The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II

by A. E. Nordenskiöld

Of all the kinds of stones which are used as ornaments there are both noble and common varieties, without there being any perceptible difference in their chemical composition. The most skilful chemist would thus have difficulty in finding in their chemical composition the least difference between corundum and sapphire or ruby, between common beryl and emerald, between the precious and the common topaz, between the hyacinth and the common zircon, between precious and common spinel; and every mineralogist knows that there are innumerable intermediate stages between these minerals which are so dissimilar though absolutely identical in composition. This gave the old naturalists occasion to speak of ripe and unripe precious stones. They said that in order to ripen precious stones the heat of the south was required. This transference of well-known circumstances from the vegetable to the mineral kingdom is certainly without justification. It points however to a remarkable and hitherto unexplained circumstance, namely, that the occurrence of precious stones is, with few exceptions, confined to southern regions[390]. Diamonds are found in noteworthy number only in India, Borneo, Brazil, and the Transvaal. Tropical America is the home-land of the emerald, Brazil of the topaz, Ceylon of the sapphire and the hyacinth, Pegu of the ruby, and Persia of the turquoise. With the exception of the diamond the same stones are found also in the north, but in a common form. Thus common sapphire (corundum) is found in Gellivare iron ore so plentifully that the ore from certain openings is difficult to smelt. Common topaz is found in masses by the hundredweight in the neighbourhood of Falun; common emerald is found in thick crystals several feet in length in felspar quarries, in Roslagen, and in Tammela and Kisko parishes in Finland; common spinel occurs abundantly in Åker limestone quarry; common zircon at Brevig in Norway, and turquoise-like but badly coloured stones at Vestanå in Skane. True precious stones, on the other hand, are not found at any of these places. Another remarkable fact in connection with precious stones is that most of those that come into the market are not found in the solid rock, but as loose grains in sand-beds. True jewel mines are few, unproductive, and easily exhausted. From this one would be inclined to suppose that precious stones actually undergo an ennobling process in the warm soil of the south.

During the excursion I undertook from Galle to Ratnapoora, I visited a number of temples in order to procure Pali, Singhalese, and Sanscrit manuscripts; and I put myself in communication with various natives who were supposed to possess such manuscripts. They are now very difficult to get at, and the collection I made was not very large. The books which the temples wished to dispose of have long ago been eagerly brought up by private collectors or handed over to public museums, for example, to the Ceylon Government Oriental Library established at Colombo[391]. The collector who remains a considerable time in the region, may however be able to reap a rich after-harvest, less of the classical works preserved in the temples than of the smaller popular writings in the hands of private persons.

We see in Ceylon innumerable descendants of the races who repeatedly subdued larger or smaller portions of the island, or carried on traffic there, as Moormen (Arabs), Hindoos, Jews, Portuguese, Dutchmen, Englishmen, &c., but the main body of the people at all events varies very little, and still consists of the two allied races, Tamils and Singhalese, who for thousands of years back have been settled here. The colour of their skin is very dark, almost black, their hair is not woolly, their features are regular, and their build is exceedingly fine. The children especially, who, while they are small, often go completely naked, with their regular features, their large eyes, and fresh plump bodies, are veritable types of beauty, and the same holds true of most of the youths. Instead of buying in one of the capitals of Europe the right to draw models, often enough with forms which leave much to desire, and which must be used without distinction for Greek or Northern divinities, for heroes or savants of the present or former times, an artist ought to make tours of study to the lands of the south, where man does not need to protect himself from the cold with clothes, and where accordingly nakedness is the rule, at least among the poorer classes. The dress which is worn here is commonly convenient and tasteful. Among the Singhalese it consists of a piece of cloth wound round the middle, which hangs down to the knees. The men, who still prefer the convenient national dress to the European, go with the upper part of the body bare. The long hair is held together with a comb which goes right over the head, and among the rich has a large four-cornered projection at the crown. The women protect the upper part of the body with a thin cotton jacket. The priests wear a yellow piece of cloth diagonally over one shoulder. The naked children are ornamented with metal bracelets and with a metal chain round the waist, from which a little plate hangs down between the legs. This plate is often of silver or gold, and is looked upon as an amulet.

The huts of the working men are in general very small, built of earth or cabook-bricks, and are rather to be considered as sheds for protection from the rain and sunshine than as houses in the European sense. The richer Singhalese live in extensive "verandas" which are almost open, and are divided into rooms by thin panels, resembling in this respect the Japanese houses. The Japanese genius for ornament, their excellent taste and skill in execution, are however wanting here, but it must also be admitted that in these respects the Japanese stand first among all the peoples of the earth.

In the seaport towns the Singhalese are insufferable by their begging, their loquacity, and the unpleasant custom they have of asking up to ten times as much, while making a bargain, as they are pleased to accept in the end. In the interior of the country the state of things in this respect is much better.

Among the temples which I visited in order to procure Pali books was the so-called "devil's" temple at Ratnapoora, the stateliest idol-house I saw in Ceylon. Most of the temples were built of wood; all were exceedingly unpretentious, and without the least trace of style. The numerous priests and temple attendants lived in rather squalid and disorderly dwellings in the neighbourhood of the temple. They received me in a friendly way and showed me their books, of which they occasionally sold some. The negotiation several times ended by the priest presenting me with the book I wished to purchase and positively refusing to receive compensation in any form. On one occasion the priest stated that he himself was prevented by the precepts of his religion from receiving the purchase-money agreed upon, but said that I might hand it over to some of the

persons standing round. At two of the priests' houses there was a swarm of school-children, who ran busily about with their palm-leaf writing books and writing implements.

The temples were very different in their arrangements, probably on account of the dissimilar usages of the various Buddhist sects to which they belonged. A temple near Colombo contained a large number of wooden images and paintings of gods, or men of more than human size. Most of them stood upright like a guard round a sitting Buddha. I could not observe any dislike on the part of the priests to take the foreigner round their temples. The key, however, was sometimes wanting to some repository, whose contents they were perhaps unwilling to desecrate by showing them to the unbeliever. This was, for instance, the case with the press which contained the devil's bow and arrows, in the temple at Ratnapoora. The temple vessels besides were exceedingly ugly, tasteless, and ill-kept. I seldom saw anything that showed any sign of taste, art, and orderliness. How different from Japan, where all the swords, lacquer work, braziers, teacups, &c., kept in the better temples would deserve a place in some of the art museums of Europe.