NOTES. 
75 
NOTES. 
1. Prehistoric Fortifications .—Around the foot of Mapagala hill, 
close to Sigiri fort, is a wall of huge unshaped boulders, in some 
places 20 ft. high, with occasionally a slight parapet. There are 
some traces of similar work on Sigiri hill itself. Some of the stones 
are about 10 ft. long by 4 ft. broad and thick. They are just 
such walls as are numerous in Provence and elsewhere in Southern 
Europe ; there is one, for example, at Puy Ricard, above the Cap 
de la Veille, near Monaco. These have been ascertained to be pre- 
Roman ; they are sometimes called Ligurian ; the material is not 
always equally massive. They date from the Stone Age down to 
about the time of the Roman occupation, a few centuries before the 
Christian era. 
It is fair to suppose that those of Mapagala are equally old, 
probably built at a time before metal tools were in use, or the 
stones would have been broken to avoid the herculean labour neces¬ 
sary for moving them in their present size. This, of course, would 
date them before the building of Anuradhapura, or the legendary 
invasions of Vijayo and Rama. As the use of metal is believed 
to be earlier here than in Europe, it is not rash to suppose that these 
walls were built 5,000 years ago. Probably others similar will be 
discovered one day. Of what nature, for example, were the forts 
in Ceylon described in the Ramayana and the Mahawansa ? 
Before visiting this monument I had made an excursion into 
Coorg. Close to Mercara the capital, is seen an example of the 
dykes, kadangas, great trenches many miles long, often described. 
This one near the “ Rajai Seat ” has the peculiarity of interrupting 
the usual rather straight line by descending to make a loop around 
a neighbouring hill somewhat lower down converting it into a forti¬ 
fied enclosure, so to speak, somewhat like the so-called “ rings ” 
common in England. Dr. Richter in his book on Coorg noticed 
the resemblance. These dykes may be very ancient; the native 
chronicle of Coorg speaks of repairs having been made several 
centuries ago ; the natives talk of thousands of years. The trench 
is some 15 ft. deep ; the earth thrown up on one side gives to that 
part some 30 ft. in height. 
Returning to Mapagala, the wall adjoins the cooly lines at the 
base of the hill, only a short distance from the resthouse. At one 
point on that side it recedes sharply as if to form an entrance passage. 
The wall is continuous, except where it is rendered unnecessary 
by the steep natural rock formation. During my visit Mr. A. R. 
Siriwardena, Assistant to Mr. H. C. P. Bell, the Government Archaeo¬ 
logist, kindly gave me the great advantage of his company. 
April 5 1909. J. B. ANDREWS. 
