J 844.] Notice of the Ajaib-al- Mukhlukut. 653 



Adam's Peak in Ceylon, is represented as Gebel-as-Serendib, (J-ao* 

 i__> jJ «uJf on the summit of which Adam alighted after his expulsion from 

 paradise ; and the prints of whose foot is said to be seen on the rock. 

 Mines of red rubies and of diamonds occur on this mountain. These 

 precious stones are washed down to the base by the rains and streams. 

 Serendib is famous for its wood aloes : the women perform suth* 



Gebel-al-Kerman. — The mountains of Karamania the author states, 

 produce a stone which when ignited, burns like firewood, (doubtless 

 coal or mineral bitumen.) 



Gebel-al-Maknatis, /j^^UaJIJa^ The magnetic or loadstone moun- 

 tain is supposed to be situate near the mountains of Kolzum, (Red 

 Sea,) and is avoided by mariners, lest their ship be attacted by it, 

 (hence the story in Sinbad the sailor), 



Among volcanos or fire mountains, Gebel-un~nar, are enumerated 

 those of Sicily and Dibawend ; and one named Kalsian, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of which no animal can exist, and birds even in flying over it 

 perish. 



according to the Russian traveller Parrob, is 2700 toises = 17,260 feet, more than 700 

 feet higher than Dibawend. 



The Armenians call Ararat, Massissensar, or Mountain of the Ark, and it is still be- 

 lieved that the petrified remains of the ark exist on the summit. In a Church at Nova 

 Schamachia, near thejunction of the Aras with the Kur, a cross is exhibited, said to be 

 made out of a plank of the ark, bestowed by an angel on an Armenian monk, who was 

 struggling in vain to reach the top of the mountain. Ararat is stated to be of volcanic 

 formation : pumice and lava are seen on its sides, and warm springs gush forth at its 

 base, the existence therefore of the mines of sulphur, mentioned by Cazvini, is by no 

 means improbable. 



* The Mahomedans believe that when Adam and Eve were ejected from paradise, 

 for eating of the forbidden fruit, Adam fell on Serendib ; and Eve on the shores of the 

 Red Sea at Judda. After the lapse of two centuries, Adam was conducted to his wife 

 at Mount Ararat by the angel Gabriel, they subsequently returned to Ceylon, whence 

 the human race was propagated. Adam is supposed to be of such gigantic stature, that 

 while one foot rested on the mountain, the other was in the sea, and that the print is 

 70 cubits long. Knox, however, describes the print as being only about two feet long ; 

 and Moncony as two spans in length. The Buddhists of Ceylon, however, claim the 

 print as that of the foot of Buddha left when he ascended to heaven. They call the 

 mountain Hamalel : and the Portuguese have named it, Pico de Adam. 



It is 7420 feet high, and composed of granite and gneiss. Rubies are still found around 

 its base, though I am not aware, as before remarked, of the occurrence of the diamond 

 in Ceylon. Garnet, the cinnamon stone, sapphire, cat's eye, and moon stone, are the 

 only other gems of estimation which it produces. Iron, manganese and plumbago are 

 its chief mineral products. 



