1848.] Note on the Inscriptions from Singapur, fyc. 67 



Col. Low has forwarded several other pieces ; and though in possession 

 of but a small portion of the original inscription, and that evidently 

 not the most legible, I felt bound, in justice to the obliging donors, to 

 bestow some labour in attempting to decypher at least its character. 



In his brief notice of this inscription (J. A. S. Vol. VI. p. 680) 

 Mr. Prinsep remarks : " Numerous have been the enquiries about this 

 inscription, numerous have been the attempts to procure a copy of it 

 from some of the constant visitors to the Straits for amusement or the 

 benefit of their health. By some I was assured that the letters were 

 evidently European, and the inscription merely a Dutch record. Others 

 insisted that the character was precisely that of the Delhi pillar, or 

 that of Tibet. While the last friend, Lieut. C. Mackenzie, who kindly 

 undertook the commission, gave it up in despair at its very decayed 

 state, which seemed utterly beyond the power of the antiquarian ; and 

 in this he was quite right. Nevertheless a few letters still remain, 

 enough to aid in determining at least the type and the language, and 

 therefore the learned will be glad to learn that Dr. William Bland, of 

 H. H. S. Wolf, has at length conquered all the discouraging difficulties 

 of the task, and has enabled me now to present a very accurate fac- 

 simile of all that remains any way perceptible on the surface of the 

 rocky fragment at Singapur. The following note fully explains the 

 care and the method adopted for taking off the letters, and I have 

 nothing to add to it, but my concurrence in his opinion that the charac- 

 ter is the Pali, and that the purport therefore is most probably to re- 

 cord the extension of the Buddhist faith to that remarkable point of 

 the Malayan Peninsula. I cannot venture to put together any connected 

 sentences or even words ; but some of the letters, the g, I, h, p, s, y, 

 &c. can be readily recognised ; as well as many of the vowel marks." 



The condition of the inscription was, indeed, far worse than I supposed, 

 and seemed to preclude all hope of decyphering the characters. By a 

 fortunate expedient however, and by very patient study, I have been 

 able to make out sufficient to determine its language and probable date 

 with tolerable certainty. The method I adopted, and which may be 

 useful in similar cases to others, was to strew finely powdered charcoal* 

 over the surface of the stone, and sweep it gently to and fro with a 

 feather so as to fill up all the depressions, the very slightest of which 

 * Animal charcoal is better than vegetable, as being specifically heavier. 



k 2 



