to have in my service the Persian who had assisted Dr Leyden in his translation, and who had become pretty well versed in the language of the Memoirs. But before my letter reached Calcutta, Dr Leyden's papers and manuscripts had been sent home to Mr Richard Heber, his principal literary executor, and I relinquished all idea of seeing the work completed, at least in India. Some years before, I had translated a small portion of the Memoirs from the Persian, and was now strongly urged by General Sir John Malcolm and the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone, who were struck with their merit as a literary curiosity, to complete an English translation of the whole from the Persian alone. As both of these gentlemen had been on missions into the countries described by Baber, and were peculiarly versed in the manners and history of the Tûrki dynasties, more competent judges could not be found, and their advice had its natural weight with me. I accordingly undertook the task, which I had brought to a close, when, in the end of the year 1813, I was surprised by receiving from London a copy of Dr Leyden's translation, which, in consequence of my letter to Dr Hare, had been procured and forwarded by the kindness of that gentleman, who was then in England.

This acquisition reduced me to rather an awkward dilemma. The two translations differed in many important particulars; but as Dr Leyden had the advantage of translating from the original, I resolved to adopt his translation as far as it went, changing only such expressions in it as seemed to be inconsistent with the context, or with other parts of the Memoirs; or such as seemed evidently to originate in the oversights that are unavoidable in an unfinished work. This labour I had completed with some difficulty, when Mr Elphinstone sent me the copy of the Memoirs of Baber in the original Tûrki, which he had procured when he went to Peshâwer on his Embassy to Kâbul. This copy, which he had supposed to have been sent home with Dr Leyden's manuscripts from Calcutta, he was now fortunate enough to recover.

The discovery of this valuable manuscript reduced me, though heartily sick of the task, to the necessity of commencing my work once more. Being now possessed of the original, it was necessary to compare the whole translation with it. It appeared to me that, in many instances, Dr Leyden's translation was less accurate than the Persian, a fact not to be wondered at, as he had only recently begun the study of the Jaghâtâi Tûrki, and no part of the translation had received his last corrections, or perhaps been twice gone over. I therefore examined the whole with minute attention, comparing it with the Tûrki and Persian texts, and made such alterations as I was persuaded my friend would not have disapproved of, had he assisted in the labour. The rest of the Memoirs I then completed by the aid of the Tûrki original, of my own copy of the Persian translation, and of another copy, which Mr Elphinstone, with that readiness with which he invariably lends his aid to whatever has the semblance of forwarding useful knowledge, procured for me from Delhi, through Mr Metcalfe, the British Resident at that Court. From this last copy, though much less accurate than the other, I was enabled to correct many errors, and to supply several chasms in the Persian translation which I previously possessed. The Tûrki original, which is very correct, is unfortunately incomplete. The continued narrative closes before the great battle in

which Sultan Ibrâhîm of Delhi was slain, and there is only one short fragment of a later period. Mr Metcalfe's copy of the Persian translation, though the most incorrect, is the most perfect of the three. It contains the whole Memoirs, with such errors and omissions alone as arose from the negligence of the copyist. My own copy has lost three leaves in different parts of the work, and is deficient in the journal of several months at the end. This last period is filled up on the authority of Mr Metcalfe's manuscript alone.

I ought to observe, that my own knowledge of the Jaghâtâi Tûrki would not have enabled me to complete the translation from the original, and that I relied principally on the Persian. The Persian Tûrk, on whose assistance I had at first relied, had unfortunately left Bombay before I received Mr Elphinstone's Tûrki copy. With the assistance of some natives of Uzbek Tartary, who happened to be in Bombay, but chiefly aided by the patience and skill of my worthy friend Mulla Firûz, so well known to all who have made the antiquities of ancient Persia their study, I went over the Tûrki text, and compared it with the translation. I hope that few errors have escaped. But this long account of the origin and progress of the translation, which at first sight may seem needless, was rendered necessary in order to account for any want of uniformity that may probably be discovered in its various parts, and for any errors that may have crept in, in the course of the different transmutations it has undergone. The Memoirs of Baber would undoubtedly have appeared to more advantage if clothed in the simple picturesque style, and illustrated by the varied erudition of Dr Leyden, whose success in the study of languages has rarely been equalled, and whose industry was indefatigable. My aim in the following work has been limited to exhibiting that part of the translation which he executed, as much as possible in the state in which he · would have wished it to appear, had he been spared to revise it; and to completing what he left unfinished. Dr Leyden's translation is without notes, except occasionally verbal explanations; nor am I aware that he made any historical or geographical collections for completing or illustrating the Memoirs. The translation is close and literal to a degree which many will think faulty, and which few works written in an Eastern language would admit of; but such closeness is not without its use, as the style of a people generally exhibits in some degree the dress of their mind, and often leads to more just conclusions regarding their habits of thinking, than can easily be attained in any other way.

Of the Historical Introduction, and of the Supplements which fill up the various blanks in the Memoirs, little need be said. They were compiled from such books and manuscripts as were within my reach. For the copies of Khâfi Khan, and of the Maaser-ul-Omra, the former of which was of great use to me throughout, I was indebted to the kindness of Henry Russell, Esq. the British Resident at the Court of the Nizam, to whom I owe many similar obligations; the copy of the Alim-Arâi-Abassi, which I have followed in the account of Baber's latest transactions in Mâweralnaher, was furnished me by my friend Claudius James Rich, Esq. the British Resident at Bagdad. The curious anonymous history, which contains the singular anecdote regarding the succession of Humâiûn, I owe to Captain William Miles of the Bombay Establishment.

Nor must I forget to acknowledge the use of a corrected copy of Dow's translation of Ferishta's Life of Baber, part of a revisal of the whole of Dow's translation of the History of Hindostan, by Captain John Briggs of the Madras Establishment, assistant to the Resident at Poona. The important and gross mistakes in names, in geography, and in the sense of the author, with which Dow's translation abounds, makes it to be wished that Captain Briggs would communicate to the public the result of his studies, either by presenting a more accurate translation of that excellent author, or by giving an original work on these periods of the history of India, which he has studied with so much industry and success.*

For the materials from which the Geographical Sketch of the Countries North of the Hindû-kûsh range are compiled, I am indebted almost solely to the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone. The description of these countries contained in geographical works and in books of travels, is very defective, and often erroneous. When Mr Elphinstone went on his Embassy to Kâbul, he exerted himself to procure, from merchants and travellers, such accounts as were to be had, of all the range of country as far as the borders of Russia. These he committed to writing, and even after his return to Hindustan and the Dekhan, he continued to add to his geographical treasures by conversing with such intelligent natives of these northern countries as happened to visit India, and securing the information which they afforded. Many of them he induced to write accounts of their own districts, or itineraries of their travels, in the Persian tongue. The unreserved use of the whole of these collections, with his own remarks and corrections, Mr Elphinstone threw open to me, with that perfect frankness which belongs only to superior minds. Nor have I to acknowledge to him my obligations only in this part of the work. I received similar assistance from his accurate researches into the geography of Afghânistân and the Penjâb, and many of Baber's marches, particularly that of Chutiâli and Ab-îstâdeh, with the whole course of his progress to Khorâsân and return from that country, would have been unintelligible to me without the assistance which his descriptions and maps afforded; and I may add that I have rarely had occasion to consult him regarding the manners of the age, or difficulties of the language, without feeling the benefit of the same extensive and accurate knowledge.

Besides my obligations for the use of his own papers, my thanks are farther due to him for the communication of some valuable manuscripts of the late Lieutenant Macartney and of Captain Irvine of the Bengal Establishment, regarding the provinces to the north and west of Hindustân, from which I have freely drawn ; and for procuring from Mr Moorcroft the use of a very curious journal in the Persian language, kept by Syed Izzet-Ulla, who had been sent by that gentleman on a route hitherto little frequented by travellers. The Syed went from the Sind to Kashmir, thence across the

Captain Briggs has not only revised the Histories of Hindostan and the Dekhan, which have been translated by Colonel Dow and Major Scott, but has completed a translation of all Ferishta's Histories of the separate Kingdoms of India. The publication of the whole would be of the greatest use to the history of our extensive Eastern dominions.

+ It is almost unnecessary to remark that this was written before the publication of Mr Elphinstone's Embassy to Kabul.”

hills to Ly or Ladak, from thence to Yârkend and Kâshghar, whence he returned by Ush, Khojend, Uratippa, Samarkand, Bokhâra, and the Afghân country. This route traverses a very great proportion of the little-frequented districts so often spoken of by Baber, and lies through the heart of that Prince's paternal kingdom. The instructions of Mr Moorcroft appear to have been so judicious, that the Journal of Syed Izzet-Ulla, besides giving an accurate itinerary of the country through which he passed, contains many amusing facts regarding the manners and state of society of the inhabitants, and was found of the greatest service in the construction of the Map.

The countries which were the scene of Baber's early transactions are so little known, and so imperfectly laid down in all our maps, that I was desirous that a chart of at least Ferghâna and Mâweralnaher should be constructed with the assistance of the new materials afforded from different quarters, and my friend Mr Charles Waddington of the Bombay Engineers kindly undertook the labour. The mode which he adopted for laying it down, will be best explained by his own Memoir. Having only one fixed point by which to correct his positions, the difficulties he had to encounter were very great. How well he has overcome them the Map itself is the best evidence. The additions and improvements made in the geography of all the country beyond the Oxus, but especially in the country of Ferghâna and the districts near Samarkand, will be visible by comparing his delineation with any previous one of these countries. Mr Waddington laid me under the greatest obligations by the ready politeness with which, for a considerable period of time, he devoted to the completion of the Map, most of the few hours allowed him for relaxation from his professional duties; and it is not a little to his honour, that while still only in the first step of his professional career, he has exhibited not only a love of knowledge, but a judgment and science in the use of his materials, that would have done no discredit to the most experienced officer of the scientific corps to which he belongs. Of the following work this portion will very generally

be considered as the most valuable,

Before concluding, it may be necessary to say something of the orthography adopted in writing Asiatic words. I have in general preserved that used by Dr Leyden. The vowels have the sound that is given to them in Italian; i has the sound of the English ee; u, of the English oo; of the consonants the ghain is expressed by gh; the two Kafs are not discriminated; g has always its hard sound; shin is expressed by sh; che by ch, which has the sound of ce in Italian, and j expresses the Italian gi. *

On the whole, however, I am but little satisfied with the orthography used throughout, as the novelty of the spelling often gives a strange and singular aspect to words that are well known. Were it not for the inconvenience attending all innovations in matters of popular usage, it would add much to the distinctness of the orthography of Oriental words if our c, which is an useless letter, were used before vowels of every description uniformly to represent the sound of our ch, or that given to c in Italian before e or i; x, which is also an useless letter, might represent the sound it sometimes has in Portuguese, of our sh. Indeed these letters are so used by Meninski, and this use has the good effect of making fewer artificial compounds necessary to represent simple sounds. But use has already fixed anomalously the spelling of so many words, that little uniformity can now be looked for in any great proportion of Eastern words. In some names which are familiar in English, as Lahore, Jumna, Ganges, &c. I have not altered the spelling, considering them as in some degree naturalised by use.