Pilgrims of all sorts resort thither from all the surrounding countries,
even from Persia and China; and having purified themselves by washing in
the pool below, they go to the top of the mountain, near which hangs a
bell, which they strike, and consider its sound as a symbol of their
having been purified; _as if any other bell, on being struck, would not
sound_. According to the natives, _Drama Rajah_, the son of an ancient
king of the island, having done penance on the mountain along with many
disciples, and being about to go away, left the print of his foot on the
rock as a memorial. It is therefore respected as the relic of a saint,
and their common name for this person is _Budam_, which signifies the
_wise man_. Some believe this saint to have been _St Jesaphat_, but it
was more likely _St Thomas_, who has left many memorials in the _east_,
and even in the _west_, both in Brasil and Paraguay.

The natural woods of Ceylon are like the most curious orchards and
gardens of Europe, producing citrons, lemons, and many other kinds of
delicious fruit. It abounds in cinnamon, cardamums, sugar-canes, honey,
and hemp. It produces iron, of which the best firelocks in the east are
made. It abounds in precious stones, as rubies, sapphires, cats-eyes,
topazes, chrysolites, amythests, and berils. It has many civet-cats, and
produces, the noblest elephants in all the east. Its rivers and shores
abound in a variety of excellent fish, and it has many excellent ports
fit for the largest ships.

_End of the Portuguese Asia_.




CHAPTER V.