538 Extract of a letter from Capt. Kittoe. [June, 



repaid for the expense and labour, for a more curious and interesting 

 piece of sculpture could not well be found. The figure of the goddess 

 Prithee is a fine specimen of art ; the group represents Vishnu as the 

 Svveta Varaha, with the holy men escaping the deluge in his bristles, and 

 Prithee raised on his tusk ; Schesa appears on his right, half man half 

 snake. On the hog's back is a rock on which is a Schesnag and remains 

 of figures, apparently Maha Deva and Parvati. On the tip of the 

 tongue Buddha is seated. The figure is about nine feet high and as 

 many in length ; the stone is a compact sandstone, the same as that of 

 the Asoka pillars, and is one single block ; I have taken drawings and 

 made a careful copy of the inscription which had received furthur injury 

 since I saw it last year, and have brought it away to re-examine it, and 

 to restore as much as possible before having it fixed in a pedestal near 

 the Varaha. This inscription is extremely curious, and had it not been 

 for the centre portion being ground out by the sharpening of tools, it 

 would have proved the most useful and interesting relic next to the 

 Asoka inscriptions that we have ever become possessed of ; as far as I 

 have transcribed it, the pundit has explaimed the meaning ; there are 

 six princes named of the Gupta Dynasty, mostly names new to us and 

 two are to be found in the Raja Taringini. Hushka Deva is one : the 

 writer of the inscription records his having met in battle a large army 

 of Huns whom he defeated, and here the inscription is defaced ; 

 allusion is made to the great tank which still exists at the N. E. corner 

 of the village ; the Varaha is not mentioned. It was very near this place 

 that the coins which were lately sent to the Society from Monghyr were 

 found. Leaving (Uphsah) and about one mile to the north washed 

 on its western face by the Sikri river, is an isolated rock about f of a 

 mile in circumference, or less ; on this have been fortifications and 

 several large chaityas, of which there are clear traces ; there are several 

 mutilated figures of Buddha of colossal dimensions ; there is a small 

 village under the north face ; I could glean no tradition concerning 

 this curious place. From hence I proceeded to Tettarawa, where there 

 have been many chaityas and viharas in former times, but of the later 

 periods of Buddhism. There are a great many images scattered about 

 in all directions, one in particular of Buddha, on the site of a chaitya 

 beside a large tank, is of gigantic size and finely executed ; a terrace has 

 lately been built under it and behind it ; it is worshipped as Bhairab. 



