1894.] H. Beveridge— Major Francklin s description of Gaur. 
85 
Note on Major Francklin's Manuscript description of Gaur.—By 
H. Bevekidge, I. C. S., (Retd.) 
(Read February, 1894.) 
The existence of this manuscript seems to have been first brought 
to notice by Mr. Grote, who recommended Mrs. Ravensliaw to use it in 
editing her husband’s work on Gaur. Afterwards, Mr. Grote took upon 
himself the task of annotation, and added many notes from Francklin 
to Ravenshaw’s text. 
A few years ago, our Society applied to the India Office for the 
manuscript, with the view of printing it, if this should seem worth while. 
The Secretary for India referred the matter to Dr. Burgess, who gave it 
as his opinion that all the valuable information in Francklin’s report 
had been extracted by Mr. Grote. In consequence of this, the manu¬ 
script was not sent to our Society. 
Since then, I have examined the report, and compared it with 
Ravenshaw’s Gaur, and I have found that Dr. Burgess’s opinion was 
correct. All, or nearly all, that is of value in the report has been put 
into Mr. Grote’s notes. I therefore cannot recommend that the report 
should be published, though it does seem hard that a paper submitted 
to the Court of Directors, so long ago as April 1812, should have been 
neglected till 1878, and then be superseded by the pith of it being put 
into another book. Had it been used at the time, the map and drawings 
which accompanied the journal might have been preserved. In his 
letter to the Court of Directors, dated Bliagalpur, 12 April 1812, Franck¬ 
lin speaks of forwarding a journal, map, drawings, &c., and in the jour¬ 
nal there are frequent references to drawings by their numbers. The 
journal is in the Map-room of the Registry and Record Department 
of the India Office, but the map 1 and drawings have disappeared, and 
1 The loss of the map is of small moment, for Francklin mentions that he 
procured it from Mr. Ellerton, and that it was constructed by Creighton. It must, 
therefore, have been the same as that published in Creighton’s Gaur. 
App. D. p. 90. 
