Ceylon in a Chinese 13th century account

"…With a north wind [ from Lan-wu-li, at the tip of Sumatra ] one comes within 20 days to the island of Si-lan, which is under the rule of  Nan-p'i . Sailing from Lan-wu-li one knows one is near Si-lan by continual  flashing of lightning.

The king of Si-lan is black,  his hair unkept and his head uncovered. He wears no clothes but has a cotton cloth of different colours wrapped around him; on his feet he wears sandals of red leather, tied with golden strings.  When he goes forth he rides an elephant or is carried in a litter.  All day he chews a paste of betel nut and pearl ashes.

His palace is ornamented with cat’s- eyes, blue en red precious stones.  There is an eastern and western palace and at each there is a golden tree, the trunk and branches all of gold, the flowers , fruits and leaves of cat’s-eyes, blue and red precious stones and such like jewels. At the foot of these trees are golden thrones with opaque glass screens.

When the king holds his court he uses the eastern palace in the forenoon  and the western in the afternoon. When the king is seated, the jewels flashing in the sunshine, the glass ( screens) and the jewel tree shining on each other, make it like the glory of the shining sun.

Two attendants are always present holding a golden dish to receive the remains of the betel nut paste) chewed by the king. The king’s attendants pay of monthly fee of one "I' of gold into the government treasure for the privilege of getting the betel nut ( paste ) remains for it contains " plum flowers ", camphor and all kinds of precious substances.

The king holds in his hand a jewel of five inches in diameter, which cannot be burnt by fire, and which shines in the night like a torch. The kings rubs his face with it daily, and though he were passed ninety he would retain his youthful looks.

The people of the country are very darkskinned, they wrap a sarong round their bodies, go bare- headed and barefooted. They use their hands in taking up food. Their household untensils are of copper.

There is in this country a mountain called Si-lun-tie. On the top of which is a huge imprint of a man's  foot, over seven foot long, and a like imprint is visible in the water ( of the sea) within a distance of 300 li from the mountain. The forest trees on the mountain, little and big , all bend towards it, as if reverencing it.

The products of Si- Lan  include cat’s-eyes, red transparent glass, camphor , blue end red precious stones. The products of the soil are cardamoms, mu-lan bark, and both coarse and fine perfums.

Foreign traders exchange them for sandel wood, cloves, camphor , gold , silver, porcelain ware, horses, elephants and silkstuffs.

( Translation  by F.  Hirth and  W.W. Rockhill , Chau-Ju Kua, St. Peterburg 1912 )