at it, and
they meet in peace and goodwill around the object of their common
adoration. By this circumstance the Christian visitor is reminded of
the sacred footprint, already alluded to, on the rock of the Church of
the Ascension on the Mount of Olives, which is part of a mosque, and
has five altars for the Greek, Latin, Armenian, Syrian, and Coptic
Churches, all of whom climb the hill on Ascension Day to celebrate the
festival; the Mohammedans, too, coming in and offering their prayers
at the same shrine. The worship paid on the mountain of the sacred
foot in Ceylon consists of offerings of the crimson flowers of the
rhododendron, which grow freely among the crags around, accompanied by
various genuflections and shoutings, and concluding with the striking
of an ancient bell, and a draught from the sacred well which springs
up a little below the summit. These ceremonies point to a very
primitive mode of worship; and it is probable that, as Adam's Peak was
venerated from a remote antiquity by the aborigines of Ceylon, being
connected by them with the worship of the sun, the sacred footprint
may belong to this prehistoric cult. Models of the footprint are shown
in various temples in Ceylon.

Besides these five great Phrabats, there are others of inferior
celebrity in the East. In the P'hra Pathom of the Siamese, Buddha is
said to have left impressions of his feet at Lauca and Chakravan. At
Ava there is a Phrabat near Prome which is supposed to be a type of
the creation. Another is seen in the same country on a large rock
lying amidst the hills a day's journey west of Meinbu. Dr. Leyden says
that it is in the country of the Lan that all the celebrated founders
of the religion of Buddha are reported to have left their most
remarkable vestiges. The traces of the sacred foot are sparingly
scattered over Pegu, Ava, and Arracan. But among the Lan they are
concentrated; and thither devotees repair to worship at the sacred
steps of Pra Kukuson, Pra Konnakan, Pra Puttakatsop, and Pra
Samutacadam.

The footsteps of Vishnu are also frequent in India. Sir William Jones
tells us that in the Puranas mention is made of a white mountain on
which King Sravana sat meditating on the divine foot of Vishnu at the
station Trevirana. When the Hindoos entered into possession of
Gaya--one of the four most sacred places of Buddhism--they found the
popular feeling in favour of the sacred footprint there so strong that
they were obliged to inco