1903.] Papers. 103 



spirit of the jungles), Kali-Mai, Ospori (a jungle spirit having wings), 

 Berra Thakurain (the wife of Dakho Raja, the father of Durga), 

 Rakhya Chanel (another form of Kali), Ghazi Saheb and his brother 

 Kalu, Chawal Pir, Ram Ghazi and Bastu Devata (the goddess of the 

 earth). Farther, we have Hingli, Bingli, and Mangala, said to be 

 deities of the jungles and the fathers of tigers, also Azrael the rider, 

 alleged to be a spirit who is always on the backs of tigers. If it 

 happens that the fakir himself, instead of the wood-cutters, is carried off 

 by the tiger, the people often explain this by saying that, because the 

 propitiation of the deities of the jungle in those places had been neglected 

 for a long time, the tigers there consequently had become very angry. 



8. The occurrence of Melanterite {Ferrous Sulphate) in Baluchis- 

 tan. — By David Hooper, F.C.S. 



9. Notes on Ghirand in the Saran District. — By Nundo Lall Dey. 



(Abstract.) 

 Chirand is six miles to the East of Chupra. It contains an ancient 

 fort, upon which four Hindu temples have been built. There also 

 stands a mosque, built by Husain Shah of Bengal in 1503 A. D. 

 Numerous Buddhist images had been found there, and ancient mounds are 

 seen at several places close to it. The author explains the word ' Chir- 

 and ' as a compound of chir, meaning ' a portion cut off ' and and, which 

 he takes as a corruption of Ananda. There is a tradition that the remains 

 of Ananda, the famous disciple of Buddha, were divided into two parts 

 after cremation, and that one half was deposited in the Mahavana- 

 Kutagara, in one of the suburbs of Vaisali. The latter place was shown 

 to the Chinese pilgrims. There is, further, a legend still current at 

 Chirand that it was the capital of king Mayuradhvaja, who sawed down 

 his son in order to satisfy the craving for human flesh of Siva, who 

 came to the king in the disguise of an old Brahman to test his generos- 

 ity. Combining all these facts, the author suggests an old mound close 

 to Cherand as the probable site of the tower, containing half of Ananda's 

 remains, and he sides with Dr. Hoey as regards the position Vaisali 

 who has recently located it at Chirand, in contradiction to Basar, in the 

 Muzaffarpur District, which used to be the generally accepted site of 

 Vaisali. However this may be, it appears that the ruins at Chirand 

 deserve a careful exploration, as they are promising of important re- 

 sults. 



10. The Hughs of the Sundarbans, Backergunge District. — By D. 

 Sunder, Commissioner in the Sunderbans. Communicated by the 

 Anthropological Secretary. 



