CuAP. IL] IXDLiN, AEABL^JN", PERSL^ AUTHORITIES. 



G05 



He describes accurately the situation of the ancient 

 capital, in a valley between two hills, upon a bend of 

 the river called, " the estuary of rubies." The emperor 

 he names "Kina," a term I am unable to explain, as 

 the prince who then reigned was probably Bhuwaneka- 

 bahu IV., the first Singhalese monarch wdio held his coiut 

 at Gampola. 



The king on feast days rode on a white elephant, 

 his head adorned with very large rubies, which are 

 found in his country, imbedded in "a white stone 

 abounding in fissures, from which they cut it out and 

 give it to the polishers." Ibn Batuta enumerates three 

 varieties, " the red, the yellow, and the cornehan ; " but 

 the last must mean the sapphu^e, the second the 

 topaz ; and the first refers, I apprehend, to the amethyst ; 

 for in the foUomng passage, in describing the decorations 

 of the head of the white elephant, he speaks of " seven 

 rubies, each of which was larger than a hen's egg," 

 and a saucer made of a ruby as broad as the palm of the 

 hand. 



In the ascent from Gampola to Adam's Peak, he 

 speaks of the monkeys Avith beards hke a man (Pres- 

 hytes ursinus, or P. cejyhalopterus), and of the "fierce 

 leech," which liu'ks in the trees and damp grass, and 

 springs on the passers by. He describes the trees with 

 leaves that never fall, and the " red roses " of the rhodo- 

 dendrons which still characterise that lofty region. At 

 the foot of the last pinnacle which crowns the summit 

 of the peak, he found a minaret named after Alexander 

 the Great ^ ; steps hewn out of the rock, and " k'on pins 

 to which chains are appended" to assist the pilgrims 

 in theu" ascent ; a w^ell filled with fish, and last of all, on 



^ In oriental tradition, Alexander 

 is believed to have visited Ceylon in 

 company with the "philosopher Bo- 

 linus," by whom De Sacy believes 

 that the ^Vi-abs meant Apollonius of 

 Tyana. There is a Persian poem by 

 A'shref, the Zaffer Xamah Skendari, 



which describes the conqueror's voy- 

 age to Serendib, and his devotions at 

 the foot-mark of Adam, for reaching 

 which, he and Bolinus caused steps 

 to be he-wTi in the rock, and the 

 ascent secured by rivets and cliains. 

 — See Ouselet's Travels, vol. i. p. 58. 



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