No. 42.— 1891.] ANCIENT INDUSTRIES. 



21 



The materials that Wijayo had to work upon resulted in 

 certain works of which the ruins still remained to show that 

 the account given of them was not an exaggerated account. 

 It was inconceivable to him that they should spring up out 

 of nothing, in view of the fact that the great buildings also 

 bore dates upon them. 



The Hon. Mr. Ramanathan wished to know what 

 Mr. Wall thought of the stone at Mihintale, referred to by 

 Tumour, dated 262 B.C., in which was recorded that the 

 custom to be observed in regard to the work (speaking of an 

 irrigation work) should be according to the customs of the 

 Tamils, or words to that effect. 



Mr. FERGUSON said that it would have an important 

 bearing on the discussion if the date of the formation of 

 the first great irrigation works could be ascertained. 



Mr. Wall said that there were no large works existing 

 during the period covered by his review, but it was sub- 

 sequent to that period that the Tamils were in actual power. 

 Elala might have been the author of that inscription.* 



Mr. Berwick said that the subject that had been discussed 

 was a very interesting one to every one who studied the con- 

 ditions and devolopment of ancient industry, and particularly 

 interesting to the people of this country. It seemed to him 

 that Mr. Wall's views derived a considerable degree of pro- 

 bability from the fact that it was only such a comparatively 

 short time ago as twenty -five centuries sinceWijayo landed in 

 Ceylon, and therefore it would seem primdfacie extraordinary 

 if none of the inhabitants had then the industrial civilisation 

 required for agriculture. Twenty -five centuries must be 

 considered a very short time back in the history of industries 

 seeing the remote geological periods to which our scientists 

 are now, with great plausibility and almost proof, carrying 

 back art industries, let alone food industries and the very 

 Aryan race itself. And it must be remembered that the 

 people with whom Wjjayo came in contact on landing here 

 were probably not the aboriginal forest tribes, but people 

 not only living close to the industrial civilisation of India, 

 but themselves descended from Indian Dravidian settlers 

 who, in all ages we have account of, have streamed over to 

 Ceylon, as the Rdmdyana illustrates. 



A previous speaker expressed himself a good deal as- 

 tonished at many things, but he (Mr. Berwick) confessed 

 that he was astonished too, and indeed almost shocked at 

 the gentleman's disbelief in, and attempt to sap our faith in, 



* The inscription was wrongly assigned by Tumour (Ceylon Almanac, 

 1831) to " about the year of Buddha 805, a.d. 262," from a mistake regarding 

 the identity of the King Sri Sanga Bo mentioned in the first line. The 

 record belongs to Mahindu III. (997-1013 a.d.). — B., Hon. Sec. 



