46 The Death of the JEarl of Mayo. [Mabch, 



The President then said — 



Gentlemen, — Since the last meeting of the Society, the Members, in 

 common with the community at large, have been stunned by the fearful sud- 

 denness, and awful nature of the destruction by the hands of an assassin of 

 Her Majesty's representative in this country, who was also the Patron of this 

 Society. It is not, gentlemen, the part of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 

 to enter upon questions of a political nature, or to discuss their tendency or 

 wisdom. And though certainly we do not sink the character of citizens, by 

 becoming members of this learned association, we would relegate all such 

 matters to other places and other times. It needed, however, no interest 

 in public questions, no excitement as to imposition of taxes or change of 

 policy, to appreciate the thorough, hearty, earnest, genial, manly chivalry of 

 Lord Mayo's character, and we can fully realize the heaviness of the blow, 

 and the severity of the loss, which, in common with the country at large, 

 we have experienced. 



I would suggest that we record on our Minutes a brief statement to this 

 effect, and would propose it be 



Resolved, That the Asiatic Society of Bengal has heard with pro- 

 found regret of the fearful assassination of their late Patron, the Bight 

 Hon'ble The Earl of Mayo. 



Carried unanimously. 



Colonel Tennant exhibited five photographs taken by Captain J. Water- 

 house of the last total eclipse, observed at Ootacamund. 



The President said that Captain Fryer, a member of the Society, had 

 that day arrived from Burma, and as he would be unable to attend another 

 meeting of the Society, he now exhibited by permission a very fine assort- 

 ment of celts collected in that province, and in which it was thought the 

 members might feel interested. The President then asked Captain Fryer 

 to say a few words about them. 



Captain Fryer thanked the Society for kindly allowing him at such 

 short notice to exhibit his collection of celts. He believed they presented 

 a greater variety than any heretofore shown to the Society. In number 

 they exceeded one hundred, and were peculiarly interesting as indicating 

 that types other than the so-called Bm-man tjrpe had been found in the 

 country. They had been collected from four districts, namely, Mergui, Tavoy, 

 and Amherst in Tenasserim, and from Sandoway in Arakan. They had been 

 met with either in the beds of streams or, as was more generally the case, 

 in hill clearings by the Toungya or Joone cultivators. They were fashioned 

 from different kinds of stone, such as chert, clink stone, green stone, basalt, 

 ]ade, and some were of even softer material. They were both rough and 



