1848.] through Afghanistan and India. 51 



recognizable in the Chinese syllables, which are a literal transcript of 

 Astuleswara, the " Lord of Astula," an appellation of Siva, as husband 

 ofAstnla orBurga. The name of the district, Lang-ko-lo-was, is pro- 

 bably derived from Lakorian, an ancient town now in ruins, a little to 

 the northward of Khozdar. The district would therefore correspond 

 with the modern Baluchistan.) 



Thence to the N. W. to 



No. 114 — Pho-la-sse, Persia, Landresse. Many tens of thousands 

 of li in extent. The capital is called Su-la-sa-tang-na. This country 

 on the N. W. touches Fe-lin. (The name of the capital appears to 

 have been Surasthan, no doubt the Ram-Seristdn of Ibn Haukal, of 

 which the ruins still exist on the Helmand, just above its junction with 

 the Hamun. Fe-lin is of course Europe, or the country of the 

 Firingis or Franks, called Phi-ling by the Tibetans, from whom the 

 Chinese perhaps derived the name.) 



From A-thian-pho-shi-lo (or Kachchh) to the N. at 700 li (117 

 miles) to 



No. 115 — Pi-to-shi-lo, 3000 li (500 miles) in extent. Without a 

 king, being a dependency of Sind. To the N. of the town at 15 or 16 

 li (2\ miles) in a great forest, is a Stapa several hundred feet in height 

 built by Asoka ; and near it to the E. is a monastery built by the Arhan 

 Ta-kia-ta-yan-na. (The bearing and distance point exactly to the 

 ruins of Naserpur and Nerunkot, close to the present Haiderabad. The 

 Chinese syllables perhaps represent Patasila, TT^fs^, the " exten- 

 sive rock," or the "expanse of stone," a name of the same import as 

 Patala, "the extensive abode ;" the common acceptation of Patala, is 

 ^TrTT^T, or " Hell," in allusion to its low position in the Delta of the 

 Indus. The Tibetans however give it a much more natural etymology. 

 They call the town, ^' ^V QI, Potdla, the "place of boats," or the 

 " Haven." But as Potala was also the name of a hill, Hwan Thsang's 

 syllables may be rendered Potasila, " the Boat-hill," which when applied 

 to the rocky Nerunkot, would be as appropriate a name as Potala or 

 " Boat-place." There can be no doubt that it is the Patala of the 

 Greeks. Even now it stands at the real head of the Delta, at the point 

 of divurgence of the Guni river, which must have been the eastern branch 

 down which Alexander sailed. The determination of this point we owe 

 chiefly to Hwan Thsang's distances.) 



h 2 



