xiii 1 PLINY'S ACCOUNT OF TAPROBANE. 273
was characterised by justice; and he was thus induced to despatch
an embassy to Rome, consisting of four persons, the chief of whom
was called Rachias. It was from them that the details which
Pliny relates were derived. Unfortunately, owing either to mis-
statements on the part of these envoys, or to the Romans having
misunderstood their meaning, the geographical notices which we
thus obtain are most unsatisfactory. The exaggerated views of the
size of the island which prevailed among the ancients are here
countenanced, for it is said to have possessed five hundred towns,
and the length of the side which faced India is estimated at not
less than a thousand geographical miles. The chief city, which
was situated on a harbour on the southern coast, and had two
hundred thousand inhabitants, was called Palaesimundus—a name
which, either in this form or in that of Simundu, is attributed by
the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and by Ptolemy
to the whole island1. In the centre lay a vast lake called Megisba,
and from this proceeded two rivers, which flowed towards the
south and the north respectively, the former being named, like
the city which was built at its mouth, Palaesimundus, the latter
Cydara. As no lake exists corresponding to this, it has been
conjectured that we have here an exaggerated description of one
of the gigantic tanks which were constructed by the early rulers of
Ceylon, and are still the wonders of the island3. The promontory
of Coliacum, by which Cape Comorin is evidently meant, and
which was spoken of as four days' sail distant from Taprobane,
was erroneously regarded as the nearest point of the Indian coast.
The sea which intervened between the two countries is described
as having a deep green hue, and we are told that vessels which
passed that way met with trees growing from the bottom, the foliage
of which they often broke with their rudders. We here recognise
the coral which abounds in the gulf of Manaar between Ceylon
and the mainland. The life of the inhabitants, as Tfacir
reported by the ambassadors, was characterised by Account of the
. . ,. , , . . , , . . Inhabitants.
its simplicity and its prospenty, and this account is
corroborated by what we learn from native sources with regard to
its history at this period. Slavery was unknown among them, the
dwellings were built on a moderate scale, the price of corn was
1 Peripfas* § 61; PtoL, 7, 4. i. * Tennent's Ceylon, p. 557.
T. T*