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



THE DISCOVERY OF CEYLON BY THE 

 PORTUGUESE IN 1506. 



By Donald Ferguson. 



A nobre ilha tambem de Taprobana, 

 Ja pelo nome antiguo tao famosa, 

 Quanto agora soberba e soberana, 

 Pela cortiga calida, cheirosa, 

 Delia dara tributo a Lusitana 

 Bandeira, quando excelsa, e gloribsa, 

 Vencendo , se erguera na torre erguida 

 Em Columbo, dos proprios tao fcemida. 



Camoes, Lusiadas x. 5L 



The first landing of the Portuguese in Ceylon has been 

 the subject of so much confusion and misstatement, even on 

 the part of writers within half a century after its occurrence, 

 that I have thought it worth while, in connection with the 

 quatercentenary of the event, to gather together the earliest 

 accounts of Dom Lourenco de Almeida's visit to the island 

 and any documents that throw light thereon. These will be 

 found in Appendix B at the end of this Paper. In Appendix A 

 I have given all the references to Ceylon that I could find, 

 from the time of Vasco da Gama's pioneer visit to India, in 1498, 

 to the year before the news of the " discovery " of Ceylon 

 reached Portugal. Finally, in Appendix C I have given all 

 references to Ceylon from the first Portuguese landing down 

 to the year 1518, when Lopo Soares erected the first fortress 

 at Columbo. All these extracts are arranged, as far as possible , 

 in chronological order. My reasons for giving those in Appen- 

 dices A and B I shall explain further on. 



Tennent's well-known work has obtained such a high 

 reputation (and deservedly so), that it is most unfortunate 

 that the chapter dealing with the Portuguese period in Ceylon 

 (vol. II., chap, i.) is marred by many errors, chiefly due to 

 the author's ignorance of the Portuguese language. The 

 paragraphs relating to Dom Lourenco's visit contain (with 



