144 SPOLIA ZBYLANICA. 



The point is its antiquity- I may here state that the cave has 

 the reputation of being haunted. It is in forest, and nowhere within 

 a reasonable distance of a road or path that would lead one to 

 suppose that travellers came there and cooked food by the way and 

 left their broken utensils behind. The nature of the country and 

 the situation of the spot completely hides the cave, while it requires 

 considerable agility to climb into its mouth. Lastly, it is a good 

 long way from water, so is not likely to be a place for a growing 

 population to settle upon. 



I leave it to experts to say if the stone objects are or are not 

 paleolithic, or if they are or are not of value as pointing to an age 

 when stone implements were made here. The fact that the cave 

 has an inscription may or may not be coupled with the incident of 

 the stone and bone fragments, and it may be open to question 

 whether the inscription is of an earlier date than the pottery and 

 other remains, or the contrary. 



I venture to express no opinion till the " find " as a whole is 

 submitted to experts. 



The clay disc found by Mr. Faviell also requires elucidation, but 

 appears to be a mould, and corresponds to the size of one of the 

 coins figured as marked with a Swastika in Mr. Parker's " Ancient 

 Ceylon." Its locality, moreover, must not be lost sight of. 



I am much indebted to Lieut. Lindstroom for assisting me in 

 finding this cave, and for helping me in copying the inscription, 

 which, though still imperfect, would have been more so but for his 

 aid. 



I shall be much obliged to you if you will kindly favour me with 

 your opinion as to the scientific value or otherwise of the " finds/' 

 and if they are worthy of a place in the Colombo Museum. 



FREDERICK LEWIvS. 



The flints were submitted to Mr. C. Hartley of the Royal College, 

 who reported as follows : — 



" I have carefully examined the quartz fragments. Knowing 

 nothing of the circumstances under which they were collected, I 

 should say that the bulk of them were casual fragments of bad 

 material unsuitable for making implements, and showing no signs 

 of human work. Among them are a small proportion of splinters 

 which look as if they had been chipped off and thrown away. I have 

 selected and numbered eight pieces, of which I judge as follows : — 



1. Crystal, chip, probably human. 



2. Quartz, do. 



3. Crystal, do. 



4. Crystal, do. 



5. Crystal, do. (shows old waterworm crust). 



