Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 May 1887 — The World’s Oldest Tree. [ARTICLE]

The World’s Oldest Tree.

The annals of the Cingalese are said to contain an historical record of events extending back over a period of twenty odd centuries. These, with extensive ruins, such, for instance, as those of the ancient cities of Anuradliapopra and Palonnaruwa, which are known to have been inhabited as much as 2,300 years ago, show that the island was originally very thickly settled by a partly civilized and very energetic people. The first-named city was the capital of the island for over J,200 years after the fifth century B. C. In the fourth century B. 0. the annaleof Ceylon record that the city was presented with Buddha’s begging dish, his,collar-., bone, and a branch of that celebrated 80. tree under which he attained to Buddhahood. Nothing now remains of this ancient city but a mass of ruins,crumbling tombs, and the tree mentioned above. This relic of centuries has been flourishing for nearly 2.200 years, and is consequently the oldest living tree in the world of which we have any genuine record. It is one of the most sacred objects throughout the entire Buddhist world, and 'it is esteemed a virtuous act on the part of the pious to make a pilgrimage to it. Its fallen leaves are considered a great treasure, and are frequently carried to Siam, Burmah, China, and Japan by pilgrims from those countries. —Ceylon Cor. Baltimore Sun.