488 PAINTING OF BUDDHIST LEGEND CH. XLIV
carefully painted saddle-cloth and the carpet-like covering spread over it which showed clearly the pattern and colours of the diaper. On the quarter, above the right hind leg, was a small but neatly written inscription of two lines in Kharoshthi, to which I shall have occasion to refer presently.
The elephant was being led by a personage who, judging from the characteristic dress, exactly as in the dado, and the rich jewelry shown on neck, ears, arm, and wrist, was manifestly meant to represent an Indian prince. The left hand supported the elephant's trunk, while the right carried a peculiarly shaped jug. Very narrow at the base and with a straight snout, it closely resembled the vessel which is known to the Hindus of Northern India as ` Gangasagar,' and is in traditional use for sacrificial offerings of water. Moving forward in a row to meet this procession there appeared next four plainly dressed figures, which by their bushy hair and beards and the long staffs they carried could readily be recognized as typical representations of Indian anchorites (Fig. 148). The one on the extreme right of the group was an old man with white beard and simple white Puggree, the second and fourth middle - aged, and the third a beardless youth. Their dress varied only in colour ; a Dhoti-like garment was wrapped round loins and legs, the ` Sanghati ' thrown across the left shoulder, leaving the breast bare. Behind the group to right and left were painted two blossoming trees with branches and leaves, drawn with such freedom as to suggest copies from nature. Beyond this the wall surface was badly injured or completely lost. But part of another chariot, apparently driven by a male figure, could just be distinguished.
What was the meaning of the animated procession
which unrolled itself before me on this fascinating frieze with its background so strangely reminiscent of Pompeii ? The scene was clearly taken from some sacred Buddhist story, so much I felt sure of on the spot. But my knowledge of Buddhist hagiology failed me for the identification of it ; nor could I have found time for a systematic search even if the needful books had been at my
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