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



enriched the people beyond the extent of the narrow margin 

 of time and labour that could have been spared from the 

 pursuit of the chase and the other precarious sources of food 

 supply. Food, shelter, and some clothing must first have 

 been provided before any labour could have been employed 

 for other purposes. It is obvious, however, that a large 

 population, such as must have been necessary to create the 

 conditions prescribed, could not have been maintained by 

 wild fruits and the products of the chase in any country 

 even if their whole time were devoted to the pursuit. It 

 follows, therefore, that if the people were engaged in mining^ 

 they must have derived their food from foreign sources, and 

 the only available surplus would be that between the value of 

 their minerals and that of their imported food. The neces- 

 sary interchange of these commodities, moreover, implies the 

 existence of regular commercial relations and a free inter- 

 course with other countries, of which no evidence exists in 

 history, and which could not have existed without its 

 being betrayed in the course of the historic record. The 

 possession of mineral wealth, in any such profusion as 

 would have sufficed to produce the conditions which have 

 to be accounted for, could necessarily have afforded a kind 

 of booty that would have brought to the shores of Ceylon 

 other invasions than those that history records. These all 

 had for their object the possession of power, and occa- 

 sionally, in times subsequent to that now in question, the 

 plunder of the temples, on which precious treasures were 

 lavished in token of the religious zeal of the monarchs who 

 had so embellished them. 



The only positive arguments against the existence of 

 regular agriculture with which I have met are two : first, 

 that Kuveni entertained Wijayo and his retinue with rice 

 from wrecked ships ; and secondly, that amongst the splendid 

 presents sent by Dhammasoka to Devanampiyatissa were 

 one hundred and sixty loads of hill paddy — the other articles : 

 a chowrie, diadem, sword of state, golden parasol, slippers 

 a golden vase (anointing), sandalwood, a crore of cloths. 



