530 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON 



which was given to me by a priest of Buddha, as 

 containing a full account of his religion ; and 

 which I left to be translated at Columbo, by Mon- 

 sieur De Hoan, with the assistance of Lewis De 

 Sylva. But the French version made by them 

 was ■ unfortunately put on board the Greenwich, 

 captured by a vessel from the Isle o^ France; and 

 it has consequently never reached me. .We shall 

 not, however, have to regret this accident, if 

 Captain Mahony, who has given an extract from 

 an historical work, the Maha Raja JVallieh, or as 

 a copy of it shewn to me was called, the Rajawu- 

 lee Puttur, shall hereafter favour the society with 

 the communication of the authentic materials for 

 a history of the Singalese, their religion, manners, 

 and customs, which I understand to be in his 

 possession. 



In the mean time I beg the Society's accept- 

 ance (for their Museum) of two small images 

 of BooDH, which I procured at Columbo; and of 

 two others brought from the Burmah dominions 

 by Captain Cox, late resident at Rangoon; the 

 identity of which proves incontestibly that the 

 object of worship on the Eastern peninsula, and 

 the Island of Ceylon, is the same. I also beg to 

 deposit in the Society's library the accompanying 

 ■copy of tlie Peeroxvana Potli above-mentioned, of 

 which, at some future period, we may hope to 

 procure another translation, if that carried to 

 Bourbon or Mauritius, should not find its way to 

 Europe, and the public. 



I shall only add my testimony to that of Cap- 

 tain Mahony, as to the period at which the Sin 

 galese compute the appearance of Gou'ta'ma Bud- 

 dha ; whose death, or rather disappearance fioni 

 the earth, they state to have been ^339 years be 



