1917. 1 Bardic and Histl. Survey of Rajvutana. I!)7 



manifested a desire to obtain my services for a period of three 

 months, and showed themselves willing to bear the whole 

 expenditure of my employment. These symptoms are signifi- 

 cant and indicate that interest is awakening, and leave no 

 doubt that when their turn will come, all the States concerned 

 will be equally ready to give all the assistance which is expected 

 from them. 



The Work Done. 



As it had not seemed desirable to initiate the operations of 

 the Survey on their proper scale, previous to the conclusion of 

 some definite arrangements between the Government of India 

 and the Bikaner Darbar. such as would give assurance that 

 the work could be continued and carried to completion, no 

 assistants or other clerks were sanctioned during the first 

 six months of the year, and all the work during this period 

 was carried out by' myself alone within the four walls of my 

 office. The first appointment made was that of an assistant, 

 and the man chosen was Baratha Kisora Dana, whose services 

 were lent to us, by the kind permission of the Jodhpur Darbar, 

 on July 2 1st. The second appointment was that of a copyist, 

 made on August 23rd, and continued up to the end of Novem- 

 ber, when the copying of manuscript- was temporarily sus- 

 pended, as the greatest part of the winter months were to be 

 devoted to touring, and copying could not be done under my 

 supervision. The third appointment was that of a travelling 

 man, and it was made on October 1st. in the person of Vlthu 

 Slta Rama, a Carana of Sithal, near Bikaner. The fact that a 

 travelling man was* employed for only the last three months of 

 the year, and likewise a copvist was "employed for only about 

 three months, explains whv the results of the search in the 

 district, and of the copying of manuscripts, were much below 

 what could be expected in normal years. 



But the absence of subordinates during the first six months 

 did not affect my editorial and research work, except in that 

 my activity had to be confined within the limits of Bikaner 

 City. The six months were spent by me in examining the 

 bardic and historical manuscripts contained in the Darbar 

 library in the Fort of Bikaner. separating them from the other 

 heterogeneous manuscripts with which they were mixed and 

 classifying the most important amongst them by means of two 

 fparate fasciculi of the " ' " /*-- 1— ~* n~** ^A 



f 



Historical .Manuscripts, the one (Sect, i, pt, ii) containing a 

 description of the manuscripts of ' Prose Chronicles, and the 

 other (Sect, ii, pt. i), a description of the manuscripts of 

 Bardic Poetry " The most noteworthy discovery made in 

 the afore -mentioned Library, were two bulky poems in efumdaa 

 «» honour of rava Jeta Si— the third ruler of Bikaner— com- 

 posed soon a .ft*r fKa a «Wrlifl victory he obtained over Kamran, 



