MIRZA ZU-L-QARNAIN, A CHRISTIAN GRANDEE. 185 



spot, but all my efforts to trace the stones failed. Probably, digging the convent 

 garden or the church compound on the side of the well would bring up other stones. 



In 1913, Fr. Hyacinth, O.C., Agra, found in the compound of the Cathedral a 

 stone (2 ft. 2 inches x 1 ft. 7 inches) bearing the following inscription : 



A QVI IAZ Q P. IOSEP 

 DE CASTRO DAS 

 COMP A TRESLADADO 

 DE LAHOR ONDE MOR 

 REO. AOS. 15. DDZEB. 

 1646. 



(Cf. The Franciscan Annals, Agra, Cathedral Mission Press, 1913, p. 294). This 

 discovery proves clearly that the present site of the Cathedral and compound is the 

 one occupied by the old Jesuit Mission. I do not suppose, however, that it is one 

 of the stones alluded to by the Nuns. What is curious about this inscription is that 

 Father Joseph de Castro's tomb in the Martyrs' Chapel has as inscription: aqvi iaz/o 



p. ioseph/de castro fadeceo/ lahor aos 15 de/dezebro d' 1646./= Here lies Father 

 Joseph de Castro. Died at Lahor on the 15th of December 1646). I fancy that the 

 stone in the Martyrs' Chapel was brought from Lahore when the body of Fr. de 

 Castro, after a first interment there, was taken to Agra (J.A.S.B., 1910, p. 529). 

 The inscription lately found would have been intended to take its place, but some- 

 how it was left lying about. Perhaps, it was rejected because it contained flaws. I 

 havecopied it exactly from Fr. Hyacinth's letter of Agra, 5th June, 1913. aqvi should 

 be one word; Q (after iaz) is meaningless ; it must be o, for o {quondam) would not be 

 used without the article 0; Josep ought to have an h, but there is instead over the 

 p the sign j-l worn out with time ; the same sign occurs over the E of dzeb, 5th line, 

 where it represents the nasal m ; if das (2nd line) stands for da s[anta], it is unusual ; 

 tr (3rd line) and nd (4th line) are worked into compound letters. The meaning is 

 therefore: Here lies Father Joseph de Castro of the (holy ?) Society, transferred from 

 Lahor, where he died on the 15th December, 1646. 



APPENDIX B. 

 A great-granddaughter of Zu-d-Qarnain. 



In view of the interest which Bibi Anna Dessa's inscription is bound to elicit,' I 

 must enlarge on the inscriptions near it. 



On December 27th, 1912, I visited the spot where Bibi De Sa's tombstone lies. 

 The site is clearly indicated above. The stones lie under a khirni-tree, in a field having 

 a well. Altogether there are at that place six stones, three of them with inscriptions. 



I Cf. supra pp. 167-168. 



