NO. 42.— 1891.] ANCIENT INDUSTRIES. 11 



bridal party in the manner described, shows that he knew the 

 inhabitants to be of a peaceful disposition. 



In this connection it is worthy of note that Gautama 

 Buddha, who had previously visited the Island, and must 

 therefore have had some knowledge of the disposition of 

 the Yakkhus, chose it as a specially favourable sphere for 

 the reception and propagation of his religion. This choice 

 affords indirect additional evidence that they were not wild, 

 wandering tribes, but a settled people engaged in regular 

 pursuits. 



The foregoing considerations appear to establish the 

 peaceful character of the people, and that, in turn, affords 

 strong evidence that they must also have been industrious, 

 for it is no new attribute of him who has always been the 

 employer of the idle to find them mischievous occupation. 



It is easy to imagine that such a people as we have been 

 describing would thrive apace under the influence of a 

 settled supreme government as compared with that of 

 separate petty chiefs. It is not surprising, therefore, that 

 under the mild and righteous rule established by Wijayo and 

 his ministers, the country made rapid progress ; that the 

 national industry flourished ; that the principal cities were 

 endowed with civilised institutions ; that public edifices rose 

 in quick succession ; and that material progress advanced in 

 the manner the narrative implies. 



The difficulty of identifying some of the localities where 

 Wijayo's ministers settled leaves us in doubt as to the exact 

 extent of country over which their more direct influence 

 prevailed. There is no doubt, however, that the part most 

 thickly peopled, and that over which they exercised the 

 most direct influence, was the rich tract in the north and 

 north-central portions of the Island. Elsewhere, though 

 the new dynasty may have been formally acknowledged, it 

 does not appear that effective rule over the whole Island 

 was concentrated in one supreme head until a somewhat 

 later date. Till then, therefore, the entire resources of the 

 Island could not have been brought to bear upon any great 



