30 



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



Scylla between Sicily and the land of Italy. And moreover, 

 as the opinion is here 1 held that the two countries were con- 

 tinuous one with the other, so also in those parts they have a 

 similar one regarding the island of Ceilam and the land of Cape 

 Comorij ; and from the proofs that they both exhibit their 

 opinion appears more worthy of belief than ours 2 . For in 

 weather when the sea is calm the men who sail there are able 

 as they go along to see all that lies at the bottom of the water, 

 the rocky bed forming a shoal , and the water being very clear : 

 and they that have most experience of this are those that fish 

 for seed-pearl. Of which fishery, it being one of the most 

 important of those parts, we treat particularly in the books of 

 our Commerce in the chapter on pearls and seed-pearl 3 . This 

 opinion of the country, of the island's having been joined to 

 the coast of the mainland, is confirmed by what is said by the 

 peoples of it, principally those of Choromandel, when speaking 

 of the time that the blessed apostle Saint Thomas converted 



that region to the faith of Christ 4 



There is moreover current among the natives of the island 

 of Ceilam a tradition that this name is not its proper one, but 

 One given to it by chance ; for its ancient name is Ilanare, 

 or Tranate, as others say 5 , and among the learned it is so 



1 That is, in Europe. 



2 On this subject, see Ten. i. 6-7, 13-4. 



3 In III. vi. iv. Barros, after speaking of the pearl fishery of Bahrein 

 in. the Persian Gulf, adds : — "But this fishery is not as great as that 

 of the island of Ceilam in India, and Aynam in China, which three 

 islands are the principal sources of the whole of that East where that 

 oyster breeds. Of which fisheries, and of those that there are in the 

 Antilles of Castile, we treat in detail in our Books of Commerce, in 

 the chapter on pearls and seed-pearl, as we have already pointed out 

 in another place." Unhappily, the book referred to was never written, 

 or has utterly disappeared. 



4 Barros proceeds to relate a story of St. Thomas at Meliapor, which, 

 he says, was at that time twelve leagues from the sea, while in the time 

 of the Portuguese it was only a stone's throw therefrom, showing how 

 the sea had encroached in the space of some fifteen hundred years. (He 

 repeats the details, in much the same words, in III. vn. xi.) 



5 Barbosa (166) says "the Indians call it Ylinarim." Couto (p. 65) 

 spells the name " Illenare," and Castanheda (II. xxii.) " Hibenaro " 

 (where b is an error for I). All these varieties of spellings represent 

 Tamil Ilan-n&du, " the country of Ceylon " (Ilam= Silam = Sihalam)- 

 " Tranate " may stand for Tam. tiru-n&du, " the sacred country," just 

 as " Itterubenero," which, according to Ant. Galvao (104), was the 

 name by which the Moors called Ceylon, seems to represent Tam. tiru 

 tlan-nddu, " the sacred country of Ceylon" (b again being an error for I). 



