NOTES ON Adam's peak. 81 



In the jungle, at a height of about 20 ft. above the stream and some 

 50 yards below the bridge, there is a curious cave running straight 

 into the side of tlie hill for about 15 ft. or ratlier more ; the peculiar 

 part of tlie cave is tliat it is almost round, with a diameter of about 

 5 ft., and looks rather as though bored by some gigantic awl. The 

 walls, which are of gneiss, show no signs of having been cut or worked 

 in any way, but a number of flowering trees, evidently planted 

 round the mouth, testify to occupation fairly recently. There 

 are no tenants now except a few swallows, which build in the roof. 



Up a steep path and on a little level slab is Nissangala-lena ; 

 here there is supposed to be buried a great treasure, including the 

 regalia of the king, from whom the cave takes its name [Nissanka ?]. 

 The cave is formed by an enormous mass of rock that overhangs and 

 shelters a space about 130 ft. long by 18 ft. wide ; the height 

 varies from about 10 ft. in the front of the cave to 5 ft. at the 

 back. The rock is split into two portions, one about half as big 

 again as the other. A drip ledge runs along the entire length. 

 There is no inscription, nor any remains of a wall. 



The remainder of the path from here to the third ambalam ha^ 

 been described so often, and with such blood-curdling exaggerations, 

 that I have nothing to add, except that at the foot of the Peak, 

 where the Kehelgama-para joiias the Maskeliya-para, a good new 

 bridge has been built within the last two years, taking the place of 

 the rather dangerous ford. A signjiost and pouiting hand with a 

 burnt-in inscription, apparently in Chinese, makes the way impos- 

 sible to miss. 



The third and last ambalam on the Maskeliya-para is called 

 Idikatu-pana in Sinhalese and Usimalley in Tamil. Just above it 

 is the first set of chains, now' replaced by an iron rail. The rock on 

 which these chains are fastened contains a few short inscriptions in 

 modern Sinhalese, but nothing old. 



When last I visited this ambalam the pilgrim season had not yet 

 begun , and the whole of the rather ramshackle buildings were buried 

 in a cloud of yellow calceolaria, while all the rock ledges were beds 

 of pink begonias. From this ambalam to the summit there is 

 nothing of any archaeological interest, save a few caves, &c. ; 

 which will be described together with the eastern cliffs. 



Cone of the Peak and Eastern Cliffs. 



To start with, it is necessary to explain what is meant by the 

 " cone " of the Peak. I have taken it to mean the rocky bell- 

 shaped point that rises from the main range. 



The southern and western faces of this cone seem to be too abrupt 

 to be climbed, save where the pilgrims' path winds its way up. The 

 northern face is a series of precipices that might possibly be climbed, 

 but which would probably contain no caves ; my explorations were 

 therefore confined to the eastern and north-eastern faces. 



