idea of the era when they were most in use. The largest bricks known are met with in the ruins of Hastinápur, which, according to Mauluvi Syad Ahmad,* measure 20 inches long, 10 broad and 24 thick. If they be, as has been supposed, synchronous with the heroes of the Mahábhárata they are the oldest as well as the largest known. The next in size are those from the walls of Babylon, for which the clay thrown out of the trenches surrounding the city supplied the material; they measure sixteen inches square, with a thickness of three inches. The next are those from the pyramid of Howara in Egypt. They measure 17 inches by 8 inches; the thickness being 5 inches. Next to them are those of Buddhagayá, Sárnáth, Sultánganj and other Buddhist localities; they vary from 13" to 14" by 8" to 10 inches, the thickness ranging from 2 to 3. This kind of brick, was in use for upwards of seven hundred years down to the fifth or sixth century of the Christian era. The bricks of the Hindu Rajas of Lilput, Avangpur, Luckerpoor are much of the same size, but of very different appearance. The early Pathans also used very large bricks, and in old Delhi they are very common. The later Pathans reduced the size of their bricks to 12 inches, and in the days of the Moguls they were further reduced to 10", hence it is that in the many palatial buildings of Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jehan, the greatest builders of the race, we find no trace of a single large brick.

Beyond the western wall of the chambers there is the foundation of another and a broad one, which formed the boundary wall of the quadrangle. It runs due north and south and is joined by one which runs along the ridge on the southern side. Similar boundary walls, no doubt, once existed on the north and the east, but their traces have long since been effaced.

In front of the chambers there are to be seen the remains of a hall or verandah which formerly formed the most important part of the building on this side of the quadrangle. Its floor is on a level with the highest floor of the chambers, and seems to have been made of concrete and stucco, and painted over in fresco of a light ocherous colour. How it was enclosed in front has not been made out. Probably there was a range of square pillars, forming a verandah or pillared hall resembling a modern Bengal dalan or the choultry of Southern India. The floor of the courtyard has not yet been laid bare, but judging from * Journal of the Archæological Society of Delhi, p. 50.

the position of a water-course formed of scooped flags of granite which runs under the floor of the hall and through one of the partition walls of the chambers to a drain beyond the boundary wall of the quadrangle, and which was evidently intended to carry off its drainage I am induced to believe that it stood about 3 feet lower than the hall. Similar water-pipes of granite have been met with at Buddhagayá, Sárnáth and elsewhere.

Of the relics which have been collected by Mr. Harris in course of his excavations at this place, the most important appears to be a colossal figure of Buddha which was found lying on a side of the hall described above. It had evidently been knocked down by some iconoclast before the destruction of the hall, and removed several feet away from its pedestal. The latter too had been tilted over, but not much removed from the centre of the hall which was its original position. It was formed of a slab of granite 6′-11′′ × 3′-9′′ the thickness being 9 inches. The statue was secured to this stone by two bolts, the remains of which are still visible. The statue is of copper and seems to have suffered no injury from the hands of the destroyer, except the mutilation of the left foot across the ankle.

Its dimensions are

From the topknot on the crown of the head, along the back to

the edge of the heel,

7 3

From do. along the front to the sole of the foot under the

The above measurements were taken with a common tape without any reference to the principles followed by artists in the calculation

of the relative proportion of the different parts of the human figure. They disclose, however, some curious facts: thus omitting the top-knot formed of a collection of hair on the crown of the head, we find that the total length of the figure (7 feet) is to the head (12 inches,)—as 1 to 6 and 19, or in the language of artists 6 heads, 3 parts, 9 minutes, instead of the usual standard of 1 to 8, and also considerably under that of the antique statues. In the Hercules the Apollo and the Laocoon the length of the body varies from 7 heads, 2 parts, 3 minutes to 7 heads, 3 parts, 7 minutes. The tallest statue known is that of Mirmillo, and it measures 8 heads only. The length of the fathom again, which in Europe is reckoned to be the same as the height, is in our statue fully one-third more. This is owing no doubt to the belief common in India that the simian pecularity of the hands reaching down to the knees is an emblem of divinity and universal sovereignty. It is worthy of note, however, that in a table published by Dr. Emil Schlagintweit in his recent work on Tibetan Buddhism,* the fathom of Brahmans of Upper India, is represented to be greater than the length of their body, and the Bhots have the same peculiarity in a greater degree. It is remarkable also that the latter make their Buddhas and Bodhisatvas have shorter fathoms than their genii and dragsheds. The increase in the fathom is effected by an inordinate prolongation of the hands, leaving the arm and forearm less than their natural proportions as compared to those of Indian Brahmans, of Bhots, and of Bhotanese idols; but somewhat longer than the European standard of 1 head, 2 parts and 3 minutes to the arm and 1 head, 1 part and 2 minutes to the forearm. The foot, according to modern artists, should

* I take the following from Dr. Schlagintweit's book to bring to one view the relative proportions of the different parts of the human figure compared with those of Bhot statues. The second column A has been added by me.

be one-sixth of the body, but in the statue this has been exceeded by a few minutes. The torso is slightly shorter than the Grecian standard. On the whole, even after making ample allowances for the fact that the changes which the human form undergoes from infancy to old age and in different nationalities and climates preclude the possibility of limiting its measurements to any ideal standard, it must be admitted that the artist of the statue had a very imperfect knowledge of proportion. He had evidently adopted the tall North Indian and not the squat Bhot for his model.

The figure is erect, standing in the attitude of delivering a lecture, and in this respect bears a close resemblance to the sandstone statues so largely found at Sarnath by General Cunningham. The right hand is lifted in the act of exhortation; the left holds the hem of a large sheet of cloth which is loosely thrown over the body. Both hands bear the impress of a lotus, the emblem, according to Indian chiromancy, of universal supremacy, and as such is always met with on the hands of Vishņu, Brahmá and some other Hindu divinities. The ears are pendulous and bored, and the hair on the head disposed in curled buttons in the way they are usually represented on Burmese figures, and not very unlike the buttons on the heads of some of the Nineveh bas-reliefs. The lips are thin and the face, though more rounded than oval, is not remarkable for any prominence of the cheek bone. On the forehead there is a circular tilak or auspicious mark. The material is a very pure copper cast in two layers, the inner one in segments on an earthen mould, and held together by iron bands which were originally of an inch thick, but are now very much worn down by rust. The outer layer of the copper has also oxidized in different places and become quite spongy. The casting of the face down to the breast, was effected in one piece; the lower parts down to the knee in another, and then the legs, feet, hands and back in several pieces. A hole has been bored through the breast, and chips have been knocked off from other parts of the body since the exhumation of the figure, evidently with a view to ascertain if it did not contain hidden treasure such as is said to have been found by Mahmood in the belly of the famous idol of Somnáth, but it has led to the discovery of nothing beyond the mould on which the figure had been cast. The substance of this mould looks like a friable cinder. Originally it consisted of a mixture of sand, clay, charcoal and paddy husk,

of the last of which traces are still visible under the microscope. Bábu Kánailála De, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Medical College, who kindly undertook to analyse this black stuff for me, says that it consists of

Oxide of copper, peroxide of iron, alumina, lime, and

73 50

18 0

8 50

100 00

On the annexed plate, which has been drawn from a photograph, the statue is represented with two small figures on its sides. These were found close by it in the chapel hall. They measure 1'-10" and 1'-5" inches high respectively. They are carved in basalt and, in style and attitude, bear a very close resemblance to the copper statue; but they have each an attendant devotee kneeling before it with folded hands, and the Buddhist creed " Ye dharmahetu" &c., engraved in the Gupta character on the pedestal. The small one has the same also on the back. Among the other relics found I may mention

1. A mutilated terra cotta figure similar to the above.

2. A large conch shell (sankh), its animal matter nearly all destroyed. 3. A great number of cowries not much affected by time. 4. A piece of elephant bone-the top of the tibia sawn both across and longitudinally, the sawing mark most distinctly visible. 5. A slip of ivory about a foot long and an inch broad; flat but not sharp edged.

6. An Iron axe destroyed by rust, but the shape is distinct.

7. Ditto smaller.

8. Ditto very much destroyed; the ring broken off.

9. An Iron ring about three inches in diameter with a spike on one side, very much destroyed by rust.

10. A chisel with an iron handle, very rusty.

11. A copper disk or cover destroyed by rust.

12. Sitting figure of Buddha in copper, partially destroyed by rust. 13. Three standing figures in do. do. ; the heads had halo which were found broken and detached.

14. The hand of a large copper figure.

15. A number of broken bits of rusty copper domestic utensils. 16. Lumps of copper ore.