CHAP. II.] ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF CEYLON. 



327 



there exists to the present day the remains 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 third and last farewell. 



To the question as to what particular race the inha- 

 bitants of ylon at that time belonged, and whence or 

 at what period the island was originally peopled, the 

 Buddhist chronicles furnish no reply. No memorials 

 of the aborigines themselves, no monuments or inscrip- 

 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 Polynesia to 

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

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

 morial customs, of the people of Ceylon. 2 



1 By Dutugaimunu, B.C. 164. For 

 an account of the present condition 

 of this Dagoba at Bintenne, see Vol. 

 II. Pt. ix. ch. ii. 



2 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 outriggers, which are never 

 used on the Arabian side of India, 

 but which are peculiar to the Ma- 

 layan race in almost every country 

 to which they have migrated ; Mada- 

 gascar and the Comoro islands, Sooloo, 

 Luzon, the Society Islands, and Ton- 

 ga. PRITCHARD'S Races of Man, ch. 

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

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



There is a dim tradition that the 

 first settlers in Ceylon arrived from 

 the coasts of China. It is stated in 

 the introduction to RIBEYRO'S History 

 of Ceylon, but rejected by VALEXTYN, 

 ch. iv. p. 61. 



The legend prefixed to RIBEYRO 

 is as follows. "Si nous en croyons 

 les historiens Portugais, les Chiuois 



ont e"te" les premiers qui ont habite" 

 cette isle, et cela arriva de cette 

 maniere. Ces peuples e"toient les 

 maitres du commerce de tout 1'orient ; 

 quelques unes de leurs vaisseaux fu- 

 rent porte"z sur les basses qui sont pres 

 du lieu, que depuis on appelle Chilao 

 par corruption au lieu de Cinilao. 

 Les Equipages se sauverent a terre, 

 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'Us nominoient Galas. 

 Ces exiles s^tant confondus avec les 

 Chinois, de deux noms n'en ont fait 

 qu'un, et se sont appelles Chin-galas 

 et ensuite Chingalais." RIBEYRO, 

 Hist, de Ceylan, pref. du trad. 



It is only necessary to observe in 

 reference to this hypothesis that it 

 is at variance with 'the structure of 

 the Singhalese alphabet, in which n 

 and g form but one letter. DE 

 BARROS and DE COTJTO likewise 

 adhere to the theory of a mixed race, 

 originating in the settlement of Chi- 



