3 
GROUND FLOOR. 
This floor, formerly consisting of sixteen rooms, contained the Li ¬ 
brary of Printed Books, now removed to the N. side of the New Square. 
The Northern half of this floor has given way to the construction of 
new Buildings. 
The Entrance Hall contains 
A Chinese bell, from a Buddhist temple near Ningpo. The upper 
part ornamented with an imperial dragon, the national emblem of China, 
crouching, and forming the handle. Beneath this is the orifice where 
the clapper has been placed. The upper part is ornamented with 
figures of Buddh, cast in salient relief, and covered with an inscrip¬ 
tion, also in relief, separated by four broad bands, of large characters, 
containing sentences relative to the Buddhist religion. The smaller 
inscriptions in a Sanscrit character, are entitled the Prayer of Fiih 
(Buddh); with a list of names of believing doctors and faithful ladies. 
The inscriptions at the lower part contain a similar list of names, and 
the names and titles of the makers, and of the authorities of the Teen- 
she-pe-ling temple, and of the civil and military olficers of the city 
of Ningpo under whom the bell was cast, in the 19th regnal year of 
Taou Kwang, the present emperor, the 36th cyclary year, on a morn¬ 
ing of the eighth moon (a.d. 1839-40). Presented htj HER MA¬ 
JESTY, 1844. 
A statue in marble of Shakspeare, by Roubilliac. Bequeathed to the 
British Museum hy David Garrick, Esq. 
A statue of the Hon. Anne Seymour Damer, holding a small figure 
of the Genius of the Thames. Presented hy the late Lord Frederick 
Campbell. 
A gilt figure of Gaudma, a Burmese idol; and the symbolical repre¬ 
sentation of his foot. Both presented hy Capt. Marry at, R.N. 
Against the pier, raised upon a pedestal, between the iron Gates 
which lead to the staircase, is a statue of Sir Joseph Banks, by Chantrey. 
It represents'him seated in an arm-chair, holding a scroll in his left hand. 
Presented hy the Friends at whose expense the statue was made. 
On the other side of the pier, is a Hindoo sculpture, discovered in 
1809, near the banks of the sacred river Nerbudda. Presented hy 
D. D. Inglis, Esq. 
Before a window on the left, is a Hippopotamus. Presented hy the 
Trustees of the Hunterian Collection of the Royal College of Surgeons, 
By the side of the staircase, are three specimens of the genus Rhino¬ 
ceros, from Southern Africa,—viz., R. Ketloa—R. Africanus, young 
—and R. Simus. 
The landscapes and architectural decorations of the Staircase are by 
Jacques Rousseau. The paintings on the ceiling, representing Phaeton 
petitioning Apollo for leave to drive his chariot, are by Charles de la 
Fosse, who, in his time, was deemed one of the best colourists of the 
French school. 
On the first landing-place, is a Llama from South America. Pre¬ 
sented hy Charles Darwin, Esq, 
Above the Llama is a specimen of the Stag ( Cervus elaphus, Linn.). 
Presented hy the Earl of Derby. 
On the second landing-place are a Musk Ox, from Melville Island, 
B 2 
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