Note 1 — CHAP. II
Reading edition
: Probably the earliest allusion to Ceylon by any Arabian or Persian author, is that of Tabari, who was born in A.D. 838; but he limits his notices to an exaggerated account of Adam's Peak, "than which the whole world does not contain a mountain of greater height."—OUSELLY'S Travels, vol i. p. 34, n.
2: "Le rubis rouge, et la pierre qui est couleur de ciel." ALBATENY, quoted by Reinaud, Introd. ABOULFEDA p. ccclxxxv.
3: MASSOUDI in Gildemeister, Script. Arab. p. 154. Gildemeister discredits the assertion of Massoudi, that he had been in Ceylon. (Ib. p. 154, n.) He describes Kalah as an island distinct from Serendib.
4: ABOU-ZEYD, Relation, &c., p. 50.
5: A translation of MASSOUDI'S Meadows of Gold in English was begun by Dr. Sprenger for the "Oriental Translation Fund," but it has not advanced beyond the first volume, which was published in 1841.