No. 60. — 1908.] couto : history of ceylon. 



109 



disagreement thaff prevails among writers, and the fictions that 

 Marco Polo Veneto and Nicolao de Conti with other Venetians 

 have written 1 . And because we discussed the truth of this 

 with Chingalas who were very old and conversant with the 

 affairs of that island, and with its rites and customs, and they 

 told us what is in their writings 2 , it will be well that we dispel 

 the confusion that has existed hitherto. 



This Peak, which is called Adam's, is a mountain that is in 

 the heart of that island, in certain territories that they call 

 Dinavaca 3 , and is so high, that it is seen from a distance of 

 twelve leagues 4 , when one approaches the island. The natives 

 call it Amalala Saripadi 5 , which in their language means 

 "mountain of the footprint" 6 . It goes rising from below, 

 and above divides into two 7 peaks, and on one of them is this 

 footprint, and from both descend several streams of water, 

 which are formed by some springs that exist above, and go in 

 different directions to form at the foot of the mountain a small 

 river that almost encircles it. In this stream 8 the pilgrims 

 that go to make their offerings to the footprint bathe, for that 

 is their baptism, and they hold that there they are purified. 

 On the summit of one of these peaks there is a flat surface of 



1 The animus displayed by Couto in this sentence is due to the fact 

 that the Venetians were the detested rivals of the Portuguese, the hatred 

 being mutual, since the discovery of the route to India had destroyed 

 the eastern trade of Venice (see Hunter i. 186-7). 



2 As Couto was never in Ceylon, it must have been at Goa that he met 

 these old Sinhalese (c/. supra, V. i. v., p. 62, V. n. x., p. 101). 



3 See supra, p. 34. Sa e Menezes (op. cit.) says " in the territories 

 of Ceitavaca " ! 



4 Gf. supra, p. 36, note 2 . Here Valentyn interpolates : — " It begins 

 really near Guilemale, and Dinavaca lies to the west of it, and one can 

 see it much farther than twelve miles away, since Guilemale lies 24 hours 

 from Colombo." 



5 Valentyn alters this to " Hammanelle Siripade." (Cf. Tennent's 

 erroneous note in his Ceylon ii. 132.) 



6 This is, of course, not literally exact, Samanala Siripade meaning 

 " Saman's-dwelling of the sacred footprint." By some extraordinary 

 misapprehension, Sa e Menezes says that Amalala Saripadi " is the 

 same as ' land of Eve ' " ! 



7 By a printer's error apparently, Valentyn has " 12," upon which 

 Skeen founds a footnote unjustifiably charging Couto with error. The 

 latter probably meant the real Peak and the False Peak (Bena Sama- 

 nala). 



8 Valentyn interpolates " named Sitegangele," which calls forth 

 another footnote from Skeen. 



