132 ESSAT ON 



they were dcpbsited under a pyramM. In the his- 

 tory of China we read, that in tlie year ^55, a bone 

 of Fo was sent from India to the Emperor of that 

 country, who was highly pleased with this precious 

 relic : though his minister Hanyu made a very spi- 

 rited remonstrance against this innovation ; and which 

 is to be found in Du Halde's China. 



The followers of Brahma are not addicted to the 

 worship of dead men's bones, and I know but one 

 instance to the contrary. At Jagan-ndfha they have 

 a bone of Chrishna, which is considered as a most 

 precious and venerable relic ; so much so, that few 

 people are allowed to see it : and Hindus are not fond 

 of making it the subject of conversation, any more 

 than the Baudd'has. 



The shape of these monuments is always either 

 that of a pyramid or of a cone, with some trifling 

 deviations occasionally. Thus the cone assumes the 

 shape of a trump-roof: sometimes it is formed by 

 the revolution of a cymatium, or Ogive round an 

 axis ; and these two forms are generally said to be in 

 the shape of a bell. Mount Meru, and the seven 

 stories, are represented in the shape of a trump by 

 the divines of Ceylon,' according to Mr. Joinville's 

 delineation in the seventh volume of the Asiatic Re- 

 searches. The pyramid is equally subject to the 

 same variations, the hips, or angles, being sometimes 

 in the shape of s.' cymatium. As Mount Meru is also 

 represented of a, cylindrical form, the tombs of the 

 Thacur are equally made in that shape, as that of 

 Sarndtha. Sacrifices and offerings are never made in 

 Tibet, without placing before the devotees a cone or 

 pyramid, the image of Mhu and of the worldly 

 Linga. Brdhmens, instead of either, make a cylinder 



