the King of Hia, offered him an asylum. This he accepted, against the advice of his general Siao te lie, and having crossed the Hoang ho, encamped at Kin su, whence he sent letters patent to Likien shun, by which he raised him to the rank of Emperor. Siao te lie, who was disgusted with the Emperor's conduct, in conjunction with Yelu yuenchi, carried off Yelu yali, his second son, towards the north-west, and made him Emperor of the Liau. Meanwhile Chang kio, a former official of the Khitans, who had passed over to the Kin, and had been appointed governor of Ping chau, having heard that Tso kikong, who, like himself, had been in the service of the Khitans, was traversing his government on his way to Tatary, and taking off with him a number of the inhabitants of the district of Yen, was exasperated, had his officers seized, and sent the captives back to their homes. He thereupon revolted and had himself proclaimed Emperor. He applied to the Sung authorities for assistance. One of the Sung ministers named Wang fu advised his master to assist him, saying it was a good opportunity to recover Ping chau. Another minister named Chao leang si was of a different opinion, and warned them not to break with the Kin. He was not listened to, however, but was degraded, and the frontier commander, Wang ngan chong, was ordered to support Chang kio, and to announce to the inhabitants of that district a remission of three years' tribute (De Mailla, vol. viii. pp. 410 and 411). Thus treacherously did the Chinese authorities deal with their new allies, and bring upon themselves speedy vengeance.

Meanwhile Aguta was making a progress through Tatary. From the mountain Huye lin he passed to the lake of Loli, where the captives Yelu sinilie, Yelutashi, Ma yu nu, etc., together with the Imperial seal, were presented to him. About the same time Hoei li pao, who had usurped the title of Emperor among the Hii, was killed by his own people. But Aguta was reaching the term of his days. He was encamped near the lake of Yuen ghan. There he was taken ill, about the same time when his brother Tu mu defeated the rebel Chang kio in Liau tung. He determined to return to Shang king,

the supreme capital of the Khitans. He nominated Niyamoho as commander-in-chief of the army, and under him appointed Pu kia nu and Walu as sub-commanders, and planted them in the country of Yun chong, to guard the frontier. In the 7th month of 1123 he was encamped at the mountain Nieou shan. A few days after there was a solar eclipse, an event associated with disaster in Chinese astrology. Aguta moved on to the river Hoen, where he was met by his brother Ukimai, the various princes of his family, and his officers, and at length died at the lake Pu tu, in a palace which he had there. He was fifty-five years of age. He was buried in a palace called Ning shin tien, i.e. the Hall which appeases the manes, at the capital city of Hai ku ching, and was succeeded by his brother Ukimai. Like other founders of dynasties, he received the posthumous title of Tai tsu, i.e. very great ancestor, a miao or temple in his honour was built at Ta tung fu, in Shan si, and a memorial tablet was also erected to him near the modern Pe king (Visdelou, op. cit. pp. 250, 251).

It is not my present purpose to trace out any further the history of the Kin dynasty in detail, and a few words will suffice to complete our story. The successor of Aguta, named Ukimai, followed up his victories, subdued the empire of Hia, and captured the Khitan Emperor Yeliu yenhi, who had fled in that direction, and thus finally closed the history of the Khitan dynasty. He also declared war against the Sung dynasty. His troops crossed the Yellow River, captured the Sung capital, Kai fong fu, and also their Emperor, Ken chin (Visdelou, p. 255). The latter remained a captive for a long time, while a desultory war was continued against his subjects, which was at length terminated by a peace, by which the Chinese or Sung Emperor became the tributary of the Kin Tatars, and agreed to pay them 250,000 Chinese ounces of pure silver, and as many pieces of silk annually, while the river Hoai was appointed as the boundary between the two nations. By this treaty the Kin Emperor secured a much larger part of China than was governed by the Khitans. His authority, in fact, extended over the provinces of Peh

chehli, Shansi, Shantung, Honan, and the Northern part of Shen si. The Kin capital was fixed at Yenking, the modern Peking, which was given the title of Chung tu or Imperial City of the Centre; while the Sung capital was fixed at Lin ngan aho, called Hang chau in Che kiang. Within the Kin territory there were five cities, distinguished as Imperial residences. 1. Liau yang chau in Liau tung, called the Eastern Court, or Tung king. 2. Ta tung fu in Shan si, the Si king or Western Court. 3. Chung tu, or Chung king, the Central Court. 4. Pien liang, or Kai fong fu, on the southern bank of the Yellow River in Honan, the Southern Court, or Nan king; and lastly, Ta ning fu, on the river Loha, which was then known as the Northern Court or Peking.

But while the Kin emperors ruled over a much wider area in China, their dominion in the northern and western steppes was much more limited. The Mongols were apparently beyond their control, and it was probably with the overthrow of the Khitan Empire that they first began to form a distinct power; while the dynasty of Kara Khitai, which dominated over the wide region in the neighbourhood of Lake Balkhash, and the Naimans and other tribes of Sungaria were independent of them.

The Kin Empire was of very short duration, and was finally overthrown by the Mongols in the year 1234. In the next paper of this series I hope to deal with the difficult questions surrounding the origines and early history of the Khitans.

ART. XI.-On a Treatise on Weights and Measures, by Eliya, Archbishop of Nişibin. By M. H. SAUVAIRE.

THE following letter, addressed to me by M. Henry Sauvaire, late of the French Consulate at Alexandria, at present Secrétaire-Interprète, Chargé du Vice-Consulat de France à Casablanca, Rabat et Mazagan (Maroc), appeared to me to be of so interesting and curious a nature that I requested the writer to permit me to offer it, together with the accompanying translation, for publication to the Royal Asiatic Society. The subject is at present very obscure, and the light thrown upon it by M. Sauvaire's researches, soon I hope to be more fully set forth in the work he is now preparing for the press, will be cordially welcomed by Orientalists. STANLEY LANE POOLE.

46, Rue Montgrand, MARSEILLE, le 13 Decbre. 1876.

CHER MONSIEUR, J'ai eu l'honneur de vous entretenir

مقالة فى (الاوزان dernièrement du traité sur les poids et mesures

Kl), composé par le saint père Eliyâ, archevêque (b.) de Nésibin et de ses dépendances. Cet opuscule fait partie d'un petit volume qui contient différentes œuvres du même auteur, ou dissertations théologiques et même grammaticales. Dans une lettre qui figure au fo. 92v. et adressée au frère glorieux, grand et assisté de Dieu, Abou'l 'Alâ Sâ'ed ebn Sahl, notre Métropolitain s'intitule le pécheur Eliya, serviteur de l'église de notre Seigneur le Messie à Nesibin. Il avait des rapports très-suivis avec Abou'l Qâsem ebn el-Maghréby; le vizir du Sultan Bouweihide Moucharref-ed-daulah se plaisait à l'interroger sur une foule de matières, qui devenaient pour le savant prélat le sujet de véritables dissertations. Nous lisons au fo. 162r., que le vizir, "après avoir passé dix jours VOL. IX.-[NEW SERIES.]

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à Nésibe et être retourné à Myâfâréqîn, mourut bientôt dans cette dernière ville le dimanche onzième jour du mois de ramadân de l'année 448. C'est cette même date qu' Ebn el Atîr nous donne comme étant celle de la mort d'Abou'l Qâsem el Hosayn ebn 'Aly ebn el Hosayn el Maghréby, qui était né à Mesr l'a. 370.

Assemani nous apprend qu'Elias Bar-Sinæus, archevêque de Nésibe, mourut le 7 mai 1049 de J.C. Ce savant qui énumère toutes les œuvres d'Elias ne fait aucune mention de son traité sur les poids et mesures. Cette intéressante dissertation, perdue au milieu des écrits divers que je vous ai signalés en commençant cette lettre, a été découverte par M. le baron de Slane, qui, comme vous le savez, s'occupe de la préparation définitive du Catalogue de notre Bibliothèque nationale, dont nous attendons la publication avec tant d'impatience; ce savant a eu l'extrême bonté de me la signaler. J'espérais que votre riche collection de manuscrits arabes du British Museum aurait pu me fournir un exemplaire complet de ce traité. Ainsi que vous avez eu l'amabilité de me le faire savoir, mon espérance a été déçue. Il ne figure pas non plus, si j'ai bien cherché, sur le Catalogue des manuscrits orientaux de la Bibliothèque de Vienne. Je n'ai point Casiri à ma disposition en ce moment, et ne puis savoir si la Bibliothèque de l'Escurial a été plus favorisée que les autres. J'ai bon espoir cependant que l'œuvre du Métropolitain de Nésibe devra se trouver à la Bibliothèque du Vatican. Il serait d'autant plus à désirer de rencontrer un second exemplaire de cet interéssant opuscule, que la copie de Paris est trèsincomplète sur seize chapitres dont le traité se compose, il nous manque: la fin du Chapitre IV., les Chapitres V. à X., le commencement du Chapitre XI.; la fin du Chapitre XII. et le commencement du Chapitre XIII. Nous sommes donc privés d'une partie assez considérable de l'ouvrage. Heureusement quelques chapitres nous sont parvenus entiers. Je joins ici la traduction du XVIe. et dernier qui aura peut-être quelque intérêt pour vous, parce qu'il se rapporte plus par

1 [In two subsequent letters, of Jan. 9th and Feb. 16th, 1877, M. Sauvaire sent me his translation of the remaining chapters and fragments of chapters.-S.L.P.]