480 



SCIENCES AND SOCIAL ARTS. 



[PART IV. 



every ruin he has 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 slightly affected either their sharpness 

 or consistency. 



The sand for mortar was " pounded, sifted, and 

 ground ; " x the " cloud-coloured stones, " 2 used to form 

 the immediate receptacle in which a sacred relic 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 Himalayas. 3 



Dagobas. The process of building the Kuanwelle 

 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 this was a large pholika (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." 4 



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 Mahawanso, ch. xxx. p. 175. 



2 The " cloud-coloured stone " may 

 possibly have been marble, but no 

 traces of marble have been found in 

 any ruins in Ceylon. Diodorus, in 

 describing some of the monuments of 

 Egypt alludes to a " party-coloured " 

 stone, Xt'fc'ov votKiXov, which likewise 

 remains without identification. 

 Diodorus, 1. i. c. Ivii. 



3 Mahawanso, ch. xxix. p 

 ch. xxx. p. 179. 



169; 



Mahawanso, ch. xxix. p. 169; 

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

 ture of the Sanchi tope at Bilsah in 

 Central India presents the arrange- 

 ment here described, the bricks being 

 laid in mud, but externally it is faced 

 with dressed stone. 



