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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. yiii. 



to Ceylon, a country in close mercantile and political connec- 

 tion with Magadha, and capable of offering in return many 

 highly-valued articles not found in the Far East. If this 

 trade be admitted — -as the discovery of pumice (if not the 

 jade) in Ceylon almost compels it to be*— -the voyage of 

 Wijaya and his companions is no longer a matter for surprise 

 or doubt ; they simply took a well-known route in search of 

 " pastures new and fields Arcadian," tempted probably by sto- 

 ries of the gem and pearl-producing capabilities of this Island. 



In support of this theory I annex an extract from Prof. 

 Max Dnncker's History of Antiquity (translated by Abbott, 

 1879), the italics being mine. 



Regarding the Phoenicians it is said : —"The south-west 

 coast of Arabia was no longer a place for producing and 

 exporting frankincense and spices ; it became the trading 

 place of the Somali coast, and before the year 1000 B.C. 

 was also the trading place for the products qf India, which 

 ships of the Indians carried to the shore of the Sabeans and 



Chatramites .....By the foundation and success of the 



trade to Ophir and the most remote places of the East which 

 they reached, their commerce obtained its widest extent and 

 brought in the richest returns. With incense and balsam 

 there came to Tyre cinnamon and cassia, sandalwood and 

 ivory, gold and pearls, from India, and the silk tissues of the 

 Distant East. " (Vol. II., pp. 297-298.) 



Dr. Duncker further points out that from his inscriptions 

 it is learnt that a Asoka is not only in connection with 

 Antiyaka— i.e. with is neighbour Antiochus, who sat on the 

 throne from 262 to 247 B.C., and with Turamaya, i.e. with 

 Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt (285-246 B.C.),-but also 

 with Antigonus Gonnatas of Macedonia (272-258 B.C.), 

 with Alissanda,— i.e. Alexander of Epirus (272-258 B.C.), 



and even with Magas, King of Cyrene Not merely 



were these lands of the Distant West known, Asoka was in 

 connection with them. Ambassadors were sent to their 

 princes, and are said to have received the assurance that no 



* Latterly, however, a considerable amount of pumice from the 

 Krakatoa eruption in the Sunda Straits has been washed ashore both on 

 the coast of India and near Jaffna. (See Ceylon Observer, April 10th 

 and March 23rd, 1885.) 



