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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON.) [VOL. X. 



people enough to produce the food, and to render the services 

 necessary for themselves, their retinues, and courts. 



Wijayo's adventure having thus succeeded so well, and his 

 supremacy having become established by his representatives 

 in so many parts of the Island, it seemed to his ministers 

 unadvisable that the traitress Kuweni should share his 

 throne. A mission was therefore sent to the King of Madura, 

 to solicit for a princess suitable to become the wife of the 

 ruler of Lanka. The emissaries who formed this important 

 embassy took with them " gems and other splendid presents" 

 wherewith to propitiate the favour, and secure the aid of the 

 King Panduwo. This monarch received them graciously, 

 and thereupon consulted with his ministers, with whose 

 concurrence, he, having already decided to send his own 

 daughter, asked his nobles " who amongst them were willing 

 to send their daughters to renowned Sihala," to accompany 

 her. In response to this invitation, 700 noble ladies are 

 said to have been selected, and Panduwo, having decorated 

 his daughter with every description of gold ornaments 

 befitting her sex and exalted rank, dispatched the party in 

 charge of 18 officers of State, 75 horsekeepers, elephant- 

 keepers, and charioteers, his daughter to be the bride of 

 Wijayo, with a dowry consisting of elephants, horses, chariots, 

 and slaves, and her noble companions to seek their fortunes 

 in his court. On the landing of the cortege, the ladies, their 

 retinues, and the magnificent presents they brought, were 

 received and conveyed to "Wijayo's court, with all the honour 

 due to their rank and to the high positions for which they 

 were destined. The ovation prepared for them, and the 

 festivities that followed were such as could only have been 

 conceived and executed in a country where regal state, court 

 customs, and luxury were familiar and a state of civilisation 

 was established, and where the inhabitants, on the long line 

 of the march from the landing place, were peaceable and 

 acquiescent. It is needless to point out how utterly incongru- 

 ous such a party of noble ladies, and such presents as Panduwo 

 sent, would have been if dispatched to a country inhabited 



