NO. 40. — 1890.] KURUNEGALA ROCKS. 



381 



Eta-gala, " Elephant Rock," 

 rises, nearly perpendicularly, above the level of the plain in 

 which the town lies. Sir J. Emerson Tennent describes it 

 as : — 



An enormous rock of gneiss upwards of 600 feet* in height, nearly 

 denuded of verdure, and so rounded and worn by time that it has 

 acquired the form of a couchant elephant, from which it derives its 

 iiame.f 



Bennett, writing of the " Elephant rock," remarks : — 

 It is said to have answered the same purposes as the Tarpeius 

 Mons, in the neck-breaking system of the ancients (but its elevation 

 exceeds by 220 feet the height of the latter), in order to get rid of 

 the princes who had incurred the hatred, and, consequently, the 

 revenge, of the pagan" priesthood.^ 



This rock or any other of the chain may have equally well 

 answered such a purpose, but, doubtless, the assassination of 

 the Moorish usurper by precipitation from this rock (an 

 incident more particularly related hereinafter) suggests a 

 reason why it should be preferred for identification with, 

 and comparison to, the Tarpeius Mons. 



Writing of this rock in particular, Campbell states : — 

 From some points of view it rises 700 feet above the plain. The 

 gneiss there is much contorted : the dip is vertical, and the strike and 

 long axis of the hills are northerly. Distant hills on the same strike 

 are broken to the westward. Great part of this strange rock is bare. 

 It shells off in thick layers, which correspond to the curved surface, 

 not to the bedding. To avoid slipping on a slope of 30° I walked 

 down barefoot and realised the effect of tropical heat. I could hardly 

 endure the heated surface. To a given depth the gneiss is daily 

 heated to 100° or more. At night it cools. Expansion and contraction 

 produce something like cleavage and fracture on a crackle cup. 

 Mechanical and chemical action of rain and air make the surface 

 crumble. Fresh and growing pot holes are in the bare gneiss. § 



* The exact height is 1 ,096-6 feet above sea-level. The milestone at the 

 corner of the high road near the jail stands on an altitude of 295*86 feet 

 above sea-level, from which the rock rises 80O74 feet. 



f Sir J. Emerson Tennent's " Natural History of Ceylon," p. 167. 



I " Ceylon and its Capabilities," by J. W. Bennett, vol. II., foot-note at 

 p. 393. 



§ Paper on " Period of Polar Grlaciation," appended to " My Circular 

 Notes," pp. 288-9. 



F 2 



