144 SOUTHERX AXD CENTRAL PROVIXCES. [rART VII. 



adjoining to it, a dwelling-liouse, whicli may be re- 

 garded as the model of a Singhalese mansion, with its 

 gardens and oriental grounds. The entire district has 

 benefited by the generosity of this pubhc-spirited man, and 

 m recognition of his patriotism in opening roads and 

 promoting tlie welfare of the inhabitants, he has recently 

 liad conferred upon him the rank of Moodliar of the Go- 

 vernor's Gate. 



On a rocky headland, which projects mto the sea a few 

 miles from Morottu, are the remains of what was once 

 the marine palace of the governors of Ceylon ; an edifice 

 in every way worthy of the great man by whom it Avas 

 erected — Sir Edward Barnes. But in one of those pa- 

 roxysms of economy which are sometimes not less success- 

 ful than the ambition of the Sultan in the fable, in provichng 

 haunts for those bkds that philosophise amidst ruins, 

 the edifice at Mount Lavinia had scarcely been com- 

 pleted at an expense whicli has been estimated at 30,000/., 

 when it was ordered to be dismantled, and the build- 

 ings were disposed of for less than the cost of the window 

 frames. 



At Galkisse the traveller has the opportunity of seeing 

 a temple which may serve as an example of modern. 

 Buddhist buildings of this class in Ceylon. It is situ- 

 ated on a gentle eminence close by the high road, sur- 

 rounded by groves of u'on wood ^, murutas '^, champacs ^, 

 and other trees, offerings of whose flowers form so re- 

 markable a featm'e in the worship of the Singhalese. Tlie 

 modest pansela in which the priests and their attendants 

 reside"* is built in the hoUow, and the ascent to the 

 Wihara above it is by steps excavated in the hill. Tlie 

 latter is protected by a low Avail decorated Avith mytho- 

 logical spnbols, and the ethfice itself is of the Inimblest 

 dimensions, Avitli AAdiitened Avails and a projecting tiled 



* Messua nagaha. I * For an account of a Buddhist 



2 Lnfierstramia rcgina. \ temple and its buildintrs, see ante, 



3 MkhtUa chuntpaca. i Vol. I. Pt. m. cb. i\. p. 349. 



