the governor and
surveyor; who finding himself unable to prevail, returned into Portugal
where he made loud complaints against the administration of affairs in
India. Hence began the practice of listening to complaints at home
against the governors and commanders employed in India; and hence many
took more care in the sequel to amass riches than to acquire honour,
knowing that money is a never-failing protection from crimes. Soarez
sent Juan de Sylveira to the Maldive islands, Alexius de Menezes to
Malacca, Manuel de la Cerda to Diu, and Antonio de Saldanna with six
ships to the coast of Arabia by orders from the king. The only exploit
performed by Saldanna was the capture and destruction of Barbora, a town
near Zeyla but much smaller, whence the inhabitants fled. Saldanna then
returned to India, where he found Soarez about to sail for the island of
Ceylon.

The island of Ceylon, the southernmost land in India, is to the east of
Cape Comorin. It is sixteen leagues distant from the continent[139], to
which some imagine that it was formerly joined. This island is about 80
leagues from north to south, and about 45 leagues from east to
west[140]. The most southerly point, or Dondra Head, is in lat. 5 deg. 52' N.
The most northerly, or Point Pedro, in 9 deg. 48'. In the sea belonging to
this island there is a fishery of the most precious pearls. By the
Persians and Arabs it is called _Serendib_[141]. It took the name of
_Ceylon_ from the sea by which it is surrounded, owing to the loss of a
great fleet of the Chinese, who therefore named that sea _Chilam_,
signifying danger, somewhat resembling _Scylla_; and this word was
corrupted to Ceylon. This island was the _Taprobana_ of the ancients,
and not Sumatra as some have imagined. Its productions are numerous and
valuable: Cinnamon of greatly finer quality than in any other place;
rubies, sapphires, and other precious stones; much pepper and cardamoms,
Brazil wood, and other dyes, great woods of palm-trees, numbers of
elephants which are more docile than those of other countries, and
abundance of cattle. It has many good ports, and several rivers of
excellent water. The mountains are covered with pleasant woods. One of
these mountains, which rises for the space of seven leagues, has a
circular plain on the top of about thirty paces diameter, in the middle
of which is a smooth rock about six spans high, upon which is the print
of a man's foot about two spans in length. This foo