The Chinese in the seventh century found the Singhalese dressed in a costume which appears to be nearly identical with that of the present day.[1] Both males and females had their hair long and flowing, but the heads of children were closely shaven, a practice which still partially prevails.  The jackets of the girls were occasionally ornamented with gems.[2] “The men,” says the Tung-teen, “have the upper part of the body naked, but cover their limbs with a cloth, called Kan-man, made of Koo-pei, ‘Cotton,’ a word in which we may recognise the term ‘Comboy,’ used to designate the cotton cloth universally worn at the present day by the Singhalese of both sexes in the maritime provinces.[3] For their vests, the kings and nobles made use of a substance which is described as ’cloud cloth,’[4] probably from its being very transparent, and gathered (as is still the costume of the chiefs of Kandy) into very large folds.  It was fastened with golden cord.  Men of rank were decorated with earrings.  The dead were burned, not buried.”  And the following passage from the S[)u]h-wan-heen tung-kaou, or the “Supplement to Antiquarian Researches,” is strikingly descriptive of what may be constantly witnessed in Ceylon;—­“the females who live near the family of the dead assemble in the house, beat their breasts with both hands, howl and weep, which constitutes their appropriate rite."[5]

[Footnote 1:  Leang-shoo, b. liv. p. 10; Nan-she, b. lxxviii. pp. 13, 14.]

[Footnote 2:  Nan-she, A.D. 650, b. lxxviii. p. 13; Leang-shoo, A.D. 670; b. liv. p. 11.  Such is still the dress of the Singhalese females.

[Illustration:  A MOODLIAR AND HIS WIFE.]]

[Footnote 3:  Tung-teen, b. clxxxviii. p. 17; Nan-she, b. lxxviii. p. 13; Sin-tang-shoo, b. cxcviii p. 25.  See p. iv. ch. iv, vol. i. p. 450.]

[Footnote 4:  The Chinese term is “yun-hae-poo.”—­Leang-shoo, b. liv. p. 10.]

[Footnote 5:  B. ccxxxvi. p. 19.]

The natural riches of Ceylon, and its productive capabilities, speedily impressed the Chinese, who were bent upon the discovery of outlets for their commerce, with the conviction of its importance as an emporium of trade.  So remote was the age at which strangers frequented it, that in the “Account of Island Foreigners," written by WANG-TA-YUEN[1] in the fourteenth century, it is stated that the origin of trade in the island was coeval with the visit of Buddha, who, “taking compassion on the aborigines, who were poor and addicted to robbery, turned their disposition to virtue, by sprinkling the land with sweet dew, which caused it to produce red gems, and thus gave them wherewith to trade,” and hence it became the resort of traders from every country.[2] Though aware of the unsuitability of the climate to ripen wheat, the Chinese were struck with admiration at the wonderful appliances of the Singhalese for irrigation, and the cultivation of rice.[3]