Such sparsity would have surprised the Ancient Greeks. By 300 BC, Alexander the Great knew all about the fabulous wealth to be found here, in ‘Taprobane’. His ambassador in India, Megasthenes, was sending back reports of tortoises so big that you could build a house within their shell. Meanwhile, Alexander’s general, Onesicritus, noted that this was the place for war-elephants, more ferocious here than anywhere else.
