76 W. Hoey — Identification of Kusinara^ Vaisali, ^c. [No. 1, 
palpably misstated by the Chinese pilgrims, who travelled over a country 
where impenetrable forest and dense jungle rendered an accurate 
estimate of direction impossible, and where even the distances stated 
cannot accurately correspond to those taken out by straight lines run 
across the maps of to-day. Routes were devious 1,250 years ago, A 
Chinese pilgrim may have left a city A by the S.E. gate and travelled 
for a time S.E. and then have turned in the tortuous mazes of a jungle 
northward and traversed what he called 12 yojanas before reaching 
another city B. He would have recorded : ‘ Proceeding from this. place 
A to the S.E., after travelling 12 yojanas, we reach B.* To-day it 
may be that there is a direct road and we should say, ‘ Leaving A 
and going E. along a metalled road for 60 miles we reach B.’ I note 
this here simply to show that we have need to be very cautious in treat- 
ing the directions and distances stated by the Chinese pilgrims as fixed 
data in themselves sufficient to enable us to determine locations. The 
descriptions of places and the names and objects which are said to have 
existed in their days are much safer data for identification. 
From fravasti the pilgrims proceeded to Kapilavastu. Of this 
Centre of intense interest I need now say nothing. Government has 
undertaken inquiries and I trust that the present examination of sites 
north of Basti will lead to satisfactory identifications. Meanwhile I 
have only to say that T recently obtained a copper-plate inscription 
which will enable the Society to test the accuracy or probable correctness 
of the results reported. An edition of this plate will be found in an 
Appendix to this paper. It will suffice here to note the recorded facts. 
The document is a deed of gift by King Jayaditya of certain land to a 
Kayastha named Ke^ava. The area of the grant seems to have been 
considerable. It consisted of the town land Kumarasandika including 
the hamlets of Patrasanda, faqkusanda, Gaddhi, and Deuli, situated in 
the Leddika subdivision of the Daddarandika district. The boundaries 
are given : on the east the Rohininadi ; on the south the tilaka tree 
(? forest) ; on the north the kumbhi tree (? forest) and on the west the 
Hastilandakhya khata i.e.f the Ditch or moat known as that where the 
elephant was thrown. The date of this inscription is Sam vat 921, or 
864-5 A.D. Thus we have the name of the moat where Buddha cast 
away the elephant still preserved about two centuries and a quarter 
after Hwen Thsang’s visit. The great captain, as he is described in the 
text, who brought the orders for the gift was Grahakunda, a name per- 
haps of importance with reference to the Grah Kund near Tirbeni. 
There is no other proper name which at present strikes me as relevant. 
We do not hear of a ditch where an elephant was thrown anywhere 
save in connection with Kapilavastu, but unfortunately I cannot yet 
