572 Note of Mr. Trebeck on the [Nov. 



durable mausoleum. Dr. Hamilton informs us that the remains of priests 

 in Ava, after cremation, are preserved in monuments*, and Mr. Duncan 

 describes a marble urn dug up among the Buddhist ruins at Sarnath, 

 near Benares, which contain " a few human bones, together with some 

 decaved pearls, gold leaves, and other jewels of no value," just of 

 the same nature as those discovered in the Panjab. There was also a 

 similar precaution of enclosing the more precious urn in one of coarser 

 material, (in this case of stone,) in order more effectually to insure its 

 preservation. That the bones at Sarnath, belonged to a votary of Buddha 

 was confirmed by a small image of Buddha discovered close by, and by 

 the purport of the inscription accompanying itf. 



From consideration of these circumstances, therefore, in conjunction 

 with the decided opinion of all those who have recently been engaged 

 in the examination of the Panjab and Kabul topes, the hypothesis of 

 their being the consecrated tombs of a race of princes, or of persons of 

 distinction, rather than mere shrines erected as objects of worship, or 

 for the deposit of some holy relic, seems both natural and proba- 

 ble ; or rather the two objects, of a memorial to the dead, and honor to 

 the deity, seem to have been combined in the meritorious erection of 

 these curious monuments. 



I cannot omit noticing in this place, one of those singular coinciden- 

 ces which often serve to throw light upon one's studies. While our 

 enterprizing friends have been engaged in opening the ancient topes of 

 Upper India, the antiquaries of England have been at work atsome an- 

 cient Roman tumuli or barrows in Essex. Without intending to draw 

 any conclusions from the facts elicited in the course of their labours, 

 it is impossible to read the pages of the Archseologia (1834, vol. xxv.) 

 without being struck with the similarity of customs prevailing in such 

 distant localities, pointing as they do towards a confirmation of the many 

 other proofs of the identity of origin of the Roman and the Hindu 

 systems. 



The sepulchral tumuli of Essex contained, like those of the Panjab, 

 various bronze urns, enclosing fragments of burned bones, glass, coins, 

 and even the brown liquid itself ! The liquid is described as being in 

 some cases " of a light yellow, in others of a dark-brown," of which 

 colour was also an incrustation about the exterior of the vessels. Pro- 

 fessor Faraday, who examined the liquids, supposes that the water was 



* Trans. Roy. As. Soc. vol. ii. p. 46. 



■J" The square chamber without door or other opening discovered in digging the 

 ruins dXBuddha Gaya, andsupposed by Dr. Hamilton to be a tomb, resembles the 

 square ornamented chamber penetrated by Dr.GERARDnear Kabul, where he found 

 the image of Buddha, described at page 455 of the present volume. 





