Jaeschke's great dictionary is a mine of information on technical and doctrinal definitions. The works of Giorgi, Vasiliev, Schiefner, Foucaux, Rockhill, Eitel, and Pander, have also proved most helpful. The Narrative of Travels in Tibet by Babu Ṣaratcandra Dās, and his translations from the vernacular literature, have afforded some useful details. The Indian Survey reports and Markham's Tibet have been of service; and the systematic treatises of Professors Rhys Davids, Oldenberg and Beal have supplied several useful indications.
The vastness of this many-sided subject, far beyond the scope of individual experience, the backward state of our knowledge on many points, the peculiar difficulties that beset the research, and the conditions under which the greater part of the book was written—in the scant leisure of a busy official life—these considerations may, I trust, excuse the frequent crudeness of treatment, as well as any errors which may be present, for I cannot fail to have missed the meaning occasionally, though sparing no pains to ensure accuracy. But, if my book, notwithstanding its shortcomings, proves of real use to those seeking information on the Buddhism of Tibet, as well as on the later Indian developments of Buddhism, and to future workers in these fields, I shall feel amply rewarded for all my labours.
London,
31st October, 1894.
