The walls of this gallery were finished with some smooth, shining white cement. It must have looked, when it was all in place, like a huge, gleaming serpent wound about the face of the rock. Of course at the present day much of it, indeed most of it, has fallen away; but the fact that, despite the washing rains that for many years have come pouring over the sides of the rock, one hundred yards of it remains in almost perfect condition is proof of its splendid construction. For the rest of the way the gallery can be traced by the deep grooves that supported its base.
When, with the help of these grooves and the protecting bars that the Government has kindly placed to give the adventurous traveler at least a chance to reach the summit in safety, we had climbed to the very top, we understood at last the unnatural markings on the face of the cliff that had before puzzled us. Kassapa built his citadel of bright-red brick. The whole crown of the rock was covered with his palaces, and after they had fallen and crumbled, the heavy rains smeared the walls with great streaks and patches of this brilliant stain.
[Illustration: PLAN OF THE TOPMOST PORTION OF THE INNER CITY OF SIGIRIYA. (BASED ON A CEYLON GOVERNMENT SURVEY MAP)
The right-hand side of the map is the north side, the top is the west.]
The ground that lies at the base of the rock is not less interesting than that upon its summit. Over the wooded sides of the little hill that culminates in the great shaft, and spreading out into the jungle about its foot, are the remains of the city that Kassapa built for his army and followers. A strange city it must have been. The main houses were of brick with tiled roofs, but these more formal dwellings were supplemented by semi-caves tucked under the sides of every available boulder. All the large stones show notches, cut evidently to hold the ends of rafters and roof-beams. Up many of the highest boulders steps have been hewn, possibly to make them accessible as watch-towers, and at almost every turn one comes upon the indispensable cistern that made living through the long dry season possible. Some of these reservoirs were hewn out of solid stone, but most were built of brick and cement, and the one little stream in the neighborhood was dammed to form a large pond, which even now lies like a lake at the foot of the little hill. So there was an outer city interspersed with gardens, an inner city set on innumerable terraces up the slope of the hill, and surmounting all, lifted four hundred feet above the crest of the hill on its gigantic pedestal, stood the king’s palace and citadel. And about all the city Kassapa built great protecting walls. So three times over Kassapa fortified himself.