ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



129 



A month and a half after the departure of the unwise tra- 

 der, Bodisat left Benares with 500 waggons, and at length 

 arrived at the desert. Having put large supplies of water in 

 vessels, he assembled the whole caravan by beat of drum, and 

 said, Let no person touch a drop of water without my permis- 

 sion: and as there are poisonous plants in the desert, let no 

 person eat of any vegetable or fruit to which he has not been 

 previously accustomed, without first consulting me. Having 

 thus advised his attendants, he entered the desert. When they 

 had travelled to the middle of it, the demons, as in the former 

 instance, appeared in their path. Bodisat seeing them, thought, 

 in this desert there is no water, and therefore it is called the 

 arid desert: these persons are bold, red-eyed, and cast no 

 shadow. Assuredly the trader who preceded me has been 

 induced to throw away his water, and he and his attendants, 

 exhausted with thirst, have been destroyed. This demon does 

 not know of my wisdom, nor reflect on my skill in expedients. 

 He therefore said, Proceed ! we merchants do not throw away 

 water until we see a fresh supply : at the place where we 

 meet with water> we lighten our waggons by throwing away 

 that which we brought with us. tfpon this the demon 

 proceeded a short distance and disappeared. When he was 

 gone, the attendants of Bodisat came to him and said, Sir, 

 these men say, that in the green forest which appears at a 

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

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

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

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

 Bodisat, 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 



