“ The Veddahs exhibit the phenomenon of a race living the wildest of savage lives and yet speaking an Aryan dialect. Craniometrical evidence strongly favours the theory, now generally accepted, that they represent a branch of the pre-Aryan Dravidians of southern India, and that their ancestors probably made a settlement in the island of Ceylon in prehistoric times, detaching themselves from a migrating horde which passed through the island to find at last a permanent home in the continent of Australia. The true jungle veddahs are almost a dwarfish race. ”

“ They are a shy, harmless, simple folk, living chiefly by hunting; they lime birds, catch fish by poisoning the water, and are skilled in getting wild honey; they have bows with iron-pointed arrows and breed hunting dogs. ”

“ Their religion has been described as a kind of demon worship, consisting of rude dances and shouts raised to scare away the evil spirits, whom they confound with their ancestors. The Veddahs are not to be confounded with the Rodiyas of the western uplands, who are a much finer race, tall, wellporportioned, with regular features, and speak a language said to be radically distinct from all the Aryan and Dravidian dialects current in Ceylon. ”