480 



Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 



[No. 4, 



plays and whence their origin, is a point well worth inquiry. Captain 

 Godwin Austen, who was one of our party was lucky, enough to 

 purchase a manuscript giving the stage instructions for these plays • 

 he is trying to have it translated, and I hope it may throw some light 

 on the subject. 



From the monks themselves it is impossible to find out any thing • 

 either Hhe origin and meaning of these plays has been lost, or is con- 

 fined to the monasteries near Lassa, or else they are unwilling to' 

 divulge the mystery. 



Captain Godwin Austen told me that as he was returning by the 

 Gaurin monastery, he saw a similar mystery play going on : only they 

 had the body of a man made of dough in the centre, on a sort of bier 

 and they were dancing round, firing arrows into the body and cutting 

 at it with swords. This reminded me very much of the old days of 

 magic^in England, when we read that to do a person an injury the 

 magician used to make a figure of that person in wax, imagining that 

 the wounds and tortures he inflicted on the figure would be extended 

 to the actual person. 



I hope shortly to send another set of photographs, illustrating the 

 monasteries and idol rooms of Ladak. 



Hoping that this slight sketch may interest some of the members 

 of the Society. 



I remain, &c, 

 (Sd.) A. B. Melville, Copt., 



Gr. T. Survey. 



To tlie Secretary, Asiatic Society, Calcutta. 



Babu Rajendralala Mitra read the following note on a hoard of 

 Pathan Coins lately discovered in Cooch Behar. 



" A short time ago, Colonel Haughton announced the discovery of 

 a large hoard of ancient Coins in Cooch Behar, and suggested that it 

 might be received as bullion by Government, as part of the annual 

 tribute of the Cooch Behar estate, in order to enable numismatists in 

 Calcutta to have a sight of it. 



" The Coins have since been received at the Mint, and I have had 

 several opportunities of examining them. They number 13,500, and 

 comprise specimens of the coinages of eight of the Pathan sovereigns 

 of Delhi, and of four of the independent Pathan kings of Bengal. 



" Though presenting no great features of novelty, these coins are 



