and it is now in their Museum, where I lately recognized it.

"The discovery of the stone box was the most complete and convincing proof that I could wish for of the man's veracity; and I at once felt satisfied that the relics and the inscribed figure of Buddha found by Jagat Singh's workmen had been discovered on this spot, and, consequently, that they could not possibly have any connexion with the great tower of Dhamek. My next object was to ascertain the nature of the building in which the box was deposited. As I had found the box standing on solid brick-work, I began to clear away the rubbish, expecting to find a square chamber similar to those which had been discovered in the topes of Afghanistan. My excavations, however, very soon showed, that, if any chamber had once existed, it must have been demolished by Jagat Singh's workmen. Sangkar then described that the box was found in a small square hole, or chamber, only just large enough to hold it. I cleared out the whole of the rubbish, until I reached the thick circular wall which still exists. I then found that the relic-box had been deposited inside a solid brick hemispherical stupa, forty-nine feet in diameter at the level of the deposit; and that this had been covered by a casing wall of brick, sixteen feet and a half in thickness: the total diameter at this level was, therefore, eightytwo feet. The solid brick-work of the interior had only been partially excavated by Jagat Singh's workmen; nearly one-half of the mass, to a height of six feet above the stone box, being then untouched. I

made some excavations round the outer wall, to ascertain its thickness; but I left the brickwork undisturbed.

"About eighteen years afterwards, the excavation of this stupa was continued by Major Kittoe and Mr. Thomas, until the whole of the inner mass had been removed, and the foundations of the outer casing exposed. The inner diameter is given, by Mr. Thomas, as forty-nine feet six inches; the slight excess over my measurement being due to the thickness of a base moulding of the original stupa. I have again carefully examined the remains of this monument; and I am quite satisfied that, in its original state, it was an ancient hemispherical stupa, forty-nine feet in diameter at base, and about thirty-five or forty feet in height, including the usual pinnacle. Afterwards, when, as I suppose, the upper portion had become ruinous, it was repaired by the addition of a casing wall, sixteen feet and a half in thickness. The diameter of the renewed edifice thus became eighty-two feet, while the height, inclusive of a pinnacle, could not have been less than fifty feet. On a review of all the facts connected with this ruin, I incline to the opinion, that the inner hemisphere was an ancient relic stupa (or tower), and that, this having become ruinous, it was repaired, and an outer casing added by the brothers Sthira Pála and Vasanta Pála, in A.D. 1026."1

There can be no doubt that great spoliation has been perpetrated on this ruin. Excavations have been carried on to such an extent, that all the central portion of the bricks, originally at the base of the ancient tower, 1 Cunningham's Archæological Report, pp. 104-7.

has been entirely removed; so that, now, only the bare retaining walls remain, and the cavity looks like a chamber, as I have designated it. Thus it comes to pass, in this instance, that the repeated exploration of an ancient and most singular structure means almost its utter destruction. The wall, or casing, as MajorGeneral Cunningham describes it, is, most certainly, of two eras. The upper portion may be of a comparatively modern date, and may have been added by Sthira Pála and his brother, in the eleventh century A.D.; but the lower portion is much older.

From the narrative of Hiouen Thsang, it is evident, that, formerly, there were many towers at Sárnáth, of which two only are now visible. One of these, the Dhamek tower, has been described. The other is two thousand five hundred feet to the south of it, and was once called Chaukandí, but is now called Lorí-kí-kúdan, or Lori's Leap, in consequence of a Hindu of the name of Lorí having leaped from its summit, and killed himself. There is a mound of solid brickwork, seventy-four feet in height, on the top of which is an octagonal building, twenty-three feet eight inches high, erected to commemorate the ascent of the mound by the Emperor Humáyún, son of the great Baber, who succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, A.D. 1531. Extensive excavations have been made into the mound, but no relic-chamber has been discovered in it; and it is supposed, therefore, that, unlike the tower erected above the chamber just described, it was not a relic-tower at all. Now, as Hiouen Thsang places a magnificent Stupa, about three hundred feet high, at the distance of half

a mile or so to the south-west of the monastery, and as this is the distance of the Chaukandí mound from the Dhamek, with its neighbouring monastery, and almost its exact position in regard to the latter, there is exceedingly good ground for the supposition that the two edifices are identical.

Now, it should be remembered, that Sárnáth was famous, amongst the Buddhists, not so much for its religious edifices, solely appropriated to the worship of Buddha, as for its being the spot where Sákya first "turned the wheel of Law." The original building which he frequented may have become decayed in the lapse of time; but it is only natural to suppose, that, as the fame of the Isipattana hall, or abode of saints, was very great throughout the entire Buddhist world, the utmost care was taken to preserve the original structure as long as it stood, and on its decay, of that erected in its room. It appears to me, therefore, highly probable, that a building, representing the original ĺśipattana hall, which Buddha visited on first delivering the Law, was in existence both when Fa Hian and Hiouen Thsang visited Sárnáth.

Other excavations conducted by Major-General Cunningham are of considerable interest. Observing a piece of terraced floor, which he had ordered to be cleared for the purpose of pitching his tent upon it, he found that it terminated on what appeared to be the edge of a small tank, thirteen feet nine inches square. "Continuing the work," he says, "I found the bases of pillars, in pairs, surrounding the square. Amongst the rubbish inside the square, I found an

elaborately sculptured bass-relief, in grey sandstone, representing the Nirvána of Buddha. The stone had been broken into four pieces, of which one was missing; but the remaining three pieces are now in the Calcutta Museum. This sculpture I consider particularly interesting, as the subject is treated in a novel and striking manner. In the ordinary representations of the deathbed scene, the spectators are confined to a few attendants, who hold umbrellas over the body, or reverentially touch the feet. But, in the present sculpture, besides the usual attendants, there are the Navagraha or "Nine Planets," in one line, and, in a lower line, the Ashta Sakti, or "eight female energies,” a series of goddesses apparently belonging to one of the later forms of Buddhism.

"Further excavation showed that the small pillared tank, or court-yard, was the centre of a large building, sixty-eight feet square, of which the outer walls were four feet and a half thick. My exploration was not completed to the eastward; as the walls of the building in that direction had been entirely removed by some previous excavation, with the exception of detached portions of the foundation, sufficient to show that it corresponded exactly with the western half of the building. The central square was, apparently, surrounded by an open verandah, which gave access to ranges of five small rooms or cells on each of the four sides of the building. In all the cells I found pieces of charred wood, with nails still sticking in some of them; and, in the middle cell, on the western side, I found a small store of unhusked rice, only partially