[1] The old Tamul alphabet has no sibilant.
CHAPTER XV.
THE SAME CONTINUED. THE HISTORY OF SAGAMONI BORCAN AND THE BEGINNING OF
IDOLATRY.
Furthermore you must know that in the Island of Seilan there is an
exceeding high mountain; it rises right up so steep and precipitous that
no one could ascend it, were it not that they have taken and fixed to it
several great and massive iron chains, so disposed that by help of these
men are able to mount to the top. And I tell you they say that on this
mountain is the sepulchre of Adam our first parent; at least that is what
the Saracens say. But the Idolaters say that it is the sepulchre of
SAGAMONI BORCAN, before whose time there were no idols. They hold him to
have been the best of men, a great saint in fact, according to their
fashion, and the first in whose name idols were made.[NOTE 1]
He was the son, as their story goes, of a great and wealthy king. And he
was of such an holy temper that he would never listen to any worldly talk,
nor would he consent to be king. And when the father saw that his son
would not be king, nor yet take any part in affairs, he took it sorely to
heart.
