This Building Must Therefore
Have Formed An Oblong Of 300 Feet By 150.
Many of the granite blocks
were covered with rough carving; large flights of steps, now irregular
from the inequality of the ground, were scattered here and there; and
the general appearance of the ruins was similar to that of Pollanarua,
but of smaller extent.
The stone causeway which passed through the ruins
was about two miles in length, being for the most part overgrown with
low jungle and prickly cactus. I traversed the jungle for some distance
until arrested by the impervious nature of the bushes; but wherever I
went, the ground was stewed with squared stones and fallen brickwork
overgrown with rank vegetation.
The records of Ceylon do not afford any satisfactory information
concerning the original foundation of this city. The first time that we
hear of it is in the year 286 B.C.; but we have no account of the era or
cause of its desertion. Although Mahagam is the only vestige of an
ancient city in this district, there are many ruined buildings and
isolated dagobas of great antiquity scattered throughout the country. I
observed on a peak of one of the Kattregam hills large masses of fallen
brickwork, the ruins of some former buildings, probably coeval with
Mahagam. The whole of this district, now so wild and desolate, must in
those days have been thickly populated and highly cultivated, although,
from the present appearance of the country, it does not seem possible
that it has ever altered its aspect since the Creation.
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