1848.] Note on the Inscriptions from Singapur, fyc. 69 



" The principal curiosity of Singapore is a large stone at the point of 

 the river, the one face of which has been sloped and smoothed, and 

 upon which several lines of engraven characters are still visible. The 

 rock being, however, of a schistose and porous nature, the inscription 

 is illegible. It is said that Sir Stamford Raffles endeavoured, by the 

 application of powerful acids,* to bring out the characters with the 

 view of decyphering them, but the result was unsuccessful. "Where 

 such an eminent person has failed, it may be thought presumptuous in 

 me to hazard a conjecture on the subject of the language in which the 

 inscription was penned, but I may perhaps be permitted to make an 

 attempt to throw some light upon a subject so confessedly obscure. Re- 

 sorting to the Malayan annals, which, clouded as they undoubtedly are 

 by fable and allegory, yet contain many a valuable piece of information, 

 we find therein mention made of three remarkable stones at Singhapura. 

 (I omit the legends attached to the first two, as altogether inapplicable 

 here.) The third, though first in order of record, I have reserved for 

 the last to be brought forward, because I am inclined to think that the 

 evidence is fully presumptive in favor of its being the stone now visible 

 at Singapore ; it is to be met with at pages 62 and 63 of the Annals. 



"The preceeding pages inform us that in the reign of Sri Raja 



Vicrama, there was a redoubtable champion of the name of Badang. 



Several remarkable feats of strength are recorded of him, but I will 



merely select the one in point. The fame of Badang having reached 



the land of Kling, the Rajah of that country despatched a champion, 



named Nadi Vijaya Vicrama, to try his strength with him, staking 



seven ships on the issue of the contest. After a few trials of their 



relative powers, Badang pointed to a huge stone lying before the 



Rajah's hall, and asked his opponent to lift it, and to allow their claims 



to be decided by the greatest strength displayed in this feat. The 



Kling champion assented, and, after several fadures, succeeded in raising 



it as high as his knee, after which he immediately let it fall. The 



story then says that Badang, having taken up the stone, poised it easily 



several times, and then threw it out into the mouth of the river, and 



this is the rock which is at this day visible at the point of Singhapura, 



or Tanjong Singhapura." 



* The stone is a hard siliceous sandstone, upon which this process, if ever adopted, 

 would have no effect. 



