CEYLON BRANCH— BOYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, 128 



at a distance there is constant rain, they are adorned with the 

 flowers of the lotus, they have bunches of lilies in their hands, 

 &rid their clothes and hair are wet. Permit us to throw away 

 the water, and thus lightening the carriages, proceed rapidly. 

 Bodieat, hearing this, ordered the waggons to be stopped, and 

 collecting the people enquired, Have any of you formerly heard 

 that there was either pond or lake in this desert ? They replied, 

 No, Sir! this is the arid desert. Some of these men say that 

 in a green forest before us it rains continually : to what distance 

 does a rainy wind blow ? About a yodun's distance, Sir. Have 

 any of you felt this rainy wind? No Sir. At what distance 

 does the rainy cloud appear? About a yodun, Sir. Have any 

 of you seen a rainy cloud? No Sir. At what distance may the 

 flash of the lightning be seen ? About four or five yoduns, Sir. 

 Have any of you seen the lightning ? No Sir, At what dis- 

 tance may the sound of thunder be heard ? At rather more than 

 a yodun's distance, Sir. Have any of you heard the sound of 

 thunder? No Sir. These, Bodisat continued, are not men, they 

 are demons ; their object is to induce us to throw away our wa- 

 ter that when we are faint they may kill and eat us. The un- 

 wise merchant who preceded us was not skilled in devices. As- 

 suredly he has been led to throw away his water, and has been 

 devoured, and the 500 waggons full of goods have been left stand- 

 ing, and we shall see them to day : throw not away a drop of 

 water but proceed rapidly. Going forward they came to the 

 place where the 500 waggons filled with goods were standing, 

 and saw the bones of the men and oxen scattered about. Af- 

 ter they had taken their meal and fed the oxen, they formed 

 a circle with the waggons, placed the cattle in the centre and 

 die men round them : and placing a guard of strong men Bodisat 

 watched sword in hand during the night, even till the dawn. 

 The next morning early, having completed the necessary ar- 

 rangements and fed the cattle, they changed such of their wag- 

 gons as were weaJk for stronger ones belonging to the first 



