Lect. I.] A BUDDHIST MIRACLE. 23 



east, breathes through his nostrils with a noise hke the thunder, shakes 

 himself like a young calf at its gambols, that he may free his body 

 from the dust, and then roars out amain. His voice may be heard 

 for the space of three yojanas around. All the sentient beings that 

 hear it, whether they be apods, bipeds, or quadrupeds, become alarmed, 

 and hasten to their separate places of retreat. He can leap upwards 

 in a straight line, 4 or 8 isubus, each of 140 cubits; upon level 

 ground he can leap 15 or 20 isubus, from a rock 60 or 80. 

 When the kokila begins to sing all the beasts of the forest are beside 

 themselves. The deer does not finish the portion of grass it has taken 

 into its mouth, but remains listening. The tiger that is pursuing the 

 deer remains at once perfectly still, like a painted statue, its uphfted 

 foot not put down, and the foot on the ground not uplifted. The deer 

 thus pursued forgets its terror. The wing of the flying bird remains ex- 

 panded in the air, and the fin of fish becomes motionless." — Page 17. 



Among the Legends of G6tama Buddha, there is one which has 

 interested me very much, for it exactly corresponds with the popular 

 ideas of the sudden, miraculous creation of living forms : — 



" After eating the fruit, the sage gave the stone to Gandamba, and 

 directed him to set it in the ground near the same spot ; and in like 

 manner, after washing his mouth, he told Ananda to throw the water 

 upon the kernel that had just been set. In a moment the earth 

 clove, a sprout appeared, and a tree arose, with five principal stems 

 and many thousand smaller branches, overshadowing the city. It 

 was 300 cubits in circumference, was laden with blossoms and 

 the richest fruit, and, because set by Gandamba, was called by his 

 name." — Manual of Buddhism, p. 306. 



This creation-feat is scarcely greater than the one supposed to take 

 place in the case of the first creation of every tree and every animal, 

 by those who are unversed in Biology and who interpret, literally, 

 the account of the Creation given in the first chapter of Genesis. 



But some of those who have a little knowledge, even of Biology, 

 have very misty notions of the origin of living creatures. 



One such suddenly startled the writer by a hurried utterance of 

 his cherished creed, which was as follows : — "I believe that God 

 created Wellingtonia (jigantea, 400 feet high, in a moment." 



