THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
203 
of a hill : I shall describe it more particularly in my 
account of the embassy to Candy. 
In the interior of Ceylon, the ruins of the pagodas and 
temples which fell in my way were all of hewn stone, and 
of much superior workmanship to these in the lower parts 
of the country. Several of them were in a perfect state 
of preservation ; and on a comparison with those erected 
in later times, they afford the strongest proof either that 
the Ceylonese had formerly attained a much higher state 
of civilization, or that the island had anciently been in- 
habited by a different race from its present possessors. 
Most of these ancient monuments however have suffered 
severely from the ravages of the Portugueze, whose policy 
it was to destroy all monuments of art or former splen- 
dour among the unhappy natives. But the religious build- 
ings of the Ceylonese were not only defaced and ruined 
by their barbarous invaders ; even the materials which 
composed them, the hewn stones and massy pillars, were 
transported to the sea-coasts to erect fortifications, and 
rivet those chains which were imposed on their former 
worshippers. 
The temples dedicated to the inferior gods arc poor, mean, 
and contemptible ; and usually constructed of clay and wood. 
In general they are mere huts one story high, without 
windows, and covered with cocoa-tree leaves. At the doors 
of these homely edifices, a pole or fla is commonly placed, 
and by it a priest is seen sitting during the whole course of 
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