p

ARCHAOLOGY.

Amongst the aborigines of Ceylon the instinet of worship
awakened by the sublimities of nature probably constrained
some to regard with awe and veneration the majestic mountain
known as Adam’s Peak, a solitary alp towering above the
loftiest ranges of hills to a height of 7,000 feet. In the rock
that crowns the summit of the mountain is 2 hollow claimed
by Brahmans as the footstep of Siva, by the Buddhists of
Buddha, and by the Mohammedans of Adam,and round this
sacred spot the devotees of all races to this day meet in

ASNCENT OF SIGIRIYA

peaceful reverence. A picture of the shadow thrown by the
Peak is among theiillustrations of this book. (See page 156.)
Another ancient scene of mountain worship in Cerxlon is
the sacred hill of Mihintale, so named after the missionary
Prince Mahindo, son of King Asoka, who alighted on its
summit when arriving in Ceylon from the neighbouring
continent of India to preach the religion of Buddha in the
year 307 B.C. ; it was here that he died, 267 B.C., and on this
holy hill his disciples, in remembrance of his virtues.