60 Buddhism and Odinism. [No. 1. 



part of the Indian palisades. In Burmah the fences of the kiunqs 

 are made of the tails of dragons and monsters whose heads orna- 

 ment the sides of the gateway. 



Small tombs in the neighbourhood of topes and haugs owe their 

 origin to an idea of sanctity attached to these monuments, and the 

 desire, so common in mankind, to place the remains of their relatives 

 in or about places reputed to be holy. In Afghanistan these tombs 

 differ from the topes in not having the cylindrical shaft which joins 

 the hemisphere of the tope with the basement, and their contents be- 

 ing purely sepulchral in their character, consisting chiefly of bones, 

 ashes and charcoal, and having none of the precious articles notica- 

 ble in the topes. " They are placed generally, to the north, the south 

 or the west of the tope, but never to the east." " In Scandinavia, it 

 is not possible to distinguish, by their form, the tombs from the more 

 sacred monuments, but from the groups of these mounds, it is to be 

 supposed that the most sacred monuments are the largest ; and when 

 they are opened their contents in every instance are different.' * 



The interior arrangement of the topes and haugs has been 

 already observed to be generally the same, but in the topes of 

 Darounta, in Afghanistan, Mr. Masson observed that " the whole 

 mass of the structure is divided into four parts, by passages inter- 

 secting each other at right angles : the passages extend the entire 

 depth of the building, and have a breadth of five or six feet or more. 

 Inferior tumuli do not always exhibit this peculiarity of construction, 

 which may nevertheless be deemed genuine, and possibly prescribed, 

 being found in the more ancient monuments. "t A similar con- 

 struction is noticed in the mound raised over the remains of Frey king 

 of Sweden, which had a door and three openings forming a cross. J 



We shall now notice the relic contents of the topes and haugs. 

 M. Holmboe says, " the articles deposited in these monuments are very 

 much alike." In the recesses of the topes occur finely powdered 

 earth, sand, charcoal and ashes, preserved in vases of terra cotta, 

 stone, gold, silver, copper or iron; In one instance a wooden vase has 

 been found. Around the vases, and sometimes withiu them, occur 

 ornaments of gold, silver and copper, precious stones, various resins, 

 small bells, gold foil, glass and crystal cylinders, and bottles con- 



* Holmboe, p. 23. f Ariana Anliqva, p. 923. % Holmboe, p. 24. 



