Eleven Years in Ceylon; Comprising Sketches of the Field Sports and Natural History of That Colony, and an Account of Its History and Antiquities Volu (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1841 edition. Excerpt: ... 76 KANDIAN cattle, which fed in the forests where the Rhodia cupaya (hamlet) was established. On one occasion, a Rhodia, irritated at the small quantity of paddy bestowed on him by a proprietor, took up the stinted allowance, and, advancing to the threshing-floor, deliberately sprinkled the handful over the large grain-heap of the churl, whose property was thus rendered useless. A complaint having been made to a British authority, the cultivator was told in what manner he might obtain redress, but any form of legal proceeding seemed to him derogatory to his dignity when a Rhodia was his adversary. Finding that his offer "to shoot the outcast" was rejected, and being moreover informed that such an act would certainly bring him to the gallows, the cultivator walked off, apparently resigned to the loss of his rice, and no doubt wondering at the value which a foreign nation ignorantly placed on the life of a Rhodia. Under the native dynasty the Kandian gaoler appointed some low-caste person, generally a charcoal-burner, to communicate orders to the Rhodias, -- for the Government which sanctioned their persecution was mean enough to profit by the labour of people whom it would not protect, and compelled them to furnish ropes of hides for the purpose of catching elephants. They were fortunetellers; and this circumstance, conjoined with the good looks of their women and the activity of the men, who made ropes, whips, and other useful arti FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 77 cles, was the cause of Rhodias being less oppressed than was intended by the cruel lawgiver who established their position beyond the pale of society. The authorities under the Kandian dynasty were thus arranged: -- First. -- The King, -- then the Adikars or ministers of state, having...