Ruins of Pottanarua. . 83 



ished, and they are mounds of jungle and rank grass, 

 which has overgrown them, although the large dagoba 

 is upwards of a hundred feet high. 



A curious temple, formed on the imperishable prin- 

 ciple of excavating in the solid rock, is in perfect preser- 

 vation, and is still used by the natives as a place of 

 worship : this is presided over by a priest. Three large 

 images of Bhudda, carved out of solid rock, occupy 

 the positions in which he is always represented ; that 

 in the recumbent posture is fifty-six feet long, cut from 

 one solid stone. 



I was strolling through these ruins when I suddenly 

 saw a spotted doe feeding among the upright pillars 

 before mentioned. I was within twenty yards of her 

 before she was aware of my vicinity, and I bagged her 

 by a shot with a double-barreled gun. At the report of 

 the gun a herd of about thirty deer, which were con- 

 cealed among the ruins, rushed close by me, and I 

 bagged another doe \vith the remaining barrel. 



The whole of this country must at one time have been 

 densely populated ; perhaps this very density may have 

 produced pestilence, which swept away the inhabitants. 

 The city has been in ruins for about 600 years, and was 

 founded abo'ut 300 years before Christ. Some idea of 

 the former extent of the Ceylon antiquities maybe 

 formed from the present size of the ruins. Those of 

 Anarajapoora are 16 miles square, comprising a surface 

 of 256 square miles. Those of Pollanarua are much 

 smaller, but they are nevertheless of great extent. 



The inhabitants of the present village of Topari are 

 a poor squalid race ; and if they are descended in a 

 direct line from the ancient occupants of the city, they 

 are as much degenerated in character and habits as the 



