IS47.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



Ill 



rocks or banks, was rather forced into it by Ibe downward action of the 

 cables wlieii hove upon ; to obviate this he had a third barge or camel 

 prepared, with a framework at the extreme end sufficiently high (as shown 

 in the annexed eugraviun), lliat wlieu the cables, hawsers, &c. , were car- 

 ried over il, this dMwnwar<l actioj), insteail of depressing the vessel, should 

 produce the coiilriirv eli'ect. To accomplish this he plained at the opposite 

 end of the camel, liiiiily secured to its deck, tvTO strong pieces of timber, 

 kept sufficiently asunder for the stem of the vessel to pass between them, 

 so that they forked tlie siem. Attached to the stem, immediately over tliis 

 fork, was a strong cleat on each side. 15y tlie depressing of the end on 

 which the frame was placed the end next the vessel was raised, and an 

 upward pressure on the cleats resultsd therefrom. Beyond this a great 

 portion of the buoyant power of the camel came into operation. The un- 

 dulations of the sea also contributing to increase its elfect. 



The Sphynx, cleared of everything except her engines, drew upwards 

 of ten feet of waier ; and the reef over which she was ultimately carried 

 had not more than six feet on it at the time. She had twice before been 

 brought up to this point, and could not be got over it ; but on the 3rd ult., 

 by the joint efl'ects of the camels under the paddle-boxes— the one against 

 the stern, nicknamed the dromedary, and the two tiers of casks (alias 

 bulls), under the bottom, and main strength in heaving, she effected the 

 passage. The outer shoal or reef, on which there was only about six inches 

 more water than on the inner, brought her up again. The purchases hav- 

 ing been perhaps prematurely detached from the vessel, not expecting that 

 Ihey would be further required, they impeded the progress of the vessel 

 over the intermediate flat, and would perhaps have prevented her reaching 

 tlie outer reef iu time to get over in that tide, so that the result mould have 

 been I he same in either case ; thus she was not got entirely over these reefs 

 before ten o'clock on Thursday morning, the 4!h ult. 



The " recovered" Sphynx was then taken into the Angle Dock at Ports- 

 mouth, on Saturday afternoon, the 0th ult., when it was slated that the 

 vessel was much strained, inasmuch as the bed-plate and condenser of the 

 engines were both broken, the former in several places. The kelson bolts 

 were al.so several of them started up by her thumping on the rocks. The 

 engines and boilers have to be entirely removed to repair the injuries sus- 

 tauied by the keel and bottom planking. The lower part of the knee of 

 the head was carried away on the 14th of February, by the chain cable, 

 when the vessel went broadside on the shore. — The Sphynx was afterwards 

 brought round to Woolwich, where she is undergoing repair, and tbe en- 

 gines are in the hands of Messrs. Penn, of Greenwich, who recently con- 

 structed the engines, which are of the oscillatiug principle. 



THE NEW PLANET. 



A.t a meeting of the Astrniiinnical Society, February 12, — Capt. W. H. 

 Smyth, R.N., President, in the chair, — The Report for the past year was 

 presented by the Council, and read. — On the motion that it be adopted, an 

 amendment proposed by Mr. Babbage, and seconded by Dr. Fitton — That 

 this meeting express their deep regret that the Council have not awarded 

 the Society's medal to M. Leverrier, for his publication of the greatest as- 

 tronomical discovery of modern times — was negatived. A second amend- 

 ment proposed by Lieut. Uaper, and seconded by Capt. Bethune, — That 

 it is the opinion of the meeiing that the unprecedented discovery of a new 

 planet by theoretical researches, and the acknowledged title of M. Lever- 

 rier to the honour of that discovery, demand tor him some special mark of 

 the approbation of this Society ; and it he recommended to the new Coun- 

 cil to convene a Special General Meeting of the Society, on as early a day 

 as may be convenient, for the purpose of suspending Articles 2, 3, and 4, 

 of Section 10 of the Bye-laws; and that the printing of tbe Report be de- 

 ferred till the subject shall have been brought under the consideration of 

 such Special General iNIeetiug— was negatived. A third amendment pro- 

 posed by the Kev. R. Sheepshanks and seconded by Jlr. Drach— That a 

 Special General Meeting be called to consider the propriety of granting a 

 medal to M. Leverrier, for his researches respecting the planet exterior to 

 Uranus, and a medal to Mr. Adams for his researches on tbe same subject 

 — was also negatived. A fourth amendment proposed by the Astronomer 

 Ifoyal and seconded by Dr. Lee — That a Special General Meeting be 

 called after the ordinary INleetiog of March 12, to consider the following 

 resolutions: — That so much of the Byelaw as relates to the number of 

 luedali which may be adjudged in any one year, the time of giving notice 



of the proposal for a medal, the time of adjudging the medal, and the time 

 of presenting the medal, be suspended pro lu^v ike ; That the Couucil be 

 anihorised to award two for more) medals, if they shall deem it expedient 

 to do so ; That the award of the Council be communicated to the Society, 

 and that the medal or medals be presented at the ordinary meeting of 

 April 9 — was carried. 



BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. 



At the Royal Asiatic Society, Colonel Sykes read an extract from 

 a letter received from Captain Kittoe, who has been making some 

 recent antiquarian researches about Gyah, anciently one of the seats of 

 Buddhism, described by Dr. Buchanan Hamilton, in the second volume 

 of the Society's Transactions. Capt. Kittoe slates that he has found and 

 copied a number of inscriptions, some of which he promises to send to Col. 

 Sykes ; and that he has heard of others, some miles inland, never yet seen 

 by any European, which be intends examining. He was unsuccessful in 

 his search after remains of Buddhist architecture, having met with but 

 four or five fragments; but he found a great number of small sculptured 

 stones, which he thought were miniature chaityas or shrines, a sketih of 

 one of which he forwards in his letter; the base being a cube, the upper 

 plane surmounted by a hemisphere, from the apex of which rose an obe- 

 lisk. In each of the four vertical faces was a compartment, containing a 

 ligure of Buddha, the figures in different attitudes ; and he states that such 

 stones are found, not in Behar only, but in Cutlack also, where he has 

 seen several. He remarks that they resemble closely the pagoda at Ran- 

 goon, where five hairs of Buddha are kept as relics. Many of these are 

 of elaborate workmanship; and some have images of Buddha in various 

 postures in the different compartments; generally sitting with the hands 

 folded, but sometimes erect ; and a few seated on a bench. One of them, 

 which he has in his possession, is inscribed with the usual Buddhist for- 

 mula, yedharma Itetu piabhava, which is decisive of its appropriation. Col. 

 Sykes observed that these chaityas in all probability are representations, 

 or the identical shrines seen by the Chinese traveller, Fa-hian, at the be- 

 ginning of the 5ih century of our era ; and afl'ord a valuable attestation to 

 his truth respecting the then existing belief in the four Buddhas, the pre- 

 decessors of Sakhya. 



Captain Kittoe believes the present temple at Gyah to be less than 600 

 years old, and to have been built for the joint worship of Siva and Buddha. 

 He thinks be shall be able to trace the amalgamation of the sects by their 

 sculpture ; and he is preparing to make drawings of the most interesting 

 of these relics. Captain Kittoe states that he has discovered another of 

 Asoka's pillars, at Bukrowe, the site of an ancient city of the Buddhists, 

 on the banks of the Lilajun. It was broken, many years ago, into three 

 pieces, one of which was brought to Gyah by Mr. Bodham, and set up ia 

 the bazaar, where it goes by the name of Bodham's Folly, an apt illustra- 

 tion of the light in which the natives of India, and too many of our own 

 countrymen, regard the preservation of such remains of past ages, from 

 which alone the recovery of any portion of the ancient history of the coun- 

 try can be expected. The Raja there suggested to Captain Kittoe that he 

 should make rollers for tbe roads of the fragments of the pillar I One 

 piece of the pillar, the base, is almost entirely buried beneath the surface. 

 Cap'ain Kittoe Is about to dig it out, with a view to its preservation. 



Colonel Sykes remarked that this discovery affords another proof of Fa- 

 bian's trustworthiness, as it has brought to light another of tbe pillars men- 

 tioned by hiio, but which had hitherto escaped notice. 



LITHOGRAPHIC STONE IN ARABIA. 



At the Royal Asiatic Society, the secretary read a paper which had 

 been furnished by the Hon. East India Company, containing an account 

 of the discovery of a quarry of good lithographic stone on the southern 

 coast of Arabia, which will be available for our presses in Bombay, and 

 other parts of India, which at present import a considerable quantity of 

 that kind of limestone from the quarries of Germany. The discovery is 

 due to assistant-surgeon H. J. Carter, who is employed in the survey of 

 that coast. In the course of his duties, to the n.e. of Aden, Mr. Carter 

 found that much of the land was of calcareous formation, of various series ; 

 the limestone was of a very fine grain, which induced him to gather some 

 specimens, and forward them to Dr. Buist, of Bombay, for the purpose of 

 trying their quality an lithography. The stratum composing this fine- 

 grained stone lies three or four miles inland, and close to the summit of a 

 descent, down which the blocks might be rolled, with very little trouble, 

 close to the water's edge, where they might be immediately shipped. The 

 inhabitants of the country, though somewhat tierce, are easily managed by 

 proper treatment, aud would readily protect persons employed to work the 

 quarry ; and Mr. Carter suggests that means should be taken to ascertain 

 the quantity of produce the quarry is capable of yielding,— an investigation 

 which his duties on the survey did not allow him leisure to pursue. 



The report of Dr. Buist was very favourable to the quality of the stone. 

 It was repeatedly tried, with some disadvantages, upon the native presses, 

 and found to take the drawing with perfect facility, and to print with a 

 purity not surpassed by the very best stones imported from Munich. Dc, 



