XXXvi INTRODUCTION. 



TuRNOUR, of the Ceylon Civil Service, for access to 

 his unpublished manuscripts ; and to those portions of 

 his correspondence with Prinsep, which relate to the 

 researches of these two distinguished scholars regarding 

 the Pali annals of Ceylon. I have also to acknowledge 

 my obligations to M. Jules Mohl, the literary executor 

 of M. E. BuRNOUF, for the use of papers left by that 

 eminent orientalist in illustration of the ancient geo- 

 graphy of the island, as exhibited in the works of Pali 

 and Sanskrit writers. 



I have been signally assisted in my search for 

 materials illustrative of the social and intellectual con- 

 dition of the Singhalese nation, during the early ages of 

 their history, by gentlemen in Ceylon, whose familiarity 

 with the native languages and literature impart authority 

 to their communications ; by Ernest de Saram Wijeye- 

 SEKERE Karoonaratne, the Maha-Moodliar and First 

 Interpreter to the Governor; and to Mr. de Alwis, the 

 erudite translator of the Sidath Sangara. From the 

 Eev. Mr. Gogerly of the Wesleyan Mission, I have 

 received expositions of Buddhist policy; and the Rev. 

 R. Spence Hardy, author of the two most important 

 modern works on the archseology of Buddhism \ has 

 done me the favour to examine the chapter on Sing- 

 halese Literature^ and to enrich it by numerous sug- 

 gestions and additions. 



In like manner I have had the advantage of com- 

 municating with Mr. Cooley (author of the History of 

 Maritime aiid Inland Discovery) in relation to the 

 Mediaeval History of Ceylon, and the j)eriod embraced 



^ Oriental Monachism, 8vo. Loiiflon, 1850; and A Manual of Bndd/iism, 

 8vo. London, 1853. 



