402 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



spread eastwards from the central point of departure, till, through 

 Burinah and the Malayan countries, they reached the confines of 

 Chiua. This theory is one that may commend itself to the notice of 

 progressionists ; but, for my own part, I am rather inclined to adopt 

 the following as the more probable explanation. According to this 

 second theory, our central area must be regarded as including a point 

 of convergence rather than of divergence of immigration rather than of 

 emigration. As we recede from the central area, in the several direc- 

 tions above indicated, we find that the further off we get, the respec- 

 tive forms become more abundant, and show higher degrees of skill, 

 being nearer the original seats of the races who manufactured. Thus, 

 none of the cores and flakes of the central provinces can compare with 

 those of Sind for beauty of workmanship. The chipped quartzites of 

 Madras, if not better formed, are certainly in greater variety and 

 abundance than those of the Central Provinces, while, as regards the 

 polished celts, the superiority of the workmanship in the Burmese and 

 adjoining countries cannot well be disputed. 



Having again recourse to the idea of the rising peninsula or island, 

 which is, however, a by no means essential feature for this theory, we 

 may suppose that as the central parts of the country became accessi- 

 ble, wanderers from the three surrounding quarters, bringing with them 

 a knowledge of their respective arts, came in contact with one another, 

 and became the parents of some of the widely distinct races who in- 

 habit India at the present day. With the introduction of a knowledge 

 of the art of making iron by the rude process which is still employed, 

 the manufacture of stone implements gradually died out, though, as 

 has been pointed out, it still lingers on the north-east frontier, and in 

 the Andaman Islands. At what time iron began to replace the stone 

 we cannot say, but it is most probable, in spite of the fact of cop- 

 per weapons having been discovered in certain places, that in India 

 there has been no intervening bronze period. 



In conclusion, I would say that the suggestions I have put forward 

 are, to the best of my belief, wholly new, though they first occurred to 

 me many years ago. The progress of discovery has encouraged me to- 

 believe that they contain a strong element of probability. It is in the 

 hope that the subject may attract the notice of ethnologists, philolo- 

 gists, and antiquarians, with all of whose special departments it is in- 

 timately connected, that I have at length ventured to formulate these 

 views. 



