THE SACRED ISLES IN THE WEST. 131 



discovery of two urns at Sarndfhay it is men* 

 tioned that the Cuti was eighteen cubits, or twenty- 

 seven feet, under ground.* There the relics were 

 deposited in an urn, enclosed in a vessel of 

 marble, in the shape, and of the size of the famous 

 Barberijii monument. There were a few bones only, 

 with various trini<ets, which consisted of pieces of 

 coloured glass, all of them perforated, with thin 

 leaves of gold, and some coarse pearls. These orna- 

 ments are by no means a proof that these bones were 

 those of a female. It is more probable, that they 

 formed a chaplet used by devout people, or rosaries 

 and bracelets, with which the statues of Budd'ha 

 are generally decorated. The marble vessel, which 

 contained the urn, is more highly finished than that 

 of the Barber'nii monument. The urn itself is of a 

 more elegant form than that in the above monument. 

 It is in the shape and of the size of a chalice ; it has 

 no carved figures, but elegant mouldings, exquisitely 

 finished, and is of green marble. . I suspect the 

 whole to be of foreign workmanship ; for it is totally 

 different, both in shape and workmanship, from vases 

 in use among the Hmdus, either at this day or in 

 former times. Phtlostratus informs us, that sta- 

 tues, by Grecian artists, were by no means uncom- 

 mon in the N. W. parts of India. Strabo saj^s also, 

 that altars of Grecian workmanship were often found 

 in the western parts of India; and Arrian, in his 

 Periplus, takes notice of altars and of small tem])les 

 in the Grecian taste, near Barygaza or Baroach. 

 The practice of thus preserving the bones of Bud- 

 d'ha is of great antiquity ; for it is expressly men- 

 tioned by Clemexs of Alexandria, who says, that 



* As. Res. vol. V. p. 181- 

 K 2 



