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



god." On approaching the place we saw a couple of Arach- 

 chige* women near the barricaded door. An Appuhamy 

 of the royal bed chamber (a sentinel) was seen patrolling the 

 compound, lance in hand. He asked : " Halloa ! Ekneligoda, 

 where are you going ? " and just as the latter replied, " We 

 too have come here," the Appuhamy hurled his spear 

 at Ekneligoda, but luckily the weapon new past him 

 and struck heavily in the ground, where it was broken 

 to several pieces, leaving Ekneligoda unharmed. A party 

 of Sabaragamuwa Kandyans then falling upon him seized 

 violent hold of him, and bore him forcibly away ; but what 

 happened to him subsequently I am not aware of. Ekneli- 

 goda, when he was brought to the door, demanded of the king 

 to unbolt it. His majesty, however, taking no heed of the 

 request, asked from behind the closed door, " Is that you, 

 Ekneligoda, our kinsman ?" f "Yes, it is I," returned 

 Ekneligoda. While the king still kept the door unopened 

 he was asked to throw out any offensive weapons that might 

 be found inside. Three silver-mounted rifles and a couple 

 of daggers were then thrown out through an opening. But 

 the golden sword was not parted with as demanded. Some 

 wooden mortars that were lying in the compound were 

 afterwards taken hold of under Ekneligoda's instructions, 

 with which the men proceeded to batter down the door, 

 which was quickly burst through. The Sabaragamuwa 

 men forced their way into the house and created no little 

 disturbance, divesting the queens of all their clothing and 

 jewellery, and elbowing them out of the building clad with 

 pieces of cloth about four cubits in girth (just enough to cover 

 their nakedness). While the two poor queens were stagger- 

 ing about in their grief, and rolling here and there 



* Here the writer has fallen into an error. He ought to have said 

 Alattige women, and not AraclicMge. These women correspond to waiting* 

 maids, who customarily pronounced certain incantations prefatory to the 

 king's movements. 



f This word does not convey the idea of any blood relationship. It was 

 understood to mean whether Ekneligoda was on the side of the king or 

 espousing his cause. 



