1 1° Description of the Ancient [March, 



Sir C. Malet, at page 384, vol. vi. As. Res. speaks of Hindoo sym- 

 bols in Bombay, does he thereby refer to the characters of the inscription ? 

 It is not impossible indeed thatthey maybe of a numerical or astronomical 

 character, as hidden to our knowledge as are the Egyptian hieroglyphics, 

 for the square, triangle, circle, mercury, are to be frequently met with in 

 the characterNo. 1. 



My brother in passing Benares sent a specimen of the character 

 No. 1, to the secretary of the Hindoo College there; but that officer 

 was unable to give any assistance in deciphering it. Lieut. B. from 

 Benares says, " I have made every inquiry regarding the inscription, 

 No. 1, on the pillar, a specimen of which I took with me from Allaha- 

 bad ; but neither the head pundit of the Patsala here, nor any others 

 to whom I have shewn it, are able to decipher it, or to tell me of what 

 character it is composed." 



It is very evident that the inscription, No. 1. is of exactly the same 

 kind as that shewn in Plates X. XI. XII. XIII. and XIV. of the 7th 

 volume As. Res. p. 180, as existing on the Delhi pillar, the translation of 

 which will not I trust be considered as hopeless ; but of No. 2, to which 

 the Gya inscription is so near an approximation, Dr. Mill, Mr. Csoma de 

 Koros, or any other Sanscrit scholar, will most probably be kind enough 

 to supply the translation. 



The Devanagari character, No. 3, has been also copied and is sent here- 

 with, but it is by no means so neatly engraven on the stone as the other 

 characters, nor is it in many places at all legible, although as an assist- 

 ance in the operation we threw common red soorkee or brick-dust 

 into the hollows which compose the letters, and then wiped off the par- 

 ticles that rested on the projections, between them, with a wet or rather 

 a damp piece of cloth, which rendered the letters more distinctly visible. 



This third inscription, No. 3, occupies the greatest part of the 

 surface of the stone, and lies above the Persian. It is supposed 

 to have been written by various persons, who in paying visits to 

 the pillar from distant countries, left impressions of their names 

 and actions upon the face of it. This is the native idea on the subject, 

 but the point may be set to rest upon the character being trans- 

 lated. I have not made much inquiry about the legibdity of the 

 last mentioned character, as the native account took away from 

 the interest that it would have otherwise occasioned : the letters are 

 badly cut, and in many places almost illegible. This character, No. 3, 

 contains some dates which I have marked : one of the year Samvat 

 1562, which as this is 1890 of the same era of Vikramajit, must have 

 been written 328 years since ; another of Samvat 1663, or 327 years ; 

 another 1515, or 368 years ; another Samvat 1639, 261 years; another 



