# Manx Primary Source Archive — Transcription

**Source image:** `20260219_115356.jpg`  
**Transcribed:** 2026-02-25 19:26  
**Method:** Automated (Claude Batch API — claude-opus-4-6)

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only thirteen years later than the
inscription which is a coincidence that
corroborates the authenticity of both in
a remarkable Degree.

It is certainly an objection to our
argument that the Characters in which
the Date is marked are Arabic and were
not in use in these islands at the
period to which it refers but when it is
considered that they were introduced into
Spain in the 8^th Century and spread
gradually over the northern parts of Europe
it is more than probable that although
200 years were not sufficient for their
general adoption for the ordinary purposes
of the Day yet that space of time must
have afforded opportunities for all
learned men to avail themselves of their
greater utility in calculation, and of these
the Western Isles had become the retreat