1897.] 
Central Asian Manuscripts. 
229 
reproduction: the ink is very much faded. They are both written on 
very thin paper, exactly like that of the seventh set which will be 
presently described ; hence they are only inscribed on one side. Both 
are mutilated at the two ends, thus rendering their length impossible 
of determination ; their width is preserved, and it is 2| inches in either 
leaf. Both are furnished with string-holes, enclosed concentrically 
within a larger inked circle. The presence of these string-holes shows 
that they are, in all probability, the solitary remnants of larger works. 
One of the leaves is inscribed with characters exactly of the same 
type as those of the fragment No. 4 on Plate X, but of smaller size. 
The other leaf is inscribed with characters of the cursive type, like 
those on Nos. 6 to 15, on Plates X to XIII. 
(7) The seventh set consists of large, squarish sheets, measuring 
It X 8 inches. Of these No. 8 on Plate XI is a sample. Of these sheets 
there are two more, also in practically perfect condition, and five frag¬ 
ments of very large size, such as Nos. 9 and 11, shown on Plates XII and 
XTII respectively. There are further a large number of small pieces, 
which are evidently fragments of similar sheets. Samples of these frag¬ 
ments are Nos. 6 and 7 on Plate X, No. 10 on Plate XII, and Nos. 12 to 
15 on Plate XIII. There are altogether 51 of them. The total number 
is 59. These sheets consist of a very coarse and flimsy species of paper, 
which is almost transparent. As a rule, the writing is inscribed on one 
side only, and traces of it show through on the back side ; but there are 
six small fragments on which there is some writing on the back. The 
material appears to be the ordinary Daphne paper, of the same type as 
what is still made at the present day in the Himalayan countries. 1 
have seen modern paper of the same coarseness, though not quite of 
the same tenuity. The characters of the writing are evidently Brahmi 
of a very cursive type. Moreover, as shown by the forms of the 
superscribed e and ai, they belong to that peculiar type of Brahmi which 
I call the Central Asian. See the facsimiles in the second column of 
Plates XXYII to XXX, which I have excerpted from Plates X to XIII, 
and arranged in alphabetical order. In the first column, I have 
added for comparison, alphabetical facsimiles of other portions of the 
Godfrey MSS. inscribed with Brahmi of the Northern Indian type. 
The language on these sheets I am unable to identify. It does not 
seem to be any Sanskritic dialect, though, with one or two excep¬ 
tions, I have not noticed the occurrence of any non-sanskritic ligatures. 
Most of the syllables, indeed, are of the most simple character, 
and, so far, might be prakritic; only there is nothing in the sur¬ 
rounding circumstances (e.y., the frequent occurrence of the double 
dot) that renders that supposition at all probable. The occurrence, 
J. i. 30 
