156 THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. v. 



I was strolling through these ruins when I sud- 

 denly 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-barrelled gun. At 

 the report of the gun a herd of about thirty deer, 

 which were concealed amongst the ruins, rushed close 

 by me, and I bagged another doe with the remaining 

 barrel. 



The whole of this counry 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 about 300 years B.C. 

 Some idea of the former extentof the Ceylon antiquities 

 may be formed from the present size of the ruins. 

 Those of Anarajapoora are sixteen miles square, 

 comprising a surface of 256 square miles. Those of 

 Pollanarua are much smaller, but they are neverthe- 

 less 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 city itself is ruined in architecture. Few coun- 

 tries can be more thinly populated than Ceylon, and 

 yet we have these numerous proofs of a powerful 

 nation having once existed. Wherever these lakes or 



