3838.] Notes of a journey to Girndr, 873 



removed, the copy was carefully revised letter by letter with the origi- 

 nal. The very smooth and convex surface of the rock on this face, 

 was highly favorable to this method, but it is tedious, and occupied in 

 the old character alone, 1 days of incessant labour. In the next place 

 a correct copy was taken by hand : this proved very useful, as tending to 

 the discovery of any errors, when compared with the copy on the cloth. 

 Thirdly and lastly, the plan, so highly recommended by M. Jacquet, 

 was resorted to, which, when the surface of the rock will admit of it, 

 and the characters are pretty deeply cut and distinct, is unquestionably 

 the most rapid and satisfactory of all the methods yet brought to my 

 notice. The edicts by this method were taken off separately on paper : 

 and, although my first trial, I have reason to think that the facsimiles 

 themselves will show that the result was satisfactory. The inscription 

 on the western side, begins at the summit of the rock, where it is sepa- 

 rated only by a small space from the first edict in the old character, 

 and occupies a space of about fifty-six square feet. The shape of the 

 rock is here very irregular, but the character is carved through all the 

 undulations, and in one place several lines are continued over a sharp 

 angle. From the very centre of this inscription, the surface of the rock, 

 in one or two formidable pieces, has been removed, thereby occasioning 

 some very serious hiatuses ; but the lines appear to be individually 

 terminal, and the letters generally clear and well carved. With this 

 character, I pursued only the plan of filling in, and tracing upon cloth, 

 afterwards carefully revising the work, so as to enable me to be satisfied 

 with its correctness. The last inscription on the northern side, is the 

 most faulty of the three ; the letters appear originally to have been very 

 faintly cut, are small, and not uniform in size. The surface of the rock 

 is very irregular, with large fissures, the whole much weather-worn, and 

 mutilated. (No. 5.) No pains were spared to transcribe it on the cloth, 

 and I can only trust, that it will be found as perfect, as under circumstan- 

 ces it could be made. M. Jacquet's plan could not have been applied 

 with any advantage to either of these two inscriptions, in the first owing 

 to the undulatory form of the rock, and in the second from the faint- 

 ness of the character ; copies by hand would have occupied immense 

 time in this peculiar character ; and the very imperfect state of the 

 northern inscription, would have differed in nothing from the cloth. Some 

 few large and curious tablets occupy the front of a small piece of rock, 

 near the eastern face of the larger one ; there are no other ancient 

 inscriptions at the foot of Gimar, or in the neighbourhood of Junagarh. 

 I need not observe, that it became an object of primary interest with 

 Captain Lang and myself, to find some clue to the discovery of the 

 5 &2 



