380 



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



know of, written after the " discovery" of the island by the Portu- 

 guese. That given by Castanheda in lib. ii. cap. xxii. of his Historia 

 is identical in most of the details, showing that he must have taken his 

 account almost bodily from Barbosa's work. 



2 Ramusio has " of Syria " in place of " our people " — a curious 

 error which I cannot explain. 



3 After 44 Indians " Ram. has 44 Tenarisim, which means land of 

 delights." (On this see Hobson-Jobson s.v. «« Tenasserim.") The 

 Lisbon edition has " the great island Ceilam. where our lord the king 

 has a fortress for trade lately built, which Lopo Soares erected when gover- 

 nor of India.'''' The words I have italicized are an evident interpolation 

 of the copyist's, referring, as they do, to an event that took place in 

 1518. Castanheda, in copying from Barbosa, alters the passage as 

 follows : " The Arabian and Persian Moors call it Ceillao, which in 

 their language means a thing with a channel. This name they apply 

 to it because of the channel that divides it from the coast of the main 

 land. The Malabars and other Indians call it Hibenaro, which means 

 luxuriant land." With regard to this explanation of 44 Ceilao " see 

 note 28 below. " Hibenaro " seems to be a misprint for 44 Hilenaro," 

 which is the same as Barbosa's " Ylanarim " ; and the meaning 

 given to this name has been wrongly transferred from " Tenarisim." 

 " Ylanarim " is by Barros spelt 44 Ilenare " and by Couto 44 Illanare," 

 which, the latter writer says, 44 means in the Malabar language the 

 kingdom of the island." In reality it seems to be the Tamil Ila-nddu 

 (*' country of Ceylon "), as surmised by Burnouf (Becherches sur la 



' Geographic ancienne de Ceylan 109-12). 



4 Stanley has the following footnote to this : 44 There is some- 

 thing wrong here ; for, from Cape Comorin to Maylepur is more than 

 double fifty leagues ; the direction of the compass and length of the 

 channel make it probable that the island of Manar was intended 

 instead of Maylepur." (Besides, Maylepur was not an island, but a 

 city, as Barbosa himself tells us further on.) But fifty leagues (say two 

 hundred miles) in a north-easterly direction would bring us almost to 

 Point Calimere. According to Barbosa's own statements (172-74), 

 from Cape Comory to Quilacare was twenty leagues, thence to Cael 

 ten leagues, thence to Cholmendar twelve leagues. 



5 I do not know what the Spanish word is that Stanley translates thus ; 

 but the Lisbon version has 44 muy vicosos," which means 44 very 

 vigorous. ' ' Castanheda substitutes ' * and they hold the belly in honour. ' ' 



6 Castanheda inserts " which they call patolas " (see Hobson-Jobson 

 s.v. 44 Patola"). 



7 Castanheda adds 44 and large aljofar" which is absurd, as aljofar 

 means " seed-pearl." 



8 Knox {Hist. Bel. 89) says of the Sinhalese : 44 Heretofore 

 generally they bored holes in their ears, and hung weights in them to 

 make them grow long, like the Malabars, but this king [Raja Sinha] 

 not boring his, that fashion is almost left off." The earliest editions 

 of the journal of Spilbergen contain a portrait drawn from life of the 

 then king of Kandy, Vimala Dharma Surya, showing his ears loaded 

 with rings and reaching to his shoulders. 



9 Cast, has : 44 The language of the heathen is Canara and Malabar." 



10 In Ram. this reads : ' ' Many Malabar Moors come to reside in 

 this island because of enjoying very great liberty, [and because] in 

 addition to all the commodities and delights of the world, it is a country 

 of very temperate climate, and men live there longer than in any 

 other part of India, always healthy, and there are few that fall ill." 



