Of the steep
mountains, while the paddy-fields are seen miles away in the
valleys of Ouva stretched far beneath.
At least eight out of ten of these watercourses are dry, and the
masonry required in the sudden angles of ravines, has, in most
cases, fallen to decay. Even those water-courses still in
existence are of the second class; small streams have been
conducted from their original course, and these serve for the
supply of the present population.
>From the remains of deserted water-courses of the first class,
it is evident that more than fifty times the volume of water was
then required that is in use at present, and in the same ratio
must have been the amount of population. In those days rivers
were diverted from their natural channels; opposing hills were
cut through, and the waters thus were led into another valley to
join a stream flowing in, its natural bed, whose course,
eventually obstructed by a dam, poured its accumulated waters
into canals which branched to various localities. Not a river in
those times flowed in vain. The hill-sides were terraced out in
beautiful cultivation, which are now waving with wild vegetation
and rank lemon grass. The remaining traces of stone walls point
out the ancient boundaries far above the secluded valley now in
cultivation.
The nation has vanished, and with it the industry and
perseverance of the era.
We now arrive at the cause of the former importance of Newera
Ellia, or the "Royal Plains."
It has been shown that the very existence of the population
depended upon the supply of water, and that supply was obtained
from the neighborhood of Newera Ellia. Therefore, a king in
possession of Newera Ellia had the most complete command over his
subjects; he could either give or withhold the supply of water at
his pleasure, by allowing its free exit or by altering its
course.
Thus, during rebellion, he could starve his people into
submission, or lay waste the land in time of foreign invasion. I
have seen in an impregnable position the traces of an ancient
fort, evidently erected to defend the pass to the main
water-course from the low country.
This gives us a faint clue to the probable cause of the
disappearance of the nation.
In time of war or intestine commotion, the water may have been
cut off from the low country, and the exterminating effects of
famine may have laid the whole land desolate. It is, therefore,
no longer a matter of astonishment that the present plain of
Newera Ellia should have received its appellation of the "Royal
Plain." In those days there was no very secure tenure to the
throne, and by force alone could a king retain it.
