ing to night in pouring the water from earthen jars which they carry over the flower beds, the precious water that has been drawn by men with much toil from wells that are as vast as huge abysses.

Seen from a distance, the coating of whitewash conveys a false impression of preservation to these domes, but all traces of painting and ornamentation have vanished from the interiors of these vast mausoleums, and the luxury of former days has been swallowed up in grayish mould.

However there are garlands of flowers on each of the little marble tombs standing under the hollow cupolas-reverential and charming reminders of a dynasty which passed away three hundred years ago.

The strange and homelike charm of these gardens, standing in parched wildernesses which are only kept green by constant waterings, is that tall and delicate cypress trees are found side by side with palms, and that humming-birds fly boldly over vases of roses just as our butterflies do at home.

GREAT CHAITYA, OR TÔPE OF SANCHI

LOUIS ROUSSELET

ANCHI was the seat of one of the principal Buddhist

SAN

establishments in India from the time of Sakya. The first Pali annals give it the name of Chaïtyaghiri, or Mountain of the Chaityas, whence we may infer that it already possessed, before the coming of Buddha, some popular tôpe which had procured for it this appellation. About the year 400 B. C., the community of Sanchi had become sufficiently powerful to give rise to the seventh Buddhist schism, known under the name of the schism of Chetiya. In the Fifth Century of our era the Chinese Fa-Hian visited Sanchi and mentions it briefly. At this period the country was in the possession of King Vaishnava of Sanakanika, whose capital rose at the very foot of the sacred hill. A century later, the Jaïns drove the Buddhists from Sanchi, and occupied the monastery-a fact which explains why the Chinese Hiouen-Thsang, who travelled over all this part of India, makes no mention of so famous a spot. It is not known at what period the hill was completely abandoned; but this desertion must in any case date back many centuries, for the present inhabitants have not preserved any tradition connected with the existence of the monastery itself; but it is probable that, in the midst of the crises of the Tenth

Century, the valley was invaded by the Bheels of Malwa and returned to its state of barbarism. Yet, after all, it is impossible to account for the miraculous chance which caused the monuments of Sanchi to escape the fury of the victorious Brahmins and the vandalism of the Mussulmans. In 1822, some Englishman travelling over the country discovered them, and shamefully pillaged them on the plea of archæology.

Immediately upon my arrival, I lost no time in climbing the little goat path leading to the village on the summit of the hill; and crossing a denuded plateau at the corner of which stands a small temple, I reached the foot of a staircase guarded by two colossal statues; and there I found myself in the presence of the Great Tôpe.

How can I describe the impression produced by this stately mass, rising proudly in the midst of temples and colonnades, with its gigantic enclosure and sculptured portals? All is grand here, all mysterious; the eye recognizes no outline with which it is familiar, and the mind becomes confused in view of these mighty memorials of time which hardly reveal themselves to us from behind their veils of legends.

The Great Tôpe is a hemispheric dome, about ninety feet in diameter, placed on a cylindrical basement fifteen feet in height, with a projection of nearly four feet round the base. This projection, which forms a circular terrace reached by a flight of steps with double balusters, was used for the perambulations of the faithful who came to strew flowers or lay offerings on the tôpe. The mass of the tôpe

is composed of large-sized bricks arranged in regular layers; and the exterior casing is of slabs of white sandstone, two feet in thickness.

The sorry archeologists of 1822 effected on the southern side a deep breach, which gives a perfect insight into its construction; and by means of this breach it is easy to reach the summit of the dome, which is level like a terrace. It was formerly surmounted by a beautiful altar, which was also destroyed by those mischievous antiquarians. Among the fragments which lie on the summit are to be found portions of the two superposed parasols which surmounted the altar. These parasols were stone discs, six feet in diameter, and the altar itself was surrounded by a massive Buddhist balustrade.

The different excavations made in the interior of the tôpe have not brought to light any relic, whence we must conclude that it was a Chaitya dedicated to the Adi-Buddha, or Creative Spirit. From the form of the tôpe and its interior appearance, the Chaitya must date from the Sixth Century B. C., perhaps even before the time of Sakya. As for the outer casing of stone, it dates only from the reign of Asoka (260-222 B. C.); at which period also we must fix the erection of the cyclopean colonnade which encircles the Chaitya, imparting to it one of its grandest characteristics. This colonnade, which forms a slightly elliptical inclosure, leaving a cloister nine feet in width round the basement of the tôpe, belongs to a peculiar style, characteristic of the primitive architecture of India, to which Cunning

ham has given the name of "Buddhist railing." They are monoliths with cut sides, nine feet in height, and six and a half inches in thickness. They are connected together by three bars placed one above the other, and support a heading composed of massive architraves, rounded at the summit. All these pieces are simply fitted one in the other like parts of a framework; and it is evident that the whole is merely a copy of an open-worked fencing.

This colonnade, erected during the reign of Asoka, affords us a striking instance of the great movement instigated by that prince in favour of Buddhism. Public subscriptions were opened in the principal cities to collect the necessary funds for the decoration of the Chaitya of Sanchi; and wealthy private individuals, municipalities and communities hastened to contribute thereto. As an acknowledgment of these gifts and to perpetuate their remembrance, the monks inscribed the names of the contributors on the stones of the colonnade itself; and it was the number of these inscriptions, in which we always find repeated the word Danam (signifying "gift of ") which enabled James Prinsep to reconstruct the ancient Pali alphabet, the tradition of which had been entirely lost. Among the embellishments dating from the same period I must mention the four statues of Buddha placed in the interior of the enclosure so as to face the four entrances, which are situated according to the cardinal points; and also the two magnificent lâts which stand to the north and south of the tôpe.