1863. | On the Antiquities of the Peshawur District. 18 
No. 12. A slab found near Jamriud, the dismantled fort at the 
mouth of the Khyber. It is 24 inches in height, and 18 wide. 
Harem scenes. In the lower compartment, a male figure in the 
usual dress of Buddh and with a halo round his head is seen sitting 
on a couch, his left foot supported by a footstool Behind him lies 
a female sleeping. Behind the sleeping figure another female figure 
is visible. ‘The central figure seems to be about taking something 
from the hand of the figure on his right. Below are two women 
reclining on what appear to be drums. A lattice forms the upper 
ornament of the chamber, and above the lattice appear four human 
heads and the head of an ox; two of the human heads have halos, 
and the other two have the same kind of cap or turban with which 
the female figures below appear to be covered. Pillars separate the 
centre apartment from two arched passages or gateways at the sides ; 
over each arch appear two birds. In each of the gateways there are 
two women, possibly as sentries, one of them holding a spear. 
The upper compartment has suffered much from mutilation. The 
principal figure, apparently the same as the central figure in the 
_ lower compartment, is seen reclining on a couch, his face directed to- 
wards a woman sitting on the same couch, her feet supported by a 
footstool. The woman sitting on the ground appears to be beating 
two drums with her hands. The female figure behind is holding 
aloft a round object in her right hand, which may also be a musical 
instrument. Outside the pillars supporting the arch of the centre 
apartment appear three women on each side. One on the left is 
entirely peeled off; another, standing, appears to be playing a wind- 
instrument ; the action of the sitting one is indistinguishable. The 
sitting female on the right appears playing a stringed instrument ; 
the action of the other two cannot well be made out. 
Before concluding this communication, I shall venture, though 
with much diffidence, to say a word on one of the most vexed ques- 
tions among all the perplexing ones referring to the ancient history 
of the regions near the Indus, and that is, the identification of 
Aornos, the height which it cost Alexander so much trouble to take. 
It may seem presumption to renew the discussion of this subject 
after the full treatment it has received in this Journal (Vol. XXIII. 
Gradus ad Aornon) in Colonel Abbott’s able and elaborate article. 
And yet, few attentive readers of that article can be satisfied with 
