receive his collections from M. Allard, who had also brought to Europe the antiquities discovered by General Ventura in the topes of the Punjab ; and subsequently England.

M. Honigberger proposes to compile, from his copious notes, an account of his travels, and especially of his residence in Afghanistan and the Punjab, where he had better means and opportunities for observation than any preceding writer on the Sikhs and Afghans. In his journies through Syria and Anatolia, M. Honigberger paid much attention to a branch of traffic little known in Europe, though extremely active in that part of the East, and furnishing a sure means of subsistence to very many families,-that of medals and antique engraved gems, which is almost exclusively in the hands of silversmiths and money-changers, who purchase the former at a low price, and sell them at an enormous profit, or melt them down. He carried on this trade with great success, and rescued many valuable coins of the Seleucides and the Arsacides from the crucibles of the moneyers.

It was during M. Honigberger's sojourn at Lahore, that General Ventura opened the celebrated tope of Mánikyála, and collected in its vicinity a number of medals. This success led our traveller, when, in his journey to Kabool, he came before the beautiful tope of Chekeri-bálá, to form the resolution of opening it, with the concurrence and assistance of Jabar Khan. Here he also met with Mr. Masson, who had been in Afghanistan some time before M. Honigberger, employed in drawing and describing the ruins there. These two antiquaries now acted in concert, and employed their efforts jointly and mutually, for the benefit of science. During the time he was at Kabool, Dr. Gerard applied to Jabar Khan to procure him some Bactrian coins, and the nawab spoke to M. Honigberger upon the subject, who gave the nawab half of the collection which he had made with so much toil, and Jabar Khan transferred these Bactrian coins (amounting to about a hundred) to Dr. Gerard, who appears (observes M. Jacquet) to have been unacquainted with the real source of the present.

Whilst waiting the departure of the caravan from Bokhara, M. Honigberger proceeded to Jelalabad, with some labourers whom Jabar Khan had provided for him; he found there about thirty topes of different dimensions, but he obtained from six or seven only articles of any value. Learning that the imaginations of the inhabitants had exaggerated the fruits of his discoveries, or rather misconceived their nature, fancying that he obtained vast treasures from these receptacles, he prudently affected to exhibit publicly, as the results of his diggings, pieces of ashes and mortar. This did not satisfy the sordid suspicions of the Afghans, and he narrowly missed a fatal issue. The Afghans could not believe that a shrewd man, and a Frank, would lose his time and labour for such trifles, and concluded that they had some inherent virtue. M. Honigberger was arrested on the frontiers of Kabool, by the orders of the Governor of Bamian, and conducted to the fortress of Akhrabad, where he was plundered of part of his baggage.* The articles taken from the topes, including the supposed philosopher's stone, were sought with fruitless anxiety, and the governor of the fortress was mortified when he found that this precious jewel was not within his grasp. The governor dismissed the traveller with many apologies; and the latter wrote an account of his treatment to Dost Mohammed Khan, but received nothing but empty excuses and promises in return. It seems evident that the sirdar, who took a totally different view of the matter from his brother, Jabar Khan, had directed this outrage.

⚫ He was lucky enough to secret the valuable coin of Mokadphises, found in the tope of Kemri.

Whilst he was at Bamian and Balkh, M. Honigberger obtained some Bactrian coins; it was at a money-changer's at the latter place, that he procured a gold Mokadpbises,* in very fine preservation, and of the same type as that which he had discovered in the tope of Kemri. He also collected at Bokhara a number of silver coins of great value, as well as two gold, one of which appears to belong to the lower ages of the Indo-Scythic dynasty. M. Honigberger added to his numismatic collection, nearly fifty engraved gems, amongst which are a cornelian, representing what is so often seen on the bas-reliefs of Persepolis, a person clad in a long Median robe, menacing with a dagger a winged lion; a coloured glass, exhibiting a lion's head, with a legend in Pehlvi characters; another with a front face of a prince, of excellent workmanship, surrounded with a legend in unknown characters. Amongst the coins and medals, are the following: an Agathocles in bronze, with a Bactrian legend on the reverse; some drachms and tetradrachms of Eucratidas; a tetradrachm and two bronze medals of Heliocles the Just; a tetradrachm of Demetrius; a drachm of Menander, with several bronze medals of this prince, of Apollodotus, and Eucratidas; a drachm and some bronze medals of Hermæus, a prince yet unknown in the list of Greek kings of Bactria; two bronze medals of Azos, another unknown prince; several medals of Mokadphises, with a Bactrian legend on the reverse; a very small silver coin, the reverse of which is the same as that of almost all the medals of the Sassanides, and the obverse of which exhibits the head of a king surmounted with a winged globe, accompanied by certain unknown characters. It is reasonable to expect, in adding to these names those of Pantaleon, Lysias, Antimachus, Antilacides, Philoxenes, Azilises, and Mayes, in the collections of Mr. Masson and Gen. Ventura, nearly to complete the series

of the different Greek and Scythic dynasties that ruled, for several ages, over a great part of Central Asia.t

The first tope which attracted the attention of M. Honigberger, was that called by the natives Boorj i takht i mináreh siah Chekeri bálá, or Tower of the site of the black pillar of Chekeri bála,' which is four leagues east of Kabool. It is on a little artificial mound, and presents the appearance of a cupola, now truncated in the upper part, but the proportions of which must have been elegant.

"It is evidently thus," observes M. Jacquet, "that we should read the name of the king, instead of Kadphises, as Messrs. Masson, Prinsep, aud Honigberger have hitherto transcribed it."

+ M. Jacquet rejects, as suspicious, the names of Sotereagas (which Mr. Prinsep has restored to the epithet ng Mayas); of Unadpherros; of Ausios, which he reads Lysia; of Nonos, which he supposes a false reading of Vonones; of Eos, &c.

The materials employed in its construction are enormous stones, very hard and nearly unhewn, coated with a stucco of lime, which has almost entirely peeled off through the rains. Some remains of this coating are seen in the middle, but it has entirely disappeared from the upper part, and the summit has given way. The lower part of the building is in a state of entire ruin; but it may be doubted whether it ever presented a uniform surface, because the basis of nearly all the other topes of Afghanistan are irregular, or rather, are but a shapeless mass of stones and cement. Above the base there is a sort of cincture, six or seven feet high, formed of a series of small pilasters supporting arches, and an ornament in the shape of a palm. This part of the architecture, the projection of which is but slight, is the most elegant, and produces the best effect.

The mound on which the tope is raised is hollow, and probably supported by subterranean buildings: its circumference is about 2,000 paces. M. Honigberger was informed by the proprietor of the land in which it is situated, that, having occasion, ten or twelve years before, to dig, at some distance from the tope, a káríz, or channel for the water to irrigate his fields, the workmen discovered a subterranean gallery running in the direction of the mound, which it appeared must terminate under the tope itself; that the workmen had entered with torches this narrow passage, but returned with their torches extinguished, reporting that large bats had whirled about them, and put out the lights with their wings; that, a few days after, these workmen had disappeared from the country, with their families, without saying a word to any one, and without claiming upwards of Rs. 100 due to them; that the other inhabitants were naturally led to suspect that they had carried off a large treasure, deposited under the tope, a conjecture which was partly confirmed by the circumstance that some other workmen, on entering the subterranean passage by his (the proprietor's) order, came to a large gallery under the tope, where they found some loose pieces of silver. M. Honigberger was desirous of verifying this statement by his own observation, and endeavoured to enter the trench; but the earth had so fallen in, that he was obliged to give up the attempt.

M. Honigberger began his exploration by digging at the summit of the tope, the falling in of which seemed to afford him an easy access from thence to the centre. The workmen found, in the cracks and upper courses, snakes, scorpions, and nests of large wasps, and he had much difficulty in keeping them to their task. In twelve days' continued labour, they had got little more than half-way down, and had discovered nothing but a kind of square cell in the centre of the masonry, constructed of stones regularly cut. This cell, which was about eight feet square, was filled with large rough stones. M. Honigberger forbore to penetrate farther, and caused a small opening, which he had observed at the foot of the monument, to be enlarged, continuing it horizontally towards centre. Although it was necessary to work through hard stones, united by a still harder cement, in less than three days, the workmen reached to within three feet of the centre, where they found, in the masonry, a new construction, of a round shape, of very small stones cemented together, enclosing a small cell, a foot square, formed by six slabs of black stone, very regularly cut. In this chamber, situated in the centre of the monument, and two or three feet from the ground, M. Honigberger found a box of soft, compact pot-stone (ollaris), yellow, with grey and black veins, which is found in large masses in the quarries near Kandahar; it has evidently been turned, and bears the traces of the operation. It is more than four inches high, and its diameter is three inches and a-half. It is divided into three compartments;

the first is the lid or cover, on the outer border of which are vestiges of Bactrian characters, too indistinct to allow of any attempt to decypher them; the second compartment is, as it were, a continuation of the lid, and forms a first cavity, in the middle of which rises an umbilic, in the shape of a phial (this upper cavity was empty); the third compartment, or lower cavity, contained a mixture of ashes and dust, in which were found some valuable articles, namely, a garnet and a turquoise, both cut in the shape of a heart, the former weighing from eight to ten grains; very small leaves of gold, round and of different sizes, the smallest open and the larger ones folded or rumpled, and some fastened to a little ring of the same metal; a gold ornament, weighing about two grains, consisting of three little balls, disposed so as to present in every position a pyramidal elevation. To these articles was added a papyrus in good preservation, doubled in several folds, on the back of which are traced in black some Bactrian characters. The substance of this precious papyrus, the only written relic which has yet been discovered of those times and countries, has become so friable, that to unfold it is a delicate operation, requiring previous recourse to chemical processes to soften and extend it. The lower cavity of the stone box contained likewise a box of silver slightly oxydized, which appears to have been made by the hammer, and of which the workmanship is rude. This box contained another of gold, of the same sort of manufacture, in which were small fragments of calcined bones, two pearls also calcined, two small gold ornaments, one of a cylindrical form and ringed, the other bellshaped, surmounted by a small ring, to which is still attached a fragment of gold thread; lastly, a ruby pendant, of an oval shape, weighing about eight grains.

The discovery of these curious articles determined M. Honigberger to open another tope, called Boorj i Kemri, about a league from the other. This is raised, like the other, on an artificial mound supported by subterranean buildings, which were partly explored by M. Honigberger, who entered by solidly constructed galleries into small vaulted rooms, which contained nothing remarkable. He had not time to excavate the other galleries.

The Boorj-i-Kemri is less lofty than the preceding; it is about forty feet high and nearly fifty in diameter; its proportions are less elegant, and it is not so well preserved, the summit having entirely fallen down, and a luxurious vegetation springing from the cracks, and even the interstices of the stones; the soil is covered all round with blocks detached from it by the violence of the rains, or the effects of saxifrage plants. M. Honigberger, however, ascertained that the monument had received no injury which gave reason to suppose that the articles deposited in the interior were not still safe. Above the base, a cincture runs round, exactly similar to that on the other tope, formed of an order of architecture raised in relief, and protected by the projection of a cornice; the pilasters, consisting of a simple socle or base, a very short shaft, and a wide capital, support lancet-shaped arches and large palm-leaves, which spring from the point of union of the arches, as if to support the overhanging cornice. All these parts, which are slightly raised, are formed by an incrustation of little blackish stones; similar incrustations form the modillions in the cornice. Two large slabs of stone, of the same colour, equally saliant and symmetrically disposed, in each intercolumniation, complete this elegant decoration. The upper part of the tope is in the same taste; large black stones set, as it were, into the building, form a kind of inlaid or chequer-work, which produces an agreeable effect.

Taught by experience, M. Honigberger began digging at the base of the

edifice, and the workmen made such progress that on the second day they were very near the centre, and met with an inner construction, of a round shape, covered with a very hard coat of cement. This cell was about seven feet in diameter, and formed, like that of the other tope, of small stones united by a compact cement. In the centre of this inner tope was made a cavity, formed by six stones of regular shape, about a foot square, which contained a bronze basin gilt, of a round shape, not high, about eight inches in diameter, much oxydized, the bottom being almost entirely gone. This basin was covered with a fine cloth, which fell into powder when touched; the powder, which is of a deep red colour, being carefully collected by M. Honigberger. The tope of Mánikyála presented a copper cylinder, which bore the marks of a cloth on its oxydized surface. The bronze basin contained a mixture of very fine earth, bark of trees and fragments of a resinous matter of whitish colour. The earth is pulverulent, and is most probably mixed with ashes. The fragments of resinous matter are, in M. Honigberger's opinion, pieces of white resin; and this matter, some fragments of which are in tears, or drops, is inflammable, and resembles, in its odour and residuum after burning, gum animi; some distinguished chemists, however, are of opinion, after close examination, that it does not differ from mastic. Amongst the pulverulent earth at the bottom of the vessel, were found a turquoise cut into the shape of a heart, another gem of a violet colour and hemispheroidal shape, a very small piece of leafgold, round, provided with a small ring of the same metal, and a gold ornament in the shape of a little bell, exactly similar to that before described. A more valuable article was found at the bottom of the basin, namely, a gold Mokadphises, of very beautiful execution and in perfect preservation, the reverse of which would have been unique, had not M. Honigberger obtained one at Balkh of the same description, but evidently of a different coinage. The obverse of this coin represents the bust of a king, aged and bearded, face turned to the left, wearing an ornamented mitre, of cylindrical shape, with floating bands, and an aigrette, or kirita, on the top; the bust, clothed in a dress which seems to belong to the Scythian kings of Bactria, vanishes gradually; each hand bears a royal attribute, namely, one a club, and the other an object which is indistinct, in which it is not, however, difficult to recognise the ankusa, an instrument which is used to guide an elephant; behind the head is the symbol common to all the coins of this series; the circular legend is Greek :— "MOKAAPICHC BACIAEVC H." On the reverse, is a naked figure, standing, whose left hand, covered with the skin of a wild beast, holds an article which terminates in the shape of a ball, and the right, raised, rests upon an offensive weapon, formed of a staff, terminating in a trident, and armed at the place of support with a hatchet-head; on each side of the figure is a variety of the symbol on the obverse; the circular legend is in Bactrian characters, a portion of which, destroyed by friction, is fortunately supplied by the legend on the other specimen. Besides these articles, the bronze vessel contained a cylindrical silver box, closed by a lid, of a roundish form, made by the hammer, much oxydized and decayed in some places, in which was contained a petrifaction, which filled the cavity almost exactly; it is of a ferruginous hue, and its surface is marked like the bark of certain trees, which has induced naturalists to consider it a ligneous petrifaction.

M. Honigberger's attention was next directed to a place vulgarly called by the natives Sch-top, or 'Three Topes,' on the face of the mountain at the foot of which the two preceding topes are situated. In fact, there are three of these monuments not far from each other, nearly of the same height, on