204 THE ETJINS OF BOEO BUDUE IN JAVA. 



work into French by M. A. G. van Hamel. The designs were 

 produced at the expense of the Dutch Government, and under 

 the direction of M. E. C. Wilsen. Dr. Leemans' description 

 is rounded chiefly on the MSS. and printed works of M. Wilsen 

 and M. J. F. Gr. Brtjmend. It has seemed right to the Council 

 that this generous gift should be introduced to the Society with 

 some account of the great work which the Netherlands-India 

 Government has undertaken in the interests of science and art, 

 and of the noble relic of antiquity, upon the description of which 

 so much learning and labour and money has been expended. 



It is a most interesting fact for a Society established in Singa- 

 pore and meeting in a building which bears the name of the illus- 

 trious founder of this Settlement that the remains of -the noble 

 building which is described in these plates were first brought to the 

 knowledge of Europeans by Sir Stamford Baffles. The disco- 

 very is thus described by Dr. Leemans, the author, or perhaps we 

 should rather say the editor, of the descriptive text which accom- 

 panies the plates : — 



"When Lieutenant-Governor Sir S. Baffles was at Samarang 

 in January, 1814, he learned that in Kedu, in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of the hamlet of Bumi Segoro, there were on a hill, or 

 partly hidden by a hill, the extensive ruins of a very ancient Hindu 

 temple. Sir Stamford was deeply impressed with the idea that an 

 examination and an accurate study of these ruins would be of very 

 great scientific interest. Possibly he flattered himself with the 

 hope of discovering in this place objects of art not less precious 

 than those which, nine years before, had been found in the neigh- 

 bouring territory of Prambanan, and of which the Dutch Govern- 

 ment had procured a description and some drawings. Whatever 

 were his expectations, the fact is that Sir Stamford directed Mr. 

 Cornelius, a Lieutenant of Engineers, to carefully examine these 

 ruins, which the natives called Boro Budur, to measure their 

 dimensions, to make plans and exact drawings of them, and to write 

 a clear and detailed description of the whole." 



It was no easy task that Mr. Cornelius had to undertake. 

 So utterly had the ancient shrine been neglected, that it was covered 

 with a dense jungle. More than two hundred workmen were em- 

 ployed for forty-five days in cutting down the trees, burning the 



