THE VEDDAS

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 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 huniyam magic^[1], 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 interest from this standpoint. We believe that in most Vedda communities walaha the ordinary word for bear is seldom or never used^[2], 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 carelessness 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. 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.…I 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^[3]."

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 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 Ōn occurring in a number of them is the Indian Ōm^[4].

The first two charms are directed against bears.

Arini kurini, nāga patā gē ja hurē, jah̤.

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 kurini. Probably arini is derived from ārya and the honorific ending ni, meaning 'the venerable one.' In that case the second word may be kulīna, 'of noble family,' and the whole translation would be as given. Patā for pataha, 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.

O̅n Dahasak Budunnē kunu goḍen upan Nīla Kandīgē baḍē upan Nīlāda Nīlīda, nil, pō ādā, nil, po adī, poh̤.

Ōn! Born in the womb of Nīla (the blue-black) Kandī, born from the heap of filth of a thousand Buddhas (or sages), whether (you are) Nīlā or Nīlī (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.

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.

Ōn! Aeri sinn̠a wayirā naeri sinn̠a suwāgayā, namō. Sī.

Ōn! Excited (or strong) elephant, angry one, stout elephant. Salutation! homage! Be off!

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 therefore a probable derivation of the former word is from airya (Skt root īr) with the meaning 'excited,' 'aroused,' or from iraya 'strong.'

"Naeri is perhaps derived from neriyanawā, to grow stout or obese, although the change from e to ae is unusual. The translation would then be as above.

"Sinn̠a, for śṛin̠ga, a horn; compare śṛin̠gin, an elephant, derived from the same word.

"Wayirawā. This was translated in Ceylon as Bhairava, but the Sinhalese form for this deity is Bahirawā, and I prefer the meaning given above, from the Tamil vayiram, angry, and avan, he.

"Suwāgayā appears literally to mean 'may you go to heaven,' swarga; but compare swāgata 'salutation' from suwa and agata."

Mr De Zoysa gives the following charm as a protection against elephants but he does not give its origin.

Ichchata vallay
Pachchata 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!

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.

Ōn! Sinhan Sivattha vedippulayā nam ata kata āru. Sī.

Ōn! 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 Śiva and atthaṃ, on account of.

Vedippulayā for Veḍippil̤eiyār (honorific) from Veḍi "a shot," and pil̤ei to escape from a danger.

Āru, v. āṛu, "to cool," "be appeased," "repose."

Sī for isī, 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."

Ōn. Nā Waeraellīgē putā Rana Dēvatāwā Andungrī paruwatē waeḍa indagena Kalugal rusiyāṭayi tō annē maṭa no weyi. Hōwu āḍā howu.

Ōn. Rana Devata, son of Nāga-Waeraellī (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 therefore quote this charm here.

Iri deyyanné ôkma
Sanda deyyanne ôkma
Pasé Budunné ôkma
Situ ôkma situ

Okma of the Sun-god!
Okma of the Moon-god!
Okma of the Pase Budu!
Stay, Okma, stay!

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 deyené æeyā!
Sanda deyené æeyā!
Passé Buduné æeyā!
Daté nositoo dat æeyā!

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 explanation 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 Pase, or Pache 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…^[5]."

The next two charms are against snakes and were obtained from Poromala (Walaha) of Henebedda and Poromala 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 leg^[6]. 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 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 which might equally well be that of the snake's victim, or of any one else.

Namō. Nayin gini kelēmī, polangun darana kalēmī, karawalu mālu kalēmī, pansiyak sarpayin in aes gaesī, is gaesī, dala gaesū, wisa baesī maha polowaṭa dēswāhā.

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. Ēswaha!

"Namo is a Pali expression, borrowed from Buddhist works etc. in which it takes the place occupied by om 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.

"Deswaha from da, the conjunction 'and' in combination with ēswaha. The last two words of the charm should be polowaṭada ēswaha."

Ahasaṭa guru kawuda guru? Aha(sa) ṭa guru ira sanda de guru.
Polawaṭa guru kawuda guru? Polawaṭa guru Mihikat devuru.
Nayinḍa guru kawuda guru? Nayinḍa guru Nāga guru.
Visēṭa guru kawuda guru? Visēṭa guru mamayi guru.
Visē basin tilō guru mātā. Me desē gurun̥ anen yayi dēsē.
Polon̥ visē dārā visē. Tō nedana tō daesṭa kalē nam.
Man daena visa bannam, visē naeti bahu Gurupprarāja yānam.
Ōn namō.

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?
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. Ōn! salutation!

"A guru 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^[7].

"Mahikantawa is the Earth Goddess, or personification of the earth.

"Nāga are supernatural beings who take either a human form or that of cobras, at will. I think the reference to Mayā, 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 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.

Nāngara guru, nāngara guru, nāngara potakun aeragena visakun̥.
Man atu bindagena, rattaeyā pāgāgena, aeli moḍarā piṭa siṭagena, apē gurun̥ sihikaragena, mama yannē visa bāgena, tō nedana tō daesṭa kalē nam man̥ daena visa baemnan̥, eyin taekae(?) visē naeta bahu Gurupprarāja yanam. Ōn namō!

Vile preceptors, vile preceptors, poisonous ones taking (with you) 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^[8], I will bind (on thee) the poisons which I know, after (?) that going to the excellent king of many garudas, who have no poison. Ōn, 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 offerings of leafy twigs when asking for the protection of the forest Deities. I do not know the white peacock, aeli monarā. (The bird is sometimes colloquially called moṇḍarā.) 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 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 yaku when properly invoked give success in these matters. There are, however, no yaku 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).

Ammā maya nā kolandānī
Kolandan kandō pīta yannī
Ekī kiyalā innō kātō,
Ēkit awalā yanḍama yannī.
"Taek, taek," kiyalā wāren ballā.
"Kik, kik," kiyalā wāren baellī.
Nāwini nūgan kandō pitō,
Ēkiṭa dunnak widala kōdoyi
Ēkī yanḍama yanḍama yanni.
Keliyen keliyaṭa wāren ballā,
Keli madalāgena duwagena wāre.

Mother mine, the leaf-clad chief,
Pops behind a leafy trunk;
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).

Ammā māyē nā rosānī
Rōsan kandō piṭa yannī
"Rō, Rō" kiyala wāren ballā.
Burutak kandē piṭo yannā.
Keliyen koliyaṭa duwagana wāre,
Keli maḍalāgena duwagena wāre.

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 Wanduran̥ nawa tanaka wiya, the translation of which is "said at a place where wandura stay."

Ātu surā damannī
Ō man kandēṭa pāninnī.
"Ah, Oh," kīyā wārē nam
Kola surā damannī,
Mē man kandē naṭannī.
Bālā siṭō aeyi dennā?

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 these are beyond human control, though the yaku, 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 invocations 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 following "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 try 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 maela 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 piṭa waētirī gā,
Ēkaṭa widapā kiri hurē.
Ettama arapa ī maelā,
Piṭaṭa accen palāga.
Etanama arapa ī maelā,
Tommaṭa laeṭṭen (palāga).
Ettama arapa ī melā,
Tommaṭa aeccen palāga.
Etanama aerapa ī maelā,
Bellaṭa laeṭṭen palāga.
Etanama aerapa ī maelā,
Baḍaṭa laeṭṭen palāga.
Etanama aerapa ī maelā,
Kihila maedden laewīga.

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, arrow-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.

"Ettama is an evident mistake for etanama.

"Tomma is for tumba, a Vaedi word for tail, the Sinhalese is tubu.

"Accen and aeccen are for assen, abl. of assa, angle or corner.

"Laeṭṭen is a word I have not previously met with. The only probable derivation with which I am acquainted is the Tamil iraṭṭa, Sin. reṭṭe, double, two-fold.

"Maelā means younger brother.

"Kiri hurā, 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 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^[9]," 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 wore 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^[10]."

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 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 immediately 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 yaku 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 the yaku in other communities, though the reason for this association could not be determined. At Sitala Wanniya 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 them. At the same place when preparing for the dance to Dola Yaka, who gives 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 supposed 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 Kataragam 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. 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 Bandaraduwa 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 condition 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^[11].