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



which brought him back to his village. He related all that 

 had happened to him the previous night to villagers, and 

 there was much alarm that day in the village lest some evil 

 might befall them. 



The following interesting account, by Mr. C. A. Murray 

 (when acting as Government Agent, North-Central Province), 

 of a trip to Ritigala, as given in his Diary for October, 1889, 

 is inserted by permission : — 



October 29, Tuesday. — Made an early start, riding for the top of 

 Bitigala. We were able to take our horses for three miles to the ruins 

 of the large pokuna. This pokuna is situated at the base of the hill, 

 and is made out of a natural hollow formed by three hills. The open 

 side is banked up. It covers almost four or five acres, and must have 

 been 30 ft. deep when full ; the sides are stopped with long dressed 

 stone, almost all in position, but the lines are uneven. A fine clear 

 stream flows through it. At one entrance to the pokuna there is a 

 large platform all covered with trees. From the pokuna there is a 

 fine paved footway, 3 ft. broad, about quarter of a mile long, leading 

 to the site of a palace, the ground plan of which is still plainly visible 

 in the large slabs of stone. Broad slabs raised 2 ft. from the ground 

 mark where the verandah was, with a flight of four stone steps leading 

 down, in a good state of preservation. * * * ® 



On the slope of the hill above the pokuna is a large "Galge" with a broken 

 image of Buddha, and close by is a pit containing a quantity of old 

 flat tiles kept as a reserved stock to be drawn on when required. 



From the pokuna to the top of the hill is a mile and a half, and the 

 new path has been made within half a mile of the top. The new path, 

 from the commencement where it branches off from the village road, 

 is three miles long. It was easy climbing up to where the path was 

 finished, but after that it was a case of swarming up the face of rocks 

 and climbing over huge boulders. We reached the flat surface where 

 the bungalow is to be erected, commanding a fine view of the country. 



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