OF THE INDO-CHINESE NATIONS. 287 



of dialects; but the paucity of my original materials, 

 in Bali^ and the total want of AIss. in Zend, have 

 hitherto prevented me from giving the subject so full 

 2iii investigation as its importance requires ; but if 

 the necessary materials can be procured, I hope to 

 be soon able to submit to the Asiatic Society the re- 

 sult of my enquiries. Of the Bali language, diffe- 

 rent Koshas and Vyakaranas are known to exist ; and 

 several of them are to be procured in Ceylon, as the 

 Bali Suhdamala, Balavatara, Nigandu and Nigandu 

 Sana. Of the Zeyid^ various alphabets and vocabu- 

 laries, as well as original compositions, are extant ; 

 but no set of grammatical forms, vrith which we are 

 acquainted. The learned Tychsen, in his disserta- 

 tion " De Cuneatis Inscriptioiiihus Persepolitams,'* 

 1798, reconnnends, earnestly, to the Asiatic Society, 

 to for.ii grammars and lexicons of the Zend and Pah- 

 lavi; and this must undoubtedly be performicd if 

 ever the subject be accurately investigated ; for as 

 yet we are imperfectly acquainted even with the true 

 arrangement of the Zend alphabet, though it is pro- 

 bably the origin of the ancient Kicfic character, if 

 not the actual Hlmyaric character itself. I have at 

 present little doubt that the characterof the ancient 

 Zend, or as it is termed, according to Anquetil du 

 Perron's orthography, Azieante, is derived from the 

 Deva-nagari ; for that author himself admits that the 

 vowels coincide with the Guzeraffi, and hints that in 

 some alphabets the consonants also have a similar 

 arrangement. Numerous circumstances likewise lead 

 us to conjecture, that if ever the Persepolitan inscrip- 

 tions in the Arrow character are decyphered, it will 

 be on the principles of this alphabet. NiEBHURhas 

 stated, from actual observation, that the characters 

 of these inscriptions are certainl}^ written from left to 

 right, like the Deva-nagari, and the alphabets de- 

 rived from it. If this authority can be depended on, 

 it completely sets aside every attempt to explain 



