for his brother Tissa, he told him to finish the mighty work. The prince wanted to show his brother what the dagaba would look like when finished, so he had a case made of white cloth and fixed it on a temporary bamboo frame in the shape the dagaba would eventually assume. Then he told the king that the work was finished.

And the king, who knew by this time that he was dying, was carried to gaze on Ruanweli and the Brazen Palace, and he looked long and earnestly, first at one and then the other of his most mighty works, from a spot where he had a full view of both, and was filled with joy." He sent for the great warrior Theraputtabhaya, who had fought twenty-eight pitched battles by his side, and among other things said to him, "Now, single-handed I have commenced my conflict with death." Then, according to the cheerful Buddhist custom, all the good deeds of the dying king were recited, among them that he had

maintained at eighteen different places hospitals provided with suitable diet and medicines prepared by medical practitioners for the infirm." And with his eyes fixed on Ruanweli he died in the year 137 B.C. after a reign of twenty-four years. The very stone on which he lay when dying, a straight, tomb-like slab, is still pointed out on the east of the Pilgrims' Road, abreast of Ruanweli. It may be so. From this place both the Brazen Palace and the great dagaba could be seen in turn. The king turned on his "left side" to look at the one and on his "right side" to look at the other, and the positions correspond. With monuments of equal antiquity and undoubted authenticity

still in situ, who is to say that this is not probable?

1

Of King Bhatikabhaya (19 B.C.), who penetrated to the relic-chamber, we are told: "This ruler of men, remitting the taxes due to himself, caused to be planted within the space of one yojana 1 environing the town, the small and large jessamine plants." With these he festooned Ruanweli, "from the pedestal ledge to the pinnacle, with fragrant garlands four inches thick," and, having stuck flowers in between, he made the whole one immense bouquet. It is said also that he covered the stupa with a paste made of red lead and stuck the flowers in by their stalks so as to preserve them.

A line drawn northward across the beautiful park-like space would connect Ruanweli with Thuparama, which can be seen gleaming in the distance, much smaller, and resembling in its shape the bell-shaped pagodas of Burma. All round this space, which is not large in extent, runs a road known as the Inner Circular Road. To the west of Ruanweli is a most beautiful vihara, raised, as all were, on a platform, and approached by a moonstone and carved steps.

The moonstones of Ceylon are unique; in no other country in the world are they found in this shape and style. In whose fertile brain they first originated it is not known, but it must have been a native of the island, for though many details

1 The length of a yojana has been variously estimated, but Mr. H. Parker (Ancient Ceylon, Luzac, 1909), an excellent authority, puts it at about 8 miles, which is not actually a measured length, but "probably the length ascertained by the time in walking from one place to another."

of architecture were borrowed from India and influenced by Indian thought, the only representative of these stones in India is a poor thing without the peculiar animal symbols which are a feature of the Cingalese type. It is unfortunate that these stones are known by the same name as the milky-blue jewel, also found only in Ceylon, because much confusion has resulted, though the two bear no relation whatever to each other. The architectural moonstones are semi-circular slabs of stone, set at the foot of a flight of entrance steps, and wonderfully carved. To the fact that most of those who passed over them went barefoot we probably owe the fact of their wonderful preservation. The stone is divided into concentric rings, first and outermost a narrow, conventional design, then a wider band in which a procession of animals-elephant, horse, lion, and bullock-follow one another round; there are two complete sets of these animals, and the elephant being thrice repeated, beginning and ending the procession, makes nine figures in all. The elephants are excellently executed, full of fire and life, and differing from each other in detail. The bullocks are not bad, but the horses are poor and the lions almost grotesque. The artist must have seen horses, lions he can never have seen, but it is odd that the lion should figure so prominently in Cingalese tradition and carving, when the living animal is in no way associated with the country, and, so far as we know, never has been.

Inside the animal frieze of the moonstone is another floral scroll of artistic design, and within

that again a row of hansas, or sacred geese, while the centre of the stone is occupied by the half of a conventional lotus flower. There are several other points to notice. The outside edge of the block at the extreme points is left uncut to show it was hewn from solid rock. The artist evidently began the work from left to right; in the middle the geese, who are carrying the lotus flowers, grow large, but, as he has not calculated his space correctly, he is left at the end with a bit not big enough for a whole goose and has had to fill in with an extra spray of flower. This is still more clearly shown in the moonstones of the viharas lying between this and Thuparama, almost due north, where the last goose is ingeniously twisting itself backwards to fit into the curtailed space. Small divergencies, due to individual handiwork, can be noted in all these stones. In one the animals are much poorer. In another the geese are larger and their heads overlap the rim. In one they carry lotus flowers in their beaks, and in another not. But the most curious point is that at Anuradhapura all the stones of this kind yet discovered, with one exception, have a procession of mixed animals (always in the same order). The exception is one stone at the Botree where lions are omitted. At Polonnaruwa (of later date) the stones almost invariably are decorated by a row of elephants and then a row of horses. By far the finest moonstone at Anuradhapura is that at the so-called King's Palace, which is three feet more in diameter than any other (see p. 102).

It has been surmised that these particular four