46 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XIX, 



Curiously enough, the Mahdwansa (the ancient Sinhalese 

 history of Ceylon) does not contain nearly so many refer- 

 ences to the coconut as it does to the palmyra palm, probably 



and bali a coconut is placed at the feet of the patient, and the devil- 

 dancer concludes the ceremony by imploring that the ailments of the 

 patient may descend to the coconut. 



4. The invocation consists of the repetition of a number of verses 

 which are herewith enclosed. This poem was composed by Totagam- 

 muwe Sri Rahula, the Shakespeare of Ceylon, who by the way was a 

 contemporary of the Bard of Avon, though they lived in different 

 countries and were unknown to each other. In the commencement 

 the poem sets out that the coconut was imported into Ceylon to be 

 placed at the feet of Wijaya on the occasion of a bali, intended perhaps 

 to avert the evils of his ingratitude to Kuveni and murder of her people. 

 According to this poem the home of the coconut was beyond seven seas. 

 Then it goes on to describe the different kinds: the king-coconut, 

 the scoert-husked* coconut, the diminutive coconut, and the tembili or 

 the first-mentioned kind, being the one from which the other kinds 

 sprang. Before this poem was composed in Sinhalese it is believed 

 that the same existed in Sanskrit, like most of the mantras or charms 

 used in devil-dancing, but it was rendered into Sinhalese and versified 

 for facility of learning it by heart and to please the patient by its 

 melody. This poem bears on it the impress of antiquity and is full of 

 poetic genius and fire : no one now living can compose poetry like this , 

 I think. This poem is repeated throughout Ceylon. 



5. If this statement of importation of the coconut be true, this is 

 a new and important fact, and Kusta Raja must at once be deprived 

 of the credit of being the first finder of the nut and the honour be given 

 to whom it is due. In this connection it is interesting to be reminded 

 that the coconut tree flourishes best in that part of the Island wher^ 

 Wijaya reigned. 



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* " Scoert-lmshed coconut " puzzled me somewhat ; but I am inclined to 

 think " so.oerV stands for the Dutch zoet, sweets It is this description 

 of coconut which I believe Mudaliyar G-unasekera translates Navase (see 

 page 9). Navase, I know, is a kind of coconut with a sweetish husk 

 which, when tender, is eaten with great relish by the villagers. — B. 

 Anthonisz. 



