54 



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



surface of the boulder when first seen was buried beneath a 

 " waterfall " of ehatu-mul (trailing roots of the Ficus Tsiela, 

 Roxb.) and a thick crust of vegetable mould. 



51. cL thorough clearance of the rock revealed three 

 deeply incised seats (the largest 9 ft. by 7 ft. 4 in. by 3 ft. 

 9 in.) one above the other, down its centre, and on every 

 side of them innumerable grooves and mortice holes. 



52. This new discovery I have provisionally named the 

 " Preaching Rock."* Its west and north-west faces over- 

 hang and form lofty caverns, two of which bear short 

 inscriptions in cave character.! 



53. (c) The slow abrasion of ages had filled the whole 

 length of the " Gallery "J (355 ft. : average breadth, 7 ft.) 

 with chips and fine dust worn off the rock face. The gray 

 granite dust lay in some places a foot thick or more over 

 the quartz flags which pave the gallery. 



54. I had the whole of this undesirable carpet removed — 

 a tedious process, for the dust had to be pushed by handf uls 

 through the half-dozen " weep-holes " of the gallery floor. 

 The appearance of the "gallery" with its six flights of steps 

 has been very greatly improved by this clean sweep. 



(4) Measurements and Drawings. 



55. The measuring up and taking levels of the trenches, 

 walls, steps, &c, excavated on the summit, as well as below 

 the Rock, has been thoroughly done, and occupied much time. 

 It was essentially necessary to do this work before leaving 

 Sigiriya for the year, as the brickwork where exposed is so 

 friable that the north-east monsoon will most assuredly 

 bring down a great deal of it. Even the heavy but brief 

 rain which fell in April washed away one wall and a flight 

 of steps in a single night. 



56. Besides completing, in conjunction with my Head 

 Overseer (A. P. Siriwardhana), a careful prismatic compass 

 survey of the summit and the portion excavated this 



* Album, C 465. t These will be given in my Annual Report. 

 % Album, C 448. 



