Chap. VIII. BUDDHA'S TOOTH. 



139 



Buddha I could not burn incense upon the altar, and 

 that the money I gave him was a reward for his 

 civility. " Do you not worship Buddha in your 

 country?" he asked. I replied that we did not. 

 " Then whom do you worship ?" I pointed upwards, 

 and said that we worshipped the great God, who 

 made the heavens and the earth. "Oh, yes," said 

 he, "his name is Ye~su, is it not?" They had 

 known something of the Catholic religion, it ap- 

 peared, there being in this part of China a number 

 of converts to that faith. While this conversation 

 was going on, one of the priests had lighted two 

 candles, and was burning incense on the altar. 

 "Now," said he, "come and see the precious tooth." 



[Buddha's Tooth.] 



I stepped up to the altar ; and the front of a large 

 case being removed, the relics were exposed to view, 

 protected by a grating of iron bars. On a flat bason 



