b'4 Remarks on the Sequel to the [Jan. 



Koondil to the base of the hills, presents many indications of former 

 cultivation. On this expedition I was absent nine days." Major Jen- 

 kins remarks that these forts refer to a time of which we have 

 no history or even tradition further than frequent traces of the dynasty 

 of the Pals throughout Assam. Alluding to the destruction of the 

 empire of these kings by Krishno and the conversion of those who 

 escaped to the hills into the present tribes of Abors, he states : " if 

 the Pals were Buddhists, this tradition may allude to their overthrow 

 by the Rajas of the Brahminical faith ; but all authentic records of those 

 times appear to be lost, at least in this province." 



The origin of the name of Sera is involved in obscurity. There is a 

 place of this name, the site of a monastery, in the vicinity of Lassa, 

 which has been supposed by Malte Brun to be the Sera of the ancients. 

 The former, however, was built in the 8th century* and it is obvious, 

 therefore, that it is not the Sera of Ptolemy. Sera is also the name of 

 a town in Mysore. The word is evidently one of Indian derivation, 

 and is probably a corruption of Sri, " sacred." It has reference, per- 

 haps, to the site of Sera in the vicinity of the sacred Brahmakund, 

 from which the Sri Lohit (or sacred Lohit) the Irawaddee, and the 

 Brahmaputra were formerly supposed to issue. The Irawaddee is ap- 

 parently the river designated " Serus" by Ptolemy. The mountains in 

 the vicinity of Sera, from which one of the affluents of the Brahma- 

 putra is represented as having its origin, were called Serici. It is said 

 that se is the name of silk in China, and it is supposed that from this 

 word the name of Seres is derived. It was conjectured by an ancient 

 author, that the name, by which the silk worm was designated, was the 

 origin of the term Seres. " Pausanias, Seres populum a sere vermiculo 

 dictum cencet." (Vide Steph. Thesaur. Ling. Grsec.) The name of 

 Seres, however, occurs before it was known that silk is the production of 

 an insect. Virgil, Dionysius, and Pliny mention the Seres, but describe 

 silk, as a substance that is obtained from the flowers or leaves of cer- 

 tain trees. The derivation of Sericum from Seres is particularly men- 

 tioned by one author ; " Sericum dicitur a Seribus." It is also stated 

 that silk was called Sericum because the Seres were the first who export- 1 

 ed it ; " Sericum dictum quia id Seres primi miserunt." It is probable 

 therefore, that the Seres derived their name from the city of Sera, 



* This information I obtained from the late M. Csoma de Koros. 



