128 Account of the Ruins in the Neighbourhood of Bakhra. [March, 



The most important fact in the above note, namely, that of the ancient 

 inscription No. 1, being interlined with a more modern character, was 

 not adverted to by Lieutenant Burt, in his account of the pillar. I 

 accordingly requested our associate, Mr. Walter Ewer, of Allahabad, 

 to re-examine the pillar, and his reply, received a few days since, says, 

 "True enough, the unknown character is interlined with Sanskrit, which 

 is the least distinct, and appears to be the older of the two." It is 

 possible they may prove to be contemporaneous, and there will be 

 an end of the mystery which has hitherto hung over this writing. 

 Mr. Ewer has undertaken to make a copy of the interlineation, and 

 to collate the other printed inscriptions with the original. 



I may here mention, that Major Colvin of the Engineers has given 

 me notice of two more Laths in upper India, one at Hissar, and ano- 

 ther at Fatihabad near Delhi. The former, though in a decayed con- 

 dition, still contains a few characters : of both we may hope to obtain 

 further particulars in a short time. 



I now return to the Bakhra column, for the purpose of introduc- 

 ing Mr. Stephenson's description of the discovery of an image of 

 Buddha in its neighbourhood. The Kesariah mound, of which 

 Mr. Hodgson has also favored us with a drawing (PI. VII. fig. 3.) 

 is situated about 20 miles to the north of Bakhra, in sight of the 

 river Gandak. 



III. — Excursion to the Ruins and Site of an Ancient Oky near Bakhra, 

 13 cos north of Patna, and six north from Singhea. (Extracted from 

 the Journal of Mr. J. Stephenson.) 



[Read to the Asiatic Society on the 14th January, 1835. 

 Near to this village are the remains of a mound of solid brick-work, 

 about 40 feet high, and about the same diameter at the base : on the 

 top are two Musahnan temples and the tomb of a saint, whose name 

 I was told is Mir-Abdulla, dead about 250 years ago. On the side 

 of the mound fronting the south, a large Burr tree rears its lofty branch- 

 es to a great hei-ht, and supported by about 30 trunks, forming a cool 

 pleasant shade to the Musalman devotees. A little to the north are 

 the ruins of a large fort of an oblong shape, one side of which is full 

 1000 yards in length. It is surrounded by a ditch, at this season filled 

 with water and jungle grass. Its elevation above the common level 

 of the country is from 6 to 8 feet, and it appears to have been entirely 

 built of brick — a circumstance of which the native Hindus have taken 



