?6 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society . [Jan. 



Two copies of a Sketch of the Solar System, translated into Bengali, by 

 Maha Rajah Kali Kissen Behadur, and presented by the translator. 



Meteorological Register for December, 1835 — by the Surveyor General. 



Museum. 



The Secretary presented on the part of his Excellency General Bhima 

 Sinha, Minister to the Rajah of Nepal: 



Two elaborate drawings of Kathmandu, and of a temple and bridge in 

 the hills. A richly ornamentally Kukri and Khonta : two large elephant's 

 tusks, and three pods of musk. 



A model as large as life, of a native carrying a bullock on his shoulders 

 was presented by Dr. F. Corby n. 



Literary and Antiquities. 



The Secretary read the following extracts from tbe correspondence of 

 Mr. Vigne, from littleTibet and fromCashmir, of which valley this traveller 

 is stated to have made a beautiful series of drawings, and an accurate pa- 

 noramic view, which will be much prized in Europe. 



" Iskardo, \Qth September, 1835. 



" I have now been in this very wild and extraordinary place four days, and am 

 pleased with every thing. 1 set off from Cashmir by boat to Bundurpur, seeing 

 every thing done myself to prevent delay, and took leave of the Governor about 

 12 o'clock. We had a merry glide of it till night, when the musquitoes became 

 exceedingly numerous and troublesame ; arrived at Bundurpur on the great lake 

 tbe next morning, and heard the agreeable intelligence that a mounted guard of 

 10 men were awaiting my arrival in Ahmad Shah's frontier. I spent the rest 

 of the day in a visit to the Shumladier hill, and the next morning we were fairly 

 off. At that station I was joined by Nasim Khan, the same man that had eaten 

 your salt for a month and some days, with a letter from Ahmad Shah. He 

 told me he had been waiting three days in the neighbourhood, not liking to make 

 his appearance among the Sikhs. I like the man much, he is very intelligent and 

 amusing. What a glorious view we had on the second morning, two-thirds of 

 Cashmir and towards Tibet, one mountain in particular of immense height, totally 

 covered with snow from the shoulders upward, named " Diarmul." 



" In three days we reached Guress, a very pretty valley, a little higher than 

 Cashmir, entirely surrounded by the loftiest mountains, but bare; merely growing 

 back wheat, vetches, and barley. After leaving Guress, we passed a place which 

 a few men could defend against an army ; where the Sikhs and Tibetans fought 

 two days. Further on after passing over a most desolate country, I was met by 

 Ahmad Shah's son. I had heard there were some marauders in the neighbour- 

 hood, but did not really imagine there was any truth in the account. However, 

 the young Rajah, a very intelligent young fellow, assured me there were, and that 

 his father had sent him to protect me. Imagine the wildness of this scene. 

 Discordant but not altogether unmilitary music gave notice of his approach, and 

 at last, he appeared with some forty sepoys, and led horses. The next morning, 

 we marched in company with him, while the approach of the thieves was hourly 

 expected. They had but one way to come, and when we arrived near the scene 

 of action, I observed parties stationed in different places on the mountains, to 

 prevent all escape. Suddenly an alarm was sounded, and gave notice of their 



