"Singha;" besides which, in the alphabet of the Singhalese, n and g combine to form a single and insoluble letter.

In process of time, every trace disappeared of the former presence of the Chinese in Ceylon - embassies ceased to arrive from the "Flowery Kingdom," Chinese vessels deserted the harbours of the island, pilgrims no longer repaired to the shrines of Buddha; and even the inscriptions became obliterated in which the imperial offerings to the temples were recorded on the rocks. The only mementos which remain at the present day to recall their ancient domestication in the island, is the occasional appearance in the mountain villages of an itinerant vender of sweetmeats, or a hut in the solitary forest near some cave, from which an impoverished Chinese renter annually gathers the edible nests of the swallow.

NOTE.

As it may be interesting to learn the opinions of the Chinese at the present day regarding Ceylon, the following account of the island has been translated for me by Dr. Lockhart, of Shanghae, from a popular work on geography, written by the late lieutenant-governor of the province of Fokhien, assisted by

e desta Ilha Ceilão. Na qual Ilha leixáram huma lingua, a que elles chamam Chingálla, e aos proprios póvos Chingallas, principalmente os que vivem da ponta de Gálle por diante na face da terra contra o Sul, e Oriente e por ser pegada neste Cabo Gálle, chamou á outra gente, que vivia do meio da ilha pera cima, aos que aqui habitavam Chingalla é á lingua delles tambem, quasi como se dissessem lingua ou gente dos Chijo de Galle."-DE BARROS, Asia, &c., Dec. iii. lib. ii. c. i. DE COUTO'S account is as follows: "E como os Chins formam os primeiros que navegáram pelo Oriente, tendo noticia da

canella, acudíram muitos juncos' aquella Ilha a carregar della, e dalli a levaram aos portos de Persia, e da Arabia donde passou á Europa-de que se deixaram ficar muitos Chins na terra, e se misturáram por casamentos com os naturaes; dantre quem nasceram huns mistços que se ficaram chamando Cim-Gallás; ajuntando o nome dos naturaes, que eram Gallas aos dos Chins, que vieram por tempos a ser tão famosos, que deram o seu nome a todos os da Ilha.”—Asia, &c., Dec. v. lib. ch. v.

1 Suh-Wan-këen tung-kaou, book ccxxxvi. p. 12.

some foreigners. The book is called Ying-hwan-che-ke, or "The General Account of the Encircling Ocean."

"Seih-lan is situated in Southern India, and is a large island in the sea, on the south-east coast, its circumference being about 1000 le (300 miles), having in the centre lofty mountains; on the coast the land is low and marshy. The country is characterised by much rain and constant thunder. The hills and valleys beautifully ornamented with flowers and trees of great variety and beauty, the cries of the animals rejoicing together fill the air with gladness, and the landscape abounds with splendour. In the forests are many elephants, and the natives use them instead of draught oxen or horses. The people are all of the Buddhistic religion; it is said that Buddha was born here: he was born with an excessive number of teeth. The grain is not sufficient for the inhabitants, and they depend for food on the various districts of India. Gems are found in the hills, and pearls on the sea coast; the cinnamon that is produced in the country is excellent, and much superior to that of Kwang-se. In the middle of the Ming dynasty, the Portuguese seized upon Seih-lan and established marts on the sea coast, which by schemes the Hollanders took from them. In the first year of Kia-King (1795), the English drove out the Hollanders, and took possession of the sea coast. At this time the people of Seih-lan, on account of their various calamities or invasions, lost heart. Their city on the coast, called Colombo, was attacked by the English, and the inhabitants were dispersed or driven away; then the whole island fell into the hands of the English, who eventually subjected it. The harbour for rendezvous on the coast is called Ting-ko-ma-lé.”

To this the Chinese commentator adds, on the authority of a work, from which he quotes, entitled, "A Treatise on the Diseases of all the Kingdoms of the Earth: "—

"The Kingdom of Seih-lan was anciently called Lang-yasew; the passage from Soo-mun-ta-che (Sumatra), with a favourable wind, is twelve days and nights; the country is extensive, and the people numerous, and the products abundant, but inferior to Kiva-wa (Java). In the centre are lofty mountains, which yield the A-kŭh (crow and pigeon) gems; after every storm of rain they are washed down from the hills, and gathered among the sand. From Chang-tsun, Linyih in the extreme west, can be seen. In the foreign language,

the high mountain is called Seih-lan; hence the name of the island. It is said Buddha (Shih-ka) came from the island of Ka-lon (the gardens of Buddha), and ascended this mountain, on which remains the trace of his foot. Below the hill there is a monastery, in which they preserve the nëe-pwan (a Buddhistic phrase, signifying the world; literally rendered, his defiling or defiled vessel) and the Shay-le-tsze, or relics of Buddha.

"In the sixth year of his reign (1407), Yung-lo, of the Ming dynasty, sent an ambassador extraordinary, Ching-Ho and others, to transmit the Imperial mandate to the King A-leejo-nai-wah, ordering him to present numerous and valuable offerings and banners to the monastery, and to erect a stone tablet, and rewarding him by his appointment as tribute bearer; A-lĕe-jo-nai-wurh ungratefully refusing to comply, they seized him, in order to bring him to terms, and chose from among his nearest of kin A-pa-nae-na, and set him on the throne. For fourteen years, Teen-ching, Kwa-wa (Java), Mwan-che-kea, Soo-mun-ta-che (Sumatra), and other countries, sent tribute in the tenth year of Chin-tung, and the third year of Teen-shun they again sent tribute."1

"I have heard from an American, A-pe-le', that Seih-lan was the original country of Teen-chuh (India), and that which is now called Woo-yin-too was Teen-chuh, but in the course of time the names have become confused. According to the records of the later Han dynasty, Teen-chuh was considered the Shin-tuh, and that the name is not that of an island, but of the whole country. I do not know what proof there is for A-pe-le's statement."

1 There is here some confusion in 2 Mr. Abeel, an American misthe chronology, as Teen-shun reigned sionary.

before Ching-tung.

629

CHAP. IV.

CEYLON AS KNOWN TO THE MOORS, GENOESE, AND

VENETIANS.

THE rapid survey of the commerce of India during the middle ages, which it has been necessary to introduce into the preceding narrative, will also serve to throw light on a subject hitherto but imperfectly investigated.

The most remarkable of the many tribes which inhabit Ceylon are the Mahometans, or, as they are generally called on the island, the "Moor-men," energetic and industrious communities of whom are found on all parts of the coast, but whose origin, adventures, and arrival are amongst the historical mysteries of Ceylon.

The meaningless designation of "Moors," applied to them, is the generic term by which it was customary at one time, in Europe, to describe a Mahometan, from whatsoever country he came, as the word Gentoo 1 was formerly applied in England to the inhabitants of Hindustan, without distinction of race. The practice probably originated from the Spaniards having given that name to the followers of the Prophet, who, after traversing Morocco, overran the peninsula in the seventh and eighth centuries.2 The epithet was borrowed by the Portuguese, who, after their discovery

1 The practice originated with the Portuguese, who applied to any unconverted native of India the term gentio, "idolater" or "barbarian."

2 The Spanish word "Moro" and the Portuguese "Mouro" may be

traced either to the "Mauri," the ancient people of Mauritania, now Morocco, or to the modern name of "Moghrib," by which the inhabitants, the Moghribins, designate their country.

of the passage by the Cape of Good Hope, bestowed it indiscriminately upon the Arabs and their descendants, whom, in the sixteenth century, they found established as traders in every port on the Asian and African coast, and whom they had good reason to regard as their most formidable competitors for the commerce of the East.

1

Particular events have been assumed as marking the probable date of their first appearance in Ceylon. Sir Alexander Johnston, on the authority of a tradition current amongst their descendants, says, that "the first Mahometans who settled there were driven from Arabia in the early part of the eighth century, and established themselves at Jaffna, Jaffna, Manaar, Koodramali, Putlam, Colombo, Barberyn, Point de Galle, and Trincomalie." The Dutch authorities, on the other hand, hold that the Moors were Moslemin only by profession, that by birth they were descendants of a mean and detestable Malabar caste, who in remote times had been converted to Islam through intercourse with the Arabs of Bassora and the Red Sea; that they had frequented the coasts of India as seamen, and then infested them as pirates; and that their first appearance in Ceylon was not earlier than the century preceding the landing of the Portuguese.2 The truth, however, is, that there were Arabs in Ceylon ages before the earliest date named in these

1 Trans. Roy. Asiat. Society, 1827 A.D. vol. i. 538. The Moors, who were the informants of Sir Alexander Johnston, probably spoke on the equiVocal authority of the Tohfut-ulmujahideen, which is generally, but erroneously, described as a narrative of the settlement of the Mahometans in Malabar. Its second chapter gives an account of "the manner in which the Mahometan religion was first propagated" there; and states that its earliest apostles were a Sheikh

and his companions, who touched at Cranganore about 822 A. D., when on their journey as pilgrims to the sacred foot-print on Adam's Peak. (ROWLANDSON, Orient. Transl. Fund., pp. 47. 55.) But the introduction of the new faith into this part of India was subsequent to the arrival of the Arabs themselves, who had long before formed establishments at numerous places on the coast.

2 VALENTYN, ch. xv. p. 214.