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VIII. Latitude of the Church Bungalow at Nasírábád, by altitudes (170) of Polaris out of the Meridian, observed with a Troughton's 18-inch Altitude and Azimuth circle, by Col. Thos. Oliver.

[We use the privilege allowed as by the author to omit the details of observations, and confine our publication to the following abstract carefully calculated by the author himself from them. We trust that the Church Bungalow will soon become a more permanent structure; it is a constant complaint of astronomers in this country that points of reference are not to be had.-ED.]

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The observations were conducted thus: five sights were taken with the face of the circle east or west as it happened, the level (both ends) being read off and noted after each sight. The instrument was then turned round 180° in azimuth, and five more sights taken as before. The correction for level (that is, the mean of the ten readings) has been applied to the numbers in the column headed "Microscopes." I have used Dr. YOUNG's refractions, and the position of the star, as given in the Greenwich Ephemeris.

The Microscopes of the Altitude circle having a motion of about 60° concentric with the circle, I occasionally availed myself of this contrivance in order to get readings on different parts of the circle, and to get rid of errors of division; but I regret that I did not make more use of this expedient, since so wide a result appears when the Microscopes were placed at 20° from what the other positions give. The instrument is now at the Lucknow Observatory, where I did hope that, in the hands of my lamented friend HERBERT, it would have had fair play; but he, poor fellow, died very soon after he received it.

IX.-Population of the City and District of Allahabad, în 1831-32.

SIR,

To the Editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society.

The inclosed census of the town of Allahabad may be considered more accurate than that published in a former number of the Asiatic Society's Journal. Kyd-gunj adjoins the town, and should be considered á portion if it. Dara-gunj, situated on the banks of the Ganges, may be held as a suburb. The census of the whole district or zillah of Allahabad, is a mere approximation to the truth; it has not in consequence been deemed necessary to detail the population of each pergunnah. Some of the returns, from which the total was obtained, were drawn out several years ago by the police officers, other were drawn up by revenue officers. The revenue (land, abkaree, and stamps) drawn from the district amounts to about 20,90,000 Rs. whence the payments of each person will be nearly 2.68 rupees yearly.

Your's obediently,

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X.-Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

Wednesday Evening, the 28th May, 1834.

The Rev. W. H. MILL, D. D. Vice-President, in the chair.

The Proceedings of the last Meeting were read.

Messrs. WM. MARTIN, ROBERT SPIERS, and Capt. WILLIAM FOLEY, proposed at the last Meeting, were elected members of the Society.

Read a letter from W. E. FRERE, Esq., Secretary to the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, conveying its thanks for the XV. and XVI.

volumes of the Asiatic Researches, and announcing that Mr.WALTERELLIOT of the Madras Civil Service, had placed in his hands, for presentation to the Society, 20 copies of the ancient Canarese Alphabet, lithographed in Bombay through the liberality of the Right Honorable the EARL OF CLARE.

Library.

Read a letter from J. VAUGHAN, Esq., Librarian of the American Philo sophical Society, forwarding on behalf of ISAAC HAYS, Esq. M. D. descriptions of the fossil Mastodons in the Philadelphian Museum.

The following books were presented :

Malatimadhavæ, Fabulæ Bhavabhutis, actus primus, ex Recensione Christiani Lasseni, Prof. BONN.-By the author.

Gymnosophista, sive Indica Philosophiæ Documenta: 1 fasciculus, by Professor LASSEN.-Ditto.

Journal Asiatique, No. 70.-By the As. Soc. of Paris.

Meteorological Register, for April, 1834.-By the Surveyor General. The following books received from the book-sellers:

Lardner's Cab. Cyclopedia, Middle Ages, 2nd vol.

British Admirals, 2nd vol.

Library of Useful Knowledge, Lives of Eminent Persons.

Museum.

A large Asamese ornamented chhatta was presented by Dr. Burlini.

A stuffed Saw-fish, eight feet in length-purchased.

Two boxes of geological specimens, collected in the course of a survey of the river Satlej, from Ludiana to its confluence with the Indus-presented by Captain C. M. Wade.

Antiquities.

Read a letter from H. WALTERS, Esq. forwarding fac similes of the inscription on the Ramree stone, and a rough translation in Persian and English, made by himself, with the aid procurable in Arracan.

The stone was found in Ramree. It had been brought from a temple somewhere in the island to Kyúk Phyú, whence it was shipped off, both to serve as a specimen of the sandstone of Arracan and as a curious monument: there were several similar in different parts of the province.

Mr. WALTERS also forwarded specimens of shells encrusted with stalactite from the Musmye Cavern, Silhet; this cave is remarkable for the sparkling purity of its calcareo us encrustations, which give it a singularly clean and imposing appear.

ance.

The Secretary submitted the fac simile of an inscription in the Burma language, and Pálí character, found at Gya, and copied by the pandit in attendance on the Burmese ambassador, with a translation of the same, as explained by RATNA PAULA.

[Printed in the present number.]

Read extracts of letters from B. H. HODGSON, Esq, resident at Népál, on the subject of inscriptions in the character No. 1, of the Allahabad column, and forwarding a native drawing of the Matthia Lat'h, situated in a wilderness, between Bettiah and the Gandak river, in the Sáran district, with an accurate transcript of its inscription. Also an accurate fac simile

of an inscription from the Ságar territory, which proves to be in old Sanscrit character, (No. 2.)

These inscriptions, Mr. HODGSON says, were communicated to the Asiatic Society, eight or ten years ago, but no trace of them could be found among its records: fortunately he has preserved the originals, from which we shall take an early opportunity to make engravings for publication, together with the author's remarks upon this and three other Lat'hs in North Behar of a similar nature.

The Vice-President exhibited a fac simile of an ancient inscription in the same character, No. 2, from the iron pillar at Delhi, carefully taken off at his particular request by the late Lieut. WM. ELLIOTT, of the 27th N. I. in the year 1831.

Read extracts from Dr. J. G. GERARD's letters to the Secretary, communiating further information of Mr. MASSON's proceedings in the examination of the Afghan topes.

Mr. MASSON's letter contained copies of an inscription found on a box extracted from a tope at Jelalabad, by himself, in the same character, as that on the cylinder from Manikyála, and bearing strong resemblance to Sanskrit.

Dr. GERARD gives the following account of the disasters which befel Mr. MARTINE HONIGBERGER, on his route homeward: he had fortunately left the chief part of his collection of relics with General VENTURA.

"I beg to notice here the misfortunes which have attended Mr. HONIGBERGER'S journey from Kabúl across the Hindú Kúsh mountains, in progress to Balkh and Bokhara, in the hopes that they will become known through this medium to his friends and countrymen in Europe. Mr. H. reached Bamián in safety, and left it, to all appearances, without apprehension, but was almost immediately beset by a party of horsemen, who began a promiscuous plunder of his property, first binding the traveller hand and foot, and then threatening him with instant death, which seems to have been most fortuitously averted; the gang declaring at the same time that they had the authority of the governor, at the instance of DOST MAHOMED KHAN, for the act; but this I can scarcely credit, at least am very unwilling to trace it to such a source, though suspicion is implicated in the mystery at present. After the timely intercession of one of the party, Mr. MARTINE was untied, but he lost his arms, which were valuable, and all the cash he had on his person. In the struggle, the KAFILA BASHI', the same man who conducted Mr.BURNES and myself safely to Balkh, received several slight wounds in attempting to defend his charge. The party then resumed their journey, having been ordered direct to Khúndúz by the chief MíR MORAD BEG, which my informant considered by no means inauspicious, since Mr. HONIGBERGER's treatment at Bamían was likely to plead favourably with the Usbek tyrant. Nothing further was heard of him till a few days ago, while I remained at Lahore, Mons. ALLARD received a letter from himself, dated Khulm, stating that he was on route to Balkh, and an open road before him. A large town in the northern base of Hindú Kúsh, in the vicinity of the Oxus; where Mr. BURNES and myself supposed we were prisoners."

The Secretary submitted to the inspection of the Meeting several ancient coins, procured at Kanouj, by Lieut. A. CONOLLY, amongst which was one gold coin of Hindu fabrication, peculiarly interesting from the legibility of its inscription and superior excellence of its workmanship.

[A drawing and notice of this coin is given in the present number.]

The Secretary also laid on the table an extensive collection of ancient coins, received through Capt. WADE and Lieut. CONOLLY from Mulvi SHEKH KERAMAT ALI, now residing at Kábúl, on the part of the British Government.

SHEKH KERAMAT ALI is well known as the companion of Lieut. A. CONOLLY in his journey from Persia to India, of which an account was printed in the GLEANINGS, vol. iii. page 346. On quitting Calcutta, in 1832, to join his new appointment, he carried with him copies of all the plates of ancient coins up to that time printed, and others were afterwards forwarded to him, to assist him in the search he zealously undertook to make for Bactrian and Hindu coins, then only sparingly known to us. Later in the field, and bringing none of the knowledge of the subject possessed by his European competitors, his comparatively undirected efforts have been wonderfully successful: the collection now transmitted comprises numerous coins of APOLLODOTUS, Menander, HERMÆUS, EUCRAtides, Kanerkos, Kadphises, and indeed almost all of those enumerated by Mr. MASSON's Memoir, besides some very curious Parthian and many gold and silver Hindu coins.

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[An account of such coins as are new, will be published hereafter.]

Papers read.

Dr. GERARD's Memoir on the Topes of Afghanistán.

[This paper will be noticed in a subsequent number.]

8

128

247

383

Observations on the Allahabad Inscription, No. 2. with a translation. By the Rev. W. H. MILL, D. D. Vice-Pres. &c.

Dr. MILL has succeeded in restoring completely the main portion of the inscription; of which he presented a transcript in Modern Devanagari, on a large scale, interlined with a verbal translation in Latin. The Vice-President read his version of the same in English, which we shall have the pleasure of presenting to our readers in the next number of the Journal.

XI.-Scientific Intelligence.

Willard's Treatise on the Music of Hindustan.

With the exception of Sir WILLIAM JONES' valuable and learned essay in the third volume of the Asiatic Researches, we have had little information on the music of the Hindus, beyond a notice of the adaptation of the rags to the different seasons and hours in GILCHRIST's Hindustani Grammar, and occasional cursory (generally disparaging) mention of the existing practice of the art at nâches, in noisy processions, or on the ghats, by travellers ill capable of appreciating the peculiarities of the science of sweet sounds among the nations of the East. The instruments themselves are pretty well known; SOLWYN's magnificent work contains accurate drawings of most of them, which have been copied into other more popular works. The present volume therefore, a child of long promise, and consequently of high expectation, was received with avidity, as the author was known to be a skilful

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