440 



SCIENCES AND SOCIAL AETS. 



[PART IV. 



CHAP. m. 



EAKLY COMMERCE, SHIPPING, AND PRODUCTIONS. 



TRADE. At a very early period the mass of the people 

 of Ceylon were essentially agricultural, and the propor- 

 tion of the population addicted to other pursuits consisted 

 of the small number of handicraftsmen required in a 

 community amongst whom civilisation and refinement 

 were so slightly developed, that the bulk of the inhabitants 

 may be said to have had few wants beyond the daily 

 provision of food. 



Upon trade the natives appear to have looked at all 

 tunes with indifference. Other nations, both to the east 

 and west of Ceylon, made the island their halting-place 

 and emporium ; the Chinese brought thither the wares 

 destined for the countries beyond the Euphrates, and the 

 Arabians and Persians met them with their products in 

 exchange ; but the Singhalese appear to have been unin- 

 terested spectators of this busy traffic, in which they can 

 hardly be said to have taken any share. The inhabitants 

 of the opposite coast of India, aware of the natural wealth 

 of Ceylon, participated largely in its development, and 

 the Tamils, who eagerly engaged in the pearl fishery, gave 

 to the gulf of Manaar the name of Salabham, " the sea of 

 gain." 1 



Native Shipping. The only mention made of na- 

 tive ships in the sacred writings of the Singhalese, is 



1 The Tamils gave the same name 

 to Chilaw, which was the nearest 

 town to the pearl fishery (and which 



Ibn Batuta calls Salawaf) ; and 

 eventually they called the whole is- 

 land Salabham. 



