986 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society, [Nov. 



" We expect impatiently the arrival of the 3rd volume of the Mahahharat. which, as 

 I see with great pain, occasions you some pecuniary loss. We are taking every 

 possible step to sell the work ; in general there is a considerable demand for Sanskrit 

 publications, provided they are ancient and complete. Still this demand is not 

 equal to that for the Romances of Lord Byron, and I fear no one will make a fortune 

 by Sanskrit impressions. But it would be painful to think that the little success of 

 the Mahabharat should prevent your publishing other works, such as the Puranas, 

 &c. &c. Send a prospectus with terms. We will obtain some subscribers, and 

 when the work is completed, additional copies will doubtless be disposed of." 



(Signed) Eugene Burnouf. 



Museum. 



Read a letter from Mr. T. Church, stating that the bows and arrows 

 presented in his name by Mr. J. P. Grant at a meeting of the Society 

 held on the 1st August, were not from Penang, but from natives of the 

 great Andaman. 



Read a letter from Lieut. M. Kittoe, requesting to know the salary 

 of the person employed by the Society to go with him in his survey of 

 the Raepur road in the forests of Orissa, for the purpose of preparing 

 specimens of Natural History for the Museum, and also applying for an 

 advance of his salary for one month, which was paid by order of the Pre- 

 sident. The advance was sanctioned by the meeting. 



Dr. O'Shaughnessy stated that the specimen Malacca bell, presented by 

 Mr. Lewis at the last meeting, contained neither gold nor silver and was 

 composed of tin and copper in the ordinary proportions of bell-metal. 



Extract of a letter from C. B. Greenlaw, Esq. to the same, with 

 remarks on the subject by Mr. McClelland. 



" Referring to the article at page 65 of the Asiatic Journal for January last, I 

 some time since noticed to Mr. Jas. Prinsep the existence within the volcanic belt 

 in the map of what is called the swatch of no ground, which, by the late survey 

 of the sea face of the Soonderbuns, which includes the northern part of the swatch, 

 would appear to be in the form of a deep crater ; and it would be interesting if its 

 margin could be traced throughout its course, which I will ask Capt. Lloyd to do if 

 he can. The purport, however, of my now writing is to send you a piece of rock just 

 taken from the bottom of the H. C. barque Amherst, which, on her late passage from 

 Khouk Phyoo, struck on the Terribles, and brought away this piece. These rocks, the 

 Terribles, are also within the belt marked in the map, and to my inexperienced judg- 

 ment the rock seems to be of a peculiar character. 



** With regard to the swatch, it would seem from a subsequent note to the one 

 alluded to by Mr. Greenlaw (Prinsep's Journal, 1838, p. 369), that Capt. Lloyd 

 has reason to suppose it is open to seaward. It is needless to say that any addition- 

 al information that can be obtained regarding so peculiar a phenomenon in the geology 

 of the coast, must possess the very highest degree of interest in a scientific point of 

 view, and perhaps the best method of proceeding as occasions offer, would be to take 

 soundings in different lines, so as to show the form of the basin and the inclinations 

 of its sides. 



11 The specimen of rock from the Terribles is a sea green and rather soft sandstone, 

 corresponding in appearance with a very common formation that skirts the base of 

 some of the great mountain ranges fn India ; its surface is harder than its internal 

 parts and of a brown color, deeply perforated by boring molluscs, and corroded by the 

 action of the sea. One part of the mass has somewhat of a nodular or concretionary 

 character, as if it had once been broken and reunited, but this may, probably be the 

 effect of corrosion. Viewed under a magnifier, it is seen to be chiefly composed of 

 angular granules of quartz, connected with greenish and black rounded particles, 

 the whole being a little coarser than the deposits now forming at the head of the 

 bay much nearer land. It is unquestionable therefore, that the Terribles are sedi- 

 mentary deposits, that must have taken place at greater depths than the reef now 



