Note 54 — Chapter IV · BAKTCHÉSERAI AND TCHOUFOUT KALEH.
Reading edition
The following is the translation of the Tatar inscription on this fountain:—“Glory to God most High! the face of Baktchéserai is made glad by the beneficent care of glorious Prince Geray Khan. With a prodigal hand he has satisfied the thirst of his country, and he will spread other blessings if God lends him his assistance.
“By care and trouble he has opened this excellent spring of water. If there exist such another fountain, let it come! We have seen the towns of Cham (Damascus) and Bagdad, but nowhere have we seen such a fountain. The author of this inscription is called Cheiki. If any man, fainting from thirst, reads these words across the water which escapes trickling from the slender pipe, what do they tell him? Come: drink this limpid water that flows from the purest of springs; it gives health!”
The last three words, when reduced into figures, give the date 1176 (A.D. 1762).—Dubois, vol. vi. p. 328.