Chap. V.] STOHY OF TTIR TOOTIT. 199 



Kotmalie ; but ut lust in 1560 it was discovered by tlie 

 Portuguese \ taken to Goa by Don Constantine de Bra- 

 ganza, and bimied by tlie Archbishop in the presence of 

 tlie Viceroy of IncUa and his couit. 



The fate of this renowned rehc is so remarkable, and 

 its destruction is related >vith so much particularity 

 by the Portuguese annahsts of the period, and their 

 European contemporaries, that no historical doubt can 

 be entertained, even were internal evidence wanting, 

 that the tooth now exhibited at Kandy is a spurious 

 and modern substitute for the original, destroj^ed in 

 1560. 



The story as told by De Couto ^ is curiously illustra- 

 tive of the genius and ftuth of the Buddhist races. No 

 sooner was it ascertained that the relic had been seized 

 by Don Constantine, than the sovereign of Pegu, 

 who had previously despatched annual embassies to 

 offer homage at its shrine, sent in anxious haste to 

 redeem it by an exchange of treasure and pohtical services. 

 The fidalgos of Goa were eager to replenish their ex- 

 hausted treasury on the generous terms which he offered ; 

 but the piety of the Eoman Catliolic prelates was trium- 

 phant, the idolatrous object was consumed, and its ashes 

 scattered on the sea.^ 



But a very few years elapsed before the delusion was 



^ For the particulars of the siege 

 and captTire of Jaffna in L'jOO, see 

 Vol. II. Pt. Ti. ch. i. p. 28. 



^ The account of the capture and 

 subsequent fate of the Daluda is so 

 important an incident in the religious 

 annals of Ceylon, and at tlie same 

 time has so significant a beanng- on 

 the veneration still paid to the sup- 

 posed relic at Kandy, that I have 

 thought it necessary to translate the 

 passage as it is given by De Cor to, 



mode of its destruction: " Assentado 

 isto, mandou o "N'iso-Rey ao Thesou- 

 reiro que trouxesse o dente : e o 

 entregou ao Arcebispo, que alii 

 presentes todos o lan^ou em hum 

 almofariz, e com sua propria mao o 

 pizou, c desfez em p6z, e os deitou 

 em hum brazeiro, que pera isso 

 mandou trazer, e as ciuzas, e carvoes 

 mandou lan9ar no meio do rio a vista 

 de todos, que assomaram as va- 

 randiis, e janellas que cahiam sobre 



in his Ilifitori/ of the CouqKcst <if Indid i o mar." — ])k Couto, Dec. A'ii. lib. ix 



/;// the Portuf/ucse. It will be foimd i ch. xvii. ; see also RoDRlGUES nK 



in the Appendix to this chapter. \ Saa, ReheUon, i^-c. p. 18 — '09 ; \ x- 



'^ The narrative of De Couto is ' lentyx, ch. xvi. p. .•J8.3. 

 circumstantial and minnto as to the I 



o 4 



