XX 
Dr. Hoernle —Antiquities from Central Asia. [Extra No. 1, 
private letter to myself of Mr. Cecil Bendall, dated London, tlie 1st 
October, 1897 : “ 1 tbink it may interest you to know that Mr. Macartney 
sent us here two collections of fragments similar to some of those des¬ 
cribed by you at pp. 38 If. (of Extra-copies, corresponding to pp. 250 ff. 
of my Report in the Journal, As. Soc. Beng., Vol. LXVI). We have (1) 
a “book,” very similar to that described by you and figured in your 
Plate xx. The peg is wood, not metal, but it comes through in about 
the same part of the leaves, which are very dirty brown paper like 
yours. The “ book” has blank leaves at both ends. The writing is 
mostly that figured in your Plate xv; but several leaves (apparently 
occurring at random) are writing in the script of your Plate xvii with 
those odd ‘ ligatures’, some of which, I think, must be of Syriac (Nes- 
torian) origin. (2) A few leaves, showing rulings in double lines and 
folded over. The writing here is certainly of Mongol origin.” A com¬ 
parison of these different accounts suggests that the “mound”, in which 
the skull with its pillow of manuscripts was discovered, is an 
erection similar to those described by Mr. Hogberg and Islam Akhun. 
The exact time when the discovery was made is no where stated. But 
it is probable that it was made in October, 1896. For with regard to 
the objects comprising M. 2, Set. IV, Mr. Macartney states that “ these 
images and Chinese coins were found by Islam Akhun in October, 1896 
along with manuscripts.” Moreover from Kok Gumbaz, Islam Akhun ap¬ 
pears to have gone on to Qara Yantaq where, in the November following, 
he dug out the skull with its MSS. pillow which I shall next describe. 
At Qara Yantaq (<3^^ or ‘ black thorn ’) was found, by Islam 
Akhun in November, 1896, the skull with its MSS.-pillow just referred 
to. In the same place were found two small horsemen of bronze, some 
old coins and a large quantity of broken metal. The whole constitutes 
M. 2, Set I. The story of the discovery, from information given by the 
discoverer, is thus related by Mr. Macartney in his D. 0. letter, No. 58, 
dated Kashghar, the 31st March, 1897 and addressed to the Resident in 
Kashmir. “The skull with the manuscript adhering to it was found 
by him in November, 1896, at Qara Yantaq, situated in the desert at 
about five days’ journey east of Guma. The soil of Qara Yantaq is 
described to be of loess. Here and there are to be seen, along what 
must have been once the bed of a river, 18 some rushes still rooted in the 
ground, but withered and blackened by want of moisture and by exposure. 
At Qara Yantaq, there is one solitary mound, circular in shape, and about 
5 feet in diameter and 2 feet in height. The skull with the manuscript 
adhering to it was discovered on this elevation, and was partially buried. 
IS This, as may be seen from the Map, should be the dry bed of the river which 
flows past Pialma, on the caravan route from Yarkand to Khotan. 
