70 Captain James Low on Buvpaa and the Phi abdt. 
At Gangautri, on the banks of the Ganges, is a wooden temple, contain- 
ing a footstep of Ganca ona black stone.* Colonel Symes has exhibited 
in his * Embassy to Ava” a drawing of a Phrabdt, which he saw in that 
country near Prome: and adds, that another was to be seen on a large 
rock lying amidst the hills, one day’s journey west of Menibu. The former, 
he observes, was explained to him as a type of the creation. 
It is to be imagined that the Buddhist priests would not omit the favour- 
able opportunities, which the great veneration paid by the people to their 
Phrabdts affords, to increase their number. Copies are kept in the temples, 
and attract nearly equal regard with the supposed originals. There is a very 
distinct one at a Vat, or temple, to the north of Tavoy, on the Tenasserim 
coast, a copy of which was made for me while there. 
Those native painters, who are ambitious of distinction, sometimes 
present to the King of Siam a copy of a Phrabdt. One of these was 
presented to me by a Siamese, being in his opinion one of the strongest 
evidences he could give of a desire to serve me. Being anxious to find out 
whether the drawing was correct, and consistent with Buddhist principles, 
it was afterwards shewn to several priests, who were not aware of the 
source whence it had been obtained: and, as the surest proof of its genuine- 
ness, they regarded it with as much respect as if it had been a real divine 
foot. Not, however, satisfied with this circumstance, I requested them to 
produce any authority in their possession, shewing that the drawing before 
them exhibited an object or objects which their faith enjoined them to hold 
in reverence. They immediately referred to the Bali works, termed by 
them Lai Ldk Phrabat, and Manowatt,ha Sutta; from which have been 
extracted the passages explanatory of the Prd Patha, or Holy Foot. The 
Siamese version of this first chapter or book is termed Camp,hé Lai Lah, 
which, however, differs in a slight degree from the original ; for it describes 
the emblems on a right and left Phrabdt, while the Bali admits only one, 
at least as far as yet appears. 
The list of the symbolical allusions is recited by the priests in their 
temples, and forms an essential portion of their ritual. It consists of fifty 
measured lines, of eight syllables each; and contains the names of one 
hundred and eight objects or things. 
The Siamese, in their version, have added a few more symbols appertain- 
ing to Hinda mythology ; and it concludes with the remark, that one hun- 
* Asiatic Researches, vol. xii. p. 283. 
