To this the Chinese commentator adds, on the authority of a work, from which he quotes, entitled, "A Treatise on the Diseases of all the Kingdoms of the Earth:"—
"The Kingdom of Seĭh-lan was anciently called Lang-ya-sew; the passage from Soo-mun-ta-che (Sumatra), with a favourable wind, is twelve days and nights; the country is extensive, and the people numerous, and the products abundant, but inferior to Kiva-wa (Java). In the centre are lofty mountains, which yield the A-kŭh (crow and pigeon) gems; after every storm of rain they are washed down from the hills, and gathered among the sand. From Chang-tsun, Lin-yih in the extreme west, can be seen. In the foreign language, the high mountain is called Seĭh-lan; hence the name of the island. It is said Buddha (Shĭh-ka) came from the island of Ka-lon (the gardens of Buddha), and ascended this mountain, on which remains the trace of his foot. Below the hill there is a monastery, in which they preserve the nëe-pwan (a Buddhistic phrase, signifying the world; literally rendered, his defiling or defiled vessel) and the Shay-le-tsze, or relics of Buddha.
"In the sixth year of his reign (1407), Yung-lŏ, of the Ming dynasty, sent an ambassador extraordinary, Ching-Ho and others, to transmit the Imperial mandate to the King A-lĕe-jŏ-nai-wah, ordering him to present numerous and valuable offerings and banners to the monastery, and to erect a stone tablet, and rewarding him by his appointment as tribute bearer; A-lĕe-jŏ-nai-wurh ungratefully refusing to comply, they seized him, in order to bring him to terms, and chose from among his nearest of kin A-pa-nae-na, and set him on the throne. For fourteen years, Tëen-ching, Kwa-wa (Java), Mwan-che-kea, Soo-mun-ta-che (Sumatra), and other countries, sent tribute in the tenth year of Chin-tung, and the third year of Teen-shun they again sent tribute."[1]
1: There is here some confusion in the chronology; as Teen-shun reigned before Ching-tung.
"I have heard from an American, A-pe-le[1], that Seĭh-lan was the original country of Teen-chuh (India), and that which is now called Woo-yin-too was Teen-chŭh, but in the course of time the names have become confused. According to the records of the later Han dynasty, Teen-chŭh was considered the Shin-tŭh, and that the name is not that of an island, but of the whole country. I do not know what proof there is for A-pe-le's statement."
1: Mr. Abeel, an American missionary.