Thanks gents that is a great help.
Having looked again at the blade with this idea in mind I do believe that you are have it bang on. As I understand it the 1796 saw a lot of use on the Indian continent so perhaps this is a captured blade quickly modified for local use. In any case I'm happy that the mystery is solved since Iwould not have figured this out myself for a long time, if ever.
I'll put up mystery no 2 later and see if it meets with similar success.
Thanks again
