Copper.—­Copper was equally in demand, but, like silver and gold, it is nowhere alluded to as a production of the island.  In ancient, as in modern, times, therefore, the numerous articles formed from this metal were probably imported from India.  The renowned Brazen.  Palace of Anarajapoora was so named from the quantity of copper used in its construction.  Bujas Raja, A.D. 359, covered a building at Attanagalla with “tiles made of copper, and gilt with gold,"[1] and “two boats built of brass,” were placed near the Bo-Tree at the capital “to hold food for the priests."[2] Before the Christian era, armour for elephants[3], and vessels of large dimensions, cauldrons[4], and baths[5], were formed of copper.  The same material was used for the lamps, goblets[6], kettles, and cooking utensils of the monasteries and wiharas.

[Footnote 1:  Rajaratnacari, p. 73.]

[Footnote 2:  Ibid., p. 60.]

[Footnote 3:  Rajavali, p. 214.]

[Footnote 4:  B.C. 204. Rajavali, p. 190.]

[Footnote 5:  A.D. 1267, Rajartnacari, p. 104.]

[Footnote 6:  Rajaratnacari, pp. 104, 134.]

Bells.—­Bells were hung in the palaces[1], and bell-metal is amongst the gifts to the temples recorded on the rock at Pollanarrua, A.D. 1187.[2]

[Footnote 1:  Mahawanso, ch. xxi. pp. 128, 129.]

[Footnote 2:  TURNOUR’S Epitome, &c., Appx. p. 91.]

Bronze.—­Bronze was cast into figures of Buddha[1], and the Mahawanso, describing the reign of Dhatu-Sena, A.D. 459, makes mention of “sixteen bronze statues of virgins having the power of locomotion."[2]

[Footnote 1:  A.D. 275. Mahawanso, ch. xxxvii. p. 236; Rajavali, p. l35.]

[Footnote 2:  Mahawanso, ch. xxxviii. p. 257.]

Lead.—­Lead was used during the wars of Dutugaimunu and Elala, and poured molten over the attacking elephants during the siege of Wijittapoora.[1] As lead is not a native product of Ceylon, it must have been brought thither from Ava or Malwa.

[Footnote 1:  Mahawanso, ch. xxv. p. 152.]

Gold and Silver.—­Ceylon, like the continent of India, produces no silver and gold, save in the scantiest quantities.[1] The historical books, in recording the splendour of the temples and their riches, and the wealth lavished by the kings upon the priesthood, describe in perpetually recurring terms, the multitude of ornaments and vessels made of silver and gold.  In early times the most precious of these were received as gifts from the princes of India, and in the second century before Christ the Mahawanso records the arrival of ships in the south of the island, “laden with golden utensils.”  The import of these might possibly have been a relic of the early trade with the Phoenicians, whom Homer, in a passage quoted by Strabo (l. xvi. c. 2. s. 24.),