100 



SOUTHERN AJfD CENTRAL PKOVI^X'ES. [I^vrt VII. 



centre to which will hereafter converge all the rays of 

 navigation, intersecting the Indian Ocean, and connecting 

 the races of Europe and Asia. 



In modern times, Galle was the mart of Portugal, 

 and afterwards of Holland ; and long before the flags of 

 either nation had appeared in its waters, it Avas one of the 

 entrepots whence the Moorish traders of Malabar drew 

 the productions of the remoter East, with which they 

 supplied the Genoese and Venetians, who distributed 

 them over the countries of the West.^ Galle was the 

 " Kalali " at which the Arabians in the reiofn of Haroun 



o 



Abaschid met the junks of the Chinese^, and brought 

 back gems, silks, and spices from Serendib to Bassora.^ 

 The Sabasans, centuries before, included Ceylon in the 

 rich trade wliich they prosecuted with India, and Galle 

 was probably the furthest point eastward ever reached by 

 the Persians *, by the Greeks of the Lower Empire, by the 

 Eomans'', and by the Egyptian mariners of Berenice, luider 

 the Ptolemies.'' But an interest, deeper still, attaches to 

 this portion of Ceylon, inasmuch as it seems more than 

 probable that tlte long-sought localitg of Tarshish ntag be 

 found to be identical ivith that of Point de Galle. 



in tlie early ages, and its importance 

 as the gTeat empoi-iuni between the 

 Eastern and Western AA^orld, will be 

 foimd in the Essay of IIeerex, De 

 Ceylone Insula per vic/inti fere scc- 

 cula comnumi Terrarum 3Iarumque 

 Audndiitni Einporio : Gottui(/en, IS'Sl . 



1 T)k Barhos, Asia, ^x:, toni. i. 

 pt. ii. p. 4:^8 ; Baebosa in Ramiisio, 

 vol. i. p. 313; VAUTnEMA, Itinerario, 

 ^•c., p. xxA-ii. 



'-* Fa IIiax, Foe-Koue Ki, ch. xl. 

 p. 357 ; Ediusi, Trad. Jaubert. toiu. 

 1. p. 73. 



^ Reinaud, T'oi/af/es Arahes. et 

 Persans, SiC., torn. i. p. xxxix. Ixii. 



^ Hobertson in his Disquisition 

 on India, thinks the Persians took 

 no part in this trade, but Cosnias 

 Indi'-o-pleustcs found them esta- 

 blished in Ceylon early in the sixth 

 centmy. Christ. Topoyr. !Mont- 

 faucon, CoU. vol. ii. p. 178 ; and Ilamza 

 of Ispahan says, Cosroes-Xushirvan, 



who reig-ned at that period, conquered 

 the cities of Ceylon. Annul, p. 43. 



^ Pliny expressly says that he 

 learned from the embassy sent to 

 the Emperor Claudius from Ceylon, 

 that the gi-eat port of the island 

 fronted the soidh, " ex iis cogiiitum 

 portum contra meridiem ; " lib. vi. ch. 

 xxiv. ; a description Avhich applies 

 only to the harbour of CJalle. 



•^ Periplus Mar. Erijthr., Ilrnsox, 

 vol. i. p. 3o ; "S'lXCEXT, C'onnnerce of 

 India, c^V., vol. ii. p. 22: "Ceylan fiit 

 dopuis mi temps immemorial I'entre- 

 pot oil les I'heniciens, les peuples de 

 i'Arabie meridionale, les Grecs, les 

 Komains, et les Arabes devenus 

 Musulmans venaient s'approvisionner 

 des denrees de I'lnde, de rArchipol 

 d'Asie, de la Chine et de colles non 

 moins riches que le sol y fait naitre." 

 — DrLATJRlER, Asiat. Jour., tom. 

 xlix. p. 174. 



