and the ashes be cast into the sea or buried in the earth. Thus, said he, every one will come to Valhalla with the riches he had with him upon the pile; and he would also enjoy whatever he himself had buried in the earth. For men of consequence a mound should be raised to their memory, and for all other warriors who had been distinguished for manhood, a standing stone; which custom remained long after Odin's time.'*

"Thus we have not only express statement that remains of the brave should be disposed in haugs, but history informs us that such was most frequently the case. Again, as the topes were the objects of veneration and adoration, so were the haugs in Scandinavia. There may be found traces of this respect even in later days in Norway, for there was a custom for a long time not to allow any body to fell trees or disturb the herbage in the neighbourhood of these edifices.

"The author of the work entitled the Lalita Vistara,† biographer of Gautama Buddha, says, that on his death, men of eight different countries disputed for his corpse, and the quarrel was not appeased until the body was divided among the combatants, of whom each raised a stupa on the portion he had got.

"Snorro relates an analogous occurrence in the History of Halfdan Swarte (or the black) king of a part of Norway. Here are his words:

"The people thought so much of him, that when his death was known, and his body was floated to Ringerige to bury it there, the people of most consequence from Raumarige, Westfold, and Hedemark, came to meet it. All desired to take the body with them to bury it in their own district, and they thought that those who got it would have good crops to expect. At last it was agreed to divide the body into four parts. The head was laid in a mound at Stein in Ringerige, and each of the others took his part home and laid it in a mound; and these have since been called Halfdan's mounds.'"‡ The Saga tradition, it will be perceived runs on all fours with the

Apud Laing, vol. I. p. 223.

+ The Lalita Vistara does not advert to this circumstance. M. Csoma de Körös noticed it in the Dulva. See his Essay on the Life of Sákya Siñha; Asiatic Researches, vol. XX. p. 315 et seq.

Apud Laing, vol. I. p. 269.

description of the disposal of the remains of Buddha, as given in the Tibetan books, and although relating to circumstances which occurred at a very distant place, still affords an instance of a coincidence which cannot be altogether valueless in examining the relation of the two systems of religion.

"In the manner of treating the remains of the dead, the analogy is borne not only in burying the body and erecting topes thereon, but we find that in Scandinavia, the ashes of men of little importance were deposited in urns and buried under earth or thrown into the water, just as the Buddhists of Ceylon put the ashes of their dead into urns and deposite them under the earth, or as the Buddhists of Nepal, who throw the ashes of their dead into water" (p. 8.)

The second section of the work is devoted to shew the identity of the form of the haugs of Norway with the topes of India; and then follow in the next section a few hypotheses as to the symbolism of the tope; the most probable of which appear to be that they represent a bubble floating on the sea as emblematic of the vanity of the human body.

In the fourth section the author conveys an idea of the immense masses of materials that are brought together to give to these monuments an imposing appearance, by describing the size of some of the largest topes and haugs.

He says, "the Valdershaug at Valderöe, an island near the coast of Söndmör, a district in the diocese of Bergen, is nearly four hundred feet in circumference, and from 14 to 16 feet in perpendicular height. It appears to have been twice as high before.

"The Aushaug in the parish of Ulfsteen, diocese of Bergen, has a circumference of 450 feet, and a height of 32 feet. A haug at Vigeröe in the same diocese, has a circumference of 330 feet and a height of 24 feet. In the parish of Urland of the same diocese, there are several haugs, some of which are more than 400 feet in circumference. In the parish of Glopen of the same diocese, there is a haug having a circumference of more than 530 feet and a perpendicular height of 24 feet. In the parish of Yttre Holmedal of the same diocese, there are two haugs, one of which is 340 feet in circumference and 32 feet in height, and the other 400 feet in circumference and 16 to 18 feet in height.

"It should be remarked that the dimensions above given, have not been measured by instruments, but that the circumference was ascertained by a man walking round the ruins, and the height by a comparison with the height of man.

"We shall now measure a few of the most considerable topes iu Asia. The Manikyala tope, between Attock and Lahore, is 310 to 320 feet in circumference, and, even to our days, has a height of 80 feet; it was considerably higher before.

“The Amarávatí tope, near the river Krishná, in the Guntoor Sircar, has a circumference of 500 feet, and a height, at present, of 16 feet only.

: "The Bhilsa tope, in the neighbourhood of Sanchi, S. W. of Bundlekund, is 554 feet in circumference, and 120 feet in height. It was higher before.

"The Abhayagiri Dagoba, in Ceylon, at present has a height of 220 feet; but tradition says that at one time it had a height of 408 feet.

"The Jaitavana Dagoba, also in Ceylon, had, it is said, a height of 360 feet, and still contains a number of bricks which would, according to the calculation of Major Forbes, suffice for a wall six feet high, two feet broad, and 97 English miles in length (nearly 30 leagues French.)

"The topes of Afghanistan are rarely more than 150 feet in circumference, and their height is ordinarily 30 to 40 feet.

"The Mahústupa, also called Sonnávali, which Rájá Duchtagamani had erected near the ancient capital of Ceylon, is placed on a square terrace 180 feet on each side, and paved all over with flags of granite. The stupa itself is 120 feet in diameter and 189 feet in height."

Compared with Indian topes the haugs noticed by M. Holmboe appear to be wanting much in height. But they are not always quite so low. Professor Verelius, in his notes on the Harvrar Saga, adverts to 669 tumuli, of which three, near Gamle Upsala, are said to be three hundred and fifty paces in circumference, and the ascent to them on any side takes about seventy-five steps, which would. give them a perpendicular height of more than ninety feet.

With reference to the construction of these monuments, M. Holmboe observes that while the Iudian edifices are all built with

cement, those of Norway and Finmark shew no signs of any cement having been used in their construction.

In the interior of the tope as well as of the haug there is a quadrangular chamber formed of flags of stone, and placed generally on a level with the ground surrounding the monument, sometimes on a level with the upper surface of the basement, and sometimes higher up, but never below the level of the surrounding land.

As appendages to the topes and the haugs may be enumerated flags on the summit, pilasters on the sides, pillars around, pavements and ditches surrounding the tumuli, tanks and tombs in their vicinity, and cells of the officiating priests.

Flags were common to the monuments both of India and Norway; but of the other accessories, Norwegian monuments seem to have had less than those of India. Tanks and wells are invariably found in the neighbourhood of topes, because supplies of water were absolute necessities for ceremonial purposes among the Indian Buddhists; but in a country like Norway, where ablutions could not be generally enforced, they must necessarily be few. They are, however, not altogether wanting. At Vigeröe, near the coast of Söndmör in the diocese of Bergen, there is a large haug, having in its neighbourhood a rectangular excavation, 54 feet long, 40 feet broad, and 6 feet deep, the sides being regular and sloping. It is singular in appearance and attracts the attention of all who visit the locality. To account for its origin, it has been said that it was excavated to afford the necessary material for the erection of the haug; while others suppose it to be the foundation of a house; but both these hypotheses seem to be inconsistent with its regular shape and sloping sides, and we must therefore take it to be the remains of a tank. Similar excavations exist in the neighbourhood of haugs in the districts of Indre-Holmedal, Yttre-Holmedal, Sielöe and Tysnaes.* M. Strömt supposes that there existed at one time a subterranean

"It is curious, that in the United States of America may be found artificial mounds, consisting of many layers of different materials and formed in the shape of cupolas, often having a tank in its vicinity (Transact. American Ethnological Society, Vol. III. p. 157). These mounds suggest the idea of a population proceeding from the Norwegians, who discovered America in the year 1000 of our era." Holmboe, p. 23. + Söndmörs Beskrivelse II. p. 41.

passage from the excavation at Gamle Upsala to the haug in its neighbourhood: traces of such passages have been found under mounds and barrows in the north of Euglaud; and Indian antiquarians have suspected their existence under the topes of Ceylon and Central India. Mr. Masson notices them in the neighbourhood of Afghan topes.

Pilasters are not necessary adjuncts to topes: they occur on the cylindrical shafts of the topes of the second class, such as those of Afghanistau,and may be compared with a peculiar construction on the Kongshaug at Augvaldsnes in the island of Karmöe. M. Holmboe describes it thus: "The sides of the haug are ornamented with a series of small cells or chambers open in the front, of which the intermediate spaces, at some distance, present the appearance of pilasters."*

Collonaded verandas round the central hemisphere are unknown in Norway. In India, they are noticable only in the most finished topes, such as those of Anurádhápur of Ceylon, and of Bhilsa and Afghanistan. Ranges of pillars of brick or stone, and wooden palisades are not uncommon around topes. They enclosed spaces which used, most probably, to be occupied by the congregation on days of public worship. In some topes two and even three ranges of palisades have been found.† They do not seem to have been very frequent around haugs, but around the boutrohaugt (mound of the bou tree) there may be seen a range of stone shafts set up vertically which bear the closest analogy to the palisades in question. Around the great temple of Gamle Upsala, a wooden palisade is supposed to have existed, and we read in Scaldic poetry of a golden ring, or chain, or serpent, surrounding the temple of Odin which, it would be no great stretch of imagination, to reckon as the counter* Holmboe, p. 18.

A fence similar to this has been noticed by Dr. Wise around a Hindu temple at Calna, belonging to the Rájá of Burdwan. In a neighbouring temple I was struck by the appearance of a stone figure which was represented to me as that of Vishnu, but which bore the closest similitude to the Buddhist figures excavated by the late Major M. Kittoe from the ruins of Buddha Gaya.

Urda 11, p. 325. I have no means of ascertaining the Norwegian meaning of the word bou, but its use in connexion with a haug suggests the idea of its similitude with the Buddhist "bo" being more than accidental.