referred to the writer's Essay-
on "The Ethnological Study of Music," in Anthropological Essays presented to
Eihoard Burnett Tylor, Oxford, 1907, pp. 235 — 254.
344
THE VEDDAS
Notation of the Records.
GROUP A.
No. 40. Invocation to the Nae Vaku sung by Kuma of Dambani.
J = 1 60.
^1^":^:
j^--^=^Mz^-^:^z^^z
No. 22 A. Commemorating women whose husbands were treacherously
killed while collecting honey ; sung by Hudumenike of Bandaraduwa.
= 160.
/r V
^ V
674
etc.
510
No. 21. Sung by women to men returning without honey; song of
Sitala Wanniya Veddas.
J=i44.
=?CPCP^,
^flftz^'-
--W-W^f^^^^^f-fCW
-Mil
-t
-rt
■^f?K^^(^ ^t^-
No. 38. Sung while taking honey ; song of the Sitala Wanniya Veddas.
J=io8.
--- ---r> _-- _-_ f^ _.. __ V---
^e=pf
3H4 4-22
^-^-«-^-*=^^ie=^:pr^_^
— etc.
No. 1 1 (2). Amusement Song of the Veddas of Bandaraduwa ; sung by
Tissahami, the " V^edda Arachi."
196. Zve lower.
+ + V
:ff=4:
:^f=ftf7^^=F
etc.
276
•250
MUSIC 345
No. 1 8 (2). Song of the Bandaraduwa Veddas when driving monkeys.
^S^^^i^
^=^=f
^^m
460
408
a^^:
:Jf:i=it;i=;it^:
:&:
'^^
a^^jjji
^^f^^^^^g^ etc
No. I (i). Invocation at the kirikoraha ceremony of the Kovil Vanamai
Veddas ; sung by the " Vedda Arachi."
,' = 80. %ve lowe?'.
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + + +
'^£^^^^^^^^^^
281 248
etc.
No. I (2). Invocation at the ki?'ikoraha ceremony of the Kovil Vanamai
Veddas; sung by the "Vedda Arachi."
J=i76.
Tfff^r^rfrrtrrrTf^
556
496
-h-
?=^3^
etc.,.
No. 19. Lullaby; sung by Hudumenike of Bandaraduwa.
J =208.
~-^'
-^
- etc.
346
THE VEDDAS
No. 52. Invocation sung during ceremony to exorcise Yakit from the
sick.
1= 104. Zve lower.
+
■^F^
^
0^0 0-0-0-0-^9-^ i# i^zae
■.^]/U^U V^^ ^\/vV\/^^\/¥¥¥V UM
^^^
260
236
+ + + + + + + +
/N + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
No. 42. Song {Tanditta etc.), sung by the Vidane (headman) of the
Dambani Veddas.
J =108. Zve lower.
g^Pg?=F^'ff?^-
?^
*=
214
-3-
-a-
^^^^.^
^?^-d^«Ef^
fc^
^^^rffT
=-r-r-f^:
^^^EgEl:^^^^
etc.
IJ
No. 43. Song {Talapita Sindii), sung by Kama of Dambani. The tune
is that of No. 42, but the tones are e and/, corresponding to 160 and 172
vibrations per sec.
GROUP B.
No. 30 (i). Invocation at the Riiwala ceremony of the Yaka and Yakini
of Wahmbagala.
J=ioo. %ve lower.
+ + 4+ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ + + + +4 + + +
5
! I H-i ! -I — }— ' ! I |_i !
276
254
:ti^=t^k
W^
i
230
MUSIC
347
No. 2>7- Song; the first part sung by Tandi, wife of Handuna of Sitala
Wanniya.
= i8o.
+
> + +
+
>
+ +
^m^
^^Lf-f=2^^-^-^:?2:
r^--
'^
etc.
552 592 504
The second part sung by the husband to the same tune but in different
pitch ^'=/o#.
No. 31. Amusement Song; sung by Sita Wanniya of Henebedda.
^=176. 8ve lower.
^^^
:P2=
:ft?:
-^-=w^
-^
- etc.
No. 20. Song asking for gifts ; sung by a woman of Bandaraduwa.
J=I76.
^^^
s
876 332 296
etc.
No. 31 A. Dance Song; sung by Sita Wanniya of Henebedda.
J = 88. '^ve lo%oer.
m — 4=
a
i— r
:e^ft
812 280 264
^
S
:f=^
-^ezftizjKZ-
etc.
No. 34 (2). Lullaby ; sung by Tandi, wife of Handuna of Sitala Wanniya.
J=I20.
^
+ +
+ +
ir\
^— ^
•-^^li
-^ — etc.
508 464 428
348
THE VEDDAS
No. 27. Invocation of the Mahayakino at the kola?nadu'wa ceremony;
sung by Handuna of Henbedda.
^=132. 87/^ lower.
t
>^v^Eff^^r^.^:^p=^
:a=tr
256
240 212
No. 36 (2). Amusement Song ; sung by Handuna of Sitala Wanniya.
J=2io. 87^^ lower.
-^ — U^J 1- — «?
■4-a>-^-^-^-
_ etc.
>
200 210
>
178
No. 29. Invocation to the A^ae Yaku ; sung by Wannaku of Uniche.
^ = 92. Zve lower.
i
2-12
+
-^^-*"
232
204
No. 2. Maligi, a honey-collecting song of the Henebedda Veddas ; sung
by Tissahami, the "Vedda Arachi."
J=i26. Zve lower.
^-H-
^-^*
■^£Eg^EiE^E^EEEiEgEi=^=^S
i^^^
296 280 248
No. 39. Amusement Song ; sung by Kuma of Bulugahaladena.
= 120.
+
+- + + + + + +
-H 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 \—^-»—M-
+ + + + + +
S F^ i^^^H"
H 1 1 ( ! H
464
+ + + + +
-I — I — I — I — h
440
sue
a^^s
etc.
MUSIC
349
No. 14 (2). Invocation used by the Bandaraduwa Veddas; sung by
a Sinhalese^
^=104.
Zve lower.
+ .
+
+ +
""> ^ ^
y 2 1-^-
-*-J-^-J-
• J
1 r-^-
-•--p-^--f
fc ^ 1 *
^
^v
^ ^
^ '
rJ
%7 #
1
«J , 226
296 264
Repeated ad lib.
1
GROUP C.
No. 32. Invocation of Bambura Yaka; sung by Handuna of Sitala
Wanniya.
Zve lower.
+ + + + + +
;^^j=£f^-r^^ig^rig-:^^^i
:p:gp:p:-r^rr-
-I 1 1 i II
284 268 252 230
l^^ll
+ + + ^
'J^^M'jiijd—fs..
No. 33. Mulpola Itia Waniya; sung by Kaira of Sitala Wanniya.
^'==208. 2)Ve lower.
-h
M33£££
y g g-
260 276
226 222
^^^^-|=ffi^E«^
#=p:^=^P:=&
:=B-p-rg:i5
pg^^^^Bs^^pgag^
ii:
i^z^Pz^ei^:
etc.
No. 26 (i). Invocation sung at the kirikoralia ceremony at Bandaraduwa.
^'=138. 2>ve lower.
i
+ +
'&
^^— I— I— I — \ — I— I — I
*J
>
198 242 254 ^ r ^ w w
r>.
242 254
At end.
'^^^^^^
te
etc.
=i^=:=2=;^
-^-
-•^-^ —
i-jr:^-^-
etc.
No. 53 (i). Sinhalese rice-harvesting song; sung at Hemberewa (see
footnote, p. 356).
^'=132. Sz/i? lower.
+ + + + + ++ +
fj 210 254 276 232
^ Dr Seligmann is uncertain when this invocation is used; it is probably foreign.
350
THE VEDDAS
No. 44. Sung when taking honey; sung by Poromala of Henebedda.
J=i68. Zve lower.
B
/TV
■236
?280 ?264
— — I — I I ^ I — t I 1 —I — \ — ^-^^-^ I I I — .1 — h- 1 — I— I— I—
V-Y-V
-h-h-t— h
^—^-r-ri^.
1^
B
llzarzMiJtjizM.
-.fz^-W^-W-
■r-r-r-rrr=&=&=£g^B=g:
^^m
^-t— h-ht
--^^^E^^^^^t
No. 28 A. Song commemorating two women who committed suicide
(cf. p. 323) ; sung by Wannaku of Bandaraduwa.
J = 8o.
5=:^=^t=f»^=^-^:
f?z*3S=it=itz^ufc:^=i^;i=^=^
340 464 428 388
No. 34(1). Lullaby; sung by Tandi, wife of Handuna of Sitala
Wanniya.
J = 96.
t) '^ 608 676 512 ^ ^ W
^^ 460
etc.
MUSIC
351
No. 51. Sinhalese song; sung at Alutnuwara at night while watching
the crops (see footnote, p. 356).
^=132. 8ve lower.
190 254
^^^jg^-r?f^
^*~p:p=P?E^=?2=i=f^^
-rrw.
No. 5 (2). Invocation to Bilindi Yaka and Kande Yaka at the Kirikoraha
ceremony.
^'=80. Sve lower.
-
A
%-t-J—J—ti ^_ J_^_j^_J_ J_ J_ J_i^__4 .
«>
224 246 272 320
No. 41. Invocation by the Dambani Veddas of the Nae Yaku.
J=I52.
%ve lower.
+ + + + + +
> >
^y — y^ g I II 14 — I I'll — ^-K^ — O — |- -'v .g-g J J —
+ ++-:-+ + ++ + + + +
fiTf-nrrfwiri^
212
+
n\
+ +
+ + +
£rrp-g
232 204 192
172 254
^^^-=i^,r^^i
=tt
=a:
230
352 the veddas
Analysis of the Intervals.
The Songs of Group A.
The two columns headed "quotients" and "cents" in the
accompanying table are obtained from the transcript by the
following means :
Song No.
Quotients
Cents
42
I -07 5
125
43
I -07 5
125
38
1-099
164
52
ri 10
168
21
1-104
171
II (2)
I -104
171
1(2)
ri2i
198
40
I-I2I
200
22 A
1-125
205
18(2)
1-128
208
1(0
i'i33
216
The quotient is the result of dividing the larger by the smaller
of the two numbers which express the vibration-frequencies of
the two tones in each of the songs of this group. Thus in the
case of Song No. 42, 230 divided by 214 (the figures given in the
transcript) yields the quotient r075. The cents are hundredth
parts of our own tempered semitone^
It is obvious that the intervals intended to be used in the
songs of Group A are three in number. The averages are given
in the following table :
nterval
Quotient
Cent;
(a)
I -07 5
125
(iS)
I-104
168
(y)
I-126
205
Of these the largest (7) is approximately our own whole-tone
interval, the smallest (a) amounts to five-eighths of our whole-
tone interval, while the intermediate interval (/S) is almost
^ Various methods for calculating cents from the vibration-numbers of an interval
are given by Ellis in his annotated translation of Helmholtz's Sensations of Tone
(3rd edition, London, 1895), pp. 446 — 451.
MUSIC
353
exactly half-way between the values of the two extremes^ The
interval (a) occurs only in two songs sung by different indi-
viduals, who, however, were both Dambani Veddas. The
Dambani singer of No. 43 is also responsible for No. 40, the
interval of which falls in (7).
The Songs of Group B.
Song Number
29
36(2)
2
27
39
31 A
34(2)
30(1)
31
yi
20
Quotients
I -043
I -050
1-057
1-067
1055
ro6i
I -084
1-087
1-084
1-072
1-132
Rangre
Quotients
[1-186
[i-l8o
[i'J93
[r2o8_
[1-172]
1-182
1-186
[1-200]
1-215
[1-175]
1-270
Cents
[299.
'287
306
[275]
289
297
[316]
337
[279]
4<4
The columns headed " quotients " and " cents " in the fore-
going table measure the intervals — in this Group the pairs of
1 For purposes of comparison, the following details may prove useful :
Interval.
Our
temper
ed semitone
) J
tone
j;
minor third . . .
3?
major third
59
fourth ...
JJ
tritone ...
» J
fifth
Our
just (01
pure) semitone (15 :
16)
))
,, minor tone ( 9 :
10)
))
,, major tone ( 8 :
9)
) ?
,, minor third ( 5 :
6)
)?
,, major third ( 4 ;
5)
))
„ fourth ( 3 :
4)
)»
,, tritone (32 :
45)
))
„ fifth ( 2 :
3)
Quotient.
Cents.
I '059
100
1-122
200
1-189
300
I -260
400
I '335
500
1-414
600
1 -498
700
i-o6
111-731
I -1 1 1
182-4O4
I -1 25
203 9 10
I -200
3i5'64i
1-250
386-314
f.^
498-045
1-406
590-224
1-500
701 '955
S. V.
23
354
THE VEDDAS
intervals — for the various songs as in the previous Group. The
last column, headed "range," expresses (also in the form of
quotients and cents) the interval between the highest and lowest
notes of each song. When that interval is not actually sung but
only calculated, the figures are enclosed in brackets. Song
No. 14 (2) is omitted from this group as its range and structure
are obviously different from the rest. Dr Seligmann inde-
pendently characterises this song as "almost certainly foreign...
1 find it was sung by a Sinhalese. I should neglect it."
Song 20 is again exceptional. Its range exceeds four semitones
(400 cents), or a major third. Here again Dr Seligmann —
having regard only to evidence of a non-musical character —
observes that "the words of this song are very late." Song
No. 37 is somewhat exceptional. The intonation, moreover, is
not very reliable.
The remaining songs of this Group fall into three divisions,
the averages for which are shown in the following table :
Interval
Qu
otients
Cents
Rar
Quotients
ige
Cents
(8)
1-054
1-130
92 213
I-192
305
(0
1-059
II 12
98 184
1-177
282
(C)
1-085
rio6
142 175
r2oo
317
It is evident that the range of notes in these three divisions
is not sensibly different. It amounts approximately to our minor
third.
This interval is divided in the case of divisions (8) and (e)
into two intervals, one of which is somewhat smaller than our
semitone, while the other is in (B) larger, in (e) smaller than our
whole-tone.
In the case of division (^) the interval of a minor third is
divided into two intervals which are much more nearly equal to
one another. The same feature characterises Song No. 20, where
the major third is almost equally bisected.
In only four of the eleven tunes of this group is an interval
appreciably larger than a whole tone actually sung by the singer.
MUSIC
355
This is shown by the unbracketed numbers in the cohimns
headed "range." In No. 20 an interval of 414 cents (shghtly
exceeding a major third) is sung, but this song, as we have
already observed, is exceptional. In Nos. 31 a and 34(2), an
interval somewhat less than a minor third is sung, in the former
of 289, in the latter of 297 cents. In Xo. 31 the interval
(337 cents) slightly exceeds a minor third.
The intervals sung in the anomalous song No. 14 (2) are of
467 and 269 cents.
The various average values of quotients and cents in the
songs of groups A and B are set out in the following tables :
Quotients.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
1-054
1-075
1085
1-104
ri26
I-I77
ro59
rio6
ri 12
1-130
1-192
1-200
Cents.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
92
125
142
168
205
282
98
175
1 84
213
305
317
It will be noticed that the difference between I and II, III
and IV, IV and V is about thirty cents, and that the difference
between V and VI is about thrice this value.
TJu Sojigs of Group C.
It will be remembered that the songs of this group contain
four different notes. The intervals between the highest and
lowest notes (maximal range), the intervals between alternate
notes (an intervening tone omitted) and the intervals between
23—^
356
THE VEDDAS
immediately successive notes are shown in the following table
of quotients. Brackets indicate, as before, that the interval in
question was not actually sung but only calculated.
Song
Number
32 (also 46)
33
53(0
26(1)
34(0
28 A
44
5(2)
41
Maximal
range
Interval between
alternate notes
I 23
[1-24]
[1-31]
[1-28]
132
1-34
1-35
? 1-37
1-43
r46
[i-'7]
[ri7j
i'i3
[1-21] [1-19]
1-22'
[i"i3]
1-25]
[1-19]
1-24
I -20
r26
[1-17:
[? 1-29.
? ri9
1-30 ? 1-27
1-37
r2i
Interval bet
ween immediately
successive n
Dtes
no
ro6
ro6
no
I -06
ro6
j-io
ro9
I "09
113
1-12
ro9
ni
I -05
106
1 1-12
ni
I -08
1-15
? n6
1-09
? 1-12
ro7
? I -06
! ? nS
III
no
I-I3
1
l-IO
105
The songs appear to fall into four divisions. In the first of
these the maximal range is expressed by the quotient 1-235 —
equal to 365 cents — (nearly a neutral third), and the intervals
between successive notes are expressed by the quotients ro6,
J. 10, — equivalent to loi and 165 cents respectively. In the
third division, the maximal range amounts to 1-33 or 496 cents
(almost exactly equal to a just fourth) while the successive notes
average ro6, no and ri4, i.e. loi, 165, and 227 cents. A very
similar interval in song No. 53 is trisected into almost equal
intervals, each approximately of 165 cents. In the case of the
last division, the maximal range averages 1-445, equivalent to
637 cents (an acute diminished fifth), and the intervals comprise
again an almost pure fourth, a slightly exaggerated major third,
and other intervals common to other songs of the group. Of
the two songs in this division Dr Seligmann writes that in
"No. 5 there are signs of foreign influence in the invocation
as it stands, but it has a good old Vedda basis," and that
"No. 41 is probably late."
Hence the most significant of the smaller intervals between
1 These songs are said to be Sinhalese, but in most respects they closely resemble
the Vedda songs of this group and are therefore included in it.
MUSIC 357
successive notes occurring in the songs of Group C are equal to
loi, 165, 227 cents, which are successively different by about
6-^ cents. But it will be remembered that the difference between
certain intervals employed in Group B was found to be about
30 cents, half of the difference just observed. In Group C we
have just found the neutral third of 365 cents divided into two
intervals, one of loi and the other of 165 cents, representing
approximately three and five of these hypothetical units, each of
33 cents. The same intervals were found in the division of the
fourth of 496 cents into 5, 3 and 7 of such units. Again in three
songs of Group B, the average interval of 317 cents is divided
into intervals of 142 and 175 cents, differing by 33 cents. In
view, however, of the want of precision in intonation, it is difficult
to believe that these differences are significant.
The value of the fourth, when actually sung in the songs 28,
34 (i), 51 of Group C, averages r337 or 503 cents. Conse-
quently it is almost pure. A pure minor third is sung in
No. 34(1). A neutral third is sung in No. 32, the value of
which is r235 or 365 cents. In No. 5 (2), the minor third
which is sung is small, amounting to 1-176 or 281 cents. The
diminished fifth and the fourth sung in No. 41 correspond
respectively to 655 and 543 cents.
Of the smaller intervals, the interval of 165 cents is certainly
one of the most important. It occurs frequently in Group C
and also (as 168 cents) in Group A, where it is exactly midway
between the other two intervals (125 and 205 cents) met with in
this group.
Analysis of the Rhythms.
In the majority of the songs the time is fairly regular, but
the accents often recur irregularly owing to the variable numbers
of syllables. The following extracts from the writer's note-book
will serve to illustrate this general lack of regular measure :
No. 22 A. Want of regular accent ; number of notes ad
libitum according to words.
No. 21. Irregular accent according to number of syllables
(see notation).
No. 38. Time regular but without regular accent.
358 THE VEDDAS
No. I (i). Frequent interpolation of extra beats owing to
extra syllables. Rate of beats constant. Little or no grouping
of beats into larger units (i.e. no measure, bar or tact).
No. 53. The words dictate the number of notes.
No. 20. Considerable variation in time and in number of
notes, regulated by breathing and by number of syllables.
No. 26. With variations according to recitative.
No. 28. No regular accent.
In some songs, however, the measures were more obvious.
Thus,
No. 51. Very rhythmical, but occasionally an odd syllable
is inserted.
No. 5. Fairly regular, save for a few extra syllables.
In only a few was the rhythm very well marked, as the
following extracts show :
No. 1 1 (2). Very regular rhythm and accent.
No. 18 (2). Very regular rhythm.
No. 34 (i). Regular save for breath-marks.
No. 14 (2). Strict tempo save for breath-marks.
No. 36. Strict time.
In five songs, the rhythm is particularly' noteworthy owing to
the occurrence of bars of five beats. Thus, in No. 18 (2), a bar of
five beats is inserted three times in the course of the song. One
of them is shown in the part transcribed. In No. 14 (2), a five-
bar is introduced in strict time at the close of the tune. Again
in Nos. 33, 34 (i), 36 (2) there are alternate groups of three and
five beats. In other words a bar of eight beats is sub-divided
into two bars containing three and five beats respectively.
With these exceptions and the striking exception of No. 20,
no one of the songs is clearly in triple measure, although
occasionally, e.g. in No. 22 A, a bar of three beats is introduced
into a song.
Generally speaking, where the accent occurs sufficiently
regularly for the measure to be apprehended, the accent is found
to lie on the first of every two or four beats.
MUSIC
359
General Character of Songs.
The songs have an exceedingly plain character, and are
devoid of the ornamentation with which we meet in many
examples of primitive music. The few embellishments which
occur in Nos. i (i), i (2), 2, 29, 32, are quite slight and simple.
They present a contrast in this respect when compared with
Nos. 50 and 23, which are records of other than Vedda music
from Ceylon. I am indebted to Mr R. R. Broome, B.A., of
Christ's College, Cambridge, for their notation.
No. 50. Charm (reputed to be Arabic) sung by the Arachi of Girandura.
Time very irregular.
5^^
^SF
g^^^^^iSg
:t=.i=^-i:r
p^
:&=
^^^=m^^^^^
^ss:
■! \ ^^
No. 23. Sinhalese Love Song.
J=II2.
36o
THE VEDDAS
Another feature is the precision with which the notes are
hit. There is not a single example of that glissando from note
to note, which is so frequently met with among certain primitive
peoples.
In only one song does more than one singer take part, and
in this, No. ^^y , the second singer merely repeats the melody of
the first when the latter has finished. There is hence no instance
of two or more simultaneously sung notes.
But perhaps the most striking characteristic of Vedda music
is the apparent feeling for tonality. In every song a tonic note
is clearly present, which is, so to speak, the centre of gravity of
the melody, emphasised by accent, duration, or frequency — a
note to which the melody seeks to return.
In the majority of songs of Groups A and B the melody
starts from the highest tone and proceeds (directly or by an
intermediate tone) to the tonic, which is consequently the lowest
tone. This description essentially holds, (i) for all the songs in
Group A, excepting the opening phrase of No. 38, which is
distinct from the rest ; (ii) for the twelve songs of Group B,
excepting Nos. 36 (2) and n, where the tune ascends from the
tone below the highest before descending, and Nos. 14 (2) and
39 which ascend direct from the lowest (tonic) to the highest ;
and (iii)— but for the introduction of a leading note— for four of
the songs in Group C.
The close similarity between the various songs of Group A
is so obvious that no further comment is necessary to establish it.
It is not difficult to trace the development of many of the
songs of Group B from those of Group A. For example :
No. II (2).
No. 42.
MUSIC
361
I
From the last song, No. 31 A, there is an easy transition to
certain other songs of the same group, e.g. to
No. 31. No. 34 (2).
jgg^^lg^:
w^^^w-
i^
f=i^
iia
We can also indicate the relation between No. 42 of Group A
and five other songs of Group B.
No. 42.
m^^-
-3 —
No.36(2).|
H
No. 37.
i^^izrz:^
^F^^
=^:
:^=^=f«=^
P=
No. 2.
No. 39.
i^M
p=g%^£g^^#^^a'^rg'i^
No. 27.
Sf^^P^i
Again, No. 19 of Group A
i
ty
^^FT^=f=r=^^^g^^^-
r-
by a change comparable to that occurring in the opening phrases
of No. 38 easily becomes
F^^f^^*pEp£EpEpEfe-^EE^
and this passes easily into No. 39 of group B : —
362
THi; VICDDAS
The introduction of a fourtli nolo into the melody is scon in
its most elementary form in the case of song No. 44'. Here, a
division into two phrases. A (m(xli(k\l at A') and 1\ is cle.ul\-
possible. Of these B consists of three nt>tes, and has the i^eneral
characters of the sonj^s of Group H, while A contains the tonic,
the lowest tone of the phrase H, preceded b\' the tone below the
tonic, that is to say, by the leadiiii^-note. The use of the
leading-note is clearl)' foreshadowed in the opening phrase o\'
Song No. 38 in Group .\. hour tUher songs in Group C.
Nos. 28, 34 ( I ). 51 and 5 (j), have a tlel'mite leading-note. In
Nos. 28, 34 (1) and 51, the leading-note is followed immediately
b)- the higliest note, whence a descent is matle to the tetnic as in
the songs of Group R. Hence four o\ the songs in tircmii C"
only differ in structure from tlu\sc of Group H by the addition of
ii leading-note.
No. 53 (i) is exceptional in that it starts from the tonic and
ascends by intermediate tones to the highest, whence a gradual
descent is made to the tonic. It is a Sinhalese song.
No. 26 (1) should perhaps be classed in Group B, — of so little
importance is the highest or fourth note introduced. Apart from
its opening phrase, it may be com|)aretl witii Nos. ■1,6 (2) and 37
of that group, both ol' which ascend from the note below the
highest, before descending to the tonic.
Only one other song of Group (.' remains uimientioned. .And
this, No. 2)}>^ is extremely like No. 36 (2) of C^iroup Iv not on\y
in structure but in the curious rhythm. An unim[)ortant semi-
tone is introiluced beneath the tome.
No. 36(2).
fep^^^^Fig'f^^r??^
There are so few tones in these songs that we can hardly
expect to meet with a strict ilivisicm of the melody into phrases.
' See tn-iuscript, p. ,^50.
MUSIC 363
Yet in songs Nos. 26 (1), 38, and 44 there are opening phrases
distinct from the body of the song. And in No. 44 this opening
phrase (marked A in the transcript) is repeated in its original
(or, as at A', in a modified) form during tlie song. The melody
is thus very easily divisible into a series of alternating phrases,
attaining a higher stage of development in this respect than any
other of the melodies under investigation. Nos. 26(1) and 41
(both of which Dr Seligmann suspects to be of modern date)
have a short terminal phrase, clearly separable and differing in
character from the remainder of the song.
Conclusions and Comtarison-s.
In the Vedda music we seem to meet with the very
beginnings of melody-building. At the lowest stage (Group A)
we have a two-note song descending from the higher to the
lower tone. Then (in Group B) a third note is added higher in
pitch than either of the preceding. Lastly (in Group C) a fourth
note is introduced, generally a tone below the tonic, the influence
of which throughout most of the songs is very clearly felt.
There is no other people in whose music the gradual con-
struction of melody on these simple lines can be discerned. If
we turn to Australian music', we usually meet, it is true, with
small intervals between successive tones, but the range of tones
throughout any one song is considerable. Among the American
Indians it is also rare to find a song consisting only of two notes.
Only four of the forty-three American Indian melodies collected
by Abraham and v. Hornbostel^ consist of two notes, and in
three of these the interval is a neutral or minor third. Similar
results are yielded by the older collections of Haker' and
Stumpf ^ The music of the natives of New Guinea, Borneo and
Africa is decidedly more complex than that of the Veddas.
Turning to the music of Southern India, we find that only
two or three of thirteen phonographic records, obtained from
' Karl Hagen, Ueber d. Musik einiger Naturvblker, Hamburg, 1892. .
'^ Phonographirte Indianer Melodieen aus British Columbia, in the Boas Memorial
Volume, New York, 1906, pp. 447 — 474.
' Ueber d. Musik d. nordimerik. Wilden, Leipzig, 1882.
* Vierteljahrs. d. Musikwiss., 1886, S. 405 — 426.
364 THE VEDDAS
natives of Gujar, Malabar and Tanjore\ at all resemble in
simplicity the Vedda music. Five of them have a range of tones
compassing an octave, while three others range over a sixth. Of
the three most primitive songs one is a prayer, the other two
being children's songs. It cannot be said that in general
character they very closely resemble the Vedda songs.
The intervals among the Veddas appear to have been
developed by the successive addition of small intervals to those
previously used. There are only two or three exceptional cases
[Nos. 20, 34 (2), 53 (i)] in which the added intervals are approxi-
mately equal to the original ; and these instances are po.ssibly
accidental. In nearly all the remaining songs of Group B, the
additional third tone consists of approximately a semitone added
above the whole-tone interval which starts from the tonic. The
two intervals thus comprise a minor third. This minor third
tends to be smaller than our own tempered or untempered
interval. A major third occurs only in a single song, and a
neutral third is also only once sung. In Group C, the fourth,
when sung, is in most cases approximately true, although in one
song it is smaller, in another decidedly larger, than our own
tempered or untempered interval. A fifth occurs but in one
song and is distinctly smaller than ours.
We can only conclude from these data that in the absence of
musical instruments, musical intervals are by no means fixed
among the Veddas, and that this want of fixity becomes more
striking, the greater the number of notes introduced into the
song. In dealing with the songs of Group A, we were able to
range without difficulty the intervals under three heads. But
with the songs of Groups B and C such classification became
increasingly difficult and more uncertain.
From what we know of primitive music elsewhere, it was not
to be expected that the Veddas would sing pure minor or major
thirds. For a long time, even in European music, thirds were
regarded as dissonant. What does, however, seem unusual, is
that the fifth, in the one Vedda song in which it occurs, bears so
little resemblance to the consonant interval which has the ratio
2:3. It is almost a quarter-tone flat. On the other hand, the
Sammelb. d. internal. MusikgeseUsch. 1904, Bd v, S. 348 — 401.
MUSIC 365
fourth is several times sung nearly in the consonant ratio of
3 : 4. Inasmuch as the fifth is so much more consonant than the
fourth, we should have expected to have found its intonation
purer than the fourth.
For the same reason we might have expected to have found
the fifth preferred to the fourth, but the fifth only occurs in one
song, while the fourth is sung in several. But the intervals
of the Veddas appear to have been developed, as we have
already said, not by taking a harmonious interval and dividing
it into smaller intervals, but by starting with small (and un-
certain) intervals and adding further intervals to them. It is only
in the more advanced songs (and these are very few in number)
that relatively large intervals are sung. And here we appear
first to meet with the influence of harmony in fixing the size of
such consonant intervals. Despite the fact that to our ears
tonality is so well-marked throughout the Vedda songs, the
approximate consonance of intervals is only reached when the
two tones immediately succeed one another.
As regards the rhythm of the Vedda songs, it is noteworthy
that in Indian music Abraham and von Hornbostel found
frequent instances of the interpolation of a 3- or a 5-pulse
measure in music otherwise of common time. They note that
change of rhythm is " so frequent that we are often unable to
detect any constant primary rhythm at all, but are compelled to
imagine a continual modification of measured" This remark is
applicable, as we have seen, to much of Vedda music, while in
other Indian and Vedda songs a definite rhythm can be readily
apprehended. In m.any parts of the world primitive music is
characterised by "a delight in change and opposition of rhythm,
and a demand that relatively long periods filled with measures
of diverse length be apprehended as an organic whole or
'phrase'"." This is a characteristic of several of the Vedda
songs.
^ Op. cit. S. 398.
- C. S. Myers, Brit.Joiirn. of Psychol. 1905, Vol. i, p. 405.
CHAPTER XIV
SONGS
In this chapter we give a number of Vedda songs for the
transHteration and translation of which we are indebted to
Mr Gunasekara.
It will be noted that a number of the songs are variants
on a common theme ; with the exception of No. IV (song
asking for presents), the lullabies and the song sung while
plucking jak fruit, all were sung for the enjoyment they caused
or the amusement they produced — that is to say we could not
discover that there were occasions on which any of these songs
were sung specially and exclusively. Even the sad little song
(No. VII) commemorating the suicide of two women \ though
it did not cause amusement, was by no means avoided and
seemed to give a good deal of quiet satisfaction. The song
sung by women to their husbands who returned empty handed
from seeking honey, though doubtless sung on appropriate
occasions, was also sung at other times and was considered
rather a joke.
A number of the best known songs begin or end with a
variant of the untranslatable lines
Tan tandindnan taiidmdne
Td77an tajidina tatidindne'^.
^ The legend has been given on pp. 322 and 323.
- Mr Gunasekara by shghtly altering these lines would obtain
Tan tan dinane tan tan dinane
Tdnan tan dina tan dinane
which he would translate
May each be victorious! May each be victorious!
May he defeat those who are inimical to him ! May he be victorious !
SONGS 367
Other songs begin with a variant of
Mantini nidmi?u ?iiadeyiyd
which may be translated
Oh great man ! Oh great man ! Oh great god !
or perhaps as Bailey writes
My departed one, niy departed one, my god !
The following lullaby was sung at Banderaduwa by a woman
called Hudumeniki to the air (No. 19) given on page 345.
1. Rd-ro-ro
A mint mokatada diidanne
Amtnt gosiga teliitai
Ekat niiidaina dlpawu dennd
Ammi mokatada andaime
AiJimi goiiala bokkatayi diidanne
Ekat nindaina dewu de?tiid
Ainnii mokatada diidaitne
Ammi waildurdge ihatayi
Ekat nindaina dewu dennd
Ammi mokatada dndaniie
Ammi rosdge ihatayi
Ekat nindama dewu dennd
Rd-rd-7-d
Ammi kalawcelta pcetuni
Nindotayi diidanne
Nidigannd p^tfini
Nindotayi diidanne
Ro-ro-ro
Ammd ro-ro-ro
Ainmd inokata diidanne
Ammd disi ndndayi diidanne
Ammi mokatayi diidanne
Ammi nidi nidundayi
Ro-ro-ro ammd.
Ro-ro-ro Child, why are you crying ? Child, is it for the fat of the monitor
lizard ? Give the whole of it (i.e. the fat). Child, why are you crying? Child,
is it for thegona/a yams you are crying ? Give all of them (i.e. the yams). Child,
why are you crying? Child, is it for the head of the wandura monkey?
Give the whole of it (i.e. the head). Child, why are you crying? Child, is
it for the head of the rilawd monkey ? Give the whole of it (i.e. the head)-
Ro-ro-ro
368 THE VEDDAS
Child, creeping child ; are you crying for sleep ? Sleeping child, are you
crying for sleep ? Ro-ro-ro Darling, Ro-ro-ro
Darling, for what are you crying? Darling, is it for bathing you are
crying? Child, what are you crying for? Child, is it for sleep? Darling,
Ro-ro-ro.
The next lullaby was sung by Tandi of Sitala Wanniya ;
we do not know whether this is the lullaby the music of which
is given on page 347 (No. 34 (2)) or on page 350 (No. 34 (i)).
II. Ammila pcetuna
Anuiii moka/ada antfannen
A)iinii nyila bokkatayi
Ekat ftindatna dewdefina
A mini moka/ada andanncn
Ammt kattcwala bokkatayi
Ekat nindania dewdennd
Amini mokatada andennen
Ai/nni gosika telliyatayi
Ekat nindatna dewdemia.
Lovely babe, what do you cry for, child ? Child, it is for the uytla yam.
I will give the whole of it. Child, what do you cry for? Child, it is for
katuwala yam. I will give the whole of it. Child, what do you cry for?
Child, it is for the fat of the monitor lizard. I will give the whole of it.
These lullabies though longer than those collected by Nevill
closely resemble the latter, although they do not appear to
contain the jokes and intentional absurdities which Nevill con-
sidered to exist in those he recorded^
The next song though not a lullaby was said to have been
sung by a mother to her young children who were frightened
at the oncoming of a thunder storm. It was taken down at
Nilgala.
III. ^Emiiiman cEvimlnan
Sat milduru kaiidfyeta ptten
Sihndn silpaivano'li widinnegi neiveyit neweyi
Bdldpawu detuio nam bald paw denno
Ayiyinan ayiylnan disi mudiiru ndgdla
Balapd ge?ta ena rdga narakayt
^ Taprobanian , Vol. II, p. 122. We are by no means convinced that Nevill was
right in seeing jokes and absurdities in these lullabies. He himself notes [loc. cit.)
" that the people themselves do not altogether understand many words in these...."
SONGS 369
Maya cEga bawiri karanneyi
Rajaiualo galgdinata nuwannu dennd nam
Kodo kodoyi mayi rdjo luannila dennd
Moba anoivayi haka noiuayi ihddpaivu dennd nam
Ran rdjo slmdlc yakkila kokkild sttino
R(Eta rdjje siiinnanni neweyit neweyi
Uda ceiidiri wcEtio;e)ia bin crndiri wcetigena
Enagala malagala gala kon wcetennd newet neiveyi
Rajawdle galgdmata numanni dennd.
Darling ! Darling ! There you see the wind and rain are coming down
from outside the Seven Seas. See the two. See brother, thunder and
lightning coming from the direction of the sea. Things are getting bad.
My body is losing strength (through fear). Let us two go to the Rajawalo
cave (or cave place). Ho ! ho ! my two princes, it is not possible to go
there, stay. Oh lovely princes ! in the forest are yaku and gods. Are we
not staying in the palace at night ! The sky is getting dark, the earth is
getting dark. Are not kon fruits falling at Enagala and Malagala ! Let us
go to the Rajawalo cave.
The following "song asking for presents" was sung by a
woman of Bandaraduwa to the air (No. 20) given on page 347.
Although addressed to the Hiidu Naena (white cousin, i.e. white
woman) it was not an extemporary composition but was said to
have been known to the singer's parents.
IV. Htidu ncent kdndt kolo, mil kolo^ rati bddo, higanidro wigena yan-
nawu yannaivu.
Sndumo n'ceni tcegi bogi dilaniu, api duwaganan yamto
Siidumo ncent elamoran ndiigdto elagini rangini wcpdiwi gena en-
nawa.
Api diiwagena yando tagi bogi dllavju dilawu.
White cousin {na-ni), (I am) running short of betel leaves^ and areca
nut. White cousin, give (us) presents so that we may run away. White
cousin, the young (or white) younger sister of Mordne is getting hungry.
Give us, give us, presents that we may run away.
The next two songs, both collected at Nilgala, were particu-
larly popular ; the first reflects the very high estimate in which
a Vedda holds his wife.
V. Kcehden kcemen pana noyeyi
Kcciidefi kcrmen pana noyeyi
Hiten hulagen pana noyeyi
Hiten hnlageti pana noyeyi
^ In the original kandl kolo z.wA n7/l M/o both mean betel leaves.
S. V. 24
370 THE VEDDAS
WcECcen pinnen pana noyeyi
WcBCcen piime?i paiia noyeyi
Kudi peta ncettan pana yatineyi
Kudi peta nccttdn pana yanneyi.
For (want) of gruel or food, the life will not depart (i.e. man will not die) ;
owing to cold or wind, the life will not depart ; owing to rain or dew, the life
will not depart. If there be no wife, the life will depart.
VI. Tanan tanden fanCxne
Matt sonda baduwak daka gatti>n
Man sonda baduwak daka gattini
Mokada inokada tola kiri n'ane
Mokada mokada tola kiri li^ne
Ehema klycna hadmuak noiueyi viadcrka gatte tola nam
Ara palle taldwc tibunu
Dumkudikkiya bola dak gattim.
Tanan tanden tandne.
I have seen a fine thing and taken it. What is it, what is it, oh good
lianat Nana, the thing which I saw and picked up is not one that I will
mention readily. You 7Jcena, what I saw and picked up is the smoking pipe
which was on that distant high ground (lit. back high-ground).
The Sinhalese do not smoke pipes, and the Veddas do not
smoke at all ; on questioning our informants we were told that
this song was only two or three generations old and referred to
the finding of a pipe dropped by a white sportsman.
The next song recorded at Bandaraduwa alludes to the
suicide of two Vedda women and has been referred to already
on pages 322 and 323. Only the first part of the song, con-
taining no direct reference to the final tragedy, was taken down.
VII. Akkiiiani akkinain yando ludretian
Api deiDidge wannilu endomo 7iati
Bdlanda yandowa ware naiiga
Nahgd nan nangd api detindge wannlld
Dinvagena ennan bdldndo wdrd naiiga fmn nailgd
Akki nam akki nam mata bdsuru bari najn bari nam
Naiiga nam naiigd fiam ware nam ware nam
Api denndge wannild wellikandiycn duwagen ennan
Bdldndu wdren.
Elder sister, elder sister, come to go. Our husbands have not returned ;
come younger sister, let us go to look for them. Younger sister, younger
sister, the husbands of us two are coming running. Younger sister, younger
SONGS 371
sister, come to look. Elder sister, elder sister, I am afraid, I cannot, I can-
not. Younger sister, younger sister, come, come. The husbands of us two
are coming running from Wellikandiya. Come and see.
The next song, collected at Sitala Wanniya, records a fatal
accident while honey-gathering ; a woman speaks to her sister,
so that "elder brother" in the third line should be "elder sister" ;
" younger brother " is a common periphrasis for husband.
Tantirivelo is the name of a rock-face and the " golden jewelled
cord " is the liatie ladder by which the honey-seekers reach the
comb (cf Chapter X, invocation No. XXVI).
VIII. Tantirivelo baliyato bapu
Ran mini kendo gallan ki}iiki
Bada dennaw fnayc kirin ayiye
Apild dennaye mallila dennata
Adissi amariikainak ceii mayc kiri akke.
(At) Tantirivelo the skilfully (or forcibly) lowered
Golden jewelled cord which is sunk from the rock
Gives an unlucky sign, my dear elder brother.
For the younger brothers of us two
There will be a sudden difficulty, my dear elder sister^.
The following song, also from Sitala Wanniya, was sung by
women to their husbands when the latter returned from honey-
seeking without honey. The air to which it was sung is given
on page 344 (No. 21).
IX. Disi jnawili rankenda elald eldla
Kalu rcete nanglld dunkawufen panndld
Ran kaduwen kapdld ela tnoratt ndgdtoyi
Memitllin ihale kodoyi kiyald
Duwagena dwo wennild-gollo
Ela vioran nangdtd ela gini wcediwegina enno.
(They) let down, let down the great mawila creeper jungle rope, (they)
drive away the bees with smoke ; (the comb) was cut with the golden sword
for the young sisters of Morane. (Our) husbands came running and saying,
"Above this corner there is none." The young sisters of Morane are getting
hungry.
^ Mr Parker, to whom we are indebted for the translation of this song, notes that
'■'■gallan stands for galen; /f;z;«'>&j appears to be derived from kindenaiva to be sunk,
and to be the equivalent of khidicci.
24 — 2
372 THE VEDDAS
The next song, transliterated and translated by Mr Parker,
was collected at Sitala Wanniya where it was known only to the
older men of the community. It was sung only when gettingy^>^
fruit, and though these Veddas knew the ordinary Sinhalese
word for this fruit they told me it would not be used. They
explained that there was only one place in their territory where
there were two or three jak trees (doubtless the remains of old
gardens made by Buddhist monks or recluses), that they valued
their fruit very highly, and that they would not commonly speak
of them by name and certainly would not do so when about to
gather the fruit. In this song bo tree and moran flower are
both honorific terms. This suggests that the song has magic
power, so that its most appropriate position in this volume would
be in Chapter vili.
X. Ms ydmen ydmeta mS Cisata wcsduna
Me Bopata riiwala yan ke7ieku7tta bccha di^iawanna
Me tnoran tnalc misak atiiyen bceri nan kekkiyen bindala
Mast polawata bassald deniiayi.
Here, from watch to watch, this (tree) touched the sky.
No one can cause this Bo-leaf sail to be overcome.
Having broken off with the hook this ripening flower only, if unable (to
pluck it) by the hand.
Having lowered it to the earth, I will give it.
Moran appears to be moraiia.
Male may be a poetical allusion to the fruit.
Mast polawata for inahi polawata, a pleonastic form, " to the
earth's earth," that is, to the ground. Such pleonasms are not
uncommon in colloquial village Sinhalese, as for instance, cdd
daivasa, " that day's day," for " that day."
The next two songs were collected at Nilgala; our in-
formants attached no meaning to the first line.
XI. Md mini tnd mini md deyiyd
Kdkurukadde kdbeyiyd
Kudurun kiidiirun kiyannd
Kokkd gdleta wcei ivceld
Mdde gdleta ivcei wald
Made gdleta wcei iv^ld
Tala pitata ivcei wald
Kotati damana bora waturdyi
SONGS 373
Kaden paccela yak gamato
Blmen yannata bol pini barimcByi
Miwaplten yamu dennd
Ane ape 'wa?in!la
KobbTk wcele ncrglla
Ekat bindageiia wcetila
KcElina wcele iicpgild
Ekat bifidagena ivcetila
Walkobba ivcela dunna namdgena
Wewcel icage pitata damdgena
Bfdat payiyat ina ganndgen
Poro pceccdt ina ganndgena
Kunu go tadiyd karat a daindgena
Kadiyd ballat iccara karagena
Endcelu potu ban dena nayide
EndcElu potu ban dena nayide.
Md mini md mini ma deyiyd.
The dove of the Kakuru Mountain is singing kudurun, kudurun. There
was rain at Kokkagala. There was rain at Madegala. There was rain
at Madegala. There was rain on the high land. There is muddy water
bringing down logs. (There has been) a yaka ceremony below the rock.
(I) cannot go on the ground as there is dew. Let us ride on the back of
the buffalo. Ane ! our husbands having climbed up the kobba creeper, on
its breaking having fallen ; having climbed the kcelina creeper, on its
breaking, too, having fallen ; bending the bow (made) of wal-kobbcc'^ creeper,
putting the canes at the back of the head 2, taking the betel bag at the waist,
taking the axe at the waist, putting the dirty monitor lizard on the shoulder,
sending in front the dog Kadiya, (You are) to come, they say (or he says
or we say) Potubanda Nayide, (you are) to come, they say (or he says, or we
say) Potubanda Nayide.
XII. Md mini md iiiini md deyiyd
Md mini md mini md deyiyd
Ane dps wafinild
Kokkd gdle yanni dennd
Mdde gdle yanni dennd
Kokkd gdle bceri baburii
Made gale bceri baburu
Kdkurii Kande Kobeyiyd
Kdkurii Kande Kobeyiyd
Kuturun kuturun klyannd
' Allophyhis cobbe.
- Or "carrying them hanging round the neck."
374 THE VEDDAS
Kuturuti kuturun kiyannd
Tald pitata uucsyi wald
Kotan dduiana bora waturayi
Kotan dd)nana bora waturayi
Kdden paccalayak gamato
Blmen yanneta bol pini b(xrima;yinni
Madayd piteti yanni dennd
Kaliya wcela ncegild
Ekat bi)~idagena wcetild
Kobbce wcele ncegild
Ekat bindagena wcettld
Wcel-kobba; wcela dutma datndgena
Wewcel icage pitata datndgena
Kadiyd ballat iccarakaragena
Endcelii potubanna nayide
Endcelu potubanna nayide
Md mini md mini md deyiyd
Md mini md mini md deyiyd.
Ah, our husbands ! Let us go to Kokkagala. Let us go to Madegala.
(I) cannot go to Kokkagala. I cannot go to Madegala. The dove of the
Kakuru-kanda is uttering kuturun, kuturun. There has been rain in the
high land. There has been muddy water bringing down logs. There has
been Tiyaka ceremony {y\K. yaka house) below the hill. (I) cannot go on the
ground as there is dew. Let us ride on the buffalo. Having climbed up
the kaliya creeper, on its breaking having fallen ; having climbed up the
kobbce creeper, on its breaking too, having fallen ; putting down the bow
(made) of wcel-kobbce creeper, putting the canes at the back of the head*;
sending in front the dog Kadiya, (you are) to come, they say (or he says or
we say) Potubanda Nayide. (You are) to come, they say (or he says or we
say) Potubanda Nayide. Md mini tnd mini md deyiyd, Md mini md mini
md deyiyd.
All the remaining songs except the last were collected from
the village Veddas of the Uva Bintenne ; all are of one type
and with a single exception (No. XVII) all are related to each
other and to the two songs immediately preceding them which
we obtained at Nilgala. No. XVII, the exception just referred
to, is extremely Sinhalese in tone and thought. The gomara
spots referred to are the light patches on the body, due to the
attacks of a parasitic fungus, which are much admired by the
peasant Sinhalese of Uva and the Eastern Province.
^ Or "carrying them hanging round the neck."
SONGS. 375
XIII. Kceliya wcple luegild
Rcetata paldge?ta wcetild
Tunatiya potlat biiidild
To ya kella genim 7uat
NcBudage pcedurata mangaccala
Tdnanne bala tdnanne
Mtindi kaiidHpita watirild
Okata widaparu kiri luend
Iccata widapi icca are
Tombata hefteti numdpi
E madi widapi incere
Depita maten 7uilga
Peruma mardpin natid
Puccd kdlayi diya bonne
Eliya pan ivt cnnaw mend
Cappi cili bili kiyannan
Yannata natiya n'^nd
Wcelkoggdye cappige gote
Cappige bittara dekama dekayi
Puccd kdld diya bonne iicend
Tan taditia tan tadindne
Moniiya niotniyi momiya
Kottekata kana me kotd kdlayi diya bonne.
Having climbed up the kaliya creeper,
Splitting it in two and having fallen.
Having broken (his ?) hip and stick,
Having even brought thy girl.
Having gone to thy mother-in-law's mat [i.e. hut).
Tdnanne bala tdnanne.
The monitor lizard is sprawling on the log.
Shoot it dear cousin,
Shoot at the head. You will miss the head ;
Incline (the arrow) towards the tail, by the ribs.
Shoot (it) in the middle ; it will die.
Kill the buffalo, cousin,
Which has smeared (itself) at the pool with mud on both sides.
Having roasted and eaten (part of it) we drink water-
The light is coming, cousin.
The birds say silibili.
Must we not go, cousin ?
In the bird's nest on the Wal-kon tree
There are two and two bird's eggs.
Having roasted and eaten (them) we drink water, cousin.
Tan tadina tan tadindne.
To eat a part, having cut this and eaten (it), we drink water.
n^ THE VEDDAS
Dekama dekayi Sin. deka dekayi^ two and two, or two by two.
The last line appears to refer to the buffalo that was killed.
XIV. Heian tandina tan tahdinane
He kcrliya wcclc nccglla
Hekcii bimata wcrtild
He Kokkagalata man danm
Etten ipita man fiodaniu
Etten ipitat man datiin
Mddc-galata man nodanin
Etten ipitat man da?iin
Utkirigalata man danin
Etten ipita ma nodanin
Etten ipitat man danin
He mandcgalata man danin
Etten ipitat man nodanitt
Wadand tnlmd lanit bceiidald
Wadand pi tin yannat bcerinan
Cewanen cewanata yamu dennd
Tewanett tewanata yannat barinan
Siten sulangi7i yamn dennd.
Hetan tandina tan tandindne.
Having climbed the kaeliyawcela creeper, and having fallen to the ground
from it, I know the way to Kokkagala. I know the way beyond that also.
I do not know the way to Madegala. I know the way beyond that also.
I know the way to Utkirigala. I do not know the way beyond that. I know
the way beyond that also. I know the way to that Madegala. I do not
know the way beyond that also. Put the ropes on the hunting buffalo, \i
we cannot go on the back of the hunting buffalo let us go from shelter to
shelter. If we cannot go from shelter to shelter, let us go (exposing our-
selves) to cold and wind.
XV. Tan tandindnan taildindne
Tdndan tandini tandindne
Diyata handan iida nccmmo
Dlyata hafidayi uda ncemmo
Cdppi cili bili kiyanne
Cdppi cili bili kiyanno
Ran knru m/lfjak penennd
Ran kurii milnak petieiuid
He man kavuda kiydld
He man kavuda kiydld
Etakota ape ara kiri nana
Etakota ape ara kiri 7tce7id.
I
SONGS 377
Tan landindnan taiidinanc
Tdndan tartdmi fandtndne
Dlyata handa7i iida ncetrwio
Diyata handayi iida nammo
The birds are twittering^
The birds are twittering.
A golden bud face was visible
A golden bud face was visible.
I asked "Who is that?"
I asked "Who is that?"
Then (it was) that dear cousin of ours.
Then (it was) that dear cousin of ours.
XVI. Tan tadi?idne tandindne
Tdndn tandina tandindne
Kapurie-kande kebeyi
Kapuru-kandS kebeyi
Kojaron kojaron kiyanne
Kojaron koja7-o7i kiyanne
Kcewili pojja kodo kdta
Kawili pojja kodoyi kdta
^ta pojjdioat kcpwillaw
jEta pojjdivat kaivillaiv.
Tan tadindne tandindne
Tdndn tandina tandindne
A dove of the Kapitru-kaiide (lit. camphor mountain) is crying kojaron,
kojaron. No one has cakes. Eat some grain.
The last three songs are evidently variants of a common
theme, or perhaps of a number of common themes, for they
suggest that they consist of a number of fragments strung
together with little regard for their meaning. They were
certainly sung for the pleasure they afforded, and perhaps the
incongruity of the subjects alluded to and the abrupt way in
which they are introduced amuses the audience. Nevill col-
lected variants of fragments of these songs in the Bintenne
which he definitely regards as comic.
The following is the first of these fragments :
Kukuru gdya dwwa naegild
Ekat bindi gana ivaetild
^ Literally "the birds are uttering silibili" the last word being onomatopoeic.
Mr Parker, to M'hom \^ e are indebted for the translation of this song, is uncertain of
the meaning of the third and fourth lines ; perhaps they might be translated "There
was a noise of water ; we made obeisance."
378 THE VEDDAS
DaHen mdden erila
Mdmini mdniini md ind mdyi.
Having run and climbed up the kukiiru tree
That breaking having fallen,
Having stuck in the mud up to the knee,
Mdmini mdmini md md mdyi.
Nevill regards this as a " take off of the hymns sung by the
celebrant when inspired in the worship of Kiri Amma, a Vedda
form of Venus, Pattini, Parvati, or Amman," and he states that
the " refrain is that actually used in her honour." Further " the
kiikiiru tree is a prickly bush, up which no one could think of
climbing, and the utter nonsense is a ridiculous parody on the
hymn."
The following is given as comic by the same authority, who
draws attention to " both pata pata and danni pamii" being
expressions coined from the sound of a heavy body falling
whop, whop, or flop, flop, and pulling itself up slowly and with
pain.
Kukuru kande naegild
Pata pata gd gana luaetild
l)a7ini panni gdla naegitala
Tan nan tadi tadi td nd nd.
XVII. Ayyo nanage date walalu gigiri dena nada datdeyi kiri nana
Ncenage bahdata icunu gomara petiiuan gomara icila
Nanage bandata icunu gomara mayo bandet iciyo
Ncenata bceiidapu pcEnimtila ayiyo pot pceni kada weetenna
Ncenata wiyapu pcedura ayiyo kelin rata wcetiga
Kadiranwalle bcefidi u/iyane nangiyat wiyan damanni
yEtul wiyan damanni bala cetul wiyan tio danna nana
Pitet wiyan damanni ele wina panan wina ennaw nana
Cappi cili bili kiyanni yajtJiata nidikimidiya nana
Oye kelala wacco awidin nandage padurata wiruwdld.
Good wife ! Oh what a noise the jingling bells of the bracelet on the
two hands of yours (lit. of wife) are making ! There are (lit. spread) _^fw<zra
spots Ton my body) resembling the gomara spots on (lit. spread on) my
wife's waist. The gomara spots which are (lit. spread) on (myj wife's waist
(are) spread on my waist also. Oh ! the thickened honey of the honey
packet made up (lit. tied up) for (my) wife is dripping. Oh \ the coloured
stripes of the mat woven for (my) wife are gone straight. A canopy is tied
to Kadiranwalla. The younger sister is also putting up canopies. She is
SONGS 379
putting up inner canopies. Oh wife ! do not put up inner canopies. She
is putting up outer canopies. Wife, bring white canopies and leaf canopies.
The birds are chirping'. Wife, rise up from sleep to go. The calves (or
oxen) having come after playing in the river went to (my) mother-in-law's^
hut.
The last song was collected at Unuwatura Bubula.
XVIII. (i) Andd diya dtiwana mawili gangawe
Sorabora wile wilpatulcn enawada
Atat damd dcetaka ena nurdwd
Sdhi pitmuala yak gammal
Sdld pitaiuala 7V(chi ivcehcrld bora ivatiirayi
(2) Bi?nifi yanna bccri nan
Wadand ntitnafa lame bcendapati
Ten tedind
Arigara nietun nalanno
Sellan bera pada gasdpan.
(i) Oh Mawili river! whose water is flowing, making a sound! Are
you coming from the bottom of the lake Soraborawila .-" Oh lover! who
comes in two directions, having put (your) hand also (round her neck).
There has been yaka ceremony at Salapitawala. It having rained, there
is muddy water at Salapitawala.
(2) If you cannot go walking (lit. on the ground) put the ropes on the
hunting buffalo.
Ten tedind
They are dancing gesture dances-'.
Play a tune on the drum (used) for games.
This song very clearly shows the composite nature of some
of the Vedda songs, especially those in use among the more
sophisticated groups. The first two lines of the first verse and
the last two lines of the second verse are obviously related to,
if they are not derived from, the invocation sung at the Kolo-
niaduwa ceremony (Chapter x, No. XXXIX), while the first
two lines of the last ver.se refer to harnessing a buffalo as in
the preceding songs,
^ Lit. uttering silibili.
2 YNicnda presumably for ncitda from iiendaniiiia ;i paternal aunt or maternal
uncle's wife, hence mother-in-law, cf. pp. 64 and (i^.A,
* We are indebted to Mr Parker for the following note. '' Angara uadun nataniw
may be 'dancing gesture-dances' or 'dancer of gesture-dances.' Angaraya is stated
by Clough to be 'gesture,' the particular gesture of the Malabar dancing girls."
CHAPTER XV
LANGUAGE
Mr Parker remarks of the Vedda language that it " is to a
great extent the colloquial Sinhalese tongue, but it is slightly
changed in form and accent. Yet closely as it resembles the
latter, these differences and the manner in which it is pronounced
render it quite an unknown language when it is spoken to one
who has not a special acquaintance with it. Besides this, the
Vaeddas use their own terms for the wild animals and some
other things about which they often find it necessary to con-
verse. Such words are usually a form of Sinhalese, or admit of
Sinhalese or Tamil derivations ; but a very few may possibly
belong to, or be a modification of words in, their own original
language, forming with perhaps a few forms of grammatical
expression the only remains of it that have been preserved,
with the exception of some doubtful terms found in Sinhalese^"
The view taken by M r Parker concerning the Sinhalese language,
though not quite generally accepted, is that held by Geiger, who
considers Sinhalese " a pure Aryan dialect," although it contains
some words for which he " can find no Aryan origin " ; there are,
however, " fewer non-Aryan loan words in Sinhalese than there
are non-Germanic words in English'-." In this and the following
chapter Geiger's view will be assumed to be correct and we shall
deal with the so-called Vedda language, which is but a dialect of
^ Ancient Ceylon, p. 123.
2 The quotations from Geiger are taken from pp. 86, 87 and 88 of his Literatur
iind Sprache der Sinhalese pubhshed in 1900 in Buhler's Griindriss der Indo-Arischen
Philologie.
LANGUAGE 38 1
Sinhalese, as a foreign language which the Veddas long ago
adopted in the place of their own.
The obvious phonetic changes from the Sinhalese which we
noted in the Vedda dialect were the substitution for the sibilant
" s " of the palatal " ch " which though generally retained might
be thrown out, thus " head " Sin. isa becomes in the Vedda
dialect iya or sometimes icha, and gas the Sinhalese word for
"tree" becomes gai or gayi in Vedda. There may be other
phonetic changes which an expert linguist would detect, but
certainly the substitution of "ch" for "s" is the change which
gives its characteristic harsh quality to the Vedda dialect.
A number of authors have published short lists of Vedda
words, that given by the Sarasins being of most importance, for
although it consists of only 22 words care is taken to indicate the
equivalent in use in each of the Vedda groups visited by the au-
thors. More complete vocabularies have been collected by Bailey
and Nevill, and vocabularies have also been published by two
native scholars. One of these, who wrote under the nom-de-plume
A. J. W., Batticaloa, has published his material in a somewhat
inaccessible periodical, the Ceylon Literary Register (Vo\. V, 1891).
His information, which includes a number of sentences and
lullabies, has evidently been carefully collected and would
probably be specially useful to Sinhalese and Sanskrit scholars.
Its great defect is that no mention is made of the places where
the information was obtained, or the conditions prevailing when
it was collected.
Mr A. J. W. Marrambe's publication entitled The Vedda
Language and apparently printed at Colombo in 1893 which
contains some Vedda invocations is of less value, for while it
suffers from the same defects it does not appear to have been
prepared with the care which characterises the vocabulary in the
Literary Register^.
An important if indirect contribution to the study of the
Vedda language has recently been made by Mr Parker, who, in
Ancient Ceylon, gives in parallel columns Nevill's Vedda voca-
bulary and the equivalents of these words in the Kaelebasa
- The identity of initials suggests that the two accounts may be by one author.
J
82 THE VEDDAS
language, collected by himself during his long sojourn in Ceylon ;
and to this we shall return later.
The Vedda words for the most important animals with which
they are brought in contact which are given in the vocabulary at
the end of this volume indicate that nouns and verbs in the
Vedda dialect are largely formed by periphrasis. It may be
urged that in certain cases this is done for the same reason that
the common names of animals are avoided in all hunting
languages, and doubtless this explains why the bear is commonly
spoken of as hatera " the enemy V' but it will not account for one
of the words for "smoke" being "that which goes from the fire
when wet," or "to bring" being "to come having taken things"
or for " wind " being " that which causes the stems of trees to
break." Mr Parker informs us that the expression " having
taken, come," for "bring" is common in Sinhalese, while
Dr L. D. Barnett, whom we have consulted on the subject
of periphrases, writes that " compound actions " are often ex-
pressed by paraphrase, thus the Hindi for "bring" is le dana,
i.e. "taking give," and "depart" is nikal jana, i.e. "issuing go."
These examples show that there is nothing peculiar or specially
significant in the existence in the Vedda dialect of such peri-
phrasis for " bring " as that given above.
Such expressions might be survivals from a time when the
Vedda vocabulary was limited, when quick precision was un-
necessary or at least had not been attained, and when all ideas,
except the simplest, were necessarily expressed in a roundabout
fashion and generally helped out by gesture. We allude in
Chapter XVI to the absolute impossibility of making even such
an intelligent man as Harduna of Sitala VVanniya realise the
difference between a number of periods of time all shorter than
a day, and in the same chapter we point out that the older
generation of unsophisticated Veddas count only by saying
^ At Sitala Wanniya we were told that the v^oxAkaeriya might be used for "bear"'
without danger when the animal was at a distance, but that hatera should be used if
the animal were known or suspected to be close. Here too the word botakabala was
used for elephant avowedly to prevent these animals hearing their name and coming
near. Hatcia should be written hatttra, but as we never heard any Vedda pronounce
this word otherwise than hatera, we use this spelling throughout.
LANGUAGE 383
"one" and "one" and "one," so that the suggestion we
make need not necessarily be taken to carry back the formation
of the Vedda dialect to remote antiquity.
Further the use of periphrases is common in Sinhalese and
other languages closely related to Sanskrit,
We are indebted to Dr Barnett (who tells us that the list
could be greatly extended without difficulty) for the following
examples of Sanskrit periphrases, many of which occur in
Sinhalese in unmodified or only slightly modified forms :
dvipi leopard, lit. " spotted."
dvirepha bee, lit. "double R-sound."
kutd'sana fire, lit. "devouring libations."
Jiutavdhana fire, lit. " conveying libations."
kari elephant, Ht. " animal with a hand."
krishnaindrga fire, lit. "having a black path" (Sin. kiiiu-
maga).
pddapa tree, lit. " drinking with the feet."
parapusJita cuckoo, lit. " nurtured by a stranger " (Sin.
paraputu).
pdrdvata dove, lit. " belonging to distant lands" i^^'xw. paravi).
sdkJidniriga monkey or squirrel, lit. " branch-deer."
shatpada bee, lit. " six-legged " (Sin. sapadd).
Even at the present day the vocabulary of the peasant
Sinhalese is not a large one, and if from this there were taken
away all ceremonial and agricultural terms, and those directly or
indirectly due to European influence, it would, we believe, be
surprisingly small. It is reasonable to suppose that it was no
bigger centuries ago. It is therefore not surprising that the
dialect which was formed by the Veddas from this vocabular}^
and took the place of their old language, adopted only a small
number of words suitable to their jungle life, and so prepared
the way for the use of large numbers of periphrases even if it did
not at first necessitate their formation ^"
^ Perhaps the position of the Veddas linguistically at the time of the change ma}-
be compared to the position of the inhabitants of certain Melanesian Islands of the
Pacific, where not only has a degraded English with an extremely limited vocabulary
become the medium of communication between White and Black and between
diffcicnt native tribes, but the islanders in some instances when speaking to foreigners
384 THE VEDDAS
Although Dr Barnett considers that many of the Vedda
periphrases seem to point primarily to a low level of culture,
and although we believe that we should do wrong to ignore the
influence of some such process as that which we have sketched,
we think it probable that many of the expressions in the Vedda
language (so called) arose as the result of a deliberate effort
to mystify.
At the time when the Veddas began to use Sinhalese as their
habitual mode of communication they would find it convenient,
if not absolutely necessary, to be able to discuss matters between
themselves in the presence of Sinhalese, especially Sinhalese
traders, without allowing the latter to understand what they
were saying. This necessity would naturally lead them to invent
periphrases and onomatopoeic words while it would encourage
mispronunciation and the use of archaic forms.
Further evidence in favour of this view may be gathered from
other Indian tribes and even from the Veddas themselves.
Dr Rivers found that the Todas have a secret language which
" consists of a large number of expressions which they use in
the presence of Badagas, Tamils and others, when they wish to
be understood only by themselves. Many of the Badagas and
Tamils with whom the Todas associate no doubt pick up some
knowledge of their language, and even if this were not the
case the Toda language is sufficiently like Tamil to enable a
stranger to understand part of what is said. In consequence the
Todas have adopted a secret code for use among themselves
which they call kalikatpinii, literally ' stolen we tie,' while in
distinction the ordinary language is called itherkclv or ' front
factV"
Thus " cook food in milk " which in the ordinary language is
pars ddr literally " milk cook " becomes in the secret language
who have acquired some knowledge of their tongue purposely use simplified and in-
complete grammatical forms.
Mr Parker remarks that our statement concerning the vocabulary of the peasant
Sinhalese is valid only so far as it applies to their ordinary conversation in which they
use "a simple and limited" vocabulary, but that in working through his large collec-
tion of Folk-tales he found that " the vocabulary of the villagers was a very extensive
one."
^ The Todas, p. 616.
LANGUAGE 385
viGuk ndr pud iniidn tarsk idsJit literally "four sides come three
on up put," i.e. " put what comes from the four teats upon the
three (stones which support the cooking pot)." Further the leg
may be called Dietepol " walk thing," also used for foot-prints, or
pihui il/ar pi pol " thing that goes into the earth," while many
other things have secret names; thus butter is called peltJipol
" white thing ' and clarified butter kdrtpol " melted thing."
All this seems to indicate that the so-called Vedda dialect
arose, at least in part, as a deliberately invented secret language,
and this view is supported by an anecdote told by Ne'vill which
shows that even at the present time the formation of periphrases
and the use of onomatopoeic words comes readily to the older
Veddas, allowing them to communicate with their fellows in the
presence of Sinhalese without using the ordinary words.
An old Vedda who died before 1886 was "fond of encouraging
the others to learn a patois which strangers could not understand,
and used to illustrate its use by a story of his being overtaken
by a party of pilgrims to Katragam, who insisted on his ac-
companying them as guide some distance. A lad, partly a
Vaedda, was with him. On the way they heard a deer give the
peculiar bleating cry made when they are seized by a leopard.
Seeing his companions did not understand it, he went on, and
entering into conversation with the boy, sent him away, saying
loudly and rapidly so as not to excite suspicion, Bus ki bas ki
adina atak gena at baruwak gena pimbina atak gena, thopa
ammat appat enda kiyapa. This means, " Bus was said, bas
was said, bringing the bow, axe and fire-stick, tell your mother
and father to come." Here the bow is called the "pulling-bough,"
the axe is called the " bough heavy " or " heavy in the hand," and
the fire-stick, the " blowing bough," in allusion to the blowing of
the spark into a flame. Bus imitates the snort of the leopard
as it springs on the deer, and bas the cry of the deer. The old
man delighted to tell this tale, showing his own wit, and would then
say " and because the boy knew huntsman's craft and how to
speak aloud but secretly, he slipped away and called his parents.
I went back as soon as I could, and we all had a grand feast, for
the leopard had not time to eat much before the boy's parents
were there \"
^ Taprobanian, Vol. I, p. rSi.
s. V. 25
386 THE VEDDAS
At Sitala Wanniya we learnt for the first time that two
classes of words could be distinguished in the Vedda dialect.
Words of the first class are commonly employed by the Veddas
among themselves or their use is compulsory when hunting or
travelling in the jungle ; the second class contains words which
are used only in invoking the yaku.
The monitor lizard commonly called iniuida becomes in the
yaka language bivibada ganeka, " one whose belly touches the
ground " ; the pig dola is called hosedika ; the spotted deer
geinberupodeya is called depatani inagala ; the sambar kankiina
becomes gaura magala ; and the wandura monkey botakima is
called 7ide kelina.
These were the only animals which were given yaka names
at Sitala Wanniya, but betel leaves, usually known as paengeri
kola, coconut milk polikiri and rice depotuhi all used in offerings
to \\\& yaku are spoken of on these occasions as nilikola, literally
"dark leaves," ran kiri daluo "golden bud milk" and Jiudu
hamba from sjidii samba, lit. "white rice," respectively^
Probably all the wilder Veddas at one time used special
words when addressing the yaku, for even at Rerenkadi among
the sophisticated Veddas of the chena settlement we heard of
the former existence of a yaka vocabulary, while at Lindegala
the few words of the Vedda dialect that were still remembered
were said to have been used especially in yaku ceremonies-.
At Sitala Wanniya we obtained the expressions yakade
heremitiya, literally " iron walking staff," for boy, and hanukanna
kilote, "box for lime" or " lime eating box," for girl. We were
not able to satisfy ourselves as to the significance of these
metaphors, which were said to be used only in yaku ceremonies.
According to one account the expression refers to the genitals
of the sexes, another explanation states that a boy is a strong
support to his relatives, while a girl is as precious as a supply of
chewing materials.
The hypothesis that the Vedda language arose in part as
a secret language explains how it is that at the present day the
^ Samba is the name of a superior variety of rice.
- Nilgala, Bendiyagalge and Bandaiaduwa were all visited before Sitala Wanniya
where we discovered the existence of a yaka vocabulary, and no questions especiall)'
bearing on this matter were asked at these places.
LANGUAGE 387
Vedda dialect is best preserved among the Village Veddas of
Bintenne.
The people of Dambani and Bulugahaladena whose condition
we have described in Chapter II and whom we have specially in
mind as typical Veddas of the Bintenne are precisely in that stage
of development in which a secret language would be most useful.
They do not lead, and apparently have not for a considerable
number of generations led the wandering life which until recently
characterised the Veddas living further to the east, nor on the
other hand do they even now show any tendency to be absorbed
by the peasant Sinhalese of the province in which they live.
They in fact constitute small autonomous communities enjoying
considerable prestige in the eyes of their neighbours both on
account of their ancestry and their reputed fierceness. Not only
is their dialect directly useful to them in their trading with the
neighbouring Sinhalese, but as we soon discovered their use of
what their neighbours consider a language different from their
own greatly enhances their prestige.
They have thus had a motive for keeping up if not for en-
larging their store of periphrases and metaphors which probably
never existed among the wilder, less sophisticated Veddas, who
only preserve the old names of certain animals or foods which
are used in jyaku ceremonies or which have become part of their
jungle language.
From this point of view we may detect three stages in
the evolution of the present Vedda dialect. In the first stage
their original language is efiaced by an archaic form of the
Sinhalese ; the formation from this of a large number of secret
words constitutes the second stage, while the third stage is
represented by the process of substitution of more or less modern
and colloquial Sinhalese words for the majority of archaic words
and forms, during which process many of the modern words
underwent phonetic changes.
The following sentences taken down from men of Buluga-
haladena show the characteristics of the Vedda dialect as it
survives among the Village Veddas of Bintenne. The notes
given after each sentence have been supplied by Mr Gunasekara,
the sentences themselves are written down in the form in which
25—2
$88 THE VEDDAS
we gave them (in English) to our interpreter. We have no doubt
that he translated them literally into Sinhalese, so that not only
the building up of the sentences but also the repetitions and in-
accuracies in the Vedda dialect are of interest.
Come here quickly.
Ham JiaJiikctc mangacapa.
Hanikete is from the Sinhalese JiMiikata quickly.
This axe belongs to me.
Me galreke maieme.
Me is Sinhalese inaiema from Sinhalese inayema, magenia my own.
We two have come from Bulugahaladena.
Kakidai mai mangacawe Biiliigahaladening.
Kakula, child, boy, then kakulai mai the child and I, the
final i of each word is the equivalent of the Sinhalese yi
(colq.) and t: Mai from the Sinhalese inamayi ; -ing -in the
ablative case ending. The finite verb in Sinhalese is placed last
in the sentence.
Bring your bow and arrow.
Malaliyai moreanai arang mangacapa.
Moreanai is a shortened form of moriankeca arrow. Arang
the equivalent of the Sinhalese aran having taken. The literal
translation of this sentence would be " Having taken bow and
arrow come."
This wood is wet, I cannot make fire.
Me dande diapodga maiidevela gina iicana kode.
Diapodga mandevela " water being absorbed " or " being
surrounded by water" (Sk. inand or maud).
Ucana from Sanskrit ush to burn : Me and dande are Sinhalese.
He climbed a tree to find a bees' nest.
Kanda arini patagacana ruke pene negige.
Patagacana is to break and not to find ; pene negige is the
equivalent of the Sinhalese /^^//<7 noenge, literally he jumped and
ascended.
But the branch was rotten and he fell.
Eke dira bacela patagacan palage.
Eke, Sinhalese it ; there is no word for branch ; dira having
been rotten ; bacela Sinhalese paJiala down ; palage he fell
(Sanskrit pat to fall) or he jumped (Sanskrit pin to jump).
LANGUAGE 389
There are no bananas in my chena, but much Indian corn.
Mai henipodga pucenewa kciirlana tenak tenak tibinya keJielpodga
kodoi.
Mai Sinhalese meJii here ; Jiempodga is the Sinhalese hena,
i.e. chena ; pucenewa\idM\r\^ been burnt ; kcurlana Indian corn (?);
tenak tenak little little, some.
Literally translated the sentence runs " Here the chena
having been burnt (i.e. prepared in the usual manner) there
is some Indian corn, there are no bananas."
He killed the sambar and dried its flesh over the fire.
Kankuna patagacala ginaucala pticakadala kavilanye.
Patagacala being killed ; ginaucala having made a fire
{SinhdAQse gini avussala); pucakadala having burnt; kavilanye
he eats.
Literally "The sambar being killed, having made a fire (and)
having burnt (its flesh) he eats."
When a man is dead we go away from that cave.
Mini botadanimana pata inang venakette mangacana one.
Pata is the Sinhalese vita when ; niang is the Sinhalese mam
I ; venakette is from the Sinhalese zwMrt'/rtiy^rt, to another quarter;
one is the Sinhalese onde, ought, must.
Literally " When a man is dead I must go to another quarter."
The dog scents a deer.
Kuka pakaragandekate mnngacanya.
Pakaragandckate to smell good.
Literally this would be translated somewhat as follows :
" The dog moves after a good smell."
Which is the road to Dambani ?
Danibanete mangaccna viompodgak koJiede.
Monipodgak a road is derived from mom Sinhalese man road
and podgak.
Although we are unable to offer, any opinion as to the pre-
cise age of the Vedda dialect there is no doubt that it is at least
of respectable antiquity. Geiger {pp. cit. p. 89), while admitting
that the material at his disposal is insufficient to allow him to
give " a full picture of the dialect," considers " beyond dispute "
that it contains " an archaic element " and he cites the verb
p. gacchati which in the Vedda dialect exists in the form gacana.
390 THE VEDDAS
whereas only the gerund ^^i' occurs in Sinhalese\ Nevill writes
of the Vedda dialect as being "largely identical with the old
Sinhalese now called Elu."
This carries its formation back some hundreds of years ; and
whether Nevill's statement is literally correct or not the archaic
forms and incomprehensible expressions preserved in the invo-
cations given in Chapter X show that the Vedda dialect arose
at least some centuries agol
Our Vedda vocabularies contain a few of the non-Aryan
words of unknown origin which are noted by Geiger as occurring
in Sinhalese such as kola leaf, kasa coconut (in composition to
form kasapengediya) and rilava monkey. They contain a far
larger number of Aryan words which Mr Gunasekara considers
are not Sinhalese, or contain a non-Sinhalese element.
Such words are : agedya mouse deer, basekarea monkey,
bopatte breast, bota man, botadamanya to kill, to die, botakabala
elephant, dcida lightning, doiida monkey, enavacenava to strike,
enomikalapa to ask, gabiaci iron, giilekepa to fall, kadira bat,
kaeriya bear, katanianye to speak, kike a small lizard, labacanava
to strike, langcenaiva to make, lemba axis deer, nmvibtida tortoise,
mangacenaiva to come or to go, viola elephant, okma buffalo,
pakaragaiide ganye and piichama ganya to smell, pakerevila bad,
pisiawi dance, pitagaca crocodile, rukka squirrel, sakolava sun,
sajiibala axe, sil powa neli rain, taekkiya axe, toll honey comb,
yamake areca cutter^.
1 Ml Parker writes: " I do not feel sure that gacana is derived from the Pali word
gacchati, to go. There is a general absence of Pali derivatives in the Vaedda dialect.
When used to express 'to go' or 'to come,' the word is always iiiangacana, in
which man is of course ' road,' the Sinhalese manga ; this word would be unnecessary
\i gacana means 'to go.' It seems not unlikely that the word is gasaita, 'to strike,'
which in Sinhalese has several meanings when combined with other words, as in
aiidagasanawd, 'to call,' and tatu-gahanaiva, 'to pluck off feathers. ' "
- Mr Parker writes : " I think that the earlier forms of Vaedda words are of
a later type than those of the inscriptions of the first five or six centuries a.d., and
partly for this reason I used the expression ' some centuries after Christ,' quoted by
you on page 443, without attempting to fix any date."
^ Reference to the vocabulary at the end of the book will show that a number of
these words are closely allied to Sinhalese words, while some appear to be corruptions
of the latter. We are indebted to Dr Barnett for pointing out that detila is derived
from the Sinhalese vidtdiya (Prakrit vijjullaya) while it seems reasonable to derive
" man " bota from the Sinhalese podda which has itself been adopted from Tamil.
LANGUAGE 39I
Mr Gunasekara's opinion as to the origin and relationship of
these words will be found in the vocabulary at the end of the
volume, where we also give his explanation of the many peri-
phrases we collected ^
We may refer here to the use of the affix -poja which the
Veddas join to many nouns, thus " blood " is called lepoja and
the sun irapoja. Inquiries made from Veddas and peasant
Sinhalese failed to suggest any origin for this affix, which can
scarcely be connected with the Sinhalese words podda and poda
" little," " little thing " as was suggested by some of our Sinhalese
informants. We therefore fall back upon a suggestion made to
us by Mr Gunasekara that poja is a corruption of Sanskrit
piidgala {?. piiggald) "individual," "body," "matter," "personal
identity." If this explanation is correct then lepoja is the equiva-
lent of " the individual or thing (called) le blood," irapoja of "the
individual or thing (called) ira sun," Juilampoja of "the individual
or thing (called) Jiulati wind." The use cf this word may have
been found convenient when a foreign word was adopted by
the Veddas, to make it clear that the borrowed word referred
to a concrete object. Later, when the new word had become
universally intelligible and was firmly established in the Vedda
dialect, poja must have been gradually dropped from a great
number of nouns, and this doubtless is probably the reason why
at present /^'(« is affixed only to a minority of words, and while
commonly used by some Veddas is scarcely heard in other com-
munities. This view is supported by Mr Gunasekara's remark
that piidgala has been used by the Sinhalese in the sense of
" person " (individual), though he considers that its use as an affix
to a considerable number of nouns is a purely Vedda feature.
Mr Parker suggests that there may be more than one origin
for -poja as used by the Veddas, " thus, lepoja might be lepoda,
drop of blood. There is also a Sinhalese word pajd (Skt. prajd)
^ It is extremely probable that some of the words in this list may be derived from
Tamil, the following being suggestions for which we are indebted to Mr Parker :
okmd buffalo, T. ukkam a bull, ox or cow ; mold elephant, T. nwlei a hornless beast ;
kaeriyd bear, T. kari black and ekd one ; toll honey comb, cf. T. tollei hole, per-
foration, tube ; sakolawa sun, cf. T. sakkarani a circle, disk, wheel (Sk. cakra) ;
dondd monkey, cf. T. tondu slave; ritkkd, Sin. ni/c tree and ekd one, i.e. "the tree
one."
392 THE VEDDAS
creature, one meaning of the Sanskrit word being ' designating,'
' indicating.' "
The occurrence of a large number of the non-Sinhalese Aryan
words in the Vedda vocabulary seems to us of considerable
importance. Many of these words are derived or borrowed from
the Hindi and Marathi languages or from Sanskrit words which
according to Mr Gunasekara "are seldom or never used in the
Sinhalese language."
This implies that these languages must at one time have
materially contributed to the formation of Sinhalese, and if it
could be determined at what period they had passed into the
vulgar tongue in Ceylon, this would give us the earliest date at
which the Veddas could have adopted Sinhalese,
At present this seems impossible, but valuable suggestions
concerning the period or periods at which the northern influence
was exerted may perhaps be gathered from the age of the Sinha-
lese folk-tales of Northern origin collected by Mr Parker from
districts in the interior of the Island " where story-books in
Sinhalese, Tamil, or Arabic do not appear to have penetrated,
and English is unknown by the villagers." This quotation as
well as those which follow are taken from the introduction
(pp. 37 and 38) to Mr Parker's recent volume Village Folk
Tales of Ceylon. Mr Parker, after referring to stories due
to immigrants from South India, writes as follows concerning
those which he considers were brought in by " settlers from the
Ganges valley, or near it.
" With regard to the latter, it is not probable that they con-
sisted only of the early immigrants of pre-Christian times.
King Nissanka-Malla, who reigned from 1 198 to 1207 A.D., has
recorded in his inscriptions that he was a native of Sinhapura,
then apparently the capital of the Kalinga kingdom, which
extended far down the east coast of India, southward from the
lower part of the Ganges valley ; and he and his chief Queen
Subhadra, a Kalinga Princess, must have brought into Ceylon
many of their fellow-countrymen. The Queens of two other
earlier Kings of Ceylon were also Princesses from Kalinga.
" In the Galpota inscription at Polannaruwa (Prof E. Miiller's
Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon, No. 148), he stated that "invited
LANGUAGE ' 393
by the King [Parakrama-Bahu I], who was his senior kinsman,
to come and reign over his hereditary kingdom of Lakdiva
[Ceylon], Vira Nissanka-Malla landed with a great retinue in
Lanka " [Ceylon]. Further on in the same inscription he stated
that " he sent to the country of Kalinga, and caused many
Princesses of the Soma and Surya races to be brought hither.
"A connexion with the Kalinga kingdom seems to have been
maintained from early times. In his inscriptions the same king
claimed that the sovereignty of Ceylon belonged by right to the
Kalinga dynasty. He described himself in his Dambulla in-
scription {Ancient Inscriptions, No. 143) as "the liege lord of
Lakdiva by right of birth, deriving descent from the race of
King Wijaya," the first king of Ceylon, who, according to the
Sinhalese historical works, was also born at a town, called
Sinhapura, which is stated to have been founded by his father.
In the Galpota inscription we read of " Princes of the Kalinga
race to whom the island of Lanka has been peculiarly appro-
priate since the reign of Wijaya."
As we have already stated in Chapter i the story of Wijaya
indicates that there was frequent communication between Ceylon
and Indian ports; we may now refer to the Mahawansa, in which,
as Mr Parker remarks, " there is a definite and credible state-
ment that vessels sailed direct from it [the port of Tamalitta] to
Ceylon in the reign of Asoka in the third century B.c.^"
The respectable, if not the extreme antiquity of the Vedda
vocabulary is supported by the existence of a few words re-
taining their common meaning in Vedda and the kaelcbasa
language. Although Mr Parker does not explain the origin of
the words in the kaelcbasa list published in Ancient Ceylon, he has
given the derivation of a considerable number of words occurring
in the kaelcbasa of Northern Ceylon in the Taprobaniaii (Vol. II,
pp. 15 — 21), in which he discusses, the origin and age of the
language. Accepting his conclusions " that many of these
forms are very ancient; — that they are, in fact, probably survivals
from an ancient dialect which was once spoken throughout a
^ Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, p. 42. The voyage from Tamalitta to Ceylon
is mentioned in the Mahaivansa on page 46. Another voyage from the same port,
when the Bo-tree cutting was conveyed to Ceylon, is described on pp. 74, 75.
Tamalitta is thought to have occupied the site of the modern Tamluk at the mouth of
the Hoogly.
394 THE VEDDAS
great part of the island," the occurrence of such names in Vedda
and kae/ebasa^s,nianda{or mundd){ox the monitor lizard (Sin. ^^j^),
and of viaruhi (from tnaraka a destroyer, a hawk, and luzva great)
for the Brahminy kite (Sin. ukussa), shows that the Vedda dialect
was formed at least as long ago as that period when the Sinhalese
were driven out of the Northern Province by the Tamils^
A single Vedda word sappi or cappi bird closely resembles
the Sakai word ciap, cap or cep ; in spite of the relationship re-
cognised by some as existing between the Veddas and Sakai
we hold this similarity to be of no significance, both words
probably being onomatopoeic'-.
^ Referring especially to the Wanniya "a race of hunters" who reside in small
villages of badly built houses in the northern part of the North Central Province,
extending from Padawiya to Tantrimalei, and who use a number of kachbasa words,
Mr Parkfer writes {op. at. p. i8): "Like the hunters of the North- Western and
North-Central Provinces, the Wanniyas make use of the remnants of a special dialect
when engaged on their forest expeditions, under the belief that its employment tends
to preserve them from wild animals, and to render them successful in their search for
honey and meat. This dialect is known as the ' kaelebasa,' jungle language, and the
Wanniyas themselves speak only a very few words of it. Other fragments are to be
met with among Sinhalese throughout all Northern Ceylon. That these words
originally formed part of one language is to be inferred from the fact that not more
than a few of the forms which present the most ancient appearance can be specially
selected as peculiar to a certain district. In one village, or a group of villages, a few
are known ; in another, some of the same words and a few others ; while some of the
words which are used at Padawiya are not only well-known in the North- Western
Province, but are even used upon similar occasions in Southern and Eastern Ceylon.
Some of them are also among the threshing-floor vocabulary, and a smaller number
are employed by Waeddas." Again on page 20 we read : " .So far as this language is
concerned, it may be concluded that the Wanniyas are, as they state, Sinhalese.
Taking into consideration the facts that they are found only on or near the northern
borders of the Kandian Kingdom, that they (or at any rate such of them as I have met)
speak Tamil, and that some of them have Tamil names, and also remembering the
particulars which I have given regarding their religion, it may further be inferred that,
as their name would seem to indicate, they form a remnant of the ancient Sinhalese
inhabitants of what is now the Northern Province. Throughout the whole of this
district, extending, in fact, within a few miles of Elephant's Pass, there are abundant
proofs that it was once peopled largely by Sinhalese ; yet it is doubtful if any other
distinct descendants of the former occupants can now be found. The rest of the
Sinhalese population may perhaps have almost completely died out, for the inhabitants
of the Sinhalese villages in the southern parts of the Province are, with very few
exceptions, comparatively recent settlers who have migrated during this century from
the North-Central districts. "
^ Mr Gunasekara while not denying that sappi may be onomatopoeic suggests that
it may have arisen as a corruption of the Sanskrit word pakshi bird. Mr Parker
considers that this word is derived from the Tamil Issappi (pronounced tccappi) a fly-
eater or bee-eater, from sappii to chew.
CHAPTER XVI
THE SENSES OF THE VEDDAS
The extraordinary skill displayed by the Veddas in dis-
covering game and honey led us to test their senses as far as
the time at our disposal would allow. Before recording the
results of these tests in detail we may state the impression
produced by certain incidents of our intercourse with the
Veddas. We several times had Vedda guides and invariably
noticed that, however difficult the ground, they walked quickly
and noiselessly without apparently paying any attention to
their footsteps. Nor did they ever seem even momentarily at
a loss as to the direction to take in order to reach any part of
their territory, in spite of the absence of obvious tracks. We do
not think that they depended to any considerable extent on the
sun ; indeed, the conditions under which our most striking ex-
perience of this kind took place puts that out of the question.
We left our camp at Sitala Wanniya early one morning with
Handuna and his son-in-law Kaira to walk to a cave which
proved to be about four miles distant. Our course lay through
dense jungle, it rained intermittently and the glimpses of the
sky which we obtained showed that it was completely overcast
during the whole of the time. There was no sign of a track,
and except once for about a couple of hundred yards we did
not follow any stream though we crossed several. Nevertheless
Handuna led us at a rapid walk straight up to the rock shelter
which was our destination. This faculty is shared by another
people inhabiting Ceylon, the Wanniya, the inhabitants of the
Wanni, a large forest tract in the North Central Province. The
life led by these hunters in some respects resembles that of the
39^ THE VEDDAS
Veddas, for they depend largely on game and honey for their
subsistence and like the Veddas are bow-men. Mr Parker, who
has spent much time in the Wanni, gives an account of a journey
he made guided by Wanniya which is so interesting that we
quote it at length.
" I was taken by some Wanniyas through a piece of wild
pathless forest ten or eleven miles across, near Padawiya tank,
at the north-eastern boundary of the North-Central Province.
The jungle was dense, and the journey therefore occupied all
day. Of course we were unable to proceed in a straight line,
and more than once we deviated into a right-angle from our
proper direction in order to avoid thorny jungle that was said
to be in front of us. At about one o'clock we came to a high
rock, as they had promised, on the top of which good rain water
is always retained in a hollow. There we cooked and ate some
food, after which we resumed our tramp. In the middle of the
forest, as we were proceeding along a deer-track, one of the men
drew my attention to a half-broken twig hanging at the side of
the path. ' I broke that two years ago,' he said ; he was then
proceeding at a right-angle from the line we were taking.
" When I asked him if he never lost his way in such thick
forest, full of undergrowth, he at first could not understand my
meaning. After I had explained it — feeling while doing so that
I was making an interesting exhibition of my ignorance — he
laughed consumedly and thought it a capital joke. ' How can
one lose it ? ' he said. He had never heard of such a thing
before ; to him it appeared to be quite impossible, apparently
as much so as getting lost in an open field would be to us.
' When we look at the sun we always know which way to go,'
he remarked. The men justified my confidence in their powers
by emerging, just before dusk, at the very spot where I wished
to arrive, man}- miles from the homes of any of the party.
Those who had acted as guides lived some twelve miles or
more away, by the nearest footpath ; and the house of the man
who lived nearest was five miles from the point where we left
the forest. I have always thought it a very clever feat'."
Mr Parker's account of the jungle craft of the Wanniya is
^ Ancient Ceylon, pp. 77, 78.
THE SENSES OF THE VEDDAS 397
SO vivid and applies so thoroughly to the progress of the Veddas
through the jungle that we again quote from his work.
" While engaged on a hunting expedition, these hunters [the
Wanniya]... glide along in single file, avoiding every leafy twig
the rustling of which might betray their presence, or if game be
near holding it until the next man can take charge of it, and
hand it over in the same manner to the man behind him. At
such times all tread in the footprints of the first man, who when
putting his foot on the ground first glides his toes along it in
order to push aside any twigs or leaves that might emit a noise
if crushed. Their eyes and ears are fully alert to catch the
slightest sound or movement among the thick jungle around
them. ...They hear sounds and see objects that to a person
whose perception is dulled by civilisation might as well be
altogether absent, so far as his power of observation is con-
cerned. Their trained ears detect the footfall of the wild forest
animals walking through the jungle at considerable distances
away, and can distinguish even the species by means of the
sound, which is quite inaudible to less experienced observers.
If any uncertainty exists regarding it they crouch down, or
kneel with one ear on the ground, and soon clear up their
doubts. When they are in search of Deer or other animals
with keen sight, they hide their cloth by hanging leafy twigs
round their waist-string. This certainly gives them a very wild
appearance, but there is no trustworthy evidence to show that
it was the primitive dress of the aborigines of Ceylon.
" Wild honey being one of their favourite foods, their vision
and hearing are trained to an astonishing quickness in detecting
every Bee that flies across their path, and noting its species, and
whether it is flying laden or is only in quest of food. When it
is carrying a load of honey and flying straight through the trees,
they at once move off in the same direction, if it be the season
in which the hives contain honey, that is, August and September,
knowing of course that the laden insect makes a direct flight to
its hive — the proverbial bee-line. As the nest is approached
other Bees are seen converging towards it, and in a few minutes
it is certain to be discovered ^"
1 op. cit., pp. 70, 71.
39^ THE VEDDAS
Doubtless Mr Parker is right in ascribing the marvellous
jungle craft of the Wanniya to trained perception and powers
of observation, for the equally fine performance of the Veddas
is certainly not due to any all round superiority of the senses,
as our observations on sight and hearing indicate.
Visual Acuity.
The visual acuity of twenty-four Vedda men and youths was
tested by the E method described by Dr Rivers \ The majority
of the subjects we tested quickly learnt what was required of
them, though they were far less interested in this than in the
colour vision tests and illusions, to which we shall refer pre-
sently.
The average distance at which a Vedda could distinguish
the letter E was 14 metres, no appreciable difference being
detected between the Veddas of the wildest groups (Sitala
Wanniya, Henebedda) and the more sophisticated Veddas of
Bandaraduwa. Giving the results on the same plan as that
adopted in the second volume of the Reports of the Expedition
to Torres Straits, 10 men (41770) have a visual acuity ex-
pressed by less than 2; 12 (50%) have an acuity between 2
and 3. The greatest distance at which E was recognised was
' This method is a modification of the E test devised by Cohn, "in which a letter
E can be exposed in any desired position through a circular hole in a card. The subject
of the test has to place a letter E which he holds in his hands in the same position as
one shown to him. Instead of the small cardboard E provided in Cohn's test, I used
a larger letter E pasted on a board. Cohn's method is very simple and convenient
and it entirely removes the danger rccompanying the older tests, that the letters may
be learnt by heart during the process of testing.
" In general the procedure was the same as that previously adopted in Torres Straits ;
the observations were made in the open air, both eyes were used, and the distance at
which a native made two mistakes in ten exposures was taken as his limit of vision.
In one respect the procedure differed; with the older form of the test it was most con-
venient to begin with the observer beyond his far limit of vision, and to bring him up
towards the test-types till he could decipher the letters. With Cohn's form of the test,
I first showed the E in various positions at a short distai.ce, and as soon as I had
satisfied myself that the native understood the method of testing, I gradually increased
the distance till I reached a point at which the positions of the letter could no longer
be recognized." {British Journal oj Psychology, Vol. i, 1905, p. 323.)
THE SENSES OF THE VEDDAS 399
19 metres; this occurred twice. According to the system in
ordinary use the position of the letter E used is supposed to
be distinguished by the normal eye at a distance of 6 metres,
that is, the average sight of a Vedda would be put down as
2'33 times the normal. It is, however, well known that the
results obtained are greatly influenced by the quality and nature
of the light existing during the test, and comparison with the
figures obtained in other countries shows that there is little
difference between Veddas and other races. This was confirmed
by the results of the examination of ten peasant Sinhalese whose
average visual acuity was 17 metres, while if one man of dis-
tinctly subnormal vision be ignored the average acuity of the
remaining nine works out at nearly 185 metres. The keenest
sighted individual could distinguish the position of the letter E
at 22 metres.
Acuity of vision as tested by the E method seems to
decrease in middle life, but this although often quite well
marked does not lead to any recognised diminution of hunting
capacity, practice and knowledge fully making up for the
physical changes in the eye.
Colour Vision.
The alleged absence of the full appreciation of colours
among the Veddas was brought forward in Ceylon as a proof
of their low mental capacity, but careful observations made with
coloured wools and papers showed their perception of colour
to be extremely acute. Forty-two adult males, 1 5 women and
3 boys were tested for colour blindness with a negative result.
The majority of our subjects matched the wools quickly and
accurately, and of those who at first made mistakes nearly all
matched a wool with another of the same saturation but of a
different colour. This was particularly noticeable in one old
woman who picked out the wools and arranged them in heaps
composed of varying colours of the same saturation.
Colour names were collected from 31 men and 4 women
400 THE VEDDAS
by means of Rothe's set of colour papers and the results ob-
tained in this way were checked by frequent reference to
Holmgren's wools. When shown the coloured papers and asked
the names the more sophisticated among the Veddas gave the
usual Sinhalese colour names, red ratiL ; orange and yellow
kaha ; green (three shades) and blue and purple were all
called ;///; black kalu\ white sudu. However few men used
all the Sinhalese names, most of the men making comparison
with natural objects for at least one or two of the colours, while
the least sophisticated men made comparisons for all the colours.
Handuna of Sitala Wanniya compared all colours to flowers and
leaves except red and orange for which he gave the usual Sin-
halese terms. As the flowering season had not begun at the
time of our visit we were unable to test the accuracy of his
comparisons with the objects themselves, therefore after the
colour papers had been put away we repeated the names he
had told us and asked him to pick out similar colours from the
coloured wools. This he did, and we found that these matched
the colour papers to which the flower names had originally been
applied with extraordinary accuracy. This man and others as
uncontaminated as himself distinguished the two shades of blue
and the three of green of the papers, while those who had mixed
more with Sinhalese applied ;/// to all shades of blue and green.
In order to test whether Handuna knew the ordinary Sinhalese
colour names, we gave him the bundle of wools and asked him
to show us sudu (white), he then picked out white and the very
slightly saturated colours of all shades. For ratu (red) he gave
all the strongly saturated shades of red, purple, claret, bright
pink and brown shading off to yellow ; kaha (yellow) included
yellows and a few pale pinks ; nil (blue and green) included all
strongly saturated blue and green-grey tints, violet and some
dark browns ; these darker shades he also said were kalu (black)
and he compared them to the bark of trees.
It was noticed that on asking the names for the colour
papers the Veddas made comparisons, likening the red paper
to a red flower or saying " red like blood," while the purple
paper was compared to a blue flower ; the three shades of green
shown would often be compared to three different kinds of
THE SENSES OF THE VEDDAS 4OI
leaves, whereas the rural Sinhalese would say ratu for the two
first colours and nil for the four last.
Other comparisons frequently made by Veddas were " like
hatu " used both for orange and black, a source of great be-
wilderment till it was discovered that /latu was a general term
for fungus, a bright orange and a black species being brought to
us to clear up the difficulty.
Red was compared to fire, black to the coat of a bear, pure
white to coconut milk and dirty white to the wax of the bambara.
Generally speaking it appeared that the more unsophisticated
the Vedda the less he used the Sinhalese colour terms, using in
their place references to familiar objects. " Like blood " was a
frequent comparison, sometimes used for red and sometimes for
purple. Though colours were occasionally compared to bird's
feathers we did not note any compared to butterflies. When
shown purple, violet and blue, most Veddas said they did not
know those colours or had never seen anything like them, and
one said the same of yellow.
Forty-eight rural Sinhalese were tested for colour blindness
and no case was found. The coloured wools were usually
matched quickly and accurately. Colour names were collected
from 25 men, the usual names given were ratii for red and
purple, kaJia for yellow and orange, nil for all greens and blues
and sometimes for violet and purple, kalu for black and also
often for indigo, siidii for white. Other words occasionally given
were dmnbiitii or diunbnrn^ once given for black, three times for
violet, once for blue and once for purple, and on one occasion
when wools instead of papers were shown the same word was
applied to a shade of claret. Illalu'^ was used once for purple,
and once for violet. Guru'' which means mud was given on one
^ Mr Parker informs us "that du»ibutu is the same as duviburti and means a dark
reddish purple or according to Clough 'a compound of red and black ' and is sometimes
applied to the dark rain clouds of the evening."
2 Elalu is stated in Clough's Dictionary to be applied to "a fair complexion, light
red, brown."
* Mr Parker writes, "In Clough's Dictionary the meanings oi guritgala are 'red
chalk [Platerite], red orpiment, gold' but '■guru colour' is applied colloquially to a
purple sky." In the invocation to Pannikkia Yaka (Chapter X, No. XIV) guru is
applied to the sky and the earth at dawn.
s. v. 26
402
THE VEDDAS
occasion for orange and on another for violet ; taniba (copper)
was used for violet and blue, this word was also given for the
colour of our hair when it applied equally to dark and red hair.
Sinhalese hair was called kalu. Pachha was once used for
yellow-green, this being a Tamil word for green.
Whereas the Veddas seemed to think of colours by a mental
reference to the appearance of leaves, flowers and other natural
objects, the Sinhalese far more usually made use of colour terms,
and none distinguished as many shades as the Veddas except
Tissahami, " the Vedda Arachi," whose keen comparisons make
his observations worthy of record in full. Several Sinhalese
likened red and purple to blood, and compared green with the
colour of leaves. Tissahami was first shown the colour papers,
for red he gave ratu and said it was like fire ; yellow he said he
did not know ; bright green nil, blue-green nil, blue kalu, these
three he compared to different kinds of creepers ; purple he said
he did not know ; violet like the small stingless bee ; black kaht ;
white sudn. He was so interested in looking at colours and
comparing them that we showed him several other objects. The
outside of a pig-skin pocket book he called duinburu, the cleaned
and unpolished side of the leather he compared to clay. He
was then shown the bundle of coloured wools which he examined
at will, comparing and naming those he chose, a grey approach-
ing violet he called dumbnru ; dark greyish-brown he said was
like a certain kind of leaf ; golden yellow like monkey's fat ; a
light yellow-brown like a spider's web ; greenish-blue like the
leaves of a particular kind of yam ; a deep claret almost brown
he compared to the bark of a tree which is chewed with areca
nut and dark greyish-violet to a village potato. It seems that
this man whose keen intellect we have referred to in Chapter II
had retained something of the Vedda mode of thought acquired
during his contact with them in his youth.
THE SENSES OF THE VEDDAS
403
Visual Illusions.
The Miiller-Lyer Illusion. We used the improved apparatus
made of thin xylonite (Fig. 15) devised by Dr Rivers. "One
part of the apparatus sHdes in and out of a framework, on the
upper surface of which is drawn one-half of the Miiller-Lyer
figure, while the other half is drawn on the moveable sliding
portion. The lines of which the figure consists are only half a
millimetre broad and the point of junction between the two
parts of the figure corresponds with the line of junction between
the two parts of the apparatus....
• • • • • *
■ ^ ^^I^
• « • • • «
Fig. 15.
" The observer had to make five observations by sliding the
moveable part in till the two lines of the figure appeared to him
to be equal to one another, and then a second series of five
measurements was made by drawing the sliding part outwards
till the two parts again appeared equal. In the first series, the
variable line was made equal to the standard by a process of
shortening, in the second, by a process of lengthening the variable
lineV
Seventeen Veddas were tested, all of whom appeared to
take great interest in the matter. .
The average length seen by them was 52 01 (begin long) and
52*09 (begin short). It is of interest to compare these figures
with average taken from 13 Sinhalese — 55'33 (begin long) and
557 (begin short), as well as those taken by Dr Rivers in India.
British journal of Psychology, Vol. i, p. 356.
26-
404 THE VEDDAS
Twenty Todas gave an average of 6r2 (begin long) and 58*4
(begin short), while 28 Uralis and Sholagas, i.e. members of
jungle tribes comparable in some respects with the Veddas, gave
an average of 57*2 (begin long) and 53'4 (begin short).
One Vedda, who first gave 75, i.e. did not see the illusion,
afterwards gave 61*54, 51*58. The most correct measurements
were given by Vela, 66, 64, 63, 74, 72, average 67*8 (begin long),
and 65, 65, 6"], 69, 72, average ^y^ (begin short). In many
instances although the men were interested and apparently
trying their best each time the results in all their five attempts
showed great variations. Among the Sinhalese, on the other
hand, the results from separate individuals were often remark-
ably constant, one man giving 58, 58, 56, 60, 59, and another
60, 56, 57, 57. The average of 16 Sinhalese gave 55*3 (begin
long) and 55*7 (begin short). The averages of the mean varia-
tions (M.V.) of Veddas and Sinhalese are as follows :
Veddas Sinhalese
Begin long Begin short Begin long Begin short
3*5 3"i 3'2 2*5
Other Illusions. A number of illusions were shown to
Veddas and Sinhalese. Colour after effects were in general
seen very clearly as were the parallel line illusions numbered
B. 3 and B. 4 in the Milton-Bradley collection. A number of
Sinhalese peasants were especially interested in these parallel
lines, working out the explanation for themselves ; they were
also interested in the illusion numbered C. 5, consisting of
two curved pieces of cardboard of the same shape and of equal
size which looked of very different size when placed side by
side. The general explanation of these illusions offered by the
jungle-dwelling Sinhalese was that their eyes were defective. The
results obtained by showing equal black and white squares on
white and black grounds were by no means constant.
THE SENSES OF THE VEDDAS 405
Tactile Discrimination.
The threshold for the tactile discrimination of two points
was tested by the method devised by Dr W. McDougall, and
used by him in Torres Straits^
Preliminary observations on Sinhalese in which they were
told after each test whether they were right or wrong suggested
that this practice led to speculation on their sensations, their
subsequent answers being influenced by inference and judgment.
Accordingly neither Veddas nor Sinhalese were told whether
their answers were right or wrong.
The areas of skin tested were :
(i) The middle of the flexor surface of the left forearm, the
points being applied in a longitudinal direction.
(2) The nape of the neck, the points being applied trans-
versely and about equidistant from the middle line.
(3) The palm or surface of the terminal phalanx of the left
index finger, the points being applied longitudinally.
Our observations which were made on 12 Veddas and the same
1 This method has been described by Dr Rivers (op. cit., pp. ^61,, 364) as follows:
" The important feature of this method is that the area of the skin which is being tested
is touched with one point just as often as with two points. If stimulations with one
point are only occasionally interspersed between the stimulations with two points so
that the latter are given more frequently, the results are almost certain to be biassed.
If the observer either knows or thinks that he is being touched with two points more
frequently than with one point, he will tend in cases of doubt, to answer 'two' more
often than 'one.' The error thus introduced can only be eliminated by an absolute
equality in the number of single and double stimulations.
" The compass points were applied at a distance from one another decidedly greater
than the probable threshold, and the distance between them gradually diminished till
the two points were no longer recognised as two. Twenty stimulations were made at
each distance at which any error occurred, ten stimulations with one point, and an
equal number with two points. The distance taken as the threshold is that at which
two mistakes in ten occur in each kind of stimulation....
"A man who called two points 'one' twice and one point 'two' three times at
a given distance would be rejected at that distance, and the distance next above it
would be regarded as the threshold.
"When the skin was touched with one point only, this was applied in the neigh-
bourhood of one or other of the spots touched in the double stimulations."
406 THE VEDDAS
number of Sinhalese showed that on the whole the tactile sensi-
bility of the two races was equal ; further no member of either
race showed any great variation from his fellows,
Forearm
Nape
Finger
mm.
mm.
mm.
Vedda average
55
27-9
2-9
mean variation
(M.V.)
5-8
117
0-6
Sinhalese average
50
30
2-6
mean variation
(M.V.)
13
6-5
0-6
Sensibility to Pain.
The degree of sensitiveness to pain of both Veddas and
Sinhalese was tested by means of the modification of Cattell's
algometer used by Rivers and Head\ which differs from the
original in that the spring is extended instead of compressed.
" It consists of an ebonite rod 9 mm. in diameter, with smooth,
somewhat flattened hemispherical head, which slides within a
large ebonite rod against the resistance of a spiral spring. The
larger rod is grasped by the operator, and the end of the smaller
rod applied perpendicularly to the skin and a steadily increasing
pressure made until the subject cries ' Stop.' A brass pin pro-
jecting from the smaller rod pushes an index up a scale which is
attached to the larger rod and graduated in kilograms. The
degree of pressure exerted can then be read from the index
after removing the instrument from the skin I" Our subjects
were instructed to cry out directly they began to feel any pain,
the algometer always being applied by the same observer who
endeavoured to increase the pressure at a constant rate.
The areas chosen for application of the algometer were :
(i) the centre of the nails of the thumb and index of each
hand ;
(ii) the sternum, pressure being applied over the manubrium
to corresponding spots on each side of the middle line;
(iii) above the knee, the subject being seated with the knee
' A Hutnan Experiment in Nei-ve Division. Brain 1908.
^ Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. Ii, p. 194.
THE SENSES OF THE VEDDAS
407
bent at right angles and pressure being applied in the centre of
the limb immediately behind the knee-cap.
It has been pointed out by Dr Rivers that there is danger
that "some individuals might regard the experiment as a test of
the power of enduring pain, and might not speak till they had
experienced pain for some time and could bear it no longer*."
We were fully alive to this, and while one observer applied the
algometer the other would often watch for the slight involuntary
flinching which in many of our subjects — especially in the
Veddas — marked the threshold of pain. As will be seen by the
figures given below the threshold was consistently lower for the
Veddas than for the Sinhalese. The Veddas were undoubtedly
more interested in the experiment than the Sinhalese, and the
flinching accompanying the onset of pain was more frequently
noted in the former than in the latter. Nevertheless we consider
that the difference in the figures is not due to carelessness or
misapprehension on the part of the Sinhalese, but indicates a
real difference in sensibility to pain in the two peoples. Were
this not the case we should expect to obtain considerable varia-
tions in the same individual in the figures given by pressure
on symmetrical areas ; such variations are, however, quite rare.
We tested 21 Veddas and 18 Sinhalese, with the results
shown in the following table :
Thumb
Forefinger
Sternum
Above Knee
R.
L.
R.
L.
I (L.)
MR.)
R.
L.
4'3
3-8
371
3-6
3-8
4'i
6-2
6-1
■IS
•09
•6
•5
■5
•I
•T
7
5-5
5-3
5
5-8
5-3
5-5
10-3
9-3
i"3
•4
1-3
•6
•06
•06
•06
•4
Veddas (21) average
„ „ M.V.
Sinhalese (18) average
„ M.V.
With a single exception (the forefinger in the Sinhalese)
the thresholds are higher on the right side than on the left.
1 British [oiirnal of Psychology, Vol. i, p. 372.
408 THE VEDDAS
Dr Rivers' experiments upon the Todas gave the same result
and led him to conclude that the threshold is slightly higher
on the right than on the left side. In coming to this conclusion
he took into account a set of control experiments in which the
left side was first stimulated ; it will be noticed in the above
table that the left side of the sternum was the first stimulated i.
Smell.
No attempt was made to determine the olfactory acuity of
the Veddas, but our experiments with scents suggested to us
that this was not specially well developed. Certainly the
Henebedda Veddas suffered no inconvenience from the ob-
jectionable smell which arose round the Bendiyagalge rock-
shelters after a few days' occupation, nor did they seek to
diminish this smell, which was due to the lack of the most
elementary sanitary precaution.
The following scents were offered to a number of Veddas at
Henebedda, Bandaraduwa, Godatalawa, Sitala Wanniya and
Unuwatura Bubula : civet, camphor, jasmine, peaii d'Espagne,
tonquin, orris, assafoetida, peppermint, verbena, crategine, chloro-
form, Lin. terebinthinae aceticum (B.P.), chloral, and eau de
Cologne. The men examined were Tuta of Henebedda (i),
Kaira of Henebedda (2), Poromala Walaha (3), Kaira (bearded)
of Henebedda (4), the Vidane of Bandaraduwa (5), Banda of
Bandaraduwa (6), a number of men of Godatalawa (7), Kaira of
Sitala Wanniya (8), Handuna and Nila of Sitala Wanniya (9),
Naida and Appu of Unuwatura Bubula (10), Tambia (11),
Banda (12).
In most cases their opinions were taken down separately, but
at Unuwatura Bubula and Godatalawa the scents were passed
round and the general opinion of our informants recorded. The
Veddas were always interested in examining the scents, but
though they said a number of the odours were good they
1 In his paper in the British Journal of Psychology Dr Rivers discusses at some
length the possible fallacies of the method described.
THE SENSES OF THE VEDDAS 409
seldom showed any emotion of pleasure : on the other hand
their demonstrations of dislike were unmistakable. When a
scent appeared to them particularly distasteful they invariably
held their noses and cleared their throats, but we do not remember
seeing them spit. It will be noticed that there is a great varia-
tion of opinion, and even such a distinct odour as civet is
considered by some very pleasant and by others extremely
disagreeable. Again the same simile " squeezed orange skin "
was used by different men referring to such unlike scents as
civet and peppermint, and while in the first instance it was
considered good, in the second it was thought unpleasant. The
men of Godatalawa compared camphor to the flowers of the
na tree {Mesua ferred), calling it a good scent, while Kaira of
Sitala Wanniya said assafoetida was a very bad scent like na
flowers, and assured us that he disliked the scent of the na flower
intensely. Except such well known flowers as this and that of
the mora tree we were unable to identify any of the flowers men-
tioned as they were nearly all out of season.
Civet. Good, wild boar's fat (i), good, squeezed orange
skin (3), not good (4), very bad, like faeces (5) ; good, like
burning (6) ; good, like a flower smell (7) ; bad, like kalka
flower (8) ; like wax of tree bambara (9) ; good, like leopard
fat (10); bad, like faeces (n); bad, like faeces (12).
Camphor. Good (i) ; good (3); bad, like squeezed orange
(4); bad (5); good (6); very good, like smell of na flowers (7):
good, like koel flower (8); good, like a kind of lime (9); good,
like medicine (10) ; very bad (i i) ; sour, bad (12).
Jasmine. Good smell, monkey fat (i); good, like smell of
mangoes (3) ; like honey of buhimal (4) ; bad (5) ; very slight
smell and not good (6) ; not good, like kapnmal (} Eriodcndron
anfractiios7im) (7) ; good, like minbuto flower (8) ; like young
oranges, good (9); bad, like pig fat (10); not good (n); doubt-
ful (12).
Peaii d'espagne. Doubtful, like betel leaves (i); good (3);
good, like moramal honey (4); doubtful, partly good (5); too
strong (6) ; like coconut spirit (7) ; good, like kiola honey (8) ;
good, like orange (9); bad, like bear's fat (10); good (12).
Tonquin. Good, like bear's fat (i ) ; like the fat of the monitor
4IO THE VEDDAS
lizard, good (4); good (5); good (6); very good, like jak fruit
{ArtocarpHS intcgrifolid) (7) ; malmini fruit, good (8) ; like honey,
good (9); bad, like bear's fat (10) ; good (11); bad (12).
Orris. Good, lime peel squeezed (i); good, like fat of the
monitor lizard (3); not good, like squeezed orange skin (4) I
bad (5); like smoke (6); good, like waluinal (7); bad (8) ; bad,
like lamina (edible) fruit (9); bad, like elk fat (10); bad (11);
very bad (12).
Assafoetida. Bad, like bear's fat (i); good (3); bad (4);
bad (5); good (6); very good, like ghee (7) ; bad, like na flower (8) ;
bad, like na flower (9); bad (10); bad (ii); bad, like sour
lime (12).
Peppermint. Like wild boar's fat (i); like pepper (2); good (3);
bad, like orange skin (4) ; like smoke (6) ; good, like opoln flowers
(7) ; bad, like a flower (8) ; good, like malmini fruit (9) ; medicine
like coriander (10); bad, like burning (li); too strong, bad (12).
Verbena. Good, squeezed orange skin (3) ; good, like the
flowers of the mora tree {NepJielium longana) (4); bad (5); no
smell or very little (6) ; very good, like smell of oil (7) ; good,
like naram flowers (8); good, like skin of lime (9); like coconut-
spirit, good (10); like honey (11); bad (12).
A few jungle Sinhalese showed very much the same varia-
tions in personal likes and dislikes as the Veddas, but none of
these men compared the scents to the odour of particular kinds
of flowers — indeed comparisons were few — though one man who
disliked the smell of assafoetida extremely called this titai.
This word was commonly applied to the sensation produced by
a solution of quinine applied to the tongue^
^ We may here note the results ^f a very few experiments on taste. The Veddas
of Henebedda (we speak especially of the young men of the community) have learnt
to eat curry as "hot" and as highly spiced as that favoured by the Sinhalese — i.e. a
curry far "hotter" than suits the palate of a seasoned European. These men resembled
the peasant Sinhalese in calling the "hot" taste produced by pepper kata pissenawa,
i.e. mouth burning; quinine they compared to the l^itter karaivila fruit. Sugar or
anything sweet was always compared to honey by both Veddas and Sinhalese; one of
the latter compared vinegar to the taste of the juice of limes.
THE SENSES OF THE VEDDAS 4I I
Hearing.
We made a number of observations on acuity of hearing ;
owing to the different conditions prevalent on different days
and in different localities, no attempt is made to compare
the results obtained from Veddas of different groups. Our
observations were made with Politzer's Honnesser, an instru-
ment in which a small metal hammer strikes a metal bar
and so produces a constant sound, and although no general
conclusions can be drawn certain of our results seem worthy of
record. Eight men of Bendiyagalge were tested immediate!}'
after each other; two of these men, judged to be under twenty,
heard the sound at 8 and 10 metres respectively; four more or
less middle-aged men heard it at 3 to 5 metres; and two men,
Poromala (Wallaha) and his brother Handuna, both of whom we
judged to be over fifty, could only hear it at one metre or less.
The figures obtained with the Sitala Wanniya group though
less striking point in the same direction, so that we seem
justified in stating that the hearing powers of the Veddas are
at their maximum during or soon after adolescence, after which
they soon begin to lessen and may reach a rather low level
while the individual is still active and energetic, and before his
capacity as a hunter is noticeably diminished. None of the
older men with a low auditory acuity had given us any reason
in daily intercourse to suspect that their hearing was less acute
than that of their younger comrades. We several times noted
the very great influence of the position of the head, and we soon
allowed our subjects to stand with the head in any comfortable
position in which they could not see the Hormesser, which was
clicked behind them as nearly as possible at right angles to
a plane passing through both shoulders. Under these con-
ditions a Vedda of Danigala, with his head turned so that his
left ear was inclined towards the Honnesser, could hear four out
of five clicks at 16 metres, though with his head facing directly
away from the Hormesser he could only doubtfully hear any-
thing at 8 metres, and could not definitely hear the sound at a
greater distance than 5 metres.
412 THE VEDDAS
Our observations on Sinhalese were very limited, but led us
to consider that the acuity of hearing of the peasant Sinhalese
between the ages of 30 and 40 did not excel that of Europeans,
for although a few individuals had a higher acuity than our-
selves, the majority fell below us.
Enumeration.
This is a convenient place to refer to the question of counting.
With regard to village Veddas our observations confirm the
experience of others that the village Veddas have adopted the
Sinhalese numerals, which they use correctly, at least up to
20, but we cannot say whether they are equally accurate when
using higher numbers. This facility in counting is not found
among the wilder Veddas whose method among themselves on
the rare occasions on which they wish to express a definite
number is to take small pieces of stick and lay them on one side
saying as each stick is put down ekavmi " that is one." Beyond
this the wilder Veddas have a slight knowledge of the meaning
of the Sinhalese words for the lower numbers. Handuna of Sitala
Wanniya made no difficulty in picking out 2, 3, or 4 pieces of
stick from a heap on being given the Sinhalese number ; the
Sinhalese words for 5 or 6 (^though he said he knew them
perfectly well) led to hesitation and sometimes to failure in
picking out the correct number, while larger numbers obviously
failed to convey any precise idea to him. Although we in-
terrogated only two other elderly Veddas of the wilder groups
on this matter the results we obtained from them were so like
those given by Handuna that we do not hesitate to accept his
behaviour as typical of the old members of the less sophisticated
groups of Veddas. and in support of this view we may refer to
p. 33 on which we have stated the information given on this
point by a very old Sinhalese informant. We do not attribute
the Vedda inability to count to any lack of intelligence but
simply to their having little need to be precise in the matter of
numbers'.
* For further information concerning this point cf. Ancient Ceylon, pp. 86 and 87.
CHAPTER XVII
CONCLUSIONS
In the first chapter we have given an account of those facts
in the history and pre-history of Ceylon which must be taken
into account in any investigation of the Veddas, and we referred
(p. 27) to the common Sinhalese belief that the Veddas were
once rich and powerful. We stated that we could find no
adequate reason for this belief, which is held only by the
Sinhalese and is dismissed with contempt by all Veddas. It
seemed to us that we had said enough on the subject, but the
appearance of Mr Parker's recent work, Ancient Ceylon, which
must always remain authoritative for much which concerns the
Island, has persuaded us of the necessity for stating at greater
length the reasons for our opinion.
Mr Parker's views on the subject of the former civilisation
of the Veddas will be found on pp. 103 to 112 of Ancient
Ceylon, and we cannot do better than begin our argument by
quoting a considerable part of pp. in and 112 in which he
both states the problem and summarises his views as to its
solution.
" In dealing with the position of the Vaeddas, we are faced
with this difficulty — that a portion of the race was relatively
civilised in ancient times, while certain members of it are found
at the present day almost in the state occupied by some of the
most primitive peoples. We must adopt a theory which will
include all the facts of the case ; and not one which ignores
some of the most important and significant and incontrovertible
historical details and traditions. We cannot select the smallest
and wildest group of Vaeddas, and because of their simple life
as hunters place the whole race in the position which they con-
414 THE VEDDAS
tinue to occupy... partly by accident and partly of their own free
choice.
" My conclusion therefore is that whether there has been any
retrogression of the present Forest Vaeddas from a certain low
state of civilisation or not, in very early times a great part of the
race had reached a much more advanced state of culture than
the wilder members of it, whose more or less isolated life either
as hunters, or as hunters-and-villagers, did not in many cases
induce them to feel any desire to participate in it. This more
civilised portion has absorbed the Gangetic settlers, and ac-
quired their status and language, and with some intermixture
of Dravidian blood, or in many instances without it, has become
the existing Kandian Sinhalese race.
"The ancestors of the present few hunting Vaeddas — who
now most probably number much less than one hundred —
either abandoned, some centuries after Christ, a form of village
life in which they were partly or chiefly hunters, and reverted
to the forest life of their forefathers ; or, like some of the wild
hunting tribes of the South Indian hills, remained, at least until
very recent years, in nearly the original condition of the first
comers to Ceylon, apparently simply because they preferred the
free untrammelled life in the woods, and found their accustomed
habits and household articles suited to all the requirements of
a hunter's existence in the forests of Ceylon. The evidence
afforded by the caves appears to me to be in favour of the
former theory, which is also supported by the loss of their
original language and their adoption of the Sinhalese tongue.
" The majority, however, of those who did not coalesce with
the Gangetic settlers and their descendants, or accept their mode
of life and culture, have, in comparatively modern times, and in
certain instances partly through compulsion — since portions of
the forests in which they were accustomed to hunt have been
cut down in order to permit rice and millet cultivation — to some
extent adopted the more civilised existence of their neighbours.
Many keep buffaloes, and all but those few who live only by
hunting and fishing, grow millet and other plants suited to their
jungle clearings. An exceptional few in favourable sites for it
even cultivate rice, and, as some of them informed me, in recent
CONCLUSIONS 415
years have settled down permanently and have planted such
fruit trees as Coconuts, Areka-nuts, and Plantains about their
houses."
Mr Parker admits such intercourse between the races as is
necessary to allow intermarriage and a considerable amount of
social contact-metamorphosis, so that we are in complete agree-
ment with him concerning the " majority " of whom he speaks
in the last paragraph, and no one will doubt " that in very
early times a great part of the race had reached a much more
advanced state of culture than the wilder members of it." It
therefore onl)^ remains to discuss his conclusions concerning
those of whon-i he speaks as the " present Forest Vaeddas."
We hold that there can be little doubt as to which of the
two hypotheses put forward by Mr Parker is the correct one,
and in spite of the fact that he leans towards the opposite view
we shall now proceed to summarise our reasons for believing
that the few unsophisticated Veddas of the present day do in
fact represent the aboriginal inhabitants of Ceylon.
In the iirst place let us consider their physical characters.
Experts in comparative anatomy will turn to the work of the
Sarasins to estimate for themselves the significance of the
primitive osteological characters they describe ; it is only
necessary here to refer to the more obvious external characters
in which the Veddas differ from the Sinhalese. A single glance
at the photograph reproduced in Plate III shows that two men
in this group differ in general appearance and in their greater
stature from their comrades ; these two men, as has been men-
tioned on p. 16, are half-breeds, as are those shown in figure 1
of Plate XIV. The younger man might pass for a Sinhalese
and in features closely recalls the Kandyan Sinhalese figured by
Denikeri, who does not at all resemble the relatively broad faced
and broad nosed Veddas shown in Plates III, IV, V and VII.
Further, among the measurements given in Chapter I the
average height of 24 male Veddas measured by the Sarasins
is given as 1-55 m. (about 6o| inches), while the average height
of 10 Kandyan Sinhalese whom they also measured is r6i m. or
^ Races of Man, 1900, p. \\(>-
4l6 THE VEDDAS
about 63I inchest We may also refer to the measurements of
Sinhalese made by M. Emile Deschamps and given in his book
Ate Pays des Veddas (pp. 464 and 465). M. Deschamps has
informed us that his measurements were all made on Kandyans,
among whom he found that the average height of 16 males was
I -60 m. (about 63 inches) while the average cephalic index of
14 males was 7 5 "9.
On the cultural side the evidence, though less obvious, is, we
believe, no less convincing. There is as far as we can ascertain
no evidence of there ever having been an organisation into
exogamous clans among the Sinhalese, but there is not the
least doubt that this exists among the Veddas, among whom
it must therefore be considered to have arisen, and we know
that this is characteristic of many of the more primitive
Jungle (Dravidian) peoples of India^. The Vedda cult of the
dead must also be looked upon as a primitive and not an
adopted feature since it is found among many Indian jungle
tribes. There is no need to labour this point since the in-
formation given us by Mr Parker and quoted on pp. 14 and
142 indicates, not that the Vedda cult of the dead is derived
from Bandar worship, but that this has arisen among the
Sinhalese from a cult previously existing in Ceylon. These
considerations seem to us to put beyond doubt the fact that
the present day Veddas are the lineal descendants in culture
as well as in physique of the early (Dravidian) people who
inhabited Ceylon, before it was colonised by an Aryan-speaking
people, though they do not rebut the " evidence afforded by the
caves" (Parker loc. cit.) or explain the adoption by the Veddas
of the Sinhalese language.
The caves, however, do not seem to us to present any in-
superable difficulty. A very small number of caves or rock
1 We may here quote the opinion of Mr Edgar Thurston who, on looking at a
number of photographs of Veddas, made the remark that he should not have known
them from photographs of members of a number of Indian Jungle Tribes.
2 This is not the place to discuss the meaning of the term "Dravidian" or the
Dravidian problem ; we use the term to signify the short, dark, dolichocephalic peoples
of the Deccan. Dr Haddon considers that the Veddas should be classed with the
Kurumbas, Irulas and some other Jungle Tribes of the Deccan as pre-Dravidians
{Races of Man, pp. 7 and 13).
CONCLUSIONS 417
shelters have been excavated, and although the drip-ledges and
other signs of stone working on those we have ourselves ex-
amined indicate that they were inhabited by Sinhalese about
2000 years ago, there are doubtless many others which were not
used in this way, and we see no difficulty in believing that when,
during the efflorescence of Buddhism, these caves were inhabited
by monks, those Veddas who were not drawn within the ever
widening circle of Sinhalese influence withdrew to other shelters
in the wilder parts of the country, their descendants, who had
preserved their independence in the jungle, returning in time to
what is now the Vedirata and re-occupying the caves. It was
not perhaps necessary for the Veddas to migrate to another part
of the country ; this at least is Mr Parker's view, who holds that
it " is clear that in many instances little establishments of only
two or three monks must have occupied the caves on some of
the most secluded of these hills, buried in the depths of the
dense forests of the wildest parts of the Island. In such sites
the aborigines could have regained possession of their caves with
ease and impunity, and with practically no fear of punishment
by the Sinhalese authorities. In the histories also, there is no
hint of any quarrels with the natives after the time when Pan-
dukabhaya became king^"
We believe that there is nothing a priori improbable in these
views, and the records of " wild " Veddas all through historic
times show that there was always some part of the country so
thinly settled as to allow them to persist as a jungle tribe.
We come now to the question of language. Mr Parker's
translations of the invocations we collected, and Mr Gunasekara's
examination of our vocabularies and songs, indicate that no trace
of the old Vedda language has survived. This does not, how-
ever, prove that the Veddas who were the ancestors of the
present "wild" Veddas were a highly^civilised race who had
adopted all the customs of their Aryan-speaking neighbours ;
it is generally admitted that a people may adopt a foreign
language while retaining its old customs and without greatly
altering its old method of life.
^ Op. at. p. 31.
s. v. 27
4l8 THE VEDDAS
The case of the Bhumij of Western Bengal is particularly
illuminating. " Here a pure Dravidian race have lost their
original language and now speak only Bengali. They still
retain a set of totemistic exogamous sub-divisions closely re-
sembling those of the Mundas and the Santals. But they are
beginning to forget the totems which the names of the sub-
divisions denote, and the names themselves will probably soon
be abandoned in favour of more aristocratic designations. The
tribe will then have become a caste in the full sense of the word,
and will go on stripping itself of all customs likely to betray its
true descent. The physical characteristics of its members will
alone survived" Further, " some of the leading men of the tribe,
who call themselves Bhuinhars, and hold large landed tenures on
terms of police service, have set up as Rajputs, and keep a low
class of Brahmans as their family priests. They have, as a rule,
borrowed the Rajput class titles, but cannot conform with the
Rajput rules of intermarriage, and marry within a narrow circle
of pseudo-Rajputs like themselves^" The rest of the tribe,
numbering at the last census 370, 239, are divided into a number
of exogamous groups, which include the Sabusi {sal fish), the
Hansda (wild goose), the Lang (mushroom), Sandiliya (a bird)
and Hemron (areca palm) clans.
Mr Parker {pp. cit. p. 96) lays some stress on " the fact " that
the Veddas " understand and use " the " classical expression "
Nirindu "chief of men" which occurs in an invocation (Chapter X,
No 16) we obtained from the Veddas of Sitala Wanniya. We
may perhaps point out that very many expressions occur in the
invocations given in Chapter X which the Veddas do not under-
stand at all, or to which they attach a secondary and incorrect
meaning. That the expression is classical and is " never em-
ployed in modern colloquial Sinhalese " is not surprising, for
as we have shown in Chapter XV the time at which the Veddas
gave up their own language and assumed the Sinhalese is rela-
tively remote, so that their charms and invocations may reason-
ably be expected to contain archaic expressions. We may also
refer to the passage (already quoted on p. 417) from Mr Parker's
^ H. H. Risley, People of India, p. 74. - Op- cit. pp. 94, 95
CONCLUSIONS 419
work in which he speaks of the existence of small and scattered
Buddhist establishments in the midst of the jungle in which the
Veddas still lived. We can imagine no condition more favour-
able for the passage of classical expressions and formulae into
the Vedda language and religion.
The use of rice and coconuts in the offerings to the jyaku also
demands discussion. We have shown that many of the j/akzt
ceremonies are essentially acts of communion uniting the living
with the spirits of the dead, and we have hinted our belief that
the reason for rice and coconut being almost essential parts of
the offering is that they are the foods of which the Veddas are
especially fond and which they regard as great delicacies. It is,
however, obvious that there might be another reason for the
almost constant offering of these foods ; if we regard the Veddas
as having fallen from a higher state in which they were cultivators
then the necessity of offering just these foods to ihe yaku would
be a survival from the times when rice and coconuts were offered
by the civilised ancestors of the present day Veddas.
This period might theoretically coincide either with the
time referred to in the Mahawansa when equal thrones were set
up at Anuradhapura by king Pandukabhaya for himself and
" the yakkha chief Citta^," or it might have been long before the
time of the conquest of Ceylon by the northern invaders, in which
event it must be assumed that the Veddas learnt to cultivate
rice and to grow coconuts from the Nagas or some other
immigrant race.
Concerning these two possibilities we can only say that
we have already on pp. 9 and 10 stated our views as to the
significance of the elevation of the chief Citta and the political
organization of his followers. With regard to the possible origin
of the offerings of rice and coconut in the times before the
invasion, the Nagas doubtless exercised some influence on the
aborigines among whom they settled, yet there is every reason
to believe that outside Nagadipa, this influence was not widely
spread throughout the Island, at least in any developed form.
The Mahawansa differentiates very clearly between Nagas
^ op. cit. Ch. X, p. 43.
27 — 2
420 THE VEDDAS
and Yakkas and the conditions it chronicles at the conquest
seem to us to indicate the existence of a wild jungle people such
as we know existed at the time when Europeans first came in
contact with the Sinhalese.
We take this opportunity of alluding to the following literary-
evidence which shows the existence of a jungle people in Ceylon
in the 4th, 7th, and i ith centuries.
Tennant has drawn attention to the treatise De Moribus
Brachnianonnn written in the 4th century a.d. and ascribed
to Palladius. In this the author cites the account of the Beo-aSe?
given him by a Theban scholar who, having failed to prosper as
an advocate, had turned traveller and explorer. The Theban
stated that " when in Ceylon, he obtained pepper from the
Besadae, and succeeded in getting so near them as to be able
to describe accurately their appearance, their low stature and
feeble configuration, their large heads and shaggy uncut hair —
a description which in every particular agrees with the aspect of
the Veddahs at the present day. His expression that he
succeeded in ' getting near ' them, €(f)6aaa iyjv<i rdov KaXovfxivcov
BecrdSwp, shows their propensity to conceal themselves even
when bringing the articles which they had collected in the
woods to selP."
«
Further information concerning the BecraSe? is given by the
Sarasins (o/>. cit. pp. 578, 579) who used the Greek account in the
edition of Bissaeus, ignoring the poor translation of this into
Latin which Bissaeus also gives. The Theban relates " that
having fallen in with some Indian trading boats which were
crossing over (to Ceylon) from Axume, he sought to penetrate
further into the interior (of the Island) and suddenly arrived in
the vicinity of the so-called Bt^o-a8e9 (in this place written
^7]^aiSe<;, doubtless in error) who gather pepper. But this
people is by far the smallest and weakest, they live in rock-
caves, and know how to climb over the most intricately massed
rocks and thus gather pepper from the bushes ; for these are
small trees as the scholar informs us
" The BidcraB€<i are little men, with large heads and long and
1 Tennant, o/>. cit. Vol. i, p. 593 n.
CONCLUSIONS 421
straight hair ; whereas on the other hand the others, the negros
(Ethiopians) and the Indians, are black and powerful, and curly
haired. There, he says, I was stopped by the one in power
(Svvaarevfov) and asked about my business and how I dared to
force my way into their land ; and while they could not accept
my explanation because they did not understand our language,
I could not understand their questions because I did not
know theirs Their loud voices, their bloodshot eyes, and the
savage gnashing of their teeth inspired me with fear Held
captive......! did them service, the task of cooking being
allotted to me."
References in Arabic and Chinese writers have also been
collected by Tennant, who notes (op. cit. Vol. i, p. 272 n.) that in
the 7th century the Chinese traveller Hioueng Thsang remarked
that the " Yakkhos " had retreated to the south-east part of
Ceylon, while in the first half of the nth century the Arabic
geographer, Alberuni, described the "silent trade" as carried on
with the ginn or, according to others, with men who were absolute
savages.
We have already cited passages which show that there were
Veddas living a free life in the jungle in the 17th century, and it
can scarcely be suggested that between the 12th and 17th
centuries the Veddas ceased to lead this sort of life and for
a time adopted the civilisation of the Sinhalese to again lapse
into wild life in the jungle about the time that European influence
began to be felt in the Island.
There is one matter which seems to us more difficult to
understand than any "'ther, and which, if the Veddas had not
kept up their division into exogamous clans, it would be difficult
to explain otherwise than by their having at one time adopted
Sinhalese habits and customs and having later reverted to a
wandering jungle life. We refer to their terms of relationship
which, as already set forth in Chapter III, are identical with
those employed by the Sinhalese. We consider that this must
be accounted for in the same way as the assumption by the
Veddas of an Aryan language, and that the factors which deter-
mined this at the same time led to the adoption of the Aryan
terms of relationship.
422 THE VEDDAS
In conclusion we may state our opinion of the relationship of
the Veddas to the jungle tribes of India and to the civilised
races of Ceylon. We regard them as part of the same race as
the so-called Dravidian jungle tribes of Southern India. Perhaps
the few surviving " wild " Veddas have altered less socially than
the people of the Indian jungle groups, and are therefore to be
regarded as more primitive than these, but even this is and must
remain uncertain until we know more of the social life of the
Indian jungle tribes. Turning to the historic races of the Island,
we believe that the Kandyans and indeed all the " up country "
Sinhalese have absorbed a considerable amount of Vedda blood,
and that their customs have been influenced by the Veddas,
who, in turn, have learned to speak an Aryan language. The
Tamils do not appear to owe anything to the Veddas, though
the religion of those Veddas who live in or near the Tamil
zone has been influenced by the latter.
423
VEDDA VOCABULARY.
ABBREVIATIONS.
B.
Bandaraduwa.
0. S.
Old Sinhalese.
Bl.
Bulugahaladena.
P.
Pali.
D.
Dambani.
Port.
Portuguese.
Fl.
Kaelebasa language.
R.
Rerenkadi.
G.
Godatalawa.
S.
Sinhalese.
H.
Hindi.
Sk.
Sanskrit.
Hind.
Hindustani.
T.
Tamil.
K.
Kovil Vanamai.
Tel.
Telugu.
L.
Lindegala.
Tf.
Threshing floor language
M.
Marathi.
Tk.
Tamankaduwa.
Mai.
Malay.
U.
Unuwatura Bubula.
N.
Nilgala.
W.
Sitala Wanniya.
O.
Wannaku o"f Uniche.
Y.
Yaka.
GRAMMATICAL ABBREVIATIONS.
adj.
adjective.
cf.
compare.
coll.
colloquial.
f.
feminine.
gen.
genitive.
mi p.
imperative
masc. masculine.
pi. plural.
p. p. a. past participle adjective.
p. p. present participle.
pres. present tense.
sing, singular.
424
VEDDA VOCABULARY
1. Areca-nut, gaigedi B. K. Bl. L. T. ; gayipodi R. ; kahatagedi
B. K. {^.puwak).
Gaigedi from gai, stone, S. gal, and gedi, fruit, nut.
Gayipodi from gayi, stone, and podi, that which is small
(T. podi).
Kahatagedi perhaps from S. kahata, astringent ; cf. Sk. kashdya
(H, and M. khafta), acid, ?iw6. gedi, v. supra.
2. Areca-nut cutter, yamake Bl. from Sk. yamaka, a pair, an areca-
nut cutter being composed of two limbs (S. gire). [At Bulugahala-
dena yamake was used for betel pouch instead of the ordinary
Sinhalese words dulai paiya.]
3. Arm, adane, aidanda D. Bl.; atiila O. (S. ata, atdanda).
Adane. If this is the correct word, it is connected with S.
adina (older form adana), pulling, carrying, i.e. that by which
carrying etc. is done ; if incorrect it should be adanda.
Aidanda from ad, at, hand, and datida, staff, arm, hand {S. at-
danda).
Atula from at, hand, and tula, Sk. tala, forearm. Cf. M. tdtd,
stem, stalk and S. atula, palm.
4. Arrow, aude T. ; danda D. ; morian keca Bl. ; morian ketiya
B. K. ; morian fnate K. (S. iya).
Aude from S. dwude (Sk. dyudha, P. dyudha or dwudha),
weapon. \_Aude is the term appHed by all Veddas except the
village Veddas of Bintenne to short-handled ceremonial arrows
such as are shown in Fig. 8 (page 138).]
Danda from S. Sk. and P. danda, stick, rod.
Morian keca from morian S. tnarana, killing (Sk. Jmri P. and
S. mara), and keca, knife, from Sk. Jkrit, to cut, cf. T. katti.
Morian ketiya, v. morian keca supra.
Morian mate, tnate is from S. motala, arrow.
5. Ashes, alu poj'a D. from S. alu, ashes, and poja from Sk. and P.
pufija, mass, heap (S. alu).
6. Ask (v.), enonukalapa Bl. from enonu M. unepand, want, k, a
(indef. article) and alapa, to question, to speak to (M. Sk. and P.
Jalap). (S. illanawd, asatiawa.)
VEDDA VOCABULARY 425
7. Axe, asirikatuwa W.; galrakiya K. D, Bl. L. T .; porodatuia O.;
poroketiya B. ; porowa W. ; sambala B. ; tariati keca K. ;
tekkiya R. (S. porowa).
Asirikatmva, lit. " a cutting instrument with a sharp side or
edge," from astri (Sk. asri), sharp side or edge, and katuwa (Sk.
y^r//, M. kata, to cut), cutter.
Galrakya is given by some writers as galraekke and derived
from gal, stone, raekka, rubbed or sharpened, cf. H. ragar,
rubbing. It appears to be connected with H. kulhdri, axe.
Porodatuia from poriida (Sk. parahvadha), hatchet, battle-axe,
and tula (Sk. dala, S. tola), piece, blade.
Poroketiya from S. /^r^, axe, and ketiya, a short thing, i.e. the
axe itself, cf. M. kotd, kutakd, T. kuttai, that which is short.
Sambala, cf. M. tabala, axe.
Tarian keca from /^rz, tree (Sk. and P. taru), an, destroying
(Sk. and P. adana), and keca {v. supra, No. 4).
Tekkiya, from Sk. taiika, axe.
8. Bad, napari, B. T. ; pakerevila D. (S. napuru).
Napari from Sk. ;^a, not, and puru, heaven, i.e. hell, cf naraka,
hell, colloquially used in the sense of " bad " in place of napuru
which is confined to books.
Pakerevila perhaps from pakara (Sk. priyahara), pleasant, and
vili (Sk. vina), without.
9. Banana, kehelgedgi D. Bl. ; ratgediO. (S. kehelgedi).
Ratgedi, lit. red-fruit, from S. ratu, red, and gediya, fruit.
10. Bat, kadira N. from Sk. kritti patra, one who has a hide {kritti)
for its wings {patra), cf. Sk. ajinapatrd, bat (S. vavula).
11. Be, exist {v.), indine Q. ; laba tibenya Bl. (S. innawd, tibenawd).
Indine from S. ifidinand, to sit, to be.
Laba tibenya from /fl^«, having gained (existence), and tibenya^
(it) is.
12. Beads, galmice Bl. ; galwadana B. ; velepoteata W. (S. pabalu).
Gabnice, lit. throat-gems, from ^«/, throat, neck (S. Sk. and P.
^a/a), and mice, gems, beads (S. mini, P. ;«a«/, H. maukd), or
perhaps stone-gems, from S. gal, stone.
Galwadana, lit. string of stones, from S. ^«/ and wadana,
string.
Velepoteata from w/^, S. m^/a, creeper, slender cord (M. vela,
426 VEDDA VOCABULARY
Sk. valli), pote (S. pate, pote\ of a single string, and ata, S. aeta,
bone, seed, bead.
13. Bear [Melursiis ursinus), hate7-a ^V. ; keria, N. G. U. D. B.
L. R. T. ; keri kanda K. ; malapulakuna O. ; tvalbala L.
(S. walaha).
Haterd, lit. enemy (S. hatjira, Sk. satrii).
Keri kanda, lit. black-bodied one, /^f/-/, T. /^rt-r/ (Sk. krishna),
black ; kanda, who has a body (S. kanda, P. khandha, Sk.
Malapulakuna, lit. one who throws up dust ; probably referring
to the habit of breaking up antheaps. Mala, dirt, dust (S. Sk. and
P. fnala) ; pula, throwing (Sk. pratha, to throw, cast) ; kuna, one
who.
Walbala, lit. wild dog ; tval S. jungle, wild (Sk. and P. vana) ;
bald is either a form of vata (S. valahd) or a derivative from
H. bhdlu (Sk. bhdlukd), from which S. /^«//^, dog, is probably also
derived. Cf. Sk. bhashaka, barker, dog. Nevill notes that bald
and vala are also used for bear.
14. Beard, lotnbuche Bl. perhaps from S. lorn (Sk. and P. loma), body
hair, and buca (Sk. and P. pjiccha), tail (S. raevula).
15. Beautiful, /vcza B. (S. ruva).
16. Become possessed (?^), awecenaiva L. ; murtavena O.;
yakaenne B. {?>. yakdzvaehenaivd).
Awecenawa from awece, demoniacal possession (Sk. dvesa), and
S. wenawd, to become.
Murtavena from Sk. murchd, fainting, swooning.
Yakaenne from yaka, spirit, and (?«//^ (S. waehenaiva), to be
seized or covered.
17. Bee, (i) bambara {Apis indica), kanda pali Bl. ; kanda ari?ii Bl.
(S. bambara).
Kanda pali ; kanda from S. gaiida, scent, perfume, and pali
(Sk. and P. a//), black bee. Possibly /a// is a compound of pa, to
drink, and a/z, i.e. the bee that drinks perfumes. Cf. Sk. gandliana,
a large black species of bee.
Kanda arini \ kanda, cf. supra, arini, who takes (S. hara, Sk.
hri, to take, to carry). [Mr Gunasekara points out that this ex-
pression may also mean " one who lives in the hollow (S. arana)
of a trunk (S. kaftda)^'' If this explanation be correct kanda
VEDDA VOCABULARY 427
arini cannot refer to bambara., for these never build their comb in
holes, and when they build in trees their comb is always hung
under a branch.]
(ii) stingless bee {Trigona sp.), poti Bl., perhaps akin to
S. poetawd or Sk. pota, a young one (S. pilawa).
A bee's nest is called mehi keiigama, "bee village" or "bee
house," the nest of the bambara is sometimes called maha mehi
keiigama.
18. Belly, bada K. (S. bada).
ig. Betel, nilikola W. ; pangirikoia, pengirikola, W. K. O. U.
D. Bl. L. R. T. (S. bulat).
Nilikola, lit. "dark green" or "dark-coloured leaves," from
S. kola, leaves, and nil, this word being commonly used in
Sinhalese for all dark (not black) colours including the darker
tints of blue (cf. Chap, xvi, p. 400).
Pangirikoia from patigiri (S. paefigiri), acid, having zest, and
kola. Fl. and Tl. pangirikoia.
20. Big, apade kote K. ; kudaminete W. ; malia D. ; mamakeke Bl. ;
metarati B. (S. mahd, loku).
Apade kote from apade, vast, huge (M. aphdte), and kota, heap,
mass (S. goda).
Kudaminete from hida (Sk. khandd), a multitude, or Sk. ganda,
mass (S. goda), and minete, measuring or measurement (S. minita).
Malia from ma, big (S. md, maha), and alia, elephant (S. aliyd).
Cf. S. maha ali (adj.), very large.
Mamakeke from tnama, very big, and akeke, one.
Metarati, a contraction of mevitaraeii, from S. me, this, vitqr,
size, and aeti, will be.
21. Bird, cappi D. Bl. ; kurula T. ; sakeleo O.; .ya///, sappia, sappeo,
N. W. G. K. L. R. (S. kurulld).
(i) Hawk, <rrt/i/ D. ; mail G. ; velina N. W. O. (S. ukussd).
Mail; Mr Parker suggests that this word may perhaps be
derived from T. mayilei, grey or ash colour.
Velina, lit. " the crooked-nosed one " from S. well, crooked, and
na, nose ; cf. Sk. vakrandsika, owl, from vakra, crooked.
(ii) Owl, bakumuna, bakuna G.; kahituang kaneka O. ; velina
N. (S. bakamuna).
428 VEDDA VOCABULARY
Bakumuna, lit. " one having a large face," from S. baka, large,
mund, having a face.
Kakutuang kaneka, lit. " he who eats lizards," from P. kakan-
taka, lizard, fig being the ending of the accusative plural.
Velina, cf. Hawk, supra.
22. Bite {v.), dotkecamando kerenya D. from dot, teeth (S. dat), keca
(S. kaetiya), knife or blade, mando, with middle, and kerenya,
to do ; the expression would literally mean " to make (it) come
between the teeth " (S. ivikanawa, hapanawa).
23. Black, kaluipoja D. (S. kalu), v. p. 391.
24. Blacksmith, talabacanaca Bl., lit. one who hammers and
welds, from tala, having hammered, or who beals (S. tala),
and bacana, which may be connected with Sk. and P. pacha,
to cook, melt (S. achdriya).
25. Blood, lepoja D. Bl. from S. k, blood, and poja, v. p. 391
(S. le, older form /^y^^).
26. Body, angapoja K. ; ^^?^(? Bl. ; kanda Tk. (S. aeilga, kanda,
Sk. sartlraya).
Angapoja from S. a^;?^a and/^y'a, 7^ p. 391.
Enge from aenga.
27. Bone, a<ra O. ; atepoja K. D. (S. a^/d;).
28. Bow, rt'i^/z^a R. ; ^2^;^//^ B. K. ; ikele W. ; malaliya D. Bl. L. ;
fnandaiiya Tk. (S. dunna).
Donda from Sk. and P. kodanda, bow, or from S. danda ;
cf No. 4.
Dunne from S. dunna.
Malaliya from S. wa/a, a bow, and ///a, a stick, rod.
29. Bowstring, dundia B. ; puriya Tk. (S. dunudiya).
Dundia from S. dunna, bow, and ^//ya, string. Sk. /_)'«, bow-
string.
Puriya, lit. that by which a bow is drawn from, S. purana, to
draw a bow (Sk. Jpur).
30. Break, (?'.) patagacena Bl. /^a/a (Sk. jr//;///, P. phuta, break)
means lit. to cause a sound ; gacenawd (S. gassanawd), to cause to
strike (S. kadanawa).
31. Breast, bopatte, bopota, B. K. ; /a^,?<:a Bl. ; tanepoja D. ; /a^y^
O. (S. laepaetta, lay a, tane).
VEDDA VOCABULARY 429
Bopatte from bo {M.pd(a), heart, a.ndj>atte {M, pattia), surface,
exterior part.
Lageca from S. la^ breast, and geca, which appears to be cor-
rupted from S. paette, side.
Tanepoja, ianve, appHed at Bulugahaladena to the female
breast, is derived from S. tane zxxd poja, v. p. 391.
32. Bring {v.), atwkalagena mangacena D. ; enawarin B. ; humbeta
mangacenawa Bl. ; ucagena K. (S. genefiawd).
Anokalagena mangacena, ht. to come, having taken things, from
(S.) anoka/a, things, ^^«a, having taken, and mangacena, to come.
Enawarm, Ut. "come having taken." Ena from gena, v. supra,
and warin from S. wareti, come.
Huitibeta mangacenawa from humbeta, to this place, here
(S. mobata), and mangacenawa, to come.
Ucagena from uca, S. ussd, having lifted, and gena, to bring.
33. Buffalo, amberawasa L. ; madaya U. ; many a G. L. ; miwa
N. O. ; okma N.; tanikura T . \ wadena Bl. ; walmanya K.
(S. niimd).
Amberawasa, lit. horn-bearing calf or bull, from am, S. an,
horn (Sk. sringa, P. singa), bera, S. ^ara, bearing (Sk. and P. bhara),
and z^aj-a, S. 7^aw^ (Sk. z^rt/^a, P. vaccha), calf, bull. JFaj-a may
also be derived from H. bhaisd, buffalo. Fl. ambaruwa, buffalo.
Madaya is the low-country Sinhalese for a young lusty bull,
Sk. madagama, buffalo.
Manya appears to be a corruption of madaya.
Mhva, Sk. mahisha, P. mahisa.
Okma, Sk. ukshaw, ox, bull.
Walmanya ; wal, wild, and manya, a corruption of madaya,
V. supra.
34. Build {v.), mandokerenavd Bl., lit. to make a hut, from mando,
hut, small shed (S. mandu), and karanawd, to do, to make
(S. hadanawd, tavanawd).
35. Burn (z'.), pucakadal D. from S. /?<rfra, pulussa, burning, and dal,
flame, blaze (S. davanawd, puccanatva).
36. Bury (7/.), bhnpoja patagacala D. ; meiedaman L. ; paiga dama-
pumu B. (S. wa(alafiawd).
Bmipoja patagacala is derived from bimpodga, earth, ground,
and patagacala, digging.
430 VEDDA VOCABULARY
Metedamati, cf. M. mdti dene, to bury a corpse. This word
may be explained as mete, earth (S. maeti), and daman, to put
(S. damanawd), i.e. to put earth over a corpse. In Sinhalese maeti-
danianawd is not used in the sense of to bury.
Palga da7napunm from paiga, dead body (H. and Sk. preia),
and darnapiimu, throwing away.
37. Butterfly, camaicapi D. from S. samanalayd, and cappi, bird
(S. samanalayd).
38. Buy {v.), hingalaging e?iokala ganewa Bl, ; ridiporu enokolala
maieketa D. (S. mileta, or sallivalata, gannawa).
Hinga/aging enokala ganezm, lit. " to take enokala from the
Sinhalese." Hingalaging is derived from sinhalaydgen, hingala
being commonly substituted for sifihala by the peasant Sinhalese
of the Vedirata, and ganewa (S. gannawa) means " to take."
Enokala is probably connected with the M. word itakila,
valuables, trifles, small articles.
[This expression was generally stated to mean both "to buy"
and " to sell" and this is doubtless correct, for so far as the Veddas
were concerned both operations were but aspects of bartering with
Sinhalese traders.]
Ridiporu enokolala maieketa. Mr Parker considers this ex-
pression means "having given silver coins for my thing"; maieketa
appears to be compounded of mage (often pronounced mayi) and
ekata, "for my one."
39. Cave, galge B.; galkabala B. (S. galge, galguhawa).
Galkabala from S. gal, stone, and kabala (M. khabadada),
cave, den.
40. Centipede, rateya N., lit. the red one (S. rat, Sk. rakta, P. ratta,
red). In S. too, rattaya is used to signify centipede (S. pattayd).
41. Charcoal, delepoja D. (S. ailguru, doeli) from S. daeli, burnt,
black, charcoal, and/^'a, v. p. 391.
42. Child, hineto D.; kakula Bl.; ladwuwa K.; petiTV. (S. lamaya,
pceti).
Hineto from S. /««, little, and eto, one who is (S. aeti, Sk.
rtj-/"/, is to be).
Kakula from S. kaekula, flower bud.
Ladwuwa from S. /<?, tender (Sk. ^a/<?), and duruwa (S, daruvd),
child.
i't?/'/, cf. S. /a^//, child, and Sk. pota, the young of any animal.
VEUDA VOCABULARY 43 1
43. Chin, hota W. ; tale O. (S. nikata),
Hota, V. No. 133.
Tale, cf. Sk. and P. talu, palate.
44. Claw, kiirapoja D. ; sapige kakul K. (S. niya, niyapotta).
Kurapoja from S. kura, hoof, foot, and poja, v. p. 391.
Sapige kakul from S. kakul, feet, and sapige, of a bird {v. p. 394).
45. Cloth, konam Bl. L. ; konani poja R. ; pilala "W. ; watre O.
(S. ////, redda, vata).
Konam, T. kovaiiam, Sk. kanpina, a strip of cloth worn over
the pudenda.
Kofiam poja, v. supra and p. 391.
Pilala, cf. Sk. and P. /a/a, /a//, cloth.
Watre, cf. Sk. vastra, P. vattha, cloth.
46. Cloud, z£/fl/a K., cf. Sk. and P. valdhaka, cloud (S. walatva,
walakuld).
47. Coconut, kasapengediya Tk. ; gaigedi W. U.; kirigedi, kirigedji,
kirigedja O. D. Bl. ; watigedia L-. (S. /^/)
Kasapengediya from /^^^-a (Sk. kausika), incased, /^«, water
(S. /ad«, Sk. and V.pdniya), and gediya, fruit. This word is also
used by the Kandyan Sinhalese. Cf. Sk. kansikaphala, coconut
tree.
Kirigedi from S. kiri, milk, milky juice, and gedgi (S. gediya),
fruit.
Wangedia, ht. fruit with water, from wan (Sk. P. and S. vana),
water, and gediya, fruit, cf. Sk. jalaphala {jala, water, and phala,
fruit), coconut.
48. Coconut-milk, rangkiri daluo W., lit. "golden milk juice,"
rang (S. ran), golden, being used by Veddas as "excellent";
daluo probably means white juice from S. dala (P. and Sk.
dhavala), white, and uda (Sk. udaha), water, these words are
combined to give daloda, whence daluo.
49. Cold, angocadamal D. from anga (Sk. and P.), body, cada, cold,
and mal a corruption of S. kal, time, or S. mekal, rainy season
(S. sisil).
50. Come (z/.), anokala ganyayi D. ; hianbate mangacenarva D. ;
tneheta mangacapa T. ; mitagaceneiva W. L. (S. enawd).
Anokala ganyayi from anokala, things, and ganyayi, take.
" Taking things " indicates activity and so movement towards
432 VEDDA VOCABULARY
someone or something, hence perhaps the idea of coming. Or
ganyayi may be connected with ganyayi, approach, move, and
anokala with M. ikade, this side, here.
Hianbate mangacetiaiva from humbate, here, and tnangacenawa,
to move {v. f. n. p. 390).
Mitagacenewa from mita, here, and gacenewa {mangacenawa).
51. Cook {v.), talavelala pucakadanya Bl. (S. pisanawa, uyanawa)
from talave, in the pan (M. t/iata, Sk. sthala), lala, having put
(Sk. ri, to put), puca, to cook (Sk. and P. paca), and kadanya, to
seethe (M. ukada, kadha).
52. Crocodile, mahabada O. ; piiagaca, pitagasa, pitegateya N. D.
Bl. (S. kimbu/a).
Mahabada, Ut. he who has a large head, maha S., large, and
(^fl^a (M. bdda\ head.
Pitagaca, pitegateya, lit. he who goes on his belly, from pita,
belly {\i. pita), d^nd gaca, that which goes.
53. Cry out {v.), andatalapa B. ; kergacena Bl. (S. k&gasana).
Andatalapa from S. «;?d'«, cry, and talapa (S. talanaiva), to beat,
strike, speak. This seems to be the imperative form.
Kergacena from kcer (S. kce), to cry, yell, and gacena (S. gasana),
strike, make.
54. Cry, weep (v.), hitpoja ocadamaia D. (S. afidanawa).
Hitpoja, heart, ^ra, raise (S. 2^j-.ya, osawa, Sk. and P. ?/;^<rfl,
high), and damala, putting down. [This expression seems to
refer to the motion of the thorax when sobbing.]
55. Cut with axe {v.), galrakiying labacenava Bl., from galrakiying,
with the axe {v. No. I), and labacenava from Sk. rabbasa, violence,
or from Sk.///, to cut (causative ioxmlavayati) (^. porowen kapanawa).
56. Dance {v), otadamanya Bl. ; pisiawi ^V. (S. natanawa).
Otadamanya, " to move in a circle," from ota, S. vafa (Sk. vritta,
P. vatta), round, and da?nanya, to jump (Sk. jhampa, jumping).
Fisiaim, cf Sk. praspand, to tremble, to quiver.
57. Deer, (i) Axis deer {Cervus axis), ambera L. ; depatam magala
W. ; gemberu podage W.; kabereya, kaberea O. D. Bl. L.; kaura
N. U. ; tvelkapurunage T. (S. niuva).
Ambera from Sk. sambara, deer. This word is distinct from
ambera in No. 33 supra, cf. Sk. ambarisha, a young animal.
VEDDA VOCABULARY 433
Depatam inagala, lit. two-antlered deer, from de, two, patam,
antler, and ?nagala, deer. (Sk. mnga, P. miga, deer, beast. Also
P. mago, deer.)
Kaura probably from Sk. gaiira, a species of deer,
(ii) Sambar {Rusa unicolor), gawara N.; gawara magala W. L.;
goniera kala W. ; hulica G. ; kankund, kankuni O. D. Bl. L. T. ;
kerigona U. ; ivalpengira N. (S. gona).
Gazvara may be from Sk. gmira, a kind of deer, or from
Sk. gavaya, a kind of ox.
Magala, v. axis deer, supra.
Gomera kala from gomera, gomara, dusky white, and kala
(Sk. P. kala), one who makes a jingUng noise.
Hulica from Sk. sulocana, deer.
Kankimd may mean one whose ears (S. >^a«) are dirty (S. kuf,iu),
or it may be connected with Sk. kanja-tirna, a kind of deer (from
karna, ear, and iirna, wool, i.e. one having wool in its ears).
Karna-urna or its combined form karnorna is not known to have
been used in Sinhalese, and even in Sanskrit it is not a common
word and is not given in Professor Wilson's Sanskrit dictionary,
though karna and urna have both been used in Ceylon. [" Dirty
ears " was the meaning attached to kankiina by the peasant Sinhal-
ese with whom we discussed the origin of the word, the Veddas
did not appear to have considered the matter. The two well-
developed black patches on the concha of the sambar's ear make
this name particularly appropriate.]
Kerigofla from keri, black, dSidi gond, buck, bull.
Walpetigira from S. wal, wild, and pengird, a young sturdy
animal,
(iii) Mouse deer {Tragulus miminna), agedja N.; duse N. (S. mlnmina).
Agedja, lit. one who sports about, from Sk. dkrida, sporting.
Duse, perhaps originally /z^5^, from 'Sk. prishata, small dter.
58. Destroy (?'.), patagacela mando kerela damanya D., from pata-
gacela, having broken, mando kerela, having made small or defective
(S. mafida, small, defective), and damanya, to throw away (Sk.
Jdliuna).
59. Die {v.), botadamana, miahotadamanawa D. Bl. ; botagia T. ;
gia L. ; nuapu K. (S. in&reiiawd).
Botadamana from S. beta, body, and damanawa, to become
calm.
s. v. 28
. 434 VEDDA VOCABULARY
Miabotadama7iawa from mia, to die (Sk. Jmri), and bota-
damanawa, v. supra.
Botagia from bota (?'. supra), and .^/fl", dead, cf. Sk. gata,
departed, dead {Jgajii, to go); gta is probably a contraction of
S. ma/agiya, " dead and gone." In S. giya is never used in the
sense of dead.
Nuapu from numa, to go ; imapu, departed (from this world).
60. Dig {v.), bimpoja patagacan D. from bifnpoja, earth, ground,
and patagacan, to break (S. hdranawa).
61. Dig a grave {v.), polewa patagacena Bl. from polewa [po/ova),
earth, and patagacena, v. No. 30 (S. walak hdranawa).
62. Digging stick, da?ida D. (S. danda).
63. Dog, balakukka N. T. ; balumenya Bl. ; kuka, kukka N. W.
K. D. BL T. (S. balla, kukka).
Balakukka, lit. wild dog, from S. ival, wild, and kukka, dog.
Balumenya from /'a/«, dog, and menya (Sk. and P. Jma/j, to
sound), barker.
64. 'Doov, porugamata rukulatia rukalai Bl. itoxn porugaffiata, to the
house, rukulana, which is fixed or attached, and rukalai S., support,
related to Sk. Jraksha, P. rakha, to protect, to guard (S. dora).
65. Drink (z\), diapoja kavilane D. from diapoja, water, and kewilatu
from /^aw, to eat, and la (used as an auxiliary), put (S. bonawd).
66. Drip (p.), capi mangacenawd D. from capi, drop (M. tapa, tapakd),
and mangacetiawa , v. No. 50 (S. bifidd woetettawd).
67. Dwell (z^.), ra7idadaman D. from randa, staying, and daman (in),
house, condition (Sk. dhdmati) (S. rafidanawd, navaiinawd).
68. Ear, kanrukula D. Bl. ; rukulu K. (S. kana).
Kanrukula, lit. that which helps hearing, from /^a// (S. kana),
ear, and rukula, v. No. 73.
69. Earth, (^/wa K. (S. bima).
70. Eat (z'.), anaganapan B. ; enalapu K. ; kavilanya Bl. ; kavilli-
daniana T. ; kezvilan D. ,
Anaganapan from S. «;;/«, food (Sk. and P. anna), and gatia-
pan, to take (probably imperative).
Enalapu from ^^a. food, and /a///, to eat (Sk. Jglas, to eat,
devour) ; />« in S. is an enduig.
Kavilanya, from ^az//, to eat, and S. la, to put, used as an auxiliary.
VEDDA VOCABULARY 435
Kavillidamana from kavilli, eatables, and dafnana, to put.
Kewilan^ v. kavilanya.
71. Egg, bide N.; capi bitera D. ; kakula randala indinepotai Bl.;
sapi biju W. (S. bijuwa, bijaya).
Bide, cf. Sk. and P. bija.
Capi bitera from <ra///, bird, and bitera, egg (S. bit/ara, corn,
grain).
Kakula randala indinepotai from kakula, child, young, randala
indine, staying, and /(?/a/, covering, receptacle (Sk. puta). Potai
may also be from S. potta, shell, but it can hardly be from S. paeti
(Sk. potd), young one, owing to kakula at the beginning of the
expression.
Sapi biju, lit. bird's egg.
72. Elephant, botakabala N. W.; botakanda K. U. D. Bl. R. T.;
gonieru uhale L. ; ynola N. G. ; relle O. (S. aetd, aliya).
Botakabala, lit. the big-bodied one having strength, from
8. bota, big (Sk. brahat), ka, body (S. ka or ka, Sk. and P. kaya),
and bala, S., Sk. and P., strength.
Botakanda, lit. the big-bodied one, from S. bota, big, kanda,
body (P. khandha, skandha).
Gonieru uhale, lit. the dusky white tall one, from S. gomara,
dusky white, and uliala (S. uhalld), tall one.
Mola, lit. the huge one, from S. bola, thickness, solidity (M. and
H. mold, big).
Relle, lit. he who has wrinkles, from S. raella, wrinkle.
73. Eye, acaldeka O. ; airukula Bl. ; aiyarukula D. ; aslonjia W. ;
etcel K. (S. aesa, cBhae).
Acaldeka from acal. eye-ball, and S. deka, two.
Airukula, aiyarukula from ai, aiyn, S. cehae, eye, and rukula,
the meaning of which is obscure, for here it can scarcely represent
the S. " support," " stay." Perhaps it refers to an attribute shared
by the eye and tongue, 21. No. 175.
Aslonjia from as, S. ces, eye, and lonjia (Sk. and P. locana),
sight, eye.
Etcel, cf. Sk. akshigola, P. acchigola, eye-ball.
74. Face, hoca K. ; hota W. from S. hossa, snout, mouth.
75. Fall (z;.), gulekepa W. ; patagaca vetigo Bl. ; z'^/ii^^ B. (S. vaete-
nawd).
28—2
436
VEDDA VOCABULARY
Gtdekepa from gule (Sk. and P. Jgal), to fall, and kepa, let go
(Sk. kship, P. khepd).
Fatagaca vetigo from pata (S. pdtd), down (Sk. pata, falling),
gaca^ going (P. gacchaii, goes), and vetigo (S. vcetenaivd), fall.
76. Far off, mafiiekacap mangacenawd Bl. ; ma?tiekeca D. ; obe B. ;
otemite K. (S. ata).
Mamekacap ma/igacenatvd, lit. to go a great distance, from
7namek, big, great, «rrt/, distance (Sk. and H. aspas/ita), and
maugacena7tjd, to go.
Mamekeca from /name, very greatly (S. mahama), and ^^^a
(Sk. krishta), drawn away, indicating distance; ^.ra may also be
corrupted from S. ^ta.
Obe from 6»(^rt! is an old Sinhalese word used also as a pronoun
{he, you) to show respect.
Otemite, cf. Sk. atyatila, much, very much, or from ote, S. &ta,
distant, and mite (S. 7niti), measurement.
77. Fear {v.), angoca damanya D. ; boweri harenawd K. (S. baya-
venawd).
Angoca da/nanya, lit. to afflict the body with trembling, from
ango, body, ca, trembling (Sk. and P. ca), and damanya, to afflict
(Sk. Jdama).
Bowert harenawd from bo, heart, weri, strength (Sk. w'lrya,
P. wiriya, S. wera), and harenawa, to leave, to lose (S. and P.
hara, to take away).
78. Feather, capikole D. Bl. from cappi, bird, and kola, leaf (S. pihdtta).
79. Finger, angilipoja D. from angili (S. aengili), finger (Sk. and P.
ahguli), a.x\d poja, v. p. 391 (S. ceiigilla).
80. Fire, ^///^ K. ; gini poja D. Bl. ; ratumala W. (S. ^/«z).
Gine poja from 'St. gini, and poja, v. p. 391.
Ratumala from S. rrt/?/, red, and wa/« (Sk. mdld), group, cluster.
81. Fish, dianiace, dia maja, dia meci W, D. Bl. ; hitimaco B. ;
kicduttiaca, kudu/nasa G. K. T. (S. ;wax, mdlu).
Diamace, lit. water-flesh, from S. dia, water, and mace (S. mas),
flesh.
Hinmaco from S. /;z«, dead, killed, small, and maco (S. wfl.y), flesh.
Kudiimaca from S. -^/^^a, small, and 7naca, flesh. Kudu is the
ancient form of S. kudd. [Mr Parker points out that kudumassan
in Sinhalese means " small fishes."]
VEDDA VOCABULARY 437
82. Flesh, mahi K. (S. malu).
83. Flower, malpoja D. from mal, flower, and/^T/o, v. p. 391 (S. mala).
84. Fly, nileya K., cf. Sk. ;////, a species of blue fly (S. mcessa).
85. Foot, kura W. ; paiapatula Bl. {^. paya, adiyd).
Kura, S. hoof.
Paiapatula from /«/</, S. paya, foot, and palula, surface of
the foot.
86. Ghost, neivana K., lit. one who vanishes from sight, S. nuvana,
cf. Sk. nirvana, vanishing from sight, disappearance (S. avataraya).
87. Give, anokalanawa Bl. ; enokalanya D. ; den K. (S. denawa).
Anokalafiawa from anokal (S. oncFkala), when necessary, and
anaivd {lianawa, Sk. J/id), to abandon, give up.
Enokalanya from eftokal, things, and latiya, put.
Z'^^ from S. (/f?', give (imp.).
88. Go (^'.), tnangacenawa D. ; mitagacapan B. ; naman L. ; niima
W. B. K. O. : yanda mangacan T. {?>. yanaiva).
Afangacenawa, v. No. 50.
Mitagacapan from w//a (S. tfiehdta), this side, and gacapan, go;
this appears to be the imperative.
Numa appears to l)e connected with Sk. nigam, to go to, or
may be a corruption of S. yama, go (imp.).
Yanda mangacan from yafida (S. yanta), to go, and mangacan,
to move.
89. Good, lionda D. (S. hoiida).
90. Gun, puceneke Bl., puceneke, lit. one that burns, from S. pucene,
that which burns, and .".^a, one (S. tuvakkmva).
91. Hair, z'd'y^a D. ; /m/^a K. ; issehaya poja D. ; lombuca Bl. ;
rotnbio T. (S. hair of the head, /.ra/^i?, of the body, /<?/«).
/(^,^a from S. iya, head, and /^^, hair of the head.
Icaka, probably a corruption of iyaka.
Issehaya poja. Issehaya from S. isa, head, and haya {Kaya ?),
S. keyya, kehe, Sk. /^^j'rt', P. kesa.
92. Hand, athandia W^. ; atkira O. (S. «'/«).
Athaudia from S. <?/, (//«-, iiand, and tandia, tanda, danda,
V. No. 4.
Atkira from «/ and ^/r^, S. ^a-ra, neck. Cf S. atkara.
438 VEDDA VOCABULARY
Rotnbio, cf. Sk. loma, hair of body.
Lombtica, lit. hair tail, or flowing like a tail, from S. lom, hair,
and biica (Sk. and P. puccha), tail.
93. Head, iakaba, takabala, eakabala "W. D. Bl. ; iggedece K.
(S. hisa, isci).
lakabahi from /a, S. isa, head, and kabala, skull, cover (Sk.
and P. kapdld).
Iggedece from gedece, a thing hke a fruit, a knot, and /^^^, from
S. isa.
94. Hear (v.), kampoja fiiandewena D. ; kanrukulete bitalanya Bl.
(S. aesenawd, cehenawd).
Kampoja tfiatidewena from kampoja^ ear, mande (Sk. /nadhya,
P. majjha), in the middle, and zf/^wa (Sk. and P. wan)^ to sound.
Kanrtihdete bitalanya from kanrukulete, to hear, and bitalanya,
to pervade ; cf. Sk. and P. Jvica?; pass through.
95. Hill, galkeca D. ; ^(Sf^'a K. ; /z^/a 'W. O. ; //ifWd" T, ; kandapoja
Bl. (S. kanda).
Galkeca from S. ^rt/, stone, and keca, rock (M. kdnsd, khadaka,
rock).
(?<?^a from S. .f^i^/a (M. gadda, gata), a heap, lump.
Jlela, cf. P. i't'/a, Sk. saila, hill, rock.
Heme, cf. Sk. and P. /^/V/^i?, the Himalaya mountains.
Kafidapoja from S. kanda, group, body, and poja, v. p. 391.
96. Hiss {v.), horatah kienawd B. from Sk. sitwakdra, hissing sound,
and kienawa, S. kiyanawd, to say (S. sugdnawd, su kiyanawa).
97. Honey, kanda arini patagacaptiwd Bl. ; kirimirinanga O. ;
massiitiiria B. ; penye K. ; ural W^. (S. mlpceni).
Kanda arini patagacapuvd, lit. what is deposited by the bees.
Kanda arini bees {v. No. 17), patagacapinvd, that which is
deposited.
Kirimirinanga from /^/>/ (Sk. kslmdra), bee ; S. »/?>/, sweet,
«, expletive, and S. anga, part, thing.
Massimiria from massi (S. Jiiaesi, M. mdsi), bee ; ;«a/J and
miria, v. supra.
Fenyi from T. /(2«/, honey.
f/ra/, lit. that which is sucked up, cf. T. writal, act of sucking
up, or perhaps from Sk. and M. kshandra, honey, which may
be corrupted to kuduru, uduru, urudu, urulu, ural.
VEDDA VOCABULARY 439
g8. Honeycomb, ikele W. ; toH O. (S. mhvade).
Ikek, cf. T. irdl, honeycomb.
Toll, cf. M. pdli, honeycomb.
99. Hot, rademangala D. ; titema, utena K. (S. umc).
Rade from S. rada, sun's rays (Sk. rakta, P. ratio) ; «««,
S. ?iiyan, hot, perspiring (Sk. and P. niddghd) ; ^a/a (kala)^ time
(Sk. and P. kdld).
Utema, cf. M. ?/««', M. and P. utiha, Sk. ushna.
100. House, /<7r//^awa Bl. ; porupeie D. (S. ^f).
Porugama from /(9niJ, village (S., Sk. and P. pura, town, city),
and S. gama^ house, home, forming part of a village, or gania may
be a corruption of Sk. dkdma, house ; cf. S. gamgoda, village, lit.
a collection of houses, and mimmaiagam, house of a deceased
person.
Porupeie from porii, v. supra, and pele (S. pcela), hut.
loi. Infant, lakekula D. from /a, tender, and kekula, v. No. 42
(S. biliiida).
102. Iron, gabiaci Bl. from ^«(^/, black (?), and a«, metal (Sk. ayas\
or perhaps from ^a*^/, in the middle, inside i^V. garbha, P. gabba),
and ««', fire (S. asi, Sk. ards), i.e. lit. " that which has fire inside
it " (S. yakada).
103. Jackal, hiwalla N. ; kunubala O. ; w/Za N. ; 7valkukka N.
(S. hivaid, sivald, iiariyd).
Hiwalla, cf. Sk. srigdla, P. sigdla, H. siydle.
Kunubala from /^//;«^, crying out (Sk. Jkun), and S. <^a//a, dog.
. F<"//(?, probably a corruption of walballa, wild dog.
Walkukka from S. 7£/a/, wild, and kukka, dog.
104. Jungle, (^t'd'fl', ^^-i?^/^, W. K. ; kele O. ; kelepoja Bl. (S. bcp-dda,
kcele).
Beda is probably connected with Sk. and P. baddha, entangled.
Kele, cf. T. kddu, Sk. kanana, jungle.
1 05 . Kill (?'.), botadamanya Bl . ; miyepela damanatva B . (S. maraf,iawd).
Botada?nanya from /^<^/«, body, and damanya, to restrain
(cf. Sk. Jda?n, to restrain).
Miyepala damanawa from miyepela, having caused to die,
having killed (cf. S. miya, to die, from Sk. Jmri), and damanawa.
106. Knife, pihakaie O. from ///^(7, knife, and kate (T. katti), cutter
{?). pihiye).
440 VEDDA VOCABULARY
107. Know (v.), hitalatiya D. from S. hita, mind, and lanya, to
receive, to put ; cf. Sk. and P. ^la (S. dannaiva).
108. Leaf, kolapoja Bl. from S. kola^ leaf, and/^a, v. p. 391.
109. Leg, kuripatala O. ; paidanda Bl. (S. kabula, kakula).
Kuripatala from >^«/-/, y^?^^, foot, and patala, leg, derived from
/a, foot, ^nd T. tala, stem, stalk.
Paidanda from /am (S. /qy«), foot, and S., Sk. and P. danda,
staff.
no. Leopard, divia, dlya W. R. ; kerikotia T. ; kotia G. ; w/Az
N. W. ; polacca N. ; /^/^<rrt', pole tea, W. K. D. Bl. L.; 7val-
kuparubala L. (S. diviya, kotiya).
Dlya, cf. P. ^{z!"?, Sk. ^z/^/.
J///a, probably a corruption of H. clta.
Polacca, cf. T. puli, tiger, leopard. This word may also be
derived from T. /?<;///, spots.
Walkuparubala, lit. spotted jungle dog, from wal, jungle, wild,
kaparu (S., Sk. and P. kabara), variegated, piebald, and bala, dog.
111. Lime (CaO), galmada L. ; humu K. ; karampoja B. R. ;
patabe?ida O. ; patabenda pupapu hapane W. ; takipucapu alu
Bl. T. ; takipuja D. (S. hui.ui).
Galmada perhaps from S. ^(?/, stone, and wa^fl-, kernel (Sk.
madhyd).
Humu, cf Sk. curna, P. cuijna.
Karampoja, cf. T. karam, Sk. kshara, ashes; iox poja, v. p. 391.
Patabetida pupapu hapane, lit. "that which is prepared for
chewing by burning shells and slaking them," ixoxn pata (Sk. vata),
shell, be?ida (S. baeda), having roasted (burnt), pupapu, slaked
(Sk. Jpushpa, P. puppha, to expand), and hapane, what is chewed
{sapanawa or hapanawa, to chew, H. cabana, M. cavane).
Takipucapu alu from ^a/^/, the shells of wantekko {Cyclophorus
involvulus), pjfcapu (S. puccapu), burnt, and S. a/?<f, ashes. Puccapu
is the colloquial form oi pilissu.
112. Live, be alive (7'.), hondawage, randabacela D. (S. innawa,
pa7jaatuwa-inua7va).
Hondaivage from honda, good, well, and 7£'(Z^'-^, to live (M.
ze/fl-^^w).
Ratidabacela from randa, having stayed, and bacela, living,
- cf. S. and P. vasa.
VEDDA VOCABULARY 44I
113. Lizard, (i) Monitor lizard {Varanus bengalensis), bimbadu W. ;
ganeka, ganava W. ; goya G. ; munda, mundi, U. Bl. L. R. T. ;
munge D. (S. goyd^ talagoya).
Bimbadu, lit. one who goes rubbing its belly on the ground,
from S. bim, ground, earth, and badu (S. bada), belly.
Ganeka or ganava, lit. one who rubs (its belly on the ground),
from S. gdna ekd, one who rubs.
Miinda may be connected with Sk. and P. munda, shaved,
bald, the body of the monitor lizard not being covered with
hair or feathers like that of most other animals known to the
Veddas.
ii) Small Lizard, kotaka "W. ; huna O. ; kike N. (S. /lund).
Kotaka from Sk. krikavaku, lizard.
114. Louse, iakabala kavelanika D, ; ikinne Bl. ; olu gediya kanaka
O. (S. tikiind).
Iakabala kavelanika, lit. one who eats (or bites) the head, from
S. iakabala, head, and kavelanika, one who eats.
Olu gediya kaneka, lit. one who eats the head, from S. olugediya,
head, kana, eating, and ekd, one.
115. Make, do {v.), langacenawa B. Cf M. ragadane, to do
(generally) in a hurried, tumultuous, reckless style (S. karanawd).
116. Man, bota T. ; mina K. D. ; minigeja Bl. (S. minihd).
Bota. M. bhondd, adult male, P. buddha, Sk. vriddha, old
man. Some Veddas use the form budd (f. budi).
Minigeja, lit. human person, from tnifii, human (Sk. maniishya),
and geja, connected with M. gadi, person, e.g. brahmanagadi,
a brahman.
117. Milk, kekulati kevulanika D., lit. (that) which is fed to the
child, V. No. 42 (S. .'/W).
118. Monkey, (i) icandura {Semnopitheais sp.), basaloka K. ; botakuna
"W. ; buttvandura K. ; kande?iataneca O. ; keri^vaiidura U. D.
Bl. L. T. ; kolanda mina K. ; kokka N. ; tnanya G. ; iminakuna
N. ; ude kelina W. L. (S. wandurd).
Basaloka, Ht. big reviling one, from base, reviling, and loka, big
one (S. lokkd).
Botakuna from S. bota, body, and kuiid, who is black.
Buttvandura from but (S. bota), big, and wandura.
Kandenataneca, lit. one who dances (among the) tree trunks
from S. kafida, trunk of a tree, natana, dancing, and eca {ekd), one.
442 VEDDA VOCABULARY
Kerhvandiira from keri, black, and wandura.
Kolajida mina, lit. jumping man, from kolanda (M. kiilanchd),
to jump, and mina, miniha, man [or as Mr Parker suggests from
kolan, leaves, and damannd, he who throws down].
Kokka appears to be an onomatopoeic word in imitation of the
animal's cry.
Mafiya, probably a corruption of S. madaya {v. No. 33).
Munakuna, lit. one whose face is black, from S. ininia, face, and
kina (S. kinu), black.
Ude kelina, lit. he who sports on high (trees), from S. uda^ high
(on trees), and kelma (S. kelinnd, he who sports).
119. Moon, delungrajal B. ; handa K. ; hatidageya B. ; hajidapoja
D. Bl. (S. harida).
Delungrajal from Jdevula, sky (S. devlo, Sk. divyaloka) ;
ungra, powerful, intense (Sk. ugra) ; jal, flame, light, torch
(Sk. Jvdla, P. Jala).
Handageya from S. handa, moon, and geya (Sk. graha), planet.
120. Mosquito, ramece kaveledana me poja D. (S. maduruwd),
lit. tlie small black fly that bites at night, from rame, black, ^^ (S. se),
shade, night, at night, kaveledana, who is engaged in biting, me, fly
(S. mae/ii), d.x\d poja from podl, small.
121. Mouse, m/ya N. from S. miyd.
122. Mouth, katakahale W. ; katarukula K. D. Bl. (S. kata,
muva).
Katakabale, here kabala seems to take the sense of cover, hd,
which the Sk. kapdla has.
Katarukula, lit. that which helps to make a sound, cf S. kata,
mouth, Sk. and P. kantha, throat, from Jkana, to sound, rukula,
V. No. 73.
123. Near, metfamai, metatenmai, B. Bl. ; metetena D. (S. la?~iga).
Metaten?nai, lit. this very place, from meta, this (S. me), and
tenmai, this very place (S. tcenamai).
Metetena from mete (S. mmta), near, and tena (S. tcena), place.
124. Nest, capirandana gampoja 'B\.;gote N.; sapigote'W . (S. kuduwa).
Capirandana gampoja from cappi, bird, randana, S. staying,
remaining, gam, house, and /<?;'«, v. p. 391.
Sapigote from sappi, bird, and gote (S. gotuiva), nest. In Sinha-
lese gotuwa is generally applied to an ants'-nest built of leaves. [Mr
Parker tells us that ^^/^ meaning "bird's nest" is used by Kandyans.]
VEDDA VOCABULARY 443
125. New, etetenemeke D., lit. one (thing) of this moment itself, cf Sk.
iddnintdna, present, of the present moment, eka, S. one (S. alut).
126. Night, ra^necavena D. from rame (Sk. rdfua), obscure, dark-
coloured, black, and cavena (S. sevana), shade (S. rae, rdtri).
127. No, none, kodoi B. O. Bl. ; ne W. (S. nee).
Kodoi may be connected with M. khotal, want of reality, non-
existent, no, or perhaps it is corrupted from S. koyida, koyinda^
where? where have I ? indicating absence of the thing desired.
Ne, cf. Sk. and M. 71a.
128. Nose, iiahedande, naidanda D. Bl. ; nayekabala K. (S. ndsaya,
ndhe). ■•
Naidanda from 7iai, S. ndhe, nose (Sk. and P. ndsd), and
S., Sk. and P. da/jda, staff, trunk, cf. Sk. ndsd danda, bone of the
nose, bridge of the nose.
Nayekabala from ndhe, nose, and kabala, v. No. 130.
129. Open {v.), patagacena D., v. No. 30 (S. arinawd).
130. Pangolin [Manis pentadactyla), bagusa W. ; eya N.; kabelelewa
N. (S. kaballcewa).
Kabelele from S. kabala, shell, and &yd, pangolin.
131. Path, ma/iga K. ; cf Sk. indrga (S. iiiaga, ina/lga).
132. Peel {v.), patagacenawa Bl. from pata, S. and Sk. paitd, rind,
and gacenawa, to strip (Sk. Jghrish, rub) (S. pattagaha?iawd).
133. Pig, dola K. N. U. L. R. T. ; hocedike O. D. Bl. ; hosadika
W. ; hota baria, kotua G. (S. uru).
Dola, lit. long-lipped (or snouted) one, from S. told, tolld, long-
lipped. The form dolld also occurs ; dala, in Sk. vdgadala {pdk,
vac, and dala, lip) iS probably connected with dola and S. tola,
lip. Cf. Sk. dala, blade of a weapon, which becomes tola in
Sinhalese.
Hosadika, lit. long-snouted one, from hosa (S. hossa), snout
(Sk. oshtha, lip) and rt'/z&a (S. digd), long.
ZTtf^a ^ar/a, lit. one having a heavy or hanging snout, from hota,
snout (P. ottha, Sk. oshtha), and ^ar/«, heavy, hanging (S. bara) ;
baria may also mean one who bears, cf Sk. Jbhiri, to bear.
Kotua from S. kodd, a hog.
134. Plant {ik), bimpojage mando keretiya D. from bittipojage, of
the earth, mando, middle, and kerenya, to do (S. indanawd).
444 VEDDA VOCABULARY
135. Porcupine {Mystrix leucurus), itewa G. ; katuboika T. ; katii-
keca D. (S. ittcewa).
Itewa from S. //, id, spines, and c^wa, ceya, pangolin.
Katuboika, lit. one (bearing) many thorns, from S. katu, thorns,
bo, many, ika (eka), one.
Katukeca, lit. (he who has) thorn-blades, from S. katu and keca,
he who has blades. Cf. Sk. karitakagara, porcupine.
136. Pot, puceia kavelaneka D. ; talana Bl. (S. kale, niaeti kale,
mcetivalaiida).
Puceia kavelaneka from puceia, burnt, and kavelaneka, (a thing)
from which (one) eats, i.e. a burnt earthen pot.
Talana is connected with S. and T. tali, Sk. sthali.
137. Rain, diadamanya D. ; sil powa neli K. (S. wcessa).
Diadanianya from S. dia, water, and damanya, that which casts
or throws away, cf. Sk. Jdhina.
Sil poiva neli from sil, sky, powa (Sk. pata), falling, and fieli
(Sk. nlra), water.
138. Rice, depotulam, depotulu W. O. D. Bl. L. R. ; kudu hamba
W. ; multeng L. (S. bat, vi).
Depotulam from de (Sk. sjfn), to subsist on, and potulam (Sk.
vartula), round, i.e. corn.
Hudu hamba from hudu, white or cooked (Sk. suda, to cook),
and hamba (S. samba, T. sampa), a kind of rice.
Multeng from S. mulutcen, food prepared for the gods or kings.
139. Rilawa {Macacus, sp.), basekarea N.; botakuna N. G.; kan-
dapauina L. ; keri rilawa D. Bl. ; madimia T. ; rosarosa, rosi
N. W. O. ; udt'kelina L. ; viruiva U. (S. rilawa).
Basekarea from ^^x^, railing at, reviling, and karea, bear, or
from kdrayd, one who does.
Botakuna, v. supra, ' monkey.'
Kandapanina, lit. he who jumps on trees, from kanda, on trees,
a.ndi pani?ta, he who jumps.
iT^r/ rilawa from -^^r/, black, and rilawa.
Maduwa, probably a corruption of S. madaya {v. No. 33).
Rosarosa from Sk, rosha, anger; the word is repeated to
indicate frequency of action, hence this expression may mean one
who is frequently irritated.
Viruwa, lit. he who displays (his teeth), from S. virmmnawa, to
show, display.
VEDDA VOCABULARY 445
140. River, diagama Bl. ; diapoja mangacan D. ; ga?iga O. ; oya
W. (S. ganga, oya).
Diagama, lit. " where water goes," from S. dia, water, and
gama, going.
Diapoja mangacan, lit. where water goes or flows, v. supra
and No. 50.
Ganga J cf. Sk. and P. ganga, river.
141. Kooi, porugamata dandalala Bl. from poruganiata, of a house,
da?ida, S. dandu, wooden (Sk. and P. danda), and lala from
Sk. and P. patala, roof; lala may also be S. laid, having put
(S. piyassd).
142. Salt, karampoja Bl. ; muduru bora B. (S. lunii).
Karampoja, cf. M. khara, Sk. kshdra, salt, T. kdram, caustic,
/^a, z;. p. 391.
Mudum bora from muduru, sea (Sk. saftiudra, S. samudura),
and /^<?/-d', dregs, sediment.
143. Salt water, lunadia K. (S. /^^w?/ d?iiy«).
144. Sand, /a/?/ K., cf. Sk. and V. pdfjsu, dust, S. pas, earth (S. vceli).
145. Sea, ^;«<;^^ K. (S. muda).
146. See (7/.), aiyarukulata mandevenya D. ; a/^/a bacala tibenya Bl.
(S. peiienawd).
Aiyarukulata mandevenya from aiyarukulata, of the eye, mande,
middle, and venya (Sk. w«), to recognise, to see.
Ateta bacala tibenya, lit. "near about (S. asala pasala) there are
(things)"; this phrase states the experience of seeing and may
perhaps be connected with M. aila paila, here and beyond
and tibenya from S. tibenna, there are.
147. Shadow, hevatipoja D. ; /lila T. ; sevenella K. (S. heivai}a,
seva/jella).
Hevanpoja from S. hewana, shade, and poj a, v. p. 391.
148. Shoot with a bow {v.), gacetia D. ; nilealupi B.; wada-
manalla B. (S. gassanawd, tcet kawanawa, tvidinawd).
Gacena, ht. to cause to strike against, to cause to spring.
Nilealupi from nilea (Sk. ndlika), arrow, and lupi (Sk. Jlup),
to cut off, destroy, injure.
Wadamanalla, cf M. iidavane, to shoot, and da (or //^), to cut,
destroy, or this word may be connected with S. widamane, shooting.
446 VEDDA VOCABULARY
149. Sing (v.), gikiapan B. ; otadamanya katadaman Bl. (S. gikiya-
nawa).
Gikiapan from S. gi, song, and kiapan (imperative), to say.
Otadamanya katadaviati^ lit. " to (make) sound(s) (with) the
mouth while dancing," from otadamanya, to dance (7a No. 56),
kata, throat, mouth, and daman (Sk. Jd/una), to blow, to sound.
150. Sit {v.), enebanawo W. ; indepa K. ; randa damatiya D. ; randa
ifidinya Bl. ; veterene O. (S. innawd, indinazva).
Enebanawo, cf. S. cena, squat, Sk. and M. asana, sitting, and
banawo, S. bdfia7vd, to lower.
hidepa from S. indapiya, sit (imp.).
Randa damatiya from randa, S. randdld, having stopped, and
damanya, to be calm.
Randa indinya from randa (?;. siipra), and indi?iya, S. indinawd,
to sit, or to be.
Veteretie, cf. S. vcetirita, having stretched.
151. Skin, hafnpoja K. D. ; kampota V/. (S. hama).
Hampoja from S. hama, skin (Sk. carma, P. catmjia), and /(y^,
t/. p. 391.
Hampota may be a corruption of the above, or /<?/« may be
derived from S. potta, rind.
152. Sky, (^i-r/ K. ; akawe Bl. (S. ahasa, dkahe).
153- Sleep (z'.), Oterandala bote damanawa D. ; veterega?iawa, vetere-
nazva, veterende, veterone W^. K. L. T. ; veterila botadamanya Bl.
(S. nidanaivd).
Oterandala bote damanawa from ota (M. khdta), sleeping cot,
randala, having remained, bota, body, and da?nanawa, to pacify
(Sk. Jdam, to be calm).
Vetereganazva from S. vcBtiragamiawd, to stretch oneself, cf.
Sk. vistri, to spread, to stretch.
Veterila botadafnanya from veterila, S. vcetirild, having stretched,
bota, and damanya, v. supra.
154. Smell (£'), pakaragande ganye, piica?na ganye Bl. (S. suvanda
gahanawa, duganda gahatiawa).
Pakaragande ganye from pakara, Sk. priyakara, P. piyakara,
pleasant, or from Sk. p?-akara, P. pakara, a bunch of flowers;
gande, S. ganda, Sk. and P. gandha, smell, and ganye, S. gahanawa,
to emit. In Sinhalese ganda is used colloquially of a bad smell,
VEDDA VOCABULARY 447
the ^'k. pus/ipa, flower, being used of a good smell. In the classics
ganda is used of any smell. Perhaps pakara may be connected
with Sk. pushkara, the blue lotus (S. pokuru, H. pokhara, P.
pokkhara).
Pucama ganye from pucama, '^. pusma, Sk. and V. putt, stench,
and ma, expletive or intensitive, ganye, v. stipra.
155. Smoke, duma Tk. ; dim K. ; ginipojagm mandevela mangacena D.
(S. duina).
Ginipojagin ?fiande7'e/a mangacena ; gi?iipojagin, from fire,
mandevela, slowly (Sk. j?ianda, slow, veld, time), niafigacena, that
which goes. The expression literally means " that which goes
from fire slowly," or, "that which goes from fire when wet,'
the latter meaning being supported by the sentence collected at
Bulugahaladena and given on p. 388.
156. Snake, /<9//>/^« D. (S. poloiiga).
157. Speak {v.), katadamana D. ; kataniatiye Bl. (S. katdkaranawa).
Katadamana from kata, throat, mouth, and damana, sound
(Sk. Jd/nvan, dhtnd, Sk. and P. man, to sound).
Katanianye, v. supra.
158. Spider, mekirii Bl. (S. makuluwd).
The form makufid is also used in Sinhalese.
159. Spit {v.), kelapoja anokelanawa D. from S. kela, spittle, poja
{v. p. 391), anoke, away (S. ahaka), and lanawa, to put (S. kela
gahatiawd).
160. Squirrel {Sdiirus macrurus), dandulena N.; panina L. ; pern-
ma D. ; rukka, rukia R. T, (S. dandulend, lend).
Dandule7ia from S. dandu, stem, stalk, erect, and lend, squirrel,
probably referring to the long tail of this squirrel.
Fanina, lit. the jumper (S. paninnd).
Perunia, lit. the animal (which lodges) among the leaves of trees,
of Sk. parnamriga, squirrel, from pania, leap, and mriga, animal,
Rukka, cf Sk. vrikshasdyikd, from vriksha (S. ruk), trees, and
sdyikd, who sleeps, i.e. who sleeps in trees.
161. Stand {v.), oMahitala indinya, hitala indifiya D. Bl. ; indepe B. ;
penenatiglpu K. (S. sitina7s.id),
Anahitala indinya from ana (Sk. and P. d?ii), the part of the
leg immediately above the knee, hitala, being erect (Sk. Jsthd,
P. (ha, to stand, to remain), and indinya, v. No. 150.
Fetienangipu, cf. S. pcenananga, to rise up.
448 VEDDA VOCABULARY
162. St3iT , ginipojawal 'Q\.; tarapoja D.; tarka K. (S. taru, ^.taraka).
Ginipojawal from S. gini, fire, dS\^ pojaival, heaps; 7^'a/ being the
pi. suffix (T. kal), is probably a contraction of H. sakal, all.
Tarapoja from S. taru, star, zx^dk poja, v. p. 391.
163. Stone, gale K. (S. gala).
164. Strike (?a), labacanawa, eriavaceiiawa Bl. (S. gaha?iawa).
Labacanawa is probably from Sk. rabhasa, violence, and lit.
means " to do violence."
Enavacenawa from ena (Sk. han), to strike, and vacenawa, to
throw over, or drive away.
165. String a bo\A/ (z).), patatvela ??iando kerenawa Bl. (S. duninvcElu,
or diiHudiya, damanatvd).
Pataivela tnando kerenawa ; Mr Parker considers that this
phrase means "to loop the bark cord (on the bow)." Patawela
may be from S. patte, bark, and ivcela, cord ; manda karanawa is
to loop or noose, manda being a noose.
166. Sun, irapoja D. Bl. ; sakolawa B. ; suriya K. (S. z>«).
Irapoja from S. ?>«; (Sk. surya), &\-\<^ poja perhaps fron, Sk. and
P. piinja, mass, heap (cf p. 391).
Sakolawa is connected with Sk. sahasrakirana, sun.
Suriya (Sk. surya, P. suriya) is not used in colloquial Sinhalese.
167. Sweat, dadidapi W. from S. rt'od'/, sweat, and dapa (Sk. darpa),
heat (S. dadiya, dddiya).
168. Take a^A^ay (^'.), enanuma B. K. ; ,?;?« mangacana D. ; ^;?^
77iangacenawa Bl. (S. aragena yanaivd).
Enanuma from ^//a, S. ^^//a, having taken, and mima, which
appears to be connected with Sk. nigani, to go to, or may be
a corruption of S. yaina, go (imp.).
Ena mangacana from ena {supra), and mangacana,, go.
^;/^ mangacenawa from ^//^ (S. (y/V;), from that place, thence,
and mangacenawa.
169. Tears, dia Bl., lit. (S.) water (S. kandulu).
170. Teeth, daiporuva Bl. ; datketkai D. (S. ^a/).
Daiporuva, ht. "tooth board," or row of teeth, from d?a/, teeth,
and poruva, board, plank (H. patrd, or pirlid, plank, M. phard,
row, line).
Datketkaiiroxn S. data, tooth, and keikai{M.. kutakd), piece.
VEDDA VOCABULARY 449
171. Thick, parabata K., cf. S. parvata, adj., large, huge, and
Sk. parvata, pardpata, mountain, which may be used to indicate
thickness (S. gana).
172. Thunder and lightning, akunu O.; dtadamana Bl. ; deula
W^.; devula andanatva K.; devula gorawatia^va R.; katadamanan
Bl. (S. gerawhna viduliya).
Akunu, cf. P. akkhand, Sk. akshana.
Diadamana, Ht. light thrower, from dia (Sk. dvita), light, rays
of light, and damana, that which throws ; cf. S. dama, to put, to
throw, probably from Sk. Jdhma, to throw, to cast.
Deula is a corruption of M. sojvdla, lightning.
Devula audanawa from devula, heaven, and S. andanawa,
making a sound.
Devula gorawanawa from devula and S. gorawanawd, rumble,
growl.
Katadamanan from kata (Sk. kdnii), lustre, and damanan, which
appears to be either a mistake or another form of damana.
173. Tinder, huduha7tiba W. ; pulum K. {^. ginipulun).
Hudtchamba from hudu, S. sudu, white, and hamba (Sk. samidha),
fuel. [For another and more probable derivation cf. p. 386.]
Pulum, cf. S. pulum, cotton.
174. Tobacco, vasakola K. ; vecakola O. D. Bl. R. ; vesakola K.
W. L. T. (S. dumkola), perhaps from S. visa, poison, and kola,
leaf.
175. Tongue, divapoja D. ; divarukula Bl. ; radiya O. ; /a/<f T,
(S. rt?/m).
Divapoja, from S. ^/z/a, tongue, a.nd poj a : v. p. 391.
Divarukula, lit. that which helps licking or tasting, from S. diva,
tongue, and rukula, v. No. 73.
Radiya from S. raha, taste, flavour, and diya, S. diva, tongue.
Tale from S. tala (Sk. dala), blade.
176. Track (v.), oteken fnangacalawe BL, lit. "gone this way," or
"gone from there"; oteken, from there, cf. S. otanini, from that
place, man, way, path (S. man, Sk. manga), gacalawe, gone, cf.
P. gacchati, goes.
177. Tree, ^a, gapoja, gaipoja K. D. BL, from S. ^a//d! and poja,
V. p. 391 (S. ^ai-a, gaha).
s. V. 29
450 VEDDA VOCABULARY
178. Ugly, naperi B., v. No. 8 (S. avalakshand).
179. Understand (v.), hitalala tibcnya Bl. from S. hitay in the
mind, /a/a, having put, and tihenya, there is, or hitalala may be
corrupted from H. citkald, mind (S. hcFtigenawd, terenawa).
180. Water, dia K. O. T. ; diaraca D. ; diarukula Bl. (S. vatura,
diya).
Diaraca from dia, water, and raca (Sk. rasa), fluid.
Diarukula, Ut. support of life, from ^/a, S. divi, life, and rukula,
V. No. 73.
181. Waterhole, madawala W., lit. mudpit, from S. mada, mud,
and 7£^a/a, pit (S. vaturawala).
182. Water tortoise, kabala pile huda N. ; ttiambuda N. (S. /(^-/^a,
Kabala pile huda\ lit. "white on the back of the shell" from
S. kabala, shell, pile, on the back, and huda (S. suda), white.
Matiibuda from »2a»/ (Sk. wdjnana), pigmy, and buda, body.
183. Wax, /// K. (S. ///).
184. W^ind, datidapaiagacena D. ; hulatnpoja Bl. ; silmafi K. ;
siliwidtirunaga W^. O. (S. hulafiga).
Dandapatagacena from Sk., P. and S. da/ida, staff, stem of
a tree, and patagacena.
Hula7npoja from S. hulan zxidi. poja, v. p. 391.
Silfua?i, lit. that which causes to shake, from S. solawa (Sk. and
P. cala), to shake, the gerund of which is solman.
Silmudurufiaga from sil, tree (S. 5a/a, Sk. and P. sdla), muduruna
(Sk. samuddharatia), eradicating, and Sk. ga, that which moves.
185. Yam, alapoja D. ; bokki K. ; katuella T. (S. ala).
Alapoja from S. a/a (Sk. and P. dbi), zvlA poja, v. p. 391.
Bokki, cf. Sk. bukki, heart, which may have been applied to
yams on account of their shape.
Katuella from S. katu, thorny, and ella, S. ala, yam (Sk. and
P. dlu).
' Mr Parker points out that the animal referred to is the pale, edible freshwater
turtle called by the Sinhalese kiri ibba.
APPENDIX.
THE DERIVATION OF THE K^LE-BASE NAMES OF
SOME ANIMALSi
BY
A. M. GUNASEKARA.
1. Ant-eater, (i) Potta, f. potti^ lit. "who has a shell," from
^. potta, "shell." The shell of the ant-eater is called in S. cepotu
(nom. sing, apottd), ^ is the basal form (generally taken by the
first part of a compound word) of dyd.
(ii) ^ya, literally "who ploughs or digs." This word is formed
from S. sayd, derived from S. sjsd.
(iii) Talkola-pettiya from S. talkola, "palmyra leaves," and
pettiya, " who is or has a box " (S. pettiya, " box "), i.e. the ant-
eater is or has " a box made of palmyra leaves." I assume that
pettiya should ht pettiya.
2. Bear, (i) Uyangowwd, lit. a keeper or protector of pleasure
gardens, from S. uyan, "parks," "pleasure gardens," "gardens,"
and gowivd, " keeper," " who guards or protects."
(ii) Tadiyd, lit. "the fat one," from Tamil tadi, "flesh." In
Sinhalese tadiyd is a fat man or animal.
(iii) Kalimtd, lit. "the black one," from S. kalu, "black";
d is the personal nom. sing, ending, and kaiua becomes kahiwd
by euphony. Kahcwd is often used by the Sinhalese as a pet
name for a male child who has a particularly dark complexion.
(iv) Kalu-wcelihini, lit. black she-bear, from kalu and wceli-
hini, "she-bear."
(v) Gamayd, lit. " the village headman," from S. garna,
"village"; gamayd also means "villager." Ga?}iardla xs the more
common form for the headman of a village.
' The kale-base names of the animals in this appendix are taken from Mr Parker's
work Ancient Ceylon.
29 — 2
452 APPENDIX
3. Buffalo, (i) Ambaruwd,\\\.. horn-bearer, from S. an, "horns,"
and barinvd, "who is laden" or "who bears" (from Sk. Jb/iri, to
bear, to support); ";/" is changed into "w" before "(^" which
requires before it a nasal of the class to which it belongs.
(ii) Gawayd, a Sinhalese word meaning "bull," "ox," "one
of the ox kind," corresponding with the Sk. gawa, go, cf Sk. ga-
ivala, "wild buffalo."
(iii) PiTTibinnd is a Sinhalese word meaning " who snorts or
makes a hissing sound with the nostrils " (as when the animal
is charging), from S. Jphhba, " to blow."
Civet cat. (i) Appala-bcetayd appears to mean "one who
moves skilfully among branches," from S. appala (atpald), "on
branches," and bcBtceyd {bcetayd, batayd), "soldier," "one skilful
in action."
(ii) HotceTtibiliyd is probably a variant of hoiambayd {v. infra) ;
hotmnbiliyd literally means " he whose ears are red," from S. ho,
"ears," and tieihbiliyd, "one like a king-cocoanut," />. "one who
is red."
(iii) Hotambayd from ho, " ears," and tafhbayd, " copper-
coloured one," i.e. " one whose ears are copper-coloured."
5. Cobra. Boyi-sattayd, lit. "the animal with a hood," from boyi,
"hood" (expanded), and sattayd, "animal"; boyi is a corrupt
form of S. boya (Sk. bhogd), "(expanded) hood," "coil," "snake,"
and sattayd is a corrupt form of the Sk. satvayd (with S. nom.
sing, ending) used by illiterate Sinhalese, "being," "animal."
6. Crocodile. Gamayd, v. No. 2 (v), supra.
7. Deer, Axis, (i) Ambarinvd, v. No. 3 (i), supra.
(ii) Pitpcelcelld, this expression may mean " who is a yellow
bag," from pit (Sk. pita), " yellow," and p(^la',Ud (threshing-floor
dialect), "bag." Perhaps pcelcelld is a corruption of S. poUd,
"young animal," while /// may be a mistake for, or a corruption
of, S. tik, " spots." The spotted deer is called tik-Jtiuwd in Sin-
halese, in which language/// also means "bile," "bilious."
8. Deer, Mouse, (i) Kekkd, lit. "who makes the cry of kek";
in Sinhalese the cry of the peacock is called kebd (Sk. kekd).
(ii) Yakadayd, Ht. "who is like iron," "who is stern," from
S. yakada, "iron." [Mr Parker suggests that this expression is
satirical and refers to the fragile appearance of the animal]
APPENDIX 453
(iii) Batigarayd is a Sinhalese word meaning " who vexes,"
"who deceives," "fast runner"; \}[\^^V. jarlghdkdra, "runner," is
identical with the Sinhalese word.
9. Deer, Sambar. (i) Ambannvd, v. 3 (i), supra.
(ii) Karakolayd, lit. "who is a raw talipot leaf." KarakolUy
the " leaf of the talipot palm."
(iii) Folia, S. "young animal" (of deer, etc.), the S. polla,
"club," " staff," can hardly be connected with this.
10. Dog. (i) Aidurd, a S. word meaning "teacher," "messenger,"
"expeller of devils," the corresponding words in Sk. and P. are
dcdrya and dcariya respectively.
(ii) Bafidinnd, lit. "binder," "who binds or ties," in which
sense only the word is used in S. If taken as a contraction of
anu-bafidinnd (S.), it may mean "follower"; if taken as a con-
traction oi luhu-bafidinnd, it msv mean "who chases or pursues."
(iii) Hatarabdgayd from S. hatara, " four," and bdgayd, " who
has parts " (probably referring to legs).
(iv) Hatara-bdga-czttd from S. hatara, bdga, " parts," and
ceftd, "who has."
11. Elephant, (i) Uhalld, lit. "the tall one." This is another
form of usalld which, though the original form, is less used in
Sinhalese.
(ii) Usalld {v. supra).
(iii) Usangalld from S. us, "tall," and angalld, "who has
limbs." Anga (S., Sk. and P.) in angalld means "limbs" and the
// seem to have been added to conform with the preceding words.
(iv) Gajjard (vom gajja, "trumpeting (of elephants)," and rd,
"who gives." Though gaja is a Sk. word also used in S. for
" elephant," gajjard is not connected with it, but comes from the
root garj, " to roar or growl " ; from this root is formed the Sk.
word garja, " trumpeting of elephants," of which the Pali form
is gajja. The Sk. garja itself may be corrupted into gajja by the
illiterate.
12. Leopard, (i) Diviyd. This is the common S. word which
corresponds with Sk. dv'ipin and P. dipi.
(ii) Siwupdwd from S. snvu, "four," and /aze/a, " who has feet,"
i.e. " the four-footed one."
(iii) Bcedi-mutd from S. bcedi, "forest," "jungle," and tnutd
(S. muttd), "grandfather," i.e. lit. "grandfather of the forest."
454 APPENDIX
Miita appears to be a mistake for mutta, the form bcedde-mutta
occurs in the thrashing-floor dialect.
(iv) jRcenayd, lit. "inhabitant of the forest," from S. ranayd,
"who dwells in the forest."
13. Monitor lizard {Varanus sp.). (i) Kcemlla, lit. "who is
like a skein or bundle" or "who has stripes or lines," from
S. karalla, "skein," "bundle," "line," "stripe."
(ii) Kapiirdla from S. kapu, "priest of a temple," and rdla^
" chief," " lord " (generally used as honorific) ; kapurala is more
respectful than kapuwd, which is also used. The word may also
mean " barber," in which sense it perhaps refers to the bare skin
of the monitor lizard.
(iii) Mandd from the Sk. ?nanda, "slow," "dull," "lazy,"
which is also used in Sinhalese.
14. Monkey {Senifwpithecus sp.). (i) Gas-gond from S. gas, "tree,"
and gond, " bull." Gasgond is probably a corruption of gasgond,
gotiafigul is an old S. word for monkey.
(ii) Gas-gond from S. gas, "tree," and ^^;/a, "sambar."
15. Monkey {Thersites sp.). (i) Kandan-paninnd, from S. kandan,
"trunks" (of trees), a.nd paninnd, "who jumps."
(ii) Patagahapu-ekd from S. patagahapu, " who is stripped of
its cloth" {S). pata), and ekd, "one."
16. Pig. (i) Hota-barayd, v. No. 133 of the Vedda list.
(ii) Tadiyd, v. No. 2 (ii), supra.
(iii) Telkaliyd from S. tel, "oil," "fat," and kaliyd, "who
is a pot " (S. kala), i.e. " who is (like) a pot of fat."
17. Porcupine. (i) Itt^yd, a Sinhalese word, though the form
iitawd is more commonly used.
(ii) Katuwd, lit. " the spiny one," from S. katii, " bones,"
i.e. "spines."
m
GLOSSARY OF NATIVE WORDS
Adukku, an offering of cooked food.
Aiya, elder brother, maternal aunt's son, paternal uncle's son.
Akka, elder sister, daughter, paternal uncle's daughter.
Alutyakagama, a bower-like structure to which the yaku are called
in certain ceremonies.
Arachi, the headman of a Sinhalese village settlement.
Aude, a ceremonial arrow (S. awude).
Baena, sister's son, brother's son, hence son-in-law.
Bambara, the rock bee {Apis indica).
Bandara, often shortened to Bafidar, the spirit of a deceased chief
or important ancestor to whom offerings are made. Baudara are
generally hurtful, but have certain protective functions (Sinhalese).
Bulatyakagama, an elaborate form of viaesa used at Unuwatura
Bubula.
Chena, a piece of rough cultivation.
Deva, a god.
Deyo, god, properly dei'iya, pi. deviyo, often altered to deyiya and deyiyo.
Dia lanuwa, a waist string.
Dugganawa, shaman (Vedda).
Gamarale, a village headman (Sinhalese).
Hangala, a length of white cloth worn by the shaman in certain
ceremonies.
Hangotu, the Sinhalese for ^naludema, q.v.
Hura, father's sister's son, mother's brother's son, i.e. the cousin whom
a girl should marry.
Kaduwa, a wooden sword used in certain ceremonies.
Kaelebasa, the jungle language of Ceylon.
Kapurale, a devil-dancer (Sinhalese).
Katandirale, a devil-dancer (Sinhalese).
Kiriamma, lit. grandmothers, generally used for the spirits {yakino) of
old Vedda women.
Kirikoraha, ht. a pot containing coconut milk, hence one of the
ceremonies in which this is the chief offering.
456 GLOSSARY OF NATIVE WORDS
Kolamaduwa, a ceremony which takes its name from the structure
round which it is performed.
Kudaram, a rough altar erected by Coast Veddas.
Maesa, an altar-like structure on which are placed offerings to the yaku.
Malaya, younger brother, maternal aunt's son, paternal uncle's son.
Maludema, a deerskin vessel in which honey is collected (cf. Plate
LXV).
Masliya, a wooden implement for taking honeycomb (cf. Text Fig. 12).
Mukkaliya, the tripod used in the kirikoraha and other ceremonies.
Naena, father's sister's daughter, mother's brother's daughter, i.e. the
cousin whom a man should marry.
Pilliyar, a sacred stone within the precincts of the temple at
Pellanchenai (Coast Veddas). Pilkiyar is the Tamil name of the
God Ganesa : a rude stone placed under a shady tree may be
treated as representing the god. Wm
Pingo, a carrying stick. ^
Ran kaduwa, lit. "golden sword," a wooden sword or stick used in *;
certain ceremonies (cf. Text Fig. 11).
Ratemahatmaya, hereditary overlord or "laird."
Ruwala, the central pole and structure erected for the i-uwala
ceremony.
Sannasa, a record of a grant of land generally inscribed on a metal
plate or rock face.
Talawa, an open space in the jungle, a glade.
Tavalam, a train of pack bulls.
Ule, a yam stick.
Vederale, a native doctor (Sinhalese).
Vidane, a Vedda headman appointed by Government.
Wadia, trading places where Veddas and Moormen pedlars meet to
barter.
Wanniya, a Vedda chief, also used as a proper name, e.g. Sita
Wanniya. The word is also applied to the inhabitants of the
Wanni, a wild tract in the North Central Province.
Waruge, a clan.
Wilkoraha, a pot used for fetching water in the ceremony invoking
the Rahu Yaku.
Yaka, f. yakini, pi. yaku, f. yakitw, (i) the spirit of a dead Vedda.
(ii) Other spirits
Yakka, yakkini, the aborigines of Ceylon referred to in the Mahawansa.
INDEX
Adam's Peak, 9 n., 19, 20; see Maskeliya
Adoption not practised, 104
Address, terms of, 65
Adukganna Hulawali Yaka, 177
Aembala wariige, 30, 72, 74; distribution
of, 80; status of, 78, 79
Ale Yaka, 152; see Bambura Yaka,
245 etc.
Alutnuwara, i, 2; song, 351
Alutyakagama, 165 ; ceremony, 260-3 >
invocation used, 306 ; resting place of
yaku, 212, 248
Alut Yaku, 260
Ambarapoti kiriamma, 316, 317
American Indian music, comparison with,
363
Ammal (Goddess), 336
Amulets, 201, 204-7
Amusement songs, 35, 344, 347, 348
Amusements, ofchildren, 91; pantomimic,
321
Analysis of music, 352-7, 364, 365
Animals, charms against, 191-201 ; love of,
47, 116,117; messengers of Bandar, x 43
Arachi, 41, 52, 53
Arrow dance, 213-18
Arrows, as children's toys, 91; as
presents, 97; as protection for children,
137, 154; as seisin, 172; chief weapons,
324-5 {see bows); feathers for, 32;
heads, 19, 94; inheritance of, 118; in
religious ceremonies, 137-9, ^i^' 252-4
(see also audi) ; note by Knox, 7 ; used
as knives, 325
Arts and crafts, 55, 318-30
Arunachalam, P., 187
Aude, 48, 76; description of, 171, 172;
ceremonially used, 167, 169, 219-30,
234-7, 259-63; not known at Elako-
taliya or Ulpota, 175
Avana ceremony, 270-2
Avoidance, of certain foods, 102, 129,
139, 178-80, 191, 334, 335; of certain
relatives, 68; of names, 69, 192; of
property of dead, 123
Axe, 32, 118, 119, 324; as marriage
present, 98
Bailey, John, 15, 35, 36, 40, 66 n., 87,
88, 93, 94. 95. 97. "6. ii7. ^35. 146,
i6o, 161, 162, 178, 187, 193, 205, 213,
234. 367. 381
Bambara, 326-9; honey collecting, 91,
92 {see also honey) ; nests as marriage
portion, 112
Bambura Yaka, 141, 152; invocations
to, 237-47, 297-300; same as Ale
Yaka, 152, 245; song to, 349; un-
known at certain places, 165, 173, 175,
176
Bandar, cult of, 141-5, 181-2
Bandar, Galaridi, 163; Gange, 164, 167:
Godegedara, 145; Irugal, 164; Kalu,
164; Kosgama, 143, 144; Peradeneya,
164; Rar.grual, 163; Ranhoti, 164;
Sandual, 164
Bandara beliefs, 14 {see Bandar)
Bandara wanige, 70, 72, 76-8, 80
Bandaraduwa, arrow dance, 216; beliefs,
133. i57-'59; burial, 123, 124; charms,
201, 202, 206; chena, 41; condition
of, 36, 233, 234 ; early marriages, 95;
foreign influence, 216; invocations,
274 n., 278, 283,294-6, 303; Katara-
gam God, 156, 187; lullaby, 367;
music, 342; Nae Fa/'« ceremony, 130,
154, 230, 233-7 ; songs, 344, 345, 347.
349. 350, 369. .370; stature, 41 ;
waruge, 75 ; wearing of amulet, 207
Bandarawela, 19, 20, 22
Barnett, Dr L. D., 382, 383, 384, 390 n.
Barter, 33, 94
Barutugala Yaka, 170
Batticaloa, i, 4
Beads, as possible charm, 193 ; bark
substituted for, 249, 255 ; held sacred,
48 ; magical power of, 206 ; used in
ceremonies, 226, 261, 262; wilder
Veddas, 205
Bell, H. C. P., 22, 319 n.
Bendiya wanige, 73
Bendiyagalge, caves, 20, 22, 83-7, 108,
109, 408; hair as marriage gift, 98,
99; kolamadtiwa ceremony, 267-9;
kirikoraha ceremony, 219-23; love of
beads shown, 206; 'stone throwing,'
125; Veddas of, 35-7; women pos-
sessed, 134
458
INDEX
Betel bags, 32, 1 17-19, 123, 330
Bibile, W. R., 10 n., 13, 31, 38, 39, 40,
62, 73, loi n., 103, 104, 120, 121,
270
Bilindi Yaka, 30, 31; arrows used in
invoking, 139; giver of prosperity, 34;
invocations to, 132, 133, 150, 151, 152,
165, 185, 2 [9-30, 235, 283-90; song
to, 351; unknown among certain
communities, 170, 173, 175, 176
Bintenne, beads worn, 205; beliefs, 168-
70; charms, 203, 204; description of,
2, 3 n. ; exogamy, 74
Bo Gaha Yaka, 170, 171
Boundaries, 7, 106, 112, 113; settlement
of disputes over, 116
Bournouf, 26 n.
Bows and arrows, 32, 42, 116, 203, 324-
6. 333-4 ;. as marriage gifts, 97 ; as
toys, 91 ; invocation with, 290; some-
times buried with dead, 124; special
place for, 86, 87; used as carrying
sticks, 241
Broome, R. R., 359
Btilatyahana^ 229
Bulugahaladena, 52, 98; invocations,
274 n., 279; language, 387-9; music,
342; Nae Yakii, 168-70; song, 348
Burial, 123, 124, 147
Caves, 32, 33; Bendiyagalge, 20, 22,
83-7, 108, 109, 408; desertion of, 34,
122, 126, 127; drawings in, 318-21;
evidence of pre-Sinhalese occupation,
24, 417 ; excavations of, 18, 19, 20-4,
416, 417; names of at Henebedda,
107; Pattiavelagalge, 14, 109; Pihile-
godagalge, 83-7, 91, 92, iii, 318,
319; Punchikiriammagalge (Punchi-
ammagalge), 84, 109; Sitala Wanniya,
III ; Uhapitagalge. 84, 109
Cephalic index, Sinhalese, 416; Vedda,
Ceremonial dances, 209-72
Ceremony at childbirth, 102; for safety
in honey collecting, 131; to ascertain
power of dead, 127; to obtain game,
'5°-53; 'o settle boundary disputes,
116
Characters, cultural, 416; physical, 13 n.,
15-18, 47, 48, 49' 56, 332, 415-16
Charms against animals, 35, 191-202;
for bows and arrows, 203 ; love absent,
204; music of, 359; to obtain food,
201-4
Chastity, 37
Childbirth, 101, 102 ; invocation of _ya/^M,
247-51
Children, 90, 91; sex predicted before
birth, 250 n.; yaku dangerous to, 103,
216
Chiefs, 10, 62
Chena, 36, 41, 49, 52, 62
Clan organization, 70-8 {see also waruge)
Clans, grouping of, 79, 80; status of, 78,
79
Clothmg, 7, 85, 90-3, 117; wilder
Veddas, 34, 213
Coast Veddas, 27, 70-2, 80, 331-40;
country of, 4 ; dance performed by,
337-40. .
Colour vision, 399-402
Conclusions, 413-22; music, 363
Constancy, 87, 88
Costa, Don Juan de, 106
Courtesy, 37
Cousins, marriage of, 64, 65, 77
Crafts, 318-30
Cult of the dead, 126-44, 146-49; in
Southern India, 181; origin of, 14, 30
Cult of foreign spirits, 149
Cunningham, Sir A., 2611.
Dadayan Yaku, 167
Dagaba, 2 ; made by Galaridi Bandar,
"63 .
Dambani, 49-53; invocations at, 274 n.,
276, 280; music, 342; Nae Yaku^
168-70; songs, 344, 346, 351 ; waruge,
78
Dances, 105, 133, 134, 168, 211, 318;
amusement, 217-18; arrow, 213-18;
of Coast Veddas, 337-40 ; to procure
prosperity, 34
Danigala, 35, 37-40, 49; kinship, 62;
message sticks, 121 ; waruge, 75
Davy, 214
Death, beliefs as to condition of, 30, 31,
133, 147, 148, 159, 160; bodies de-
serted, 34, 122, 147; burial of, 123,
124, 147, 339; communion with de-
sired, 130, 131; property of, 115
Degenerate Veddas, 45-6
Dehigama toaruge, 73, 77, 78
Dehigole Yaka, 171
Deniker, Dr J., 415
Descent, matrilineal, 30, 74, 76, 77 ;
patrilineal, 76, 78, 334
Deschamps, Emile, 52, 214, 217 n., 416
Desertion, of caves after death, 34, 122;
of wives, 100
Deyo, I, 167; Gane, 168, 175; Ganga
Bandar, 167, 173, 176; Genikandia,
176; Haiide, 144; Ira, 144; Katara-
gam, 173, 176; Mangara, 176, 177;
Numeriya, 174; Palugamman, 176;
Saman, 174; Sande, 144
Dia lanuwa; see waist string
Dialect, hunting, 274, 275, 451-4; yaka.
Divorce unknown, 100
Dogs, affection for, 47, 116, 117; anointed
INDEX
459
in ceremonies, ii6, 223; as marriage
gifts, 97, ri6; drawings of, 319-21;
invocation to recover, 152; names of,
117; partake of sacrifice, 130
Dola Yaka, 153, 206, 207; ceremonies,
252-4, 301
Dowry, 95, 97
Dreams, 135, 136, i6t, 177
Drip ledges in caves, 22, 83, 417
Drum, use of, 234
Dunne Yakini, 212, 237, 238, 243, 244
Ear boring, 32, 55, 205
Elakotaliya, 55, 76 ; 7varuge, 76 ; yaktt,
174, 175
Ella Yakini, 173, 174
Enumeration, 33, 112 n.. 412
Eschatology, 14, 30, 31, 133, i35, 136,
147, 148, 161
Evil eye, no fear of, 19 r
Exogamy, 30, 74, 75, 416 ; Elakotaliya,
55, 76; Girandura, 78; Ulpota, 77;
Unuwatura Bubula, 76 ; Yakure, 77
Facial characters, 18
Family life, 63, 81-105
Fire, ceremony, 153 ; legendary origin
of, 322 ; obtained by drilling, 32
Fishing, 333
Food, 32, 81, 88, 94, 326-9, 394-7;
taboos, 102, 129, 139, 178-80, 334,
335
Foreign influence, 43, 47, 62, 103, 120,
206, 216, 234, 333, 335
Forest Veddas, 81, 82
Fowls, 47, 178, 334
Freeman, H., 3 n.
Furness 3rd, Dr W. H., 53-5
Gale Yaka, 151, 182-9, invocations to,
166, 260-3; possible identity with
Indigollae Yaka, 165, 184
Gale Yakini, 186
Gale Yaku, 167
Galmede, 44-6; beliefs, 150; exogamy, 74
Gamarale, 48
Game, augury to discover, 233 ; given by
Kande Yaka and Bilindi Yaka, 30, 34,
132 ; invocations for, 169, 202, 283 ;
skill in finding, 394
Gane Deyo, 168, 175
Gange Bandar, 164, 167, 173, 176
Geiger, 380, 389, 390
Genealogies, 59-61
Generosity, 66
Geographical position, i
Ghosts unheard of, 135
Gifts, see presents
Girandura ivariige, 78
Godatalawa, 36, 44 ; avoidance of certain
relatives, 68; death ceremony, 130,
131; exogamy, 74; family life, 63;
invocations, 127, 274 n., 276, 277, 286,
287, 291 ; naming of children, 102 ;
religious beliefs, 150; 7vanige, 76
Godegedara, 143, 145
Goens, Ryklof van, 106
Graves, 123, 124, 147, 339
Green, E. E., 18, 19
Gunasekara, A. Mendis, 387-94, 366-79,
417, 451-54
Hangala^ 34, 213, 224, 227, 231
Hagen, Karl, 363
Hair, as charm, 197, 198; as marriage
gift, 98-100; as seisin, 114; as sign of
death, 120; decoration of, 205; de-
scription of, 17; mode of wearing,
7, 320; shaman's not cut, 129
Hantane Mahavedi Unehe, 163
Harpoon, 334
Hartshorne, B. L., 15 n., 66 n., 85, 169,
170
Hearing, tests of, 411-12
Heavenly bodies, 144, 329
Hemberewa, 1 73 ; song, 349
Henebedda, 13, 15, 35, 39, 40; arrow
dance, 214, 215; avana ceremony,
270-72 ; avoidance of property of dead,
123; beliefs, 159, 160, 164; charms,
i93j 197, 200, 202 ; chena cultivation,
267 ; dedication of food to yaku, 285,
286 ; early marriages, 95 ; exogamy
absent, 75 ; food taboos, 102 ; invoca-
tions, 141, 274 n., 282, 287-9, -93>
294; isolation of women, 94; Katara-
gam God, 187; kinship, 62; Kiri-
koraha, 213, 219-23; music, 342;
Nae Yaku ceremony, 130; naming of
children, 102, 103; pantomime, 92,
321; pottery, 323, 324; songs, 347,
348, 350; terms of address, 65 ; terri-
tory, 107-9; w^''«^i?< 75
Hillier, Dr H. M., 53-5
Hioueng Thsang, 421
History of Veddas, 1-28
Hobson Jobson, [6n.
Holland, W. H., 21
Honey, 326-9, 394, 397 ; ceremonial
dance to obtain, 252-4 ; invocations for,
291-6; songs, 344, 348, 350; panto-
mimic collecting of, 91, 92 ; shared in
community, 42, 62; yaku connected
with, 162-4, 169
Horaborawewa, 53 ; waruge, 52, 78;
yaku, 170, 171
Hornbostel, von, 363, 365
Horsburgh, B., 57, 73, 177
Houses, 49, -.1, 353
Human liver as a charm, 34, 190; eating
of, 207, 208
Hunting, 62, 162-4, 172, 397
460
INDEX
levers, R. W., 100 n.
Indigollae Yaka, among immigrants,
182-9; at Elakotaliya, 174; at Kalu-
kalaeba, 173; at Lindegala, 172; at
Omuni, 167; at Sitala Wanniya, 153,
223-6; at Unuwatura Bubula, 165, 206 ;
at Yakure, 176; in the Bintenne, 169;
possible identity with Gale Yaka, 165
Indigollaewa Kiriamma, 184, 186
Indulgence to children, 90
Inheritance, 106-21
Inscription, ancient, 22
Intermarriage, with Sinhalese, 35-7, 53,
62 ; with Tamils, 55, 331, 334
Intervals in music, 352-7, 364, 365
Invocations, 133, 134, 273-318; of Gale
Yaka, 185; of Godegadara Bandar,
145; of Maha Yakino, 166; of Nae
Yaku, i6r, 220, 221, 223-5, ^27, 228,
256, 344, 348, 351 ; with bow, 290
Irugal Bandar, 164
I tale Yaka, 212, 216
Jayawardene, G. W., 56, 57, 177
Jealousy, 33
Jungle craft, 395-8 ; Pannikki Yaka the
patron of, 141
Jungle language, 274-5, 381, 451-4
Jungle Veddas, 29
Kadaelle Nalla Panikkia, 163
Kadawara Yaku, 270, 272
Kaduwa, 153, 255-9
Kaelebasa (jungle language), 274, 275,
381, 451-4
Kallodi, 57, 72, 73, 76
Kalukalaeba, ^i, 56; invocations, 274 n.,
^2^S\wanlge, 76, 11 \ yaku, 173, 174
Kalu Yaku, 1 70 ; see Wanagata Yaka
Kanda Swami ; see Kataragam God
Kande Yaka, 31, 139, 141, 144, 169;
giver of prosperity, 34 ; identical with
Itale Yaka, 216; invocations, 13 1-3,
150, 151, 165, 172, 185, 219-31, 235,
283~7> 351; origin of, 152; possible
relation to Kataragam God, 187 ; un-
known among certain communities,
170, 174-6
Kandyan Sinhalese, beliefs of, 180-9 '■>
stature of, 13 n.
Kapalpei (Kapalpe), 175, 336-40
Kapiirale ; see shaman
Katandirale, 210
Kataragam, 18, 155-7
Kataragam Deyo, 173, 174
Kataragam God, 143, 151, 173; temple
of, 187; unknown, 34; worshipped,
168, 175, 181
Kimbul Otbe Yaka, 172
Kinship, 59, 63-70
Kiriainnia, 140, 303
Kirikoraha, ceremonies, 31, 34, 35, 152,
218-30, 284, 285, 287, 289, 301 ;
songs, 345, 349, 351
Knox, Robert, 2, 6-8, 14, 48, 49, 93,
97, 98, 106, 115, 146, 149
Kokagalla, 2
Kolamadiitva, 34, 212; ceremonies, 172,
267-9, 306-17; song, 348
Kolombedda, 80, 94
Komaia Devam, 336
Koriminaala Yaka, 243, 244
Kosgama Bandar, 335-40
Kovil Yanamai, 40-3; condition of, 233,
234 ; exogamy absent, 75 ; man-
slaughter, 208; songs, 35, 345;
■wariige, 75 ; worship of Kataragam
God, 156, 157
Ktidarain, 143, 144
Kumarakulasinghe, A. Barr, 336, 337
Land, as marriage gift, 97, 98, 111-12;
transference of, 111-15
Language, 380-94; jungle, 274, 275;
survival of, 42, 49, 56, 332; vocabulary,
423-54
Leaves, as clothing, 34, 213; dead bodies
covered with, 122
Legends, 73, 74, 322
Le Mesurier, J. C. R. , 119
Lepat Yaka, 163
Lewis, Frank, 95, 109
Lime, 330
Lindegala, language, 386 ; matrilineal
descent, 'j6\wa>-uge, '16; yaku, 171, 172
Lullabies, 345, 347, 350, 367, 368
Maesa, 176, 224, 226, 227
Magic, 190-208
Maha Kiriamma, 154, 166, 186
Maha Oya, 46, 57, 72, 76
Mahawansa, i, 4, 5, 8, 9, 25, 26, 155, 189
Mahaweli Ganga, i, 2
Maha Yakino, 162, 166, 316, 348
Mahayangana; see Alutnuwara
Malgode ; see Horaborawewa
Maligi (song), 35, 348
Maludema, 319, 328
Mangara Deyo, 176, 177
Marrambe, A. J. W., 381
Marriage, 33, 59, 64-6, 75, 95-7 ; of
brother and sister, 66 n.; portions, 8,
95- 97
Maskeliya, 19, 20, 22
Matrilineal descent, 30, 74, 76, 77
Masticatories, 329-30
Mawaragala Pannilkia, 163
McDougall, Dr W., 405
Measurements, of living, 17, 18, 415,
416 ; of skulls, 17, 18
Memory, lack of, 59
Message sticks, 1 19-21
INDEX
461
Metal introduced, 25, 27
Milalane Yaka and Yakini, 265, 266
Monkey drives, 201, 202, 345
Monogamy general, 87, 88
Moonnen traders, 36, 37, 44, 85, 93,
-252, 323
Morane waruge, 30, 37, 42, 57, 62, 333 ;
distribution of, 71-2, 75, 80; inter-
marriage of, 33 ; position of, 78, 79
Moranegala Yaka, 266
Music, 341-65
Myers, Dr C. S., 135, 341-65
Myths, absence of, 73
Nabudan waruge ; see Namadevva
Nadena, 168
Nae Yakii, 34, 132, 171-6; ceremonies,
157-9, '^7> 23°~7 ! friendly attitude
of, 127 ; invocations to, 152, 171, 172,
' 275-83 ; propitiation of, 30, 31 ; rever-
enced by Village Veddas, 168-70 ;
song invoking, 351
Nagas, 26, 419, 420
Na Gaha Yaka, 170, 171
Namadewa zmiruge, 30, 37, 52, 62, 72-5,
80 ; chena settlement of, 36 ; position
of, 78, 79
Names, 103, 104, 117; avoidance of, 69;
given to children, 102-4 5 nicknames,
104
Nasal indices, 18
Nevill, Hugh, 9n., 11, 12, 15, 27, 66 n.,
70, 71, 72, 75, 81, 85, 87, 89, 91 n.,
96 n., 107, III, 137, 147, 156, 172 n.,
205, 213, 292, 293, 327, 328, 329, 331,
332. 368, 377. 381. 385. 39O' 426
Nilgala, 2, 3, 4, 35, 36; beliefs, 146;
songs, 368, 369, 372-4
Nuwaragala Hills, 4, 35
Offerings to Yaku, 34, 127, 128, 139,
175, 176; eaten sacramentally, 130, 131
Oldham, Brigade Surgeon C. F., 26 n.
Omuni, 45-7; avoidance of relatives, 69;
beliefs, 167, 168; burial, 124, 148;
marriage, 95 ; naming of children, 103 ;
wearing of beads, 205
Origin of Veddas, 4-6, 4I4-18
Ornaments, 32, 204-5, 3^8
Pain, sensibility to, 406-8
Panikkia Yaka, 141, 144, 163, 282
Panikkia Vaedda, 10
Pantomime, 91, 92, 321; in dances,
218-30, 237-45
Parents, 90; respect for, 67
Parker, H., 8, 9, 13 n., 14, 20, 26, 121,
126, 141, 142, 144, 145, 164, 165, 166,
1760., 178, 180-9, 194-204, 260 n.,
272, 273-317, 372, 376 n., 380-94,
396-8, 401 n., 4»3-i9
Parsons, James, the late, 10, 20, 21
Pata Yaka, 165, 247-51
Patrilineal descent, 76, 78, 334
Pattiavelagalge cave, 14, J09
Perera, Samuel, 43, 264, 265
Physical characters of Veddas, 13 n., 15-
18, 415-16; of Coast Veddas, 332;
Dambani, 49 ; Kalukalaeba, 56 ;
Omuni, 47 ; Unuwatura Bubula, 48 ;
Yakure, 56
Pig, Bambura Yaka ceremony, 237-47 ;
not eaten by shaman, 1 79
Pigments, use of, 239, 241, 245, 321
Pihilegodagalge cave, 83-7, 91, 92;
drawings in, 318-19 ; ownership of
caves, 1 1 1
Pillai, V. Kanakasabhai, 25
Pole,, J., 18, 19, 20
Possession (by yaku), 130, 134, 135,
209-72
Pottery, 23, 24, 55, 324, 332
Pregnancy, diagnosis of, loi; invocations
respecting, 174, 247-51, 300
Presents, at marriage, 95, 97, 98, iii;
songs asking for, 347, 369
Property, division of, 118; inheritance
of, 106-21 ; list of, 1 1 7-1 9
Puberty, absence of ceremonies, 94
Punchiammagalge cave, 84, 109
Quartz, fragments of, 21-4; implements,
10 n. , 18-24
Rahu Yaka, 153, 172, 173; invocations
of, 185, 206, 254-9, 262, 305
Rainbow, legendary origin of, 322
F.angrual Bandar, 163
Ranhoti Bandar, 164
Ratnapura, 20, 21
Read, C. H., 205
Relations, affection for, 67 ; attitude
towards, 66-8
Relationship terms, 63, 64
Religion, 7, 30, 31, 122-89, 335
Rerang Yaka, 173
Rerangala Yaka, 163, 170
Rhythm, analysis of, 357, 358, 365
Riri Yaka, 170, 173, 185, 210
Risley, Sir Herbert, 418
Rivers, Dr W. H. R., 384, 398, 403-8
Rock drawings, 318-21
Rock shelters, 4, 18, 19, 42, 81-7 ; see
also caves
Rock Veddas, 29
Rotawewa, 56, 177, 178
Rugam waruge; see Bandara waruge
Rutimeyer, Dr L., 15, 119, 139
Rinvala ceremony, 35, 212, 263-67,
346; Yaka, 263-7
Sabaragamuwa, 9, 20
462
INDEX
Sarasin, Drs Paul and Fritz, 13 n., 15,
16, 18, 19, 20, 24, 66 n., 71, 106, 107,
122 n.. 124, 147-9, '^i'' "^'3' ^^4' ^'5'
318, 339' 381, 415. 420
Secret trade, 6, 7
Seisin, 113, 114, 172
Senses of Veddas, 394-412
Seren Yaka; see Riri Yaka
Shaman, 16 n., 44, 47; ceremonial
dances, 209-72 ; food taboos for, 129,
139, 179-80; hair not cut, 129; special
hut for, 128; training of pupils, 128-30
Shooting, 325
Shyness, 37, 88
Show Veddas, 36-40
Sickness, invocations to cure, 162-4, ^74'
177, 290, 291; song to exorcise j'a/'//,
346; yakic connected with, 162-4, 169,
176
Silent trade, 33, 93
Sinhalese, influence, 47, 62, 120, 206,
216, 234; influenced by Veddas, 13,
14, 141; music, 351, 359; occupation
of caves, 22-4; polyandry among, 100;
song, 351; tests of hearing, 412;
tests of sight, 401
Sitala Wanniya, 43-4, 63; boundary dis-
putes, 116; charms, 193; drawings,
318-21; exogamy, 75; food taboos,
102, 179; invocations, 185, 206, 237-
45. 247-5i> 274 n., 275, 279, 280, 284,
285, 290, 291, 297, 299, 300-6;
Kirikoraha, 223-6; language, 386;
music, 342; N^ae Yaku ceremony, 130,
131, 230-3; naming of children, 102,
103; pottery, 323-4; Rahu Yaku, 254;
relationships, 69 ; religious beliefs, 150-
4; songs, 344, 347-50, 368, 371, 372;
terms of address, 65 ; territory, 109-12 ;
training of pupil by shaman, 128-30;
use of arrow to protect child, 137;
waruge, 76; yaku, 185-7
Skanda; see Kataragam God
Skulls, measurements of, 17, 18
Smell, tests of, 408-10
Smith, Reginald, 24
Smith, Vincent, 27 n.
Snakes, charms against, 197-200
Social organization, 59-80
Songs, comparisons of, 363 ; general
character of, 359-63; high art, 318;
music of, 344-58 ; translations of,
366-79
South Indian music, 363, 364
Spirits of the dead, as guardians, 160;
believed to be in rocks, etc., 151, 167 ;
condition of, 126, 127, 132-3, 170; see
also Nae Yaktt
Stature, 13 n., 16, 17, 41, 44, 48, 415, 416
Stevens, C., 15 n., 119
Stone implements, absence of, 24, 25
Storey, 334
Strabo, 25
Stumpf, 363
Suicide, rare, 88 ; song commemorating,
350
Supernatural, agencies, see Bandar, Deyo,
Yaku; stone throwing, 125
Taboos, food, 102, 129, 139, 178-80, 191,
334. 335; name, 69, 192; personal,
68, 123
Tactile discrimination, 405, 406
Tala tvariige, 30, 72, 80
Tamankaduwa, i, 3, 47, 55-7 ; beliefs,
168, 177; exogamy, 74; waruge, 80
Tamil influence, 43, 94, 216, 333, 335
Tattoo, absence of, 55, 207
Temperament, 84-6, 90
Temple, at Pellanchenai, 335, 336 ; of
Gale Deviyo, 184; of Ganesa, 168;
Village Veddas, 168
Tennant, Sir James Emerson, 14, 45, 46,
124, 146, 214
Terms of address, 65, 70
Thurston, Edgar, 416 n.
Tools, 324-76
Traps and snares, 326
Tree yaku, 170, 172
Trespass, 107, 115
Truthfulness, 37
Twins unheard of, 101
Uhapitagalge cave, 84, 109
Ulpota, ivariige, 77 ; yaku, 175, 176
Ule Yaka, 237, 238, 242, 243
Unapane, 7t>aruge, 37, 42, 62, 72, 75, 80,
333 ; marriage of, 33 ; status of, 78, 79
Unapane Kiriamma, 162, 172, 268, 308-
10
Unapane Yakini, 166
Uniche, 43; beliefs, 159; food taboos,
102; invocations, 245, 247 n., 278,
285, 289, 290, 298; kirikomha, 226-9;
puberty ceremony, 94; Riiwala cere-
mony, 263-7 ; song to Nae Yaku, 348
Unuwatura Bubula, 45, 47, 48, 260-3 ;
beads, 206; beliefs, 185; invocations,
139, 185, 186, 274 n., 291-3, 306;
kirikoraha, 229 ; marriage regulations,
65; relationships, 68, 69; songs, 378,
379; special hut for shaman, 128;
waruge, 76
Uru waruge, 30, 33, 42, 43, 72, 74, 75,
78-80, 333
Uva, 1-4, 18-20, 49-53; beliefs of, 168;
songs, 374-8
Valliammal, 156
Veddas, characters of, 13 n., 15-18, 41,
44, 48, 84-6, 90, 91, 116, 117, 415,
416; chiefs, 10; class organization of.
4
INDEX
463
70-80; country of, 1-4, ion., 13 n.,
27 ; degenerate, 45, 46 ; descriptions of,
6-8, 32-4, 81, 82 ; dying out, 35, 37 ;
enumeration, 33, 112 n., 412; family
life, 81-105 ; foreign influence on, 43,
47, 62, 103, 120, 206, 216, 234, 333,
335 > genealogies, 60, 61 ; heroes, 270;
history of, 1-28 ; inheritance, 106-21 ;
language, 380-94 ; names, 103, 104 ;
origin of, 4-6, 414-18 ; present state,
29-58; religion, 30, 31, 122-89; settle-
ments of, Bandaraduvva, q.v.; Bulu-
gahaladena, q.v.\ Dambani, q-v.\
Danigala, 35, 37-4O, 49, 62, 75, 121 ;
Elakotaliya, 55, 76, 174, 175; Galmede,
44-6, 74, 150; Girandura, 78; Go-
datalawa, q.v.\ Hemberevva, 173, 349;
Henebedda, q.v.\ Kolombedda, 80,
94; Lindegala, 76, 171, 172, 386;
Omuni, 45-7, 69, 95, 103, 124, 148,
167, 168, 205; Rotawewa, 56, 177,
178; Ulpota, 77, 175, 176; Uniche,
q.v. ; Unuwatura Bubula, q.v. ; Wellam-
pelle, 53, 168, 215; Yakure, q.v.;
"show," 36-40; traditions of, 27;
Village, 48-57, 94, 168, 203, 412
Vedi Yaka, 177
Verdas, see Coast Veddas
Vihara Deyo, 175, 176
Vijaya, 4, 5, 8, 25, 28, 74, 149, 164,
165
Visual acuity, 398, 399
Visual illusions, 403-4
Wadia, 33, 44
Waist string, 97, 98, 204
Walimbagala Yaka, 163, 267, 346
Walimbagala Yakini, 267
Wanagata Yaka, 151, 165, 170, 172, 259,
260
Wanniya, 10 n., 396, 397
Warren, P., 45
Warnge, 30, 33, 52, 70-80, 333
Weapons, 324, 334
Wellampelle, 53, 168-70, 215,^/40., 277
White, Herbert, 155
Widows, marriage of, 33, 63, 69
Wild Veddas, 32-4, 37
Willey, Dr Arthur, 326 '
Woodhouse, S. W., 46
Women, chiefs, 10 ; clothing of, 93 ;
isolation of, 94, 95 ; jealously guarded,
116; possession of, 134; position of,
88, 89; physique, 16, 17, 89; rock
drawings by, 319; work of, 48, 87, 324
Yaka Adukgamma Hulawali, 177 ; Ale,
152; Alut, 152, 260; Arrow (Itale),
212, 216; Bambura (vide stipra) ',
Barutugala, 1 70 ; Bilindi [vide supra) ;
Bo Gaha, 170, 171 ; Dadayan, 167 ;
Dehigole, 171 ; Dola, 153, 206, 207,
252-4, 301 ; Gale (vide supra); Indi-
gollae (vide supra); Kalu, 170; Kande
(vide supra); Kimbul Otbe, 172;
Koriminaala, 243, 244; Lepat, 163;
Marulu, 173; Mawaragala, 170; Mila-
lane, 265 ; Moranegala, 266; Na Gaha,
170, 171; Panikkia, 141, 144, 163,
282; Fata, 165, 247-51; Rahu, 153,
172, 173, 185, 206, 254, 259, 262,
305; Rerang, 173; Rerangala, 163,
170; Riri, 170, 173, 185, 210; Ruwala,
263-7; Ule, 237, 238, 242, 243 ; Vedi,
177; Walimbagala, 163, 267, 346;
Wanagata, 151, 165, 170, 172, 259,
260; Wiloya, 170; Yam, 152; for
addditional names see 171 n.
Yakagala Hill, 322, 323
Yakini, Dunne, 212, 237, 238; EUe, 173,
174; Maha, 162, 166, 316, 348
Yakkas, i, 4, 26
Yaku, Alut, 260 ; associated with rocks,
170, 171, with special localities, 140;
beads associated with, 206, 207 ; in-
jurious to children, 103, 2 16 ; Kadawara,
270-2; Kiriamma, 140; Nae, 30, 31,
34, 127, 132, 152, 157-9, 167, 171-6,
230-7, 275-83, 351; stone throwing
by, 125; various unimportant, 140,
142, 171 n.
Yakure, ^6 ; temple to Gange Bandar,
168; waruge, 77, 80; yaht, 176, 177
Yam Yaka, 152
Zoysa, Louis de, 15 n., 191, 195. 196, 303
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