The dagaba at Sigiriya, not more than a hundred yards from the driving road, and three-quarters of a mile from the rock, was opened out and investigated in 1910, and in the treasure-chamber the principal object found was a small Maha-merugala, or round pedestal of stone, 1 ft. 3 in. in height, varying from 5 in. at the bottom to 5 at the top in diameter. It has three raised rings around it and is completely carved with human figures. The chief interest lies in the fact that the scenes depicted are village scenes showing houses and family life.

The size of the bricks used in the dagaba carries testimony that it was built several centuries before the Polonnaruwa stupas.

Besides this there are, around in the jungle, many evidences of that larger city which grew up at the foot of the rock. There are an immense number of caves in the gigantic boulders, and there are the remains of five "moated islands" lying to the west of this outer city. These may have been pleasure houses, or pavilions, with the earth dug out around them to make them into artificial islands for the adornment of a great park such as princes and people loved.

CHAPTER XII

POLONNARUWA: THE JUNGLE CITY

THERE is great diversity of opinion as to the respective charms of the two royal cities, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. In favour of the former may be counted its much greater antiquity. From 500 B.C. on to the middle of the ninth century A.D. Anuradhapura held the proud position of the capital, and even when, owing to the incursions of the Tamils, the kings then removed the seat of Government to Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura never lost its glamour of peculiar sacredness. Polonnaruwa remained the capital, with a slight break, up to the end of the thirteenth century, or only about a third as long as the sister city.

Anuradhapura can also boast a far greater extent of ruins, and though excavations at Polonnaruwa are more recent, it is not at all probable that it will ever be able to rival her in this respect. For sheer beauty of landscape Anuradhapura must be accorded the palm. In other respects the claims balance equally; some people find the access by railway and the comforts of the hotel at the older city preferable, while to others the remoteness and inaccessibility of Polonnaruwa, and the simplicity of its rest-house, are additional

attractions, also it certainly can boast far greater charm in its wealth of animal and bird life not yet frightened away by too much civilisation. Among its monuments also are one or two unique in themselves, and unlike anything dreamed of elsewhere; such are the Wata-dagé, Floral Altar, and Lotus Bath, which are worth coming across the seas to visit on their own account.

Polonnaruwa is not the real name of the place, which should be Toparé, from the great sheet of water, Topa-wewa, on whose shores it stands. The present name is not very ancient, but has somehow ousted the older ones. Major Forbes, writing in 1828-30, calls the place Polonnaruwa, and he is followed by Sir E. J. Tennent. Mr. Bell characterises it as " a word of doubtful Elu origin." In the Mahawansa it is called Pulatthi, or Pulastipura.

The road from Sigiriya to this place of many names runs almost all the way (forty-three miles) through forest glades, and is lined by jungle foliage. In the early morning, while all is deliciously fresh and drenched by dew, every new vista is a delight. All forms of the Ficus, including the mighty banyan, overshadow the way. The main road to Trincomalee is rejoined some six miles after leaving Sigiriya, and left again at Habarane, which is twenty-eight miles from Polonnaruwa.

About halfway between Habarane and Polonnaruwa a side road leads, at the distance of about a mile, to one of the largest and most beautiful tanks in the island, Minneri, where it is proposed to make a sanctuary for the wild birds who haunt the shores. It is not only bird life in great variety

which may be seen here, but wild animals of many kinds steal down to drink in the shades of night; the marks of leopard, cheetah, bear, wild boar, deer, and even wild buffalo and elephant, to say nothing of smaller fry, may be picked up by those accustomed to "tracking." The lake, though shrunk from its original size, still measures some twenty miles in circumference. The shores are broken and much wooded, so the whole expanse cannot be seen at once. This splendid work was done by Maha Sena (A.D. 275), the " apostate King," who did not support the old-established Buddhist monks in Anuradhapura, whereupon they fled to Rohuna, and were in exile nine years. It will be remembered he was the king who began to build what is now called Abhayagiri dagaba at Anuradhapura. "He thus performed acts of both piety and impiety."

Minneriya may certainly be counted to him to overbalance many of the latter sort, for its beauty and usefulness remain to-day, over 1,600 years later, as fully evident as when it was formed. The King bestowed it, and the ground which it waters, on the monks of his new dagaba.

Regaining the main road, abundant evidence of the wealth of animal life sustained by the fertilising water of the lake can be seen. A covey of jungle fowl, their golden plumage gleaming, scuttle into the bush; a shy jackal races ahead of the car, his brush wildly waving as he realises that for once he has encountered something swifter than himself; monkeys plunge and swing overhead, and possibly a hare darts across the road.

Before reaching the rest-house at Polonnaruwa

the road runs by some of the finest of the ruins, the great temple of Thuparama being especially noticeable, standing high on its platform.

The rest-house is only about half a mile beyond, and is built on a promontory stretching out into the great" tank," or lake, Topa-wewa, from which the place derives its real name. Unfortunately the Public Works Department, to whom the building of the rest-house was entrusted, was for once seized with a passion for artistic effect, and planted the little building to face a superb view without considering that it brought the front verandah full face to the south. In such a climate this is a fatal mistake, and under any sort of sun the verandah is utterly intolerable to an ordinary mortal.

Rest-house charges are very reasonable in Ceylon, and the food, as a rule, is sufficient, though in a place so out-of-the-way luxuries can hardly be expected. There is, however, no baker living here, and those who cannot "make shift" with milk-biscuits had better bring their own bread or a tin of rusks. Everything else is supplied at the rate of six or seven rupees a day. Any one wishing to stay longer than three days must apply to the Government Agent at Anuradhapura. Accommodation is limited, and in an ordinary season motorcar parties are many, so it is well to engage rooms beforehand. The road ends in the village, and beyond is pure jungle. There is, however, a postoffice and a daily delivery of letters.

Besides the attraction of the ruins, many people come for the shooting, which is regulated by the Government. There is a close season for deer