( 120 ) 
There is a comfortable and well-equipped Rest- 
house at Gokarella under the supervision and 
control of the Uif3tiict Road Goiumictee, built 
on a slightly rising ground, and commanding a 
glorious view of the surrounding country with the 
plumbago hills in the middle distance, while the 
Matale range of mist-clad cliffs tower above and 
beyond them. It is a deliciou^ly breezy spot, and 
to adopt the lemark made in the " Visitor's 
Book," by some facetious traveller " I'd be blowed, 
if I write more '' oji the charms of this pictures- 
que and fascinating inn and its environments, 
Gokarella is also known as Katumetiyawa. The 
inn-keeper, who like the majority of his ilk, pro- 
fesses temperance, is all attention, and can turn 
out an excellent meal ; but on the principle that 
prevention is better than cure, one should be care- 
ful to lock up one's canteen, when he leaves the 
premises for a Utile pight-seeing. 
At Wetakeyapota, 4 miles from Gokarella, up 
to which it is enjoyable driving, though it might 
be more so, if the Public Works Department, re- 
ardless of the safety of the travelling public, had 
not malicioutly encroached on the road wi(h heaps 
of metal, passt low-wooded country teaming wiih 
small game and through pleasant scenery, you 
turn to the right, two miles whence brings you 
to the scene of the niining operations at Ragedara 
— " Pot-house," as some wit translated it. This 
branch road to the mines is a cul de sac, and was 
opened and is maintained by the pit-owners. 
Of the present working of the pits 1 shall 
write on a future occasion when time permits. 
'■■ aXUKOPAHUWA, 
This is said to be the site of an ancient wihare 
concealed in underwood at the back ;of the Rest- 
house at Gokarella, to which the name Uturu- 
pahuwa is applied. A pansala stands close to the 
alleged site which is approached by a path, lead- 
ing on the right of the Resthouse premises past 
a venerable jak tree, and across a small tract of 
paddy land. The pansala grounds are planted with 
coconut. A little distance off, over a rock up 
■which some rude steps have been cut, and then 
along a path which strikes oft' to the right, is a 
dagoba, the sole structural remnant of the sacred 
buildings, as also some remains of a foundation and 
■walls— signs of spasmodic and abortive attempts 
to construct a wihara. The original wihara is 
alleged to have been built by King Dewanipetissa, 
■who with characteristic generosity liberally en- 
dowed it. The appurtenances of the temple are 
said to cover over 12 ammunams of paddy land 
and as many pelas of high land. To what 
purpose the income derived from these 
glebe lands has been devoted all these many 
years will be a matter for the careful en- 
quiry of the authorities under the Buddhist 
Temporalities Ordinance, considering that no 
■wihare has yet been built. There are a few un- 
finished and abandoned budu geival under the 
projecting ledges of rock, a short distance from 
the dagoba, with images of Buddha, done in clay 
but not completed. Altogether the incumbent 
seems to be grossly negligent of his charge, and 
might well be superseded by one who could pay 
more attention to the work of building and ex- 
pend the income of the temple in a more judicious 
manner. The priest in charge, during our visit, 
•who was only recently ordained and had come 
here for instruction from the incumbent, said that 
the right name of this sacred spot Itttrupahxnva, 
the wihare having been constructed from the " re- 
mains " left after the palatial temples at Anu- 
radhapura, were constructed. This derivation 
seems as far-fetched as the alleged building mate- 
lials are said to have been ! 
Under the head of " inscriptions between the 
fifth and ninth centuries," Miiller in liis Ancient 
Inscriptions of Ceylon p. 53. has the following 
note :— " Uturupahuwa wihara, 13 miles froa> 
Kurunegala, on the road to Dambulla, and on 
far from the high road. There are the remain'- 
of a dagoba and several fragments of inscriptions." 
AMBALAMS OR NATIVK RESTHOUSES. 
Mr Jacob de Mel of Colombo, who has large 
proprietary interests in the Kurunegala District, 
chiefly in the plumbago industry, fully alive 
to the benefit it would confer on the poor travellers 
along this well-frequented road who cannot afford 
the luxury of accommodation in the Government 
Resthouse, has with commendable generosity and 
praiseworthy munificence built an ambalam or 
native inn close to the Resthouse. The building is 
50 ft. by 25 ft., with a room at each end, two 
verandahs and a hall. It was constructed under 
the supervision of Mr li Simon de Zylva, the 
intelligent and experienced agent of Mr de Mel, at 
the sole cost and expense of the latter. The amba- 
lam was opened to the public on July 17th, 1903, 
and is in charge of a keeper paid by Mr de Mel, 
No charge is made for occupation. This institution 
will supply a felt want to those for whom it is in- 
tended who, no doubt, will cherish the name and 
memory of Mr de Mel for his considerate thoughtful, 
and well-intentioned boon. Would that others 
similarly stationed in life and blessed as Mr de 
Mel is with the good things of this world, follow 
the example of this gracious donor, in thinking as 
he has done of the welfare of the poor who are 
always with us ! 
THE STORY OF THE BIBLE TRANS- 
LATION SOCIETY'S WORK 
IN CEYLON. 
The speech, delivered by the Rev H A Lapham, 
at the Annual Meeting of the Society in April last, 
is worthy of permanent record, and so ws have 
thought well to insert it in these pages. 
I have been asked (said Mr Lapham) to tell this 
evening the story of the Bible Translation Society's 
work in Ceylon, and I gladly accede to the request. 
That story is largely the story of one man and 
the greater part of his life-work. In 1854 there 
landed in Ceylon the Rev Charles Carter, a name 
strangely little known in England, but well known 
among the Baptists of New Zealand and revered as 
few other names are revered among our native 
Christians in Ceylon. Dr Underbill, who was no 
mean judge of men and of scholarship, used to rank 
Mr Carter with the foremost missionary translators 
in India and elsewhere, and I have heard fellow- 
students of his at old Horton College, Bradford, 
say that it was the unanimous opinion of the 
men of his day that Mr Carter •went out 
equipped for special and important service. His 
attainments in Hebrew and Greek, his familiarity 
with the methods and results of textual criticism, 
his passion for Biblical studies, his delight in 
exposition, and not least his accurate knowledge 
and fluent use of the German language, were 
qualifications of no mean order. 
The Sinhalese language is placed by Max 
Muller as second only to the Chinese in the diffi- 
culties it presents to the European student ; yet 
