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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
heilowings of oxen, the bleating of sheep, the neighing of horses, and the plaintive cries of goats, and if any one goes near enough to the edge and closely applies his ear he will hear afar off the sounds just mentioned. This commingled sound is one that never ceases, for every day that passes men bring new victims to be their substitutes. Whether the cries of the animals last brought only are heard, or the cries also of those brought before, I know not,-all I know is that the cries are heard.
(17) In the sea which has been mentioned they say there is a very large island, of which, as I hear, the name is Taprobanê. From what I can learn, it appears to be a very long and mountainous island having a length of 7000 stadia and a breadth of 5000. It has not, however, any cities, but only villages, of which the number amounts to 750. The houses in which the inhabitants lodge themselves are made of wood, and sometimes also of reeds.
(18.) In the sea which surrounds the islands, tortoises are bred of so vast a size that their shells are employed to make roofs for the houses: for a shell. "being fifteen cubits in length, can hold a good many people under it, screening them from the scorching heat of the sun, besides affording them a welcome shade. But, more than this, it is a protection against the violence of storms of rain far more effective than tiles, for it at once shakes off the rain that dashes against it, while those under its shelter hear the rain rattling as on the roof of a house. At all events they do not require to shift their abode, like those whose -tiling is shattered, for the shell is hard and like a hollowed rock and the vaulted roof of a natural cavern.
The island, then, in the great sea, which they call Taprobanê, has palm-groves, where the trees are planted with wonderful regularity all in a row, in the way we see the keepers of pleasure-parks plant out shady trees in the choicest spots. It has also herds of elephants, which are there very numerous and of the largest size. These island elephants are more powerful than those of the mainland, and in appearance larger, and may be pronounced to be in every possible way more intelligent. The islanders export them to the mainland opposite in boats, which they construct for the purpose of this traffic from wood supplied by the thickets of the island, and they dispose
In the classical writers the sise of this island is always greatly exaggerated. Its actual length from north to
[DECEMBER, 1877.
of their cargoes to the king of the Kalingai. On account of the great size of the island, the inhabitants of the interior have never seen the sea, but pass their lives as if resident on a continent, though no doubt they learn from others that they are all around enclosed by the sea. The inhabitants, again, of the coast have no practical acquaintance with elephant-catching, and know of it only by report. All their energy is devoted to catching fish and the monsters of the deep; for the sea encircling the island is reported to breed an incredible number of fish, both of the smaller fry and of the monstrous sort, among the latter being some which have the heads of lions and of panthers and of other wild beasts, and also of rams; and, what is still a greater marvel, there are monsters which in all points of their shape resemble satyrs. Others are in appearance like women, but, instead of having locks of hair, are furnished with prickles. It is even solemnly alleged that this sea contains certain strangely formed creatures, to represent which in a picture would baffle all the skill of the artists of the country, even though, with a view to make a profound sensation, they are wont to paint monsters which consist of different parts of different animals pieced together. These have their tails and the parts which are wreathed of great length, and have for feet either claws or fins. I learn further that they are amphibious, and by night graze on the pasture-fields, for they eat grass like cattle and birds that pick up seeds. They have also a great liking for the date when ripe enough to drop from the palms, and accordingly they twist their coils, which are supple, and large enough for the purpose, around these trees, and shake them so violently that the dates come tumbling down, and afford them a welcome repast. Thereafter when the night begins gradually to wane, but before there is yet clear daylight, they disappear by plunging into the sea just as the first rush of morning faintly illumines its surface. They say whales also frequent this sea, though it is not true that they come near the shore lying in wait for thunnies. The dolphins are reported to be of two sorts-one fierce and armed with sharppointed teeth, which gives endless trouble to the fisherman, and is of a remorselessly cruel disposition, while the other kind is naturally mild and
south is 2714 miles, and its breadth from east to west 187, and ita eircuit about 650 miles.
