It is pretty clear that the first introduction of Hinayanist Buddhism into Siam was from Southern Burma and Pegu, but that somewhat later Ceylon was accepted as the standard of orthodoxy. A learned thera who knew the Sinhalese Tipitaka was imported thence, as well as a branch of the Bo-tree. But Siamese patriotism flattered itself by imagining that the national religion was due to personal contact with the Buddha, although not even early legends can be cited in support of such traditions. In 1602 a mark in the rocks, now known as the Phra: Bãt, was discovered in the hills north of Ayuthia and identified as a footprint of the Buddha similar to that found on Adam's Peak and in other places. Burma and Ceylon both claim the honour of a visit from the Buddha but the Siamese go further, for it is popularly believed that he died at Praten, a little to the north of Phra Pathom, on a spot marked by a slab of rock under great trees[240]. For this reason when the Government of India presented the king of Siam with the relics found in the Piprava vase, the gift though received with honour, aroused little enthusiasm and was placed in a somewhat secluded shrine[241]. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 188: The principal sources for information about Siamese Buddhism are: _Journal of Siam Society_, 1904, and onwards. L. Fournereau, _Le Siam Ancien_, 2 vols. 1895 and 1908 in _Annales du Musée Guimet_. Cited here as Fournereau. Mission Pavie II, _Histoire du Laos, du Cambodge et du Siam_, 1898. Gerini, _Researches on Ptolemy's Geography of Eastern Asia_, 1909. Cited here as Gerini, _Ptolemy_. Gerini, _Chŭlăkantamangala or Tonsure Ceremony_, 1893. H. Alabaster, _The Wheel of the Law_, 1871. P.A. Thompson, _Lotus Land_, 1906. W.A. Graham, _Siam_, 1912. Petithuguenin, "Notes critiques pour servir à l'histoire du Siam," _B.E.F.E.O._ 1916, No. 3. Coedès, "Documents sur la Dynastie de Sukhodaya," _ib._ 1917, No. 2. Much curious information may be found in the _Directory for Bangkok and Siam_, a most interesting book. I have only the issue for 1907. I have adopted the conventional European spelling for such words as may be said to have one. For other words I have followed Pallegoix's dictionary (1896) for rendering the vowels and tones in Roman characters, but have departed in some respects from his system of transliterating consonants as I think it unnecessary and misleading to write j and x for sounds which apparently correspond to y and ch as pronounced in English. The King of Siam has published a work on the spelling of His Majesty's own language in Latin letters which ought to be authoritative, but it came into my hands too late for me to modify the orthography here adopted.