l62 AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES 



great idol Buddou ; between the worfhip of whom, as 

 defcribed by Knox, and that of Sommonacodom, as re- 

 lated by M. de la Loubere, there is a linking refem- 

 blance in many particulars, which it may be proper 

 here to enumerate. 



lft. Bcfides the footfteps above mentioned, there 

 is a kind of tree (which, from defcription, appears to 

 be the Pipel tree, fo well known in India) which the 

 Chingelays hold facred to Buddou, and the Siamefe to 

 Sommonacodom ; infomuch that the latter deem it me- 

 ritorious to hang themfelves upon it. The Chingelays 

 called it Bogahah ; for gahah, in their language, figni- 

 fies a tree; and bo feems to be an abbreviation of Bod, 

 or Buddou ; and the Siamefe call it, in Balic, Pra Ji 

 Mahd Pout, which, according to De la Loubere's 

 interpretation, fignifies the tree of the great Pout*. 

 This he fuppofes to mean Mercury; for heobfervesthat 

 Pout, or Poot, is the name of that planet in the Balic 

 term for Wednefday ; and in another place, he fays, 

 Pout is one of the names of Sommonacodom. It is cer- 

 tain that Wednefday is called the day of Bod, or Budd, 

 in all the Hindoo languages, among which the Tamulic, 

 having no b, begins the word with a p, which brings it 

 very near the Balic mode of writing it. It is equally 

 certain that the days of the week, in all thefe languages, 

 are called after the planets in the fame order as with us, 

 and that Bod, Budd, or Pood, holds the place of Mer- 

 cury. From all which it fhould appear that Pout, 

 which, among the Siamefe, is another name for Sommo- 

 nacodom, is itfelf a corruption of Buddou, who is the 

 Mercury of the Greeks. And it is fmgular that, ac- 

 cording to M. de la Loubere, the mother of Sommo- 

 nacodom, is called, in Balic, Mahd-mania, or the great 

 Mania, which refembles much the name of Maia, the 



mother 



* In vulgar Siamese they call it Ton-p6. 



