On their arrival in Ceylon early in the sixteenth century[1], the Portuguese found many evidences still existing of the intercourse and influence of the Chinese.  They learned that at a former period they had established themselves in the south of the island; and both De Barros and De Couto ventured to state that the Singhalese were so called from the inter-marriage of the Chinese with the Gallas or Chalias, the caste who in great numbers still inhabit the country to the north of Point de Galle.[2] But the conjecture is erroneous, the derivation of Singhala is clearly traced to the Sanskrit “Singha;” besides which, in the alphabet of the Singhalese, n and g combine to form a single and insoluble letter.

[Footnote 1:  A.D. 1565.]

[Footnote 2:  “Serem os Chijis senhores da costa Choromandel, parte do Malabar e desta Ilha Ceilao.  Na qual Ilha leixaram huma lingua, a que elles chamam Chingalla, e aos proprios povos Chingallas, principalmente os que vivem da ponta de Galle por diante na face da terra contra o Sul, e Oriente:  e por ser pegada neste Cabo Galle, chamou a outra gente, que vivia do meio da ilha pera cima, aos que aqui habitavam Chingilla e a lingua delles tambem, quasi como se dissessem lingua ou gente dos Chijo de Galle"—­DE BARROS, Asia, &c., Dec. iii. lib. ii. c. i.  DE COUTO’S account is as follows:  “E como os Chins formam os primeiros que navegaram pelo Oriente, tendo noticia da canella, acudiram muitos ‘juncos’ aquella Ilha a carregar della, e dalli a levaram aos portos de Persia, e da Arabia donde passou a Europa—­de que se deixaram ficar muitos Chins na terra, e se misturaram por casamentos com os naturaes; dantre quem nasceram huns mistcos que se ficaram chamando Cim-Gallas; ajuntando o nome dos naturaes, que eram Gallas aos dos Chins, que vieram por tempos a ser tao famosos, que deram o seu nome a todos os da Ilha.”—­Asia, &c. Dec. v. lib. ch. v.]

In process of time, every trace disappeared of the former presence of the Chinese in Ceylon—­embassies ceased to arrive from the “Flowery Kingdom,” Chinese vessels deserted the harbours of the island, pilgrims no longer repaired to the shrines of Buddha; and even the inscriptions became obliterated in which the imperial offerings to the temples were recorded on the rocks.[1] The only mementos which remain at the present day to recall their ancient domestication in the island, is the occasional appearance in the mountain villages of an itinerant vender of sweetmeats, or a hut in the solitary forest near some cave, from which an impoverished Chinese renter annually gathers the edible nest of the swallow.

[Footnote 1:  S[)u]h-Wan-heen tung-kaou, book ccxxxvi. p. 12.]

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NOTE.

As it may be interesting to learn the opinions of the Chinese at the present day regarding Ceylon, the following account of the island has been translated for me by Dr. Lockhart, of Shanghae, from a popular work on geography, written by the late lieutenant-governor of the province of Fokhien, assisted by some foreigners.  The book is called Ying-hw[)a]n-che-ke, or “The General Account of the Encircling Ocean.”