n
kneeling solemnly before the same creatures as sacred when they are
kept within the walls of the temples.

The Singhalese proper make very good mechanics, and can imitate a
delicate model when submitted to them, equaling the Chinese, whose
fidelity in this respect has passed into a proverb. They are specially
expert in the manufacture of wooden boxes from choice material, inlaid
with ivory, tortoise shell, mother of pearl, and the like; but above
all else they pride themselves as a people upon being agriculturists,
a planter's occupation being considered as fitting for the highest
caste to engage in. It is in the cultivation of broad rice-fields that
the Singhalese is seen at his best. This occupation he fully
understands. A predilection for it seems to have been born in him; his
forefathers have followed the business for centuries, and success in
this line of occupation means to him independence and plenty. All
classes of the natives of Ceylon are full of superstitions, and
support hundreds of demon-priests, who thrive upon the foolishness
and fears of the masses. Incantations of the most extravagant
character are the principal means used by the priests, who are also
called doctors, and who pretend to relieve sickness and pain by
barbarous means, such as hideous dances, beating of tom-toms, blowing
of horns, wearing hideous masks, and other devices. All this nonsense
is popularly supposed to drive away the evil spirits who cause the
sickness.

The Singhalese believe that all ills in life are inflicted as
punishment, and that evil spirits are the agents of Providence to
apply the same. They think that they are under penalty not alone for
sins committed during their present lives, but also for their
wrongdoing in some previous state of existence. They may have been
"rogue" elephants, thieving crows, vicious buffaloes, or vile cobras,
all of which is quite in accordance with their creed as promulgated by
the Buddhist priests.

They seem to have no skill whatever in the treatment of the most
simple illness. The author has never, even among the most barbaric
tribes, quite isolated from contact with white men, known a people so
deficient in this respect. Some few of the Singhalese planters
regularly set aside a small portion of their rice-fields, and leave
them unharvested, for the use of the demons! It is intimated that the
priests manage to secretly reap these portions for their own benefit,
representing it to have