Odoric and the Adjaib do not mention cinnamon among the products of Ceylon; this omission was one of the arguments of Dr. Schumann (Ergaenz. No. 73 zu Petermann’s Mitt., 1883, p. 46) against the authenticity of the Adjaib.  These arguments have been refuted in the Livre des Merveilles de l’Inde, p. 265 seqq.

Nicolo Conti, speaking of the “very noble island called Zeilan,” says (p. 7):  “Here also cinnamon grows in great abundance.  It is a tree which very much resembles our thick willows, excepting that the branches do not grow upwards, but are spread out horizontally:  the leaves are very like those of the laurel, but are somewhat larger.  The bark of the branches is the thinnest and best, that of the trunk of the tree is thicker and inferior in flavour.  The fruit resembles the berries of the laurel; an odoriferous oil is extracted from it adapted for ointments, which are much used by the Indians.  When the bark is stripped off, the wood is used for fuel.”—­H.C.]

NOTE 5.—­There seems to have been always afloat among Indian travellers, at least from the time of Cosmas (6th century), some wonderful story about the ruby or rubies of the king of Ceylon.  With Cosmas, and with the Chinese Hiuen Tsang, in the following century, this precious object is fixed on the top of a pagoda, “a hyacinth, they say, of great size and brilliant ruddy colour, as big as a great pine-cone; and when ’tis seen from a distance flashing, especially if the sun’s rays strike upon it, ’tis a glorious and incomparable spectacle.”  Our author’s contemporary, Hayton, had heard of the great ruby:  “The king of that Island of Celan hath the largest and finest ruby in existence.  When his coronation takes place this ruby is placed in his hand, and he goes round the city on horseback holding it in his hand, and thenceforth all recognise and obey him as their king.”  Odoric too speaks of the great ruby and the Kaan’s endeavours to get it, though by some error the circumstance is referred to Nicoveran instead of Ceylon.  Ibn Batuta saw in the possession of Arya Chakravarti, a Tamul chief ruling at Patlam, a ruby bowl as big as the palm of one’s hand.  Friar Jordanus speaks of two great rubies belonging to the king of SYLEN, each so large that when grasped in the hand it projected a finger’s breadth at either side.  The fame, at least, of these survived to the 16th century, for Andrea Corsali (1515) says:  “They tell that the king of this island possesses two rubies of colour so brilliant and vivid that they look like a flame of fire.”

Sir E. Tennent, on this subject, quotes from a Chinese work a statement that early in the 14th century the Emperor sent an officer to Ceylon to purchase a carbuncle of unusual lustre.  This was fitted as a ball to the Emperor’s cap; it was upwards of an ounce in weight and cost 100,000 strings of cash.  Every time a grand levee was held at night the red lustre filled the palace, and hence it was designated “The Red Palace-Illuminator.” (I.B. IV. 174-175; Cathay, p. clxxvii.; Hayton, ch. vi.; Jord. p. 30; Ramus. I. 180; Ceylon, I. 568).