the edge of the paper being torn away.
(G.) This is an extract from the manuscript of Hikayat Sri Rama mentioned above. The book is a quarto volume of about 800 pages, and is preserved in the Bodleian library , Oxford, under catalogue number MS. Laud Or. 291. The paper appears to be of Eastern manufacture, and the band writing is exceedingly good. The ms. is not dated, but the records of the library show that it was acquired in 1633. It seems probable that it came from the East at the saine time as letter C., which was also in the Laud collection before it was acquired by the Bodleian library.
I am much indebted to Rev. H. L. E. Luering, Ph.D., and Mr. R. J. Wilkinson, for explanations of difficult passages in these manuscripts and for the derivations of words of Sanscrit and Arabic origin.
A.—Letter of Authority to Trade.
(
Jawi characters)
- ↑ Note that the word Inggris is used in this heading , whereas Inglitir is used in the body of the letter. It is remarkable that the change from l to r in the word Inggris should have become fixed so soon after the appearance of the English in Acheen, unless the change was previously made in some other language; probably the word came into Malay from one of the languages of British India.
- ↑ In this letter there is no hamzah in such words as keraja'an, perkata'an, sa’orang, etc; merika'itu is the only word in which hamzah appears.
- ↑ The spelling of Sammudara is interesting, especially in view of the fanciful derivation of the word from semut raya, which is given in the "Sejarah Malayu."
