Of how the tree has grown and still lives we have an account in Davids' "Buddhism." He quotes the words of Sir Emerson Tennent, that it is "the oldest historical tree in the world;" but this must be denied if it be true, as Eitel says, that the tree at Buddha Gaya, from which the slip that grew to be this tree was taken more than 2000 years ago, is itself still living in its place.

We must conclude that Fa-Hsien, when in Ceylon, heard neither of Mahinda nor Sanghamitta.
(7) Compare what is said in chap.

xvi, about the inquiries made at monasteries as to the standing of visitors in the monkhood, and duration of their ministry.
(8) The phonetic values of the two Chinese characters here are in Sanskrit sa; and va, bo or bha.

"Sabaean" is Mr.Beal's reading of them, probably correct.

I suppose the merchants were Arabs, forerunners of the so-called Moormen, who still form so important a part of the mercantile community in Ceylon.
(9) A Kalpa, we have seen, denotes a great period of time; a period during which a physical universe is formed and destroyed.
Asankhyeya denotes the highest sum for which a conventional term exists;--according to Chinese calculations equal to one followed by seventeen ciphers; according to Thibetan and Singhalese, equal to one followed by ninety-seven ciphers.