CHAPTER VI.
C e y l o n a n d t h e S in g h a l e s e— M o u n t a in k o t jt e to K a n d y— B o t a n ic a l
G a r d e n a t P e r a d e n iy a — D a l a d a T e m p l e— B u d d h i s m — V i s i t to
N e w e r e E l l ia , t h e S a n i t a r iu m — D a m b o u l , P o l l a n a r u a , a n d
A n u r a j a p o r e , A n c i e n t C a p it a l s o p C e y l o n— T h e T h u p a r a m e—
G a l l e— P r e c io u s S t o n e s a n d P e a r l s o p C e y l o n .
On approaching the island of Ceylon at an early hour,
the aspect of the coast, fringed with a deep border of
cocoanut palms, and high mountains for a background,
is exceedingly beautiful, and the contrast on arriving
in the small port of Colombo, with its projecting walls
of the old Portuguese and Dutch forts, is by no means
a pleasing one. The harbour is now, however, undergoing
a great extension. The new breakwater, already
far advanced in construction, is to be supplemented by
jetties and warehouses, calculated to make Colombo the
great calling-port of the East. Shipping seemed to
be active on my arrival, and it was difficult to find a
landing-place, where the custom-house claims the right
of inspecting every new arrival’s luggage.
Ceylon, like India, has a history of which we know
very little as far as regards its earliest phases, which
are enveloped in mythological legendry. According to
the Ramayana, the Hindu epic, part of the island was
conquered from Rawana, the demon-king of Ceylon, by
the hero Rama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, who
had sent his monkey-general, Hunnooman, to recover
Seeta, his wife. This Hunnooman in his expedition
was said to have laid down Adam’s bridge across the
Paumben strait, consisting of rocks and boulders, from
the mainland to the island, which near the former now
admits of a passage for small crafts up to 300 tons.
There has been a project, by the way, for some years
past, to widen the same for big steamers.
The first historical fact, however, we learn from the
Mahawansa, an epic written in the Pali, or sacred
dialect, namely, the submission of Ceylon, in B.C. 543,
to Hyara, an Indian prince, who introduced the Hindu
religion, and a mild form of caste. After that period
M 2