CHAP. VI.] ENGINEERING. 465 



blocks like the great tablet at Pollanarrua were dragged 

 to their required positions. 1 



Fortifications. Of military engineering the Singha- 

 lese had very slight knowledge. Walled towns and 

 fortifications are frequently spoken of, but the ascer- 

 tained difficulty of raising, squaring, or carrying stones, 

 points to the inference which is justified by the expres- 

 sions of the ancient chronicles, that the walls they 

 allude to, must have been earthworks 2 , and that the 

 strength of their fortified places consisted in their inac- 

 cessibility. The first recorded attempt at fortification 

 was made by the Malabars in the second century before 

 Christ for the defence of Vijitta-poora, which is described 

 as having been secured by walls, a fosse, and a gate. 3 

 Elala about the same period built " thirty-two bul- 

 warks " at Anarajapoora 4 ; and Dutugaiinunu, in com- 

 mencing to besiege him in the city, followed his exam- 

 ple, by throwing up a " fortification in an open plain," at 

 a spot well provided with wood and water. 5 



At a later time, the Malabars, when in possession of 

 the northern portion of the island, formed a chain of 

 strong "forts" from the eastern to the western coast, 

 and the Singhalese, in imitation of them, occupied 

 similar positions. The most striking example of me- 

 diaeval fortification which stiU survives, is the imperish- 

 able rock of Sigiri, north-east of Dambool, to which 

 the infamous Kassyapa retired with his treasures, 

 after the assassination of his father, King Dhatu Sena, 

 A.D. 459 ; when having cleared its vicinity, and sur- 



1 No document is better calculated ; 41, " built a rampart seven cubits 

 to impress the reader with a due j high, and dug a ditch round the 



appreciation of the indomitable per- 

 severance of the Singhalese in works 

 of engineering than the able report 

 of Messrs. ADAMS, CHTTBCHILL, and 

 BAILET, on the great Canal from 

 Ellahara to Gantalawa, appended to 

 the Ceylon Calendar for 1857. 



2 Makalantissa, who reigned B.C. 

 VOL. I. II H 



capital." Mahaivanso, ch. xxxiv. p. 

 210. 



3 Rajavati, p. 212; Mahaivamo, 

 ch. xxv. p. 151. 



4 Rajavali, p. 187. 



5 Rajavali, p. 216; Mahawanso, 

 ch. xxv. p. 152. 



