278 JOURNAL, R,A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. X. 



both of which are considered the best in the whole of the 

 East," which LeG. expands into : — " It is well known how 

 much the Mogol, the Kings of Pegu, of Siam, and other 

 Indian Kings value the Elephants of Ceylon. The Pepper 

 that grows in this Island is sold at a much higher price than 

 that of other countries." I have referred above to Lee's 

 mistake in translating " bre" as "corn" instead of "resin"; 

 but in fact Ribeiro says that Ceylon produces " much resin of 

 two kinds " : these he describes more fully in chapter XI. 

 LeG. has a long Addition to this third chapter, in which 

 he deals with cinnamon, areca (this makes it the more 

 remarkable that he did not detect the error of " area "), the 

 talipot, &c. Among other things he says : — " I do not think 

 that the white sandal is as common in Ceylon as Jean 

 Ribeyro says, at least there is not much trade in it, and all 

 the good white sandal is obtained from the Island of 

 Timor." Now Ribeiro nowhere that I can find makes the 

 statement here attributed to him, so the worthy Abbe is 

 knocking down a man of straw of his own erection. 



Chapter IV. — Ribeiro says that Colombo was situated on 

 a bay (bahia). B. has the absurd reading " lotica" (apothe- 

 cary's shop), but LeG. has had the sense to write "arise" 

 (creek). B. has also the nonsensical reading "sirvada" 

 for " situada." This chapter is a very short one, and 

 enumerates the chief towns, &c, all round the coast of 

 Ceylon, with the distances between each. To it LeG. 

 appends the following remarks : — " The Nations have not 

 yet come to an agreement with respect to measures : the 

 leagues are in some countries double and treble what 

 they are in others ; so that one cannot be surprised that 

 the Authors who have written on the Island of Ceylon 

 are so little in accord among themselves as to its extent ; 

 but it seems extraordinary that a single writer does not 

 agree with himself. Jean Ribeyro says in the first chapter 

 that this Island has a circumference of one hundred and 

 ninety leagues, and by the reckoning which he here 

 makes we can find only one hundred and sixty-six. The 



