429 



CHAP. II. 



AGRICULTURE. IRRIGATION. CATTLE AND CROPS. 



AGRICULTURE. Prior to the arrival of the Bengalis, and 

 even for some centuries after the conquest of Wijayo, 

 before the knowledge of agriculture had extended 

 throughout the island, the inhabitants appear to have 

 subsisted to a great extent by the chase. 1 Hunting the 

 elk and the boar was one of the amusements of the 

 early princes ; the " Eoyal Huntsmen " had a range of 

 buildings erected for then- residence at Anarajapoora, 

 B.C. 504 2 , and the laws of the chase generously forbade 

 to shoot deer except in flight. 3 Dogs were trained to 

 assist in the sport 4 and the oppressed aborigines, driven 

 by their conquerors to the forests of Rohuna and Maya, 

 are the subject of frequent commendation in the pages of 

 the Mahawanso, from their singular ability in the use of 

 the bow. 5 



Before the arrival of Wijayo, B.C. 543, agriculture was 

 unknown in Ceylon, and grain, if grown at all, was not 

 systematically cultivated. The Yakkhos, the aborigines, 

 subsisted, as do the Veddahs, their lineal descendants, at 

 the present day, on fruits, honey, and the products of the 

 chase. Eice was distributed by Kuweni to the followers 

 of Wijayo, but it was " rice procured from the wrecked 



1 Mahaicanso, ch. x. p. 59 ; ch. xiv. 

 p. 78 ; ch. xxiii. p. 142. The hunt- 

 ing of the hare is mentioned 161 B.C. 

 Mahaicanso, ch. xxiii. p. 141. 



2 Ibid., ch. x. p. 66. 



3 Ibid., ch. xiv. p. 78. King De- 

 venipiatissa, when descrying the elk 

 which led him to the mountain where 



Mahindo was seated, exclaimed, " It 

 is not fair to shoot him standing ! " 

 he twanged his bowstring and fol- 

 lowed him as he fled. See ante, 

 p.341,n. 



4 Ibid., ch. xxviii. p. 166. 



5 Ibid., ch. xxxiii. pp. 202, 204, 

 &c. 



