554 Facsimiles of Ancient Inscriptions. [Sept. 



coins, to which hitherto we have paid too little attention. To make 

 their study useful would involve the necessity of reviewing carefully 

 the well known Sassanian coins of- Persia proper ; a task, unfortu- 

 nately rendered almost hopeless by the great indistinctness and per- 

 plexity of the Sassanian alphabet. I must not, however, on this 

 account, keep back the new and curious coins with Nagari characters 

 of which the Beghrdm collection boasts. 



In conclusion, I must once more offer the tribute of admiration for 

 the indefatigable and successful exertions of the collector of these 

 Bactrian relics, and express a hope that his extensive collection, now 

 consisting of upwards of 7000 coins, may be deposited in our national 

 museum by the East India Company, to whom it is presumed they 

 have been annually consigned. 



IV. — Facsimiles of Ancient Inscriptions, lithographed by J as. Prinsep, 



Secy. 8fC SfC 



[Continued from page 486.] 



Inscriptions from Trincomalee, in Ceylon. 



Dr. W. Bland, of H.M. ship Wolf, to whom I am indebted for 

 copies of the three fragments forming figs. 1, 2, 3 of Plate XXVI., has 

 favored me with the following note of their discovery and present 

 situation : 



" The three inscriptions are at present in Fort Ostenburgh, which 

 stands on a high rocky tongue of land, forming the south side of the 

 entrance to Trincomalee harbour ; these three separate stones have 

 been laid down to form part of the platforms for the guns of the fort. 

 Anciently on the site of this fort stood a venerable temple of the Bud- 

 dhists, which was destroyed by the Portuguese, and its remains used 

 in the construction of a place of defence. No. 1 is 16^ inches long 

 and 1 1 inches broad, the letters 1 \ inch long, with a groove between 

 each line two inches apart. No. 2, the same size, and its composition 

 the same, and although found in a different bastion, has all the ap- 

 pearance of having at one time been united. No. 3, 14 inches long, 

 and 1 2 broad, letters one inch long, all distinctly cut in the stone, but 

 appears to have been formerly much larger. Great care has been 

 taken to give an exact facsimile of the inscriptions. The slightly mark- 

 ed letters near the end were more worn, and made so in copying. As 

 this may meet the eye of some one conversant with ancient Sanscrit or 

 its cognate dialects, you will oblige those interested on such matters by 

 publishing these inscriptions." 



