Chap VIII.] 



ARMY AND NAVY. 



499 



Clirist ^ ; and it was not till tlie eleventh centiiiy of our 

 era, that a marine was organised for the defence of the 

 coast.^ 



The mode of raising a national force to make war 

 agauist the invaders, is described in the Mahawanso^ ; 

 the king issuing commands to ten warriors to enhst 

 each ten men, and each of this hundred in turn to 

 enrol ten more, and each of the new levy, ten others, till 

 " the whole company embodied were eleven thousand 

 one hundred and ten." 



The troops usually consisted of four classes : the 

 " riders on elephants, the cavalry, then those in chariots, 

 and the foot soldiers,"* and tliis organisation continued 

 till the twelfth centmy.^ 



Their arms were " the five weapons of war," swords, 

 spears, javehns, bows, and arrows, and a rope with a 

 noose, running in a metal ring called narachana.^ The 

 archers were the main strength of the army, and their 

 skill and dexterity are subjects of frequent eulogium.^ 



* 3fahawamo, ch. xxi. p. 127. 

 2 Ibid., cli. xxxix. ; TmiNOTJIl's 

 MS. Transl. p. 269. 



2 Ibid, cli. xxiii. p. 144. 



4 Rajamli, p. 208. The use of ele- 

 phants in war is frequently adverted 

 to in the Mahawanso, ch. xxv. p. 

 151-155, &c. 



5 See the inscription on the tablet 

 at PoUanan-ua, a.d. 1187. 



6 Mahmvanso, ch. vii. 48 ; ch. xxv 

 p. 155. 



"^ One of the chiefs in the amiy of 

 Dutugaimimii, B.C. 160, is described 

 as combining aU the excellences of the 

 craft, being at once a "sound archer," 

 who shot by ear, when his object was 

 out of sight; "a lightning archer," 

 whose arrow was as rapid as a 

 thunderbolt ; and a " sand-archer," 

 who could send the shaft through 

 a cai-t filled with sand and through 

 hides an himdred-fold thick." — Ma- 

 hawanso, eh. xxiii. p. 143. In one of 

 the legends connected with the early 

 life of Gotama, before he attained the 

 exaltation of Buddhahood, he is re- 



presented as displaying his strength 

 by taking " a bow which required 

 a thousand men to bend it, and 

 placing it against the toe of his right 

 foot without standing up, he drew 

 the string with his finger-nail." — 

 Hardy's Mamml of Buddhism, ch. 

 vii. p. 153. It is remarkable that 

 at the present day this is the atti- 

 tude assumed by a Veddah, when 

 anxious to send an arrow with more 

 than ordinary force. The following 

 sketch is from a model in ebony 

 executed by a native carver. 



VEDDAH DRAWING HIS BUW. 



I am not aware that examples of 

 this mode of drawing the bow are to 



K K 2 



