My contribution to a dowry :-
Continuing my piece on the Gypsies of Sri Lanka, I had a young boy
from the Gypsy tribe, who had a 'green-stick' fracture of his fore-arm,
taking treatment in my surgical ward at Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. The
father of the child visited me at my residence in Batticaloa, to thank
me for looking after his son. I had a long chat with him on the customs
of his tribe. He told me that when they marry off their daughter, the
dowry was, a bottle of arrack, a chicken
and a dog. I had a very intelligent dog with me which was causing a lot
of mayhem by bringing body parts of slaughtered animals home from a
refuse dump close to our residence. I asked him whether he wanted that
dog, to be given as dowry. He joyfully accepted. I told him that the dog
might find its way back to our home from his residence, about 20 miles
away. He said that they have herbs to give to the dog, to erase its
memory. He led the dog away. A few weeks later I met him with his son
in my clinic and inquired about the dog. His face broke into a broad
smile. He said that the dog had a good hunting instinct and was happy in
his new home.
It has been reported by Greek historians, writing
around 100 AD that good hunting dogs, exported through the sea-port in
Paanama, Sri Lanka, at that time were in big demand in Greece.
