, 1902-06-02

~ known or SO often Visited as
the interest and antiquity
demand that they should be.
Til" buried cities are three IN mum
Der. il Onr iuclud"s the rock fortress
OF :'!Giri- Anu]radhdrura and PoIon-
naru"a are more exactly described
as cities. our time being so short.
my companion and determined to
continr ourselves chiefly to Anurnd-
hapura. named after and founded by
n of the earliest SinhaleSe mobiles.
Prime" Anradha. sol b. c.
1t is situated in til" center of the
North Central province. in a district
covered with tn" remains of palaces.
shrInes. temples. vas tanks and in
tricat" irrigation works, all bearing
witness to the greatness and power of
tn" earliest SinhaleS,. monarchy. The
greatest of thes" tanks. named kala-
wewa is a gigantic reservoir of about
500" acres. twenty feet wide at the
top and sixty feet high,
Anuradhapura is about the center
OF the Great North road. which forms
as ii We're, the spine or backbone OF
the island. connecting the Jaf;na pen
inSula with the planting districts. and
is chiefly used by the South Indian
coolies. who can cross from India via
Adams bridge in Il few hours. and can
thence make their way on foot to
their various destinations. one often
meets a gan of some fifty or sixty
of these COOlieS-mrn. women and
childron-eaCh with a little bundle
containing the household goods and
entire possessions OF its bearer. They
are attracted by the fourpenCe a day
obtainable in the planting districts OF
Ceylon, as compared with the penny,
the ;ull earnings of their own cuun
try.
On the road me hears the chatter
ing of monkeys. the call of peacocks
in the jungle and here and there these
wild OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. handicoot,
etc.-dart across the path, but the net
work of creepers with which the trees
are bound together forbids pursuit
say where elephants haze cleared
the a
The earliest authenticate records of
Anuradhapura date back to the year
437 B. c., a time when Britain was
still unknown to her Roman conquer
ors. when our forefathers. stained
with woad, still practiced the mystic
rites of Druidical worship. When
England was still sunk in barbarism
this fair city OF the east a at the
height of its glory. her vast walls sur
rounded an area of $50 square miles.
thousands of priests thronged the
courts of her temples. which rivaled
in magnifcence the richness and glory
of the great temple of solomon. Sol
emn professions. headed by the king.
who was surrounded by a suite of
magnificently equipped courtiers. filled
her streets. Her embassies j%ourneyed
to distant Rome. and her buildings
and statues rivaled those of ancient
Greece in size and beauty OF design.
But this mighty monarchy was at
it's height; power brought luxury. lux
ury brought destruction and the Sin
halese dynasty fell before the fierce
hordes of Malabar invaders from
southern India. who, with the Tamils.
overran the rand. ~ruthlessly destroy
ing palace and temple. with every
treasure of art and beauty.
Where the proudest Guy of the east
shone in wealth and splendor and
worshipped with a glorious ritual,
there are now only mighty ruins. the
fallen figures OF giants and the over
towering vegetation of the jungle Gov
Ell. ing all things.
At Anuradhapura the lsurmuniya
temple. carved out Of the natural rock,
has a splendid position, though the
MODERN entrance. with its tiled roof