Volume 1 / Part 4 — CHAPTER I.

POPULATION, CASTE, SLAVERY, AND RAJA-KARIYA.

Population encouraged by the fertility of Ceylon 421

Evidence of its former extent in the ruins of the tanks and canals 422

Means by which the population was preserved 423

Causes of its dispersion—the ruin of the tanks 424

Domestic life similar to that of the Hindus 425

Respect shown to females 425

Caste perpetuated in defiance of religious prohibition 425

Particulars in which caste in Ceylon differs from caste in India 425

Slavery, borrowed from Hindustan 425

Compulsory labour or Raja-kariya 426

Mode of enforcing it 427

CHAP. II.

AGRICULTURE, IRRIGATION, CATTLE, AND CROPS.

Agriculture unknown before the arrival of Wijayo 429

Rice was imported into Ceylon in the second century B.C. 429

The practice of irrigation due to the Hindu kings 430

Who taught the science of irrigation to the Singhalese (note) 430

The first tank constructed B.C. 504 431

Gardens and fruit-trees first planted 432

Value of artificial irrigation in the north of Ceylon 432

In the south of the island the rains sustain cultivation 432

Two harvests in the year in the south of the island 432

In the north, where rains are uncertain, tanks indispensable 432

Irrigation the occupation of kings 434

The municipal village-system of cultivation 434

"Assoedamising" of rice lands in the mountains 434

Temple villages and their tenure 434

Farm-stock buffaloes and cows 435

A Singhalese garden described 435

Coco-nut palm rarely mentioned in early writings 436

Doubt whether it be indigenous to Ceylon 436

The Mango and other fruits 437

Rice and curry mentioned in the second century B.C. 437

Animal food used by the early Singhalese 438

Betel, antiquity of the custom of chewing it 438

Intoxicating liquors known at an early period 439

CHAP. III.

EARLY COMMERCE, SHIPPING, AND PRODUCTIONS.

Trade entirely in the hands of strangers 440

Native shipping unconnected with commerce 440

Same indifference to trade prevails at this day 441

Singhalese boats all copied from foreign models 442

All sewn together and without iron 442

Romance of the "Loadstone Island" 443

The legend believed by Greeks and the Chinese 443

Vessels with two prows mentioned by Strabo 444

Foreign trade spoken of B.C. 204 444

Internal traffic in the ancient city of Ceylon 445

Merchants traversing the island 445

Early exports from Ceylon,—gems, pearls, &c. 445

The imports, chiefly manufactures 446

Horses and carriages imported from India 447

Cloth, silk, &c., brought from Persia 447

Kashmir, intercourse with 447

Edrisi's account of Ceylon trade in the twelfth century 448

CHAP. IV.

MANUFACTURES.

Silk not produced in Ceylon 450

Coir and cordage 450

Dress; unshaped robes 450

Manual and Mechanical Arts—Weaving 451

Priest's robes spun, woven, and dyed in a day 452

Peculiar mode of cutting out a priest's robe 452

Bleaching and dyeing 452

Earliest artisans, immigrants 452

Handicrafts looked down on 453

Pottery 453

Glass 454

Glass mirrors 454

Leather 454

Wood carving 454

Chemical Arts—Sugar 455

Mineral paints 455

CHAP. V.

WORKING IN METALS.

Early knowledge of the use of iron 457

Steel 457

Copper and its uses 457

Bells, bronze, lead 458

Gold and silver 458

Plate and silver ware 458

Red coral found at Galle (note) 459

Jewelry and mounted gems 459

Gilding.—Coin 460

Coins mentioned in the Mahawanso 460

Meaning of the term "massa" (note) 460

Coins of Lokiswaira 461

General device of Singhalese coins 461

Indian coinage of Prakrama Bahu 462

Fish-hook money 463

CHAP. VI.

ENGINEERING.

Engineering taught by the Brahmans 464

Rude methods of labour 464

Military engineering unknown 465

Early attempts at fortification 465

Fortified rock of Sigiri 465

Forests, their real security 466

Thorns planted as defences 466

Bridges and ferries 466

Method of tying cut stone in forming tanks 467

Tank sluices 467

Defective construction of these reservoirs 467

The art of engineering lost 468

The "Giants' Tank" a failure 468

An aqueduct formed, A.D. 66 469

CHAP. VII.

THE FINE ARTS.

Music, its early cultivation 470

Harsh character of Singhalese music 470 Tom-toms, their variety and antiquity 471 Singhalese gamut 472

Painting.—Imagination discouraged 472

Similarity of Singhalese to Egyptian art 472 Rigid rules for religious design 473 Similar trammels on art in Modern Greece (note) 473 And in Italy in the 15th century (n.) 474 Celebrated Singhalese painters 475

Sculpture.—Statues of Buddha 475

Built statues 477 Painted statues 477 Statues formed of gems 477 Ivory and sandal-wood carved 477

Architecture, its ruins exclusively religious 478

Domestic architecture mean at all times 478

Stone quarried by wedges 478

Immense slabs thus prepared 479

Columns at Anarajapoora 479

Materials for building 479

Mode of constructing a dagoba 480

Enormous dimensions of these structures 480

Monasteries and wiharas 481

Palaces 482

Carvings in stone 483

Ubiquity of the honours shown to goose 484

Delicate outline of Singhalese carvings 488

Temples and their decorations 488

Cave temples of Ceylon 489

The Alu-wihara 489

Moulding in plaster 489

Claim of the Singhalese to the invention of oil painting 490

Lacquer ware of the present day 490

Honey-suckle ornament 491

CHAP. VIII.

SOCIAL LIFE.

Ancient cities and their organisation 493

Public buildings, hospitals, shops 493

Anarajapoora, as it appeared in 7th century 493

The description of it by Fa Hian 495

Carriages and Horses 495

Horses imported from Persia 495

Furniture of the houses 496

Form of Government.—Revenue 497

The Army and Navy 498

Mode of recruiting 499

Arms.—Bows 499

Singular mode of drawing the bow with the foot (note) 499

Civil Justice 500

CHAP. IX.

SCIENCES.

Education and schools 501

Logic 502

Astronomy and astrology 503

Medicine and surgery 504

King Buddha-dasa a physician 504

Botany 505

Geometry 505

Lightning conductors 506

Notice of a remarkable passage in the Mahawanso 507

CHAP. X.

SINGHALESE LITERATURE.

The Pali language 512

The temples the depositaries of learning 512

Historiographers employed by the kings 512

Ola books, how prepared 513

A stile, and the mode of writing 513

Books on plates of metal (note) 513

Differences between Elu and Singhalese 513

Pali works

Grammar 514 Hardy's list of Singhalese books (note) 515 Pali books all written in verse 515 The Pittakas 515 The Jatakas—resemble the Talmud 516 Pali literature generally 516 The Milinda-prasna 516 Pali historical books and their character 517 The Mahawanso 517 Scriptural coincidences in Pali books (note) 518

Sanskrit works: Principally on science and medicine 520

Elu and Singhalese works: Low tone of the popular literature 520 Chiefly ballads and metrical essays 521 Exempt from licentiousness 521 Sacred poems in honour of Hindu gods 521 General literature of the people 522

CHAP. XI.

BUDDHISM AND DEMON-WORSHIP.

Buddhism as it exists in Ceylon 523

Which was the more ancient, Brahmanism or Buddhism 523

Various authorities (note) 523

Buddhism, its extreme antiquity 524

Its prodigious influence 524

Sought to be identified with the Druids (note) 524

Buddhism an agent of civilisation 525

Its features in Ceylon 526

The various forms elsewhere 527

Points that distinguish it from Brahmanism 528

Buddhist theory of human perfection 528

Its treatment of caste 530

Its respect for other religions 530

Anecdote, illustrative of (note) 530

Its cosmogony 531

Its doctrine of "necessity" 532

Transmigration 533

Illustration from Lucan (note) 533

The priesthood and its attributes 534

Buddhist morals 534

Prohibition to take life 534

Form of worship 535

Brahmanical corruptions 536

Failure of Buddhism as a sustaining faith 537

Its moral influence over the people 538

Demon-worship 539

Trees dedicated to demons (note) 540

Devil priests and their orgies 541

Ascendency of these superstitions 542

Buddhism as an obstacle to Christianity 543

Difficulties presented by the morals of Buddhism 544

Prohibition against taking away life (note) 544