155 stone in its natural state should stay in the fire and if it will be a good and expensive stone. The king sometimes dares to throw a ruby in a raging coal fire for the time that the lapidary has told him, and if a stone can withstand it without being damaged, it takes on an even more perfect colour; when the king comes across such a stone he keeps it for himself, as part of his crown jewels. There are high mountains in the middle of this island, where there is a very high stone peak, with a pool of water on top, which is deep enough to swim in. And there is also a very clear, large footprint of a man on a stone. The Mouros claim that it is the footprint of our father, Adam, who they call Adam Baba. Pilgrims come here from the Mouros kingdoms and all over, saying that Adam rose to heaven from this place; their wear pilgrims’ habits with large iron chains wrapped round them; they wear leopard; lion, and other wild beast skins. They heavily brand their right arms withfire as they follow the path, so that they always have open wounds, saying that they do it for the love of God; Mohammed, and Adam; many of them secretly take very large sums of money to Ceylon, which they use to buy precious stones, as is their wont. Before reaching the high mountain with the footprint which they say is Adam’s, they cross floodland and valleys and streams, and have water up to their waists forfive or six leagues. They all carry knives in their hands to cut off the leeches, as there are so many leeches in it, that if they did not do this, they would surely be killed. They climb up the mountains when they get there, but as it is so steep to get to the peak, they can only climb up there by using ladders made out of very heavy chains which have been put all around the peak for this very purpose. At the top, they wash themselves with the water from the pool and pray, and thus, they believe they are saved and cleansed of all sins. The island of Ceylon lies very close to the mainland, and there are some shallows in between, with a channel running through the middle,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy