OF THE INDO-CHINESE NATIONS. ^17 



clistingiiish in writing, between Pahali Siud Bahali. 

 This conjecture would be confirmed by the identity 

 of the terms Bali and Bddlika b'hasha, were it to be 

 established; for no donbt can be entertained that 

 in Sanscrit gerJgraphy, the epithet Bdhlika is applied 

 to a northt'rn Indo-Persic region, probably corre- 

 sponding to Balkh Bamiijan. Among the Indo-Chi- 

 nese nations, the Bali is frequently denominated 

 J^ar^^M-hasa^ or the language of Lanka, and Magata^ 

 ov,'as it is often pronounced Miingata, a term which 

 \seems to correspond with the Sanscrit Magad'hi, 

 which, in many of the Vyakaranas^ is enumerated as 

 , ^fle of the dialects proper to be used by certain cha- 

 racters introduced in Natakas, or ^iWw dramas. Ac- 

 cording to KoiMPFER, the Bali in the Khom language, 

 and by the inhabitants o^ Pegu, was termed " Mac- 

 cat a-pasa,'' or Magadlii bliasha, as we may safely 

 .venture to render it. P. Paulinus however applies 

 this term inaccurately to the square Bali character, 

 instead of the language (Mus. Borg. p. 1). 



This language, notwithstanding its extensive use 

 among so many nations, and the degree of cultivation 

 which it has received from the ditferent tribes by 

 whom it is employed, has hitherto attracted little at- 

 tention among Europeans. The indefatigable Kcemp- 

 FER, in his Amoenitates Xro^ic^j^has very imperfectly 

 exhibited iheBali alphabet. La Loubere had previ- 

 ously pubhshed it more correctly, according to the form 

 employed among the Siamese; his Bali alphabet is re- 

 peated in the French Encyclopcedia, and CAuf anius, 

 in his ^^ AlphabetumBarmanum,'''\\di^ exhibited the sim- 

 ple letters, according to the square form, employed by 

 t\\Q Bdrmas. La Loubere, in his ^'' Historical Rela- 

 tion of Sian^'' has published ^'^ The Life of Th eve- 

 tat," said to be translated from the Bali, with a 

 fragment tj^rmed *' An Eiplanation of the Patimoua, 



