1899.] 
Section 11.—Block Prints. 
109 
he with the arras a*kiuibo— has also a beard, marked by similar lines 
all round the lower part of the head. The other two are represented 
beard-less. The heads are made disproportionately large; and 
altogether the figures are very crude. 
The three bands (PL XY, fig. 3) of writing are oblongs, measuring 
about 3f X 1". One of them is divided, by indented lines, into three nearly 
equal compartments. Their top and bottom seem to be clearly indicated 
by their correspondence to the heads and feet of the figures. They are 
shown on the Plate in the position thus indicated. Accordingly the 
legend of No. II which consists of two lines containing each six 
symbols must be read either from top to bottom, or from right to left. 
The legend of No. I appears to consist of a narrow column of nine short 
lines, each containing three or four symbols. The three compartments 
of No. Ill seem to contain 3, 2, 3 short lines respectively. The prob¬ 
ability seems to be that all the legends run from the right to the left. 
On Plate XY, fig. 4 I show an inscription which exhibits a 
curious primd facie resemblance to the writing on the bands. This 
inscription stands on a hone of slate, measuring 5 X 1". It was found 
at Mazyhund, close to Tiran, at the foot of Mahaban in the Swat 
country, and brought to Major Deane, who very kindly gave it to me 
to be added to the British Collection of Central Asian Antiquities. 
No. II. This Boll. (Plate XYI). 
The roll measures 16f by 4f inches. The paper is very different 
in texture from that of the block-prints books comprised in Sets I to 
YIII. It is exceedingly thin, tough and hard; it is also oiled or 
greased, apparently as a kind of sizing, to tolerate being printed on. 
When washed, it shows a very light yellowish or creamy tint. In 
general appearance it resembles thin parchment. It is only printed on 
one side, the paper being so thin that the print of one side shows 
through on the reverse, wherever there is an excess of ink, as in lines 
8-11, 30-33, 38, 39. For that reason, clearly, the ink was, as a rule, 
put on very sparingly, so that in many lines the print is so fine as to be 
almost illegible. 
The roll is covered with 45 lines of print, which run parallel to 
its narrow sides, and which contain each from 13 to 15 symbols. A 
closer inspection reveals the fact that this text of 45 lines consists of 
five formulas, which are repeated at irregular intervals, and each of 
which comprises two lines of the text. I shall distinguish these five 
formulas as IX 1 , IX 2 , IX 3 , etc. The two lines of the several formulas 
are made up of a number of symbols varying from seven to fourteen. 
Sometimes, as in lines 8 and 9, which comprise formula IX 4 , the lines 
