Those drops are still there; and however much they may be brushed away, they always remain visible and cannot be removed.

Here there is another pagoda dedicated to Buddha. A good spirit sweeps and sprinkles it; no human aid has ever been required. The king of a heretic country said, "As thou canst do this, I will bring a great army to quarter here; wilt thou then be able to clear away the increased filth?" When the army came, the spirit raised a mighty wind which blew on it and made the place clean.

Here too there are some hundred small pagodas, which a man might spend a whole day in counting without finding out their number. If any one is bent on knowing, the best way is to place a man at the side of each pagoda; and when this is done, let him count the men, and according to the number of men he will know the number of pagodas.

There is a monastery here, with six or seven hundred priests, in which is the place where a saint ate and passed into Nirvâna. The spot where he was cremated is as big as a cart-wheel; and while there is vegetation all around, here nothing will grow. So, too, at the place where he dried his clothes there is no vegetation, the marks left on the ground by the clothes being still to be seen.

Fa-hsien spent his retreat at the Dragonshrine; and when it was over he travelled seven

yôjanas to the south-east, which brought him to Kanoj, the city of the hump-backed maidens, which is on the banks of the Ganges and where there are two monasteries, both belonging to the Lesser Vehicle.

Six or seven li to the west of the city, on the north bank of the river, is the place where Buddha expounded the Faith to his disciples. Tradition says that his themes were "The Bitterness of Impermanency," "Life is but a Bubble," and so on. A pagoda was raised on the spot, and is still to be seen.

Crossing the Ganges and proceeding three yôjanas to the south, Fa-hsien came to a forest called Arijakavana; and here, where Buddha expounded the Faith, walked in meditation, or sat down, pagodas have in each case been built.

From this point going ten yôjanas to the south-east, the pilgrims arrived at the great kingdom of Visâkha (or Ajudhya). Outside the south gate of the city, on the eastern side of the road, is the place where Buddha formerly stuck in the ground a piece of his willow chewingstick (for cleansing the teeth), which forthwith grew up to the height of seven feet, never increasing nor diminishing. Heretics and Brahmans, in their jealousy, at one time cut it down, at another pulled it up and threw it to a distance; but it always came up again as before on the same spot. Here, too, is the place where four Buddhas walked in meditation or sat down,

and where a pagoda has been built, which still exists.

Travelling eight yôjanas to the south of this point, the pilgrims arrived at Sâwathi (Srâvasti), the capital of the kingdom of Kosala. Inside the city the people are few and scattered, amounting in all to about two hundred families. It is the city over which king Prasenajit ruled; and on the site of the old shrine of Great-lover-of-theFaith (Buddha's aunt), on the site of the well and wall of the elder, Sudatta, and on the spot where an Angulimâlya (fanatic) was converted and at passing was cremated, men of after ages have raised pagodas, all of which are in this city. The heretic Brahmans, growing jealous, wished to destroy them; whereupon the heavens thundered and flashed lightning with splitting crash, so that they were not able to succeed.

Twelve hundred paces outside the south gate of the city, on the western side of the road, the elder, Sudatta, built a shrine, with the door facing east, and on each side a stone pillar; that on the left having at its top the figure of a wheel, and that on the right a similarly placed figure of an ox. The water in the ponds was clear, the trees luxuriant in foliage, with flowers of various hues, truly so beautiful to behold that it was named the Shrine of the Garden of Gold.

When Buddha went up to heaven for ninety days to preach the Faith to his mother, king Prasenajit, longing to see him, caused to be

carved in sandal-wood from the Bull's-head mountain an image of Buddha and placed it where Buddha usually sat. Later on, when Buddha returned to the shrine, the image straightway quitted the seat and came forth to receive him. Buddha cried out, "Return to your seat; after my disappearance you shall be the model for the four classes of those in search of spiritual truth." At this, the image went back to the seat. It was the very first of all such images, and is that which later ages have copied. Buddha then moved to a small shrine on the south side, at a spot about twenty paces away from the image.

The Shrine of the Garden of Gold was originally in seven sections, and the kings of these countries vied with one another in making offerings, hanging up embroidered banners and canopies, scattering flowers, burning incense, lighting lamps to shine from dusk to dawn, day by day without intermission. Now a rat, holding in its mouth a lamp-wick, set fire to the embroidered banners and canopies; and so it came to pass that all the seven sections were entirely destroyed. Kings and people alike were greatly grieved and annoyed, thinking that the sandalwood image had been burnt. However, four or five days later when they opened the door of a small shrine on the east side, there to their astonishment they beheld the original image. Everybody was greatly rejoiced, and joining

together rebuilt the shrine. When two sections had been completed, the image was moved back to its original position.

Upon the arrival of Fa-hsien and Tao-chêng at the Shrine of the Garden of Gold, remembering that the World-Honoured One had formerly dwelt here for twenty-five years, they grieved that they had been born among outer barbarians (qua the Faith), and that of those who, inspired with the same ambition, had travelled with them through the various nations, some had gone home and some had passed away. And now, when they looked upon Buddha's vacant place, their hearts were inexpressibly sad. The priests who lived there came forth and asked Fa-hsien, saying, "From what country do you come?" And when he replied, "From China," the priests sighed and said, "Good indeed! Is it possible that foreigners can come so far as this in search of the Faith?" Then they spoke one to another, saying, "Ever since the Faith has been transmitted by us priests from generation to generation, no Chinese adherents of our Doctrine have been known to arrive here."

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Four li to the north-west of the shrine there is a grove of trees, which goes by the name of 'Sight Regained." There were once five hundred blind men living here, who were dependants of the shrine. Buddha expounded the Faith for their instruction, and they all recovered their sight. The blind men were overjoyed, and