24 ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



(10.) Oriental Arms. — This collection is of considerable extent, numbering 195 

 specimens, mostly remarkable for their costly character and rich workmanship. One of 

 the oldest specimens is an arm-defence of steel, with remains of inlaid gold, and engraved 

 with insci'iptions of the 14th century, with the titles of some sultan ; it bears a stamp 

 shewing it to have come from the armoury of Mahomet II., at Constantinople. A very 

 remarkable helmet and arm-defence of steel worked in low relief and inlaid with gold. 

 From the inscriptions upon them, they have been made for Shah Abbas the Great, and. 

 bear the date A.H. 1035 = a.d. 1625-6. Four other helmets, seven arm-defences, five 

 shields, and a set of " four mirrors," etc, all richly inlaid with gold ; a shield, the most 

 elaborate of these specimens, bears the name of its maker, Muhammed Ibrahim. 



Among the weapons are nine scimitars of rich workmanship, three puttahs or gauntlet 

 swords, twelve kuttarS, a large number of daggers and knives, some of them with handles 

 of jade, in which are set precious stones ; one of them, a dagger with a handle of the rare 

 lilac jade, in the form of a horse's head, and with sheath mounts of gold enamelled, 

 belonged to Hyder Ali. Some of the Persian daggers have carved ivory handles, and 

 silver sheaths, set with precious stones; others are entirely covered with enamel. A state 

 axe, which belonged to Akbar Shah, the great Emperor of Delhi, 1556 — 1605. Two 

 very remarkable guns, one with a damasked barrel and gold mounts, the other richly 

 inlaid with gold. Five pistols, two of them covered with gold filigree. Four Malay 

 krises, with carved handles, some of them set with jewels and with gold sheaths. 



These arms, when added to those in the Meyrick Collection, and such as are in the 

 Christy Collection, will illustrate very completely the subject, and make an important 

 series. 



The collection is being temporarily arranged in 18 wall cases and four table cases at 

 the east end of the new Pre-historic Koom. 



V. — Christy Collection. 



The following progress has been made in arranging and augmenting this collection,, 

 which remains at 103, Victoria-street, Westminster : — 



The specimens brought home by H.M.S. " Challenger " from New Guinea and the 

 Admiralty Islands, have been arranged in the cases formerly occupied by the Pre-historic 

 Section (removed to the British Museum, as was stated in the Report for 1877), and the 

 specimens from those localities before in the collection have been incorporated with them. 

 Four large wooden bowls from the Admiralty Islands have been mended and exhibited,, 

 and a number of New Guinea clubs arranged on a frame. 



Six hundred and forty-eight additional slips have been prepared for the Registration 

 Catalogue, with sketches of the objects. 



The following donations have been received by the Christy Trustees, and by them 

 transferred to the Trustees of the British Museum : — 



1. Pre-historic Antiquities of Europe, Africa, and Asia. — Implements of quartzite and 

 flint, and various objects of bone, including a drawing of the head of a horse, in the same style 

 as the drawings found in the French caves ; discovered in excavations made in caves at 

 Creswell Crags, Derbyshire, and described by Prof. Boyd Dawkins and Rev. J. Magens 

 Mello, in the Geological Journal, August, 1877 ; from the Creswell Cave Exploration 

 Committee. Three flint arrowheads from the Mill of Lismore, Aberdeen ; from the 

 Rev. W. Greenwell, F.R.s. Necklace of bone and other beads, from a tumulus in the 

 Aveyron, France ; from Dr. Emile Cartailhac, of Toulouse. 



Stone rtibber found near the Pyramid of Abourowash, Egypt ; from Rev. Greville J. 

 Chester. Collections of implements, chiefly found at Helwan, Egypt ; from A. J. 

 Jukes Brown, Esq., Alexander Christy, Esq., Professor H. W. Haynes, of Boston, 

 U.S.A., and Najeeb Mansoor Shakoor, of Egypt. 



2. Etlino(iraj)hy of Africa. — Fifteen objects from Central Africa, including a remark- 

 able pipe and a fetish idol, from the Neam ]N' earns; the ivory pipe of King Mtesa of 

 Uganda; shields from the Monbuttus and Uganda, a wooden boomerang and a chief's 

 stool. Selected from the collection exhibited m the Paris Exhibition, 1878, by the donor, 

 the Khedive of Egyjjt. 



A set of Kafir " daula " from Natal ; from John Sanderson, Esq. 



Four remarkable knobkerries from Pietermaritzburg, and specimens from West Africa ; 

 from the late V, Darbishire, Esq. 



An extensive collection of objects from West Africa, chiefly obtained by the late Mr. 

 Dumaresq, Avhen Administrator of Lagos ; from A. W. Franks, Esq. 



3. Ethnography of Asia. — Five ancient hon arrowheads, and an ancient plectrum for 

 playing the goto, from Japan ; from Ninagawa Noritane, of Tokio. Various objects 

 from Assam ; from Dr. J. M. Foster. A collection of armlets and arrows from Central 

 India, from Major Bloomfield. Specimens of Cingalese pottery, from Rt. Hon. Sir W. 

 H. Gregory. Clay pipe from the Kurubhars, Madiatta Country, from W. J. Bernhard 

 jSmith, Esq. 



A bow 



