106 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XII 1, 



1 also find that, in the Banglyn Sahitya Parishai Patrika 

 (The Journal of the Academy of Bengali Literature at Calcutta), 

 five papers on riddles current in different district? of Eastern 

 and Northern Bengal have been published in Bengali and are 

 as follows : — 



(1) Chattagrami Ghhelttkakana Dhandha. (Chittagong 



Riddles for Puzzling Children). By Moulvi Abdul 

 Karim. [Published in the 12th volume (for 1312 



B.S.), pages 177—188.] 



(2) A Collection of Nine Riddles from the District of 



Pabna, Eastern Bengal. By Pandit Eajkumar 

 Kawabhushana. | Published in the 14th volume 

 (for 1314 B.S.)'._page 202. J 



(3) K ochbi ham ' Henyali : (Kuch Bihar Riddles). By Babu 



Pravash Chandra Bhattacharyva, (Published in 



the 15th volume). 

 {4) tirihatter Pami (Sylhet Riddles) By Babu Dwar- 



kanath Chaudhuri, b.a. [Published in the 20th 



volume (for 1320 B. S.). pages 77— 80. j 

 (5) A Collection of Riddles from the District of Murshida- 



bad. (Published in the 20th volume). 



As these five papers are in Bengali, they ate inaccessible, 

 for purposes of study, to Orientalists in Europe, America and 

 other parts of India. But, at the same time, they are highly 

 interesting from an ethnographical, as also from a philological 

 point of view. It, therefore, appears to me that, if these 

 collections of riddles be transliterated into Devanagari characters • 

 and translated into English with notes on the interesting 

 features thereof, they will become available for study-purposes 

 not only to Dr. Schultz but also to other scholars who may be 

 interested in this branch of Oriental research. In this hope, 1 

 intend to publish, in this article, the transliterations (in Deva- 

 nagari characters) and the translations into English, with short 

 notes thereon, of a selection of the riddles current in the district 

 of Sylhet, which have been collected and published by Babu 

 Dwarkanath Chaudhuri in the Bengali quarterly periodical men- 

 tioned supra. In Sylhet, riddles are called 4f . 



These riddles from Svlliet are 41 in number and in the 

 peculiar dialect of Bengali which is spoken in that district, 

 rhe collector has published them without sufficiently elucida 

 tory notes and without classifying them under proper heads. 

 I have omitted four riddles as I have not been able to make out 

 the meanings thereof. I have classified the remaining 37 under 

 the heads of (1 ) Vegetable Products ; (2) Human Beings, Fish and 

 '"sects ; (3) Articles of Furniture and Household Implements: 

 W Heavenly Bodies and Natural Phenomena ; (5) Condiment, 

 etc.; and (6) Miscellaneous. 1 now give below the translitera- 

 tions and translations thereof — 



