412 



JOURNAL, K.A.S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. XL 



Yakdessa-gala 

 is the most striking and prominent of the whole range, with 

 its castellated peak rising from the verdure which clothes 

 the rest of the rock, and standing out in bold relief. It is 

 1,712 feet above sea-level, and is visible from distant and 

 different parts of the Seven Korales. 



Tradition invests it with more than ordinary importance, 

 and gives it a premier place in the legendary lore connected 

 with the historic eminences of the district. It is on this 

 height that Kuveni,* being discarded as his consort, and 



* Chap. VII. of the Mahdwansa sets out in detail the landing- of Vijaya 

 and his followers in Ceylon. One of the band wandering-, discovers a 

 princess — who is no other than the beautiful demon Kuveni — near a 

 tank, and she imprisons him, and eventually the rest of his companions, 

 700 hundred in number, who followed him, in a cave. All these persons 

 not returning, Vijaya proceeded after them and met the princess. Seizing- 

 her by the hair with his left hand, whilst with his right he raised his 

 sword,! he exclaimed, " Slave, deliver my followers, or die ! " The Yakkini. 

 terrified, implored for life : " Spare me, prince, and on thee will I bestow 

 sovereignty, my love, and my service." He forced her to swear, and she 

 brought them forth, and distributed to them rice and other articles. A 

 feast follows, and Vijaya and the princess retire to pass the night in an 

 apartment which she causes to spring up at the foot of a tree. 



As pointed out by Sir J. Emerson Tennent (Ceylon, vol. I., pp. 333-4), it is 

 impossible not to be struck with a curious resemblance between this des- 

 cription and that in the 10th book of the Odyssey, where Eurylochus, after 

 landing, returns to Ulysses to recount the fate of his companions, who, 

 having wandered towards the palace of Circe, had been imprisoned, after 

 undergoing transformation into swine. Ulysses hastens to their relief ; 

 the story proceeds : — 



" She spake ; I, drawing from beside my thigh 

 The faulchion keen, with death-denouncing looks 

 Rushed on her ; — she, with a shrill scream of fear, 

 And in winged accents plaintive, thus began : — 

 * * * < Sheathe again 



Thy sword, and let us on my bed recline.' 

 The goddess spake, to whom I thus replied : — 

 ' Oh, Circe, can'st thou bid me meek become, 

 And gentle, who beneath thy roof detain'st 

 My fellow voyagers 1 * * * 



No, trust me, never will I share thy bed 

 Till first, oh goddess, thou consent to swear 

 That dread, all -binding oath, that other harm 

 Against myself thou wil't imagine none ! ' 

 I spake ; she, swearing as I bade, renounced 

 All evil purpose, and her solemn oath 

 Concluded, I ascended next her bed." 



(Cowper's Odyssey, book X., p. 392.) 



