1923.] St. Thomas and San Thomé, Mylapore. 179 
this case St. Thomas dragged it to where a jogt was living. 
The jog?, seeing that the Saint wanted to make with it a house 
in his own grounds, killed his own son and accused the Saint of 
the murder. The usual story, but the sequel is peculiar 
Later on, when St. Thomas was killed, the Christians “ buried 
him in a chapel, which was the main chapel, on the Gospel 
side, which was a small house that the Saint had made for the 
purpose. And when he had been laid thus underground, his 
arm remained outside, raised, and they could not put it inside, 
which lasted some time thus. And a gentio, a relative of the 
jogue, in revenge entered the holy house, in which there was 
nobody, and, having with him a short sword (tragado-tergado), 
he went to cut off the arm; but he was struck blind of {both| 
eyes, and, falling on the ground, he shouted and became a 
Christian, relating what had happened: and he never more 
departed from the house and died there of old age, sweeping 
the house and lighting a lamp which was in it.” | 
Our last proof that the story of St. Thomas’ arm came 
from the St. Thomas Christians is that it turns up once more 
in a letter from Father Anthony Monserrate. S.J., to the 
General of the Society of Jesus. Writing from Cochin, the 
land of the St. Thomas Christians, in 1579, a regular account 
of the antiquity and customs of these Christians, he says (MS. 
Relation, Goa, 33, fol. 1517) :— 
“These Christians relate that, after St. Thomas’ death, 
when they buried him, they never could bury his arm; it re- 
mained always outside, because, it seems, it was the arm which 
touched Christ Our Lord’s wounds; and, on hearing of this, 
the Muguel [= Mogol] King came with a big army to cut the 
arm; which, when he wished to cut it off, hid itself, and he 
persecuted the Christians greatly.”’ basis 
In spite of all the variants of this story, the Christians 
of St. Thomas had. therefore, a legend about St. Thomas’ arm 
at Mylapore. The ultimate reason for the myth may escape 
us, but the fact remains that the story rehearsed by Sir John 
de Mandeville and later writers came from India, and that in 
itself, and for de Mandeville’s sake, is a great acquisition. 

! Gaspar Correa, Lendas da India, III. 420. 

