ceived from the Lieutenant-Governor, shortly before the meeting; and Dr. Hoernle explained that he was not in a position to give more information about them than what he had been able to gather in a short conversation with Mr. Wickes from whom he had received the relics. They were said to have been found in the Great Temple at a spot where according to local tradition the throne of Asoka once stood, after digging to a depth of about 20 feet. They consisted of fragments of various kind of gems, corals, gold and silver foil, small pearls, &c. A very large number of them were perforated, showing apparently that they were originally strung on threads. Dr. Hoernle added, that it appeared to him that the theory of their connexion with Asoka's throne required a great deal of confirmation; and that it would be well to wait for General Cunningham's report, to whom, he understood, the relics had been already submitted, before accepting the local tradition.

Mr. Ball, who had examined the relics, concurred with Dr. Hoernle as to the doubtfulness of their connection with any throne of Aṣoka. The result of his examination, as communicated in a letter after the meeting, is as follows:

"The collection includes sapphires, (whole and broken), rubies, emeralds (broken), pearls, coral, cornelian, garnet, quartz crystals, lapis lazuli, &c. There are also some heart-shaped pieces of emerald-like glass which have become crusted over from lying in the soil.

"There are at least two specimens, one large, of a rare mineral called Iolite or Dichroite. These have been identified by Mr. Mallet to whom I shewed them. They at first sight look like sapphires.

"The larger one would be a valued specimen in our mineralogical collection if it could be obtained.

"The smashing of the sapphires into small pieces is remarkable. There are a few, however, which are intact."

Mr. WESTLAND exhibited four old maps of Calcutta and Bengal which he explained had been lithographed for issue with Mr. Sandeman's continuation of Mr. Seton-Karr's extracts from old Calcutta Gazettes. Mr. Sandeman had left them behind him, in his, now Mr. Westland's, office, and Mr. Westland thought he would best dispose of them if he offered them to such members of the Society as had any interest in the subject.

The first was a map of the Sunderbuns in 1724, apparently a rough sketch by some Dutch skipper. It had been occasionally referred to as evidence of the extension of cultivation in these regions; but some difficulties had been found in identifying some of the settlements named in it. One of them called "Cuipitavai" he identified as " Khalifatabad" the pergunna in which Bagahat was situate, near which there were some ancient and large buildings, indicating an early cultivating settlement. "Noldy" farther east

was no doubt meant for Pergunna Nuldi in Jessore, which, however, was a good way north of its position in the map, and did not properly belong to the Sunderbuns at all. The "Jessore" mentioned in the map was probably either the original "Jessore" in the 24-Pergunna district, or the place now known as Khoolna. The present "Jessore" was not known by

that name till 1780 or 1790 at the earliest.

Another map was a reproduction of a map of Bengal engraved in 1776 from surveys in 1769. Mr. Westland drew attention to the fact that the various districts all bore their territorial names as distinguished from their official ones, thus, Pachete for Manbhoom, Ramgur for Hazaribagh. He drew attention also to the great change in the Gangetic Delta which had occurred since the date of the map. The Brahmaputra river which the map shewed as flowing east of the Maddapur jungle, Dacca, and the Gangetic Delta, now flows west of the jungle and Dacca, and breaks in on the north of the Delta. He connected this with another change of which he had independent historical evidence, namely, the opening of the Madhumati branch of the Ganges, a petty stream in this map, but now receiving by far the largest share of the Ganges water. The Ganges had now ceased to find its way farther east, being interrupted and thrown back by the irruption of the altered Brahmaputra into the Megna. He dated these changes between 1795 and 1805, which were years of excessive inundation in the northern district of the Madhumati.

The two other papers were, one a sketch of Calcutta in 1756, and the other a plan of it in 1757. He drew attention to the grouping of the settlement round the Fort (on the present Customs House site) and the Park (now Tank or Dalhousie Square); and to the creek running up along the line now occupied by the High Court, Government House, and Dhurrumtolla; the recollection of which he believed was still preserved in the name of a small street" Creek Row".

Mr. Beverley said that the two maps of Calcutta exhibited by Mr. Westland were apparently reprints of maps that were first published in Orme's History of the War in Bengal. They had been treated of by him (Mr. Beverley) in para. 104 of his Report on the Census of the Town of Calcutta (1876), which he read. Mr. Beverley believed that all the old maps of the Town now in existence in Calcutta had been referred to in that Report. He had hoped that Mr. Westland had come across Holwell's map of 1756, described by him in a letter to the Court of Directors as "an exact plan of your Settlement and of every house in it." That map ought to be in the India Office, and its publication would throw considerable light on the early history of the town. Possibly the Society might take steps to have it traced out, and to have copies sent to this country.

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The following papers were read

On the Revenues of the Mughal Empire.-By H. G. KEENE, C. S.

(Abstract.)

The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Part I, No. IV, 1880, contained a paper by Mr. C. J. Rodgers on the copper coins of Akbar. The object of the present paper is to show that Mr. Rodgers' views regarding the amount of Akbar's revenue are not tenable, and for this purpose various evidence is adduced from historical writings (e. g., the Bádsháhnámah) and general considerations. The conclusion at which the author arrives is, that "ten krores are the right figure of Akbar's Revenue, and that the murádi tankah is neither the one-fifth of a dám, nor the modern double pyce,' but an imaginary integer of copper accounts, whereof sixty-four equal one silver Rupee."

This paper will be published in the Journal, Part I.

2. On the origin of the Myth about Kerberos.-By DR. R. MITRA.

The earliest notice of dogs as warders at the entrance of Hades occurs in the Sanhitá of the Rig Veda. Yama, the regent of that region, it is said, had two canine attendants, each having four eyes, and these brought the dead from the earth to the nether regions. The passages in which they are mentioned are short and sometimes obscure, but their purport is clear enough. The most important of those passages runs thus " (O Agni) hasten on by an auspicious path, avoiding the two four-eyed brindled dogs, the offspring of Saramá. Then approach the bountiful Pitris who dwell in festivity and with Yama. (To Yama) place the spirit under the care of thy two four-eyed dogs which guard the roads and thy mansion, and whom men avoid, and keep it in ease and free from disease. brown messengers of Yama, broad of nostrils, delighting in other's life, and of great power, wander about among men. May they give us again the auspicious breath of life, that we may again behold the sun." (R. V. XV, 10-12). These are quoted in the Yajur Veda, and their counterparts occur in the Atharva Veda. The later literature of the Hindus casually, but very obscurely, refers to them. Thus in the Mahábhárata, Yudhisthira in his way to heaven is said to have been led by a dog. These dogs are either called Svánau "two dogs," or Sárameyau, "the two sons of Saramá," the Dawn.

The two

In Greek mythology the story of the dogs occurs repeatedly, and is well known to classic scholars; but for purposes of comparison it is necessary that a few of its salient points should be noticed here. The oldest notice of a dog as the warder of Hades is to be found in the Iliad of Homer where Héraklés refers to his "Haling out hateful Pluto's dog from darksome Erebos."

ἐξ Ερέβευς ἄξοντα κύνα στυγεροῦ 'Αίδαο. (θ 369).

In the Odyssey (XI, 626) the subject is referred to when Héraklés tells Odysseus that his sufferings are but a reflection of the toils which Héraklés himself had undergone.

"Of all which one was, to descend this strand

And hale the dog from thence. He could not think

An act that danger could make deeper sink,

And yet this depth I drew, and fetch'd as high,

As this was low, the dog."

(Chapman's translation.)

In neither place the name of the dog is given; but Hesiod (III, 11) calls him Kerberos, and assigns him fifty heads. Apollodoros, Euripides and Virgil reduce the number of heads to three; while some poets prefer to call the animal "many-headed" or "hundred-headed" (Horat. Carm. II, 13, 34. Tzetz. Lycoph. VI, 78. Seinec. Herc. fur. 781). Apollodoros says that the tail of this animal was formed by a serpent, and the mane by a number of snakes of various kinds. It was begotten by Typhon and Echidna. Hesiod describes another dog of the same parentage, and assigns him to Geryones (293). Thus the Greeks had two dogs, the counterparts of the Vedic Sárameyau. Orthros was the shepherd dog which Héraklés destroyed, and was frightful enough to be reckoned a monster whose destruction would reflect credit on the great hero: the feat represents his eighth labour. This dog is the counterpart of the Vṛitra of the Vedic legend. He did not, however, attain to any distinction, and was soon forgotten. Kerberos, on the other hand, played a prominent part in Hellenic mythology. As the three-headed monster watching the gate of Hades, it was very much dreaded, and as a dog, like every other dog, was detested by the Greeks.

The belief was that he did no harm to those who entered the mansion of Pluto, but tore up those who attempted to escape from it. This is, however, not in keeping with the legend which says that he growled fiercely when Orpheus was entering the portals of Hades, and had to be lulled by the enchanting music of that gifted harper. One of the greatest feats of Héraklés was the dragging out of the monster from his nook, and this could not be effected without the assistance of such divine personages as Athéné and Hermés.

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The three heads of the animal were not peculiarly its own, for Hermés had the same number of heads, whence his name 'Trikephalos,' and so had Hekaté triformis.' According to Bryant the meaning of Kerberos is "darkness" (peẞos)—the darkness of Hades or of night, the Sanskrit equivalent being Sarvara or Sambara, night slain by Indra.

In Norse legends-as in Baldur's Dream in the elder Edda-the animal is described as spotted with blood on his front and chest."

In the Vendidad it finds a prominent place; nor was it unknown among some of the Turanian and Semitic nations.

The belief in it turns up, curiously enough, among Algonquin tribes of the North American Indians, who say that at the further approach of the snake bridge across the river of the dead there is a warder in the form of a great dog.*

Local colouring and minor details apart, the myth is the same everywhere, and its wide dispersion bespeaks its extreme antiquity.

But what it means has not yet been satisfactorily settled. According to some Kerberos is a symbol of all-devouring time, and the three mouths of the animal represent the present, the past, and the future. Milton accepted it in the sense of man's conscience, which preyed within him for his past misdeeds. Others believed it to be the symbol of earth, or of the human passions, the victory of Héraklés denoting the conquest which he achieved over his passions. Bryant takes Kerberos to be the name of a place and it signified the temple of the sun, deriving it from Kir-abor "the place of light." The temple was also called Tor-caph-el, which, it is alleged, changed to Trikephalos.

The latest theory is that it is an offshoot of the far-reaching solar myth which peopled the eastern and the western heavens with such an endless variety of gods and goddesses. According to this theory, the gloom of the morning and the evening represents the two dogs. (Max Müller, 'Science of Language,' Second Series, p. 478.) The learning, ingenuity and tact with which this theory has been worked out leaves little to be desired. Philological evidence on the subject is overwhelming, and the coincidences are most remarkable. And yet the enquiry does not seem to be complete. The myth of Kerberos may be due to Saramá= Echidna, the prolific mother of so many romantic stories; but the question remains why was the story elaborated? and what gave occasion to its repulsive character? The Dawn is justly associated with every thing that is charming and full of life; why should it be brought into contact with death and destruction? Divested of its mythological surroundings, the substance of the story is made up of the presence of dogs at the time of transition from life to eternity; this is ill explained by the melting of the gloom of night by the appearance of Dawn. The dog is made the son of Dawn, or darkness proceeding from light, and not light proceeding from darkness. Solar influence moreover always typifies exuberant vivification, and not death. It is by itself quite inexplicable why the glorious and resplendent Dawn should bring forth two ugly puppies. If we take man's life to be the counterpart of the life of the * Tanner's Narrative, p. 290; Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, III, 233.