building; it contains in its principal apartment a figure of Buddha in a recumbent posture, upwards of forty feet in length, and in the vestibule colossal figures of Hindu deities: the ceilings are painted over with Buddhist symbols, and the walls with scenes from Buddha's life and various mythic existences before his latest birth and attainment of the Buddhahood. A place of renown ages before the advent of Buddha, its sanctity in the eyes of his followers is thus specially accounted for. "At the time of Gautama's appearance [B. c. 588] Kalany would seem to have been the capital of a division of the island called Nága Diwayina, and that its inhabitants called Nágas [serpent-worshippers] were easily converted, and afterwards zealously adhered to the Buddhistical doctrines, for which they were rewarded by various relics and a second visit of the Buddha. In his first visit to Ceylon Gautama converted the Nágas and settled a dispute between two of their princes, Chulódara and Mahódara, who made an offering to him of the throne composed of gold, inlaid with precious stones, which had been the original cause of their quarrel; over this throne a dagoba was built, and is encased in the one now standing. At the request of Miniakka, uncle of the Nága king Mahódara, Gautama made his third visit to Ceylon, and left the impression of his foot beneath the water of the river: a deep eddy in the stream is now pointed out as the spot; it is near the temple, and the natives say that the circling of the current here is the Kalaniganga descending in homage to this sacred memorial. Having arranged the disputes of the Nágas and confirmed their faith, the prophet departed for Samanala, Díggánakhya, and the other places which had been sanctified by the presence of former Buddhas." The details of a romantic legend connected with the destruction of king Tissa at this place [B. C. 200 will be found in Appendix E. It was here too, that Bhuwanéka Báhu VII., the first native king who allied himself with the Portuguese for the purpose of making war against his brother Máya Dunnai, at Sítáwaka, met with his death, A. D. 1542. The occurrence is thus recorded in the Rajawalia, "Buwanaika Bahu Rajah taking the Portuguese to his assistance, marched out with his Sinhalese army to attack his brother, and on his route halted at Kelani, where there was a house built upon the river for his residence, and being in this house with the doors open and walking backward and forward, looking up and down the river, a Portuguese loaded his musket, and shot the king in the head of which he immediately died." The historian adds, "Hereupon it was said, that God only knew what was the reason of this treachery,that having been so simple as to make a league with the Portuguese, and so foolish as to deliver his grandson to the protection of the king of the Portuguese, this judgment fell upon the said king; and on his account that calamity will be entailed on the people of Ceylon for generations to come." * FORBES'S Eleven Years in Ceylon, vol. i. p. 152. In Appendix D will be found accounts of Buddha's three visits to Ceylon. Eleven miles from Colombo, at the village Kaduwela, is a resthouse, pleasantly situated on the banks of the river. A halt here for an hour will suffice for a visit to an ancient rock temple, supposed by some to be one of those founded by king Walagambáhu, after his reconquest of the kingdom from the Malabars, B. C. 88, or perhaps, as others think, of even a still greater antiquity. The principal object of interest is an inscription on the rock, which has hitherto baffled every attempt made to decipher it, the letters being cut in the oldest type of Nágari, or rather Pali, character, the key to which was first discovered by the late Mr. James Prinsep. From Kaduwela, to Hanwella, the road passes through several villages, the inhabitants of which are potters, who carry on a thriving business with Colombo in the manufacture of the common earthenware of the country. Between the villages lie tracts of paddy fields and topes of cocoa-nut palms. On the rising of the river during the rainy season, portions of the road between Hanwella, Kaduwela, and the Bridge of Boats, are more or less flooded. The inconveniences arising from this state of affairs have led to the opening of a new road, which crossing higher ground shortens the route to Colombo by about two miles, and establishes an almost direct communication with the Railway terminus. A little to the left of the road, on the summit of a bluff projecting tongue of land that overlooks the Hanwella ferry, are the grass-grown remains of a small star fort, supposed to have been originally constructed by the Dutch, in the centre. of which is the present resthouse, the keeper whereof, a good humoured obliging old native, is jocularly termed the Commandant. Here good accommodation and very fair quarters can generally be procured. Round the steep flanks of the fort the river flows towards its outlet at Mutwal, a few miles north of Colombo; while landwards a choked up ditch indicates what in bye-gone days formed its protection on that side. From its position, previous to the annexation of the Kandyan Kingdom, it was a point of some importance as commanding the routes both by land and water from the interior to Colombo. During the campaign of 1803, the Kandians succeeded in taking the fort and village on the 20th August, but their progress was checked by a detachment of troops under the command of Lieutenant Mercer of the 51st regiment, who on the 22nd stormed the battery they had made in a strong position at the bridge of Putchella, near Hanwella, and drove them back with great slaughter; a success which led to the immediate recapture of the fort. In the operations which followed, the British were everywhere successful; although in defending the almost untenable fortress of Chilaw, which the Kandians attacked in immense numbers on the 27th August, the little garrison, consisting of only 25 sepoys and two young civilians, completely exhausted their ammunition,* and for twenty-four hours before they were *CORDINER'S Ceylon, vol. ii. pp. 226, 236. relieved kept the enemy at bay by firing copper coins instead of grape shot. It was at Hanwella, after the abovementioned occurrences, that Sri Wikrama Rája Sinha, the last King of Kandy, directed an attack in person, on the 6th September, against the British forces; he having resolved, after the treacherous massacre of the troops at Kandy, on Major Davie's surrender on the 26th June, to invade the British territory and attack Colombo. After an engagement which lasted for two hours, the Kandians fled, headed by the king. During his retreat he ordered the heads of his two principal chiefs to be struck off, for their want of success, besides, in his rage at his defeat, indiscriminately slaughtering a multitude of his subjects, whose bodies were either cast into ravines or thrown into the river. A richly ornamented bungalow had been erected for his reception near Hanwella, previous to the engagement, in front of which two stakes were placed, on which, in the event of the capture of the fort, the English prisoners were to have been impaled. From the ridge that formed the ramparts of the fort the river view is one of the finest to be found in Ceylon. The stream sweeps grandly down in its course in a curve from southeast to northeast Where grateful falls the shade upon the fair twin shores, |