CuAP. 11.] ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF CEYLON. 



327 



there exists to the present day the remahis of a monu- 

 ment erected two thousand years ago ^ to commemorate 

 his arrival. His second visit was to Nagadipo in the 

 north of the island, at a place whose position yet 

 remains to be determined ; and the " sacred foot-print" 

 on Adam's Peak is still worshipped by his devotees as the 

 miraculous evidence of his thu-d and last farewell. 



To the question as to what particular race the inha- 

 bitants of Ceylon at that time belonged, and whence or 

 at what period the island was originally peopled, the 

 Buddliist chronicles furnish no reply. And no memorials 

 of the aborigines themselves, no monuments or mscrip- 

 tions, now remain to afford ground for speculation. Con- 

 jectures have been hazarded, based on no sufficient data, 

 that the Malayan type, which extends from Pol}^iesifi to 

 Madagascar, and from Chin-India to Taheite, may stiU be 

 traced in the configuration, and in some of the imme- 

 morial customs, of the people of Ceylon.^ 



But the greater probability is, that a branch of the 

 same stock which originally colonised the Dekkan 

 extended its migrations to Ceylon. All the records and 

 traditions of the peninsula point to a time when its 



^ By Dutugaimunu, B.C. 164. For 

 an account of the present condition 

 of this Dagoba at Bintenne, see Vol. 

 II. Pt. IX. ch. ii. 



^ Amongst the incidents ingeni- 

 ously pressed into the support of this 

 conjecture is the use by the natives 

 of Ceylon of those double canoes and 

 boats with outi-u/gers, ■svhich ai'e never 

 used on the Arabian side of India, 

 but which are pecidiar to the Ma- 

 layan race in almost CAeiy coimtry 

 to which they have migrated ; Mada- 

 gascar and the Comoro islands, Sooloo, 

 Luzon, the Society Islands, and Ton- 

 ga. Pkitchaed's Races of 3Ian, ch. 

 iv. p. 17. For a sketch of this pecu- 

 liar canoe, see Vol. II. Pt. vn. ch. i. 



There is a dim tradition that the 

 first settlers in Ceylon an-ived from 

 the coasts of China. It is stated in 

 the inti'oduction to Ribeyeo's History 



of Ceylon, but rejected by Valenttn, 

 ch. iv. p. 61. 



The legend prefixed to Bibetro 

 is as follows. " Si nous en croyons 

 les historiens Portugais, les Chinois 

 ont ete les premiers qui out habittS 

 cette isle, et cela an-iva de cette 

 maniere. Ces peuples etoient les 

 maiti'es du commerce de tout I'orient ; 

 quelques imes de levu-s vaisseaux fu- 

 rent portez sm- les basses qui sont pres 

 du lieu, que depuis on appelle Chilao 

 par coiTuption au lieu de Cinilao. 

 Les equipages se sauvereut a ten-e, 

 et trouvant le pais bon et fertile ils 

 s'y etablirent : bientot apres ils s'al- 

 lierent avec les Malabares, et les Ma- 

 labares y envoyoient ceux qu'ils ex- 

 iloient et qu'ils nominoient Galas. 

 Ces exiles s'dtant confondus avec les 

 Chinois, de deux noms n'en ont fait 

 qu'un, et se sont appellea Clan-galas 



T 4 



