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Zarên, simply because a place of that name appears to be fixed there by Arrian, whose description of it, however, we may remark en passant, certainly cannot be made to apply to that locality at the present day? Arrian's description of the rounding of Kôh Zarên, and of the fleet coming to anchor immediately afterwards, is, however, too vivid and too precise to admit of doubt that Nearchus did touch at Kôh Zarên—a fact, moreover, borne out by Nearchus' measurement of the coast (72 miles) from thence to Barnā= Gwadar; and as Arrian declares that "the name of this place was Mosarna," a very serious difficulty arises as to how the position of Arrian's Mosarna and that of Marcian can be reconciled.

The distance from Bādara = Gwadar to the city of Mosarna, is given, by Marcian, at 18 miles; this distance, measuring round the headland, would place Mosarna at the northern angle of East bay; and, possibly, Mosarna might have stood just round the western extremity of Mehdee hill, where there are some cairns, or what remains of them, still to be seen, and which point to the existence of an ancient town in the vicinity, and are the only ones to be found in the neighbourhood of Gwadar; here the aspect of the country changes from sand to a soil capable of cultivation, and close by are some large mounds consisting of, and large tracts covered with, the shells of a cockle-shaped bivalve, which may possibly be "kitchen-middens"; but there is no harbour here, and of the name Mosarna I can find no trace the nearest approach to it is Môsara, in the West bay of Gwadar, the anchorage in fact for native vessels; but this name is, I am told, simply a local pronunciation of "Musalla," "a praying-place," and properly belongs to a smooth rock, uncovered at low tide, which is convenient for the purpose, and can, therefore, have no relation to Mosarna. I am somewhat doubtful about this derivation. It is possible also the town of Mosarna stood on the plateau of the headland, to reach which it would be necessary, on account of the precipitous character of the cliffs, to sail round into the East bay. A distance of two miles or more intervenes

between the beach and the summit of the headland (which would make up the requisite number of stadia), and on this may be still found traces of a very ancient occupation. A large valley on the summit, and other parts also, used once to be cultivated, and Kempthorne (who also places Mosarna here, but on what grounds does not appear) was much struck with its fertile aspect; but since the bursting of the very remarkable stone "band" (built probably a thousand years ago), which used to retain the water in this valley, at times converting it into a deep lake of more than a square mile in extent, it has been left untilled and uncared for, the present inhabitants being quite incapable of repairing the old, and too lazy to construct a new "band" of earth of sufficient strength to hold in the water, which now, when the heavens are bountiful, runs waste into the sea.

The place Arrian calls Mosarna was, however, undoubtedly at Kôh Zarên, but it is possible that Nearchus, on rounding the cape, in answer to his inquiries as to the name of the locality, was told Mosarna, viz. the designation of the district; in the same way as at the present day a traveller in Balochistan will get the same name given to him for twenty different places in the same district, although they may be many miles apart; each has, of course, a distinctive appellation, which is, however, but rarely given to a first inquiry.

The Mosarna of Arrian, or at least the place he intends, as that touched at by Nearchus, was probably a little harbour at the point of Kôh Zarên, now called Judee; there is no harbour elsewhere until we reach Sur (a very poor one), except Shimalbandin, which, as its name implies (Shimāl= west wind), only affords shelter against a westerly gale.

It is, however, somewhat curious to note, that Arrian's description of Mosarna as "a safe harbour, with plenty of sweet water," applies, at the present day, to no other place on the coast westwards of Pasnee (and to Pasnee itself certainly not), except Gwadar, which does certainly give rise to a suspicion that some mistake as to the relative position of Mosarna may have been made by Arrian (perhaps

from the close proximity of Barna), pointing to the suggestion I have ventured to make as to Mosarna having been on the headland, and Bādara on the plain below; or perhaps it might have been Bādara or Barna on the headland, and Mosarna on the plain, which would satisfy every requirement, and is, I think, the most likely solution of the difficulty of any.

If we place the Mosarna of Marcian at Kôh Zarên, a position for it not warranted by Marcian's own measurements of the coast, but simply for the sake of making it agree with the spot certainly called Mosarna by Arrian, we find that the distance given from it to the promontory of Alambātêr, viz. 77 miles, though a little in excess, must place that promontory at the Gwadar headland, and we immediately perceive that Müller's identifications are worked out from this assumption of the position of Marcian's Mosarna, which was probably also the true reason of Dr. Vincent fixing upon this site for Alambatêr.

For the intermediate stages, viz. the Zorambus river, the port of Kôphas, and Derenobila, there are no possible identifications to be made, either topographical or etymological, on the coast between Kôh Zarên and Gwadar. Moreover, Arrian's Kôphas is 25 miles to the westward of Barna, which has been fixed at Gwadar by his measurements, while the Kophas of Marcian is nearly 32 miles to the eastward of Alambatêr, also fixed at Gwadar according to the present argument, from which it would follow that there were two ports called Kôphas.

To proceed. From Alambatêr=Gwadar headland (?) to Kuidza Marcian gives 25 miles, which places Kuidza either at Manbar (already occupied by Arrian's Kôphas), or, measuring in a direct line, in the bay of Ganz, where it has been placed by Müller, and in the name of which he professes to recognize Kuidza. I confess I do not. But Arrian's Kuidza is no less than 87 miles from the town of Barna= Gwadar, against Marcian's 25 miles, measuring from the same spot; this is hardly a slight discrepancy, and is one which can be but inappreciably reduced by taking into

consideration the direct measurement we have been forced to adopt for Marcian, or that following the coast-line we have allowed for Arrian.

From Kuidza, now supposed to be Ganz, to Bagia promontory, Marcian gives 15+ miles; a distance which brings us to Rôham point or Kippalow Cape; but Arrian's distance from Kuidza to Bagia is 31 miles-a discrepancy still further widening the great gap already existing between his localities and those of Marcian of the same name. From Bagia=Rôhām point (?) to the Kandriakes river, the distance given is 25 miles. The only river possibly answering to this distance is the Baho river, which falls into the sea near Gwatar, an identification adopted by Müller; but the distance given by Marcian from the Kandriakes river to Têsa is 12 miles, while that from the Baho river to Tês Têsa is more than 70 miles-a difficulty, I confess, I see no way out of, and considering that the assumption from which we started, which has led us to this result, has certainly not reconciled the statements of Arrian and Marcian one with the other, it can hardly be considered a satisfactory one, while that I have advocated in the present paper, although it leaves some doubt as to the position of Mosarna, does place Marcian's stages, by measurement, in localities the topography of which answers to the description given by them, and where some approximation to their names even may be sometimes found; while, at the same time, Arrian's stages are found to agree with those of Marcian, of the same name, as nearly as the undeniable error of 31 miles in Arrian's computation of the coast-line from Bārna Gwadar to Tālmena Tālumān or Chahbār, could possibly be expected to allow.

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ART. VIII.-On the Identification of the Portrait of Chosroes II. among the Paintings in the Caves at Ajanta. By JAS. FERGUSSON, Vice-President.

IN the cold weather of the season 1872-3, Mr. Griffiths, decorative artist in the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeeboy School of Art, with several pupils from that school, was deputed by the Government of Bombay to copy the paintings in the caves at Ajanta. One of the principal objects of his mission was to replace as far as possible the frescoes previously copied by Major Gill, which had unfortunately been destroyed by the fire at the Crystal Palace, in 1866. In addition to this, however, he was instructed to copy any others which might seem to him sufficiently interesting to be worthy of pre

servation.

The first fruits of his labour, which were sent home to this country, arrived here in 1874, and were temporarily exhibited in the upper gallery of the Albert Hall, where they seem to have attracted very little attention, though they were certainly extremely interesting, not only from the novelty of their designs, but for the perfection of their execution.

The principal part of this collection consisted of 186 separate pictures, from the ceiling of the Cave No. I. No complete reproduction of the design of this roof was attempted or was, indeed, possible. Nearly one-half of it has peeled off, and what remains is in fragmentary patches with great gaps between, which it is now impossible to supply; but a plan on a small scale was made, showing the place of every fragment copied, and its relative position to the rest of the design. This plan was exhibited with the other pictures. Most of these consisted of floral scrolls of great beauty and

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