of which dates about A.D.851, and is now in the Bibliotheque Royale at Paris, Abon-zeyd, one of its authors, describes the "Gobbs" of Ceylon--a word, he says, by which the natives designate the valleys deep and broad which open to the sea.

"En face de cette ile y a de vastes _Gobb_, mot par lequel on designe une vallee, quand elle est a la fois longue et large, et qu'elle debouche dans la mer.

Les navigateurs emploient, pour traverser le _gobb_ appele 'Gobb de Serendib,' deux mois et meme davantage, passant a travers des bois et des jardins, au milieu d'une temperature moyenne."-- REINAUD, _Voyages faits par les Arabes_, vol.i.
p.

129.
A misapprehension of this passage has been admitted into the English version of the _Voyages of the two Mahometans_ which is published in PINKERTON'S _Collections of Voyages and Travels_, vol.iii.; the translator having treated gobb as a term applicable to valleys in general.

"Ceylon," he says, "contains valleys of great length, which extend to the sea, and here travellers repair for two months or more, in which one is called Gobb Serendib, allured by the beauty of the scenery, chequered with groves and plains, water and meadows, and blessed by a balmy air.