54 
JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VoL. XXII. 
by a beautifully modelled A;am^rftttt;a of beaten gold, 3 in. high, 
shaped like a diminutive dagaba. The karanduwa contained 
seventeen small gems of no intrinsic value. 
Underneath this third chamber lay a nine-holed yantra receptacle 
of brick, each partition of which produced a brood of cobras, 
a mother and four young, in bronze, or 45 ndgas in all. 
Below this again were found more valueless gems mingled with 
sand and lime mortar. Finally, a copper plate (once probably 
inscribed but now so corroded as to yield no trace of writing), a 
coin or two , and a chank resting on a tripod. * 
Mdligdwa. 
The last of the three sites attacked within T6pavewa tank was a 
widespread mound covered with tall forest trees. It is situated 
within sight of the Promontory lying south-east. 
The lower portion of the mound is rubble-banked with relapdna, 
or rubble pitching, as breakwater protection against the wavelets 
of the tank which once lapped it. 
When the trees had been cut and debris removed from the sum- 
mit of the mound an extensive single structure steadily developed 
its ground plan, as its walls and cross walls were gradually 
unearthed. 
Further, it became more and more evident that the structure 
was purely secular — without doubt a mdligdwa or residence of 
some chieftain, if not of royalty. 
No stone was used in the construction of this palace, or mansion, 
and comparatively little brick. Walls, floor, steps, all are of 
clay and lime concrete, thickly encased in, or overlaid with, lime 
plaster. The walls still stand from 3 to 5 ft. in height, showing 
most clearly the internal arrangement of corridors and rooms. 
Access could be gained to the building only by a staircase in the 
middle of the north face, rising to a bayjDortico and landings, 
from which three gangways diverged and completely encircled the 
structure. At the back (south) there is another bay, from which 
steps descended, not directly but westward, on to the rubble-faced 
platform. 
Entering the building from the front, the first chamber is a 
spacious hall, nearly 39 by 32 ft. in dimensions, the front portion 
of which was once supported on 24 wooden pillars. There was 
passage directly through this hall to an elongated room of the 
same breadth, but only 6 ft. 6 in. in depth. This again leads into 
a verandah, 9 ft. 4 in. wide at the back, by barely 6 ft. 5 in. along 
the flanks of the hall and narrow room which it also skirts. The 
hall admitted into this verandah through cramped side openings. 
The verandah at the east was bare, and from it stairs originally 
mounted to upper storeys, which must have been entirely of 
wooden construction. 
The corresponding verandah on the west contained a lavatory, 
cut off by a cross wall, but accessible from the back verandah. 
* All^these " finds " will be deposited in the Colombo Museum. 
