The prince (Asoka) fitted out a great army consisting of the four parts, and then went forth, taking with him a branch of the Bo tree of the Tathagata.
Having passed through three kingdoms and the Vinjha range, having passed through the great forest, the prince came to the ocean.
The great four-fold army with the Bhikkhuni congregation at its head, proceeded to the great sea, carrying the excellent Bo tree.

A few scenes from the oldest history of Sri Lanka highlighting the contributions of and attitudes towards the Buddhist nuns taken from Oldenberg’s (public domain) 1879 translation.