s, while the Dutch
language is quite unknown, though that people remained here nearly a
century and a half after the Portuguese were driven out of the island.
The English tongue is becoming more and more common in all populous
centres like Colombo, Trincomalee, Kandy, and Point de Galle. The
Singhalese are nearly always Buddhists, while the Tamils, as a people,
are Hindus. The latter, as we have said, are the wage-earners of the
country, working alongshore at the wharves, loading and unloading
ships, belonging to the coal barges, and the like. The Singhalese
proper take higher rank; the sort of occupation accepted by the Tamils
would not on any account be adopted by a Singhalese. Caste is
imperious and imperative, though it is strictly discountenanced by the
religion of the people, and especially so by the English government,
which does not fail to exercise its influence against it.

The Tamils, being light of body and used to laborious occupations,
make the best jinrikisha men,--the small, man-propelled
chaise,--trotting off in their almost naked condition with the speed
of a horse, while drawing the vehicle and its occupants behind them.
They rival in fleetness the little gigs or hackeries, as they are
called, propelled by small and active brahmin bulls, gayly decked with
tinkling bells. Some of the zebus, with their humped necks, deep
dewlaps, silky hides, and deer-like limbs, are really handsome
creatures. These gigs with their peculiar animals, and the jinrikishas
drawn by Tamils, are striking and novel features to a stranger when he
first lands at Colombo, unless he comes from the East. The idea of the
jinrikisha is borrowed from Japan, but that of the small bullock cart
comes from India, where they are common all over the country. It is
surprising to see with what ease and speed these little creatures will
trot along the smooth roads, guided by reins attached to a ring which
passes through a hole in the cartilage of their nostrils. There is a
larger breed of cattle which are imported from India for farming
purposes, but most of those in common use are the small ones we have
described. Both are of the zebu breed. A certain number of the larger
ones, like elephants, are kept in the temples of India and worshiped
as sacred animals. It will doubtless strike the reader that there is a
certain degree of inconsistency in using these cattle as beasts of
burden, twisting their tails to elicit a high degree of speed, and i