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

beasts found on moonstones had something to do with the four cardinal points (see p. 139). That they had some significance is certain. Fa Hien, a Chinese monk who visited India and Ceylon about A.D. 400, mentions having heard of a temple in India built of five storeys, decorated with " elephant figures, lion shapes, horse shapes, ox shapes, and dove shapes," the last of which may have been intended for the sacred geese. The selection of animals coinciding with those on these moonstones is at least suggestive. In speaking of the temple at Halebid in South India, Fergusson refers to the Chinese pilgrim's description, and says that in the temple also there were animal friezes in this order, elephants, lions, horses, a conventional beast replacing the oxen, and a "bird of a species that would puzzle a naturalist." He adds:

The succession, however, is the same, and the same five genera of living things form the ornaments of the moonstone' thresholds of the various monuments in Ceylon. Sometimes in modern Hindu temples only two or three animal friezes are found, but the succession is always the same. . When we know the cause of it, it seems as if this curious selection and succession might lead to some very suggestive conclusions."

The little dwarfs called ganas, or children of Ganesh, can be seen on the "risers" of the stairs. at the vihara, and the carving on the balustrades should also be noted. These entrance stairs almost invariably follow one pattern. By far the finest example at Anuradhapura is that at a little

vihara across the Inner Circular Road westward, slightly to the south, easily to be found. Here the delicacy of the carving is an inexhaustible marvel (see p. 65).

We see the curious scroll-balustrade issuing from the mouth of a makara, a kind of fabulous beast, half-dragon, half-crocodile, and running down, carved in a pattern like the finest lacework, to a cushion, while in the panel enclosed by it on the outside is a heraldic lion with upraised paw. Note the sharpness of the lion's teeth and the crocodile's claws. And this was executed somewhere about two thousand years ago, whereas in England the stone work of our most ancient cathedrals cannot boast more than half those years!

The makara motif is also used in Indian architecture, and spoken of as a dolphin," or shark.

"The 'makara,' a fabulous fish or shark very often depicted with a curling trunk like an elephant, cunningly incorporated with conventional foliage, is found in a thousand different forms on the buildings of Nepal. . . . The makara is said to be the vehicle of Varuna, the God of the Ocean, and is also borne on the banner of the God of Love. It represents the sign of Capricornus in the Hindu zodiac, and is a feature of Asiatic art in all countries and all ages. . . . The naga, the hansa (goose), the kirti muka, and scores of other forms in Oriental art all have their own deep meaning and attractive story, an investigation of which, like the makara, would open up an interesting and illuminating field of research."1

1 Picturesque Nepal, by Percy Brown. (A. & C. Black. 1912.)