700 The American Naturalist. [August. 
lar, as an offset against Russian intrigues. He was received with 
great pomp at Kandy, and this time the governor of Ceylon, Sir 
William Gregory, succeeded in getting the head priest to exhibit 
the tooth of Buddha ; thus I also had the rare opportunity of 
casting a look upon that famous relic. 
It was on a Sunday morning, and the news that the tooth of 
Buddha was to be publicly exposed must have traveled with 
lightning .speed all over Ceylon, for the night before the day in 
question the large square in front of the temple was crowded 
with Singhalese, Tamils, and half-castes, who remained there, 
patiently waiting, all through the night. At about ten o'clock in 
the forenoon the Prince of Wales appeared with his brilliant suite 
of Europeans "' and native chiefs, and ascended the marble stairs 
in front of the temple. On the platform stood a large ebony 
table, curiously carved, and covered with a yellow silken cloth. 
After a few minutes spent in w^aiting, there issued from the chief 
portal, slowly and solemnly, a procession of Buddhist ])riests, with 
their shaven skulls and long yellow^ robes. One of them carried 
a rectangular box, about 15 inches long, and 7 or 8 inches 
broad, made of gold, and set all around with uncut rubies of 
considerable size, which he placed upon the table. The chief 
priest opened it with a small key, and took out of it another box, 
pearls found in former centuries on the Ceylon coast. In this 
was another still smaller box, covered with a profusion of uncut 
gems, — sapphires, rubies, emeralds, etc., — and in this was an im- 
mense sapphire,* hollowed out like a cup, in which, upon a golden 
lotus-leaf, rested the tooth of Buddha. The moment the relic 
was exposed one of the priests made a sign to the people, and the 
whole dense crowd .sank to the dust in reverence ; no Singhalese 
dared to raise his head to gaze on that sacred object. As for the 
Prince of Wales and the rest of the assembled luironcans it was 
