grounds. I had, it is true, obtained copies of a few im- portant Armenian inscriptions from some of the places where Armenians had lived and died, and had been over the Armenian burying-grounds at Calcutta and Chinsurah; but I had a longing to see with my own eyes the tombs of the departed at Agra, Gwalior, Surat, Bombay, Masulipatam, Madras, Dacca, Syedabad, Patna, and other centres of Armenian commerce. Some of these places I have since visited, and have had the pleasure of studying, in situ, these valuable landmarks of Armenians.
My object in collecting antiquarian information regarding the Armenians was to place on record, at some future period, the result of my researches, as a small contribution to Armenian history. My idea originally was to publish my notes in the Armenian language, but I was induced to produce them in English under the following auspicious circumstances.
Early in 1894 the local Government had, at the instance of the Government of India, compiled a list of the old Christian tombs and monuments in Bengal possessing historical or archaeological interest ; and a few months later I was asked by the Bengal Government to translate into English a number of classical Armenian inscriptions on the tombstones in the Armenian churchyards at Calcutta, Chinsurah (a suburb of Hooghly), and Syedabad (a suburb of Murshidabad), for incorporation in that list. While engaged in that interesting work, which
