167 
1886.] on the Goins of Kunanda. 
as these reiDtiles are popularly supposed, and with some justice I believe, 
to associate in pairs, so much so that it is commonly believed that if one 
is killed it will not be long before its companion will be found near the 
same place. Whether this is a trait with poisonous snakes only, I do 
not know, but in corroboration thereof in their case I can relate an in¬ 
stance within my own personal knowledge. Many years ago I had a 
terrier dog bitten in a dry ditch in Calcutta, by a Chandra bora, {Dahoia 
Russelli, Shaw). The dog died in a very short time, and I then and 
there killed its assailant, a powerful animal of some five feet in length. 
The very next day, as I was walking in slippers over the same spot, I 
nai'rowly escaped putting my foot down on, and being bitten by a very 
similar snake, which I naturally concluded to be the partner of the one 
killed the day previously. The appearance, however, of two hooded 
snakes or Cobras on coins is too common to call for further comment, but 
it may be asked how comes this serpent symbol to be repeated on the 
reverse. To this the answer is clear. The solitary serpent, depicted as 
a single undulating line below the chaitya represents not the cobra, but 
another type of reptile altogether, the Asiatic Python. It is of course 
needless to remind the reader that two distinct ideas are embodied in 
the symbol of the serpent (considered apart from the local Indian Naga) 
viz., that, with which we are most familiar, of the serjDent as the em¬ 
bodiment of evil, the Vedic ‘Ahis’ and ‘ Vritra,’ the dreaded throttling 
snake of primeval mythology ; and the serpent in its beneficent aspect 
and the symbol of life-giving and healing power. It is of course in this 
latter aspect that the serpent appears beneath the ‘ chaitya,’ and on one 
copper coin in my possession, the serpent is depicted, not extended at 
length below the chaitya, but as entering into- it from below, so 
that regarding the ‘ chaitya ’ as a leaf, the serpent is indicated as occupy¬ 
ing the position of its stalk, that is, as partly parallel with its base, but 
curved up and united to it, in the middle. The idea in this instance is 
(I would suggest) that the sacred ‘ chaitj^a’ has been selected as its 
abode by the sacred and symbolic animal, as the sacred serpents of other 
lands were popularly held to do, in some shrine or temple of Pallas, 
Phoibos or ^sculapius. This copper coin exhibiting the union of the 
snake and ‘ chaitya ’ is in rather poor condition and weighs 34 grains, 
but does not display any other deviation from the ordinary type of these 
coins. 
The third symbol on these coins to be now noticed is that numbered 
II by Mr. Thomas and regarding which he thus expresses himself (1. c. 
page 487). 
“ (II) I am unable to conjecture the intent or import of the singu¬ 
lar emblem which appears below the Swastika. An earlier form of the 
