so much),
obtained the following curious Chinese extract referring to Ceylon
(written 1350): "In front of the image of Buddha there is a sacred bowl,
which is neither made of jade nor copper, nor iron; it is of a purple
colour, and glossy, and when struck it sounds like glass. At the
commencement of the Yuen Dynasty (i.e. under Kublai) three separate
envoys were sent to obtain it." Sanang Setzen also corroborates Marco's
statement: "Thus did the Khaghan (Kublai) cause the sun of religion to
rise over the dark land of the Mongols; he also procured from India images
and reliques of Buddha; among others the _Patra_ of Buddha, which was
presented to him by the four kings (of the cardinal points), and also the
_chandana chu_" (a miraculous sandal-wood image). (_Tennent_, I. 622;
_Schmidt_, p. 119.)

The text also says that several _teeth_ of Buddha were preserved in
Ceylon, and that the Kaan's embassy obtained two molars. Doubtless the
envoys were imposed on; no solitary case in the amazing history of that
relique, for _the_ Dalada, or tooth relique, seems in all historic times
to have been unique. This, "the left canine tooth" of the Buddha, is
related to have been preserved for 800 years at Dantapura
("_Odontopolis_"), in Kalinga, generally supposed to be the modern Puri or
Jagannath. Here the Brahmans once captured it and carried it off to
Palibothra, where they tried in vain to destroy it. Its miraculous
resistance converted the king, who sent it back to Kalinga. About A.D. 311
the daughter of King Guhasiva fled with it to Ceylon. In the beginning of
the 14th century it was captured by the Tamuls and carried to the Pandya
country on the continent, but recovered some years later by King Parakrama
III., who went in person to treat for it. In 1560 the Portuguese got
possession of it and took it to Goa. The King of Pegu, who then reigned,
probably the most powerful and wealthy monarch who has ever ruled in
Further India, made unlimited offers in exchange for the tooth; but the
archbishop prevented the viceroy from yielding to these temptations, and
it was solemnly pounded to atoms by the prelate, then cast into a charcoal
fire, and finally its ashes thrown into the river of Goa.

The King of Pegu was, however, informed by a crafty minister of the King
of Ceylon that only a sham tooth had been destroyed by the Portuguese, and
that the real relique was still safe. This he obtained by extraordinary
presents, and the account of