[653] ‘Nouveaux Mélanges Asiatiques,’ vol. i. p. 103. Garnier, woodcuts pp. 61 and 62.
[654] ‘Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,’ vol. xxxv. p. 75.
[655] The population of China is generally estimated at 400 millions of souls. This I believe to be a gross exaggeration, and would feel very much more inclined to put it at 300 millions, and of that number to estimate the Buddhists at 100 millions of souls. This, however, in the present state of our knowledge, is, and must be, mere guess-work. If we put down 50 millions for the Buddhist population of Thibet, Manchuria, Burmah, Siam, Cambodia, and Ceylon, we shall probably not err on the side of underestimating them, making 150 millions the total number of followers of this religion in the whole world, or one-eighth or one-tenth of the human race—not one-third or one-fourth, at which they are usually estimated.
[656] The following description is abridged from that by Mr. A. Michie in his work entitled ‘The Siberian Overland Route,’ Murray, 1864. It is by far the most distinct I have met with. The larger woodcuts in this chapter are generally borrowed from his work. It must, however, be observed that his descriptions differ sometimes essentially from those hitherto current in European books, which were generally derived from the accounts of the Jesuits, who probably obtained their information from Chinese sources. It is generally safer to trust to the account of an educated gentleman describing what he saw, than to the essay of a mere scholar compiling from information conveyed in a foreign tongue.
[657] ‘Nouveaux Mélanges Asiatiques,’ vol. i. p. 110.
[658] The tower was destroyed in the recent Taeping rebellion.
[659] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. vii. p. 331 (N.S.), vol. v. p. 14, et. seqq.
[660] In the year 1870 I published in the ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society’ (N.S.), vol. iv. p. 81, et seqq., an article on Indian chronology, in which my views on the subject were stated at greater length and more detail than it is proposed to do here. Being addressed to those who were supposed to be more or less familiar with the subject, the paper took the form of an argument, rather than of a statement, and is, consequently, difficult to follow by those to whom the subject is new. The following is an abstract of that paper, with such corrections as have occurred to me in the meanwhile, and stated in a consecutive form, and with only those details that seem necessary to render it intelligible. For further particulars on special points the reader is referred to the article itself.
[661] The lists used for this statement of pre-Buddhist chronology are those compiled by James Prinsep, and published in his ‘Useful Tables’ in 1836. They were afterwards revised and republished by Ed. Thomas, in his edition of Prinsep’s works, in 1858. In a regular treatise on chronology it would be indispensable to refer to the Puranas themselves; in a mere statement of results these tables are amply sufficient.
[662] Crawfurd’s ‘Embassy to Ava,’ vol. ii. p. 274.