358 



Original Mviitlt^. 



A CEYLON ISOETES. 



By Henry Trimen, M.B., F.L.S. 



(Tab. 234). 



The solitary Hill of Dambulla, a little north of the centre 

 of Ceylon, is one of the most interesting s^Dots in the island. This 

 huge domed block of smooth gneiss (the summit is said to be 

 1180 ft. above sea-level) is one of several isolated rocks which at 

 wide intervals rise out of the densely forested plain constituting 

 the north and east of Ceylon. It is accessible only on two sides, 

 and both paths lead to the celebrated rock temple under the 

 summit, one approaching it by several hundred steps cut out of the 

 rock, whilst the other takes one over the lower part of the slippery 

 dome of the hill, the haunt of numerous apes. The temple itself 

 is beneath the projecting eave of a vast mass of rock which forms 

 alike its roof and the summit of the mountain, and consists 

 of several extensive gloomy chambers, lighted only by the doors in 

 the front wall. At the back of this natural cave, roof and floor 

 meet ; in front, where has been built up the wall, they gape 70 ft. 

 asunder. Inside, the stagnant air is heavy wdth incense, and it is 

 not Until the eye is accustomed to the peculiar illumination that it 

 perceives the vast number of statues of the Buddha ranged round 

 the temple, and the elaborate decoration of the walls and rocky 

 roof. The latter, painted over the whole of its irregular and 

 undulating surface with small and intricate figure-subjects, has the 

 appearance of immense suspended curtains, and as such indeed is 

 this solid stone roof described by Sir E. Tennent.'*'" 



The view from the summit of the hill is very extensive, and 

 from the terrace in fi'ont of the temple, where the yellow-robed 

 monks idle away the uneventful hours, very beautiful indeed : a 

 sea of forest mostly, but with distant hills to the south, and away 

 to the north-east the extraordinary natural fortress of Sigiri, an 

 isolated mass towering out of the forest like Dambulla, but flat- 

 topped and cylindrical, in fact shaped like a Stilton cheese. 



The flora of Dambulla Hill (more usually called Damboul Rock 

 by the English) is remarkable in combining with the prevalent 

 vegetation of the dry north districts of Ceylon (which closely 

 resembles that of the Coromandel Coast and Madras) some of the 

 peculiarities of the very different flora of the moist regions of the 

 south-west. That beautiful little tree Mundulea suberosa, not else- 



* Ceylon, vol. ii., p. 577. 

 N. s. VOL. 11. [December, 1882.] 2 z 



