population of the Bombay Presidency. Another chapter is
devoted to the Jewish settlement to which Benjamin refers.
See _Die juedischen Colonien in Indien_, Dr. Gustav Oppert;
also _Semitic Studies_, (Berlin,1897), pp. 396-419.

Under the heading of "Cochin", the Jewish Encyclopaedia
gives an account of the White and Black Jews of Malabar. By
way of supplementing the Article, it may be well to refer to
a MS., No. 4238 of the Merzbacher Library formerly at
Munich. It is a document drawn up in reply to eleven
questions addressed by Tobias Boas on the 12 Ellul 5527 (=
1767) to R. Jeches Kel Rachbi of Malabar. From this MS. it
appears that 10,000 exiled Jews reached Malabar A.C. 68 (i.
e. about the time of the destruction of the Second Temple)
and settled at Cranganor, Dschalor, Madri and Plota. An
extract of this MS. is given in Winter and Wuensche's
_Juedische Literatur_, vol III, p. 459. Cf. article on the
Beni-Israel of India by Samuel B. Samuel, _The Jewish
Literary Annual_, 1905.]

[Footnote 173: The British Museum text has Ibrig, and the
Casanatense has Ibriag: neither can be identified. The
printed editions have [Hebrew:] the islands of Candig, which
Asher thinks may be taken to refer to Ceylon, having regard
to the name of the capital, Kandy. It was not the capital in
Benjamin's time. The difficulty still remains that it does
not take twenty-three days, but about four days, to reach
Ceylon from Quilon. Renaudot states that in the tenth
century a multitude of Jews resided in the island, and that
they took part in the municipal government as well as other
sects, as the King granted the utmost religious liberty. See
Pinkerton's _Travels_, vol. VII, p. 217. A full description
is also given of the ceremonial when any notability proceeds
to immolate himself by committing himself to the flames.]

[Footnote 174: Benjamin's statements as to India and China
are of course very vague, but we must remember he was the
first European who as much as mentions China. Having regard
to the full descriptions of other countries of the old World
by Arabic writers of the Middle Ages, and to the fact that
the trade route then was principally by sea on the route
indicated by Benjamin, it is surprising that we have
comparatively little informati