MEDIAEVAL HISTOET. 



[PART V. 



who in the reign of Mahomet of Ghuznee, A.D. 1030, de- 

 scribed this singular feature in the trade with the island, 

 of which he speaks under the name of Lanka, says it 

 was the belief of the Arabian mariners that the parties 

 with whom they held their mysterious dealings were 

 demons or savages. 1 



Concurrent testimony, to the same effect, is found 

 in the recital of the Chinese Buddhist, FA HIAN, who in 

 the third century, describing the same strange peculiarity 

 of the inhabitants in those days, (whom he also designates 

 " demons,") says they deposited, unseen, the precious 

 articles which they come down to barter with the foreign 

 merchants resorting to their shores. 2 



ou de fleches, ils font un modele avec 

 des feiiilles d'arbre, et vont la nuit 

 porter ce modele, et la moitie d'un 

 cerf ou d'un sanglier, a la porte d'un 

 armurier, qui voyant le matin cette 

 viande pendue a sa porte, scait ce que 

 cela veut dire : il travaille aussi-tot et 

 3 jours apres il pend les fleches ou 

 les baches au meme endroit ou etoit 

 la viande, et la nuit suivante le Beda 

 lesvient prendre." RIBEYRO, Hist, 

 de Ceylan, A. D. 1686, ch. xxiv. p. 179. 

 1 " Les marins se reunissent pour 

 dire que lorsque les navires sont 

 arrives dans ces parages, quelques uns 

 de 1'equipage montent sur des cha- 

 loupes et descendent a teiTe pour y 

 deposer, soit de 1'argent, soit des objets 

 utiles a la personne des babitans, tels 

 que des pagnes, du sel, etc. Lelende- 

 main, quand ils reviennent, ils trou- 

 vent a la place de 1'argent des pagnes 

 et du sel, une quantity de girofle 

 d'luie valeur e"gale. On ajoute que 

 ce commerce se fait avec des genies, 

 ou, suivant d'autres, avec des bommes 

 restes al'etat sauvage." ALBYROTJXI, 

 transl. by REINATJD, Introd. to ABOTJL- 

 FEDA, sec. iii. p. ccc. See also 

 REINATJD, Mem. sur VInde, p. 343. 

 I hare before alluded (p. 538, .) to 

 the treatise De Moribus Brachma- 

 norum, ascribed to Palladius, one 

 version of which is embodied in the 

 spurious Life of Alexander the Great, 

 written by the Pseudo-Callisthenes. 

 In it the traveller from Thebes, who 



is the author's informant, states, that 

 when in Ceylon, he obtained pepper 

 from the Besadoe, and succeeded in 

 getting so near them as to be able to 

 describe accurately their appearance, 

 their low stature and feeble confi- 

 guration, their large heads and 

 shaggy uncut hair, a description 

 which in every particular agrees with 

 the aspect of the Veddahs at the 

 present day. His expression that 

 he succeeded in " getting near " 

 them, i<j>Vaaa eyyi'C riLv iaa\ovfuvttv 

 Btcrdduiv, shows their propensity to 

 conceal themselves even when bring- 

 ing the articles which they had col- 

 lected in the woods to sell. PSEUDO 

 CALLISTHENES, lib. iii. ch, vii. Paris, 

 1846, p. 103. 



2 " Les marchands des autres roy- 

 aumes y faisaient le commerce : 

 quand le temps de ce commerce 

 e"tait venu, les ge"nies et les demons 

 ne paraissaient pas; mais ils met- 

 taient en avant des choses precieuses 

 dont ils marquaient le juste prix, 

 s'il convenait aux marchands, ceux- 

 ci I'acquittaient et prenaient la mar- 

 chandise." FA HIAN, Foe-kmw-kt. 

 Transl. REMITSAT, ch. xxxviii. p. 332. 



There are a multitude of Chinese 

 authorities to the same effect. One 

 of the most remarkable books in any 

 language is a Chinese Encyclopaedia 

 which, under the title of ^Ven-hian- 

 thmmy-khao, or " ^Researches into 

 ancient Monuments" contains a his- 



