Formerly there lived an old man, a bamboo-hewer, who hewed bamboos on the bosky hill-side, and manywise he wrought them to serve men's needs, and his name was Sanugi no Miyakko. Now one day, while plying the hatchet in a grove of bamboos, was he suddenly ware of a tall stem, whence streamed forth through the gloom a dazzling light. Much marvelling, he drew nigh to the reed, and saw that the glory proceeded from the heart thereof, and he looked again and beheld a tiny creature, a palm's breadth in stature and of rare loveliness, which stood midmost the splendour. Then he said to himself, “ Day after day, from dawn to dusk, toil I among these bamboo-reeds, and this child that abides amidst them I may surely claim as mine own.” So he put forth his hand, and took the tiny being, and carried it home, and gave it to the goodwife and her women to be nourished. And passing fair was the child, but so frail and tender that it was needful to place it in a basket to be reared. But after lighting upon this gift whilst hewing bamboos, he ceased not from his daily toil, and night after night, as he shore through the reeds and opened their internodes, came he upon one filled with grain of gold, and so, ere long, he amassed great wealth. Meanwhile the child, being duly tended, grew daily in stature, and after three months—wonderful to relate!—her stature was as that of a maiden of full years.

In the range of philological study and research there is nothing so attractive as the discovery of certain tribes who speak a language unconnected with the languages of the peoples which surround them. In Europe we have the striking example of the Basque language on the French and Spanish frontier, and, on a larger scale, we find the descendants of the ancient conquerors of the upper part of Pannonia — the Hungarians — surrounded by German, Sláv and Latin elements, speaking the Magyar language, a language wholly isolated, whose philological position has not as yet been determined to the satisfaction of all. Such isolated peoples appear like islets on the vast ocean of Languages. Another remarkable example is the language of the Bráhúi in the north of Sindh and on the east of Balúchistan, on the north-west of British India, which is the subject of the present essay. This language is spoken in a region to which much attention has been attracted of late; it is the territory formerly known as the Khánat of Khelat. The writing of the Bráhúi is the Arabic alphabet, and the letters l and t are pronounced from the roof of the mouth with a strong emission of the breath.

Art hath a holy mission: 'tis to raise

The soul, through form and beauty, unto things

More lovely than the sensual thoughts and ways

Of an old world's corrupt imaginings.

In song, on canvas, or in living stone,

Art saith unto the soul: “Behold the Pure,

The True, the Beautiful, for these alone

I live, by these through unborn time endure.”

It has often struck me how helpless European students are when they are in search of books published in India. These books are so cheap, and their demand in Europe is so limited, that it does not pay Indian publishers to have agents for their sale here. In addition to this, students have no means of knowing what works are published in India; and even if they knew their names, that is no criterion of the value of their contents. I therefore put down the following notes regarding books which I myself have found useful in studying Hindī, in the hope that they may be acceptable to my fellowstudents.

When I visited Trans-Caucasia in 1882 for the purpose of collecting information regarding the Languages of the Caucasus, the result of which was published in Vol. XVII. of the Journal, I became aware of the scantiness of the Vocabularies, and I mentioned this to Mr. Peacock, the Vice-Consul of H.B.M. at Battúm, who had resided some time at Poti, and had made excursions into regions not often traversed. He was good enough to undertake the duty of collecting Vocabularies, and I forwarded to him a copy of the Standard Form of Words and Sentences prepared by the Bengal Asiatic Society. After some delay, owing to the heavy press of his official duties, and a visit to England, when I had the pleasure of seeing him, and again encouraging him on the subject, he has forwarded to me he subjoined Vocabularies, which are highly important.