298 ANCIENT HISTORY, OF JAVA. one account, ^xe princes are described as having reigned in one place ; by a second, seven. A seat of empire, where four princes are described as hav- ing reigned in a third account, is, princes and all, omitted in a fourth. The average duration of a reign, by one account, is 55 years, — ^by another, 50, - — and by a third, near 40. In short, they abound ~ as much in folly, ignorance, and inconsistency, as we have a right to reckon upon in the remote story of a people still rude and uninformed. Upon such fabulous relations as those now allud- ed to, we can place no confidence whatever, and our only reliance is upon the meagre and un- satisfactory notices contained in ancient inscrip- tions, from which a Jew dates may be ascertained, though not a single hint respecting the transac- tions of the country is to be collected even from these. From the incompetency of our interpre- ters, and the absurd and mystical principle on which dates are generally reckoned, such latitude and uncertainty of interpretation arise, that our resources from inscriptions, even in determining a few dates, are extremely limited; and, in general, it will scarcely be safe to trust to the dates to be deriv- ed from them, except when given in actual figures. The remains of ancient palaces and royal tombs, but particularly of ancient temples, — of numerous images of stone and brass, — and of inscriptions on the same materials, all dedicated to religion, in 11
