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6. A shaft was sunk down the middle, which, at the end of two hours' labour, had reached the relicchamber, at a height of 93 feet above the terrace. The chamber was a square of 1 foot, with a depth of 1 foot. Inside we found a hemispherical cover of red earthenware, 9 inches in height, and 1 foot 4 inches in diameter, beneath which was a red earthenware box, 8 inches in its greatest diameter, and 6 inches in height. The lid had been thickly coated with whitewash, on which the traces of ink letters were yet visible; but so much of the whitewash had peeled off in the lapse of ages, that not even a single letter was legible. This is the more to be regretted, as the relic-casket found inside is the most curious and costly of all our discoveries. The lid of the box was whitewashed inside, and the white colour is as fresh as if it had been recently done. On seeing this I could not help wishing that the inscription had been placed inside the lid.

7. The relic-casket is a small crystal Tope, with its terrace, plinth, hemispherical dome, square pedestal, and double chatta pinnacle, all complete. It is shown in half size (in Plate XXVI.) placed inside the earthenware box in which it was found. The top is pierced with a small perpendicular shaft, to which the pinnacle forms a stopper. The bottom of the shaft is the relic-chamber, in which we found some minute pieces of bone. In the red earthenware box there were several small pieces of bone, and a series of the seven precious things usually placed along with

the relics of an eminent person. These consisted of 4 thin, round bits of gold, weighing altogether only a few grains, 1 bead of garnet, or Badaksháni ruby, 1 crystal bead, 2 beads of pale greenish crystal, and some minute fragments of pearl. For another series of the seven precious things, see my account of the opening of No. 3 Tope at Sánchi, in which the precious metal is omitted.

No. 3 TOPE, C.-BHOJPUR.

8. This was a ruinous-looking mound, 14 feet in height, but with a slight trace of circular form on one side. The shaft was sunk down the centre to a depth of eight feet, but without any discovery. From the best measurements that I could make, the diameter appeared to be about 40 feet, or one foot more than that of No. 2 Tope. Now, the relics of that Tope were found at a height of more than 15 feet above the ground, and as the remains of this Tope were only 14 feet high, we concluded that the relics had long ago been removed along with the upper half of the Tope. One curious fact which we observed was that the Tope had been built in four distinct quadrants of masonry, meeting at a point, by which means the centre of the structure was accurately preserved.

No. 4 TOPE, D.-BHOJPUR.

9. This Tope stands in an enclosure of 130 feet square, and 750 feet due south from No. 2. The base of the hemisphere is 31 feet 2 inches in diameter. It is raised on a cylindrical plinth 3 feet in height above the terrace, which is itself 3 feet in breadth, and 41 feet in height. The present height of the Tope is 16 feet. A shaft was sunk down the centre, which reached the relic-chamber at a depth of 5 feet. The chamber itself was 2 feet 5 inches deep; the level of the bottom being 4 feet 4 inches above the terrace. In the chamber we found a black earthenware box (see Plate XXVI., fig. 6), containing an earthenware bowl covered by a lid of the same material, on which

is the word ☀Mun, "the holy"—a title generally applied to Buddha himself. Inside the bowl was a small crystal casket, with a perfectly flat lid. This casket is remarkable for the thinness of its sides, which in such a hard material must have been most difficult of execution. This casket contained nothing but a little brownish-red powder, which I believe to be only a portion of the dust which had found its way into all the relic-chambers in the lapse of ages. I presume, therefore, that this Tope had been opened by the villagers.

10. To the east of this Tope, at a distance of 60 feet, there is the circular foundation of another Tope, 18 feet in diameter, with a terrace 3 feet in breadth,

and beyond this, again, there is another of the same

dimensions.

SECOND STAGE OF TOPES.

No. 7 TOPE, a.-BHOJPUR.

11. This Tope is situated on the eastern edge of the second stage, at a distance of 850 feet from the Great Tope, on the uppermost platform. The diameter of the hemisphere is 32 feet 4 inches, and its present height is 11 feet above the cylindrical plinth, which is only 1 foot 8 inches in height. The terrace

is very small for a Tope of this size, its breadth being only 1 foot 8 inches, and its height 1 foot. The whole height of the Tope is therefore little more than 14 feet.

12. A shaft was sunk as usual, down the centre; but at a depth of less than 3 feet the edge of the relic-chamber was discovered on the south side of the excavation. On measurement, the centre of the relicchamber was found to be 3 feet to the south of the centre of the Tope. In cases of this kind, I always suspect that a second chamber has formerly existed, such as we found in Tope No. 17, k, at Bhojpur (See Plate XXX., fig. 5), and that it was destroyed when opened by the villagers. A presumptive proof of this supposition was found in the disposition and contents of the relic-chamber. One of the side stones

* See Plate XXVII., figs. 1 and 2.

was displaced, and its end thrust some three inches. into the chamber. The lid of the red earthenware box was separated from the bottom, and each half contained an earthenware vase, both without lids, and one with a broken neck. The whole chamber was full of leaves and earth, and small stones, amongst which rubbish we found the lids of the two vases. Now, the relic-chamber, which was 9 feet 8 inches above the terrace, was only 15 feet square and 8 inches deep. It could scarcely, therefore, have been in tended to hold both of the vases which were found in it. One of these vases was, no doubt, originally placed in the red earthenware box; and it is possible that the other vase may have been placed in the corner of the chamber; but it seems to me more probable that it should have been placed in another chamber.

13. Both of these earthenware vases are inscribed; and as these are the only inscriptions that were found at Bhojpur their occurrence is remarkable. The red earthenware box is shown in Plate XXVII., fig. 3, on a scale of one-eighth of the original size. The larger vase is given in fig. 4 of the same Plate. It is 41 inches in height and 6 inches in breadth-the width of the neck, which is broken, being 3 inches. The upper surface is ornamented with a succession of dotted figures, and on the body of the bowl is the legend Patito, "the degraded." This simple inscription is a curious and unexpected illustration of the most common punishment for breaches of discipline in the

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