64 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
acquainted with the mode of producing sparks from chert and 
steel, but their usual method of procuring fire is by means of 
the bow drill. 
It will be observed that the list of implements discloses 
some remarkable omissions. Nothing resembling an axe 
has ever been found in Ceylon. There was besides no chopper 
or heavy blade, no spearhead, saw, punch, or fabricator, 
though the two last may have once existed in bone or horn. 
There were no sling stones or throwing disks, nor any sign of 
potboilers. It is probable that the earth cap has preserved 
for us the complete armoury of this ancient race in so far as 
it was composed of imperishable materials ; and it is surprising 
to find so total an absence of formidable weapons in a land 
which must have abounded with elephants, bears, leopards, 
and buffaloes, and in an age when these had probably little 
terror of man. It may be conjectured either that the insigni- 
ficant pigmies are the disjecta membra of some weapon of 
power, or that their makers maintained an inglorious existence 
by preying upon the lesser creatures and trusting to flight 
from the formidable. The latter supposition receives some 
support from the researches of the Doctors Sarasin in the 
Nilgala cave, in which they found only the scantiest remains 
of buffalo, pig, and bear, nothing of elephant or leopard, very 
abundant snail shells, and a moderate quantity of deer and 
monkey. In my own excavation of a cave near Balangoda, 
besides innumerable snail shells, I could only identify bones 
of monkey and mouse deer. In neither cave were remains 
found of snakes, fishes, or birds, although the Veddas eat the 
two last, while they are said to reject the first. The same 
absence of large and aggressive weapons was noticeable in the 
caves so far explored. The few bone and horn implements 
recovered pointed to peaceful rather than destructive uses, 
and give no warrant for believing that an armoury of lethal 
weapons of perishable material has been absorbed in the soil 
of Bandarawela. The situation must therefore be faced that 
this race relied for their existence, in the midst of powerful 
and ferocious beasts, on a handful of pointed fragments of 
quartz, whose purpose is still an enigma to all inquirers. 
Fire was no doubt a great protection, and the poisons with 
