1882,] 



IBX BATUTA IN THE MALDIVES AND CEYLON. 



53 



■side of th« path. In the grotto of Khidhr the pilgrims leave 

 their belongings; thence they mount two miles further to the 

 summit, where is the Foot. 



Description of the Foot. 

 The Impression of the noble Foot, that of our father Adam, 

 is observed in a black and lofty rock, in an open space. The 

 Foot is sunk in the stone, in such wise that its site is quite de- 

 pressed; its length is eleven spans.* The inhabitants of China 

 came here formerly; they have cut out of the stone the mark 

 of the great toe, and of that next to it, and have deposited this 

 fragment in a temple of the town of Zeitoun ( Tseu-thoung ) 

 whither men repair from the most distant provinces.! In the rock 

 whereon is the print of the foot, are cut nine holes, in which the 

 'dolater pilgrims place gold, precious stones and pearls. You 

 nay see the fakirs, arrived from e the grotto of Khidhr* seeking to 

 get ahead of one another, and so to get what may be in these 

 holes. In our case we found there only some little stones, and a 



* Dr. Marshall, who in 1819 ascended the Peak with Mr. So Sawers, says 

 the foot is 5 ft. 6 in. in length. Tennent says it is " about 5 feet long, and o£ 

 proportionate breadth" (Vol. II. p. 140), Knox (p. 3) says "about two feet 

 long," but he never saw it. Ribeyro, Liv. i, C. xxiii., says, " two palms long and 

 eight inches broad." See further Yule's Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. 261. Lieut. 

 Malcolm, the first Englishman who made the ascent, (1815), says the impression 

 is in kabook or ironstone. [ " The heel is much higher than the toes, and the 

 artificiality of the whole is palpable. A thick raised edging of cement marks 

 the rude outline of a foot 5 ft. 7 in. long, and 2 ft. 7 in. broad at the point 

 where the heel begins to curve. The interstices between the toes are also formed 

 of cement, and the whole of the markings of the foot every now and again need 

 repair. The inner portion of the heel and instep are the only parts that are 

 clearly natural [gneiss] rock, (Skeen, loc. cit., p. 203.)— B.~] 



•f Marco Polo -says that an embassy was sent by the great Khan in 1284 

 while he himself was in China, to obtain relics of our father Adam. They 

 obtained a couple of teeth, some hair, and a dish of prophyry used by our first 

 parent. He does not mention that they brought a piece of the rock from the 

 foot-print,— Yule's Marco Polo, Vol. II., p. 259, 



