480 



SCIENCES AXD SOCIAL AUTS. 



[Part lY 



every ruin he lias seen, including the dagobas at Ana- 

 raj apoora, Bintenne, and Pollanarrua, have been fired 

 ■with so much skill that exposure through successive 

 centuries has but shghtly affected their sharpness and 

 consistency. 



The sand for mortar was " pounded, sifted, and 

 ground on a grinding-stone ; " ^ the " cloud-coloured 

 stones, " ^ used to form the immediate receptacle in 

 which a sacred rehc was enclosed, were said to have 

 been imported from India ; and the " nawanita " clay, in 

 which these were imbedded, was believed to have been 

 brought from the mythical Anotattho lake in the Hima- 

 layas.^ 



Dagobas. — The process of building the Euanwelle 

 dagoba is thus minutely described in the Mahawanso : 

 " That the structure might endure for ages, a foundation 

 was excavated to the depth of one hundred cubits, and 

 the round stones were trampled by enormous elephants, 

 whose feet were protected by leather cases. Over this 

 the monarch spread the sacred clay, and on it laid the 

 bricks, and over them a coating of astringent cement, 

 above this a layer of sand-stones, and on all a plate of 

 iron. Over tliis was a large phohka (crystallised 

 stone), then a plate of brass, eight inches thick, em- 

 bedded in a cement made of the gum of the wood-apple 

 tree, diluted in the water of the small red coco-nut." * 



The shape of these huge mounds of masonry was 

 originally hemispherical, being that best calculated to 

 prevent the growth of grass or other weeds on objects so 



1 llahcncanso, cli. xxx. p. 17o. 



^ The " cloud-coloured stone " may 

 possibly have been marble, but no 

 traces of marble have been found in 

 the ruins. Diodorus, in describing 

 some of the monuments of Egypt 

 alludes to a "party-coloured" stone, 

 \t"ov TTovciXni', which likewise remains 

 without identification. — Diodoriis, 1. 

 i. c. Ivii. 



3 3Iahawajiso, ch. xxix. p. 109; 

 oil. XXX. p. 179. 



■* Mahawanso, ch. xxix. p. 1G9 ; 

 ch. XXX. p. 178. The internal struc- 

 ture of the Sanchi tope at Bilsah in 

 Central India pi-esents the arrange- 

 ment here described, the bricks beintf 

 laid in mud, but externally it is faced 

 with dressed stone. 



