1847-] The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. 341 



this expedition, and it is not till he turns to descend that he becomes 

 fully sensible of his danger. Arrived at the summit, a height of about 

 five hundred and fifty feet above the surrounding plain, a wide and 

 interesting view of the level country beneath repays the adventurer for 

 his toil. In the east, rising in the distance to a considerable height, 

 will be seen the rock Seeqiri (pronounced Heeqiri by the natives) to 

 which Kassapo, the son of Datusens, fled to fortify himself against his 

 brother, after he had murdered his father and usurped the kingdom, 

 A. D. 477. The hill called Dahiakande, near the rock last mentioned, 

 points out the position of the fort of Vigittapoora, visited and described 

 by Major Forbes and Mr. Tumour, and memorable for its seige by 

 Gaimono the first, in the second century before Christ. To the south 

 may be faintly distinguished the outlines of some of the Kandy hills, 

 whilst to the north a wide and level plain extends itself, bounded by the 

 rocks of Miwara Kalawia. 



On the summit I saw the remains of an edifice which formerly existed 

 there, consisting of stones and bricks, and on examining the vicinity 

 for some other indications of human labour, I found a hole cut in the 

 rock, one foot square and about a foot and a half deep, into which I 

 imagine the beam or pillar on which the building rested had been in- 

 serted. 



The entrance to the caves is as I have said, about one hundred feet 

 below the level of the highest summit of the rock, and at the distance 

 of about a mile from the village to which the rock gives its name. A 

 rough tiled building, built principally of wood, affords a passage to the 

 more immediate precincts of the caves, and on entering this the visitor 

 finds himself standing on a ledge of rock covered with a slight coating 

 of mould, out of which a few cocoanut trees and many shrubs glean a 

 scanty supply of nutriment. To the right rises the perpendicular 

 mass of the rock, which to a height of about thirty feet, has been exca- 

 vated, partly by human labour and partly by nature, a wall being built 

 up in front of the caves, which reaches to the overhanging mass of rock 

 above. To the left the hill descends very steeply, covered with herbage 

 of various kinds, amidst which hundreds of monkeys disport themselves, 

 secure from the violence of man in a scene hallowed by the temples 

 and images of the bloodless prophet of Maghada. The ledge of rock> 

 covered with a slight mould on its eastern side, on which I am now 



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