568 



MEDIAEVAL HISTORY. 



[PART V. 



and emporium ! , for the emporium in that place is the 

 greatest in those parts. 



" The island has also a community of Christians 2 , 

 chiefly resident Persians, with a presbyter ordained in 

 Persia, a deacon, and a complete ecclesiastical ritual. 3 



" The natives and their kings are of different races. 4 

 The temples are numerous, and in one in particular, situ- 

 ated on an eminence 5 , is the great hyacinth, as large as a 

 pine-cone, the colour of fire, and flashing from a distance, 

 especially when catching the beams of the sun a match- 

 less sight. 



the grandest ruby that was ever seen, 

 a span in length, the thickness of a 

 man's arm ; brilliant beyond descrip- 

 tion, and without a single flaw. It has 

 the appearance of a glowing fire, and 

 its worth cannot be estimated in 

 money. The Grand Khan Kublai 

 sent ambassadors to this monarch to 

 offer for it the value of a city, but he 

 would not part with it for all the 

 treasures of the world, as it was a 

 jewel handed doivn by his ancestors 

 on the throne" Trans. MAESDEN, 

 4to. 1818. It is most probable that 

 the stone described by Marco Polo 

 was not a ruby, but an amethyst, 

 which is found in large crystals in 

 Ceylon, and which modem mineralo- 

 gists believe to be the " hyacinth " of 

 the ancients. (DANA'S Mineralogy, 

 vol. ii. p. 196.) COESALI says it was a 

 carbuncle (Ramusio, vol. i. p. 180) ; 

 and JORDAN DE SEVERAC, about the 

 year 1323, repeats the story of its 

 being a ruby so large that it could 

 not be grasped in the closed hand. 

 (Recueil de Voy., Soc. Geog. Paris, 

 vol. iv. p. 50.) If this resplendent 

 object really exhibited the dimen- 

 sions assigned to it, the probability 

 is that it was not a gem at all, but 

 one of those counterfeits of glass, in 

 producing which STEABO relates that 

 the artists of Alexandria attained the 

 highest possible perfection (1. xvi. 

 c. 2. sec. 25). Its luminosity by 

 night is of course a fiction, unless, 

 indeed, like the emerald pillar in the 

 temple of Hercules at Tyre, which 

 HEEODOTUS describes as " shining 

 brightly by night," it was a hollow 



cylinder into which a lamp could be 

 introduced. Herod, ii. 44. 



Of the ultimate history of this re- 

 nowned jewel we have no authentic 

 narrative ; but it is stated in the 

 Chinese accounts of Ceylon that early 

 in the fourteenth century an officer 

 was sent by the emperor to purchase a 

 " carbuncle " of unusual lustre. " This 

 served as the ball on the emperor's 

 cap, and was transmitted to succeed- 

 ing emperors on their accession as a 

 precious heirloom, and worn on the 

 birthday and at the grand courts held 

 on the first day of the year. It was 

 upwards of an ounce in weight, and 

 cost 100,000 strings of cash. Every 

 time a grand levee was held during 

 the darkness of the night, the red 

 lustre filled the palace, and it was 

 for this reason designated ' The Red 

 Palace-Illuminator.' " Tsih-ke, or 

 Miscellaneous Record, quoted in the 

 Kih clw-king-yuen, Mirror of Science, 

 b. xxxiii. p. 1, 2. 



1 The port and harbour of Point 

 de Galle. 



2 Nestorians, whose " Catholicos " 

 resided first at Ctesiphon, and after- 

 wards at Mosul. VINCENT, Periplm, 

 Sfc.j vol. ii. p. 507. For an exami- 

 nation of the hypotheses based on 

 this statement of Cosmas, see Sir J. 

 EMERSON TENNENT'S History of 

 Christianity in Ceylon, ch. i. 



3 " AiiTovpyiiir" literally liturgy ; 

 which meant originally the pomp and 

 ceremonial of worship as well as the 

 form of prayer. * ' A\\6(pv\ut. 



5 Probably that at Mihintala, the 

 sacred hill near Anarajapoora. 



