•132 "- ON ANCIENT MONUMENTS 



* Besides the common character and language, ano- 

 ther appears to have been used, denominated at pre- 

 sent the Halla or ancient Cdnara, in which this inscrip- 

 tion is written : it has gone so much into disuse, that 

 it was with some difficulty I could get people to read 

 it. An alphabet will be yet communicated; as several 

 books and ancient inscriptions are written in this cha- 

 racter : and the rem-ainng literature of the Jains in, 

 Bdlughdl\ appearing to be preserved in it, affords ad- 

 ditional motives for pointing it out to the attention of 

 the learned, as probably affording means of extending 

 the field of knowledge of Hindu literature. 



* Some of the inscriptions, at Cdnara and Sahet, ap- 

 pear to be written in this character; and many monu- 

 ments of the kind, dispersed over the upper Carnatic, 

 hold out the prospect of further information. 



VAmong several manuscripts in Cdnara, five, re- 

 lating to the Jain religion and customs, are in my pos- 

 session. 



" The name of Cavelly Boria, a Brahmen^ who 

 was highly instrumental in forwarding and facilitating 

 the investigations carried on in Myso^re and the Nizam's 

 dominions, is inscribed on the edge of this stone, as a 

 small tribute to the zeal and fidelity of a native who 

 evinced a genius superior to the common prejudices of 

 the natives. He first suggested the idea of removing 

 the stone to some place where it could be useful to Eu- 

 ropean literature ; and, by his conciliatory manner, ob- 

 tained the concurrence and assistance of the natives for 

 that purpose.' 



The stone, sent by Major Mackenzie, with the 

 foregoing account of the discovery of it, is nearly five 

 feet high, and three wide, and about ten inches thick. 

 The front is covered with writing in large characters, 

 above which is a representation of the Linga in the form 



