454 



JOURNAL, B.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XL 



trade with the Island from the time of the Emperor Claudius, 

 during whose reign (as Pliny remarks) it was discovered by a 

 freedman of Anio Proclamo. Moreover (for further testi- 

 mony are) the chains, trinkets, and coins which were found in 

 the Fort of Manar in the year 1575 with the effigy and 

 inscription of that emperor. Also (from the evidence of) 

 those who went about searching and discovering anew in the 

 famous ruins which time had preserved as witness to the 

 greatness, in the district of Mangulcorla, of a remarkable 

 population, celebrated enough in the romances and poems of 

 the Zingalas, that serve them as chronicles, the name of 

 Amuraiapura* which signifies " the city of ninety kings," 

 from the many that ruled it ; putting aside the fables 

 which they relate to illustrate its foundation, antiquity, and 

 grandeur. The marvellous construction and architecture 

 of its buildings appear to be Roman work, particularly that 

 of a palace which contains one thousand six hundred columns 

 of the finest marble, in a style of workmanship never 

 used in any part of the East,t and a temple with 366 pagodas 

 dedicated to each day in the year : twenty-four of strange 

 grandeur and magnificent stone carving. Equalling that 

 number are the tanks (or rather small lakes) and dams which 

 encompass this site, and one so great that its circuit is more 

 than seven leagues, having many aqueducts and sluices which 

 open and shut as the necessity of danger demands. Of the 

 genius and singularity of these works, and of the similarity 

 they hold in common with what we have seen of the Roman 

 works, many argue that they were also the constructors ; but 

 as this is only a surmise, it is right that everyone should 

 moderate his belief with curiosity, finding out first, and not 

 seeking to create from antiquity any other evidences than 

 what time has preserved, as readable, worn out, and varied 

 by its effects, and only permanent in its changes. 



To return to our Island. Its m onarchy having been one of 



® Anuradhapura. — B., Hon. See. 



f Presumably the so-called Brazen Palace, or MaM-lowa-paya. — B., Hon. 

 See. 



