1847.] Penplus of the Erythrean Sea, fyc. 67 



effaced by a false though luxuriant soil that floats on the stagnant water 

 concealed beneath." Some of its gateways are still standing, and 

 mounds and ditches — the remains of its fortifications — are to be seen 

 for many miles around it. The intervening mountainous country be- 

 tween Assam, Cachar, and Munipore appears to have been cultivated 

 formerly, and as Mr. Torrens remarks, to have been " thickly inhabited 

 by a people far advanced in civilization."* The remains of the fortified 

 city of Dhemapore on the banks of the Dhansiri, built by Rajah Cha- 

 kardhaj, the fourth king of Cachar, are described by Mr. Grange, by 

 whom they were discovered, in the Journal of this Society. f Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Crawford, the Burmese Annals mention Jynteah in the vici- 

 nity of Sylhet, as the site of a principality called Wethali, which was 

 founded by Susanaga, a descendant of Gautama in the female line. It 

 is stated that the son of Susanaga named " Kalasanka, in the 10th year 

 of his reign and 100 years after the death of Gautama, assembled all 

 the learned men of his country, and made them repeat what they knew 

 of the doctrine of Buddha : for there yet existed no scripture. This 

 assembly is known to the Burmese by the name of the ' Second Coun- 

 cil :' the First Council having taken place three months after the death 

 of Gautama. From this time, to the year 289 before Christ, a period 

 of 83 years, twelve princes are described as having reigned in Wethali : 

 the last of whom Sri-d'hama-sanka, is a personage of some repute. It 

 was the son of this pious reformer who permanently fixed the seat of 

 government at Prome/'J These details identify the Wethali of the 

 Burmese with the Wesali of the Pali Buddhistical Annals of Ceylon. 

 Vesali, however, which is considered the same city as Wesali, is referred 

 to a site on the river Gandak, near the Bakra column, or lat, discovered 

 by Mr. Stevenson ; and according to Professor Wilson there is early 

 authority for identifying it with this locality. 



The sedate and tranquil life which the Seres led, their unwarlike dis- 

 position and aversion to the use of arms, are characteristic of the indolent 

 Assamese, who, inhabiting a rich and fertile country formerly fenced in, 

 or protected against foreign invasion in the manner described by Ammi- 

 anus Marcellinus, may be supposed to have enjoyed, in ancient times, the 

 undisturbed ease and delightful tranquillity, which the words of the text, 



* Journ. As. Soc. No. 104, p. f Ibid. 



t Crawford's Embassy to Ava, p. 489. 



