NO. 50. — 1899.] ANTIQUARIAN DISCOVERY. 



first Portuguese who ever set foot on the Island. The matter is too 

 lengthy to be discussed in a note like the present, but I have abundant 

 authority to prove my statement. That the date on the boulder is 

 1501 is, therefore, impossible. 



As Mr. De Vos has pointed out, there is a conflict of opinion among 

 the Portuguese historians as to the place where Don Lourenco landed 

 and the date of the event. Costanheda implies that it was at Galle 

 in November or December, 1505; Barros that it was at Galle about the 

 middle of 1506; and Correa that it was at Colombo on August 18 

 or 19, 1506. All my attempts to discover the facts have, so far, been 

 in vain. 



From the passages in the Ceylon Literary Register mentioned by 

 Mr. De Yos, as well as that on page 149 of vol. III., it will be seen 

 that the padrao erected by D. Lourenco de Almeida was still standing 

 in 1508, but had been destroyed by the "Moors" within the next 

 decade. 



I cannot at present throw any further light on the inscribed 

 boulder ; but, in this connection, I may draw attention to the old tomb- 

 stone, now in the Colombo Museum, described in vol. I. of the Monthly 

 Literary Register, p. 14. 



D. W. Ferguson. 



Croydon, March 25, 1899. 



Mr. Harwaed said he inclined to the view of Mr. de Vos, that 

 the cross and lettering (not figures or date) were added to the boulder 

 long after the coat of arms. 



Mr. Price had inspected the stone and considered that different 

 workmanship, probably at different times, was represented in this coat 

 of arms as against the date. 



The President suggested that it was possible a clever workman 

 might have worked at the coat of arms and an inferior one on this date, 

 and that further investigation should be directed to comparing other 

 Portuguese figures of that particular age with those on the boulder, and 

 noting whether they were shaped in the same way. 



Mr. J. Ferguson said : — It was his pleasing duty to propose a cordial 

 vote of thanks to his Lordship the Bishop of Colombo for presiding 

 over the Meeting that evening. With reference to what his Lordship 

 had said about being their President for another year, and which office 

 he had so pleasantly and cordially accepted, he might say that in their 

 opinion the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society had never 

 had an abler President, and could not find another in the Island more 

 fit to preside over it. (Hear, hear.) If there had been a lack of Pre- 

 sidential Addresses, he might state the blame was more with the 

 Members of the Society than with the President. There had been a 

 great lack of Papers for some time, and it was impossible to expect 

 their President to prepare an Address for them if they did not supply 

 the means— it would be like requiring him to make bricks without 

 straw. He hoped that in the coming sessions Members — young as well 

 as old — would send in more Papers. He could testify to the patience 

 and attention his Lordship had given to the work of the Society, and 



