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The True Cat's-Eye. Vast Riches hidden in the Mountains. Plumbago Mining. Iron Ore. Kaolin. Gem-Cutting. Native Swindlers. Demoralizing Effect of Gem Digging. At Dondra Head, which is now only a small fishing village, the mouldering remains of a grand and ancient temple are seen, which are believed to antedate those of Anuradhapura, though probably built by the same race of people.
The same writer tells us that this density of population must have been preserved through many centuries, in spite of revolutions and invasions, in order to produce the results, the ruins of which are still visible to all observers. That the people of Anuradhapura were early and skillful workers in brass, iron, and glass, articles unearthed among these ruins abundantly testify.
Before leaving the summit we held a conversation with the aged priest through an interpreter, and, retracing our steps, drove to the rest house for a ten-o'clock breakfast made up of coffee and rolls; then, returning to our temporary home in Anuradhapura, we pronounced the morning's excursion a success.
Sir J. E. Tennent gathers from various ancient sources, including the veritable Mahawanso, that Anuradhapura, between four and five centuries before Christ, contained the temples of various religions, "temples and palaces whose golden pinnacles glittered in the sky," besides spacious public gardens and free baths, together with almshouses and hospitals, in which animals as well as human beings were tenderly cared for.
Anuradhapura was the first capital, but owing to many vicissitudes and several invasions of the Malabars of Southern India, the capital was moved many times, Kandy being the sixth; it preceded Cotta, near Colombo, the latter being the present capital.
We were to have a new experience here, as we were to be housed in a "rest house," the term applied to a Government semi-hotel, usually of a simple description, but serving as a great convenience to Government officials in the many places throughout the English islands where there are no hotels. We found the one at Anuradhapura prettily located in a setting of green, with a garden in front.
Sunday was passed quietly; we attended a 6 A.M. service in the English Church, and saw a number of natives in attendance, ladies appearing in low dresses and with uncovered heads. They were richly clad; so it was evidently the custom, even though to us it seemed peculiar. ANURADHAPURA: Monday, February 3d, we left Kandy to visit Anuradhapura.
Anuradhapura! how little we of the nineteenth century have even heard of its people, who built temples of stone and palaces of marble, a nation which lived for twenty centuries in oriental splendor; a city which was rich, populous, and famous, long before Rome had risen to power; a capital which achieved such ambitious architectural results only to sink at last suddenly and mysteriously into oblivion.
It is not very many years since mighty monuments were rediscovered, because the jungle had grown up all around them and no one knew even where Anuradhapura had stood; but now there are men who spend their whole time uncovering and preserving them, just as many men are working at the excavations in Egypt; and the trees and overgrowth have been stripped from Ruanveli, which stands forth sharp and clear-cut against this beautiful sky.
The first structure of this character erected at Anuradhapura is still extant, and is believed by some writers to be one of the oldest architectural monuments in India. With this conclusion we certainly cannot agree, as the chronicles tell us it was raised by King Tissa, at the close of the third century before Christ, over the collar-bone of Buddha.
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