VIU PREFACE. 



Gilchrist's system is used. It constantly, therefore occurs, and indeed 

 unavoidably occurs, that where maps of the same district, or of adjoin- 

 ing«districts, have been published, the names of the same places are given 

 on these maps, both issued with the authority of Government, with 

 totally different spelling. (Katak, and Cuttack, Radakol, and Kehrakol, 

 represent the same places, and the instances are countless.) 



Undoubtedly, it would be possible to correct all this, and reduce 

 all to one uniform system, and undoubtedly, to a great extent this 

 might be done by the Geological Surveyors, passing through the 

 country. But I am satisfied that such an attempt would lead to 

 even greater confusion than exists at present. No two persons have 

 exactly the ,same appreciation of sound; words, which, as heard by 

 one, would be to that person's ears correctly represented by a cer- 

 tain combination of letters having each an acknowledged and de- 

 finite sound, would not appear correct to another. Nor is it possible 

 to find any half dozen people in a district who would pronounce the 

 same names in exactly the same way. In attempting therefore to 

 rectify the orthography of such names without any fixed standards 

 we should only have introduced additional sources of error and con- 

 fusion. 



I confess, I cannot see any difficulty in adopting systematically one 

 uniform orthography. The names of all these places exist in numer- 

 ous native records J the derivation, and therefore the correct spelling, 

 of most of them would be very easily ascertained, and the transferring 

 or translating of these native names into roman letters which should, 

 according to any uniform system that might be adopted, express the 

 same sounds, would be a task easily accomplished by any ordinary 

 clerk, instructed for the purpose. But until this be done, (and the 

 question is one of great importance) I cannot see any prospect of im- 

 provement in the general orthography of Indian names, but rather a 

 certainty of greater confusion. 



