The similarity of their proportions and cast of countenances is striking, and must be attributable to the above described mechanical mode of laying out the figure, which may probably be used all over Thibet.

I was unable to obtain copies of their many other deities, such as Chamba, Chandazik Grolma, (female), Chooshong, &c., but I imagine there is a like rule for drawing each; I shall try and obtain further information regarding them next season.

The drawing of the Chúrtún (Pl. III.) which I send is also taken from a native plan on which the measurements are given. I have entered the names of the different parts, which I find are not given in Cunningham's work on Ladak. The part called Chuksum' or 'Chugsum Kolor' always has, as its name implies, 13 discs, Chugsum meaning thirteen ;-there is perhaps some reason for it, for when I shewed Cunningham's XXVIIIth Plate of a churtun to the Lhamas, they at once counted the number of discs and informed me that three had been left out. The letter in the centre is the syllable "Hun" which is brought into all the mantras repeated by the people.

These Churtuns are picturesque buildings, and reminded me much of the Pagodas in Burmah on a small scale, for in Ladak they are rarely over 40 feet in height, and are generally very much smaller. The sides of the lower portion are often adorned by cleverly modelled work in relief, representing some imaginary animal, between a man and bird, or a sort of griffin, with a border of scroll-work. The upper portion," Thoodkeb," in the better kind of churtun is made of metal, and I was told that in former times gilt churtuns were to be met with in the neighbourhood of the large monasteries or Gonpahs. The churtun close under the palace at Leh is a good specimen and its name "Stunzin Num-gyal" is well known all over Ladak, so much so that a song has been written about it. At the monastery of Himis there is also a very pretty model, coloured white and ornamented with good gilt scroll-work, and inlaid with rough turquoises, carbuncles, agates, &c. There are a few more good ones in the same neighbourhood, but during the Dogra conquest of the country, many of the best religious buildings were destroyed, or more or less injured.

When surveying in the neighbourhood of Padum in Zaskar, I discovered in a field near the monastery of Sèni, several stone figures as shewn in the accompanying rough sketch (Pl. IV.) They had been set

up on a slight curve, and the highest standing in the centre was about 7 ft. high. Several had evidently disappeared, and with the exception of the two given on a larger scale (Pl. V.) they were very much worn and the features quite obliterated. I could obtain no information at the time as to what they were called. The Lhama with me from the monastery close by, called them Dekoo, said they were very very old and that no one knew who had made them. The head-dress was peculiar, nor have I seen it worn by any in that country at the present day. The smaller figure holds the Dorgè or Sceptre, which points out that they are of Buddhist origin. They are probably very early, dating from when that religion was first introduced into Zaskar; the rudeness and bad proportion of the figures display the handiwork of a people far behind the present race, who to all their drawings and modellings give a finish and exactness not usual even in the plains of India. I could discover no signs whatever of any inscription having been cut on either of the images,-the very worn state of the stone must have obliterated it, had there ever been any. Their age I must leave to be settled by those who are versed in the history of the early Bhuddists, and who may have noticed the curious ends projecting on either side of the head in other sculptures of the same period.

Note on a tank Section at Sealdah, Calcutta.—By H. F. BLANFOrd, A. R. S. M., F. G. S.

I am indebted to Mr. H. Leonard the Government Superintending Engineer, and a member of this Society, for drawing my attention to a section exposed in the large tank now in course of excavation at Sealdah, and which seems to me of sufficient interest to be recorded in the pages of the Society's Journal. The tank is situated to the East of the Circular Road, between the termini of the Eastern Bengal and Mutlah Railways, and has been excavated to a depth of 30 feet below the normal surface of the ground, which is at that spot 14 feet above the level of the low spring tides in the neighbouring canal, and 17 feet above that of the lowest spring tides of the dry season in the Hoogly river.* The bottom of the tank is therefore 15 feet below the former, and 13 feet below the latter level,

These levels are quoted from those given in the Report of the Municipal Engineer on the Main Drainage of Calcutta.