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'I'HE RECIENr DEATH OF FISH. 
The recent deatli of fish in the lake is attri- 
• bated, in the report, to a discharge of water froru 
the Suduwella ditch. Tliere is nothing at all to 
support such a statement. It has been con- 
clusively pointed out before that the silurus and 
eels, which were anionj? those killed in the lake, 
live in the foulest water as in the cleanest. In 
the old days the blood and washings from the 
slaughter house at liorpUa were discharged into a 
swamp at the rear of the building. The putrescent 
water, black and thick with decomposing vegeta- 
tion and the matter from the slaughter house, 
teemed with siluridcc. Every little stinking, foul 
pool in the lowconntry swamps has its finny 
inhabitants. Beside all this, as a matter of fact, 
there are fi>ih — the silurus, anabas and one or 
two other kinds— in the Suduwella ditch. Street 
boys fish in it, and anyone watching could not 
fail to notice the fish rising. With the sweepii.f 
out of fish from the lake, the mud tortoises have 
considerably increased in number, as they aie 
•left perfectly alone. There are thousands of them 
now in the lake and they aie useful scavengers. 
Visit any part of the lake and you will notice 
close to the bank the pointed head of the Testudo 
resting on the water. 
BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION. 
The recommendation that a searching enquiry 
into the chemical and biological condition of the 
lake should be undertaken is a very sound one, 
and should be carried out. This, it is believed, 
is also the opinion of Dr. Willey. The first thing 
required would, of course, be a specially prepared 
chart of the lake showing all its tributaries-- 
the canals, ditchef, and drains which discharged 
into the lake. "You have to deal with this lake 
in a special manner, as a particular case," says 
Dr. Willey. " You cannot deal with it on general 
grounds ; and, for this purpose, a special com- 
mission should be appointed. A biological inquiry, 
however, requires much time. It cannot be done 
in a hurry."— Local "Times." 
BUDDHIST RELICS IN CENTRAL INDIA. 
An interesting article appears in a recent 
issue of the Times of India on the 
Topes at Sanchi, in the f^ative State 
of Bhopal. These topes are perhaps the most 
ancient Buddhist relics in Central India and 
form the centre of the great group described as 
' The Bhilsa Topes' by General Cunningham. 
The present village of Sanchi is situated on the 
left bank of Betwa river, about 5^ miles south- 
west of Bhilsa and 20 miles north-east of Bhopal 
city. The hill, which is about 300 feet in height, 
ou a low ridge of which the village stands, is flat- 
topped, and the principal buildings which now 
remain occupy only the middle part of this level 
summit and a narrow belt leading down the hill 
in a westward direction. They consist of one great 
• stupa' or tope, with its railing and other adjuncts, 
about 10 smaller ' stupas,' some now showing 
nothing more than the foundations, a stone bowl 
4i feet in diameter and 2^ feet deep, supposed to 
have once contained Buddha's holy nettle, and 
other objects of archaiological interest. Tlie 
light red sandstone of the hill has been used for all 
the topes and other buildings where hardness an I 
dttvability \yere esseutial, bub iox the .coloauades 
and sculptured gateways a fine grained white 
sandstone was brought from the Udayagiri Hill, 
miles to the northward. 
The principal of this group of remains is known 
as the Great Tope at S.inchi. Notwithstanding 
all that has been written about tiiese relics, we 
know very little that is certain regarding their 
object and their history. Pergusson says, ' The 
Maliawansa, it is true, helps us a little in our 
difficulties. It is there narrated that Asoka when 
on his way to Ujjain, of which place he had been 
nominated governor, tarried some time at Chetya- 
giri, or, as it is elsewhere called, Wessanagara, 
the modern Bisnagar, close to Sanchi. He there 
married Devi, the daughter of the chief, and by 
her had twin sons, Ujjenio and Mahindo, and 
afterwards a daughter, Sanghamitta. The two 
last-named entered the priesthood, and played a 
most important part in the introduction of Bud- 
dhism into Ceylon. Before setting out on this 
mission, Mahindo visited his royal nuther at 
Chetyagirij and was lodged in a superb ' vihara, 
which had been erected by herself. In all this 
there is no mention of the Great Tope, which may 
have existed before that time ; but till some 
building is found in India which can be proved to 
have existed before that age, it will be safe to 
assume thst this is one of the 84,000 topes said to 
have been erected by Asoka. Had Sanchi been 
one of the eight cities which obtained relics of 
Buddha at the funeral pyre, the case might have 
been different ; but it has been dug into, and 
found to be a ' stupa,' and not a 'dagoba.' It con- 
sequently was erected to make some sacred spot 
or commemorate same event, and we have no 
reason to believe that this was done anywhere 
before Asoka's time.' 
'On the other hand, two smaller topes on the 
same platform contained relics of an undoubted 
historical character. That called No. 2 Tope 
contained those of ten Buddhist teachers who took 
part in the third gieat convocation held under 
Asoka, and some of whom were sent on missions 
to foieign countries, to disseminate the doctrines 
then settled; and No. 3 Tope contained two caskets. 
One of these enclosed relics of Malia Moggalana, 
the other of Sariputra, friends and companions of 
Buddha himself, and usuiilly called his right and 
left hand disciples. It does not of course follow 
that this ' dagoba ' is as old as the time of 
Buddha ; on ihe contrary, some centuries must 
elapse before a bone or rag belonging to any mortal 
became so precious that a dome is elected to 
enshrine it. The great probability seems to be 
that these relics were deposited tliere by Asoka 
himself, in close proximity to the sacred spot 
which the Great Tope wss erecteit to commemo- 
rate. The tope containing relics of his contem- 
poraries must of course be much more 
modern, probably contemporary with the gateways, 
which are subsequent to the Christian era.' 
The huge stone railway which encircles the 
base of the Great Tope has one entrance at each 
of the four cardinal points. The four lofty gates 
of this railing reach a height of 34 feet from the 
ground. Two massive square pillais, fourteen 
feet high, form the gate-posts and support an 
ornamental superstructure of three slightly 
arched stone beams or architraves, placed liori- 
zoutiUyone above the other with spaces between 
them, The topmost beam of each gate was once 
surmounted by the sacred wheel tlanked by the 
' trisula' emblem. Ihe faces oa bjth sides ol 
