No. 24. — 1 881.] ANCIENT KALAH, ETC. 70 



from "seeds" specially fetched from the Gangetic District. Fa-Hian's 

 careful account of it throws much doubt ou the otherwise miraculous, 

 and to a horticulturist improbable, story, that the tree was a cutting 

 from the original. No doubt, I think, the Sinhalese chronicles 

 have been tampered with, and the origin of the tree embellished 

 since Fa-Hian wrote. 



(ii.) " The Mountain without Fear" is correctly identified in the 

 notes to Laidlay's edition (p. 342) as the Abhayagiri Vihare. 



(iii.) With regard to the chapel " Po-tlri" should we not read this 

 " Bodhi" ? The Samanean's name we may safely read as " Dharma- 

 joti," for Tha-mo-kiu-ti as it is written in Chinese — a language 

 unfitted to express Sanscrit more precisely. The " stone house" in 

 which Dharmajoti lived with his rats and snakes is no doubt the 

 literal rendering of 'cave,' still called by the Sinhalese gal-ge\ e^^esf, 

 ( stone house.' 



(iv.) Who were "the merchants Sa-pho" ? I think this is worth 

 enquiring, but, as far as I can see, the word must be a Chinese sub- 

 stitute for the original. 



(v.) As to the statue at the Abhayagiri Vihare made of " blue 

 jasper" and over 18 feet high, of what was the lustrous image really 

 made ? It is not conceivable so large a block of lapis lazuli could 

 have found its way to Ceylon from North Asia, nor have turquoise 

 or sapphire ever been heard of of such size. 



The only approximate artificial product then known was the rare 

 and beautiful blue glass used for the celebrated Portland vase, and 

 the Theban pottery coated with a brilliant blue enamel like turquoise, 

 of which small gods and amulets form the exquisite speciality of 

 Egyptian antiquity. Is it possible this statue was made in Egypt 

 for sale in Ceylon ? Or that an ancient Egyptian god was brought to 

 Ceylon for sale after its worship had died out in Egypt. 



Any fragment with blue enamel on it found among the debris near 

 the Abhayagiri Vihare should be carefully preserved, as its origin 

 could at once be decided if Egyptian, and by encouraging a further 

 search of the debris might lead to the partial recovery of an unique 

 antiquity. 



