Chap. If.] RESTORATIOX OF RUIXED T.YNKS. 431 



exaggerated dimensions of Lake Moeris in Central Egypt, 

 and the mysterious " basin of Al Aram," the bursting of 

 whose embankment devastated the Arabian city of 

 Mareb^, no simikr constructions formed by any race, 

 whether ancient or modern, exceed in colossal magnitude 

 the stupendous tanks of Ceylon. Tlie reservoir of Koh- 

 rud at Ispahan, the artificial lake of Ajmeer, or the tank 

 of Hyder, in Mysore, can no more be compared in extent 

 or grandeur Avith Kala-weva or Padivil-colom than the 

 conduits of Hezekiah^, the kanats of the Persians, or the 

 subterranean water-courses of Peru^ can vie with the 

 Ellahara canal, which probably connected tlie lake of 

 Mineri and the "Sea of Prakrama" witli the Amban- 

 ganga river. 



Eeasons have been elsewhere assigned*, why works 

 of this natm^e were rendered indispensable by the 

 pecuHarities of chmate, and the deficient supply of 

 rain or river water for purposes of agriculture in the 

 northern districts of Ceylon, whilst in the mountainous 

 regions of the south, the deluge of the monsoons and 

 the perennial freshness of the streams render the pea- 

 santry independent of artificial irrigation. Hence every 

 village to the north of the Kandyan zone was proAdded 

 with one tank at least ; and by the provident munifi- 

 cence of the native sovereigns, the face of the country 

 became covered with a network of canals to convey 

 streams to the rice lands. So long as these precious 

 structures remained intact cultivation was continuous 

 and famines unknown. But their preservation was de- 

 pendent not only on the maintenance of the co-operative 

 village system (a system whose existence was contingent 

 on the duration of peace and tranqmllity), but on the 

 supremacy of a domestic government sufficiently strong 



^ The Koran, ch. xxxiv. 



2 2 Kiugs, ch. XX. v. 20. 



3 Dakwin, Nat. Vol/., ch. xvi. p. 

 358. ■ 



* Sec ante, Vol, I Pt. i. ch. ii, 



p. 73. 



VOL. II. F F 



