556 



Further Information regarding 



[Nov. 



character to the town. But it is to the inscription we must look for 

 the elucidation of this point, as well as to the several others connected 

 with it. 



The origin and purport of the inscriptions which have been found 

 by various travellers inscribed on the faces of several mountains and 

 hills in Arabia, have engaged the attention and excited the inquiries of 

 the learned during the greater part of the last, and the early part of 

 the present, century, and many copies have been transmitted to Europe 

 for their investigation. Many of these I have in my possession, or have 

 referred to ; but this differs in the nature of its characters from them all. 



I forbear, therefore, until this shall be deciphered, from making any 

 other suggestions or remarks, than those which I have submitted relat- 

 ing to the local features of the spot on which they were found. I can- 

 not however neglect to draw attention to the obvious and striking 

 coincidence between the distance of the ports of Hassan Ghorab, as 

 deduced from our survey, and that specified by Arrian, as the distance 

 of the port of cave Canum or Kane, from the port called Arabia Felix, 

 which modern geographers with much confidence place at the present 

 harbour of Aden. 



The natives possessed no information respecting the ruins, excepting 

 that they had always heard their erection ascribed to the •' foreigners." 



The dimensions of the Tanks alluded to as cut out of the rock, were 



as follows : 



Length. Breadth. Depth. 



32 ft. 8 in. 29 ft. 5 in. 14 ft, in. 



42 do. 7 do. 17 do. 2 do. 12 do. 11 do. 



70 do. 5 do. 12 do. do. variable. 



30 do. 6 do. 9 do. 6 do. 9 do. 1 do. 



No. 1, Square, 

 No. 2, Long-oval, 

 No. 3, Semi-elliptical, 

 No. 4, Oblong, 



[We have omitted in the plate the specimens of ancient and modern Ethiopic 

 from the inscriptions at Axum, because they may be found in Bruce, Lord Va- 

 lentia, or in any catalogue of ancient alphabets. Lieut. Wellsted remarks that 

 the inscription found at Hassan Ghorab, on close examination, resembles both an- 

 cient and modern Ethiopic. The Ethiopians ruled Yemen, a part of Arabia, pre- 

 vious to the appearance of Muhammed. — Ed.] 



III. — Further Information on the Topes of Mdnikydla, being the trans- 

 lation of an Extract from a Manuscript Memoir on Ancient Taxila, 

 by Mons. A. Court, Engineer Officer in the Army of Maharaja 

 Ranjxt Singh. 



[We have to thank Captain Wade for procuring us the favor of the following 

 extract for insertion in the Journal. It continues our history of the opening of 

 these monuments from the period to which it was brought up by Dr. Gerard's 

 notice of Dr. Martin's operations, at page 332. We regret that M. Court had 



