"As many as four or five hundred go thither together in pilgrimage, and having arrived on the top, they can do no more than kiss the stone with great reverence, and return; they are not permitted to ascend by the pool or tank of water, which pool is called in the Sinhalese, 'Darroepockoene' that is, the tank of children. If women are barren, they drink of this water; but they may not themselves fetch it, it is brought to them by jogis. To ascend by this pool or tank would be an unpardonable sin.

"The Moors also make offerings here, saying that it is the footstep of Adam; that he ascended to heaven from thence, and that he left his last foot-print in that stone.† This story emanates from an old Eastern tradition, that Adam, when he was driven out of Paradise was sent to an Island in India called Serandive (that is, the Island of Ceylon).

"Marc P. Venetus says, that the Moors believe that Adam was buried here. He says further, from the account of these heathens, that the son of a King Sogomon Barcaon, despising earthly dignities, resorted to this mountain for the purpose of leading a holy life; that from thence he went up to heaven; and that his father commanded that pagodas

* 'Daru' children; 'pokuna,' pond. This well is about 25 or 30 feet from the top of the Peak, on its northwest side. It is reached by a steep path from the northern angle of the platform which surrounds the Srípáda.

"The fakirs of the Mohammadan religion take impressions of the footstep on a piece of white cloth that has been previously covered with pulverised sandar."-HARDY's Manual of Buddhism, p. 212.

should be built and images made in his memory, from which sprang the idolatry of India. But the Sinhalese, having been asked about this, laugh at it; and their old writings, and principally their ballads, wherein are preserved their antiquities, and which they sing daily, (in order not to forget them,) tell quite a different tale.

"They say that there was a king who reigned over the whole East, who had been married many years and had no children; that in his old age, he obtained a son from God, who was the most beautiful creature that could be.

This king, having charged his astrologers to make the horoscope of his son, found that the child would be holy, and that he would despise the kingdoms of his father and become a pilgrim; at which the father becoming grieved, resolved to confine his son in some court, and so prevent him from having a sight of anything; he accordingly confined him from his fifth year in walled gardens, and had him brought up in the company of many noble youths of his age, who were kept always near him, in order that no one else might speak to him.

"He was thus brought up till his sixteenth year, without having any knowledge of sickness, misery or death. Having arrived at the years of discretion, and understanding more things than were to be seen about him, he requested of his father that he might be permitted to see the towns and villages of his kingdom. This was granted, with directions that the guards in charge of him should bring him to the city and keep an eye upon him. On his way to the city he was

met by a cripple, respecting whom he inquired as to the cause of his condition. His companions said, that the man was born so, and that it was very common to see such sights, and that there were also men who were born blind, &c. At another time he saw an old man, hunchbacked, leaning on a stick, his body also trembling. The prince inquired the reason of this, and they told him that it came from old age. He also saw a corpse, which was being taken for burial with much weeping and lamentation, and inquired what it all meant, and whether he and they should also die? They said yes; at which the prince became very sorrowful; and while in this sorrowful state there appeared to him in a vision a pilgrim who advised him to forsake the world and lead a solitary life.

"Being much disturbed by this vision, he determined to find means to effect his escape, in the guise of a pilgrim, into uninhabited places. Concerning his flight and wanderings the Sinhalese recount many fables, adding at last, that he came to Ceylon with a great concourse of followers, and resorted to this mountain, where he spent many years of a very holy life, so that the Sinhalese adored him as they would a God. When about to leave the Island for other -lands, his followers implored him to leave them something' which might cause them to remember and think of him with

This seems to have reference to the legend which describes the impression of a foot-print made by Buddha in the bed of the Kelani-ganga, at the time of his third visit to Ceylon, and before he departed for

reverence; he thereupon kept his foot in this water tank, and left the impression to them for a remembrance. Their historians give this prince many names, but his proper name was Drama Raja;* and after he became a saint, that of 'Budhu,' which signifies the 'Sage.'" †

After referring to what is quoted in the note at page 64, De Couto continues:-" The mountain of Adam has towards its base a marsh from which the four principal rivers of the island have their source. The Portuguese give it the name of the Peak of Adam, but the Sinhalese name it 'Dewa Gorata,' that is, God's country." The correct term for such an expression in Sinhalese is 'Deyyangé rața,' and it is applicable not so much to the Samanala mountain, as to the whole country from beyond Gilimalé, which is still called by the natives Saman's Country; the shrine of that deity,

Samanala to leave behind him the venerated Srí-páda on the summit of that mountain. The two accounts are fused or confused together in almost all the accounts derived from the oral traditions of the natives.

There is here again a confusion, arising from the mixing up of traditions of Buddha with those of Dhurma-rája. Dhurma-rája-galla is the name given to a mountain about midway between Diabetma and Sítagangulla-hena. Its steepest part is ascended by the aid of 130 steps cut in the living rock; by these steps, on the bare rock, is the outline of a human figure, with an inscription above it. The purport of the inscription is that the steps were cut by order of Dhurma-rája, who died here while on a pilgrimage to the Srí-páda.

For the above translation from Valentyn's work I am indebted to Mr. R. A. VANCUYLENBERG, the talented principal clerk in charge of the Record Office attached to the Colonial Secretariat at Colombo.

almost on the top of the Peak, being fully as much reverenced by the Sinhalese as the foot-print that is just above it. During the reign of Wimaladharma Suriya II., A. D. 1684— 1706, that monarch, who is praised by the historians for his piety, made a state pilgrimage from Kandy "to pay his adoration on Adam's Mount, and to offer a salver (sombero) of massy silver with other presents."* He was accompanied by a train of nearly 300 tusker elephants, which were kept by him merely for the parade of the Court; most of them being ordinarily distributed among the temples in the neighbourhood of Kandy, where, for purposes of devotion, he was a frequent attendant.

* PHILALETHES, p. 130.