366 



Report on the MacJcenzle Manuscripts, 



[April 



The materials on which this book is written, are China and country 

 paper; and with some mere meraoranrla in penc;il. The h»ingnage is 

 quite a melange ; consisting of a litile Malayalam, some Sanscrit s'oca!^, 

 a large proportion of Tamil, mingled with Grantha letters, and some 

 few portions of documents in what is termed Mahiyalam. lipi (ch iracters), 

 A perusal ( f the whole .«hews the ccn'ents to be incriptions, but of no 

 considerable antiquity : being suhs'-quent to the formation of tlie Coli'am 

 en, and entirely referring to grants of land and other immunities, (o 

 fanes, and th^ir atten lants, by the raja of Cochin and a raja of Chcri kd ; 

 the orig'n of both of wb ise povver is sub^r qnent to the division of the 

 country b-' Cher'nnan Perumal. Such being tlie ca>e 1 liave neitlu r 

 thouglit lh^?e do-uments worth minute abstract, nor the houV worth 

 re-copving where ;)ractic ihle. At a subsequi^nt period- if iei.-urf^ or op- 

 portunity occur, it mav be looked at again, and any documents that may 

 be in danger of perishing can then be restored. The book will continue 

 legible as it is, for a few years longer. 



Manuscript Book, No. 1 2— Couritermark 54. 



Muppanto't'dula a panegyrical poem on Soma-ndi'lia, the tutelary god 

 at Muj^partloili. 



This book contains a poem, of the kind termed ida, referring to the 

 fane of Sonia-wa^ ka-^ and consisting of seven adhydijos, or sections; the 

 subject of each section referring to a distinct sacti, who is represented as 

 coming to the shrine, and becoming enamoured by the perfections of the 

 idol. The book is somewhat damaged by ins?cts, and the ink is rather 

 pale. I deem it however unwortliy of restoration. 



Note.— The entry in D. s. Catal. vol. 1, p. 177, art. 3*^, would have 

 led me to expect something better from it. However there remains a 

 palm leaf copy No. 228 to be examined ; referred to a subsequent report. 



Manuscript Book, No. 40— Countermark 33G. 

 Account of Tirnnamitlai\ or Trinomalee. 



This book is a thin duodecimo; with only about one third written. 

 Its object is to commemorate ihe visits to the shrine, of four kings, oi* 

 local chiefs; that is Vajrunga- Pavdltim ; Samihtiva-rayer ; Falala- 

 raijei and Deva-niah'i-raf/er. These persons, on tiieir visit-s, made cer- 

 tain additions to the fane. In the times of disturbance, occasioned by 

 Hyder Ali, several docamenis belonging to the place were lost. 



