Singhalese Chronology. 189 



This declination of the Sun is said to cause the general 

 length of a man's shadow (in the central parts of this Island,) 

 cast on the ground at noon for each one-third of the solar 

 month, to be the following number of feet; — viz. : 



Month. No. of Ft. 



Mesa H 1 l.j 



Warsabha.. \\ 2 2J 



Mithuna... 2 J 3 2| 



Kataka 2| 2 li 



Singha H 1 H 



Kanya 11 2 2| 



Month. No. of Ft. 



Tula 21 3 31 



Wurchika.. 31 4 Ah 



Dhanu 4f 41 A\ 



Makara..... 4 J- 4 31 



Kumbha... 34 3 21 



Mma 21 2 1 



This portion of the shadow of a man is called Awalchau 

 or more properly, aw a ch'hayaica, " extra shadow." Thus, 

 the Awatchawa for the first 10 days of the Sun's stay in 

 Mesa, or the 10 days after the 11th of April, is one foot 

 and a half; for the next 10 days of the same month, it is 

 one foot, and for the third 10 days it is one and a half. And 

 for the first 10 days of the solar month of Warsabha, the 

 extra shadow of a man is one foot and a half ; for the next 10 

 days it is two feet, and for the last 10 days it is two and a 

 half feet ; and so on. 



In consequence of there existing little or no difference in 

 the aspect of the country at various seasons, the Singhalese 

 do not recognise the four seasons of the year, as people of 

 other countries do. The medical and astrological books, 

 speak, indeed, of six seasons of the year, called Irtu, 

 and the religious books make mention of three Irtus : 

 but they are of no consequence here, as people do not talk of 

 them on ordinary occasions. 



The Lunar month is the period from the Moon's passing be- 

 tween the Sun and earth until she comes again between these 

 two bodies. The names of the twelve Lunar months begin- 



1858] 



