102 SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PROVINCES. [rARx VII. 



port for which they were bound, would appear to have been 

 situated in an isknd^ governed by kings 2, and carrying 

 on an extensive foreign trade.^ The voyage occupied 

 three years in going and returning from the Eed Sea *, 

 and the cargoes brought home to Ezion-geber consisted 

 of gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.^ Gold 

 could have been shipped at Galle from the vessels which 

 brought it from Ophir*^, " silver si)read into plates," 

 which is particularised by Jeremiah '^ as an export of 

 Tarshish, is one of the substances on which the sacred 

 books of the Singhalese are even now inscribed ; iimry 

 is found in Ceylon, and must have been both abundant 

 and full grown there before the discovery of gunpowder 

 led to the wanton destruction of elephants ; apes are in- 

 digenous to the island, and peafowl are found there in 

 numbers. It is very remarkable too, that the terms by 

 which these articles are designated in the Hebrew Scrip- 

 tures, are identical with the Tamil names, by wdiich some 

 of them are caUed in Ceylon to the present day : thus 

 tukeyim^ which is rendered " peacocks " in one version, 

 may be recognised in toJcei^ the modern name for these 

 birds ; " kapi " apes is the same in both languages, and 

 the Sanskrit " ihha " ivory, is identical with the Tamil 

 " ibam" ^ 



Thus by geographical position, by indigenous pro- 

 ductions, and by the fact of its having been from time 

 immemorial the resort of merchant ships from Egypt, 



' Isaiali xxiii. 1, 3, G. It must be 

 observed, however, that the early 

 geogi'aphers did not autficionth^ dis- 

 criminate between ii prtii/isiila and an 

 island: T\Te itself was termed an t's- 

 lci/i(I by them. 



^ Psl. Ixxii. 10; Isaiah associates 

 Tarsliisli with " Tul and I.ud that 

 draw the. hoiv,'^ Ixvi. 10; a character- 

 istic which is maintained by the 

 Veddahs (tlio remnant of the abori- 

 ginal inhabitants) to the present day. 



^ Isaiah xxiii. 2 ; Ezeliiel xxvii. 

 10,25. ^ 



* 1 Kings x. 22. It is curious 



that in the Garsluisp Naiiieh, a Per- tmi, vol. i. p. xix., etc. 



sian poem of the tenth century, which 

 professes to describe an expedition 

 from Jerusalem for tlie conquest of 

 Ceylon, the time occupied in the out- 

 ward voyage was cujlitvai Diontha, 

 being one half the " three y<^ars " 

 occupied by the ships of Solomon in 

 going to and returning from Tarshish. 



5 Ihld. 



^ 1 Kings X. 11. 



"^ .lerem. x. 9. 



^ Note on the Tamil Lanepiar/e, by 

 the llev. Mr. IIoi.singtox. Further 

 information on this ^joint will be 

 found in the Notice to the third edi- 



