24 
Dr. Hoernle —Antiquities from Central Asia. [Extra No. 1, 
about 16 x 12 inches. The closely spaced water-lines run parallel to the 
longer side, while the writing runs across them, and parallel to the 
widely-spaced transverse water-lines. The surface of the paper is rough : 
polishing it or coating it was not practised. The writing was done with 
a brush: the ink appears to have been the so-called China or Indian ink. 
No. 1. Document. (Plate III). 
Belongs to M. 9. Size, 15| x lli", or a full sheet of paper. Lower 
right-hand corner torn off, also some portions of upper edge; otherwise 
complete. Writing arranged in 14 columns, six of them more or less 
mutilated, in ordinary Chinese book-hand, though interspersed w r ith a 
few cursive characters. At the end, in left-hand lower corner, the office 
stamp hsing , meaning “approved,” is imprinted, in a very large cha¬ 
racter, 2j" high ; while all the written characters are from \ to f " high. 
The document is dated “ the 23rd day of the 3rd month of the 3rd 
year of the Tali period,” equivalent to A.D. 768. It is an official letter 
addressed by Tien Ch’eng-hsien, apparently the officer in charge of 
Li-sieh or Litse to his superior officer, Ah-mo-chih Wei-chih, the In¬ 
specting Superintendent of the Six Cities. Ah-mo-chih is said, by 
Air. Macartney, to be not Chinese, but probably a Chinese trans¬ 
literation of a native word. The following appears to be the substance 
of the letter: Tien Ch’eng-hsien reports that he has received a petition 
from the people of Li-tse regarding the payment of their grain-tax. 
He explains that owing to the frequent depredations of bandits they 
are suffering great distress. Accordingly he proposes a postponement 
of the collection of the tax, and requests the sanction thereof by the 
Inspecting Superintendent. 
No. 2. Document. 
Belongs to M. 9. Size 5f x Ilf", or about one-third of a full sheet 
(such as No. 1) cut breadthwise. Becord, complete. Writing arranged 
in six columns, parallel to the long side, in the book-hand. No office 
stamp. Dated only on “the 23rd day of the 12th month,” without 
mention of any year, from the Li-sieh (Litse) camp. Purport, order 
addressed to Yang Chin-ching, the military commandant of the camp, 
to requisition a skin to re-cover a drum, and feathers to re-fit arrows. 
No. 3. Document. (Plate IV). 
Belongs to M. 9. Size, 13£ x lli", being nearly a full sheet. Com¬ 
plete, with exception of one-half of first column or about 7 characters. 
Writing arranged in 12 columns, parallel to short side, in cursive cha¬ 
racters ; hence partially undeciphered. No office stamp. Dated twice, 
at beginning and end, “on the 5th day of the 7th month of the 7th 
year of the period Chien-chung,” corresponding to A.D. 786. Purport; 
