CHAPTER VI.

ANURÁDHAPURA: A RUINED CITY OF THE JUNGLE.

A night in the “mail-coach”--The present village of Anurádhapura--“Pools of water and a habitation for the bittern”--The remains of the Brazen Palace--The oldest tree in the world--Ruins of enormous _dágobas_--Specimens of early sculpture--Temples, porticos, stone troughs, cisterns, bathing tanks--A fine statue of Buddha--The city as it was in the 7th century--Its history--View to-day from the Abhayagiria dágoba--Moral and sentimental reflections 99–115