384 On the Topes of Darounta, and Caves of Bahrabad. [No. 113. 



made yesterday ! The larger one has, beneath its foot, the oblong 

 mortise by which it was secured on the lathe. Their dimensions are as 

 *ollows : 



No. 1, Large Vase. 

 Small Vase. 



height, 



nches. 



Greatest ex- 

 terior dia- 

 meter, Ins. 



Thickness, 

 about Ins. 



3-0 



32 



0-4 



0-9 



1-45 



02 



The state of the coins is curious : three of them, Nos. 4, 5, and 6 of the 

 drawing, are completely encrusted with crystalised carbonate of copper, 

 with a few detached scales of a whitish oxide, which may be owing to an 

 arsenical or zinc alloy in the copper? or to carbonate of lime having 

 penetrated to the coins? though this last seems nearly impossible ; they 

 are in very minute quantity, and it would not be worth while to disfigure 

 the relics by picking any off for examination. 



The remaining three coins Nos. 1, 2, 3, are marked as having been 

 1 found in the box/ and they look so clean that we are inclined to suppose 

 they have been really cleaned ; especially, as the metal is much eaten 

 and worn. No. 2, has still traces of the carbonate of copper on its face. 

 No. 3, is the only one which we can suspect of having undergone the 

 action of fire, but the boxes bear no trace of this, and I am inclined to 

 think, that they have not been subjected to it. The rock-crystal orna- 

 ment requires no particular remark', — beyond, I may add, the peculiar 

 trouble, which has been taken in perforating it ; it resembles exactly in 

 size, form, and mode of perforation, the uncut emerald, now universally 

 worn, by native chiefs and gentlemen of rank appended like a drop to the 

 surpech, or head jewel. The people who could have bestowed so much 

 labour upon so common an object, must have been singularly ignorant 

 of the more precious stones, and I might point to this slight index, as 

 affording some proof that the deposit at Daronnta, was made by the first 

 leaders of a new race of conquerors, who subsequently left monuments of 

 their rule, then a more polished, and a wealthier people, in the noble 

 works at Manikyala. There too (As. Soc. Jour., vol. III. p. 563) we see, 

 as on a smaller scale at Kanari, the practice of placing inscriptions in 

 the tope obtained, showing perhaps the progress of science in conjunction 

 with that of wealth. 



An examination of the coins before us will lead to the ascertainment, 

 with tolerable accuracy, of the date at which the Daronnta Topes were 

 constructed. The coins are, No. I of Azes : No. 2 is similar to No. 12 (As. 

 Soc. Jour. Vol, III. PI. XXXIII.) of those found in the Manikyalan 



