Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History Part 89

[Ill.u.s.tration: From the Burmese standard.]

Augustine, in his _Civitas Dei_, traces the respect for the goose, displayed by the Romans, to their grat.i.tude for the safety of the capital; when the vigilance of this bird defeated the midnight attack by the Goths. The adulation of the citizens, he says, degenerated afterwards almost to Egyptian superst.i.tion, in the rites inst.i.tuted in honour of their preservers on that occasion.[1] But the very fact that the geese which saved the citadel were already sacred to Juno, and domesticated in her temple, demonstrates the error of Augustine, and shows that they had acquired mythological eminence, before achieving political renown. It must be observed, too, that the birds which rendered that memorable service, were the ordinary white geese of Europe[2], and not the red goose of the Nile (the [Greek: chenalopex] of Herodotus), which, ages before, had been enrolled amongst the animals held sacred in Egypt, and which formed the emblem of Seb, the father of Osiris.[3] HORAPOLLO, endeavouring to account for this predilection of the Egyptians (who employed the goose hieroglyphically to denote _a son_), ascribes it to their appreciation of the love evinced by it for its offspring, in exposing itself to divert the attention of the fowler from its young.[4] This opinion was shared by the Greeks and the Romans.

Aristotle praises its sagacity; aelian dilates on the courage and cunning of the "vulpanser," and its singular attachment to man[5]; and Ovid ranks the goose as superior to the dog in the scale of intelligence,--

"Soliciti canes canibusve sagacior anser."

OVID, _Met_. xi. 399.

[Footnote 1: "And hereupon did Rome fall almost into the superst.i.tion of the aegyptians that wors.h.i.+p birds and beasts, for they _henceforth_ kept a holy day which they call the _goose's feast_."--AUGUSTINE, _Civitas Dei, &c._ book ii. ch. 22: Englished by F.H. Icond. 1610.]

[Footnote 2: This appears from a line of Lucretius:

"Romulidarum arcis servator _candidus_ anser."

_De Rer. Nat._ I. iv. 687.]

[Footnote 3: SIR GARDNER WILKINSON'S _Manners and Customs, &c._, 2nd Ser. pl. 31, fig. 2, vol. i. p. 312; vol. ii. p. 227. Mr. Birch of the British Museum informs me that throughout the ritual or hermetic books of the ancient Egyptians a mystical notion is attached to the goose as one of the creatures into which the dead had to undergo a transmigration. That it was actually wors.h.i.+pped is attested by a sepulchral tablet of the 26th dynasty, about 700 B.C., in which it is figured standing on a small chapel over which are the hieroglyphic words, "_The good goose greatly beloved;_" and on the lower part of the tablet the dedicator makes an offering of fire and water to "_Ammon and the Goose._"--_Revue Archaeo._, vol. ii. pl. 27.]

[Footnote 4: HORAPOLLO, _Hieroglyphica_, lib. i. 23.]

[Footnote 5: aeLIAN, _Nat. Hist._, lib. v. c. 29, 30, 50. aelian says that the Romans in recognition of the superior vigilance of the goose on the occasion of the a.s.sault on the Capitol, inst.i.tuted a procession in the Forum in honour of the goose, whose watchfulness was incorruptible; but held an annual denunciation of the inferior fidelity of the dogs, which allowed themselves to be silenced by meat flung to them by the Gauls.--_Nat. Hist._ lib. xii. ch. x.x.xiii.]

The feeling appears to have spread westward at an early period; the ancient Britons, according to Caesar, held it impious to eat the flesh of the goose[1], and the followers of the first crusade which issued from England, France, and Flanders, adored a goat and _a goose_, which they believed to be filled by the Holy Spirit.[2]

[Footnote 1: "Anserem gustare fas non patant."--CaeSAR, _Bell Gall._, lib. v. ch xii.]

[Footnote 2: MILL'S _Hist. of the Crusades_, vol. i. ch. ii. p. 75.

Forster has suggested that it was a species of goose (which annually migrates from the Black Sea towards the south) that fed the Israelites in the desert of Sinai, and that the "winged fowls" meant by the word _salu_, which has been heretofore translated "quails," were "red geese,"

resembling those of Egypt and India. He renders one of the mysterious inscriptions which abound in the Wady Mokatteb (_the Valley of Writings_), "the red geese ascend from the sea,--l.u.s.ting the people eat to repletion;" thus presenting a striking concurrence with the pa.s.sage in Numb. xi. 31, "there went forth a wind from the Lord and brought quails (_salu_) from the sea."--FORSTER'S _One Primeval Language_, vol.

i. p. 90.]

It is remarkable that the same word appears to designate the goose in the most remote quarters of the globe. The Pali term "_hanza_" by which it was known to the Buddhists of Ceylon, is still the "_henza_" of the Burmese and the "_gangsa_" of the Malays, and is to be traced in the [Greek: "chen"] of the Greeks, the "_anser_" of the Romans, the "_ganso_" of the Portuguese, the "_ansar_" of the Spaniards, the "_gans_" of the Germans (who, PLINY says, called the white geese _ganza_), the "_gas_" of the Swedes, and the "_gander_" of the English.[1]

[Footnote 1: HARDY observes that the ibis of the Nile is called "_Abou-Hansa_" by the Arabs, (_Buddhism_, ch. i. p. 17); but BRUCE (_Trav_. vol. v. p. 172) says the name is _Abou Hannes_ or _Father John_, and that the bird always appears on St. John's day: he implies, however, that this is probably a corruption of an ancient name now lost.]

In the princ.i.p.al apartment of the royal palace at Kandy, now the official residence of the chief civil officer in charge of the province, the sacred bird occurs amongst the decorations, but in such shape as to resemble the dodo rather than the Brahmanee goose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: IN THE PALACE AT KANDY]

In the generality of the examples of ancient Singhalese carvings that have come down to us, the characteristic which most strongly recommends them, is their careful preservation of the outline and form of the article decorated, notwithstanding the richness and profusion of the ornaments applied. The subjects engraved are selected with so much judgment, that whilst elaborately covering the surface, they in no degree mar the configuration. Even in later times this principle has been preserved, and the chasings in silver and tortoise sh.e.l.l on the scabbards of the swords of state, worn by the Kandyan kings and their attendants, are not surpa.s.sed by any specimens of similar workmans.h.i.+p in India.

_Temples_.--The temples of Buddha were at first as unpretending as the residences of the priesthood. No mention is made of them during the infancy of Buddhism in Ceylon; at which period caves and natural grottoes were the only places of devotion. In the sacred books these are spoken of as "stone houses"[1] to distinguish them from the "houses of earth"[2] and other materials used in the construction of the first buildings for the wors.h.i.+p of Buddha; such temples having been originally confined to a single chamber of the humblest dimensions, within which it became the custom at a later period to place a statue of the divine teacher reclining in dim seclusion, the gloom being increased to heighten the scenic effect of the ever-burning lamps by which the chambers are imperfectly lighted.

[Footnote 1: The King, Walagambahu, who in his exile had been living amongst the rocks in the wilderness, ascended the throne after defeating the Malabars (B.C. 104), and "caused _the of stone or caves of the rocks_ in which he had taken refuge to be made more commodious."--_Rajavali_, p. 224.]

[Footnote 2: _Rajavali_, p. 222.]

The construction of both these descriptions of temples was improved in later times, but no examples remain of the ancient chaityas or built temples in Ceylon, and those of the rock temples still existing exhibit a very slight advance beyond the rudest attempts at excavation.

On examining the cave temples of continental India, they appear to exhibit three stages of progress,--first mere unadorned cells, like those formed by Dasartha, the grandson of Asoca, in the granite rocks of Behar, about B.C. 200; next oblong apartments with a verandah in front, like that of Ganesa, at Cuttack; and lastly, ample halls with colonnades separating the nave from the aisles, and embellished externally with facades and agricultural decorations, such as the caves of Karli, Ajunta, and Ellora.[1] But in Ceylon the earliest rock temples were merely hollows beneath overhanging rocks, like those still existing at Dambool, and the Aluwihara at Matelle, in both of which advantage has been taken of the accidental shelter of rounded boulders, and an entrance constructed by applying a facade of masonry, devoid of all pretensions to ornament.

[Footnote 1: See FERGUSSON'S _Ill.u.s.trations of the Rock-cut Temples of India_, Lond. 1845, and _Handbook of Architecture_, ch. ii. p. 23.]

The utmost effort at excavation never appears to have advanced beyond the second stage attained in Bengal,--a small cell with a few columns to support a verandah in front; and even of this but very few examples now exist in Ceylon, the most favourable being the Gal-wihara at Pollanarrua, which, according to the _Rajavali_, was executed by Prakrama I., in the 12th century.[1]

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxvii.]

Taking into consideration the enthusiasm exhibited by the kings of Ceylon, and the munificence displayed by them in the exaltation and extension of Buddhism, their failure to emulate the labours of its patrons in India, must be accounted for by the intractable nature of the rocks with which they had to contend, the gneiss and quartz of Ceylon being less favourable to such works than the sandstone of Cuttack, or the trap formations of the western ghauts.

_Oil-painting_.--In decorative art, carving and moulding in chunam were the princ.i.p.al expedients resorted to. Of this substance were also formed the "beads resplendent like gems;" the "flower-ornaments" resembling gold; and the "festoons of pearls," that are more than once mentioned in describing the interiors of the palaces.[1] Externally, painting was applied to the dagobas alone, as in the climate of Ceylon, exposure to the rains would have been fatal to the duration of the colours, if only mixed in tempera; but the Singhalese, at a very early period, were aware of the higher qualities possessed by some of the vegetable oils. The claim of Van Eyck to the invention of oil-painting in the 15th century, has been shown to be untenable. Sir Charles L. Eastlake[2] has adduced the evidence of aetius of Diarbekir, to prove that the use of oil in connection with art[3] was known before the 6th century; and Dioscorides, who wrote in the age of Augustus, has been hitherto regarded as the most ancient authority on the drying properties of walnut, sesamum, and poppy. But the _Mahawanso_ affords evidence of an earlier knowledge, and records that in the 2nd century before Christ, "vermilion paint mixed with tila oil,"[4] was employed in the building of the Ruanwelle dagoba. This is, therefore, the earliest testimony extant of the use of oil as a medium for painting, and till a higher claimant appears, the distinction of the discovery may be permitted to rest with the Singhalese.

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxvii, p. 163.]

[Footnote 2: EASTLAKE'S _Materials for a History of Oil Painting_, ch.

i. p. 18.]

[Footnote 3: Aetius [Greek: Biblion iatrikon.]]

[Footnote 4: Tila or tala is the Singhalese name for sesamum from which the natives express the gingeli oil. SIR CHARLES L. EASTLAKE is of opinion that "sesamum cannot be called a drying oil in the ordinary acceptation of the term," but in this pa.s.sage of the _Mahawanso_, it is mentioned as being used as a cement. A question has been raised in favour of the claim of the Egyptians to the use of oil in the decoration of their mummy cases, but the probability is that they were coloured in tempera and their permanency afterwards secured by a _varnish_.]

_Style of Ornament_.--In decorating the temporary tee, which was placed on the Ruanwelle dagoba, prior to its completion, the square base was painted with a design representing vases of flowers in the four panels, surrounded by "ornaments radiating like the five fingers."[1] This description points to the "honeysuckle border," which, according to Fergusson, was adopted and carried westward by the Greeks, and eastward by the Buddhist architects.[2] It appears upon the lat column at Allahabad, which is inscribed with one of the edicts of Asoca, issued in the 3rd century before Christ.

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. x.x.xii. p. 193; ch. x.x.xviii. p. 258.]

[Footnote 2: FERGUSSON'S _Handbook of Architecture_, vol. i. ch. ii. p.

7.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FROM THE CAPITAL OF A LAT]

The spire itself was "painted with red stick-lac," probably the same preparation of vermilion as is used at the present day on the lacquered ware of Burmah, Siam, and China.[1] Gaudy colours appear at all times to have been popular; yellow, from its religious a.s.sociations, pre-eminently so[2]; and red lead was applied to the exterior of dagobas.[3] Bujas Raja, in the 4th century, painted the walls and roof of the Brazen Palace blue[4], and built a sacred edifice at Anaraj.a.poora, which from the variety and brilliancy of the colours with which he ornamented the exterior, was known as the Monara Paw Periwena, or Temple of the Peac.o.c.k.[5]

[Footnote 1: A species of lacquer painting is practised with great success at the present day in the Kandyan provinces, and especially at Matelle, the colours being mixed with a resinous exudation collected from a shrub called by the Singhalese Wael-koep-petya (_Croton lacciferum_). The coloured varnish thus prepared is formed into films and threads chiefly by aid of the thumb-nail of the left hand, which is kept long and uncut for the purpose. It is then applied by heat and polished. It is chiefly employed in ornamenting the covers of books, walking-sticks, the shafts of spears, and the handles of fans for the priesthood. The Burmese artists who make the j.a.panned ware of Ava, _use the hand_ in laying on the lacquer--which there, too, as well as in China, is the produce of a tree, the _Melanorhoea glabra_ of Wallich.]

[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 184.]

[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. x.x.xiv. p. 212.]

[Footnote 4: _Rajavali_, p. 291. The _blue_ used for this purpose was probably a preparation of indigo; the red, vermilion; the yellow, orpiment; and green was obtained by combining the first and last.]

[Footnote 5: _Rajavali_, p. 73.]

CHAP. VIII.

DOMESTIC LIFE.

CITIES.--_Anaraj.a.poora_.--Striking evidences of the state of civilisation in Ceylon are furnished by the descriptions given, both by native writers and by travellers, of its cities as they appeared prior to the 8th century of the Christian era. The munic.i.p.al organisation of Anaraj.a.poora, in the reign of Pandukabhaya, B.C. 437, may be gathered from the notices in the _Mahawanso_, of the "_naggaraguttiko_," who was conservator of the city, of the "guards stationed in the suburbs," and of the "chandalas," who acted as scavengers and carriers of corpses. As a cemetery was attached to the city, interment must have frequently taken place, and the _nichi-chandalas_ are specially named as the "cemetery men;"[1] but the practice of cremation prevailed in the 2nd century before Christ, and the body of Elala was burned on the spot where he fell, B.C. 161.[2]