of their respective clans, all arranged in due order and degree, must have produced an effect that is not often equalled even in the festive scenes of far mightier kingdoms. On some occasions the king joined in the procession, but in this there was no uniformity of observance, his majesty being at one time on foot, and at another we are told, in a golden chariot drawn by eight horses.

The Perahara afforded an excellent opportunity to the king to examine into the state of the provinces, the conduct of the governors, and the obedience of the people. The refractory were punished, the loyal rewarded, and new regulations were now promulgated, that they might be carried to the more distant districts of the island. To the inhabitants generally it must have been a time of grateful festivity, especially during the reigns of the more popular kings, as it was a spectacle of splendor, and the various chiefs were able to exhibit their consequence in the presence of the assembled kingdom.

The Perahara begins on the day of the new moon in the month of Esala, which this year answers to our August. The commencement is regulated by the nekata, or situation of the moon; and at the appointed moment, which must be either in the evening or morning, never at mid-day, the kapurála of the Vishnu déwála cuts down a young jack tree which has been previously chosen, and is consecrated for the purpose by mysterious rites. The day before, the kapurála must bathe in pure water, anoint his head with the juice of the lime, and clothe himself in clean garments. In ancient times flowers were used, as mentioned by Knox, and these were the flowers of the hæla, (cathantocarpus fistulata), but either because this tree does not now bear flowers in the proper season, or because another tree is more conveniently found, the jack has been substituted in its place, which, however, for the time, receives

the name of æhæla. When Knox wrote, the procession was in June; when Davy wrote, in July; it is now in August; and like all other eastern festivals, from the imperfection of the native astronomy, it traverses through all the months of the year. The painted stick of Kuox, adorned with flowers, appears to be commemorative of the wonder-working rod of Gajábáhu, and the jack is undoubtedly an innovation. When the tree has been cut down, it is divided into four sections, one of which is conveyed to each of the déwálas, under a white canopy, and accompanied by music. The section is cleaned at the déwála, and put into a hole, after which offerings of cakes are presented, called ganabódana. The gana are an order of inferior deities attendant upon the gods, and bódana is the Elu form of bhójana, food.

The consecrated wood is adorned with leaves, flowers, and fruit, and during the first five days the procession simply passes round it, the kapurálas bearing the sacred vessels and implements. After this time they are brought beyond the precincts of the déwála, and paraded through the principal streets of Kandy. On the night of the full moon the procession is joined by a relic of Buddha, properly accompanied, which is afterwards carried to the Adahana Maluwa, a consecrated place near which are the tombs of the ancient kings and other individuals of the royal race. The Maluwa is encircled by stones, within which, it is said, the kings had no jurisdiction; it was a kind of sanctuary. The relic receives the adoration of the crowd until the morning, when it is returned to the temple.

Towards the end of the festival the procession approaches the river, at the ancient ferry not far from the Peradenia bridge, and whilst the multitude remains upon the bank, the kapurálas enter a boat that has been splendidly decorated for the occasion. The

boat is rowed to some distance, when the kapurála takes a golden sword, and strikes the water. At the same instant a brazen vessel is dipped into the river, and whilst the water is yet disparted, a portion is taken up, which is kept until the vessel can be filled in the same manner at the next festival. The water which had been taken the previous year is at the same time poured back into the river.

There is a close analogy between this striking of the river and the striking of the sea by Gajábáhu, though what is meant by the dividing of the waters we cannot tell. It is probable that there was something extraordinary connected with the passage of the king, which tradition afterwards magnified into this miracle. Were we disposed to be fanciful, we might notice the resemblance, which the striking of the sea by a rod, the squeezing of water from the dry sand, the errand of the king to demand captives, and some other circumstances, bears to certain facts in the Israelitish exodus, but we have seen so many similar constructions levelled to the ground at a single blow, that we forbear to pursue the parallel.

The general arrangement of the Perahara is the same now as in former times, but in the grandeur of the spectacle there can be no comparison. There are still elephants richly adorned; flags, pennons, and banners; several bands of drums, tom-toms, and pipes; the palanqueens of the gods; the sacred utensils; and the chiefs of the déwálas, &c., with their separate retinues. The streets are lighted by vessels of oil, placed upon poles, and carried by men, after the manner of the meshals of the Arab tribes. There are several who have a light at each end of the pole, which they whirl round at intervals with some velocity. The din of the tom-toms cannot be better described than in the words of Knox; 'they make such a great and loud noise, that nothing else besides them can be heard.' The chiefs walk alone, the crowd being kept

off by their attendants; the stiffness of their gait as they are wrapped round with manifold layers of cloth, being in perfect contrast to their usual ease, indeed we may say gracefulness, of manner. The long whips were cracked before the adigar until the present year, but no one has been appointed to this office since the death of the old man whose presence we now miss, and no other individual is entitled to the honour. The whole procession may extend about a quarter of a mile, but this is only towards its conclusion, as it gradually increases in the number of its attendant elephants, &c. from the commencement. The natives who attend

as spectators are now few, even in comparison with recent years, and it would seem that in a little while its interest will vanish away, with many a better remembrance of the olden time. The procession was one day prevented from taking its accustomed round, as a man had hung himself in one of the streets through which it must have passed. The natives are very unwilling to enter into conversation respecting the detail of this ceremony, and say that there are many mysteries connected with it which they cannot reveal.

The history of the Perahara is another evidence how tenaciously the people adhere to the Braminical superstitions, and would tend to prove, that even when Buddhism was predominant upon the continent of India, it must have had very little hold upon the mass of the population; and this may account for its almost total destruction after it had once the ability to erect the splendid temples that yet remain, monuments at once of its majesty and its weakness. Buddhism is too philosophical, too cold and cheerless, to be a popular creed, and it is only its present alliance with its deadly antagonist of former times that now preserves it in the place it occupies as the national religion of Ceylon."-From the "FRIEND," vol. iii. p. 41-50. 1839.

J.

DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE ELECTION OR APPOINTMENT TO THE OFFICE OF HIGH PRIEST OF ADAM'S PEAK.

Ratnapura, 15th January, 1826.

The Board of Commissioners, Kandy.

GENTLEMEN,

I HAVE the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 16th December last, wherein I am directed to select a fit person to receive the appointment of High Priest of Adam's Peak.

Having in consequence called upon the two Dissaves, and the Basnaike Nilleme, to report on the claims of those who might be candidates for the Office, their selection fell on Gallay Madankare Unanse, who though neither a candidate residing at present in the District, they conceived should be the person to be appointed, from his having been admitted into Priesthood in the District, been the pupil of Waihaille Naike Unanse, the High Priest of the Peak, and more especially on account of his piety and great learning, which are said to have procured for him a very extended reputation.

All the Upasampada Priests of the Malwatte establishment beneficed in the District were then assembled, and the individual proposed being unanimously approved by them, I signified to Gallay Unanse, who resides in the Matura District, my intention of submitting his name for the Office, under the restrictions stated in your letter, and the additional one of constant residence in the