Dr. Hoernle —Antiquities from Central Asia. [Extra No. 1, 
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To begin with, I may briefly explain the circumstances which led 
to the formation of the collection. It was the 
Origin of the discovery of the Bower and Weber Manuscripts 
Collection. which first drew my attention to Eastern Turk¬ 
estan as a promising field for epigraphical ex¬ 
ploration. My hopes regarding the archaeological possibilities of that 
country were confirmed by what I heard about the success of the 
Russians, whose Political Agents were said to actively collect manu¬ 
scripts and other antiquities for St. Petersburg. Accordingly on the 
1st June, 1893, I wrote to Mr. (now Sir) Charles J. Lyall, who was then 
the Home Secretary of the Government of India, suggesting that the 
Government might send instructions to their Political Agents in differ¬ 
ent parts of Central Asia, to make enquiries and to secure such speci¬ 
mens as they may be able to obtain. My suggestion was heartily seconded 
by Sir Charles Lyall, and at his instance, (in his demi-official letter, 
dated the 14th June, 1893), the Foreign Secretary, Sir M. Durand, who 
also fully approved of the proposal, caused the necessary instructions to 
issue, on the 22nd August, 1893, to Lt.-Colonel D. W. R. Barr, Officiat¬ 
ing Resident in Kashmir, and through him to the Political Officers in 
Gilghit, Chitral, Kashghar and Leli. Similar instructions were issued 
to the British Political Agents in Khorassan, and, I believe, in Meshed. 
In response to these instructions a large number of Central Asian anti¬ 
quities has already been secured, forming a very respectable British 
Collection, to which additions are still being made. To me personally 
it is source of much satisfaction to have thus been the means of initiat¬ 
ing the movement. It is in acknowledgment of this initiative, that all 
acquisitions are transmitted to me, under the orders of the Government 
of India, for examination and report, and their ultimate place of deposit, 
as recommended by me, is to be the British Museum in London. The 
full determination of the antiquities, especially of the manuscript portion 
of them, will require more time than I have at present at my disposal. 
The present report, therefore, is only o&a pre- 
Scope of the liminary character, and must be limited to a 
present Report. detailed* classification and description of the 
antiquities, illustrated by selected specimens 
and accompanied with such observations and conclusions as are obvious¬ 
ly suggested by them. Much of the epigraphical portion of the collec¬ 
tion, however, is clearly of the highest interest, whether from the palaeo- 
graphic and linguistic points of view, or as bearing upon the history of 
culture in Central Asia, and well deserves more elaborate treatment and 
more extended publication. For this purpose my approaching retire¬ 
ment from India, I hope, will afford me the needful leisure, as well as 
