NO. 48.— 1897.] ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY, SIGIRIYA. 103 



in length by 10 broad, — from below it looks a mere streak 

 marked by a little vegetation, — which terminates in two 

 cramped caves, or rock " pockets."* 



The obvious suitability of these, and the similar, but 

 higher placed, pair of caves at the southern extremity 

 of the Rock, for " watches " over the country from south 

 to north-west, cannot fail to strike any one studying the 

 capabilities of Sigiri-gala as a rock fortress. To that 

 purpose these primitive " belvederes " — if I may so term 

 them — must have been applied when the citadel was 

 threatened : whilst in times of peace they would signal 

 messages broadcast to the city spread out below. 



At present, the only means of reaching this barely 

 accessible break in the western cliff is by a rope let down 

 the long slope from the summit as far as the vertical rock 

 wall, with a straight drop thence of 15 ft. on to the ledge. 



Too late in the season we succeeded in getting a jungle- 

 stick ladder into position at the bottom of the slope, and 

 commenced to excavate the debris covering stairs that 

 lead down to the small look-out caves. But the south-west 

 gale caught us with the work half finished, and its comple- 

 tion has to stand over for next year. 



Time enough to guide the inquirer step by step on paper 

 through the length and breadth of this wondrous structure 

 when a full Report, illustrated by detailed plans of corridors, 

 stairs, rooms, &c, numbered seriatim, can make such circum- 

 ambulation intelligible. For the present a flying sketch (so 

 to speak) of the citadel, as it stands exhumed, may suffice 

 to give a general idea of its complex, yet harmonious, 

 ground plan. 



Climbing the iron ladders at the point where the gallery 

 once zigzagged up the north face of the Rock — first west, then 

 east — the rock-cut grooves (from which all vestiges of 

 masonry have long since disappeared) run up to the summit 

 at an easy gradient. 



* See Plate, " Sigiri-gala (West face)." 



