v

nm**\

mm* n^c

O.

ASIATICK RESEARCHES;
OR,

TRANSACTIONS
OF THE

SOCIETY INSTITUTED IN BENGAL,

FOR INQUIRING INTO THE

HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES,

THE

ARTS, SCIENCES,

AND LITERATURE,
OF

ASIA.
VOLUME THE FIRST.

THE FIFTH EDITION.

LONDON:
Printed by T. Maiden, Sherboum-Lane, Lombard Street,

VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE; CUTHELL AND MARTIN; J. WALKER; X. LEA; LACK1NGTON, ALLEN, AND CO.; OTRIDGE AND SON; LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME; R. FAULDER; SCATCHERD AND LETTERMAN;
AND.
J.

ASFERNE.

1806.

XA
tt.t

Srrft Blfcllctl iRttitat*

Evanrton, Htimtit

THE

INTRODUCTION.
expectations which may have been haftily formed by the learned in' Europe, they will be candid enough to confider the difadvantages which muft naturally have attended its institution, and retarded

Publication IF this not anfwer thofe fhould

firft

of the Asiatick Society

progrefs. A mere man of letters, retired from the world, and allotting his whole time to philofophical or
its

literary purfuits,

is

a character

unknown among Euro-

peans refident in India,where every individual is a man of bufinefs in the civil or military ftare, and constantly occupied either in the affairs of government, in the adminiftration of juftice, in fome department of revenue or commerce, or in one of the liberal profeffions. Very few hours, therefore, in the day or night, can be
referved for any ftudy, that has no immediate conneaion with bufinefs, even by thofe who are moft habituated to

mental application and it isimpoffible to preferve health in^fTz^/jwithoutregularexercife, and feafonable relaxation of mind not to infift that, in the opinion of an illuftrious Roman, No one can be faid to enjoy liberty, who has not fometimes the privilege of doing nothing." All employments, however, in all countries, afford fome intervals of leifure; and there is an adive fpirjtin European minds, which no climate, or fituation in life, can wholly reprefs, which juftifies the ancient notion, that a change of toil is a /pedes of rep of ; and which feems e to conhder nothing done or learned, while any thing remains unperformed or unknown. Several En^lifh* men, therefore, who refided in a country, every part of which abounds in objefts of curious and ufeful fpeculation, concurred in opinion, that a Society inftitutedat Calcutta, on the plan of thofe eftablifhed jn the princi* pal cities of Europe, might poffibly be the means of con* centratmgall the valuable knowledge which might occafionajly be attained in Afa ; or ofpreferving*atleaft jpany little trafts aqdcffays, the writers of which might
: :

Ml

IV

THE INTRODUCTION.

not think them of fufficient importance for feparate pubThe Asiatick. Society was accordingly lication. formed on the 15th of January, 1784, by thofe Gentlemen vvhofe names are diftinguifhed by afterifks in the Lift of Members at the end of this book ; and ample materials have already been collected for two large volumes, on a variety of new and interefting fubjects. By this Publication the Inftitution may be conlidered as having taken root; but the plant will flourifh or fade, according as the aQivity or remifihefs of the Members and their correfpondents (hall promote or obftruct its It will flourifh, if naturalifts, chemifts, antigrowth. philologers, and men of fcience, in different quaries, parts of Ajia, will commit their obfervations to writing, and fend them to the Prefident or the Secretary at Calcutta ; it will languifh, if fuch communications fhall be long intermitted; and it will die awa} , if they fhall entirely ceafe: for it is morally impoffible that a few men, whatever be their zeal, who have great public duties to difcharge, and difficult private ftudies connected with thofe duties, can fupport fuch an eftablifhment without the mod afliduous and eager auxiliaries. Before we proceed to give a fhort hiftory of the inftitution, it may be proper to declare, that the Society will
r

pafs

no

decifion, in their collective capacity,

on any

point of of fuch diftertations, as they fhall think worthy to be publifhed from time to time, muft hold themfelves individually refponfible for their own opinions a declaration which is conformable, we believe, to the practice of fimilar Societies in Europe. It having been refolved to follow, as nearly as poflible, the plan of the Royal Society at London, of which the King is Patron, it was agreed, at the fu ft regular meeting, that the following Letter fhould be lent to the GoVernor-General and Council, as the Executive Power in the Company's territories: and their anfwer, which is alfo fubjoined. was received in the courfe of the next
;

literature or philofophy; but that the writers

month.
To

THE INTRODUCTION*-

Iff

To

the

HASTINGS, Esq. Honourable Governor-General, Prejident ;

And

WARREN

EDWARD WHELER, JOHN MACPHERSON,

JOHN STABLES,
Esquires,
in Bengal.

Members oj the Council of Yon William,

Honourable Sir and Gextlemex,

of which we are Members, having Purpofe of enquiring into the Hittorv, Civil and Natural, the Antiquities, Arts, Sciences, and Literature of Afia, we are denrous that you will honour us with accepting the Title of our Patrjns, and requeft yon to confider this Application as a Token of the great Refpect with which we are,
been
inltitutecl for the

SOCIETY,

Honourable 81r and Gentlemen,

Your mod obedient and moit humble

Servants,

JOHN HYDE, WILLIAM JONES, JOHN CAR'NAC, DAVID ANDERSON, WILLIAM CHAMBERS, FRANCIS GLADWIN. JONATHAN DUNCAN, THOMAS LAW, CHARLES WILKINS, JOHN DAVID PATERSON, CHARLES CHAPMAN, CHARLES. HAMILTON, GEORGE HILARO BARLOW.

Calcutta,

January 22, 1784.

THE

VI

THE INTRODUCTlONi

THE ANSWER*
Gentlemen,

VV

very

much approve and applaud your

you

endea*

vours to promote the extenfiort of knowledge by the

means which your local advantages

afford

in a de-

gree, perhaps, exceeding thofe of any part of the Globe ;

and we derive great hopes of your attainment of

fo

im-

portant ah end, from our perfonal knowledge of the

abilities

and

talents of the

Gentlemen whofe names we

read in the fubfcription to your addrefs.

We
ferring

accept the

title

you have been

to

defirous of con*
fhall

upon us of Patrons

your Society, and

be happy to avail ourfelves of any occafion that may

occur of contributing to
its

fuccefs.

We are,

Gentlemen,

Your moft obedient humble

Servants,

WARREN HASTINGS, EDWARD WHELER,

JOHN MACPHERSON, JOHN STABLES.

THE INTRODUCTION,

Ylt

Mr. Hastings therefore appeared, as Governor-Ge* neral, among the Patrons of the new Society; but he
feemed, in his private fiation, as the firft liberal promo~ ter of ufefiul knowledge in Bengal, and, efpecially as the great encourager of Perfian and Sanfcrit literature, to dtferve a particular mark of difiinftion ; and he was accordingly requefied, in a Jhort letter, to accept the title It was, indeed, much doubted whether he of Prcfident. would accept any office, the duties of which he could not have leifure to fulfil ; but an offer of the honorary title

was intended as a tribute of refpeB, which the occafion feemed to demand, and which could not have been omitted
without an appearance of inattention His anfwer is alfo annexed. merit.
to his difiinguifJied

Gentlemen,

AM

highly fenfible of the honour which

you

have:

been pleafed to confer upon me, in nominating

be the President of your Society
;

me

to

and

hope you

will

both admit and approve the motives which impel

to decline
it.

me

From an
tution,
it

early conviction of the utility of the Infti-

was

my

anxious wifh that

in

might be, by

whatever means, inftrumeiual

of
it;

promoting the fuccefs

propofed,

but not in the

I

mode which you have

which,

fear,

would
it.

rather prove, if of any effect, an

incumbrance on
I

have not the

leifure requifite to difcharge the func:

tions of fuch a ftation

it

nor, if

did pofiefs

it,

would

be confident with the pride which every

man may be
allowed

Vlll

THE INTRODUCTION.

allowed to

avow in the

purfuit or fupport of the objects

fir ft

of

his perfonal credit, to accept the

ftation in a de-

partment, in which the fuperior talents of my immediate

followers in
it

would mine with

a luftre,
;

from which
and
to ftand

mine muft

fuffer

much

in the

comparifon

in fo confpicuous a point of view, the only ineffective

member

of a.body which

is

yet in

its

infancy,

andcom-

pofed of members with whofe

abilities I

am, and have

long been, in the habits of intimate communication,

and know them

to be all eminently qualified to

it.

fill

their

refpective parts in

On
make

thefe

grounds

requeft your permiffion to de-

cline the offer

which you have done

to yield

me

the

honour

to

to

me, and

my
it

pretenfions to the

Genis

tleman whofe genius planned the Inftitution, and

mod

capable of conducting

to the attainment of the

its

great and fplendid purpofes of

I at

formation.

the fame time earneftly folicit

'fervices in

any way

in

your acceptance of which they can be, and I hope your Refearches.

that they

may

be, rendered ufeful to

have the honour to be, Gentlemen,

Your mod

obedient and moft humble Servant,

WARREN HASTINGS,
Fori William, January 30, ITS !.

Sir William Jones of the Society ; and, at their next meeting, he delivered the follovnng Difcourfc.

On

the receipt of this Letter,

Prc.fi dent

was nominated

DISCOURSE
ON THE

INSTITUTION OF A SOCIETY
FOR INQUIRING INTO THE

HISTORY, CIVIL AND NATURAL,

THE

ANTIQUITIES, ARTS, SCIENCES,

AND LITERATURE,
OF

ASIA.
BY THE PRESIDENT.

Gentlemen,
I was at fea laft Auguft, on my voyage to this country, which I had long and ardently defired to yifit, 1 found one evening, on infpecting the obfervations of the day, that India lay before us, and Perjia on our left, whilft a breeze from Arabia blew nearly on our flern. A fituation fo pleafmg in itfelf, and to me fo new, could not Fail to awaken a train of reflections in a mind which had early been accuftomed to contemplate with delight, the eventful hiftories and agreeable fictions of this eaflern world. It gave me inexpremble pleafure to find myfelf in the

WHEN

midft of fo noble an amphitheatre,

circled

almoft en-

by the

vaft regions of-AJia,

which has ever been

THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.

been efleemed the nurfe of fciences, the inventrefs of delightful and ufeful arts, the fcene of glorious aclions, fertile in the productions of human genius, abounding in natural wonders, and infinitely diverfified in the forms of religion and government, in the laws, manners, cuftoms, and languages, as well as in the features and complexions of men. I could not help remarking how important and exterifive a field was yet unexplored, and how many folid advantages unimproved and when I
:

confidered, with pain, that, in this fluctuating, imperfect, and limited condition of life, fuch inquiries

and improvements could only be made by the united efforts of many, who are not eafily brought, without fome preffing inducement, or ftrong impulfe, to converge in a common point, I confoled myfelf with a hope, founded on opinions, which it might have the appearance of flattery to mention, that, if in any country, or community, fuch an union could be effected, it was among my countrymen in Bengal; with fome of whom I already had, and with moft was defirous of having, the pleafure of being intimately acquainted.

You have realized that hope, Gentlemen, and even anticipated a declaration of my wifhes, by your alacrity in laying the foundation of a Society for inquiring into the Hiftory and Antiquities, the Natural Produclions, Arts, Sciences, and LiteraI may confidently fortel, that an ture, of Ajia.
and eonvey knowledge, to mankind, will advance to maturity by flow, yet certain, degrees as the Society, which, at firfi. was only a meeting Royal 1 of
inftitution fo likely to afford entertainment,
;

THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.

of a few

XI

literary friends at Oxford, rofe gradually to that fplendid zenith, at which a Halley was their fecretaryj and a Newton their prefi-

dent.

Although

it

is

my humble

opinion, that, in

order to enfure our luccefs and permanence, we muft keep a middle courie> between a languid remiflhefs and an over zealous activity, and that the tree, which you have aufpiciouily planted,

produce fairer bloffoms, and more exquifite fruit, if it be not at flrft expofed to too great a glare of funfhine, yet I take the liberty of fubmitting to your con fi deration a few general ideas on the plan of your Society \ alluring you, that, whether you reject or approve them, your correction will give me both pleafure and inftrucrion, as your flattering attentions have already conferred on me
will

the higheft honour.

your delign, I conceive, to take an ample fpace for your learned investigations, bounding them only by the geographical limits of Afia ; lo that confidering Hindaftan as a centre, and turning your eyes in idea to the north, you have on your right many important kingdoms in the eaftern peninfula the ancient and wonderful empire of China, with all her Tartarian dependencies and that of Japan, with the duller of precious iflands, in which many fmgular curiofities have too long been concealed. Before you lies that prodigious chain of mountains which formerly, perhaps, were a barrier againft the violence of the lea and beyond them the very interesting country of Tibet* and the vaft regions of Tartary, from which, as from
It is
;
;

XU

THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.

from the Trojan horfe of the poets, have iffued fo many confummate warriors, whole domain has extended at leail from the banks of die Jhffus to the mouths of the Ganges. On your left are the beautiful and celebrated provinces of Iran, or Perjia ; the unmeafured, and, perhaps, unmeafurable, deferts of'Arabia ; and the once flou

rifhing

kingdom of Yemen, with

the plealant ides

:

and that the Arabs have fubdued or colonized farther weftward, the AJiatick dominions of the
Turkijh fultans, whole moon feems approaching By this great circumference its wane. the field of your ufeful refearches will be inclofed:. but, lince Egypt had unqueftionably an old connexion with this country, if not with China fmce; the language and literature of the A byjjinians bear a manned affinity to thofe of Afia ; fince the Arabian arms prevailed along the African coafl of the Mediterranean, and even eretied a powerfuldynafty on the continent of Europe ; you may not be difpleafed occafionally to follow the ftreams of AJiatick learning a little beyond its natural boundary. And if it be neceflary, or convenient, that a {fiort name or epithet be given to our Society, in order to dininguifh it in the world, that of AJiatick appears both claifical and proper, whether we confider the place or the object of the infliturapidly to
;
-

tion

and preferable muh, a word merely

;

monly ufed
idea.

in

which is, in relative, and though com-, Europe, conveys no very diflinct
to

Oriental,

If
jects

now

it

be afked, what are the intended ob-

of our inquiries within thefe fpacious limits, weanfwer, Man and Nature; whatever is performed

THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.

xiii

formed by the one, or produced by the other. knowledge has been elegantly analyfed according to the three great faculties of the mind, memory, reafon, and imagination, which we conftantly find employed in arranging and retaining, comparing and diftinguiming, combining and diversifying, the ideas which we receive through our fenfes, or acquire by reflection hence the three main branches of learning are hiJiory,fcicnce, and The- firit comprehends either an account of art. natural productions, or the genuine records of empires and ftates the fecond embraces the whole circle of pure and mixed mathematics, together with ethicks and law, as far as they depend on the reafoning faculty % and the third includes all the beauties of imagery, and the charms of invention, difplayed in modulated language, or reprefented by colour, figure, or found.

Human

Agreeably to this analyfis, you will inveiiigate whatever is rare in the Itupendous fabrick of nawill correct the geography of Ajla by new ture obfervations and difcoveries will trace the annals, and even traditions, of thofe nations, who, from time to time, have peopled or defoiated it; and will bring to light their various forms of government, with their inltitutions civil and religious. You will examine their improvements and methods in arithmetick and geometry, in trigonometrv, menfuration, mechanicks, opticks, aftronomy, and general phyficks their fy Items of morality, grammar, rhetorick, and dialeclick their (kill in chirurgery and medicine and their advancement, whatever it may be, in anatomy and chemiilry. To this you will add refearches into their agricul;
;

ture,

XVI

THE PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.

and a zeal
promotion of
inftitution, I

qualification than a love of knowledge,

for the

it.

Your
of
itfelf ;

am

perfuaded,

will ripen

and your meetings will be amply lupplied with interefting and amufing papers, as foon as the object of your inquiries fhall be generally known. There are (it may not be delicate to name them, but there are) many from whofe important ftudies
tations.
I

And,

as far as

cannot but conceive high expecmere labour will avail, I

if, in my allotted fphere jurifprudence, or in any intellectual excurhon of that I may have leifure to make, I fhould be fo fortunate as to collecl;, by accident, either fruits or flowers, which may feem valuable or pleafing, I fhall offer my humble Nezr to your Society with

fincerely promife, that,

as

much
earth.

refpe6lful zeal as to the greatefl potentate

on

TRANSACTIONS

Vbi..l.

7%r Sytfcm rf

Pi.ate.1.

INDIANAKAB IANaid PERSIAN

Letters
a e

Tia

Kha
G

lwye/ /.!
o _

7J?//?/?<;/m/s
aa
1
s

a a
l
ir

ya

wa
an
Iti

u
Tl

ai

t a

lri
ii
'07/

la aa

a a

ee

uu

/th/r/ ///.}'

c a

ka
s

jia

za
'da

sa

ta

na
na

ta

da

Pa

3>a

ma

Co&iJi o 7/?f as
ciia

chjia

ja
za

jha

za

za

csha

nya jnya

TRANSACTIONS

ASIATICK SOCIETY,

i.

A DISSERTATION
ON THE

Orthography of Asiatick Words

in

Roman Letters.

PRESIDENT.
man, who has occafion to compofe tracts on Afiatick literature, or to tranflate from the Afiatick languages, muft always find it convenient, and fometimes necefiary, to exprefs Arabian , Indian and Perfian words, or fentences, in the characters generally ufed among Europeans; and almoft every writer in thofe circumiiances, has a method of notation peculiar to himfelf but none has yet appeared in the form of a complete fyftem, fo that each original found may be rendered invariably by one appropriated fymbol, conformably to the natural order of articuB Vol, L lation a
:

EVERY

: ;

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY
lation, and with a due regard to the primitive power of the Roman alphabet, which modern Europe has in general adopted. A want of attention to this object, hasoccafioned great confufionin hiftory and geography. The ancient Greeks, who made a voluntary facrifice of truth to the delicacy of their ears, appear to have altered, by defign,almoll all the oriental names which they introduced into their elegant, but romantic, hiftofies and even their more modern geographers, who were too vain, perhaps, of their own language to learn any other, have fo ftrangelydifguifed the proper appellations of countries, cities, and rivers, in A/ia, that, without the guidance of the fagacious and indefatigable Monfieur D'Anville, it would have been as troublefome to follow Alexander through the Panjdb on the Ptolemaick map of Agathod^emon, as a6tually to travel over the fame country in its prefentftate of rudenefsanddiforder. They had an unwarrantable method of moulding foreign names to a Grecian form, and giving them a refem-

blance to fome derivative word in their own tongue. Thus they changed the Gogra into Agoranis, or a river of the ajjembly ; Uchab into Oxydracos, or Jliarp-Jighted ; and Renas into Aornos, or a rock inaccejfible to birds whence their poets, who delighted in wonders, embellifhed their works with new images, diflinguifhing regions and fortreffes by properties which exifted only in imagination. If we have lefs livelinefs of fancy than the ancients, we have more accuracy, more love of truth* and if our and, perhaps, more folidity of judgment works ihall afford lefs delight to thofe in refpeel of whom we mall be ancients, it may be faid, without prefumption, that we fliall give them more correct information on the hiftory and geography of this Eaftern World; fince no man can perfectly defcribe a country who is unacquainted with the language of it. The learned and entertaining work of M. D'Hlrbelot,
:

which profeffes to interpret and elucidate the names of perfons and places, and the titles of books, abounds aifo in citations from the belt writers of Arabia and

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

orthography will be found of other writers on fimilar fubjefts, without excepting the illuftrious Prince Kantemir, ft ill it requires more than a moderate knowledge of Perfian, Arabick, and TurkifJi, to comprehend all the characters quoted by him in European characters; one inftance of which I cannot forbear giving. In the account of Ibnu Zaidiin, a celebrated Andalufian poet, the fir ft couplet of an elegy in Arabick is praifed for its elegance, and expreffed thus in Roman

and Perjia
lefs

yet,

though
that

his

defective than

letters

Iekad hei'n tenagikom dhamairna; Iacdha alai'na alalia laula taflina.

u The time," adds the tranflator, " will foon come, " when you will deliver us from all our cares the re" medy is allured, provided we have a little patience." When Dr. Hunt, of Oxford, whom I am bound to
:

name

with gratitude and veneration, together with two or three others, attempted, at my requeft, to write the fame diftich in Arabian characters, they all wrote it differently, and all, in my prefent opinion, erroneoudy. I was then a very young ftudent, and could not eafily have procured Ibnu Zai dun's works, which are, no doubt, preferved in the Bodiey Library, but which have not fince fallen in my way. This admired couplet, therefore, I have never feen in the original characters, and confefs myfelf at a lofs to render them with certainty. Both verfes are written by D'Herbelot without attention to the grammatical points that is, in a form which no learned Arab would give them in recitation. But, although the French verfion be palpably erroneous, it is by no means eafy to correct, the error. If dldsd, or a remedy, be the true reading, the negative particle muft be abfurd; fince iadjjaind fignifies we are patient, and not we defpair : but if dldfay, or affliction, be the proper word, fome obfcurity muft arife from the
:

verb,

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY
verb, with which
it

agrees.

On
o

the whole, I guefs,

:

that the diftich fhould thus be written

J^

^ 1 J O

Yecddu hhina tundjicum d'emdirund Yakdl dlaind 'lafay lau Id tadffind.

Ci

When our

bofoms impart
fix

their fecrets to
if

you, an-

ffuifh would almoft " mutually to confole

our doom,

we were not

ourfelves."

The

principal verbs

may have

a future fenfe, and

the laft word may admit of a different interpretation. Dr. Hunt, I remember, had found in Giggeius the word dhemdyer, which he conceived to be in the origiAfter all, the rhyme feems imperfect, and the nal.

meafure irregular. Now I afk whether fuch perplexities could have arifen, if D'Herbelot, or his editor, had formed a regular fyftem of expreffing Arabickm Roman characters, and had apprized his readers of it in his
introductory differtation
?

If a further proof be required, that fuch a fyftem will be ufeful to the learned, and effential to the fludent, let me remark, that a learner of Perjian, who fhould read in our beft hillories, the life of Sultan Azim, and

wifh to write his name in Arabick letters, might exprefs it thirty-nine different ways, and be wrong at laft. The word fhould be written Adzem, with three points on the firft confonant.

There are two general modes of exhibiting Afiatick words in our own letters: they are founded on principles nearly oppofite j but each of them has its advantages, and

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

tnd each has been recommended by refpe&able authoThe firft profefTes to regard chiefly the pronunrities. and this ciation of the words intended to be expreffed method, as far as it can be purfued, is unqueftionably ufeful but new founds are very inadequately prefented to a fenfe not formed to receive them ; and the reader muft, in the end, be left to pronounce many letters and fyllables precarioufly ; befides, that by this mode of orthography, all grammatical analogy is deftroyed, fim'ple founds are reprefented by double characters, vowels of one denomination ftand for thofe of another; and poffibly, with all our labour, we perpetuate a pro;
:

All thefe objecwriting Ku?nwterbund, in which neither the letters, nor the true found of them, are preferred; while Kemerbend, or Cemerbend, as an ancient Briton would write it, clearly exhibits both the original characters, and the Perfian pronunciation of them. To fet this point in a ftrong light, we need only fuppofe that the French had adopted a fvftem of letters wholly different from ours, and of which we had no types in our printing-houfes let us conceive an Englijiiman, acquainted with their language, to be pleafed with Malkerbe's well-known imitation of Horace, and defirous of quoting it in fome piece of he would read it thus : criticifm
tions

vincial or inelegant pronunciation.

may

be

made

to the ufual

way of

La mort a
8

des rigueurs
:

a.

nulie autre pareilles

les oreilles,

On

a beau la prier
laifle crier.

'

La
'

cruelle qu'elle eft fe

bouche

Et nous

Le pauvre en
6

fa

cabane, ou

le

chaume

le

couvre,

Eft fujet a fes loix, Et la garde, qui veille aux barrieres du Louvre,
*

N'en defend pas nos

rois

!'

Would

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

Would he then exprefs thefe eight verfes, in Roman chara&ers, exactly as the French themfelves in facl exprefs them ; or would he decorate his compofition with a paflage more refembling the dialect of favages, than that of a polifhed nation ? His pronunciation, good or bad, would, perhaps, be thus reprefented
Law more aw day reegyewrs aw nool otruh parellyuh, Onne aw bo law preeay Law crooellyuh kellay fuh boofhuh lays orellyuh,
'
:

'

Ay noo

layfuh creeay.

faw cawbawn oo luh chomuh luh coovruh, 4 Ay foozyet aw fay lwaw, Ay law gawrduh kee velly 6 bawryayruhdyoo Loovruh, 6 Nong dayfong paw no rwaw !'

Luh povre ong

4

The fecond

fyftem of Afiatick orthography confifts

in fcrupuloufly rendering letter for letter, without

any

particular care to preferve the pronunciation

long as

this

mode

and, as proceeds by unvaried rules, it feems

;

clearly entitled to the preference.

For

the

firft

method of writing Perfian words,

the

warmed advocate, among my acquaintance, was the late Major Davy, a member of our Society, and a man of parts, whom the world loft prematurely, at a time when
he was meditating a literary retirement, and hoping to pafs the remainder of his life in domeftick happinefs, and in the cultivation of his very ufeful talents. He valued himfelf particularly on his pronunciation of the Perfian language, and of his new way of exhibiting it in our characters, which he iniiructed the learned and amiable editor of his Injlitutes of Timour, at Oxford,
to

OF ASIATICK WORDS.
to retain with

7
his

minute attention throughout

work.

he had acquired his refined articulation of the Perfian I never was informed ; but it is evident that he fpells raoft proper names in a manner which a native of Perfia, who could read our letters, would be unable

Where

For inftance ; that the capital of comprehend. Azarbdijdn is now called Tabriz, I know from the mouth of a perfon born in that city, as well as from other Iranians ; and that it was fo called fixteen hundred years ago, we all know from the Geography of Ptolemy ; vet Major Davy always wrote it 1 ubburaze, Wheand infilled that it mould thus be pronounced. ther the natives of Semerkand, or Samarkand, who probably fpeak the diale6t of Soghd with a Turanian proto

cannot believe it; and am convinced, that the former mode of writing the word, expreffes both the letters, and the found of them, better than any other combination of characters. His method, therefore, has every defecl; fince it renders neither the original elements of words, nor the founds reprefented by them in Per/ia, where alone we mult feek for genuine Per/ian,a.s for French in France*
I

nunciation, call their birth-place, as Summurkund, I have yet to learn; but

Davy

fpelled

it,

and

for Italian in Italy.

The fecond method has found two able fupporters in Mr. Halhed and Mr. Wilkins; to the firlt of whom the public is indebted for a perfpicuous and ample grammar of the Bengal language ; and to the fecond for more advantages in Indian literature, than Europe
or India can ever fufficiently acknowledge.

Mr. Halhed having

4
fc

juftly remarked,

that the

two

*
4

orthography of any language, are the application of the fame letter to feveral different founds, and of different letters to the fame found,' truly pronounces them both to be 4 fo common in Englijh, that he was exceedingly embarraffed in the choice of letters to exprefs the found of the 4 Bengal B 4
greateft defecls in the


c
6

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY
Bengal vowels, and was
with his
at laft

own

feleclion.'

If

by no means fatisfied any thing diffatisfies me,

it is

in his clear
letters

and accurate fyftem,

the ufe of double

however, be juftified,) and the frequent intermixture of Italick with Roman letters in the fame word ; which, both in writing and printing, mufl be very inconvenient. Perhaps it may be added, that his diphthongs are not expreffed analogoufly to the founds of which they are
for the long vowels, (which might,

compofed.

The fyftem of Mr. Wilkins has been equally well confidered; and Mr. Halhed himfelf has, indeed, adopted it in his preface to the Compilation of Hindu Laws. It principally confifts of double letters, to fignify our third and fifth vowels; and of the common profodial marks, to afcertain their brevity or their length: but thofe marks are lb generally appropriated to books of profody, that they never fail to convey an Nor, if either profodial fign were idea of metre. adopted, would both be necefTary ; fince the omiffion of a long mark would evidently denote the fhortnefs of On the whole, the unmarked vowel, or converfely. I cannot but approve this notation for Sanfcrit words, yet require fomething more univerfally expreflive of As it is perfect, however, in its kind, Ajiatick letters. and will appear in the works of its learned inventor* I fhall annex, among the examples, four diltichs from the Bhdgawat, expreffed both in his method and mine*. tranflation of them will be produced on another ocBut, in order to render this tract, as complete cafion. as poflible, a fuller fpecimen of Sanfcrit will be fubj[oined with the original, printed in the characters of Bengal, into which the Brdhmans of that province tranfpofe all their books, few of them being able to read the Devandgari letters; fo far has their indolence prevailed over their piety

Let
* Plate IV.

OF ASIATICK WORDS,
Let

proceed, not prefcribing rules for others, but explaining thofe which I have prefcribed for myfelf, to unfold my own fyftem, the convenience of which has been proved by careful obfervation and long experience.

me now

would be fuperfluous to difcourfe on the organs of fpeech, which have been a thoufand times difiec'ted, and as often defcribed,by muficians or anatomifts ; and
It

the feveral powers of which every man may perceive, either by the touch or by fight, if he will attentively obferve another perfon pronouncing the different claffes of letters, or pronounce them himfelf diftinclly

but a fhort analyfis of articulate before a mirror be proper to introduce an examination of founds may
:

every feparate fymbol. All things abound with err our, as the old fearchers for truth remarked with defpondence but it is really deplorable that our firlt ftep from total ignorance mould be into grofs inaccuracy $ and that we mould begin our education in England with learning to read the five vowels, two of which, as we are taught to pronounce them, are clearly diphthongs. There are, indeed, five fimple vocal founds in our language, as in that of Rome, which occur in the words an innocent bull) though not preciiely in their natural order; for we have retained the true arrangement of the letters, while we capricioufly disarrange them in pronunciation; fo that our eyes are Satisfied, and our ears difappointed. The primary elements of articulation are the fojt and hard
:

breathings, the fpiritus lenis and fpiritus a/per of the Latin grammarians. If the lips be opened ever fo little
the breath fuffered gently to pafs through them, and the feebleft utterance attempted, a found is formed of fo fimple a nature, that, when lengthened, it continues

nearly the fame, except that, by the leafl acutenefs in she voice, it becomes a cry, and is probably the firft (bund uttered by infants: but if, while this element is
articulated,

lO

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

articulated, the breath be forced with an effort through the lips, we form an af pirate, more or lefs harm in

proportion to the force exerted. When, in pronouncing the fimple vowel, we open our lips wider, we express a found completely articulated, which moft nations have agreed to place the Jirft in their fymbolical fyftems by opening them wider (till, with the corners of them a little drawn back, we give birth to the fecond of the Roman vowels; and by a large aperture, with a farther inflexion of the lips, and a higher elevation of the tongue, we utter the third of them. By purfing up our lips in the leaft degree, we convert the fimple element into another found, of the fame nature with the jirji vowel, and eafily confounded with it in a broad pronunciation when this new found is lengthened, it approaches very nearly to the Jourth vowel, which we form by a bolder and ftronger rotundity of the mouth a farther contraction of it produces the fifth vowel, which, in its elongation, almoft clofes the lips, a fmall paffage only being left for the breath. Thefeareall fhort vowels and if an Italian were to read the words an innocent bull, he would give the found of each correfponding longvowel,asin the monofyllables of his own language, fd,fi,fo\ fe,fii. Between thefe ten vowels are numberlefs gradations, and nice inflexions, which ufe only can teach; and, by the compofition of them all, might be formed an hundred diphthongs, and a thoufand triphthongs ; many of which are found in Italian, and were probably articulated by the Greeks; but we have only occafion in this tracl for two diphthongs, which are compounded of the firfl vowel with the third, and with the fifth, and fhould be expreffed by their conftituent letters. As to thofe vocal compounds which begin with the third and fifth fhort vowels, they are generally, and not inconveniently, rendered by diftinct characters, which are improperly arranged among the confonants. The tongue, which alfifts in forming fome of the vowels, is the principal inltrument in articulating two liquid founds, which have fomething of a local nature one
:
:

by

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

11

the roots of the upper teeth, while the breath pafles gently through the lips ; another, by an inflexion upwards, with a tremulous motion ; and thefe two liquids coalefce with fuch eafe, that a mixed letter, ufed in fome languages, may be formed by the firft of them followed by the fecond. When the breath is obftrucled by the prefTure of the tongue, and forced

by finking

between the teeth on each

fide

of

it,

a liquid

is

formed

peculiar to the Bridjli dialecl of the Ccltick.

may now confider in the fame order, beginning with the root of the tongue, and ending with the perfect clofe of the lips, thofe lefs mufical founds, which require the aid of a vowel, or at lead of the fimple breathing, to be fully articulated .and it may here be premifed,that the har/Ji breathing didintzily pronounced after each of thefe conjonants, as they are named by
:

We

grammarians, constitutes

its

proper ajpirate.

By the affiftance of the tongue and the palate, are produced two congenial founds, differing only as hard jnd Joft ; and thefe two may be formed ftill deeper in the throat, fo as to imitate, with a long vowel after them,
the voice of a raven
:

but

if,

while they are uttered,

two analogous articuwhich feems to characterize the pronunciation of the Arabs; while the najal found, very common among the Perjians and Indians, may be confidered as the Jc>/t palatine, with part of the breath pafling through thenofe; which organ would by itfelf rather produce a vocal found, common alio in Arabia, and not unlike the cry of a young antelope, and fome other quadrupeds.
the breath be hardily protruded,
lations are heard, the fecond of

different claffes of dentals ; and among of them mould be placed the Jibilants, which moil nations exprefs by an indented figure. Each of

Next come
firft

the

the

Pi A TIL 2.

Tor. L

-&-5nTX13
^ ^
ft

*Z

*ZL

31

$ ^
^1
5R1

f f
^ $

f f * ^

J.

^"S.5T'3T31

"3B|^17I^!15y?

^"KaHjqg^^qyi
s
^
?i

OF ASIATICK

WOB

13

could be added, or taken away, without manifeft inconvenience; and the fame may indubitably be laid of the Devandgarl fyllem ; which, as it is more naturally arranged than any other, (hall here be the ftandard of my particular obfervations on Ajiatick letters. Our Englijk alphabet and orthography are difgracefully, and almoR ridiculoufly, imperfeft ; and it would be impoffible to exprefs either Indian, Perjian or Arabian words in Roman characters, as we are abfiirdly taught to pronounce them but a mixture of new characters would be inconvenient; and, by the help of the diacritical marks ufed by the French, with a few of thofe adopted in our own treatifes on fluxions, we may apply our prefent alphabet fo happily to the notations of all Ajiatick languages, as to equal the Devandgarl itfelf in precifion and clearnefsj and fo regularly, that any one, who knew the original letters, might rapidly and unerringly tranfpofe into them all the proper names, appellatives, or cited paffages, occurring in traces of Ajiatick literature.
:

%
This is the fimpleft element of articulation, or flrft vocal found, concerning which enough has been faid. The word America begins and ends with it j and its
proper fymbol therefore is A ; though it may be often very conveniently expreffed by E, for reafons which I fhall prefently offer. In our own anomalous language, we commonly mark this elementary found by our fifth vowel, but fometimes exprefs it by a ftrange variety both of vowels and diphthongs ; as in the phrafe, a mother bird flutters over her young ; an irregularity which no regard to the derivation of words, or to blind cuftom, can in any degree juftify. The Ndgari letter is called Acdr ; but it is pronounced in BengalMke. our fourth
fhort

1^
fhort

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

vowel ; and in the weft of India like our frjl. In all the dialects properly Indian, it is confidered as inherent in every confonant; and is placed laft in the fy Item of the Tibetians, becaufe the letters which include If our double it are firft explained in their fchools. confonants were invariably connected, as in Sanfcrit, it would certainly be the better way to omit the iimple This letter element, except when it begins a word. anfwers to the fal-hhah, or open found of the Arabs,
and, in fome few words, to the Zeber of the Perfians, but this or an acute placed above the letters Arabian mark, which was fupplied in the Pahlavi by a diftinct character, is more frequently pronounced at Isfahan, either like our jirjl or our Jecond fhort vowel, as in chajlim and ferz end ; and the diftinction feems to depend, in general, on the nature of the confonant which follows it. Two of our letters, therefore, are neceffary for the complete notation of the acdr and zeber ; and thus we may be able occafionaliy to avoid ridiculous or offenlive equivocations in writing oriental words, and to preferve the true pronunciation of the Perjians, which differs as widely from that of the Miiflimans in India, as the language of our court at St. James's differs from that of the rufticks in the
:

Gentle Shepherd.

3Tl

When
the
it

word

the firjl vowel, as the Perfians pronounce it in bakht, is doubled, or prolonged, as in bdkht,

Ndgari vowel, and of the Arabick letter, that is, of our long vowel in cajl ; but the Arabs deride the Perfians for their broad pronunciation of this letter, which in Iran has always the found of our vowel in call, and is often fo prolated, as to refemble the fourth, and even the fifth, of our long vowels. Its natural mark would be the fhort A doubled : but an a(U e accent in the middle of words, or a grave at the end of them, will be equally clear, and conformhas the found of the fecond
firft
f

able

Pl^yte.

Vo_l

\
i

V
*

-*
'

/
r

*
i

OF A3IAT1CK WORDS.

1$

able to the practice of polifhcd nations on the continent The very broad found of the Arabian letof Europe.
ter, which they call extended, and which the Perfians extend yet more, as in the word dfdn, may aptly enough bereprefented by the profodial fign, fince it is constantly long; whereas the mark hamzhah as conftantly Jhortens the letter, and gives it the found of the point above or below it, as in the words dsiiland IJldm. The changes of this letter may perplex the learned, but his perplexity In writing Afiatick will foon vanifh as he advances. names, we frequently confound the broad a with its correfpondent fhort vowel, which we improperly exthus we write Cojjim for Kdfim, in deprefs by an O fiance of analogy and correclnefs. Our vowel in fond occurs but feldom, if ever, in Arabian, Indian, or Perfian words. It is placed, neverthelefs, in the general fyftem, with the fhort profodial mark, and ftands at the head of the vowels, becaufe it is, in truth, only a variation of the fimple breathing.
:

third vowel, correctly pronounced, appears next Ndgari fyftem ; for our fecond fhort vowel has no place in it. This vocal found is reprefented in Arabick by an acute accent under the letter, which at Mecca has almoft invariably the fame pronunciation; but fince in the Zend a character like the Greek E-pfdon reprefents both our fecond and third fhort vowels, the Perfians often pronounce zir like zeber, calling this country Hend, and the natives of it Hendiis neverthelefs, it will be proper to denote the Sanfcrit icdr,and the Arabian cafr, by one unaltered fymbol ,asin the words Indra and Imam,
in the
:

Our

The third vowel produced or lengthened, is, for the realon before fuggelted, bed marked by an accent, either acute or grave 3 as in Italian
:

Sc

l6

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY
Se cerca, fe dice L'amico dov'c ? L'amico infelice,
!
!

Rifpondi, raori Ah no ; si gran duolo Non darle per me. Rifpondi, ma folo
;

Piangendo

parti.

by words Lebeid and Deiwdn, to denote the point in Arabick as well as the letter above it but my prefent opinion is, that Lebld and Diwdn are more conformable to analogy, and to the Italian orthography, which, of all European fyftems, approaches
It

was once

my

practice toreprefent this long vowel

two marks,

as in the

neareit to perfection.

This is our fifth vowel; for our fourth fhort one is, our fee ond, rejected from the pure pronunciation of the Sanferit in the weft of India, andatBdndras*; though the Bengalcfe retain it in the firft Ndgari letter, which they call ocdr. To the notation of this found, our vowel in full, and the Perfian in gul, mould be conftantly appropriated, fince it is a fimple articulation, and cannot, without impropriety, be reprefented by a double letter. It anfwers to hu-pfilon, and, like that, is often confounded with iota. Thus mujhc has the found of miJJic among the modern Perfians ; as Numpha was pronounced Nympha by the Romans. The damm of the Arabs is, however, frequently founded, efpecially in Perfia, like our fhort O in memory ; and the choice of two marks for a variable found is not improper in itfelf, and will fometimes be found very convenient.
like

The

OF ASIATICK WORDS*

17

3
lengthened, and properly exprefled by an word virtii : it is a very long vowel in Perjian* fo as nearly to treble the quantity of its correfpondent fhort one; and this, indeed, may be obferved of all the long vowels in the genuine hfahdni pronunciation; but the letter vdu is often redundant, fo as not to alter the found of the fhort vowel preceding it; as in kho'/h and khod : it may, neverthelefs, be right to exprefs that letter by an accent.
accent, as in the

The fame

$
A vocal found peculiar to the Sanfcrit language it formed by a gentle vibration of the tongue preceding our third vowel pronounced very Jhort, and may be well expreffed by the profodial mark, as in Ri/Jii, a Saint. When it is connected with a confonant, as in Chrt/hna, no part of it is ufed but the curve at the bottom. We have a fimilar found in the word merrily, the fecond fyllable of which is much fhorter than the firft fyllable of riches.
:

is

9
The fame complex found confiderably lengthened; and, therefore, diftinguifhable by the profodial fign of a long vowel.
Vol.
I.

In

l8

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

In Bengal, where the ra

ciation of

is

often funk in the pronun-

compound

fyllables, this letter expreffes

lily
:

fyllables of

our word

but

its

both genuine found, I

believe,

is Iri,

a fliort triphthong, peculiar to the San-

Jcrit language.

Whatever be the true pronunciation of the former fymbol, this is only an elongation of it, and may, therefore, be diftinguifhed by the metrical fign of a long vowel.

others,

fecond long vowel, beft reprefented, like the by an accent, as in Veda, the facred book of the Hindus, which is a derivative from the Sanfcrit root vid, to know. The notation which I recommend will have this important advantage, that learned foreigners in Europe, will in general pronounce the oriental words expreffed by it, with as much corre&nefs and facility as

Our

our own nation.

This is a diphthong, compofed of our firjl and third vowels, and expreffible, therefore, by them, as in the word Vaidya, derived from Veda, and meaning a man oj the medical cajt in Bengal. It is pronounced as the
Greek diphtl.ojg
in
l

poimen^ a Jliepherd, was probably

founded

OF ASIATICK WORDS.
founded
in ancient Greece.

19

The Arabs and the Englijh compohtion exactly alike ; though we are pleafed to exprefs it by a fimple letter, which on the In the continent of Europe has its genuine found. mouth of an Italian, the conftituent vowels in the words mai and miei do not perfectly coalefce, and at the clofe of a verfe, they are feparated; but a Frenchman and a Perjian would pronounce them nearly like the preceding lon vowel; as in the word Mai. which at Paris means our month of the fame name, and at Isfahan fignifies wine. The Perjian word, indeed, might with great
articulate this

propriety be written mei. as the diphthong feems rather to be compofed of our Jecond and third fhort vowels; a compofition very common in Italian poetry.

Though
found
in
fact,

in Sanfcrit, as in the myftical

of acdr and ucdr forms this word dm, yet it is, a fimple articulation, and the fourth of our
a

coalition

long vowels.

Here, indeed, we meet with a proper diphthong, compounded of our firfl and fifth vowels; and in Perjia
the
the conftituent founds are not perfectly united; as in word Firdaufi, which an Italian would pronounce

words,
letters

exactly like a native of Isfahan. Perhaps, in Arabick it may be proper to reprefent by an accent, the

which, preceded by the open vowel, Zohair and Jauheri : but the omiilion of this accent would occafion little inconvenience.
ivdzv,

yd and

form

the refpective diphthongs in

This

20

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

3T
This is no vowel, but an abbreviation, at the end of a fyllable, of the nafal confonants: thus the Portuguefe write Siao for Siam with a nafal termination: and the
accurate
to write

M. D'Anville expreffes great unwillingnefs Siam for the country, and Siamois for the people

it, yet acknowledges his fear of innovating, ' notwithstanding his attachment to the original and proper ' denominations of countries and places.' It appears to me, that the addition of a diftinct letter, ga, would be an improper and inconvenient mode of exprefling the nafal found, and that we cannot do better than adopt the Indian method of diftinguifhing it, in Sanfcrit, Chinefe, and Perjian words, by a point above the letter; as in Sinha, a lion; Cdhhi, the name of an illuftrious Emperor; and Sdmdh, a houfehold.

of

3*
This too is an abbreviation or fubftitute, at the clofe of a fyllable, for the jlrong afpirate, and may be diftinguifhed in the middle of a word by a hyphen, as in duh-cha, pain ; though it feems often to refemble the Arabian hd, which gives only a more forcible found to the vowel which precedes it, as in hhicmah, fcience* It is well known, that, when fuch Arabick words are ufed in conftruclion, the final afpirate of the firft noun has the found of td ; but, as the letter remains unaltered, it mould, I think, be preferved in our characters, and exprelled either by two points above it, as in Arabick, or by an accentual mark ; fince, if we write Zubdahu'lmulc, or, the Flower of the Realm, with a comma to denote the fuppreflion of the a I if, every learner will know, that the firft word mould be pro-

nounced

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

21

nounced Zubdat.

The ha is often omitted by us, when we write Perfian in Englijh letters, but ought invariably to be inferted, as in Shdkndmah ; fince the afpiration is

very perceptibly founded in the true pronunciation of The Sanfcrit dergdh, rub ah , and other fimilar words. character before us has the lingular property of being interchangeable, by certain rules, both with ra and fa; in the fame manner as the Sylva of the Romans was formed from the JEolick word hylva, and as arbos was ufed in old Latin for arbor*

^
proper confonant of the of letters, formed in the throat near the root of the tongue, properly takes This letter has the found of our k and c in the lead. the words king and cannibal ; but there will be great convenience in exprefiing it uniformly by the fecond of thofe marks, whatever be the vowel following it. The Arabs^ and, perhaps, all nations defcended from Sem, have a remarkable letter founded near the palate with a hard preffure, not unlike the cawing of a raven, as in the word Kdfim; and for this particular found the redundance of our own alphabet fupplies us with an ufeful The common people in Hhejdz and Egypt fymbol. confound it, indeed, with the firft letter of Gabr ; and the Perjians only add to that letter the hard palatine found of the Arabian kdf : but if we diftinguifh it invariably by k, we fhall find the utility of appropriating our c to the notation of the Indian letter now before us. The third letter of the Roman alphabet was probably articulated like the kappa of the Greeks ; and we may fairly fuppofe, that Cicero and Cithara were pronounced alike at Rome and at Athens. The Weljh apply this
to the firft

We

come now

India?i fyftem., in

which a

feries

letter

22
letter

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

uniformly to the fame found, as in cat and cefn ; and a little practice will render fuch words as citdb and cinnara familiar to our eyes.

H
We
hear

much of

afpirated letters

but the only

proper afpirates (thofe, I mean, in which a ftrong breathing is diftinctly heard after the confonants) are to be found in the languages of India ; unlefs the word cachexy, which our medical writers have borrowed from the Greek, be thought an exception to the rule. This afpiration may be diltinguifhed by a comma, as the letter
before us
expreffed in the word c'hanitra, a fpade. The Arabian, Per/ian, and Tufcan afpirate, which is formed by a harfh protrulion of the breath, while the confonant is roughly articulated near the root of the tongue, may be written as in the word makhzen, a
is

treafury.

n
Whatever vowel follows
ftantly be expreffed as in the
gil, clay
:

this letter,

it mould conwords gul, a flower, and

and we may obferve, as before, that a little ufe will reconcile us to this deviation from our irregular fyftem. The Germans, whofe pronunciation appears to be more confident than our own, would fcarce underHand the Latin name of their own country, if an Englijhman were to pronounce it as he was taught at
fchool.

The proper afpirate of the laft letter, as in the word Rag'huvanfa. The Perfians and Arabs pronounce their chain with a bur in the throat, and a tremulous motion
of

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

23

of the tongue, which gives it a found refembling that but it is, of r, as it is pronounced in Northumberland in truth, a compound guttural, though frequently expreffed by a fimple letter, as in Gaza, which fhould be written Ghazzah, a city of Palejline ; and in gazelle, as the French naturalifts call the ghazdl, or antelope, of the Arabians. The Perfan word migh, a cloud, is megha in Sanfcrit ; as mifli, a fheep, appears alfo to be derived from mejha, by that change of the long vowels which generally diftinguifhes the Iranian from the
:

Indian pronunciation.

This is the nafal palatine, which I have already proDofed to denote by a point above the letter n; iince the
addition of a g would create confufion, and often fugThus ends the geft the idea of a different fyllable.
firfr

feries

of Ndgari

letters, confirming

of the hard and

[oft guttural, each attended by its proper afpirate, and followed by a nafal of the fame clafs ; which elegant

arrangement

is

continued, as far as pofhble, through the

Sanfcrit fyflem, and feems conformable to the beautiful analogy of nature.

The next is a feries of compound letters, as moft grammarians confider them, though fome hold them to
of them has no
be fimple founds, articulated near the palate. The firfl diftinct fign in our own alphabet, but is expreffed, as in the word China, by two letters, which are certainly not its component principles. It might, perhaps, be more properly denoted, as it is in the great work of M. D'Herbelot, by ifli ; but the inconvenience of retaining our own fymbol will be lefs than that of introducing a new combination, or inventing, after the example of Dr. Franklin, anew character.

China

24
China
is

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY
a Sanfcrit
it,

word; and
I feel

to write

though

it will be convenient fa an inclination to exprefs it

otherwife.

5
The fame compofition, with a ftrong breathing artiHarfh as it may feem, we cannot, if culated after it. we continue the former fymbol, avoid expreffing this found, as in the word cfrhandas, metre.

3?
This too feems to have been confidered by the Hindus
as a fimple palatine, but appears, in truth, to

be the Perhaps the fame letter complex may, by a fmall difference of articulation, partake of
expreffion of dzh.

two

different founds.

This, at

leaft,

we may obferve,

under confideration is confounded, as a fimple found, with ya ; and, as a compound, wiih za y one of its conftituents: thus the yd/mm of Arabia is by us called jafmin; while the fame man is Giorgi at Rome, and Zorzi at Venice ; or (to give an example of both in a fingle word) yug, or junction, at Bdndres, is jug in Bengal ; and was pronounced zug, or, in the nominative, zugon, at Athens. We mould, however, invariably exprefs the letter before us by ja.
that the letter

The Arabian letters Hhal\ (lad, and Mhd, are all pro-" nounced in Perjia like za, with a fort of lifp, from an attempt to give them their genuine found: They may
be well expreffed as in fluxionary characters, by a of points above them, z, z, z,
feries

The

OF ASIATICK. WORDS.

The preceding
J'
haflia, a
fifh.

letter

afpirated,

as

in

the

word

This is the fecond nafal, compofed of the former and As the Italian word agnello and our the letter ya. onion contain a compoiition of n and y, they (hould regularly be written anyello and cnyon ; and the Indian found differs only in the greater nafality of the firft let-

which may be diltinguifhed, as before, by a. point. very ufeful Sanfcrit root, fignifying to know, begins with the letter ja, followed by this compound nafal, and mould be written jnyd ; whence jhydna, knowledge: but this harih combination is in Bengal fattened into gyd : it is expreffed by a diftin6t character, which ftands laft in the plate annexed,*
ter,

In the curious work entitled TolifahiCl Hind, or, The Prefent of India, this is ihe fourth feries of Sanfcrit letters; but, in general, it has the third rank, more
agreeably,
clafs
is

think, to the analogy of the fyftem.

This

pronounced with an inflexion of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth, which gives an obtufe found to the confonant, and may be diftinguifhed by an The firft is the Indian fa, as in the accent above it. word coiara, a rotten tree, and is commonly exprefied in Perfian writings by Jour points, but would be better marked by the Arabian /i, which it very nearly refembles.

The
* Plate II.

26

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

The fame with a ftrong breathing after it, as in Vaicunl'ha, or unwearied, an epithet of Vijhnu.

remarkable letter, which the Muflimans call the Indian ddl ; and exprefs, alfo, by four points over it: but it mould, by analogy to the others, bediftinguifhed by an accentual mark, as in the word dancla, punifhWhen the tongue is inverted with a flight viment. bratory motion, this letter has a mixture of the ra, with which it is often, but incorreclly, confounded; as
in the

common word
Had.

bera for

becia, great.

It

refembles

the

Arabian

The preceding

letter afpirated, as in

D'hdcd, impro-

perly pronounced Dacca. In the fame manner may be written the Arabian tihd, but without the comma, fince its afpirate is lefs diftinclly heard than in the Indian found.

This is the nafal of the third feries, and formed by a fimilar inverfion of the tongue. In Sanfcrit words it ufually follows the letters ra andjlia, (as in Brdhmeha, derived from Brahman, the Supreme Being; Vi/hhu, a

name

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

Qf

name of
letters

his preferving power,) or precedes the other of the third clafs.

Here begins the fourth feries, on which we have The fir,ft letter of this clafs is little more to remark.
the

common ta, or hard dental, considered as a lingual. o

X.
Its afpirate,

if it

may

not rather be

which ought to be written with a comfig-tree,

left

ma,
it

word AfwaWha, the Indian be confounded by our countrymen with

as in the
in thurayyd,

the

Arabian

found

the Pleiads^ which

Ev.gliJJi afpiration in

is precifely the think; a found which the Perjians

In Perjian and French cannot eafily articulate. fhould be expreffed by 5 with a point above it.

it

The foft

dental in Devatd 9 or Deity,

or

Dlierma, juflice, virtue, muft alfo diltinguiih this letter by a comma from the Arabian in dhahab, gold ; a found of difficult articulation in France, and Perjia, which we
afpirated, as in
piety.

The fame

We

very improperly, inftead of retaining the genuine Anglo-Saxon letter; or expreffing it, as we might with great convenience, dhus
write thus

The

28

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

fimple nafal, founded by the teeth with a little afiiftance from the noftrils, but not fo much as in many French and Perjian words. Both this nafal and the former occur in the name Ndrdyeha, or dwelling in
water.

The

Next come

the hard labial pa,

the labials in the fame order; and firft formed by a ftrong compreffion of

the lips, which fo ill fuits the configuration of an bian mouth, that it cannot be articulated by an

AraArab

without

much

effort.

T5
The proper afpirate of pa, as in the wordJJiepherd ; but often pronounced like our fa, as \x\ fela, infiead of p'hela, fruit. In truth, the fa is a diitincl letter; and our pha, which in EngliJJi is redundant, mould be appropriated to the notation of this Indian labial.

[oft labial in Budd'ha, wife, and the fecond letmoft alphabets ufed by Europeans ; which begin It with a vowel, a labial, a palatine, and a lingual. ever to be diftinguifhed in Ndgariby atranfverfe ought bar, though the copyilts often omit this ufeful dif-

The

ter in

tin&ion.

The

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

&g

SO
afpirate of the preceding letter, as in the or a fpoken dialeft. word bhd//id, No comma is neceffary in this notation, fince the found of bha cannot be confounded with any in our own language.

The Indian

5T
This
is

the

laft

nafal, as in

Menu, one of the

firft

created beings according to the Indians : it is formed by clofing the lips entirely, whilft the breath pafl'es gently through the nofe. And here ends the regular arrange-

ment of the Ndgari

letters. Another feries might have been added, namely, fa,JIia, za, zha, which are in the fame proportion as la, tha, da, dha, and the reft; but the two laft founds are not ufed in Sanfcrit.

approaching to the naof them feems, in truth, to be no more than our third fhort vowel beginning a diphthong, and may, therefore, be thought a funerfluous chara&er. Since this union, however, produces a kind of confonant articulated near the palate, it is ranked by many among the confonants, and often confounded with/'tf hence Yamuna, afacredriver in India, called alfo the Daughter of the Sun, is written Jomanes
follows a
fet

Then

of

letters

ture of vowels.

The

firft

by the Greeks, and Jumna,

UJh.

lefs

properly, by the

Eng-

The

30

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

3
The two liquids na and ma, one of which is a lingual, and the other a labial, are kept apart, in order to preferve the analogy of the fyftem and the other two are introduced between the two Jemi-vowels the firfl of thefe is ra, as in Ra'ma, the conqueror of Sildn,
; :

The fecond
gans of the

is fa

in

ifland both in Tibui,

Lanca, another name of that and in India. A defect in the oris

common

Bengalefe often caufes a confufion

between thefe two liquids, and even the found of na

frequently fubftituted for the letter before us.

When
does
JJiort

this

in Sanfcrit,

character correfponds, as it fometimes with our wa, it is, in fact, our Ji/th

vowel preceding another in forming a diphthong, and might eafily be fpared in our fyftem. of letters; but when it has the found of va, it is a labial,, formed by linking the lower lip againft the upper teeth, and might

thus be arranged in a feries of proportionals, pa, fa, ba 9 It cannot eafily be pronounced in this manner by va. the inhabitants of Bengal, and fome other provinces* who confound it with ba, from whichit ought carefully to be diftinguifhed ; lince we cannot conceive that, in fo perfect a fyftem as the Sanfcrit, there could ever have been two fymbolsforthe fame found. In fact, the Montes Parveti of our ancient Geographers were fo named from Parveta, not Parbeca, a mountain. The zvdw of the Arabs is always a vowel, either feparate or coalefcing with

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

3I

with another in the form of a diphthong ; but in PerJian words it is a confonant, and pronounced like our va, though with rather lefs force.

Then

follow three fibilants, the

third:
it

often, very inaccurately,

firft of which is confounded with the fecond,

and even with the

belongs to that clafs of con-

fonants which, in the notation here propofed, are exprefTed by acute accents above them, to denote an inverfion of the tongue towards the palate, whence this letter is called in India the palatine fa. It occurs in a great number of words, and mould be written as in pald'sa, the name of a facred tree, with a very brilliant

may be noted the sad of which laft it refembles in fhape, and probably refembled in found; except that in Ca'smir, and the provinces bordering on Perfa, it is hardly diftinguifhable from the following letter.
flower.

In the fame manner

the Arabs and Hebrews,

The fecond
French
;

is

improperly written Jlia

ftill

in

our Englijk

of the but the form generally known may be retained, to avoid the inconvenience of too great a change even from wrong to right. This letter, of which fa and ha are not the component parts, is formed fo far back in the head, that the Indians call it a cerebral. Either it was not articulated by the Greeks, or they chofe to exprefs it by their Xi ; fince of the Perfan word Ardajliir they have formed Artaxerxes.
in that
'

fyftem, and cha,

more erroneoufly,

The dental fa, which refembles the Hebrew letter of the fame found, and, like that, is often mi/taken by ignorant cop) ills for the ma.

The

32

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

ftrong breathing ha, but rather mi fplaced in the Ndgari fyftem, fince it is the fecond element of articulate founds.

The

The

very hard breathing of the Arabs

may

be well expreffed by doubling the

as in

mark of
Ahmed.

afpiration,
it,

Muhhammed ;

or by an accent above

in the

manner of

the long vowels, as in

clofeswith a compound of ca and /Jia, as in the word par icflid, ordeal it is analogous to our x, a fuperfluous character, of noufe, that The Bengalefe give it I know of, except in algebra. the found of cya, or of our k in fuch words as kind and Jky: but we may conclude, that the other pronunciation

The

Indian fyftem of

letters

is

very ancient, fince the old Perfians appear to have

their

borrowed

word

Rac.pi.ah

from the RacJJia, or de-

mon of the Hindus, which is written with the letter before us. The Greeks rendered this letter by their Khi,
changing Dacjhin, or the fouth, into Dakhin.
All the founds ufed in Sanfcrit, Arabick, Perfian, and Hindi, are arranged fyltematically in the table prefixed to this differtation * and the fingular letter of the Arabs, which they call din, is placed immediately before the confonants.
It

might have been

it,

clafTed, as the

modern Jews pronounce

the Indians
different
;

among

the flrong nafals of

but, in Arabia and Perfia, it has a very found, of which no verbal defcription can

not improperly be called a nafal vowel: it is uniformly diitinguifhed by a circumflex either above a fhort vowel, or over the letter preceding a long one, as ilm, learning; ddlim, learned.
give an idea, and
* Plate
I.

may

Agreeably

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

33

Agreeably to the preceding analyfis of letters, if 1 were to adopt a new mode of EngHJh orthography, I
fhould write Addifon's defcription of the angel in the following manner, diftinguilhing the Jimple breathing, or fir (I element, which we cannot invariably omit, by a perpendicular line over our firft or fecond vowel.

So hwen fm

enjel, bai divain

camand,

Widh

tempefts fhecs a gilti land, Sch az av let or pel Britanya paft, Calm and firin hi draivz dhi fyuryas blaft, And, pliz'd dh' almaitiz arderz tu perform, Raids in dhi hwerlwind, and dairects dhi ftarm.
raifih

This mode of writing poetry would be the touch' {tone of bad rhymes, which the eye, as well as the ear, would inftantly detect ; as in the firft couplet of this
defcription, and even in the

mon

laft, according to the compronunciation of the word perform. I clofe this paper with fpecimens of oriental writing; not as fixed ftandards of orthography, which no individual has a right to fettle, but as examples of the method which I recommend; and, in order to relieve the drynefs of the fubjet, I annex tranflations of all but the firft fpecimen, which I referve for another occafion.

I.

Four Distichs from

the Sri*

bha'gawat.*

Mr. Wilkins's Orthography.

ahamevasamevagre nanyadyat sadasat param paschadaham yadetachcha yovaseeshyeta sosmySham
* See Plate IV.

The

Letters are in Plate II.

Vol.

I.

reeterthara

$1

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

reetertham yat prateeyeta na prateeyeta chatmanee tadveedyad atmano mayam yatha bhaso yatha tamah

[noo
yatha mahantee bhootanee bhooteshoochchavacheshwapraveeshtanyapraveeshtanee tatha teshoo nateshwaham

ctavadeva jeejnasyam tattwa jeejnasoonatmanah

anwaya vyateerekabhyam yat

syat sarvatra sarvada.

This wonderful paflage

I fhould exprefs in the following manner :

ahamevasamevagre nanyadyat sadasat param paschadaham yadetachcha yovasishyeta sosmyaham

ntert'ham yat pratiyeta na pratiyeta chatmani

tadvidyadatmano

mayam

yat'ha bhaso yat'ha tamah

yat'ha mahanti bhutani bhuteshuchchavacheshwanu pravishtanyapravishr.ani tat'ha teshu na teshwaham

etavadeva jijnyasyam tattwa jijnyasunatmanah

anwaya vyatirecabhyam yat

syat servatra servada.

II.

Mo'ha Mudgara.
The title of this fine piece properly Signifies, The Mallet of Delufion or Folly ; but may likewife be translated, A Remedy for Diflraclion of Mind ; it is comi

pofed

OF ASIATICS WORDS.
pofed
plets,
in regular

35

ftricteft rules

anapaeftick vtrfes, according to the of Greek profody, but in rhymed coutwo of which here form a slbca.

o6

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

ir

gfie 'im

crt^KffiffsM

isnesrtts:

11

muclha jahihi dhanagamatmhiiam curu tenubuddhimanah suvitrishnam yallabhase nijacarmopattam vittam tena vinodaya chittam.

ca tava
ca.=

rarita caste

putrah

sanscatoyam ativavichittrah
)a

twam va cuta ayata

-

stattwam chintaya tadidam bhratab.

ma

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

Qf

curu dhanajanayauvanagarvam sarvam mayamayamidamac'hilam hitwa

harati nimeshat calah

ma

brehmapadam previsasu viditwa.

nalimdalagatajalavattararalam tadvajjivanamatisaya chapalam

cshenamiha sajjana sarigatireca

bhawati bhawarnavatarane nauca.

angam galitam palitam munclam

dantavihiham jatam turiciam caradhritacampitasobhitadahdam
tadapi namunchatyasa bhan&am.

yavajjananam tavanmaranam tavajjanani jathare sayanam iti sansare fp'hutatara doshah

cat'hamiha manava tava famofhah.

dinayaminyau sayam pratah sisiravasantau punarayatah

calah cridati gach'hatyayu stadapi na murichatyasavayuh.

suravaramahdiratarutalavasah bhutalamajinam vasah servaparigrahabhogatyagah casya suc'ham na caroti viragah,

sayya.

satrau

38

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

satrau mitre putre

bahdhau

ma. curu yatnam vigrahasaridhau bhava samachittah servatra twam vanch'hasyachirad yadi vifhnutwam

asbtaculachalaseptasamudra brehmapurahdaradinacararudrah natwam nayam nayam loca stadapi cimart'ham criyate socah.

twayi mayi chanyatraicd vishnur vyart'ham cupyasi mayyasahishnuh

servam pasyatmanyatmanam
servatrotsrija

bhedajnyanam

valaftavat cri&asa&a

staruhastavat taruniraftah

vriddhastavach chintamagnah pereme brahmahi copi nalagnah.

dwadasa pajj'haricabhiraseshah sishyanam cat'hitobbyupadeiah ye^ham naisha caroti vivecam tesham cah curutamatirecam.

verbal Tranflation.

1. Reftrain, deluded mortal, thy third of acquiring wealth; excite an averfion from it in thy body, underftanding, and inclination: with the riches which

thou

OF ASIATICK WORDS.
thou acquired by thy
thy foul.

39

own

anions, with thcfe gratify

thy wife; who thy fon ? How extremely even this world Whofe creature thou alfo art ; whence thou cameft. Meditate on this, O brother, and again on this.
2.

Who

is

wonderful

is

3.

Make no

boaft of opulence, attendants, youth

;
:

twinkling of an eye checking all this lllulion like Maya, fet thy heart on the foot of Brahme, fpeedily gaining knowledge of him.
aiWthefe time fnatches
in the

away

4.
leaf,

As

drop of water moves tremulous on the lotos:

thus is human life inexpreffibly flippcry the company of the virtuous endures here but for a moment that is our (hip in palling the ocean of the world.
5.

The body
:

toothlefs

the delicate ftaff trembles in the

ftill

holds it: emptied.

mouth, hand which the flaggon of covetoulhefs remains unis

tottering; the head, grey; the

how foon dead how long 6. How foon are weborn How great is the prevalying in the mother's womb man, haft Wherefore, lence of vice in this world thou complacency here below ?
! ! 1
!

7.

Day and

night, evening

and morning, winter and

;

time fports, life pafTes on yet the wind of expectation coniinues unreftrained.
fpring, depart

and return

8.

To

dwell under the manfion of the high gods at

the foot of a tree, to have the ground for a couch, and a hide for vefture, to renounce all extrinfick enjoy-

ments;

whom

doth not fuch devotion

fill

with delight
9.

Place

^O

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

9. Place not thy affe&ions too ftrongly on foe or friend, on a fon or a kinfman, in war or in peace : be thou even-minded towards all, if thou defireft fpee-

dily to attain the nature of

10.

Vishnu.

Eight original mountains, and feven feas, the Sun, and Rubra, thefe are permanent: not thou, not I, nor this or that people wherefore then mould anxiety be raifed in our minds ?

Brahme, Indra,

it. In thee, in me, in every other being, is Vishnu: foolifhly art thou offended with me, not bearing my approach fee every foul in thy own foul; in all places
:

lay afide a notion of diverfity.

12. The boy fo long delights in his play, the youth fo long purfues his damfel, the old man fo long broods

over uneafinefs, that no one meditates on the Supreme Being.

13, This is the inftruclion of learners delivered in what more can be done with twelve diftinft ftanzas fuch, as this work fills not with devotion ?
:

III.

The

following Elegy, which is chofen as a fpecimcn of Arabick,* was compofed by a learned Philofopher and Scholar, M'ir Muhammed Husain, before his journey to Haidardbdd with Richard Johnson,

Efq>

ma

ansa Id ansa

dllati

jdat ilayya dlai hadhar

alnaumu dthkala jafnahd

wadlkalbu tdra bihi dldkadr
rasadat
*

Plate HI. and Plate V,

Elate, 5

Vol

&&&$&
<'<

<*s

s.s

A-J^icrtlr

43

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

kdlat ddhabta

fuwddand

waddhaktahu Herra dljakar

tadsi

dwdmera lilhawai watuiiuu nd'sihaca dlghudar

wateduru min drBin Hat drdih wamd terddi dlmekarr

yaumdn

tesiru bica dlbihhdru

watdrahan turmai bibarr

md

fiaula dlbilqdi

dkd djddaca jaiilahoh Jiwai didajar ad lift a dHhbda dlfeld

wanesita drama dlbaJJier

dm had melelta jiwdrand yd wdi/ia khillhi. kad nafar jdrhcm dlai kalbi dlladlu rdma dlfuluwwa wamd kadar.

The

Tranflation.

1.

Never, oh
to

came
2.

my

tent

never fhall I forget the fair one, with timid circumfpeclion

who

Sleep

fat

heavy on her

eye-lids,

and her heart

fluttered with fear.

3.

fentinels,)

She had marked the dragons of her tribe, (the and had difmiffed all dread of danger from
4.

them

She

OF ASIATICS WORDS.
4.

4g

She had
:

laid afide the rings

her ankles, to calamity

left

the found of

which ufed to grace them mould expofe her

5. She deplored the darknefs of the way, which hid from her the morning-ftar.

6. It was a night, when the eye-lafhes of the moon were tinged with the black powder (alcohol) of the

gloom

7. A night, in which thou mighteft have feen the clouds, like camels, eagerly gazing on the (tars;

8.

While

the eyes of heaven wept

;

on the bright bor-

ders of the fky

9.

The

lightning difplayed his fhining teeth, with

wonder

at this

change in

the

firmament ;

to.

And

the

thunder almoft burft the ears of the

deafened rocks.

it. She was defirous of embracing me, but, through modefty, declined my embrace.

13. Tears bedewed her cheeks, and to watered a bower of rofes.

my

eyes,

13. When fiie fpake, her panting fighs blew flames into my heart.
14.

She

44
14.

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY
She continued expoftulating with me on

my ex-

ceflive defire of travel.

15,
c

Thou
it

haft

melted

my

heart, (fhe faid,)

and

made

feel inexpreflible anguifh.

thy conduft to her who loves thee, and obfequious to thy guileful advifer.
16.
c

Thou

art perverfe in

17.
c

Thou

and

art

goeft round from country to country, never pleafed with a fixed refidence.

18.
c

'

One while

the feas roll with thee; and another

while, thou art agitated

on the

fhore.

19.
1

What

fruit,

but painful fatigue, can arifefrom

?

rambling over foreign regions

20. 6 Haft thou aflbciated thyfelf with the wild antelopes of the defert, and forgotten the tame deer ?

si.
K

woe

Art thou weary then of our neighbourhood to him who flees from his beloved !

22.
*

Have

pity at length
relief,

on

my

affli&ed heart,
it.'

which feeks

and cannot obtain

Each couplet of the original confifts of two Dimeter Jambicks, and muft be read in the proper cadence.
IV. As

Platil 7

-Voi. I

OF ASIATICK WORDS,

^C

IV.

As

and characfubjoinavery curious paflage from the Zend, which was communicated to me by Bahman, the fon of Bahra'm, a native of Yezd, and, as his name indicates, a Pars} : he wrote the paffage from memory, fince his books in Pahlavi and Deri are not yet brought to Bengal. It is a fuppofed anfwer of I'zad, or God, to Zera'htu^ht, who had afked by what means mankind could obtain happinefs.
a fpecimen of the old Perfian language
ter, I

Az pid
giz
bihijlit

u mad die
ne vz'nzd
:

ce

pid u

mad

ne khojiintid bid har~

:

be jay i cirfah bizah vtnid

mehdn
dad u

rd

be
:

dzarm
aj
i

nzc ddrid,

cehdn ra he hack gin ah maydzdervzjli

ai\d

khzjlidvendi

nang meddrzd
:

venddd

khdliki yectd beh car ddrid

pajzn end i Jh eh ncmdyid : mabddd ce ra dvzakhz cumd, va dnche be khz jhten naflulhad be cafdn mapafendzd va ma cumd : herchc be giti cunid be mainu az aiteh pazirah dyed*

az rijldkhz zi ten a/hit ten khz Jli

A
"
If

verbal Tranflation.

which your father and mother you fhall never fee heaven ; inftead of good fpirits, you fhall fee evil beings. Behave with honefty and with refpect to the great; and on no account injure the mean hold not voiir poor relations a reproach to you imitate the jultice and goodnefs of the Only Creator: meditate on the refurreclion of the future body, left you make your fouls and bodies the inhabitants of hell ; and whatever would be unpleafing to yourfelves, think not that pleafin'; to others, and do it not whatever good you do on earth, for that you
that with

you do

are not pleafcd,

fhall receive a retribution in

* Plate VII.

heaven."

The tend

Letters are in Plate IIL

It

46
It will,

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

perhaps, be fufpe&ed (and the language itfelf may confirm the fufpicion) that this doctrine has been taken from a religion very different, both in age and authority, from that of Zera'htusht.

V.

The

following ftory in modern Perjian, was given to by Mirzd Abdu'lrahhi'm, of Isfahan : it feemg extracted from one of the many poems on the loves

me

of Mejnu'n and Lail

the Eaft.

i,

the

Romeo and Juliet

of

Each verfe confifts of a Cretick foot, followed by two Choriambi, or a Choriambus and a
Molojfus.

30.-*:

(j^y

y[;

o jj*'>f'if!'A *>
)

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

a<j

48

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

Shirmafli feri pijldni diem

perverejli ydftehi

ddmeni ghem

ahi rang

rokhi laildyi jonun

Khali rokhjdrehi

hdmun Mejnurt

ydft,

chun rdh

bi cd/hdnehi ijhh
iJJik

afitdn

Jhud

bideri khdnehi

her Jerejh Jhakhsi joniin fdyah Jicand

kissehi ddjhikl djh gajht boland

der drab her taraji ghaugha /7iud nakli u nokli mejdlis-hd JJiud

bud

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

49

bud dmiri bidrab vdld J/idh sahibi micnat 6 fcrvat * bijchdh

tore tdzi ghemi hejrdh didah pur guli ddghi mo/iabbat chidah

didah der iifliyi khdd suzi ferdk talkhiyi zahri ferdkejh bimezdk

ydft chin kis'sehi ah derd Jigndl

card jtrmdh bighuldmi der Mdl

ceh suyi najd

kadam fdz

zi fer

Jhau beh

tdjil

ravdn chun serser

ah

ceh dil bordak zi

beh berem zud biydver

Mejnun bi nigdk hemrdh

raft o

dvard ghuldmac der hdl

Laili ah pddijhahi mulci jemal

beh ghuldmi digarejli Jhud fcrmdn ceh to hem Jhau bi fuyi dajht ravdn

jdnibi zinati drbdbi jonun Jhemi pur nuri mokabbat Mejnun

The

reader will supply the point over

s,

when

it

stands for th,

zud

50

ON THE ORTHOGRHPHY
aver berem an Jukhtqh rd ghem dndukhtah rd

zitd

an

jigarsiizi

raft o berga/kt

vdliyi cijhvari

ghuldmac chu nigdk ifliktjli hemrdh

card urd chu nazar mardi amir did zdri bi ghemi ijhk ds'ir

ber fere/h Jhakh'si joniin cardah vat en

zakhmi hejrdn

bi tenejh

pirdhen

miiyi fer ber bedenejh gajlitah kobd

muzah dz

abilahi

pd

ber

pd

JJidnah dz khdri mughildh ber miijh khirkah dz rigi biydbdh ber dujh

goft cdi gcmJJiudahi vddiyi ghem hick khwdhi ceh temenndt dehem

ferferdzat cunam dz micnat 6 jdk Laili arem biberet khdter khwdh

goft nl rd ceh baiidejl

baud

ze reh ra hem nazari bd khorfkid

goft khwdhi ceh

Jfairi

com

rdjl bigu

ah safhahi rokhjdri nicu

ya

OF ASIATICK WORDS.

51

yd neddri

bijemdlejli maill

rdjl berguyi bi

jdni Laili

goft cdi kodvahi drbdbi cerem zerrahi khdci dcret tap ferem

her dilem derd zi Laili

cdfijl

khwdhejhi

va'sl zi bl infdjijt

bahri khorfendiyi in jozvi Jiakir has buvad pertavi ax mihri moriir

goft

gar did

fuyi da/lit
6

ravdn

didah girydn

rnizhah djhcjishdn

The

Tranflation.

The man who had inebriated himfelf with milk from the nipple of Anguifh, who had been nourifhed
1.

in the lap of Affli&ion,

2. Mejnu'n, mad with the bright hue and fair face of Laili*, himfelf a dark mole on the cheek of the

defert,
3. Having found the way to the manfion of Love, became fixed like the threfhold on the door of Love's

palace.
4.

Over
:

fhadow

head the form of Madnefs had caft her the tale of his paffion was loudly celebrated.
his

Vol.

I,

5.

Among

52

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY

5. Among the Arabs a tumult arofe on all fides: the relation of his adventures was a defTert in their aflemblies.

6. A powerful Prince reigned in Arabia, poffefling worldly magnificence and riches:

7. He had feen the depredations of Grief through abfence from a beloved object he had plucked many a black-fpotted flower from the garden of Love.
:

8.

Even
:

in his infancy

he had

felt

the pain of fepa-

ration
palate.

the bitter tafte of that poifon remained

on

his

9. When he learned the ftory of that he inftantly gave an order to a flave,

afflicted lover,

10. Saying,
8

Make
:

towards Najd

go with

thy head like thy feet in running celerity, like a violent wind.

il.
c

who

Bring fpeedily with thee to my prefence, Her has ftolen the heart of Mejnu'n with a glance.'
c

12.

The

flripling ran,

Laili\

that Emprel's in the

and in a fhort time brought dominion of beauty.

13.
c

To
c

another (lave the Prince gave

this

order

Run
14.

thou alfo into the defert

Go to

that

ornament of frantic lovers, Mejnu'n,

15.

the illumined taper of love.

Bring

OF ASIA.TICK WORDS.

53

15. s Bring quickly before me that inflamed youth, that heart-confumed, anguilh -pierced lover.'

16. The boy went, and returned, in the twinkling of an eye, accompanied by the ruler in the territories of Love.
17. When the Prince looked at him, he beheld a wretch in bondage to the mifery of defire.

he 18. Madnefs had fixed her abode on his head was clothed, as with a vert, with the wounds of feparation*
:

his

%g. His locks flowed, like a mantle, over his only fandal was the callus of his feet.

body;

20. In his hair ftuck a comb of Arabian thorns robe of fand from the defert covered his back.

21.

thou, (raid the Prince J

who

haft

been

loft in

the valley of forrow,

do thou not wifh

me

to give

'

thee the object of thy paffion,

22.
*

c
v

To

Laili before

exalt thee with dignity and power, to bring thee, gratifying thy foul ?'

No, no, (anfwered he:) far, far is it from my wilh that an atom mould be feen together with the fun.'
23.
c

24. Speak truly, (replied the Prince :) art thou not willing to recreate thyfelf on the fmooth plain of that

beautiful cheek ?

85.

Or

54
25.
*
1

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY
Orhaft thou no inclination to enjoy her charms? s adjure thee, by the foul of Laili , to declare the
e
!'

truth

26.
'

He

rejoined

'

O chief

hearts, a particle of duft

of men with generous from thy gate is a diadem on

my

head.

c The pain of my love for LailT is fufficient for 27. my heart: a wifh to enjoy her prefence thus would be

injustice.

28.
*

'

To

fingle ray

gratify this contemptible foul of mine, a from that bright luminary would be enough.'

29.

He

weeping, and

fpake, and ran towards the defert, his eye his eye-lafhes raining tears.

Thefe couplets would fully anfvver the purpofe of the method in which Perjian may be written according to the original characters, with fome regard

mowing

alfo to the Isfahdne pronunciation

; but fince a very ingenious artift, named Muhammed Ghaut'h, has engraved a tetraftich on copper, as a fpecimen of his art, and fince no moveable types can equal the beauty of Perpan writing, I annex his plate*, and add the four lines, which he has felected, in EngliJIi letters they are too eafy to require a tranflation, and too infignificant
:

to deferve

it.

Chafhmi
ha]ati

tera/i/ium zi to
rii

keblah toyi

Huwa'l dziz darim md beech arim met,

ber ayed
tern

ma dz

to

dm

ddmenat dz caj naguzdrzm md*

* Plate VI.

VI. The

VOJL-L.

Plath.6

t-t,

OF ASIATICS WORDS.

VI. The first specimen of Hindi, that occurs to me, is a little Ghazal, or lore-song, in a Choriambick measure, written by Gunha' Beiglm, the wire of Gha'zil'ld/n Kha'n, a man of consummate abilities and consummate wickedness, who has*borne an active part in the modern transactions of Upper Hindustan.

Muddail hemse sokhan saz hi sahUi hal ah tamenna co yehan muzhde'i mayuii hal
ah ab casrati daghi ghemi khubdh si tcmjm mcrajihuai tautl hal

safha'i st'nah

g6

ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY OF ASlATICK WORDS*

hat meri
'taraft

ygar

khuni lira muddotse

at frinna cisci lujhe khwdhishi pdbusi hai

dzva'zi

derd meze

jis lebi

zakhm

se ivah there haih <dre ne shemsh'ri tiri chusi hai.

tohmati ishk abas carle haih mujhper Minnat hah y eh sech milne ci khuban se lu Luc khusi hai.

The
1.

Tranflation.

My

beloved foe fpeaks of

me

with diffimulationj

and now the tidings of defpair are brought hither to

the defire of
2.
!

my

foul.

that the fmooth fur face of my bofom, Alas throuph the marks of burning in the fad abfence of lovely youths,is become like theplumageof a peacock.
3.

Like me,

Hinnd, (the fragrant and elegant

ihrub, with the leaves of which the nails of Arabian women are dyed crimfon.) thy heart has long been full

of blood

whofe foot
of pain,

art

thou delirous of kifhng?

beloved,

4. Inftead

my

every

wound from
with which

thy cimeter fucks with

it is filled.

its lips the fweetnefs

5.

The

Yes, true

fufpicion of love is vainly caft on it is, that my nature rather leads

beautiful youths.

Minnat
me
to the

company of

Thushave I explained, by obfervationsandexamples,

my

method of noting in Roman letters, the principal languages of Ana ; nor can I doubt that Armenian, TurkiJJi) and the various dialects of Tartary, may be exprtffed in the fame manner with equal advantage but, as Chinefe words are not written in alphabetical characters, it is obvious that they muft be noted according to the'beft pronunciation ufed in China ; which has, I imagine, few founds incapable of being rendered by the fymbols ufed in this effay.
:

II.

ASTRONOMICAL

57
II.

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS
IN

FORT WILLIAM,
AND BETWEEN

By

MADRAS and CALCUTTA. Colonel THOMAS D. PEARSE,

Artillery,
of the

Commandant of the

and Second Bengal Army.

in

Command
fome

BEG
-*

leave to

communicate

to the Society
I

Aftronomical Obfervations which ent times in Fort William.

made

at differ-

ufed from December, 1775, was made dead feconds there is one hand for minutes, and the hours revolve with the plate fixed to the hour-wheel. clock
I

The

by Ellicot

It beats

The pendulum
the clock, by

can be lengthened without flopping

means of a fcrew, which fupports the fpring by which the pendulum hangs. And the pendulum is defcribed in the 47th volume of the Philofophi-

Tranfadions, p. 479. The clock-cafe is firmly fcrewed to the wall. The tranfit inftrument was made by Sisson; it is four feet long, and has a double object glafs. This is fupported by two iron bars, which are joined to a fquare frame, that lies two feet under the floor, buried in brick-work.
cal

The

which is fixed any part.

upright bars are protected by a cafe of wood, to the houie, without touching them in

At firft I ufed the cornice of the Commandant's houfe to adjuft by; but afterwards a Aider, with a flit, in
place.

58

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

place, behind

which I could place a light to adjuft with by night. There was another object alfo to the fouth, about 1500 yards off, which I could ufe by day; and both thefe were fixed when the tranfits by telefcope and equal altitudes agreed, and were examined from

time to time.

good Hadley's quadrant and December, 1776, when I was lucky enough to get an 18 inch land quadrant, made by Ramsden, with a micrometer to fubdivide the nonius. This inverts, and is capable of the niceft adjuftments. My firft telefcope was an 18 inch reflector, made by
I

had only

a tolerably

quickfilver,

till

Gregory.
obtained Mr. Smith's refractor, a triple object glafs, and a double object glafs micrometer. And I made a polar axis for it of brafs with rack-work, and a declination circle not divided, which is alfo racked; to which, when

In Auguft, 1777,

made by Dollond, with

the micrometer was ufed, the telefcope was fixed.

felf chiefly,

communicate obfervations made by rnyand by Lieutenant Colebrooke for me, to afcertain the longitudes and latitudes of places between Madras and Calcutta,
I

likewife

Going

to

Madras

in

1782,

and quickfilver, which

I fhall

ufed a Hadley's o&ant here defcribe.

The octant had

which
carries the
,

wooden

index.

feparated the part

fpeculum from the arm ; then fixed it into a lath, and turned it on its own center it was three tenths of an inch thick; the thicknefs was divided into three parts, and then the edge was turned away on each fide ; fo that the whole piece of wood became like
:

;hree wheels of different diameters joined together

on

their

IN
their flat furfaces,

FORT WILLIAM, &C.

and the middle one was the biggeft; below was the next in fize ; and the upper one was the leaft, and only equal to the brafs plate on which the fpeculum was fcrewed.
that

of brafs, nearly one tenth thick, broad admit of a hole as big as the under circularpart of the turned wood, and to afford a rim of half an inch broad, was then fixed into the lath, and had a hole turned in it of that fize on one fide it had an arm as broad as the wooden index was.
plate
to

enough

A fecond plate of the fame kind was alfo prepared ; but the hole was larger, though lefs than the middle part of the turned wood.
The turned
pin,

piece was then fixed to the otant by and the plate with the fmaller hole beneath

its
it.

they fitted very nicely, the brafs plate turned upon the wood round the center of the otant, if that were held fait : and both turned on the center pin if they

As

were prefied together.

The

plate with the large hole was then laid

above

center coinciding with the common center the wooden arm of the index had the end neareft the center cut away, above and below, equal to the thicknefs of the plates of brafs it was there fixed to the octant in the fame manner as before it was cut off from the center, and the brafs plates
its
:

the turned

wood,

were

drilled,

and rivetted

to

it.

When thefe plates were prefled together, they held the turned piece as it were in a vice; when thev were forced afunder, the turned piece might be moved independently ; and there were in the direction of the
radius

(JO

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

radius two fcrews, one beyond the fpeculum, and one between it and the nonius, for the purpole they had button heads, and their fhanks were as high as the top of the index fpeculum.
:

back of the o61ant there was a fcrew with a head ; the thread entered the center pin, and the button fhoulder preffed upon the plate which keeps that pin
the in
its

On

place.

fcrew and vice fcrews being flacked, the infpeculum was brought parallel to the horizon glafs; dex then the vice fcrews were turned to join the fpeculum to the index, as before the alteration was made.

The back

extend the power of the oftant occasionally, it nicely adjufled then the index was carried to 90% was and there fcrewed to the limb. Next the back fcrew of the center pin was forced, till by its preffure the fpecu:

To

lum was held

faft

after that, the vice fcrews being

flacked, the index was carried back to o, and there fcrewed to the limb. Whilft it was in this pofition, the vice fcrews were again turned, which fix.d the fpecu-

lum-piece to the index, and then the back fcrew being

(lacked, the fpeculum followed its motions. When it was ufed, the index fhewed the angle which was to be

added

to

90

for the angular diftance.

By this contrivance, with an oftant, I could take angles of 150 ; and confequently meridian altitudes and if the horizon glafs and telefcope as far as 75 could have been made to Aide nearer towards the cen:

ter,

it

would have increafed

(till

further.

In Ramsden's new quadrant there is a fcrew to adjuft horizon glafs, and bring it parallel to the other ; provided the index fpeculum is perpendicular to the limb, this is all well ; but if that be inclined, as foon as the index quits o, there will be an error in the angles obferved.
the

IN FORT WILLIAM,

&C.

6l

obferved. I found it fo experimentally, and corrected my quadrants accordingly, by turning the horizon glafs round its own axis; then having adjufted as ufual, the error fideways was corrected by moving both glaffes, by means of their adj lifting fcrews, and dividing the If, when the horizon glafs was error between them.
error, the operation

proper pofition, there itill was a lateral I do not find any was repeated. mention of this in any of the inftructions for ufing Had ley's inftruments that I have feen.
reflored to
its

The horizon was artificial, invented for the occafion, and confided of a wooden trough about ~ an inch deep, (or rather more,) filled nearly with quickfilver, which ferved to float a plate of thick glafs, the under furface of which had been unpolifhed, and blacked, that only one image might appear. This needs not any adjuftis, that the glafs be equally over, and fmooth that which was ufed was a part of a very large looking-glafs, that had been broken by accident.
:

ment

the only requifite

thick

all

goes whilft

The watch was a time-keeper, by Brookbank, which it is wound up, and is tolerably good, conThe

fidered as a fale watch lent to India.

telefcope had a double object glafs, with a brafs and was made by Gregory: it magnifies 80 times; but, like all of this conftruction, that I have feen, it had a dark fpeck in the middle, and was not equally good in the whole field.
ftand,

In the way back, wehad a land quadrant, of 15 inches made by B. Martin, and fent out by the India Company. It was ufed by Mr. Hurst in the tranfit of Venus. This could not be inverted. But, to deftroy the effects of collimation, and error of level, the latitudes are all determined by ltars taken north and fouth of each place, as the obfervations will (hew.
radius,

T. D.

PEARSE.

62

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

JUPITER'S FIRST SATELLITE.

IMMERSIONS.
Date.

MADE AT CALCUTTA.

THIRD SATELLITE.

64

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

Other Obfervations of Jupiter and

his Satellites.

1776, 22 November, between nine and ten, I faw a very fmall itar, not bigger than a Satellite, very near to The configuration thus, Jupiter.

At

i2h.

o/.

39". the configuration

was thus,

that

is, the two outermoft Satellites had gone forward, and Jupiter back, in right afcenfion, vifibly.

30th

November

the configuration was thus,

e
that
is,

w
diftant

the (tar

was north;

from the limb

in de-

clination about the quantity of the lefler axis. In right afcenfion the ftar was advanced further than Jupiter's

Some time after I center, about a fifth of the axis. found that the little Satellite, which was below the limb, hdd immerged into the difk; and foon after I faw the fhadow of that Satellite upon the Great Belt. I obferved the fhadow go off the difk ; and about an hour after that, the Satellite emerged a little to the north of
the

IN FORT WILLIAM, &C.

65

The times were noted, but the book the Great Belt. When Jupiter paflcd the was deftroyed by accident.
meridian, but about
I

couldnot

4'

fee theftarin the tranfit telefcope; afterwards the configuration was thus,

W
that
is,

a line

drawn from

the Mar to Jupiter's center,

I

made

an angle with the Great Belt, which

judged to

be about 41 ; and in that direction it was about the quantity of the leffer axis diflant from the limb; fo that Jupiter had moved back about |- of his diameter from the time I firft faw him to-night till he pafled the meridian.

1776, 8th December, my clock was flopped by an earthquake, which fpoilt the obfervation of the immerfion of Jupiter s firit Satellite.

1776, 23d December, an Emerfion of the Jirjl Satellite

from

the Dijk.
apparent Time correct.

The fhadow touched

made
It

the middle of

the edge of the Great Belt, and

a vifible notch in
vifible
it

h 11.26.00

was

ftill

28.05
-

It vanifhed
Satellite at the

edge of the limb

-

30.50 53 25
58.53

In contat emerged

little to

1777, 25th January, 7h.23'.oo'',6, I faw a fmall flar the weft of the weiterumolt Satelliu, not fo
1

bright

66

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS
it

bright as either of them; the reflector.

was hardly,

vifible

through

Configuration thus,

W
26th,
I

could not find the

ftar at 7I1.

11m.

29th

May,

merged behind

Jupiter's fecond Satellite imthe diflv

tt

7.25.18,7

1779, 2d May, an Immerfion of Jupiter's Jirjl

Satellite into the Dijk.

Apparent Time correct.

In contact

Immerfion doubtful
certain

h 11.31.37,6
35. 19,

35-5^6

If the immerfions and emerfions of this nature were calculated fo as to fet aftronomers to lookout for them,

they

Jupiter's fatellites might be rendered more ufeful than now are in regard to longitudes by land; and that too, whether the calculations are accurate or erroneous.

For I mean to ufe an immerfion or emerfion of any kind, only to note an inftant for taking the altitude of Jupiter at the place of obfervation.
If the inftruments be of equal powers, and the eyes cf equal ftrength, then certainly the altitudes will be taken

IN FORT WILLIAM,

&C.

67

obferve the fame pherrtftaht of time; and thence the diftance of Jupiter from the meridian of each will be known to fecon'ds, if we fuppofe the latitudes known before-hand.
taken by every perfon,
at

who

fhall

nomenon

one and the fame

And

if

fufficiently

the telefcopes of quadrants could be made powerful to obferve the fatellites, then a

fingle obferver, at any place, could perform the whole without trouble or difficulty, and would only need a common watch, and a little more patience than would be requifite if the watch were perfect, and calculation true.

are,

telefcopes and quadrants as they and two oblervers at each place, one employed with the fatellite, and the other with the quadrant, then the latter muft carefully keep the body of Jupiter on the line of altitude till the other tells him to Hop, which is to be done at the initantof obferving the expected phe-

But fuppofing the

nomenon.

By
is

this

with as
I

mode a degree of longitude rriav be meafured much accuracy as a degree of latitude; and it

what I have in contemplation to perform, as foon as can get the requifite inllruments.

Remarks on fome erroneous Obfervations of

Jirjl Satellite.

Jupiter's

In 1 778, 1 took notice, that when Jupiter is very near the oppofition, the obfervations are not to be depended
on, and that the Satellite vanifhed without changing The fame happened in 1779, 1780, and again in 1784, at Beemulwilfa; therefore I have put down the times of fuch obfervations, as they are reduced to apparent time, from the known deviation of the clock from mean time. The tranfit inftrument was examined
colour.

Vol.

I.

by

68

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

by ftars that pafs over the zenith, and by others north and fouth, and by equal altitudes; all which fhewed it was as nicely in the meridian as it well could be.
In 1 779? on the 3d of March, I obferved * and p Geminorum, and the deviation was the fame as that derived from the tranfits of the fun on the 23d February and 5th March. In the obfervation of the moon 23d November following, the accuracy of its pofition was
afcertained, fo that the times were correci ; and the errors depend on fomething at the Satellite and planet.

Perhaps Jupiter % atmofphere may be fo denfe as to prevent the free paffage of the diminifhed light foon after the beginning of an eclipfe, or even before it. If fo, thefe obfervations may tend to clear up that point, and to meafure the extent of that atmofphere.

Afferent Time
corrtfl.

Ephemerit

H. M.S.
1778, 4th Feb. i779> 23d do. 2d March
9th do.

H.M.S.
1.58.08 3.10.01

nth

do.

9.02.51,0 10.58.15 12.53.08 7- 20 -35>3

5.05.17 7.01.07 1.30.10

Thefe two were obferved

at

Dumdum;
was
tranfit

but the

time
the

taken

from
carried

inftrument

by
out

watch,

before,

after,

and

and back compared

1780, 13th March.

10.10.47,7

4.20.23

with the clock.

All thefe obfervations were triple objeci glafs.

made with

Dollond's

Obfervations of Venus.

1776, 2d January, at 7b. 55', in the morning, I meafured the diftance between Venus and the Sun 46 32'.
I

was

IN FORT WILLIAM,
I

&C.

6c}

was informed the natives were viewing it with afI did not fee it with the naked eye. Through the little telefcope of my Hadley's quadrant it appeared as bright as Capilla.
tonifhment, but
Apparent Time correct,

July, Venus parTed the meridian 1777, 14th, Venus vifible to the naked eye, and has been fo three days. Paffed the meridian
lft

h - 21.30.41,5

21.01.02,0

Difiances from the Sun, meafured with an

Hadley's
h 21.21.58,5 25.08,5 20.59.29
58.08,5

Quadrant.

Weft limb 41

57'
-

Eaft do. 42 29' 15th, Paffed the meridian 16th, Ditto

17th, Still vifible.

Diftances meafured as before.

From From

neareft limb
furtheft do.

42 31' 43 05'

h / // 0.08.10 0*12.14

1780, iSik March, an Appulfe of Venus

Distances.

to

Mars.

JO

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

The
fured.

next morning the Sun's diameters were mea.

Inch.

Non.

Horizontal
Vertical

5.15 5,10
5,15

17,25 21

Mean
Error of micrometer

u
-|-

06,625
4

5^5
Sun's diameter by Ephemeris 32'
the diftances were calculated.

10,625

n"^, from which

igth March, Difference of Declinations, and right Afcenjion.

Apparent Time correct.
Inch.

Non.
,

#/

26.08,7 Ma>s pafled the vertical wire Venus do. lt

4,20

00

-is

at -

7.41.51,4 43-09,4
45. 16,4

Mars was

fouth of Venus,
Obfervations of Mars.

An
Distances. Inch.

Appulfe o/Mars to x Librae.

Aon.

1.00 19 1,00 if 17

= =

6.18,5 6.17,0

10.50.c5

IO.5805

The

ftar

was weft of Mars.

Obfervations of the

Moon.

1775, 12th January,

an-

Occupation of Aldebaran.

Immerfion

8.5*4.55
I believe

IN FORT WILLIAM, &C.

Jt

I believe the watch was fet by equal altitudes ; but I have loft the book in which the entry was made, and have only a copy of my obfervations as a regifter of this and the next that follows.

15th February, an Eclipfe of the

Moon.

End ioh.i5
1

.oo",5, apparent time correct.

77\ 3^ March, an

captation o/"Regulus.

Not having an ephemeris at the time, the obfervation was accidental, and confequently not prepared for. The tranfit inftrument was but lately put up, and had not been much ufed, but it was the only refource for time: accordingly, it was adjufted truly as to level and wires, but it was not in the meridian accurately. Therefore the tranfits of feveral (tars were taken to determine the pofition of the inftrument, and the error of that being

known,
which

the times could be corrected by a very eafy

Let x be the error in feconds at I fubjoin. the horizon, a and b the fines of the zenith diftances of
rule,

two

ftars, a and b the fines of the polar diftances, d the difference of the errors of the clock, as found from the obierved and the calculated tranfit of thofe two ftars.

Then

will be the fpace at the

v

equator for the equa:

tion to correel; one, andB

the fame for the other

will
1

and the fum of

which
all
is

thefe

two

be equal to ^-L-15. or,

the fame thing,

15 A

=d.
l

5 B

Whence

for

fmall angles

* 15
a

"*~ f
11

+AB
b
a.

-{-

^ and y Leonis were the two ftars that were relied on and pofition, becaufe they pafs fo nearly at equal diftances from the zenith, that the mean of their errors of the clock would be fo near to the true one,
for time

that

7*
that

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS
differ*

anv clock yet invented could not fhew the ence actually*

The

difference of their errors was 5",6, and thence

the error of the tranfit inftrument was only 1246", 16 at the horizon, and the diftance of the wires of the telefcope is 1478".

IN FORT WILLIAM,

&C

73

This compared with the error of the clock by andy, mews that it was lofing 1 7^,06 daily ; at which rate, to the time that t Urfee Majoris pafTed the meridian, it y/ muft have loft i ,95, and the error by t ought to have been 6 .3c/ ,4. The difference is only i",4, which is not greater than the errors of obfervation may fome/

time be in
Result.

ftars

of great declination.
Apparent Time correct

//

y Weft Limb
Kegulus Immerfion And emerged

paffed the meridian

-

10.51.23 5 6 1 5^5
-

13-56.00,15

in lefs than 50'.

1776, 30th July, an Eclipfe of the Moon,

Beginning of

total darknefs.
Apparent Time correct.

//

By By

eye
telefcope

17.00.49

01.16

Clouds prevented any other obfervations.

1777, 20th January, an Occultation of
by the

Geminorum

Moon.
Apparent Time correct.

Immerfion

----the
-

//

13-37-38,6

23d January, an Eclipfe of

Moon.

Apparent Time correct.

n
Eclipfe began Shadow well defined
.
'

//

8.41.21,7

Mare Humorum touched

Grimaldus do.

...

44.33,7 49-*3j7 50. 43,7

Grimaldus

74

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS
Apparent Time correct.

//

Grimaldus pafTed

53.18,7 53-33?7
-

Mare Humorum
Tycho's dark

do. -

circle

touched
-

56.13,7
56.40,7
9.26.28,7
33- 2 3^7

Tycho's body do.

Copernicus do.

Do. paired

Going
Copernicus pafTed
-

off again.

10.12.58,5

Grimaldus do.
Arifteus pafTed

21.23,5
36.17*5

Mare Humorum touched

-

37-33>5
47- 2 3?5

Mare Humorum
Tycho's body

do.

Regiomontanus do.

-----

11.0008,5
02.33,5

Tycho's dark circle pafTed

Vendelin do.
Faint
-

...
-

0538,5
12.23,5

Penumbra remained
-

32.25,5 33>33>5
12.03.22,7

Limb clear. End y Well limb pafTed

Eaft do. do.
-

the meridian

05.38,2
it

The

times are thofe of the fhadow's edge, unlefs

be otherwife exprefled.
1777, 13th February, an Occulation of
\

f*

Ceti.

Apparent Time correct,

h,
Immernon
I

7-53-4^j7

was very certain of the time of the immerfion. Five feconcU before it the ffar began to change colour, and to lofe light fenfibly one lecond before the im:

merfion,

IN FORT WILLIAM,
iperfion,
firft,

8zC,

7<J

it was confiderably broader and redder than at and the light was not fo ftrong as before. Thisfupports the fuppofition of an atmofphere round the moon, though it does not extend to any great disIt has been doubted, and is, I believe, not yet tance. But our atmofphere may be ablblutely admired. doubted by an inhabitant of the moon; for if to its greateft extent, fuppofed 45 miles, it were of the fame denfity as at the furface of the earth, which is not the cafe, it would not fubtend a minute, as the earth is 80OO miles in diameter, and the greateft parallax only 62'.

1777, 16th May, an Appulfe of the

Moon

to

\,

Scorpii.

Apparent Time correct.

) Weft limb paffed y Scorpii do. -

the meridian

7-59 50,1 8.00.02,1

By

the arch of the tranfit inftrument, the ftar was 10'

from the limb.

1779,
ijl

May, an Appulfe of
and Saturn.

the

Moon

to

Mars

Having brought the Moon's limb of declination,

to run along a wire

Apparent Time correct.

The

eaftern limb paffed the vertical wire Saturn paifed the fame

10.23.09,5 10.23.21 5

Saturn did not come within the fcaleof the micrometer.

For

the right Afcenfions,

Apparent Time correct.

Mar%
Saturn y ^Eaftern limb J
Paffed the meridiajn at

h tt 12.55.42 56.34 57.36

.

D fiances

J$

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS
Dijlances of the

Moon and

Mars.
h
,

Apparent Time correct.

Inch.

Non.

4>7,< o8 >5

= 28
,

-40,3
^

4,65^21
4> 6 5
,/

=28,31,1
=28.31,1 =28.37,7

13.18.42,5 26.34,5
& U 53>5 3 6 -49'5

= 28.26,7 I J^eLmlmeJuK. }

4,65^21
4>7//5

41.06,5

1779, 3d May, an Appulfe of the Moon to b Ophiuchi. Difference of Declination,

Inch.

Non.
1

Apparent Time correct.

4>7

7
itar

=28.09,9

10.22.58,1

was to the weft of the Moon's horn from which the diftance was meafured, becaufe the micrometer could not take in the limb.

The

Inch

Non.

Apparent Time correct'

4,60 17

=28.09,9
Examination of
h
,

10.22.51,1
the

Micrometer.
Inch.

Non.

lft

May,

19.29. leffer diameter of the

Sun 5,2
-

Again Again

Greater diameter
-

N 13 5,2 15 5,2 u 23

5,2 24
5,2 u 17,5

Hence mean diameter

There are twenty-five nonius
of an inch.
to divide

one twentieth

When

the limbs coincided the zeros agreed.

The ephemeris

gives i5'.54",6forthe femi-diameter,

is

therefore one nonius

equal to o",7294,

1779, 23d November, an Eclipfe of the

Moon.
12.02.33,0 03.36,0 10.37,1

Apparent Time correct.

Beginning

Shadow

well defined

Ariftarchus

InfuU

IN FORT WILLIAM, ScC.

Apparent Time h /

JJ
correct,
//

Infula

Ventorum
-

12.14.32,9

Copernicus

21.18,9

Mare Vaporum Bright fpot in Mare Vaporum

Tycho's body touched
-

32.07,8
-

34- 2 77

35- 2 9>7

Mare Serenitatis, do. the border Tycho paffed Mare Tranquillitatis touched
Ariadaes
-

35-47?7 36.52,7

40.17,6
41.37,6 44-07,6
5 -37*5 5 2 -37 *
l

Mare Serenitatis parTed Meerob Mare Crifium touched Do. paffed Total darknefs by eye

56.40,4
3.00.37,5

By

telefcope

01.41,3
14.40.13,3

Do. end by telefcope

By

eye

Grimaldus paffed
Ariftarchus
Infula

...
-

41.16,3

43-o6 3
50.42 2
53-46,2 54-20,2

Ventorum touched
"

Paffed

Copernicus

Tycho's body touched

Paffed

....
-

15.02.44,1

04.560
06.23,0 32.22 7 or cr
37.23 6 39.45 6

Mare Crifium touched

Paffed
-

Mare Faecunditatis parted End by telefcope, doubtful

Certain
-

42.00,6

The

78

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

The

apparent times here noted in thefe obfervations,

were derived from the mean times, the difference between the clock and mean time being applied to the hours fhewn by the clock and as the difference or equation was derived from the tranfit inftrument, here follows an examination of its pofition.
;

IN FORT WILLIAM, ScC.

Apparent Time correct.

1780, 18th February, ) Eaft limb paffed the meridian 15th April, ) Weft limb patted the meridian
-

10.39.31,6
91

7-34

$th Augujl, an Appulfe of the

Moon

to

Jupiter.

y Weft limb paffed a circle of the meridian Jupiter s weftern limb Eaftern do.
Center

)Weft
D

limb

----._-----_, ...
-

7.14.44 14.48 14.58 18.49

Jupiter's center Jupiter's center

D
Jupiter
-

D
Jupiter
])

-._---..*-

00.53 25.06 25,19 42.31 43- 8 51.21 52.15

44.42

8.42.22

The

Jupiter and the neareft horn of the Moo?i } was

c/.Oi",4

difference of declination of

-----Dijlanccs of Limbs,

7.28.40

11

i4-33>s 15-01,5

*--.-.
------

7.32.12

^32,7
l6 2 5>9 17-06,5
-

35-36 38.53
44-3
1

48.16
8.35.49

30.58,6

OaSRVATIONS

8o

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

IN FORT WILLIAM,

&C.

80

8l

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

TRIVA TOO RE.

Obfervations by T.

D. P. 1783.

On the meridian, On the meridian,

Day h , , Dec. 5th, 23.33.52,5 flow 26.07,4 Dec. 6th, 23.35.53,1 flow 24.06,9 Daily gain, 2.00,6
altitudes

The equation of equal

was applied.

An

Emerjion of Jupiter's

Jirjl Satellite.

6th Dec. by watch emerged Too flow at noon Gain till obfervation

h / o 6.31.53

+26.07,3
34,4
6.57.25,9 1.36.52,0

Emerfion Ephemeris

Longitude

in time

5-20.33,9
o

in degrees 80.08.28,5

OOn the meridian,

Equation of E. A.

Dec. 28
-

23.26.37
i?9

26.29.35, iflow33. 24,9

On

IN FORT WILLIAM, "&C.

8i

On

the meridian, Dec.

-

30 23.23.40,3
-

Equation of E. A.

1,9

23.23.38.4 flow 36.21,6

Daily

lofs

88,4

A11,

Emerfion of Jupiter's

Jirjl Satellite,

h
29th of Dec. by watch emerged Too flow at noon Lofs till obfervation at 88,4

;;

6.27.07
33.24.9 25,8 7'0357?7 1.40.44,0
5.20.13,7
o

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude
in

time

in degrees

The mean

of the two longitudes

80.03.24,6 80.05,56,5

The diftance between the flag in the fort, and the place of obfervation at Trivatoore^wa-s determined by a long bafe meafured in the fands, and by taking angles for
trigonometrical calculations.

Madras

flag, diftance

Bearing

S.

2787,1 feet, 10.33.50 W,

50,5
4.30,7

Which

gives difference of Longitude

Latitude

VIP EREE.
Having borrowed
in the
tranfit
I,

the quadrant that

I

Mr. Hurst ufed

alter its

of Venus,

was defired not to

Vol.

iine

83
line

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

of collimation till I had determined the quantity of error: thofe obfervations are in the tables of latitude.
It

was ufed

in the furvey to

Calcutta.

As
its

I intended to obferve at this place, I determined diftance from the fort as accurately as I could by

trigonometry.

The

refult

is

Madras

flag, diftance

bearing

S.

8072,2 feet 23.15,00 E,

Which

gives difference of Latitude 3i",5

MADRAS.

/ //

Latitude of Trivatoore, fee table Madras fouth of it

13.09.00,4 4.30,7
13. 4.29,7

Latitude

Latitude of Viperee, fee table Madras fouth of it

13.05.05,4 31,5

Latitude

13.04.33,9

Mean

13.04.31,8
-

Longitude of Trivatoore, Mean Madras weft of it

- 00.50,5
80.05.06,0

80.05.56,5

Longitude

WUNGOLEy

1782, commonly called

ONGOLE.

Obfervations by T. D. P.

14th

the fmall fextant

November, double altitudes of the pole, with made by Ramsden, and the artificial
3

horizon.

Watch

IN FORT WILLIAM,
Watch.
Angles.

&C.

84

9.16.12 21 00 31.00
-

34.45-30 47-30 45-30

1 thefe were with the fmall

\ J
this

fXtanU

49.00
9.29.18

46.30
34-4^.15

was with the large fextant.

-{-

17.23.08 2.40 * beneath meridian. 2.58 refraction.

17.22.50
1. 51.

13

meridian altitude. polar diftance.

Latitude,

15.31.37

6th

November, with

the otant double altitudes of the

Sun,

Upper L.

Lower Z.

12.00.28 2.24 4*4 5.41 6.36

II

1. 5I.OO

54.00
1 1

;;

110.48.20
1.56.00

M. A,

M. A.
110.47.00 55-41-05

Obferved

altitude

Ref. and par.

34

Meridian altitude correct Declination S.

55-40.31 18.49.05

Co. Latitude
Latitude

74.29.36
15-30.24

8; 10
1784,

-ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

The

Latitude obferved by T. D. P. (fee ob-

fervations at large)

was
15.29.16

This

is

inferted only to bring to teft the accuracy of

which is mentioned (page 58) in the Introand it appears that, by a fingle obfervation duction made with it, the Latitude was determined within i\8".
the octant,
:

It ferves alfo to fhew that, though it is very difficult to take double altitudes of fo faint a (tar, in low latitudes, even the polar ftar may be ufed to great advan-

and in thefe hot climates the ftars only can be tage employed, for the Sun's heat at noon, after a long march, is really not to be borne by any conftitution.
:

MASULIPATAM,
27th

1782,

byT.D.P.

OB.

diameter forward 33, 1 Jj back ward, 3 2, J dex back.

2ft?!K

Double altitudes of the Sun's lower limb, taken with the Hadley's octant and the artificial horizon.
Watch.

IN

FORT WILLIAM,

&CC.

86
"
/ //

Obferved meridian altitude Error of quadrant

Semi-diameter Ref. and par.
-

L. L.
-

60.42.50

-+16.10
-

30
27

Altitude Declination S.

60.58.03 12.51.09
73.49.12

Co. Latitude

Latitude 16.10.48 28th October, quadrant the fame as above. The mode the fame, double altitude 120.45,00 Meridian altitude correct 60.37.42 Declination - S. 13.11.55

Co. Latitude
Latitude
ill

73-49-37
16.10.23
fet

Nov.

diameter 34 forwards, 33 backwards,

I

then

the fpe-

Time.

pper L.

J Loiter L.

culum

to

90

//

12.14.56
li9.i3.lO
118.04.30 M. A. 119.14.50 M. A. ; u Obferved meridian altitude 59- 1 9-5Q Ref. and par. 30 Error of quadrant 30
15-33 16.11

'ian altitude

Declination

-.

S..

59-18-50 14.30.45
73-49-35
5.10.2c

Co, Latitude
j_

87

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

The fame day Lieutenant Humphreys obferved with a fextant made by R amsden, about four inches radius he made the angles of the lower limb 1 \S,oc) .oo n ; and 2', which gave the latithe error of his quadrant was // This was intended as a kind of teft tude i6.n .05 of the inftruments, but it was not a fair one, and yet the refult is clofer than could be expected, confidering the difficulty of reading the fmall one.
:

Mean

of three latitudes with octant i6.io'.32"

On
By

Meridian, 061.29th,

the fmall watch

Nov.

ill,

OC.O4.56 toofaft 4.56* 00.08.36,5 8.36,5 12 -37 00.12.37 00.16.36,5 16.36,5

Examination of the large watch ufed

of Jupiter's

at the

obfervation

Satellite.

29th October, altered the fpring, and

at

fet it

a-going

one o'clock.
Small Watch.

Large Watch.

Octo. 29th

Too

fait

h , . 22.37.00 8.23,2
1

a
faft

//

Solar time

22.28.36,8 1.46.00 0.16.54

1.29.06

22.34.42 too

6.05,2

Nov.

lft
faft

Too

Solar time

*-35-57>5 toofaft 6.51,5

Therefore in 51 hours folar time the large watch gained 46 ,3.

,/

An

IN FORT WILLIAM, Sec,

88

An
ill

Emerjion of Jupiter's frfl

Satellite.

h
>

November, by watch emerged - 7.27.20 At laft obfervation, too faft 06.51,5 Gained afterwards at 46", 3 05,3

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude in time
in degrees

7.20.23,2 1.56.15
5.24.08,2
o

81.02.03

Chief's garden.

obfervations before written were made at the The Fort flag was diftant 2 .5 in a ftraight line, and bore S. by E. which gives difference of

The

Longitude

$g

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

O On the meridian, June 18,

^4?i

23.51.47,75

n w

8.12,25

Immerfton of Jupiter's

Jirjl Satellite.

The
linct

Planet was extremely bright, and the Belts difand clear; the glafs perfectly fteady h 19th June, by watch changed colour 15.16.22
/y

Immerged 15.18.38 flow at moon 4- 8.12,25 Lofs to obfervation at 2.21

Too

219+

Immerfion 15,29.11,15 Ephemeris 10.00.13

Longitude
in time

5.28.58,25
o

in degrees 82.14.34

From
there
is

the

obfervations at Calcutta,

it

appears that

between the Longitudes derived from obfervations of immerfions and emerfions.

a difference

of Longitudes, 10 in number, derived from obfervations of immerfiom, with an 18 inch refle&or, was Of emerfions (2) with the fame inftrument,

The mean

lt

5-53-53?77
5.53.435 4

was

The

fingle

emerfion with Dollond\ triple

-

objea

glafs is

5.53.57, 8
5.53. 3, 9

The mean of 4 emerfions

with the fame

-

Difference by the refle6tor

By Dollond's refractor The mean of all the immerfions

(11)

0.10,77 0.00.54,90 5.53.54,13

Emerfions (6)
Difference

5.53.17,4
36,73

As

IN FORT WILLIAM, &TC.

gO

the glafs with which the obfervation was made differed from both, the difference derived from the

As

whole

is

to be preferred,

traCted from this, to

which were all Pcddapoore by emerfions

and fo 9.25" are to be fubcompare it with the other places, emerfions, and then the longitudes of
will

be 82.05'.ic/'.

KOSSIM KOTTA,
Obfervations by T.

1782.

D. P.

9th

October, double altitudes of Jupiter from the artificial horizon.

//

7.47.00 48.36

" 55.10.00 54.28.50 49.57 54.01.20 50.58 53-37-io 52.02 53.13.10 53*5
//

h
Jupiter
'

R. A.

at the time

17.32.06,7
o

Declination ditto S. R. A. at ditto Latitude the

23.12.10 13.00.24,8 17.42.30

Latitudes

S 2 '5- 0<::> Derived from

3

obferved

of

Llmulchillic and Sobaurum.

7.50.i6 Mea " 26.56.43 Apparent altitude. 1.51 Ref.

26.54.52

From

the

above data
-

the planet

had paffed
-

'

h
1D*.37 ? 3 17.32.06,7
3-

the meridian

Jupiter's

R A.

R. A.

20.48.44 13.00.25
7.48.19 7.50.16
1.57

Time Watch

Too
The watch gained
Vizacpatam,
I2
V

faft

daily

by the meridian of

An

gi

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

An
9th

Emerfion of Jupiter's

firfl Satellite.

//

O&ober, by clock emerged

Too

faft at

the obfervation

1.57

7.11.45

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude
in

7.09.48 1.38.00
5.3 1.48
o

time

in degrees

82.57.00
1782.

VIZACPATAM,
Obfervations by T.

D. P.
Satellite.

An

Emerfion of Jupiter's fecond

3d O&ober, emerged Ephemeris

Longitude
83.24 30

8.30.58 2.57.20
5.33.38

An

Immerjion of Jupiter's third

Satellite.

h
/

7th October, immerfion

8.9.57

time was fhewn by Mr. Russell's time-keeper, which was made by Arnold, and was regulated by the meridian line in his hall.

The

nth September

',

an Emerfion of Jupiter 'sfrfl by T. D. P. 1784.

-

Satellite,

7th September,

by watch emerged Sky remarkably clear, and glafs fleady.

8.23.38

Full fplendor

------

25.40

Obfervations


IN FORT WILLIAM,

&C.

Q2

Obfervations for Time,

Zenith Dijlancc.

'

7th Sept.

O U.

"

arch of

,,

L. 22.22.25l By >

go 96

24.48J
Lat. by 2 northern ftarsl * > _ . n 2 louthern itarsj
//

41.29.20 D.S D Notu 44.Oi.Ol

aa 50 A 17 ^"t'OO't '
1

See obfervations at large under Vtzacpatam.

7.38.46,5

N. B. Refraction

50

True Latitude

17.41.45

Error of collimation Declination for the time and place N.

+02.58
5.30 39
h
/
11

From

the

above data the time was By the watch

21.17.15 r 20.23.36,5

The watch
8th Sept.

too flow

53-39

oc

Aquilla riling

7,

7.03.16 falling 8.07.35 8.05.30

Middle Wire. Upper Wire. H H "

'

"

'

7. 01.13

On the meridian

7.

34. 24 7. 34. 23

=
'

7. 34.

PafTage by calculation

23,5 8.29.55,5
*

Watch
%ih September,
h
,

too flow

55,32

Zenith Diflance.
Zenith Diflance,

D.S.D.Non.

o
'

L.

U. U.
L.

19.13-55 16.06 16.49

\9
J

56.5920

I
J

1900
21.57 24.09 25.18 27.28

96 9 96 96 90 96

60.03.05
"

565923
5618.20
56.18.04,6

60. 00. 07

U.
L.

\9
J 1

58.03.00

Mean

55-0500
55-04-4i,2 54.18.00 54.17.12,7

U.
L.

57.03.20

39.20.20

55.40.00,3
Declination

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS
o

Declination N.
Latitude

//

5.09.42 17-41.45
h
/

From

the

above data time

Watch
Watch
h

20.17.30 19.20.20

flow
/

57.10

Therefore the watch loft in 22.57 And confequently daily

h h Day 55.27.9 8 at 7.34.23.5 watch too flow 7 at 8.23.38 the emerfion happened
,
'

211,0 221,0
h
i

//

0*55 -3 2 jO

Diffi:rence

2 3. 10.45,5

Lofs in this time at 221, 3.33 Therefore flow at emerfion 5 l -59 Emerfion by watch 8.23.38

Time of emerfion
Ephemeris
Longitude
in

9-15.37
3

42.56

time

in degrees 83.10.15

Qftoler 23d, an Obfervation of Jupiter's

by

firjl Satellite,

Mr. Maxton.

The glafs the fame as mine; and the watch corrected by Mr. Russell's meridian line.
h
1

//

Emerfion by watch

Watch

fall

10.5.30 6.05

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude
in time

9-S9- 2 S 4 26.08

5-33.17
o

in degrees 83.19.15

This

IN FORT WILLIAM,

&C.

94

This was the inftant of firft appearance, as well as Lieutenant Colebrooke's, who obferved the fame at

Vizianagarum Palace.
Longitude by T. D. P.
83.10.15 83.19.15
83.14.45

by M.

Mean

Mr. Russell alfo made an obfervation, which I do not ufe, becaufe he noted the time of full fplendort
which
is

uncertain

it

follows

16th

O&ober, Watch

faft at

noon

*j43?5

Add

its

gained daily 56^,5 gain to the obfervation

18,5

Watch

faft

2.02
8.

Time

of

full

fplendor

4.39

Time of

obfervation

8.

Ephemeris
Longitude in time
in degrees

2.37 2.29.17

5.33.20
o

83.20.00

BEEMULWILSA,
Obfervations by Lieutenant

1784.

Colebrooke.
/

On

//

Meridian, Aug. 7th 23.40.23,15 Equation of E. A. +.60

2 3'4023?75 flow
1 9-3 6 ' 2 5

On

95

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

On

Meridian, Aug. 12th 23.22.30,5 Equation of E. A. + 0,75

23.22.31,25 flow 37.28,75

Lofs in 5 days Daily lofs

17.52,50
3.34, 5

An

Immerjion of Jupiter's fecond

Satellite.

This was with his firft obfervation. 8th Auguft, by watch immerged

h 12.33.20
1 9-36,25
1

Too

flow at

noon

Lofs to the obfervation, at 214^,5

'55- 2

Immerfion Ephemeris
Longitude
in time

12.54.51,45 7.20.50
5-34-01,45
o

in degrees

83.30.15,00

Auguft itfk, by T. D. P.
Jupiter's
firft

Satellite vanifhed

h ' by the watch 11.32.28

6 or 8 feconds before the time noted, it had not changed colour a cloud came on, and hid it for about 8 feconds, and when it was gone, the Satellite had
:

vanifhed.

Auguft zoth, by T. D. P.
Jupiter
s firft

Satellite

vanifhed by the watch

14.2.30

The fky was clear, the glafs fteady. Here I expected what happened, and was on my guard. The Satellite vanifhed at a fmal! diftance from the body, i. e. before the contact, and without changing colour.

On

IN FORT WILLIAM, 8tC,

56

Day h , ; Meridian, Aug. 19th 23.57.13,25 On 4- 1, 5 Equation of E. A.

19th 23.57.14,75 flow

2.45,25

Immediately before this obfervation, the watch was fet forward one hour without flopping. By comparing this with the obfervation of the 12th, the watch loft
daily
3'.

36"^
is

The

foregoing obfervation of time

only of ufe for

the erroneous immerfions of the 13th

and 20th,

Day

On

Meridian, Aug. 27th 23.41.26,5 Equation of E. A.

+2,1

27th 23.41.28,6

flow

18,31,4

On

Meridian, Aug. 29th 23.35.17,5

Equation of E. A.

+2,4
z&ZS' 1

flow 24.40,1

Daily

lofs

3.04,4
Satellite,

An

Emerfion of Jupiter's jirjl

By

Lieut.

Colebrooke.
h
;

Too

29th Auguft, by watch emerged flow at noon after the obfervation Lofs after the obfervation

12.27.00

+24.40,1
1.25,5

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude in time
in degrees

12.50.14,6 7-!6.33
5.33.41,6
o

83.25.16
Qbfervations

Qj

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIOx\ 3
T

Ohfervations hy T.

D. P.
/
//

O On

the Meridian, Sept. 2

23.20.47

Equation of E. A.

+02,5
23.20.49,5 flow 39.10,5

Altitude, 5th Sept. 21.53.55,5 67.31.35 20 Refra&tion and parallax

Collimation

51

67.32.06

Declination at the time and place

6.1420
*7-53-3 2

Latitude

//
]

From which data the time was By the watch

22.41.10,0

21.53.55,5 1I0W47. 20,5

Whence

the daily

was

167,7

An

Emerfion of Jupiter's^r/?

Satellite,

The fky clear of clouds, and the glafs (ready; but the vapours had a perceptible motion through the teIcfcope.

The

Belts were very

diftincl;.

5th Sep*

IN

FORT WILLIAM,

See.

98 h

5th September, by watch emerged

14.00.35

,/

N. B. Full fplendor 14.2.15. Too flow at taken after the the altitude of the obfervation Lofs after the obfervation, at 167", 7

-------

4. 47.20,5

54,4

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude in time
-

14.47.01,1 9.13.36
5.33.25,1
o

in degrees

83.21.18,

Obfervations by Lieutenant Colebrooke,.

On

Meridian, Sept. 29th 23.38.27,6 +* Equation of E. A. 5,4

23-3 8 -33>o flow 21.27,0 23.49.46,4 flow 11.13,4

Equation of time

5,7

On

Meridian, Oft.

ill

23.32.17,3
_j_

Equation of E. A.

Equation of time

23.32.23,0 flow 27.37,0 23.49.08,6

flow

16.45,6

Daily lofs on folar time

3.05,1

Vol.

I.

An

99

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

An

Emerfion of Jupiter's

ftrjl Satellite.

h
30th of Sept. by watch emerged Too flow at noon Lofs till obfervation
-

,;

9. 15.

10 4-21.27

at 185",!

1,15,

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude
in time in degrees

9-37-52 4.05.02
5.

32.50

83.12.30
in writing h / //

fuipeft that a miftake

the time,

was committed

down
But

and

this is as

it is

that it ought to have been 9,16,10. entered in the original book.

13th Oclober, at 1.48

fet the watch forward one hour without flopping it.

On

Meridian,

15th 23.51.53,5 4Equation of E. A. 6,8

Oa.

Equation of time

23.52.00,3 2 3-45-3 1 ?7

flow

&&

7.59,7 6.28,6

paflage over the meridian The obfervation of the was not taken the next day after the emerfion as ufual, and between the 17th and 18th the watch ran down; therefore the rate is afcertained from the mean time, compared with the 29th September and ifl October.

And

IN frORT WILLIAM,

&C.

10O

And

the watch loft

by the ill by the 2d

*73>6 daily i74>7

i74?7

Mean
Daily variation
JDaily lofs

+ Hj5
185,7
Satellite.
>

on

folar time

An

Emerjion of Jupiter's frjl

.,

16th October, bv watch emerged Too flow at noon Lofs till obfervation at 185", 7

7 53-35
+

7-59)7 1.01,9

Kmerfion Ephemeras
Longitude
in time
in degrees

8.02.36,6 2.29.17,6
5-33- 1 9)^
o

83.19.54

Refitlt

of the Obfervation of Longitude.

h
/ //

1,

29th Augllfl, COLEBROOKE 5th September, Pearse

83.25. l6

30th ditto, Colebrooke 16th October, Colebrooke

83.21.18 82.12.30 83.19 54

83.19.44,5

83.25.l6 83.21.18
rejected.

83.19.54
83.22.09*3

Mean

VI ZI A
An

NAG A RUM PALACE.

.

Obfervation of Jupiter's fecond Satellite^ by T D. P

h
1

22d October, by watch emerged

Full fplendor

7.16.06 18.18
Ohfcrvations

1C1

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

Obfervations by Lieutenant

Colebrooke.
Altitudes.
/

Equal
h

* Fumulkoot rifing
falling

7.48.10

944-25
'

On the
By

Meridian

8.46.17,5
8.54.35,5 flow 8.18

calculation

On

the Meridian, Oct.

22d 23.50.14,5
-

Equation of E. A.

7,0

23.50.21.5 flow 9.38,5

23d Ocl. * Fumulhoot

rifing

falling

7-5*-39 9.29.05
8.40.22 8.50,46,2 flow 10.24,2

On
By

the Meridian

calculation

G On

the Meridian,

23d

23.48.10,3

Equation of E. A.

7,6

23.48.17,3 flow 11.42,7

//

From

the above, daily lofs 125,2

An

Emerfion of Jupiter's jirft

Satellite,

By watch emerged

9.48.55
2 2d

IN FORT WILLIAM, &C.

102

h
/
//

2 2d 061. Jupiter''s fecond Satellite

emerged 7.16.06

By

Fumulhoot, watch flow

+8.18

Lofs in 1.30 after emerfion,

at

125,2

07,8

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude
in

7.24.16,2
1.49-57
5-34-i9> 2
o

time

in degrees

83.34.48

23d Oct. Jupiter's

firft

Satellite

emerged

9-48.55

By
*

<<

Fumulhoot too flow +10.24,6

a

Lofs in

1.8. after

Fumulhoot pafled

at

125,2

06,0

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude
in time

9 59.25,6 4.26.08,0
5-33o

7)6

in degrees

83. 19.54,0

Mr. Maxton obferved this at Vizacpatam and the two obfervations fhew only 3^" difference of longitude;
:

but the high hill that lies to the north of the Palace bore from Beemulwilfa, N. 8. 25" E. and by trigonometry its diftance was 22,978 miles, therefore it lay north of Beemuiwilfa 19'. 28/andeaft 2'. 52". The Palace lies 12'. 2o' ,3 to the north by obfervations at large, and
/

therefore to the ealt

eaft

1'.

48".

But Beemulxvilfa

lies to

the

of Vizacpatam,
3

Mr.

Max ton's

eye,

it

may

be

prefumed,

103

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS
fo

prefumed,is not

quick as Lieutenant Colebrooke's, account for the difference; for, by a particular furvey round thefe parts, Vizianagur Fort does lie 6'. 36" eaft of Vizacpatam.

and

will fuffice to

NARRA IN P
Which, by the garum Palace 2'.

ORE,

table of the route, lies weft of Viziana-

Obfervations by Lieutenant

Co lebrook;e for Time.

h
,

On

the Meridian Oct. 31ft

Equation

23.36.04,3 -f 6,4

23.36.10,7(^23.49,3

November

1 ft

Equation

23.34.39,5 6,8 -f

23-34-46 3flow25.i3,7
5
.

..

\ *

Daily

lofs

1.24,4

An

Objervation of Jupiter's^r/Z Satellite,

clear,

Sky remarkably

31ft October,

and glafs fleady emerged by watch

h 6.00.45
(

Lofs

till

Too flow 'at noon obfervation at 84''',^

Emerfion Ephcmeris
Longitude
in time

23.49,3 22,5
6.24.56,8

51.26
5.33.30,8
o

in degrees

83.22.42,0

K A LING A-

IN FORT WILtlAM,

<ScC

104

K A LING A

PAT A M,

1784.
"

Obfervations by Lieutenant

ColebrookeT^ 7 Time.

On

Meridian, Nov. 7th

Equation of E. A.

23.50.56,5 H- 6,8 23.51.03,3 flow 8.56,7 8.49.48 9.00.01,6 flow 10.13,6

{3

Cafliopaeae

on

the Meridian

by calculation

Therefore the watch

daily.

loft

1.16,9 in 9 hours, and 205,06

N. B. The watch had run down on the 5th, and the weather was changing from dry to cloudy, which ended in nun.
For Longitude.

An

Emerfeon of Jupiter's jirjl

Satellite.

Glafs fteady, atmofphere rather thick.

By watch emerged Too flow by the ftar

The
pa fled after the emerfion 36'; lofs for that time
ftar

-----.
Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude

8.13.35 10.13,6

*%

8.23.43,5 2.47,01,0 5.36.42,5

o

in time

in degrees

84.10.37,5

IECHA-

105

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

IEC HA POORE, 1782. Obfervations ^ T. D. P.

Double
tificial

altitudes of Jupiter^ with the octant

and

ar-

horizon.
Angles.

/
//

Time.

8.IO.O3
1

64.28.IO 3-0^ 63.30.00 15.08 62.45.20. 18.53 6l.5O.3O

/

//

//

Jupiter's

R. A.

at the

time

17.21.46,6

Declinations.

R. A.

at

23.02.04 h the time 11.55.08,3

see

Latitude

by Colebrooke, 1784,
at large

Table

8.14.17 >* 31.34.15 See Observations 1.34' Ref,

19.06.45

3i.32.4i

From
h
/

the
o

above data, Jupiter had pafled the

h
.

meridian.,

//

2.45.59,2, and the time was 8.12.37,6 Watch 8.14.17

Too

fa ft

i-39j4

An
h

Edipfe of the Moon.

/ n 21ft Sept. 7.00.15 doubtful. 01.40 begun certainly.

02.40 ftrong fhadow came on. 04.14 penumbra touched a place which name A. 09.03 fhadow touched A. 9.06.56 fhadow touched the limb at B. 08.11 penumbra going.
10.12 limb not perfectly bright. ii.20 end certainly, and at B.

By

IN

FORT WILLIAM, &C.

10$

of the obfervations at A, it appears fhadow required 4'.49'' to move through the that By comparing thofe at B, breadth of the penumbra. 4" were then fufficient. it appears that 4'. 2
the

By companion

The mean of
4'-37"-

thefe will be very near the truth;

it is

Shadow came on Advance of penumbra

Beginning of eclipfe

04.37
6.58.03

7.02.40

Shadow touched the limb Retreat of penumbra

9.06.56

J- 04.37

End of

eclipfe

SMi-33
2.13.30 2.08.30

Duration obferved Duration by ephemeris

+
By ephemeris end
Beginning
Duration

05.00

3.28 1.19.30

2.08.30
2.23.45
8.04.48

Ephemeris middle

Middle obferved by watch

Too

fall

1-39:4

8.03.08,6

Ephemeris
Longitude
in time

2.23.45
5-39.23,6

degrees

84.50.54

Q ANJAH

10/

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

G ANJAM FORT,
Obfervations by T. D. P.

1782.

Latitude determined,

4th September, horizon clear, octant 6th very hazy, by fextant and quadrant, both agreed

h , 19.21.30
19.21.03 19.21.50 19.19.50

i6th

Sextant Octant

Mean

19.21.03

Thefe were taken from the top of the Chief's houfe:

the fea was the horizon; the height above the area of the fort was meafured, but the height of that area was

guefled at ; the dip was taken height from the tables.

correfponding to this

An

Objervation of Jupiter's fourth Satellite,

16th September, 1782, immerfion

6.45. 27

The change of colour was noted

at

6.44.04

this

Clouds prevented the obferving of the emerfion of and the immerfion of the hrft, which happened

that night.

G ANJAM CAMP,
Obfervations by Lieut.

1784.

Colebroqke,

On the Meridian, Nov.

Equation of E, A.

20th 23.57.36,3 05,5

23. 57.41,8 flow 2-18,2

On

IN FORT WILLIAM,

SzC.

108

O On

h ' Meridian, Nov. 2 ill 23.56 00 the Equation of* E. A. 05,5

23.56.05,5 flow 3.54,5

Q On

the Meridian,

23d

Equation of E. A.

23.54.15,0 05,4

23.54.20,4

How 5.59,5

CaJfioptZcT,

24th November.
Middle.

First Wire.

Upper.
/

*"/./ Riling 7.28.20 Falling 9-35-53

11/
34-4
2 9-35

//

42.40 21.37

pn the Meridian 8.32.06,5

32.07,5

32.08,5=8.32.07,5
8.39.51,2

By

calculation

Slow

7.43,7

Which, compared with

gives 9i",3 daily lofs.

the

laft

folar obfervation,

An

Emerfion of Jupiter's

Jirjl Satellite,

24th November, by watch emerged Too flow by the flar // JLofs after the emerfion, at 9i ,3

6.37.35
4-

7.43,7 7,3

Emerfion Ephemeris

6.45.11,4

1.0439
5-40.32,4

Longitude

in time

in degrees

86.08.06

JEHAUD-

109

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

JEHAUDJEPOORE,
Objervations by Lieut.

1784.

Colebrooke.

17th Dec. *

Cajfiopccce

"

),

riling

falling

6.31.40 8.05.53

On

the Meridian 7.18.46,5 18.477.18.46,7 By calculation 7-54,48,7

55.31
flow

42x3

Watch

36.02,0

On

the Meridian, 17th

h * < 2 3- 2 3-59;3
-Hi

Equation of E. A.

23.24.00

flow 36,00

An

Emerfion of Jupiter's

firft Satellite.

By watch emerged Too flow by the*

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude
in time

6.21.25 36.02
6.57.27 1.11.50 5-45-37
o

in degrees

86.24.15

SOOBUN-

IN

FORT WILLIAM, &.

110

SOOBUNREEKA RIVER CAMP,

Obfervations by Lieutenant

1784.

Colebrooke.

N. B.

Oppojite Jellafore, on the Ballafore fide of the

River,

On

h < the Meridian, Dec. 24th 23.19.34,1

Equation of E. A.

23. 19.33,4 flow 40.26,6

On

the Meridian, Dec. 25th 23.18.12

Equation of E. A.

23.18.11

flow4i.49jO

Daily

lofs

82",4

An Emerfon

of Jupiter's

firjl Satellite.

h
17th December, by watch emerged Full fplendor. Too flow at the following

8.12.42

h , n noon 8.13.50 Lofs after emerfion,

40.26,2
at

82^,4

52

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude
in time

8.52.16,2 3.04.14
5.48.02,2

in degrees

87.00.33,0

An

lit

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

An

Emerjion of Jupiter's fecond

Satellite,

h
25th December, by watch emerged

6.04.40

Watch (low
Lofs
till

+40.26,6
4- 23,2

obfervation, at 82

//

Emerfion Ephemeris
Longitude
in time
in degrees

6.45.29,8

55.57
5.49.32,8
o

87.23.12

Comparifon of the h few ations for Longitudes with correfponding Obfcrv ations at different Places^ to fx the Longitudes of thofe which were undetermined*

By T. D. ?ARiE.

CALCUTTA.
The obfervatory was
at

the Treafury Gate in Tort

William.

Lunar Edi/fes.

1 it

17765 July 30, Immerfion

at Calcutta

17.01.16 Greenwich 11.08.2ih

I reject it.

/ u 5-5 2 -55

As

this

was not of the bed,

1 779, November 23d. I reject, the beginning, becaufe, when compared with Tycho in the former part, it ap-

pears, from a like comparifon of the Greenwich obftrvations, that it is erroneous a full minute. The firft

Copernicus

IN FORT

WILLIAM,

6cC.

112

Copernicus is alfo rejected. And by comparing the end doubtful with Tycho and Copernicus of the latter part in both fets, it appears to be the obfervation that mud be compared with the end at Greenwich.

Calcutta.

The body of Tycho

touched
pafled

Immerfion Emerfion Grimaldi touched The middle of Copernicus The body of Tycho touched
paJTed

The end

**3

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

IN

tORT WILLIAM, &C.

^
cr>

113
O

co

en 00

00

q
CT>

iO

CO

CO CO

CO

C?)

H4
a

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

IN FORT WILLIAM, SzC.

114

i*5

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

J -a
<u

0 J
CO-

O
c?

DO

^
-

5-5
g B

CO * 00
CI

_Q

q I "* g

^o
<3

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Q<5

<*0

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IN FORT WILLIAM, ScC.

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O W J2 CO
.

~ o VO
"

?"<0

^
o

io."

3" "^ t* tO

J&'a

o
cji

It
|j

1x6
~-5

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

Q
co
^co"
-

0* lo
r^"*

O
7-B
CO

J
B
co

CO ^
;

Cl

- g
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9 5 ;: lO~

co

M T
lo

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cc

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IN

FORT WILLIAM,

ScC.

nS

"7

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

J3
<3 tM

IN FORT WILLIAM,

&C.

11/

n8

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION 3

S a

IN

FORT WILLI ANf, &C.

I co
rt

Il8

CO
.Qh

o o
co

~o
CI

T
<

10 r- r^vo c> CO LO CO "O OlTJt N Q\\Q

rt rt
01
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il 9

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS
3
*s

Si

C-.

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o lO r3 c o r-U - -o-- 9 p E 00 o r- ?3 CO c n n, o i- - S fc

i"

IT) 73

s u

o uTo" 2
Ji

00

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-e

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<2

<

IN TORT WILLIAM, &X,

J1 9

lO B
rf bo
1
C7s
r=

120

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION'S

Z,
6 d

& Z S ~ ^ - "OLOOiOOO~-.ww
CO
*-0

C-S

CO d.
"O

rji

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=?"

6 00

-'

ci

ci

ci

ci

ci

2
*T3

^Z 22 ^22^2^22^22
its

co

o
CO
ci

co co

ci

lo ^i*o r r-~ m coo *o co colo^o-^o com loco^rci

'

w J
..

^r
-

ci

c o' ^COO
<m'

co

o
co

r^'sd 'o
rt

to LO

-.

d.

cr>

kC UO

COCOflO-''M N
ci

id di
-<'

r-'-

~ divd

>d d. l/-| LO

cfi irj
u-\

<3

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IN

FORT WILLIAM, &C.

120

CO'-' CD m

3 S. 3

cr>

-^ ?f

>o C\ 1 : 'O
i

-i

CJ

-1

"3 CO

Zo
O M
ei

!t

2;

</i

co 25
iT3

'-O

CO CO

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121

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS

121

l^<^ rs K^rLr- >-r

Si

n ELbrr^ trf^ RE RIp t^ H ?5L(!

^S5 <, rK^&JrX^ ? erf7 * ^~

!?*<

iiii!^^iiiir

?>

^c^ui

^aiauM*!

*p5iS.

A ROYAL GRANT,
III.

ScQ.

X2

A ROYAL GRANT OF LAND,

ENGRAVED ON A COPPER-PLATE, BEARING DATE TWENTY-THREE YEARS BEFORE CHRIST; AND DISCOVERED AMONG THE

RUINS at MONGUEER.
Tranjlated

from the Original By CHARLES W1LKINS,

In the Year 178
J.

Sanfcrit^
Esq.

DEB PAAL DEB.*

Prosperity
!

HIS

wifhes are accomplifhed.

His heart

is

ftedfafi

He walks in the paths of of others. virtue. May the achievements of this fortunate Prince caufe innumerable bleflings to his People
in the caufe
!

By difplaying the ftrength of his genius* he hath difcovered the road to all human acquirements; for being a Soogot (1) he is Lord of the Univerfe.
Gopaal, King of the World, pofiefTed matchlefs good Fortune he was Lord of two Brides; the Earth and her Wealth. By comparifon of the learned, he was likened unto Preetoo (2,) Sogor (3,) and others, and it is cre:

dited.

When his innumerable army marched, the heavens were fo filled with the dull of their feet, that the birds of the air could reft upon it.

He

* In this translation the Sanscrit names are written as they arc pronounced in Bengal ; but in the following paper, the translator has adopted the more elegant pronunciation of Varanes and Cashmir.

124

A ROYAL INDIAN GRANT

acted according to what is written in the Shaajlra, and obliged the different fects to conform to their proper tenets. He was blefled with a fon, Dhormo Paal, when he became independent of his forefathers, who are
(1,)

He

in heaven.

His elephants moved

like

the earth, op pre (Ted by their weight, and

walking mountains ; and mouldered

into dull, found refuge in the peaceful heavens.

He went to extirpate the wicked, and plant the good; and happily his falvation was effe&ed at the fame time: for his fen-ants vifited Kedaar, (2,) and drank milk according to the law and they offered up their vows where the Ganges joins the Ocean, and at Gokornaa, (3,) and other places, (4).
:

he had completed his conquers, he releafedall made captive; and each returning to his own country laden with prefents, reflected upon this generous deed, and longed to fee him again; as mortals, remembering a pre-exiftence 3 wifh to return to the realms of light.
the rebellious Princes he had

When

This Prince took the hand of the daughter of Poroboly Kaajaa of many countries, whofe name was Ronnaa Dtbee ; and he became fettled.
beauty, formed difwas Locket (5) herj'elf in her fhape; others, that the earth had affumed her form: many faid it was the Raajaa's fame and reputation; and others, that a houfehold goddefs had entered And her wifdom and virtue fet her above his palace. all the ladies of the court.
people, being

The

amazed

at her

ferent opinions of her.

Some

faid

it

This

FOUND AT MON'GUEER.

I2

This virtuous and praife- worthy Princefs bore a fon, Deb Paal Deb, as the fhell of the ocean produces
the pearl

In whofe heart there is no impurity ; of few words, and gentle manners; and who peaceahlv inherited the kingdom of his father, as Bodhcesolwo (1) fucceeded
Soogot.

He who, marching through many countries making conquelts, arrived with his elephants in the forefts of the mountains of Beendhyo, (2,) where feeing again their long-loft families, they mixed their mutual tears; and who going to fubdue other Princes, his young
horfes meeting their females at Komboge, (3,) they tually neighed for joy.

mu-

He who
which was

firft

has opened again the road of liberality, marked out in the Kreto Joog (4) by

Bolee, (5,) in which Bhaargob (6) walked in the Trectaa Joog, (7,) which was cleanfed by Korno (8) in the Dwapor Joog, (9,) and was again choaked up in the Kolee Joog (10) after the death of Sokodxveesce (11.)

conquered the earth from the fource of the well-known bridge which was constructed by the enemy of Dosaasyo (12,) from the River of Luckecool (13) as far as the ocean of the habitation of Boroon, (14.)

He who

Ganges

as far as the

At Mood-go-gheeree, (15,) where is encamped his victorious army, acrofs whole river a bridge of boats is constructed for a road, which is mi (taken for a chain of
mountains, where immcnfe herds of elephants, like thick black clouds, fo darken the face of day, that people think it the feafon of the rains ; whither the Princes of the Korth fend fo many troops of horfe, that the duft of
their

126

A ROYAL INDIAN GRANT

on all fides; whither fo Jumboodweep (1) refort to pay many mighty Chiefs of
their hoofs fpreads darknefs

their refpetts,

that the earth finks

beneath the weight

There Deb Paal Deb of the footfteps of the mighty Lord of (who, walking in the great Soogots, the great Commander, Raajaa of Mc~ haa Raajaa^ Dhormo Paal D^, is himfelf mighty Lord of the great Soogots, a great Commander, and Raajaa of Mohaa Raajaas) iffues his commands. To all the inhabitants of the town of Meseeka, fituated in Kreemeelaa, in the province of Sree Nogor (2,) which is my own property, and which is not divided by any land belonging to another; to all Raanok and Kaaje-pootro ; to the
the feet of their attendants.

Omaatyo, Mohaa-kaarttaa-kreeieeko, Mohaa-Dondo-Navk, Mohaa Proteehaar, Mohaa-Saamont, Mohaa* Dovj-Saadhon-SaadhoneekO) Mohaa- Koomaaraa- Matyo ; to the Promaatrce and Sorobhongo ; to the RaajostaaneeyO) Ooporeeko, Daasaaporaadheeko, Chowroddhoroneeko, Daandeeko, Dondopaaseeko^ Sowl-keeko, Gowlmeeko, Kyotropo, Praantopaalo, Kothtopaalo and
(3)

Kaandaarokyo
jookioko
;

to the

Todaajooktoko and the Beenee-

of the elephants, horfes, and camels; to the keeper of the marcs, colts, cows, buffaloes, fheep, and goats; to the Dootoprysoneeko, Go-* maa-Gomeeko, and Obheetworomaano ; to the Beesoyto the keeper
potee, Toropotee,

and Toreeko. To the different tribes, GowT) Maalob, Khoso, Hoon^ Kolecko, Kornaato, Laaour fubjecls, who and to the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, from the Braahmo?i and fathers of large families, to the tribes of Medo Ondhoroko^ and
saato,

and Bhoto

to all others of
;

are not here fpecified

Chondaalo.

town of Mesecka, whofe

have given the above-mentioned limits include the fields where the cattle graze, above and below the furface, with all the lands belonging to it; together with all the Mango an4 Modhoo trees all its waters, and all their banks and verdure; all its rents and tolls, with all fines for crimes, and 2
it

Be

known

that

FOUND AT MOKGUEER,

12/

and rewards for catching thieves. In it there (hall be no moleltation, no pafiage for troops; nor fhall any one I give likewife everytake from it the fmalleft part. thing that has been poMefl'ed by the fervants of the Raajaa. I give the Earth and Sky, as long as the Sun and Moon ih all laft. Except, however, fuch lands as have been given to God, and to the Braahmons, which they have long poffefTed, and now enjoy. And that the glory of my father and mother, and my own fame, may be increased,
I

have cauied

this

Saafon (i) to be engraved,

and granted unto the great Botho Bethkoraato Meefro? who has acquired all the wifdom of books, and has
ftudied the Beads (2) under OJlaayono ; who is defcended from Owpomonyobo ; who is the fon of the learned and immaculate Botho Boraahoraato ; and whofe grandfather was Botho Beefworaato, learned in the Beads, and expert in performing the Jog (3).

Know

all

the aforefaid, that as bellowing

is

merito-

rious, fo taking

away deferves punifhment; wherefore

it.

leave it as and thofe

have granted

Let

all his

neighbours,

mands. perform and pay, do it unto him in all things. Dated in the 33d Sombot (4,) and 21ft day of the month of Maargo.

who till the land, be obedient to my comWhat you have formerly been accuftomed to

Thus fpeak the following Slokes (5) from Onoofaajon ;

1.

Dhormo

"
'

hath required, from time to time, of all that may reign, that the bridge of their beneficence be the fame, and that they do conthe

"

Ram

Raajaas

tinually repair

it.

{C
J<

2. " Lands have been granted by Sogor, and many other Raajaas; and the fame of their deeds devolves

to their fucceifors,

He

i28
3.
*'

A ROYAL INDIAN GRANT

"

He who
I

which

" coming

difpoffeffes any one of his property, myfelf, or others, have given, may he, bea worm, grow rotten in ordure with his
!

" forefathers
4.
*'

ct

61

Riches, and the life of man, are as tranfient as drops of water upon a leaf of the lotus. Learndo not attempt to deprive ing this truth, O man another of his reputation."
!

<;

The Raajaa, for the public good, hath appointed his virtuous fon, Raajyo Paal, to the dignity of Jowbo Raajaa. He is in both lines of defcent illuftrious, and hath acquired all the knowledge of his father.

NOTES.

FOUN'D AT MONGUEER,

12$

N OTE
Page 123. (1) Soogot
philofopher,
fignifies
is

S.

or follower of the tenets of at a place called Keekot, in the province of Bckar, one thoufand years after the commencement of the Kolv jfojg, or Iron Age ; of which this is the 48825 year. He believed in vifible things only, or fuch as may be deduced
an
atheift.

Soogot, a

who

(aid

to

have flourifhed

from
fire.

effects the caufe

of which

is

known

as

from fmoke the exiflence of

wrote many books to prove the abfurdity of the religion of the Bralimans ; and fome upon aftronomy, and other fciences, all which are

He

laid to be

now

in being.

He
to

further held that

all

our actions are attended

;

by

their

own

rewards and punifhments in

right

this life

and

that all animals,

having an equal

exigence with man, they mould not be killed

either for fport or food.

rear Luchwzv.

(2) Pretoo was the fon of Beno, and Raajaa of a place called Beetoor, He flourifhed in the firft age of the world, and ts faid to
;

have levelled the earth

and, having prepared

it

for cultivation,

obliged

the people to live in fociety.

(3) Sg or > tne name f a Raajaa who lived in the fecond age at Ojoodho, and is faid to have dug the rivers. Page 124. (1) Shaafira book of divine ordinations. The word is derived from a root fignifying to command. a famous place, fituated to the north of Hindoftan, vi(2) Kedaar fited, to this day. on account of its fuppofed fan&ity. a place of religious rcfort, near Punjab. (3) Gokornaa (4) This and a few other pafTages appear inconfifient with the principles of a Soogot ; to reconcile it, therefore, it fhould be remarked, that, as he was ifiuing his orders to fubjeOs of a different perfuafion, it was natural for him to ufe a language the beft calculated to ftrike them with awe, and bind them to a performance of his commands. The Ptmdit, by whofe affiflance this tranflation was made, when he was defired to explain this feeming contradiction, afked whether we did not, in our courts, {wear a Mujfulman upon the Koran, and a Hindoo by the waters of the Ganges, although we ourfelves had not the leaft faith in either.

the Hindoo Goddefs of Fortune. (5) Lockee Page 125. (1) Bodheejotxuo >was the fon of Soogot. (?) Beendhyo-name of the mountains on the continent near Ceylon. now called Cambay. (3) Komboge

(4) Kreeto Joogihe firft age of the world, fotnetimes called the Suttee Joog, or age of purity. a famous giant of the firft age, who is fabled to have con(5) Bolee

quered earth, heaven, and

(6)

Bhargob
Trcetoo

hell.

Brahman, who, having put

to death all the princes

of

the earth,

ufurped the government of the whole.

(7)

Joog\hz

fecond age, or of three parts good.

(8) Korno

I3O
(8) Korno
to

A ROYAL INDIAN GRANT, &C.

a famous hero in the third age of the world. He was Doorjodhon, whofe wars with Joodijleer are the fubjefts of the Mohabkarat, the grand epick poem of the Hindoos. the thud age of the world. (9) Dwapor Joog (10) Kolce Joog the fourth or prefent age of the world, of which

General

4882

years are elapfed.

(11) Sokodzvi.fee

an

He

fucceeded

his

(12) Dofaajyo

brother Sckaadeetyo,

of Beciromaadeetyo, a famous Raajaa. whom he put to death. one of the names of Raabon, whofe wars with Raam
epithet
called the

are the fubjeft of a

poem

Raamayon.

(13) Luckeecool now called Luckeepoor. God of the ocean. (14) Boroon According to thi* account the Raajaa's dominions extended from the Cow's Mouth to Adam's Bridge in Ceylon, faid to have been built by Raam in his wars with Raabon ; from Luckcpoor as far as Goozerat. now called Mongueer. (15) Mood-go-gkeeree Page 126. according to the Hindoo geography, (1) Ju.mbood.wtzp implies the habitable part of the earth.

the ancient name of Patna. (2) Sree Nogor Mohaa-kaarltaa kreeteeko, chief invef(3) Onmatyo, prime minifter. Mohaa-Dondo-Nayk, chief officer of punifhments. ttgatorof all things.

Mohaa-Protee-haar, chief keeper of

raliffimo.ties.

Mohaa-Saamonto, gene, the gates. Mohaa-Dow-Saadhon-Saadkoneeko, chief obviator of difficulMokaa-Koomaaraa-Matyo, chief inftructor of children. Promaafuperintendant.

tree,

keeper of the records. Sorobhongo, patrols. Raajojlaaneeyo, viceroy,

thief- catcher.

Daa/aaraadhceko, inveftigator of crimes. Daandeeko, mace-bearer. )ondoSozvl-keeko, collector j>afeeko t keeper of the inflruments of punifliment. Gowlmeeko, commander of a fmall party. Kyotrapo, fuof cufloms. Kothtopervifor of cultivation. Praantopaalo, guard of the fuburbs. paalo t commander of a fort. Kaandaarokyo, guard of the wards of the Beeneejooktoko, director Todaajooktoko, chief guard of the wards. city. Gomaa-Gomeeko, meflenDootopryfoneeko, chief of the fpies. of affairs. Obkeevoromaa.no, fwift mefTengers. gers. Beefoypotee, governor of a
Ooporeeko,

Cnow-rod-dho-rontekc,

city.

Toropotety

fuperintendant of the rivers.

Torceko, chief of the

boats.

Page 127. (2) Beads

(3) (4)

The Brah-, implies the aera of Raajaa Beekromadcetyo< mans throughout Hindoftan keep time according to the three following epochas The Kolyobdo, from tne flight of Kreejhno, or commencement of the Kolee Joog, 4882 years. The Sombot, from the death of Beekromadeetyo, 1837 years. The Sokaabdo, from the death of Raajaa Soko %
:

Hindoo JS Sombot
Sacrifice.

(1) Saafon

figniftes

an edift.

Scriptures.

1703.
(5)

Slokaftanzas, commonly,

but erroneQuHy, written AJilogues,

AN

OL.l

3k GE J3j

rrLOKTVlE w

StdeVie^t

AN INSCRIPTION,

&CC.

1^1

IV.

AN

INSCRIPTION
On
a

PILLAR

near

BUDDAL
Esouire.

TRANSLATED FROM THE SANSCRIT.

By

CHARLES WILKINS,

in the month of November, in the year 1780, I dif covered, in the vicinity of the town of Buddal) near which the Company have a factory, and which at that time was under my charge, a decapitated monumental column, which at a little diftance has very much the appearance of the trunk of a cocoa-nut tree broken off in the middle. It ftands in a fwamp overgrown with weeds, near a fmall temple dedicated to

COME time

Hargowree, whofe image it contains. Upon my getting enough to the monument to examine it, I took its dimenfions, and made a drawing of it ; and foon after a plate was engraved, from which the accompanying is an impreflion.
clofe
It is formed of a Tingle ftone, of a dirty grey complexion ; and it has loft by accident a confiderable part of its original height. I was told upon the fpot that it had, in the courfe of time, funk confiderably in the ground; but upon my digging about the foundation, I found this was not the cafe. At a few feet above the ground is an infcription, engraved in the ftone, from which I took two reverfed impreflions with printer's ink. I have lately been fo fortunate as to decypher the character; and I have the honour to lay before the Society a tranfcript of the original in the modern writing, and a tranflation ; and at the fame time to exhibit the two impreflions I took from the ftone itfelf.

The

132

AN INSCRIPTION ON A
original chara&er of this infcription
is

The
that that

very dif-

ferent from the

modern form; but it fo much refembles on the plate found by Col. Watson at Mongueer, I am induced to conclude it to be the work of the

is

fame period. The language is Samjkreet, and the whole comprifed in twenty -eight metrical verfes of various

meafures,

CHARLES WILKINS.
14th Juty) 1785.

Prosperity

PILLAR NEAR BUDDAL,

I33

Prosperity

I.

of the Sandeelya race, (i;) from him was defcended Panchal ; of whofe generation and of whom, was Garga born.

1/EERA DEVwas

II.

He, another Sakra, (2,) was ruler but of one quarter, and had no authority in other regions. He, too, was defeated by Ditya (3) chiefs ; but, being a virtuous prince, he became fupreme over every country without referve ; and his conduct was fuch, that he laughed
Vreahaspatee (4) to fcorn.

III.

and like love, fhe was the was admired for the native purity of her mind, and her beauty was like the light of Eecha (5) was his wife; miftrefs of his heart. She
the

moon.
In

(1)

tribe

of Brahmans

ftill

extant.

(2) Eendra, the dian of the Eaft.

.

God

of the Heavens,
is

who

is

fuppofedtobe the Guarloft his

(3) Evil

Spirits.

Eendra
good

faid to

have

kingdom, for a

while, to the Afoors, or evil fpiiits.

(4)

The

tutor of the

fpirits,

and

the Planet Jupiter.

(5) Love, Defire,

134

AN INSCRIPTION ON A
IV.

In his countenance, which was like the flower of the waters, (1,) were to be traced the lines of four fciences, The three worlds were held in fubje&ion by his (2.) hereditary high rank.

From

thefe

two was defcended

Brahm&nlikt Ka-

malayonee, (3,) and he took unto himfelf the Sree Darbha-pcinee :

name of

V.

Whofe country (extending to Reva-jfanak, (4 ;) to the father of Gowree, (5,) whofe piles of rocks reek with the juice exuding from the heads of intoxicated elephants, and whofe {now-white mountains are brightened by the fun's rays; to the two oceans: to that whence Arobn (6) rifeth from its bed, and to that wherein the fun finketh in the weft) the Prince Sree JDev Pal, (7,) by his policy, rendered tributary ;

VI.

At whofe

gates (although the profpect, hidden

by the

duft arifing from the multitude of marching forces, was rendered clear from the earth, beingwatered by conftant

and

(1)
(2) (3)
( V)

The

Lotus.

Arms, Music, Mechanic?, Physics. Brahma.

Perhaps the Narbadda.

that part India from Tartary. Gozvrec, one of the names of the Parvatee, the consort of Scev. The Aurora of the Hindoos. (G) The Charioteer of the Sun. (7) If this be the Prince mentioned in the copper-plate found by Col. Watum, he reigned at Mongueer above 800 years ago.

(5)

The snowy Mountains

PILLAR NEAR BUDDAL. and abundant ftreams, flowing from the heads of
ful elephants

I35
luft-

of various breeds) flood, fcarce vifible, the vaft concourfe of nobles flocking to his amongft ftandard from every quarter, Sree Dev Pal, in expectation of his fubmiflion.

VII.

Whofe throne that Prince (who was the image of Eendra, and the duft of whofe feet was impreffed with the diadems of fundry potentates) himfelf afcended with a flafh of glory, although he had formerly been wont to offer him large fums of Peetas, (1,) bright as
the lunar rays.

VIII.

To him was born, of the Princefs Sarkara, the Brahman Some/war, who was like Som, (2,) the ofTfpring of Atree, and a favourite of the Moft High.
IX.

He

adopted the manners of Dhananjay^ (3,) and

did not exult over the ignorant and ill-favoured. He fpent his riches amongft the needy. He neither vainly accepted adulation, nor uttered honey words. His attendants were attached by his bounty ; and becaufe

of

his

vaft

talents,

not equal, he was the wonder of

which the whole univerfe could all good men.

Anxious
(1)
(2) (3 )

square coin.
called Arjoon,

The Moon. One of the Sons of Pandoo, commonly

I3S

AN INSCRIPTION ON A
X.

Anxious
of Rcinna,

for a

home and an afylum, he took

the

hand

(1,) a Princefs of his own likenefs, according to the law, even as Sei'v the hand of Seeva, (2,) even as Haree (3) the hand of LakJJimce.

XI.
proceeded into life, burfh'ng forth countenance of a golden hue, the fortunate Kedara Mcesra, whofe actions rendered him the favourite of heaven. The lofty diadem, which he had attained, fhone with faultlefs fplendor, kiffing His extenfive the vafl circumference of the earth. power was hard to be limited; and he was renowned for boundlefs knowledge, raifed from his own internal
this pair

From

like Gooha, (4,) with a

fource.

XII.
the four fciences, which had been at a draught drunk up, he brought forth again 5 and laughed at the power of Agcistya, (5.)

The ocean of

fingle

XIII.
Trufting to his wifdom, the king of Gozvr (6) for a long time enjoyed the country of the eradicated race of Ootkal,(j,) of the Hoons, (8,) of humbled pride, of the kings
Princess of this name is also mentioned In Colonel (!) son's Plate. (2) Secva is the feminine of Seev.
(.'])

Wat-

Jlarce, a

name

of VceshnoQ.

Gooha, a name of Karieck. (5) Who is said to have drunk up the Ocean. (o) The kingdom of Gotur anciently included all the countries which now form the kingdom of Bengal on this side the BnthTtiu-pootTQ, except Monmcer*
(1)
(7) Orixia. (b) Huns.

PILLAR NEAR BUDDAL*

137

kings of Draveer (1) and Goojar, (2,) whofe glory was reduced, and the univerfal fea-girt throne.

XIV.

He

confidered his

own acquired

wealth the property

and his mind made no diftin&ion between the friend and the foe. He was both afraid and afhamed of thofe offences which condemn the foul to fink again and he defpifed the into the ocean of mortal birth pleafures of this life, becaufe he delighted in a fupreme
of the needy,
;

abode.

XV.
ligious rites, the Prince Sree Soora

him, emblem of Vreehapatee, (3,) and to his rePal (who was a fecond Eendra, and whofe foldiers were fond of wounds) went repeatedly ; and that long and happy companion of the world, which is girt with feveral oceans as with a belt, was wont, with a foul purified at the fountain of faith, and his head humbly bowed down, to bear pure water before him.

To

XVI.
Vanwa 9 of celeftial birth, was his confort, with whom neither the fickle Lakshmee, nor Satee^ (4,) conftant to her lord, were to be compared.
Vol,
I.

M
South of the Carnatick.
Spirits,

XVIL

(1)

A Country to the

(2) Goozerat.
(3) (4)

The Preceptor of the good The Consort of Seer,

and the Planet

Jupiter*

138

AN INSCRIPTION ON A

XVII.
She, like another Devalue, (1,) bore unto him a fon of high renown, who refembled the adopted Yasod/ul, (2,) and huiband of Lakshmee, (3.)

XVIII.
This youth, by name Sree Goorava Mcesrti, was acHe refembled quainted with all the conftellations. Ram, the fon of Jimcidagnee, (4.) He was another

Ram.

XIX.
His abilities were fo great, that he was folicitous to difcover the efTence of things, wherefore he was greatly What refpecled by the Prince Sree Narayan PaL other honour was neceffary ?

XX.
His policy (who was of no mean capacity, and of a reputation not to be conceived) following the fenfe of the Veil, was of boundlefs fplendor; and, as it were a defcent of Dharma, the Genius of Juftice. It was regulated by the example of thofe who truft in the power of fpeech over things future, who ftand upon the connexion of family, w ho are in the exercife of paying

due
(1)
(2)

The real mother of Krceshna. The Foster-Mother of Kreeshna.

She is here called (3) Roohncence, the Consort of Krceshna. Lakshmee, in compliance with the idea of her being a descent of that Goddess. (4) This is neither the Conqueror of Ceylon, nor the Brother of
Kreeshna.

PILLAR NEAR BUDDAL.

I39

due

praife to the virtues of great

men, and who be-

lieve in the purity of Ajli'ology.

XXI.
In him was united a lovely pair, Lakshmee and Saraswatee, the Difpoferof Fortune, and the Goddefs of Science, who feemed to have forfaken their natural enmity, and to Hand together pointing at Friendfhip.

XXII.

He

laughed to fcorn him who, in the aflemblies of

the learned, was intoxicated with the love of argument,

and confounded him with profound and elegant difcourfes framed according to the doctrine of tht Sdstras ; and he fpared not the man who, becaufe of his boundlefs power and riches, was overwhelmed with the pride
of victory over
his

enemy

in the field.

XXIII.

have no never was blefled with that giver of delight, by obtaining which a man goeth unto another almoner, (1.)
fruit.

He had a womb, but One like him can enjoyments of life. He

it

obftinately

bore him no

great relifh for the

M
(1)

XXIV.

He had no

Issue to perform the Sradh for the release of his

Soul from the Bonds of Sin. Deity.

By

another Almoner

is

meant the

I4O

AN INSCRIPTION ON A

XXIV,
He, who was,
as
it

were, another Vdfaieekee, (1,) born

in this dark age of impiety, amongft a dreadful and a cruel race of mortals, was a devout man, whodifplayed the learning of the Veds in books of moral tales.

XXV.
His profound and pleafing language, like Ganga, flowing in a triple courfe (2) and conftant ftream, purineth

and delighteth.

XXVI.
He, to whom, and to thofe of whofe generation, men were wont to refort as it were to Brahma, waited fo long in expectation of being a father, that, at length, he himfelf arrived at the ftate of a child.

XXVII.
By him was
recorded here upon
this lafting

column,

the fuperior beauty of whofe fhaft catcheth the eye of the beholder, whofe afpiring height is as boundlefs as his own ideas, which is, as it were, a flake planted in the breaft of Kalee, (3,) and on whofe top fits Tarkshya,
(4,) the foe

of ferpents, and favourite bird of Haree,

the line of his

own

defcent.

XXVIII.
(J)

The

first

Poet of the Hindoos, and supposed Author of the

Ramayan.
(2)

He

is

supposed to have written in three languages.

'

(3) Time. (4) Otherwise called Garoor*

PILLAR NEAR BUDDAL.

I4J

XXVIII.
Garoor, like his fame, having wandered to the extremity of the world, and defcended even unto its foundation, was exalted here with a ferpent in his
.

mouth.
This work was executed by the
artift

Beendoo Bha~

RtTnmh

142

REMARKS, &C.

Remarks on

the

two preceding Papers,

By

the President.

has greater respect than myself for the talents of Mr. Wilkins, who, by decypliering and explaining the old Sanscrit Inscriptions lately found in these provinces, has performed more than any other European had learning enough to accomplish, or than any Asiatick had industry enough even to undertake: but some doubts having arisen in my mind concerning a few passages in the two preceding Translations, I venture to propose them in the form of Notes with entire deference to his judgment.

NO man

P. 123.

I.

11.

This fortunate Prince

Is not the

first

couplet in

honour of Buddha, one of whose names, in the Amarcosh, is Sugata ? A follower of his tenets would have been denominated a Saugat, in the derivative form. We must observe, that the Bauddhs, or Saugats, are called Atheists by the Brahmins, whom they opposed but it is mere invective; and this very grant fully disproves the calumny, by admitting a future state of rewards and Sugat was a reformer; and every reformer must punishments.
;

expect

to

be calumniated.

P. 123. /. 18. When his innumerable army The third stanza in the original is here omitted, either by an oversight, or because the same image of weeping elephants occurs afterwards, and might have been thought superfluous in this place ; nevertheless, I insert a literal translation of it.

"

By whom, having conquered

left, as

the earth as far as the ocean,

it

was

being unprofitably seized ; so he declared: and his elephants weeping saw again in the forests their kindred, whose-eyeswere-full-of-tears."

P. 124.

I.

18.

Of many
is

countries

tracuta, in the original,

the

The Pandits insist that Rashname of a particular country.

is

That is, year; for Samvat P. 127. I. 18. Dated in the 33d Sombat only an abbreviation of Samvatsara. This date, therefore, might only mean the thirty -third year of the King's reign; but, since Vi. cram adit y a was surnamed the foe of Saca, and is praised by that name in a preceding stanza, we may safely infer, that the grant was dated thirty-three years after the date of that illustrious Emperor, whom the king of Gaur, though a Sovereign Prince, ac-

knowledged

as lord

paramount of India.

virtuous Prince Many stanzas in this inP. 133. Verse II. scription prove, that the Sandilya family were not Princes; but that some of them were Prime Ministers to the Kings of Gaur, or

Bengal, according to this comparative genealogy

Kings.

REMARKS,
Kin<?s.

SCC.
Ministers.*

143

GoPALA.
Dhermapai.a.

PaXCHALA. Gvkga.
* Dekbiiapani.
*

Devapala. B. C. 23. Rajyapala.

SuRAPALA.

Someswara. CeDARAMISRA.
AMISR.i.

NaRAYANAPALA. A. C. G7. * OuRA\

So
tliat

reckoning thirty years

to a generation,

we may

date the

Guravamisra in the sixty-seventh year after Christ. A Pundit, named Radii acan ia, with whom I read the original, apPillar of

peared struck with mv" remark on the two families, and adopted it v. ithout hesitation but if it be just, the second stanza must be difI suspect D/iarma, the Genius of Justice or ferently interpreted. Virtue, to be the true reading, instead of Dharmya, ov virtuous ; and have no doubt thatpuro must be substituted forparo: the sense will then be, that Indra was ruler in the East only; and, though valiant, had been defeated ev.en there by the Daityas or Titans; but that Dharma was made Sovereign over him in all quarters.
;

P. 131, Verse

V. Whose country

The

original

is

a rt-vajanacanmatangajamadastimvachch'lVilasanghateh, gaun'i)itun'swan'rfrciranaihpushyatsitimn6giieli,

martan"dastamay6dayarun'aj:-ilad a vaVirasidwayat, nitya yasya bhuwan chacara caradan sri devapalo nnpah.

The

is the Maliendra mountain in thesouth, in which source; as the father of Gauki is the Himalaya in the north, where Iswara, who has a moon on his forehead, is believed often to reside: hence Radiiacanta proposed a conjectural emendation, which would have done honour to Scaliger or Bf.niiey. Instead of India, which is a name of the. S/m, he reads Indu, or the Moon, by changing only a small straight line into a small curve; and then the stanza will run thus

father of Rcva
its

that river has

By whose policy the great Prince Devlpala made the earth tributary, from the father of Rcva, whose-piles-of-rocks-are-moistwith-juice-from-the-heads-ofdascivious-elephants, to the father-ofGacri, whose-white-mountains are-b right ened-witn- beams- fromthe-moon-of-IswARA;-arad as far as the-two-oeeans-whose-watersare-red-with-the-rising-and-with-the-setting-Sun.
The words connected by hyphens
are

compounds

in Sanscrit.

to

P. 135. Verse VI. Submission I understand avasara in this place, mean the leisure of the Minister from public affairs, for which even the King waited at the head of his army.

P. 135.

144

REMARKS, &C.

P. 135. Verse VII. Sums of Peetas The common sense of pit'ka a chair, seat, or throne ; and in this sense it occurs in the thirteenth verse. Udupachch'habipit'ham, or with-a-seat-bright-as-the moon, appears to be the compound epithet of asanam, or chair of state, which, though the King had often given to his Ministers, yet, abashed by his wisdom, and apprehensive of his popularity, he had himself ascended his throne with fear.
is

P. 136. Verse X. The tenth stanza is extremely difficult, as it contains many words with two meanings, applied in one sense to the Minister Cedaua Misra; but, in another, IoCarticeya, thelndian Mars: thus, in the first hemistich, s' ic'hin means fire, or a peacock ; s' ic'ha, a bright flume, or a crest; and s' acti, either power or a spear. As the verse is differently understood, it may be a description of the Brahmen, or of the Deity.
P. 136. Verse XII. The Brahmans of this province insist, that the four Vidya's, or branches of knowledge, are meant the four Vedas, not the Upaveda's, or Medicine, Archery, Musick, and Mechanicks ; and they cite two distichs from the Agnipurana, in which eighteen Vidya's are enumerated, and among them the four Vedas; three only of which are mentioned in the Amarcosh, and in several

by

older books. In this verse also Radhacant has displayed his critical sagacity : instead of nala he reads bala; and, if his conjecture be right, we must add, " even when he was a boy."

P. 137. Verse XVI. Constant to her lord Radhacant reads ana-, patyaya, or childless, for anupatyaya ; Sati having borne no children till she became regenerate in the person of Parvati.

The oriP. 139. Verse XXIII. It obstinately bore him no fruit. ginal stanza is uncommonly obscure : it begins with the words yonirbabhuva, the two first syllables of which certainly mean a womb : but several Pandits, who were consulted apart, are of opinion, that
is the relative, of which some word in the masculine gender, signifying speech, is the antecedent, though not expressed : they explain the whole stanza thus' " That speech, which came forth " (nirbabhuva) inconsiderately, of which there was no fruit, he was " a man who spoke nothing of that kind for his own gratification : " he was a man also, by whom no present-of-play things was ever " given, which the suppliant having received, goes to another more " bountiful giver." If the relative had been yan in the neuter gender, I should have acquiesced in the translation offered by the Pandits; but the suppression of so material a word as speech, which, indeed, is commonly feminine in Sanscrit, appears unwarrantably harsh according to European ideas of construction.

yo

P. 140. Verse XXVI. If the preceding interpretation be just, the object of the Pillar was to perpetuate the names of Gurava and this verse must imply, that he exMiska and his ancestors
;

pected to receive from his

own

sons, the pious offices

which he had per-

formed

to his forefathers.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES, &C.

145

V.

SOME ACCOUNT
OF THE

SCULPTURES AND RUINS

AT MAVALIPURAM,
A
Place a few Miles North of Sadras, and known to Seamen
t/ie

Nome

of

the

Seven Pagodas.

By

WILLIAM CHAMBERS,

Esq.

amidft inquiries after the hiftories and antiquities of Afia at large, thofe of that divifion of it in which this Society refides, may feem on many accounts to lay claim to a particular fhare of its attention, a few hints put down from recollection, concerning fome mowments of Hindoo antiquity, which, though fituated in tfee neighbourhood of European fettlements on the Chord-

AS

mandel
is

coaft, have hitherto been little obferved, may, h conceived, be acceptable, at leaft as they may poffibiy give rife hereafter to more accurate obfervations, aod

dilcoveries on the fame fubjecL Tihe writer of this account went firft to view them in tlae year 1772, and curiofity led him thither again in liiS; but as he neither meafured the diftances nor fize of the objecls, nor committed to writing at the time, the obfervations he made on them, he hopes to beexcufed if
after the lapfe of fo
fail

more complete

many

years, his recolleclion

mould

account fall far /hort of that precjhon and exaftnefs, which might have been expe&ed, had there then exifted in Indiajo powerful an incentive to diligent enquiry, and accurate communication, as the eflablifhment of this Society muft now prove.
in

him

fome

refpecis,

and

his

The

1^6

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES

to defcribe, appear to be

The monuments he means

the remains of fome great city, that has been ruined many centuries ago ; they are fituated clofe to the fea,

between Cove long and Sadras, fomewhat remote from the high road that leads to the different European fettlements. And when he vifited them in 1776, there was fiill a native village adjoining to them, which retained the ancient name, and in which a number of Bramins relided, that feemed perfectly well acquainted with the fubjects of moft of the Sculptures to be feen there.

The rock, or rather hill of ftone, on which great part of thefe works are executed, is one of the principal marks for mariners as they approach the coafi;, and to them the place is known by the name of the Seven Pagodas, poffibly becaufe the fummits of the rock have but it prefented them with that idea as they paffed muft be conferled, that no afpeet which the hill aflumes, as viewed on the fhore, feems at all to authorize this notion; and there are circumftances, which will be mentioned in the fequel, that would lead one to fufpect, that this name has arifen from fome fuch number of Pagodas that formerly ftood here, and in time have been But, be that as it may, the apburied in the waves. pellation by which the natives diftinguim it, is of a in their language, which is the quite different origin termed Malabar,) the place is Tamulic, (improperly called Mavalipuram, which, in Shanfcrit, and the languages of the more northern Hindoos, would be Mahd:
:

balipur, or the City of the great Bali. For the Tamulians, (or Malabars,) having no A in their alphabet, are

under a neceffityof fhortening the Shanfcrit word Maha,

great, and write
it

md*

They

are obliged alfo, for a

b,

fimilar reafon, to fubftitute a v for a

in

words of

Shanfcrit, or other foreign original, that begin with that letter; and the fyllable am, at the end, is merely a ter-

mination,
* They do indeed admit a substitute, but the abbreviation most used.
is

AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM.

I47

mination, which, like um in Latin, is generally annexed to neuter fubftantives*. To this etymology of the name of this place it may be proper to add, that Bait is the name of an hero very famous in Hindoo romance; and that the river Mdvaligonga, which waters the eaitern fide of Ceylone, where the Tamulic language alfo prevails, has probably taken its name from him, as, according to that orthography, it apparently fignjfies the Ganges of
the great Bali.

The
which

firft

rock, or hill of ftone, above mentioned, is that engrolfes the attention on approaching the

place ; for, as it arifes abruptly out of a level plain of great extent, confifis chiefly of one (ingle flone, and is fituated very near to the fea beach, it is fuch a kind of object as an inquifitive traveller would naturally turn afide to examine. Its (nape is alfo fingular and romantic, and, from a diftant view, has an appearance like fome antique and lofty edifice. On coming near to the foot of the rock from the north, works

of imagery^ and fculpture croud fo thick upon the eye, as might feem to favour the idea of a petrified town, like thofe that have been fabled in different parts of the world by too credulous travellers^. Proceeding on by the foot of the hill, on the fide facing the fea, there is a pagoda rifingout of the ground of one folid (tone, about fixteen or eighteen feet high, which feems to have been cut upon the fpot out of a detached rock, that has been found
* This explains also, why the Shanscrit word Vcd, by which the Hindoos denominate the Books of the Law of their Religion, Tamulians, Vedam, which is according to the is written by the true orthography of their language, and no mistake of European

some have supposed Bed by the Bengal ies, who have,in

travellers, as

while the same word

is

called

effect,

noF

in their

alphabet.

See Dow, Vol.

Among
;

I. Dissert, p. 41. these one object, though a

mean

one, attracts the at-

tention,

design

them

in

on account of the grotesque and ridiculous nature of the it consists of two monkies cut out of one stone, one of a stooping posture, while the other is taking the insects
t

put of his head.

See Shaw's Travels, p. 155,

et seq.

I48

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES

found of a proper fize for that purpofe. The top is arched, and the ft) le of architecture according to which it is formed, different from any now ufedin thofe parts. A little further on there appears upon a huge furface of ftone, that juts out a little from the fide of the hill, a numerous group of human figures in bafs-relief, confiderably larger than life, reprefenting themoft remarkable perfons whofe actions are celebrated in the Mahdbharit, each of them in an attitude, or with weapons, or other inugnia,expreffi ve of his character,, or of fome one of his moft famous exploits. All tbefe figures are, doubtlefs, much lefs diftinct than they were at firft; for, upon comparing thefe and the reft of the fculptures that are expofed to the-fea air. with others at the fame place, whofe fituation has afforded them protection from that element, the difference is ftriking ; the former being every where much defaced, while the others are frefb as This defacement is no where more recently finifhed. in the piece of fculpture which occurs oblervable than next in the order of defcription. This is an excavation in another part of the eaft fide of the great rock, which appears to have been made on the fame plan, and for the fame purpofe, that Chowkries are ufually built in that country, that is to fay, for the accommodation of The rock is hollowed out to the fize of a travellers. fpacious room, and two or three rows of pillars aTeleft, as a leeming fupport to the mountainous mafs of front which forms the roof. Of what pattern thefe pillars have originally been, it is not eafy now to conjecture;
for the air of the fea has greatly corroded them, as well as all the other parts of the cave. And this cireumftance renders it difficult to difcover, at firft fight, that there is

a fcene of fculpture on the fide fronting the entrance. The natives, however, point it out* and the fubjeft of it is manifeftly that of Krijhtn attending the herds of

Nwnd

Ghofe, the Admetus of the Hindoos j from which circumftance Krijhtn is alfo called Goupaul, or the cowherd, as Apollo was entitled N&mms.

The

AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM.

149

The
upon
from

objects that Teem next to claim regard, are thofe the hill itfelf, theafcentof which, on the north, is,

natural fhape, gradual and eafy at firft, and is in other parts rendered more fo by very excellent fteps cut out in feveral places, where the communication would
its

or impracticable without them. A winding of this fort leads to a kind of temple cut out ot the ftair folid rock, with fome figures of idols in high relief upon its walls, very well finifhed, and perfectly frefh, as it

be

difficult

and is therefore fheltered from the fea air. temple again there are flights of fteps, that feem to have led to fome edifice, formerlyftanding upon the hill ; nor does it feem abfurd to fuppofe, that this may have been a palace, to which this temple, as a place of worfhip, may have appertained. For, befides the fraall detached ranges of ftairs that are here and there cut in the rock, and feem as if they had once led to different parts of one great building, there appear in many places, fmall water channels cut alfo in the rock, as if for drains to a houfe ; and the whole top of the hill is ftrewed with fmall round pieces of brick, which may be fuppofed, from their appearance, to have been worn down to their prefent form during the lapfe of many ages. On afcending the hill by its flope on the north, a very fingular piece of fculpture prefents itfelf On a plain furface of the rock, which may to view. once have ferved as the floor of fome apartment, there is a platform of ftone, about eight or nine feet long, by three or four wide, in a fituation rather elevated, with two or three fteps leading up to it, perfectly refembling a couch or bed, and a lion very well executed at the upper end of it by way of pillow, the whole of one piece, being part of the hill itfelf. This the Brahmins, inhabitants of the place, called the bed of Dhermardjah or Judijliter^ihe eldeft of the five brothers whofe fortunes and exploits are the leading fubjeel in the Mahabhdrit. And at a confiderable diftance from this, at fuch a diftance, indeed, as the apartment of the women might be fuppofed
faces the weft,

From

this

I5O

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES

pofed to be from that of the men, is a bath excavated alfo from the folid rock, with fteps in the infide, which the Bramins call the bath of Dropedy, the wife of JuPlow much credit is due to dijhter, and his brothers. this tradition, and whether this ftone couch may not have been anciently ufed as a kind of throne rather than A circumftance, a bed, is matter for future inquiry. hov/ever, which may fcem to favour this idea is, that a throne in the Sk-anfcrit, and other Hindoo languages, is called Singhdfen, which is compofed of the words Sing t a lion ; and dfen, a feat.

appear on that part of the upper which is on the north; defcending from thence, you are led round the but, on hill to the oppofite fide, in which there are fteps cut from the bottom to a place near the fummit, where is an excavation that feems to have been intended for a place of worfhip, and contains various fculptures of Hindoo deities. The mod remarkable of thefe is a gigantic figure of Vijlinoo, afleep on a kind of bed, with a huge fnake wound about in many coils by way of pillow for his head ; and thefe figures, according to the manner of this place, are all of one piece, hewn from the body of the rock.

Thefe are

all that

furface of the hill, the afcent to

But though thefe works may be deemed ftupendous, they are furpalfed by others that are to be feen at the diftance of about a mile, or a mile and a half, to the fouthward of the hill. They confift of two Pagodas, of about thirty feet long by twenty feet wide, and about as many in heighth, cut out of the folid rock, and each Near thefe confiding originally of one fingle ftone. alfo ftand an elephent full as big as life, and a lion much larger 2

AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM.

I5I

larger than the natural fize,but very well executed, each hewn alfo out of one ftone. None of the pieces that have fallen off in cutting thefe extraordinary fculptures,

found near or any where in the neigh10 that there is no means of afcertaining the degree of labour and time that has been fpent upon them, nor the fize of the rock or rocks from which they have been hewn, a circumftance which renders their appearance the more ftrikingand Angular. And though their fituation is very near the fea-beach, they have not fuffered at all by the corrofive air of that element, which has provided them with a defence againft itfelf, by throwing up before them a high bank, that completely (belters them. There is alfo great fymmetry in their form ; though that of the Pagodas is different from the ftyle of architecture according to which
are
to be

now

bourhood of them,

idol temples are now built in that country. The latter resemble the Egyptian ; for the towers are always pyramidical, and the gates and roofs flat, and without arches; but thefe fculptures approach nearer to the Gothic tafte, being furmounted by arched roofs or domes, that are not femicircular, but compofed of two fegments of circles meeting in a point at top. It is alfo obfervable, that the lion in this group of fculptures, as well as that upon the ftone couch above mentioned, are perfectly juft reprefentations of the true lion ; and the natives

there give
to

them the name which

is

always underftood

a lion in the Hindoo language, to wit, Sing : but the figure which they have made to reprefent that animal in their idol temples for centuries pad, though it

mean

bear6 the fame appellation, is a distorted monfter, totally unlike the original; infomuch, that it has from hence been fuppofed that the lion was not anciently known in

Sing was a name given to a monfter Hindoo romance. But it is plain that that animal was well known to the authors of thefe works, who, in manners as well as arts, feem to have differed much from the modern Hindoos. There
thi.scountr, ,and that

that exifted only in

!<&

Atf

ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES

There are two circumftances attending thefe monu- ments, which cannot but excite great curiofity, and on which future inquiries may poffibly throw fome light. One is, that on one of the Pagodas lad mentioned, there
prerefembles neither the Dcyva-ndgre, nor any of the various characters connected with or derived from it, which have come to the Nor writer's knowledge from any part of Hindojlan. did it, at the time he viewed it, appear to correfpond with any character, Afiatick or European^ that is commonly known. He had not then, however, feen the alphabet of the Balic, the learned language of the Siamefe, a fight of which has fince raifedin his mind a fufpicion that there is a near affinity between them, if the character be not identically the fame. But as thefe conjectures, after fuch a lapfe of time, are fomewhat vague, and the fubject of them is perhaps yet within the reach of our refearches, it is to be hoped that fome method may be fallen upon of procuring an exaft
is

an infcription of a fingle

line, in a character at
It

fent

unknown

to the Hindoos.

copy of

this infcription.

The other circumftance is, that though the outward form of the Pagodas is complete, the ultimate defign of them has manifeftly not been accomplished, but feems to have been defeated by fome extraordinary convulfion For the weftern fide of the mod northerly of nature. one is excavated to the depth of four or five feet, and a row of pillars left on the outfide to fupport the roof: but here the work has been flopped, and an uniform rentofaboutfourinches breadth has been made throughout the (olid rock, and appears to extend to its foundations, which are probably at a prodigious depth below the furface of the ground. That this rent has happened fince the work was begun, or while it was carrying on, cannot be doubted; for the marks of the mafon's tools are perfectly vifible in the excavated part on both fides of the rent, in fuch a manner as to fhow plainly
that

AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM.

153

Nor is it reafonthat they have been divided by it. able to fuppofe that fuch a work would ever have been defigned, or begun, upon a rock that had previoufly been rent in two.
than an earthquake, and that a violent one, could apparently have produced fuch a fiffure in the foiid rock; and that this has been the cafe in point of fa 61, may be gathered from other circumftances, which it is neceffary to mention in an account of this

Nothing

lefs

curious place.

fome fmall dishundred yards, tance from the fea, perhaps fifty or an and in that fpace the Hindoo village before mentioned But clofe to the fea are the remains of flood in 1776. a Pagoda, built of brick, and dedicated to Sib, the greateft part of which has evidently been fwallowed up by that element for the door of the innermoft apartment, in which the idol is placed, and before which there are always two or three fpacious courts furrounded with walls, is now wafhed by the waves; and the
great rock

The

above defcribed, is

at

pillar

ufed to difcover the meridian at the time of founding the Pagoda*, is feen (landing at fome diftance In the neighbourhood of this building in the fea. there are fome detached rocks, wafhed alfo by the waves, on which there appear fculptures, though now much worn and defaced. And the natives of the place declared to the writer of this account, that the more aged people among them remembered to have feen the tops of feveral pagodas far out in the fea, which being covered with copper, (probably gilt,) were particularly
vifible at fun-rife, as their fhining furface ufed then to
refle6l ihe fun's rays;

but that now that effe6l was no longer produced, as the copper had fince become incrulled with mould and verdigreafe.

Vol.

I.

N
M.
Gentil, Vol,
I.

Thefe
page 158.

* See Voyage du

154

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES

Thefe circumftances look much like the effects of a fudden inundation ; and the rent in the rock above defcribed, makes it reafonable to conjecture, that an earthquake may have caufed the Tea to overflow its
boundaries, and that thefe two formidable enemies mayhave joined to deftroy this once magnificent city. The account which the Bramins, natives of the place, gave of its origin and downfal, partly, it fhould feem, on the authority of the Mahabhdrit, and partly on that of later records, at the fame time that it countenances this idea, contains fome other curious particulars, which may feem to render it worthy of attention. Nor ought it to be rejected on account of that fabulous garb, in which all nations, but efpecially thofe of the eaft, have always clad the events of early ages.

"

that rolled

" Hirindchercn up
it

(faid they)

the earth into a fhapelefs mafs,

to the

was a gigantick Prince, and

ViJJinoo fol-

"

carried

down

abyfs, whither

" lowed him in the fhape of an hog, killed him with M his tulks, and replaced the earth in its original fitua" tion. The younger brother of Hirindcheren was " HirinakaJJap, who fucceeded him in his kingdom, ' and refuled to do homage to Vijknoo. He had a fon, " named Pralhaud, who, at an early age, openly difap" proved this part of his father's conduct, being under " the tuition of Sokerdchdrj. His father persecuted " him on this account, bamfhed him, and even fought " to kill him, but was prevented by the interpofition " of heaven, which appeared on the fide of Pralhaud. *' At length HirinakaJJap was foftened, and recalled u his fon to his court, where, as he fat in full affem" bly, he began again to argue with him againfl the M fupremacy of Vi/Imoo, boafted that he himfelf was " lord of all the vilible world, and afked what Vi/h" noo could pretend to more. Pralhaud replied, that
Vijhnoo had no fixed abode, but was prefent every where. l Is he (faid his father) in that pillar ?' ' Yes/ " returned Pralhaud. " Then let him come forth,"
44
'

"

faid

AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM;

I55
feat,

" "
61

faid

Hirinakajfap

and, riling from his

;

ftruck
like

the pillar with his foot

upon which
is

ViJIinoo, in the

Narafinghah Azutar, that

to fay, with a

body

" a man, but an head like a lion, came out of the pil" lar, and tore Hirinakaffap in pieces. Vijhnoo then " fixed Pralhaud on his father's throne; and his reign " was a mild and virtuous one, and as fuch was a con" traft to that of his father. He left a fon, named Na~ " mackee, who inherited his power and his virtues, and " was the father of Balee, the founder of the once mag" nificent city of Mahdbalipoor, the fituation of which " is faid to be defcribed in the following verfe, taken " from the Mahabhdrit"

nStfalS tt^FCrattf OTT35Hf

=13^"

The

fenfe of

which

is

literally this

il
**

South of the Ganges two hundred Yojen, Five Yojen* weftward from the Eaftern Sea,

Such
place.
is

is

the

Bramin account of
its

the origin of this

The

fequel of
:

hiftory, according to

them,

as follows

N2

"The

* The Yojen is a measure often mentioned in the Shanscrit books, and, according to some accounts, is etjual to nine, according to others, twelve, English miles. But at that rate the distance here mentioned, between this place and the Ganges, is prodigiously exaggerated, and will carry us far south of Cej/lone. This, however, is not surprising in an Hindoo poem ; but, from the second line, it seems pretty clear, that this city, at the time this verse was composed, must have stood at a great distance from the sea.

I56

44

AN"

ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPT!

Bamdclcra^ who
is

The

Ton of BjIcc was

as a <riant with a
.
,

repre-

fori ted

thoufand hands.

.me to his court in difguife, and feduced his daughter, which produced a war. in the 44 was taken pnfoner. and courfe of which 44 upon which K une brought to 44 .. and laid iV ge in perfon from his capital, D 44 Sib guarded the gates, and fought for to the place. 44 BanJchcrcx. who worfhipped him with his thoufand 44 hands: but Kr:picn found means to overthr: 44 and having taken the city, cut off all B 6< hands, except two, with which he obliged him to do 44 him homage. He continued in fubjection to Krijhen u till his death after which a long period enfued, in iich no mention is any where made of this p..
44
-

the fon o r

44

44 44

till

a prince arofe,

whofe name was

to

JA

who

reftored the

kingdom

great fplendor,

and en-

64

the calamity
city

But in his time larged and beautified the capital." faid to have happened bv which the is

was entirely deftroyed; and the caufe and manner of it have been wrapt up bv the Braynins in 44 fay the following fabulous narration. M they.) in an excurfion which he made one day alone, 44 and in difguife, came to a garden in the environs 44 of the citv, where was a fountain fo inviting, that
44
64 44

there.

44 44
44

nymphs had come d The Rajah became enamoured of one of them, who condefcended to allow of his attachment to her; and fhe and her fitter nymph ufed the:
two
celeftial
-

..

44

t4 44
4*

forward to have frequent interviews with him in that garden. On one of thofe occafior brought with them a male inhabitant of pons, to whom they introduced the and between him and if :hip n a ftri: enfued; in confequence of which, be the
.

Rejatii e^rneft requeft, to carry

fee the court

him
.

ir

44
44

of the divine JrJrr, a favo..

fore granted to any mortal.

The

oni thence with

new

ideas of fplendor and

44
:

r:

which he immediate! ?d in r: and his retinue, and in bee t; his feat of government. By this mean * s be :on celebrated bevond all the u earth; and an account of its u been broHtj ::mrt of a
nificence,
's

<;

latmg

his court,

* 1
**

fo

mu:
:

*' his
*'

4;

.he Sea to let ioofe :nd overflow a place which impic pretended tc vie in fplendor wich their celeftial m _ns. This command he o. ^nd the city was at once overflowed by that fu nor has ever Cnce been able to rear its head."
lb

rrs to

Such is the mode in which the Bramins choofe to account for the fignal overthrow of a place devoted to their wretched fuperkiuons.

It is not,

however, improbable, that the

contain, like the

reft

of

this

hiftory

may

mvtholo^vof Greece and

of real matter of fact, though I great ceal vellopedindarkanc -prefematiens. 1 the difguife of thefe we may diicern fome ill records of grea: events, and of revolution happened in remote times; and they perhaps merit our attention the more. not likely that any records of ancient B but in this and fantaftic drefs. Their poets feem to have been their ..ns, as well asdr only and whatever relate, is wrapped up in this burlefc eg fet off, by
.

umftances hugely incred without any date, and in no other order or method, than fuch as the poe: fuggefted, and found raoft convenient. Never! -omparing names and grand events, recorded by them, with thole interfperfed in the hiftories oi 01 nations, and by calling in the affiftance of ancient on (hall monuments, coins, and infcriptioi

way of ornamer.

and abfurd, and

all

this

o::

I58
offer,

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES

fome probable conjectures, at lead, if not important difcoveries, may, it is hoped, be made on It is much to be regretted, thefe interefting fubj efts'. that a blind zeal, attended with a total want of curiofity, in the Mahommedan governors of this country, have been fo hoflile to the prefervation of Hindoo moBut a fpiritof enquiry among numents and coins. Europeans may yet perhaps be fuccefsful; and an instance which relates to the place above defcribed,though
in itfelf a fubject of regret, leaves room to hope that futurity may yet have in (lore fome ufeful difcoveries. The Kauzy of Madras, who had often occafion to go to a place in the

neighbourhood of Mahabalipoor,

af-

fured the writer of this account, that within his remembrance, a ryot of thofe parts had found, in plowcharacters on

ing his ground, a pot of gold and filver coins, with them which no one in thofe parts, Hindoo

Mohammedan, was able to decypher. He added, however, that all fearch for them would now be vain, for they had doubtlefss been long ago devoted to the crucible, as, in their original form, no one there thought them of any value.
or

on the Pagoda mentioned above, is in this point of view, appears to That the conjecture, however, merit great attention. which places it among the languages of Siam, may not feem in itfelf chimerical, the following paflages from fome authors of repute are here inferted, to fhew, that the idea of a communication having formerly fubfifted between that country and the Coaft of Choromandel is by no means without foundation ; nay, that there is fome affinity, even at this day, between the Balic and fome of the Hindoo languages, and that the fame mode of worfhip feems formerly to have prevailed in the Deckan which is now ufed by the Siamefe.
infcription

The

an object which,

Monjicur

AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM.

I59

Monfieur de la Loubere, in his excellent account of Siam, (peaks thus of the origin of the Balic language.

" The Siamefe (fays he) do not mention any coun" try where the Balic language, which is that of their " laws and their religion, is at prefent in ufe. They " fuppofe, indeed, on the report of fome among them, " who have been on the Coaft of Choromandel, that it
cc

bears fome refemblance to fome of the dialects of that

" country; but they at the fame time allow, that the " chara6ter in which it is written, is not known but " among themfelves. The fecular Miilionaries fettled
" at Siam, believe that this language is not entirely a " dead one; becaufe they have feen in their hofpital a " man from the neighbourhood of Cape Comorin, who " mixed feveral Balic words in his difcourfe, declaring

" that they were in ufe in his country, and that he " himfelf had never ftudied nor knew any other than ;c They at the fame time menhis mother tongue.
{C

tion, as matter of certainty, that the religion

" Siamefe comes from

of the thofe parts; as they have read

" "

in

the Siamefe,

a Balic book, that Sommonacodom, the idol of was the fon of a King of Ceylone."*

The
" " " " " "
pais, ou la iangue Bali qui de leurs loix et tie leur religion, soil aujourd-huit ea lis soupeonnent a la verite, sur le rapport de quelquesusage. uns dVntre eux, qui ont cte a la C6te de Coroinandel, que la laugue Balic a qutlque resemblance avec quelqu'uu des dialects roais ils convienneiit en meme temps que les letde ce pais la Les Mistres de la Iangue Balic ne sont connues que chez eux. sionnaires s^culiers a Siam eroyentque cette Iangue n'est pas entiereuient tnorte; paree qu'ils ont vu dans leur hopital un homme des environs du Cap de Comorin, qui metoit plusieurs mots Balis dans son langage, assurant qu'ils etoient en usage en son pais, et que luy n'avoit jamais etudi^, et ne savoit que sa Iangue maternelle Ils donnent d'ailleurs pour certain que la religion des Siamois vient de ces quartiers la, parce qu'ils ont lu dans un livre Balic que Sommonacodom que les Siamois adorent, etoit fils d'un Roi de l'isle de Cevlone."
est celle
:

* " Les Siamois ne nomment aueun

"
*

" " "

" "
" "

l60

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES

of the

The language who came from

man mentioned in this paflage, neighbourhood of Cape Comorin, the could be no other than the Tamulic ; but the words here alluded to may very poffibly have been derivatives from the Shanfcrit, common to both that and the
Balic.

In another part of the fame work, where the author of the hiftory of Sommonacodom at large, on the authority of the Balic books, he fays,
treats

" The father of Sommonacodom, according to the " fame Balic book, was a King of Teve Lanca ; that ;t is to fay, of the famous Ceylone."*

Here it Siam feems

is

to be utterly

obfervable, that, while the country of unknown both to the natives

of Ceylone and Hmdoflan, Ceylone fhould neverthelefs be fo well known to the Siamefe, and under the fame

An epithet is appellation it bears in the Shanfcrit. alfo here prefixed to it, which feems to be the fame as that ufed by the Hindoos in fpeaking of that ifland for they alfo call it, in Shanfcrit, Dive Lanca, or the Sacred Lanca. From feveral paflagesin the fame work,
it

alfo appears, that the Shanfcrit

word Mdha, which

fignifies great, is constantly

in the

fame
are

fenfe.

And

ufed in the Balic language the names of the days of the

week
them.

Balic, as

moft of them the fame in Shanfcrit and in may be feen in the following comparifon of

Shanfcrit.

Balic.

Aditta-var,

Van

Athit.

Sunday. Soma-var,

* " Le pere de Sommonacodom etoit, selon ce mesme livre Bali, uu Roi de Teve Lanca, c'est-a-dire un Roi de la celebre Ceylan."

AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM.

Shanfcrit.
Balic.

l6l

Soma-var, Mungela-var,
Bouta-var,
Brahfpati-var, Soucra var,

Sany-var,

Van * Tchan, Van Angkaan, Van Pout, Van Prahout, Van Souc, Van Saoa,

Monday.
Tuefdav.

Wednelday.
Thurfday.
Friday. Saturday.

The fame author gives, in another place, an account of a pretended print of a foot on a rock, which is an object of worfhip to the Siamefe, and is called Prabdt y For prd, in Balic, he fays, figor the venerable foot. nifies venerable, which agrees with prdper and pramesht in Shanscrit ; and bat in the fame tongue is a foot, as pad in Shanscrit. After which he goes on to fay
:

" We know that in the ifland of Ceylone there is a " pretended print of a human foot, which has long been " held in great veneration. It reprefents, doubtlefs,

"

the left foot; for the Siamefe fay that

fet his

Sommonacoand
his left

" dom " foot

right foot

on

their Prabdt,

at

Lancaf."

From Knox's Hiftory of Cey lone it appears, that the impreffion here fpeken of,is upon the hill called, by the Chingelays, Hamaltll ; by Europeans, Adams Peak ; and that the natives believe it to be the foot-Hep of their
great

* Here one Hindoo word is substituted for another; for Tchan in Hindostuvy, and Tchdnder in Shanscrit, signify the moon as well as Somer.

f " On sait que dans 1'isle de Ceylan, il y a un pretendu vestige de pie" humain, que depuis long temps y est en grand e veneration. " II represente, sans doubte, le pie gauche ; car les Siamois disent " que SommonacodOm posa le pi6 droit a leur prubat, et le pie " gauche a Lanca."
'*

l62

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES

great idol Buddou ; between the worfhip of whom, as defcribed by Knox, and that of Sommonacodom, as related by M. de la Loubere, there is a linking refemblance in many particulars, which it may be proper here to enumerate.

lft.

Bcfides the footfteps above mentioned, there

kind of tree (which, from defcription, appears to be the Pipel tree, fo well known in India) which the Chingelays hold facred to Buddou, and the Siamefe to
is a

Sommonacodom ; infomuch
ritorious to

that the latter

deem

it

me-

hang themfelves upon it. The Chingelays called it Bogahah ; for gahah, in their language, fignifies a tree; and bo feems to be an abbreviation of Bod, or Buddou ; and the Siamefe call it, in Balic, Pra Ji Mahd Pout, which, according to De la Loubere's
the tree of the great Pout*. This he fuppofes to mean Mercury; for heobfervesthat Pout, or Poot, is the name of that planet in the Balic term for Wednefday ; and in another place, he fays, Pout is one of the names of Sommonacodom. It is certain that Wednefday is called the day of Bod, or Budd, in all the Hindoo languages, among which the Tamulic, having no b, begins the word with a p, which brings it very near the Balic mode of writing it. It is equally certain that the days of the week, in all thefe languages, are called after the planets in the fame order as with us, and that Bod, Budd, or Pood, holds the place of Mercury. From all which it fhould appear that Pout, which, among the Siamefe, is another name for Sommonacodom, is itfelf a corruption of Buddou, who is the Mercury of the Greeks. And it is fmgular that, according to M. de la Loubere, the mother of Sommonacodom, is called, in Balic, Mahd-mania, or the great Mania, which refembles much the name of Maia, the

interpretation, fignifies

mother

* In vulgar Siamese they call

it

Ton-p6.

AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM.

1S3

mother of Mercury. At the fame time that the Tamulic termination en, which renders the word Pooden, creates a refemblance between this and the Woden of the Gothic nations, from which the fame day of the week is denominated, and which, on that and other accounts, is allowed to be the Mercury of the Greeks.

zdly.

The

temples of Sommonaeodom are called Pi-

and round them are habitations for the priefis, refembling a college ; fo thofe of Buddou are called Vihdr, and the principal priefis live in them as in a The word Vihdr, or, as the natives of Bencollege. would write it, Bihar, is Shanfcrit ; and Ftrijk* gal tah, in his Hiftory of Bengal, fays, that this na ne was given by the Hindoos to the Province of Behdr, becaufe it was formerly fo full of Bramins, as to be, as it were, one great feviinary of learning, as the word hdn
;

imports.

priefts, and Both the one and the other are diftinguifhed by a yellow habit, and by another circumftance which muft be mentioned in the words of the refpettive authors. Knox fays of the Buddou priefts, " They have the honour of carrying " the Tallipot with the broad end over their heads " foremoft, which none but the King does." And M. de la L UBEkE fays of the Siamefe pneits, " To " defend them lei ves from the fun they have the Tala" pat, which is their little umbrella, in the form of a

%dly.

The

Siamefe have two orders of

fo have the worfhippers of Buddou.

*'

fcreen*."

The
* " Pour se garentir du soleil * petit parasol en Forme d'ecrau."

ils

ont le Talapat, qui est leur

164

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES

The word here ufed is common to mod of the Hindoo languages, and fignifies the leaf of the Palmyra
tree. M. de la Loubere mentions it as a Siamefe word, without feeming to know its origin, or primary

fignification.

4thly.

The

priefts

of Buddou,
;

as well

as thofe

of

Sommonacodom,

are

bound

to celibacy as long as they

continue in the profeffion other are allowed to lay it

but both the one and the

down and marry.

but will not
kill

$thly.

They both

eat

flefti,

the

animal-

6thly.

The

priefts

cular tribe, but people.

are

of either nation are of no partichofen out of the body of the

Thefe circumftances plainly fhow that this is a fy ftem of religion different from that of the Vcds ; and fome of them are totally incontinent with the principles and And, indeed, it is manifeft, practice of the Bramins. from Knox's whole account, that the religion of the Chmgelays is quite diftincl from that which prevails at this day among the Hindoos ; nor does it appear that there is fuch a race of men as that of the Bramins among them. The only part in which there feems to be any agreement, is in the worfhip of the JDebtahs, which has probably crept in among them from their Tamulian neighbours ; but that is carried on in a manner very different from the Braminical fyftem, and appears to be held by the nation at large in very great contempt, if not abhorrence. Knox's account of it is this : " Their temples (i. e. thofe of the Debtahs) are, he fays, " called Covels," which is the Tamulic word He then goes on to fay, " A man pioufly for Pagoda, *' difpofed, builds a fmall houfe at his own charge, which

AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM.

i:

165

which

is

" This houfe

*s

the temple, and himfelf becomes priejl thereof. is feldom called God's Houfe, but moll

But of the prevailing and defcribes it as carried on with much parade and fplendor, and attended with marks of great antiquity. " The Pagodas
ufaally jfacco, the Devil's."'
religion, he fpeaksinvery different terms,
84

or temples of their

Gods

(fays he) are fo

many

that I

" " " " " M

and engraven with images and figures; but by whom, and when, I could not attain to know, the inhabitants themfelves being ignorant therein. But fure I am, they were built by far more ingenious artificers than the Chingelays that now are on the land. For the Portuguefe, in their *' invafions, have defaced fome of them, which there is " none found that hath fkiil enough to repair to this
are of rare

" cannot number them.

Many of them
hewn
ftone,

exquifite work, built of

In another place he fays, '' Here are fome day." ancient writings, engraven upon rocks, which puzzle " all that fee them. There are divers great rocks in "divers parts in Cande Uda, and in the northern parts. " Thefe rocks are cut deep with great letters for the " fpace of fome yards, fo deep that they may lafl to the " world's end. Nobody can read them, or make any " thing of them. I have afked Malabars and Gentoos, " as well as Chingelays and Moors, but none of them " underftood them. There is an ancient temple, God" diladenni in Yattanour, ftands by a place where there " are of thefe letters." From all which the antiquity of the nation and their religion is fufficiently evident: and from other paffages it is plain, that the worlhip of Buddou, in particular, has been from remote times a very eminent part of that religion for the fame author, fpeaking of the tree at Anutodgburrc, in the northern part of the ifland, which is facred to Buddou, fays, " The due performance of this worlhip they reckon not " a little meritorious ; infomu ;h that, as they report, " ninety kings have reigned the re fuccefiively, where, " by the ruins that ftill remain, it appears, they fpared " not for pains and labour to build temples and high
6t
:

li

" monuments

l66

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES

to the
to

" monuments " been born

" them up in " fpirits, having merited it by thefe labours." And again he fays, " For this God, above all other, they

honour of this God, as if they had hew rocks and great (tones, and lay Thefe Kings are now happy heaps.

" feem

to

have a high

refpect.

and devotion,"

Sec.

And from other authorities it will appear, that this worfhip has formerly been by no means confined to Ceylone, but has prevailed in feveral parts of India prior to that of the Bramins : nay, that this has been the cafe even fo late as the ninth and twelfth centuries of the Christian era.
In the well-known * Anciennes Relations, tranflated from the Arabic, by that eminent orientalift Eusebius Rena'jdot, the Arabian traveller gives this account of the cuftom of dancing-women, which continues to this dav in the Deckan, but is not known among the Hindoos of Bengal) or Hmdojlan Proper.

t;

There

are in India public

women,
this

called

women

cuftom is this: " When a woman has made a vow for the purpofe of " having children, if (he brings into the world a pretty " daughter, fhe carries it to Bod, (fo they call the idol " which they adore,) and leaves it with himt."
the idol,

" of

and the origin of

This
* Anciennes Relations ties Indes et de la Chine, de deux Voyagcurs Moliametans, qui y allerent dans le neuvierue Siecle. Fur is, 1718, 8vo. " II ya dans les Indes des femmes publique?, appell<!-s, femmes" de l'idole, 1'origine de cette ccustume est telle; Lors qu'une " femme a fait un voeu pour avoir des enfans, si eUe met au mondt " une belle title, elle Taporte au Bod, e'est a'fnsi qu'ils appellent ' l'idole qu'ils adyrent, uupres duquel elle la laisse, &c." Auv,
-j-

Rel. p. 10<J.

AND
This
is

RUIN'S

AT MAVALIPURAM.

167
it

pretty juft account of this cuftom as

prevails at this day in the Deckan ; for children are, indeed, devoted to this profeffion by their parents; and
in it, they are called, in Tamulic, or female /laves of the idol. But it is evident Devaddfi, they have changed their mafter fince this Arabian account was written, for there is no idol of the name of Bod now worfhipped there. And the circumftance of this cuftom being unknown in other parts of India^

when they grow up

would

lead one to fufpect that the Bramins, on introducing their fyltcm of religion into that country, had thought fit to retain this part of the former worfhip, as being equally agreeable to themfelves and their new
difciples.

The fame Arabian traveller gives us an account of a very powerful race of Hindoo Kings (according to them, indeed, the moft powerful in India) who then reigned on the Malabar Coalt with the title of Balhdra. Their dominion appears to have extended over Guzerat, and the greateft part, if not the whole, of the ancient kingdom of Vifiapoor. For the Arabian geographer, quoted by M. Renaudot, makes Nahelvdrah the metropolis of thefe Princes, which is, doubtlefs, Nahehalah, the ancient capital of Guzerat; though M. Renaudot feems not to have known that place ; and the reft of the description fufficiently fhows the great extent of their dominion fouthward. M. D'Anville fpeaks of this race of Kings on the authority of the Arabian, geographer Edrisi, who wrote in the twelfth century, according to whom it appears, that their religion was, even fo late as that period, not the Braminical, but that of which we are now fpeaking. M. D'A ville's words are thefe: " Edrili acquaints us with tne reli" gion which this Prince profeffed, in faying, that his " worfhip was addreffed to Bodda, who, according to " St. Jerome, and Clemens Alexandrinus, was the " founder of the fec~t of the Gymnofophifts, in like
" manner

l68

AM ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURE*,

to attribute their

" manner as the firamins were ufed " inftitution to Brahma*."

authority of Clemens Alexandrimus is alfo on the fame fubject by Relandus in his 11th Differtation, where, treating of the language of Ceylon^ he explains the word Vehar, above fpoken of, in thefe

The

cited

terms

<c

" Vehar fignifies a temple of their principal God Buddou, who, as Clemens Alexandrinus has long
as
a

" ago obferved, was worfhipped " Hindoost."

God

by the

After the above quotations, the following extract from the voyage of that inquifitive and ingenious tra-

Gen'til, publifhed in 1779, is given as a further and very remarkable lllultration of this fubject.
veller

M.

c;

is alfo that of the Bramins of our forms the bafis of that religion which they M have brought with them into the fouthern parts of the " Peninfula of Hmdoftan, into Madura, Tanjore. and

" This fyftem

it

time;

"

Maiffore.

"

cipally

u There was then in thofe parts of India, and prinon the Coafl of Choromandel and Ceylone, a
fort

* " L'Echisi nousinstruitsur lareligion que professoit ce Prince, " en disant que son cuke s'adressoit a Bodda, que selon St. Je" eome & St. Clement d'Alexandrie, avoit ete l'instituteur des " Gymnosophistes tomme les Brachmanes rapportotieot a Brahma *' leur institut." Ant. Geog. de L'Inde, p. 94.

"

Deum

f " Vehar, templum dei pritnarii Buddoe (3ovrra quem Indus ut venerari jam dim notavit Clemens Alexandriuus." Storm.
223.
Rel. Diss, pars tertia, p. 85.

lib. ]. p.

AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM.

44

169

of worfhip, the precepts of which we are quite The God Baouth, of whom at unacquainted with. " prefent they know no more in India than the name, 44 was the object of this worfhip ; but it is now totally 44 abolifhed; except that there may poffibly yet be found 44 fome families of Indians who have remained faithful 4 to Baouth, and do acknowledge the religion of (i the Bramins, and who are on that account feparated 44 from, and defpifed by, the other cafts. 44 I have not, indeed, heard that there are any fuch 44 families in the neighbourhood of Pondicherry ; but 44 there is a circumftance well worthy of remark, 44 which none of the travellers that have treated of the 44 Coaft of Choromandel and Pondicherry feem to have
fort
44
'

44

noticed.

It is this, that at

a fhort league's diftance

44
44 44 44

to the fouth of this town, in the plain of Virapatnam,

"
44
44 44

ct
44

44

44 44

44 44
44 44

and pretty near the river, we find a ftatue of granite very hard and beautiful. This ftatue, which is from three feet to three and a half in height, is funk in the fandtothewaift, and weighs doubilefs many thoufand weight it is, as it were, abandoned in the midit of I cannot give a better idea of this extenfive plain. it, than by faying, that it exactly agrees with and refembles the Sommonacodomof theSiamefe; its head is of the fame form, it has the fame features, its arms are in the fame attitude, and its ears are exactly fimilar. The form of this divinity, which has certainly been made in the country, and which in no refpectrefembles the prefent idols of the Gentoos, (truck me as I paffed
:

this plain.

made various

inquiries concerning this

fingular figure, and the Tamulians,

one and

all, af-

44 44 4C

fured me that this was the God Baouth, who was now no longer regarded, for that his worfhip and his feftivals had been abolifhed ever fince the Bramins had made themfelves matters of the people's faith.' *
1

Vol.
* "

I.

M.

Gentil
;

" "

Ce systeme est aussi celui des Brames de nos jours il fait Base de la religion qu'ils ont apportee dans le sud la presqu'isle de l'lndostan, la Madure, le Taniaour, et le Maissour.
la

1J0

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES,

ScC.

this fubject,

goes on to fay a good deal more upon of which he fuppofes, that this Deity is the Fo of the Chinefe, whofe worfhip, by their own accounts, was brought from India. And, indeed, the abridgement of the name Pout, mentioned in a note of this paper, which the vulgar Siamefe reduce to the fingle fyllable Po, feems to countenance this opinion. But as this is foreign to our prefent purpofe,

M. Gentihhen

in the courfe

and

above paffages, it is hoped, are fufficient to eftawhat was propofed, it feems high time to take leave of this fubject, with an apology for that prolixity which is infeparable from this kind of difcuffion.
the
blifh

ijth

June. 1784.

VI.
II v avoit alors dans ces parties de l'Inrle, et principalement a Cote de Coromandel & a Ceylan, uu culte dont on ignore ab!e Dieu Baouth, dont on ne connoit ausolurnent les dogmes " jourd'hui, dans l'lnde, que le nom, etoit Pobjet de ee eulte ; " mais il est tout-a-fait aboli, si ce n'est qu'il sc trouve encore quel" ques families d'Indiens separes & meprisetes des autres Castes, " qui sont restees fideles a Baouth, & qui ne reconnoissent point " la religion des Brames.

"

"

la

'

" Je n'ai pas entendu dire qu'il y ait de ces families aux envi" rons de Pondichery cependaut, une chose tres digne de remar que, &- a laquelle aucun des voyageurs qui parlent de la C6te " (le Coromandel & de Pondicherry, n'ont fait attention, est que ' Ton trouve a une petite lieue au sud de cette ville, dans la plaine " de Virapatnam, assez pres de la riviere, une statue de Granit * tres-dur & tres-beau: cette statue, d'environ trois pieds & demi " de hauteur, est enfonc^e dans le sable jusqu'a la ceinture, & pese "sans doute plusieurs milliers; elle est comme abandonncie au " milieu de cette vast plaine je ne peux mieux en donner une " idee, qu'en disant qu'elle est exactement conforme & ressem' blante e'est la meme forme de a Sommomtcodom des Siamois " fete, ce sont les metiies traits dans le visage, e'est la meme atti" tude dans les bras, & les orcilles sont absolument semblables. La " forme de cetfe divinite, qui certainement a te faite dans le pays, " & (]iii ne ressemble en rein aux diviniies actuelles des Gentils, ' m 'avoit frappe lorsque je passai dans cette plaine je fisdiverses ' informations sur cette figurn singuliere, les Tamoults m'assure" rent tods que e'etoit Baouth qu'on ne regardoit plus que son " culte & ses I'cies etoient cessees depuis que [es Brames s'^toient 'f.jvndus les maitres de Ja croyance du peuple."
; :
; ;

Vol*.

HINTS RELATIVE TO FRICTION,

ScC a

I7I

VI.

HINTS
RELATIVE TO

FRICTION IN MECHANICS.
By Mr. REUBEN BURROW,
HYPOTHESIS.
the INforce following eftimation of friction, the weight or neceffary to overcome the refiftance, &c.
is

fuppofed to be proportional to the

prefifure.

Of FRICTION

in

the

INCLINED PLANE.
PR

Let bean inclined plane,* and let reprefent a weight fuftained on it by any force Rm, acting in the direction and draw perpendicular to AB, and
let

AB

Rm PD Rm meet PD in n Now as Rn
:
:

reprefents the force

would be neceffary to fuftainthe body, exclufiveof friction, and Pn reprefents the preffure againft the plane, if mt be drawn perpendicular to PD meeting it in t, then will nm be the force neceffary to overcome
that

againft the plane

the friclion in that direction, and Pt the real preffure AB, when the whole force Rm, neceffary to

overcome both the weight and the friction, acts in Rm; and as the force nm is equivalent to nt and tm, and nt has no other effect than to alter the preffure, therefore tm is the only force which overcomes
the direction the refinance of friction
preffure, therefore
;

and

as this force is as the

the locus of

all

proportional to Pt, and hence is a right line. the points

is

tm

m
2

Again }
I,

* Fig.

I72

HINTS RELATIVE TO

Again, fuppofe the body, inftead of being drawn along, to be fuftainedat reft only upon the plane; this, it is evident, will require a lefs force than the other, becaufe the friction prevents the body in part from descendLet be the force required, and let the fame ing.* conftruction be made as before; then becaufe Rn is the force that would be neceffary if there was no fri6lion,

Rm

mn

is

lent to the forces

the effect of the friction itfelf; but mt and tn ; and as Pn

mn

is

equiva-

would be the

preffure exclufive of friction, Pt is the preffure inclulive; and as the force loft is as the friclion, and mt is
as the force loft, therefore

mt

is

as Pt, for the friclion is

as the preffure ; confequently the locus of all the points is a right line pafling through P, and making the

in the former cafe, and only differ* fame angle as ing by being drawn on the contrary fide of PD,

DPQ

SCHOLIUM.
body
In what follows, the force requifite to fuftain any is confidered under three different diftinctions.
Firft,

when

it is

juft barely fufficient to

overcome the

weight and refiftance arifing from friclion, and the body is confidered as j uft beginning to move in the direction of the force applied, and the force in this cafe is called the moving force: fecondly, when this force is diminifhed till the body would begin to move or defcend in a contrary direction if the force was diminifhed farther; this laft I call the fufp ending force : and it is plain that whatever force is applied to the body lefs than the moving, and greater than the fufpending force, the body will remain at reft: laftly, it is manifeft that there is an intermediate ftate, in which fuch a degree of force may be applied, that the friction will have no effect either way ; and this force is the fame as would keep the body in equilibrio if there was no friction, becaufe the effect or tendency

of
* Fig.
2.

FRICTION IN MECHANICS.

173

of friction is to keep moving either way

:

little

at reft, or prevent it from being premifed, there will be difficulty in the following.

the

body

this

PROBLEM

I.

Having given the weight of the body to be fuftained, the inclination of the plane, and the ratio of the friction
co the prefl'ure ; to find the force requifite to fuftainthe weight in a given direction.

In the foregoing figures, draw PR and PD at right angles to the horizon and plane reflectively, PR reprefenting the weight; take PD to as the preflfure to the frittion, and let be taken upwards or downwards as the requifite force is motive or fufpenfive ; in the given direction join PQ, and draw the line is the force required. meeting in m; then

DQ

DO

PQ

Rm Rm

W be the weight, of elevation, then to plane be W (s+ n force W

preffure, and
the plane's
(s

Corollary

1.

If the friction be the n part of the 5 and c the fine and cofine the moving force parallel
c:

the

will
c

nj and

the fufpending

.)

Corollary 2. If the direction of the force be parallel to the horizon, and t be the tangent of the plane's elet) will be the moving vation, then (n (tn+i) force, and (n-\-t) the fufpending force, (tn 1)

W W

and Wt the force excluding fri&ion.

Example.
the preffure,
If the weight be a ton, the friction of then the and

AB=5, BC=3,

AC=4,

moving

force will be

3235 pounds, the fufpending

force

174

HINTS RELATIVE TO

force 747 pounds, and the force excluding fritlion 1680 pounds; nearly.

PROBLEM

II.

Given the weight of the body, the inclination of the plane, and the ratio of the friction to the preffure; to find the direction fo that the fuftaining force may be a given quantity, or the leaft poffible.

Draw

DQ and QP as before, and

let

PR

be to

Rm as
R,

the weight to the given force; then from the center

with a diftance equal to Rm, interfeft in m; then is the required direction when the force it- given ; but to have it the leaft poffible, draw at right angles to PQ, then is the direclion required.

FO

Rm

Rm

Rm

Corollary

1.

An

when
fore

the leaft poffible,

expreflion for the fuftaining force may be found as follows: In the

the angle

triangles

PDQ, RQm,
this the

is

common, there-

FQ: PD:: RQ: Rm; lut PD is a forth proportional to AB, AC, and PR, and DO is to PD as 1 ton,
fuppofing
to

given ratio; alfo

RD

is

a fourth

pro-

portional to

AB, BC, and PR, consequently RQisequal

added to or fubtracted from DR, as it is lecond cafe; and becauie PQ: PDxv'
:

1)Q
firft

either

the
r

(vn+i);
Bte

therefore (n. or (nfr**c) (Vnn i) by fubltituting 5 and c for the natural fine and coline of the plane's elevation, and ufing the negative or affirmative fign as the force required^ is the moving or fufpending one refpettively.
:

or n

RO: Rm,
(nn+ 1)

AC)

AIV

Rm=PR

BC

Example*

FRICTION IN MECHANICS.

*75

Example.
the weight
1

If AB=r,-,

BC=3,

and

AC=4,

and

ton, then the leait

moving and

fultaining

forces will be 1825 and 702

pounds refpectivcly.

Corollary

2.

Becaufe the triangles

are fimilar, and the ratio of

fixed value of n. therefore

PDO and ROm DO coniiant to each the angle QRm being equal
PD
to

to DPQ, will alio be conitam, whether the inclination of the plane be variable or not; and hence the angles of the direction with the plane for the draught to be made with the greated advantage, are found for different values of n as follows
:

176

HINTS RELATIVE TO

to be fufpended, as in the cafe of land-ties, the beft angle (on the foregoing fuppoiition) muft be i8.26' below

the plane.

SCHOLIUM.
In thofe propofitions the frilion is eftimated according to the moft generally received opinion, that the refiftance isproportional to the whole preffure compounded of the weight of the body, and the additional force neceffary to overcome the fritlion ; but it has been afferted, that there may be cafes where the friction is not proportional to the whole preffure, but to that

which would
alfo be cafes,

arife if the

direction, exclufive of fri&ion

where the

body was fuftained in a given and that there might ; refiftance, arifing from tenacity

orcohefion, might be as the relative preffure againfl the plane, and the force to overcome it the fame in every direction ; fomething fimilar to a globe ftuck faft in wet tenacious clay : I fhall therefore give folutions to both cafes.
force requifite to fuftain the exclufive of friftion, is Rn j and and Dn, therefore Pn is the as Rn is equivalent to preffure, exclufive of friclion ; and as the fri&ion is the n part of the preflure, the force ating parallel to
firft

In the

cafe,*

the

body

in direction

RV,

RD

AB

to

overcome

it, is

the n part of Pn; but the force

which

afting in direction

be equivalent to the n part a fourth proportional to n times RD, Pn, and Rn ; but becaufe is the n part of DP, therefore fn is the n part of Pn, and the fourth proportional aforefaid will be nz ; confequently the fum or difference of Rn and nz muft be a given quantity, or the leafl poflible the Problem therefore is reduced t to drawing a line Rn from the given point R, meeting the two lines PD and given in pofiwill

Rn

of Pn

in the direction

Rn,

is

DQ

PQ

tion

* Fig.

3.

Fig. 4.

FRICTION IN MECHANICS.

If]

tion in n and z; fo that nz added to or taken from Rn, the fum or difference may be a given quantity, or the be taken equal to To do this, let leaft poffible.

DS

DR,

and draw

then becaufe the quantities aforefaid is rz; and when rz is required to be a given quantity, the queftion is reduced to that particular cafe of the inclinations of Apollonius, in folids,

SR parallel to PD meeting PQ in M ; Rn is equal to rn, the fum or difference of

which hasbeenrefolvedby

Newton

and Barrow:

the limits of the Problem, or the mode of drawing the line Rr, fo that the intercepted part rz may be the leaft
poffible,

may

be inveftigated as follows

let

* Suppofeitdone, and Rrztnepofition required, and Rnm be indefinitely near to Rz, and perpendicular to Rz, then by applying the analyfis of the ancients to the Newtonian doctrine of prime and ultimate ratios, mn is equal to zr ; and if from the center R,

Mh

with the diftances Rz and Rn, the arcs zv and nt be fuppofed to be defcribed, vn is equal to zt, and conferh Mh, and tn quently tr equal to mv ; but rt tn zv::Rr: Rz, andzv: vm:: Mh: hz, whence by compounding the proportions, tr vm Rr rh Rz zh and as the two firft terms are equal, the two laft are equal, and confequently Rr Rz zh rh, and dividing Rr rz zh rz, therefore Rr is equal to zh, and confequently the point h is in an hyperbola, whofe afymptotes are and produced but becaufe the angle is a right angle, the point h is alfo in the circumference of a circle ; therefore a line drawn from R to h, the point where the hyperbola and circle
:

QM

SM

MhR

interfect,

is

the polition required.

tenacity or cohefion

In the other cafe, where the refinance arifina from is fuppofed to be as the relative preffure againlt the plane, and the force to overcome it
the
* Fig.
6.

I78

HINTS RELATIVE TO

the fame in each direction, we have Rn for the fuftaining force, exclufive of friction, and the n part of Pn for the friction; and confequently the fum or difference

of thefe

is

the expreffion for the

whole force

and the
to

Problem may

be thus conltru&ed.

Take

PD

DQ
PD
join
will

; as the preffure to the friction, and join defcribe a circle, in which take Dv equal to perpendicular to it: then Pv, and draw

PQ

on
;

DQ

RV

RV

reprefent the direction

and meafure of the whole force

when

it is

the leaf! poffible.

is

For
or

equal to
to the

DQ and Dv are equal, and confequently nf Vn; but DQ the n part of DP, therefore nf
is
;

and confequently R V is equal Rn, and the n part of Pn; RV is the leaf! poffible by conitruction, and therebut For draw any other fore the other is a minimum alfo. Rk meeting RV in k and PD in m; and draw mq, line mt, parallel to DQ and Dv ; then the fum or difference of Rm and mt is equal to the fum or difference of Rm, andmq; but the fum or difference of Rm and mt is greater than RV, and therefore the fum or difference of Rn and the n part of Pn is the leaft poffible.

Vn is the n part of Pn
fum or

difference of

PROBLEM
:

III.

Given the weight of the body, the inclination of the plane, and the force fuftaining the body in a given dirt ft ion to find the ratio of the friction to the
preffure.

Take PR
the

as before, (fee Fig. 1.2.)

draw
as the

Rm in the

given direction, and take

PR

to

Rm
it ;

body
in

to the force fuftaining

draw

Pm

AB
to

DQ as the

Q, and

PD

perpendicular to

AB;

weight of meeting then PD is

preffure to the friction.

PROBLEM

JRICTION IN MECHANICS.

I79

PROBLEM
If

IV.

be the fegment of an equilateral triangle, which, by moving parallel to itfelf and the horizon, generates a folid, upon which a figure hmGEHKpqh moves, touching the former in hm and qp ; requied the effect of the friction ; {till fuppofing it the n part of
the pre flu re.

AhqN

Let P be the center of gravity of half the body*, and its weight as before; then the body by means of its inflexibility is kept together in the fame manner as if it was actuated by a force parallel to the horizon ; but if PDn be perpendicular to Ah, and Rn parallel to the horizontal line AC, meeting PD in n, Pn will be the preflure againft the- fide Ah, and the friction is the n AC AB; therefore if AC part of Pn; but PR Pn reprefent the weight ol half the body, the n pan of AB

PR

willexprefs the weight lequiiite to overcome the friction, for that ha'f; and by doubling the expreflions, they ferve leprefent the weight Wherefore let for the whole. then Wf of the body, f the fecant of the angle ; will be the preflure againfl the plane AD; and the n

BAC

part of

Wfthe

and

as this lait

force nectflary to overcome the friction; is the force neceflary to draw the body
therefore the force neceflary
to that ne-

along

a horizontal plane,

to draw the
ceflary
to as

body along a hoi izontal plane, is draw it along the body whofe

lection

is

AhqN,

AC
is

to

AB,

or as

to/.

Becaufe when the angle

PR

to

Pn
is

fection

is given, the ratio of conftant; therefore when the folid whofe AhqN is elevated, making an angle with the

CAB

horizon,

fo that its

bafe forms an inclined plane;

PR

in

that cafe reprefents the preflure in a

normal direction to that plane, and Pn the preflure againit the folid; and
ar
* Fig. 7;

lSo
as the Friction
is

HINTS RELATIVE TO
increafed in the ratio of the preffure, preffure which the body would have on

therefore

if the

the inclined plane be increafed in the ratio of to AB, or radius to the fecant of the angle CAB, then the preffure on the angular plane or body, whofe perpendi-

AC

cular feclion is AhqN, will be had, and confequently Hence this conftruction*; its n part, or the frittion. at right angles let PR reprefent the weight; then reprefents the preffure that the body would exert to to as againft the common inclined plane; take in the foregoing figure to AC, or as the fecant of the inclination of the angular plane with its bafe to radius; let Dq be the n part of DK, and join Kq; then for drawn any how to meet Kq in M, gives the meafureof the whole force in that direction; and it is the moving or fufpending force, according as Dq is taken upwards or downwards in the line AB.

PD

AB

DK

DP

AB

RM

RM

It is evident that Kq is parallel to PQ, and therefore though the leaft force (which is perpendicular to Kq) differ from that in the former cafes; yet the directions for having the greateft effect are ftill the fame as in the foregoing table ; the demonftration is in effect the fame

as the

firft.

Corollary. By fuppofing 5 to be the fecant of the angle t that the fides of the angular plane make with the bafe, proceeding as Corollary 2d of Problem lft, and putting t for the natural tangent of the plane's inclifor PR the weight, we have nation, and (tn+f) :

(n t) for the moving ; and (tn -J): (n-\-t) for the fufpending force, neceffary to draw the body along the angular inclined plane by a force acting parallel to the bafe of the plane.

Example.

* Fig. 5.

Fig. 8.

FRICTION IN MECHANICS.

l8l

Let AB, BC, and AC, be 5, 3, and 4, and let the inclination of the fides be 45 ; the weight of a ton and the friclion one third of the prefTure ; then 3648 pounds is the moving, and 499

Example.

reflectively,

the fufpending force.

SCHOLIUM.
In
the
this propofition, thofe parts

of the plane on which

body moves

are fuppofed rectilineal, as moftly hap-

pens in practice; but the friclion is eafily eitimated in curvilinear furfaces, and may be found generally as
follows
:

perpendicular to the horizon, and to the axis of the folid which forms the curvilineal plane on which the body is moved; AP the axis; the ordinate, and a tangent to the curve at the point ; alfo let reprefent the weight or preffure in a direction perpendicular to the horizon at the point ; and let RF be perpendicular to meeting in F; alfo let PN be taken equal to MR, and equal to RF ; and fuppofe the fame conftruclion to be made for every point of the curve, and let be the locus of all the points N, and the locus of ail the points ; then will the friclion, when drawn along the horizontal plane, be to the friclion of the fame body when drawn along the curvilinear plane in the fame direction, as the area to the area

Let

AMP * be half the feclion

PM

RM

MS

MS

MP

PQ

HN

GQ

APNH

APQG.
For the friclion on the horizontal plane being as the fum of the preffures, is as the fum of all the elementary
lines

MR or

PN;

that

is,

as the area
is

AHNP;

friction

on the curvilinear plane

for the

and the fame reafon as

the

* Fig. a.

l82
the

HINTS RELATIVE TO

fum of

APQG;
feft.

all the RF or PQ, namely, as the area hence the truth of the propofition is mani-

Corollary

1.

Becaufe

Mn

or the fluxion of y

is

to

or to or fluxion of the curve, as will be be a fundion of AP, PO, therefore if a fourth proportional to the fluxion of the ordinate, the fluxion of the curve AM, and this function; wherefore

Mm the

MR

PN

RF

PN

PQ

if the

curve

and be given, the nature of the be known, and its area may be found by the common methods of quadratures.
carves

HM

AM

GO

will

Corollary

2.

It is

evident that

when

the planes are

inclined to the horizon, the frictions of the right and curvilinear planes are (till in the fame ratio as in the

preceding cafes, and confequently fame mode of proceeding.

may be found by

the

Corollary 3. It is alfo evident, that the above method holds good whether the parts of the body are connected together or not, with refpetl to their motion in the direction RM, fo long as each elementary part may be confidered as fultained at the point by a force parallel to but when the body is rigid or ;

MP

inflexible,

the cafe

then conftant, and

APNH

is becomes more becomes a parallelogram.

MR M fimple, for MR

Corollary 4. By fuppofing given properties to exift any two of the curves AM, HN, or GQ, the nature of the third will be known ; and hence a number of problems relative to friction may be propofed and refolved by a proper application of the direfct andinverfe methods of fluxions.
in

PROPOSITION

FRICTTON IN MECHANICS.

383

PROPOSITION'

5.

THEOREM.

In the application of forces to overcome friction, the

fame allowances muft be made for the forces acting to advantage or di (advantage, by means of levers or other mechanical powers, as are made in the common doctrine; forinftance, if a weight of two pounds, by acting at the diftance of one foot from the fulcrum of a lever, be fufficient to overcome the friction, then one pound at two feet diftance will have the fame effect, Sec.
This
is

too evident to need a dcmonftration.

OF FRICTION'
Asanv
a

IN

THE SCREW.

moving

force acting perpendicular to the direction of body does not affect the motion of the body

perpendicular to the axis of the ferew, has no effect on the motion of a body raifed thereby, exclu five of friction; it therefore requires the fame force to raife a body by means of a fcrew, as to raife the fame body in equal time along an inclined plane of the fame elevation, as the threads of the fcrew by means of a force acting parallel to the bafe of the innow. if we fuppofe the weight fo conclined plane tracted or condenfed as to be capable of being placed on one of the threads of the fcrew, and fattened to an imaginary lever always perpendicular to its axis, then it is evident this lever will have no effect but to change the direction of the weight, and keep it in the midft of the thread of the fcrew ; and if a force be applied at the weight alwavs perpendicular to this lever, fo as to fuftain or draw it along, this force will be determined exactly the fame as was done before in the inclined plaae but the rigidity of the parts of the " female fcrew"
in that direction, fo the force acting
: :

184

HINT* RELATIVE TO

fcrew" ferves exaftly the fame purpofe as this imaginary lever, and makes the weight act upon the threads like a body fuftained on an inclined plane by a force parallel to its bafe; and as the force to overcome both the
-weight

and the

fri6tion

is

reciprocally as the diftance

of the from the axis, is to the diftance from power from the center of the fame center to the middle of the threads of the fcrew, as the force neceffary to fuftain the body on the inclined plane, to the fame force in the fcrew at the diftance of the power. The fame proportion holds good whether the threads be cut perpendicular to the axis
the center of the axis, therefore the diftance

or in an angle; for in the firft, the common plane is to be taken ; and in the fecond, the inclined orangularone, confidered in the fourth Propofition: Wherefore if d be the diltance from the center of the axis to the middle of the threads of the fcrew, D the diftance of fame center
to the point

where the force

is

applied, the force to

:

overcome the weight and fric~lion is Wd (tnjL.f) (n=t) D, where the letters exprefs the fame things as before, and the upper fign is for the moving, and the lower for the fufpending force. N. B. t is the natural tangent of the angle made by a line touching one of the threads, and a plane at right angles to the axis of the
fcrew ; or it is equal to the diftance of the refpe&ive edges of two threads, divided by the circumference of the cylinder, out of which the fcrew is cut.

Corollary 1. When lines drawn from the center of the axis of the fcrew to coincide with the threads, are at right angles to the axis, the above expreffion becomes

Wd

(tn*=*i)

(rfTt) D, for/ becomes radius or unity.

Corollary
1

2.

When

is

equal to

t,

the

moving

force

will be infinites alfo the fufpending force will be

no-

thing

FRICTION IN MECHANICS.
thing

l8j
:

t is the n part of 5 ; and when Wd (tns) becomes negative, it expreffes the quantity of force which muft atl in a contrary direction to reduce the body juft to a ftate of fufpenfion.

when

(n-\4)

SCHOLIUM.
It

would be needlefs

to

make any allowance

for the

curvilinear furfaces of the threads of fcrews, as the) feldom differ much from the two foregoing forms; neither is it of much confequence to allow for their parts being at different di fiances from the axis, as their breadth feldom bears any confiderable ratio to the length of the levers by which they atl ; but the cafe is different when large bodies revolve on each other, and therefore it will be neceffary to fhew the mode of proceeding in fuch cafes.

Let be a convex folid,* generated bv the revolution of the curve about its axis perpendicular to the horizon, and a concave body exactly fitting it then if this lad body be revolved about the axis by means of the lever Pf, the force neceffary to overcome the friction of one body turning upon the other may be found as follows. Suppofe the revolving body divided into an infinite number of concentric tubes, that may defcend independent of each other, and prefs freely a gain ft the body on which they revolve, and yet be fo connected that the lever Pf may give the fame angular velocity at the fame time to each ; alfo let theordinates PN of the curve reprefent the weight or preffure (in a direction perpendicular to the horizon) of each of the indefinitely final parts Mk, or

MmAO

MAQ

MRSQ

AP

HN
1

elementary lines of the body

at the diitance

PM

from
the

Vol.

P
* Fig. 10.

l86

HINTS RELATIVE TO

the axis, and let c be the circumferenceof a circle whofe radius is unity then becaufe the friction of each of the is as its preffure, and the prefelementary tubes fure is as the number ot lines Mk, and the preffure of each; therefore as this number is as PM.Mn.c, we have the n part of this expreffion for the force which,
:

MRSQ

acting at

M, would overcome

the friction of the cylin-

drical tube if

moved round upon a

but

as the preffure

horizontal plane: of each elementary partis increafed

to

in the ratio

of

Mn

Mm, when moved

:

on the
:

folid

M AQ, the real force will be

Pf
:

(PM.c.Mm.PN) n;

alfo

n to the fmall elementary force which will overcome the laft force when acting at f ; confequently the whole force will be equal to the
:

PM

(PM.c.Mm.PN)
1

fluent of

(PM .PN.Mm.c)

(n.Pf.)

Corollary. By means of the curves AM, HN, Sec, conclufions may be drawn fimilar to thofe in the Corollaries to the Scholium of the fourth Proportion.

OF FRICTION IN THE LEVER.

been already obferved, that a force afting perpendicular to the direction of a body in motion, does not alter the body's motion in that direction ; therefore if* we fuppofe DB to be an upright cylinder, and AB a body touching it in a line as in the figure, and retained clofe to it by an imaginary force, drawing it perpendi* cular towards the axis; then if a force CP be applied to C, the center of gravity of AB, and be always luppofed to act perpendicularly to the radius CN,dt awn from the center of the axis to the point C, the fii6tion will bo the fame in drawing the body round the cylinder, as in drawing it along a horizontal plane with an equal preffure ; and if it be moved round by a force acting at a
It has

greater diflance, the force will be reciprocal y as the

diitaiiCe
:

* Fig. 11.

FRICTION IN MECHANICS.

187

diftance: on the contrary, if the body be fixed, and the cylinder turned round about its axis, the friction will be the fame as if the cylinder was fixed, and the body drawn round it by CP, as before Likewife the friction is the fame, whether the cylinder be fixed,
:

AB

the axis by a force or whether the point c be fixed with fattened to Cc, and the cylinder be revolved in a circle whofe center is c, fo as always to retain its parallelifm with refpe6t to any fixt objecl:; and as this laft cafe obtains in the axletrees of carriages, fince every point of the wheel's contaft with the ground may be confidered as the center of motion for that inftant, therefore the effett of the refiftance arifing from the friction of the concave part of the nave upon the axletree, is to the effect that would arife from drawing the the

and

body

AB
;

moved round

MR

Oc

applied at c

AB

fame weight over a horizontal plane of the fame kind, as the parts that rub each other, as the radius of the axis It muft be obferved, that to the radius of the wheel. this is not the only frition to which carriages are fubjecTt ; for there is another part, arifing from the cohefion of the wheel and the ground at their conta6t, which is to be found and allowed for by the three firft Proportions.

In the above the preffure and friction have been fuppofed to be as the weight, as it is on a horizontal plane but by the Scholium to the fourth Proposition, it is
plain that the preffure

may

is greater than the weight, and be fo in any proportion: however, as it appears by calculation, that the preffure on an arc of ninety degrees is to that on its chord, only as 1,183 to J * when

both the concave and convex parts have exattly the fame curvature, the difference will be fo trifling when the cylinders have different curvatures as ufual, as to require very feldom to be allowed for.

This

l88

HINTS RELATIVE TO

* be a weight placed at This being premifed, let the point X of a lever, moveable about an axis whofe center is d, and radius dn ; and let N be the fuftaining

force acting at

now

it is

evident that the preffure

from the weight, that it may be fafely taken for it without any confiderable error, except in feme remarkable cafes, which may be allowed for from what has been faid already; and therefore the friction which ought in ftrictnefs to be taken as the n part of the preffure, will here be taken as the n part of

on

the axis d differs fo

little

upon the axis. Now if N be taken for the which, acting at B, would be juft fufficient to keep force at A in equilibrio, exclufive of fri&ion, the weight be the additional force to be added to N fo as and if to overcome the friction, then will M-f-P, P, and be the weight upon the axis at d in the firft, P M, fecond. and third figures reflectively, (fuppofing the and N to be equal to P.) Now as the friction J'um of is the n part of each of thefe quantities, and its effe6t is to keep the lever in a ftate of reft, therefore in whatever direction the force at N endeavours to draw the lever by acting at B, the friction tends to counteract that force by keeping the lever fteady, or acting in a contrary direction at n; and as the effect, of the friction, and the
the weight

acts

W, are in equilibrio, and the friction by the by means of the lever dn, and the force lever dB; therefore Bd is to dn as the fum or difference of the n part of N-{-W and is to ; confequently
additional force

\\

=zdn Wz=zdn
r

(M N)

fM+NJ

(n,
(n.

Bd

dn,) in the
in the
(

firft

figure

Bd-\-dnJ

and

in the third figure,

W=zdn

M)

fecond figure;
:

(n.Bd

dn.)
M

All thefe are the expreilions for the

moving

forces.

To find the fu fpending forces, or the forces which, acting at

N,

fhall

be jufl fufficient to prevent the weight

and N be the fame from defcending: Let and let xo be the force which, taken from N,

as before,
will leave

a force
* Fie. 12. 13.

H.

FRICTION IN MECHANICS.
a force juft fufficient to prevent then the weight upon d in the

89
;

from descending
figure will

w ; and ; and in the third figure, N by proceeding as before, the values of w in the Appending forces are dn (M, JrN)'. (n.Bd-\-dn) dn (M N) (n.Bddn), and'*/?* ( M) (n.Bd+dn,) in thefirft, fecond and third figures reflectively.
:

M+N w; M N-f-w

be in the fecond figure, the weight will be

fir ft

Becaufe Bd d A N, therefore if this value of N be fubftituted in each of the above expreflions for the friclion, the whole force capable of fuftaining the friction and weight will be had. Thus, for example, the moving force to overcome the friction and weight in the fir ft figure, will be (n.dA-\-dn) (n.Bd dnj' and the fufpending force^M (n.dA dn) (n.Bd-\-dnj) in the fecond figure the moving force will be (n.dA -\-dn) (n.Bd-{-dn,) and the fufpending force (n.dA dn) (n.Bd dn ;) and in the third figure, the moving force will be (n.dA dn) (n.Bd dnj and the fufpending force will be (n.dA-\-dn) (n.Bd-\-dn.)
:

M M

The method
equations
is

of finding n from each of the above

evident, and confequently the ratio of the

friction to the preffure

by experiments.

OF FRICTION IN THE WEDGE.

be the force neceffary to fuftain the wedge aB perpendicular to QP, friclion included ; and let AB be the force exclufive of friction and BP ; perpendicular to the draw and Now CG parallel to AN, and CF parallel to and AF, the forces of the wood againft the fides of the

Let

AC*

QPB in

the direction

AN

AH

BQ AH
:

GA

wcdge 4
Pig. 15,

190

HINTS RELATIVE TO

wedge, in thofe directions, compound a force equivalent to the diagonal CA in the direction CA, and therefore a force reprefented by AC in that direction, mult be applied to the head of the wedge at a to overcome thefe forces. Let gr be the n part of Ag, and let the lines Ar and FZ perpendicular to be drawn, and alfo and AF, meeting the lines Ar in K and Z; then will and FZ reprefent the friclion againft the fides BP and and AF, the preffure BO, being each the n part of againft each fide refpectively ; wherefore if Be be taken in PB,andBn in BQ, equal to GK and FZ refpectively, the forces Be and Bn in thofe directions, muft compound a force to which the force BC in the direction BC muft be equivalent; and confequently if Bm be the force compoundedof Be and Bn, and Cm be joined, Cm muft is the force of be perpendicular tomB; fince Be or friction arifing from the preffure againft BP, which tends to prevent the wedge from moving either in the direction BP or PB; and Bn or FZ has a fimilar effect with refpecl to the direction in the line BO 3 and by hypo-

GK

AG GK

AG

GK

thecs, BC i^juft fufficient to balance thefe forces. It is alfo evident from what was faid concerning the inclined plane, that Be and Bn muft be taken in the directions

PB BP

and and

OB

for the

moving

force, but in the directions

BQ

for the fufpending force.

The method of calculation is evident; forasaB, AG, and AF, are perpendicular to OP, BP, and EO, the triangles QPB and LAG arc fimilar, and the parallelogram Bnme fimilar to FAGC ; whence by fuppofing certain parts given, the reft may be found, &c.

Corollary.
falls

When
is

the

on C, and Be
to

wedge is ifofceles, the point equal to Bn, and therefore Be or

:

GKiscqual
2

(AB-t-BCJPB)

Be: BC, and theiefore

BC=2

(n.QP)jbut PB:Ba:: Ba (AB-f-BC (n.QP)

:

or

FRICTION IN MECHANICS.
or equal to (2Ba.BA)
:

lQX
1

(n.QP 2Ba), an therefore 2Ba;) and by following (n.OP the fame method for the fu {'pending force, we findBC= (2Ba.AB):(n.QP-f 2Ba,)andconfequentlv AC is equal to (n.QP.AB) (n.QP-f 2Ba.)

AC =(n.QP.AB)
:

SCHOLIUM.
By proceeding in a fimilar method, the forces of the arch-ftones of bridges may be determined; for let ObbP be a (tone fuftained by the parts of the arch prefling
let A be its center of gravity, perpendicular to the horizon; alfo let AB and be the fame as before; then becaufe the body is in equilibrio, the force in dircftion AC will be equivalent to the force in a contrary direction, arifing from the

againft

Pb and Qb, and

and

AB

AC

preffures againft the

body

in the directions

GAandKA,

together with the force of friction; and becaufe the and AK, if Be (the n part of AG) be prelfures are drawn parallel to PB ; and Bn (the n part of AK) be drawn parallel to QB; and the parallelogram Bnme be joined; will be the force arifcompleated, and a right angle. ing from friction, and the angle The adjacent figure * is for the moving force ; but the method is fimilar for the fu fpen five force ; and it is evident that the one construction is of ufe to determine the force which tends to break an arch by prcfling it downwards, and the other the force that tends to break

AG

Cm

Bm

BmC

it

upwards.

Ihfliiitziohi 6i

mathematician P. Friji, in his Ai eccamca^ has objected to thedivihonof and AH, and thence the force AB into the forces concluded Behdorand Couplet to have been miftakenon

Eut

as that excellent

AN

that account

in

their writing

upon bridges

I fhall,

therefore,

* Fig. IS.

192

HINTS RELATIVE TO

therefore, prove that the

common method

is

really a

confequence of what that gentleman himfelf allows, and In the firlt that his objeQions are not well founded.
place, he allows the force or VB; and forces

AB

to be equivalent to the

AV

AD

now

(excluding friction)

if

which touches Pb was removed, it is evident QbbP would immediately begin to defcend along Qb with a force reprefented by VB or ; but this defcent is prevented by that part of the arch which touches Pb ; and therefore the force of that arch, in the direction HA, muft be fuch as to be equivalent to or B V but no force greater or lefs in the direction
that part of the arch

AD

DA

DA

than

and therefore Again, Pb.

rection to

HA will be equivalent to DA in the direction DA, HA the real preffure or force againft HD the preffure in a perpendicular diis

is

preffure againft

A V is the Qb arifing from the force AB, therefore AV, together with HD, is the whole preffure againft Ob
Qb
arifing

from

this force;

and

as

in the direction

but becaufe the body is in equilibrio, and confequently the aclion or force in the direction equal to the re-action in a contrary direction ; is equal to (becaufe or therefore parallelogram) reprefents by the property of the
;

AV

AV

AV+HD

AN

NV

HD

the preffure againft

Qb, and

AH

the preffure againft

is contrary to what P. Frifi afferts, and Pb ; agreeable to the ufual method,

which

learned author has made another very mamiftake, from a fimilar caufe, at page 67 of the aforcfaid Treatile, relative to the teniion of ropes; which cannot be attributed to hafte or inadvertency, as he exprefsly afferts the holders of the common opinion to be miftaken, in confequence of their ufing the theory of coirpoiition of forces without fufficient precaution:
terial
I fhall,

The fame

therefore, after giving his

own words,
is

liberty of {hewing

where

apprehend he

take the miftaken.

" Parleremo

FRICTION IN MECHANICa.

I93

" Parleremo piu

a lungo delle altrericerchematema-

tiche,alle quali ha dato occafione la controver(ia inforta

intorno alia cupola di S. Pietro. Coll' occafione che fi e difcorfo in Milano di munire la fabbricca del Duomo di un Conduttore elettrico, che dalla cima dell' aguglia fi dirimafTe, e fcendeffe per difFerenti parti del tempio, fili del Conduttore fi e ancora parlato dell azione, che potrebbero efercitare contra l'aguglia, efifonfo propoili varj Problemi intorno alle tenfioni delle funi. Io qui aggiugnero le foluzioni, che ho ritrovato, e incommincierodal la prima rifoluzioni,delleforzetendenti,laquale ficcome e interamente differente da quella, que hanno feguitato altri Autori,cofi non fara mcravaglia che porti dei rifultati interamente difFerenti da quelli che fono ftati finora publicati. Penda il * filo, QVR, dai punti Q,edR, e vi fi attacchi in V il pefo P. fi produca la verticale PV in A; fi efprima il pefo P colla retta A V,e dal punto A; fi tirino fopra RV, le perpendicolari l'intera forza efercitata fecondo AM, AN. Sara QV, ed N V fara quella che fi efercitera fecondo RV.
i

MV

RV

lteifa cofi fi dedurrebbe rilblvendola forza AV due Aq, Ar parallele ai fili QV, RV, e poi ril'olvendo di nuovo la forza Aq nelle due AN, Nq, e fimilmente la Ar in due altre AM, Mr. Mentre conquer! e

" La

nelle

rifoluzioni e manifeflo che

la

forza totale efercitata nel

tendere

il

filo

QV

dev'eflere

Aq

MV,

e la tenfione del filo

RV=Vq Nq=NV.

Mr~rV Mr

u S'ingannerebbe
fione del filo
di

chi mifuraffe feparamente la ten-

Aq, oflia rV, e la tenfione da Ar, oppure da qV. Egli e vero, che le due tenfioni equivalgono infieme, come alia fola forza A V, cosi ancora alle due Ar, Aq, oppure alle quattro infieme AN, Nq, AM, Mr. ma nel prendere le tenfioni fepa-

QV aalla forza

RV

rate

fig. 17.

1^4

HINTS RELATIVE TO

rate bifogna in oltre avvertive, che

QVR
RV,

quando V angolo non e retto, una porzione di Aq agifce fecondo ed una porzione di Ar fecondo QV e feparando
:

le azioni fara

MV,

la

teniione del hlo

QV,

ed

NV

quella di

RV."

In the firft place, I fhall demonftrate the truth of the eftabli fhed method from principles that Frisi has
himfelf allowed ; and, fecondly, point out the abfurdity of his conclulions.

1.

Let
is

Vn

NVn
into

a right angle,

and Sr be parallel to and the force

AN;

then becaufe

and Vn, were to remain in the fame pofition, and the force which now keeps the body fufpended by ating in the direction VQ, was to act in the direction VN with a force exprefTed by Vn. it is then granted that the equilibrium w< uld Mill be maintained, and the tenfions would be as Vr: and VN; and, therefore, as no force VS whatever, actingat V in the direction RV, ran have any effect. in the direction Vn perpendk ular .o RV, it ne.. .Manly follows, that the force in any other direction VO. mull be fuch as to be equivalent to Vn in the direction Vn; but it is likewift grankd, that no other force but Vr in the direBion can be equivalent to Vn in the direction Vn; and as the force Vr is equivalent to Vn and VS, and as VS, or ts equal, qN, only gives an additional tenfion to N V, the tenfion which the cord RV was fuppoftd to have before, which whole tenfion is equal to the re-action of the tack R ; therefore qV is the tenfion of the cord RV, and Vr that of Qv.

VN

VA may be refolved in thofe directions, therefore, if RV

and

VP

VQ

2.

Let the points

will

and VP, and if

coincide, and RV, QV, and then be perpendicular to the horizon;

VQ

or

VR

be aflumtd to exprefs the weight P,

then

FRICTION IN MECHANICS.

I95

then will the points A, R, O, M, and N, coincide; and according to Frifis principle, thetcnfions of RV, VQ, and VP, will be equal; but, from the well-known and bears principle of the pulley, each cord therefore this abfurdity folbut half the weight P, and lows, that a cord is as much ftretched with half the weight as it would with the whoie.

VQ

VR

R, V, and Q, be fuppofed horizontal, it follows, from the common theory, that the tenfion of the rope RVQ would be infinite; but VN" and VM vanifh when RVQ is horizontal; and therefore, by Frifis principle, the tenfion in that cafe would be nothing at all ; but it is well known from the mofl common experiments to be very confiderable, even when RQV is but nearly horizontal; and therefore the new theory of this great mathematician is indefenAgain,
if the

points

fible.

Remark. All the foregoing, except the lad Scholium, was written in 1775, before the Author had feen any thing to fpeak of on the fubjecl. He had defigned and executed great part of an extenfive treatife on friction, according to different hypothefes ; but as nobody would be at the rifk of publifhing it, and he could not afford it himfelf, the moft of it was accidentally loll. What is here given is an extract only of fome of the fir ft part, where velocity was not taken into the account, and where there were no complicated algebraic or fluxional exprefiions, which would be difficult to print in this country.
.

TO

I96

AN ACCOUNT OF AN INTERVIEW

TO THE HONOURABLE

SIR

WILLIAM JONES,

Prefidcnt of the Afiatick Society.

SIR,
the honour to obey the orders of the Honourable the Governor General and Council, in tranfmitting to you, for the information of the Afiatick Society , an Extracl of a Letter arldrefft d to the Governor General, on the 2d of lafl Month, by Lieutenant Samuel Turner, who was appointed on an Embaffy to Tibet ; and a Copy of an Account enclofed in it, of Mr. Turner's Interview with Ieeshoo Lama, at the Monaftery of Terpaling.
I

HAVE

have the honour

to be, with great refpect,

SIR,

Your moft

obedient and moft humble Servant,

E.
Council Chamber,
Political Department,

HAY,

Secretary,

April 13, 1784.

Extract

WITJ1 TEESH00 LAMA.

lgj

Extract Turner

of a
to

Letter from Mr. Samuel

Honourable the

the

Governor

General,
-*-^ had

dated Patna, 2d March, 1784.

Tibet9

it was an object I an interview of the infant TeefJioo Lama ; but the Emperor of China's general orders, reftricting his guardians to keep him in the ftricteft privacy, and prohibiting indifcriminately, the admiffion of all perfons to his prefence, even his votaries, who fhould come from adiflance, appeared to me an obftacle almofl infurmountable; yet, however, the Rajah, mindful of the amity fubfiiling between the Governor and him, and unwilling, I believe, by any act, to hazard its interruption, at length confented to grant me that indulgence. As the meeting was attended with very lingular and finking circumftances, I could not help noting them with mod: particular attention ; and though the repetition of fuch facts, interwoven and blended as they are with fuperitition, may expofe me to the imputation of extravagance and exaggeration, yet 1 fhould think myfctf reprehenfible to fupprefs them; and while I divert mylelf of all prejudice, and aiTume the part of a faithful narrator, I hope, however tedious the detail I propofe to enter into may be found, it will be received with candour, and merit the attention of thofe for whofe perulal and information it is intended, were it only to mark a ftrong feature in the national character, of implicit homage to the great religious Sovereign, and to inftancc the verv uncommon, I may fay almoil unheard-of, effects of early tuition.

TOURING my refidence in
much

at heart, to obtain

perhaps, be dill morejuflified in making this by adverting to that very extraordinary afTarance the Rajah of Teefioo Loomboo made me but a few days before my departure from his court, which, without
I fhall,

relation,

.10,8

AN ACCOUNT OF AN INTERVIEW
I

out further introduction,

recite.

will

beg leave

literally to

At an

me my

interview he allowed me, after having given audience of leave, he faid, " I had yefterday a

" vifior/of our tutelary deity, and to me it was a day " replete with much interefting and important matter. " This guardian power, who infpires us with his illu* minations on every momentous and great occafion,
s

t4

indulged

me

with a divination, from which

have

u "
u

Set your collected that every thing will be well. heart at reft; for though a feparation is about to take
place between us, yet our friendfhip will not ceafe to exift; but, through the favour of interpofing Proviaflured
that
it

u
ct

dence, you may reft u minate eventually in

will increafe,
will

and

ter-

which

be for the beft."

I fhould have paid lefs regard to fo ftrange an obfervation, but for this reafon, that, however diffonant from other doftrines their pofitions may be found, yet I judge they are the beft foundation to build our reliances upon ; and fuperltition combining with inclination to implant

fuch friendly fentiments in their minds, will ever conftitute, the opinion having once obtained, the ftrongeft. Oppofed to the prejubarrier to their prefervation. no plan can reafonably be expected to dices of a people, agreeing with them, fuccefs muft be the take place
:

refult.

true Extract^

E.
Secretary
to the

HA

Y,

Governor General and Council*

Cory

WITH TEESHOO LAMA.

199

VII.

Copy of an Account
his Interview with,

given by Mr.

Turner, of Teeshoo Lama at the

enclofed in

Monajlery

of

Terpaling,
the

Mr.

Turner's Letter to vernor General,

1784.

Honourable the

Go*

dated Fatna, 2d March,

December, 1783, I arrived at Terpaon the fummit of a high hill and it was about noon when I entered the gates of the Monas-

/~\N

^^

the 3d of

ling, lituated

which was not long fince erected and education of Tetffwo Lama.
tery,

for the reception

He

refides in

Palace in the center of the Monaitery, which occupies about a mile of ground in circumference, and the whole is encompafTed by a wall. The feveral buildings ferve for the accommodation of three hundred Gylongs, appointed to perform religious feryice with Teef/ioo Lama, until he fhall be removed to the Monastery and Mufnud of Tee/Jioj Lcomboo. It is unufual to make vifits either here or in Bootan on the day of arrival; we therefore refted this day, only receiving and fending meffages of compliment.

On
upon

Tee/Iioo

the 4th, in the morning, I was allowed to vifit Lama, and found hi!; , placed in great form his Mufnud. On the left fide flood his father

and mother, on the other

the officer particularly appointed to wait upon his perfon. The Mufnud is a fabric of filk cufhions, pi'ed one upon the other until the feat is elevated to the height of four feet from the floor; embroidered filk covered the top; and the fides were decorated with pieces of filk of various colours, fuipended 3

20O

AN ACCOUNT OF AN INTERVIEW

fufpended from the upper edge, and hanging down. By the particular requeft of Teefhoo Lama's father, Mr. Saunders and myielf wore the Englifh drefs.

advanced; and, as is the cuftom, prefented a white pelong handkerchief; and delivered alfo into the Lama s hands, the Governor's prefent of a firing of pearls and coral, while the other things were fet down before Having performed the ceremony of the exhim. change of handkerchiefs with his father and mother, ve took our feats on the right of TeeJJioo Lama.
I

A
their

multitude of perfons,

all

thofe ordered to efcort

and allowed to make The infant Lama turned towards probations. them, and received them all with a cheerful and fignificantlook of complacency. His father then addrelfed me in the Tibet language, which was explained to me by the interpreter, that TeeJJioo Lama had been ufed to remain at reft until this time of the day ; but he had awoke very early this morning, and could not be prevailed on to remain longer in bed; for, added he, " the u Engli/Ji Gentlemen were arrived, and he could not *' deep." During the time we were in the room, I observed the Lama's eyes were fcarce ever turned from us; and when our cups were empty of tea, he appeared uneafy, and throwing back his head, and contracting the fkin of his brow, he kept making a noife, for he could not fpeak, until they were filled again. He took out of a golden cup, containing confects, fome burnt fugar, and flretching out his arm, made a motion to his attendants to give them to me. He then fent fome in like manner to Mr. Saunders, who was with me. I found jnyfelf. though vifiting an infant, under the neceflity of

me, were admitted

to his prefence,

faying

WITH TEESHOO LAMA.

201

faying fomething ; for it was hinted to me, that, not* withstanding he is unable to reply, it is not to be However, his inferred that he cannot understand. incapacity of anfwering excufed me many words; and I juft briefly faid, That the Governor-General, on receiving the news of his deceafe in China, was overwhelmed with grief and forrow, and continued to lament his abfence from the world, until the cloud that had overcaft the happinefs of this nation by his re-ap-

pearance was difpelled ; and then, if poffible, a greater degree of joy had taken place than he had experienced of grief on receiving the firft mournful news. The Governor wilhed he might long continue to illumine the world with his prefence ; and was hopeful that the friendfhip which had formerly fubfifted between them would not be dimimfhed, but rather that it might become (till greater than before ; and that, by his con-* tinuing to mew kindnefs to my countrymen, there might be an extenfive communication between his votaries and the dependants of the Britijli nation. The little creature turned, looking fledfaftly towards me with the appearance of much attention while I fpoke, and nodded with repeated but flow movements of the head, as though he underftood and approved every word, but could not utter a reply. The parents, who flood by all the time, eyed their fon with a look of affection, and a fmile expreflive of heartfelt joy at the propriety of the young Lamas conducl. His whole regard was turned to us: he was filent and fedate, never once looking tohis parents, as if under their influence at the time; and with whatever pains his manners may have been formed fo correct, yet I muft own his behaviour on this occafion, appeared perfectly natural and fpon* taneous, and not directed by any acliqn or fign of au-

wards

thority.

The fcene in which I was here brought to take a part, was too new and extraordinary, however trivial, if not
Vol,
I,

abfurd 3

202
abfurd, as

AN ACCOUNT OF AN INTERVIEW
it may appear to fome, not to claim from great attention, and confequently minute remark.

me

time about 18 months of made mod expreflive figns, and conducted himfelf with aftonifhing His complexion is of that hue dignity and decorum. which in England we mould term rather brown, but His features good, fmall black not without colour. eyes, an animated exprefhon of countenance; and altogether I thought him one of the handfomeft children I had ever feen. I had but little converfation with the He told me he had directions to entertain me father. three days on account of Teeflioo Lama; and entreated me with fo much earneftnefs to pafs another on his own account, that I could not refill complying with his reHe then invited us for to-morrow to an enterqueft.
Teeflioo
is

Lama

at this

age

He

did not fpeak a word, but

tainment he propofed to make at a fmall diftance from the Monaftery, which invitation having accepted, we took our leave, and retired.

In the courfe of the afternoon I was vifited by two of the Lama's houfehold, both of whom are imThey fat and conmediately attendant on his perfon. verfed with me fome time, enquired after Mr. Bogle, whom both of them had feen ; and then remarking how extremely fortunate it was the young Lama's having regarded us with very particular notice, obferved on the very ftrong partiality of the former Teeflioo Lama for the Englijh, and that the prefent one often tried to utter I encouraged the thought, the name of the EngliJJi. hopeful that they would teach the prejudice to ftrengthen with his encreafing age; and they affured me that mould he, when he begins to fpeak, have forgot, they would early teach him to repeat the name of Hajlings.
officers

On

WITH TEESHOO LAMA.

203

On the morning of the 6th, I again waited on Teeflioo Lama, to prefent fome curiofuies I had brought for him from Bengal. He was very much (truck with a
fmall clock, and had it held to him, watching for a long time the revolutions of the moment hand he admired it, but with gravity, and without any childifh There was nothing in the ceremony differemotion.
:

ent from the

firft day's vilit. The father and mother were prefent. I ftaid about half an hour, and retired, to return and take leave in the afternoon.

The
in

votaries of Tee/hoo
to

Lama

numbers

pay their adorations to him.

already begin to flock Few are

yet admitted to his prefence. Thofe who come, efteem it a happinefs if he is but fhewn to them from the window, and they are able to make their proftrations before he is removed. There came to-day a party

of Kilmaaks (Cuimuc Tartars) for purpofes of devotion,

and

to

make

their offerings to the

Lama.

When f re-

turned from vifiting him, I faw them Handing at the entrance of the fquare in front of the palace, each with his cap off, his hands being placed together elevated, and held even with his face. They remained upwards of half an hour in this attitude, their eyes fixed upon the apartment of the Lama, and anxiety very vifibly depicted in their countenances. At length, I imagine, he appeared to them) for they began all togetherby lifting their hands, flill clofed, above their heads, then bringing them even with their faces, and after lowering

them to their breafts, then feparating them to affift them in finking and rifing, they dropt upon their knees, and ffruck their heads againft the ground. This with
:

the fame motions was repeated nine times. They afterwards advanced to deliver their prefents, confifting of talents of gold and filver, with the products of their country, to the proper officer, who having received them, they retired apparently with much fatisfacfion.

Upon

04

AN ACCOUNT OP AN INTERVIEW
enquiry,
are by
I

Upon
manner
the

learnt that offerings

made

in this

no means unfrequent, and, in reality, conftitute one of the moft copious fources from which

Lamas of

Tibet derive their wealth.

No one thinks himfelf degraded by performing thefe The perfons I allude to, who came for humiliations. this devout purpofe, were attendant on a man of fupefeemed to be more engrofled than the performance of the ceremony. He wore a rich fatin garment, lined with fox fkins ; and a cap with a taffel of fcarlet filk flowing from the center of the crown upon the fides all round, and edged with a broad band of Siberian fur.
rior rank, that
reft in the

went in the afternoon Lama. I received his difpatches for the Governor-General, and from his parents two pieces of fatin for the Governor, with many

According to appointment,

to

make my

laft vifit

to Tee/koo

compliments.

prefented me with a veil, lined with lambfkins, making many aflurances of a long remembrance, and obferving that at this time TeeJJioo Lama is an infant, and incapable of convcrfing, but they hoped to fee me I replied, again when he fhall have become of age. by favor of the Lama, I might again vifit this that, country I looked forward with anxiety to the time when he mould mount the Mufnud, and fhould then be extremely happy in the opportunity of paying my After fome expreffions and protections of refpefts. mutual regard, my vifit was concluded. I received the

They

WITH TEESHOO LAMA,

the handkerchiefs,

205

and took my leave ; and am to purfue my journey toward Bengal to-morrow at the dawn of day.

(Signed)

SAMUEL TURNER,

true Copy,

E.

HAY,

Secretary to the Governor General and CountiL

To

206

AN ACCOUNT OP A

To

Sir

WILLIAM JONES,

Knight,

Prefident of the AJiatick Society*

R,
the

THE Honorable ceived and

ed
to

laid before the

Governor-General having reBoard, a Letter add refT-

him by Lieutenant Samuel Turner, containing Account of a Journey made to TeeJJioo Loomboo, by a Gojfeyn named Poorungeer, and the Circumftances of his Reception by Teeshoo Lama, and the Board deeming it worthy of the Attention of the AJiatick Society, I have the Honor, in Obedience to their Directions, to tranfmit to you a Copy of it.
the
I

have the Honor to be,

R,
Servant,
Secretary.

Your moft obedient humble

E.
Fort William,
Secret Department, Feb. 22. 1786.

HAY,

JOURNEY TO TIBET.

20/

VIII.

An Account

of a

Journey

to

Tibet,

TO THE HONOR AELE

JOHN MACPHERSON,

ESQ.

Governor-General, &c.

Fort William*

HONORABLE

SIR,

HAVING,

in obedience to the inftru&ions with which you were pleafed to honour me, examined Poorungeer, the GofTeyn, who has at different times been employed in deputations to the late Teejhoo Lama, formerly accompanied him to the court of Pekin, and who is lately again returned from Tibet, and having collected from him fuch an account of the journey he has juft performed, and other information, as he could give me relative to the countries he had left, I beg leave to fubmit it to you in the following narrative.

In the beginning of laft year, Poorungeer, having received difpatches from Mr. Hajlings, a fhort time previous to his departure from Bengal, for Teejhoo Lama, and the Regent of TeeJIioo Loomboo, immediately fet about preparing for the diftant journey he had engaged to undertake, which employed him until the beginning

of

208

AN ACCOUNT OF

to recal to

of the following month of March, when I beg leave your remembrance, I had the honor to pre-* fent him to you for his difmiflion. He then commenced his journey from Calcutta, and early in the month of April had paffed, as he relates, the limits of the Company's Provinces, arid entered the mountains
that constitute the

Kingdom of

Boolan, where, in the

profeciition of his journey, he received from the fub-

je&s of the Daib Raja, the moft ample and voluntary affiftance to the frontier of his territory ; nor met with any impediment to oppofe his progrefs until he came upon the borders of Tibet. Here he was compelled to halt for near a fortnight by a heavy fall of (now, that commenced upon his arrival, and continued inceffantly for the fpace of fix days, covering the face of the country to fo great a depth, as totally to put a flop to all tra*

and render it impracticable for him to proceed thaw fucceeded to open the communication. During the time of his confinement at Phari, he fays, fuch was the feverity of the cold, and the injurious effet fo rapid a transition from a temperate climate had on the health of himfelf and his companions, that it left him little room to doubt, if*an early change had not fortunately taken place, and permitted his advance, that they mull; all have fallen victims to the inclemency of the weather.
veiling,
until a

was polfible for him to leave Phari, he proceeded by long ftages on his journey, and, without encountering any further difficulty, on the 8th of May following, reached Teejhoo Loomboo, the capital of Tibet. Immediately upon entering the Monaftery, he went to the Durbar of the Regent Punjur Intinnee Nemohein to announce his arrival, and the purpofe of Quarters were then allotted for his his commifhon. and an hour fixed for him to wait upon Teerefidence, jhoo Lama ; who, as he was informed the following morning, intended to leave the Palace to occupy one of

However,

as early as

it

A JOURNEY TO TIBET.

2O9

of his gardens, fituated on the plain within fight of the Monaftery, where it was vifible a confiderable encampment had been formed. The Lama quitted his apartment at the firft dawn of day, and was lodged in the tents pitched for his accommodation before the fun had
rifen.

In the courfe of the mornings at the hour appointed for his admiflion, Poorungeer went down to the Lama's tents. He heard, on entering the gates of the enclofure,

young Lama was taking his recreation in the garden, ranging about, which became with him a very As it was at this time in Tibet favourite amufement. the warmed part of the year, that he might enjoy the benefit of the air, his attendants had chofen a fpot where the trees afforded a complete fhade, to place an elevated feat of cufhions for the young Lama, after his In this fituation Poorungeer exercife, to reft upon. found him, when fummoned to his prefence, attended by the Regent, his parents, Sqopoon Choomboo, the cupbearer, and the principal officers of the court. After making three obeifances at as remote a diftance as it was pofiible, Poorungeer approached, and prefented to the Lama, according to the cuftom of Tibet, a piece of white pelong, and then delivered the letters and preThe packages vents with which he had been charged. all immediately opened before the Lama, who had were every article brought near to him, and viewed them feparately one by one* The letter he look into his own hand, himfelf broke the feal, and taking from under the cover a firing of pearls, which it enclol'ed, ran them over between his fingers, as they read their rofaries, and then with an arch air placed them by his fide, nor would, while the narrator was in his prefence, permit any one to take them up. Poorungeer fays the young Lama regarded him With a very kind and figuificant look,
that the

giO

Atf

ACCOUNT O?

him

look, fpoke to him in the Tibet language, and afked The interview if he had had a fatiguing journey. lafted more than an hour, during all which time the Lama- fat with the utmoft compofure, not once attempting to quit his feat, nor difcovering the lead forward uneahnefs at his confinement. Tea was twice brought in, and the Lama drank a cup each time. When ordered to accept his difmiffion, Poorungeer approached the Lama, and bowing before him, prefented
his

head uncovered to receive his

bleffing,

which the

young Lama gave by ftretching out his hand, and layHe then ordered him, as long ing it upon his head. as he refided at TceJJioo Loomboo, to come to him once
every day.

Regent

following morning Poorungeer waited upon the at his apartments in the Palace, to whom, after obierving the cuftomary forms of introduction, he deAfter this he vifited Soopoon livered his difpatches.

The

Choomboo, the Lama's parents, and others, to whom he was before known, and fays he experienced from all quarters the moft cordial and kind reception; for they had been long ufed to confider him as an agent of the Government of Bengal. He found no change whatever to haveenfued in the adminiftration fince his attendance upon me in Ti^/. The country enjoyed perfect tranquillity; and the only event that had taken place of importance in their annals, was the inauguration of the infant Lama, which happened the preceding year and
;

as

this

conftitutes

a concern of the higheft

moment,

in a political or religious point of view, being no lefs than the recognizance, in an infant form? of their regenerated immortal Sovereign and Ecclefiaftical Supreme, I was induced to beftow more than common pains to trace the ceremonies that attended the celebration of fuch a great event, conceiving that the novelty of the fubjeel might render the account curious, if even it mould be found to contain no infor-

whether confidered

mation

A JOURNEY TO TIBET.
mation of

211

real utility. I fhal! therefore, without further apology, fubjoin the refult of my enquiries, premifing only, that my authority for the delcription is

derived principally from Poorungeer, and confirmed, with fome additional particulars, by the concurring reports of a Goffeyn who was at that time himfeli pre*
fent

on

the fpot.

The Emperor of China appears, on this occafion, to have ailumed a very conlpicuous part, in giving teltn mony of his refpetl and zeal for the great religious Early in the year 1784, he difFather of his Faith. patched AmbafTadors from the court of Pekin to TeeJhoo Lcomboo, to repreftnt their Sovereign in fupporting the dignity of the High Prieft, and do honor to Dalai the occafion of the aflumption of his office. Lama, and the Viceroy of Lajfa, accompanied by all the court, one of the Chinefe Generals ftationed at LaJ/a, with a part of the troops under his command, two of
the four magiftrates of the city, the heads of every monaftery throughout Tibet, and the Emperor's AmbafTadors, appeared at TeeJJioo Loomboo to celebrate this

epocha in their theological inftitutions. The 28th day of the feventh moon, correfponding nearly, as their year commences with the vernal equinox, to the middle of Oclober, 1784, was choien as the moft aufpicious lor the ceremony of inauguration ; a few days previous to which the Lama was conducted from Terpalmg, the Monaftery in which he had paffed his infancy, with every mark of pomp and homage that could be paid by an enthufiaftic people. So great a concourfe, as affembled either from curiofity or devotion, was never feen before; for not a perlon of any condition in Tibet was abfent who could join the fuite. The procefiion was hence neceffarily conltrained to move fo (low. that though Terpaling is fituated at the dillance of twenty miles only from TceJIwo Loomboo, three days expired in the performance of this fliort match. The fipft halt was

made

212

AN ACCOUNT OF

at Tfondue ; the fecond at Summaar ; about fix miles off whence the moll fplendid parade was referved for the Lama's entry on the third day; the account of which is given me by a perfon who was prefent in the proceffion. The road, he fays, was previoufly prepared by being whitened with a wafh, and having piles of ftones heaped up, with fmall intervals between, on either The retinue paffed between a double row of fide.

made

priefts,

who formed a ftreet extending all the way from Summaar to the gates of the Palace. Some of the
lighted rods of a
reft

priefts held

that

burn like

perfumed compofition, wood, and emit an aromatic decayed

were furnifhed with the different mu-

fmoke; the
fical

inftruments they ufe at their devotions, fuch as the gong, the cymbal, hautboy, trumpets, drums, and feaihells, which were all founded in unioi' with the hymn
fpeftators were kept and none admitted on the high road, without the ftreet, but fuch as properly belonged to, or had a prefcribed place in, the proceffion, which was arranged in the

they chanted.

The croud of

following order.

by three military commandants, or head of 6 or 7000 horfearmed with quivers, bows, and matchlocks. In men, their rear followed theAmbaifador, with his fuite,carrying his diploma, as is the cuftom of China, made up in the form of a large tube, and faftened on his back. Next the C/nnc/f General advanced with thetroopsunder his command, mounted and accoutred after their way with fire arms and fabres ; then came a very numerous group, bearing the various ftandards and infignia of Next to them moved a full band of wind and ftate. other fonorous inftruments ; after which were led two horfes, richly caparifoned, each carrying two large

The van was

led

governors of

diftrifts, at the

circular

ftoves,

difpofed
filled

horfe's back>

and

like panniers acrofs the with burning aromatic woods.

Thefe

A JOURNEY TO

TIBET.

213

Thefe were followed by a fenior pried, called a Lama. who bore a box, containing books of their form of prayer, and fome favourite idols. Next nine fumptuary
horfes were led, loaded with the Lama's apparel after which came the priefts immediately attached to the Lama's perfon for the performance of daily offices in the Temple, amounting to about 700 following them were two men, each carrying on his moulder a large
; ;

cylindrical gold infignium,emboiTed with emblematical

figures, (a gift from the Emperor of China.) The Duhunniers and Soopoons, who were employed in communicating addrefles, and diftributing alms, immediately preceded the Lama's bier, which was covered with a gaudy canopy, and borne by eight of the fixteen Chi-

for this fervice. On one fide of the attended the Regent, on the other the Lama's Father. It was followed by the heads of the different monafteries ; and as the proceffion advanced, the

nefe appointed

bier

priefts

who formed the flreet fell in in the rear, and brought up the fuite, which moved at an extremely flow pace, and about noon was received within the confines of theMonaftery, amidft an amazing difplay of colours, the acclamations of the croud, folemn mufic, and the chanting of their priefts.

The Lama being

fafely

lodged

in the

Palace, the

Regent and Soopoon Choomboo went out, as is a cuitomary compliment paid to vifitors of high rank on their near approach, to meet and conducl Delai Lama and the Viceroy of LaJ/a, who were on the way to Teejhoo
L.oomboo.

Ther
at the

morning

retinues encountered the following foot of Pair.om Caftle, and the next

day together entered the Monaftery ofTee/Jioo Loomboo y in which both Dalai Lama and the Viceroy were accommodated during their ftay.

The

214

AN ACCOUNT OF

following morning, which was the third after Teefhoo Lama's arrival, he was carried to the great Temple, and about noon feated upon the throne of his

The

progenitors; at which time the Emperor's Ambaflador delivered his diploma, and placed the prefents with which he had been charged at the Lama's feet.

The three Jhoo Lama in

Lama met TeeTemple, where they were aflifted by all the prielts in the invocation and public worihip of their Gods. The rites then performed completed, as I During this underftand, the buhnefs of inauguration.
next enfuing days Dalai
the
interval,
all who were at the capital were entertained at public expence, and alms were distributed without the In conformity likewife to previous notice, referve. circulated every where for the fame fpace of time, univerfal rej oicings prevailed throughou Tibet. Banners were unfurled on all their fortreifes, the peafantry filled up the day with mufic and feftivity, and the night was celebrated by general illuminations. A long period was afterwards employed in making prefents and public ent

tertainments to the newly inducted Lama, who, at the time of his acceflion to the Muihud, or (if I may ufe the term) Pontificate, of Tee/two Loomboo, was not three
years of age.

The ceremony was begun by Dalai

offerings are laid to have

Lama, whofe

amounted

to a

greater value, and his public entertainments to have been more fplendid, than the reft. The fecond day was dedicated to the Viceroy of LaJJa. The third to

the Chinefe General.

Then followed the Culloong or Magi 11 rates of Lajfa, and the reft of the principal perAfter which fons who had accompanied Dalai Lama.
the Regent of Teejhoo Loomboo, and
all that were dependent on that government, were feverally admitted, according to pre-eminence of rank, to pay their tributes of obeifance and refpect. As foon as the acknowledgments of all thofe were received who were admif-

fibkj

A JOURNEY TO TIBET.
Fible to the privilege, Teefhoo

fir
in the fame confummation

Lama made,

order, fuitable returns to each, and the Lifted forty days.

Many
prolong

his flay

importunities were ufed with Dalai Lama to at Tee/Jioo Loomboo, but he excufed

himfelf from incumbering the capital any longer with fo numerous a concourfe of people as attended on his movements, and deeming it expedient to make his abfence as fhort as poffible from the feat of his authority, at the expiration of forty days he withdrew with all his
fuite to Lajfa,

his difmiffion to return to

this

and the Emperor's Ambaffador received China: and thus terminated

famous

feftival.

commercial Poorungeer informs me, that though fo early, he found himfelf not the firft perfon who had arrived at Teejlwo Loomboo from Bengal. Many merchants had already brought their commodities to market, and others followed before he left it. He heard from no quarter any complaint of impediment or Iofs, and concludes, therefore, that all adventurers met the fame eafy accefs and ready aid, as he himfelf had every where experienced. The markets are well flocked with EngliJJi and Indian articles, yet not in fo great a degree as to lower the value of commodities below the prices of the two or three laft preceding years. Bullion was fomewhat reduced in worth in comparifon with the year 1783. A pootree, or bulfe of gold duft, the fame quantity that then fold for twenty-one indermillees, was procurable of a purer quality for nineteen and twenty indermillees. A talent of filver, which was then 50a, was 450 indermillees; fo that the exchange was much in favor of the trader, Poorungeer%
intercourfe,

With

refpeci to the lately eftablifhed

2l6

AN ACCOUNT OF

Poorungeer, during his refidence at Tee/Jioo Looviboo^ bad very frequent interviews with the Regent and the Minifters, and afTures me, he found the heartiefi difpoCtions in them to encourage the commercial intercourfe eftablifhed under the aufpices of the late GovernorGeneral, whofe departure, however, the Regent regretted, as the lofs of the firft friend and ally he became connected with, of, I believe it may be faid, any foreign nation ; in whom was acknowledged alfo the original means of opening the communication, and of commencing a correfpondence, between the Governments of Bengal and Tibet; and although it may be obfervcd that, in confequence of his having, from the beginning, been ufed exclufively to addrefs himfelf to, and acknowledge alone the agents of, Mr. Hajlings^ his attachments to the Englijh nation had grown not without a great degree of perfonality ; yet, free from an unworthy capricioufnefs of temper, he defcended not to take advantage of the opening offered by his

new connection. For fuch was the refpeCt he had learnt to entertain for our national integrity of character,, that, under the apparent conviction our views tended to no fcheme of ambition, but were confined merely to objects of utility and curiofity, Poorungeer allures me, he ex pre fled an anxious defire for continuing with the fucceeding GovernorGeneral, the exercife of thofe offices of friendfhip fo long fupported by his predeceffor ; and in the hope that his would be met with equal wifhes, determined to invite you to join him in preferving the fame intercourfe of commerce i.nd correfpondence, fo eflentially In concalculated for the benefit of both countries. fequence of which, the Lama and the Regent addreffed the letters Poorungeer had the honour to deliver to you; tranflations of which having, in obedience to your directions, been applied for to your Perfian translator, I now fubjoin them.
friend's departure to clofe the

Copy

A JOURNEY TO TIBET.
Copy of a Letter from Teeshoo Lama.

217

" God be praifed that the fituationof thefe countries " is in peace and happinefs, and I am always praying " at the altar of the Almighty for your health and pre" fervation. This is not unknown you are certainly " employed in protecting and aflifting the whole world, M and you promote the good and happinefs of mankind. " We have made no deviation from the union and una" nimity which exided during the time of the nrft of " nobles, Mr. Haftings, and the deceafed Lama ; and " may you alfo grant friendfhip to thefe countries, and " always make me happy with the news of your health, " which will be the caufe of eafe to my heart, and con" firmation to my foul. At this time, as friendly offer" ings of union and unanimity, I fend one handker:

*4

chief,

one ketoo of

filver,

and one piece of cochin.

" Let them be

accepted."

From

the

Rajah o/Teefhoo Loomboo.

be praifed that the fituation of thefe countries peace and happinefs, and I am always praying " at the altar of the Almighty for your health and pre" fervation. This is not unknown I am conftantly " employed in promoting the advantage of the fubjefts " and the fervice of the newly-feated Lama, becaufe " the newly-feated Lama is not diltin6t from the de" ceafed Lama, and the light of his countenance is " exalted. Grant your friendfhip to Poorungeer Gof*'

" God
is

in

"

fevn.

c;

" " "

Maintain union, and unanimity,and afFeclion, like firft of nobles, and every day make me happy and with the news of your health and profperity beftow favors like the firft of nobles, and make me
the
:

Vol.

I.

" happy

2l8
c<

AN ACCOUNT OF
letters,

happy with
this

which are caufes of confolation.

friendly offerings of union,

and and unanimity, I fend one handkerchief, " three tolah of gold, and one piece of cochin. Let " them be accepted."
time, as
<c

" At

affection,

Poorungeer, having received thefe difpatches in the beginning of O&ober, after a refidence of five months at Teefhoo Loomboo, took leave of the Lama and the Regent, and fet out on his return by the fame route he came to Bengal. The weather at this feafon of the year being moil extremely favorable for travelling, he experienced no delay or interruption in the courfe of his journey through Tibet and Bootan, but arrived at Rungpore early in December, whence he proceeded as expeditioufly as poffible to the Prefidency ; where, to his great mortification and concern, he finds, upon his arrival, his affairs involved in great diflrefs ; the little territory his adopted Chela was left in charge of, having, during his abfence, been violently invaded by Raaj Chund, a neighbouring Zemeendar, and to the amount of fifty begas forcibly taken out of his hands. Prevailed on by his earned repeated folicitations, I am induced to fay for him, that in your juftice and favor are his only hopes of relief from his embarraffments

and he humbly fupplicates your protection in reftoring and fecuring him in the poffeiTion of his invaded right.

The

liberty

of this intercefhon,

am confident

to think,

would be forgiven, were it not in favor of one who has rendered to this Government various ufeful fervices ;
but as, though of trivial importance, it affords an authentic inftance of the encroaching difpofition of inYet another circumftance it may ferior Zemeendars. not be improper to point out. The ground alluded to is a pan of the land fituated upon the weftern bank of
the river oppofite Calcutta, that was formerly granted under a Sunnud of this Government to Teejhoo Lama,
t

for

A JOURNEY TO TIBET.

210,

for the foundation of a temple of worfhip, and as a refort for fuch pilgrims of their nation as might occafionally

make

vifits to

the confccrated Ganges.

Having, in conformity to your defires, done my bed endeavours literally to tranflate all the information Poorungeer could give me, I have now onl v to apologize for the prolixity of the account, which I have been induced to be particularly minute in, as I conceived every circumftance, however trivial, might be in fome degree interefting, that tends to illuftrate any trait in the national character of a people we are but recently become acquainted with, and with whom, in its extended views, it has been an objecl of this Government to
obtain a clofer alliance.

not now prefume to intrude longer on your by adding any obfervations on conjectures deducible from the elevated importance your young ally
I

will

time,

feems rifing to, in confequence of the fignal refpe6t paid him by the mod exalted political characters known to his nation; but beg leave to repeat, that it is with infinite fatisfaBion I learn from the reports of Poorungeer, the flourifhing ftate of the lately projected fcheme of trade, to promote which, he allures me, not any thing had been wanting in facility of intercourfe that the adventurers who had inverted their property, had experienced perfect fecurity in conducting their commerce, carried their articles to an exceeding good market, and found the rate of exchange materially in
their favor.

Thofe advantages authorize the inference, that it will no doubt encourage more extenfive enterprize ; and
permit me to add, I derive a confidence from the fuccefs of this infant effay, that infpires me with the ftrongeft.

hopes.

220
hopes,

AN ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY, &C.

that the commiffion to

which your Honorable

to

my charge, will eventually be productive of effential benefits to the political and commercial interefts of the Company.
Board was pleafed

commit

have the honor to be,

HONORABLE
With

SIR,

the greateft refpeft,

Your molt

obedient, faithful,

And

mofl humble Servant,

SAMUEL TURNER.
Calcutta, February

&A, 1786,

ON

ON THE CODS OF GREECE, &C,

IX.

221

ON THE GODS
OP

GREECE, ITALY, AND INDIA,

Written
And Jince
in 1784.

revijed by the Prefident.

WE

cannot juftly conclude, by arguments preced-

ing the proof of facts, that one idolatrous people

muft have borrowed their deities, rites, and tenets from another ; fmce Gods of all fhapes and dimenfions may be framed by the boundlefs powers of imagination, or by the frauds and follies of men, in countries never connected ; but when features of refemblance, too ftrong to have been accidental, are obfervable in different (yiterns of polytheifm,

without fancy or prejudice to color them, and improve the likenefs, we can fcarce help believing, that

fome connexion has immemorially fubfifted between the feveral nations who have adopted them. It
is

my

defign, in this ElTay, to point out fuch a refem-

blance between the popular worfhip of the old Greeks and Italians and that of the Hindus. Nor can there be room to doubt of agreat fimilarity between theirftrange religions and that of Egypt, China, Perfia, Phrygia^ Phoenicia, Syria ; to which, perhaps, we may fafely add, fome of the fouthern kingdoms, and even iflands of America : while the Gothic fyflem, which prevailed in the northern regions of Europe, was not merely fimilar to thofe of Greece and Italy, but almoft the fame, in another drefs, with an embroidery of images apparently Afiatick. From all this, if it be fatisfaclonly proved, we

may

infer a general

union or

affinity

between the moll

diftinguifhed

222

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

diftinguifhed inhabitants of the primitive world, at the time when they deviated, as they did too early deviate, from the rational adoration of the only true God.

There feem to have been four principal fources of all mythology. I. Hiftorical or natural truth has been perverted into fable by ignorance, imagination, flattery, orftupidity; as a king of Crete, whofe tomb had been difcovered in that ifland, was conceived to have been the God of Olympus ; and Minos, a legiflator of that country, to have been his fon, and to hold a fupreme apellate jurifditlion over departed fouls; hence too probably flowed the tail of Cadmus, as Bochart learnedly traces it; hence beacons or volcanos became one-eyed giants, and monfters vomiting flames; and two rocks, from their appearance to mariners in certain pofitions, were fuppofed to crufh all veflels attempting to pafs between them ; of which idle fictions many other inftances might be collected from the OdyJJey, and the various The lefs we fay of Julian ftars, Argonautick poems.
deifications of piinces or warriors,
altars raifed,

with
titles

thofe of Apollo, to the bafeit of

men, and divine bellowed on fuch wretches as Caius Oflavianus, the lefs we fhall expofe the infamy of grave fenators and fine poets, or the brutal folly of the low multitude but we may be allured, that the mad apotheofis of truly great men, or of little men falfely called great, has been the origin of grofs idolatrous errors in every part of the Pagan world. II. The next fource of them appears to have been a wild admiration of the heavenly bodies, and, after a time, the fyftems and calculations of aftronomers ; hence came a confiderable portion of Egyptian and Grecian fable; the Sabian worfhip in Arabia ; the Perfian types and emblems of Mihr, or the Sun; and the far extended adoration of the elements and the powers of nature; and hence, perhaps, all the artificial Chronology of the Chinefe and Indians, with the invention of demi-gods and heroes to fill the vacant niches in their extravagant and imaginary periods. III. Num
:

berlefs

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

223

berlefs divinities have been created folely by the magick of poetry, whofe effential bufinefs it is to perfonify the moft abftraft notions, and to place a Nymph or a Genius in every grove, and almoft in every flower; hence Hygieia and Jafo, Health and Remedy, are the poetical daughters of JEfculapius, who was either a diftinguifhed phy fician, or medical Hull perfonified; and hence Chloris, or verdure, is married to the Zephyr. IV. The metaphors and allegories of moralifts and metaphyficians, have been alfo very fertile in deities ; of which a thoufand examples might be adduced from Plato, Cicero, and the inventive commentators on Homer, in their pedigrees of the Gods, and their fabulous lefTons of morality. The richeft and noblefl: ftream from this abundant fountain, is the charming philosophical tale of Pfyche, or the Progrefs of the Soul ; than which, to my tafte, a more beautiful, fublime, and wellfupported allegory was never produced by the vvifdom and ingenuity of man. Hence alfo the Indian Maya, or, as the word is explained by fome Hindoo fcholars, " the firft Inclination of the Godhead to diverffy himfelf" (fuch is their phrafe) " by creating Worlds," is feigned to be the Mother of univerfal Nature, and of all the inferior Gods ; as a Cafhmirian informed me, when I afked him, why Cdma, or Love, was reprefented but the word Maya, or Delufion, has a as her Son more fubtle and recondite fenfe in the Veddnta pbilofophy, where it fignifies the fyftem of perceptions, whether of fecondary or primary qualities, which the Deity was believed by Epicharmus, Plato, and many truly pious men, to raife by his omniprefent fpirit in the minds of his creatures ; but which had not, in their opinion, any exiflence independent of mind.
:

In drawing a parallel between the Gods of the Indian and European Heathens, from whatever fource they were derived, I fhall remember, that nothing is lefs fa-

vorable to inquiries after truth than a fyftematical fpirit, and fhall call to mind the faying of a Hindoowriter,

"

that

224

ON T HE GODS OF GREECE,
whoever obftinately adheres

" "

to any fet of opinibring himfelf to believe that the frefheft fan" dal-wood is a flame of fire." This will effectually prevent me from infilling, that fuch a God of Indiawas the Jupiter of Greece ; fuch, the Apollo ; fuch, the In fa 61, fince all the caufes of polytheifm Mercury. contributed largely to the aflemblage of Grecian Divinities, (though Bacon reduces them all to refined alle-

that

ons,

may

gories,

and Newtontoa. poetical difguife of true hiftory,)

:

we

many Joves, many Apollos, many Mercuries, nor fhall I prewith diftinft attributes and capacities sume to fuggeft more, than that, in one capacity or another, there exifts a finking fimilitude between the chief objefts of worfhip in ancient Greece or Italy,
find

and

in the very interefting

country which we

now

in-

habit.

proceed to lay before you, fhort muft ; partly from my refidence in Hindu/} an, and partly from my want of complete lcifure for literary amufements; but principally becaufe I have no European book to refrefh my memory of old fables, except the conceited, though not unlearned, work of Pomey, entitled the Pantheon, and that fo miferably tranilated, that it can hardly be read with patience. A thoufand more ftrokes of relemblance might, I am fure, be collected by any one who fhould with that view perufe Hefwd, Hyginus, Cornutus, and the other mythologifts ; or, which would be a fhorter and a pleafanter way, fhould be fatisfied with the very elegant Syntagmata of Lilius Giraldus.
I

The

cotnparifon, which

needs be verv fuperficial

Difquifuions concerning the manners and conduct of our fpecies in early times, or indeed at any time, are always curious at lead, and amufing; but they are highly interefting to fuch as can fay of themfelves with Chr ernes in the play, " We are men, and take an intereft in "all

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

225

all

that relates to

mankind."

folid

importance

in

They may even be of an age when fome intelligent and

virtuous p^rfons are inclined to doubt the authenticity of the accounts delivered by Mofes concerning the primitive world ; fince no modes or fources of reafoning can be unimportant, which have a tendency to remove fuch doubts. Either the fir ft eleven chapters of Gene/is

due allowances being made for a figurative eaftern whole fabric of our national religion is falfe; a conclufion which none of us, I truft, would wifh to be drawn. I, who cannot help believing the divinity of the Mejfiah, from the undifputed antiquity and manifeft completion of many prophecies, efpecially thofe of Ifaiah, in the only perfon recorded by hiftory to whom they are applicable, am obliged, of courfe, to believe the fanclity of the venerable books to but it is which that facred perfon refers as genuine not the truth of our national religion, as fuch, that I have at heart; it is truth itfelf; and if any cool, unbiaffed reafoner will clearly convince me, that Mofes drew his narrative through Egyptian conduits from the primeval fountains of Indian literature, I fhall efteem him as a friend for having weaned my mind from a capital error, and promife to ftand among the foremofl in afliiting to circulate the truth which he has afcertained. After fuch a declaration, I cannot but perfuade myfelf, that no candid man will be difpleafed, if, in the courfe of my work, I make as free with any arguments that he may have advanced, as I mould really delire him to do with any of mine that he may bedifpofedto controvert. Having no fyltem of my own to maintain, I fhall not purlue a very regular method, but lhall take all the Gods, of whom I dilcourfe, as they happen to prefent themfelves; beginning, however, like the Romans and the Hindus, with Janus or Ganej'a.
(all

ftyle) are true, or the

The
fully

titles and attributes of this old Italian deity arc comprifed in two choriambitk vcrfes of Sulpitius

and

226
and
a

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

further account of
:

him from Ovid would here

be fuperfluous

Jane pater, Jane tuens, dive biceps, biformis, cate rerum fator, O principium deorum

" Father Janus, all-beholding Janus, thou divinity u with two heads, and with two forms O fagacious " planter of all things, and leader of deities !"
j

He was the God, we fee, of Wifdom ; whence he is reprefented on coins with two, and, on the Hetrufcan
image found at Falifci, -with Jour, faces ; emblems of prudence and circumfpeclion thus is Ganefa, the God of Wifdom in Hinduflan, painted with an Elephant's head, the fyrnbol of fagacious difcernment, and attended by a favourite rat, which the Indians confider as a wife and provident animal. His next great character (the plentiful fource of many fuperftitious ufages) was that from which he is emphatically ftyled the father, and which the fecond verfe before cited more fully expreffes, the origin andfounder of all things. Whence this notion arofe, unlefs from a tradition that he firft built fhrines, raifed altars, and inftituted facrifices, it is not eafy to conjecture ; hence it came, however, that his name was invoked before any other God; that, in the old facred rites, corn, and wine, and, in later times, incenfe alfo, were firft offered to Janus; that the doors or entrances to private houfes were called Januaz ; and any pervious paffage, or thoroughfare, in the plural number, Jani, or with two beginnings; that he was reprefented holding a rod, as guardian of ways, and a key, as opening not gates only, but all important works and affairs of mankind; that he was thought to prefide over the morning, or beginning of day ; that, although the Roman year began
:

regularly

Vol

i*4n%mw

GAXT.SA

Voll
T.249

lTH5WlfJll

ISWAKA

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

227

regularly with March, yet the eleventh month, named Januarius, was confideredas firfl' >f the twelve, whence the whole year was fuppofed to be under his guidance, and opened with great folemnity by the confuls inaugurated in his fane, where his ftatue was decorated on that occafion with frefh laurel; and, for the fame reafon, a folemn denunciation of war, than which there can hardly be a more momentous national act, was made by the military conful's opening the gates of his temple with The twelve altars and all the pomp of his magiitracy. twelve chapels of Janus might either denote, according to the general opinion, that he leads and governs twelve months, or that, as he fays of himfelf in Ovid, all entrance and accefs muft be made through him to the principal Gods, who were, to a proverb, of the fame may add, that Janus was imagined to number. prelide over infants at their birth, on the beginning of

We

life.

The Indian Dix'mhy ha?, precifely the fame characters

and religious ceremonies, all addrelfes even Gods, all ferious compoiitions in writing, and all worldly affairs of moment, are begun by pious Hindus with an invocation of Ganefa ; a word compofed of ifa, the governor or leader, and gana, or a company of deities, nine of which companies are enumerated in the A marcofli. I nftances of opening bufinefsaufpicioufly by an ejaculation to the Janus of India (if the lines of
all facrifices

to fuperior

refemblance here traced

will juftify

mc

in fo calling

him) might be multiplied with eafe. Few books are begun without the words " falula ion to Ganes ;" and he is firft invoked by the Brakmans, who conduct the trial by ordeal, or perform the ceremony of the ho'ma, or facrifice to fire. M. Sonnerat reprefents him as highly revered on the coaft of Coromandel; "where the Indians ," he fays, " would not on any account build a houfe, withv out having placed on the ground an image of this *

"

deity,

228
<s

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

which they fprinkle with
:

deity,

oil,

and adorn every

" day with flowers they fet up his figure in all their " temples, in the Itreets, in the high roads, and in open
ec

plains at the foot of

66

ranks

" " own

fome tree; fo that perfons of all him, before they undertake any bufinefs; and travellers worfhip him, before they proTo this I may add, from my ceed on their journey."

may invoke

obfervation, that in the

rifes at

town which now

the aufpices of the

commodious and ufeful Dharmdranya or Gay a, under a6tive and benevolent Thomas Law,

Elq. collector of Rotas, every new-built houfe, agreeably to an immemorial ufage of the Hindus, has the name of Ganefa fuperfcribed on its door; and in the old town, his image is placed over the gates of the temples.

oldeft of the Pagan and actions much is recorded. The jargon of his being the fon of Earth and Heaven, who was the fon of the .Sky and the Day, is purely a confeflion of ignorance who were his parents, or who his predeceffors ; and there appears more fenfe in the tradition laid to be mentioned by the inquifitive and well-informed Plato, " that both Saturn, or Time, and

We

come now

to Saturn, the
office

Gods, of whole

" " u

his confort Cybele, or the

Earth, together with their

attendants, were the children of Ocean

or, in lefs poetical language, fp rang

and Thetis ; from the waters of

" the great deep." Ceres, the goddefs of harvefts, was, it fcems, their daughter; and Virgil defcribes "the " mother and nurfe of all as crowned with turrets, in a car drawn by lions, and exulting in her hundred
''"

" grandfons,

all

divine,

all

inhabiting fplendid celef-

" tial manfions." As the God of Time, or rather as Time itfelf perfonihed, Saturn was ufually painted by the heathens holding a fcythe in one hand, and, in the other, a fnake with its tail in its mouth, the fymbol of perpetual cycles and revolutions of ages he was often
:

reprcfented

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

229

reprefented in the a6l of devouring years, in the form of children; and fometimes encircled by the feafons, appearing like boys and girls. By the Latins he was named Saturnus : and the mod ingenious etymology of that word is given by Fejlus the grammarian, who traces it, by a learned analogy to many fimilar names, d fatu, from planting; becaufe, when he reigned in Italy, he introduced and improved agriculture but his diftinguifhing character, which explains, indeed, all his other titles and functions, was exprefled allegorically by the ftern of a fhip or galley on the reverfe of his ancient coins; for which Ovid affigns a very unfa:

tisfaclory reafon,

"

in a fhip

on

" becaufe the divine ftranger arrived the Italian coaft;" as if he could have

been expected on horfeback, or hovering through the

air.

The

account, quoted by Pomey from Alexander Po-

it really came from genuine antiquity, on the whole tale of Saturn; " that he M predicted an extraordinary fall of rain, and ordered " the conftru&ion of a veffel, in which it was neceffary ** to fecure men, beads, birds, and reptiles, from a ge-

lyhiftor, cafts a clearer light, if

"

neral inundation."

it feems not eafy to take a cool review of all teflimonies concerning the birth, kindred, ofFfpring,chara8:er,occupations, and entire life, of Saturn, without afTenting to the opinion of Bochart, or admit-

Now

thefe

ting

it at.

leaft to

raifed

on the true

be highly probable, that the fable was hiltory of Noah ; from whofe flood a
a

new period of time was computed, and ages may be faid to have fprung; who
as
it

new

feries

of

rofe frefh, and,

in fa&, the univerfal

were, newly born from the waves ; whofe wife was, mother; and, that the earth might foon be repeopled, was early bleiTed with numerous and
flourifhing

23O

ON*

THE GODS OF GREECE,

(
:

flourifhing defcendants

if

we produce,

therefore, an

Indian king of divine birth, eminent for his piety and beneficence, whofe ftory feems evidently to be that of Noah difguifed by Afiatick fiBion, we may fcfely offer a conjecture, that he was alfo the fame perfonage with This was Menu, or Satyavrata, whofe patroSaturn. name was Vaivafwata, or Child of the Sun ; nymick and whom the Indians not only believed to have reigned over the whole world in the earlier! age of their chronology, but to have refided in the country of Dravira, on thecoart of the Eaftern Indian Peninfula: the following narrative of the principal eventin his life I have literally tranflated from the Bhdgavat ; and it is the fubject of the firft Purdna, entitled that of the Matjya, or Fijh.
\

" Defiring the prefervation of herds, and of Brdh?nans, of genii, and virtuous men, of the Vedas, of law, and <c of precious things, the Lord of the Univerfe affumes '' many bodily fhapes but though he pervades, like ; " the air, a variety of beings, yet he is himfelf unva" ried, fince he has no quality fubjecl to change. At *' the clofe of the laft Calpa, there was a general de" ftruction occafioned by thefleep of Brahma ; whence " his creatures in different worlds were drowned in a " vaft ocean. Brahma, being inclined to {lumber, de<s firing a repofe after a lapfe of ages, the ftrong demon " Hayagriva came near him, and ilole the Vidas, which " had flowed from his lips. When Heri, the Preferver u of the Univerfe, difcovered this deed of the Prince of " Ddnavas, he took the fhape of a minute fiih, called A holy king, named Saiyavrata^ then "fap'kari. ct reigned; a fervantof the fpirit, which moved on the " waves, and fo devout, that water was his only fufte* ; nance. He was the child of the Sun, and, in the s prefent Calpa, is inverted by Nardyan in the office of ** Menu, by the name of Sraddhadeva, or the God of " Obfequies. One day, as he was making a libation to
*'

"

the

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

231

" " " " " " " " "

the river Critamald, and held water in the palm of his The hand, he perceived a finall fifh moving in it. king of Dravira immediately dropped the fifli into the river, together with the water which he had taken from it; when ihzfapliari thus pathetically addrefTed the benevolent monarch " How canft thou, O king, who fhoweil affection to the opprefTed, leave me in this river-water, where I am too weak to refift the monfters of the ftream, who fill me with dread ?" Ci He, not knowing who had afTumed the form of a fifh, M applied his mind to the prefervation of the fapliariy " both from good-nature, and from regard to his own " foul ; and, having heard its very fuppliant addrefs, c; he kindly placed it under his protection in a fmall vafe <s full of water; but, in a fingle night, its bulk was fo " increafed, that it could not be contained in the jar, u and thus again addrefTed the illuftrious Prince " I u am not pleafed with living miferably in this little vafe, " make me a large manfion, where I may dwell in com" fort." The king, removing it thence, placed it in " the water of a ciftern ; but it grew three cubits in lefs " than fifty minutes, and faid, " king, it pleafes me <; fmce thou not to ftay vainly in this narrow ciftern " haft granted me an afylum, give me a fpacious habi" tation." He then removed it, and placed it in a pool, " where, having ample fpace around its body, it became *s a fifth of confiderable fize. M This abode, king, is * not convenient for me, who muft fwim at large in the
:
:

c;

" " "

waters exert thyfelf for my fafety; and remove me to a deep lake." Thus addrefTed, the pious monarch threw the fuppliant into a lake, and, when it grew of equal bulk with that piece of water, he caft the vaft
:

fifli

into the fea.

When

the fifh was

thrown into the

"
"

" " " "

waves, he thus again fpoke to Satyavrata : " Here the horned marks, and other monfters of great ftrength, will devour me; thou fnouldeft not, valiant man, leave me in this ocean." Thus repeatedly deluded by the fifh, who had addrefTed him with gentle words, the king faid, " Who art thou, that beguileft me in

"

that

23 2
44

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

44

thataffumed fhape ? Never before have I feen or heard lo prodigious an inhabitant of the waters, who, 44 like thee, haft filled up, in a fingle day, a lake an " hundred leagues in circumference. Surely, thou art 44 bhdgavat, who appeared before me; the great Heri, 44 whole dwelling was on the waves; and who now, in 44 compaflion to thy fervants, beared the form of the 44 natives of the deep. Salutation and praife to thee, 44 firlt male, the lord of creation, of prefervation, of
of

44

deftrirction

Thou

art the higheft object,

fupreme

44
44 44 44 44
44
44

ruler, of us thy adorers,

pioufly feek thee. All thy delufive defcents in this world give exiftence to
:

who

44
44

44

44
44
44

44
44
44

44

44
44 44
44

44 44 44

41
44
44

various beings yet I am anxious to know for what caule that, fhape has been affumed by thee. Let me not, lotos-eyed, approach in vain the feet of a deity, whofe perfect benevolence has been extended to all; when thou haft mown us, to our amazement, the appearance of other bodies, not in reality exifting, but fucceffively exhibited." TheLord of the Univerfe, loving the pious man, who thus implored him, and intending to preferve him from the fea of deftruction, caufed by tin. d -pravity of the age, thus told him how he was to a6t. " In feven days from the prefent time, though tamer of enemies, the three worlds will be plunged in an ocean of death; but, in the midft of the deltroyinu waves, a large veffel, fent by me for thy ufe, mail ftand before thee. Then fhalt thou take all medicinal herbs, all the variety of feeds ; and, accompanied by feven faints, encircled by pairs of all brute animals, thou Ihalt enter the fpacious ark, and continue in it, fecure from the flood, on one immenfe ocean without light, except the radiance of thy holy companions. When the lhip fhall be agitated by an impetuous wind, thou fhalt faften it with a large feaferpent on my horn; for I will be near thee, drawing the veffel, with thee and thy attendants. I will remain on the ocean, chief of men, until a night of Brahma fhall be completely ended. Thou fhalt

44

then

ITALYj

AND

INDIA.

233

" then know my true greatnefs, rightly named the Su> 64 preme Godhead: by my favour, all thy questions (hall " be anfwered, and thy mind abundantly inftrucled." " Heri, having thus directed the monarch, difappeared; "and Satyavrata humbly waited for the time which " the ruler of our fenfes had appointed. The pious " king, having fcattered toward the eaft the pointed " blades of the grafs darbha, and turning his face to" ward the north, fate meditating on the feet of the " God who had borne the form of a fifli. The fea, " overwhelming its fhoreSj deluged the whole earth; u and it was foon perceived to be augmented by fhowers " from immenfe clouds. He, ft'ill meditating on the " command of Bhdgavat, faw the veffel advancing, and
6t *'

entered
into
it

it

with the chiefs of Brdhmans, having carried

the medicinal creepers, and

conformed

to the

" "

him : on Cefava ; who will, furely, deli" liver us from this danger, and grant us profperity." " The God, being invoked by the monarch, appeared " again diftinctly on the vaft ocean in the form of afifh, " blazing like gold, extendingamillion of leagues, with " one ftupendous horn; on which the king, as he had
directions of Heri.
faints thus addreffed

The

king, meditate

" "
" " " " " " " " "
"

before been commanded by Heri, tied the (hip with a cable made of a vaft ferpent, and, happy in his prefervation, flood praifing the deftroyer of Madhu. When the monarch had finifhed his hymn, the primeval male,

" " "

Bhdgavat, who watched for his fafety on the greater expanfe of water, fpoke aloud to his own divine effence, pronouncing a facred Pur ana, which contained the rules of the Sdnc'hya philofophy but it was an infinite myftery to be concealed within the breaft of Satyavrata ; who, fitting in the veffel with the faints, heard the principle of the foul, the External Being, proclaimed by the preferving power. Then Heri, rifing together with Brahma, from the deftruftive deluge, which was abated, flew the demon Hayagriva, and recovered the facred books. Satyavrata, instructed *< in Vol. I. S
:

234

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

and human knowledge, was appointed
:

"

in all divine

" in the prefent Calpa, by the favour of Vijhnu, the M feventh Menu, furnamed Vaivafwata but the ap" pearance of a horned fifh to the religious monarch " was Maya, or delufion ; and he who fhall devoutly
44

hear this important allegorical narrative, will be delivered from the bondage of fin."

"

This epitome of the firft Indian hiftory that is now extant, appears to me very curious and very important; for the ftory, though whimfically dreffed up in the form of an allegory, feems to prove a primeval tradition in this country o the universal deluge defcribed by Moses, and fixes confequently the time when the genuine Hindu find, it is true, in the chronology actually begins. Purdn, from which the narrative is extracted, another deluge, which happened towards the clofe of the third age, when Yudhift hir was labouring under the perfecution of his inveterate foe Duryddhan ; and when ChriJJina, who had recently become incarnate for the purpofe of fuccouring the pious, and deftroying the wicked, was performing wonders in the country of MaChurd ; but the fecond flood was merely local, and intended .nly to affeft the people of Vraja they, it feems, had 'tended Indra, the God of the firmament, by their -nthufiaftick adoration of the wonderful child, u who " lifted up the mountain Gdverdhena, as if it had been " a flower; and, by flickering all the herdfmen and " fhepherdeffes from the floim, cominced Indra of " his fupremacy."

We

That

the Satya, or (if

we may venture

fo to call it)

the Saturnian age was, in truth, the age of \hz general flood, will appear from a clofe examination of the ten Avaidrs, or defcents of the deity, in his capacity of preferver ; fince of the four, which are declared to have happened in the Satya yug, the three Jirjl apparently relate to fome itupcndous convulfion of our globe from
the

ITALY,

AND INDIA,

235

the fountains of the deep; and the fourth exhibits the miraculous punifhment of pride and impiety. Firft,

we have fhown, there was, in the opinion of the Hindus, an interposition of Providence to prefe'rve a devout perfon and his family (for all the Pandits agree, that his wife, though not named, muft be understood to have been faved with him) from an inundation, by which all the wicked were deltroyed next, the power of the deity deicends in the form of a boar, thefymbolof flrength, to draw up and Support on his tufksthe whole earth, which had been funk beneath the ocean: thirdly, the fame power is reprefented as ztortoife fuftaining the globe, which had been convulfed by the violent affaults of demons; while the Gods churned the fea with the mountain Mandar, and forced it to difgorge the facred things and animals, together with the water of life, which it had {'wallowed. Thefe three Hones relate, I think, to the fame event, Shadowed by a moral, a metaphySical, and an aftronomical, allegory and all three feem connected with the hieroglyphical fculptures of the old Egyptians, The fourth Avatar was a lion Hfuing from a burfting column of marble to devour a blafpheming monarch, who would otherwife have Slain his religious fori ; and of the remaining fix, not one has
as
: :

the lead relation to a deluge. The three which are afenbed to the Treta yug, when tyranny and irreligion are faid to have been introduced, were ordained for the overthrow of tyrants, or their natural types, giants with a thoufand arms, formed for the molt extenSive oppreffion and, in the Dwapar yug, the incarnation of Crijlina was partly for a fimilar purpofe, and partly with a view to thin the world of unjuit and impious men, who had multiplied in that age, and began to fwarm on the approach of the Cali yug, or the age of conttntion and baleneSs. As to Buddha^ he feems to have been a reformer of the doctrines contained in the Vedas ; and though his good-nature led him to cenfure
:

thofe ancient books, becaufe they enjoined facrificesof

S %

cattle,

236
cattle, yet

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

he
is

the

admitted as the ninth Avatar even by Cast, and his praifes are fung by the poet Jayadeva : his character is in many refpe&s very extraordinary ; but, as an account of it belongs rather to hiftory than to mythology, it is referved for another The tenth Avatar, we are told, is yet to differtation. come, and is expected to appear mounted (like the crowned conqueror in the Apocalypfe) on a white horfe, with a cimeter blazing like a comet, to mow down all incorrigible and impenitent offenders who mail then be

Brahmans of

on

earth.

the Grecian

Thefe four Yugs have fo apparent an affinity with and Roman ages, that one origin may be

naturally affigned to both fyftems. The firft in both is diitinguifhed as abounding in gold, though Satya means truth and probity, which were found, if ever, in the

times immediately following fo tremendous an exertion of the Divine Power as the deitruclion of mankind by a general deluge : the next is characterized by fi her ; and the third by copper : though their ufual names allude to proportions imagined in each between vice and The prefent, or earthen, age feems more provirtue. perly difcriminated than by iron, is in ancient Europe ; fince that metal is not bafcr, or lefs ufeful, though more common, in our times, and confequently lefs precious, than copper; while mere earth conveys an idea of the lowefl degradation. may here obferve, that the true Hiftory of the World feems obvioufly divihble into jour ages or periods; which may be called, firft, the Diluvian, or purelt age; namely, the times preceding the deluge, and thofe fucceeding it till the mad introduction of idolatry at Babel: next, the Pa* triarchal, or pure, age ; in vrnch, indeed, thpre were mighty hunters of beads and of men, from the rife of

We

patriarchs in the family of

Sem,

to

the (imultane-

ous.

ITALY,

AND

INDIA.

237

ous eftablifhment of great empires by the defcendants of his brother Ham thirdly, the Mofaick, orlefs pure, age ; from the legation of Mofes, and during the time when his ordinances were comparatively well obferved and uncorrupted laflly, the prophetical, or impure, age, beginning with the vehement warnings given by the prophets to apoftate kings and degenerate nations, but it ill fubfifting, and to fublift, until all genuine pro:
:

phecies [hall be fully accomplished. The duration of the hiftorical ages mult needs be very unequal and disproportionate; whilethatof the Indian Yugs is difpofed fo regularly and artificially, that it cannot be admitted as natural or probable. Men do not become reprobate in a geometrical progreflion, or at the termination of regular periods; yet fo well proportioned are the Yugs, that even the length of human life is diminifhed as they advance, from an hundred thoufand years in a fubdecuple ratio; and, as the number of principal Avatars in each decreafe* arithmetically from four, fo the number of years in each decreafes geometrically, and all together conftitute the extravagant fum of four million three hundred and twenty thoufand years, which aggregate, multiplied by feventy-one, is the period in which every Menu is believed to prefide over the world. Such

a period, one might conceive, would have fatisfied Archetas, the meajurcr of fea and earth, and the numbcrer of their [and s ; or Archimedes, who invented a notation that was capable of expreffingthe number of them; but the comprehenfive mind of an Indian chronologi't has no limits; and the reigns of fourteen Menus are only a {ingle day of Brahma, fifty of which days have elapfed, according to the Hindus, from the time of the creation. That all this puerility, as it feems at fir ft view, may be only an agronomical riddle, and allude to the apparent revolution of the fixed ftars, of which the Brdhmans made a myftery, I readily admit, and am even inclined to believe; but fo technical an arrangement excludes all
idea of ferious hiltory
.

am

leniible

how much

ihefe

remarks

238
remarks
tiquity
;

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

"will

offend the warm advocates for Indian anbut we muft not facrifice truth to a bafe fear of giving offence. That the Vedas were actually written before the flood, I mail never believe; nor can we infer, from the preceding ftory, that the learned

Hindus believe it; for the allegorical (lumber of Brahma, and the theft of the facred books, mean only, in Ampler language, that the human race was become corrupt ; but that the Vedas are very ancient, and far older than other Sanfcrit compofitions, I will venture to affert from my own examination of them, and a comparifon of their ftyle with that of the Purdns and the Dherma Sdjlra. A fimilar comparifon juftifies me in pronouncing, that the excellent law-book afcribed to Swdyambhuva Menu, though not even pretended to have been written by him, is more ancient than the Bhdgavat ; but that it was compofed in the firft age of the world, the Brdhmans would find it hard to perfuade me and the date which has been afligned to it, does not appear in either of the two copies winch I poflefs, or in any other that has been in fact, the fuppofed date is comcollated for me in a verfe, which flatly contradicts the work prized for it was not Menu who compofed the fyftem itfelf of law, by the command of his father Brahma, but a holy perfonage, or demi-god, named Bhrigu, who revealed to men what Menu had delivered at the requeft of hnn, and other faints or patriarchs. In the Mdnava Sdjlra, to conclude this digreflion, the meafure is fo uniform and melodious, and the ftyle fo perfectly Sanfcrit, or poliJJied, that the book muft be more modern than the fcnpturesof Mofes, in which the fimplicity, or rather nakednefs, of the Hebrew dialect, metre, and ftyle, mult convince every unbiafled man of their fu; :

perior antiquity.

leave ety mologifts, who decide every thing, to decide

whether the word

Menu 9

or, in the

nominative cafe, Menus,

ITALY,

AND

INDIA.

239

Menus, has any connexion with Minos the lawgiver, and fuppofed fon of Jove. The Cretans, according to Diodorus of Sicily, ufcd to feign, that mod of the great men, who had been deified in return for the benefits which they had conferred on mankind, were born in their ifland; and hence a doubt may be raifed, whether Minos was really a Cretan. The Indian legiflator was the firft, not the feventh, Menu, or Satyavrata, whom I fuppofe to be the Saturn of Italy. Part of Saturn's character, indeed, was that of a lawgiver:

'

Qu

genus indocile ac difperfurn montibus

lege/que dedit
:

altis

Compofuit

And we may

fufpect that

all

the fourteen

Menus

are re-

Nub by the Arabs, and probably by the Hebrews ; though we have difguifed his name by an improper pronunciation of it. Some near relation between the feventh Menu and the Grecian Minos, may be inferred from the fmgular character of the Hindu god Yama, who was alfo a child of the Sun, and thence named Vaivafwata. He had too the fame title with his brother, Srdddhadeva. Another of his titles was Dhermardja, or King of Jujlice ; and a third, Pitripeti, or Lord of the Patriarchs ; but he is chiefly diftinguifhed ns judge oj departedfouls ; for the Hindus believe, that, when a foul leaves its body, it immediately repairs to Yamapur, or the city of Yama, where it receives a juft fentence from him, and either afcends to Swerga, or the firft heaven ; or is driven down to Narac, the region of ferpents ; or affumes on earth the form of fome animal, unlefs its offence had been fuch, that it ought to be condemned to a vegetable, or even to a
ducible to one,
called

who was

mineral,

240

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

Another of his names
is

mineral, prifon.
able;
I

very remark-

mean

that of Cola, or time, the idea of

which

is

intimately blended with the chara6ters of Saturn and of Noah; for the name Cronos has a manifeft affinity with the word chronos ; and a learned follower of Zerdtajht affures

me,

that,

in the
is

books which the Beh-

dzns hold facred, mention

undation, there

named

univcrfal inthe deluge of Time.

made of an

having been occafionally obferved, that Ceres was we cannot clofe this head without adding, that the Hindus alfo have their Goddefs of Abundance, whom they ufually call Lacjhmi, and whom they confider as the daughter (not of Menu, but) of Bhrigu, by whom the firfl code of facred ordinances was promulgated. She is alfo named Pedmd and Camala, from the facred lotos, or Nymphcea : but her raoft remarkable name is Sri, or, in the firft cafe, Sris, which has a refemblance to the Latin, and means fortune or It may be contended, that although Lacprofperity. JJimi mav be figuratively called the Ceres of Hinduflan^ yet any two or more idolatrous nations, who fubiifted by agriculture, might naturally conceive a Deity to prefide over their labours, without having the leaf! intercourfe with each other; but no reafon appears why two nations (hould concur in fuppofing that Deity to be
It

the poetical daughter of Saturn,

of them would be more likely was a goddefs, and that the God of Abundance rendered her fertile. Befides, in very ancient temples near Gayd, we fee images of LacJlwd, with full breaft, and a cord twifted under her arm like a horn of plenty, which look very much like the old Grecian and Roman figures of Ceres, o'
a female.
at leaft,

One,

to imagine that the Earth

The fable of Saturn having been thusanalyfed,let us proceed to his defendants; and begin, as the Poet ad3
vifes,

Vol l
j

P.

ZiX

l "S3fflP!tWlW Jn;dka

P*47 flfiffoftftJttWJv

^^
1

ITALY,
advifes, with Jupiter,
iibertinifm, every

AND

INDIA.

24I

whofe fupremacy, thunder, and boy learns from Ovid ; while his great offices of Creator, Preferver, and Deftroyer, are not generally confidcred in the fyftems of European mythoThe Romans had, as we have before obferved, logy. many Jupiters, one of whom was only the Firmament perfonified, as Ennius clearly exprefl'es it
:

Afpice hoc fublime candens, quern invocant omnes

Jovem.

This Jupiter or Die fpiterh the Indian God of the vifible heavens, called Indra, or the King ; and Divcfpetir, or Lord 0/ the Sky ; who has alio the character of the Roman Genius, or chief of the Good Spirits; -but molt of his epithets in Sanfcrit are the fame with thofe of the Ennian Jove. His confort is named Sachi ; hisceleftial

city,

Amardvali
;
;

his

palace,

Vaijayanta

his

garden,

Nandana

his

chief elephant, Airdvat

his

his

weapon, Vajra, or the thunderbolt: he is the regent of winds and fhowers; and though the Eaft is peculiarly under his care, yet his Olympus is Merit, or the north pole, allegorically reprefented as a mountain of gold and gems. With all his power he is conhdered as a fubordinate Deity, and far inferior to the Indian Triad, Brahma, Vf/inu, and Mahddeva, or Siva, who are three forms of one and the fame Godhead thus the principal divinity of the Greeks and Latians, whom they called Zeus and Jupiter, with irregular inflexions Bios and Jovis, was not merely Fulminator, the Thunderer, but, like the deftroying power of India, Magnus Divus, UUor, Genitor ; like the preferving power, Conjervaior, So;i>, Opitulus, Altor, Kuminus ; and like the creating power, the Giver of Life ; an attribute which I mention here on
charioteer, Mdiali

and

2^.2

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

the authority of Cornutus, a confummate matter of are advifed by Plato mythological learning. roots of Greek words in foine jhimfelf, to fearch for the

on

We

barbarous, that is, foreign foil; but, fince I look upon etymological conjettures as a weak bafis for hiftorical inquiries, I hardly dare fuggefl:, that Zev, Siv, and
Jov, are the fame fyllable differently pronounced. It muft, however, be admitted, that the Greeks having no palatial Jigma, like that of the Indians, might have expreffed it by their zeta, and that the initial letters of zugon and jugum are (as the inftance proves) eafily interchangeable.

Let us now defcend, from thefe general and introductory remarks, to fome particular obfervations on the refemblance of Zeus, or Jupiter, to the triple divinityVijhnu, Siva, Brahma ; for that is the order in which thev are expreffed by the letters A, U, and M, which coalefce, and form the myftical word O'M ; a word which never cfcapes the lips of a pious Hindu, who meWhether the Egytian ON, ditates on it in filence. is commonly fuppofed to mean the Sun, be the which

monofy liable, I leave others to determine. It always be remembered, that the learned Indians, murl as they are inftruBed by their own books, in truth, acknowledge only One Supreme Being, whom they call Brahme, or the Great One, in the neuter gender they believe his effence to be infinitely removed from the comprehenfion of any mind but his own ; and they fuppofe him to manifeft his power by the operation of his divine fpirit, whom they name Viflmu, the Pervader, and Ndrdyan, or Moving on the Waters, both in the mafculine gender, whence he is often denominated the
Sanjcrit
:

power they believe that the preferved and fupported but the Veddntis, unable to form a diilincl idea of brute matter independent of mind, or to conceive that the
Fir/i Male ; and by whole order of nature
this
is
:

work

*$* 3ttftnfflffi*& vimyv

ITALY,

AND INDIA.
left a

4*

work of Supreme Goodnefs was

imagine that the Deity
is

moment

to itfelf,

ever prefent to his work, and constantly fupports a Series of perceptions, which, in one fenfe, they call illufory ; though they cannot but admit the reality of all created forms, as far as the happinefs of creatures can be affected by them. When they confiderthe Divine Power exerted in creating, or in giving existence to that which cxifted not before, they call the Deity Brahma in the mafculine gender alfo; and when they view him in the light of Dejlroyer, or rather Changer of forms, they give him a thoufand names, of which Siva, Ifa, or Ijwara, Rudra, Hara, Sambhu, and Mahddeva, or Mahefa, are the mod common. The firft operations of thefe three Powers are varioufly defcribed in the different Pui dn'as by a number of allegories, and from them we may deduce the Ionian Philofophy of primeval water, the doctrine of the Mundane Egg, and the veneration paid to the Nymphce, or Lotos, which was anciently revered in Egvpt, as it is at prefent in Hindujldn, Tibet, and Nepal. The Ti.betians are faid to embellifh their temples and altars with it: and a native of Nepal made proftrations before it on entering my ftudy, where the fine plant and beauti. ful flowers lay for examination. Mr. Hohoel, in explaining his firft plate, fuppofes Brahma to be floating on a leaf of betel in the miclft of the abyfs; but it was manifeftly intended by a bad painter for a lotos leaf, or for that of the Indian fig-tree; nor is the fpecies of pepper, known in Bengal by the name of Tdmbula, and on the Coaft of Malabar by that of betel, held facred, as he afferts, -by the Hindu's, or neceffarily cultivated Under the infpeclion of Brdhmans ; though, as the vines are tender, all the plantations of them are carefully fecured, and ought to be cultivated-by a particular tribe of Sudras, who are thence called Tavibulis.

That water was the primitive element, and firft work of the Creative Power, is the uniform opinion of the Indian

244

ON THE DS OF GREECE,

Indian philofophers ; but, as they give fo particular an account of the general deluge, and of the creation, it can never be admitted that their whole fyftem arofe from traditions concerning the flood only, and muft appear indubitable, that their doctrine is in part borrowed from the opening of Birdsit, or Genejis, than which a fublimer paffage, from the fir It word to the laft, never flowed, or will flow, from any human pen " hi " the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. U And the earth was void and wade, and darknefs M was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God u moved upon the face of the waters and God faid, " Let light be and Light was." The fublimity of this paffage is confiderably diminifhed by the Indian paraphrafe of it, with which Menu, the fon of Brahma,
:

begins his addrefs to the fages, who confulted him on the formation of the univerfe. " This world (fays he) " was all darknefs, undifcernible, undiltinguilhable, al-

" together as in profound fleep till the felf-exiftent inu viiible God, making it manifeft with five elements, " and other glorious forms, perfectly difpelled the gloom. " He, defiring to raife up various creatures by an cma" nation from his own glory, fir ft created the waters, " and imprefled them with a power of motion by " that power was produced a golden egg, blazing like " a thoufand funs, in which was born Brahma, felf" exifting, the great parent of all rational beings. The " waters are called ndrd, fince they are the offspring
:

<;

of Nera,

or Ifwara

and

" named, becaufe

" them.

his firft ayana, or

dray ana thence was moving, was on

" That which is, the invifible caufe, eternal, felf" exifting, but unperceived, becoming mafculine from " neuter, is celebrated among all creatures by the name " of Brahma. That God, having dwelled in the Egg,
" through revolving years, Himfelf meditating on him" felf, divided it into two equal parts ; and from thofe
" halves

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

24/J

" halves formed

the heavens

and the earth, placing

in

" the midft; the fubtil ether, the eight points of " world, and the permanent receptacle of waters."

the

To this curious defcription, with which the Mdnava Sdflra begins, I cannot refrain from fubjoiningthe four verfes, which are the text of the Bhdgavat, and are believed to have been pronounced by the Supreme Bein"
to

Brahma

the following verfion

is

mod

fcrupuloufly

literal.*

" Even I was even at firft, not any other thing; that " which exifts unperceived; fupreme: afterwards lam <; that which is : and he who muft remain, am I.

" Except the Firft Canfe, whatever may appear, and " may not appear, in the mind, know that to be the " mind's Maya, or Dehjion, as light, as darknefs.

<{

As

the great elements are in various beings, enter-

ing, yet not entering, (that

"

ing,) thus

am

I in

is, pervading, not deftroythem, yet not in them.

"
"

feeks to

thus far may inquiry be made by him who know the principle of mind, in union and feparation, which muft be every where always."

" Even

Wild
* See the Original, p. 33. Plate IV.

246

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

as thefe ancient verfes muft appear naked verbal tranflation. it will perhaps be thought by many, that the poetry or mythology of Greece and Italy afford no conceptions more awfully magnificent yet the brevity and iimplicity of the Mofaick di6tion are

Wild and obfcure

in a

unequalled.

As

to the creation of the world, in the opinion of the

Romans, Ovid, who might naturally have been expected to defcribc it with learning and elegance, leaves us wholly in the dark, which of the Gods was the aclor in it. Other mythologiits are more explicit ; and we may rely on the authority of Comutus, that the old European heathens confidered Jove (not the fon of Saturn, but of the Ether, that is, of an unknown parent) as the to great Life-giver, and Father of Gods and Men may be added the Orphean doctrine, preferved which by Proclus, that " the abyfs and empyreum, the earth 64 and fea, the Gods and Goddeffes, were produced by
:

with

In this character he correfponds Zeus, or Jupiter." Brahma j and, perhaps, with that God of the Ba-

bylonians, (if

we can
who,

cient religion,)

to order, and, like

on the accounts of their anBrahma, reduced theuniverfe Brahma, loft his head 9 \tith the blood
rely
like

I allude of which new animals were initantly formed. to the common ftory, the meaning of which I cannot difcover, that Brahma had five heads, till one of them was cut off by Nardydn.

That, in another capacity, Jove was the Helper and Suppor er of all, we may collect from his old Latin epithets, and from Cicero, who informs us, that his ulual name is a contraction of Jnvans Pater ; an etymology which lbews the idea entertained of his character, though we may have fome doubt of its accuracy. Callimachus, we know, addreffes him as the beftower of alig< od, and of fecurity from grief ; and, fince neither
wealth without virtue,
%

not virtue without wealth, give

complete

ITALY, AND INDIA.

247

complete happinefs, he prays, like a wife poet, for both. An Indian prayer for ricbes would be directed to Lac-

Jhmi, tbe wife of Vi/Iinu, fince the Hindu goddelfes are believed to be the powers of their refpeBive lords.

As

to Cuvera, the Indian Pint us,

is

one of whofe names

revered, indeed, as a magnificent Deity, reliding in the palace of Alacd, or borne through the fky in a fplendid car, named Puflipaca, but is manifeftly fubordinate, like the other (even Genii, to
in Paulaflya, he

three principal Gods, or rather to the principal God As the foul of the confidered in three capacities. world, or the pervading mind, fo finely defcribed by Virgil, we fee Jove reprefented by feveral Roman poets; and with great fublimity by Lucan in the known fpeech " Jupiter of Cato concerning the Ammonian oracle *' is, wherever we look, wherever we move." This is precifely the Indian idea of Viflinu, according to the not that the Brdhmans four verfes above exhibited imagine their male Divinity to be the divine Effenceot tbe Great One, which they declare to be wholly incomprehenfible; but, fince the power of prefer ving created things by a fuperintending providence, belongs eminently to the Godhead, they hold that power to exift tranfeendently in the preferving member of the Triad, whom they fuppofe to be every where always ; not in here, however, I fubftance, but in fpirit and energy fpeak of the Vaifhnavas ; for the Saivas afcribe a fort of pre-eminence to Siva, who'fe attributes are now to be concifely examined.
: : :

was in the capacity of Avenger and Deftroyer, Jove encountered and overthrew the Titans and Giants, whom Typhon, Briareus, Tityus, and the reft of their fraternity, led againft the God of Olympus ; to whom an eagle broughc lightning and thunderbolts
It

that

during

248

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

during the warfare. Thus, in a fimilar conteft between Siva and the Daityas, or children of Dili, who frequently rebelled againft heaven, Brahma is believed to have prefented the God of Deflruflion with fiery Jhafts. One of the many poems, entitled i^iw^ya?!, the laftbook of which has been tranflated into Italian, contains an extraordinary dialogue between the crow Bhii/Jiunda, and a rational eagle, named Garuda, who is often painted with the face of a beautiful youth, and the body of an imaginary bird ; and one of the eighteen Pur anas bears his name, and comprifes his whole hiftory. M. Sonnerat informs us, that Vi/Iinu is reprefented in fome places riding on the Garuda, which he iuppofesto be the Pondichcri eagle of ifn^cm, efpecially as the Brdhmans of the Coaft highly venerate that bird, and provide food for numbers of them at dated hours. I rather conceive the Garuda to be a fabulous bird; but agree with him, that the Hindu God, who rides on it, In the old temples at refembles the ancient Jupiter. Gay a, Vijhnu is either mounted on this poetical bird, or attended by it, together with a little page; but, left an etymologilt fhould find Ganymed in Garud, I muft obferve that the Sanfcrit

word

is

pronounced Garura

though

admit that the Grecian and Indian ftories of the celeftial bird and the page appear to have fome refemblance. As the Olympian Jupiter fixed his court, and held his councils, on a lofty and brilliant mountain, ib the appropriated feat of Makddeva, whom the Saivas confider as the Chief of the Deities, was mount Cailafa, every fplinter of whofe rocks was an ineftimable gem. His terreftrial haunts are the fnowy hills of Himalaya, ox that branch of them to the Eaft of the Brahmaputra, which has the name of Chandrafic'hara, or the MounI

after all thefe circumftances, believed to ha.\e three eyes, whence he is named alfo Trilochan, and know from Paufanias, not only that Triophthalmos was an epithet of Zeus, but that a itatue of him had been found fo early as the

we

tain of the Moon. learn that Siva

When,

is

ITALY,

AND

INDIA.

2^9

we
cl

the taking of Troy, with a third eye in his forehead, as fee him reprefented by the Hindus, we mud conude, that the identity of the two

Gods falls

little

fhort

of being demonftrated.

In the cb.ara8.er of Dejlroyer alfo, we may look upon Indian Deity as correfponding with the Stygian Jove, or Plato ; efpecially fince Call, or Time, in the feminine gender, is a name of his confort, who will appear hereafter to be Proferpine. Indeed, if we can rely on a Perfian tranflation of the Bhdgavat, (for the original is not yet in my poffeffion,) the Sovereign of Pdtdla, or the Infernal Regions, is the King of Serpents, named Sefhandga ; for Criflina is there faid to have defcended with his favourite .4 r/M>2 to the feat of that formidable divinity, from whom he inftantly obtained the favour which he requefted, that the fouls of a Brahman s fix fons, who had been (lain in-battle, might reanimate their refpetive " He had a bodies ; and SeJJiandga is thus defcribed. gorgeous appearance, with a thoufand heads, and on " each of them a crown fet with refplendent gems, one u of which was larger and brighter than the reft ; his 64 eyes gleamed like flaming torches ; but his neck, his " tongues, and his body, were black ; the fkirts of his " habiliment were yellow, and a fparkling jewel hung " in every one of his ears ; his arms were extended, and 6t adorned with rich bracelets; and his hands bore the " holy fhell, the radiated weapon, the mace for war, " and the lotos." Thus Pluto was often exhibited in painting and fculpture, with a diadem and fceptre; but fiimfelf and his equipage were of the blacked (hade.
this

There
he
is

is yet another attribute of Mahddeva, by which too vifibly diftinguifhed in the drawings and

Vol.

I,

temples

25O

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

To deftroy, according to the Ve~ temples of Bengal. danti's of India, the Sufi's of Perfia, and many philofophcrs of our European fchools, is only to generate and reproduce in another form. Hence the God of Dejlruction is holden in this country to prefide over Generation; Can we as a fvmbol of which he rides on a white bull. doubt that the loves and feats of Jupiter Genitor, (not forgetting the white bull of Europa,) and his extraordinary title of Lapis, for which no fatisfactory reafon is commonly given, have a conne&ion with the Indian Philofophy and Mythology ? As to the deity of Lampfacus, he was originally a mere fcare-crow, and ought not to have a place in any mythological fyftem ; and, in regard to Bacchus, the God of Vintage, (between whole ah and thofe of Jupiter, we find, as Bacon obferves, a wonderful affinity,) his Ithyphallick images, meafures, and ceremonies, alluded probably to the fuppofed relawe believe them to have one of whofe names is belonged originally to Siva ; Varis,or Bagis, and to have been afterwards improperly Though, in an Effay on the Gods of India, applied. where the Brahmins are pofitively forbidden to tafte fermented liquors, we can have little to do with Bacchus, as God of Wine, who was probably no more than the imaginary Prefident over the vintage in Italy, Greece, and the Lower Afia; yet we muft not omit Suradevi, the Goddefs of Wine, who arofe, fay the Hindus, from the ocean, when it was churned with the mountain Mandar : and this fable feems to indicate, that the Indians came from a country in which wine was anciently made, and confidered as a blefling; though the dangerous effects of intemperance induced their early legiflators to prohibit the ufe of all fpirituous liquors; and it were much to be wiflied that fo wife a law had never been viotion of

Love and Wine;

unlefs

lated.

Here may be introduced the Jupiter Marinus, or Ksptune, of the Romans, as refembling Mahadeva in
his

Vol.1.

P 251

i^j'n^w^Vartj^a

Vol

T2S2

^]^^T^5* CAR TJCEYA

ITALY,

AND

INDIA.

25I

his generative character; efpecially as the Hindu God is the hufband of Bhavdm, whofe relation to the waters is

evidently marked by her image being reftored to them at theconclufion of her great feftival called Durgdtfava. She is known alfo to have attributes exactly fnnilar to thofe of Venus Marina, whofe birth from the fea-foam,

and fplendid rife from the conch, in which fhe had been cradled, have afforded fo many charming fubjects to ancient and modern artiits ; and it is very remarkable,

Rembha of Indra's court, who feems to correfpond with the popular Venus, or Goddefs of Beauty, was produced, according to the Indian fabulifts, from The identity of the the froth of the churned ocean. tri'sula and the trident, the weapon of Siva and of Neptune, feems to eftablifh this analogy; and the veneration paid all over India to the large buccinum, efpecially when it can be found with the fpiral line and mouth turned from left to right, brings inftantly to our mind the mufick of Triton. The Genius of Water is Varuna ; but he, like the reft, is far inferior to Mahesa, and even
that the

to Indra,

who

is

the Prince of the beneficent Genii.

This way of confidering the Gods as individual fub^

fiances, but as diftincl perfons in diftinft characters,
is

European and Indian fyftems; as well as the cuftom of giving the highefl of them the greateft number of names: hence, not to repeat what has been faid of Jupiter, came the triple capacity of Diana ; and hence her petition in Callimachus, that (he might be
to the

common

polyonymous, or many-titled. The confort of Siva is more eminently marked by thefe diftinctions than thofe of Brahma or ViJIinu: fhe refembles the I/is Myrionymos, to whom an ancient marble, defcribed by Qruter^ is dedicated; but her leading names and characters are Parvatz, Dwrga, Bhavani.

As

252

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

the Mountain-born Goddefs, or Pdrvati, fhe has

properties of the Olympian Juno : her majeftick deportment, high fpirit, and general attributes, are the fame ; and we find her both on Mount Caildfa, and at the banquets of the Deities, uniformly the companion One circumftance in the parallel is of her hufband. extremely lingular: fhe is ufually attended by her fon Cdrticeya, who rides on a peacock ; and in fome drawings, his own robe feems to be fpangled with eyes ; to which mud be added that, in fome of her temples, a peacock, without a rider, Hands near her image. Though

As many

fome refemblance

Cdrticeya, with his fix faces to Argus,

and numerous eyes, bears whom Juno employed as

her principal wardour, yet, as he is a Deity of the fecond clafs, and a Commander of celeftial Armies, he feems clearly to be the Orus of Egypt, and the Mars of Italy : his name, Scanda, by which he is celebrated in one of the Pur anas, has a connection, I am perfuaded, with the old Secander of Perfia, whom the poets ridiculoufly confound with the Macedonian.

The attributes of Durgd,or difficult of accefs, are alfo confpicuous in the feftival above-mentioned, which is called by her name, and in this chara&er fhe refembles Minerva ; not the peaceful inventrefs of the fine and ufeful arts, but Pallas, armed with a helmet and fpear both reprefcnt heroick Virtue, or valour united with wifdom; both flew demons and giants with their own hands, and both protected the wife and virtuous, who paid them due adoration. As Pallas, they fay, takes her name from vibrating a lance, and ufually appears in complete armour, thus Curis, the old Latain word for a fpear, was one of Juno's titles; and fo, if Giraldus be corrett, was Hoplofmia, which at Elis, it feems, meant a female dreffed in panoply, or complete accoutrements. The unarmed Minerva of the Romans* apparently correfpondsj
:

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

2ffi

fpo'nds, as patronefs of Science

and Genius, with Serefwati, the wife of Brahma, and the emblem of his principal Creative Power. Both GoddefTes have given their
to celebrated grammatical works; but the Sareftoatao{ Sariipacharya is far more conciie, as well as more ufeful and agreeable, than the Minerva of SanElius.

names

'

The Minerva of Italy invented the Jlute, and

prefides over

Serefwati

melody

the protectrefs of Athens

was even,

on

the

fame account,, furnamed Mujice.

learned mythologies, with Giraldus at their Minerva as the Ijis of Egypt ; from whofe temple at Sais a wonderful infcription is quoted by Plutarch, which has arefemblance to the four Sanferit verfes above exhibited as the text of the Bhagavat : " I am all that hath been, and is, and fhall be; " and my veil no mortal hath ever removed." For my
fiead, confider the peaceful

Many

have no doubt that the Ifwara and Isi of the Hindus, are the Ofiris and Ijis of the Egyptians ; though a diftinct effay in the manner of Plutarch would be requisite in order to demonftrate their identity they mean, I conceive, the Powers of Nature confidered as Mal-e and Female; and I/is, like the other goddefTes, reprefents the aHve power of her lord, whofe eight forms, under which he becomes vifible to man, were thus enumerated by Calidaja near two thoufandyears ago. " Wa" ter was the firit work of the Creator; and Fire receives " the oblation of clarified butter, as the law ordains " the Sacrifice is performed with folemnity the two " Lights of heaven diftinguilh time; the fubtil Echer, " which is the vehicle of found, pervades the univerfe; " the Earth is the natural parent of all increafe ; and by " Air all things breathing are animated. May Ifa, the li power propitioufly apparent in thefe eight forms, jlefs
part, I
:

" and

fuftain

you

!"

The. Jive elements, therefore, as

well

254
veil as the

ON TH GODS OF GREECE,

Sun and Moon, are confidered as Ifa, or the Ruler, from which word Ifi may be regularly formed; though Ifdnz be the ufual name of his active Power, adored as the Goddefs of Nature. Ml have not yet found in Sanfcrit, the wild, though poetical, tale of Jo ;
perfuaded, that, by means of the Pur anas, we time difcover all the learning of the Egyptians, without decyphering their hieroglyphicks. The bull of Ijwara feems to be Apis, or Ap, as he is more corre&ly named in the true reading of a paffage in Jeremiah and if the veneration fh own, both in Tibet and India, to fo amiable and ufeful a quadruped as the Cow, toge-

but

am

fliall in

ther with the regeneration of the Lama himfelf, have not fome affinity with the religion of Egypt, and the idolatry of Ifrati, we mult at lead allow that circumftances have wonderfully coincided.

Bh avail

now demands our

attention

and

in this

character I fuppofe the wife of Mahadeva to be as veil the Juno Cinxia, or Lucina, of the Romans (called alfo by them Diana Solvizcna, and by the Greeks, Ilhter

thyiajas Venus herfelf: not the Italian Queen of Laughand jollity, who. with her Nymphs and Graces, was

the beautiful child of poetical imagination, and anfwers to the Indian Rembha,w\\\\ herceleftial train ofApfaras, or damfels of paradife ; but Venus Urania, fo luxuri-

him

antly painted by Lucretius, and fo properly invoked by Venus preat the opening of a poem on nature fiding over generation, and, on that account, exhibited fometimes of both fexes, (an union very common in
:

the Indian fculptures,) as in her bearded flatue at Rome, in the images perhaps called Hermathena, and in thofe figures of her which had the form of a conical marble ^ for the reafon of which figure we are left (fays Tacitus) " in the dark." The reafon appears too clearly in the temples and paintings of Hindufan; where it never

feems to fcive entered the heads of the

legiflators

or people^

Vol.1

T2S5.

^toWww

Ca3A_

1% ffaWfojWfll *&Wi

ITALY,

AND

INDIA.

255

people, that any thing natural could be offenfively obfcene ; a Angularity which pervades all their writings and converfation, but is no proof of depravity in their

morals.

Both Plato and Cicero fpeak of Eros, or the Heavenly Cupid, as the fon of Venus and Jupiter; which proves,
that the
dity, were

Monarch oWlympu*,2u\d the Goddefs of Fecunconne&ed, as Mahadeva and Bhavdni. The God Cdma, indeed, had Maya and Cafyapa* or Uranus,
for his parents, at lead according to the mythologies of Cajhmir ; but, in molt refpccts, he feems the twin-

brother of Cupid, with richer and more lively appendages. One of his many epithets is D/paca, the InJlamer, which is erroneoufly written Dipuc ; and I am now convinced, that the fort of refemblanre which has
his Latin and Sanfcrit names is each name the three fivlt letters are the Whether root, and between them there is no affinity. any mythological conntclion fubfifted between the amaracus, with the fragrant leaves of which Hymen bound his temples, and the tulafi of India, muft be left undetermined the botanical relation of the two plants (if amaracus be properly tranflated marjorum) is extremely

been obfervcd between

:

accidental

in

near.

One ofthemoft remarkable ceremonies in the feftival of the Indian Goddefs, is that before-mentioned, of callThe Pandits, of whom I ing her image into tlu river. inquired concerning its origin and import, aniwered, " that it was prefcribed by the Veda, they knew not " why ;" but this cuftom has, I conceive, a relation to the doctrine, that water is a form of Ifzvara, and consequently of Ifdni, who is even reprefenied by fome as the patronefs of that element, to which her figure is rellored after having received all due honours on earth, which is conhdered as another form q the God of Nature, though

256

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

though fubfequent, in the order of Creation, to the primeval fluid. There feems no decifive proof of one
original fyftem

among

idolatrous nations in the worfhip

of river-gods and river-goddeffes, nor in the homage paid to their ftreams, and the ideas of purification annexed to them ; fince Greeks, Italians, Egyptians, and Hindus, might (without any communication with each other) have adored the feveral Divinities of their great rivers, from which they derived pleafure, health, and

abundance. The notion of Doclor Mufgrave, that large from their ftrength and rapidity, to be conduced by Gods, while rivulets only were protected by female Deities, is, like moft other notions of grammarians on the genders of nouns, overthrown by Moft of the great Indian rivers are feminine ; fa&s. and the three goddefTes of the waters, whom the Hindus chiefly venerate, are Gangd, who fprang, like armed Pallas, from the head of the Indian Jove ; Yamuna 9 All three met at daughter of the Sun ; and Serefwati. Praydga, thence called Triveni,or the three platted locks ; but Serefwati, according to the popular belief, finks under ground, and rifes at another Triveni near Hiigli, where fhe rejoins her beloved Gangd. The Brahmaputra is, indeed, a male river; and, as his name fignifies^ the Son of Brahma, I thence took occafion to feign that he was married to Gangd, though I have not yet feeri any mention of him, as a God, in the Sanfcrit books.
rivers were fuppofed,

Two incarnate deities of the firft rank, Rdma and C ripin a, muR. now be introduced, and their feveral attributes diftin6tly explained. The firft of them, I believe, the Dionyfos of the Greeks, whom they named Bromius, without knowing why ; and Bugenes, when they reprefented him horned; as well as Lyaios and Eleutherios, the Deliverer, and Triambos, or Dithyrambos, the Triumphant. Moft of thefe titles were adopted by

was

the

Romans,

bj

whom

he was called Bruma, TaurU formis^

ITALY,
Jorviis, Liber*

AND INDIA.

257

Triumphal ; and both nations had records or traditionary accounts of his giving laws to men, and deciding their contefts ; of his improving navigation and commerce; and, what may appear yet more obfervable, of his conquering India, and other countries, with an army of Satyrs, commanded by no lefs a perfonage than Pan ; whom Lilius Giraldus (on what au*ihority I know not) aflerts to have refided in Iberia, " when he had returned (fays the learned Mythologifl) <; from the Indian war, in which he accompanied " Bacchus.'" It were fuperfluous in a mere efiay, to run any length in the parallel between this European God and the fovereign Ayodhyd, whom the Hindus believe to have been an appearance on earth of the Preferving Power; to have been a conqueror of the higheft renown, and the deliverer of nations from tyrants, as well as of his confort Sua from the giant Rdvan, king of Lane a ; and to have commanded in chief a numerous and intrepid race of thofe large Monkeys which our naturali'fts, or fome of them, have denominated Indian Satyrs. His General, the Prince of Satyrs, was named Hanumat, or with high cheek-bones ; and, with workmen of fuch agility, he loon raifed a bridge of rocks over the fea, part of which, fay the Hindus, yet remains ; and it is, probably, the feries of rocks to which the Mufelmans, or the Portvgvefe, have given the foolifh name of Adam's (it fhould be called Rama's) Bridge. Might not this army of Satyrs have been only a race of mountaineers, whom Rama (if fuch a monarch ever exifted) had civilized"? However that may be, the large breed of Indian Apes is at this moment held in high veneration by the Hindus* and fed with devotion by the Brdhmans, who feem, in two or three places on the banks of the Ganges, to have a regular endowment for the fupport of them. They live in tribes of three or four, hundred, are wonderfully gentle, (I fpeak as an eyewitnefs,) and appear to have fome kind of order and fubordination irt their little fylvan polity. mwll not omit, i

We

258

ON THE GOD6 OF GREECE,

omit, that the father of Ilanumat was the God of Win?, eight Genii; and, as Pan improved the pipe by adding fix reeds, and "played ex" quifitely on the cithern a few moments after his birth," fo one of the four fyftems of Indian muiick bears the name of Hanumat, or Hanumdn in the nominative, as its inventor, and is now in general eftimation.

named Pavan, one of the

is dramatically reprefented at the of Rama, on the ninth day of the new moon of Chaitra; and the drama concludes (fays Holwel, who had often feen it) with an exhibition of the fire-ordeal, by which the victor's wife Slid gave proof of her connubial fidelity. " The dialogue (he add.s) is taken from w one of the eighteen holy books," meaning, I fuppofe, the Puran as ; but the Hindus have a great number of regular dramas, at leaft two thoufand years old, and among them are feveral very fine ones on the ftory of Ran, a. The firft poet of the Hindus was the great Vdlmic, and his Rdmdyan is an Epick Poem on the fame fubject, which, in unity of action, magnificence of imagery, and elegance of ftyle, far furpaffes the learned and elaborate work of Nonnus, entitled DionyJiaca, half of which, or twenty- four books, I perufed with great eagernefs when I was very young, and fhould have travelled to the conclufion of it, if other purfuits had not engaged me. I fhall never have leifure to compare the Dionyfiacks with the Rdmdyan, but am confident, that an accurate comparifon of the two poems would prove Dionyfos and Rama to have been the fame perfon; and I incline to think that he was Rdma, the fon of Cvjli, who might have eftablifhed the firft regular government in this part of Afia. I had almoft forgotten, that Meros is faid by the Greeks to have been a mountain of India, on which their Dionyfos was born ; and that Mem, though it generally means the north pole in the Indian geography, is alfo a mountain near the 2

The war of Lanca

feitival

&i>

^**wnwi ^^

Tlis"^^^^^^ Ckjshna.

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

259

the city of NaifJiada, or Nyfa, called by the Grecian geographers Dionyfopolis, and univerfally celebrated in the Sanjcrit poems ; though the birth-place of Rama is fup po fed to have been Ayddhyd, or Audh. That ancient

we believe the Bra/mans, over a line often Yojans, or about forty miles; and the prefent city of Lac'hnau, pronounced Lucnow* was only a lodge for one of its gates, called Lac/hmanadwdra, or the gate of Lac/Jiman, a brother of Rama. M. Sonnerat fuppofes Ayddhyd to have been Siam ; a moft erroneous and unfounded fuppofition ; which would have been of little confequence, if he had not grounded an argument on it, that Rama was the fame perfon with Buddha, who mult have appeared many centuries after the conqueft of
city extended, if

Lancd.

The fecond great divinity, Chri/Iina, paffed a life, according to the Indians, of a moft extraordinary and incomprehenfible nature. He was the fon of Devaciby Vafudeva ; but his birth was concealed through fear of the tyrant Canfa, to whom it had been predicted, that a child born at that time, in that family, would deftroy him he was foft>-red, therefore, in Mat'hurd by an honeft herdfman, furnamed Ananda, or Happy ; and his amiable wife Yafddd, who, like another Pales, was conftantly occupied in her paftures and her dairy. In their family were a multitude of young Gdpas, or Cowherds, and beautiful Gdpis, or milkmaids, who were his playfellows during his infancy; and, in his early youth, he fele6ted nine damfels as his favourites, with whom he paffed his gay hours in dancing, fporting, and playing on his flute. For the remarkable number of his Gdpis I have no authority but a whimlical picture, where nine girls are grouped in the form of an elephant, on which he fits and pipes; and, unfortunately, the word nava fignifies both nine and new, or young; fo that, in the fallowing ftanza, it may admit of two interpretations:
:

tar a-

260

ON THE GODS OF GREECE)

tarahijdpuline navahallavz

perifaddfaha celicutuhaldt drutavilamwitachdruvihdrinam herimaham hri dayena fadd vahe.

"

bear in

my bofom

continually that God, who, for

" "
"

fportive recreation with a train ofnine (young) dairymaids, dances gracefully, now quick, now flow, on
the fands juft left

by the Daughter of the Sun."

Both he and the three Rdmas are defcribed as youths of perfect beauty ; but the princeffes of Hindujldn, as well as the damfels of Nanda's farm, were paffionately in love with Crifhna, who continues to this hour the darling God of the Indian women. The feci; of Hindus, who adore him with enthufiaftick, and almoft excluhve, devotion, have broached a doctrine, which they maintain with eagernefs, and which feems general in thefe provinces; that he was diftinct from all the Avatars, who had only an an/a, or portion, of his divinity; while Crifhna was the per/on of Vijhnu himfelf in a human form hence they confider the third Rama, his elder brother, as the eighth Avatar, inverted with an emanation of his divine radiance; and in the principal Sanfcrit Dictionary, compiled about two thoufand years ago, Crifhna, Vdfadeva, Govinda, and other names of the Shepherd God, are intermixed with epithets of Ndrdyan, or the Divine Spirit. All the Avatars are painted with gemmed Ethiopian, or Parthian coronets ; with rays encircling their heads; jewels in their ears; two necklaces, one ftraight, and one pendent on their bofoms, with dropping gems; garlands of well-difpofed manycoloured flowers, or collars of pearls, hanging down below their waifts; loofe mantles of golden tiffue or dyed filk, embroidered on their hems with flowers, elegantly thrown over one fhoulder 3 and folded, like
:

ribands,

ITALY,
ribands,

AND INDIA.

26l

with bracelets too on one ; on each wrilt they are naked to the waifts, arm, and and uniformly with dark azure flefh, in allufion, pro-< bably, to the tint of that primordial fluid on which Narqyan moved in the beginning of time; but their
:

acrofs the bread

fkirts are bright

carpium
as Dr.
crets,

in the

Murray

yellow, the colour of the curious pericenter of the water-lily, where Nature, obferves, infbme degree difclofes her fe-

each feed containing, before it germinates, a few perfect leaves: they are fometimes drawn with that flower in one hand; a radiated elliptical ring, ufed as a miiftle weapon, in a fecond; the facred fhell, or lefthanded buccinum, in a third; and a mace, or battleaxe, in a fourth. But Crijhna, when he appears, as he fometimes does appear, among the Avatars, is more fplendidly decorated than any, and wears a rich garland of fylvan flowers, whence he is named Vanamdli, as low as his ankles, which are adorned with firings of pearls. Dark blue, approaching to black, which is the meaning of the word Crijhna, is believed to have been his complexion ; and hence the large bee of that colour is confecrated to him, and is often drawn fluttering over his head. That azure tint, which approaches to blacknefs, is peculiar, as we have already remarked, to Vijhnu and hence in the great refervoir or cittern at Cdtmdndu, the capital of Nepal, there is placed in a recumbent poflure,a large well-proportioned image of blue marble, reprefenting dray an floating on the waters. But let us return to the actions of Crijlina, who was not lefs heroick than lovely, and, when a boy, flew the terrible ferpent Cdliya, with a number of giants and monflers. At a more advanced age, he put to death his cruel enemy Can/a ; and, having taken under his protection the king YudhiJhChir, and the other Pdndus, who had been grievoufly oppreffed by the Curus, and their tyrannical chief, he kindled the war defcribed in the great Epick Poem, entitled the Mahdbhdrat, at the profperous Conclufion of which he returned to his heavenly feat

in

2&2

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

comprifed in difconfolate friend Arjun, whofe fovereign of India,

in Vaicont'ha, having left the inftruciions

the

Git a. with

his

grandfon became

In
fir it

this picture it

is

impoflible not to difcover, at the

glance, the features of Apollo,

furnamed Nomios,

or the Pajloral, in Greece, and Op ifer in Italy; who fed the herds of Admetus, and flew the ferpent Python ;

a God amorous, beautiful, and warlike. The word Govinda may be literally tranflated Nomois, as Cefava is Crinitus, or with fine hair ; but whether Go'pala, or the herd[man, has any relation to Apollo, let our Etymolocrilts determine.

Colonel Vallcncey, whofe learned inquiries into the ancient literature of Ireland are highly interefting, affures

me,

that Criflina in IriJJi

means the Sun

find Apollo andS'o/confideredby the

; and we Roman poets as the

fame

deity.

am

inclined, indeed, to believe, that not

only Crijlina, or Vijhnu, but even

Brahma and

Siva,

when

united, and expreffed by the myftical

word O'M,

firft idolaters to reprefent the Solar Fire; but Phoebus, or the orb of the Sun perfonified, is adored by the Indians as the God Su rya, whence the feci who pay him particular adoration, are called Sauras. Their poets and painters defcribe his car as drawn by feven green horfes, preceded by A run, or the Dawn, who acls as his charioteer, and followed by thoufands of Genii, worfhipping him, and modulating his praifes. He has a multitude of names, and among them twelve epithets or titles, which denote his diftincl powers in each of the twelve months ; thofe powers are called Adityas, or fons of Adit i by Cafyapa, the Indian Uranus ; and one of them has, according to fome authorities, the name of Vijhnu^ or Pervade?',

were defigned by the

Surya

^irfMn&.i

NAKEDA

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

263

Surya
earth,
his

is

believed to have defcended frequently from

his car in a

human

fliape,

who

are equally

and to have left a race on renowned in the Indian (lories

It is

very lingular, that Afwinicumdrau, in the dual, fliould be confidered as twin-brothers, and painted like Cajlor and Pollux ; but they have each the character of JLfculapius among the Gods, and are believed to have been born of a nymph, who, in the form of a I fufpect the mare, was impregnated with fun-beams. whole fable of Cafyapa and his progeny to be aftronomical, and cannot but imagine, that the Greek name
with the Heliadai of Greece.

two

fons, called Afioinau, or

Caffiopeia has a relation to

it.

the

Another great Indian family are called the Children of Moon, or Chandra; who is a male Deity, and confequently not to be compared with Artemis, or Diana; nor have I yet found a parallel in India for the Goddefs of the Chafe, who feems to have been the daughter of an European fancy, and very naturally created by the invention of Bucolick and Georgick poets; yet fince the

Moon is a. form of Ifwara, the God of Nature, according to the verfe of Cdliddfa, and fince Ifdni has been fhown to be his confort, ox power, we may confider her, in one of her characters, as Luna; efpecially as we (hall foon be convinced that, in the (hades below, (he correfponds with the Hecate of Europe.

of Solar or Veftal Fire maybe afcribed, of Ofiris and IJis, to thefecond fource of Mythology, or an enthufiaftick admiration of Nature's wonderful powers; and it feems, as far as I can yet underftand the Vidas, to be the principal worfhip recommended in them. We have feen, that Mahadha himfelf is perfonated by Fire; but fubordinate to him is ihe GudAgni 3 often called Pavaca 7 or the Purifier, who anfwers
like that

The wormip

J264

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

anfwers to the Vulcan of Egypt, where he was a Deity of high rank; and his wife iSWAirefembles the younger Vejla, or Veflia, as the Eolians pronounced the Greek word for a hearth. Bhavdni, or Venus, is the confort of the Supreme Deftruclive and Generative Power; but the Greeks and Romans, whofe fyftem is lefs regular than th^t of the Indians, married her to their divine

whom they alfo named Hepkaifloi and Vulcan, and who feemsto be the Indian Vifwacar nan, the forger of arms for the Gods, and inventor of the agnyaflra, or or fiery JIi aft, in the war between them and the Dauya It is not eafy here to refrain from obferving Titans. (and, if the obfervation gives off nee in England, it is
artifl,
,

contrary to my intention) that the newly-difeovered planet mould unquestionably he named Vulcan; fmce the confufion of analogy in the names of the planets is inelegant, unfcholarly, and unphilofophical. The name

Uranus

is

appropriated to the firmament; but Vulcan,

the flowed of the Gods, and, according to the Egyptian priefts, the oldeft of them, agrees admirably with an

orb, which muff, perform its revolution in a very long period; and, by giving it this denomination, we fhall have feven primary Planets with the names of as many Roman Deities, Mercury, Venus, Tellus, Mars, Jupiter^

Saturn, Vulcan.
It

Nymphs

has already been intimated, that the Mufes and are the Gopya of Mat'hura, and of Goverdhan,

the Parnaffus of the Hindus, and the lyrick poems of Jayadeva will fully j unify this opinion; but the Nymphs

of Mufick are the thirty Raginis, or Female Pajfions, whofe various functions and properties are fo richly delineated by the Indian painters, and fo finely defcri bed by the poets: but I will not anticipate what will require a feparate Effay, by enlarging here on the beautiful allegories of the Hindus in their fyftem of mufical modes, which they call Rdgas, or Pafjions, and fuppofe to be Genii, or Demigods, A verydiftinguifhed fon of

Brahma

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

265

Brahma, named Nared, whofe actions are the fubjecl: of a Parana, bears a ftrong refemblance to Hermes, or Mercury : he was a wife legiflator, great in arts and in arms, an eloquent meffenger of the Gods, either to one another, or to favoured mortals, and a mufician of exquifite (kill. His invention of the Vina, or Indian lute,
is

thus defcribed in the

fat

poem

entitled

Magha

" Nared

watching from time to time his large Vina, which, the impulfe of the breeze, yielded notes that " pierced fuccedively the regions of his ear, and pro" ceeded by mufical intervals." The law tract, fuppofed to have been revealed by Nared, is at this hour cited by the Pandits ; and we cannot, therefore, believe him to have been the patron of Thieves; though an innocent theft of Cri/Jinas cattle, by way of putting his divinity to a proof, be (trangely imputed, in the Bhagavat, to his father Brahma.
';'

"

by

of the Greek or Italian Divinities, for whom we find a parallel in the Pantheon of India, is the Stygian or Taurick Diana, othtrrwife named Hecate, and often confounded with Proferpine ; and there can be no doubt of her identity with Call, or the wife of Siva, in his character of the Stygian Jove. To this black goddefs, with a collar of golden fkulls, as we fee her exhibited in all her principal temples, human facrifices were anciently offered, as the Vedas enjoined; but, in the prefent age, they are abfolutely prohibited, as are alfo the facrifices Kids are dill offered to her; and, of bulls and horfes. to palliate the cruelty of the Daughter, which gave fuch offence to Buddha, the Brdhmans inculcate a belief, that the poor victims rife in the heaven of Indra, where they become the muficians of his band.
laft

The

Inftead of the obfolete, and

a

now

illegal, facrifices

of

man, a bull, and a horfe, called Neramedha, G6medha, and Aswamsdha, the powers of nature arc

Vol.

I.

thought

266

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

thought to be propitiated by the lefs bloody ceremonies at the end of autumn, when the feftivals of Call and LacJIimi'diTt folerrmized nearly at the fame time. Now, if it be afked, how the Goddefs of Death came to be united with the mild Patronefs of Abundance, I muft propofe another queftion. How came Proferpine to be reprefented in the European fyftem as the daughter of Ceres ? Perhaps, both questions may be anfwered by the proportion of natural philofophers, that " the ap" parent definition of a fubftance is the production 6i of it in a different form." The wild mufick of Call's priefts at one of her feftivals, brought inftantly to my recolleftion the Scythian meafures of Diana's adorers in the fplendid opera of Iphigenia in Tauris, which Gluck exhibited at Paris with lefs genius, indeed, than art, but with every advantage that an orcheltra could fupply.

That we may not difmifs this affemblage of European and Afiatick Divinities with a fubjeel fo horrid as the
altars

of Hecate and Call, let us conclude with two remarks, which properly, indeed, belong to the Indian Philofophv, with which we are not at prefent conFirft ; Elyfium (not the place, but the blifs cerned. enjoyed there, in which fenfe Milton ufes the word) cannot but appear, as defcribed by the poets, a very tedious and infipid kind of enjoyment It is, however, more exalted than the temporary Elyfium in the court of Indra, where the pleafures, as in Muhammed's paradife, are wholly fenfual; but the Mucti, or Elyfian happinefs of the Vedanta School, is far more fublime; for thev reprefent it as a total abforption, though not fuch as to deftroy confeioufnefs in the Divine Effence ; but, for the reafon before fuggefted, I fay no more of this idea of beatitude, and forbear touching on the doctrine of tranfmigration, and the fimilarity of the Vedanta to the Sicilian, Italick 7 and old Academick
:

Schools.

Secondly

Italy,

axd india.

267

Secondly ; in the myftical and elevated character of as a perfonification of the Univerfe, according- to the notion of Lord Bacon, there arifes a fort of fimili-

Pan,

tude between him and Criflina, conhdered as Ndrdyan. The Grecian God plays divinely on his reed, to exprefs, we are told, ethereal harmony. He has his attendant Nymphs of the paftures and the dairy. His face is as radiant as the (Ivy, and his head illumined with the horns of a crefcent; whilfl his lower extremities are deformed and fhaggy, as a fymbol of the vegetables which the earth produces, and of the beafts who roam over the face of it. Now we may compare this portrait partly with the general character of Criflina, the Shepherd God, and partly with the delcription in the Bhdgavat, of the Divine Spirit exhibited in the form of
Univerfal World ; to which we may add the following ftory from the fame extraordinary poem. The Nymphs had complained to Yafodd, that the child On Criflina had been drinking their curds and milk. being reproved by his folter-mother for this indifcretion, he requelted her to examine his mouth; in which,
this

to her juft in all

its

amazement, fhe beheld

the whole univerfe

plenitude of magnificence.

We

muit not be furprifed

at finding,

on a clofe

ex-*

animation, that the characters of all the Pagan Deities, male and female, melt into each other, and at laft into

one or two; for it feems a well-founded opinion, that the whole crowd of gods and goddefTes in ancient Rome^ and modern Vdrdnes^mt&n only the powers of Nature* and principally thofe of the Sun, exprefied in a variety of ways, and by a multitude of fanciful names*

Thus have
fentj

attempted to trace, imperfectly

at pre-

for

want of ampler materials, but with a confidencc U 2

268

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

dence continually increafing as I advanced, a parallel between the Gods adored in three very different nations, Greece, Italy, and India; but which was the original fyftem, and which the copy, I will not prefume to decide ; nor are we likely, I prefume, to be foon furnifhed with fufncient grounds for a decifion. The fundamental rule, that natural, and mojl human, operations proceed from the Jimp le to the compound, will afford no affiftance on this point ; fince neither the Afiatick nor European fyftem has any fimplicity in it; and both are fo complex, not to fay abfurd, however intermixed with the beautiful and the fublime, that the honour, fuch as it is, of the invention, cannpt be allotted to either with tolerable certainty.

Since Egypt appears to have been the grand fource of knowledge for the wejlern, and India for the more eajlern, parts of the globe, it may feem a material queftion, whether the Egyptians communicated thenMythology and Philofophy to the Hindus, or converfely but what the learned of Memphis wrote or faid concerning India, no mortal knows; and what the learned of Vardnes have afferted, if any thing, concerning Egypt, can give us little fatisfaftion. Such circumftantial evidence on this queftion as I have been able to collecl, fhall neverthelefs be ftated ; becaufe, unfatisfa&ory as it is, there may be fomething in it not wholly unworthy of notice; though, after all, whatever colonies may have come from the Nile to the Ganges, we fhall, perhaps, agree at laft with Mr.
:

Bryant, that Egyptians, Indians, Greeks, and Italians, proceeded originally from one central place, and that the fame people carried their religion and fciences into China and Japan : may we not add, even to Mexico and Peru ?

Every

ITALY,

AND INDIA.
true
to

269

Every one knows that the

bick.
It

fpelled with a palatial iibilant both in

name of Egypt'is Misr, Hebrew and Ara-

have been the proper and when the Arabs ufe the word for a great city, they probably mean a city like the capital of Egypt. Father Marco, a Roman miffionary, who, though not a fcholar of the firft rate, is incapable,
feems
in

Hebrew

name of

the

firfl fettler in it;

am

perfuaded, of a deliberate falfehood, lent

me

the

laft

book of a Rdmdyan, which he hadtranflated through

the Hindi into his native language, and with it a fhort vocabulary of mythological andhiftorical names., which

had been explained to him by the Pandits of Betiyd, where he had longrefided. One of the articles in his little Dictionary was, " Tirut, a town or province, in which " the priefts from Egypt fettled:" and when I afked him what name Egypt bore among the Hindus, he faid Misr ; but obferved,that they fometimes confounded it I perceived that his memory of what with Abyjfinia. he had written was correct. ; for Misr was another word in his index, " from which country (he faid) came the " Egyptian priefts who fettled in Tirut." I fufpected immediately that his intelligence flowed from the MuJelmans, who call fugar-candy Mijri, or Egyptian ; but, when I examined him clofely, andcarneftly defiredhim to recollect from whom he had received his information, he repeatedly and pofitively declared, that ;; it " had been given him by feveral Hindus, and particu" larly by a Brahman, his intimate friend, who was re" puted a confiderable Pandit, and had lived three years

" near his houfe."

then conceived that the feat of his Egyptian colony muft have been 7Yro/W,commonly pronounced Tirut, and anciently called MiVhild, the principal town of Janacadesa, or North Bahar ; but Mahefa Pandit, who was born in that very diftrict, and who fubmitted patiently to a long examination concerning Misr, overfet all our conclufions ; he denied that the Brdhmans of his country were generally furnamed Misr, as we had been informed; and faid, that the addition of Mifra to the name of Vdchefpet'u and other learned authors,

We

2yO
thors,

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

title

was a

formerly conferred on the writers of

mifcellanies, or compilers of various tracts of religion or fcience, the word being derived from a root fignifying

Being afked, where the country of Misr was, are two (he anfwered) of that name ; one of ** them in the wejl, under the dominion of Mufelmdns ; u and another, which all the Sdjlras and Pur an as menu tion, in a mountainous region to the north of Ayd" dhyd." It is evident that by the firfl he meant Egypt but what he meant by the fecondit is noteafy to ascerA country, called Tiruhut, by our geographers, tain. appears in the maps between the north-eaftern frontier of Audh and the mountains of Nepal; but whether that was the Tirut mentioned to Father Marco by his friend of Betty a I cannot decide. This only I know with certainty, that Mifra is an epithet of two Brdhmans in the drama of Sacontald, which was written near a century before the birth of Chrijl ; that fome of the greateft lawyers, and two of the fineft dramatick poets, of India have the fame title ; that we hear it frequently in court added to the names of Hindu parties; and that none of the Pandits, whom I have fince confulted, pretend to know the true meaning of the word, as a proper name, or to give any other explanation of it ; than that jt is a, furname of Brahmans in the weft.
to

mix.

" There

On the account given to Colonel Kydby the old Raja of CriJIinanagar," concerning traditions among the Hin* s dus, that fome Egyptians had fettled in this country," I cannot rely; becaufe I am credibly informed by fome of the Raja's own family, that he was not a man of folid learning, though he poflefled curious books, and had been attentive to the converfation of learned men befides, I know that his fon, and mod of his kinfmen, have been dabblers in Perjian literature, and believe them very likely, by confounding one feurce of information with another, to puzzle themfelver, The and miflead thofe with whom they converfe.
:

worcj

ITALY,

AND

INDIA.

2JI

fpelled alfo in Sanfcrit with a palatial very remarkable; and, as far as etymology can help us, we may fafely derive Nihts from the Sanfcrit word nila, or blue : fmce Dionyfius exprefsly calls the waters of that river u an azure ftream ;" and, if we can depend on Marco's Italian verfion of the Rdmdyan, the name of Mia is given to a lofty and faered mountain, with a fummit of pure gold, from which flowed a river of clear, fweet, andfrejli water.
fibilant, is

word Misr,

Sonnerat refers to a differtation by Mr. Schmit 9 which gained a prize at the Academy of Infcriptions, 44 On an Egyptian Colony eltablifhed in India." It would be worth while to examine his authorities, and either to overturn or verify them by fuch higher authorities as are now acceffible in thefe provinces. I ftrongly

M.

him right, and to believe that Egyptian have actually come from the Nile to the Gangd priefta and Yamuna, which the Brdhmans mod afluredly would never have left. They might, indeed, have come either to be inftructed, or to inltruct ; but it feems more probable that they vifited the Sarmans of India, as the Cages of Greece vifited them, rather to acquire than to impart knowledge: nor is it likely that the felf-fufficient Brdhmans would have received them as their preceptors.
incline to think

Be

all this as it

may,

am

peiTuaded that a connect

tion fubfilted between the old idolatrous nations of Egypt, India, Greece, and Italy, long before they emi-

grated to their feveral fettlements, and confequently before the birth of Mofes : but the proof of this propolition will in no degree affect the truth and fandity of the Mofaick Hiftory, which, if confirmation were necelTary, it would rather tend to confirm. The Divine
refpecls highly accomplifhed,

Legate, educated by the daughter of a king, and in all could not but know the mythological fyftem of Egypt ; but he mull have

condemned the

fuperititions of that people,

and defpi fed

the fpeculative absurdities of their prieiU; though

fome
of

272

ON THE GODS OF GREECE,

of their traditions concerning the creation and the flood

were grounded on

truth.

Who was better acquainted with the mythology of Athens than Socrates ? Who more accurately verfed in Who poffefled the Rabbinical doclrines than Paul ? clearer ideas of all ancient aftronomical fyftems than Newton? or of fcholaftical metaphyficks than Locke? In whom could the Roman Church have had a more formidable opponent than in Chillingworth, whofe deep knowledge of its tenets rendered him fo competent to difpute them ? In a word, who more exaftly knew the abominable rites, and (hocking idolatry, of Canaanthan Mofes himfelf ? Yet the learning of thofe great men only incited them to feek other fources of truth, piety, and virtue, than thofe in which they had long been imThere is no fhadow then of a foundation for merfed. an opinion, that Mofes borrowed the firft nine or ten chapters of Genejis from the literature of Egypt : (till lefs can the adamantine pillars of our Chrijhan faith be moved by the refult of any debates on the comparative antiquity of the Hindus and Egyptians, or of any inquiries into the Indian Theology.
Very
refpeftable natives have affured

me,

that

one

or two miflionaries have been abfurd enough, in their zeal for the converfion of the Gentiles, to urge, " that " the Hindus were even now almoit Chrijlians, becaufe " their Brahma, Vijlinu, and Mahefa, were no other " than the Chrijlian Trinity;" a fentence in which we can only doubt whether folly, ignorance, or impiety, predominates. The three powers, creative, prefervative, and deftruclive,\vh\ch the Hindus exprefs by the triliteral word O'm, were grofsly afcribed by the firft idolaters, to the heat, light and flame of their miflaken divinity the Sun; and their wifer fuccelfors in the Ea(t,who perceived that theSunwas only a created thing, applied thofe powers to its Creator; but the Indian Triad, and that oi Plato, which he calls the Supreme Good ; the Reafon, and the 1 Soulj

ITALY, AND INDIA.

273

Soul, are infinitely removed from the ho^nefs and fublimity of the doctrine which pious Chrifiians have deduced from texts in the Gofpel; though other Chri/iian^ as pious, openly profefs their dilfent from them. Each feet mult be jullihed by its own faith, and good intenThis only I mean to inculcate, that the tenet of tions. our Church cannot:, without profanenefs, be compared with that of the Hindus, which has only an apparent

refemblance to

it,

but a very different meaning.

One

pafs unnoticed.

fingular faft, however, rauft not be fuffered to That the name of CriJJina, and the

general outline of his ftory, were long anterior to the birth of our Saviour, and probably to the time of Homer, we know very certainly; yet the celebrated poem entitled Bhagavat, which contains a prolix account of his life, is filled with narratives of a molt extraordinary kind, but ftrangely variegated and intermixed with poetical decorations. The incarnate Deity of the Sanfcrit romance was cradled, as it informs us, among herdjmen; but it adds, that he was educated among them, and palled his youth in playing with a party of milkmaids. tyrant, at the time of his birth, ordered all new-borrt males to be flain; yet this wonderful babe was preferved

by biting the

breait, inftead

of fucking the poifoned

kill

nipple, of a nurfe commiffioned to

him.

He

per-

formed amazing, but ridiculous, miracles in his infancy, and, at the age of feven years, held up a mountain on
little finger. He faved multitudes, partly arms, and partly by his miraculous powers. He by railed the dead, by defcending for that purpofe to the loweft regions. He was the meekeft and belt-tempered of beings, walhedthe feetof the Brahmans, and preached very nobly, indeed, and fublimelv, but always in their favor. He was pure and chatte in reality, but exhibited an appearance of excelfive iibertinifm, and had wives or miltreffes to) numerous to be counted. LaRly, he was benevolent and tender, yet fomented and con-

the tip of his

his

dueled

274

ON THE GOD: OF GREECE,

-

>

This motley {lory mud induce a terrible war. an opinion, that the fpurious Gofpels, which abounded in the firft age of Chnflianity, had been brought to India, and the wildeft parts of them repeated to the Hindus, who ingrafted them on the old fable of Cefava^ the Apollo of Greece,

du&ed

As

to the general extenfion of

our pure

faith in
it.

Hin-

du/lan, there are at prefent

many

fad obftacles to

The

Mufelmans are already a fort of heterodox Chriflians. They are Chriflians^ Locke reafons juftly,becaufe they firmly believe the immaculate conception, divine character, and miracles of the MeJJiah; but they are heterodox, in denying vehemently his character of Son, and his equality, as God, with the Father, of whofe unity and attributes they entertain and exprefs the moft awful ideas; while they confider our doclrineas perfeft blafphemy, and infill, that our copies of the Scriptures It have been corrupted both by Jews and Chriflians. will be inexpreffibly difficult to undeceive them, and fcarce poffible to diminifh their veneration for Mohavivied and All, who were both very extraordinary men, and the fecond a man of unexceptionable morals. The Koran fhines, indeed, with a borrowed light, fmce moft of its beauties are taken from our Scriptures; but it has great beauties, and the Mufelmans will not be convinced The Hindus, on the other that they were borrowed. hand, would readily admit the truth of the Gofpel; but
they contend, that it is perfectly conhilent with their Sdflras. The Deity, they fay has appeared innumerable times, in many parts of this world, and of all worlds, for the falvation of his creatures ; and though we adore him in one appearance, and they in others, yet we adore, they lay, the fame God, to whom our feveral worfhips, though different in form, are equally acceptable, if they may allure ourfelves, that be iincere in fubdance, neither Mufelmans nor Hindus will ever be converted by any million from the Church of Rome^ or from any other %
,

We

ITALY,

AND INDIA.

275

other Church; and the only human mode, perhaps, of caufing fo great a revolution, will be to trantlate into Sanfcrit and Perfian, fuch chapters of the Prophets, particularly of Ifaiah, as are indifputahly Evangelical, together with one of the Gofpels; and a plain prefatory difcourfe, containing full evidence of the very diftant ages, in which the predictions themfelves, and the hiftory of the Divine Perfon predicted, were feverally made publick; and then quietly to difperfe the work among the well-educated natives; with whom, if, in due time, it failed of producing very falutary fruit by its natural influence, we could only lament more than ever the ftrength of prejudice, and the weaknefs of un-

abided reafon.

A DESCRIF.

276

A DESCRIPTION OF

X.

A DESCRIPTION
OF A

CAVE NEAR
By

G Y A.
Esq.

JOHN HERBERT HARINGTON,

of the Antiquities of Hindojian forming one of the feveral objects propofed by the inftitution of our Society, with the hope of communicating fomething acceptable on this head, I took the opportunity of a late excurfion up the country, to fee the Cave which Mr. Hodgekis a few years fince attempted to vifit, at the defire, I believe, of the late Governor General, but was afTafTinated in his way to it by the followers of one of the rebellious allies of Cheyt Sing. On my defcribing it to the Prefident, whom I had the pleafure to accompany, I was encouraged by him to think that a particular account of it would be curious and ufeful ; and in confequence made a fecond vifit to it from Gyd, when I took the following measurements, and, by the means of my MoonJIiee, a copy of the infcription on it, which I had defpaired of prefenting to you, but in its original language, (a Pandit at Bendris having attempted in vain to get it read during thefe la ft three months,) till the kindaffiftance of Mr. Wilkins enabled me to add the accompanying tranflation and remarks, to what would otherwife have given little fatisfaclion.

A KNOWLEDGE

The
dug,

hill,

lies

or rather rock, from which the cavern is about fourteen miles north of the ancient city of

A CAVE NEAR GYA.

S77

of Gyd, and feems to be one of the fouth-eaftern hills of the chain of mountains called by Rennel, Caram/hah 9 both being a fhort diftance to the weft of the PJiulgo*

now diftinguifhed by the name of Ndgurjenee may perhaps be a modern appellation, no mention of it being made in the infcription. Its texture is a kind of granite, called by the Mohammedan natives, Sung Khdreh, which compofes the whole rock, of a moIt is

but

this

derate height, very craggy and uneven, and fteep in

afcent.

its

is fituated on the fouthern declivity, about from the fummit a tree immediately before it prevents its being feen from the bottom. It has only one narrow entrance, from the fouth, two feet and a half in breadth, fix feet high, and of thicknefs exa6tly equal. This leads to a room of an oval form, with a vaulted roof, which I meafured twice, and found to be forty-four feet in length from eaft to weft, eighteen feet and a half in breadth, and ten feet and a quarter in height at the centre. This immenfe cavity is dug entirely out of the folid rock, and is exceedingly well polifhed, but without any ornament. The fame ftone extends much farther than the excavated part, on each fide of it, and is altogether, I imagine, full an hundred The inhabitants near know nothing of feet in length. its hiftory, or age; but I learnt from a chief of the neighbouring village, that a tradition is extant, of a Mohummedan^ named Minkdj-u-deen, having performed his cheeleh, or forty days devotion, in this cavern ; and that he was cotemporary with Mukhdoom Sherf-u-deen^ a venerated zuelee, who died in Behdr in the 590th year of the Hijree ; and he even went fo far as to aver, that he himfelf was defcended from Minhdj-u-dcen, and had records at Patna of his family's genealogy to the preWhat credit is due to this I will not prefent time.

The

cave

two

thirds

tend to fay; but the

room

is

certainly

now

frequented

by

2j8

A DESCRIPTION OF A CAVE, Set.

by Mohummedans, and has been for fome time,

as there are the remains of an old mofque clofe before it ; and within a raifed terrace, fuch as the Mohummedan devotees are ufed to con ft ru 61 for their religious retire-

ment.

There

are

two inferiptions, one on each

fide

of

the interior part of the entrance ; impretfions of both which my Moon/hee took off in the courfe of three days,

with

much

trouble, and fufficient accuracy, to enable

to undcrftand

and explain the whole of I was informed, who had feen the original engraving, had attempted in vain to decypher it. The other, which confifts of one line only, is unfortunately of a different character, and remains (till unintelligible.

Mr. Wilkins

one; though many Pandits,

The following letter and remarks, which Mr. Wilkins has favored me with, make it unneceffary for me to fay any thing of the contents of the infeription. I can only regret with him that the date is yet undifcovered ; as what is now but a gratification of curioiity, might then have been a valuable clue to the illuftration of obfeure events in ancient hiftory. There are, however, feveral other caves in the adjoining hills, which I likewife vifited, but had not time to take the inferiptions: and from tliefe, I hope, a date will be difcovered.

Were any

other teftimony, befides the inferiptions,

-wanted, to lhew that thefe caves were religious temples,

the remains of three defaced images near another, which

proof of

Cur ram ChoJJar, would be fufficient third, the name of which I could not learn, has its entrance very curioufly wrought with elephants, and other ornaments, of which I hope in a fhort time to prefent a drawing to the Society.
I vifited,

called

it.

A LETTER

f^l^a^pnf iA|^4;S|(i; J^^y ^^T

JP.270

W^
.

"Vol.. I

A LETTER FROM CHARLES WILKIN'S, ScC,

2^Q

A LETTER
FROM

CHARLES WILKINS,
TO

Esq.

THE SECRETARY.

DEAR

SIR,

been fo fortunate as to make out the whole of the very curious Infcription you were fo obliging as to lend me, I herewith return it, accompanied by an exat Copy, in a reduced fize, interlined with each correfponding letter in the modern Dewnagar character ; and alfo a Copy of my Tranflation, which is as literal as the idioms would admit it to be.
*-*-

TTAVING

character is undoubtedly the mod ancient of any have hitherto come under my infpection. It is not only diffimilar to that which is now in ufe, but even very materially different from that we find in. infcriptions of eighteen hundred years ago. But though the writing be not modern, the language is pure Sam-

The

that

Jkreet, written in a long verfe, called Sardddla-veekreereeta, and confifts of four paufes, of nineteen fyllables

each, in this form

- - -

---W O-U-O O y_..(j-- w _ U y-O-O U y---(j--U-

1 1

- -

- - -

y O

o-o-o U-U-U

O U

0---.-y0"--U-U-

The metre was no

vowels.

fmall help in decyphering the

The

280

A LETTER FROM
firft

The

lines

of the

firft

verfe allude to the ftory of

BhawaneFs

killing the evil fpirit

heejhdfoor^

who,

in the difguife of a buffalo,

as the

name imports, had

fought with Eendra, and his celeftial bands, for a hundred years, defeated him, and ufurped his throne. The ftory is to be found at large in a little book called The vanquifhed fpirits, being banifhed the Chandee. heavens, and doomed to wander the earth, after a while aftemble, with their chief Eendrti at their head, and refolve to lay their grievances before Veefhnoo and Seev. Conducted by Brahma, they repair into theprefence of thofe Deities, who heard their complaints with compaftion; and their anger was fo violent againft MaheeJhafdor, that a kind of *-!ame iffued from their mouths, and from the mouths of the reft of the principal Gods, of which was formed a Goddefs of inexprelhble beauty with ten arms, and each hand holding a different weapon. This was a transfiguration of Bhawanee, the confort of S<?<?i;, under which (he is generally called Doorga.
fentagainfl the ufurper. She mounts her lion, the of the mountain HcsmaLiy, (faowyj and attacks the monfter, who fhifts his form repeatedly ; till at length the Goddefs planteth her foot upon his head, and Immecuts it off with a fingle ftroke of her fword. diately the upper part of a human body iffues through the neck of the headlefs buffalo, and aims a ftroke, which being warded off by the lion with his right paw, Doorga puts an end to the combat, by piercing him through the heart with a fpear. I have in my poffelfion a ftatue of the Goddefs, with one foot on her lion, and the other on the monfter, in the attitude here laftly defcribed.

She

is

gift

a date difappointed my expectations. I hopes that it was contained in the fingle line, had fome which you informed me was taken from another part of the cave ; but, although I have not yet fucceeded in making out the whole, I have difcovered enough to convince me that it contains nothing but an invocation.

The want of

If

CHARLES WILKINS, ESQ.

If

28l

fo fortunate as to obtain correct copies of the Inscriptions that are to be found in the Caves of thofe mountains, I make no doubt but that we fhall meet with fome circumftance or other, that will guide us to a difcovery of their antiquity.

you fhould be
reft

of the

have the pleafure to fubfcribe myfelf,

DEAR

SIR,

Your very

fincere Friend,

And

obedient humble Servant,

CHARLES WILKINS,
Calcutta, ijth

March, 1785,

Vol.

I.

A TRANSLATE*

82

A TRANSLATION OP

TRANSLATION
OF A

SANSCRIT INSCRIPTION.

WHEN

the foot of the

Goddefs (a) was, with

its

tinkling ornaments, planted upon the head of Maheef/iasoor, (b) all the bloffom of the new-blown

flower of the fountain (c) was difperfed with difgrace by its fuperior beauty. May that foot, radiant with a fringe of refulgent beams iffuing from its pure bright nails, endue you with a fteady and an unexampled devotion, offered up with fruits, and fhew you the way to dignity and wealth

The

illuftrious

Yagna Varma was

a Prince

whofe

greatnefs con lifted in free-will offerings. His reputation was as unfullied as the moon. He was renowned among!! the Martial Tribes ; and although he was, by defcent,

by wifdom, courage, charity, and other qualities, the fore-leader of the royal line ; yet, from the natural humility of his temper, he difturbed not the powerful
ocean.

His aufpicious fon, Scirdddla Varma, a Prince whofe magnificence flowed, as it were, from the tree of imagination, (d) difplayed theenfign of royalty in facrifices,

and
(o) Bhdwance the wife of Seev. (b) The name of an evil Spirit. (c) Epithet of the lotus. (d) In the original Kdlpa-taroo, a fabulous tree which yielded very thing that was demanded.

A SANSCRIT INSCRIPTION.

283

gratified the

and the world was fubdued by his infinite renown. He hopes of relations, friends, and dependants; and honor was achieved from the deed of death (e) near
the uprifing ocean.

pious fon, called Ananta Varma becaufe of renown, the holy abode of us contemplative men, who are always ftudious for his good, and employed in his fervice, hath been increafed, and rendered famous, as long as the Earth, the Sun, and Moon, and ftarry Heaven, ihall endure; and Katyayanle (J) having taken fanctuary, and being placed, in this cavern of the wonderful VeerCdya (g) mountains.
his

By

his infinite

Prince gave unto Bhawanee, in perpetuity, (h) andlts hilly lands, by whofe lofty mountain-tops the funny beams are caft in (hade.
the village
Its filth

The holy

and impurities are warned away by the precious Mahanada, (i) and it is refrefhed by the breezes from the waving Preeyangoos (k) and Bakoolas
ftores of the

(I) of

its

groves

X
(e)

TRANSLATION

He was probably carried to Gdngd-Sagdr to die. (fjOne of the names of Doorgd or Bowanee. (g) The name of the chain of mountains which commences
is

at

Ckunar. (h) The name, which consisted of two long syllables, ing in the original.
(i)

want-

Probably the river called the

Makomh

in

Rebel's Map

of South Bahar.

(h) Probably the Champa* (IJ Mouhertc,

284

A SANSCRIT INSCRIPTION

XL

TRANSLATION
OF A

SANSCRIT INSCRIPTION,
COPIED FROM A STONE

AT BOODDHA GAYA,
1785.
Efq.

By Mr.
Tranjlated by

WILMOT,

CHARLES WILKINS,

rhe midft of a wild and dreadful 'foreft, INwith trees of fweet-fcented flowers, and flourifhing abounding in fruits

tute of

and roots, infefted with lions and tigers, deftifociety, and frequented by the Moonees. refided Bood-dha^ the Author of Happinefs, and a portion of Narayan. This Deity Haree, who is the Lord Hareefa, the pofTeffor of all, appeared in this ocean of natural Beings at the clofe of the Devapara, and beginning of the Kalee Yoog. He who is omniprefent, and

human

everlaftingly to be contemplated, the Supreme Being, the Eternal One, the Divinity worthy to be adored by the moft praife-worthy of mankind, appeared herewith

a portion of his divine nature.

Once upon a time the illuftrious Atnara^ renowned amongft men, coming here, difcovered the place of the
Supreme Being, Bood-dha,
wile
in the great
foreft.

The

Bood-dha propitious by fuperior fervice; and he remained in the foreft for the fpace of twelve years, feeding upon roots and fruits, and fleeping upon the bare earth ; and he performed the vow of a Moonee, and was without tranfto render the
greftion.

Amara endeavoured

God

AT BOODDHA GAYA.
greffion.

285
mortification, for

He performed afts of fevere

he wasa
heart.

faying,

il

man of infinite refolution, with a companionate One night he had a virion, and heard a voice Name whatever boon thou wanteft." Am&ra

this, was aftonifhed, and with due reverence replied, " Firft, give me a vifitation, and then 44 grant me fuch a boon." He had another dream in the night, and the voice faid, u How can there be an 44 apparition in the Kalee Ycog ? The fame reward may " be obtained from the fight of an image, or from the M worfhip of an image, as may be derived from the 84 immediate vifitation of a Deity." Having heard this, he caufed an image of the Supreme Spirit Bocd-dhd to be made, and he worfhipped it, according to the law, with perfumes, incenfes, and the like ; and he thus glorified the name of that Supreme Being, the incarnation of a portion of VceJIinoo : " Reverence be unto thee in 6 the form of Bcod-dhd ! Reverence be unto the Lord 4 of the Earth ? Reverence be unto thee, an incarnation 8 of the Deity and the Eternal One Reverence be unto 8 thee, God, in the form of the God of Mercy the 4 difpeller of pain and trouble, the Lord of all things, 4 the Deity who overcometh the fins of the Kalee Yoog, 4 the Guardian of the Univerfe, the Emblem of Mercy

Dcvu, having heard

4
4 4 4

'

4 4
4

4 4 4
1

toward thofe who ferve thee- O'm ! the poflelforofall things in vital form Thou art Brahma, Veejhnoo, and Thou art, Mcihifa ! Thou art Lord of the Univerfe under the proper form of all things, moveable and immoveable, the poffefTbr of the whole and thus I adore thee. Reverence be unto the Beftower of Salvation, and Refkeekcfd, the Ruler of the Faculties Reverence be unto thee ( KefavaJ ihc Deltroyer of the Evil Spirit Kejee ! O, Damordara, fliew me favour Thou art he who refteth upon the face of the milky Thou ocean, and who lyeth upon the ferpent Sefa.
!
! !

art

Treeviekramd^ho at three ilridesencompaffed the Earth I adore thee, who art celebrated by a thouland names, and under various forms, in the fhapc of
!

44

Boiid-

286

A SANSCRIT INSCRIPTION
!

" Boed-dha, the God of Mercy

Be

propitious,

Moll

"Hieh God!" o
Having thus worshipped the Guardian of Mankind, He joyfully caufed a he became like one of the juft. holy temple to bebuilt, of a wonderful conftruction, and therein were fet up the divine foot of Veeflinoo, for ever purifier of the fins of mankind, the images of the Pandcos, and of the defcents of VeeJJinoo and in like manner of Brahma, and the reft of the Divinities.
:

This place
fhall

is

renowned; and
Gciya.

it is

celebrated by the

name of B hoc d-d ha

The

forefathers of

him who

perform the ceremony of the Sradha at this place The great virtue of the Sradha fhall obtain falvation. performed here, is to be found in the book called Vayeopobrana an Epitome of which hath by me been engraved upon Hone.
:

Veekramadeetya was certainly a king renowned in the So in his court there were nine learned men, world. celebrated under the epithet of the Nava-ratnanee, or nine jezvels ; one of whom was Amara Deva, who was the king's chief counfellor, a man of great genius and profound learning, and the greater!: favourite of his prince. He it certainly was who built the holy temple, which deftroyeth fin, in a place in Jamboodweep, where the mind being fteady, it obtains its wifhes ; and in a place where it may obtain falvation, reputation, and enjoyment, even in the country of Bhcirata, and the province of KcekcltC) where the place of Bbcd-dha, purifier of the finful, is renowned. A crime of an hundred-fold fhall undoubtedly be expiated from a fight thereof, of a thoufarid-fold from a touch thereof, and of a hundred thouland fold from worfhipping thereof. But where is the uie of faying fo much of the great virtues of this place ? Even the hefts of heaven worfhip with joyful fervice both day and night.

That

AT BOODDHA GAYA.

287

That it may be known to learned men, that he verily ereded the houfe of Bood-dha, I have recorded, upon a Hone, the authority of the place, as a felf-evident teftimony, on Friday, the fourth day of the new moon, in the month of Madhoo, when in the feventh or manfion of Ganifa, and in the year of the Era of Veekramadeetya
1005.

XII.

To

88

A LETTER FROM CHARLES WILKINS,

ESQ.

XII.
To

Secretary

to the

Asiatick Society.

SIR,
I left Calcutta, a Gentleman, with whom I chanced to be difcourfing of that fe6l of people who are diftinguifhed from the worfhippers of Brahma^ and the followers of Ma ho mm ed, by the appellation Seek, informed me that there was a considerable number of them fettled in the city of Patna, where they had a As College for teaching the tenets of their philofophy was in my way to Banaris, I no fooner arrived Patna there, than I inquired after the College, and I was prefently conducted to it; and I now requeft you will pleafe to lay before the Society the few Observations and Inquiries which a fingle vifit of about two hours would If, fuch as they are, they mould admit of my making. found ufeful, either as a clue to guide anohereafter be ther in his refearches in the fame path, or to add to fome future account to render it more complete, my end in troubling you to lay it before the Society is

T3

EFORE

fully anfwered.

have the honour to fubfcribe myfelf,

R,
Servant,

Your moll obedient humble

CHARLES WILKINS.
Banaris,
tft

Ma rch,

1781.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE SEEKS, &C.

2$)

Obfervations on the Seeks and their College.

the CollegeoftheiSWifituatedinoneofthe narrow ftreets of Patna, at no very considerable distance from the Cuftom-houfe. I was permitted to enter the outward gate ; but as foon as I came to the ftep.s which led up into the Chapel, or public hall, I was civilly accofted by two of the Society. I afked them if They faid it was a place I might afcend into the hall. of worth ip, open to me and to all men ; but, at the fame time, intimated, that I mult take off my fhocs* As I confidered this ceremony in the fame light as uncc*tfering my head upon entering any of our temples
T

FOUND

dedicated to the Deity, I did not heiitate to comply ; and I was then politely conducted into the hall, and feated upon a carpet in the midit of the aflembly, which was fo numerous as almoft to fill the room. The whole building forms a fquare of about forty feet, raifed from the ground about fix or eight fteps. The hall is in the center, divided from four other apartments by wooden arches, upon pillars of the fame materials, all neatly This room is rather longer than it is broad. carved. The floor was covered with a neat carpet, and furnifhed with fix or feven low defks, on which Hood as many of the books of their law ; and the walls, above the arches, were hung with European looking-glaffes in gold frames, and pictures of Mujpuhnan Princes and little room, which, as you enter, is Hindoo Deities. fituated at the left-hand end of the hall, is the chancel, and is furnifhed with an altar covered with a cloth of gold, upon which was laid a round black ihield over a long broad-fword, and on either fide a chowry of peacock's feathers, mounted in a filver handle. The altar was raifed a little above the ground, in a declining portion. Before it flood a low kind of throne, plated with filver; but rather too fmall to be ufeful about it were fe-.

vera!

29^

OBSERVATIONS ON THE

left

veral filver flower-pots and rofe-water bottles; and on the hand flood three fmall urns, which appeared to be

copper, furnifhed with notches to receive the donations of the charitable. There ftood alfo near the altar, on a low defk, a great book, of a folio fize, from which fome portions are daily read in their divine fervice. It was covered over with a blue mantle, on which were printed, in filver letters, fome felecl paffages of their law.

After I had had a long converfation with two of the congregation, who had politely feated themfelves on each fide of me on the carpet, and whom I found very intelligent, notice was given that it was noon, and the hour of divine fervice. The congregation arranged themfelffcs upon the carpet, on each fide of the hall, fo as to leave a fpace before the altar from end to end. The great book, defk, and all, was brought with fome little ceremony from the altar, and placed at the oppoiite extremity of the hall. An old man, with a reverend filver beard, kneeled down before the defk with his face towards the altar ; and on one fide of him fat a man with a fmall drum, and two or three with cymbals. The book was now opened, and the old man began to chant to the time of the drum and the cymbals; and, at the conclufion of every verfe, moft of the congregation joined chorus in a refponfe, with countenances exhibiting great marks of joy. Their tones were by no means harfh ; the time was quick and I learnt that the fubjecl; was a Hymn in praile of the unity, the omniprefence, and the omnipotence, of the Deity. I was Angularly delighted with the geftures of the old man I never faw a countenance fo expreffive of infelt joy, whilfl he turned about from one to the other, as it were, befpcaking their affents to thofe truths which his very foul feemed to be engaged in chanting forth. The Hymn being concluded, which confifted of about twenty verfesjthe whole congregation got up,and prefented their
: :

faces

SEEKS

AND TKEIR COLLEGE.

29I

faces with joined hands towards the altar, in the attitude young man now flood forth ; and, with a of prayer.

loud voice and diftincl accent, folemnly pronounced a long prayer, or kind of liturgy, at certain periods of which all the people joined in a general refponfe, faying, Wa Gooroo ! They prayed againfl temptation ; for
grace to do good ; for the general good of" mankind ; a particular blefling to the Seeks ; and for the fafety of thofe who at that time were on their travels. This prayer was followed by a fhort blefling from the old man, and an invitation to the affembly to partake of a friendly feaft. The book was then clofed, and reltored to its place at the altar; and the people being feated as before, two men entered, bearing a large iron caldron, called a curray, juft taken from the fire, and placed it Thefe were in the center of the hall upon a low ftool. followed by others with five or fix difhes, fome of which were of filver, and a large pile of leaves, fewed One of together with fibres, in the form of plates. thefe plates was given to each of the company without diftinftion; and the difhes being filled from the caldron, their contents were ferved out till every one had got Myfelf was not forgotten; and, as I was his mare. refolved not to give them the fmalleft occafion for offence, I ate up my portion. It was a kind of fweetmeat, of the conhftence of foft brown fugar, compofcd of flower and fugar mixed up with clarified butter, which is called ghee. Had not the ghee been rancid, I were next ferved fhould have rehfhed it better. with a few fugar plums and here ended the fealt, and the ceremonies of the day. They told me the religious I part of the ceremony was daily repeated five times. now took my leave, inviting fome of the principal men amongft them, who were about to return to their own country through Banaris, to pay me a vifit.

We

In the courfe of the convcrfation I was engaged in with the two Seeks before the iervice, I was able to gather

0,2

OBSERVATIONS

ON'

THE

That the founder gather the following circumftances. of their faith was called Nuneek Sah, who ilourifhed about four hundred years ago at Punjab, and who, be-? fore his apoftafy, was a Hindoo of the KJlietry, or military tribe ; and that his body difappeared as the Hindoos and the Muffulmans were difputing for it ; for upon their removing the cloth which covered it, it was gone. That he left behind him a book, compofed by himfelf, in verfe, and the language of Punjab, (but a character partly of his own invention,) which teaches the docThat they trines of the faith he had eftablifhed. character, in honour of their founder, Gooroocall this Mookhee " from the mouth of the preceptor" That this book, of which that {landing near the altar, and feveral others in the hall, were copies, teaches that there is
:

but one God, omnipotent and omniprefent ; filling all fpace, and pervading all matter; and that he is to be worshipped and invoked. That there will be a day of retribution, when virtue will be rewarded and vice punilhedj (I forgot to afk in what manner.) That it not only commands univerfal toleration, but forbids difputes with thofe of another perfuafion. That it forbids murder, theft, and fuch other deeds as are, by the majority of mankind, elleemed crimes againfi: fociety; and inculcates the practice of all the virtues, but particularly an univerfal philanthropy, and a general hofpitality to ftrangers and travellers. This is all my ihort It is a vifit would permit me to learn of this book. or five hundred folio volume, containing about four
pages.

They

told

me

of Nuneek

Sail

further, that fome years after this book had been promulgated, another made its

appearance, now held in almoft as much eiteem as the The name of the author has efcaped my meformer. but they favoured me with an extract from the mory ; book itfelf in praife of the Deity. The paffage had
(truck

my

ear on

my

firft

entering the hall,

when

the.

itudents

SEEKS
ftudents were larity of the
all

AND THEIR COLLEGE.

*93*

engaged in reading. From the fimilanguage to the Hindoovce, and many Shanfcrit words, I was able to underftand a good deal of it; and I hope, at fome future period, to have the honour of laying a Tranflation of it before the Society. They told me I might have copies of both their books, if I would be at the expenfe of tranfcribing them.

why they were called Seeks, and they was a word borrowed from one of the commandments of their founder, which fignifies, " Learn " thou;" and that it was adopted to diftinguifh the feci foon after he difappeared. The word, as is well known, has the fame import in the Hindoovce.
I

next inquired

told

me

it

I afked them what were the ceremonies ufed in admitting a profelyte. perfon having (hewn a fincere

inclination to renounce his former opinions to any five or more Seeks afTembled together, in any place, as well on the highway as in a houfe of worfhip, they fend to
the
firit fhop where fweetmeats are fold, and procure a fmall quantity of a particular fort, which is very com-

mon, and,
diluted
it

Batafa ; and having pure water, they fprinkle fome of it on the body, and into the eyes of the convert j whilft one of the belt inftrufted repeats to him, in any language with which he is converfant, the chief canons of their faith, exaBing from him a folemn promifc to abide by them This is the whole of the ceremony. the reft of his life. The new convert may then choofe a Gooroo, or preceptor, to teach him the language of their fcriptures, who firft gives him the alphabet to learn, and fo leads him on, by (low degrees, until he wants no further inftruction. They offered to admit me into their Society; but I declined the honour; contenting mvfelf with the alphabet; which they told me to guard as the apple of
as I recollect, they call
in

my

2Q4

OBSERVATIONS ON TH SEIKS, &C.

my eye, as it was a facred character. I find it differs but little from the Dewnagur : the number, order, and The lanpowers of the letters are exaftly the fame. guage itfelf is a mixture of Perjian, Arabick, and fome Shanfcrit, grafted upon the provincial dialed of Punjab, which is a kind of ffindoovee, or, as it is vulgarly called bv us, Moors.

AN EXTRACT

THE rVLNA

P2J) 7

EXTRACT OP A LETTER, &C.

XIII.

2g$

AN EXTRACT OF A LETTER
FKOM

FRANCIS FOWKE,

Esq,

TO THE PRESIDENT.

THE drawings of Jeewun Shah and Been boat to-morrow. You

:

the will be difpatched in a fmall wiflied to have had the two attendant muficians in the fame drawing with Jeewun Shah ; but the draftfman was not equal to the perfpective of this he would have run all the figures one into the other : and as he has fucceeded tolerably well with the principal figures, I thought it was better to be fure of that, efpecially as the other figures can eafily be added by a European artift. I have a double pleafure in fending you the enclofed account In obliging you, I look forward to the of the Been. inftructive amufement I fhall fhare with the public at large in the refult of your refearches into this fubjed of Indian muficjand I am exceedingly happy, by furnifhing you with facts, highly neccffary indeed, but the mere work of care and obfervation, to give you greater leifure for the contemplation of the whole. You may abfolutely depend upon the accuracy of all that I have faid refpecting the conftruction and fcale of this inftrument it has been done by measurement: and, with regard to the intervals, I would not depend upon my ear, but had the Been tuned to the harpfichord, and compared the inftruments carefully, note by note, more than once. What I myfelf am aware of, will certainly not eicape your penetration, that there may be a little of the bias of hypothetic, or an opinion pretty ftrongly eltablifhed, in what I have faid of the confined modulation of the Indian mufir. But it is eafy to feparate my experiments and conjectures; and my prejudices
:

cannot

*9 6

EXTRACT OF A LETTER

cannot miflead you ; though they may pofnbly fugged a ufeful hint, as half errors often do.

The Been is a The finger-board

fretted inflrument of the guittar kind.

is

jths inches long.

A little beyond

each end of the finger-board are

two large gourds, and thefe are the pegs and tail-piece which hold the beyond The whole length of the inftrument is three wires. feet (even inches. The firil gourd is fixed at ten inches the top, and the fecond is about two feet 1 1~. from The gourds are very large, about fourteen inches diameter, and have a round piece cut out of the bottom, about five inches diameter. The finger-board is about two inches wide. The wires are feven in number, and confift of two fteel ones, very clofe together, in the right fide; four brafs ones on the finger-board ; and one brafs one on the left fide. They are tuned in the following manner.

o 2 S O g O **"
S3

v
_S

">

re

-C

o e o o

c 6

oC
CO
ro

O o

2
CO
re

-o

? -? s

3 tci

3
w

.^

^O

H
ft

!
frets
;

;>?

p'-.i s r

' u
is

.hi. a
v
the height

The
of the

great Angularity of this inflrument

that nearer! the nut
is

at the other extremity about |-ths decreafe is pretty gradual. By this means the finger never touches the finger-board itfelf. The frets are fixed on with wax by the performer himfelf, which he

one inch j, and that of an inch, and the

does intirely by ear. This was afferted by Pear Cawn, the brother of Jcewiin Shah, who was ill at the time

but

IROM
but Pear
ferior to

FllANCIS

FOWKE,

ESQ.

2Q"j

Cawn

is

a performer very

little, if at all,

in-

Jctwun Shah.

The

frets

of Pear Cawn's

inftrument were tolerably exact. Any little difference Indeed, is eafily corrected by the preffureof the finger. the performers are fond, on any note that is at all long, of preffing the firing very hard, and letting it return immediately to its natural tenfion, which produces a found fomething like the clofe fhake on the violin ; but not with fo agreeable an effeft; for it appears fometimes
10 alter the found half a tone.

The frets are nineteen in number. The notes that they give will appear on the following fcale. I have
added below the names which the performer himfelf
gives to the notes in his own language. It is very obfervable, that the femitones change their names on the fame femitone as in the European fcale.

ooooo ooo
-u

T3 -a -o t3

'O'ts-S

-cj:.r:_C-2

CO

-O

M
ffi

'flUJ

!i 00

E^iSS
a
3
-o

D- aEL E.

co

3-

u-

|L

.,

2 2 2
.5 .-

:H

o,22s 2fi22 ---S - " -"OH o p.?

.?

- -

R and S, which are thofe principally an extent of two octaves, a whole note with all the half notes complete in the firft oclave, butthegfcf and b b wanting in the fecond. The performer's apology Vol. I. Y
On
the wires
is

u fed, there

298
logy for
this

AN EXTRACT OF A LETTER

was, that he could eafily get thofe notes by preffing the ft ring a little hard upon the frets f * and a jj, which is very true from the height of the frets but he aliened that this was no defett in his particular inftrument, but that all Beens were made fo. The wires are feldom ufed, except open.
;

TU

.The Been is held over the left moulder, the upper gourd refting on that moulder, and the lower one on
the right knee.

The
and

frets

are flopped with the left-hand

the

firft

fecond fingers are principally ufed.

is is

The

little fin-

der of the hand

The down
hand

third finger

fometimes ufed to ftrike the note V. feldom ufed. the hand fhifting up and

the finger-board with great rapidity.

The

fingers

of the right
;

hand are ufed

to ftrike the firings of this

is never ufed. The two firft wires on the finger-board, and the little fingers ftrike the The two firft fingers of finger ftrikes the two wires. defended by a piece of wire put on the this hand are when the tops of them in the manner of a thimble performer plays ftrong, this caufes a very jarring difagrceable found ; whereas, when he plays foftly, the

the

third finger

tone of the inftrument

is

remarkably pleafing.

inftrument is in general could hardly ever difcover any regular air or fubjecr. The mufick feems to confift of a number of detached paffages, fome very regular in their afcent and defcent; and thofe that are played foftly, are moft of them both uncommon and pleafflyle
this

The

of mufic on

that of great execution.

ing.

The open

wires are flruck, from time to time, in a

manner

FROM FRANCIS FOWKE,

ESQ.

299

manner that, I think, prepares the ear for a change of modulation, to which the uncommonly full and fine tones of thefe notes greatly contribute ; but the ear is, and if there is ever any T think, always difappointed tranfition from the principal key, I am inclined to think Were there any other circumftances it is very fhort. refpe6ling the Indian mufic, which led to fuppofe that it has, at lome period, been much fuperior to the prefent practice, the ftyle, fcale and antiquity of this inftrumcnt, would, I think, greatly confirm the fuppofition.
:

A DESCRIPTION

300

A DESCRIPTION' OF THE

XIV.

A DESCRIPTION
OF THE

MAHWAH
By
Lieut.

TREE.

CHARLES HAMILTON.
by and the neighbouring coun:

THERE
tries, the
is

is

a very curious and ufeful tree, called,

the natives of Bahar,

Mdhwah, or Mdzcee Madhiica* or Madhudruma.

It is

but the Sanfcrit

name

of the clafs of the Polyandria Monogynia of Linnceus, but of a genus not defcribed by him.

The calyx is monophyllous, quadrifid, half divided, and imbricated in its divided part ; the two oppofite and outer covering, in part, the two oppofite and inner
parts.

corolla is monopetalous, having an inflated tube lower part, of near an inch long, thick, flefhy, and of a cream colour: from this arife nine fmall leaves, as it were, like petals, from a calyx, that arc imbricated and twilled one over the other, from right to left, clafping the lower part of the ftyle in a point; by which they feem to ferve, in fome refpecl, like forceps, to detach the whole corolla at the feafon of its dropping.

The
its

for

There

MAHWAH OR MADKUCA.
:

301

There are no filaments but the antherce, which are number molt commonly twenty-fix, long, fcabrous, and fpear-headed, are inferted in rows, on the infide and upper part of the tube of the corolla.
in
'e is long, round, and tapering, and projects about an inch bevond the corolla. It is fuccecded by a drupe, with a thick peri carpi um, bilocular, containing two feeds or kernels, covered with a dark brown fkin. There are often, however, three of thefe in three fepa-

The jly

rate divifions.

The

flowers rife in bunches from the extremities of

the fmaller branches, and have each a pedicle of about an inch and a half long. Thefe are moftly turned down-

wards, whence the corollas more eafily drop

off.

The

tree,

when

full

grown,

is

about the

fize

of a com-

mango-tree, with a bufhy head, and oval leaves, a Its roots fpreading horizontally, are funk little pointed. but little in the earth. The trunk, which is often of a confiderable thicknefs, rifes feldom to any great height, without giving off branches it is, however, not uncommon to fee it fhoot up clear to the length of eight or ten
:

mon

feet.

The wood

itfelf is

moderately hard,

fine grained,

and of a reddifh colour.

By
bark.

incifion, the tree affords a

refmous gum from the

The flowers are of a nature very extraordinary, differing effentially from thofeof any other plant with which I am acquainted, as they have not in any refpecl the ufual appearance of fuch, but rather refemble berries ; and I, like many others, had long cdrtceived them to The tree drops its leaves be i\\e fruit of the Mdhxvah.
in the

month of February

and early

in

March

thefe

flowers

302

A DESCRIPTION OF THE

fifty,

flowers begin to come in clutters of thirty, forty, or from the extremity of every fmall branch ; and from this period till the latter end of April, as the flowers come to maturity, (for they never open or expand,) they continue falling off, with their anthers, in the mornings, a little after fun-rife, when they are gathered ; and afterwards dried by an expofure of a few When thus prepared, they very much days in the fun. refemble a dried grape, both in tafte and flavour.

Immediately
are

after the flowers

drop

off, frefh flioots

new leaves, which' foon make their appearance, coming prefently to their full growth.

made

for the

The fruit (properly fo called) is of two forts in mape; the one refembling a fmall walnut ; the other fomewhat It is ripe towards the middle of larger, and pointed.
continues dropping from the tree till the which is generally about the beginning, or The outer covering, or towards the middle, of June. pericarpium, which is of afoft texture, commonly burfts in the fall, fo that the feeds are very eafily fqueezed out The feeds are fomewhat of the fhape, but longer of it.

May, and

whole

fall;

than an

olive.

Thefe feeds are replete with a thick oil, of the confidence of butter or ghee, which is obtained by expreffion.

From

this

defcription

it

may

eafily

be conceived

that the Mdhwah-tree,

productions, are of Angular and general ufe, efpecially in thofe dry and barren countries which, from the nature of their fituation, are not fo well calculated for producing in plenty, or perfection, the other necefiaries of life.
its

and

The

MAHWAH OR MADHLCA.

QO3

The corolla, or flowers, after being dried as before defcribed, are eaten by the natives raw, or dreffed with their curries ; and, when even (imply boiled with rice,
they afford a ftrengtheningand wholefomenourifhment. are, indeed, often applied to a lefs laudable purpofe; for being fomented, they vield, by diltillation, a ftrong fpirit, which the people here fell fo very cheap, that for on? pice (about a halfpenny) may bepurchafed no lefs than a cutcha jezr, (above a pint EngUJh,) with which any man may get completely drunk. Thefe flowers make an article of trade; being exported from this country to Patna, and elfewhere, in no inconfiderable quantities.

They

The oil yielded by the fruit, as before-mentioned, refembles ghee fo much, that, being cheaper, the natives often

mix

it

with that commodity.

They

ufe

it,

the fame as ghee, in their victuals, and in the compofition of fome forts of fweetmeats ; and burn it in their

regarded as a falutary remedy, applied It all cutaneous eruptions. is, at firft, of the confidence of common oil, but foon coagulates. After being kept for fome time, it acquires a bitterifh tafte and rancid fmell, which renders it fomewhat lefs agreeable as an article of food ; but this is an inconvenience, which, by the oil being properly clarified, and prepared at firft, might be perhaps avoided. This oil is alfo exported, both in its adulterated and original ifcate, to Patna, and other parts of the low country.
lamps.
It is alfo

exteriorly to wounds, and

I do not know any purpofe to which the gum has ever been applied; but if found, upon trial, to be of life, it might be collected in large quantities. The beft feafons tor this would be in the months of March and April, about the time the flowers came out, when the

tree

304

A DESCRIPTION OF THE

tree feems to be
tion, indeed,

mod

replete with

it.

would probably diminifh

;

Such an operaits produce in

fufficiently
little felt.

the

fruit

and flower

but, where

it

was

cultivated, the lofs in thofe could be but

The wood, from what has been already faid of it, cannot be expected to be often had in beams of any confiderable length, fo as to make it fo very ufeful in
would otherwife be, from its not being by the white ants. Mr. Keir, however, tells me that, when he was at Chowfee, (a village upon the Caramnajfa, near Buxar,) he had beams of it, which were, to the belt of his remembrance, above twenty feet But in many other refpecls it is a molt ufeful long. wood; and, as it is tough, and of a ftrong texture, it might, perhaps, be employed to advantage in fhipbuilding, in which cafe, if properly cultivated in many
building, as
it

liable to be eat

grounds that feem well adapted for it, and fit for little it might thus in time become a valuable article in that branch at Calcutta, whither it could eafily be tranfported during the rainy feafon, from almoft any part of thefe countries, by feveral rivers that are then fufficiently full to float it down.
elfe,

The

tree,

am

told, will

grow

in the

mod

barren

ground, even amongft Hones and gravel, where there is the leaft appearance of a foil ; and it feems to deftroy all the (mailer trees and brufhwood about it; yet it does not refufe a rich foil either Mr. Keir having obferved to me, that the few he had feen about Buxar, where it is certainly very good, were both taller, and feemed to thrive much better, than any he had ever met within Ra?ngur. It does not require much moijlurejceming to produce nearly as well in thedrieft as in moft favorable years ; and in every fituation ; and is therefore admirably fitted for the convenience of the inhabitants of thefe
:

hilly

MAHWAH OR MADHU'CA.
billy countries,

305
to long

which are peculiarly fubject

and

fevere droughts during the hot months.

Yet, notwithstanding its utility, and the immenfe quantity of ground that feems fo well adapted to the growth of it, both here, and in the neighbouring provinces of Catak, Pacheet, Rotas, &c. (the greateft part cf which, indeed, feems fit for no other ufeful production,) I have myfelf never obferved, nor can I find any of my acquaintance who ever have remarked, one can fee, every where, fingle tree in its infant Rate. full grown trees in great abundance; but never meeting with any young plants, both I, and all whom I have

We

fpoken to on the fubject, are at fome lofs to conceive they mould have come here. Neither can the country people themfelves, of whom I have enquired, give any rational account of this: although it appears pretty evident that numbers of them mult have been cultivated fome time or other, every village havinomany of them growing about it.

how

This is a circumftance .which fufficiently marks the true character of the lower order of natives in their molt
fupine indolence and (loth; owing chiefly, perhaps, to the ignorant and ftupid rapacity of their Rajahs, Zimeendars, and other landholders, and their total inattention
to the welfare of thofe dejected wretches, from whom they derive their confequence and power. Of their bafe indifference to the interests of thofe whom they thus affect to hold beneath their regard, many ftrikino- in, fiances occurred to me in the courfe of my enquiries upon this very fubject ; and it was not long ago that, afking fome queftions concerning the Mdhwah of a

M "

Zimeendar in this neighbourhood, he anfwered, that it was the food of the poor people, and how mould he know any thing about it!
1 '

It

306

A DESCRIPTION" OF THE

It was this ftrange neglect of the culture of it, and a knowledge of its ufefulnefs, which firft led me to enquire into the nature of this tree, from which the bulk of the people hereabouts already draw fuch great benefits; in order to know whether they might not increafe it without any great trouble to themfel ves ; and whether thereby the revenue might not alfo be increafed, and a certain provifion be made againft famines, from which

the natives often fuffer feverely in thefe higher

diitricls.-

To effect, this, it would be neceffary to give the ryots everv pollible encouragement to raife the tree from the feeds; but as the torpid apathy of thefe people, whether natural or acquired, will ever prevent their being moved to any exertion by a profpect, however alluring, of dijlant advantage, I apprehend the only way of bringing this about, would be making the planting and railing of a certain number of Mdhwahs (in proportion to the value of the tenure) an article in their Kabuleeats^ or
agreements, o

almoft any where.

has been already obferved, will grow It ought to be fown about the beginning of the rains, either in beds (to be afterwards tranfplanted) or at about thirty or forty feet diftance, in It is faid that, in feven the ground defigned for it. the trees will give flowers and fruit; in ten, they years,

The

tree, as

will yield

about half their common produce ; and that twenty years they come to their full growth ; after in which, if my information be good, they will laft near one hundred years. This account, I acknowledge, mud rieceffarily be very vague and uncertain, as I never have met with a fingle perfon who appeared to have had either opportunity or inclination to obferve its proSuch, however, is what the country people fay grefs.
of
it.

am

MAHWAH OR MADHU

CA.

307

I am told that a good tree will eafily give four puckha maunds (about three hundred weight averdupois) of dried flowers, which will fell here for about two rupees ; and of feeds it will afford about two maunds ; and this of oil will yield twenty-fix Jeers puckha weight, (near

fell at this

6olb.) which, in a year like this, when oil is cheap, will place for two rupees more. It is to be ob-

ferved, however, that every tree will not give fo much; neither are the flowers and oil fo clear in any part of the hills as at Chatra ; but, allowing only half of this, or
iefs, to be the product of each tree, (though it might be rendered flill much greater by the very lead care and induftry in the cultivation of it,) within the fpace of twenty years, a fubfiftence might be raifed to the inhabitants, and a confiderable revenue to the proprietors of the lands, throughout an immenfe trad of country ; the greateft part of which, in its prefent ftate, is little better than a barren walte, and cannot pay one fingle

anna

to the

Zimcendar or the Government. That fuch

an advantage might be derived from it, may be proved by the molt moderate calculation; for, fuppofing the trees to be fown at about forty feet diftance from each other, on each begah (about the third of an acre) might ftand eight trees; and, fuppofing the produft of each tree to be only half a rupee, there would be four rupees of annual value on a begah of ground ; half of which going to the proprietor, it would thus give a far better rent than the generality of the bed grounds in thefe parts; and the labourer would have a produce, without any other trouble than that of fowing the feed, and fencing the ground whilft the trees were young ; and that of annually gathering the flowers, and preparing the oik when they arrive at their proper fize; and they would probably begin to give a produce within lefs than ten years after the fowing.

As this tree will yield nearly its ufual quantity of flowers and fruit in feafons when, for want of rain,
every

308
every other crop

a description,

Sec.

fails, if thus cultivated, it would afford the inhabitants a fure and certain refource, under the moft dreadful, and what has hitherto been, to them, It is the moft destructive, of all calamities, famine. well known that the rice, and other forts of grain,

which form the chief part of their fuftenance, require a confiderable degree of moisture to bring them to perAn unufually dry feafon destroys the harvest fection. in thofe articles, and reduces the ryots in general to the utmost mifery; a predicament into which they could hardly fall, even in the fevereft dearth of grain, whilst they had plenty of the flowers and fruit of the Mdhwah to depend upon.

It

Keir

is

may be here not improper to obferve, that Mr. now fowing a few acres with the feed of thisufeand means to fence it; which may, perhaps, tempt others to follow fo good an example.

ful tree,

in time,

Chatra, Ramgur, July 6 S 1785.

XV.

METHOD OF DISTILLING, &C.

3O9

XV.
OF THS

METHOD

of

DISTILLING

As PRACTISED BY THE NATIVES AT ChATRA in Ramgur, and in the other Provinces, PERHAPS WITH BUT LITTLE VARIATION.

By

ARCHIBALD KEIR,

Esq.

THE body of unglazed,

the ftill they ufe is a common, large,, earthern water jar, nearly globular, of about twenty-five inches diameter at the wideft part of it, and twenty-two inches deep to the neck, which neck riles two inches more, and is eleven inches wide in the

opening. Such, at lealt, was the fize of the one I meafured; which they filled about a half with fomented
MahzuahJlcnuerS) that fwam in the liquor to be
diftilled.

they placed in a furnace, not the moft artifithough feemingly not ill adapted to give a great This they made by heat with but very little fuel. digging a round hole in the ground, about twenty inches wide, and full three feet deep; cutting an opening in the front, fl oping down to the bottom, on the fides perpendicular, of about nine inches wide, and fifteen long, reckoning from the circle where the jar was to come, to ferve to throw in the wood at, and for a pafTage to the air. On the fide too they cut another final! opening, of about four inches by three; the jar when placed, forming one fide of it, to ferve as a chimney for the fmoke to go out at. The bottom of the earth was rounded up like a cup. Having then placed the jar in this, as far as it would go down, they covered it above*
cial,
all

The jar

iO
all

method of distilling

round, with clay? except at the two openings, till within about a fifth of its height; when their furnace was completed.

In
flame,

this

furface of the

way I reckon there was a full third of the body of the {till, or jar, expofed to the when the fire came to be lighted; and its bottom,

not reaching to within two feet of where the fuel was, left a capacious hollow between them, whence the wood, that was fhort and dry, when lighted, being moftly converted into flame, and circulating on fo great a furface of the flill, gave a much ftronger heat than could elfe have been produced from fo very little fuel ; a consideration well worth the attention of a manufacturer, in our country more efpecially, where firing is fo dear. There, indeed, and particularly as coal is ufed, it would be better, no doubt, to have a grate, and that the air mould enter from below. As to the benefit refulting from the body of the flill being of earthen-ware, I am not
Yet, as lighter fubftances are well quite fo clear in it. known to tranfmit heat more gradually and flowly than the more folid, fuch as metals, may not earthern veffels, on this account, be lefs apt to burn their contents, fo as to communicate an empyreumatick tafle and fmell to
the liquor that
is

diftilled, fo often,

and

fo juftly,

com-

At any rate, in this country, plained of with us ? where pots are made fo cheap, I fhould think them greatly preferable, as, at leaft, much lefs expenfive than thole which the Gentlemen engaged in this manufacture moft commonly employ though of this they are bell able to judge.
:

Having thus made body of the Mill in it,

their furnace,
as

and placed the above defcribed, they to this

luted on, with moiftened clay, to its neck, at the opening, what they here call an adkur ; forming with it, at once, a cover for the body of the (till, with a fuitable perforation in it to let the vapour rife through,

and the under part of the alembick.

The adkur was made

AT CIIATRA IN RAMCUR.

gu

pans, having round holes in about four inches diameter ; and, their bottoms being turned oppolite the one to the other, they were cemented together with clav ; forming a neck of junction thus of about three inches, with the fmall rifing on the upper pan. The lowermofl: of thefe was more lhallow, and about eleven inches wide, fo as to cover exactly the opening at the neck of the jar, to which they luted it on with clay. The upper and oppofite of thefe was about four inches deep, and fourteen inches wide, with a ledge round its perforation in the middle, rifing, as is already laid, from the inner fide of the neck, of about half an inch high, bv which a gutter was formed to collect the condenfed fpirit as it fell down; and from this there was a hole in the pan to let it run off by ; to which hole they occafionally luted on a fmall hollow bamboo, of about two feet and a half in length, to convey it to the reThe upper pan had alfo another hole ceiver below. in it, of about an inch fquare, at near a quarter of its circumference from the one below jult fpoken of, that ferved to let off the water employed in cooling; as fhall be mentioned prefentiy.
their middles, of

made with two earthen

Their adkar being thus fitted to the jar, they completed the alembick by taking a copper pot, iuch as we ufe in our kitchens, of about five inches deep, eight

mouth, and ten at the bottom, which was and turning its mouth downward, over ; the opening in the adkur, luted it down on the infide of the jar with clay.
wide
at the

rather flattifh

their cooler they raifed a feat, clofe upon, and back part of the furnace, about a foot higher On this they than the bottom of the copper pot. placed a two or three gallon pot, with a round hole, of about half an inch in the fide of it; and to this hole,

For

at the

before

312

METHOD OF DISTILLING

before they lighted their fire, they luted on a fhort tube like bore; placing the pot, and directing its fpout fo as that, when filled with water, it threw a conftant and uniform dream of it, from about a foot high, or nearThe center of the bottom of the copper-pot, where it was diffufed pretty completely over its whole furface ; and the water falling down into the upper part of the pan of the adkur, it thence was conveyed through the fquare hole, already mentioned, by a trough luted on to it for that purpofe, to a cooling receiver a few feet from the furnace ; from which they took it up again to fupply the upper pot, as occaiion required.

of a

of water, however, in this fort of cirfmaller than it feemingly ought to have been, being fcarcely more than fix or eight gallons, it too foon became hot; yet, in fpite of this difadvantage, that fo eafily might have been remedied, and the fhortnefs of the conducting tube, which had nothing but the common air to cool it, there ran a (Iream of liquor from the ftill ; and but very little vapour riling from it; beyond any thing I had ever feen from ftills of a much larger fize, fitted with a worm and cooler. In about three hours time, indeed, from their lighting of the fire, they drew off full fifteen bottles of fpirit; which is more by a great deal, I believe, than could have been done in our way from a Hill of twice the dimenfions.
their ftock

As

culation, was

much

The convenience of
no
rienced
;

worm and

cooler, which arc

fmall expcnce either, I have myfelf often expethat

and if thefe could be avoided in fo fimple a might eafily be improved, the hints that are here offered may be of fome ufe. The thin metal head

way

is

certainly well adapted,

is

to the water, which

if

I think, to tranfmit the heat conflantly renewed ; and which,

as it ought to be, mud abforb the faiteft whereas, in our way, the water being confined poffible:

cold,

in

AT CHATRA IN RAMGUR.
in

313

the nature of its porous fuba great degree rather retains than lets the heats pafs away, it foon accumulates in it, and becomes very hot ; and, though renewed pretty often, never anfwers the purpofe of cooling the vapour in the worm fo expeditioufly and effectually, as is done by their more fimple and lefs expenfive apparatus. In this country,
ftance, in

a tub, that, from

more efpecially, where labour and earthen-wares are fo cheap, for as many rupees, and lefs, twenty furnaces, with ftills, and every thing belonging to them, independent of the copper-pots, might very well be erected,
that would yield above a hundred gallons of fpirits a day; allowing each (till to be worked only twice. So very cheap, indeed, is arrack here, to the great comfort of my miners, and of many thoughtlefs people befide, that for one fingle peyfa (not two farthings fterling) they can get a whole cutciia-feer of it in the bazar, or above a full EngUJJi pint, and enough to make them completely intoxicated; objects often painful to be
feen.

Of

the fuperior excellence of metal in giving out

heat from

itfelf, and from vapour contained in it, we have a very clear proof in what is daily performed on

the cylinder of the fteam engine

for cold water being

thrown on it when loaded, the contained vapour is constantly condenfed ; whence, on a vacuum being thus formed, and the weight of the atmofpbere acting on the furface of the pifton attached to the arm of the balance, it is made to defcend, and to raife the other arm that is fixed to the pump ; while this being fomewhat heavier, immediately finks again, which carries up the pifton, while the cylinder is again filled ; and thus by alternately cooling and filling it, is the machine kept in motion; the power exerted in raifing the pump-arm
der, or to the furface of the pifton,
fitted to it,

being always in proportion to the diameter of the cylinwhich is exactly

and on which the preflure

acts.

Vol.

I.

The

3*4

METHOD OF DISTILLING

The contrivance too, of having the under part of the alembick, where the condenfed vapour is collected, or upper part of what they call the adkur, of earthen-ware, of fo great a thicknefs, and of courfe at fo great a diftance from the heat in the body of the ftill, is well imagined to keep the fpirits the coolefl poflible, when collected, and running off.

cooling and condenfrng the vapour, likewife, fo fuddenly as it rifes, there is in a great meafure a conftant vacuum made, or as much as poflibly can be ; but, that both fleam arifes falter, and that water boils with much lefs'heat, when the prefTure is taken away from its furface, is an axiom in chemiftry too well

By thus

known

need any illuftration; it boiling in vacuum, when the heatis only ninety or ninety-five by Farenheit's thermometer ; whereas in the open air, under the preffure of the atmofphere, it requires no lefs than that of two hundred and twelve ere it can be brought to the
to
.

boiling point.

I muff further obferve, that the fuperior excellence of condenfrng the vapour fo effectually and fpeedily in the alembick, to our method of doing it in a worm and cooler, is greatly on the fide of the former; both from the reafons I have already adduced, and becaufe of the fmall ftream of vapour that can be only forced into the worm, where it is condenfed gradually as it defcends but, above all, from the nature of vapour itfelf, with refpeft to the heat contained in it, which of late has been proved, by the very ingenious Dr. Black, to be greater by far than, before his difcoveries, was imaFor vapour he has (hewn to be in the ff ate of gined. a new fluid, where water is difTolved by heat j with the alhftance, perhaps, if I may be allowed a conjecture, of the air which it contains: and all fluids, as he has abforb clearly demonftrated, on their becomin

vrtaiji

AT CHATRA

IN

RAMGUR.

315

a certain quantity of heat, which becomes what he very properly calls latent heat; it being heat not appearing either to the fenfes, or to the thermometer, while they remain in that liquid ftate; but mewing itfelf immediately by its effects on whatever is near it, upon their changing their form from fluid to folid; as on water becoming ice, or metals fixing, and the like. In the folution of falts, alfo, there is an abforption of heat, as we daily experience in the cooling of our liquors by diffolving falt-petre in water; and this he has found to be the cafe with water itfelf, and other fluids, when palling into a ftate of vapour by boiling. From the moft accurate and judicious experiments, indeed, he infers, and with the greateft appearance of truth, that
heat thus concealed in vapour raifed by boiling, from any given bulk of water, would be fully fufflcient, if collected in a piece of iron of the like fize, to make What then muft be the effect of fo it perfectly red hot.
the

much
the

heat communicated in our way of diftilling to worm, and to the water in the tub, will be fuffi-

ciently evident

from what has been

faid to prove,

think, that

we have hitherto employed a worfe and defective method than we might have done with more refpect to cooling at leaft, both in the making of fpirits,
and in other
diftillations

of the like kind, where a fimi-

lar

mode

is

adoDted.

ignorant Indian, indeed, while he with furveys the vafl apparatus of Eurcpea ji d\R.i\\ers, wonder

The poor

immenfe large ftills, worms, tubs, and expenand finds that fpirits thus made by them more valued, and fell much dearer than his own, are may very naturally conclude, and will have his competitors join with him in opinion, that this muft alone furely be owing to their better and more judicious manner of diftilling with all thofe ingenious and expenlive contrivances, which he can no ways emulate ; but in this, it would appear, they are both equally miftaken>
in their
five furnaces,

imputing

METHOD OF DISTILLING

imputing the effect?, which need not be controverted, perhaps, to a caufe from which thev by no means proceed ; the fuperiority of their fpirits not at all arifing from the fuperior excellence of thefe Mills and furnaces, nor from their better mode of conducting the diftillation in anv refpecl; but chiefly rather from their greater (kill and care in the right choice, and proper management, of the materials they employ in fermentation ; and, above all, as I apprehend, from the vaft convenience they have in cafks, by which, and from their abilities in point of flock, they are enabled, and do, in fact, in general, keep their fpirits for a certain time, whence they are mellov/ed, and improved furprifingly both in tafte and falubrity.

With
it

refpecl to the latter

improvement,

mention

more

particularly here; and the

more

willingly alfo,

it feems to have been but too little attended where a due attention to it might be of the greateft ufe. For of all things that have been found grateful to the human palate, there was none ever ufed, I believe, more hurtful to the body, and to the nerves efpecially, than frefh drawn ardent fpirits; and this owing evi-

as in general

to,

dently to the principle of inflammabilitv, of which, with water, they are moftly made up; being then, in a more loofe and detached Irate, lefs affimilated with the other principles than it afterwards becomes with time.

By

it is gradually not only more affimilength changes its nature altogether; fo as to become, what was at firfl fo pernicious, a benign,

time, indeed,

lated,

but

at

cooling liquor. When the fpirit is ftrong, the change, it is true, goes on more flow and imperceptibly yet, ; as a partial alteration is only wanted to mellow it for ufe, a few years keeping would be fufficient to anfuer the purpofe here; and whether or no it could be poifible to prevent any other from being fold than that which had been kept a certain time, is well worth the confideration of the Legiflature.

That

AT CHATRA
That

IN

RAMGUR.

317

drawn fpirits owing to the caufe I have afligned, a little attention, and comparing of the effeth that are uniformly produced by the principle of inflammability, wherever it is met with in a loofe and weakly combined Mate, as
the great noxious quality of frefh
is

chiefly

it is

in

them, will eafily convince us of: whereas, when

fully affimilated either in fpirits, or with any other body, it becomes entirely inert, and ufeful, more or
lefs, either for food or phyiick, according to what it happens to be united with. Thus we find it in putrid animal fubftances, where it lately formed part of a healthy body, being now detached, or but w eakly united with air, exhibiting a mod offenfive and pernicious poifon though this abforbed again by a living plant, is prefently changed into good and wholefome nourifhment: to the vegetable immediately, and to any animal who may afterwards choofe to eat it. In like manner fulphur, which is a compound of this principle alone, united to a pure acid, the moft destructive to all animal and vegetable fubftances, yet, it being here perfectly inert alio, may be taken into the body with fafety when, if loofened either by heat, or by an alkaline ialt uniting with the acid, its noxious quality is prefently made perceivable to whoever comes within its reach.
r :
:

Many other inftances of a like nature might eafily be added, and fome too more appofite, perhaps, than thole I have here mentioned; but every one's own experience, w ith what I have already faid, will fufhciently evince the propriety and utility of putting an entire flop, if pofhble, to the fale of what ought to be ib juftly prohiand this, in its confequences, may even help to bited lead to other more effectual means of correcting, in a great mealure, the cruel abufe of fpirits in general, that has been iong fo loudly and fo jultly complained of amonglt the ioldi is, lower Europeans, and our fervants in this country ; where the very w'orlt, and, indeed,
:

31

METHOD OF DISTILLING
is

deed, poifonous, fort of diem

daily fold at fo very

cheap a

rate.

All I need further add with refpeti to diftillation, and on the fuperior advantages in the mode of conducing it here, to that we have been in ufe to employ, for the raifing of fpirits, fimple waters, and the like, is only to obferve, I have no fort of doubt, but that the intelligent chemical operators at home, if ever they mould get a hint of it, will make no manner of fcruple to ufe it alfo, and to improve upon it greatly by a few ingenious contrivances, which their knowledge and experience will fo eafily fuggeft. The principles on which

feems founded, indeed, efpecially with regard to their cooling, are fo ftriking and juft, that in many other diflillations befides thofe of fpirits and waters, they may be employed, I apprehend, with very great profit and advantage. I (hall now, however, confine myfelf to mention only the benefit that may refultfrom a like procefs in the raifing of the finer aromaticks, while the heat contrived, as in our way, befides impeding the diflillation, rr.uft, from its long ation on fuch fubtile bodies, probably injure them greatly in the eflential quality on which their excellence depends and upon this very account I am apt to imagine, that the greater quantity obtained, and the fuperior quality of the oil of rofes made in this country, to that made from rofes with us, is owing chiefly, if not entirely, to their better and more judicious manner of extracting it here. For with us, the ftill, being made of metal, may, in the fir It inftance, impart too great and too fudden a degree of heat ; and next, the oil continuing fo long in the vapour, and that much comprefled, may, in fo delicate a fubjeel, not only entirely almoft unite it with the water, fo as to render the feparation impracticable, but may at the fame time alter its effence fo completely, as that it can no longer appear in the (late it otherwife might have been found in, had the operation been betit

way of

ter

AT CIIATRA
ter

IN

RAMGUR.

3*9

trials,

A very few however, would much better certify this, than all can polfibly fay on the fubject, or, in facl, than all
conducted, or in the way they do here.
Therefore, as to

the reafoning in the world.

my own

particular opinion of the flavour and quality of the rofes at home being equal, if not fuperior, to that of thofe in
this country, I may be entirely filent ; the rules and reafoning in chemiftry, though ferving greatly to enlarge and improve our underftanding, being what of themfelves can never be depended upon, till confirmed by facls and experiments ; where many things often turn out very different from what, from our beft and mofl plaufible arguments, we had the greateft reafon to Or, if it fliould be found to be really true, expect. what I hafe often heard afferted, by thofe however who had it only from others, but not of their own particular knowledge, that, in diltilling their oil of rofes at the places where they make it the beft, they ufe alfo with their rofes, fandal wood, and fome other aromaticks, no rofes whatfoever, it is plain, could ever of themfelves be made to afford a like oil ; nor without fuch an addition as they employ. A circumftance, by the bye, that might poffibly eaiily be certified by fome one of the many ingenious correfpondentsof the Society who may

happen

to refide

where
it

it is

made: and a knowledge of

the real truth of

would

certainly be of ufe.

Chatra^ December 24, 1786.

XVI.

O0

A METHOD OF CALCULATING

XVI.

A METHOD OF CALCULATING
THE

MOON's PARALLAXES
INf

LATITUDE and LONGITUDE.

By Mr.

REUBEN BURROW.

TN
**

Almanack for 1781, among other publifhed by authority of the Board of Problems
the Nautical

Longitude, there is one for calculating the I^aceof the Nonagefimal Degree; which isexprefsly recommended to Aftronomers as 8 fuperior to all other Methods for " calculating Eclipfes of the Sun, and Occultations of " the Stars." Now, as a confiderable part of that method is erroneous, and particularly in South Latitudes, and between the Tropics, (which include the raoft of India,) the error may therefore be of confequence; and the more fo, as it is publifhed under the fanction of Dr. Majkelyne, the Aftronomer Royal. I have, therefore, taken the liberty of giving the following rule to fupply its place; and, in imitation of the methods of the Hindoos, have endeavoured to exprefs it fo plainly, that any perfon may calculate by it without knowing much of the fubject.
*

PROBLEM.
Given the apparent time at any given place ; to find the longitude and altitude of the nonagefimal degree, and alio the parallaxes in latitude and longitude.
1 .Turn the difference of longitude from Greenwichinto time, andaddittotheapparenttime 3 iftheplacebe to the

wed

THE MOON

PARALLAXES.

32I

weft of Greenwich ; but fubtract if the place be to the eaft ; and the fum, or remainder, will be the apparent

time at Greenwich,

2. To this time calculate the fun's right afcenfion in time, and add it to the apparent time at the given place; time. the fum is the right afcenfion of the meridian

3.

From

the latitude of the place

by obfervation,

of fubtract the correction taken from page Mayer's Tables ; the remainder is the latitude in the
fpheroid.

LXXV

4. Call the right afcenfion

of the meridian in degrees

AR

and,

if

the right afcenfion of the meridian be

&

AR 90 \ Arc &270 J>inN.j 270 AR >Arc-j inS. &360J Lat. [AR 270 J A. [ Lat. J 450 AR J A.
"I
J>

90

then

TAR -j-

go

"|

isan

but 1

90

AR

"|

is

the

and

Let half the fum of the colatitude of the place, and half their difference D ; then add the fecant of C, the cofine of D, and the cotangent of half A, together; the fum (rejecting twice radius) is the tangent of an arc then add the cofecant of C, the fine of D, and the co5.

the obliquity of the ecliptic, be called C,

tangent of half A, together ; the fum (rejecting twice is the tangent of an arc then if the colatitude of the place be greater than the obliquity of the ecliptic, the fum of and is an angle, whofe complement call B ; but if the colatitude be lefs than the obliquity, let the complement of the difference of
radius)

and

be called B.
6.

Add

322
6.

A METHOD OF CALCULATING

Add

the fecant of B, the fine of

A, and the cofine

of the latitude of the place, together; the fum (rejecting twice radius) is the fine of the altitude of the nonagefi-

mal degree.

7.

Add

the tangent of the latitude to the tangent of

;

the obliquity of the ecliptic

angle,

the

fum

is

the fine of an

which

call

X.

8.

When

the right afcenfion of the meridian

is

360X&

90 1 r
I

90&180+X |i 180+X&270 fz
L

g
*

X &

90

270&360 x J

= L J 270

J 1

90&180 X [180 X&270 fa

I

B
_c

UJ 180 N1 180+B
L 3 6o b J

& xJ

= J

of the nonagefimal degree.

9.

Add the moon's latitude to 90 when

the moon's polar diftance.

it is

of a con-

trary

name to the latitude of the place; but fubtra6t it from 90 when it is of the fame name; the fum or reis

mainder

Alfo take the

difference between the moon's longitude and the longitude of the nonagefimal degree, which difference call
alfo let half the fum of the moon's polar diftance and altitude of the nonagefimal degree be called Q, and half their difference R.
:

10. Add the fecant of Q, the cofine of R, and the cotangent of half P, together; the fum is the tangent of an arc m : alfo add the cofecant of Q, the fine of R, and the cotangent of half P together; the fum is the tangent of an arc n. 11. If

THE MOON

PARALLAXES.

323

11. If the altitude of the nonagefimal degree be greater than the moon's polar diftance, take the fum of and n for the parallactic angle; but if it be the arcs

lefs,

take their difference.

12.

Add the cofecant of the parallactic angle, the

fine

fine

of the altitude of the nonagefimal dethe fum (rejecting twice radius) is the gree, together; iine of the moon's true zenith diftance.
13.

of P, and the

To

the fine of the

moon's true zenith diftance

the

add the logarithm of

(rejecting radium)
altitude nearly
:

the horizontal parallax;

fum

the logarithm of the parallax in add the parallax, thus found, to the
is

true zenith diftance, and the

zenith diftance.

fum

will

be the corrected

14. Add the fine of the corrected zenith diftance, the cofineof the parallactic angle, and the logarithm of the

horizontal parallax, together; the fum (rejecting twice radius) is the logarithm of the parallax in latitude.
15. Add the logarithm of the parallax in latitude, the tangent of the parallactic angle, and the fecant of the moon's latitude, together; the fum (rejecting twice radius) is the logarithm of the parallax in longitude.

EXAMPLE.
cc

What

is

the altitude

fimal degree at
h

and longitude of the nonageLudlow, whofe latitude is 52 23' north,

.

and longitude o h
.

1778, at io occulation of p gcminorum ?"

m . weft of Greenwich, 7th February, 56. 11 app. time, being the time of an
il

Not

324

A METHOD OF CALCULATING
the Almanack for 1778, I mail affume Moon's Latitude to be o 51' S. and her Longitude
57'.

Not having
the

9*

h // 10 56 11 ap. time o 11 o din7 long.

/
.

*.

21 27 14

10 56
8 23

AR

11

11 ap.

t.

Greenw*

25ARofMerid.

125 51
52 23 latitude

15=AR

270

o 14 correction
9 reduced 51 colat. 37

52

lat.

144

45=A

18 55 half colat.
11

tang, of latitude 10.11319 tang, of obliq. 9.63761

/

44 half obliq. 39
fecant

C=3
iA=7 2

D=
N=

7 11

cofine

4 cotan.

Sine of 34.i8 9.75080 10.06535 cofecant 10.29261 line 9.09706 9-99 6 58 9.51005 cotang 9.51005

=X

M=20
4

28 tan.M
32

9-57 1 9 8 tang. N.

8.89972

25 B = 65

o o

A=i44.
Lat. 52.

9 9

fin.

cos.
fee.

180
115

65

9-7^765 9.78788 10.37405

o long, nonag. deg. altitude of ditto 58 15 S

9-9 2 958

45 26=half )'s polar diftance 29 8=half alt. non. degree

Q=74 R=i6
n ^P
T

=n

34 fecant 18 cofine 32 cotan.

tan.

10.57493 9.98218 10.69025

co fee.
fine

cotan.
tan.

10.01595 9.44819 10.69025

z=86 46

11.24736

10.15439

=54

5s

THE MOON'S PARALLAXES.

parallactic angle
alt.

325
10.278.23

=31

non. degree

48 58 15
3

cofecant
-

fine
fine

9.92958
9-59 2 77

P=2 3

moon's true zen.d. 39 11 horizon, parallax 3488

par. in alt. nearly

fine

log.

9.80058 3-54258

2204

log.
fine

Corrected zen. dift. 39 47 44 hor par. arallaQic angle

parallax in latitude==i 898 parallactic angle

log.

cofine
log.

3-343iS 9.80628 3-54258 9.92935

3.2782a

tangent 9.79241
fecant 10.00023
log.

moon's latitude
parallax in Ion.

051
1177

3.07086

very near the ecliptic, as in eclipfes, the following method will be nearly exact.
the
is

When

moon

1. Add the cofine of the altitude of the nonagefimal degree to the logarithm of the horizontal parallax; the fum (rejecting radius) is the logarithm of the parallax of latitude nearly: add this parallax to the complement of the altitude of the nonagefimal degree, and call the fum the complement of the altitude of the nonagefimal degree corrected.

2. Add the cofecant of the complement of the altitude of the nonagefimal degree, the fine of the complement of the altitude of the nonagefimal degree corrected, and logarithm of the parallax of latitude, nearly together;

the

326

A METHOD OF CALCULATING, &C.

is

the fum (rejecting twice radius) parallax in latitude corrected.

3.

the logarithm of the

Add

the logarithm of the parallax in latitude cor-

and the tangent of the altitude of the nonagefimal degree, together; the fum (rejecting twice radius) is the logarithm of the parallax in longire6ted, the fine of P,

tude.

The method of applying the parallaxes Scholium. ufually given, requires no other correclion than the folWhen the pole of the ecliptic of the fame lowing. name as the latitude is under the horizon, to the cotangent of the altitude of the nonagefimal degree add the cotangent of the moon's latitude; the fum is the cofine
of an angle ; which added to, and fubtracled from, the longitude of nonagefimal degree, give two longitudes, between which the moon's latitude of a contrary name to the elevated pole is to be increafed for the apparent latitude ; but beyond thofe longitudes the moon's true latitude is to be increafed by the parallax in latitude to have the apparent latitude.

REMARKS

REMARKS, &C.

327

REMARKS
0N
T

ARTIFICIAL HORIZONS,
By Mr.

&c.

REUBEN BURROW.

'"THE utility of a perfecl horizon, and the

liablenefsof quickfilver to be difturbed by the leaft wind, have induced numbers of people to invent artificial horizons of different kinds, and many of them very complicated.

Some time ago, having occafion to determine the fituationof feveral places by aftronomical obfervations, and there being no aftronomical quadrant belonging to the Company in the fettlement, I was under a neceflity of determining the latitudes by a fextant, and that at a
it

time when the fun paffed fo near the zenith as to make impoflible to get meridian altitudes I therefore col:

lected

and

the different artificial horizons and glafs roofs, other contrivances for that purpofc, I could meet
all

with'; but, though they appeared cone6r, the refulr.s were very erroneous. I examined them by bringing the two limbs of the fun. feen by direct vifion, to touch apparently in the telefcope of a fextant, and thenob-ferved the reflected' images in quickfilver, which Mill appeared to touch a but, on examining the 'e reflected images iri the reft of the artificial horizons, none of them appeared to touch and the error in many was very considerable. I tried a number of other methods with little fuccefs, as they were mofth' com#
;

binations of glaffes.
officers fpeaking

At

iaft,

accidentally hearing ioine

of " Tents that would neither turn fun or rain," I confide red that the ravs of the fun would pafs through cloth un refracted; and in confe-

quence

328
quence of this idea
I

REMARKS ON
applied fome thin mofquita * cur-

fectually excluded the wind,

and found it efand admitted the fun ; and what is of equal confequence in this country, it totally kept away thofe minute infects that difturb the furface of the quickfilver in obferving. In fhort, it formed fo complete a horizon, that I could not before have hoped for any thing fo perfect ; and it is equally applicable to the fun and ftars.
tain as a covering to the quickfilver,

For taking very great or very fmall elevations of the

fun, (which with the common horizon fextants are impracticable in the direct method,) a polifhed metalline

inftrument might be made in the form of part of a hollow obtufe cone: this might have its axis fet perpencrews dicular to the horizon at any time by means of f in a variety of methods ; and obfervations might be

made by

it

with great exactnefs.

In finding the latitude, when meridian obfervations cannot be taken, either there is an opportunity of taking altitudes on both fides of the meridian, or not.
is not, the bed method is to calculate the from two altitudes, and the time between, exactly by fpherical trigonometry, (firit correcting the declination to the beginning and end of each interval,) as the approximating methods of Dowes, and others, are totally infufficient. When obfervations can be taken both before and after noon, it is belt to take a number of altitudes in both, and then make out the equal altitudes by proportion; then having found the true time of noon by the ufual method, correct the two intervals, and the declination to each time, and the latitude may be found as follows.

When

there

latitude

Add
gauze as close as book-muslin, and perfectly be .stretched over a hoop, which stands without touching the vessel containing the mercury.
silk

kind of

transparent.

It is to

ARTIFICIAL HORIZONS, &C.

329

Add the cojine of the angle from noon, to the cotangent of the declination ; the fum is the cotangent of an arch A. Add the fine of A, the fine of the altitude, and the arithmetical complement of the fine of the declination^
together
;

the

fum

is

the cojine of

an arch B.

Then

the fum or difference of

and

is

the latitude.

As every
tude,
it

fingle altitude gives an

evident the latitude great exa&nefs.

is

may

independent latibe thus found to

the

inftrument might eafily be contrived to meafure angle of pofition to great exa&nefs, from whence the latitude might readily be deduced; a fmali addition to the common theodolite would be fufficient. The variation of the azimuth near the meridian may alfo be advantageoufly applied for the fame purpofe.
fun's

An

Vol.

I.

DEMON-

03O

DEMONSTRATION

DEMONSTRATION
OF A

THEOREM
Concerning the Intersections of Curves,

By

REUBEN BURROW,
:

Esq.

TN
**

Stone's Mathematical Dictionary is the following " Two geometrical lines of any order, paragraph " will cut one another in as many points as the number " expreffes which is produced by the multiplication of

" the two numbers Mr. Braikonridge, in

exprefling thofe orders."

And

the Preface to his Exercitatio Geo-

metrica de Defcriptione Curvarum, fays, " Mr. George " Campbell, now Clerk of the Stores at Woolwich, has *' got a neat demonftration of the fame, which I hope " he willpublim." As it does not appear that Mr. Campbell ever publifhed any thing, except a paper on the roots of equations, and a fmall treatife on the plagiarifms of Maclaurin, it is very probable his demonftration is loft, and therefore it may not be improper to publifh the following.

The.equation of a line of the firft order has one root, or function of the abfcifs, for the ordinate; of the fecond
order, two; and fo on.

In equations for two right lines, the roots may fovary and accommodate themfelves to each other, that the quantities exprefling the ordinates may be equal ; and as there is only one cafe where this may happen, therefore two right lines can only interject, in one point.
If a line of the firft order be compared with a line of the fecond, or an equation of oneroot with an equation

of twoj the root of the

firft,

and a

fingle root of the fe-

cond,

OF A THEOREM, Sec.
cond,

331

may fo vary as to become equal to each other, or form an interfeclion. By the fame reafon, the fingle root of the firft, and the remaining root of the fecond, may each fo vary as to become equal, or to form another interferon; and therefore a right line cuts a line of the fecond order in two points.
to

order be compared with a line of of the firft. line may in the fame manner be fo varied with each of the n roots of the fecond line as to become equal ; and therefore a right line may cut a line of the n order in n points.
If a line of the
it is

firft

the n order,

alfo evident that the fingle root

Let a line of the m order be now compared with a of the order n; then as each fingle root of the firft: line may become equal, in the fame manner, to every root in the fecond, it therefore follows, that for every unit in m there may be n interferons; and as there are m units, there confequently will be mn interferons.
line

The fame method may be

applied to the determina-

tion of the points, lines, and furfaces, that arife from the

ing that the

interferons of lines, furfaces, and folids j by considernumber of times that p may be taken from m, and q at the fame time from , will be 1 m.m 1 q p, X n.n

3...P,

.2.3...,q

Aaz

AVIL

332

PROCESS OF MAKING

XVII.

THE

PROCESS OF MAKING ATTAR,

OR

ESSENTIAL OIL OF ROSES.

BY

LIEUTENANT COLONEL POLIER.

r

obtained from the rofes by fimple and the following is the mode in which A quantity of frefh rofes (for example I have made it. forty pounds) are put in a Hill with fixty pounds of

HE

attar

is

diitillation,

water-, the rofes

but with the

being left as they are with their calyxes, The mafs is then well cut clofe. mixed together with the hands, and a gentle fire is made under the ftill. When the water begins to grow hot, and fumes to rife, the cap of the ftill is put on, and the the chinks are then well luted with pafte, pipe fixed and cold water put on the refrigeratory at the top. The receiver is alfo adapted at the end of the pipe; and the fire is continued under the (till, neither too violent nor too weak. When the impregnated water begins to come over, and the ftill is very hot, the fire is leffencd by gentle degrees, and the diftillation continued till thirty pounds of water are come over, which is generally done in about four or five hours. This rofe-water is to be poured again on a frefh quantity (forty pounds) of
(teres
:

ESSENTIAL OIL OF ROSES.

of rofes; and from fifteen to twenty pounds of water are to be drawn by diftillation, following the fame procefs as before. The rofe-water thus made and cohobated, will be found, if the rofes were good and frefh, and the diftillation carefully performed, highly fcented with the rofes. It is then poured into pans either of earthen-ware or of tinned metal, and left expofed to the
frefh air for the night.

The

attar, or effence, will be

found

in the

top of the
collected,

morning congealed, and fwimming on the water. This is to be carefully feparated, and either with a thin fhcll or a fkimmer, and

poured into a vial. When a certain quantity has thus been obtained, the water and feces mud be feparated from the clear effence, which, with refpecl to the firft,
will not be difficult to do, as the effence congeals with a

and the water may then be made to run off. is kept fluid by heat, the feces will fubfide, and may be feparated; but if the operation has been neatly performed, thefe will be little or none. The feces are as highly perfumed as the effence, and muft be kept after as much of the effence has been fkimmed from the rofe-water as could be. The remaining water mould be u fed for frefh diftillations, inflight cold,
If, after that, the effence

stead of

common
is

water;

at leaft as far as

it

will go.

whole procefs of making genuine But, as the rofes of this country give but a very fmall quantity of effence, and it is in high efteem, various ways have been thought of to augment the quantity, though at the expence of the quality. In this country it is ulual to add to the rofes, when put in the dill, a quantity of fandal-wood rafpings, fomemore, fome lefs, from one to five telahs, or half ounces. The fandal contains a deal ofeffential oil, which comes over freely in the common diftillation, and mixing with the rofe-water and effence, becomes ftrongly impregnated with'their perfume. The impofition, however, cannot be concealed: the cffential oil of fandal will not congeal in common cold; and its fmell cannot be kept under, but
the
attar of rofes.

The above

334
but
art.

PROCESS OF MAKING
will

be apparent and predominate, in fpite of every In Cajliemire they feldom ufe fandal to adulterate the attar ; but I have been informed, to increafe 'the
quantity, they
diftil

with the rofes a fweet-fcented grafs,

which does not communicate any unpleafant fcent, and gives the attar a high clear green colour. This effence
alfo does not congeal in a flight cold, as that of rofes.

Many
but all them.

other ways of adulteration have been practifed, fo grofs and palpable, that I mall fay nothing of

rofes

quantity of eflential oil to be obtained from the very precarious and uncertain, as it depends not only on the {kail of the difliller, but alfo on the quality of the rofes, and the favourablenefs of the feafon. Even in Europe, where the chemifts are fo perfect in their bufinefs, fome, as Tachenius, obtained only half an ounce
is

The

of oil from one hundred pounds of rofes. Hamberg obtained one ounce from the fame quantity ; and Hoffman above two ounces. (N. B. The rofes in thofe inftances were ftripped of their calyxes, and only the In this country nothing like either can leaves ufed.) be had; and to obtain four ma/lias (about one drachm and a hall) from eighty pounds, which, deducting the calyxes, comes to fomething lefsthan three drachms per hundred pounds of rofe-leaves, the feafon mull be very favourable, and the operation carefully performed.
In the prefentyear, 1787, I had only fixteen tolaks of from fifty-four maunds, twenty-three feers, of rofes, produced from a field of thirty-three biggahs, or eleven Englijh acres; which comes to about two drachms per 100 pounds. The colour of the attar of rofes is no criterion of its goodnefs, quality, or country. I have had, this year, attar of a fine emerald green, of a bright yellow, and of a reddifh hue, from the fame ground, and obtained by the fame procefs 3 only of rofes collected on different days.
attar

The

EbSENTIAL OIL OF ROSES.

335

The calyxes do not in any fhape diminifh the quality of the attar, nor impart any green colour to it; though perhaps they may augment the quantity ; but the trouble necefTary to ftrip them rnuft, and ought, to prevent its being ever put in practice.
Luc know, May, 1787.

BY

\%6

ON THE GOLD OF LIMONG,

BY

Mr.
A

MACDONALD,
WITH

SPECIMEN OF GOLD.
the
I

immediately Marlborough, and between feventy and eighty miles inland, produces the fineft gold and gold-dud on that The Limong gold merchants repair annually ifland. to Marlborough for the purchafe of opium, and fuch other articles as they may be in want of; in exchange for which they give gold of fo pure a nature as to conThe gold is found fometimes in tain little or no alloy. It is of a lodged in a very hard ftone. dull, anci often and refembles that in which the veins whitifh colour, run in the gold mines of Tiltil in Chili. The gold is extracted by beating the compound mafs in order to difengage it from the ftone, which flies off in fplinters, and leaves the gold cleared of it. This is the mode ufed by a rude people ; by which a part of the gold mult be loft in the fplinters of the ftone which fly off They are totally ignorant of the in beating the mafs. advantage of grinding it to a grofs powder, mixing it With quickfilver, and feparating the earthy and ftony particles from thofe of the gold, by the adion of a dream of water on this pafte, carrying off the former, and leaving the latter precipitated to the bottom by their greater weight. They are almoft entirely ignorantof the principles of affaying and amalgamation, but are extremely expert in feparating particles of foreign metals from gold-duft, by a very fuperior acutenefs of vifion, no doubt arifing from experience, and not a peculiar They have people among them who are goldgift.
cleaners

'HE country of Limong, on

(land of Sumatra,

contiguous to the Prefidency of Fort

ON THE ISLAND OF SUMATRA.

cleaners

337

by occupation. The gold is found in a fpecies of earth compofed of a clayifh-red-loam. On digging the earth, it is found to conhft of ftrata (under the loam of the furface, commonly called foil) of irregular fhaped (tones of a mouldering nature, mixed with a red clay, and hard pebbles mixed with a pale red clay, of a more denfe conhltency than that of the firft ftratum. The firft ftratum extends to a depth of three feet and a half, and the fecond to fomewhatlefs. The confiftency under thefe ftrata is formed of either hard rock, or of gravel The gold is found mixed nearly approaching to it. .with a (tone of a hard nature, and capable of fuftaining It is found near the furface, and generally ia a polifh. freeft from folid rock. a foil

The merchants, who bring the gold for falc, are not themfelves the finders or gatherers of it, but receive it, for merchandife, from the Malays inhabiting the interior parts of the country. The native indolence of Malay difpofition prevents them from collecting the more than is fufficient to fupply the few and fimple wants of a race of men as yet unenlightend by civilization and fcience, and ignorant of the full extent of the advantages of the country inhabited by them. have not, to this hour, explored a country, which, we have reafon to fuppofe, produces more, or as much, gold as either Peru or Mexico. This may be attributed partlv to the difficulties incident to the undertaking, and partly to a want of curiofity, that, indulged, might have been productive of great national and private advantages. The roads leading to this golden country are almoft impervious, affording only a fcanty path to a fingle traveller, where whole nights muft be paifed in the open air, expofed to the malignant influence of a hoftile climate, in a country infelted by the mod ferocious wild beads. Thefe are circumftances that have hitherto checked curiofity j but perfevcrance, and contrived precaution, will furmount the obltaclesthey furnifh ; and fuch

We

338

ON THE GOLD OF LIMONG,

fuch difcoveries might be made, as would amply coraThe goldpenfate for the difficulties leading to them.

merchants who come from the neighbouring and

procuring gold
as

lefs

rich countries, give us fuch accounts of the facility of

border nearly on the marvellous, and if the great quantities of that metal produced by them, did not, in a great meaI have fure, evince the certainty of their accounts. feen an imperfecl chart of a part of the interior country, made by an intelligent native, on the fcale of the rate of his walking, and from the refpeclive fituations of theIt contained a chain of fun in regard to his polition. what he called Gold Mines, extending in latitude, nearly, This chart is in the not much lefs than three degrees. poffeffion of Mr. Miller, of the Council of Fort Marlborough, who did me the favour of explaining it. After making allowances for the licenfe of a traveller, fome credit may be given to this chart, more efpecially, as we are well affured that that part of Sumatra produces The remit of the whole large quantities of fine gold, is, that it would be a very laudable obje6t to explore thofe lich countries, and to eftablifh the working of gold-mines in them, as it could be done under a certain profpeel of advantage. The cxpence arifing from clearing the country, procuring intelligence, making roads, eftablifhing and forming pofls of communication, and of employing profefTional men, would, undoubtedly, be at firft very confiderable, but the refulting advantages would defray thefe, and render it a matter of furprife, that a meafure attended with fuch obvious utility had not been adopted at an earlier period.

would be

altogether incredible,

Sumatra muft have been This conjecture derives the Ophir of Solomon's time. no fmall force from the word ophir bcingreally a Malay fubftantive of a compound fenfe, fignifying, amountain containing geld. The natives have no oral or written tradition on the fubject, excepting that the ifland has in former times afforded gold for exportation ; whether to
It
is

more than probable

that

the

ON THE ISLAND OF SUMATRA.

33Q

the eaftward or weftward, remains an uncertainty. have certain accounts that the veffels that imported this article were long detained, or did not return in much It is therefore probable that they lefs than a year.
either at Ceylon, or

We

SW. monfoon, on the north-eaft coaft, and completed their voyages during the moderate part of the other monfoon.
wintered, during the violence of the

ON

340

ON THE LITERATURE

XVIII.
ON THE

Literature of the Hindus,

from the

Sanfcrit,

COMMUNICATED BY

GOVERDHAN
With a
Jliort

CAUL,

Commentary.

THE TEXT.
are eighteen Vidyas, or Parts of true Knowledge, and fome branches of knowledge falfely Jo called, of both which a fhort account {hall here be exhibited.

THERE

The

fir fb

four are the immortal Veda?,, evidently re-

which are entitled, in one compound ; word, Rigyajuhfdmdfharva 9 or, in feparate words, Rich, The Rigveda confifts YajuJJi, Sdman, and ACharvan. of five fections the Yajurveda, of eighty-fix ; the Sdmaveda, of a thou [and; and the At'harvaveda, of nine ; with eleven hundred sac ha s. or branches, in various divisions and fubdivifions. The Veda's, in truth, are infinite; but were reduced by Vydja to this number and order the principal part of them is that which explains the duties of man in a methodical arrangement; and
vealed by
;
:

God

in the fourth

is

a fyitem of divine ordinances.

thefe are deduced the four Upavedas, namely, Gdndharva, Dhanv/Ji, and SChapatya ; the firit of which, or Ayurveda, was delivered to mankind by Brahma, Indra, Dhanwantari, and jive other Deities ; and comprifes the theory of diforders and medicines, with the practical methods of curing difcafes. The fecond, or muhek, was invented and explained by Bharata it is chiefly ufeful in raifing the mind by
Ayu/Ji,
:

From

devotion

OF THE HINDUS.

341

devotion to the felicity of the Divine Nature. The third Upaveda was compofed by Vifzvamitra, on the fabrication and life of arms and implements handled in war Vi'swacarman revealed the by the tribe of Cfiairiya's. fourth in various treatifes on Jixty-J our mechanical arts, for the improvement of fuch as exercife them.

Six Angas, or bodies of learning, are alfo derived their names are, Sicjlid, Calpa, Vydcarana, Ch'handas, Jyotith, and NiruEli. The firji was written by Pdnini, an infpired faint, on the pronunciation of vocal founds j the fecond contains a detail of religious acts and ceremonies from the firit to the laft ; and from the branches of thefe works a variety of rules have been framed by Aswaldyana, and others. The third, or the grammar, entitled Pdniniya; contorting of zVAletures,or chapters, (Vriddhirddaij, and fo forth,) was the production of the three Ri/hi's, or holy men, and teaches the proper discriminations of words in conftruftion ; but other lefs abftrufe grammars, compiled merely for popular ufe, are not confidered as Anga's. The fourth, or profody, was taught by a Muni, named Pingala, and treats of charms and incantations, in verfes aptly framed, and variouily meafured; fuch as the Gdyairi, and a thoufand others. Ajlronomy is the Jifh of the Veddnga's, as it was delivered by Surya^ and other divine perfons it is necellary in calculations of time. The jixth, or Nirutli, was compofed by Ydfca, (ibis the manufcript ; but perhaps, it mould be Vydfa 9 ) on the lignification of difficult words and

from the fame fource

phi'afes in the Veda's,

caWed Pu?-ana, Nydya, Eighteen Pur ana's (that of Brahma and the reft) were compofed by Vydfa for the infhuction and entertainment of mankind in general.
Lajlly, there are four Upchiga' s,
sdjlra.

Mimdnfd, and Dherma

Nydya

42

ON THE LITERATURE
is

Nyaya
hend
;

derived from the root ni, to acquire or appreand, in this fenfe, the books on apprehenfon,

The reafoning, and judgment, are called Nydya. principal of thefc are the work of Gautama, in five chapters; and that of Canada, in ten: both teaching the meaning of facred texts, the difference between juft
and wrong, and the principles of under twenty-three heads. Mimanfd is alfo two-fold ; both fhewing what acts are pure or impure, what, objecls are to be defired or avoided, and by what means the foul may afcend to The former, or Carma Mimanfd^ the Firft Principle. comprifed in twelve chapters, was written by Jaimini^ and difcufles queftions of moral duties and law. Next follows the Updfand Cauda, in four lectures, (SancarJliana and the reft,) containing a furvey of religious duties; to "which part belong the rules of Sdndilya, and Such are the others, on devotion, and duty to God. The Utcontents of the Purva, ox former, Mimanfd. tar a, or latter, abounding in queftions on the Divine Nature, and other fublime fpeculations, was compofed by Vydfa, in four chapters and fixteen fections it may be considered as the brain and fpring of all the Anga's ; it expofes the heretical opinions of Rdmdnuja, Mddhwa, Vallabha, and other fophifts ; and, in a manner fuited to the comjprehenfion of adepts, it treats on the true nature of Ganefa, Bhdfcara, or the Sun, Nilacanta, Lacflimi, and other forms of One Divine Being. A fimilar work was written by Srisancara, demonstrating the fupreme power, goodnefs and eternity of God.

and unjuft, knowledge,

right
all

arranged

The Body of Law, called Smriti, confiSts of eighteen books, each divided under three general heads, the duties of religion, the administration of jiiflice, and the punifhment or expiation of crimes. They were delivered, for the inftruction of the human fpecies, by Menu; and other facred perfonages.
As

OF THE HINDUS.

343

As to Ethicks, the Veda's contain all that relates to the duties of kings; the Pur&iid's, what belongs to the relation of hufbandand wife; and the duties of friendship

and fociety (which complete the

:

triple divifion) are

taught fuccinftly in both this double divifion ofAnga's and Upanga's, may be confidered as denoting the double benefit ariiing

from them

in theory

and practice.

The Bhdrata and Rdmayana, which are both epick poems, comprife the molt valuable part of ancient
hiftory.

For the information of the lower claffes in religious knowledge, the Pajupata, the Pancharaira, and other works, lit for nightly meditation, were compofed by Siva, and others, in a hundred and ninety-two parts,on
different fubjects.

What

follow are not really divine, but contain

infi-

twofold; that with The former is enIswara, and that without Jswara. titled Pdtanjala, in ojie chapter of four lections, and is ufeful in removing doubts by pious contemplation the fecond. or Capila, is in fix chapters, on the production of ail things by the union of Pracriti, or nature, and Puru/Jia, or the firji male : it comprifes alfo, in eight parts, rules for devotion, thoughts on the invifible power, and other topicks. Both thefe works contain a lludied and accurate enumeration of natural bodies and their principles ; whence this philofophy is named Others hold, that it was fo called from its Sanchya.
nite contradictions.
is
:

Sdnchya

reckoning three for

3

The

344

ON THE LITERATURE
is in two parts, the Nydya two ; and thefe fix fchools the doctrine of the theifts.

The Mimanja,
in two,

therefore,
in

and the Sdnchya

all

comprehend

Laft of

all

appears a work written by Buddha

and

there are alfo fix atheiftical fy Items of philofophy, entitled Yogdchdra, Saudhdnta, Vaibhdfiica, Madhyamica,

Digambara, and Chdrvdc

all

full

of indeterminate

phrafes, errors in fenfe, confufion between diftinct qualities, incomprehenfible notions, opinions not duly weighed, tenets deftructive of natural equality, containing a jumble of atheifm and ethicks ; diftributed, like our orthodox books, into a number of fections, which omit what oughttobeexpreffed, and exprefs what ought to be omitted; abounding in falfe proportions, idle proportions, impertinent proportions. Some affert, that the heterodox fchools have no Updnga's ; others, that they have fix Anga's, and as many Sdngas^ or Bodies, and other Appendices.

Such

is

the analyfis of univerfal knowledge, practical

and fpeculative.

THE COMMENTARY.
The firfl chapter of a rare Sanfcrit Book, entitled Vidyddtrja, or a View oj Learning, is written in fo clofe and concife a ftyle, that fome parts of it ate very obfcure,

and the whole requires an explanation.

it

From

the beginning of

we

learn that the Veda's are consi-

human and

dered by the Hindus as the fountain of all knowledge, divine; whence the verfes of them are faicl
in

OF THE HINDUS.
in the Gild to

345
tree,

the

be the leaves of that holy Almighty himfelf is compared

:

to

which

[yam

urdhwa mfdam adhah

sac

ham a'swaWham prdhuravya-

ctihanddnfi yafya perndni yajlam vedafa vedavit.

cc

"
c;

watt' ha, with

One an Asbranches below; He the leaves of which are the facred meafures.
The
wife have called the Incorruptible
its

roots above and

its

" who knows

this tree

knows

the

Vedas"

All the Pandits infift that A'swatfha means the Pippala, or religious fig tree, with heart-fhaped, pointed, and tremulous leaves; but the companion of heavenly

knowledge, defcending and taking root on earth, to the Vata, ox great Indian jig-tree, which has moft confpicuoufly its roots on high, or at leaft has radicating branches, would have been far more exa&and ftriking.

The Veda's conn ft of three Cah&as, or General Heads namely, Carina, Jhydna, Updfand ; or Works, Faith, and Worjliip : to the firit of which the author of the Vidydderfa wifely gives the preference, as

Menu

himfelf pre-

fers univerfal benevolence to the ceremonies

of religion

Japyenaiva hi fanfiddhyedbrdhmano natra fanfayah Curyddanyatravd curydnmaitrd brdhmana ucliyaie.

That
<s

is,

" By

filent

adoration undoubtedly a Brdh-

u man

attains holinefs; but every benevolent

man, wheis

ther he perform or omit that ceremony,

juttly
ftyle'd

Vol.

I,

"

346

ON THE LITERATURE
a

"

fly led

Brahman." This
at firft to
:

triple divifion

of the Veda's
line

may feem

throw

light

on a very obfcure

in the Git a

TraigunyaviJJiayah vedd nijlraigunya bhavdrjuna

Or, " The Veda's are attended with three qualities fi be not thou a man of three qualities, 0, Arjuna /"

But
muft

feveral Pandits are of opinion, that the

phrafe

relate to the three Guna's, or qualities of the

mind;

that of excellence, that of pajfion, and that of darknefs z from the laft of which a hero mould be wholly exempt though examples of it occur in the Veda's, where animals are ordered to be facrificed, and where horrid incantations are inferted for the dejlruftion of enemies.

It is extremely fmgular, as Mr. Wilkins has already obferved, that, notwithftanding the fable ofBrahma 'sfour mouths, each of which uttered a Veda, yet moft ancient writers mention only three Veda's, in the order as they

occur
is

in the

compound word Rigyajuhfdma ; whence

firft ;

it

inferred, that the

after the three

Afharvan was written or collected and the two following arguments,

which are entirely new,

rence.

will ftrongly confirm this infeIn the eleventh book of Menu, a work afcribed to the Jirfl age of mankind, and certainly of high antiquity, the

Afharvan is mentioned by name, and ftyled the Veda of Veda's ; a phrafe which countenances the notion of Ddrd Shecuh, who afTerts, in the preface to his Upanijhat, that

"

the three

firft

Veda's are

named

feparately,

becaufe the Afharvan isa corollary from them all, and " contains the quinteflence of them." But this verfe of Menu, which occurs in a modern copy of the work
2

"

brought

OF THE HINDUS.

347

brought from Bdndres, and which would fupport the antiquity and excellence of the fourth Veda, is entirely omitted in the belt copies, and particularly in a very fine one written at Gayd, where it was accurately collated by a learned Brahman ; fo that, as Menu himfelf, in other places, names only three Veda's, we mult believe this line to be an interpolation by fome admirer of OhzAfharvan : and fuch an artifice overthrows the very do&rine which it was intended to fuitain.

The next argument

internal evidence
;

is

yet (tronger, fince

this

it

arifes

from
to

and of

we

are

now enabled

judge by the noble zeal of Colonel Poller in collecting Indian curiofities; which has been fo judicioufly applied, and fo happily exerted, that he now poffeffes a complete copy of the four Veda's in eleven large volumes.

that even a learner of Sanfcrit

a curfory infpe6tion of thofe books it appears, may read a confiderable part of the Afharvaveda without a dictionary ; but that, the ftyle of the other three is fo obfolete, as to feem almoft a different dialecl. When we are informed, therefore, but that a few Brdhmans at Bdndres can underftand any part of the Veda's, we mult prefume, that none are meant, but the Rich, Yajufh, and Sdman, with an exception of the Afharvan, the language of which is comparatively modern; as the learned will perceive from the following fpecimen
:

On

Yatra hrahmavidd ydhli dicjhayd tapafdfaha agnirmdk. nayatwagnirmedhah dedhdtume, agnaye fwdhd. vdyurmdh tatra nayatu vdyuh prdndn dedhdtu me, vdyuzue fwdhd, fiiryo mdh tatra nayatu chacjhuh furyd dedhdtu me, fury ay a fwdhd ; chahdro man tatra nayatu manafchahd.ro dedhdtu me, chandrdya fwdhd, fomo
tatra

b 2

man

348

ON THE LITERATURE
tatra nayalu

man
hd.

payah Jbmb dedhdtu me, fdmdya fwdIndro man tatra nayatu balamindrb dedhdtu me, indrdya fwdhd. dpb man tatra nay atwdmrit ammopatifhtatu, adbhyah fwdhd. yatra brahmavidb ydhti die-

Jliayd tapafa [aha, brahmd man tatra nayatu b brahmd dedhdtu me, brahmane fwdhd.

rahma

That is, " Where they, who know the Great One, go " through holy rites, and through piety, thither may^re " raife me May fire receive my facrifices Myfte!

li

nous

praife to fire

May
!

air waft

me

thither

May

" " " " " " "

<;

air increafe

my

fpirits

Myfterious praife to air!

!

May the Sim draw me thither! May the fun enlighten Myfterious praife to the fun May the my eye Moon bear me thither! May the moon receive my Myfterious praife to the moon May the mind plant Soma lead me thither! May Soma beflow on Myfterious praife to Soma ! me its hallowed milk May Indras or the firmament, carry me thither! May
!

" Indra

give

me

ftrength

Myfterious praife to Indra

! !

" May water bear me thither May water bring me " the ftream of immortality Myfterious praife to the " waters Where they, who know the Great One, go,
!

" through holy rites, and through piety, thither may " Brahmd conduct, me May Brahmd lead me to the 44 Great One Myfterious praife to Brahmd /"
!

Several other paffages might have been cited from firft book of the Afharvan, particularly a tremendous incantation with confecratedgnz/s, called Darbbha, and a fublime hymn to Cd/a, or Time; but a fingle paffage will fuffice to fhow the Ityle and language of this extraordinary work. It would not be fo eafy to produce Indeed, in a a genuine extract from the other Veda's. book, entitled Sivaveddnta, written in Sanfcrit, but in Caflimirian letters, a ftanza from the Yajurveda, is introduced, which deferves, for its fublimity, to be quoted here ;
the

OF THE HINDUS.

Q^Q

here j though the regular cadence of ihe verfes, and the polifhed elegance of the language, cannot but induce a fufpicion, that it is a more modern paraphrafe of fome text in the ancient fcripture
:

natatra Juryb bhati nacha chahdra tdraca.it, ncmd vi~ dyutd bhanti cut a eva vahnih : tameva bhdhtam anubhdJ.i Jervam, tafya bhdjd Jervamidam vibhdti.

That

is,

" There

the fun fhines not, nor the

moon and

" ftars. Thefe lightnings tlafh not in that place: how " mould even fire blaze there ? God irradiates all this " bright fubftance; and by its effulgence the univerfe " is enlightened."

the books on Divine Knowledge, called Veda, known, and Sruti, or what has been hea>d, from revelation, are ft ill fuppofedto be very numerous; and the Jour here mentioned are thought to have been

After or what

all,
is

felectcd as containing

all

the information necelfary for

and itxgt .nous author of the Dabijlan, defcribes in his firft chapter a race of old PerJan fages, who appear from the whole of his
the very candid

man. Mohjani Iain,

haveb^en Hindus and we cannot doubt that Mahdbdd, or Menu, which was written, he fays, in a celejiial dialect, means the Veda ; fo tnat, as Zeratujhc was onlv a reformer, we find in India the true fource of the ancient Perjan religion. To this head belong the numerous Tatura, Mantra, Agama, and Nigama, Safira's whieh conlilt of incantations and other texts of the Veda's, with remarks on the occafions on which they may be fuccefsfully applied. It mult not be omitted, that the Commentaries on the Hindu Scriptures, among which that of Vajijhtha leems to be reputed the molt excellent, are innumerable; but, while we have
account
to
:

the

book

of

accefs

35

ON THE LITERATURE we need not

wafte our time in

accefs to the fountains,

tracing the rivulets.

arts

the Vedas are immediately deduced the practical of Chirurgery and Medicine, Miifick, and Dancing; Archery, which comprifes the whole art of war; and Architecture, under which the fyftem of Mechanical According to the Pandits, who inArts \s included. firu&ed Abulfazl, each of the four Scriptures gave rife to one of the Upaveda's, or Sub-fcriptures, in the order in which they have been mentioned ; but this exaclnefs of analogy feems to favour of refinement.

From

Infinite advantage

may

be derived by Europeans from

the various Medical

the

in Sanjcrit, which contain names and descriptions of Indian plants and mine-

books

rals, with their ufes, difcovered by experience in curThere is a vaft* collection of them from ing di forders. the Chcraca, which is confidered as a work of Siva, to the Rdganirtipana and the Niddna, which are comparanumber of books, in profe and tively modern. verfe, have been written on Mnjick, with fpecimens of Hindu airs in a very elegant notation; but the Silpa

idjha, or Body of Treatifes on Mechanical Arts^ believed to be lofU

is

Next in order to thefe are the fix Veddnga's, three of which belong to Grammar. One relates to religious Ceremonies ; a fifth, to the whole compafs of Mathematicks, in which the author of Lildwati was efteemed the molt fkilful man of his time; and the fixth, to the explanation of obfcure words or phrafes in the Vedas, The grammatical work of Pdnini, a writer fuppofed to have been infpired, is entitled Siddhdnta Caumudi, and is fo abftrufe as to require the lucubrations of many
years

OF THE HINDUS.

35I

When years before it can be perfectly underftood. CasindCha Serman, who attended Mr. Wilkins, was afked what he thought of the Pdnimya, he anfwered
very expreffively, that " it was a foreft ;" but, fince is only an inftrument, not the end, of true knowledge, there can be little occafion to travel over fo rough and gloomy a path; which contains, however, probably, fome acute fpeculations in Metaphyjicks. The Sanfcrit Profody is eafy and beautiful; the learned willfindinitalmoft all the meafuresof the Greeks; and it is remarkable, that the language of the Brdhmansnins very naturally into Sapphicks, Alcaicks, and Iambicks. Afironomical works in this language are exceedingly numerous ; feventy-nine of them are fpecified in one lift; and if they contain the names of the principal ftars

grammar

their pofitionsin be made in fcience, and what certainty attained in ancient chronology

vifible in India, with observations

on

different ages,

what difcoveries

may

Subordinate to thekAnga's (though the reafon of the arrangement is not obvious) are the feries of Sacred Poems, the Body of Law, and the fix Philofophical sdjlras, which the author of our text reduces to two, each confiding of two parts ; and rejects a third, in two
parts alfo, as not perfectly orthodox
:

that

is,

not ftri&ly

conformable to

his

own

principles.

The firft Indian Poet was Vdlmici, author of the Ramdyana, a complete epic poem on one continued, inand the next in celebrity, tereiting, and heroick action if it be not fuperior in reputation for holinefs, was the Mahdbhdrata of Vydfa. To him are afcribed the facred Purdnas, which are called, for their excellence, the Eighteen, and which have the following titles Brahme,or the Great One; Pedma, or the Lotos ; Brdhmdncla, or the Mundane Egg ; and Agni, or Fire; (thefe/owr relate to
: :

the

352

OM THE LITERATURE

his

the Creadon ;) Vi/linu, or the Pervader : GaruMa, or Eagle; the Transformations of Brahma, Siva,Linga ; Ndreda, fon of Brahma; Scanda, fon of Siva; Marcan-

or the Immortal Man; and Bhawifhya, or the Prediction of Futurity ; (thefe nine belong to the attributes and powers of the Deity ;) and/our others, Matfya, Vardha, Curma, Vdmena, or as many incarnations of the Great One in his character of Preferver ; all containing ancient traditions, embellifhed by poetry, ordifThe eighteenth is the Bhdgawata, or guifed by fable. Life of Crijhna, with which the fame Poet is by fome
deya,

imagined to have crowned the whole

others, with pofers.

feries

though

more

reafon, affign

them

different

com-

fyftem of Hindu law, befides the fine work Menujmriti, " or what is remembered from Menu" that of Ydjnyaivalcya, and thofe of Jixteen other Muni's, with Commentaries on them all, confifts of many tracts in high eftimation, among which thofe current in Bengal are an excellent Treatife on Inheritances, by Jimuta Vdhana; and a complete Digejl, in twenty-Jeven volumes, compiled a few centuries ago by Raghunandan, the Tribonian of India, whofe work is the grand repofitory of all that can be known onfubject fo curious in itfelf, and fo interefling to the

The

called

Britijh

Government.

Of the

Philofophical Schools
firft

it

will be fufficient here

to remark, that the

Nydya feems analagous

to the

Peripatetick

the Jecond, fometimes called Vai'sifnica,

to the Ionick ; the two MimdnjcCs,ol which thcfecond is often diftinguifhed by the name of Veddnta, to the Pla-

tonick

the firft Sdnc'hya to the Italick ; and the fe: fo that cond, or Pdtanjala, to the Stoick, Philofophy Gautama correfponds with Arijlotle, Canada with Thales, Jaimmi with Socrates, Vydfa with Plato, Capita with
:

OF THE HINDUS.
:

353

with Pythagoras, and Patanjali with Zeno but an accurate comparifon between the Grecian and Indian Schools would require a confiderable volume. The original works of thofe Philofophers are very fuccind; but, like all the other Sdflras, they are explained, or obfcured, by the Upaderfana, or Commentaries, without end. One of the finett competitions on the Philofophy of the Veddnta is entitled Yoga Vdsiflit'ha, and contains the instructions of the great Vajijlka to his pupil, Rama, king of Ayddhyd.
It refults from this analyfis of

Hindu Literature,

that

Upaveda, Vcddnga, Purdna, Dherma, and Dersana, are the Six great Sdflras, in which all knowledge, divine and human, is fuppofed to be comprehended. And here we mult not forget, that the word Sdflra, derived from a root signifying to ordain, means generally an ordinance, and particularly a J'acred ordinance, delivered by inspiration. Properly, therefore, this word is applied only to facred literature, of which the text exhibits an accurate fketch.
the Veda,

The Siidras, ox Jour th clafs of Hindus, are not permitted to ftudy the fix proper Sdjlrds before enumerated; but an ample held remains for them in the Itudy of profane literature, comprifed in a multitude of popular books, which correfpond with the feveral Sdjlras, and abound with beauties of every kind. All the tracts on Medicine muff, indeed, be ftudied by the Vaidyd's, or thofe who are born physicians ; and they have often more learning, with far lefs pride, than any of the
Brdhmans.
toricians,

They

are ufually poets, grammarians, rhe-

may be esteemed in general virtuous and amiable of the Hindus. Inftead of the Veda's, they Itudy the Rdjanvi, or In/lrutlion of Princes ; and, inftead of Law, the Ninfdjlra, or general S y ft e m o f Eth icks. Their Sah it 1a, or Cd vya Sdjl ra , conftfts of innumerable poems, written chiefly by ihe?ncdical
moralists; and
the

mod

tribe,

and fupplying the place of the Purdnas, fince

they

354

ON THE LITERATURE

they contain all the ftories of the Rdmdyana, Bhdrala, and Bhdgawata. They have accefs to many treatifes of Alancdra, or Rhetorick, with a variety of works in modulated Profe. To Updchydna, or Civil Hiftory, called alfo Rdjatarangini ; to the Ndtaca, which anfwers to the Gdndharvaveda, confifting of regular Dramatick pieces in Sanfcrit and Prdcrit : befides which, they commonly get by heart fome entire dictionary and grammar. The beft lexicon or vocabulary was compofed in verfe, for the affiftance of the memory, by the illuftrious Amarafinha ; but there are feventeen others The beft grammar is the Mugdhabodin great repute. ha, or the Beauty of Knowledge, written by a Gdfwdmi, named Vdpadeva, and comprehending, in two hundred fhort pages, all that a learner of the language can have occafion to know. To the Cofids, or dictionaries, are ufually annexed very ample Ticd's, or Etymological Commentaries.

We need fay no more of the heterodox writings, than

that thofe

on the religion and philofophy of Buddha, connected with fome of the mod curious parts of Afiaiick Hiftory, and contain, perhaps, all that could be found in the Pali, or facred language, of the
feem
to be

Eaftern Indian Peninfula. It is afferted in Bengal, himfelf was a Baudha ; but he feems that Amarafinha to have been a theift of tolerant principles, and, like AhCljazl, defirous of reconciling the different religions

of India.

Wherever we direcl our attention to Hindu Literature, the notion of infinity prefents itfelf ; and the longeft. life would not be fufficient for the perufal of near five hundred thoufand ftanzas in the Pur and 5,with a million
more perhaps in the other works before mentioned. We may, however, {elect the beft from each Sdjlra,
and gather the
fruits

felves with the leaves

of fcience, without loading ourand branches; while we have the

pleafure

OF THE HINDUS.

355

pleafure to find, that the learned Hindus, encouraged by the mildnefs of our government and manners, are at lead as eager to communicate their knowledge of all Since Europeans kinds as we can be to receive it. are indebted to the Dutch for almoft all they know of Arabick, and to the French for all they know of Chinefe, let them now receive from our nation the firft accurate knowledge of Sanfcrit, and of the valuable works compofed in it. But, if they wifli to form a corretl idea of Indian religion and literature, let them begin with forgetting all that has been written on the fubjecl, by ancients or moderns, before the publication

of the

Gita.

To

356

AN INDIAN GRANT OF LAND

To

the

PRESIDENT.

two Parcels, each conin digging for fome new Works at the Fort of Tanna, the Capital of Salfet. The Governor of Bombay informed me, none of the Gujerat Brahmins could explain the Infcriptions. I obtained PermifTion to bring them round with me, being defirous of fubmitting them to the inveftigation of the Afiatick Society^ under the Promife of reftoring them to
fattened together
in

MY DEAR SIR, HEREWITH fend you fix ancient Copper-Plates,

by a Ring

taining Three.

They were found

the Proprietor.
I

have the honour to be with great Refpect,

Dear SIR

WILLIAM,
faithful

Your moft

humble Servant,
J.

CARNAC.

February 15^, 1787.

AN INDIAN

FOUND AT TANN'A.

357

XIX.

AN INDIAN GRANT OF LAND

In Y. C. 1018.
Literally Tranjlatedfrom the Sanfcrit,

As Explained by Ramalo'chan Pandit,

COMMUNICATE!) BY

GENERAL CARNAC.
O'M. Victory and Elevation
!

STANZAS.
He, who in all affairs claims precedence in adoration; may that Gan anayaca, averting calamity, preferve you from danger

A/TAY
A

2. May that Siva conftantly preferve you, on whofe head mines (Gangd) the daughter of Jfahnu, refembling-

the-pure-crefcent-rifing-from-tbe-fummit-of- Sumeru

(A compound
3.

-word of Jixteen fyllables.)

i.

May

that

felicity,

who

God, the caufe of fuccefs, the caufe of keeps, placed even by himfelf on his fore-

head a fe6lion of the-moon-with-cool-beams, drawn-inthe-form-or-a-line-refembling-that-in-the-infinitelybright-fpike-of-a-frefli-blown-C'<2Ctf

(who

is)

adorned-

with-a-grove-of-thick-red-locks-tied-with-the-Princeof-Serpents, be always prefent and favourable to you !

4.

The

358
4.

AN INDIAN GRANT OF LAND

Ton of Jimutacetu, ever affectionate, named Jimutavdhana, who, furely, preferved (the Serpent)

The

sanc'hachuda from Garuda, (the Eagle of Viflinuj was famed in the three worlds, having negle&ed his own body, as if it had been grafs, for the fake of others.

rhyme.) In his family was a mo(named) Capardin, (or, with thick hair, a title of narch MahddevaJ chief of the race of Szlara, repreffing the infolence of his foes and from him came a fon, named
5. ( Two couplets in
:

Puiasacli, equal in increafing glory to the fun's bright

circle.

6. When that fon of Capardin was a new-born infant, through fear of him, homage was paid by all his collected enemies, with water held aloft in their hand, to the delight of his realm.

7. From him came a named Srivappuvanna^

fon, the only warrior

on earth,

a hero in the theatre of battle.

8. His fon, called Sri jfhanjha, was highly celebrated, and the preferver of his country. He afterwards became the Sovereign of Gogni: he had a beautiful form.

8.

From him came

tended-<2rtd-'o>//0-confounded-the
derful-acts,

whofe-renown was-far-ex-mind- with -his-wonthe fortunate Bajjada Deva. He was a moa fon,

narch, rence;

a gem in-the-diadem-of-the-worid's-circumfewho ufed only the forcible weapon of his two

arms readily on the plain of combat ; and in whofe bofom the Fortune of Kings herfeif amoroufly played,
as in the bofom of the foe of

Mura

(or VifJinu.)
9.

Like

FOUND AT TANNA.
9.

359

like

Like Jayanta, [on to the foe of Vritta, (or Indra,) Shanmuc'ha, (or CarticeyaJ fon to Purdri, (or MahddevaJ then fprang from him a fortunate fon, with a true heart, invincible ;

in liberality" was Carna before our eyes, truth even YudhifJithir a, in glory a blazing Sun, and in the rod of Cdla (or Yama, judge ofthe infernal regions)

10.

Who

to his enemies.

1.

By whom

his protection,

the great counfellors, who were under and others near him, are preferved in this

world. He is a conqueror, randgata Vajrafanjaradeva.

named

with propriety Sa-

12. By whom when this world was over-fliadowed with-continual-prefents-of-gold, for his liberality he was named Jagadarthi, (or Enriching the World,) in

the midft of the three regions of the univerfe.

13. Thofe Kings affuredly, whoever they may be, who are endued with minds capable of ruling their refpective dominions, praife him for the greatnefs of his veracity,

generofity, and valour; and to thofe Princes who are deprived of their domains, and feek his protection, he allots a firm fettlement. May he, the grandfather of the Ray a, be vi6torious He is the fpiritual guide of his
!

counfellors, and they are his pupils.

Yet

farther,

14. He, by whom the title of Go'mmdyav/3LS conferred on a p erfon who attained the object of his defire; by

whom the realm, fhaken by a man named Eyapadeva y was even made firm and by whom, being the Prince of Mamalambuva, (I fuppofe, Mambei, or Bombay,) fej

curity

3^0

AN INDIAN GRANT OF LAND

me broken -with affliction. How can he was the King, named Sri Virudanca. be otherwife painted ? ( Here fix fyllables are effaced in one of the Grants ; and this verfe is not in the other.)
curity from fear was given to

He

15. His fon was named Bajjadadeva, a gem on the forehead of monarchs, eminently fkilled in morality; whofe deep thoughts all the people, clad in horrid armour, praife even to this day.

16.

(a lion

Then was born his brother, the Prince Aricefari, among his foes,) the belt of good men who, by
;

overthrowing the ftrong mountain of his proud enemies, did the act of a thunder-bolt; having formed great deligns even in his childhood, and having feen the Lord of the Moon ( Mahadeva)flanding before him, he marched by his father's order, attended by his troops, and by valour fubdued the world.

Yet more

17.

Having

raifed

up

his (lain foe

in

on

his

fharpfword,

he

fo affli&ed the

women

the hoftile palaces, that

their forelocks fell difordered, their garlands of bright

flowers dropped from their necks on the vafes of their

bieafts,

and the black

luftre

of their eyes difappeared.

18. A warriour, the plant of whofe fame grows up over the temple of Brahma's Egg, (the univerfe,) from-

the- repeated- watering-of-it - with-the-drops-that-fellfrom-the-eyes-of-the-wives-of-his-ilaughtered-foe.

Afterwards by the multitude of his innate virtues (then

follows a compound word of a hundred and fifty-two
fyllables)

FOUND AT TAXNA.

36!

fyllab!es)the-oYtun2Lte-Aruefa?-i-Dharaja-LGi-d-of.thc-

great-circle-adorned-with-aU-the-company-of-princeswith-Vajrapanjara-ot - whom-men-feek-the-protectionan-elephant's-hook-in-the-forehead-of-the-world-pleafed-with-encreafing-vice-a-Flamingo-bird-in- the -pooldecked -with- flowers-like-thofe-of-paradife-and-\vithAditya-Pandita-chie?-of- the - diftritls - of- the - world* through-the-liberality-of-the-Lord-of-the-Weftern-Seaholder-of-innate-knowledge-who-bears-a-golden-eagleon-hisJlandard-defcended-from-the-ftock-of-ym^tfi/i/jfl/m-king-of-the-race-of-SzVtfr-Sovereign-of-the-city-

of - 7tfg"(2nz-Supreme-ruler-of-exahed-counfellors - affembled-when-extended-fame-had - been - attained (the

monarch thus defcribed) governs-the-whole-region-ofC^c^ntz-confifting-of-fourteen-hiindred-villages-with-and -other -places - comprehended-in-many- diftritts-acquired-by-his-arm. Thus he fupports the burden of thought concerning this domain. The ChiefMinifter sri Vdfapaiya, and the very-religioufly-purified 'sri Vdrdhiyapaiya, being at this time prefent, he* the fortunate Aricefaridevardja^ Sovereign of the Great
cities

Circle, thus addrejfes even

all

who

inhabit-the-city -sr7

Sthdnaca, (or the Manficn of Lacjlimi,) his-own-kinf-

men -and -others-there-afTem bled,

princes-counfellors-

priefts-mini Iters- fuperiors-inferiors-fubj eel- to-his-com-

mands,allbthe-lords^of-diftricts-the-governors-of-townschiefs-of-villages-the-mafters-of -families-employ ed-or-

unemployed-fervants-of-the-King and7^Vcountrymen.

Thus he

greets all-the-holy-men-and-others-inhabiting-

lhe-city-o- Hanyamana

becoming, with
praife
!

all

the

Reverence be to you, as it is marks of refped, falutation, and

:

T A N Z

A.

Wealth
and

is

inconftant

life, placed

deftroyed in an inflant ; ; youth, between the teeth of Critanta, (or Yama,

before mentioned.)

Vol.

I.

Xeverthelefsj

3^2

AN'

INDIAN GRANT OF LAND

Nevertheless, neglecl isjkowii to the felicity of departed anceflors. Oh how aftonifhing are the efforts
!

of men

And thus. Youth is publickly-fwallowed-up-by-thegiantefs Old-Age-admitted-into-its-inner-manfion j and

thebodily-frame-is-equally-obnoxious-to-the-affault-of-

death-of-age-and-the-mifery-bom-with-man-of-feparation-between-united-friends-like-falling-from -heaveninto-the-lower-regions. Riches and life are two things more-moveable than-a-drop of-water-trembling-on-the-

ieaf-of-a-lotos-fhaken-by-the-wind
fidering
this in fecret

and the world

is

like-the-firft delicate-foliage-of-a-plantain-tree.

Con-

ftanding,

and

alfo the fruit

with a firm difpaffionate underof liberal donations mento

tioned by the wife, I called

mind

thefe

STANZAS.
Tretd and Dwdper Ages, great 1. In the Sdtya, but in this Caliyuga, the Muni's piety was celebrated have nothing to commend but liberality.
:

2. Not fo productive of fruit is learning, not fo productive is pietv, as liberality, fay the Muni's, in this And thus was it faid by the Divine Vydja. Call Age.

3. Gold was the firft offspring of Fire ; the Earth is the daughter of Vi/Iinu, and kine are the children of the Sun the three worlds, there/ore, are affuredly given
:

by Him, who makes

a gift of gold, earth,

and

cattle.

4.

Our deceafed
-,

fathers clap their hands, our grand-

fathers exult faying,

"

A donor of land

is

born in our
5-

"

family

he will redeem us."

FOUND AT TAXNA.

363

5. A donation of land to good perfons, for holy pilgrimages, and on the (five) folemn days of the moon, is the mean of patting over the deep boundlefs ocean of the world.

6. White parafols, and elephants mad with pride, (the infignia of royalty,) are the flowers of a grant of

land

:"t.he

fruit is

Indra

in

heaven.

Thus, confirming the declaration of the-ancientJllzm^'i-learned-in-the-dirlinftion-between-juftice-andinjultice, for the fake of benefit to

ther,

my

mother,

my

fa-

and myfelf, on the fifteenth of the bright moon of Cartica, in the middle of the year Pingala, (perhaps of the Serpent, ) when nine hundred and forty years, fave one, are reckoned as pad from the time of King Saca, or
in figures, the vear 939, of the bright moon of Cdrtica 15; (that is, 1708 939 769 years ago from Y. C.

being then full and eclipfed, I -having bathed in the oppofitc fea refembling-the-girdles-round-the-waift-of-thc-female-Earth, tinged-witha-variety-of-ravs-like-many-exceedingly-bright-rubiespe&rU-a nd-other-gems, with-water-whofc-mud-was-become - mafic -through - the-frequent-batbing-of-tbe-fragrant-bofom-of-beautiful-GoddefTes-rifing-up-afterhaving-dived-in-it;-and having offered to the fun, the divine luminary, the-gem-of-one-circle-of-heaven, eyeof-the-three-worlds, Lord-of-the lotos, a difli embel-

1787.)

The'moon

lifhed-with-fiowers-of-various-forts, (this

dim

is

filled

with the plant Darbha, rice in the hufk, different flowers, and fandal.) have granted to him, who has viewed the preceptor of the Gods and of Demons, who has adored the Sovereign Deity, the-hufband-of-J?;^icJ,(or

JDurgdJ has facnhced-caufed-others-to-facrificc,-hasread-caufed-others-to-read-and-has-performed-the-reftof-the-fi x(facerdotal) functions ; who-is-eminently-Pxillful-in-the-whole-buhnefs-of-performing-facrifices.whohasC c 2

364

AN INDIAN GRANT OF LAND

has - held - up - the - root-and-ftalk-of-the-facred-lotos who-inhabits-the-city-SW St'hdnaea, for abode of Fortune, J

defcended from Jamadagni ; who-performs-duewho-diftinctly-knows-therites- in -the -holy-dream branches, (of the Vedas,) the domeftick mvfteriousprieft, the reader, Sri Ticcapaiya, fon of Sri ChcKhintapaiya, the allronomer, for-the-purpofe-of-facrificingcaufing- others -to-facriiice-reading-cauling-others-toread - and - difcharging-the-reft-of-the-fix (facerdotal-) duties, of performing-the (daily fervice of) Vai'swadeva ^vith offerings of nee, milk, and materials of facrifice, and-of-completing-with due-folemnitv the facrifice-offire- of -doing- fuch-acis-as-mufl-continually-be-done, and fuch-as-mufl-occafionally be-performed, of payingdue-honours to guefts and ftrangers, and-of-fupporting his-own-iamily, the village of Chdvinara-R.andmg-a.tthe-extremity of-the-territory of Vatfardja, and the boundaries of which are, to the eaft, the village of
;

a water-fall-from a mountain; to the fouth, the villages of Ndgdmbd and Mi/ldddngarica ; to the weft, the river Sdmbarap allied ; to the north, the

Puagambd, and

villages of

full (diJlriB)

Sdmbive and Cdiiydlaca ; and befides this the of Tdcabald Pallied, the boundaries of

which are to the eait, Siddbali ; to the fouth, the river MoThala ; to the weft, Cdcddeva, Hallap allied, and Bddaviraca ; to the north, Taldvall Pallicd; and alfo the village of Aulaciyd, the boundaries of which (are) to the eaft, Tdddga ; to the fouth, Gdvinij to the weft,
Charted ; to the north, Calibald-yachdli : (that land) thus furveyed-on-the-four-quarters-and limited-to-itsproper-bounds, vith-its-herbage-wood-and-water, and with powcr-of-punilhing-for-the-ten-crimes, except that before given as the portion of Deva, or of Brahma, I have hereby releafed, and limited-by-the-duration-ofthe-fun-the-moon-and-mountains, confirmed-with-theceremony-of adoration,with a copious effufion of water, and with tlie higheft atts-of-worfhirx; and the fame land {hall be enjoyed by his lineal-and-collatcral-heirs, or raufed-to-be-enjoyed. nor mall diiturbance be given by

any

FOUND AT TANNA.
any perfon whatever;
Muni's.
fince
it is

365

thus declared

by

great

STANZAS.
1. The earth is enjoyed by many kings, by Sagar^ and by others: to whomfoever the foil at any time belongs, to him at that time belong the fruits of it.

fpeedy gift is attended with no fatigue; a con2. tinued fupport, with great trouble therefore even the Ri/Jii's declare, that a continuance of fupport is better than a fingle gift.
:

3. Exalted Emperors, of good difpofitions, have given land, as Rdmabhadra advifes, again and again : this is the true bridge of juftice for fovereigns from time to time (O Kings) that bridge mult be repaired by you.
:

which have been granted in former times by fovereigns, given for-thejfake-of-religion-increafe-of-wealth-or-of-fame, are exactly equal to flowers, which have been offered to a what good man would refume^/wcA gifts ? Deity
4.
:

Thofe

pofleffions here belowT ,

Thus, confirming the precepts of ancient Muni's, all future kings muft gather the fruit-of-obferving-religiousduties; and let not the ftain-of-the-crime-of-defiroyingthis-grant be borne henceforth by any-one; fince, whatever prince, being fupplicated, mall, through avarice, having -his- mind-wholly-furrounded-with-the-gloomof-ignorance-contemptuoufly-difmifs-the-injured-fuppliant, he, being guilty of five great and Jive fmall
crimes^

366

AN INDIAN GRANT OF LAND

crimes, mall long in darknefs inhabit Raurava, Mahdraurava, Andha, Tamifra, and the other places of punifhment. And thus it is declared by the divine Vycija :

STANZAS.
1.

He who

feizes land, given-by-himfelf, or

by-ano-

ther, (fovereign,) will

rot

among worms,

himfelf a

worm,

in the midft of ordure.

2.

They who
forefts

feize granted-land, are

born again,

living with great

fear

in dry cavities of trees in the

unwatered

on the Vinddhian (mountains.)

3.

By

feizing one cow, one vefture, or even one nail's

breadth of ground, a king continues in hell till an univerfal destruction of the world has happened.

4.

By

(a gift of) a

thoufand gardens, and by (a

is

gift of)

a hundred pools of water, by (giving) a hundred

lac

of

oxen, a difieifor of (granted) land

offence.

not cleared from

5.

A grantor of land remains in heaven fixty thoufand

years; a difieifor, and he who refufes to do juftice, continues as many (years) in hell.

And, agreeably to this, in what is written by the hand of the Secretary, (trie King) having ordered it,
as it is written by the of the Great Circle, the command of me, Sovereign fortunate Aricefari Devardja^ fon of the Sovereign of the Great Circle, the Fortunate, Invincible, Divaraja.

declares his

own

intention

And

FOUND AT TANNA,

367

And
by me

this is written,

by order of the Fortunate King,

:

Jo'-uba,

the brother's-fon-of sri Ndgalaiva-ihz-

engravedgreat-Bard,-dwelling-in the royal palace on-plates-of- copper by Vedapaiy^s fon Mdna Dhdra
Paiya.

Thus

(it

ends.)

Whatever herein (may

be) defective in-one-fyllable,

or have-one-fy liable-redundant, all thatis(neverthelefs) Thus (ends the complete evidence (of the grant.) whole,)

TO

$58

COl'Y OF

A LETTER, &C.

TO THE PRESIDENT.
DEAR
I
SIR,

DO myfelf the honour to fend you a few Remarks on

Tagara, and beg leave to fubmit them to your Judgment. Inquiries of that kind are generally very dry; and unluckily I have no talent for amplification. I have collected all I could find in the ancient authors, and endeavoured, by bringing the whole together, to elucidate a fubject which muft be interefting to the AJiatick Society ; and this, I hope, will fecure me their indulgence, I have been as fparing as poffible of Greek however, I have I am not fond of them quotations ventured a few, which I thought absolutely neceffary.
:

With

refpect. to the hifiorical part,

you

will find, I
:

am

not converfant with the Hindu Antiquities have no time to ftudy languages.

indeed, I

am,

DEAR

SIR,

Your moft obedient humble

Servant,

F.

WILFORD.

Rujfahugla:) June 10, 1787.

REMARKS

REMARKS ON THE CITY OF TACARA.

36*9

REMARKS
ON THE

CITY OF TAGARA.
By
Lieut.

FRANCIS WILFORD.

THEexpedition of Alexander having rmdethe Greeks

acquainted with the riches of India, they foon difcovered the way by fea into that country; and, having entered into a commercial correfpondence with the natives, they found it fo beneficial, that they attempted a trade hither.

Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, in order to render the means eafy to merchants, lent one Dionyfius into the fouthern parts of India, to inquire into the nature of that country, its produce and manufactures.

was then Tagara began about 2050 years ago.

It

to be

known

to the Greeks,

Maris Erythrcei, fays it was a produce of the country, at that early period, confifted chiefly of coarfe Dungarees^ (Othonium vulgare,) of which vaft quantities were exported ; muflins of all forts, (Sindones omnis generis;) and a kind of cotton fluff, dyed of a whitifh purple, and very much of the colour of the flowers of mallows,
Arrian,
in his Periplus

large city,

and

that the

whence

called Molochyna.

All kinds of mercantile goods throughout the Deccan were brought to Tagara, and from thence conveved on carts to Baroach, (Barygaza.)

Arrian

3J0

REMARKS

ON'

THE

Arrian informs us, that Tagara was about ten days journey to the eaftward of another famous mart, called
Plithana, or Pluthana.

That Pluthana was twenty fouthward of liaroaclu Alfo,

days journey to the

That

the road was through the Bala-gaut mountains.

And here we mult obferve, that the Latin tranflation of the Periplus * by Sluckius is very inaccurate, and often erroneous; as in the following paffage, where Arrian, fpeaking of Tagara, fays
"
K-araysToa,
<3e

z'

avruy 7ropaaf

cx.y.cifcw y.cci cwodiocu;

jiae-

yt;cci;

nj

T*ji>

Rugvyx^av."
tranfiates thus

which Stuckius
*6

Ex
u

his

autem emporiis, per

loca invia

et difficillima^

res

Barygazam

plauftris convehuntur"

But
t{

it

mould

be,
afcenfus, res

Ex

his

autem emporiis, per maximos

" Barygazam dcorfum feruntur"

KccTuya fignifies deorfumferre, (to bring down,) not
convehere.

ihouldbetranflated^r maximos afcenfus. an afcent, a road ovet hills ; and this meaning is plainly pointed out by the words mxraytroa and y.zyircciS.
Avhoci ptytfcu

Avowee, 01 avoJoc, in this place, fignifies

In

* Geographic

veteris Scriptores

Graci minores.

Vol.

X,

CITY OF TAGARA.

%*]

In fhort, uvoSicci (^yirxi is the true tranflation of the Hindoo word Bala-gaut, the name of the mountains through which the goods from Tagara to Baroach ufed to be conveyed.

This paflage
fixes the times

in

Arrian

when

is the niore interefting, as it the Bala-gaut Mountains were nrft

heard of in Europe.

The bearing from Tagara to Pluthana is exprefsly mentioned by Arrian, (sr^og avciToXnv,) but is left out by
Stuckius.

Pluthana is an important point to be fettled, as gulates the fituation of Tagara.

it

re-

It (till exifts, and goes nearly by the fame name, It is fituated on being called to this day Pultanah. the fouthern bank of the Godavery, about 217 Britifh miles to the fouthward of Baroach.

Thefe 217 miles being divided by twenty, the number of days travellers were between Pultanah and Baroach, according to Arrian, give nearly eleven miles per day, or five cofs, which is the ufual rate of travelling with heavy loaded carts.

The onyx, and

in the

feveral other precious ftones, are

ftill

neighbourhood of Pultanah, as related by found being wafhed down by torrents from the hills Arrian;
during the rains, according to Pliny.

Arrian informs us, that the famous town of Tagara was about ten days journey to the eaftward of Pultanah.

According

%~Z

REMARKS ON THE

According to the above proportion, thefe ten days Cor fomewhat lefs*) are equal to about 100 Britifh utiles ; and confequently Tagara, by its bearing and diftance from Pultanah, falls at Deoghir, a place of great antiquity, and famous through all India, on account of It is now called Doulet-abad, the Pagodas of Eloura. and about four cofs N. W. of Aurungabad.
rather

Ptolemy agrees very well with Arrian, with refpeel to and bearings, if we admit that he has miftaken Ba'vhana, or Paithana, for Plithana ; and this, I am pretty fure, is really the cafe, and may be eafily accounted for, as there is very little difference between IIAI0ANA and IIAI0ANA in the Greek character.
diftances

Paithana,

now

Pattan,~f or Puttan,

is

about half way

between Tagara and Plithana.

According

to Ptolemy,

ated to the northward of the

Bynda
Ptolemy

river,)
is

Tagara and Pattan were fituBaund-Ganga, (Binda or commonly called Goddvery ; and here

very right.

ward of the Goddvery

In M. Bitjfys marches, Pattan is placed to the fouth; but it is a miftake.

It appears from Arrian''s Pcriplus, that, on the arrival of the Greeks into the Deccan, above 2000 years ago, Tagara was the metropolis of a large diftrict called Ariaca, which comprehended the greateft part of Subah Auruvgabad, and the fouthern part of Concan ; for the

the

northern part of that diftricl, including Damaun Callian, I (land of Sal/et, Bombay, Sec. belonged to the Rajah

of

fls r'/xfji

$Lx

quasi dies decern.

f Patina Tab. Pcutinger.

Patinna

Anonym. Ravenn.

CITY OF TAGARA.

3J3

of Larikek, or Lar, according to Arrian and Ebn Said al Magrebi.

It is neceffary to obferve here, that, though the author of the Periplus is fuppofed to have lived about the year 160 of the prefent era, yet the materials he made ufe of in compiling his directory are far more ancient; for, in fpeaking of Tagara, he fays that the Greeks were prohibited from landing at Cattish, and other harbours

on

that

coaft.

Now

it is

well

known

that, after the

conqueft of Egypt, the Romans had monopolized the whole trade to India, and would allow no foreigners to enter the Red Sea; and consequently this paflage has reference to an earlier period, previous to the conqueft of Egypt by the Romans.

About the middle of the firft century, Tagara was no longer the capital of Ariaca, Rajah Salbahan having removed the feat of the empire to Pattan.
Ptolemy informs us, that Paithana, or Pattan, had been the refidence of a prince of that country, whofe name the Greeks have ftrangelv disfigured we find it varioufly fpelt, in different MSS. of Ptolemy, SiripolemamS) Siropolemceus, Siroptole?nccus, &c.
:

Yet. when we confider that, whenever Paitan is mentioned by the Hindoos, they generally add, it was the refidence of Rajah Salbahan,* who, in the dialect of the Deccan, is called Salivanam, or Salibanam, I cannot help thinking that the Greeks have disfigured this

word Salibanam into Saripalam, from which they have made Siripolemceus, Siropolemceus, &c.
laft

parts of the

Bickermajii ruled for fome time over the northern Deccan ; but the Rajahs, headed by Salbahan, having

Making

use of the verv words of Ptolemv.

374

REMARKS

ON'

THE
battle,

having revolted, they gave him

Tagara became again

it

the metropolis of

and he was flain. Ariaca ; at leaft

was

fo

towards the

latter

end of the eleventh century,

as appears from a grant of foine lands in Concern, made by a Rajah of Tagara : this grant (till exifts, and was

communicated
nac.

to the Afiatick Society

by General Car-

"When the Mujfulmans carried their arms into the Deccau about the year 1293, Tagara, or Deoghir, was flill the relidence of a powerful Rajah, and remained fo
till

to

when the diftricl belonging became a Subah of the Mogul Empire. Then Tagara was deferted; and Kerkhi, four cofs to the fouth-eaft of it, became the capital. This place is now
the time of Shah- Jehan,
it

called Aurungabad.

Thus was deftroyed the ancient kingdom or Rajajliip of Tagara, after it had exiftcd with little interruption above 2000 years ; that is to fay, as far as we can trace back its antiquity.
It

may appear

aftonifhing, that though the

Rajah of

Tagara was
yet
all

pofTefled of a large trad

on

the fea-coafl,

trade was carried on by land.

it

Formerlv

was not

fo.

On

the arrival of the Greeks

into the Deccan, goods were brought to Callian, near Bombay, and then fhipped off. However, a Rajah of

Larikeh,OY Lar, called Saadanes, according to Arrian,

would no longer allow

coaft, except

the Greeks to trade either at Callian, or at the harbours belonging to him on that

Baroach ; and whenever any of them were or in the neighbourhood, they were confined, and lent to Baroach under a ftrong guard. Arnan, beinu, a Greek himielf, has not thought proper to inform us what could induce the Rajah to behave in

found

at Callian,

this

manner

to the Greeks

but his filence

is

a convinc-

ing

city of tAgara.

375

ing proof that they had behaved amifs; and it is likely enough, that they had attempted to make a fettlement in the Ifland of SalJ'et, in order to make themlelvcs independent, and facilitate their conquefls into the Dcccan.

The fears of the Rajah were not groundiefs ; for the Greek kings of Bactriana were polleffed of the Punjah 9
Cabul,

&c.

in the

North of India.

There were other harbours, to the fouth of Callian, belonging to the Rajah of Tagara, but thev were not frequented on account of pirates, who, according to Pliny, Arrian, and Ptolemy, infeited thefe countries in the very fame manner thev do now.

ON

37^

ON THE PANGOLIN, &C.

XX.

On

the

PANGOLIN
BY

of

BAHAR,
Esq.

MATTHEW
*"

LESLIE,

I
-*-

"HE
the

fingular animal which

name of Pangolin,

is

M. Buffon defcribes by well known in Europe

fince the publication of his Natural Hittory, and Goldsmith's elegant Abridgment of it; but, if the figure exhibited by Buffon was accurately delineated from the three animals, the fpoils of which he had examined,

from Caracdiah

confider that which has been lately brought to Chitra, and fent thence to the Preiidency, as a remarkable variety, if not a different fpecics, of the Pangolin. Ours has hardly any neck ;

we mud

and, though fome filaments are difcernible between the fcales, they can fcarce be called briftles. But the principal difference is in the tail ; that of Buffon's animal being long, and tapering almoft to a point; while that of ours is much fhorter, ends obtufely, and refembles, in form and flexibility, the tail of a lobfter. In other refpecfs, as far as we can judge from the dead fubject, it has all the characters of Buffon's Pangolin ; a name derived from that by which the animal is diftinguifhed in Java, and confequently preferable to Manis, or Pholiddtus, or any other appellation deduced from an European language. As to thefcaly lizard, the fcaled armadillo, and the five-nailed ant-eater, they are manifcltly improper defignations of this animal ; which is neither a lizard, nor an armadillo, in the common acceptation ; and, though it be an ant-eater, yet it effentially differs

from the hairy quadruped ufually known by

that general clcfcription.

We

are told that the

Malabar

name of
call
it

animal is Akingu. The natives of Bahar Bajar-at 3 or, as they explain the word, Jlonevermine ;
this

ON"

THE PANGOLIN', &ZC

377

vermine ; and in the ftomach of the animal before us was found about a teacupful of fmall (tones, which had probably been fwallowed for the purpofe of facilitating digeftion
:

but the
;

name

alludes,

believe, to

means, in SanJirit, the diamond or thunderbolt reptile ; and Vajra is a common figure in the Indian poetry for any thing exceflively hard. The Vajraciia is believed by the Pandits to be the animal which gnaws their facred /lone, -called Sdlgrdma's'ild ; but the pangolin has apparently no teeth and the Sdlgrdms, many of which look as if they had beeu worm-eaten, are perhaps only decayed in part by expofure to the air.
for Vajraci'ta
;

the hardnefs of the fcales

This animal had a long tongue, fhaped like that of cameleon; and if it was nearly adult, as we may conclude from the young one found in it, the dimenfions of it were much lefs than thofe which Buffon alfigns

generally to his pa ngoli n; for he defcribes its length as fix, feven, or eight feet, including the tail, which is almoft, he fays, as long as the body, when it has attained its full growth ; whereas ours is but thirty-four inches long, from the extremity of the tail to the point of the fnout, and the length of the tail is fourteen inches; but, exclufively of the head, which is five inches long, the tail and body are, indeed, nearly of the fame length ; and the fmall difference between them may (how, if Bvjfoii be correct in this point, that the animal

was young.
twelve.

The circumference of
and

its

body

in the

thickeft partis twenty inches,

that of the tail

only

We
it

cannot venture to fay more of

this

extraordinary

creature, which feems to constitute the fidt ftep from the quadruped to the reptile, until we have examined
alive,

and obfcrved
it is

its

different inRincts
in the

are affured that

common

Vol.

I.

; but as wc country round Khan pur f

378

ON THE PANGOLIN, &C.

Khdnpur, and at Chatigdm, where the native Mufelmans call it the land-carp, we (hall poflibly be able to give, on fome future occafion, a fuller account of it. There are in our Indian provinces many animals, and
of medicinal plants, which have either not been defcribed at all, or, what is worfe, ill defcribed, by the naturalifts of Europe and, to procure perfect defcriptions of them from aclual examination, with accounts of their feveral ufes in medicine, diet, or manufactures, appears to be one of the moll important objects of our inftitutiou.

many hundreds

XXI,

inscriptions, Sec.

379

XXI.

INSCRIPTIONS
ON THE

STAFF OF FIRUZ SHAH.

TRANSLATED FROM THE SANSCRIT.
As explained
by

RADHACANTA SARMAN.
monument
is

near Dehli, an outhere exhibited, and which the natives call the Staff of Firuz Shah, are feveral old Infcriptions, partly in ancient Nagari letters, and partly in a character yet unknown ; and Lieutenant Colonel
line

ON

a very lingular

of which

Poller, having procured

fcriptions.

exact, impreflions of them, prefents the Society with an accurate copy of all the In-

Five of them are in Sanfcrit, and, for the moft part, intelligible ;*but it will require great attention and leifure to decypher the others. If the language be Sanfcrit, the powers of the unknown letters may, perhaps, hereafter be discovered by the ufual mode of decyphering; and that mode, carefully applied, even at firft, may lead to a difcovery of the language. In the mean time, a literal verfion of the legible Inscriptions is laid before you. They are, on the whole, clear; but the fenfe of one or two paffage* fufficiently
is at

prefent inexplicable.
I.

firft, on the fouthweft fide of the pillar, is perdetached from the reft it is about Seventeen feet from the bafe, and two feet higher than the other

The

fectly

inferiptions,

D dz

O'M-

INSCRIPTION'S

ON

O'M.
In the year 1230, on the firft day of the bright half of the month Vaifdh'ch (a monument) of the FortunateVifala-Deva-fon of the-F ortunate- Ami 11a- Dev a, -Kin <*oi-Sacamhari.
II.

The next, which is engraved as a fpecimen of the characler, confifts of two ftanzas in four lines ; but each hemiftich is imperfect at the end, the two firit
wanting [even, and the two laft five, fyllables. The word Sacambharl in the former infeription, enables us to fupply the clofe of the third hemiftich.

O'M.
As far as Vindhya, as far as Himddri, (the Mountain of Snow,) he was not deficient in celebrity making Arydvtrta (the Land of Virtue, or India) even He having once more what, its name fignifies departed, Frativdhamdna Tilaca (is) king of Sdcambn : (Sac am only remains on the monument.) By us ("the region between) Himawat and Vindhya has been

made

tributary.

In the year from Sri Vicramddilya 123, in the bright month Vaijactih at that time the Rdjapntra Sri Sallaca was Prime Minifteii
half of the

The

fee ond ftanza, fupplicd partly

feription,

from the laft and partly by conjecture, will run thus :

in-

prativdhamana tilacah s dcambharihlmpatih afmabhih earn dam vyadhayi himawadvindhydiavimandalam

vrittefa

The

o
CO

<S^

yz Ingr f
' -

ltot

=:
MB

'A

Co)

fe>

65
?

on
[*

pil

JS K PC
2AST
iF^)

if

^ %
rvg)

<o>^P

@,3sJJ

o
&
(/*
t^*
5

Ry

'$?

OF FIKUZ SHAH.

123 is here perfectly clear; at leaft it is thru figures are written, without even room for a cypher after them; whence we mav guefs that the double circle in the former only an ornament, or the neutral termination am ; if fo, the date of both is the year of Christ en : but if the double circle be a zero, the monument of Vijala Diva is as modern as the year 1174, or years before the conqueft of Dchli by '.n.
date
clear that only
:

The

III. and IV.

The two next Infcriptions were in the fame but the ftanzas, which in the fourth are extremely mutilated, are tolerably perfect in the third, wanting only a few fyllables at the beginning of the hemiftichs
yah cfhivefhu praharta nripatifhu vinaraatcandharefli
1

prafannah vahsambipurindrahjagati vijavate vifalacfhonipalah ... da fajnva efha vijayi iantanajanatmajah punan cfhemaftu bruvatamudyogas unyanmanah . .

He, who is refentful to kings intoxicated with pride, indulgent to thofe whofe necks are humbied, an Indra in the city of Caufdmbi, (I fufpect Caufambi.a city near Hajlindpur, to be the true reading.) who is victorious in the world, Visala. fovereign of the earth; he gives .... his commands being obeyed, he is a conqueror, the fon of Santdnajdna, whole mind, when his foes fay, i; Let there be mercy," is free from further hoflility.

This infcription was engraved, in the prefence of Sr) Talaca Rha^ by j ihe fon oi :, a ji'ha. of a family in Gaudaz or Bengal.

V. The

382

INSCRIPTIONS, c&C.

V.

The fifth feems to be an elegy on the death of a king named Vigraha, who is reprefented as only (lumThe laft hemiftich is hardly legible, and very bering.
obfcure; but the fenfe of both ftanzas appears to be
this.

O'M.
1.

An

offence to the eyes of (thy) enemy's confort

(thou) by-whom-fortune-was-given-to-every fuppliant, thy fame, joined to extenfive dominion, fhines, as we defire, before us: the heart of (thy) foes was vacant, even as a path in a defert, where men are hindered fortunate Vigraha Rdjadeva 3 in the from paffing, occafioned by thy march, jubilee

Vigraha, fovereign of the thy abode, be fixed, as in reafon, (it ought,) in the bofoms, world, embelljlhed with Love's allurements, and full of dignity, of the women with beautiful eyebrows, who were Whether thou art I?idra 9 or married to thy enemies thy foes or Siva, there is even no deciding Vijhnu, why dolt thou fallen, like defcending water. Oh (are) through delufion continue fleeping ?
2.
!
: !

May

XXII.

A CONVERSATION, &C.

383

XXII.
A

CONVERSATION
WITH

ABRAM,
City

an ABYSSINIAN,
Sources of the Nile.

CONCERNING THE

o/"Gwender and
By
the

the

PRESIDENT.

informed that a native of Abyjfinia was in Calcutta, who fpoke Arabick with tolerable fluency, I fent for and examined him attentively on feveral fubjects with which he feemed likely to be acquainted. His anfwers were fo fimple and precife, and his whole demeanor fo remote from any fufpicion of falfehood, that I made a minute of his examination, which may not perhaps be unacceptable to the Society. Gwender, which Bcrnier had long ago pronounced a capital city, though Ludolf afferted it to be only a military Jlation, and conjectured, that in a few years it would wholly difappear, is certainly, according to Abram, the Metropolis of AbyJJinia. He fays, that it is nearly as large and as populous as Mifr, or Kdhcra, which he faw on his pilgrimage to Jenifalem ; that it lies between two broad and deep rivers, named Caka and Ancrib, both which flow into the Nile at the distance of about fifteen days journey; that all the walls of the houfes are of a red flone, and the roofs of thatch; that the ftreets are like thofe of Calcutta, but that the ways by which the king paffes are very fpacious; that the palace, which has a plaftered roof, refembles a fortrefs, and ftands in the heart of the city; that the markets of the town abound in pulfe, and have
alio

HAVING been

384
alfo

A CONVERSATION WITH

wheat and barley, but no rice ; that fheep and goats are in plenty among them, and that the inhabitants are extremely fond of milk, cheefe, and whey; but that the country people and foldiery make no fcruple of drinking the blood, and eating the raw flefh, of an ox, which they cut without caring whether he is dead or alive; that this favage diet is, however, by no means Almonds, he fays, and dates, are not found general. his country; but grapes and peaches ripen there; in and in fome of the diftant provinces, efpecially at Carudar, wine is made in abundance; but a kind of mead is the common inebriating liquor of the AbyJJiThe late King was Tilca Maluit, (the nrft of nians. wocds means root or origin ;) and the prefent which
his

brother,

Tilca Jerjis.

He

reprefents the royal

forces at Gwender as confiderable ; and afTerts, per-' haps at random, that near forty thoufand horfe are on
that
ftation.

The

troops are armed, he fays, with

mufkets, lances,
forty

bows and arrows, cimeters, and hangers. of ftate confifts, by his account, of about The council
Minifters,
to

part of government

almoit all the executive committed. He was once in the fervice of a Vazir, in whofe train he went to fee the fountains of the Nile or Abey, ufually called Alawy, He faw about eight days journey from Gzoender. one of which rifes from the ground with three fprings, a crreat noife, that may be heard at the diftance of five I fhowed him the defcription of the Nile or fix miles. of Amhara, which Ludolf has printed-in by Gregory He both read and explained it with great Ethiopick. whillt I compared his explanation with the facility; Latin verfion, and found it perfectly exact. He afferted of his own accoid,that the defcription was conformable to all that he had feen and heaid in Ethiopia; and When I interrogated him for that reafon I annex it. languages and learning of his country, he anon the fwcred, that fix or feven tongues at leaft were fpoken there; that the mod elegant idiom, which the King
is

whom

ufed, was the Ambarick ; that the Ethiopick contained, as it is well known, many Arabick words; that, bcfides
their

ABRAM, AN ABYSSINIAN.

385

their facred books, as the Prophecy of Enoch, and others, they had Hiftories of Abyjfinia, and various literary compofitions ; that their language was taught
in fchools

and colleges, of which there were feveral in

He faid, that no AbyJJinian doubted the Metropolis. the exiftence of the royal prifon called Wahininfiiuaied
on
a very lofty mountain, in which the fons

and daugh-

of their Kings were confined ; but that, from the nature of the thing, a particular defcription of it could not be obtained. " All thefe matters (faid he) are ex" plained, I fuppofe, in the writings of Yakub, whom <; He was a I faw thirteen years ago in Gwender. " phyfician, and had attended the King's brother, who <; was alfo a Vazir, in his laft illnefs. The prince died; " yet the King loved Yakub ; and, indeed, all the court " and people loved him. The King received him in " his palace as a gueft, (upplied h'im with every thing " that he could want ; and, when he went to fee the " fources of the Nik, and other curiofities, (for he was " extreme!} curious, )he received everypoflibleaffiftance " and accommodation from the royal favour. He un" derfto' d the languages, and wrote and collected many " books, which he carried with him," It was impoflible for me to doubt (efpecially when he defcribed the perfon of Yakub) that he meant James Bruce, Efq. who travelled in thedrefsofa Syrian phyfician, and probably affumed with judgment a name well known in AbyJJinia, He is ftill revered on Mount Sinai for his fagacity in difcovcring a fpring, of which the Monaftery was in He was known at Jedda by Mir Mohamgreat need. med Ilu/j'ain, one of the moil intelligent Mahomedans in India ; and I have feen him mentioned with great regard in a letter from an Arabian merchant at Mokha. It is probable that he entered AbyJJinia by the way of Mufuwwa, a town in the poffeffion of the Mufelmans, and returned
ters

through the delert mentioned by Gregory in

tion of the Nile.

his defcrip-

We
3

may hope

that

Mr. Bruce

will

publilh an account of his interefting travels, with a yernon of the Book of Enoch, which no man but himfelf

386

A CONVERSATION,

ScC,

felf can give us with fidelity. By the help of AbyJJinian records, great light may be thrown on the Hiftory of Yemen before the time of Muhammed ; fince it is generally known that four Ethiop kings fucceffively reigned

in that country, having been invited over by the natives

to oppofe the tyrant Dhn Nazuas ; and thajt they were, in their turn, expelled by the arms of tKe Himyarick Princes, with the aid of Anujliirvan, king of Perfia^ did not fail, as it ufually happens, to keep in fubjection the people whom he had corifented to relieve.

who

If the annals of this period can be reftored, it muft be through the hiftories of Abyjfinia, Which will alfo correct, the many errors of the beft Afiatick writers on the Nile, and the countries which it fertilizes.

ON

ON THE COURSE OF THE NILE.

387

On
"*

the

COURSE

of the NILE.
know by
the

TTHE Nile, which the Abyjfmians

feveral fprings
at

names

of Abev, and Alawy, or the Giant, gullies from

higheft part of Dengald, near

a place called Sucut, lying on the Gojjdm, to the weft of Bajemdir, and the lake of Dara or Wed, into which it runs with fo ftrong and rapid a current, that it mixes not with the other waters, but rides or fwims, as it were, above them.
Abyjfinia, and defcend in dreams and rivers, fmall and great, except the Handzo, which wafhes the plains of Hengot, and the Haw dpi, which flows by Dewdr and

All the rains that

fall in
all

torrents from the hills,

vaflals, attend his

Fetgdr, are collected by this king of waters, and, like march. Thus enforced, he rufhes,

like a hero exulting in his ftrength,

tilize the

and haftens to

fer-

land of Egypt, on which no

ram

falls.

We

alfo thole Eihiopian rivers which rife in countries bordering on the ocean, as the kingdoms of Cambdt, Gurdjy, Wdfy, Ndriyah, Gdfy, Wej, and Zinjiro, whofe waters are difembogued into the fea.

muft except

When the Alawy has pafTed the Lake, it proceeds between Gojjdm and Bajemdir, and leaving them to the weft and ealt, purfues a dire 8; courfe towards Amhdrd, the (kirts of which it bathes, and then turns again to the weft, touching the borders of Walaka ; whence it rolls along Mugdr and Shawai, and palling Bazdzvd and Gongd, defcends into the low lands of Shankila, the thus it forms a fort of fpiral country of the Blacks round the province of Gojjdm, which it keeps for the molt part on its right.
:

Here

388

ON THE COURSE Of THE NILE.

it

bends a little to the eaft, from which quarter, reaches the diftri&s of Senndr, it receives two large rivers ; one called Tacazzy, which runs from
before
it

Here

Tegri ; and the other, Gwangue, which comes from Dembeid.

After it has vifited Senndr, it waffles the land of Dongold, and proceeds thence to Nubia, where it again turns eaftward, and reaches a country named Abrim, where no veffels can be navigated, by reafon of the The inrocks and crags which obftrucl the channel. habitants of Senndr and Nubia may conftantly drink of its water, which lies to the eaft of them like a ftrong bulwark ; but the merchants of AbyJJinia, who travel to Egypt, leave the Nile on their right, as foon as they have pa{Ted Nubia, and are obliged to traverfe a defert of fand and gravel, in which for fifteen days they find neither wood nor water. They meet it again in the country of Reif, or Upper Egypt, where they find boats on the river, or ride on its banks, refrefhing themfclvcs with its falutary dreams.
It is afTerted by fome travellers, that, when the Alazvy has paffed Senndr and Dongold, but before it enters Nubia, it divides itfelf ; that the great body of water Hows entire into Egypt, where the fmaller branch (the Niger) runs weftward, not fo as to reach Barbary, but towards the country of Alwdh, whence it rufhes into the Great Sea. The truth of this fact. I have verified, partly by my own obfervations, and partly by my inquiries among intelligent men ; whofe anfwers feemed the more credible, becaufe, if fo prodigious a mafs of water were to roll over Egypt with all its wintry increafe, not the land only, but the houfes and towns, of the

Egyptians muft be overflowed.

XXIII.

TRIAL BY ORDEAL.

389

XXIII.

OX THE

TRIAL

by
A MONO
I

ORDEAL

HINDUS.
By A'LI IBRA'HI'M KHA'X,
CHIEF MAGISTRATE AT BANARES.
Co?:.

tied by

WARREN
are

HASTINGS,

Efq.

THE modes of Deity, which

J/iera, or

trying offenders by an appeal to the

defcnbed

at large in the

Mitdc-

Comment on

the

Dhenma

Sa/lra, in the Chapter

of Oaths, and other ancient books of Hindu Law, are here fufficiently explained, according to the interpretation of learned Pandits, by the well-wiiher to mankind,
A'li

Ibrahim Khan.
in Sanfcrii, Ggnifies the
in Bhaflia,

The word Divya,

Paric/Jid, or

fame with

Pankhyd,

Kafam

in Arabick,

and Saucand

in Perfian ; that is, an oath ; or the form of invoking the Supreme Being to atteft the truth of an allegation ; but it is generally underftood to mean the trial by ordeal, or the form of appealing to tht immediate interpofition of the Divine Power.

Now this trial may be conducted in nine ways. Firft, by the balance; fecondlv, by fire; thirdly, by water; fourthly, by poifon ; fifthly, by the Cqflia, or water in which an idol has been warned; fixthly, by rice; feventhly, by boiling oil; eighthly, by red-hot iron; ninthly, by images. I. Ordeal

0,3
I.

ON THE TRIAL

Ordeal by the balance is thus performed. The beam having been previoufly adj lifted, the cord fixed, and both fcales made perfectly even, the perfon accufed and a Pandit faft a whole day; then, after the accufed has been bathed in facred water, the kdma, or oblation, prefented to fire, and the deities worfhipped, he is carefully weighed; and, when he is taken out of the fcale, the Pandits proftrate themfelves before it, pronounce a
certain mentra, or incantation, agreeably to the Sdfiras, and, having written the fubftanceof the accufation on a

Six minutes after piece of paper, bind it on his head. they place him again in the fcale; and if he weigh more than before, he is held guilty; if lefs, innocent: if exactly the fame, he muft be weighed a third time; when,
as
it is

a difference in his weight.

well fixed,

written in the Mitdc/Jierd, there will certainly be Should the balance, though

break down,

this

would be confidered

as a

proof of
II
.

his guilt.

For the fire-ordeal an excavation, nine hands long, fpans broad, and one fpan deep, is made in the two ground, and filled with a fire of pippal wood : into this
the perfon accufed muft walk barefooted
; ;

foot be unhurt, they hold

guilty.

him blamelefs

if

and if his burned,

III. Water-ordeal h performed by caufing the perfon accufed to (land in a fufficient depth of water, either flowing or ftagnant, to reach his navel; but care fhould be taken that no ravenous animal be in it, and that it be not moved by much air. A Brahman is then directed to go into the water, holding a ftafF in his hand and a foldier fhoots three arrows on dry ground from a bow of cane. A man is next difpatched to bring the arrow which has been fhot farthelt; and, after he has taken it up, another is ordered to run from the edge of the water; at which inftant the perfon accufed is told to grafp the foot or the ftafF of the Brahman, who ftands near him in the water, and immediately to dive into it.

He

BY ORDEAL.

gl

muft remain under water till the two men who went to fetch the arrows are returned; for if he raife his head or body above the furface before the arrows are brought
back, his guilt is confidered as fully proved. In the village near Bandres, it is the practice for the perfon, who is to be tried by this kind of ordeal, to (land in water up to his navel, and then, holding the foot of a Brahman, to dive under it as long as a man can walk If before the man has walked fifty paces very gently. thus far the accufed rife above the water, he is con-

He

demned;

if

not, acquitted.

IV. There are two forts of trial by poifon. Firft, the Pandits having performed their hdma, and the perfon accufed his ablation, two rettis and a half, or {cvtn barley-corns, of vifhandga, a poifonous root, or ot fanc'hyd, (that is, white arfenick,) are mixed in eight ma/fia's, or fixty-four retti's, of clarified butter, which the accufed mult eat from the hand of a Brahman. If the poifon produce no vifible effect, he is abfolved otherwife, condemned. Secondly, the hooded fnake, called ndga, is thrown into a deep earthen pot, into which is dropped a ring, a feal, or a coin. This the perfon accufed is ordered to take out with his hand; and if the ferpent bite him, he is pronounced guilty; if not, innocent.

V. Trial by

the CdJJia

is

as follows:

The accufed

is

made

which the images of the Sun, of Devi, and other Deities, have been waffled for that purpofe ; and if within fourteen days he has any ficknefs or indifpofition, his crime is
to drink three draughts of the water in

confidered as proved.

VI. When feveral perfons are fufpected of theft, fome dry rice is weighed with the facred (tone called fdlgrdm ; or certain /Ideas are read over it; after which the fufpe&ed perfons are fevcrally ordered to chew a
quantity

392
quantity of it
to throw
it
:

ON THE TRIAL

as foon as they have chewed it, they are on fome leaves of pippal, or, if none be at hand, on fome bliurja patra, or bark of a tree from Nepal or Qajhmir. The man from whofe mouth the rice comes dry, or flamed with blood, is holden guilty ;

the reft are acquitted.

VII. The ordeal by hot oil is very fimple when it is heated fufficiently, the accufed thrufts his hand into it; and if he be not burned, is held innocent.
:

VI J I.

In the fame manner they

make an

iron ball, or

the head of a lance, red hot, and place it in the hands of the perfon accufed; who, if it burn him not, is judged
guiltlefs.

X To perform the ordeal by dharmdrch, which is the

.

either

the Jloca appropriated to this mode of trial, an image, named Dharma, or the Genius of Juftice, is made of filver, and another, called Adharma, of clay or iron, both of which arc thrown into a large earthen jar j and the accufed, having thruft his hand into it, is acquitted if he bring out the filver image, but condemned if he draw forth the iron. Or the figure of a deity is painted on white cloth, and another on black ; the firft of which they name Dharma, and the fecond,

name of

Thefe are feverally rolled up in cow-dung, and thrown into a large jar, without having ever been fhown to the accufed ; who muft put his hand into the jar, and is acquitted or convi&ed, as he draws out the figure on white or on black cloth.

Adharma.

It

is

that each

written in the comment, on the Dherma So/lra, of the four principal cafts has a fort of ordeal

appropriated

BY ORDEAL.
appropriated to
it; that a

393

Brahman muft be tried by the by fire, a Vaifya by water, and a Siidra by poifon: but fome have decided that any ordeal, except that by poifon, may be performed by a Brahman^ and that a man of any cart may be tried by the balance. It has been determined, that a woman may have any trial,, except thofe by poifon and by water.
balance, a CJJiatriya

Certain months and days alfo are limited in the Mitdc/Jierd for the different fpecies of ordeal ; as Agra-

Mdgh, Fhdlgun, Srdwan, and Bliddr, for by fire ; Afwin, Cdrtic, Jai/lit, and A'Jliadh, for that by -water ; PaufJi, Mdgh, and Fhdlgun, for that by poifon ; and regularly there mould be no water-ordeal on
han, Pau/Ji,
that

the Afiemi, or eighth

the Cheturdasi, or fourteenth

day of the new or full moon, in the intercalary month, in the month of B'hddar ; on Sanaifcher, or Saturday s and on Mangal, or Tuefday : but, whenever the magif~
trate decides that there mail be

appointment of months and

garded.

an ordeal, the regular days needs not be re-

MitdcfJierd contains alfo the following diftincIn cafes of theft or fraud to the amount of a hundred gold mohrs, the trial by poifon is proper; if eighty mohrs be ftolen, the fufpected perfon may be tried by fire; if forty, by the balance; if from thirty to ten, by the image-water ; if two only, by rice.
tions.

The

An infpired legiflator, named Calyayana, was of opinion, that though a theft or fraud could be proved by witnefTes, the party accufed might be tried by ordeal. He fays too, that, where a thoufand pana's are ftolen, or fraudulently with-held, the proper trial is by poifon ;
whzxtfeuen hundred and fifty, by fire ; where fix hundred andfixty-fix, and a fraction, by water; where five hundred y

Vol,

I,

by

<3g4

ON THE TRIAL

by

where four hundred, by hot oil; where three hundred, by rice; where an hundred and fifty, by the Coflia; and where one hundred, by the dharmarch, or images of filver and iron.
the balance;

The mode of conducting

the ordeal

by

red-hot balls,

or heads of fp ears, is thus particularly defcribed in the Commentary on Ydgyawelcya.

At daybreak the place where the ceremony is to be performed, is cleared and waflied in the cuftomary form and at fun -rife the Pandits, having paid their adoration to Ganefa, the God of Wifdom, draw nine circles on the ground with cow-dung, at intervals of fixteen lingers; each circle containing fixteen fingers of each,
but the ninth either fmaller or larger than the reft. Then they worfhip the deities in the mode prefcribed by the Sajlra, prefent oblations to the fire, and, having a fecond time worfhipped the Gods, read the appointed The perfon to be tried then performs an mentrcfs.
ablution, puts on moift clothes, and, turning his face to the eaii, (lands in the firjt ring, with both his hands After this the prefiding magiftrate fixed in his girdle. and Pandits order him to rub fome rice in the hufk be-

tween his hands, which they carefully infpect; and, if the fear of a former wound, a mole, or other mark, appear on either of them, they ftain it with a dye, that, after trial, it may he diftinguifhed from any new mark. They next order him to hold both his hands open and clofe together; and, having put into them feven leaves of the trembling tree, or pippal, feven of the farm, or jend, feven blades of darbha grafs, a little barley moiftened with curds, and a few flowers, they fatten the leaves on his hand with feven threads of raw cotton. The Pandits then read the Jlo'cas which are appointed for the
occafion

BY ORDEAL.

gg

occafion ; and, having written a ftate of the cafe, and the point in ilfue, on a Palmyra-leaf, together with the mcntra prefcribed in the Veda, they tie the leaf on the head of the accufed. All being prepared, they heat an iron ball, or the head of a lance, weighing two ser and a half, or five pounds, and throw it into water ; they heat it again, and again cool it in the fame manner. The third time they keep it in the fire till it is red hot ; then they make the perfon accufed (land in the firft circle ; and, having taken the iron from the fire, and read the ufual incantation over it, the Pandits place it with tongs He muft ftep gradually from circle to in his hands. circle, his feet being conftantly within one of them, and when he has reached the eighth, he mud throw the iron
into the ninth, fo as to burn
left in it for that

fome

grafs,

which muft be

purpofe. This being performed, the magiftrate and Pandits again command him to rub fome rice in the hulk between both his hands, which they afterwards examine; and if any mark of burning appear on either of them, he is convicted ; if not, his innocence is confideredas proved. If hishand fhake through fear, and by his trembling any other part of his body is burned, his veracity remains unimpeached ; but, if he let the iron drop before he reach the eighth circle, and

doubt arife in the minds of the fpeftators whether it had burned him, he mult repeat the whole ceremony from
the beginning.

In the year of the Mejfcah 1783, a man was tried by the hot ball at Benares, in the prefence of me Alt Ibrahim Khan, on the following occafion. A man had accufed one Sancar of larceny, who pleaded that he was not guilty j and as the theft could not be proved by legal evidence, the trial by fire-ordeal was tendered to the appellee, and accepted by him. This well-wilher to mankind advifed the learned magistrates and Pandits, to prevent the decifion of the queltion by a mode not conformable

Ee?

396

ON THE TRIAL

conformable to the practice of the Company's Government, and recommended an oath by the water of the Ganges, and the leaves of tulafi, in a little vefTel ofbrafs, or by the book Herivanja, or the (tone S digram, or by the hallowed ponds or bafons; all which oaths are ufed
at Benares.

When

the parties obftinately refufed to try

the ifTue by any one of the modes recommended, and infifted on a trial by the hot ball, the magiftrates and Pandits of the court were ordered to gratify their withes; and, fetting afide thofe forms of trial in which there could be onlyadiftant fear of death, or lofs of property, as the ju(t punifhrnent of perjury by the fure, yet flow, judgment of heaven, to perform the ceremony of ordeal agreeably to the Dherma Sajlra : but it was not after mature deliberation for four months, that a till regular mandate ifTued for trial by the red-hot ball and this was at length granted for four reafons firft, becaufe there was no other way of condemning or absolving the perfon accufed; fecondly, becaufe both parties were Hindus, and this mode of trial was Specially appointed in the Dherma Sajlra by the ancient law:

givers

thirdly, becaufe this ordeal

is

praclifed in the

dominions of the Hindu Rajas ; and fourthly, becaufe it might be ufeful to inquire how it was poffible for the heat of fire to be refilled, and for the hand that held it An order was accordingly fent to avoid being burned. to the Pandits of the court, and of Benares, to this erFel 64 Since the parties accuiing and accuied are both HinCi dus, and will not confent to any trial but that by the " hot ball, let the ordeal defired be duly performed in " the manner prescribed by the MitdcJIierd, or ComM mentary on Yagyawalcya"

When preparations were made for the trial, this wellwifher to mankind, attended by all the learned profeffors, by the officers of the court, the Sipdhis of Captain Hogarfs battalion, and many inhabitants of Benares,
went

BY ORDEAL.

397

vent to the place prepared, and endeavoured to diffuade the appellor from requiring the accufed to be tried by
adding "if his hand be not burned, you fhall cerThe accufer, not deterred by this menace, perfifted in demanding the trial. The ceremony, therefore, was thus conducted in the prefence of me, Ali Ibrahim Khan.
fire,

"

tainly be imprifoned."

The Pandits of the court and the city, having worshipped the God of Knowledge, and prefented their oblation of clarified butter to the fire, formed nine circles of cow-dung on the ground j and, having bathed the appellee in the Ganges, brought him with his clothes wet ; when, to remove all fufpicion of deceit, they wafhed his hands with pure water then, having written a ftate of the cafe, and the words of the menira, on a Palmyra leaf, they tied it on his head; and put into his hands, which they opened and joined together, feven leaves of pippal, feven of jend, feven blades of darbha grafs, a few flowers, and fome barley moiftened with curds, which they fattened with feven threads of raw white cotton. After this they made the iron ball red hot, and, taking it up with tongs, placed it in his hands. He walked with it, ftep by (tep, the fpace of three gaz and a half, through each of the feven intermediate rings, and threw the ball into the ninth, where it burnt the grafs that had been left in it. He next, to prove his veracity, rubbed fome rice in the hufk between his hands ; which were afterwards examined, and were fo far from being burned, that not even a blifier was raifed oij either of them. Since it is the nature of fire to burn, the officers of the court, and people of Benares, near five hundred of whom attended the ceremony, were altonifhed at the event ;
:

and

this well-wifher to

It occurred to his

mankind was perfectly amazed. weak apprehenfion, that probably the

frefh leaves, and other things, which, as it has been mentioned, were placed on the hands of the accufed,

had

398

ON THE TRIAL
that the
ball

had prevented their being burned; befides time was but fhort between his taking the
throwing
it

and

down

yet

it is

pofitivefy declared in the

Dherma

Sdjlra,

and

in the written

refpefrable Pandits, that the hand of a

truth cannot be

burned

opinions of the moft man who fpeaks and Ali Ibrahim Khan cer-

tainly faw with his

own

eyes, as

many

others alfo faw

with theirs, that the hands of the appellee in this caufe were unhurt by the fire. He was confequently difcharged. But, that men might in future be deterred from demanding the trial by ordeal, the appellor was committed for a week. After all, if fuch a trial could be feen once or twice by feveral intelligent men, acquainted with natural philofophy, they might be able to afTign the true reafon why a man's hand may be burned in fome cafes, and not in others.

according to the thus performed. cleared, and rubbed with cow-dung; and the next day, at fun-rife, the Pandit worfhips Ganeja, prefents his oblations, and pays adoration to other deities, conformably to the Sdjlra ; then, having read the incantation prefcribed, he places a round pan of gold, filver, copper, iron, or clay, with a diameter of fixteen fingers, and four fingers deep; and throws into it one ser, or eighty Jicca weight, of clarified butter, or oil of fefamum. After this a ring of gold, or filver, or iron, is cleaned, and warned with water, and caft into the oil, which they proceed to heat; and when it is very hot, put into it a frefh leaf of pippala, or of bilwa : when the leaf is burned, the oil is known to be fufficiently hot. Then, having pronounced a mentra over the oil, they order the party accufed to take the ring out of the pan ; and if he take it out without being burned, or without a blMler on his'hand', his innocence is confiveflel
oil,

Ordeal by the

of hot

Comment on the Dherma Sdftra, is The ground appointed for the trial is

dent

as

proved;

if

not, his guilt.

Brahman,

RY ORDEAL.

399

A Brahman, named RlJJiifwara Bhatfa, accufed one Rdmdaydl, a linen painter, of having ftolen his goods. Rdmdaydl pleaded not guilty; and, after much altercation, confented to be tried, as it had been propofed, by the veffel of oil. This well-wifher to mankind
advifed the Pandits of the court to prevent, if poflfible, that mode of trial ; but fince the parties infilled on it, an ordeal by hot oil, according to the Sajlra, was awarded for the fame reafons which prevailed in The Pandits, who regard to the trial by the ball. BhiJJima Bhatta, a (lifted at the ceremony, were Manirdma Pdfhaca, Mcnirdma Bhatta, Ndndpdfhac, Vi/Iinuheri, Cripdrdma, Siva, Anantrdma Bhatta, Cri/hnachandra, Rdmendra, Govindardma, Hericrifhna The three laft were Pandits of Bhat'a, Cdliddfa : When Ganefa had been worfhipped, and the court. the hc'ma prefented, according to the Sdjlra, they fent for this well-wifher to mankind; who, attended by the two Ddroghas of the Divdni and Faujddri courts, the Cotwdl of the town, the other officers of the court, and mod of the inhabitants of Benares, went to where he laboured to diffuade Rdmthe place of trial daydl, and his father, from fubmitting to the ordeal ; and appnled them, that if the hand of the accufed fhould be burned, he would be compelled to pay the value of the goods ftolen, and his character would be Rdmdaydl would not difgraced in every company. defili he thruft his hand into the veffel, and was burned. The opinion of the Pandits was then taken; and they were unanimous, that, by the burning of his hand, his guilt was eftablifhed, and he bound to pay RiJJiifwara Bliatta the price of what he had ftolen; but it the fum exceeded five hundred ajlirafis, his hand mutt be cut off by an e'xptefs law in the Sdjira ; and a mulct aifo mult be linpoted on him according to his circumftances.
;
:

The
to

ch-ief magiftrate,

therefore,

caufed Rdmdaydl
in return

pay Rijhifwara fevui hundred rupees

3

tor the

400

ON THE TRIAL

the goods which had been ftolen ; but, as amercements in fuch cafes are not ufual in the courts of judicature at Benares, the mulct was remitted, and the

prifoner difcharged.

The record of this conviction was tranfmitted to Calcutta in the year of the Mejjiah 1783; and in the month of April, 1784, the Governor-General, Imddiiddaiilah Jelddet Jang Behdder, having feen the preceding account of trials by ordeal, put many queftions concerning the meaning of Sanfcrit words, and the cafes here reported ; to which he received refpeftful answers. He firft defired to know the precife meaning of homa y

and was informed

that

it

meant

the oblations

made

to

pleafe the deities, and comprifed a variety of things. Thus in the agni ho'ma, they throw into the fire feveral
forts of wood and grafs, as palds wood, chadira wood, ratla chandan,ov red fandal, pippal-wood [ami, and cii/Jia grafs, together with fome forts of grain, fruit, and other ingredients, as black fefamum, barley, rice, fugar cane,
I

clarified butter, almonds, dates,

and gvgal, or bdellium.

fpecies of homa there next queftion, were," it was anfwered, that different fpecies were adopted on different occafions but that, in the ordeals by hot iron, and hot oil, the fame fort of oblation was When he defired to know the meaning of the ufed. mentra, he was refpeclfuliy told, that in the word language of the Pandits there were three fuch words,
cs
:

To hks

" how many

mentra, y antra, and iantra ; that ihejirjl meant a paffage from one of the Vidas, in which the names of certain deities occurred ; the fecond, a fcheme of

which they write with a belief that their wifhes accomplished by it; and the third, a medical preparation, by the ufe of which all injuries may be avoided ; for they are faid to rub it on their hands, and afterwards to touch red-hot iro.n without being burned. He then afked how much barley, moiflened with curds, was put into the hands of the accufed perfon; and the anfwer was, nine grains. His
figures,
will be

BY ORDEAL.
:

401

His other queflions were thus anfwered " That the leaves of pippala were fpread about in the hands of the accufed, not heaped one above another; that the man, who performed the ordeal, was not much agitated,
but feemed in full pofTeflion of his faculties ; that the perfon tried by hot oil was at firft afraid, but perfifted, after he was burned, in denying the theft ; neverthelefs, as he previoufly had entered into a written agreement, that, if his hand mould be hurt, he would pay the value of the goods, the magiftrate for that reafon thought himfelf juftified in compelling payment; that, when the before mentioned ingredients of the homa were
fire, the Pandits, fitting round the hearth, fung the Sloeas prefcribed in the Sdjira. That the form of the hearth is eftablifhed in the Veda and in the Dherma Sdjira; and this fire-place is alfo called Vedi ; that, for the fmaller oblations, they raife a little

thrown into the

for the hsarth, and kindle fire on it; for the oblations, they fink the ground, to receive the higher fire where they perform the homa, and this facred hearth

ground

they call cunda."

trials

The Governor

then afked,

why

the

by fire, by the hot ball, and the vefl'el of oil, if there be no effential difference between them, are not all called fire-ordeals; and it was humbly anfwered, that according to fome Pandits, they were all three
others infilled, that the trial by fire from that by the veflel, though the trial by the hot ball, and the head of a lance, was the fame ; but that, in the apprehenfion of his refpe&ful fervant, they were all ordeals by Jire.
different
;

whilfl

was

diftinct

THE

402

THE INDIAN LAW OF ORDEAL,

THE

INDIAN
r

LAW OF
fire,

ORDEAL,

Verbally tranjlated

from Yagyawalcya.
water,

I.

Thefe are the ordeals ufed below for the proof of innocence, when the accufations are heavy, and when the accufer offers to hazard a mulct, (if he mould fail.)

'HE

balance,

poifon, the idol

2. Or one party may be tried, if he pleafe, by ordea), and the other mull then rifque an amercement. But the trial may take place even without any wager, if the crime committed be injurious to the prince.

3. The fovereign, having fummoned the accufed, while his clothes are yet moift from bathing, at funrife, before he has brcken his faft, mail caufe all trials by ordeal to be conducted in the prefence of Brdhmans.

4.

The

balance

is

for

women,

children, old

men, the

blind, the lame,

fire

Brahmans, and the fick;

for the $iidra 9

or water, or feven barley-corns of poifon.

5. Unlefs the lofs of the accufer amount to a thoufand pieces of filver, the accufed muft not be tried by the red-hot ball, nor by poifon, nor by the fcales; but, if the offence be againft the king, or if the crime be heinous, he mult acquit himfelf by one of thofe trials

in ail cafes.
6.

He

THE INDIAN LAW OF ORDEAL.

4O3

6. He who has recourfe to the balance, mull be attended by perfons experienced in weighing, and go down into one fcale, with an equal weight placed in the other, and a groove (with water in it} marked On the beam.
7. " Thou, O balance, art the manfion of truth " thou waft anciently contrived by deities declare the
:

"
ct

truth, therefore,

O giver

of fuccefs, and clear

me

from
8.

all

fufpicion.
I am guilty, O venerable as my own mother, me down but if innocent, raife me aloft."
;

"

If

then fink

Thus
9.

(hall

he addrefs the balance.

is convicted, or if the fcales be the firing be not broken, and he rife aloft, he muft be acquitted.

If he fink, he
;

broken

but

if

10. On the trial by fire, let both hands of the accufed be rubbed with rice in the hulk, and well examined: then let feven leaves of the Afwatt'ha (the religious fig-tree) be placed on them, and bound with feven

threads.

11.

of purity,

"Thou, who

fire,

peivadefl

all

beings;

O caufe
fin,

giveft evidence of virtue

and of

declare the truth in this

12.

my

hand."

he has pronounced this, the prieft fhall place in both hands an iron ball, red hot, and weighing fifty * palas.
13. Having taken it, he fhall ftep gradually into (even circles, each with a diameter of fixteen fingers, and feparated from the next by the fame fpace.

When

14. If,
* pala is four carsha's, and a carska, eighty racticd' of the Gunjd creeper, each weighing above a grain an< or cerrcctly, Igr. 5-ldths.

404
14.
If,

THE INDIAN LAW OF ORDEAL.

having cafl away the hot ball, he fhall again hands rubbed with rice in the hufk, and fhall fhow them unburned, he will prove his innocence. Should the iron fall during the trial, or mould a doubt arife (on the regularity of the proceedings) he mufl be

have

his

tried again.

15. " Preferve me, O, Varuna, by declaring the Thus having invoked the God of Waters, the truth."

accufed fhall plunge his head into the river or pool, and hold both thighs of a man, who fhall fland in it up
to his navel.

16.

fwift

runner

fhall then haften to fetch

an ar-

row

fliot

at

the

moment

of his plunging

while the runner is gone, the prieft fhall fee of the accufed under water, he mufl be difcharged as
innocent.
17.

and if, the head

" Thou,
juflice

poifon, art the child of Brahma, ftedin truth:

I

" faft in " heavy

*4

and

clear

me

then from this

charge, and, if

have fpoken truly, become

neftar to me."
18.

Saying

this,

he

fhall

fwallow the poifon Sdr?iga,

from the tree which grows on the mountain Himalaya ; and if he digefl it without any inflammation, the prince fhall pronounce him guiltlefs.
19.
fhall

Or

the priefl fhall perform rites to the

image of

fome tremendous

make

deity, and, having bathed the idol, the accufed to drink three handfuls of the
it:

water that has dropped from

20. If, in fourteen days after, he fufFer no dreadful calamity from the act of the deity, or of the king, he

mufl indubitably be acquitted.

XXIV.

IKE SECOND ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE, &C.

403

XXIV.
Tin-;

Second Anniversary Discourse,

Delivered 24th February, 1785,

BY

THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN,
the Deity of the IFrequefts are believedHindus, by whom to be granted
all their

juft

with fingular in-

dulgence, had propofed laft year to gratify my warmcft wifhes, I could have defired nothing more ardently than the fuccefs of your Institution j becaufe I can defire nothing in preference to the general good, which your plan feems calculated to promote, by bringing to light many ufeful and interelting tracts, which, being too fhort for feparate publication, might lie many years concealed, or, perhaps, irrecoverably perifh. My wifhes are accomplilhed, without an invocation to Cdmadhinu and your Society, having already paffed its infant ftate, is advancing to maturity with every mark of a healthy and robuft conftitution. When I reflect, indeed, on the variety of fubjetls which have been di (cuffed before you, concerning the hiftory, laws, manners, arts, and antiquities, of Ajia, I am unable to decide whether my pleafure or my furprife be the greater; for I will not diffemble, that your progrefs has far exceeded my expectations ; and, though we mult feriouflv deplore the
}ofs

406
lofs

THE PRESIDENT'S SECOND

of thofe excellent

men who have

lately departed
ftill

from

this capital, yet there is a

profpe6t

of large

contributions to your ftock of AJiatick learning, which, late I am perfuaded, will continually increafe. journey to Benares has enabled me to afl'ure you, that many of your members, who refide at a diftance, employ a part of their leifure in preparing additions to your archiv/es ; and, unlefs I am too fanguine, you will foon receive light from them on feveral topicks entirely

My

new

in the republick of letters.

was principally with a defign to open fources of fuch information, that I long had meditated an expedition up the Ganges during the fufpenfion of my bufinefs ; but, although I had the fatisfa6lion of vifiting two ancient feats of Hindu fuperftition and literature,
It

yet, illnefs having detained

it

me

a considerable time in

was not in my power to continue in them the way, enough to purfue my inquiries; and I left them, long as JEneas is feigned to have left the fhades, when his
guide made him recollect, the fwift flight of irrevocable time, with a curiofity raifed to the height, and a regret not eafily to be defcribed.

Whoever

travels in AJia, efpecially if he be conver-

which he pafles, muft naturally remark the fuperiority of

fant with the literature of the countries through
talents.

obfervation, indeed, is at leaft cannot agree with the fage preceptor of that ambitious Prince, that " the " AJiaticks are born to be flaves," yet the Athenian poet feems perfe6tly in the right, when he reprefents Europe as a fovereign Princefs, and Afia as her Hand" maid : But, if the miftrefs be tranfcendcntly majeftick,
as old as

European

The

A lexander

And though we

it

cannot be denied that the attendant has

many beauties,

ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE.
ties,

407

and fome advantages peculiar to herfelf. The ancients were accuftomed to pronounce panegyricks on their own countrymen at the expence of all other nawith a political view, perhaps, of ftimulating praife, and exciting them to dill greater exertions; but fuch arts are here unnecefTary ; nor would they, indeed, become a Society, who feek nothing but truth unadorned by rhetorick ; and, although we muft be confcious of our fuperior advancement in all kinds of ufeful knowledge, yet we ought not therefore to
tions
;

them by

contemn the people of AJia, from whofe refearches into nature, works of art, and inventions of fancy, many valuable hints may be derived for our own improvement and advantage. If that, indeed, were not the principal object of your Inftitution, little elfe could arife from it, but the mere gratification of curiofity ; and I mould not receive fo much delight from the humble fhare which you have allowed me to take in promoting it.

form an exact parallel between the works and Weltern and Eaftern Worlds, would require a traft of no inconfiderable length; but we may decide, on the whole, that reafon and tafte are the grand prerogatives of European minds, while the Afiaticks have foared to loftier heights in the fphere of imagination. The civil hiftory of their vaft empires, and of India in particular, muft be highly intereiling to our common country; but we have a Mill nearer interefl in knowing all former modes of ruling thefe inejlimahle provinces^ on the profperity of which fo much of our national welfare and individual benefit feems to depend. A minute tcographical knowledge, not only of Bengal and Bahar,
actions of the

To

evident reafons, of all the kingdoms bordering on clofely connected with an account of their many revolutions: but the natural productions of thefe territories., efpecially in the vegetable and mineral fyftems, are
ut, for
is

them,

408
are

the president's seconb

momentous
is

which
people.

objects of refearch to an imperial, but, a character of equal dignity, a commercial,

\1lotany
the
fcience

may be
itielf,

we may

defcribed by metaphors drawn from juftly pronounce a minute

acquaintance with plants, their claffes, orders, kinds, pedes, to be its flowers, which can only produce and f fruit by an application of that knowledge to the purpofes of life, particularly to diet, by which difeafesmay be avoided ; and to medicine, by which they may be reFor the improvemen of the laft mentioned medied. art, than which none furely can be more beneficial to mankind, the virtues of minerals alfo mould be accurately known. So highly has medical fkill been prized

by

the ancient Indians, that one of the fourteen Retna's,

or precious things, which their gods are believed to have produced by churning the ocean with the mountain Mandara,\vas a learned phyfician. What their old books contain on this fubjecl we ought certainly to difcover, and that without lofs of time ; left the venerable, but abitrufe, language in which they are compofed, mould ceafe to be perfectly intelligible, even to the beft educated natives, through a want of powerful invitation to ftudy it. Bernier, who was himTelf of the faculty, mentions approved medical books in Sanfcrit, and cites a few aphorifms, which appear judicious and rational; but we can expect nothing fo important from the works of Hindu, or Mufelman phyficians, as the knowledge, which experience muft have given them, ofifimple medicines. I have feen an Indian prefcription of fifty-four, and another of ffty-fix, ingredients ; but fuch compofitions are always to be fufpected, fince the effet of one ingredient may deftroy that of another; and it were better to find certain accounts of a lingle leaf or berry, than to be acquainted with the molt elaborate compoundsj unlefs they too have been proved by a multitude

ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE.

409

tude of fuccefsful experiments. The noble deobftruent oil extracted from the eranda nut, the whole family of Balfams, the incomparable ftomachick root from Columbo, the fine aftringent ridiculoufly called Japan earth, but in truth produced by the decoction of an Indian plant, have long been ufed in Afia ; and who can foretel whatgloriousdifcoveries of other oils, roots, and falutary juices, may be made by your Society ? If it be doubtful whether the Peruvian bark be always efficacious in this country, its place may, perhaps, be fuppliedby fome indigenous vegetable equally antifeptick, and more congenial to the climate. Whether any treatifes on Agr i culture hay e. been written by experienced natives of thefe provinces, I am not yet informed; but fince the court of Spain expecl to find ufeful remarks in an Arabick tracl preferved in the Efcurial, on the cultivation of land in that kingdom, we

mould

the contents of fuch as

inquire for fimilar compofitions, and examine we can procure.

The fublime fcience of Chemiitry, which I was on the point of calling divine, muft be added as a key to the richeft treafuries of nature; and it is impoffible to
forefee

how

greatly
it

it

may improve our

manufactures

efpecially if

can

fix thofe brilliant dyes,

which want

nothing of perfect beauty, but a longer continuance of their fplendor; or how far it may lead to new methods of fluxing and compounding metals, which the Indians, as well as the Chinefe, are thought to have practifed in higher perfection than ourfelves.

In thofe elegant arts which are czWtd Jine and liberal, though of lefs general utility than the labours of the mechanick, it is really wonderful how much a fingle nation has excelled the v/hole world I mean the ancient Greeks, whofefculpture, of which we have exquilite re*
:

Vol,

I.

mains,

4lO

THE PRESIDENTS SECOND

mains, both on gems and on marble, no modern tool can equal ; whofe architecture we can only imitate at a fervile diftance, but are unable to make one addition to it, without deftroying its graceful limplicity; whofe poetry ftill delights us in youth, and amufes us at a maturer age ; and of whofe painting andmii/ick, we have the concurrent relations of fo many grave authors, that it would be ftrange incredulity to doubt their excellence. Painting, as an art belonging to the powers of the imagination, or what is commonly called genius, appears to but be yet in its infancy among the people of the eaft the Hindu fyftem of mujick has, I believe, been formed on truer principles than our own ; and all the fkill of
:

their art,

the native compofers is directed to the great object, of the natural exprejjion of Jlrong pajfions, to which melody, indeed, is often facrificed; though fome

of their tunes are pleafing even to an European ear. Nearly the famemav be truly afferted of the Arabian or Perfian fyftem; and, by a correcr. explanation of the belt books on that fubject, much of the old Grecian theory may probably be recovered.

The poetical works of the Arabs and

differ

Perfians, which

iurprifmgly in their ftyle and form, are here pretty generally known j and though taftes, concerning which there can be no difputing, are divided in regard to their merit, yet we may fafely fay of them, what Abulfazl pronounces of the Mahdbharat, that, " although they abound with extravagant images and " defcriptions, they are in the higheft degree entertainc< Poets of the greateft genius, ing and inftruelive." Pindar, jEfchylus, Dante, Petrarch, Shakefpeare, Spenfer, have moft abounded in images not far from the brink of abfurdiiy ; but if their luxuriant fancies, or thofe

of Abulola, Firdaufi, Nizdmi, were pruned away at the hazard of their ftrength and majefty, we mould lofe many plenfures by the amputation. If we may form a
jufc

ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE*

411

juft opinion of the Sanfcrit poetry from the fpecimens already exhibited, (though we can only judge perfectly by confulting the originals,) we cannot but thirft for the whole work of Vya/a, with which a member of our Society, whofe prefence deters me from faying more of him, will in due time gratify the publick. The poetry ofMathurd, which is the Parnajfian land of the Hindus ^ has a fofter and lefs elevated {train; but, fince the inhabitants of the diftricls ntzx Agra> and principally of the Duab, are faid to furpafs all other Indians in eloquence, and to have compofed many agreeable tales and lovefongs, which are ftill extant, the BhaJJid, or vernacular idiom of Vraja, in which they are written, mould not be neglected. No fpecimens of genuine oratory can be

expected from nations, among whom the form of government precludes even the idea of popular eloquence 2 but the art of writing, in elegant and modulated periods, has been cultivated in Afia from the earlieft: ages the Veda's^ as well as the Alkoran, are written in meafured profe ; and the compofitions of Ifocraies are not more highly polifhed than thofeof the bed Arabian and Perfian authors.

Of
yet

the

Hindu and Mufelman

in
I
;

architecture there are

in the

unwilling to believe, that even thofe ruins, of which you will, I truft, be prcfented with correct delineations, may furnifh our own architects with new ideas of beauty and fubliimty.

many noble remains nor am vicinity of Malda

Bahar, and fome

Permit me now to add a few words on the fcitncts^ properly fo named; in which it mult be admitted, that the Ajiaticks, if compared with our Weftern nations, are mere children. One of the moft faracious men in this age, who continues, I hope, to improve and adorn
it,

Samuel Johnfon, remarked

in

my

f 2

hearing, that, " if " Xezcton

412

THE PRESIDENTS SECOND

" Newton had flourifhed in ancient Greece, he would " have been worfhipped as a divinity." How zealoufly
then would he be adored in Hindu/Ian, if his incomparable writings could be read and comprehended by the Pandits of Caflimir or Benares ! I have feen a mathematical book in Sanfcrit of the higheft antiquity ; but foon perceived, from the diagrams, that it contained only fimple elements. There may, indeed, have been in the favourable atmofphere of Afia, fome diligent obfervers of the celeftial bodies ; and fuch observations as are recorded mould indifputably be made publick ; but let us not expecl any new methods, or the analyfis of new curves, from the geometricians of Iran, Turkiflan> Could the works of Archimedes, the Newton, or India. of Sicily, be reftored to their genuine purity by the help of Arabick verfions, we might then have reafon to triumph on the fuccefs of our fcientifical inquiries ; or could the fucceffive improvements and various rules of algebra, be traced through Arabian channels, to which Cardan boafted that he had accefs, the modern hiftory of Mathematicks would receive confiderable illuftfation.

The jurifprudence of the Hindus and Mufelmans will produce more immediate advantage; and if fome ftandard law-traBs were accurately tranflated from the Sanfcrit and Arabick, we might hope in time to fee fo complete a Digeft of Indian Laws, that all difputes among the natives might be decided without uncertainty, which is, in truth, a difgrace, though fatirically
called
a.

glory, to the forenfick fcience.

All thefe objects of inquiry mud appear to you, Gentlemen, in l'o ftrong a light, that bare intimations of them will be fufHcient: nor is it neceffary to make ufe of emulation as an incentive to an ardent purfuit of them yet I cannot forbear exprefling a wifh that the
:

activity

ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE.
activity of the French in the

413

fame purfuits may not be fuperior to ours; and that the refearchesof Sonnerat, whom the court of Verfailles employed for feven years in thefe climates, merely to collecl fuch materials as we are feeking, may kindle, inftead of abating, our own curiofity and zeal. If you affent, as I flatter myfelf you do, to thefe opinions, you will alfo concur in promoting the objeft of them; and a few ideas having prefented themfelves to my mind, I prefume to lay them before you, with an entire fubmiffion to your

judgment.

No

contributions, except thofe of the literary kind,

:

but if each of us were occafionally to contribute a fuccin6l defcription of fuch manufcripts as he had perufed, or infpefted, with their dates, and the names of their owners, and to propofe for folution, fuch quejlions as had occurred to him concerning Afiatick Art, Science,

will be requifite for the fupport of the Society

and Hiftory, natural or civil, we mould poffefs without labour, and almoft by imperceptible degrees, a
fuller catalogue of Oriental

Books than has

hitherto

and our correfpondents mould be apprifed of thofe points to which we chiefly direct our
been exhibited
;

Much may, I am confident, be expected from the communications of learned natives, whether lawyers, phyficians, or private fcholars, who would eagerly, on the firft invitation, fend us their Mekdmdt and Rifdlahs on a variety of fubjecls; fome for the fake of advancing general knowledge; but molt of them from a defire, neither uncommon nor unreafonable, of attracting notice, and recommending themfelves to favour. With a view to avail ourfel ves of this difpofition, and to bring their latent fcience under our infpeclion, it might be advifable to print and- circulate a fhort memorial, in Perfian and Hindi, fetting forth,
investigations.
in a ftyle

accommodated

to their

own

habits and pre-

judicesj

4*4

t he president's secondj Sec,

judices, the defign of our inftitution. Nor would it be improper hereafter, to give a medal annually, with infcriptions in Perfian on one fide, and on the reverfe in
Sanfcrit, as the prize of merit, to the writer of the beft
effay ordiflertation.

To inftrucl; others is the prefcribed

if

duty of learned Brdhmans ; and

they be
all

men

fiance, without reward; but they

would

of fubbe flattered

with an honorary mark of diftin&ion ; and the Mahomedans have not only the permiflion, but the pofitive command of their law-giver, tofearchfor learning even in the remotejl parts of the globe. It were fuperfluous to fuggeft, with how much corre6tnefs and facility their compofitions might be tranflated for our ufe, fince their languages are now more generally and perfectly understood than they have ever been by any nation of Europe,

I have detained you, I fear, too long by this addrefs; though it has been my endeavour to reconcile comprehenfivenefs with brevity. The fubjects, which I have lightly fketched, would be found, if minutely examined, to be inexhauftible; and, fince no limits can be fet to your researches, but the boundaries of Afia itfelf, I may not improperly conclude with wifhing for your Society, what the Commentator on the Laws prays for the con* ftitution of our country, that it may be perpetual.

XXV.

THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE,

ScC.

41$

XXV.
THE

Third Anniversary Discourse,

Delivered 2 February, 1786,

BY

THE PRESIDENT.
TN
**

the former difcourfes which

had the honour of

addrefling-to you, Gentlemen, on the inflitution and ohjefis of our Society, I confined myfelf purpofely to

general topicks; giving in the firft, a diftant profpect of the vaft career on which we were entering; and, in the fecond, exhibiting a more diffufe, but ftill fuperficial, fketch of the various difcoveries in Hiftory, Science, and Art, which we might juflly expecl from our inquiries into the Literature of Afia. I now propofe to fill up that outline fo comprehenfively as to omit nothing etfential, yet fo concifely as to avoid being tedious and, if the ftate of my health fhall fuffer me to continue long enough in this climate, it is my defign, with your permiffion, to prepare for our annual meetings, a feries

of fhort

diflertations,

unconnected in

their titles

and

fubjects, but all tending to a

common point

of no fmall

importance in the purluit of interefting truths.

Of

all

the

own age,

or, perhaps, in

works which have been publifhed in our any other, on the Hiftory of the
Ancient

4l6

THE THIRD DISCOURSE

the population

Ancient World, and

globe, that of

of

this
I

habitable

Mr. Jacob Bryant,

whom

name with

reverence and affection, has the beft claim to the praife of deep erudition ingenioufly applied; and new theories, happily illuftrated by an afTemblage of numberlefs conit verging rays from a molt extenfive circumference falls, neverthelefs,as every human work muft fall, fhort of perfection; and the leaft fatisfaclory part of it feems to be that which relates to the derivation of words from Etymology has, no doubt, fome Afiatick languages. ufe in hiftorical refearches ; but it is a medium of proof fo very fallacious, that, where it elucidates one fact, it obfeures a thoufand; and more frequently borders on It the ridiculous, than leads to any folid conclufion. rarely carries with it any internal power of conviction, from a refemblance of founds or fimilarity of letters ; vet often, where it is wholly unaffiited by thofe advantages, it may be indifputably proved by extrinfick eviknow d pofcriori, that both Jitz and hijo, dence. bv the nature of two feveral dialects, are derived from ji lius ; that uncle comes from aims, and fir anger from extra; that jour is deducible, through the Italian, from dies : and rcffignol from lufcinia, or the finger in groves ; thztfeiuro, ecurcuil, ar\& fquirre /,are compounded of two Greek words defcriptive of the animal ; which etymologies, though they could not have been demonstrated a priori, might ferve to confirm, if any fuch confirmation were necelTary, the proofs of a connection between the members of one great empire; but, when we derive our hanger, orJhort pendant [word, from the Perfian,be~ caufe ignoranttravellersthusmif-fpelltheword khanjar, which, in truth, means a different weapon, or fandalwood from the Greek, becaufe we fuppofe that fandals were fometimes made of it, we gain no ground in proving the affinity of nations, and only weaken arguments which might otherwife be firmly fupported. That Cus,
:

We

then, or, as
Cut, and
2

it

certainly

is

written in one ancient dialeft,

in others,

probably, Cds, enters into the

1

rom-

ofuio.i

ON THE HINDUS.
pofition of

417

many proper names, we may very reafonably believe; and that Algeziras takes its name from the Arabick word for an ifland, cannot be doubted but, when we are told from Europe, that places and provinces in India were clearly denominated from thofe words, we cannot but obferve, in the firft inftance, that the town in which we now are affembled is properly written and pronounced Calicatd ; that both Cdtd and
Cut unqueftionably
neral,

mean

any inclofures ; and that Gujerdt remote from Jezirah in found as it is in

places of Jlrength, or, in geis at leaft as

lituation.

Another exception (and a third could hardly be discovered by any candid criticifm) to the Analyjis of Ancient Mythology, is, that the method of reafoning, and arrangement of topicks, adopted in that learned work, are not quite agreeable to the title, but almoft wholly fynthetical ; and, though j(j'wMf/?5 may be the better mode in pure fcience, where the principles are undeniable, yet it feems lefs calculated to give complete Satisfaction in htflori cat ditquihtions, where every poftulatum will, perhaps, be refufed, and every definition controverted. This may feem a flight objection; but the Subject is in itfelf fo interefting, and the full conviction of all reasonable men fo defirable, that it may not be loft labour to difcufs the fame or a fimilar theory in a method purelv analytical, and, after beginning with fafts of general
truths as are at

notoriety, or undil'puted evidence, to inveftigate fuch firft unknown, or very imperfectly dis-

cerned.

The five principal nations who have in difFerentages divided among themfelves, as a kind of inheritance, the vaft continent of Afia, with the many iflands depending on it, are the Indians, the Chinefe, the Tartars, the Arabs, and the Perfians : who they feverally were 3 whence and
when

418

THE THIRD DISCOURSE

when they came, where they now are fettled, and what advantage a more perfect knowledge of them all may
bring to our European world, will be

mown,

I trufl,

in

five diftint effays ; the laft of which will demonftrate the connexion or diverfity between them, and folve the

great problem, whether they had any common origin, and whether that origin was the fame which we generally
afcribe to them.

I begin with India

lieve

it

: not becaufe I find reafon to bethe true center of population, or of knowledge,

but becaufe
as, in

it is

from which we may

the country which we now inhabit, and beft furvey the regions around us;

popular language, we fpeak of the rifing fun, and of his progrefs through the Zodiack^ although it had long ago been imagined, and is now demonftrated, that he is himfelf the center of our planetary fy (tern. Let me here premife, that, in all thefe inquiries concerning the Hiftory of India^ I fhall confine my refearches downwards to the Mohammedan conquefts at the beginning of the eleventh century, but extend them upwards as high as pomble, to the earlieft authentic records of the human

fpecies.

India then, on its moft enlarged fcale, in which the ancients appear to have underftood it, comprifes an area of near forty degrees on each fide, including a fpace almoft as large as all Europe; being divided on the weft from Perfia by the Arachofian mountains, limited on the
eaft

on

by the Chinefe part of the farther Peninfula, confined the north by the wilds of Tartary, and extending to

therefore,

This trapezium, ifles of Java. comprehends the ftupendous hills of Potyidox Tibet) the beautiful valley ofCaJIimir, and all the domains of the old Indofcythians, the countries of Nepal and
the fouth as far as the
Butd?its

Qdmrup or Afdm 3

together with Siam, Ava y Racaiiy

ON THE HINDUS.

419

Racan, and the bordering kingdoms, as far as the China of the Hindus, or Sin of the Arabian Geographers not to mention the whole Weftern Peninfula, with the celebrated ifland of Sinhala, or Lion-like Men, at its By India, in fhort, I mean that fouthern extremity. whole extent of country in which the primitive religion and languages of the Hindus prevail at this day with more or lefs of their ancient purity, and in which the

Nagari letters are ftill ufed with more or from their original form.

lefs

deviation

The Hindus themfelves believe their own country, to which they give the vain epithets of Medhyama, or Central, and Punyabhumi, or the Land of Virtues, to have been the portion of Bharat, one of nine brothers, whofe father had the dominion of the whole earth; and they reprefent the mountains of Himalaya as lying to the north ; and to the weft, thofe of Vindhya, called alfo Vindian by the Greeks ; beyond which the Sindhu runs in feveral branches to the fea, and meets it nearly oppofite to the point of Dwaracd, the celebrated feat of their Shepherd God. In the fouth-eafl they place the great river Saravalya ; by which they probably mean that of Jiva, called alfo Airdvatim part of its courfe, and giving perhaps its ancient name to the gulf of Sabara. This domain of Bharat they confider as the middle of the Jambudunpa, which the Tibeiians alfo call the Land of Zambu ; and the appellation is extremely remarkable;

Jambu is the Sanfcrit name of a delicate fruit, called avian by the Mufelmans, and by us rofe-apple ; but the J largeft and richelt fort is named Amrita, or immortal; and the Mythologifts of Tibet apply the fame word to a celeftial tree bearing ambrojial fruit, and adjoining to four vaft rocks, from which as many facred rivers
for

derive their feveral ftreams.

The

by Mr. Lord with

inhabitants of this extenfive tracl are defcribed great exaclnefs; and with a picture fque

420

THE THIRD DISCOURSE

turefque elegance peculiar to our ancient language '' people (fays he) prefented themfelves to mine eyes, cc clothed in linen garments, fomewhat lowdefcending; " of a gefture and garb, as I may fay, maidenly, and well " nigh effeminate; of a countenance fhy, and fomewhat " eftranged, yet fmilingout a glozed and bafhful fami" liarity." Mr. Orme, the Hiftorian of India, who unites an exquifite tafte for every fine art with an accurate knowledge of Afiatich, manners, obferves, in his elegant preliminary Differtation, that this " country " has been inhabited, from the earlieft antiquity, by a *' people who have no refemblance, either in their figure " or manner, with any of the nations contiguous to "them;" and that, " although conquerors have efta" blifhed themfelves at different times in different parts c< of India, yet the original inhabitants have loft very

"

little

of their original character."

The

ancients, in

fa&, give a defcription of them, which our early travellers confirmed, and our own perfonal knowledge of them nearly verifies; as you will perceive from a paffage in the Geographical Poem of Dionyjius, which the Analyft of Ancient Mythology has translated with great
fpirit
:

" To "
"

th' east a lovely

country wide extends,

;

India,

whose borders the wide ocean bounds

On

this the sun,

new

rising from the main,

his early orient

" Smiles

pleas'd,

and sheds

beam.

" Th' inhabitants are swart, and " Betray the

tints

in their locks

of the dark hyaciuth.

;

" Various
"
"

their functions

some the rock explore,

;

And
Some

from the mine extract the latent gold

labour at the

woof with cunning

skill,

"

And manufacture

linen; others shape

"

And

ON THE HINDUS.
" And
polish iv'ry with the nicest care
retire to rivers shoal,
:

42t

" Many

and plunge
its

" To seek
" Or

the beryl flaming in

bed,

glitt'ring

di'mond.
;

Oft the jasper's found

the topaz too,
last

" Green, but diaphanous

" Of ray serene and pleasing;

" The lovely amethyst,
*'

of

all,

in

which combine

All the mild shades of purple.

The

rich soil,

'*

Wash'd by

a thousand rivers, from all sides

u Pours on

the natives wealth without controul."

Their fources of wealth are ftill abundant, even after many revolutions and conquefts in their manufactures of cotton they ftill furpafs all the world ; and their features have, mod probably, remained unaltered fince the time of Dionyjius : nor can we reafonably doubt, how degenerate and abafed fo ever the Hindus may now appear, that in fome early age they were fplendid in arts and arms, happy in government, wife in legiflation, and eminent in various knowledge but fince their civil hiftory, beyond the middle of the nineteenth century from the prefent time, is involved in a cloud of fables, we feem to pofles only four general media of fatisfying our curiofity concerning it; namely, firft, their Languages and Letters; fecondly, their Philojophy and Religion; thirdly, the aclual remains of their old Sculpture and Architecture ; and fourthly, the writJen memorials of their Sciences and Arts.
fo
:
:

who

much to be lamented that neither the Greeks, attended Alexander into India, nor thofe who were long connected with it under the Batlrian Princes, have left us any means of knowing with accuracy, what verI. It is

nacular

422

THE THIRD DISCOURSE

nacular languages they found on their arrival in this Empire. The Mohammedans, we know, heard the people of proper Hindujlan, or India on a limited fcale, fpeakinga Bhaflia, or living tongue, of a very lingular conftruclion, the pureft dialed of which was current in
the diitrifcls round Agra, and chiefly on the poetical ground of Mafhurd ; and this is commonly called the idiom of Vraja. Five words in fix, perhaps, of this language were derived from the Sanfcrit, in which books cf religion and fcience were compofed, and which appears to have been formed by an exquifite grammatical arrangement, as the name itfelf implies, from fome un-

polifhed idiom; but the bafis of the Hinduflani, particularly the inflexions and regimen of verbs, differed as widely from both thofe tongues, as Arabick differs from Perfian, or German from Greek. Now the general effeft of conquefl is to leave the current language of the conquered people unchanged, or very little altered, in its ground-work, but to blend with it a considerable number of exotick names, both for things and for actions; as it has happened in every country, that I can recolleO, where the conquerors have not preferred their own tongue unmixed with that of the natives, like the Turks in Greece, and the Saxons in Britain ; and this analogy might induce us to believe, that the pure Hindi, whether of Tartarian or Chaldean origin, was primeval in Upper India, into which the Sanfcrit was introduced by conquerors from other kingdoms in fome very remote age ; for we cannot doubt that the language of the Veda\s was ufed in the great extent of country which has before been delineated, as long as the religion of

Brahma

has prevailed in

it.

The Sanfcrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful flructure; more perfeft than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquifitely refined than either; yet bearing to both of them a ftrongef
affinity,

ON THE
affinity,

HINDUS.'

423

both in the roots of verbs, and in the forms of poflibly have been produced bv accident; fo ftrong, indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three without believing them to have fprung from fome common fource, which, perhaps, no longer exift's. There is a fimilar reafon, though not quite fo forcible, for fuppofmg that both the Gothick and the Celtick, though blended with a very different idiom, had the fame origin with the Sanfcrit ; and the old Perjian might be added to the fame family, if this were the place for difcuffing any q-ueftion concerning the antiquities of Perfia.

grammar, than could

The

characters, in

which the languages of India were

originally written, are called Nagari, from Nagara, a city, with the word Diva fometimes prefixed, becaufe himfelf,

they are believed to have been taught by the Divinity who prefcribed the artificial order of them in Thefe letters, with no greater a voice from heaven. variation in their form, by the change of ftraight lines to curves, or converfeiy, than the Cufick alphabet has received in its way to India, are itill adopted in more than twenty kingdoms and ftates, from the borders of Cajligar and Khoten, to Rama's Bridge, and from the Sindhu to the river of Siam. Nor can I help believing, although the polilhed and elegant Devanagari may not be fo ancient as the monumental chara6ters in the caverns of Jarafandha, that the fquare Chaldiack letters, in which inoft Hebrew books are copied, were originally the fame, or derived from the fame prototype, both with the Indian and Arabian characters. That the Phcnician, from which the Greek and Roman alphabets were formed by various changes and inverfions, had a fimilar origin, there can be little doubt and the infcriptions at Canarah, of which you now poffefs a mofl accurate copy, feem to be compounded of Nagari and Ethiopick letters, which bear a clofe relation to each
:

other.

424
and

THE THIRD DISCOURSE

other, both in the

mode of

in the fingular

manner of connecting

writing from the left hand, the vowels

Thefe remarks may favour an with the cofonants. opinion entertained by many, that all the fymbols of found, which at firft, probably, were only rude outlines of the different organs of fpeech, had a common origin. The fymbols of ideas, now ufed in China and Japan, and formerly, perhaps, in Egypt and Mexico, are quite of a diftincl nature; but it is very remarkable, that the order of founds in the Chinefe grammars correfponds nearly with that obferved in Tibet, and hardly differs from that which the Hindus confider as the invention
of their Gods.

II. Of the Indian Religion and Philofophy I fliall here fay but little ; becaufe a full account of each would require a feparate volume. It will be fufficient in this differtation to affume, what might be proved beyond controverfy, that we now live among the adorers of thofe very Deities who were worfhipped under different names in old Greece and Italy ; and among the profeflbrs of thofe philofophical tenets, which the Ionick and Attick writers illuftrated with all the beauties of their melodious language. On one hand we fee the trident of Neptune, the eagle of Jupiter, the fatyrs of Bacchus, the bow of Cupid, and the chariot of the Sun ; on another we hear the cymbals of Rhea, the fongs of the Mufes, and the paitoral tales of Apollo Nomius. In more retired fcenes, in groves, and in feminaries of learning, we may perceive the Brdhmans, and the Sarmanes, mentioned by Clemens, difputing in the forms of logick, or difcourfing on the vanity of human enjoyments, on the immortality of the foul, her emanation from the eternal mind, her debafement, wanderings, and final union with her fource. The fix philofophical fchools, whofe principles are explained in the Derfana So/lra, comprife all the metaphyftcks,

ON THE HINDUS.

425

metaphyficks of the old A cademy, the Stoa, the Lyceum; nor is it poffible to read the Veddnta, or the many fine compofitions in illuftration of it, without believing that Pythagoras and Plato derived their fublime theories from the fame fountain with the fages of India. The Scythian and Hyperborean do&rines and mythology, may alfo be traced in every part of thefe eaftern regions ; nor can we doubt that Wod, or Oden, whofe religion, as the northern hiftorians admit, was introduced into Scandinavia by a foreign race, was the fame with Buddh, whofe rites were probably imported into India nearly at the fame time, though received much later by the Chinefe, who foften his name into FO'.

This may be a proper place to afcertain an important point in the Chronology of the Hindus ; for the priefts of Buddha left in Tibet and China, the precife epoch of his appearance, real or imagined, in this Empire; and their information, which had been preferved in writing, was compared by the Chrijlian miffionaries and fcholars with our own era. Couplet, De Guignes, Giorgi, and Bailly, differ a little in their accounts of this epoch but that of Couplet feems the moft correft. On taking, however, the medium of the four feveral dates, we may fix the time of Buddha, or the ninth great incarnation of ViJJinu, in the year dne thoufand and fourteen before the birth of Chrijl, or two thoufand even hundred and ninety- nine years ago. Now the CdJJimirians, who boaft of his defcent in their kingdom, affert that he appeared on earth about two centuries after QriJJina, the Indian Apollo, who took fo decided a part in the war of the Mdhabhdrat ; and if an etymologifi were to fuppofe that the Athenians had embellifhed their poetical hiftory of Pandion' s expuW'ion, and the reftoration of Mgeus, with the Ajiatick tale of the Pdndus and YudhiJJitir, neither of which words they could have articu-

Vol.

I.

lated,

426
lated,
tain
I

THE THIRD DISCOURSE

mould not
that

haftily deride his conjecture: cer-

is called by the Greeks the have, therefore, determined country of Pandion. another interefting epoch, by fixing the age of Chrijhna near the three thousandth year from the prefent time ; and, as the three firft Avatars, or defcents of Vijhnu, relate no lefs clearly to an Univerfal Deluge, in which eight perfons only were faved, than the fourth and fifth do to the punijhment of impiety, and the humiliation of the proud, we may for the prefent affume, that the fecond, or fiver, age of the Hindus was fubfequent to the difperfion from Babel; fo that we have only a dark interval of about a thoufand years, which were employed in the fettlement of nations, the foundation of dates or The empires, and the cultivation of civil fociety. great incarnate Gods of this intermediate age are both named Rama, but with different epithets; one of whom bears a wonderful refemblance to the Indian Bacchus, and his wars are the fubjeft of feveral heHe is reprefented as a defcendant from roick poems. Surya, or the Sun; as the hufband of Sita, and the It is very remarkfon of a princefs named Caujeyla. able, that the Peruvians, whofe Incas boafted of the fame defcent, ftyled their greateft feftival Ramajitoa ; whence we may fuppofethat South America was peopled by the fame race, who imported into the fartheft parts of A/ia, the rites and fabulous hiftory of Rama. Thefe rites, and this hiftory, are extremely curious ; and although I cannot believe, with Newton, that ancient mythology was nothing but hiftorical truth in a poetical drefs; nor, with Bacon, that it confifted folely of moral and metaphyseal allegories; nor, with Bryant, that all the heathen Divinities are only different attributes and reprefentations of the Sun, or of deceafed progenitors; but conceive that the whole fyftem of religious fables

it is,

Pdndumandel

We

rofe, like the Nile,

from

feveral diftincl fources; yet I

cannot but agree that one great fpring and fountain of all idolatry, in the four quarters of the globe, was the
1

veneration

ON THE HINDUS.
veneration paid by

427

fire which dominion God of this 11 world ;" and another, the immoderate refpecl fhewn to the memory of powerful or virtuous anceftors, Specially the founders of kingdoms, legiflators, and warriors, of whom the Sun or the Moon were wildly fuppofed to be the parents.

men

to the vaft

body of

" looks from

his fole

like the

III. The remains of Architecture and Sculpture in India, which I mention here as mere monuments of antiquity, not as fpecimens of ancient art, feem to prove an early connection between this country and

The pyramids of Egypt, the coloffal fiatues Africa, defcribed by Paufanias and others, the Sphinx, and the Hermes Canis, (which laft bears a great refemblance to
the

Vardhdvatdr, or the incarnation of Vijlmu in the form of a Boar,) indicate the ftyle and mythology of
the fame indefatigable

workmen who formed

the vaft

excavations oiCandrah, the various temples and images of Buddha, and the idols which are continually dug up The letters on many of at Gayd, or in its vicinity. as I have before intimated, thefe monuments appear, partly of Indian, and partly of Abyffinian or Ethiopick, origin; and all thefe indubitable fafts may induce no ill-grounded opinion, that Ethiopia and Hindufldn were peopled or colonized by the fame extraordinary race; in confirmation of which, it may be added, that the mountaineers of Be ngal and Bahdr can hardly bediftinguifliedin fome of their features, particularly their lips

and nofes, from the modern Abyffinians, whom the Arabs call the children of Cufh, And the ancient Hindus, according to Straho, differed in nothing from the Africans, but in the ftraightnefs and fmoothnefs of their hair, while that of the others was crifp or woolly ; a difference proceeding chiefly, if not entirely, from the
refpe&ive humidity or drynefs of their atmofpheres. Hence the people who received the firf light of the rifing

Gg?

fm

4^3

THE THIRD DISCOURSE

fun, according to the limited knowledge of the ancients, are faid by Apuleius, to be the Aril and Ethiopians, by which he clearly meant certain nations of India ; where

frequently fee figures of Buddha with curled hair, apparently defigned for a reprefentation of it in its na-

we

tural

ft

ate.

IV.

It

is

unfortunate that the Silpi Sdjlra, or Collec-

tion of Treatifes on Arts and Manufactures, which mufl havecontained a treafureof ufeful information on dying,

painting, and metallurgy, has been fo long neglecied, that few, if any, traces of it are to be found; but the

labours of the Indian loom and needle have been univerfally celebrated; and fine linen is not improbably fuppofed to have been called Sindon, from the name of the river near which it was wrought in the highefl perThe people of Colchis were alfo famed for this fection. manufacture; and the Egyptians yet more, as we learn

from feveral paffages

in fcripture,

and particularly from

a beautiful chapter in Ezekiel, containing the moft authentic delineation of ancient commerce, of which Tyre had been the principal mart. Silk was fabricated immemorially by the Indians, though commonly afcribed

people of Serica, or Tancut, among whom probaword Ser, which the Greeks applied to thtfilk* worm, fignified gold; a fenfe which it now bears in Tibet. That the Hindus were in early ages a commercial people, we have many reafons to believe; and in the firft of their facred law tracts, which they fuppofe to have been revealed by Menu many millions of years ago, we find a curious pafl'age on the legal inter ejl of money, and the limited rate of it in different cafes, with an exception in regard to adventures at fea ; an exception which the fenfe of mankind approves, and which comto the

bly the

merce abfolutely requires; though

it

was not before the

reign of Charles I. that our own jurifprudence fully admitted it in refpeft to maritime contracts.

We

ON THE HINDUS.

429

We are told by the Grecian writers, that the Indians were the wifeft of nations; and in moral wifdom they were certainly eminent. Their Nzii Saflra, or Syflem of Ethicks, is yet preferved; and the Fables of Vijhnuferman, whom we ridiculoufly call Pilpay, are the molt
beautiful, if not the raoft ancient, collection of apoThey were firfl tranflated from logues in the world. the Sanfcrit, in the Jixth century, by the order of Bu~ zerchumihr, or Bright as the Sim, the chief phyfician, and afterwards Veztr, of the great AnHJhirevdn, and are extant under various names in more than twenty languages; but their original title is Hitopadefa, or Amicable InJlruBicn : and, as the very exiltence of JEfop, whom the Arabs believe to have been an Abyffnuan, appears rather doubtful, I am not dihnclined to iuppofe
that the
firft moral fables which appeared were of Indian or Ethiopian origin.

in

Europe

The Hindus

are faid to have boafted of three inven-

admirable; the method of inftructing by Apologues ; the decimal Scale, adopted now by all civilized nations; and the game of Chefs, on which they have fome curious treatifes but if their numerous works on Grammar, Logick, Rhetorick, Mufick, all which are extant and acceihble, were explained in fome language generally known, it would be found, that they had yet higher pretenfions to the praife of a fertile and inventive genius. Their lighter poems are lively and elegant ; their epick, magnificent and fubTheir Purdna's comprife a lime in the higheit degree. feries of mythological Hiftories, in blank verfe, from the Creation to the fuppofed incarnation of Buddha : and their Vedas, as far as we can judge from that compendium of them which is called Vpanifliat, abound with noble fpeculations in metaphyhcks, and fine difcourfes on the being and attributes of God. Their molt ancient medical book, entitled Chereca, is believed to be
tions, all of which, indeed, are
:

the

430
the

THE THIRD DISCOURSE

work of Siva : for each of the Divinities in their Triad has at lead one facred compofition afcribed to him. But as to mere human works on Hijlory and Geography, though they are faid to be extant in CaJJimzr 9 it has not been yet in my power to procure them. What their ajlronomical and mathematical writings contain, will not, I trufl, remain long a fecret they are eafily procured, and their importance cannot be doubted. The Philofopher whofe works are faid to include a Syftem of the Univerfe, founded on the principle of Attraction' and the central Pofition of the Sun, is named Yavan Achdrya, becaufe he had travelled, we If this be true, he might have are told, into Ionia. been one of thofe who converfed with Pythagoras. This at leaft is undeniable, that a book on Aftronomy* in Sanfcrit, bears the title of Yavana Jdtica^ which may fignify the lonick SeEl. Nor is it improbable, that the names of the Planets and Zodiacal Stars, which the Arabs borrowed from the Greeks, but which we find in the oldeft Indian records, were originally deviled by the fame ingenious and enterprifing race, from whom both Greece and India were peopled; the race who, as Dionyjius defcribes them,
:

'

'

first

assayed the deep>

And

wafted merchandize to coasts

first

unknown

'

Those who digested

the starry choir,

call'd

'

Their motions mark'd, and

them by

their

names."

Of thefe curfory obfervations on the Hindus, which would require volumes to expand and illuftrate, this is the refult; that they had an immemorial affinity with the old Perfians, Ethiopians, and Egyptians ; the Phenicians, Greeks, and Tufcans ; the Scythians, or Goths, and Celts j the Chinefe, Japanefe,and Peruvians ; whence, as no reafon appears for believing that they were a coit

lony

ON THE HINDUS.

431

lony from any one of thofe nations, or any ofthofe nafrom them, we may fairly conclude that they all proceeded from fome central country? to inveftigate which will be the objeft; of my future Difcourfes; and I have a fanguine hope that your collections, during theprefent year, will bring to light many ufeful discoveries; although the departure for Europe of a very ingenious member, who flrft opened the ineftimable mine of Sanfcrit literature, will often deprive us of accurate and folid information concerning the languages and antiquities of India.
tions

XXVI.

43 2

CORRECTIONS OF

XXVI.

CORRECTIONS
OF THE

Lunar Method of
By Mr.

finding the Longitude*

REUBEN BURROW.
m

^HE
an
t Lunar

Computation.
It
is

intent of the following remarks is to point out r r in the Ufual Praaice of ^ing the nu r Obfervations, and another in the Method of
-

diftance

well known that a little before and after the conjunction, the whole hemifphere of the Moon is vifible, and the enlightened crefcent feems to extend fome

beyond

the dufky part.

longitude of a place from the eelipfes of S a tell te S * took leveral fos of diffances of ' ? ! r the Moon s limb from a Star near the time of the conjunQion, both from the bright and the dufky parts of the circumference, and having calculated

mined

Now, having

the

deter-

JuKT

of the error evidently mewed, that the ftar had really been at fome diftance from the limb when it appeared to be in contaflt with it; and, as the error was a confutable part of a degree, I faw it would be of confequence to difcover the caufe of it; which, however, was obvious enough from ^fc'iprinciples,andmay be explained

that thofe taken from the dufky part were nearer the truth than the others. The nature

found

the remits, I

much

Let

THE LUNAR METHOD,

Let

ScC.

433

be the diameter of the moon, and A the of a ftar in contact with the moon's limb now, center as the enlightened part of the moon evidently appears to extend beyond the dufky part, let the concentric circle BC rcprefent the moon's limb thus apparently magnified, and fuppofe the ftar to be equally magnified; then with the center A, and the diftance DC, defcribe a circle, which confequently will touch the moon's apparent circumference inwardly now, as this laft is a confequence of fuppofing the center of the ftar to touch the circumference of the moon, exclufive of the deception, it follows, that the proper method of taking the dijiance, is to make thejlar appear to touch the
:
:

AD

moon inwardly.
have particularly Let B, therefore, be the point of conta6i, and a the center: the error then is Aa, or the fum of the apparent increafe of the moon's radius, and the apparent radius of the (tar:
all

But

the writers

on

this fubject

directed that the ftar be

made

to touch outwardly.

this quantity, it is evident, will make a confiderable error in the refult; and errors arifing from this fource are the more to be attended to, as they are not of a kind to be lefiened by increafing the number of obfervations.

The fame
with very

reafoning
little

is

applicable to the

Sun and Moon >

alteration.

The diftance of the Moon from the Sun or a Star, at each three hours, is given in the Nautical Ephemerisj and the method of inferring the time for any intermediate diftance, is by fimple proportion this would be juft if the Moon's motion was uniform but as this is not the cafe, the velocity fhould be taken into the account, as well as the fpace, in determining the time taken by the Moon to move any given diliance ; and the proper meafure of the velocity is fuch a quantity as has the fame ratio to the fpace defcribed, as three hours have to the time that has been actually taken to
: :

move

434

CORRECTIONS, ScC.
the given diftance: to find this quantity correctly,

move

would require

interpolation; but

it

will

be fufficient in

practice to find the time firft by the common method, and then to correci the interval for three hours to that time, by taking a proportional part of the fecond dif-

ference of the Moon's diftance at the beginning of each three hours; fuppofing the firft differences to anfwer to

the middle of each interval.

The
firft,

laft

correction, though not fo confiderable as the

will often bring the refult nearer to the truth

fix

by

three, four, five, or

miles, and fornetimes more,

which in geographical determinations is of confequence; and, by paying attention to thofeand fome other caufes of error, which fhall be pointed out hereafter, the refults in general will be much nearer to the truth than is It is common to throw blame on ufually imagined. the imperfections of the Lunar Tables, but it would be much more properly applied to bad inftruments and
bad obfervers.

<

ONTENTS

CONTENTS
OF THE

FIRST VOLUME.
Page

The

Introduction

*
-

The Preliminary
I.

Discourse

ix
1

On

the

Orthography of Asiatkk Words

II.
III.

Astronomical Observations

...
-

57
123
131

Royal Grant found

at

Mungir
Buddal

IV.

An

Inscription on a Pillar near

at

V. On the Ruins

Mavalipuram

145
-

VI. Hints on Friction in Mechanicks

VII.
VIII.

171 199

An

interview with the

to Tibet

young Lama
-

A Journey
a

207
-

IX. On the Gods of Greece,

Italy,

and India

221

X. On
XI.
XII.
XIII.

Cave with an Inscription near Gaj/a

Inscription at

276

An
On

Buddha Guya

^ -

284
288 295
g

the Sic'hs and their College the Vina, or Indian Lyre

On

XIV. On

the
the

Madhuca Tree

...
-

XV. On
XVI.

Mode

of Distilling

at Chitra

309

1.

On

-calculating the

Moon's Parallaxes
-

320
327

2. 3.

On

the Artificial

Horizons

On On

the Intersections of Curves

330 332

XVII.

extracting the Essential Oil of Roses

the

2.

On

Gold of Limong

in

Sumatra

335 XVIII.

CONTENTS.
Page

XVIII.

On
1.

the Literature of the Hindus

340
357

XIX.

Royal Grant found

at

Tana
-

2.

On

the City of Tagara

363
-

XX. On
XXI.
XXII.

the Vajracita or Pangolin

37 Q

Inscriptions on the Staff of Firuz Shah

379
383

A Conversation

with an Abyssiniun

XXIII. On

the Indian Trial by Ordeal

389

XXIV. The

Second Anniversary Discourse

III.

405
415

XXV.

Discourse

On

the Hindus

XXVI. The Lunar

Appendix:

Observations corrected

432

Meteorological Journal.

MEMBERS

437

MEMBERS
OF THE

AS I A TICK SOCIETY,
From i January 1784,
THOSE MARKED
j"
ifo

15 January 1789.

ARE DECEASED.

PATRONS.
The Rt. Hon. CHARLES EAR L CORNWALLIS, Knight of the Garter, Governor General^
&c. &c. &c.
Sir

The Hon.

JOHN MACPHERSON, Bart. CHARLES STUART,

Eso.

the

Members of Supreme
Council.

JOHN SHORE,
President, Sir
Sec.

WILLIAM JONES, Knight. HERBERT HARRINGTON, Es s JOHN

A.
Anderfon, Efq, Anderfon.
B.

* David Lieutenant James

* Francis * George Hilaro

Balfour,

M. D.

Robert
Sir Charles

Barlow, Efq. Blake, Efq.

Blunt, Bart. Boddam, Efq. Boddam, Efq.

Rawfon Hart
Charles

43

* John

439

H.
# Lieutenant Charles

440
P.

John David
Colonel

Thomas Deane
Antony
R.

George
Lieut. Col.

Paterfon, Efq. Pearfe, Perry, Efq.t

Polier.

Henry John
S.

Richardfon, Efq*t Royds, Efq.

Robert
Captain John Captain William Captain Richard Peter

Saunders, Efq.
Scott,

Scott,
Scott,

Speke, Efq.
Stables, Efq.

John
T.
John

Taylor, Efq.
Titfingh,

Governor Ifaac Henry St. John

Lieutenant Samuel

Tucker, Efq, Turner.

V.
*

Henry

Vanfittart, Efq.t

W.
Lieut. Colonel

Henry

Edward
Lieutenant Francis * Charles
Z.

Watfon,f Wheler, Efq.f Wilford,

Wilkins, Efq.

John

ZofTani, Efq.

APPENDIX
TO THE

FIR

T V

L U

OF

ASIATICK RESEARCHES.

METEOROLOGICAL JOURNAL,
Kept by Colonel T. D. Pearse, from
to

lft

March 1785,

28th February 1786.

Vol.

Hh

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