70 Note on the Inscriptions from Singapur, fyc. [July, 



" After some other recitals, the annals state that "after a long time, 

 Badang also died, and was buried at the point of the straits of Sin- 

 ghapura ; and, when the tidings of his death reached the land of Kling, 

 the Rajah sent two stone pillars, to be raised over his grave as a monu- 

 ment, and these are the pillars which are still at the point of the bay." 



" Now, the first two instances are totally destitute of presumptive evi- 

 dence ; the last is, on the contrary, full of it. At the mouth of the river 

 there is a large rock, which is concealed at high water, and on which a 

 post was erected four or five years ago by, I believe, Captain Jackson 

 of the Bengal Artillery, to warn boats of the danger ; this is the rock 

 fabled to have been hurled by Badang. He is said to have been buried 

 at the point of the straits of Singhapura, the scene of this wonderful 

 exploit ; and there, the very spot where this record is to be still seen, 

 the Rajah of Kling, who had been so serious a loser by it, ordered his 

 monument to be erected." (page 355-358.) 



In this idle legend, it is by no means improbable that the name of 

 the reigning prince is preserved, although the attendant circumstances 

 are altogether fabulous. The kingdom of Singapura was founded, ac- 

 cording to Malayan accounts, in A. D. 1160 ; and from that time up to 

 1250, when the whole of the Peninsula was converted to Mahamma- 

 danism, was subject to frequent invasions from the Javanese. The Rajah 

 Vikrama mentioned in the foregoing extract, reigned from A. D. 1223 to 

 1 236, and his era is very likely that also of the inscription. At all events 

 we may be certain that the present inscription is not less, and cannot be 

 much more, than 600 years old. Its preservation for so long a period may 

 be ascribed in a great measure to its protection from the action of the 

 weather by the tropical vegetation which concealed it, perhaps for cen- 

 turies. " You remember," writes Dr. Montgomerie, " the situation of it on 

 the rocky point on the south side of the entrance of the Singapore Creek. 

 That point was covered with forest trees and jungle in 1819, and the 

 stone was brought to notice by some Bengal clashees who were employed 

 by Captain Flint, R. N. (the first Master Attendant ;) the men on dis- 

 covering the inscription were very much frightened, and could not be 

 induced to go on with the clearing, which, if I recollect right, was com- 

 pleted by Chinese under the stimulus of high wages. What a pity 'tis 

 that those who authorized the destruction of the ancient relic were not 

 prevented by some such wholesome superstition !" 



