about the middle of the year 1887, having bought from Dr. R. N. Oust a lot of books and papers relating to the African languages, I found amongst them a Gebilee and Bornoo manuscript Vocabulary, very carefully written on three double sheets of rough paper: on examining it, the Gebilee proved at once to be a Berber dialect, spoken in the mountainous region lying about 50 miles S. of Tripoli, and extending 150 miles in a direction from W.SW. to E.NE. However, inasmuch as I was then engaged in another part of Africa, I had not at first attached much importance to this document; but, later on, having sent it for inspection to Prof. René Basset, of Algiers, this eminent scholar urged on me the necessity of publishing my manuscript, the peculiar dialect to which it refers having not yet been illustrated; at the same time, he sent me some valuable Notes, which have greatly helped me to extricate myself amongst many inaccuracies.

The main object of this paper is to propose some emendations of the text which have occurred to me in reading through ‘Omārah's History of Yemen and the other anecdoton, Al-Janadī's account of the Carmathians of Yemen, with which Mr. Kay has enriched our collection of Arabian histories. Incidentally I shall take occasion to remark on some passages in the accompanying translation which seem to be open to criticism, and I have also a few observations to make on the Introduction and Notes. As the paper will thus be occupied almost exclusively with matters in which the editor's work appears to me to admit of supplement or call for correction, I may be allowed at the outset to express my hearty recognition of all the loving labour that Mr. Kay has spent on his authors. For each of the texts but one MS. was available, and those who have handled Arabic codices know how difficult it is to produce a satisfactory edition on such a basis.

Since the publication of the third part of my Memoir on the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Van in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (xx. 1.) for 1882, the number of new Vannic inscriptions which have come to my knowledge has been but small. During the winter of 1888–1889 Prof. H. Hyvernat and M. Müller-Simonis travelled in Armenia, and Prof. Hyvernat made every effort to discover fresh cuneiform inscriptions and re-copy those which were previously known. But unfortunately political intrigue and religious antipathies, aided by the severity of the winter, so seriously impeded his efforts as to oblige him to leave the country with few additions to our knowledge of its early epigraphy. That many more inscriptions, however, exist above ground besides those with which we are already acquainted has recently been ascertained by a German engineer, Dr. Belck, who has been settled in Armenia for some time past.

The name of Trita occurs forty times in twenty-nine hymns of the Rigveda; no single hymn, however, is addressed to him, nor is he mentioned among the Vedic deities in the ancient list of Vedic words explained by Yāska, the earliest Vedic commentator.

As will be in our readers' memory, the Society had this year to deplore the loss of Dr. Schrumpf. His sudden and premature decease, cutting short so promising a career, was a serious blow to Oriental studies. His relative, Mons. Schnæbelé, of Nancy, has gracefully and generously determined to present to this Society the Armenian books of our deceased friend as a memorial of the life and labours of an earnest co-worker with us in the field of Oriental research. Professor Minas Tchéraz has very kindly drawn up the following list of the. books in the Schrumpf Collection, which he has also increased by some donations from himself, and the list is published here in order that it may be of service in the furtherance of those studies which Dr. Schrumpf loved so well.

The Nārada Smṛiti is said by Professor Jolly to be important, both as being the only Smṛiti completely preserved in MSS. which treats of law apart from penance and other religious subjects, and as reflecting the social and political state of India at the time of its compilation.

Professor Robertson Smith, in his paper on my version of Όmārah's history, concerns himself with two points. He deals with my treatment of the Arabic text, and he enters into certain observations upon the brief sketch I have supplied of the author's life.

Avant de vous entretenir du pöete populaire arménien Saïat-Nova, fort célèbre en Asie occidentale, mais fort inconnu en Europe, je voudrais vous parler du génie et du rôle des poëtes populaires de l'Arménie moderne.

The Old Russian literature took up the theme of the king, who gets the explanation of some miraculous dreams from a wise man, in two different versions. In the first of these versions, the dreams concern events in the king's life, and this version enters into the complex of Stephanit and Ichnelat, showing itself thus a pretty correct reproduction of the Indian original through the Pehlevi, Arab, and Greek over-workings. In the second version the dreams have an eschatological character, and this version appears as an independent tale, known as ‘Word (=legend) of the dreams of king Mamer,’ ‘Word of the twelve dreams of Shahaïsh,’ etc.: the nearest sources of this legend are yet unknown.

The following notes are perhaps somewhat miscellancous, but they may help to re-direct attention to an interesting subject, recalling the history of European studies of it with some of the results obtained. And since the scheme arranged by Mr. Whitley Stokes for cataloguing the Sanskrit works in Indian libraries, private and other, and for obtaining copies of the rarer ones has yielded such excellent results in all departments, it will perhaps be possible for Orientalists now to publish and translate some of the more important Siddhântas and Karaṇas hitherto inaccessible, and which would be most useful in tracing the origins and history of this Indian science.

As is well known, the description of the Saraswatī river, given in the Veda, differs much from that met with in the Mahābhārata and other ancient but later authorities, while neither agrees with the present condition of that sacred stream.

No one can fully appreciate the great value of this work to all students of ethnology until they realize the historical importance of an accurate classification of the characteristic differences which divide the social strata known as the castes living in a country occupying the geographical position of Bengal. Bengal is practically the country of the Deltas of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, and of the Western rivers, which rise in the Vindhyan range, called by Hindu geographers the Sukti mountains, and flow down thence to the Ganges and the Bay of Bengal. It has always been one of the great highways by which Southern tribes moved northward and Northern tribes southward, and was, owing to its geographical advantages and its fertile soil, civilized and settled before the advent of the Aryan conquerors to North-western India. It is for this reason that we find in Bengal the undisturbed remains and the still living and almost unchanged representatives of some of the principal races who are described by the poets of the Rigveda under the general name of Dasyus, a name which, as Zimmer shows, merely means the people of the country or “desh.” It was from the union of the people of Bengal called the Maghadas or Mughs with the Northern Kushikas or sons of Kush the tortoise that the first great Indian Empire arose, which was formed by the two races ruled by the king called in the Mahābhārata Jarasandha.

The extensive literature of Buddhist legends may be divided into three groups: (1) the legends on the rebirths of the Buddha anterior to his last life in this world, these are the ‘Jātakas’ (proper); (2) legends of the Buddha in his last, historical, existence; (3) legends of the Buddhist disciples, these are the ‘Avadānas,’ which last name, however, is also applied to legends in general.

Chaṭṭhe jhāyīnaṃ yadidaṃ Nandāti jhānābhiratānaṃ Nandā therī aggā ti dasseti.

Sā kira Padumuttarabuddhakāle Haṃsavatiyaṃ kulagehe paṭisandhiṃ. gahetvā aparabhāge Satthu dhammaṃ suṇantī Satthāram ekaṃ bhikkhuniṃ jhānabhiratānaṃ aggaṭṭhāne ṭhapetum disvā adhikārakammaṃ katvā taṃ ṭhānantaraṁ patthesi.

Some years ago the late Dr. Trenckner made a transcript of an important Pāli work, the commentary on the Aṇnguttara Nikāya, called Manoratha Pūraṇī (“Wish-Fulfiller”), written by the great Buddhist commentator, Buddhagosha. When this work is added, by-and-bye, to the list of Pāli Texts already published, its value, as a further contribution to our knowledge of early Buddhism, will hardly need putting forward—the book will speak for itself. Meanwhile, as it has not yet been edited, the following short extract from the Text, accompanied by a translation, may not be without interest.

Since the publication, in January, 1889, of my monograph, on the Gupta Coinage, I have kept by me an interleaved copy of that work, in which I have noted from time to time all miscellaneous information bearing on the subject which, happened to come to my notice, and descriptions of coins submitted for my inspection. I am especially indebted to my friend Mr. J. H. Rivett-Carnac, C.I.E., for placing in my hands the whole of his splendid collection of gold Gupta coins, which includes several novelties, and many fine and rare specimens.

This Jātaka stands No. 541 in the Ceylon list under the title of Mūgapakkha or “The dumb cripple.” The Burmese, however, prefer to call it by the name of the Prince, who is the hero of the story. It is the first of the ten greater Jātaka, and, unlike the Bhūridatta, contains little or no folk-lore, but illustrates the value of asceticism.

In times long past, when Brahraadatta reigned in Benares, a certain hunter, who dwelt in the land of Kási, went one day to the Himavanta forest in search of elephant tusks, yák tails, etc. Now in a certain part of the forest, it happened that there was a tree, in which there was a hollow place like a large pot, which became full of water during the rains, and round about it grew a number of fruit trees, the fruit of which dropped into this water when they were ripe. The birds also dropped grains of rice into it when they were eating in the branches of the tree, and the whole becoming fermented by the summer heat, produced a red liquor which was pleasant to the taste. When the birds drank this liquor they became intoxicated and fell to the ground, but when they had slept off the effects, they flew away singing sweetly. The hunter chancing to pass by this tree, saw the birds and monkeys lying about, and thought they had died of poison, but when he saw them get up, after a little time, and go away he felt reassured, and had the curiosity to drink the water in the hollow of the tree. Finding that it had a pleasant taste, and that it also made him feel very merry, he stayed there for some days, eating the birds which he picked up there, and amusing himself by dancing. Not far from that spot there dwelt a hermit, whose acquaintance he had made, so the hunter determined to go and tell him of his wonderful discovery and get him to try the water too; having filled a bamboo bottle with it, and taking some roast birds, he proceeded to the hermit's cell, and presented them to his friend.

Notwithstanding that the position of Burmese philologically has been fixed with some precision, that it possesses a literature, and that several Anglo-Vernacular works on it are in existence, the references to it in scientific and other works are generally marred by errors and misconceptions of detail. The absence of any grammar (in the proper sense of the word) of this language, has probably much to do with these mistakes. Dr. Judson's book is a mere skeleton grammar devoid of examples or exercises to show the manner in which the various rules are worked in practice, whilst it is deficient in syntax, and in information about poetical Burmese. As yet the annexation of Upper Burma, although it has given a great impulse to almost everything connected with the province, has failed to produce anything noteworthy in the way of helps to the study of Burmese, if we except a few crude elementary works which are no improvement on those already in existence.

It is well known that, as Mr. Wylie has said, “Works of Fiction par excellence are not admitted to form a part of the Chinese National Literature.” We look in vain for such books in the Catalogue of the Imperial Library. In the Supplements to the Ch'un Ch'iû of Confucius, especially in that of Tso Ch'iû-ming, we find many narratives full of stirring adventure, which have secured for him the title of “The Froissart of China.” But his Work belongs to the department of history, and the finest passages in it owe their interest to the ability of the author, whom the late Stanislas Julien used to denominate, in his letters to me, “Un grand écrivain.” In the works of Lieh-tsze, who could hardly be later than Tso Ch'iû-ming, and of Chwang-tsze, we have a good deal of Tâoist mythology and speculation; and, later on, Han Fei, Hwai-nan Tsze, Han Ying, Liû Hsiang, and others supply us with a multitude of incidents and anecdotes, with now and then an apologue, employed to point the moral of some classical passage or important statement of the authoritative writings of the Schools to which they severally belonged.