596 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Sept. 



I leave to other Members of the Committee the task of examining the 

 first two volumes of the MSS. ; if indeed any further examination be 

 thought necessary to establish the genuineness of the work. I am quite 

 satisfied as to that point, from the examination which I have made of the 

 third and fourth volumes. The stories of Sindbad the Sailor are intro- 

 duced at the commencement of the 3rd vol. of the MSS. ; consequently it 

 may be assumed that the " Contes Inedits" which I have not compared 

 are to be found in the first and second volumes of the MSS. and a com- 

 parison of them with the Arabic might be still more satisfactory. 



Upon the whole, I have no hesitation in stating my opinion, that the 

 MS. copy of the AVif Leila now submitted to the Society is a most valu- 

 able addition to the literature of the East, and worthy of every encourage- 

 ment. I have little doubt that the work would find a ready sale both in 

 Asia and in Europe. I do not believe that Mr. Brownlow requires any 

 pecuniary aid from us. As a Society, we might subscribe for a certain 

 number of copies, and individually I should hope we shall not withhold 

 our aid from this highly public-spirited and meritorious undertaking. To 

 Government, I think, we should make an earnest appeal for support, found- 

 ed on the credit which must accrue to our nation, from presenting to the 

 Mussulman population of India, in a complete and correct form and in 

 their own classical and beautiful language, these enchanting tales, which 

 even in the estimation of Europe enjoy almost unrivalled celebrity. 



Our Maulavi, if competent, might be desired to assist in correcting 

 the press, and I for one should be very happy to aid in this duty, as far 

 as my limited abilities and leisure might permit. 



Sept. 20, 1836. W. H. Macnaghten. 



Minute by Mr. H. T. Prinsep. 



I have examined the four volumes of the A/if Laila as far as my time 

 would permit, and am able to confirm entirely the testimony given by 

 Mr. Macnaghten in favor of the accuracy and completeness of the copy. 

 So far as my examination has gone, the tales and anecdotes given in the 

 list at the commencement of the first volume of the " Contes Inedits" 

 are all to be found in the Arabic, and those that have been translated are 

 more full and complete in our copy than in the French version. I did 

 not find the numbering of the nights exactly to correspond. Thus the 

 anecdote of Zobeide in the bath is between the 382nd and 383rd nights, and 

 the secret entrusted to the wife at the end of the 384th ; whereas, ac- 

 cording to the French list, these ought to have been found first in the 

 384— 385th, and the other in the 387— 388th night. 



The French version of the " Contes Inedits" is not, it is to be observ- 

 ed, a very close translation ; nor does it give in regular order the tales 

 omitted by previous translators. It is still merely a selection, and made 

 not exclusively with reference to merit or the interest of the tales. It is 

 evident, however, that the original must have corresponded very closely 

 with the copy brought to India, by Major Macan, and was probably from 

 the same. Whether it was as complete in all respects, and as carefully 

 made, may well be doubted ; for the getting up of this manuscript is of a 

 very superior description. I do not find that the German edition in the 

 original Arabic corresponds exactly in the arrangement of the tales with 

 our copy, but the text does not materially differ of the same tales, which is 

 an additional confirmation of the accuracy 'and genuineness of the very 

 complete set of these tales now laid before us. 



I join heartily in the wish expressed by Mr. Macnaghten, that a com- 

 plete edition of this work in the original Arabic may be printed in this 

 country from Major Macan's copy, and I doubt not that many subscribers 



