THE VEDDAS

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 conviction that there is no considerable element of pretence in the performance of the shaman. The sudden collapse which accompanies the performance of some given act of the pantomime, 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 supporters. 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^[1], but we would here 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 the 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, concerning which he said that although he had never completely lost consciousness he had been near doing so and had felt giddy and nauseated^[2]. 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 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 considerable 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 meanwhile 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 backwards. 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 yaka 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 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 aude 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 shuffles 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 kolomaduwa, all described in this Chapter, we must point out that these simply act as conductors and resting places for the yaku. 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 yaku were invoked were considered the resting place of the yaku which they left in order to enter the shaman. The number of yaku who came to the bower was not thought to be limited to those who possessed the shaman, on the contrary, important yaku 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 "the 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 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 kirikoraha 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 Attukola 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 the yaku. This agrees with Nevill's conclusions^[3] and does not conflict with the experience of the Sarasins^[4].

The Roman numbers in parentheses after references to invocations 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 who saw it danced by "Veddas of the Nilgala district^[5]." 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 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 performed 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 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^[6]."

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^[7].

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.

We were told at Bandaraduwa that if men had no luck in hunting they might thrust an arrow into the ground, decorate it with leaves of the na tree (Messua ferruginea) or the mille, 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. 1) 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. 1), 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, the 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 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 degenerate 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 performances 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^[8].

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 clockwise. 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 somewhat tilting the pelvis. This movement took place alternately on the two legs, though sometimes a double pat was substituted 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 the yaku, 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 swept 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 (yaku) of the hunting hero Kande Wanniya and his brother Bilindi is secured is called kirikoraha. 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^[9]. Whenever "milk" is spoken of as offered to the 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 the Henebedda kirikoraha) it is usually poured on the ground without any ceremony.

A description of the phenomena of "possession" of the Vedda shaman by the yaku 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 pantomimic 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 of the 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.

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 (aduk) and the ceremony of 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 consisted mainly, if not entirely, of repetitions of invocation No. XIX. It was performed in gratitude for all deer and sambar killed, and in it the yaku 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 yaku with the offering in front of him. This ceremony, called adukku denawa (literally "the giving of cooked food"), is always held before a kirikoraha 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 kirikoraha, 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. 1). 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 aude, other yaku to leaves, swords and various articles), and from these enter the person of the shaman.

All 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 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 aude 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 kirikoraha. There was no reason for the particular position of the coconut shells, but as they were considered part of the offering to the yaku, it would have been considered disrespectful to the yaku to place them on the ground. 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 aude 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. 1), 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^[10] (who 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 aude away from him and gave him a bow and arrow, and the tracking continued amidst intense excitement (Plate XXXII, fig. 1). 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. 1) over the kirikoraha, and then shouting "Ah, ah!" in the usual agitated manner of one possessed by the yaku 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 interpreter, promised him victory in all undertakings. Then returning to the kirikoraha, and having given the aude to one of 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. 1), 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 yaku, for none of it might be wasted. All the men took a little, and also fed the children with it, but the women 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 yaku. 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^[11].

Handuna, the shaman of the Sitala Wanniya community, did not possess an aude, having given his to a white man who knew not its value, but since an aude must be used when invoking Kande Yaka and Bilindi Yaka, Handuna unfastened the blade from one of his shooting arrows to represent an aude. Having put on the hangala he burnt some resin and censed the kirikoraha. 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 kirikoraha and then danced round and round it, singing the invocation given in Chapter X (No. XVI) and exhibiting the nut to the yaku 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. XVIII) 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 sudu 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 maesa. 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, never to hit the pot. He dipped the arrow into the pot and examined the milk on the blade, then scattered it to show that he was pleased, shouting several times Has Bilindi! Has Bilindi! to which Kaira always answered divas or "Lord." He danced again, stretching alternately 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 few 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 outstretched 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^[12]. 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 kirikoraha. 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 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 kirikoraha 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 maesa, which he approached and inspected while gasping and shaking, then evidently satisfied with this he sprang forward to the kirikoraha, dropped his head over it and fell back exhausted, but no longer possessed by any yaka.

The Kirikoraha at Uniche. The kirikoraha 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 where this motif was omitted.

A maesa was built (though not elaborated into a bulutyahana as at Unuwatura Bubula), a white cloth was laid over it and betel leaves, areca nuts, bananas, coconuts, and two pots of cooked rice were placed on it, as well as the kirikoraha itself containing the coconut milk, in which two aude 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 Uniche 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^[13]." We did not tell him whence we had obtained them, but he seemed impressed that a white man should possess such a good Vedda aude.

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 aude 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 to 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 unknown fact. On questioning Wannaku after the dance he denied any previous knowledge but said quite simply that he was possessed by Bilindi Yaka and "as a man knows his own betel pouch so Bilindi Yaka would know his own aude."

The shaman bent his head over the kirikoraha and inspected 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 aude, 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 aude, 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 the 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 something, 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 aude. He held the aude 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 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 bulatyahana (Plate XXXV); this, we were told, would be built when invoking many yaka, but the kirikoraha would never be danced without it. The bulatyahana 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 bulatyahana two aude and a trident of the ordinary Hindu pattern were placed together with betel leaves and areca nut. The kirikoraha 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 bulatyahana 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 bulatyahana, 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 bulatyahana with the trident in his hand. The kirikoraha was taken off the rice-mortar and put on the bulatyahana, and the pot of cooked rice was put in its place on the ricemortar.

The dancer then approached a sick shaman who, as mentioned 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 bulatyahana the shaman quivered and shook his head and examined the 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 bulatyahana 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 respectively. 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 exception being made in the case of the two photographs reproduced in Plates XXXVI, fig. 2, and XXXVIII, fig. 1, the value of which do not depend on the facial expression of the performers 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 the Nae Yaku ceremony that they performed for our benefit; the spirits of certain named relatives being called upon immediately. 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 probable 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 maesa 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 kirikoraha, 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 invocation 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 returned 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 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 yaku 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 immobility 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; 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 occasionally 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 kirikoraha and gasped that now he must go and so leapt to the maesa, 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 maesa, 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 maesa pointed the arrow to the pots, and called upon all the Nae Yaku to feed. The pots were soon removed, the rice they contained was eaten, and the betel leaves from the kirikoraha chewed, but the milk in the kirikoraha was poured over a heap of twigs laid on the ground, being thus devoted to the yaku.

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 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^[14]. 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 aude on the kirikoraha and salaamed to the bowl. (Plate XXXVI, fig. 1.) Then he began to dance in the usual manner to the accompaniment of a drum played by a Vedda lad, first holding one aude 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^[15].

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 several yaku at once.

As the shaman danced he stabbed at the kirikoraha with both the aude (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 immediately supported by one of the onlookers, into whose arms he fell back (Plate XXXVII, fig. 1). After lying still for a few seconds he revived and began to dance wildly, stabbing the aude 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 crosswise to represent a bow and arrow. This is shown in Plate XXXVIII, fig. 1, which also shows the betel leaves on the chest 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 aude 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 XXXVIII, fig. 2, and Plate XXXIX, fig. 1, 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 kirikoraha, 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 invocation 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 exhausted to the ground. One of the onlookers immediately came 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 aude 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 aude the men who were not relatives of the dead man, (Plate XL, fig. 1.) 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 kirikoraha as a sign of respect; then holding both hands over the rice pot he repeated a silent charm, asking any of the other yaku 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 important 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 (ule) 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, 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 important yaka 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 yaku presumably the spirits of those who joined in the boar hunt^[16].

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. 1. 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 yaku who were soon to be invoked^[17].

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:

1. 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 9a) 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.
2. The ule (figure 9b) 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.
3. The haelapeta (figure 9c) 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.
4. The ran kaduwa (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.
5. The bow of the Dunne Yakini has the bark stripped from the outer surfaces only, and is decorated with spots of red and black pigment. It closely resembled that used in the Bambura Yaka ceremony at Uniche.
6. The tadiya is well seen in Plate XLI, fig. 1. It is a short stout stick, and represents a carrying stick or 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.
7. 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^[18].

The haelapeta and ran kaduwa 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. 1), the whole was then put on the lower stage of the maesa 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 maesa facing east, the direction whence the boar of the story came. The mulpola itiya was soon changed for the ran kaduwa, and now Kaira made long leaping steps, widening his circle as he moved in front of the maesa and 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 the 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 kaduwa 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 ule 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 ule 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 usi usi 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 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 manner, 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 XLII, fig. 1).

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 XLII, fig. 2). As the ule 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 invocation almost certainly to Dunne Yakini, but unfortunately no note was taken of this (Plate XLII I, fig. 1)^[19]. Kaira salaamed 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 maesa 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 harimitiya taking the usual dance steps but supporting himself with the harimitiya, 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 harimitiya still in his hand (Plate XLIII, 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 maesa, 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 dikkay 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 magalla.

He took the book, spoke to Handuna and Vela, and next taking yams from the maesa 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 maesa with the harimitiya, and shouted "Hoi, hoi," to drive Koriminaala Yaka 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 maesa 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 sometimes called Ala Yaka, i.e. Yam Yaka, as he helped men to find yams.

A maesa was built and leaves laid on it over which a white cloth^[20] 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 maesa. These objects consisted of a roughly made bow decorated with bars of red and black (figure 10a), two ordinary arrows and two long sticks which represented the special arrows of the yaka. They are well seen in Plate XLIV, fig. 1, 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 10b, which is drawn to a scale of about one-tenth. Below the maesa, suspended by a creeper, is the welemula, which is merely a bundle of leaves filled with sand to represent the wild boar.

Wannaku, the shaman, put on a hangala, and salaamed to the maesa, and then sang a curious invocation (No. XXVIII), 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 questions 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 showing 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 welemula and shot, and although he hit it he only wounded the "boar," so the shaman continued to dance as though following the animal, but although he occasionally pulled hard on the bowstring aiming in the air he did not loose his arrow. Soon he slipped 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, continued to hunt. Three times he shot at the welemula 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 the yaku 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^[21]. 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 we provided the rice and coconut necessary for the ceremony. This food is always eaten by the community after the yaku have inspected it.

The yaku 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 yaku require the inner bark of trees as a resting-place just as the yaku invoked to come to the kolomaduwa or alutyakagama 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 yaku away; this ritual was not observed in the Pata Yaku ceremony, but it must be remembered that only three 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 yaku 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 usmukaliya, medamukaliya and balakanua, i.e. the high, middle and young post respectively, and each one belongs to one of the Pata Yaku. The wilakodiya or kude (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 amamula 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 properties had been used previously in the ceremony performed for Bevini^[22].

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. 1) 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 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 yaka of the high post now possessed Nila who, after a few minutes' immobility, 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 yaku, 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 yaku 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. 1)^[23]. Nila then danced to Handuna and waved the wila 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 few 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.

Nila exchanged the amamula 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 usmukaliya and said he must go, speaking in the usual husky and gasping yaku voice; then he fell exhausted into the arms of his supporter. All the Veddas now began to sing the invocation, and it was clear that the yaku 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. The 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 :—

Anē! mayē daruwata kisi antarāwak wenda apā mē wara.
Goda yanta denda ōnae.

Anē! (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).

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^[24] 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 the yaku, 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 bambara 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 maesa 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 cliff 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 as a smoker; the other was "just an arrow" and did not appear to fulfil any specific purpose. Small leafy twigs from the surrounding 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 yaku 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 performance. The ceremony began by these men walking several times round the arrows singing an invocation (No. XXXI) 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 with 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 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 performed, 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 provided 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 outstretched 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 alutyakagama 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.

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 was 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; hence the name wilkoraha. A maesa (well seen in Plate LXVIII, fig. 1) 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^[25]. Wooden kaduwa (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 kaduwa without its guard is shown in fig. 11.

The use of the sword (kaduwa) 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 or mide, yet ran kaduwa the "golden sword" is mentioned in many of the songs and invocations, so that it seems that the whole of the Vedda ceremony 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 (kaduwa) and invocations in which it was mentioned, its name would remain, though in course of time the implement would become assimilated to the Vedda aude.

Handuna and Kaira put on hangala and stood in front of the wilkoraha 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 aude 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 XLVIII, fig. 1). 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 arms straight above their heads, and then stretching over the wilkoraha exchanged kaduwa. They danced a few steps and exchanged kaduwa again, and yet once more before they bent their heads low over the wilkoraha, 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^[26]. 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 few 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 returning to Nila and giving him their kaduwa to hold. This they did because they wanted to put them down, and they considered 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 wilkoraha 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 kaduwa and pointing at the group. One woman was carrying a baby suffering from yaws, and Handuna held his kaduwa over the child's head and promised that its sores should be cured. Then Handuna and Kaira gave their kaduwa to Nila; both bent their heads over the maesa and the yaka left them.

The necklace was replaced on the wilkoraha which was put with the kaduwa 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 hallowed leaves might not touch the ground; he then poured the remains of the coconut milk from the wilkoraha over them.

When later we asked Handuna for the kaduwa 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 yaku 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 when 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 aude he raised them to his head, thus offering them to the Wanagata Yaku (Plate XLIX, fig. 1). 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 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 aude 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. 1 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 determine 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 kolomaduwa or one of its early forms such as the ruwala 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^[27], while Naida Kaurala holding a handkerchief between his hands danced first round the alutyakagama, and then in and out between the posts, at times holding the handkerchief over his head (Plate L, fig. 1). We were told that these handkerchiefs would be kept apart for the yaku 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 alutyakagama, 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 alutyakagama, and the shaman placed the offering of cooked food upon it for the yaku to see and appreciate the good things provided. The aude 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 aude in either hand, picked up a few grains of rice on one of them (Plate LI, fig. 1), 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 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 aude, 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 aude and danced with that, but soon picked up another aude arid danced with one in each hand singing an invocation (No. XXXVII). Now he became possessed by Rahu Yaka, with the usual accompaniment of shivering and quaking and pulling at the leaves hanging from the alutyakagama. 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 aude in each hand, which he held by the blades, he approached us (Plate LI, fig. 2) and spoke. He returned to the alutyakagama, 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 exceptional feature in this dance; the shaman danced at one time with the handkerchief and afterwards with the aude, 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. 1); the second pot of food was brought and he spun that too. After the yaka had left him the shaman, still dancing, stripped the leaves from the alutyakagama, 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 hangala 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. Plate LII, 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 ruwala, 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 ruwala. 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 ruwala, 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 ruwala, 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 yaku, 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 yaku thus examined the streamers to ascertain if they were properly made and of the right number. Wannaku then danced very energetically, and leaving the ruwala dragged Sina to where Mr Perera stood a few paces from the ruwala, and shaking and gesticulating violently spoke to him promising him success in all he undertook^[28].

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 onlooker, 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 ruwala, 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 ruwala, 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 ruwala. Wannaku came to himself almost immediately, but Sina appeared to remain unconscious, even when lifted up and propped against the central post of the ruwala, while Wannaku shook bunches of leaves in his face and over his head, Wannaku meanwhile dancing energetically and repeating two words, to which the onlookers answered "Eh-h." We were told that the yaku in this way announced their satisfaction 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 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 celebrant 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 Ratemahatmaya 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 performed 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, during which the dancer was possessed by Moranegala Yaka, then took place, after which Wannaku, who appeared to have quite recovered from his previous fatigue, invoked Walimabagala Yaka and Yakini. The dancing of these yaku 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 kolamaduwa is not often performed, as the amount of food and other properties necessary could scarcely have been found by one small Vedda community^[29]; 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 considered it had arisen as an elaboration of the ruwala ceremony which used to be performed in those days. The ruwala—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, 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 yaku 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 LIII, fig. 1 shows the kolamaduwa with bunches of leaves hanging from the horizontal bars of the framework and a circle of leaves called kolavegena 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 LIII, fig. 2) with the usual step, gently at first, but gradually swaying and bending more and more they brushed the leaves of the kolamaduwa 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 pakudama, 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 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 kolamaduwa, 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 kolamaduwa (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 kolamaduwa 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 kolamaduwa and tore off the leaves still remaining on it, in order to prevent the yaku returning to it.

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 neighbourhood 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 malu (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.

Lē 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 forest near the hunter to make him believe that the game he is following has run away.

Bedi Holaman Vedda, the yaka 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 yaku 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 (goṭuwa) 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.

Atu avanē lē dena mantraya Kaḍawara Rīri Yakaṭa Yakinniṭa.

Vētāla nuwara sīnāpoti bisawun wahansēge hradaya palā bihi unu Kaḍawēra Riri Yakshayā Yakshinīṭa atu awanak aetun koṭu awanak aetun, amu mas amu riri aetun.

Adat mama anḍagasā kaepa kera dennē. Mama yana issaraṭa rubera an munayak genādin̥, ellē pāḍu kera dīlā, veḍī munē is(sard)ṭa kera dīlā, amaren giyat (a) maren̥ piṭat wilā, marana patkera dīlā, waessī langaṭa mīden ennā wāgē, kambe kanuweṭa magul aetek baenda palikera wāge, ella pāḍu (ka) ra denḍa Kaḍawera Riri Yakshayā Yakshīgen warami.

"The invocation to Kaḍawera Rīri Yakā and Yakinī, 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 Kaḍawera Rīri Yakshayā and Yakshinī, who having guarded (?) the pool of the General Queen at Vētalā Nuwara (the Goblin city) became demons.

"To-day also having summoned (you) I present the (same) offering. Before I go I solicit from the Kaḍawera Rīri Yakshayā and Yakshinī 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 interesting 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^[30].