Captain Kennedy, on forwarding Csoma’s last letter of refusal, writes to the secretary of the Asiatic Society on the 3d of September 1829:
“I am disposed to think that, on a better acquaintance with Mr. Csoma, you will find him a most eccentric character. He is enthusiastic in the object of forming a grammar and lexicon of the Tibetan language, and appears anxious to avoid the society and attentions of Europeans, chiefly, in my opinion, to retain the incognito he lives in at the Monastery of Kanum in Upper Besarh. He is a man of most sanguine, hasty, and suspicious disposition. I have left no act undone to accommodate and to meet his wishes, and I think that he feels grateful to me; but on some occasions he has received my advances, to be [[105]]obliging, with a meanness not to be accounted for. There can be no doubt but that he is a man of eminent talents, possessing a most retentive memory, and apparently much versed on subjects of general literature. He considers himself acting under a solemn pledge to Government to furnish the grammar and lexicon by the end of the ensuing year, at which period he proposes to proceed to Calcutta to superintend their publication. His wants are few, and I am informed his expenses on diet, &c., are of the most moderate description, in fact, not more than of one of the inhabitants of the village in which he resides.
“Should you wish to have any further communications with Mr. Csoma, I shall be most happy to be the medium of it; and I beg you will command my best services whenever there may be occasion for them.”
Csoma’s studies among the Buddhist monks were now drawing towards completion. On the 26th March 1830, Csoma applied for permission from Government to remain at Kanum till after the rainy season should cease. Captain Kennedy notified this request to the Resident at Delhi on the 9th of June, asking at the same time for a grant to Csoma of a sum, by way of travelling expenses, to enable him to visit Calcutta, and to take his Tibetan books and manuscripts with him. Captain Kennedy observes, in the course of his letter:
“I deem it my duty to mention that Mr. Csoma’s conduct has been exemplary during the three years he has resided within the protected British territory, and, as I have reason to believe, he has achieved the object he had in view by visiting these states, of forming a grammar and lexicon of the Tibetan language. I beg to submit for your consideration, and eventually for that of Government, the propriety of advancing this learned and enterprising individual a small sum of money to enable him to reach Calcutta, the amount of which I do not apprehend would exceed 500 rupees.” [[106]]
This was sanctioned on the recommendation of the Resident at Delhi, dated 14th June 1829.
Two more original letters in Csoma’s handwriting are extant, written by him at Kanum, and addressed to Mr. B. H. Hodgson, resident at Katmandú, in answer to certain questions which that gentleman addressed to Csoma. These documents also are now in the possession of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. They were generously presented by Mr. Hodgson in 1882, with a request for them to be preserved among the relics of the late Tibetan scholar, in the archives at Budapest. These letters refer to questions of much scientific interest at the period when they were written, and throw light upon the history of Buddhistic literature, when Hodgson and Csoma were fellow-labourers in the same field of Oriental learning. They have not been published before, and deserve, therefore, to find a place in this biography.
The first letter is dated 30th December 1829, and reads thus:
“Sir,—I beg to acknowledge the receipt of the volume you have favoured me with, which reached me on the 21st instant. I feel much obliged for the kindness you have done me, in making me acquainted with the names and contents of so many valuable works you have brought to public notice, and with many other things respecting Buddhism in Nepal. Since you desired me that I should make any remarks on the twelfth article of the volume, I beg you will kindly accept of some observations I take the liberty to make on the subject. And I beg to have me excused for my not having been more particular, as perhaps you had expected from me; my circumstances have not permitted me to do otherwise.
2. “(With reference to p. 410, &c.) Tibetan words, if written properly, are very distinct for the eye, but very confused for the ear, as they are generally uttered. [[107]]In the whole of Tibet there is but one mode of writing, with respect to orthography; there are several ways of pronunciation, according to the several distant provinces. Hence that great discrepancy in the catalogues of Tibetan words furnished by several Europeans. There are to be found in Tibet several examples of alphabets used anciently in India. The late Mr. Moorcroft had sent to Calcutta a copy of the same set that have been exhibited in the plates. The Lantsa letters and their skeletons (that have been likewise represented on the same plate) are used sometimes by the Tibetans now too for inscriptions. They generally use their own characters, either the capital or the small. Their literature in general is contained in books written in any of these two. When one is acquainted with the principles of the Tibetan language, he can read easily both.