158 



CEYLON BRANCH 



various descriptions have at different times been given, a Those 

 found at Calpentyn were contained in a chatty buried in the 

 earth at the depth of about three feet from the surface, and 

 amounted in number to about 5,000. It has been supposed 

 by some that they were a hoard buried there for security ; but the 

 circumstance of the coins being all of one description, and that 

 SO inferior, seems to militate against such a supposition. 



The condition of the coins is extremely unequal, some 

 being clear and in good order while others shew the effects of 

 exposure to the air or damp, and others are as much reduced 

 and defaced as the old worn out silver coinage of England. 

 The best specimens weigh about 65 grains of metal, which is, 

 about the weight of the Oodypoor pysa. 



In the specimen of which a representation is. annexed, 

 No. 1, we see on the reverse^ the monkey chief, Hanuman, 



" Of strength resistless, and wide wasting wrath." b. 



Uttara Rama Cheritra, Act 1. Sc. 2. 



But this carries us back to mythological times, and to the 

 old legend of Rama and his " fawn eyed " Slta. 



She was the daughter of powerful prince Janaka who 

 having in his possession by inheritance a valued bow of great 

 strength, derived originally from Maha deo, declared that no 

 one should have her in marriage who could not bend that bow. 

 It was like the bow of Ulysses, Rama the son of Dasaratha, 

 King of Ayodhya or Oude, bent it, and obtained the hand of 

 Sita ; but by some court intrigues he was obliged to leave his 



a See Asiatic Researches Vol. 17 p. 597, and Journals of the 

 Bengal Asiatic Society for 1835, p. 673, and for 1837 p. 298 seq. See 

 also Journal Ceylon Asiatic Society, p. 69. 



b There is a representation of this coin in Davy's Ceylon, p. 

 245, but there the reverse is turned upside down, and it is said the 

 characters "resemble more hieroglyphics than letters." 



