advantage to build a temple on the south end of the ruins, which appears about half finished. The mound and fort are no doubt coeval with each other, and of considerable antiquity, for no tradition exists, that can be depended upon concerning their origin. At 9h, arrived at a remarkable pillar, and heaps of brick rubbish. This superb monument is the only remains of former grandeur, that has escaped the ravages of time, owing to the solidity of its structure. The smooth polished shaft is an immense solid block of a small grained, reddish coloured sandstone, surmounted by a singular and beau. tiful sculptured capital, on which rests a square tabular block, supporting a well sculptured lion in a sitting posture, of the same material. This pillar seems to have no pedestal, though from the soft and alluvial nature of the ground, on which it stands, it is reasonable to suppose, that it must have sunk and buried itself deep in the soil*. If a part of the earth was removed by digging round the present base, its pedestal might be discovered, and its real height accurately determined. It is also probable, that if it ever had a pedestal, an inscription might be found, which would throw light on its present obscure history: I have no doubt but it is anterior to the mounds of brick rubbish by which it is surrounded, and which extends for the space of several square miles in all directions. The numerous magnificent (though old) tanks, amounting to about 50 in number, large and small, strengthen the general opinion that this place is the site of a large city, at a remote period inhabited by a numerous and civilized wealthy people. I found the dimensions of this pillar to be as follows: Length of shaft, ..... From the top of the shaft to the top of the lion's head, Total height,.. Circumference of shaft, four feet from the ground,. 26 feet 6 do. . 32 do. 12 do. Such are the present dimensions, but I have no doubt but half its height is at present buried in the ground. The sculpture is better than the Egyptian, and the general appearance striking and good. On the shaft are cut the names of a number of Europeans who had from time to time visited the spot. The native name for the pillars is Bhim Sinh ka Lattea, Láth, or Gadá literally, BHIM SINH's walking stick. The following tradition is prevalent amongst the natives of Bassar and Bakhra. I had it told me by several, without deviation. ; "Two thousand years ago lived Bhim Sinh the great. The pillar was used by him as a walking stick, by which he supported himself when carrying a large tree * Mr. RATTRAY informs me that an excavation was once made to its base, but no inscription was discovered.-ED. S on his shoulder as a bhangi, laden with two hills. The bhangi however broke with the weight near to the spot where the pillar stands, and two hills or mounds were there left by Bhim Sinh, and remain to the present day, and are to be seen, one near the pillar, the other at a distance of a few hundred yards. "Many years after this happened, the spirit of the place appeared to a Bengali in a dream, and informed him that there was immense treasure buried under the pillar in copper handís or vessels bound with chains. The spirit requested him to take a journey or pilgrimage to the spot and possess it. The Bengálí travelled to the place, and found the pillar a few feet above the ground, in the middle of a large jungle, inhabited by wild beasts of every description. However, notwithstanding the danger, he began to clear away the jungle, and dig for the treasure. At a great depth, he came to a well or small tank, on the surface of which floated a large silver choki (or seat), and through a hole in the middle, the pillar descends down into the water to an unknown depth. By the side of the well are stationed two swams (large black bees), the size of a man's fist, to protect the place and treasure. The Bengálí entered this sanctuary, disappeared, and was never heard of more. The pillar after this affair rose to the height of two tádí trees, and has since been sinking at the rate of an inch annually. Many years after the Bengálí's disappearance, an English gentleman came to the place and dug down to discover the base of the pillar, but when he came to the silver Choki he was attacked by two swáms, one of which stung and killed him on the spot: since that time, no one dare venture to dig below the pillar, which has subsequently remained unmolested." It is easy to reconcile some parts of this tradition with natural causes. For instance, that the place has at no distant period been a jungle, inhabited by wild beasts, is very probable; for several that have been known to avoid the habitations of man are now found on the spot, unwilling to quit their ancient haunts. On the elevated part of a heap of brick rubbish a porcupine has now its den : four holes lead to its tenement, which is situated at a great depth below. The quantity of earth and brick rubbish this animal had thrown to the surface might strengthen the idea that the den had been made by a larger animal, had it not been frequently seen by the natives who live close to the spot, one of whom endeavoured to capture the animal, but his formidable armour proved too sharp for the man's hands and arms, and he escaped into his den with the loss of a few quills, which I purchased of the hardy hunter for a few pice. A few yards to the north of the pillar stands a mound or tumulus of solid brick-work, of a conical shape, similar to the one above described, near Bassar: the top is surmounted by a large pípal tree, to all appearance many centuries old. The outward parts of this mound are dilapidated by time. The bricks it has been built with are a foot square, and have been well burnt; mud has been used in place of On the north side an excavation has been made to the very centre, by a doctor (as I was informed), resident at Mozafferpur, 30 mortar. years ago, whose name I could not ascertain. The doctor, however, (according to a native's account, who assisted in the work,) found no treasure, but only a well of great depth, situated immediately under the centre, which I could not find any vestige of, although I made a search for it. At present a Hindu Faqir has availed himself of the doctor's labours by converting the extremity of the excavation into a place of worship, making a few images of clay, and fixing them to the sides of the cavity. One of these images, coloured black, attracted my notice from its singular grotesque appearance : on closer inspection, I discovered that the lower part was of stone, finely sculptured, and altogether different from the upper which I found to be made of clay. I succeeded in purchasing the deity from the Faqir for two rupees, and after washing, picking, and separating the outward covering of clay, in an adjoining tank, a fragment of beautiful ancient sculpture was brought to light. On further inquiry, the Faqir's artfulness was detected by a person present, who recognized the fragment to have been found by the zemindar of the place when digging among the ruins for bricks to build his present pakka house, a few hundred yards distant. This fragment of sculpture represents the lower part of a figure of Buddha, sitting cross-legged, according to the custom of the east, with the arms resting across the upper part of the thigh. the soles of the feet (which are turned up), and on the palm of the left hand, is represented the lotus flower*. The back of this fragment is beautifully sculptured, with two lions standing in an erect position, upon two elephants. On each side of the base is cut a lion half couchant with a small female figure in the centre. The stone is the same as that of the pillar, viz. a red fine grained sandstone, very hard. On the lowest part of the fragment is an inscription in Sanscrit, which the Pandits of this part of the country cannot as yet decypher. On I have no doubt but this fragment is coeval with the pillar, if not connected with its history. Note on the above by J. P. The mutilated image thus fortuitously rescued by Mr. STEPHENSON, and by him presented to the Asiatic Society, is represented in Plate IX. The inscription around the pedestal, which had baffled the pandits of Tirhut, excited considerable curiosity on its exhibition to the Society, from the circumstance of none of the ancient Buddhist images in our museum, whether from Benares or from the Bhágelpur hills, possessing such a characteristic. * The emblem always borne by a Chakravartti, or universal sovereign, and fortiori by Buddha.—ED. A singular coincidence shortly after served very materially to increase the interest thus raised regarding this short and otherwise trivial inscription. It may not be generally known to the members of the Society, that some of my Benares friends, Captain THORESBY, Secretary of the Sanscrit College, Major GRANT, and Lieut. ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM, of the Engineers, stimulated by the success of General VENTURA's operations in the Panjáb, have undertaken at joint expence with myself to open carefully the large Buddhist monument at Sárnáth*, so frequently alluded to in the Asiatic Researches, wherein it is conjectured from the evidence of some ancient inscriptions on copper, dug up near the spot, to have been erected by the sons of Bhupála, a Rájá of Gaur, in the eleventh century†. Lieut. CUNNINGHAM, who is still zealously occupied in this interesting work, at such moments as his official duties will permit, has himself promised me a full account of his operations, when the whole shall be completed; but he has permitted me to anticipate him in mentioning the subject I am now about to introduce, should I be able to furnish a full explanation; which the sequel will prove to be the case. At the depth then of ten feet and a half from the summit of the stone building, he extracted a slab of stone 284 inches long, 13 inches broad, by 42 thick, bearing an inscription in an ancient form of Devanágarí, of which, after referring in vain to the Pandits of the degenerate Kási, he sent me an exact facsimile by dák. The stone was found lying with its head to the south-west, among the bricks and mud. It is of a pinkish hue, and all the letters are in excellent preservation. Lieut. CUNNINGHAM remarked the similarity of some of the forms to the Sanscrit of the Manikyala coins, Plate XXI. figs. 10, 11; and to some letters of the Allahabad inscription, No. 2. in the second volume. The facsimile, (represented on a smaller scale in fig. 2 of Plate IX,) reached me, as I have before stated, while the Tirhut image was under examination, and it immediately struck me from one or two prominent letters, as well as from the general appearance of the whole, that the * It must not be supposed, that in this enterprize, the feelings of the natives are in any way offended. The Hindus are quite unconcerned about the tope, and the two sects of Jains in Benares, who are now at variance with each other, had joined in requesting me to open the building at their expence, that it might be ascertained to which party (Digambari or Swetambari) the enclosed image might belong. My departure from Benares alone prevented my satisfying their curiosity in 1830. + See As. Res. vol. ix. pp. 74, 203; x. 130. two inscriptions were substantially the same, although the characters of the two differed as much from one another as the Nágarí from the Bengálí alphabet. Upon shewing them to GOVIND RÁM SHÁSTRÍ, Mr. WILSON's intelligent Pandit, and comparing the letters with the Tibetan and Gya forms of the Sanscrit alphabet, the identity of the two was confirmed, and several words made out, among them the titles "Tathágata and Mahá Sramana," both of an important Bauddha acceptation; but the context was devoid of meaning. The Pandit's meritorious efforts were communicated to our learned Vice-President, Dr. MILL, who, recognizing at once the form of the ancient dh, a semilunate letter, which had been taken for a v, was enabled to complete and give the true meaning of the inscription, with the exception of the initial word, which (in consequence of the stroke at the commencement) was read Sárnáth version, and , in the other sentence, instead of ✈ qui, in both. This mistake led to the reading of the word war prabhavo in the singular, in lieu of war in the plural, and connecting with it the word as part of the compound instead of separately, thus: hic, in the चयं धर्महेतु प्रभवो हेतुं तेषां तथागतो ह्यवदत् तेषां च येो निरोध एवं वादी महाश्रमण || the interpretation of which was thus given by Dr. MILL: "This is the generative source of the cause of meritorious duties. For the cause of these hath TATHAGATA [or BUDDHA] declared. But as to what is the opposing principle of these, that likewise doth the MAHÁ SRAMANA [the great ascetic], declare." The Tirhut inscription was found to differ only from the other in the substitution of two entirely synonymous words, the transposition of two others, and the omission of the particle hi" for," united to avadat in the second line. The translation of the passage was precisely the same. Introducing the corrections subsequently made, (as it is unnecessary to repeat the reading in its imperfect state) the text of the Tirhut image will stand thus in the modern Devanagarí character: • ये धम्म हेतु प्रभवा स्तेषां हतु ं तथागत उवाच तेषां च यो निरोध एवं वादी महा श्रमणः । We shall come to the corrected translation presently. It was remarked that the latter part of the passage being in the present tense, as compared to avadat and uvácha in the former part, seemed to imply a continuation of the sentence; or, at any rate, left something inconclusive and unsatisfactory in the translation. The circumstance, however, of two sculptured inscriptions found at distant places in terms of the same import, though varying in phrase |