CHAP. VIII.

1: Ibid., ch. x. p. 66.2: Ibid., ch. xxvii, p. 163.3:Mahawanso, ch. lxxii. UPHAM'S version, p. 274.

1: Ibid., ch. x. p. 66.

2: Ibid., ch. xxvii, p. 163.

3:Mahawanso, ch. lxxii. UPHAM'S version, p. 274.

In what now remains of these buildings at Anarajapoora, there is no trace to be found of an arch, truly turned and secured by its keystone; but at Pollanarrua there are several examples of the false arch, produced by the progressive projection of the layers of brick.[1]

1: FORBES'SEleven Years in Ceylon, vol. i. ch. xvii. p. 414.

The finest specimens of ancient brickwork are to be seen amongst the ruins of the latter city, where the material is compact and smooth, and the edges sharp and unworn. The mortar shows the remains of the pearl oyster-shells from which it was burnt, and the chunam with which the walls were coated, still clings to some of the towers, and retains its angularity and polish.[1]

1: Expressions in theMahawanso, ch. xxvii. p. 104, show that as early as the 2nd century, B.C., the Singhalese were acquainted with this beautiful cement, which is susceptible of a polish almost equal to marble.

Of the details of external and internal decoration applied to these buildings, descriptions are given which attest a perception of taste, however distorted by the exaggerations of oriental design. "Gilded tiles"[1] in their bright and sunny atmosphere, must have had a striking effect, especially when surmounting walls decorated with beaded mouldings, and festooned with "carvings in imitation of creeping plants and flowers."[2]

1:Rajavali, p. 73.2:Mahawanso, ch. lxxii. p. 274.

1:Rajavali, p. 73.

2:Mahawanso, ch. lxxii. p. 274.

Carving in stone.—Carving appears to have been practised at a very early period with singular success; but in later times it became so deteriorated, that there is little difficulty at the present day, in pronouncing on the superiority of the specimens remaining at Anarajapoora, over those which are to be found amongst the ruins of the later capitals, Pollanarrua, Yapahu, or Komegalle. The author of theMahawansodwellswith obvious satisfaction on his descriptions of the "stones covered with flowers and creeping plants."[1] Animals are constantly introduced in the designs executed on stone, and a mythical creature, called technicallymakara-torana, is conspicuous, especially on doorways and balustrades, with the head of an elephant, the teeth of a crocodile, the feet of a lion, and the tail of a fish.

1:Mahawanso, ch. lxxii. p. 274, UPHAM'S version.

At the entrance to the great wihara, at Anarajapoora, there is now lying on the ground a semi-circular slab of granite, the ornaments of which are designed in excellent taste, and executed with singular skill; elephants, lions, horses, and oxen, forming the outer border; that within consisting of a row of the "hanza," or sacred goose; a bird that is equally conspicuous on the vast tablet, one of the wonders of Pollanarrua, before alluded to.[1]

1: A sketch of this stone will be seen in the engraving of the Sat-mal-prasada, in the account of Pollanarrua. Part I. ch. i. vol. ii.

SACRED GOOSE FROM THE BURMESE STANDARD.FROM THE BURMESE STANDARD.

FROM THE BURMESE STANDARD.

Taken in connection with the proverbial contempt for the supposed stolidity of thegoose, there is something still unexplained in the extraordinary honours paid to it by the ancients, and the veneration in which it is held to the present day by some of the eastern nations. The figure that occurs so frequently on Buddhist monuments, is the Brahmanee goose (casarka rutila), which is not a native of Ceylon; but from time immemorial has been an object of veneration there and in all parts of India. Amongst the Buddhists especially, impressed as they are with the solemn obligation of solitary retirement for meditation, the hanza has attracted attention by its periodical migrations, which are supposed to be directed to the holy Lake of Manasa, in the mythical regions of the Himalaya. The poet Kalidas, in hisCloud Messenger, speaks of the hanza as "eager to set out for theSacred Lake." Hence, according to theRajavali, the lion was pre-eminent amongst beasts, "thehanzawas king over all the feathered tribes."[1] In one of the Jatakas, which contains the legend of Buddha's apotheosis, his hair, when suspended in the sky, is described as resembling "the beautiful Kala hanza."[2] The goose is, at the present day, the national emblem emblazoned on the standard of Burmah, and the brass weights of the Burmese are generally cut in the shape of the sacred bird, just as the Egyptians formed their weights of stone after the same model.[3]

1:Rajavali, p. 149. TheMahawanso, ch. xxx. p. 179, also speaks of the "hanza," as amongst the decorations chased on the stem of a bo-tree, modelled in gold, which was deposited by Dutugaimunu when building the Ruanwellé dagoba at Anarajapoora in the 2nd century before Christ.2: HARDY'SBuddhism, ch. vii p. 161.3: See SYME'SEmbassy to Ava, p. 330; YULE'SNarrative of the British Mission to Ava in 1855, p. 110. I have seen a stone in the form of a goose, found in the ruins of Nineveh, which appears to have been used as a weight.

2: HARDY'SBuddhism, ch. vii p. 161.

3: See SYME'SEmbassy to Ava, p. 330; YULE'SNarrative of the British Mission to Ava in 1855, p. 110. I have seen a stone in the form of a goose, found in the ruins of Nineveh, which appears to have been used as a weight.

Augustine, in hisCivitas Dei, traces the respect for the goose, displayed by the Romans, to their gratitude for the safety of the capital; when the vigilance of this bird defeated the midnight attack by the Goths. The adulation of the citizens, he says, degenerated afterwards almost to Egyptian superstition, in the rites instituted in honour of their preservers on that occasion.[1] But the very fact that the geese which saved the citadel were already sacred to Juno, and domesticated in her temple, demonstrates the error of Augustine, and shows that they had acquired mythological eminence, beforeachieving political renown. It must be observed, too, that the birds which rendered that memorable service, were the ordinary white geese of Europe[2], and not the red goose of the Nile (the [Greek: chênalôpêx] of Herodotus), which, ages before, had been enrolled amongst the animals held sacred in Egypt, and which formed the emblem of Seb, the father of Osiris.[3] HORAPOLLO, endeavouring to account for this predilection of the Egyptians (who employed the goose hieroglyphically to denotea son), ascribes it to their appreciation of the love evinced by it for its offspring, in exposing itself to divert the attention of the fowler from its young.[4] This opinion was shared by the Greeks and the Romans. Aristotle praises its sagacity; Ælian dilates on the courage and cunning of the "vulpanser," and its singular attachment to man[5]; and Ovid ranks the goose as superior to the dog in the scale of intelligence,—

"Soliciti canes canibusve sagacior anser." OVID,

Met

. xi. 399.

1: "And hereupon did Rome fall almost into the superstition of the Ægyptians that worship birds and beasts, for theyhenceforthkept a holy day which they call thegoose's feast."—AUGUSTINE,Civitas Dei, &c.book ii. ch. 22: Englished by F.H. Icond. 1610.2: This appears from a line of Lucretius:"Romulidarum arcis servatorcandidusanser."De Rer. Nat.I. iv. 687.3: SIR GARDNER WILKINSON'SManners and Customs, &c., 2nd Ser. pl. 31, fig. 2, vol. i. p. 312; vol. ii. p. 227. Mr. Birch of the British Museum informs me that throughout the ritual or hermetic books of the ancient Egyptians a mystical notion is attached to the goose as one of the creatures into which the dead had to undergo a transmigration. That it was actually worshipped is attested by a sepulchral tablet of the 26th dynasty, about 700 B.C., in which it is figured standing on a small chapel over which are the hieroglyphic words, "The good goose greatly beloved;" and on the lower part of the tablet the dedicator makes an offering of fire and water to "Ammon and the Goose."—Revue Archæo., vol. ii. pl. 27.4: HORAPOLLO,Hieroglyphica, lib. i. 23.5: ÆLIAN,Nat. Hist., lib. v. c. 29, 30, 50. Ælian says that the Romans in recognition of the superior vigilance of the goose on the occasion of the assault on the Capitol, instituted a procession in the Forum in honour of the goose, whose watchfulness was incorruptible; but held an annual denunciation of the inferior fidelity of the dogs, which allowed themselves to be silenced by meat flung to them by the Gauls.—Nat. Hist.lib. xii. ch. xxxiii.

2: This appears from a line of Lucretius:

"Romulidarum arcis servatorcandidusanser."De Rer. Nat.I. iv. 687.

"Romulidarum arcis servatorcandidusanser."

De Rer. Nat.I. iv. 687.

3: SIR GARDNER WILKINSON'SManners and Customs, &c., 2nd Ser. pl. 31, fig. 2, vol. i. p. 312; vol. ii. p. 227. Mr. Birch of the British Museum informs me that throughout the ritual or hermetic books of the ancient Egyptians a mystical notion is attached to the goose as one of the creatures into which the dead had to undergo a transmigration. That it was actually worshipped is attested by a sepulchral tablet of the 26th dynasty, about 700 B.C., in which it is figured standing on a small chapel over which are the hieroglyphic words, "The good goose greatly beloved;" and on the lower part of the tablet the dedicator makes an offering of fire and water to "Ammon and the Goose."—Revue Archæo., vol. ii. pl. 27.

4: HORAPOLLO,Hieroglyphica, lib. i. 23.

5: ÆLIAN,Nat. Hist., lib. v. c. 29, 30, 50. Ælian says that the Romans in recognition of the superior vigilance of the goose on the occasion of the assault on the Capitol, instituted a procession in the Forum in honour of the goose, whose watchfulness was incorruptible; but held an annual denunciation of the inferior fidelity of the dogs, which allowed themselves to be silenced by meat flung to them by the Gauls.—Nat. Hist.lib. xii. ch. xxxiii.

The feeling appears to have spread westward at an early period; the ancient Britons, according to Cæsar, held it impious to eat the flesh of the goose[1], and the followers of the first crusade which issued fromEngland, France, and Flanders, adored a goat anda goose, which they believed to be filled by the Holy Spirit.[2]

1: "Anserem gustare fas non patant."—CÆSAR,Bell Gall., lib. v. ch xii.2: MILL'SHist. of the Crusades, vol. i. ch. ii. p. 75. Forster has suggested that it was a species of goose (which annually migrates from the Black Sea towards the south) that fed the Israelites in the desert of Sinai, and that the "winged fowls" meant by the wordsalu, which has been heretofore translated "quails," were "red geese," resembling those of Egypt and India. He renders one of the mysterious inscriptions which abound in the Wady Mokatteb (the Valley of Writings), "the red geese ascend from the sea,—lusting the people eat to repletion;" thus presenting a striking concurrence with the passage in Numb. xi. 31, "there went forth a wind from the Lord and brought quails (salu) from the sea."—FORSTER'SOne Primeval Language, vol. i. p. 90.

1: "Anserem gustare fas non patant."—CÆSAR,Bell Gall., lib. v. ch xii.

2: MILL'SHist. of the Crusades, vol. i. ch. ii. p. 75. Forster has suggested that it was a species of goose (which annually migrates from the Black Sea towards the south) that fed the Israelites in the desert of Sinai, and that the "winged fowls" meant by the wordsalu, which has been heretofore translated "quails," were "red geese," resembling those of Egypt and India. He renders one of the mysterious inscriptions which abound in the Wady Mokatteb (the Valley of Writings), "the red geese ascend from the sea,—lusting the people eat to repletion;" thus presenting a striking concurrence with the passage in Numb. xi. 31, "there went forth a wind from the Lord and brought quails (salu) from the sea."—FORSTER'SOne Primeval Language, vol. i. p. 90.

It is remarkable that the same word appears to designate the goose in the most remote quarters of the globe. The Pali term "hanza" by which it was known to the Buddhists of Ceylon, is still the "henza" of the Burmese and the "gangsa" of the Malays, and is to be traced in the [Greek: "chên"] of the Greeks, the "anser" of the Romans, the "ganso" of the Portuguese, the "ansar" of the Spaniards, the "gans" of the Germans (who, PLINY says, called the white geeseganza), the "gas" of the Swedes, and the "gander" of the English.[1]

1: HARDY observes that the ibis of the Nile is called "Abou-Hansa" by the Arabs, (Buddhism, ch. i. p. 17); but BRUCE (Trav. vol. v. p. 172) says the name isAbou HannesorFather John, and that the bird always appears on St. John's day: he implies, however, that this is probably a corruption of an ancient name now lost.

IN THE PALACE AT KANDYIN THE PALACE AT KANDY

IN THE PALACE AT KANDY

In the principal apartment of the royal palace at Kandy, now the official residence of the chief civil officer in charge of the province, the sacred bird occurs amongst the decorations, but in such shape as to resemble the dodo rather than the Brahmanee goose.

In the generality of the examples of ancient Singhalese carvings that have come down to us, the characteristicwhich most strongly recommends them, is their careful preservation of the outline and form of the article decorated, notwithstanding the richness and profusion of the ornaments applied. The subjects engraved are selected with so much judgment, that whilst elaborately covering the surface, they in no degree mar the configuration. Even in later times this principle has been preserved, and the chasings in silver and tortoise shell on the scabbards of the swords of state, worn by the Kandyan kings and their attendants, are not surpassed by any specimens of similar workmanship in India.

Temples.—The temples of Buddha were at first as unpretending as the residences of the priesthood. No mention is made of them during the infancy of Buddhism in Ceylon; at which period caves and natural grottoes were the only places of devotion. In the sacred books these are spoken of as "stone houses"[1] to distinguish them from the "houses of earth"[2] and other materials used in the construction of the first buildings for the worship of Buddha; such temples having been originally confined to a single chamber of the humblest dimensions, within which it became the custom at a later period to place a statue of the divine teacher reclining in dim seclusion, the gloom being increased to heighten the scenic effect of the ever-burning lamps by which the chambers are imperfectly lighted.

1: The King, Walagambahu, who in his exile had been living amongst the rocks in the wilderness, ascended the throne after defeating the Malabars (B.C. 104), and "causedthe of stone or caves of the rocksin which he had taken refuge to be made more commodious."—Rajavali, p. 224.2:Rajavali, p. 222.

2:Rajavali, p. 222.

The construction of both these descriptions of temples was improved in later times, but no examples remain of the ancient chaityas or built temples in Ceylon, and those of the rock temples still existingexhibit a very slight advance beyond the rudest attempts at excavation.

On examining the cave temples of continental India, they appear to exhibit three stages of progress,—first mere unadorned cells, like those formed by Dasartha, the grandson of Asoca, in the granite rocks of Behar, about B.C. 200; next oblong apartments with a verandah in front, like that of Ganesa, at Cuttack; and lastly, ample halls with colonnades separating the nave from the aisles, and embellished externally with façades and agricultural decorations, such as the caves of Karli, Ajunta, and Ellora.[1] But in Ceylon the earliest rock temples were merely hollows beneath overhanging rocks, like those still existing at Dambool, and the Aluwihara at Matelle, in both of which advantage has been taken of the accidental shelter of rounded boulders, and an entrance constructed by applying a façade of masonry, devoid of all pretensions to ornament.

1: See FERGUSSON'SIllustrations of the Rock-cut Temples of India, Lond. 1845, andHandbook of Architecture, ch. ii. p. 23.

The utmost effort at excavation never appears to have advanced beyond the second stage attained in Bengal,—a small cell with a few columns to support a verandah in front; and even of this but very few examples now exist in Ceylon, the most favourable being the Gal-wihara at Pollanarrua, which, according to theRajavali, was executed by Prakrama I., in the 12th century.[1]

1:Mahawanso, ch. lxxvii.

Taking into consideration the enthusiasm exhibited by the kings of Ceylon, and the munificence displayed by them in the exaltation and extension of Buddhism, their failure to emulate the labours of its patrons in India, must be accounted for by the intractable nature of the rocks with which they had to contend, the gneiss andquartz of Ceylon being less favourable to such works than the sandstone of Cuttack, or the trap formations of the western ghauts.

Oil-painting.—In decorative art, carving and moulding in chunam were the principal expedients resorted to. Of this substance were also formed the "beads resplendent like gems;" the "flower-ornaments" resembling gold; and the "festoons of pearls," that are more than once mentioned in describing the interiors of the palaces.[1] Externally, painting was applied to the dagobas alone, as in the climate of Ceylon, exposure to the rains would have been fatal to the duration of the colours, if only mixed in tempera; but the Singhalese, at a very early period, were aware of the higher qualities possessed by some of the vegetable oils. The claim of Van Eyck to the invention of oil-painting in the 15th century, has been shown to be untenable. Sir Charles L. Eastlake[2] has adduced the evidence of Ætius of Diarbekir, to prove that the use of oil in connection with art[3] was known before the 6th century; and Dioscorides, who wrote in the age of Augustus, has been hitherto regarded as the most ancient authority on the drying properties of walnut, sesamum, and poppy. But theMahawansoaffords evidence of an earlier knowledge, and records that in the 2nd century before Christ, "vermilion paint mixed with tila oil,"[4] was employed in the building of the Ruanwellé dagoba. This is, therefore, the earliest testimony extant of the use of oil as a medium for painting,and till a higher claimant appears, the distinction of the discovery may be permitted to rest with the Singhalese.

1:Mahawanso, ch. xxvii, p. 163.2: EASTLAKE'SMaterials for a History of Oil Painting, ch. i. p. 18.3: Aetius [Greek: Biblion iatrikon.]4: Tila or tala is the Singhalese name for sesamum from which the natives express the gingeli oil. SIR CHARLES L. EASTLAKE is of opinion that "sesamum cannot be called a drying oil in the ordinary acceptation of the term," but in this passage of theMahawanso, it is mentioned as being used as a cement. A question has been raised in favour of the claim of the Egyptians to the use of oil in the decoration of their mummy cases, but the probability is that they were coloured in tempera and their permanency afterwards secured by avarnish.

1:Mahawanso, ch. xxvii, p. 163.

2: EASTLAKE'SMaterials for a History of Oil Painting, ch. i. p. 18.

3: Aetius [Greek: Biblion iatrikon.]

4: Tila or tala is the Singhalese name for sesamum from which the natives express the gingeli oil. SIR CHARLES L. EASTLAKE is of opinion that "sesamum cannot be called a drying oil in the ordinary acceptation of the term," but in this passage of theMahawanso, it is mentioned as being used as a cement. A question has been raised in favour of the claim of the Egyptians to the use of oil in the decoration of their mummy cases, but the probability is that they were coloured in tempera and their permanency afterwards secured by avarnish.

Style of Ornament.—In decorating the temporary tee, which was placed on the Ruanwellé dagoba, prior to its completion, the square base was painted with a design representing vases of flowers in the four panels, surrounded by "ornaments radiating like the five fingers."[1] This description points to the "honeysuckle border," which, according to Fergusson, was adopted and carried westward by the Greeks, and eastward by the Buddhist architects.[2] It appears upon the lat column at Allahabad, which is inscribed with one of the edicts of Asoca, issued in the 3rd century before Christ.

1:Mahawanso, ch. xxxii. p. 193; ch. xxxviii. p. 258.2: FERGUSSON'SHandbook of Architecture, vol. i. ch. ii. p. 7.

1:Mahawanso, ch. xxxii. p. 193; ch. xxxviii. p. 258.

2: FERGUSSON'SHandbook of Architecture, vol. i. ch. ii. p. 7.

FROM THE CAPITAL OF A LATFROM THE CAPITAL OF A LAT

FROM THE CAPITAL OF A LAT

The spire itself was "painted with red stick-lac," probably the same preparation of vermilion as is used at the present day on the lacquered ware of Burmah, Siam, and China.[1] Gaudy colours appear at all times to have been popular; yellow, from its religious associations, pre-eminently so[2]; and red lead was applied to the exterior of dagobas.[3] Bujas Raja, in the 4th century, painted the walls and roof of the Brazen Palaceblue[4], and built a sacred edifice at Anarajapoora, which from the variety and brilliancy of the colours with which he ornamented the exterior, was known as the Monara Paw Periwena, or Temple of the Peacock.[5]

1: A species of lacquer painting is practised with great success at the present day in the Kandyan provinces, and especially at Matelle, the colours being mixed with a resinous exudation collected from a shrub called by the Singhalese Wæl-koep-petya (Croton lacciferum). The coloured varnish thus prepared is formed into films and threads chiefly by aid of the thumb-nail of the left hand, which is kept long and uncut for the purpose. It is then applied by heat and polished. It is chiefly employed in ornamenting the covers of books, walking-sticks, the shafts of spears, and the handles of fans for the priesthood. The Burmese artists who make the japanned ware of Ava,use the handin laying on the lacquer—which there, too, as well as in China, is the produce of a tree, theMelanorhoea glabraof Wallich.2:Rajaratnacari, p. 184.3:Mahawanso, ch. xxxiv. p. 212.4:Rajavali, p. 291. Theblueused for this purpose was probably a preparation of indigo; the red, vermilion; the yellow, orpiment; and green was obtained by combining the first and last.5:Rajavali, p. 73.

2:Rajaratnacari, p. 184.

3:Mahawanso, ch. xxxiv. p. 212.

4:Rajavali, p. 291. Theblueused for this purpose was probably a preparation of indigo; the red, vermilion; the yellow, orpiment; and green was obtained by combining the first and last.

5:Rajavali, p. 73.

CITIES.—Anarajapoora.—Striking evidences of the state of civilisation in Ceylon are furnished by the descriptions given, both by native writers and by travellers, of its cities as they appeared prior to the 8th century of the Christian era. The municipal organisation of Anarajapoora, in the reign of Pandukábhaya, B.C. 437, may be gathered from the notices in theMahawanso, of the "naggaraguttiko," who was conservator of the city, of the "guards stationed in the suburbs," and of the "chandalas," who acted as scavengers and carriers of corpses. As a cemetery was attached to the city, interment must have frequently taken place, and thenichi-chandalasare specially named as the "cemetery men;"[1] but the practice of cremation prevailed in the 2nd century before Christ, and the body of Elala was burned on the spot where he fell, B.C. 161.[2]

1:Mahawanso, ch. x. p. 65, 66.2:Ibid., ch. xxv. p. 155.

1:Mahawanso, ch. x. p. 65, 66.

2:Ibid., ch. xxv. p. 155.

The capital at that time contained the temples of numerous religions, besides public gardens, and baths; to which were afterwards added, halls for dancing and music, ambulance halls, rest-houses for travellers[1], alms-houses[2], and hospitals[3]; in which animals, as well as men, were tenderly cared for. The "corn of a thousand fields" was appropriated by one king for their use[4]; anotherset aside rice to feed the squirrels which frequented his garden[5]; and a third displayed his skill as a surgeon, in treating the diseases of elephants, horses, and snakes.[6] The streets contained shops and bazaars[7]; and on festive occasions, barbers and dressers were stationed at each of the gates, for the convenience of those resorting to the city.[8]

1: These rest-houses, like the Choultries of India, were constructed by private liberality along all the leading highways and forest roads. "Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men."—Jer. ix. 2.2: Rock inscription at Pollanarrua, A.D. 1187.3:Rajaratnacari, p. 39;Mahawanso, ch. x. p. 67; HARDY'SEastern Monachism, p. 485.4:Mahawanso, ch. lxviii. UPHAM'S version, vol. i. p. 246.5:Mahawanso, ch. xxxvii. p. 249.6:Ibid., p. 244, 245.7:Ibid., ch. xxiii. p. 139.8:Ibid., ch. xxviii. p. 170; ch. xxxix. p. 214.

2: Rock inscription at Pollanarrua, A.D. 1187.

3:Rajaratnacari, p. 39;Mahawanso, ch. x. p. 67; HARDY'SEastern Monachism, p. 485.

4:Mahawanso, ch. lxviii. UPHAM'S version, vol. i. p. 246.

5:Mahawanso, ch. xxxvii. p. 249.

6:Ibid., p. 244, 245.

7:Ibid., ch. xxiii. p. 139.

8:Ibid., ch. xxviii. p. 170; ch. xxxix. p. 214.

TheLankawistariyaye, or "Ceylon Illustrated," a Singhalese work of the 7th century, gives a geographical summary of the three great divisions of the island, Rohuna, Maya, and Pihiti, and dwells with obvious satisfaction on the description of the capital of that period. The details correspond so exactly with another fragment of a native author, quoted by Colonel Forbes[1], that both seem to have been written at one and the same period; they each describe the "temples and palaces, whose golden pinnacles glitter in the sky, the streets spanned by arches bearing flags, the side ways strewn with black sand, and the middle sprinkled with white, and on either side vessels containing flowers, and niches with statues holding lamps. There are multitudes of men armed with swords, and bows and arrows. Elephants, horses, carts, and myriads of people pass and repass, jugglers, dancers, and musicians of all nations, with chank shells and other instruments ornamented with gold. The distance from the principal gate to the south gate, is four gows; and the same from the north to the south gate. The principal streets are Moon Street, Great King Street, Hinguruwak, and Mahawelli Streets,—the first containing eleven thousand houses, many of them two stories in height. The smaller streets are innumerable. The palace has large rangesof buildings, some of them two and three stories high, and its subterranean apartments are of great extent."

1:Eleven Years in Ceylon,vol. i. p. 235. But there is so close a resemblance in each author to the description of the ancient capital of the kings of Ayoudhya (Oude) that both seem to have been copied from that portion of the Ramayana. See the passage quoted in Mrs. Spier'sLife in Ancient India,ch. iv. p. 99.

The native descriptions of Anarajapoora, in the 7th century, are corroborated by the testimony of the foreign travellers who visited it about the same period. Fa Hian says, "The city is the residence of many magistrates, grandees, and foreign merchants; the mansions beautiful, the public buildings richly adorned, the streets and highways straight and level, and houses for preaching built at every thoroughfare."[1] TheLeang-shu,a Chinese history of the Leang Dynasty, written between A.D. 507-509, describing the cities of Ceylon at that period, says, "The houses had upper stories, the walls were built of brick, and secured by double gates."[2]

1:Foë-Kouë-kĭ,ch, xxxviii. p. 334.2:Leang-shu,B, liv. p. 10.

1:Foë-Kouë-kĭ,ch, xxxviii. p. 334.

2:Leang-shu,B, liv. p. 10.

Carriages and Horses.—Carriages[1] and chariots[2] are repeatedly mentioned as being driven through the principal cities, and carts and waggons were accustomed to traverse the interior of the country.[3] At the same time, the frequent allusions to the clearing of roads through the forests, on the approach of persons of distinction, serve to show that the passage of wheel carriages must have been effected with difficulty[4], along tracks prepared for the occasion, by freeing them of the jungle and brushwood. The horse is not a native of Ceylon, and those spoken of by the ancient writers must have been imported from India and Arabia. White horses were especially prized, and those mentioned with peculiar praises were of the "Sindhawo" breed, a term which may either imply the place whencethey were brought, or the swiftness of their speed.[5] In battle the soldiers rode chargers[6], and a passage in theMahawansoshows that they managed them by means of a rope passed through the nostril, which served as a bridle.[7] Cosmas Indicopleustes, who considered the number of horses in Ceylon in the 6th century to be a fact of sufficient importance to be recorded, adds that they were imported from Persia, and the merchants bringing them were treated with special favour and encouragement, their ships being exempted from all dues and charges. Marco Polo found the export of horses from Aden and Ormus to India going on with activity in the 13th century.[8]

1: B.C. 307,Mahawanso, ch. xiv. p. 80, 81; B.C. 204, Ib., ch. xxi. p. 128. A carriage drawn by four horses is mentioned, B.C. 161,Mahawanso, ch. xxxi. p. 186.2: B.C. 307,Mahawanso, ch, xv. p. 84; ch xvi. p. 103.3: B.C. 161, "a merchant of Anarajapoora proceeded with carts to the Malaya division near Adam's Peak to buy ginger and saffon" (Mahawanso, ch. xxviii. p. 167); and in the 3rd century after Christ a wheel chariot was driven from the capital to the Kalaweva tank twenty miles N.W. of Dambool.—Mahawanso, ch. xxxviii. p. 260. SeeanteVol. II. p. 445.4: FORBES suggests that on such journeys the carriages must have been pushed by men, as horses could not possibly have drawn them in the hill country (vol. ii. p. 86).5:Sigham, swift;dhawa, to run;Mahawanso, ch, xxiii. p. 142,186.6:Mahawanso, ch. xxii. p. 132; ch. xxiii. 142.7: The Prince Dutugaimunu, when securing the mare which afterwards carried him in the war against Elala, "seized her by the throat and boring her nostril with the point of his sword, secured her with his rope."—Mahawanso, ch. x. p. 60.8:Marco Polo, ch. xx, s. ii,: ch. xl.

1: B.C. 307,Mahawanso, ch. xiv. p. 80, 81; B.C. 204, Ib., ch. xxi. p. 128. A carriage drawn by four horses is mentioned, B.C. 161,Mahawanso, ch. xxxi. p. 186.

2: B.C. 307,Mahawanso, ch, xv. p. 84; ch xvi. p. 103.

3: B.C. 161, "a merchant of Anarajapoora proceeded with carts to the Malaya division near Adam's Peak to buy ginger and saffon" (Mahawanso, ch. xxviii. p. 167); and in the 3rd century after Christ a wheel chariot was driven from the capital to the Kalaweva tank twenty miles N.W. of Dambool.—Mahawanso, ch. xxxviii. p. 260. SeeanteVol. II. p. 445.

4: FORBES suggests that on such journeys the carriages must have been pushed by men, as horses could not possibly have drawn them in the hill country (vol. ii. p. 86).

5:Sigham, swift;dhawa, to run;Mahawanso, ch, xxiii. p. 142,186.

6:Mahawanso, ch. xxii. p. 132; ch. xxiii. 142.

7: The Prince Dutugaimunu, when securing the mare which afterwards carried him in the war against Elala, "seized her by the throat and boring her nostril with the point of his sword, secured her with his rope."—Mahawanso, ch. x. p. 60.

8:Marco Polo, ch. xx, s. ii,: ch. xl.

Domestic Furniture.—Of the furniture of the private dwellings of the Singhalese, such notices as have come down to us serve to show that their intercourse with other Buddhist nations was not without its influence on their domestic habits. Chairs[1], raised seats[2], footstools[3], and metal lamps[4], were articles comparatively unknown to the Hindus, and were obviously imitated by the Singhalese from the East, from China, Siam, or Pegu.[5] The custom which prevails to the present day of covering a chair with a white cloth, as an act of courtesy in honour of a visitor, was observed with the same formalities two thousand years ago[6]. Rich beds[7] and woollen carpets[8] were inuse at the same early period, and ivory was largely employed in inlaying the more sumptuous articles.[9] Coco-nut shells were used for cups and ladles[10]; earthenware for jugs and drinking cups[11]; copper for water-pots, oil-cans, and other utensils; and iron for razors, needles, and nail-cutters.[12] Thepingo, formed of a lath cut from the stem of the areca, or the young coco-nut palm, and still used as a yoke in carrying burdens, existed at an early period[13], in the same form in which it is borne at the present day. It is identical with theasillaan instrument for the same purpose depicted on works of Grecian art[14] and on the monuments of Egypt.

1:Mahawanso, ch. xiv. p. 80; ch. xv. p. 84;Rajaratnacarip. 134.2: Ibid., ch. xiii. p. 82.3: Ibid., xxvii. p. 164.4:Mahawanso, ch. xxx. p. 182; ch. xxxii. p. 192.5:Asiatic Researches,vol. vi. p. 437. Chairs are shown on the sculptures of Persepolis; and it is probably a remnant of Grecian civilisation in Bactria that chairs are still used by the mountaineers of Balkh and Bokhara.6: B.C. 307, King Devenipiatissa caused a chair to be so prepared for Mahindo.7:Mahawanso, ch. xv. p. 84; ch. xxiii. p. 129. A four-post bed is mentioned B.C. 180.Mahawanso.ch. xxiv. p. 148.8: Ibid., ch. xiv. p. 82.9:Mahawanso, ch. xxvii. p. 163.10:Ibid., ch. xxvii. p. 104.11:Ibid., ch. xv. p. 85.12:Rajaratnacari, p. 134.13:Ibid.,p. 103. This implement is identical with the "yoke" so often mentioned in the Old and New Testament as an emblem of bondage and labour; and figured, with the same significance; on Grecian sculpture gems. Seeante.Vol. I. Pt. i ch iii. p. 11414: ARISTOTLE,Rhet. i 7.

1:Mahawanso, ch. xiv. p. 80; ch. xv. p. 84;Rajaratnacarip. 134.

2: Ibid., ch. xiii. p. 82.

3: Ibid., xxvii. p. 164.

4:Mahawanso, ch. xxx. p. 182; ch. xxxii. p. 192.

5:Asiatic Researches,vol. vi. p. 437. Chairs are shown on the sculptures of Persepolis; and it is probably a remnant of Grecian civilisation in Bactria that chairs are still used by the mountaineers of Balkh and Bokhara.

6: B.C. 307, King Devenipiatissa caused a chair to be so prepared for Mahindo.

7:Mahawanso, ch. xv. p. 84; ch. xxiii. p. 129. A four-post bed is mentioned B.C. 180.Mahawanso.ch. xxiv. p. 148.

8: Ibid., ch. xiv. p. 82.

9:Mahawanso, ch. xxvii. p. 163.

10:Ibid., ch. xxvii. p. 104.

11:Ibid., ch. xv. p. 85.

12:Rajaratnacari, p. 134.

13:Ibid.,p. 103. This implement is identical with the "yoke" so often mentioned in the Old and New Testament as an emblem of bondage and labour; and figured, with the same significance; on Grecian sculpture gems. Seeante.Vol. I. Pt. i ch iii. p. 114

14: ARISTOTLE,Rhet. i 7.

EGYPTIAN YOKE.EGYPTIAN YOKE.

EGYPTIAN YOKE.

SINGHALESE PINGO.SINGHALESE PINGO.

SINGHALESE PINGO.

Form of Government—The form of government was at all times an unmitigated despotism; the king had ministers, but only to relieve him of personal toil, and the institution of Gam-sabes, or village municipalities, which existed in every hamlet, however small, was merely a miniature council of the peasants, in which they settled all disputes about descent and proprietorship, and maintained the organisation essential to their peculiar tillage; facilitating at the same time the payment of dues to the crown, both in taxes and labour.

Revenue.—The main sources of revenue were taxes,both on the land and its produce; and these were avowedly so oppressive in amount, that the merit of having reduced or suspended their assessment, was thought worthy of being engraved on rocks by the sovereigns who could claim it. In the inscription at the temple of Dambool, A.D. 1187, the king boasts of having "enriched the inhabitants who had become impoverished by inordinate taxes, and made them opulent by gifts of land, cattle, and slaves, by relinquishing the revenues for five years, and restoring inheritances, and by annual donations of five times the weight of the king's person in gold, precious stones, pearls, and silver; and from an earnest wish that succeeding kings should not again impoverish the inhabitants of Ceylon by levying excessive imposts, he fixed the revenue at a moderate amount, according to the fertility of the land."[1]

1: TURNOUR'sEpitomeApp. p. 95;Mahawanso, ch. xxxiv. p. 211

There was likewise an imperial tax upon produce, originally a tenth, but subject to frequent variation.[1] For instance, in consideration of the ill-requited toil of felling the forest land. In order to take a crop of dry grain, the soil being unequal to sustain continued cultivation, the same king seeing that "those who laboured with the bill-hook In clearing thorny jungles, earned their livelihood distressfully," ordained that thischenacultivation, as it is called, should be for ever exempted from taxation.

1: Rock inscription at Pollanarrua, A.D. 1187.

Army and Navy.—The military and naval forces of Ceylon were chiefly composed of foreigners. The genius of the native population was at all times averse to arms; from the earliest ages, the soldiers employed by the crown were mercenaries, and to this peculiarity may be traced the first encouragement given to the invasion of the Malabars. These were employed both on land and by sea In the third century beforeChrist[1]; and it was not till the eleventh century of our era, that a marine was organised for the defence of the coast.[2]

1:Mahawanso, ch. xxi. p. 127.2:Ibid., ch. xxxix.; TURNOUR'S MS. Transl. p. 269.

1:Mahawanso, ch. xxi. p. 127.

2:Ibid., ch. xxxix.; TURNOUR'S MS. Transl. p. 269.

The mode of raising a national force to make war against the invaders, is described in theMahawanso[1];the king issuing commands to ten warriors to enlist each ten men, and each of this hundred in turn to enrol ten more, and each of the new levy, ten others, till "the whole company embodied were eleven thousand one hundred and ten."

1:Ibid., ch. xxiii. p. 144.

The troops usually consisted of four classes: the "riders on elephants, the cavalry, then those in chariots, and the foot soldiers,"[1] and this organisation continued till the twelfth century.[2]

1:Rajavali, p. 208, The use of elephants in war is frequently adverted to in theMahawamso, ch. xxv. p. 151-155, &c.2: See the inscription on the tablet at Pollanarrua, A.D. 1187.

1:Rajavali, p. 208, The use of elephants in war is frequently adverted to in theMahawamso, ch. xxv. p. 151-155, &c.

2: See the inscription on the tablet at Pollanarrua, A.D. 1187.

Their arms were "the five weapons of war," swords, spears, javelins, bows, and arrows, and a rope with a noose, running in a metal ring callednarachana.[1] The archers were the main strength of the army, and their skill and dexterity are subjects of frequent eulogium.[2]

1:Mahawanso, ch, vii 48; ch. xxv p. 155.VEDDAH DRAWING HIS BOWVEDDAH DRAWING HIS BOW2: One of the chiefs in the army of Dutugaimunu, B.C. 160, is described as combining all the excellences of the craft, being at once a "sound archer," who shot by ear, when his object was out of sight; "a lightning archer," whose arrow was as rapid as a thunderbolt; and a "sand-archer," who could send the shaft through a cart filled with sand and through hides "an hundred-fold thick."—Mahawanso,ch. xxiii. p. 143. In one of the legends connected with the early life of Gotama, before he attained the exaltation of Buddhahood, he is represented as displaying his strength by taking "a bow which required a thousand men to bend it, and placing it against the toe of his right foot without standing up, he drew the string with his finger-nail."—HARDY'SManual of Buddhism,ch. vii. p. 153. It is remarkable that at the present day this is the attitude assumed by a Veddah, when anxious to send an arrow with more than ordinary force. The following sketch is from a model in ebony executed by a native carver.I am not aware that examples of this mode of drawing the bow are to be found on any ancient monument, Egyptian, Assyrian, Grecian, or Roman; but that it was regarded as peculiar to the inhabitants of India is shown by the fact that ARRIAN describes it as something remarkable in the Indians in the age of Alexander. "[Greek: Hoplisios de tês Indôn ouk hôutos eis tropos, all oi men pezoi autoisi toxon te echousin, isomêkes tps phoreonti to toxon, kai touto katô epi tên gên thentes kai tps podi tps aristerps antibantes, outôs ektoxeuousi, tên neurên epi mega opisô apagagontes."—ARRIAN,Indica, lib, xvi. Arrian adds that such was the force with which their arrows travelled that no substance was strong enough to resist them, neither shield, breast-plate, nor armour, all of which they penetrated. In the account of Brazil, by Kidder and Fletcher, Philad. 1850, p. 558, the Indians of the Amazon are said to draw the bow with the foot, and a figure is given of a Caboclo archer in the attitude; but, unlike the Veddah of Ceylon, the American uses both feet.

1:Mahawanso, ch, vii 48; ch. xxv p. 155.

VEDDAH DRAWING HIS BOWVEDDAH DRAWING HIS BOW

VEDDAH DRAWING HIS BOW

2: One of the chiefs in the army of Dutugaimunu, B.C. 160, is described as combining all the excellences of the craft, being at once a "sound archer," who shot by ear, when his object was out of sight; "a lightning archer," whose arrow was as rapid as a thunderbolt; and a "sand-archer," who could send the shaft through a cart filled with sand and through hides "an hundred-fold thick."—Mahawanso,ch. xxiii. p. 143. In one of the legends connected with the early life of Gotama, before he attained the exaltation of Buddhahood, he is represented as displaying his strength by taking "a bow which required a thousand men to bend it, and placing it against the toe of his right foot without standing up, he drew the string with his finger-nail."—HARDY'SManual of Buddhism,ch. vii. p. 153. It is remarkable that at the present day this is the attitude assumed by a Veddah, when anxious to send an arrow with more than ordinary force. The following sketch is from a model in ebony executed by a native carver.

I am not aware that examples of this mode of drawing the bow are to be found on any ancient monument, Egyptian, Assyrian, Grecian, or Roman; but that it was regarded as peculiar to the inhabitants of India is shown by the fact that ARRIAN describes it as something remarkable in the Indians in the age of Alexander. "[Greek: Hoplisios de tês Indôn ouk hôutos eis tropos, all oi men pezoi autoisi toxon te echousin, isomêkes tps phoreonti to toxon, kai touto katô epi tên gên thentes kai tps podi tps aristerps antibantes, outôs ektoxeuousi, tên neurên epi mega opisô apagagontes."—ARRIAN,Indica, lib, xvi. Arrian adds that such was the force with which their arrows travelled that no substance was strong enough to resist them, neither shield, breast-plate, nor armour, all of which they penetrated. In the account of Brazil, by Kidder and Fletcher, Philad. 1850, p. 558, the Indians of the Amazon are said to draw the bow with the foot, and a figure is given of a Caboclo archer in the attitude; but, unlike the Veddah of Ceylon, the American uses both feet.

TheRajaratnacaristates that the arrows of the Malabars were sometimes "drenched with the poison of serpents," to render recovery impossible.[1] Against such weapons the Singhalese carried shields, some of them covered with plates of the chank shell[2]; this shell was also sounded in lieu of a trumpet[3], and the disgrace of retreat is implied by the expression that it ill becomes a soldier to "allow his hair to fly behind."[4]

1:Rajaratnacari, p. 101.2:Rajavali, p. 217.3:Mahawanso, ch. xxv. p. 154.4:Rajavali, p. 213.

1:Rajaratnacari, p. 101.

2:Rajavali, p. 217.

3:Mahawanso, ch. xxv. p. 154.

4:Rajavali, p. 213.

Civil Justice.—Civil justice was entrusted to provincial judges[1]; but the King Kirti Nissanga, in the great tablet inscribed with his exploits, which still exists at Pollanarrua, has recorded that under the belief that "robbers commit their crimes through hunger for wealth, he gave them whatever riches they required, thus relieving the country from the alarm of their depredations."[2] Torture was originally recognised as a stage in the administration of the law, and in the original organisation of the capital in the fourth century before Christ, a place for its infliction was established adjoining the place of execution and the cemetery.[3] It was abolished in the third century by King Wairatissa; but the frightful punishments of impaling and crushing by elephants continued to the latest period of the Ceylon monarchy.

1: Inscriptions on the Great Tablet at Pollanarrua.2:Ibid.3:Mahawanso, ch. x. p.

1: Inscriptions on the Great Tablet at Pollanarrua.

2:Ibid.

3:Mahawanso, ch. x. p.

EDUCATION.—The Brahmans, as they were the first to introduce the practice of the mechanical arts, were also the earliest instructors of youth in the rudiments of general knowledge. Pandukabhaya, who was afterwards king, was "educated in every accomplishment by Pandulo, a Brahman, who taught him along with his own son."[1] The Buddhist priests became afterwards the national instructors, and a passage in theRajavaliseems to imply that writing was regarded as one of the distinctive accomplishments of the priesthood, not often possessed by the laity, as it mentions that the brother of the king of Kalany, in the second century before Christ, had been taught to write by a tirunansi, "and made such progress that he could write as well as the tirunansi himself."[2] The story in theRajavaliof an intrigue which was discovered by "the sound of the fall of a letter," shows that the material then in use in the second century before Christ, was the same as at the present day, the prepared leaf of a palm tree.[3]

1:Mahawanso, ch. x. p. 60.2:Rajavali, p. 189.3:Ibid.

1:Mahawanso, ch. x. p. 60.

2:Rajavali, p. 189.

3:Ibid.

The most popular sovereigns were likewise the most sedulous patrons of learning. Prakrama I. founded schools at Pollanarrua[1]; and it is mentioned with due praise in theRajaratnacari, that the King Wijayo Bahu III., who reigned at Dambeadinia, A.D. 1240, "established a school in every village, and charged the priests who superintended them to take nothing from the pupils,promising that he himself would reward them for their trouble."[2]

1:Mahawanso, ch. lxxii. UPHAM'S version, vol. i. p. 274.2:Rajaratnacari, p. 99.

1:Mahawanso, ch. lxxii. UPHAM'S version, vol. i. p. 274.

2:Rajaratnacari, p. 99.

Amongst the propagators of a religion whose leading characteristics are its subtlety and thin abstractions, it may naturally be inferred that argument and casuistry held prominent place in the curriculum of instruction. In the story of Mahindo, and the conversion of the island to Buddhism, the following display of logical acumen is ostentatiously paraded as evidence of the highly cultivated intellect of the neophyte king.[1]

1:Mahawanso, ch. xiv. p. 79.

For the purpose of ascertaining the capacity of the gifted monarch, Mahindo thus interrogated him:—

"O king; what is this tree called?

"The Ambo.

"Besides this one, is there any other Ambo-tree?

"There are many.

"Besides this Ambo, and those other Ambo-trees, are there any other trees on the earth?

"Lord; there are many trees, but they are not Ambo-trees.

"Besides the other Ambo-trees, and the trees that are not Ambo, is there any other?

"Gracious Lord,this Ambo-tree.

"Ruler of men, thou art wise!

"Hast thou any relations, oh, king?

"Lord, I have many.

"King, are there any persons not thy relations?

"There are many who are not my relations.

"Besides thy relations, and those who are not thy relations, is there, or is there not, any other human being in existence?

"Lord,there is myself.

"Ruler of men, Sadhu! thou art wise."

The course of education suitable for a prince in the thirteenth century included what was technically termed the eighteen sciences: "1. oratory, 2. general knowledge,3. grammar, 4. poetry, 5. languages, 6. astronomy, 7. the art of giving counsel, 8. the means of attainingnirwana[1], 9. the discrimination of good and evil, 10. shooting with the bow, 11. management of the elephant, 12. penetration of thoughts, 13. discernment of invisible beings, 14. etymology, 15. history, 16. law, 17. rhetoric, 18. physic."[2]

1: "Nirwana" is the state of suspended sensation, which constitutes the eternal bliss of the Buddhist in a future state.2:Rajaratnacarip. 100.

1: "Nirwana" is the state of suspended sensation, which constitutes the eternal bliss of the Buddhist in a future state.

2:Rajaratnacarip. 100.

Astronomy.—Although the Singhalese derived from the Hindus their acquaintance, such as it was, with the heavenly bodies and their movements, together with their method of taking observations, and calculating eclipses[1], yet in this list the term "astrology" would describe better than "astronomy" the science practically cultivated in Ceylon, which then, as now, had its professors in every village to construct horoscopes, and cast the nativities of the peasantry. Dutugaimunu, in the second century before Christ, after his victory over Elala, commended himself to his new subjects by his fatherly care in providing "a doctor, an astronomer, and a priest, for each group of sixteen villages throughout the kingdom;"[2] and he availed himself of the services of the astrologer to name the proper day of the moon on which to lay the foundation of his great religious structures.[3]

1: A summary of the knowledge possessed by the early Hindus ofastronomyandmathematical sciencewill be found in MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE'SHistory of India during the Hindu and Mahomedan Periods, book iii. ch. i. p. 127.2:Rajaratnacarip. 40.3:Mahawanso, ch. xxix. p. 169-173.

2:Rajaratnacarip. 40.

3:Mahawanso, ch. xxix. p. 169-173.

King Bujas Raja, A.D. 339, increased his claim to popular acknowledgment by adding "an astrologer, a devil-dancer, and a preacher."[1] At the present day the astronomical treatises possessed by the Singhalese are, generally speaking, borrowed, but with considerable variation, from the Sanskrit.[2]

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