of a rice-field divided by embankments. And in conformity with
this precedent the robes of every priest are similarly dissected and
reunited.--Hardy's _Eastern Monachism_, c. xii. p. 117; _Rajaratnacari_,
ch. ii. pp. 60, 66.]

[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, pp. 104, 109, 112. The custom which is
still observed in Ceylon, of weaving robes between sunrise and sunset is
called _Catina dhwana_ (_Rajavali_, p. 261). The work is performed
chiefly by women, and the practice is identical with that mentioned by
Herodotus, as observed by the priests of Egypt, who celebrated a
festival in honour of the return of Rhampsinitus, after playing at dice
with Ceres in Ilades, by investing one of their body with a cloak made
in a single day, [Greek: pharos autemeron exyphenantes], _Euterpe_,
cxxii. Gray, in his ode of _The Fatal Sisters_, has embodied the
Scandinavian myth in which the twelve weird sisters, the _Valkiriur_,
weave "the crimson web of war" between the rising and setting of the
sun.]

CHAP V.

SINGHALESE CHIVALRY.--ELALA AND DUTUGAIMUNU.

[Sidenote: B.C. 289.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 266.]

For nearly a century after the accession of Devenipiatissa, the religion
and the social development of Ceylon thus exhibited an equally steady
advancement. The cousins of the king, three of whom ascended the throne
in succession, seem to have vied with each other in works of piety and
utility. Wiharas were built in all parts of the island, both north and
south of the Maha-welli-ganga. Dagobas were raised in various places,
and cultivation was urged forward by the formation of tanks and canals.
But, during this period, from the fact of the Bengal immigrants being
employed in more congenial or more profitable occupations (possibly also
from the numbers who were annually devoting themselves to the service of
the temples), and from the ascertained inaptitude of the native
Singhalese to bear arms, a practice was commenced of retaining foreign
mercenaries, which, even at that early period, was productive of
animosity and bloodshed, and in process of time led to the overthrow of
the Wijayan dynasty and the gradual decay of the Sinhala sovereignty.

[Sidenote: B.C. 266.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 237.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 205.]

The genius of the Gangetic race, which had taken possession of Ceylon,
was essentially adapted to agricultural pursuits--in which, to the
present day, their superiority is apparent over the less energetic
tribes of the