a few miles of Ratnapura, the character of the country is much the same as that already passed through from Awissáwela. The hills perhaps assume more of a mountain character; their slopes may be are bolder, their sides more rocky, their altitudes greater; and the forest timber with which they are clad or crowned is possibly of a heavier growth.

The tract of paddy lands, for about two miles before reaching Ratnapura, is called by the natives Weralupe,' the cat's-eye district. It is also famous for rubies and sapphires. This circumstance, and the richness of the beds of the immediately adjoining streams in similar precious products, gave to the city its name,-'Ratnapura,' the city of gems. A large amount of money, we were informed, had recently been made by some speculating Moormen from Kalutara, in extensive gemming operations here, the principal of whom, owing to the excitement caused by a too sudden acquisition of wealth, had unfortunately lost his Gold is also found in the beds of these streams, but not in sufficient quantities to pay Europeans for the expense-irrespective of the risk to health-of washing it from the soil; and washing or digging for gold is not so attractive to the native mind as the search for gems.

reason.

A minor road branches off from the main one to the right near to an iron bridge about a mile from Ratnapura. This leads to the Maha Saman Déwálé, distant about two miles. from the city, and close to the right bank of the Kalu-ganga. To this place a pilgrimage is made by large bodies of natives every July, when the festival of the Perahera, lasting

fifteen days, with processions of elephants, &c. is held. At this time a temporary town is erected for the accommodation of the pilgrims. This consists principally of two streets, 260 yards long by 45 feet broad, on either side of which is a continuous row of huts made of bambus and jungle sticks roofed over with cadjans, or the plaited leaves of the cocoanut palm. These roads lead straight up to the eastern side of a quadrangular enclosure (80 ft. E. & W., by 200 ft. N. & S.), which forms the outer courtyard to the temple. An inner quadrangle (150 ft. by 200 ft.) is approached from this by a flight of 25 stone steps.† Both quadrangles are enclosed by dwarf walls five feet high, above which are rows of palings alternating with pillars, the whole protected by a tiled roof to shoot off the rain. The gateway to the first consists of two brick pillars, on the top of each of which a bo-tree is growing. On the top of the steps leading to the second is a narrow verandah, with four carved wooden pillars, two on each side the doorway. stone, with rudely carved lintel and jambs.

This is of
The inner

*For an account of the great Perahera festival at Kandy, to which that at Ratnapura is very similar, see Appendix I.

† Captain PRIDHAM, in his work on Ceylon, describes these steps as well as those which lead up to the temple from the river, as made of marble. This is a mistake. The steps, which are very roughly dressed, are of the ordinary stone of the neighbourhood, gneiss or hornblende, with here and there a carved block apparently brought from some overthrown building, probably from the Portuguese church which once stood here.

quadrangle seems originally to have been a low mound, the sides of which were artificially raised, so as to form the foundation platform for a fortification. There is reason to believe that this was the site of a Déwálé from very ancient times,* and that upon the capture of the place by the Portuguese, its strategical importance led them to convert it into a stronghold for themselves.† In the centre of the quadrangle

"The earliest mention I have seen made of the Saffragam temple of Saman (which is either this or the one on the Peak) is, that in the reign of Dappoola A. D. 795, a statue of Rámachandra, (an incarnation of Vishnu) formed of red sandal wood, was sent from Dondra to be placed in the temple of Saman at Saffragam."--FORBES's Eleven Years in Ceylon, vol. i. p. 185. The inclemency of the weather for nine out of the twelve months of the year being such as to prevent any one living on the Peak, and the shrine there, dedicated to Saman, being open on all sides, and only about three feet high, the probability is that the statue referred to, was sent to the temple at Sabaragamuwa, where it would be better cared for and preserved. During the season of the pilgrimage to the Peak, it might have been taken thither from Sabaragamuwa, and returned when the season ended.

† Captain RIBEYRO, in the chapter of his work which gives an account of the regular troops and militia which the Portuguese maintained in the Island of Ceylon, says, that besides the camp at Manicavary, where, in times of peace, at least 4000 men were always stationed, "there was a second camp in the Saffragam country, near the kingdom of U'wa; it comprised four companies of Portuguese infantry, amounting to 150 men, and from 4000 to 5000 lascorins; these were under the command of the Disawa of the Province, who had with him an adjutant and a chaplain. In these two camps consisted the chief strength of the country, especially in time of peace."

they built their Church, a portion of which is probably included in the existing Déwálé. Opposite the doorway, in the centre of the quadrangle, is a colonnade fifty-four feet in length, and twenty in breadth. This consists of two outer dwarf walls, five feet high, with openings near the west end, and five pillars rising at irregular distances five feet above the walls; inside these are corresponding rows of five brick or cabook pillars, with a passage ten feet wide between. On each side of the colonnade, at the west end, between the last two pillars and the walls, is a kind of raised dais, intended probably for the accommodation of priests or musicians. At the end of the colonnade, a doorway gives access to a hall, about sixty feet long, dimly lighted by two small windows, and having in its side walls two central doors facing each other. A row of seven wooden pillars, three feet distant from each wall, leaves an avenue in the midst of the hall of about fourteen feet width, which leads to five semicircular steps at the foot of the door of the sanctum, a two-storied building, occupying an area of 20 by 30 feet, the top of which, viewed from the outside, has a very pagoda-like appearance. Plaster statues of Hindu deities flank this door, and on either side of the second step is placed one of a magnificent pair of elephant's tusks, each seven feet in length. We could not gain admittance to this part of the building; but Captain Forbes states, that it contains what is called by courtesy, the golden bow and arrow of the god. We heard that it also contained a silver-stemmed umbrella, which in former times used to be spread above the shrine

of Saman, on the summit of Samanala, indicating his divine supremacy in the District. Inside the hall were several large long-handled fans, and other articles used in processions, besides six antique looking gingalls, some of which we found to be of but very rough and modern manufacture. They were eighteen inches long, with an inch thickness of metal, and a bore an inch in diameter. Each was firmly fixed upon a three-legged carriage raised about eighteen inches

from the ground.

In the open quadrangle, north of the sanctum, is a well, enclosed by four old massive walls (15 ft. by 24 ft.), each wall having a narrow arched doorway in its centre. This is the most archæological feature of the place; the walls are undoubtedly those originally built by the Portuguese, and the arched doorways differ from anything of the kind to be seen elsewhere. At the east end of the quadrangle, facing the two openings in the colonnade, are two Buddhist temples, each on a raised platform 16 ft. by 24, with four pillars on each side, forming narrow verandahs round a central room, in which is an image of Buddha, and a karandua containing some of his relics. These relics hold an important position in the processions at the Perahera in the month of July. Against the walls of the quadrangle are several lean-to buildings, either occupied by the temple attendants, or used as stores.

Cordiner, in his description of this Déwálé, says, at the time of the Kandian campaign in 1803, "the apartments of the Pagoda"-(by which he evidently meant the whole of