No. 60. — 1908.] COTTTO : HISTORY OF CEYLON. 



117 



This is held by all in the island for a miracle 1 , and if it is not 

 one 2 (for it may well be that God desires that they all make 

 that reverence to the footprint of his apostle), 3 there must be 

 some natural cause for it 4 ; and what appears to us is, that it 

 originates from some property that that mountain has of 

 attracting to itself trees, as the loadstone does iron. And as 

 we read of that fountain of Pliny which is in our Portugal, 

 that if a very large tree is brought near to the water it swallows 

 the whole of it, and draws it in branch by branch until it has 

 entirely disappeared : now let the curious philosophize over this. 

 This whole island is so prosperous, that the king of Cotta 

 having commanded two paras of corn 5 to be sown, it responded 

 with sixty. The jungles all consist of trees of citrus 6 and other 

 excellent fruits 7 . It has pepper, ginger, cardamom, many 

 sugarcanes, honey, many civet cats, elephants, many precious 

 stones, rubies, catseyes, chrysolites, amethysts, true sapphires, 

 and others white 8 , very fine beryl, so pure that it looks like 

 crystal 9 , and all hold it for such, in which they are deceived. 

 It has iron, coir, tow 10 , many rivers of excellent water, in 

 which are bred many and good fish ; it has many makers of 

 arms, chiefly of firelocks, where are made the best in the whole 

 of India 11 . It has many bays and ports in one and another 

 part, capable of containing large ships and vessels. It has 

 many other things which I omit in order not to be discursive 12 . 



Dec. V., Bk. vi., Chap. iii. 



H* * * * * * 



The principal [pagodes resorted to by pilgrims] 



and those held in most veneration throughout the whole of 



1 Valentyn has " great wonder." 



2 Valentyn omits these words. 



3 Valentyn omits the rest of the paragraph. 



4 On this subject see Skeen 64-6. 



5 The original is trigo, which really means " wheat," but this grain 

 can hardly be meant here. 



6 Literary " thorny trees," by which general term Portuguese writers 

 described trees of the citrus genus. 



7 Valentyn omits the foregoing paragraph. 



8 Literary " of water. ' ' Valentyn has weeke (soft) , which is incorrect. 



9 Valentyn omits the rest of this sentence. 



10 Instead of " coir, tow," Valentyn has " lacker- work " ! 



11 Cf. supra, p. 72. What follows, Valentyn omits. 



12 In view of the loss of Barros's Geography , it is to be regretted that 

 Couto has not been more discursive regarding Ceylon. 



