1840.] Notice of some counterfeit Bactrian coins. 393 



chza, 



u 



a, 



jhuh 



jha, 



yuh 



ya, 



shuh 



sha, 



zuh 



za, 



suh 



sa, 





tshuh 



tsha, 



tchuh 



tcha, 



tchot. 







ong 



ung 



ang 



ing 



eeng 



oong 



ong 



eung 



oon 



yeng 



yeong 



yong 



yeung 



yeung 



yeeng 



ok 



uk. 











Note on the above. 



Note. — With the above interesting paper I received from Mr. Campbell 

 a specimen of the Lepcha character, in the text and running hands, as well 

 as the alphabet, the sounds of which are given above, in the letters ex- 

 pressing each sound. Mr. Csoma Korosi informs me that these charac- 

 ters, and the language itself have no affinity to the Thibetan, nor to any 

 dialect of it, nor to the dialects of any other oriental language with 

 which he is acquainted. To give a correct lithographed copy of the 

 Lepcha character would be impossible, without submitting the impression 

 to some one acquainted with the language, as the letters are complicated, 

 and very peculiar. It is my intention to await the receipt of Mr. Camp- 

 bell's promised notices of other Hill tribes, who may have, like the 

 Lepchas, a character of their own, or whose language, exhibiting a mere 

 dialectic difference from the Lepcha, may be expressed in symbols not 

 dissimilar to those now before me. Availing myself meanwhile of Mr. 

 Campbell's assistance in correcting the lithograph of the Lepcha alphabet, 

 I shall be in a position to compare this and the vocabulary with other 

 (possible) characters and tongues in use among neighbouring septs ; the 

 affinity of the language may be thus in some sort ascertainable, as form- 

 ing, perhaps, with its dialectic differences, a distinct family. This may 

 lead to a result in philology which students in the science, as illustrative 

 of general history, might possibly turn to some account. Qj 



Notice of some counterfeit Bactrian coins. 

 Several forgeries of ancient Bactrian coins having within 

 the last eighteen months come to my knowledge, I am induced 

 to make them public, as a caution to our countrymen in Afghan- 

 istan, who are so zealously engaged in collecting these rare and 

 valuable relics of the Grecian power in upper Asia. — I cannot 

 better commence this notice, than by quoting the following 

 passage regarding a square silver coin of Amyntas from an 

 article in the Journal des Savants for February 1839 ; where 



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