m TH-E ISLAND OF BALI, .147: 



The Brahftians q^ 5t7/^ complained of the lofs of fome works of im« 

 portance conneded with; their religion, and made anxious enquiry re- 

 i^pefting: tkei-FexiilenGe in /^^2"a. l had not learning eonugh to give 

 them a. fafcisfadory; reply ; nor can I now even call to mind the names 

 or titles of the works in- quellion. The converfation unfortunately 

 took placeiaa moment of hafie,.whenit was out of my power to take- 

 notes of what pgfSed on the fubjcdo 



t HAVB looked in vain both on Java and Bali for any veflige of the* 

 i?m<aJM fcripturesr or F^itf% and though I reafonably diilroft the fliill 

 witb which the enquiry was purfued,. I am yet ilrongly inclined ?o 

 believCj.that they have no exiftence;. and- probably never had among 

 the H//7(i^/i of the oriental iflands*. It feeras fingular enough, that an 

 orthodox fe^l of Hindus, as the worfhippers of Siva are, fhould not be 

 ifi.pofleffion.of the facred tQxt.. Tha inferior calls among the Hindus 

 are by the ordinances of their religion interdi6led from reading, th^ 

 Wedasi. Did the firll Brahvians^ who fettled inAhc- Archipelago, lie from 

 fome impurity or contamination under a iimilar interdicftion ; or were 

 they pretended Brahmins only, and in reality perfons of inferior rank, 

 to whom the ufe of the Vedas was unlawful ? Or laflly did the firft Br ah* 

 mans, compelled by neceffity to intermarry with the aboriginal inhabi- 

 tants, confcientioufly forbid the Vedas to thein polluted poflerity ? 



Among the writings which exift in the Kawi, the pure It fource is the 

 numerous infcriptions on flone and copper which are found on Java,. 

 Thefe are all in the ancient charadterv From fkilful tranfiations of thefe*, 

 the hiftory of Hinduifm inthe oriental iflands will receive much eluci- 

 dation. It is an interefting and important fa6l of thefe infcripaons that 

 by far the greater portion of them have welf defined dates, I have pe- 

 lufed fome nearly r,20o years old. The greater portion however, do 

 not exceed half that antiquity ; but many refer to a feries of dates long 

 antecedent to the date of the infcriptions themfelves. Of the llyle cf^ 



