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.

The more bloodthirsty and barbarous the tyrant, the more was he dreaded by the awe-stricken and trembling population.