822 Examination of a Mummy Head. [June!, 



Of this group, I conceive Heawandoo Island is better adapted than any 

 other for a coal depot : it lies nearly in a direct line between Point de 

 Galle and Socotra, at about one-third of the whole distance from the 

 former place, is easy of access in every direction, and possesses safe 

 anchorages for ships and steamers in all seasons. During the S. W. 

 monsoon, a vessel could anchor on the east side of the island between 

 it and a small reef, dry at low-water ; in the N. E. monsoon, the best 

 anchorage is in the channel between the island and the south barrier 

 reef in 1 6 or 1 7 fathoms, sand and rocks. Opposite both these ancho- 

 rages, there are good landing places for boats, which are procurable in 

 sufficient numbers, and may easily be made available for the landing or 

 shipment of coals, &c. The natives, who are civil and peaceable, might 

 I think, be induced to work for a small hire, such as rice, tobacco, &c. 

 or any other remuneration they might consider adequate. 



In approaching Heawandoo Pholo Atoll, from the eastward, a vessel 

 ought to sight Kilah, the northernmost Island of the Tilla Doo Matte 

 Atoll, and then steer across the channel to Heawandoo Island, passing 

 close to Gullandoo, to avoid the small patches between it and Moor- 

 doo. 



III. — Examination of a Mummy Head, supposed to be brought from 

 Egypt by Lieut. Archbold. By Dr. George Evans\ 



[In a letter to the Secy., read before the Asiatic Society, July 1, 1835.] 



[The mummy preparations, to which the following note refers, were presented 

 at the meeting of the Asiatic Society, the 3rd Sept. 1834. There were two 

 wrappers, supposed to contain the sacred Ibis : one of these was opened in the pre- 

 sence of Drs. Grant, Pearson, Bramley, and Evans. The head, being in a 

 decayed state, was, after taking a sketch, to shew the mode of dressing the hair, 

 given to Dr. Evans, who himself kindly undertook to clean it as an osteological 

 specimen for the Society's museum. — Ed.] 



In returning these relics of antiquity, I have again to offer an apology 

 for having detained them so long in my possession ; they are at length 

 put up as preparations, and as such will, no doubt, remain many vears 

 in a good state of preservation. 



In my examination of the smaller, I have so far succeeded as to 

 shew satisfactorily that four birds are embodied in the mass we sup- 

 posed to be the mummy of the sacred Ibis. With the aid of the marks 

 I have made, you will be able to distinguish eight distinct feet, with 

 their toes and claws, severally attached ; also three heads : the fourth, 

 I take for granted, is there also, and seated below the parts already 

 exposed, but the crumbling and decayed state of the mummy renders 



