Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/36

24 for his success. The body of St. Thomas was not discovered till 1521. It was then found at a considerable depth under ground, beneath the ruins of a vast and ancient church at Meliapour. There was a sepulchre, in which, amongst lime and sand, were found some remarkably white bones, the iron point of a lance, with part of the wood attached, and a clay vase filled with earth. The coincidence of this discovery with the local traditions of the presence of the body of St. Thomas at Meliapour, and the arrangements of his tomb, left in the opinion of the Portuguese no reason to doubt the identity of these remains with those of the apostle. They were, therefore, placed in a shrine, enriched with silver, and subsequently taken to Goa, where they were deposited in a church dedicated to St. Thomas.

Du Jarric relates, after Osorio, the historian of Emmanuel, and Bishop of Sylves in Algarve,—that towards the year 1543, there was presented to Martin Alphonse de Sousa, Lieutenant-general of the Portuguese possessions, a copper lance, on which were engraved some worn and ancient letters that nobody could read. A Jew, versed in the language and antiquities of India, however, at length succeeded in making out the sense of them, and it appeared they related to a donation of a piece of land, whereon to build a temple to the true God, made by an Indian king to St. Thomas.

Du Jarric adds, that towards the year 1548, when Jean de Castro was governor of the Indies, some Portuguese of Meliapour wished to build a chapel upon a hill near the town, where they said an apostle had been