NO. 59. — 1907.] PORTUGUESE IN CEYLON. 



329 



A 16. 



The Commentaries of Afonso Dalboquerque. 1 

 [1503-4.] 



Coulam at the time that Afonso Dalboquerque came to it was 



a very great city This city was a great trading port, and 



in former times many merchants were settled there from all parts 

 of India, chiefly from Malaca. And being a port sheltered from all 

 the winds, it was the principal staple for all the ships that sailed 

 to India, both those that passed by the island of Ceylam and those 

 that sailed between Ceylam and Chale. 2 And at that time the 

 island of Ceylam was subject to it, and paid tribute to it. 3 From 

 Coulam to that island is some eighty leagues, and from Coulam to 

 Chale, which is about sixty leagues by coast, all belonged to it. 4 



1 This work by Albuquerque's son was first printed in 1557 : it is 

 from this edition that I have translated the extract. A revised and 

 enlarged edition was published in 1576, which was reprinted in 1774. 

 An English translation by Mr. W. de Gray Birch was issued by the 

 Hakluyt Society in 1875-84. The passage from which this extract is 

 taken appears to be based on the description of Coulam in Castanheda 

 liv. i. cap. lxi. 



2 This should be " Cael." Chale was an old port on the south side 

 of the Beypur river ; Cael (Kayal) was in the extreme south of India 

 on the Gulf of Mannar (see Hobson-J obson s. vv.). Castanheda (loc. 

 cit.) has " Cale." 



3 This is of course an error. 



4 See Barbosa (Hakluyt Soc. ed.) 161, 163, 173. 



A 17. 



Description of the Voyage from Lisbon to Calicut. 1 

 [1504.] 



And they bring [to Calacut] spicery from Malacca and Cella, 

 which is the great island of Taprobana, of which so much is written. 

 There are many precious stones there, it is 250 miles from Callecut, 

 and the cinnamon grows best of all 2 in the said island. 3 



1 This is a document in German, found among the papers of Dr. 

 Conrad Peutinger, and printed by Dr. B. Greiff in the Sechsundzwanzig- 



ster Jahres-Bericht des historischen Kreisvereins von Schwaben 



(Augsburg, 1861). 



2 The original has " aller fast," which may be an error for " aller 

 best." 



3 Leonardo Ca' Masser (see infra, A 23), in his summary account of 

 this voyage, has " Cumari a place, where were all the cinnamon [quills]." 

 Apparently " Cumari " represents Cape Comorin, and the " place " 

 must have been Ceylon. 



