THE RUINED CITIES OF CEYLON.* MOST people to-day only know

Ceylon as an island inhabited by a rather effeminate race, the Singhalese, where the indus- tries of tea and coffee planting have gone through various vicissitudes ; and but few realise that the Singhalese were once a powerful people, and that their cities and temples rivalled in splendour the greatest buildings of the Eastern world. The Singhalese are now, for the most part, sunk to the condition of petty traders in Europeanised towns, and the evidences of their ancient greatness are swallowed up by dense forest and encroaching jungle. There yet remain, however, sufficient traces of their past magnificence to enable the scholar to piece together some idea of its extent and history, and the work before us is an attempt made by Mr. W. H. Cave to reproduce it for our benefit. Briefly stated, the early history of the island dates from its occupation by the Singhalese, Aryan settlers from North Central India, some few centuries before their conversion to Buddhism. The half-savage tribes by whom Ceylon was originally inhabited seem to have been reduced to the condition of slaves by their conquerors, and their forced labour was utilised to erect some of the stupendous works of which scanty ruins are still extant. It was not until the third century before the Christian era that the Buddhist conversion of the island took place, with its consequent effect upon a people anxious to do honour to their new cult. Temples and palaces for the priests were raised everywhere, and in the sacred city of Anuradhapura these religious structures were upon a scale almost unprecedented in the world's history. It must be remembered that Ceylon was already a rich country. Its geographical position made it the chief emporium of the Eastern world, where the merchant fleets of India, China, Persia, and Arabia met to barter their goods, and its famous gems and precious stones commanded the richest merchandise that other countries could bring to its shores. Some idea of the ancient architec- ture may be got by quoting an extract from Mr. Cave's description of what he calls the "Golden Age of Lanka," in which he has tried to reconstruct from their ruins the most famous of the buildings :—

"From the courtyard of the Brazen Palace the thunder of sixty-four kinds of drums announces that the King, surrounded by a thousand priests, has taken his seat on the ivory throne in the great hall. This hall is the central apartment in the building, around and above which are a thousand rooms disposed in nine stories. The massive structure is built upon eighteen hundred monoliths covered with chased copper and set with precious stones. Even the lines of the roof are picked out with sparkling gems, and the gorgeous richness of the whole edifice within and without almost passes comprehension. This palace has been bestowed by

the King upon the priesthood But even this is dwarfed by the massive shrines that rear their heads in all directions. The new religion has filled its votaries with almost superhuman energy, and only the very hills themselves can compare with the buildings, which are the outward expression of their devotion. Foundations laid to the depth of one hundred feet are composed of alternate strata of stone and iron cemented one on the other. Upon these pedestals of massive granite are placed and surrounded by sculptured elephants, which appear as bearers of the superstructure which rises to a height of four hundred feet and contains millions of tons of solid masonry. At the four points there are shrines approached by handsome flights of steps; and to these come thousands of worshippers, all of whom grace the altars with gifts of flowers. Not only are the steps and shrines strewn with blossoms, but on days of festival the entire dome is festooned from base to summit with choicest flowers till it resembles a huge bridal bouquet, and over it sprays of water continually play."

These vast domes are still standing, hills of brickwork, and in the place of the festal flowers, they are covered with dense thickets of forest-trees. Take, for example, the view of Mihintale on Plate VI. At first one sees only a photograph of what appears to be a natural hill whose precipitous sides are covered with vegetation. It is actually a gigantic edifice of brick, over which the jungle has passed. It is surrounded, moreover, by numerous other Dagabas, as they are called, of equal size. To quote our author again :—

• T7s. Buiseast Cities of Ceylon. By H. W. Cave, ILA. London : Sampson Low, Marston, an Co.

"One, called the Mahe Soya, is placed in a position whence grand views of the surrounding country can be obtained. The summit of this can be reached by the adventurous climber, and the exertion, if not the danger, is well repaid by the striking spectacle of the ruined shrines of Anuradhapura rising above a sea of foliage, and the glistening waters of the ancient artificial lakes relieving the immense stretches of forest. For twenty centuries this mass of brickwork defied the destructive tooth of time and the disintegrating forces of vegetable growth ; but a few years ago it showed signs of collapse on the west face, and under- went some repairs by the Ceylon Government. Our illustration presents a near view from the west, showing the portion cleared of vegetation and repaired. Some idea of the proportions of this dagaba may be gathered by noticing that what appears to be grass upon the upper portion of the structure is in reality a mass of forest trees that have grown up from seeds dropped by birds."

The photographs, to which reference is made above, are

most instructive and convey a very fair idea, not only of the vast size, but also of the great beauty, of the ruined shrines.

The most beautiful picture of all is afforded by the Isurumunya Temple, hewn out of the natural rock and overlooking a large tank, now devoted to crocodiles. Of the great Brazen Palace nothing is left but the serried rows of huge granite monoliths upon which it once rested. The latter have long been stripped of their metal adornment, while the

many-storied edifice they supported was destroyed piecemeal, story by story, in successive wars. Of greater interest, because more perfectly preserved, is the Ruanweli Dagaba, where recent excavations have exposed the elephant figures upon which the whole structure is supposed to rest. Wherever clearings are made pokunas, or tanks, are sure to be unearthed.

These stone-built reservoirs, some of them of enormous size, were a prominent feature of the ancient city, and must have greatly enhanced its beauty. Inside the walls they served as baths ; outside, they took the form of huge artificial lakes, and bear eloquent testimony to a labour which must have been as well organised and as persistent as that which built the Pyramids. The lake of Minneria, of which we are given a picture, has a circumference of about twenty miles. It is said to have been constructed in the third century, and the masonry and earthwork dams, which were formed to divert the waters of the stream which fills it, extend for many miles

and average a height of about 80 ft. With regard to the labour by which these vast undertakings were carried out, the

author says :—

"There was undoubtedly a dense population under obligations of free labour in the King's service. They held their lands under condition of devoting a large share of their efforts to whet was called Raj ah-Karia—Kin g's service. Under this tenure the monarch claimed free labour for the construction of irrigation works and the building of temples and shrines. Such serfdom as this for the common good was no hardship in a country where agricultural pursuits, consisting chiefly of growing rice, could be carried on with a small demand on the labourers' time ; where the tanks for storing, and the channels for distributing, the necessary water were so well made and so skilfully arranged that the precious fertiliser could be admitted to the fields at the exact time required and the surplus drawn off with equal ease at the proper moment. Such compulsory service was entirely for their own good, and its necessity is only too apparent at the present time, when in a state of freedom it is found to be so difficult to restore the former con- ditions of health and prosperity."

One of the causes of the downfall of Ceylon from its height of civilisation may be found in the internecine warfare waged on each other by its Kings and Princes. An interesting relic of this internal strife exists in the rock-built city of Sigiri, with its curious hanging galleries, now partially destroyed,

which served as a stronghold to the parricide King Kayaspa, who, after dethroning and slaying his father, sought security by converting a rocky pinnacle into a fortress. The sacred city of Anuradhapura from about this date began to lose its importance, and it was not long before the fratricidal struggles of the Singhalese left it a prey to the barbarous Tamil

invasion. What the Tamils found it, Mr. Cave has already told us what they left it, can be seen in its ruins to-day.

The city of Polonnaruwa succeeded as the capital during the eighth century, and, to judge from the pictures of its ruins, presents a different and more advanced, if less prodigious, form of architecture. It was here that the great King Para- krama dwelt in a splendour that rivalled even that of his predecessors, and tradition credits him with many vast buildings of which no trace remains.

Mr. Cave's descriptions, together with the excellent photo- graphs by which his work is illustrated, give one a very clear idea of the beauty and grandeur of the ruined cities he has explored. Too little is known of the ancient history of

Ceylon, and his book deserves to be warmly commended to the notice of all who are interested in archmology. It is, moreover, written in a very pleasant and scholarly style, and forms a very readable as well as a very handsome volume.