1845.] of the Indo- Scythians. 435 



The figure on the reverse of this piece is very like that of Victory on 

 the coins of Menander, Azas, and Undopherras ; and it has also a strik- 

 ing resemblance to the Ardokro, depicted in No. 10 of the accompany- 

 ing plate. But the legend appears to be Vami Mao, which, if intended 

 for the Sanscrit TTTL Varna, a woman, may be translated as " the 

 female Moon," or Chandri, the consort of Surya or the Sun. For the 

 Moon is an Androgyal deity ; being male or the god Chandra, when in 

 opposition to the Sun, and becoming female or the goddess Chandri, 

 when in conjunction with the Sun. If the legend should be Vani Mao, 

 the interpretation will then perhaps denote some identification of the 

 Moon with the goddess Saraswati, who as TPGltj Vani, was the goddess 

 of Science and Learning, and who, as the consort of the Sun, became the 

 mother of the river Jumna. <?*TfT> Vahni, fire, can scarcely be coupled 

 with Mao, the Moon. 



No. 3. — A round gold coin, weighing 125 grains, of good make, and 

 in fair order. 



Obverse. Essentially the same as that of the coin just described, ex- 

 cepting that the left hand of the king is apparently empty, and that the 

 ends of a diadem are seen floating behind his head. Legend in bad 

 Greek characters, almost illegible from faulty striking, but probably the 

 same as the last. 



Reverse. *A full length male figure to the left, clothed in a long sleev- 

 ed dress, with a loose robe flowing behind ; the head surrounded by a 

 radiated halo ; the right arm extended to the right, and the left hand 

 resting on the hip. In the field to the left the common Indo- Scythian 

 monograph ; and to the right in bad Greek letters the legend OM 

 BOA, or perhaps O AI BOA ; either Aum Buddha, or Adi Buddha ; 

 the BOA being most probably a contraction of B0AYA2, which 

 was one of the several Greek renderings of the name of Buddha. 



On both of these coins, the instrument, which the prince holds in his 

 right hand, resembles exactly the praying cylinder which is used by all 

 Lamas of the present day. It is called Muni by the Bhotias, and Skoru 

 by the Tibetans. I have one now lying before me, which I procured 

 from a Lama near Triloknath on the Chandrabhaga river. It is a thin 

 cylinder of brass, three inches long, and two inches and a half in diame- 

 ter, filled with a long paper roll of writing, which, I was told., contained 

 only prayers. By a gentle motion of the hand it is kept continually re- 



