Sri-Lanka
Pearl Fishery
The last pearl fishery closed in Sri-Lanka in the 1960s after the pearl stocks had been decimated. Shortly before that, my grandfather who was a gambler, bought a hundred weight of oysters which is enough to just about fit in one large room. He enlisted the help of his wife and children to drill each oyster to look for pearls. The next stage was to let the oysters rot for a few weeks so that any pearls that had first been missed could be found. The house stank of oysters for weeks afterwards. An interesting family activity.
Leeches
From here. Leeches.—Of all the plagues which beset the traveller in the rising grounds of Ceylon, the most detested are the land leeches.[1] They are not frequent in the plains, which are too hot and dry for them; but amongst the rank vegetation in the lower ranges of the hill country, which is kept damp by frequent showers, they are found in tormenting profusion. They are terrestrial, never visiting ponds or streams. In size they are about an inch in length, and as fine as a common knitting needle; but capable of distension till they equal a quill in thickness, and attain a length of nearly two inches. Their structure is so flexible that they can insinuate themselves through the meshes of the finest stocking, not only seizing on the feet and ankles, but ascending to the back and throat and fastening on the tenderest parts of the body. The coffee planters, who live amongst these pests, are obliged, in order to exclude them, to envelope their legs in "leech gaiters" made of closely woven cloth. The natives smear their bodies with oil, tobacco ashes, or lemon juice;[2] the latter serving not only to stop the flow of blood, but to expedite the healing of the wounds. In moving, the land leeches have the power of planting one extremity on the earth and raising the other perpendicularly to watch for their victim. Such is their vigilance and instinct, that on the approach of a passer-by to a spot which they infest, they may be seen amongst the grass and fallen leaves on the edge of a native path, poised erect, and preparing for their attack on man and horse. On descrying their prey they advance rapidly by semicircular strides, fixing one end firmly and arching the other forwards, till by successive advances they can lay hold of the traveller's foot, when they disengage themselves from the ground and ascend his dress in search of an aperture to enter. In these encounters the individuals in the rear of a party of travellers in the jungle invariably fare worst, as the leeches, once warned of their approach, congregate with singular celerity. Their size is so insignificant, and the wound they make is so skilfully punctured, that both are generally imperceptible, and the first intimation of their onslaught is the trickling of the blood or a chill feeling of the leech when it begins to hang heavily on the skin from being distended by its repast. Horses are driven wild by them, and stamp the ground in fury to shake them from their fetlocks, to which they hang in bloody tassels. The bare legs of the palankin bearers and coolies are a favourite resort; and, their hands being too much engaged to be spared to pull them off, the leeches hang like bunches of grapes round their ankles; and I have seen the blood literally flowing over the edge of a European's shoe from their innumerable bites. In healthy constitutions the wounds, if not irritated, generally heal, occasioning no other inconvenience than a slight inflammation and itching; but in those with a bad state of body, the punctures, if rubbed, are liable to degenerate into ulcers, which may lead to the loss of limb or of life. Both Marshall and Davy mention, that during the marches of troops in the mountains, when the Kandyans were in rebellion, in 1818, the soldiers, and especially the Madras sepoys, with the pioneers and coolies, suffered so severely from this cause that numbers of them perished.[3]
War
I have some interest in how and why Singhalese nationalism exists and how it can so pervert reason and ethics. I would like to describe some beliefs held by Singhalese nationalists and consider their basis.