CHAPTER XIII.

_The Author’s Voyage to Europe.--Short Account of the Isles of France and Bourbon, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Island of Ascension._

On the 20th of April, 1789, the Calypso frigate, after a pleasant and agreeable passage, arrived in the harbour of the Isle of France. The entrance into this harbour is exceedingly narrow and dangerous; but when vessels have once got in they lie at anchor in great safety, as they are sheltered from the wind on all sides, and the landing is remarkably easy. On this island there are a great many high mountains, and among these a volcano, which sometimes darkens the atmosphere by its eruptions, and renders it so hot and thick that asthmatic people can scarcely breathe. Tempests, therefore, are here very frequent and terrible; as is the case in all countries where there are volcanoes, for they attract the vapours and inflammable matter with which the clouds are loaded. Fire always has a tendency to fire. In other respects the air is tolerably pure and healthful, though a little moist in general towards the evening; but in certain months a far more violent heat prevails than on the coast of Malabar, where the atmosphere is at least cooled by the evaporation that proceeds from the rivers and lakes, by which the country is every-where surrounded and intersected. This island lies under the 20th degree of south latitude, whereas Cochin lies under the 10th of north latitude. This makes a difference of 10 degrees, and serves as a proof that the greater or less heat to which people are exposed in different climates does not depend so much on the sun, as on local circumstances that arise from the situation of the country.

The Isle of France is about fifty miles in circumference. The soil is argillaceous, of a reddish colour, here and there volcanic, and full of stones except in the low valleys. It produces corn, millet, rice, pulse, tamarinds, lemons, sugar canes, coffee, mustard, honey, manioc, salt, and palm-oil; the last of which, however, is only fit for burning in lamps. According to the estimation of M. Charpentier de Cossigny, an officer of engineers in the French service, who resided in this island, it delivered in the year 1782, into the king’s storehouses, 811,288 pounds of rye, 662,942 pounds of maize, 85,668 pounds of rice, and 210,096 pounds of dried pease and beans. These articles are entirely consumed in the country; and it thence appears that the Isle of France is exceedingly well cultivated, and supplied in abundance with every thing necessary for the inhabitants. The timber which grows on this island is excellent, and consists of the following kinds: _Sanayu_, iron-wood, black ebony, stink-wood, _Oata_, the olive-tree, apple-tree, colophonium-wood (_Legno colofane_), _Takamuka_, dark-grey cinnamon tree, white cinnamon-tree, pine-tree, and European oak.

All these kinds of wood are here indigenous; but there are a great many others which have been transplanted from India, such as the _Mava_ or _Mangueira_ tree, the tamarind-tree, the _Agati_, and a sort of Acacia without prickles, which came originally from Malabar. All these trees, and a variety of others the names of which I do not remember, thrive exceedingly well in the Isle of France. The case is the same with the cinnamon-tree from Ceylon, the nutmeg and the clove trees from the Moluccas, and the _Raven-Sára_ from Madagascar[250].

All these productions are found here in the king’s garden, where they thrive remarkably well; but it cannot be denied that they have lost somewhat of their original vigour, which may perhaps be owing to the volcanic nature of the soil in which they are planted. The French, however, procure such a quantity of these spices, that they have no occasion to purchase any of them from the Dutch. The inspector of the king’s garden, and the before-mentioned M. Charpentier de Cossigny, have, by their botanical knowledge and unwearied industry, been the chief cause of these foreign productions being cultivated in the island. In a certain district of it called _Pampelmousse_, I observed that private individuals cultivated these spices in their gardens, from which they already derive some profit. When I paid a visit to Messrs. Boucher and Istace, who were established as clergymen in the district of _Pampelmousse_, I saw with real pleasure that they were both, busily employed in the cultivation of these exotics; and that they were well rewarded, by their thriving condition, for the trouble they had taken to rear them.

There are here also a great many singular birds of prey, some cattle, and great abundance of fish; but in particular numerous herds of goats, which belong to the proprietors of the land. Private persons purchase small spots of ground from the king, live as planters, and construct for themselves habitations which they call _Reduits_. The European planters and merchants on this island maintain about 30,000 slaves, who cultivate the lands, and who are obliged to perform the principal labour in the towns and villages. These slaves consist of Caffres, Indians, and natives of Madagascar. Were it possible for them to be unanimous, they would not find it difficult, as they far exceed the Europeans in number, to expel them entirely from the island; but as they belong to different tribes, they never can unite in one general plan; and to this circumstance the planters are indebted for their safety and the peaceable possession of their property. The laws of morality are violated here in the most flagrant manner: the various nations who are intermixed with each other, the state of licentiousness in which the colonists live, and the immodest conduct of the women, which sets all decency and restraint at defiance, might give travellers very just reason for calling the Isle of France _New Cythera_, or the Island of Venus. Besides, it is the seat of knavery and infidelity, with which almost all the French settled here are infected; for they acknowledge themselves, that, as soon as they pass the Cape of Good Hope, they renounce religion altogether, and employ their whole thoughts and attention on the acquirement of riches.

Port-Louis, the chief town on the island, has several well constructed manufactories, a very beautiful cathedral, and an elegant hospital. From the surrounding smaller islands a great number of tortoises are brought to the Isle of France; so that patients afflicted with the scurvy and syphilis, two diseases which are exceedingly prevalent in these climates, are soon restored to strength by means of the nourishing soups prepared from the flesh of these animals, mixed with all kinds of herbs. The advantage of this place, where sick soldiers and sailors can be so soon recovered; the natural liveliness of the French; the facility of procuring fresh provisions; the number of young men of French extraction who are found here, and who, on the sea, are as it were on their proper element; a numerous squadron which is always lying here ready to proceed on a cruise when necessary, and the small distance between this island and India, render it very easy for the French, in the time of war, to send relief to their colonies on the first notice; to annoy the enemy in these seas by their privateers; and, in the time of peace, to support and extend their commerce. Bailli de Suffrein, and several other French admirals, well knew how to profit, during the wars in India, by the advantages which this island affords to the French fleets.

It was taken possession of by the Dutch in the year 1598, and called the Mauritius. Before that period it was called _Cernè_, that is, Swan Island; because the sailors by whom it was first discovered observed on it a great number of white fowls without tails, which, on that account, they took to be swans. As the Dutch pay no attention to any possessions but those which bring them considerable revenues, they abandoned this island in the year 1708. It was afterwards taken possession of by a French naval captain named Du Fresne, who in 1715 founded in it a French colony: but it was not till 1723 that it acquired a governor and council. The first governor was M. De la Bourdonnais. It is to the great exertions of this man that the increase of the colony is chiefly to be ascribed; and since that period it has always remained subject to France.

After staying twenty days at this island, we left it on the 20th of May, and in twenty-four hours arrived at St. Denis, in the Island of Bourbon, which is only at a very small distance. Like the former, it is full of mountains; only with this difference, that they are not so high and peaked as those of the Isle of France. The latter is much more frequented by navigators, because it has an excellent harbour, an advantage which is totally wanting in the other. Ships here must lie at anchor in the open road of St. Denis or St. Paul, where they are exposed to great danger, and where mariners can never be sufficiently on their guard to prevent their vessels from being driven from their anchors and carried out to sea. Besides, at both the above places, it is exceedingly difficult to land; and even in calm weather it is almost impossible to go on shore without being completely drenched by the surf. M. De Cossigny, the governor of the island, resided at St. Denis, which was furnished with a strong garrison. It is the principal town of the island, and is situated upon an eminence which commands the whole road. Here I found M. Du Rocher, a celebrated missionary from the convent of St. Lazarus at Paris, who had the superintendance of the missionary affairs at the Isles of France and Bourbon.

From the road of St. Denis our frigate proceeded to St. Paul, which is likewise a town of considerable size, where I had some very interesting conversation with two distinguished missionaries, Messrs. D’Avelu and Halmat; the principal subject of which was, the extending and improving the missionary establishments in Malabar, Madagascar, and the Isles of France and Bourbon: but unfortunately all our plans were deranged by the French revolution.

The island of Bourbon is sixty French miles in circumference, and is exposed to the effects of a volcano, which from time to time throws up a bituminous, fluid, vitrified sort of substance, which, when cooled, has a spongy and reddish appearance. It extends already a quarter of a mile into the sea, like a broad causeway, which by the heat of the sun and the sea-water acquires daily more solidity, so that the French flatter themselves with the hope that it will one day form a haven. Both here, and at the Isle of France, the sea throws up a great many kinds of beautiful shells as well as marine petrifactions. It produces also abundance of well-tasted fish.

The island of Bourbon yields large quantities of coffee, which, when the beans have been well picked, is of the best quality. It contains a great many oily particles, and is attended with this advantage to the purchasers, that they have no occasion to use so much of it as of any other kind; for it is much stronger than that of Moka, though it has not such an agreeable flavour. The English purchase whole ship-loads of it, and set a much greater value on it than on that of the West Indies. When well toasted and burnt it will retain its virtue a whole year, provided it be properly preserved. Almost all the inhabitants of Bourbon cultivate coffee of this kind in their gardens. At the time I was on the island, a bag of it, weighing a hundred and twenty pounds, cost twelve scudi. The inhabitants of this island are diligent, industrious, decent, and well-behaved people. As they reside chiefly in the country, and employ themselves in agriculture, they have preserved their morals uncorrupted, and know little or nothing of the vices which prevail in the towns. The ass is the principal animal used for labour in these two islands; as horses and oxen cannot long hold out in a country so full of hills, therefore asses are employed in their stead. The French sea-captains bring from Arabia whole cargoes of these animals, and sell them to the inhabitants.

The island of Bourbon is divided into seven different districts, viz. _St. Denis_, _St. Paul_, _Repos de Laleu_, _D’Abord_, _St. Susannah_, _St. Bennet_, and _La Possession_. These seven districts, in the year 1783, delivered into the king’s magazines 8,136,245 pounds of corn, 6,704,296 pounds of maize and millet, 84,921 pounds of rice, 261,687 pounds of pease, 461,402 pounds of beans, and 300,000 pounds of barley. Were I obliged to make a choice between the Isle of France and that of Bourbon, I should prefer the latter, on account of its fertility, the purity and salubrity of its air, the industry and uncorrupted morals of its inhabitants, who have not yet debased themselves by illicit commerce with contemptible slaves, and of many other advantages; though M. Charpentier de Cossigny asserts the contrary in his letter to M. Sonnerat, printed at the Isle of France in 1784, and which, in general, displays great partiality.

The inhabitants of both these islands carry on trade with _Madagascar_, _Goa_, and _Surat_; to the _Persian Gulph_ and the _Red-sea_; and also to _Mascate_, _Monbaza_, _Zanzibar_, and _Quiloa_. They send thither sugar, coffee, different kinds of wood, Indian stuffs, and European glass wares. In return for these articles they obtain from Madagascar beautiful cattle, a great number of slaves, and certain kinds of cloth made from the fibres of plants and called _Pagne_. Mascate sends them asses, and from the southern parts of the African coast they procure slaves and gold dust. All the natives of these islands, born of European fathers and Indian or African mothers, are called Creoles, and of this kind are the greater part of the inhabitants of Bourbon. As these people, both by nature and the laws, are perfectly free, they are fond of their native country, and apply to agriculture from inclination; whereas the slaves in the Isle of France must be kept to this labour by force, and cultivate the lands of their unthankful masters with the greatest reluctance. Five of these free people are of more value than ten slaves of the Isle of France, who are compelled to gratify the avarice, lewdness, and licentiousness of their tyrants. The marriages of the free people are far more fruitful, and their children are far better nourished and educated than those of the slaves, and are consequently much healthier. This is the cause why the Island of Bourbon contains a much greater number of inhabitants than the Isle of France. When the smallpox breaks out, which occasions the greatest devastation here as well as on the coast of Malabar, a multitude of slaves are swept off in the Isle of France, whose places must then be supplied by others; and such large sums are required for this purpose, that the coffers of the inhabitants become entirely exhausted. In the Island of Bourbon, on the other hand, the number of slaves is so small, the air is always so pure and healthful, and the houses are so well constructed, that the above horrid disease, which rages with so much fury in the Isle of France, seldom makes its appearance in the former, and occasions much less ravage than in the latter.

On the 30th of May we left the Isle of Bourbon, and, having passed the Island of Madagascar, encountered a violent storm, which obliged us to put into the Bay of Lagoa, on the southern coast of Africa. As the wind was contrary, we were under the necessity of keeping close in with the land; so that we had continually before our eyes the horrid mountains with which this part of the world is covered. Never did I behold any land, the situation of which is so high, and which at the same time has so wild and dreary an appearance. During the whole day we beheld nothing but immense wastes of sand, or mountains, the summits of which were lost in the clouds, and which, in the night time, threw up smoke and flames. I should have considered these immense patches of sand as fields covered with snow, had I not been undeceived when we entered the before-mentioned bay[251]. These horrid and totally barren districts, where it is rare to see a single blade of grass, except a few melancholy ones here and there on the margin of some small stream which flows into the ocean, appeared to me like the entrance of the infernal regions. We experienced, at the same time, a most penetrating cold. Our apes, parrots and other Indian birds, which were not accustomed to such severe weather, began to be sick, and the most beautiful animals died of the cramp or convulsions.

On the 30th of June we passed the Bay of Formosa.

On the fifth of August we were off the Bay of St. Sebastian; and on the 10th came to anchor in False Bay at the Cape of Good Hope. This bay is very capacious, and the water in it is strongly impregnated with whale oil, or rather whale-spawn. When it is, therefore, put into a state of violent agitation by the motion of ships, or repeated rowing, these oily particles, by the friction thence occasioned, emit, to the great astonishment of those who are not acquainted with the phenomenon, a dark-blue and yellow light[252].

The Dutch East India Company have here a government-house, which at this time was inhabited by Governor Brand; together with various magazines, a large hospital, two taverns, a few private houses, and a botanical garden. A bottle of the best Cape wine cost a Dutch ducat. The neighbouring seas abound not only with whales, but with various other sorts of fish. The shore was covered with a multitude of the most beautiful shells, which enabled me to make a valuable addition to my collection. At the Cape there are oxen, sheep, goats, and other quadrupeds; but in particular all kinds of excellent vegetables. As I had made myself sufficiently well acquainted with the Cape during my first stay here, in the year 1776, I resolved on the present occasion to visit the neighbouring mountains; to explore the interior parts, and to procure what information I could respecting the Hottentots. I ascended, therefore, in the company of several French officers, one of the highest mountains, where, as far as the eye could reach, we beheld the most beautiful pastures. The Hottentots live after the manner of the Patriarchs, by breeding cattle, and have no fixed habitation. When they remove from one place to another, they put their wives and children into large waggons; dispatch these before, and follow them with their herds. Their whole clothing consists of a sheep’s skin, which, without any preparation, they throw over their shoulders. They cover the parts of sex with a small piece of cloth, and leave the rest of the body quite naked. Some even do not wear the above piece of cloth; and, with their shaggy sheep’s skins, their ragged hair, which is never combed, their dark brown visages, and small black eyes, have rather the appearance of monsters than of men. How different is that of the fortunate inhabitants of the coast of Malabar! The Hottentot women have a nose somewhat flat, or which seems to have been squeezed out in breadth by compression, and exceedingly thick lips. Those who have brought forth children bind a piece of skin around their middle, to hide that which modesty bids them conceal. On this subject I refer the reader to the letter of M. Beysser, surgeon, to M. de Cossigny, which is added as a postscript to that of the latter to M. Sonnerat. There are Hottentots who have only one testicle, because the other has been bruised by their mother, between two stones, at the time of their birth. The reason of this is, that these ignorant people believe that the males will, by these means, be prevented from getting twins. It contributes also, in their opinion, to the production of more females. The Hottentots are exceedingly active, swift-footed, and of strong constitutions. Those who have once gained their affection may safely depend on their fidelity. All those, however, which I had an opportunity of seeing, were so shy that they carefully avoided the Europeans, and neither entered into conversation with them, nor answered any questions they were asked.

There are some mountains in the neighbourhood of the Cape, which contain copper and tin. In the interior parts there is a kind of wild Hottentots, called Boshmen. They are of a colour somewhat like an orange yellow, but darker. Beysser and Vaurien, two French travellers, who penetrated nearly 300 miles into the country, describe these Boshmen as eaters of human flesh, who devour all the Europeans and Hottentots who have the misfortune to fall into their hands. Apples, pears, cherries, plums, apricots, figs, nuts, strawberries, and all the other fruits of Europe, grow wild in the interior districts[253]. The Hottentots live together in hordes; but apply neither to agriculture nor the arts, and have little or no religion. It is supposed that they worship the moon as a deity. They are entirely employed in tending cattle. Their common food is the flesh of their oxen or sheep, and a kind of mealy bulbous roots, which grow without any culture in the districts where they settle. The Dutch, who have extended their possessions 200 miles up the country, have taken every pains possible to encourage these people to apply to agriculture, but without the smallest success. The single settlements, which the Dutch have formed here and there in the country of the Hottentots, are at a great distance from each other; for as they are at liberty to choose whatever spot they think proper to reside on, they generally fix upon those where the soil is fruitful, and where they have no occasion to go far in search of water. According to the information I received, they have nearly 40,000 slaves, who are obliged to cultivate their lands; but the districts which I saw did not appear to be very fruitful. They consisted of immense forests and plains, surrounded by mountains, and intersected by marshes; and, therefore, much fitter for pasturage than for producing corn. The farmers are chiefly Germans, and for the most part have settled in valleys, where they found the soil fruitful; where they were sheltered from the wind, and had in the neighbourhood a sufficiency of wood and water. The land here, taken in general, is exceedingly fertile. The grapes, which yield the noble Constantia wine, the best of all the kinds produced at the Cape, are brought forwards by artificial manure. For that purpose deep trenches are dug, which are filled with dung, and again covered with earth. When dung fails, which is however seldom the case, the farmers mix with it leaves of trees and twigs, and suffer them both to rot. This manure communicates to the soil, and consequently to the vine plants, an extraordinary strength. In India the same process is employed to manure the rice-fields. In June and July the vines are pruned, and in January or February the grapes are collected; but the vintage must never begin till they are perfectly ripe. By these means the Constantia wine, which is produced from the best kind of grapes, acquires such excellence that it surpasses all the other kinds made in the country. Those, however, who wish to be acquainted with its real virtue and properties, must drink it at the Cape, where it is perfectly pure and unadulterated. It is much heavier than the European wines; and this, in all probability, is owing to the oily balsamic and saccharine particles it contains. The red muscadine is produced from the large vineyard at Constantia, and the white wine from the smaller. I had often before tasted both kinds on the coast of Malabar, at the table of Governor Van Angelbeck, whom I have several times mentioned already.

The Cape town is exceedingly well built, and contains a considerable number of low houses and very broad streets. Every thing here is established in the Dutch taste. Provisions are of the best kind. During my stay, board and lodging cost a dollar a-day; and boarders were at liberty to bring a friend with them occasionally to dinner. We had excellent meat, particularly mutton and veal; as well as vegetables, and abundance of European, African, and Indian fruits: and our meals were always seasoned with a few glasses of Constantia wine.

The gardens of the Dutch East India Company are exceedingly well laid out, and contain a great number of foreign animals; but the king’s garden in the Isle of France is much more beautiful and useful. In the latter there are a great many trees, which produce fruits and different kinds of spices; whereas the former is filled with such as are either entirely barren, or not very useful, and which serve merely for ornament.

On the 19th of July we left the Cape, and proceeded on our voyage.

On the 22d we encountered a most violent storm, accompanied with a heavy rain, which shattered our topmast and bow-sprit. By the violent straining of our frigate, which was sheathed with copper, some of the nails gave way, so that the vessel became leaky, and the water forced itself in through the planks. This accident threw the sailors into great confusion; for the wind raged with such fury that the ship became unmanageable. Had it continued ten minutes longer we should have infallibly found a grave at the bottom of the ocean. But the providence of that Eternal Being, who assists the distressed, and preserves the lives of sinners as well as of the righteous, saved us from the impending danger. The wind moderated, and we found means to secure the loose copper with ropes, to stop the leak, and so continue our course, though with some danger, and not without apprehension.

On the 7th of August we descried St. Helena, and on the 11th came to anchor in a bay of the Island of Ascension, where we lay eight days in order to repair our vessel.

This island is about nine miles in length, and seven breadth; and is nothing but an extinguished volcano, which seems formerly to have occasioned here the most horrid devastation. It contains no water, has no inhabitants, and does not produce a single blade of grass. Wherever the eye extends, nothing is seen but large accumulations of calcined stones, and black pyramidal masses of rock, which strike the traveller with astonishment, whether beheld near or at a distance, and fill his mind with an awful idea of the power of the volcano, as well as of the force of nature in general, which seems as if she had intended to annihilate herself in this horrid desert[254]. This island is continually buffeted by the waves of the ocean, which throw an immense number of shells on the shore, where they are so long beat till they at last become dust, and are converted into the whitest and most beautiful sand that can any where be seen. At the same time the sea often casts on shore large tortoises, which, if they fall on their backs, cannot recover their natural position, and therefore rot amidst the sand. The neighbouring seas teem with fish; and for that reason the island is inhabited by a great number of men-of-war birds, and other sea-fowl, which feed on these fish, and construct their nests in the clefts of the rocks. These men-of-war birds, though they seldom see a human being, are so tame, or rather so stupid, that they suffer themselves to be caught with the hand[255]. I caught five or six of them, which did not make the least resistance. In the course of three days 1000 at least of these birds were caught and carried on board our frigate. As they were more than the crew could immediately consume, they began to spoil, and occasioned such a stench that we were apprehensive it might produce some infectious disease. But our commander called the whole crew upon deck, and gave public orders that all these fowls, without the least favour of exception, should be thrown overboard.

As this island contains no springs, nor the least trace of vegetation, it is, as already said, entirely uninhabited; but in order that mariners may know the proper landing-place, a cross has been erected on a high rock, which serves them as a land-mark. I found here several pieces of petrified wood, which clearly exhibited the form they had when converted into stone by the volcanic eruption that laid waste the island. They are a great curiosity to the naturalist.

The fish caught in the adjacent seas are remarkably fat, and for that reason unwholesome. The air here is so mild, so pure, and so clear, that people may pass the night under the bare heavens without the least danger. Tortoises are found of so monstrous a size as to be capable of bearing four men on their backs. They begin however to be rather scarce, on account of their being too much sought after by navigators, who rob the ocean of its inhabitants.

Having had occasion to mention the effects produced by volcanoes, I shall here insert, in compliance with the wish of a respectable friend, some observations on those of India and Africa. Though water has the superiority in _Malayala_, and the whole land is in a manner inundated, traces may be found amidst it of earthquakes; and also, though seldom, of the effects produced by electric fire. In the month of December 1784 a general agitation of the earth was perceived there in the night-time, which continued about two seconds. Such a phenomenon is called in the Malabar language _Bhumikulacam_, and in the Samscred _Bhucialana_. The mountains of _Barcale_ and _Kidàculam_, which contain a great deal of iron and other highly inflammable substances, are, in all probability, the principal reservoirs which give rise to such concussions in the earth. I never had an opportunity myself, during my residence in India, of observing a volcano; but we are told by Father Tiefenthaler, Anquetil du Perron, and Thevenot, that, in the province of _Nagaracotta_, the capital of which, having the same name, lies, according to Rennel, in the latitude of 32° 20′, and the longitude of 73°, (properly 72° 47′,) there is a hole below some rocks which throws out flames from time to time with a loud noise, and for that reason is called _Givàlamukha_ or _Shvàlamucha_, that is, the fiery mouth or fiery nostrils. The Indian worshippers of fire make frequent pilgrimages to this place.

Another volcano is situated on the river _Sarayuva_, in the latitude of 3° 25′, and the longitude of 77° 27′, in the territories of king _Doulou Bassanaar_. This volcano throws up, at the same time, fire, air and water, and occasions frequent earthquakes, which are felt all over the province[256]. The circumstance of fire, air and water thrown up at once, induces me to adopt the opinion of those who believe that all volcanoes are connected with the sea, or at least some river, and that they never disengage electric matter, in a violent manner, except when it is concentrated and pressed together by water. My grounds for this opinion are as follows: all the volcanoes I ever had an opportunity of seeing, lie either close to the sea, or to some large river. Thus the before-mentioned volcano, in the territories of _Doulou Bassandar_, is situated, according to the account of Father Tiefenthaler, not far from the river _Sarayuvà_, called by others the _Sardjou_. The volcano in the Isle of France, which has thrown up flames for several centuries, has left on the island a grey, porous, ferruginous kind of lava, traces of which may be discovered in every part of it[257]. On various mountains of the island, which lie at a distance from the sea, there are found a great many calcareous substances, and different kinds of petrified muscles and shell-fish, which have nearly their natural form, so that they can be clearly distinguished from each other. To imagine that after the general flood a second inundation took place, and rose to such an amazing height as to deposit these calcareous substances and these shells on the tops of the mountains, is contrary to all probability. Their present situation can, therefore, be no otherwise accounted for than by supposing that they were either deposited at the time when these mountains were covered by the flood, or that they were carried thither by the united efforts of water and volcanic fire. In the granite, zeolites, chrysolites, and flint containing iron, copper, sulphur, and other things of the like kind, which are thrown up by Vesuvius, there are found also alum, alkali, marine salt, sal-ammoniac, and the so-called neutral salts. In the Dialogues on Vesuvius, printed at Naples in 1794, it is remarked, therefore, on very good grounds, that Vesuvius, and all volcanoes in general, give the lie to the chemists, and make them ashamed of their art. Condamine conjectured that the chemical laboratory of Vesuvius may extend to a considerable distance below the sea. Vesuvius, even in the year 1731, threw up such abundance of water that it inundated the fields, swept away the strongest trees, and buried more than five hundred people in its waves. Ought not these phenomena to serve as a proof that the water, at the time of an earthquake, rises very unexpectedly to a great height, and falls again with the same velocity? Does not this indicate the action of electric fire; and may not the latter, combined with water in the bowels of the earth, enter into a contest with it, and occasion the before-mentioned movement? The volcano in the Isle of Bourbon lies also near the sea, and the latter no doubt contributes to its throwing up abundance of lava, which is perfectly similar to that thrown up by Vesuvius. The volcanoes on the southern side of Africa, beyond the Cape of Good Hope, are also at no great distance from the sea; and I saw them throw up, in the night-time, dark red flames, and a thick smoke which covered the whole summits of the mountains.

The volcano in the Island of Ascension, which has been totally extinct for several centuries, has, as already observed, covered the whole rock with a grey, porous, and ferruginous stone, which Spilberg, in his _India Orientalis_, calls _Lapides carbones fabrorum exustos referentes_; stones which have the appearance of smiths’ coals. It is hardly to be supposed that this island could have been laid so entirely waste by volcanic fire, had not the sea water, with which it is surrounded on all sides, contributed to produce that effect. The fish found in the neighbouring seas are exceedingly unwholesome, and emit a volcanic smell. A single drop of water is not to be found in the whole island; and the reason of this, in all probability, is, that the two elements, fire and water, have here formerly entered into a dreadful contest, in which the former obtained the superiority.

I shall leave naturalists to examine these conjectures, and to prove the truth of them; but I can with justice assert, that the hypothesis respecting the effect of electric fire on water is very well known to the Brahmans, and other Indian philosophers; and by its means they are able to account for many phenomena, the nature of which would otherwise be inexplicable. According to their doctrine, the _Oruma_, that is, union or peaceful combination of the elements, particularly of water and fire, preserves the equilibrium and tranquillity of all created things. The _Arima_, on the other hand, that is, discord and enmity of the elements, particularly of water and fire, occasions contention, convulsions, and explosions, by which the earth, the atmosphere, and the sea, are thrown into the most violent agitation. As long as the _Oruma_ takes place between the elements, they remain peaceful and quiet; but when fire obtains the superiority, the _Arima_ instantly begins, and occasions earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, thunder and lightning; in a word, every thing that the Brahmans comprehend under the words _Givàlana_ and _Shvàlana_, which signify inflammation, combustion, and the other effects of fire. Senebier is of opinion, that the proper focus of volcanoes is at the bottom of the sea, and that such mountains, as well as volcanic islands, have been thrown up by submarine fire.

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After this digression I shall resume the journal of my voyage.

* * * * *

On the 14th of September we passed the Azores. The periodical wind, which at this time blew constantly from the African coast, was of great service to us, as it served to waft us past the Line and the Tropic before the stormy weather came on. Not far from the Line we saw a great many water-spouts. In the neighbourhood of the Tropic we were surrounded by multitudes of flying-fish; and when we reached the Azores, we twice or thrice observed the northern lights[258]. We spent whole evenings in admiring this noble phenomenon, as well as in contemplating the sublime field of the heavens, which almost every evening, the farther we advanced towards the north, presented to our sight new stars. All this rendered our passage very agreeable; but unfortunately, for a month past, we had been short of provisions. We were in want of bread, beef, wine, flour, and pease. Four weeks we had been reduced to the necessity of contenting ourselves with putrid biscuit, and a small portion of rancid bacon, which had been smoked four years before, and which now had a greenish and blue appearance. This was all we could obtain for breakfast. Our dinner and supper consisted of a plateful of beans, with a piece of biscuit, and a little brandy, which we drank mixed with our stinking water. Under these circumstances it needs excite no surprise that many of the sailors were ill of the scurvy, and I myself was not entirely free from that loathsome disease.

On the 29th of September 1789 we at length entered the harbour of Brest, where we expected to find all our troubles at an end; but unfortunately we learnt that the whole kingdom was in the utmost confusion. As it was impossible for me to return to India, I was obliged to submit to my fate, and to accommodate myself to the times, while force had usurped the place of justice. It may readily be comprehended, that, in the course of my journey home through France, where the delirium of liberty had risen to the highest pitch, I had too many opportunities of making comparisons between other nations and my dear countrymen the Europeans, which were not much to the honour of the latter.

GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX.

A.

_Adirampushe_, a place on the coast of Malabar where the ginger grows. 163. _Agra_, one of the places of residence formerly of the Great Mogul, or emperor of India. 38. _Alangatta_, a river and city with a very large church. By the Portuguese it is called very improperly _Mangalte_. The river discharges itself into the sea near _Aycotta_, or _Tschuvocad_. 104, 137. _Allahabad_, a considerable city at the confluence of the _Yamuna_ and the _Ganges_. (See _Palibothra_.) It is in the possession of the English. 37, 39. _Alapushe_, a place on the coast of Malabar, where a canal has been dug for the convenience of conveying goods on board ships lying on the sea-coast. Excellent pepper, in particular, may be procured here. 81, 120, 136. _Allakandara_, a river in the northern part of India, on which lies Sirinagur, formerly called _Nischadapuri_, _Nisa_, or _Dionysiopolis_. It is named also _Allaknanda_, or _Allaknandara_. 37. _Ambàdi._ See _Modhura_. 37. _Ambalacòtta_, a village on the coast of Malabar, where the Jesuits formerly had a convent and seminary. At present it is in a state of decline. 138. _Ambelapusha_, a celebrated temple dedicated to _Shiva_. 119. _Andipatti_, a city in the interior part of the province of _Madura_, which formerly sent, and still sends, various articles of merchandise to the coast of Malabar. 56. _Angamàli_, an old city on the coast of Malabar, in which there are three Christian congregations, and where the bishop of the Christians of St. Thomas formerly resided. It was burnt and plundered by Tippoo Saib. 116, 138. _Angenga_, a city on the coast of Malabar, in the kingdom of Travancor, in possession of the English. It is called also _Angiutenga_. The river _Modelaposcha_ discharges itself there into the sea. 103. _Angicaimal_, a place in the neighbourhood of Cochin, on the coast of Malabar, which the river _Feira d’Alva_ flows past. 104. _Angiutenga._ See _Angenga_. 114. _Aragoshe_, a place with a Christian church at the bottom of the Gauts, in the forests, near which are found wild elephants, buffaloes, tygers, deer, apes, and parrots. 125. _Arampalli_, said to be the _Argyropolis_ of the ancients, from which the Bay of _Manar_ is called _Sinus Argaricus_. It lies at the distance of three leagues from Cape _Comari_, and as far up the country from _Covalam_. 56, 110. _Arcate_, or _Arcati_, but properly _Arrucati_, a fortified city in the kingdom of _Carnàta_, or _Carnate_, the nabob of which is frequently called the nabob of _Arcate_, or _Arcot_. It lies on the river _Palur_. 28, 64. _Ariancopan_, a place to the south of _Pondicheri_, where the bishop of the Catholic Christians in that district resides, and where there is also a seminary. 25, 65. _Arrucate_, _Arrucati_. See _Arcate_. 28, 60, 64, 89. _Arshtamiciare_, a place belonging to the king of _Cochin_. 135. _Artunkel_, a place on the sea-coast to the south of Cochin. 121. _Atur_ (_Attur_), a fortified place in the territories of the nabob of _Carnate_, lying on the river _Gudalam_. This river falls into the _Valaru_, which discharges itself into the sea at _Porto-Nuovo_. 28, 63. _Attinga_, a city called also _Attancal_, which is the residence of the queen, that is to say, of the eldest sister of the king of Travancor, as the king’s consort can never become queen. 114. _Aur_, a place in the kingdom of _Madura_, where the Jesuits had formerly a congregation. 64. _Aurungabad_, a city in the south-west part of the _Soubah_ of the _Deccan_. Near it lies _Ellur_, or _Dauletabad_, where there is a temple, which has been described by Thevenot. 38. _Ayambel_, a place in the kingdom of Madura, where the Jesuits had formerly a congregation. 64. _Aybica_, a village where the river, on which merchandise is transported from the _Gauts_ to _Culam_ or _Collam_, discharges itself into the sea. 117. _Aycotta_, called also _Tschuvocat_, a place in Malabar near which the river _Alangatta_ falls into the sea. 104, 137. _Ayodhya_, a very old Indian city on the river _Deva_, or _Gagra_, the residence of the first conquerors of India. _Faizabad_ is situated on the spot where _Ayodhya_, or _Audh_, stood formerly. 37.

B.

_Badagare._ There are two places of this name: the first lies in _Madura_, and sends merchandise to the coast of Malabar. It has a Christian church, and is situated close to the large forests at the foot of the _Gauts_, where wild elephants are found in great abundance. The second is called also _Vaypin_, and lies on the sea-coast to the north of _Cochin_. 56, 125, 137. _Badeati_, lies eastward from _Diamper_ and _Cochin_, and was formerly the residence of the court of _Travancor_. It is called also in the English maps, by Rennel and by La Rochette, _Barrate_. 123. _Balancada_, a fortress in the kingdom of _Carnate_, which, like a great many others, is of a square form. 63. _Baliapatnam_, one of the rivers in the district of _Calicut_, on the Malabar coast, which take their rise in the _Gauts_, and form an innumerable multitude of islands. A city also near Mount _Illy_, on the above river, has the same name. 104. _Barcale_, a village, mountain, and celebrated spring, together with a temple, to the south of _Culam_ or _Collam_. 115. _Benares_, called also _Venares_ and _Kasi_, the _Cassidia_ of the ancients, has a celebrated temple, a Brahmanic academy or school, and an observatory. 37. _Bengalùr_, formerly the residence of the Sultan Hayder Ali Khan. It is strongly fortified, and its name signifies the white land. 32. _Bisnagari_, a city which had formerly a prince of its own, but became subject to the Great Mogul, and belonged to the district of _Sanor_. It was afterwards conquered by Hayder Ali. It was called also _Narasinha_. 63. _Bombay_, an English colony in an island to the north of Goa. It has an excellent harbour, and is the seat of a presidency. 107, 114. _Budhapadi_, a city in the territories of Tippoo Sultan in _Maissur_. On the maps it is called _Budhapari_. Its name signifies the town of _Budha_. 32.

C.

_Cabul._ See _Kabul_. 35. _Cadaturuti_, a place on the coast of Malabar which produces abundance of ginger. 123, 163. _Cagnarapalli_, a town celebrated for its trade with the province of _Madura_. In the neighbouring districts of the _Gauts_, mountain-snakes thirty or forty feet in length are found. 55, 118, 248. _Calapada_, a place between _Pondichery_ and _Sadras_. 71. _Calianatur_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. Its name signifies the town of joy. 28, 63. _Calianapuri_, a maritime city on the coast of Malabar near Mount _Illy_. Foreign ships obtained here cargoes of the productions of the country. 56. _Calicurici_, a fortified city in _Carnate_. 63. _Calicut_, a maritime city on the coast of Malabar, destroyed by Tippoo Sultan. 8, 103, 140. _Calcutta_, the capital of the province of Bengal, where the English have established the seat of their chief presidency. 39. _Calini_ (_Caliny_), a river, at the influx of which into the Ganges lies the city of _Canoaschi_, in lat. 27°. 38. _Callare_, a city which the river _Collam_ flows past. 117. _Callupare_, a place on the coast of Malabar inhabited by Jacobite Christians. 118. _Catturiàda_, a place on the coast of Malabar, where, on account of its wet situation, a great deal of rice is cultivated. It is therefore called the storehouse of Malabar. 118, 186. _Camanaichenpalti_, one of the places in the kingdom of _Madura_ where the Jesuits formerly established considerable congregations. 65. _Cambam_, a city in the interior part of _Madura_, which, like many other cities, sent merchandise formerly to the coast of Malabar. 56. _Canarà_, a principality on the coast of Malabar, which, towards the south, borders on Mount _Illy_, 103. _Canantora_, a town in the kingdom of _Travancor_. 113. _Cannanùr_, a maritime city in Malabar, which exports merchandise sent thither from the interior parts. It has a fortress belonging to queen _Collatiri_, called by the Europeans _Collastri_. 56, 144. _Canatur_, a place in the _Jaghire_ of the British on the coast of Coromandel, or what the English possess in the neighbourhood of Madras. 73. _Candenàda_, a place which belongs to the king of _Cochin_, a petty prince on the coast of Malabar. It is called also _Candanale_. 135. _Cangimaram_ (_Congimaram_), a place called in the English maps _Congimer_, lying on the sea-coast between Pondichery and Sadias. 71. _Cangipuri_, or _Congipuram_, a place in _Carnate_; called also _Cangivaron_, which signifies the city of gold. 28. _Caniarata_, a place on the coast of Malabar, not far from _Angenga_. 114. _Canigia_, the seat of the governor of _Coahin_. 192. _Canudi._ See _Calini_. 38. _Cariapatnam_, one of the many rivers by which the coast of Malabar is intersected. 103. _Caricattur_, a city in the interior part of _Madura_, which formerly sent merchandise to the coast of Malabar. 56. _Carimbanàda_, a place in the kingdom of _Travancor_, which is inhabited by Pagans and Christians, and carries on a great trade in pepper and cardamoms. 117. _Carnada_ (_Carnate_), a kingdom or province on the coast of Malabar, which is under the government of a nabob. 8, 59. _Carpuncolam_, a place between _Pondichery_ and _Sadras_. 71. _Caschemir._ See _Kaschemir_. 35. _Cattur_, a fishing village on the coast of Malabar, near Cochin. 119, 121. _Caveri_, one of the most considerable rivers on the coast of _Coromandel_, which, by a number of mouths, discharges itself into the sea, in the kingdom of Tanjaur. 48, 54, 231. _Caveripac_, a fortified town in _Carnate_, 63. _Cayamcollam_ (_Cayancollam_), a city on the coast of Malabar. 8. _Celicotam_, a place in the kingdom of _Tanjaur_, called by the Europeans _Celicolon_. 30. _Cencotta_, a city in _Madura_, which formerly sent merchandise to the coast of Malabar. 56. _Cennòtta_, a place on the river _Alangatta_, which belongs to the king of _Cochin_. 104, 135. _Cerenga_, a place on the coast of Malabar, which the river _Modelaposcha_ flows past. 103. _Certele_, a town on the coast of Malabar, with a celebrated temple of _Bhagavadi_, the spouse of _Shiva_. 121. _Ceruvatti_, a city in _Madura_, which formerly sent merchandise to the coast of Malabar. 56. _Cettiyatti_, a place on the coast of Malabar with a Christian church. 129. _Cettupeli_, a fortified place in _Carnate_, 63. _Cettur_, a fortified place in the interior part of _Madura_. 56. _Cettuva_, one of the numerous rivers which flow from the _Gauts_ through Malabar into the sea. 104, 138. _Ceylon_, one of the largest islands in the Indian ocean, the coasts of which were formerly in the possession of the Dutch; at present they are in the hands of the British. 57. _Chidàcolam_, a place on the coast of Malabar, which the river _Paru_ flows past. 103. _Chonenbar_ (_Chonanbar_), the name of a river called properly _Chiovanàru_, on the coast of Coromandel, which flows to the south of Pondichery. 26. _Ciacrapuri_ (_Ciacrapuram_), a city in _Carnate_, the name of which has been corrupted into _Cacrapur_. 28. _Cialembron_, _Cilamburam_, _Cillumlaram_, _Cilumbrum_, a celebrated pagoda between _Porto-nuovo_ and _Devycotta_. 61. _Ciandrapati_, a place in the kingdom of _Maïssur_. 33. _Ciangaceri_, the residence of a petty prince, who, in 1746, was defeated and taken prisoner by _Vira Martanda_ the king of _Travancor_, and several other petty sovereigns. 115. _Cianganacèri_, a village surrounded by rice fields on the coast of Malabar. 120. _Ciangracoil_, a temple in the kingdom of _Madura_. 31. _Ciangucotta_, a city in the province of _Marava_, on the coast of Coromandel. 45. _Ciavacàda_, a maritime place on the coast of Malabar. 138. _Cinnabellapuram_, a city in the kingdom of _Maïssur_. 33. _Cinnapatnam_, a small city on the coast of Coromandel, which the English, in the year 1645, obtained from king _Narsinha_, or _Bisnagari_, and on the spot where it stood built Fort St. George at Madras. 77. _Ciòlaburam_, a city in the province of _Marava_. 45. _Ciòlamandala_ (_Coromandel_), signifies the land of millet; because that grain (_Holcus sorghum_, and _Durra_), are cultivated there in abundance. 3. _Ciovanàru._ See _Chonenbar_. 26. _Ciovare_, a place on the coast of Malabar, which the _Feira D’Alva_ runs past. 104, 134, 135. _Cirangam_ (_Cheringam_), in the kingdom of _Tanjaur_, not far from _Tricinnapali_. 29, 61. _Cirangapatnam_ (_Seringapatam_), the capital of the kingdom of _Maïssur_, where Tippoo Saib resided. 32, 114. _Cirumuttu_, a very fruitful district, which belonged to the old kingdom of _Cottaracare_, and is situated near Cape _Comari_, not far from _Collam_. 117. _Ciuncam_, a place between _Maïssur_ and _Cochin_, which carries on trade with both. 125. _Ciundrapandi_, a city in the interior part of the kingdom of _Madura_, which formerly sent merchandise to the coast of Malabar. 56. _Cocci_, a city on the coast of Malabar, which exports merchandise obtained from the inland parts. Not far from this city there is a river of the same name. 56. _Cochin_, a place with a citadel on the coast of Malabar, lying nearly under 10 degrees of north latitude. It belonged to the Dutch; but is now in the possession of the British. 103, 104, 121, 126, 130. _Cochinchina_, a kingdom on the eastern side of India, beyond the Ganges, towards China. 21. _Codamalur_, a place on the coast of Malabar, where ginger grows. _Codamangalam_, one of the Malabar cities which still carry on trade, as formerly, with Madura. 56, 220. _Codolur_ lies in the large forests of the Gauts. 220. _Codungalur_ (_Cudungalur_, _Cranganor_), a fortress on the river _Allangatte_, which was demolished, in 1790, by Lally, Tippoo Saib’s general. 56, 104, 120, 136. _Cognur_, a place not far from _Cochin_, which is washed by the river _Feira D’Ava_. 104. _Colarru_ (_Colaru_), that is the river of swine; it is commonly written _Coleroon_. It flows through the kingdom of _Tanjaur_. See _Caveri_. 48, 231. _Collam_ (_Collamedu_), a place where the merchandise of the coast of Malabar is shipped. 56, 147. _Còlanàda_, the capital of the kingdom of _Cannanur_, in 11° 50′ N. Lat. 144. _Coleci_, a place not far from Cape _Comari_, or _Comorin_, with a small but safe harbour, which by Strabo is called _Colias_. 56, 103, 112. _Colicòtta_, a place not far from Cape _Comari_, which sends on board foreign ships the merchandise of the country. 56. _Comari_ (_Canyamuri_), the extreme point of India, on this side the Ganges, where the ridge of mountains called the _Gauts_ ends. 3, 103, 110, 111. _Concao_, a kingdom in the neighbourhood of Bombay, on the eastern bank of the Ganges, called properly _Concan_. 8. _Congimaram._ See _Cangimaram_. _Conoam_, a place in the neighbourhood of the kingdom of _Travancor_. 139. _Corolongatta_, a town in _Travancor_, where a bishop of the Jacobites has his residence. 121, 123. _Còttàracare_, formerly a principality conquered by the king of _Tranquelar_. 115, 117. _Cottàram_ (_Cottàte_), a place in _Travancor_, which in the time of the Greeks and the Romans was called _Cottana_, or _Cottiara_. 8, 112. _Covalam_, called also _Coulam_, was the _Colis_ or _Colias_ of the ancients. 56, 57, 74, 94, 110. _Coytòtta_, a place lying east from _Cochin_, which carries on a considerable trade. 117. _Cudnegalur_ (_Crangalor_, _Cranganor_), a place on the sea-coast, to the north of _Cochin_. 46. _Cudur_, one of the places in Madura which formerly sent merchandise to Malabar. 56. _Curiapalli_, the magazine and arsenal of the king of _Travancor_. 137. _Curumpana_, a place on the sea-coast, nearly in the latitude of 8° North. 112.

D.

_Dakshima_, or _Dekam_, a kingdom situated in the southern part of Indostan. 42. _Dely_ (_Delhi_), formerly the residence of the emperor of India. 38, 42, 43. _Dèva_ (_Devi_), a river formerly called also _Gagra_. It is known likewise by the names _Vipascha_ and _Vipal_. 37, 39, 232. _Dharàburam_ (_Dharapuram_), a city in the kingdom of _Maïssur_, at the bottom of the _Gauts_, and in the district of _Coimbetur_. 32. _Dhermapuri_, a city in _Maïssur_, called also _Dhermapura_. 32, 60. _Divicotta_ (_Divyacotta_), a castle at the mouth of the _Coleroon_ or _Colaru_. 29, 48. _Douletabad._ See _Aurungabad_. 38.

E.

_Edapalli_, a place in the kingdom of _Travancor_, called also _Rambali_ and _Rapolim_. There is a temple and palace here of the king of the Brahmans. 124, 137. _Elagnïl_, a place in the Gauts, with a Christian church. 125. _Elephantis_ (_Elephanta_), an island near Bombay, which contains one of the oldest Indian temples. 22. _Eloura (Ellur)._ See _Aurungabad_. 38. _Elluvancotta_, a city in the province of _Marava_. 45. _Ettumanur_, a celebrated temple of _Vishnu_, on the coast of Malabar. 121.

F.

_Faizabad._ See _Ayedhya_. 37. _Feira D’Alva_, a stream on the coast of Malabar, which falls into the sea near _Cochin_. 104.

G.

_Ganga_ (the _Ganges_). 39. _Gauts_, a ridge of mountains which divides the peninsula of India from north to south. 3, 12. _George_ (St.). See _Cinnapasnam_. 77. _Gingi_, a fortified city in the territories of the nabob of _Carnate_, lying on a river of the same name north-west from Pondichery. 10, 64. _Golconda_, formerly a kingdom in India, conquered by _Shah Geban_. 42, 60. _Gocula._ See _Modhura_. 38. _Goculator_, a place in the kingdom of _Maïssur_. 32. _Govalam_, called also _Covalam_, the _Colis_ or _Colias_ of the ancients. 28, 32. _Gudelùr_, or _Kudalor_, a place on the coast of _Coromandel_, between _Porto-nuovo_ and _Pondichery_. 60.

H.

_Harani_, a fortified city in _Carnate_. 63. _Hastinapuri_, in the Samscred _Hastinagari_, called at present _Aschnagur_, one of the oldest cities of India, lying under the latitude of 32°. 35. _Hima_ (_Himala_), the name of a mountain where the river _Sarayouva_, which is probably the _Imaus_ of the ancients, has its source. 232, 233.

I.

_Jamunà_, a river called also the _Jumma_. It has several other names; and, in all probability, is the _Jomanes_ of the ancients. 231. _Illi_, a mountain which separates the kingdom of _Canara_ from Malabar. 103, 145. _Illoura._ See _Elloura_. 38. _Ilpiur_, a place in the kingdom of _Madura_, where the Jesuits established formerly a Christian congregation. 64. _Iratuge_ (_Iratùshe_), a city in Malabar, at the bottom of the _Gauts_, which carries on trade with _Madura_. 55, 121.

K.

_Kabul_, the capital of a province on the eastern boundaries of Persia, near the river _Behat_ or _Sirbin_. 35. _Karincalla_, called also _Carical_, a place which the French obtained from the king of Tanjaur in 1638, but which at present is in the hands of the English. 49. _Kaschemir_ (_Cachemir_), a province surrounded by mountains, which was formerly subdued by the Mogul conquerors, and taken from its own princes. The capital is called also _Kaschemir_. At present it is named _Sirinegur_ or _Sirinagar_. 35. _Kasi._ See _Benares_. 37. _Kavaricotta_, a city in _Marava_. 45. _Kidacolam_, a place on the coast of Malabar. 222. _Koledimalà_, a mountain in the neighbourhood of the _Gauts_. 141. _Kottàracare_, the name of a very ancient small kingdom on the coast of Malabar. 117. _Krishnapuram_, a town on the coast of Malabar, which carries on a great trade. 117. _Krishnavaram_, a town in _Carnate_, which on the maps is called _Quichenavaron_. 28.

L.

_Lahor_, a province in the north-west extremity of India, with a capital of the same name. 43.

M.

_Mabalicarè_ (_Mavelicarè_), a populous city in the kingdom of _Travancor_. 118. _Màdèvipatnam_, a considerable city in the kingdom of _Travancor_. 47. _Madraspatnam_, the present seat of the British government on the eastern coast of India. 5, 12, 27, 60, 76. _Madura_, an ancient kingdom, with a capital of the same name, called formerly _Methora_. 25, 31, 44, 46, 65, 103. _Magnapre_, a place in the _Gauts_, where the author saw wild elephants tamed. 213. _Mahe_ (_Mahi_), the name of a river, and of a fortress not far from _Calicut_, in Malabar, which formerly belonged to the French, but is now in the hands of the English. 104, 143. _Mailacomba_, a place in the forests at the bottom of the _Gauts_. 125. _Mailapuram_ (_Maïlapuri_), called also _Mailiapur_, or St. Thomas, near Madras. 27, 60, 65, 75. _Mainàda_, a town on the coast of Malabar which the river _Paru_ flows past. 103. _Maïssur_, the name of a kingdom, with its capital, lying between the coast of _Malabar_, _Carnate_, and _Madura_. 8, 32, 64. _Malabar_, called properly _Malayalam_, the land of mountains. 102. _Malanàda_, _Malangàra_, other appellations for Malabar. 102. _Maleatur_, a place in Malabar which the _Feira D’Alva_ flows past. 104. _Maleyalam (Malayala)._ See _Malabar_. 3, 102. _Mampulli_, a town on the coast of Malabar, not far from _Angenga_. 114. _Mannacòri_, a place on the coast of Malabar. 121. _Mannacodam_, the same. 121. _Mannacudi_, a place on the coast of Malabar, where there are still to be seen the ruins of a palace belonging to the king of _Travancor_. 112. _Mannapara_, a place on the coast of _Pescaria_, not far from _Tutucurim_. 31. _Manclùr_, a town in the kingdom of _Madura_. 31. _Mangalur_, a city in _Carnate_. 28. _Manimàla_, one of the places in _Madura_ which formerly sent merchandise to the coast of Malabar. 56. _Mantòpo_ (_Mantòpu_), a town in _Madura_. 31. _Marava_, a province on the coast of Coromandel. 44. _Mattanceri_ (_Mattincèra_), not far from _Cochin_, belongs to a small kingdom of the same name. 130, 134. _Modelacodata_, a province in the forests of the Gauts, where wild elephants are found. 212. _Modelaposha_, a river in Malabar, which flows past _Angenga_. 103. _Modhura_ (_Moturapuri_), on the river _Yaume_, the _Modura Deorum_ of Pliny, called also _Moturapuri_. On the map by La Rochette and Mannert it is called _Mathra_, and on that of Rennel _Matura_. It lies in the latitude of 27°, and is known by the names likewise of _Gocùla_ and _Ambàdi_. 37, 54, 55. _Mohatugè_ (_Mohatushe_), one of the places in the interior part of Malabar which still continue to carry on trade with _Madura_ and _Maïssur_. 55, 126. _Molicolam_, a Christian congregation in the interior part of the _Gauts_. 201. _Monguiri_ (_Monghir_), a place in the possession of the English, on the Ganges, in the province of _Bahar_. 39. _Mont-Grand_, a fortified garden belonging to the East-India Company’s government at Madras, not far from St. Thomas. 49. _Mullaventurutti_, one of the places which the Dutch suffered to remain in the hands of the king of _Cochin_. 135. _Multan_ (_Moltan_), one of the eastern provinces of the ancient kingdom of _Hindostan_, on both sides of the _Sind_ or _Hindus_, the capital of which is called _Multan_ also. 43. _Muttam_, one of the places on the coast of Malabar which procured the productions of the inland parts for foreign ships. 56. _Muttiera_, a place in the kingdom of Cochin, where there is a church belonging to the Christians of St. Thomas. 123.

N.

_Nàgapatnam_ (_Nagapatana_, _Nègapatnam_), called by the Greeks _Nigamos_ and _Nigama Metropolis_, a city in the kingdom of _Tanjaur_, at the mouth of an arm of the _Coleroon_; belonged formerly to the Dutch, but is now in the possession of the English. 29, 48, 49. _Naidshadabur._ See _Allakandara_. 36. _Narasinha._ See _Bisnagari_. 60, 63. _Naur_, _Nàvur_, and _Nagur_, a place between _Negapatnam_ and _Carical_, at the mouth of an arm of the _Coleroon_. 29, 53. _Nerenam_, a considerable town in the kingdom of _Cochin_, where the bishop of the Jacobites resides. 120. _Nharakel_, a place in the kingdom of _Cochin_, with a Christian congregation. 127. _Nhàrica_, one of the places which the Dutch have left in the hands of the king of _Cochin_. On the maps it is called also _Gnàrica_. 135. _Nishadabury._ See _Naishadabur_. 36.

O.

_Odeaguiri_, a fortified place and arsenal of the king of _Travancor_. 113. _Orixa_ (_Orissa_), a large province to the south-west of Bengal. 54. _Ottocutta_, that is, the solitary city. It is situated in _Carnate_. 47.

P.

_Padmanàburam_, a castle not far from _Travancor_ or _Tiruvancoda_, where the king resides and keeps his treasure. 8, 113. _Palacaticieri_, a celebrated city and fortress on the river _Paniani_ in the _Gauts_, called also _Policat_. 139, 175. _Palancotta_, a fortified place in _Tanjaur_. 30, 63. _Palarru_ (_Paler_), a river which flows through _Carnate_ from the _Gauts_, and falls into the sea near _Sadras_. 60, 89, 97. _Paliacata._ See _Valiacadà_. 60. _Paliamcotta_, a strong fortified place in the kingdom of _Madura_, near _Tinivelly_, and on the river _Tunmerbury_. 58. _Palipuram_, a place with a Christian congregation, not far from _Cochin_. 137. _Pallibothra_, a place known to the Greeks and Romans; at present a town called _Palipatur_, at the confluence of the _Ganges_ and the _Jamuna_, near _Allahabad_. 37. _Pallicaré_, a place which the Dutch left in the hands of the king of _Cochin_. 135. _Palur_, a fortified Town in _Carnate_, on the sea-coast. 63, 138. _Pandi_, one of the names formerly given to the kingdom of _Madura_; and for this reason it was called also _Pandimandala_, from king _Pandi_, (in Pliny, _Pandion_.) 45. _Paniani_, one of the small streams which fall down from the mountains. 104, 138. _Paravur_, a considerable town not far from _Cochin_, which was destroyed by the troops of Tippoo Sultan. 137. _Paru_, a river, and a place situated on it, not far from Cochin. 103, 115. _Patna_ (_Patnam_), a celebrated city on the Ganges, in the province of _Bahar_. 39. _Pattucòtta_, a city in _Tanjaur_. 47. _Pegu_, a kingdom on the coast of India, beyond the Ganges. 57. _Penatur_, one of the fortified places in _Carnate_. 63. _Periaculam_, one of the placed which formerly sent merchandise from Madura to the coast of Malabar. 56. _Perimanur_, a place like _Pallicaré_. 135. _Perimatorà_, a place on the coast of Malabar, not far from _Angenga_. 114. _Perumaculam_, one of the fortified places in _Carnate_. 63. _Perumanel_, one of the places which formerly sent merchandise from _Madura_ to the coast of Malabar. 56. _Perumnàda_, a place to the east of _Collam_, which belonged to the very ancient kingdom of _Cottaracara_. 117. _Pescaria._ The coast of _Pescaria_ lies between Cape _Mannapàr_ and Adam’s Bridge, where the pearl islands are. 103. _Pondamala_ (_Pondamalay_), a high mountain with a fortress, called by the Europeans _Mont Grand_, not far from _Mailiapur_. 27, 93. _Ponnaru_ (_Pannar_), that is, the gold river. It takes its rise in the Gauts, not far from _Dhermapuri_ in _Maïssur_, and falls into the sea near _Cudalur_. 60. _Porca_ (_Porrocada_), one of the places which send inland merchandise to the coast of Malabar. 56, 81, 115, 118. _Porolta_, a small river on the coast of Malabar. 104. _Porto-nuovo_, a place in _Carnate_, at which the river _Velarru_ discharges itself into the sea. 60. _Pucòtta_, a place which the Dutch left in the hands of the king of _Cochin_. 135. _Puduceri_, called commonly _Pondicheri_, lies on the coast of _Coromandel_, and was the capital of the French possessions in India: at present it is in the hands of the English. 1, 7, 12, 18, 24, 25, 64. _Puducurici_, a place on the coast of Malabar, not far from _Angenga_. 114. _Pugnoda_, one of the places on the coast of Malabar which still carry on trade with _Madura_. 55. _Pugnatil_, a place where formerly, according to the account of Ptolemy, beryls were found. 118. _Pullingunne_, a considerable town on the coast of Malabar, where there are a great many rice-fields. 120. _Pulluvalley Bingiam_, a new harbour caused to be constructed by the king of _Travancor_. 113. _Puntora_, a place on the coast of Malabar,. 113, 120. _Puradacudi_, one of the Christian congregations established by the Jesuits in the kingdom of _Madura_. 64. _Puttencara_ (_Puttencèra_). See _Pallicaré_. 117, 135, 138. _Puttenpalli_, a place lying at a great distance in the forests of the _Gauts_, where there are a great many Christian congregations. 201. _Puttentopo_, a place on the coast of Malabar not far from _Angenga_. 114.

Q.

_Quichenavaron._ See _Krishnavaram_. 28.

R.

_Rajacolla mangalam_, a city where there are still to be seen the remains of a palace belonging to the king of _Travancor_. 112. _Ràmanàthapuram_, on the coast of _Pescaria_. 31, 45. _Ràmapurata_, a place in the Gauts. 125. _Rèva_, a river which takes its rise in the mountain _Vindhia_. It is called also _Ravi_. 232. _Rotasgar_, a place on the river _Son_. 39.

S.

_Sadras_, a place with a castle in the British _Jaghire_, on the coast of _Coromandel_, at the mouth of the _Palir_ or _Palarru_. 60, 72, 73, 96. _Sanhya_, the name of a mountain where the _Deva_ has its rise. 233. _Sarasvadi_, the name of a river. 231. _Sarayouvà_, the name of a river. See _Déva_. 39. _Satara_, a province on the coast of Coromandel. 42. _Saude_, a place on the coast of Malabar, not far from _Cochin_. 121. _Sharavadi_, the name of a river. 231. _Shelon_, a fortified place in _Carnate_. 63. _Shivagari_, a place in _Madura_. 56. _Shrinagari._ See _Allakandara_. 36. _Siam_, a kingdom in the peninsula beyond the Ganges. 21. _Sina_, or China. 21. _Sindacalla_, a place in _Madura_. 56. _Sindhu_, the western great river of India, which is commonly, but improperly, called the Indus. 231. _Sirgani_, a place in _Tanjaur_. 65. _Son_, a river in Hindostan, which discharges itself into the Ganges. 39. _Sultanpatnam_, a place on the coast of Malabar which Tippoo Sultan caused to be spared. It is called also _Vaypur_ or _Baypur_. 139. _Suran_, a place in _Tanjaur_. 65. _Sushindram_, a town with a celebrated temple of the god _Kámadèva_, on the coast of Malabar. 112.

T.

_Tacaculam_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Taliceri_, a city on the coast of Malabar, a mile north from _Mahe_. It belongs to the English, and is an arsenal for the coast of Malabar. 143. _Tanghi_, a place on the sea-coast not far from _Cochin_. 121. _Tangut_, a kingdom in the interior part of Asia, lying north-west from China, which was conquered in 1202 by Gengis Khan. 40. _Tanjaur_, the name of a kingdom with its capital lying between the two arms of the _Caveri_. 7, 12, 29, 48, 65. _Tannur_, a place on the coast of Malabar, called also _Tanor_, between _Paniani_ and _Calicut_. 138. _Tatagari_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Tatta_ (_Taitanagur_), a city at that part of the _Sindhu_ where it divides itself into several branches, called formerly _Pattalone_ or _Pattala_. 35. _Tèdanàda_, a place in the interior part of _Madura_. 56. _Tengacetti_, a place on the coast of Malabar, not far from _Sadras_. 72. _Terpunatre_, the residence of the nominal king of _Cochin_. 134. _Tevàram_, a place in _Madura_. 56. _Tevelacare_, a place on the coast of Malabar which exports a great deal of pepper and cardamoms. 117. _Timeri_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Tindacalla_ (_Tinducalla_), in _Madura_, probably the _Tindis_ of Arrian and Ptolemy. 31. _Tindivanam_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Tirucolur_, the same. 63. _Tirumala_, the same. 63. _Tirumaladùvasam_, that is, the temple of the god of the holy mountain. The Europeans call it _Tiremalevasen_. It lies in _Tanjaur_. 29. _Tirumanur_, called also _Tremmanur_, lies in _Tanjaur_. 29, 47. _Tirunamalà_, corrupted into _Tirnemalet_, a place in _Carnate_. 28, 61. _Tirunaveli_ (_Tirnaveli_), a place in the interior part of _Madura_. 31, 56, 58, 65. _Tirupati_ (_Tirapati_), a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 28, 61, 63. _Tirupalur_, a place on the coast of Coromandel, not far from _Sadras_. 73. _Tiruvalur_, a place with a beautiful pagoda in the kingdom of _Tanjaur_. 47, 61. _Tiruvananganur_, a fortress on the borders of _Tanjaur_, belonging to _Marava_. 47. _Tiruvamatur_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Tiruvancàda_ (_Tiruvancor_, _Travancor_), a place on the coast of Malabar. 45, 58, 112. _Tiruvandaburam_ (_Tiruvandaram_), the summer residence of the king of _Travancor_. 113. _Tiruvandapuram_, a place on the coast of Malabar. 8. _Tiruvanelur_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Tiruvatur_, a fortified place in the same kingdom. 63. _Tovàla_, a fortified place in Travancor, on the boundaries of _Marava_. 59, 103, 111. _Tremanour._ See _Tirumanur_. 29. _Tricinnapalli_, a city on the _Caveri_. 47. _Triciur_, a town and district on the Malabar coast, where the _Brahmans_ have a celebrated seminary. 138. _Tricolur_, that is, the town of the three ponds, in _Tanjaur_. 30, 60. _Trividi_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Tshandranagar_ or _Schandranagor_, lying to the north of _Calcutta_ in _Bengal_; belonged formerly to the French, but at present is in the hands of the English. 39. _Tumbanur_, a place on the coast of Malabar, which exports a great deal of pepper and cardamoms. 117. _Tumbòli_, a fishing village on the coast of Malabar, inhabited by Catholic Christians. 119, 121. _Tunquin_, a kingdom in the peninsula beyond the Ganges. 21. _Turangaburam_ (_Toràngapuri_, also _Tranquebar_), the water-city, or horse-city; the factory of the Danes on the coast of Coromandel, and the chief place of the Danish missions. 29, 48, 65. _Tutucuri_ (_Tùtucudi_), a place on the coast of _Pescaria_. 31. _Tuvàrencurici_, a place in the kingdom of _Madura_. 56. _Tuyam_, a place washed by a river which flows into the sea on the coast of Malabar near _Cybika_. 117.

U.

_Udiamper_ (_Diemper_), a place where the celebrated synod was held in the year 1599 against the Indian Nestorians. 123. _Uttamalùr_, corrupted into _Utmalar_, a place in _Carnate_. 28. _Uttampàleam_, a place in _Madura_. 31, 56. _Uttamatur_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63.

V.

_Vadakencolam_, a city in _Pescaria_. 31. _Vaikam_ (_Vaikatta_), a place and district belonging to the Brahmans near _Cochin_, with a seminary and a celebrated temple. 122. _Vaitravadi_ (_Vetravadi_), one of the largest rivers in India. 231. _Valavaley_, the name of a river and place on the coast of Malabar, not far from Cape Comari. 103, 112. _Valdur_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Valiacada_ (_Paliacate_), a place lying on the sea-coast to the north of Madras. 60. _Valiapatnam_, a place on the coast of Malabar. 144. _Valiotora_, a town on the coast of _Travancor_. 113. _Vallam_, a considerable city in _Tanjaur_, called also _Vellum_. 47. _Vandavagi_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Varugápatti_, a place in _Tanjaur_. 65. _Vayparra_, that is, the three great rocks, a town near these rocks in _Pescaria_. 31. _Vaypi_, a small island formed on the north side of _Cochin_ in 1341 by an eruption of the sea. 126, 127. _Vaypur_ (_Baypur_). See _Sultanpatnam_. 104, 118, 138. _Velarru_, a river in _Carnate_, which falls into the sea near _Portonuovo_. 59. _Veli._ See _Canantora_. 113. _Velùr_, a city in _Carnate_. 28, 42, 60. _Veluváracotta_, a place in the kingdom of _Madura_. 56. _Venares._ See _Benares_. 37. _Vencàttiguiri_ (_Vencàtighiri_), a place in _Carnate_, where the Jesuits formerly had a residence. 28, 64. _Vepur_, an insignificant place not far from _Sadras_. 72. _Verapole_ (_Verapoli_), a town with a monastery on the coast of Malabar. 15, 128, 137. _Vettiacòtta_, an inland fortress in the kingdom of _Travancor_. 138. _Veyarru_, a large river which flows through the kingdom of Madura and _Marava_. 44, 54. _Vicravandi_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Villamur_, a fortified place in the kingdom of _Carnate_. 63. _Villanur_ (_Villenur_), in _Carnate_. 28. _Vindhia_ (_Vindhya_), a mountain in which the river _Rèvà_ has its source. 232, 234. _Virapatnam_, a town not far from _Pondicheri_. 18. _Visapur_ (_Visiapur_, _Betjapur_), formerly a kingdom which, together with _Velur_ and _Golconda_, was conquered by Aureng-Zeb in 1686. 42.

Y.

_Yamuna_, a river which takes its rise in _Sirinagur_, and falls into the Ganges near _Allahabad_. It is called also the _Jumna_ and _Dschumna_. 37. _Yindacalla_, a place in _Madura_. 64.

THE END.

LONDON: PRINTED BY J. DAVIS, CHANCERY-LANE. 1800.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The title of it is: _Viaggio alle Indie Orientali, umiliato alla Santità di N. S. Papa Pio Sesto, Pontefice Massimo, da Fra Paolino da S. Bartolomeo, Carmelitano Scalzo. Roma presso Antonio Fulgoni. L’anno 1796._

[2] _Sidharùbam, seu Grammatica Samscredamica._ Romæ, 1790.--He is the author also of the following works: _Systema Brahmanicum_; and, _India Orientalis Christiana, continens fundationes ecclesiarum, seriem episcoporum, missiones, schismata, persecutiones, viros illustres_. Romæ, 1794.

[3] Pondichery--Respecting the author’s orthography of names I have said a few words in the preface, to which the reader is referred. _F._

[4] The passage, from England or France, to India is commonly reckoned to be six months; but it depends upon circumstances whether the voyage will be longer or shorter, and particularly on the season of the year and the situation of the place to which the ship is bound. As the monsoons, or _mussongs_, change every half year in the Indian seas, vessels bound to a certain place must often take a long circuitous course in order to fall in with the wind proper for conducting them to it. The change of the monsoons is always attended with violent storms, by which ships in the open sea often sustain great damage. The passage to India must, of course, be often prolonged. I, however, know instances of ships going thither from Europe in five months. _F._

[5] In the original there is here an error, either of the author or of the press; for throughout the whole work this coast is always called afterwards _Ciòlamandala_ (_Tscholamandala_). _F._

[6] The southern extremity of India is, in all the European maps, called Cape _Comorin_; the author, however, gives it the proper Indian name, _Comari_. _F._

[7] The eastern part is, without doubt, called the _land of millet_, because the Indians cultivate, in their fields, various kinds of that grain, such as the _Holcus Sorghum_, _Holcus Durra_, &c. _F._

[8] When Bougainville returned from his voyage round the world, some conceited Parisian ladies asked him how the Chinese women were dressed. On his replying that he had never been in that country, they were much astonished, and could not comprehend how it was possible to sail round the globe without being in China. Questions have been asked me and my son George, at which we could not help laughing, at least afterwards. _F._

[9] On the flat coast of Coromandel there are no harbours; and, for that reason, neither people nor goods can be conveyed on shore from ships, but in these _shilingas_. This labour is very dangerous even for such small vessels, as the flatness of the coast for so great an extent renders the breakers extremely violent. The English, in all their wars, have lost many of their ships for want of a harbour on the eastern coast; and therefore it is of the utmost importance to them to have possession of the excellent, safe, and spacious harbour of _Trinconomale_, on the east side of the island of _Ceylon_. _F._

[10] See _Sonnerat, Voyages aux Indes_, vol. i. p. 1. p. 13. Sonnerat, who was an excellent draftsman, and possessed some knowledge of natural history, came very young to India, and was hotheaded because he conceived himself to be a man of importance on account of these talents.--Law de Lauriston was a descendant or relation of Law who made himself known by his speculations under the regency of the Duke of Orleans. _F._

[11] We have here a striking instance of the truth of the observation, that travelling in distant countries, among people of different manners, customs, and religious opinions, tends to inspire men with more liberal sentiments, and to render them more tolerant. _F._

[12] The fiction respecting Hayder Aly’s mean extraction, &c. has been long ago refuted. See _Sprengel’s Hyder Ali_, in the preface, p. 6. _F._

[13] The most modern and authentic history of India shews that all the European East India Companies followed the example of the Dutch, and of merchants became warriors. _F._

[14] See on this subject Guyon’s _Histoire de l’Indostan_, vol. iii. p. 220-224, and _Recherches hist. et geograph._ par Anquetil du Perron, part i. p. 174.--The author here delineates the state of the French trade with strong and ugly colours; but, it cannot be denied, with a considerable degree of truth. _F._

[15] These animals are called improperly _white ants_. The appellation _termites_, from the Latin systematic name _termes_, is better. There are various kinds of them, but only in warm countries, which are all equally destructive, and occasion great devaluation, not only in sugar plantations, but also among furniture and clothes in habitations. _F._

[16] About 2s. 6d. sterling.

[17] It is certain that the religion of Brahma has not the least similarity to the true Christian religion; it is also of such antiquity that it could not have borrowed any thing from it. Both are essentially different from each other: the principal object of the Christian religion is the moral formation and improvement of man, and it is totally spiritual; the doctrine of Brahma renders the first ideas of religion familiar to the senses by images, and allows to its followers a number of things which Christianity forbids. It cannot, however, be denied, that many of the old doctrines and practices generally adopted, particularly in the East, were received into the Catholic religion; such, for example, as the worshipping of images, solemn processions, monachism, the pretended great sanctity and the different degrees of the clergy, external pomp and magnificence, &c. The idea of the Pagan Indians, therefore, mentioned in the text, is extremely natural. _F._

[18] It has been remarked by English travellers, who resided in India, that these falsehoods have been believed and taught by ignorant missionaries. But are there not people, even at Rome, who consider the Indians as Manicheans, and their religion as corrupted Christianity? It may, however, be readily comprehended, that such hypothesis-mongers never saw India, or studied the religion of the Indians. See, on this subject, the _Asiatic Researches_, printed at Calcutta in 1788, vol. I. p. 127, and _Herbelot_, _Bibl. Orient._, p. 203, where such ridiculous assertions are sufficiently refuted. _A._

[19] They bear such marks in honour of _Brahma_, on the forehead; in honour of _Vishnu_, on the breast; and in honour of _Shiva_, on the arms. These are the three rulers of the elements--earth, water, and fire. In commemoration of the earth having been created by these three deities, and by means of these three elements, the Indians, in their lustrations, besprinkle themselves with three fingers. They take water also in the hollow of the hand, raise it upwards, and, in honour of the eight superior protecting spirits, sprinkle it towards the eight quarters of the world: they then throw it towards the heavens in honour of the Sun, whom they consider as the supreme divinity. These ablutions, with the marks on the forehead, are called _Shudhamayaga_; that is, purification, purity. The _Bhasma_, or colour with which the sacred marks are made, is supposed to represent the earth, from which the whole world, and consequently these colours, were produced. In this respect, however, the systems differ. _A._

[20] The latitude is not always accurately determined, even by the moderns. Thus John Hamilton Moore, in his _Practical Navigator_, places _Puduceri_, or Pondichery, in 11° 56′ N. lat.; but M. De la Tour places it in 12° N. lat. and 68° of E. lon. De l’Isle and D’Anville also differ from each other in their maps. This difference arises partly from the expertness requisite in determining the latitude by means of a quadrant, partly from the greater or less acuteness of the observer’s eye, and partly from the perfection or imperfection of the astronomical instruments employed. _A._

[21] See, on this subject, the second volume of _Nieubuhr’s Travels_, where the idols in the pagoda on the island of Elephanta are described.

[22] Responsa privatis dat (Apis) e manu consulentium cibum capiendo. Germanici Cæfaris manum aversatus est, haud multo post extincti.

[23] Whether the worship of the Egyptian Apis came from India, or the sacred ox of the Indians was carried from Egypt, cannot, as far as I am able to judge, be determined. The mode of worship in both countries has without doubt a great deal of similarity, though in many things different. The sacred ox of the Indians, for example, remains only three years in life; whereas that of the Egyptians, according to Plutarch, remained twenty-five, after which he was drowned, then embalmed and deposited in a subterranean burying-place destined for that purpose near the village of _Abusir_, the ancient _Busiris_, not far from Memphis. The coffin of the Apis ox was found there by Paul Lucas and Wortley Montague, the latter of whom carried away a stone with sculpture on it representing the embalming of Apis. This stone may be seen in the British Museum, to the keepers of which I first explained it. _F._

[24] The temple at _Cirangam_, in the island _Ciranga_, which lies in the river _Colaru_, or _Colram_, and in M. De la Tour’s map is placed in 10° 45′ N. lat. and 76° 45′ E. lon. is a real master-piece of Indian architecture. This temple is surrounded by seven walls, each of a square form, which together inclose the whole edifice. They are entirely constructed of hewn stone; are twenty-five feet in height, and each is 350 feet distant from the other in a parallel direction. Each wall has four gates, and over each gate is a _gobura_, or high tower, which rests on the middle of the wall, and is at an equal distance from both ends. These gates and towers, which stand exactly opposite to each other, looking towards the four cardinal points, are ornamented with columns thirty-five feet in length, and five in thickness. In the centre of this temple, that is the sanctuary, stands the image of _Vishnu_, to whom it is dedicated. On the gates, towers, and walls may be seen various figures of men and animals, which all have a symbolical meaning. This temple is at least 2000 years old, and serves to shew how far advanced the ancient Indians were in the arts of architecture and sculpture. The learned Chevalier d’Agincourt at Rome has in his possession a drawing of this magnificent edifice, which was presented to him by M. Law de Lauriston, the governor of Pondichery. As this temple has been already described by English travellers, I shall say nothing further of it at present, than to call the reader’s attention to the mystic number seven, which is signified by the seven inclosures. _A._

[25] The Egyptians, however, assert, that their king Sesostris, who lived about the time of Moses, or 1500 years before the birth of Christ, penetrated as far as India; but this is not probable. _F._

[26] _Cachemir_ is a beautiful province or lordship conquered by the Moguls. The capital, at the time Bernier was in India, between 1663 and 1668, was known also by the name of _Cachemir_; but at present it is called, as well as the whole province, _Siri-Negor_. The old _Caspirus_ is not _Cachemir_, but a city lying nearer to Persia; perhaps _Ghazna_ or _Ghazmin_. _F._

[27] _Cabul_, one of the most northern cities of India, probably the old _Argyræum_. _F._

[28] _Hastinapuri_, or _Hastinagari_, at present _Ashnagur_, was formerly the chief city of the _Assakani_, an ancient people of India. It is not improbable that the Assyrian and Persian kings may have extended their dominions thither. _F._

[29] In the eighth part of his works, p. 210-218, according to the Venetian edition.

[30] The Greeks were accustomed to compare with their own all the divinities of the most distant foreign nations; and a similarity in the name, or in any thing else, made them immediately find in them Grecian deities. Thus the _Deva-Nishi_ was _Dionysius_; the _Neith_ of the Egyptians, _Minerva_ or _Athene_; their _Serapis_, _Jupiter_; their _Horus_, _Apollo_, &c.--The river _Allakantara_ in La Rochette’s map of 1788 is called _Allaknanda_, and in Mannert’s map _Allaknandra_. _F._

[31] The village of _Pallipatur_ lies quite close to _Allahabad_, the name of which is Persian, and which is of a much later origin. _F._

[32] A description of this observatory may be found in the _Philosophical Transactions_.

[33] Above three millions sterling.

[34] It can, however, be proved, that the English draw much more from their Indian possessions than the author says. For, in the first place, oppression is not so general as the author pretends; and besides, many abuses were rectified by the marquis of Cornwallis. 2dly, In Bengal, from which the English derive their greatest incomes, there has properly been no war for a long time. 3dly, The East India Company has issued orders and formed regulations for reviving agriculture and manufactures. 4thly, The monopoly is not very prejudicial, as it extends only to a few articles. 5thly, The specie exported to China and England has been in part made good by the large sums which Tippoo Saib has been obliged to pay to the East India Company. In a word, the English, by their late conquests in India, _Ceylon_, _Malacca_, _Amboina_, _Banda_, &c. have considerably enlarged their revenue. _F._

[35] Sir William Jones, in one of his anniversary discourses, says, “It seems agreed that the singular people called Egyptians, and by corruption Gypsies, passed the Mediterranean immediately from Egypt: and their motely language, of which Mr. Grellman exhibits a copious vocabulary, contains so many Sanscrit words, that their Indian origin can hardly be doubted. The authenticity of that vocabulary seems established by a multitude of Gypsy words; as _angár_, charcoal; _cásth_, wood; _pár_, a bank; _bhû_, earth; and a hundred more, for which the collector of them could find no parallel in the vulgar dialect of Hindostan, though we know them to be pure Sanscrit, scarcely changed in a single letter. A very ingenious friend, to whom this remarkable fact was imparted, suggested to me that those very words might have been taken from old Egyptian, and that the Gypsies were Troglodytes from the rocks near Thebes, where a race of banditti still resemble them in their habits and features; but, as we have no other evidence of so strong an affinity between the popular dialects of old Egypt and India, it seems more probable that the Gypsies, whom the Italians call _Zingaros_ and _Zinganos_, were no other than _Zinganians_, as M. D’Anville also writes the word, who might, in some piratical expedition, have landed on the coast of Arabia or Africa, whence they might have rambled to Egypt, and at length might have migrated or been driven into Europe.” _Asiatic Researches_, vol. iii. p. 8. _E. Trans._

[36] See Montesquieu’s Works. London 1777, vol. i. p. 180.

[37] This nabob of _Arcate_ or _Arcot_, is merely a nominal prince. His whole territories are beset with English troops; and he is suffered to exist, as is the case with many others, merely that it may appear as if the country were actually ruled by native Indian or at least Oriental princes. _F._

[38] The author here means, without doubt, Mr. Christian Frederick Schwarz, missionary at Tanjaur, sent thither by the English Society for promoting Christian knowledge. This missionary, in the 51st part of the _New History of the Evangelic Missionary Establishments in India_, p. 275-284, has defended the newly-converted Christians there against the illiberal accusations of Secretary Montgomery Campbell, and clearly shewn that the avaricious British commissaries, by their oppression and extortion, are the cause of the poverty of the country and of the wretched state of agriculture.--The author calls Mr. Schwarz a Dane. He has probably been led into this mistake by his connection with the Danish missionaries at Tranquebar; for, as far as I know, Mr. Schwarz is a German. _F._

[39] _Tapissendis_ is a general name given to the cotton stuffs procured from India. They are partly painted and partly printed with wooden blocks. _Gingam_ is properly the name given to those cotton stuffs which come from Bengal and the coast of Coromandel. They are distinguished by this particular circumstance, that a thread made from the bark of a tree is interwoven with the cotton. _A._

This information respecting the difference between the _Tapissendis_ and _Gingams_ is new. It is, however, a pity that the author did not give the name of the tree which produces the bark employed in manufacturing the latter. Had he made it known, he would have deserved thanks from all naturalists and technologists.--In Madagascar, the inhabitants of the sea-coast manufacture, from the long leaves of a tree called by them _Vattulala_, but which is no farther known to botanists, a kind of very strong stuffs, sometimes as fine as the best camblet, and frequently employed by the women at the Cape of Good Hope to make under-petticoats. _F._

[40] _Tirunaveli_, near the fortress _Palamotta_, is called also, on the modern maps, _Tinivelly_. _F._

[41] It was a part of the political system of the ancient Indian kings, that they never entered the territories of their neighbours in a hostile manner but upon the most urgent occasions. If they could not possibly avoid it, they at least suffered the people employed in agriculture to remain at peace, and molested neither their temples nor their priests. We are told so by Strabo, and by Adrian in his History of Alexander’s Expedition to India. The policy of the Mahometan conquerors and their allies in India has, on the contrary, been, as far as they were able, to reduce the mightiest sovereigns and kingdoms to obedience, and to endeavour to govern the latter themselves; to leave on the throne only the weakest princes, and to render them tributary; to foment quarrels between them, or bring about a reconciliation according as it suited their interest; never to undertake more than one war at a time; to allow religious liberty in its full extent only to their allies, and to suffer them alone to retain their ancient usages and customs; to take part always with one or other of two contending parties, and in that manner to increase their power; lastly, to furnish their allies with officers to command their troops. _Ossa vides regum vacuis exhausta medullis._ In this manner they suck the very marrow from the bones of kings, says Juvenal in his eighth satire. _A._

[42] The kingdom of _Carnate_ must certainly have enjoyed a long state of peaceful prosperity under its native kings. This we have reason to conclude from the extensive pagodas, regularly built with art and a sort of magnificence, which are found in it; and also from the many old castles and fortified towns on the borders of the kingdom, and in the passes which conduct through the mountains called the Gauts. The duration of the ancient buildings, for so many centuries, may be explained by the nature of the mortar used in India, which is a mixture of oil and viscous substances, and by the dry warm climate. The Mahometan princes first brought poverty into this country, formerly so fortunate; and what they began the Europeans completed, by carrying thither as soldiers the refuse of all nations. _F._

[43] See the bull of Clement VIII. of the year 1600, which begins thus: _In supremo militantis ecclesiæ solio_. Also that of Clement X. issued on the 7th of June 1674. _A._

[44] This estimation of the number of the Roman Catholic Christians (48,000) is certainly too high, even if we should forget how the missionaries of the Romish church behave in regard to their so called converts. They insinuate themselves as physicians into the houses of the Indians; draw a wet cloth over the head and forehead of a sick person, even when at the point of death; mutter privately to themselves the baptism service; and think they have then made one Christian more, who is immediately added to their list.--The protestant missionaries have in the course of nineteen years baptised 19,340 persons. See _Neuere Geschichte der evangelischen Missions-anstalten_, 51st part, Halle 1797, 4to. p. 187. _F._

[45] In warm countries sensuality is more active, and the imagination more lively; and therefore the usages of the Catholic church must have greater effect on the Indians, who, when they become members of it, imagine that they only leave one idolatrous worship to embrace another. _F._

[46] The _Tschuderies_, or resting-places in India, are indeed beneficent establishments, but not to be compared with the large and elegant caravanseries in Persia and Turkey. Each, however, are suited to the nature of the country in which they are found. India is extremely populous, whereas in Persia and Turkey there are immense wilds and deserts, totally destitute of inhabitants. In the latter countries, merchants, for the sake of security, must travel in large bodies, and therefore require for themselves, their merchandize and cattle, resting-places of greater extent. _F._

[47] I must, however, confess that I have been sometimes robbed: but the _Kuli_, or other poor Indians, never took any thing else from me than liquor or provisions, which they found necessary for their support. As they are always satisfied with little, it may be readily comprehended that what they purloined was of no great value. During a residence of thirteen or fourteen years in India I never heard of any traveller being robbed or murdered on the highway. _A._----Travelling is not equally secure in every part of India. In the peninsula on this side the Ganges, Bengal and Oude, as far as the power of the English extends, there is nothing to be feared; but in the mountains, and farther towards the north-west, the same safety does not prevail. _F._

[48] The _Caida_, or _Kayda_, is the _Kenra_ of Forskäl, or the _Pandamùs odoratissima_ of Linnæus. On account of the similarity in the leaves, it has been called also _Bromelia_. The natives of Otaheite cover their houses with it. The farina of the male flowers is used as a perfume. _F._

[49] The Indians divide good works into _Gnana_ and _Karma_: Under the former appellation they comprehend wisdom, meditation, and internal spiritual employment. _Karma_, on the other hand, signifies practice, external exercise. Meditation and spiritual works are the occupation of the philosophers, particularly the _Budhists_. The _Karma_, however, or external good works, such as prayer, lustrations, offerings, and the like, are confined by the Brahman priests merely to the common people. _A._

[50] According to Stevens the Tical is equal to a Rupee. _E. T._

[51] This sovereign died 56 years before the birth of Christ. _A._

[52] A Paolo is worth about 6d. sterling; and ten Bajocchi make a Paolo.

[53] The author’s information respecting the coins, measures and weights in the different parts of India is without doubt useful, and of great importance to those who wish to be acquainted with the Indian trade; but a fuller account of them may be found in Stephen’s _Guide to the Trade of India_, and, if I am not mistaken, in a volume of the _Transactions of the Batavian Society_. _F._

[54] It is very singular to find people in the eighteenth century bringing forward evidence to prove that the apostle Thomas was stoned to death and interred, seventeen hundred years ago, at _Mailapuri_ or St. Thomas. The Mar Thomas, of whom there are so many traditionary accounts in India, was probably Thomas Cana, an Armenian, who must have gone to India before the sixth century, and have there diffused the doctrines of Christianity among his own followers. In the year 822 two Nestorian priests from Syria, called Mar Sapor and Mar Parges, went from Babylon to India, and landed at Coulan. The Indian princes granted extensive privileges to the Christians of Mar Thomas, and to the two priests from Babylon, by which they were raised above the Nairs, or Malabar nobility. These privileges were engraven on plates of copper, and it is believed were not long ago extant somewhere in India. The archbishop of Goa, Alexis de Menezes, a despotic enthusiast, endeavoured, in 1599, in a synod at Diamper, to unite the Nestorian Christians with the Romish church, and burnt all their books and papers; but they still exist as a distinct sect. See La Crozes _View of the State of the Church in India_. The German translation is fuller than the French original, because the author supplied the translator with a great many important improvements and additions. _F._

[55] Some curious particulars respecting this practice may be seen in a paper on the duties of a faithful Hindu widow, by Henry Colebroke, Esq. in the 4th vol. of _Dissertations and Miscellaneous Pieces relating to the History, Antiquities_, &c. _of Asia_, reprinted for Vernor and Hood, 1798. _E. T._

[56] See a full account of these sculptures and ruins by William Chambers, Esq. in the first volume _Asiatic Researches_, reprinted for Vernor and Hood, 1798. _E. T._

[57] The oldest pagodas in India, and a great many of the ancient Egyptian temples, are cut out in the solid rock. This mode of architecture, peculiar to the oldest nations, was derived from the nature of their own dwellings. It is probable that the first men lived in mountainous districts, and that holes or cavities in the earth, partly natural and partly formed by art, were their earliest habitations. The _Troglodytes_, that is, the inhabiters of holes, dug out places of the like kind for performing their religious worship. At later periods they ventured to quit the mountains to reside on low hills and plains; and, that they might not suffer from inundations, to build houses and towns on artificial eminences, and to dig canals and ditches in order to procure earth for making these artificial mounts. In places destitute of stones they built habitations of brick dried in the sun, which they cemented together by means of lime, bitumen, and other substances. It was not till periods much later that burnt bricks and cut stone began to be employed for building temples and palaces. _F._

[58] All rivers which have their sources in high mountainous districts generally flow with great impetuosity after heavy rains, so that it is sometimes dangerous, if not impossible, to cross them. Various instances of the truth of this observation may be found in Vaillant’s _Travels into the interior Parts of Africa_. _F._

[59] It is, indeed, worthy of remark, that the many petty princes on the Malabar coast have maintained their independence, notwithstanding the great revolutions by which the whole face of India has been changed, and though each singly was not sufficiently powerful to withstand a formidable enemy, and though they are seldom in such a state of friendship with each other as to oppose with united forces any antagonist that might attack them from the north and the east. The author explains this phenomenon very properly. The conquest of these small states is, however, possible: 1st, by fomenting quarrels between the princes, and then espousing the cause of one of the parties: 2d, by establishing strong posts and erecting fortresses in the defiles of the mountains and places where the rivers are fordable: 3d, by employing artillery and troops acquainted with the European discipline. The last method was employed by Tippoo Saib, in order to reduce some places on the sea coast. _F._

[60] The Mahometan Arabs, who, under the Caliph Valid, established themselves on the coast of Malabar, and in the northern part of India, are at present commonly called _Moors_. The _Patans_, or, as they are otherwise called, _Afgans_ or _Afguans_, have nothing in common with these Arabs but their religion. They are a branch of the Albanians from Mount Caucasus, as has been already remarked by Gœrber and Dr. Reineggs, or Ehlich. The Armenians cannot pronounce the letter _l_ in the middle of a word, and therefore they call the Albans or Alwans _Aghwans_. These aborigines of the Caucasian territories were known to the ancient writers, Strabo, Pliny, Ammianus Marcellinus, and Dio Cassius. According to the last-mentioned author they extended themselves from the Tanais (Don) to the Ganges. These people, who had thus wandered as far as India, were subdued by the Saracens, and converted to the Mahometan Religion by the sword, but they afterwards recovered their independence. Some of these Patan chiefs founded in the neighbourhood of Delhi small principalities; others penetrated into the Decan, and made themselves masters of small provinces, which have been since taken from them by Nizam Aly, the Marattas, and Tippoo Saib. Even the _Rohillas_ are a race descended from the Patans. See Edwards’s _Memoir of a Map comprehending the countries between the Black Sea and the Caspian_. London 1788, p. 6. and M. C. Sprengel’s _Allgem. Hist. Taschenbuch_. Berlin 1786. _F._

[61] This account of the Jews on the Malabar coast is partly incomplete, and partly doubtful. We know something more certain respecting the Jews at Cochin, by M. Adrian Moens, governor and director of the Dutch East India Company on that coast, which has been published in Busching’s _Magazine_, vol. xiv. p. 123-154. The Jews on the Malabar coast are distinguished into two kinds, white and black. The former, in their synagogue near Cochin, have two oblong square plates of copper, containing old Malabar writing in lines that run across them, and in a mixed dialect of the Malabar, Tamulic, and Tulengic languages. The subject of this writing is a charter granted to _Isup Rabbaan_ at Cranganor, by _Erawi Wanmara_ emperor of Malabar, in the year from _Kalijogam_ 3481 (that is 426 after the birth of Christ), and in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, in virtue of which he confirmed to _Isup Rabbaan_ (Joseph Rabbi) the same privileges as had been before enjoyed by the petty Malabar viceroys. “He and the seventy-two families (related probably to each other) were to enjoy them as long as the sun should illuminate the earth; but all other Jews and their descendants were to be obedient to his commands, and to those of his successors.”--In a Portuguese book, _Notisias dos Judeos de Cochim_, printed at Amsterdam in 1681, it is said: In the year of the world 4130, according to the Jewish mode of computation (that is 369 years after the birth of Christ), seventy or eighty thousand Jews were landed from the kingdom of Majorca on the coast of Malabar. Now, as the Balearic islands were subdued by the Vandals exactly in the year 425 after the birth of Christ, it is probable that the Jews who were settled there removed to Jerusalem and Egypt; and being supported by their Jewish brethren, were conveyed thence by sea to India, in the year 426 of the Christian æra. Their number, however, may perhaps not have been so great. These Jews established themselves in Cranganor and the neighbouring districts, and founded a small kingdom. They purchased slaves, particularly black ones, and converted them, as well as several more of the natives, to their religion. These new converts gave rise to the black Jews, who wished to enjoy the same privileges as the white, and to unite themselves with them by intermarriages. As their claims were not allowed, they disowned the authority of the white Jews and of their king; and a war was the consequence, in which the latter were almost destroyed. They were, however, assisted by the prince of the country, and the black Jews were again reduced to obedience. After that period the black and white Jews had distinct synagogues, and lived apart from each other. Two brothers of the royal race ruled in common; but they afterwards separated, and the native princes raised a violent persecution against the Jews. They were so much oppressed by the Portuguese at Cranganor, that they were obliged, in 1565, to solicit the protection of the king of Cochin, near which city they still reside. The ancient royal race, and the descendants of those who went to India before the year 1371, are totally extinct. The white Jews, who reside near Cochin at present, went to India at later periods, from Palestine, Persia, Constantinople, Bagdad and Egypt, and even from England, Poland, Germany, Spain and Holland. The black Jews are the descendants of the ancient race above mentioned. Their books are according to the Spanish ritual, and they procure them from Amsterdam. They have nine synagogues, and consist of about 460 families, who amount perhaps to 3000 or 4000 persons. _F._

[62] A full account of the migration, incursions, wars, revolutions, laws and manners of those foreign nations who established themselves in India, may be seen in the writings of _Hyde_, _Texeira_, _Renaudot_, _Barros_, the _Abbe Guyon_, _Raynal_, _St. Lubin_, _Anquetil du Perron_, and in the lives of _Tamerlane_ and _Thamas Kuli Khan_; also in the Persian books _Vakiat-Babri_, _Monte-Keb-el-Tarik_, _Akbar Nama_, and _Magir-Gehan Guiri_, which are to be found partly in the library at Paris, and partly in that of Mr. Samuel Guise. _A._

[63] These philosophers are called properly _Joqui_; from _Joga_, community; under which name is understood people who have every thing in common. In the Samscred they are named _Gòsuàmi_, from _Go_ a cow, and _Suami_ a lord; consequently lords of the cow: for they are accustomed to besprinkle and paint their bodies with dried cow’s dung. They are known also by a more ancient Samscred name, viz. _Samanà_ or _Shamanà_, that is, the Mild; for they kill no animal, cut no plants, and never eat fish, but feed merely on rice, wild herbs, roots and fruit. They live together in company, under a common chief or teacher, who in the Samscred is called _Guru_. As true gymnosophists, they go quite naked, and sleep on the ground, having nothing under them but mats made of palm leaves interwoven with each other. They avoid all intercourse with the world; study philosophy, theogony, botany and astronomy, and have written a great many treatises on these sciences in the Indian languages. They are real stoics, and often impose upon themselves the severest penances. They are mentioned by Cicero, Plutarch, Clemens of Alexandria, and Arrian. The last author says, besides other things respecting them, that they were accustomed to walk down into the sea at Cape Comari, in order to purify themselves;--a custom which they have retained to this day. _A._----These _Dschoqui_ or _Jogui_ are therefore the followers of the old Indian philosophers called Samanæi. Because they went naked, they were called by the Greeks gymnosophists, that is, naked philosophers. _F._

[64] This conduct of Fra Paolino seems rather unevangelical and harsh, and to have been somewhat in the style of a Boanerges, or those sons of thunder who wished to call down fire immediately from heaven. Our zealous monk procured full power from the magistrate in order to execute his inquisitorial sentence. This, no doubt, cost him a considerable sum of money, and must have been charged under the head of _secret service_. Instead of advice and admonition, the monk administered a sound beating! This may properly be called obeying the command: _Compelle illos intrare!_ The other means by which the Indians are converted to the Catholic religion, are no doubt of the same kind as this church discipline. _F._

[65] An account of the violent measures as well as arts employed by the Romish Church to make the Nestorians in India unite themselves to it, may be seen in the work published by the ingenious and learned La Croze on the state of Christianity in that country. The above-mentioned synod at _Diemper_ or _Udiamper_, at which the violent, enthusiastic, and despotic Alexis de Menezes effected a pretended union of the Christians of St. Thomas, is a real and lasting monument of shame for the Romish Church. It is impossible to read the history of it without the most affecting sensations, and without being sensible that the spirit of enthusiasm is always combined with ignorance and the most striking barbarity. Since the reformation the Romish Church has exhibited very little of its former violence, and some of its members have learned to know the importance of ancient monuments, particularly those of Eastern Christianity. This is sufficiently shewn by Assemanni and Renaudot in their writings, and by the valuable collections of the noble Cardinal Borgia at Velitri. _F._

[66] The decline of the Nestorian monasteries on the coast of Malabar was not occasioned merely by the establishment of the Portuguese in that country, but by the furious persecuting spirit and the violent conduct of the Portuguese clergy. The mild beneficent teachers of the Christians of St. Thomas were either compelled to join the Romish Church, or suffered to become extinct; as it was impossible for new ecclesiastics or monks to go to India from Persia, or the Persian gulph, where the Portuguese at that time had great power. Afterwards, indeed, when the Dutch got the better of the Portuguese, Syrian and Nestorian ecclesiastics went from Persia and Antioch to India; but these priests, who belonged to different sects, were always at variance with each other. See _Relatio historica ad Epistolam Syriacam a Maha Thome_, _i. e._ _Magna Thoma Indo, antiquorum Syrorum in India Episcopo, ex Chaddenad in Malabaria scriptam ad Ignatium Patriarcham Antiochenum, et ipsa illa Episcopi Indi Epistola Syriaca, cum Versione Latina, &c. accurante_ CAROLO SCHAAF. Lugduni Batavorum, 1714. 4to. _F._

[67] The two kinds of potatoes here mentioned by the author do not probably belong to the real species of the potatoe, _solanum_, but to some other vegetable production of the like kind, such as the _Dioscorea alata L._, the exterior skin of which is black, but the internal pulpy part, when roasted in the ashes, is white, or of a purple colour. The round potatoes may be a kind of the Spanish potatoes, _Convolvulus Batatas_, or the gold-coloured root of the _Convolvulus Chrysorrhizus_, which is not only cultivated, but grows wild also in the islands of the South Sea, and which has been described by my son George in his Treatise _De Plantis Esculentis Insularum Maris Pacifici_. The _Convolvulus Batatas_ was carried from America by the Spaniards to the Philippines and neighbouring islands; and on that account the plant there is called _Castile_, because it was first introduced by the Castilians or Spaniards. _F._

[68] That in the impenetrable forests of the Gauts there are wild elephants, is well known; but the people on the sea-coast content themselves with those of Ceylon, which are more docile, and easier to be tamed.--It may be readily seen by the wild buffaloes that this is the original country of these animals, which were first brought from India ta Italy in the time of Agilulph king of Lombardy, between the years 591 and 616.--The deer mentioned by the author form probably more than one kind. India produces, 1st, the _Cervus Axis L._ or the spotted deer, which is somewhat larger than our fallow deer. 2d, The porcine deer, _Cervus Porcinus L._ brown with round white spots, and from two feet four inches to three feet and a half in height. 3d, The elk, _Cervus Alce L._ Professor Zimmerman, however, in his _Zoological Geography_, does not allow the elk, or rein-deer, to be an inhabitant beyond the 50th degree of north latitude; but the former has been bold enough to overstep the boundaries which he has drawn on his chart, and has penetrated to the woody, marshy, solitary valleys of India. See _Essais philosophiques sur les Moeurs de divers Animaux étrangers_, par Foucher D’Obsonville, p. 115. In the same work much information may be obtained respecting the black and white kinds of apes, which inhabit the Indian forests in flocks of thousands.--The real Indian striped (not spotted) tyger, which is from nine to ten feet in length, and from four to four and a half in height, is not common even in India, and is to be found only in the thickest forests. He gives place to no animals but the lion, elephant, and rhinoceros.--The Indian parrots are, in a literal sense, almost innumerable, for every traveller brings home new kinds to Europe. The old Grecian name ψιττακη, seems to be of Egyptian origin: Π-ϹΙΤΤΑΚΗ. The Π is an article: the Germans, therefore, have omitted it, and converted the word into _Sittich_. _F._

[69] Many instances may be found, both in ancient and modern history, of great changes having been produced on the surface of the earth, and on the coasts of the ocean, by hurricanes and earthquakes, as well as by the waters of the sea and by rivers. That piece of water, known by the name of the Dead Sea, arose by a fiery eruption from the earth; and in Egypt, along the northern bank of the Delta, and on both sides, there are large lakes, particularly the lakes Mœris and Serbau, which were indebted for their origin to storms, earthquakes, and inundations of the Nile. In Peloponnesus, or the present Morea, the cities of Helice, Bura, and some others in Achaia, were swallowed up by the sea, two years before the battle of Leuctra. Even in the eighteenth century, Callao in Peru was overwhelmed, and, with all its houses, inhabitants, and the ships in the harbour, became a prey to the waves of the ocean. The great changes effected by the earthquake in Calabria, are still fresh in the memory of every one: during that horrid catastrophe whole mountains and rocks were precipitated into the sea. _F._

[70] The low inundated land at the bottom of the Gauts, which consists of marl or clay and strata of chalk, together with the higher strata where the mountains are steep towards the sea, being violently torn away in the rainy season by the streams and currents collected in the mountains, form, at their influx into the sea, banks and accumulations which are still raised higher, and are driven back by the sea towards the land. In this manner are formed plains, islands, and little hills; the origin of which can, in this manner, be very naturally explained. _F._

[71] In the time of the Romans a freedman of Annius Plocanus experienced a similar fate. See _Plin. Hist. Nat._ lib. vi. c. 22. _A._

[72] More information respecting Cochin may be found in Philip Baldæus’s _Description of the Coasts of Malabar and Coromandel_, Amsterdam 1672, fol. p. 111-136; Francis Valentin’s _Beschryving van’t Nederlandsch Comptoir op de Kust van Malabar_, Amst. 1726. fol. in the fifth part of his _Oude en Niewe Oost-Indien_; and in Hamilton’s _New Account of the East Indies, from 1688 to 1723_. Lond. vol. I. and II, 1739. 8vo. p. 321, &c. _F._

[73] The reproaches thrown out by the Protestants against the celibacy of the Catholic clergy is so far right, as that state gives rise to immoral conduct and dissipation, of which too many instances may be found, both among the higher and lower clergy of the Romish church. The immorality, however, of the English and Dutch is no less worthy of censure. _F._

[74] See _Istoria della Vita e Fatti illustri del Ven. Monsign. Giuseppe di S. Maria de’ Sebastiani_. Roma 1719. l. xi. p. 254. where these excesses are particularly described. _A._

[75] In the map published by Faden, in 1788, entitled _The Southern Countries of India from Madras to Cape Comorin_, by Capt. Wersebe, this place is called _Tripunctare_.

[76] It is no wonder that the native princes should endeavour to lay the trade open to foreign nations, when the merchants of the neighbouring factories raise the price of their own goods, and pay as little as they can for those of India. These monopolies must, in the end, induce the petty princes of India to adopt wiser regulations, more conducive to the prosperity of their dominions. The English even, though so powerful at present in that country, must excite the hatred of the natives and princes if they do not alter their conduct. _F._

[77] Respecting the ancient state of _Cranganor_, the reader may consult the before-mentioned works of _Baldæus_, _Valentin_, and _Hamilton_. In regard to its present condition, I know as little as the author. _F._

[78] On the before-mentioned map of Capt. Wersebe this place is called _Gnareca_. _F._

[79] On Wersebe’s map _Palipuram_ is called _Paliporto_; _Aycotta_, _Aicotta_, or _Chuvocat_; and _Paravur_ is named _Parour_. _F._

[80] We know from various accounts, published by the English and the missionaries, with what cruelty the followers of the Brahman religion were treated by the inhuman Tippoo Sultan, and in what manner he endeavoured by the rack and famine to make them embrace the Mahometan faith. He was, however, deprived of a full third of his dominions, which he had enlarged by robbery; and he is now closely watched, to prevent him from entering into any treaty of alliance with the other Indian powers, or from disturbing the tranquillity of India. _F._

[81] That pirates formerly resided in the neighbourhood of Mount _Illi_, which is mentioned by Ptolemy under the name of ΕΛΑΓΚΩΝ, or EΛIΓKΩΝ, as an emporium, or place of trade, and that even in the present century the pirate Angria had established himself on this coast, is well known. For an account of Angria, see Clement Downing’s _History of the Indian Wars, with an Account of Angria the Pyrate_. London 1737, 8vo. The appellation of _Molandis_ given to these sea-robbers is to me entirely new. _F._

[82] All the Indian languages and characters used on this side the Ganges, seem to be derived from the Samscred: and even the religious ideas of the natives are only here and there modified in a different manner. The Indian literature, branched out into so many languages, merely on account of the great extent of the country, was introduced at the same time as its religious worship. _F._

[83] That the post has been introduced into India, and distinguished by the name of _Angelà_, was before unknown. A kind of post was established formerly in Persia. Certain persons, employed by the king for carrying letters, small articles, and dispatches, and who were called Αγγαροι (Angari), had a right to require of all those whom they met to remove out of their way; to take from them horses, ships, and carriages, &c.; and to compel the owners themselves to carry burdens. This compulsive service the Greeks distinguished by the name of Αγγαρειον, a word derived from the Persian, which is to be found in the New Testament, Matth. xxvii. This old Persian word, _Angaros_, seems to have an affinity to the Indian word _Angelà_; and it is not improbable that the Persians borrowed their establishment of the post from the Indians, or the latter theirs from the Persians. I am almost inclined to think that it was first introduced among the Indians. The above-mentioned couriers are called in Persia, at present, _Tschaptar_, that is, those who ride on a full gallop. _F._

[84] This population, in a country so small as the coast of Malabar, or Malayala, is undoubtedly very great. About forty _coss_ or Malabar miles make a degree. This coast, therefore, contains at most 450 geographical square miles, and to each of these there are consequently almost 3703 persons. In other parts of India a far greater number of persons live on a square mile; but we must take into consideration the mountains, forests, lakes and rivers in Malabar, and also the devastation occasioned in the country by the merciless Tippoo Saib. _F._

[85] The author ought not to have called milk, butter and coco-nut oil food easy of digestion. The continual use of milk renders it at length very heavy for the stomachs of most people. The fat parts of butter and coco-nut oil are indigestible; and as the acid parts of fat separate from it, this acid attacks the stomach and the bowels. Now the Indians use no flesh, which contains abundance of alkaline parts, and therefore the acid cannot be neutralised by these parts. It is, however, true in general, that the great moderation of the Indians, though indeed often occasioned by want, contributes greatly to their healthfulness. That such moderation promotes the generative powers is very doubtful. _F._

[86] Monogamy, the great care employed by parents to get their daughters married, the want of nunneries, the great honour in which marriage is held in India, and the little expence required for educating and clothing children, are the real causes of the increase of population in that country. Even among us the middle and lower classes would produce more children were they not afraid of the expences of education. _F._

[87] I have, in general, observed, that the small-pox are malignant where the body, in order to prevent perspiration, is frequently rubbed over with fat or oily substances. Dirtiness, immoderation, or luxury in eating and drinking, and particularly the use of heating things, greatly increase the malignity of the disease. A confirmation of what I have here asserted, may be found in America, at the Cape of Good Hope, in Africa among the Negroes, and among the Calmucks in Russia. Among people who employ the warm bath, as the Russians, Turks, Persians, &c. the small-pox are less malignant. _F._

[88] That the polygamy of the Mahometans and Indians of higher rank does not contribute to population is certain: for, 1st, polygamy deprives many a male of a female; 2d, it occasions more female children to be born, and consequently destroys the true proportion so well suited to monogamy.--Perhaps the polyandria of the women among the Nayrs causes more males to be brought into the world, and thus supplies the deficiency.

[89] It is well known, that the ancient Greek authors have observed, in regard to the Indian literati and persons of rank, that they lived in woods, and places planted with palm-trees.--The intelligent reader will here recollect Otaheite, where those who are under no necessity of exposing themselves to the sun and the sea air, have a pale-brown colour, inclining to yellow; and where the complexion of the most beautiful women approaches nearer to the colour of the Europeans than that of the men, so that an agreeable ruddiness can be seen to flush in their cheeks when they are animated. The _Tautaus_, or labouring class, are much browner; so that one might believe they belong to another race. _F._

[90] Bruce also, during his travels through Arabia, observed that the women soon acquired every mark of old age, and that they left off child-bearing at an early period. This, perhaps, has given rise to polygamy in Arabia. _F._

[91] There are various reasons which prevent the Indians from imitating the household furniture and cooking utensils of the Europeans. The poorer sort of people cannot do it, on account of their circumstances; and the rich will not, because they hate and detest the whites, by whom they are oppressed. Besides, many of the European customs, articles of furniture, &c. are not suited to the climate of India. The attachment of the Indians to every thing handed down to them by their ancestors, arises from that pride prevalent among all little cultivated nations, who, like the Chinese for example, consider what they themselves possess as the best in the world. _F._

[92] The object of agriculture in India is almost exclusively rice, and that kind of it the growth and increase of which are particularly promoted by inundating the fields. As the chief point is to devise proper means for watering the land, the large rivers have been divided into small streams, and conducted by ditches and canals to the nearest plains. When the rivers are not swelled up by abundant rains, so as to overflow their banks, the water is raised by machines put in motion by men or oxen; or large reservoirs are formed, which the Europeans call _Tangs_ or _Tanks_. In these reservoirs the rain water, which pours down in torrents during the time of the monsoons, is collected, and afterwards conveyed through different channels to the rice fields. A great deal of sesamum is sown on account of its oil; and poppies, particularly in Bengal, are cultivated, in order to produce opium. Millet, maize, and the kind of rice which grows in dry soil, are less generally cultivated. Rice, when freed from the husk, is called _Nella_. Every Indian has in his house a wooden mortar and pestle for reducing it to that state.--Horticulture, in India, consists only in planting certain portions of ground with palms and different kinds of fruit trees. The fruits are figs, oranges, lemons, pomegranates, &c. The coco, areca, and butter-palms are the trees most common in gardens: roses, jasmin, and different kinds of lilies, are reared on account of their smell.--Botany is comprehended only in the _Upaveda_ books, written in the earliest periods, in the Samscred language; one division of which, the _Adschurveda_, gives an account of the uses of the Indian plants, together with the method of cultivating them. This part of the sacred books is, however, studied by very few of the learned Brahmans. It is not improbable that it contains a number of observations carefully made and collected in the most remote ages, though it may readily be supposed that a great deal of useless and superstitious matter must be interspersed throughout them; for every plant and flower is dedicated to one or more of the Indian deities. Lovers in India have the art, as may be seen in the play called _Sacontala_, to express various ideas by flowers, and by the method of arranging them, or interweaving them into garlands; and this art is, no doubt, taught in the before-mentioned work.--Hunting is the occupation of great men and princes, who employ, for that purpose, tamed leopards (_Tschittahs_), falcons, dogs, nets, and a great number of attendants.--Fishing is the employment only of the _Mucoas_, or persons of the meanest and lowest classes.--The architecture of the Indians, in their large public buildings, and particularly those devoted to religious worship, or the sciences, such for example as observatories, is far from being contemptible. Their cement, with which they mix oil, is durable, and almost indestructible. Their style in their oldest edifices, such as the temple of Elephanta at Bombay, has a great likeness to the Egyptian. Whether the Indians were taught architecture by the Egyptians, or the Egyptians by the Indians, will always remain doubtful, until better and more decisive proofs are produced to determine the question. _F._

[93] The Teka wood (_Tectona grandis_ LINN. GMEL.) employed in India for building houses and ships, is indeed strong and durable; but the dry climate of that country is one of the chief causes why edifices constructed of such timber stand so long. The common people in India build houses of mud and loam, the walls of which are infested by centipedes (_Scolopendræ_), scorpions, and snakes; so that it is not only unpleasant, but dangerous, to reside in them. _F._

[94] Such readers as are acquainted with the different voyages to the South Seas, will here be struck with the similarity between the Indian manners and those of the natives of Otaheite. _F._

[95] The great respect paid to superiors and preceptors among the Indian nations, shows that they possess a certain degree of cultivation, and a delicate sense of moral obligation and gratitude. _F._

[96] Since the English have taken from the Dutch the island of Ceylon (_Singhala_), and got possession of the real cinnamon tree, _Laurus cinnamomum_ LINN. they will make little or no use of the Malabar cinnamon, _Laurus cassia_ LINN. which is perhaps only a variety of that of Ceylon. The Malabar cinnamon will in time be totally forgotten and banished from commerce; as the real cinnamon tree, as well as those which produce nutmegs and cloves, have been raised from the seed, and planted several years ago in the isles of Reunion and France (Bourbon and Mauritius), and also in the Sechelle isles, Guadaloupe, Jamaica, and the northern Circars. This much is certain, that the Malabar cinnamon has not so aromatic a smell, and does not contain so many particles of ethereal oil, as that of Ceylon. The former, hitherto, has been imported to England only through necessity, in order to prevent the sale of the latter. _F._

[97] A lack amounts to about 12,500 l. sterling.

[98] Kings of the first, rank were, the _Samuri_, and _Perumpadapil_, or the king of Cochin. To the second rank belonged the kings of _Tannur_, _Codungalur_, _Parpurangàri_, _Airur_, _Cannanur_, _Edapallì_ or _Rapolim_, _Cajamcollam_, _Temàli_, _Parur_, _Punettur_, _Alangatta_, _Angamàli_, and _Ayanicurra_, Those of the third rank were called _Karttàva_, that is, princes or lords. Such were the _Karttàva_ of _Panamucatta_, _Nandielette_, _Ciangracòtta_, _Puducòtta_, _Maprànam_, _Muriata_, _Cunateri_, _Codacèri_, _Cettatur_, _Puttenpidia_, _Curumbilaga_, and _Cettuà_. Several of these petty princes and lords still existed at the time I arrived in Malabar. _A._

[99] This information is of the utmost importance to the modern history of India; and the author is entitled to thanks for having communicated it to the public. _F._

[100] It is here evident, that confounding the different casts was assigned as a reason by the Roman Catholic clergy, why women of the inferior casts, who differed themselves to be kept as concubines, by _Nayrs_ of the higher casts, ought to be punished. By these means they supported a Pagan custom, totally inconsistent with the spirit of true Christianity, which considers all mankind as children of the same father. This syncretism of the Pagan and the Christian religion has at all times been allowed by the church of Rome. In China, for example, the Jesuits declared the heavens to be a divinity, and permitted their adherents to worship it, as well as allowed different kinds of oblations. _F._

[101] That the Christians on the coast of Malabar received their first teachers, as well as their religious notions, customs and expressions from the Syrio-Nestorian Christians at Bagdad and Basra (Bassora), has been fully proved by La Croze, in his State of the Indian Church. The deviations from the Roman Catholic Church, here mentioned, may serve to shew how many innovations it has gradually made in the Christian worship without the least necessity. _F._

[102] Of this Alexis de Menesez, or Menezes, I have already spoken in the note, p. 91. The acts of the council of _Udiamper_, which are extremely scarce, clearly shew that this archbishop was a violent overbearing man. It cannot excite any surprise, that people united by force to the Romish church should make themselves independent as soon as they could. _F._

[103] This conduct, in regard to the re-admission of excommunicated persons into the Church, is extremely partial. Those who are rich, are merely fined. A great many of the Roman Catholic clergy, who are as avaricious as they are fond of power, behave in the same manner. _F._

[104] These _Agapæ_ have been retained also in the Greek church, and Christians of other sects are readily admitted to them. _F._

[105] Making provision for young women in poor circumstances is indeed praise-worthy. Were this conduct imitated by the Christians of the west, many a destitute girl would be saved from prostitution. _F._

[106] The Romish Church is acquainted with no other means than force to retain men in its bosom. If the clergy do not possess this force themselves, they procure by money or flattery the support of the Pagan priests, in order to punish those who think too freely or see too clearly. _F._

[107] It is a very just observation, that since the establishment of Christianity, nothing has contributed so much to its propagation, as the singing of sacred hymns and songs. Even in the New Testament, Eph. v. 19. we find some traces of church-singing; and Pliny the younger, in one of his letters to the emperor Trajan, informs him that the Christians sung hymns in their religious assemblies. Arius, by his talent for composing harmonious verses, and his tender pathetic songs, gained over many Christians to his party. It is also well known, that the Moravian brethren, or Hernhuters, as they are called, gain many partisans by their soft and agreeable melody. This circumstance may be easily accounted for by the effects produced on the greater part of mankind by music. _F._

[108] In this method of converting the Pagan Indians there is not much to be condemned: the secrecy employed is, in my opinion, the only objectionable part. The reader will hereafter see, that to convert these people is a transgression of the laws of the country; and the missionaries ought by all means to be bound by them. _F._

[109] The Protestant missionaries in India boast also of having brought over many Catholic Christians to their church. This, however, is no proof in favour of either party. _F._

[110] The appellation _Tupasi_ is derived from the Samscred word _Duibhasbi_. _Dui_ signifies two, and _Bhasbi_ a man who speaks two languages; an interpreter. This name, indeed, may with propriety be given to the _Tupasi_; for, besides their mother tongue, they speak some one of the European languages, either English, French, Dutch, or Portuguese. At Cochin they are called _Gens de chapeau_, because they wear a _Topi_ or small hat; whereas the other Indians, not descended from Europeans, make use of the _Romali_, that is, a white turban of the finest muslin. These people have the upper part of their bodies quite naked; but bind round their loins a piece of white linen, which is called _Bastra_. As long as this cloth is new, it is named _Codi_. If it has interwoven in it red stripes, it is called _Sòmen_, _Tòmen_, and _Pudava_. If such stripes are painted on this linen, it is called _Tùvaden_ or _Toren_. If it consists of yellow or red silk, it is named _Pattupudava_.--_Ciatta_ or _Penncupayan_ is the name of a jacket lying close to the body, worn by Malabar female Christians when they appear in public. It reaches no lower than the girdle, to which the _Pudava_ is fastened, and which they wear as well as the men. On the head they have no ornament whatever, but turn up their hair smooth behind, and fasten it in a roll on the crown. How much would these Indian dames be astonished at the ornamented head-dresses of our European ladies! _A._

[111] In the above observations may be found one of the reasons why neither Hayder Aly nor Tippoo Sultan could maintain their ground against the English and the king of Travancor, on the coast of Malabar. The great number of Christians residing there, whom Hayder and his son every where persecuted, and often compelled by violence to embrace Mahometanism, always took part with the English. _T._

[112] This will serve to explain the cause of the before-mentioned secrecy observed in regard to conversion. It is, indeed, very improper that the Pagan princes should assume power over the consciences of their subjects, and over their freedom of thought; but many of the Christians act no better, in being attached to the foolish prejudice that the voice of truth can be silenced by prohibitions. _F._

[113] The assertion, that all the Arabian and Persian horses are small, I do not consider as just. I have seen several Arab horses, particularly a stallion and mare of considerable size in the stud of Lord Grosvenor. Both these animals had been brought to England by the way of India. _F._

[114] Cheese made of buffaloes milk is highly esteemed by the Italians, notwithstanding their celebrated Parmesan (Lodesan.) It is called _Caccio di cavallo_. _F._

[115] The veterinary art of the Indians highly deserves to be studied by the Europeans who apply to the Samscred language. It no doubt contains good prescriptions founded on experience. _F._

[116] The red colour of these goats relates to something of a like kind in Egypt, traces of which may be found in the writings of Moses. _F._

[117] The fine shawls made in Cachemir, and sold chiefly to the Indians, are, as far as I know, made of sheep’s wool, and not of the hair of wild goats. _F._

[118] The flesh of animals used as food is totally changed by their way of feeding; and therefore it may be very true that the flesh of the tame swine, which feed on pilchards near the sea-coast in Malabar, may be ill tasted and unhealthful. It is well known, that the hams brought from Bayonne are firmer and better tasted, because the swine are fed at the bottom of the Pyrenees on chestnuts. _F._

[119] In _Coschotey_, between the latitude of 40° and 30° north, there are wild camels with two bunches on their backs; but I never heard of any other wild kind of these animals. _F._

[120] The above-mentioned wild urus, ten feet in height, with large horns, and ash-grey silver-coloured hair, belongs probably to the same kind as that in the northern forests of India, which rove about in large herds. The latter, however, are fourteen feet in height; weigh from 3000 to 4000 pounds; are of a perfect black colour, except a tuft of red hair between the horns; and in the northern part of India are called _Arni_. Skulls of these monstrous oxen are found in Russia among the bones of the elephant and rhinoceros. See Dr. Anderson’s _Bee_ for December 1792, and Pallas’s _Nordische Beiträge_, vol. vi.

[121] Whether the animal here mentioned belongs to the species of the wolf, or the hyæna, cannot with certainty be determined. The wolf, in general, is not such a terrible animal; whereas the hyæna, of which there are two or three kinds in Asia and Africa, is exceedingly fierce, and will even attack men. _F._

[122] The striped tyger is properly the real tyger (_Felis Tigris L._). The _Puli_ is not the _Kuguar_, which is a ravenous animal in South America of the cat species, but the real Leopard (_Felis Leopardus L._). The third kind, of a chestnut colour, and striped also, seems to be a species not yet known to zoologists, and very inaccurately defined. The fourth kind, of a white colour, with black spots, (_Felis Uncia L._) is represented by Schreber in _Tab._ C.--The animals of the cat genus, both of the old and new world, are in general not yet defined and described with so much accuracy as might have been expected from the progress lately made in zoology. The Europeans, whom avarice induces to visit India, being engaged in trade or war, have neither time nor inclination for the study of natural history, which in the end would be productive of riches were it sufficiently cultivated. _F._

[123] The squirrel here described is different from the _Taguan_, the _Sciurus petaurista_ of Pallas, and the _S. sagitta_ of Nordgren. It appears to be a kind not yet known; for the northern _S. volans_, _S. volucella_, and _S. Hudsonius_, are none of them so large. _F._

[124] The Malabar _Marapatti_ is by no means the Serval of the naturalists. The latter, as is well known, is a kind of lynx; whereas the Marapatti is an Indian variety of the _Viverra ichneumon_, for it is improper to make a distinct kind of the _Mungo_.--The ichneumon climbs up the palm-trees and eats the fruit of them, as well as cats, mice, and particularly snakes, but especially the poisonous kind, Naja, called in the Portuguese _Cobra de Cabelo_. _F._

[125] The antelopes have never yet been systematically known in a proper manner, notwithstanding the trouble which Pallas has taken, in his excellent works, to give an accurate description of them. The first here mentioned, black or brown, with crooked twisted horns, seems to be the _Orcas L._ found at the Cape of Good Hope. The second, if it be the _A. cervicapra_, has not red but yellow hair, and is larger than a goat, or about the size of the fallow-deer. _F._

[126] The bezoar goat, _Antelope Gazella L._--Which of the antelopes of the ancients this _Kuran Antelope_ is, cannot with certainty be determined. _F._

[127] The civet cat is the _Viverra Zibetha_, and _V. Civetta L._ for I am convinced that these two varieties have been unnecessarily made distinct species.--The _Kirri_ is the small variety of the _Viverra Ichneumon L._ and the above-mentioned _Marapatti_ is a larger. The red variety, mentioned afterwards, belongs also to this species. _F._

[128] Of the two kinds of squirrel, here mentioned, one probably is the _Sciurus maximus L._ a figure of which is given in Sonnerat’s _Voyage aux Indes_, vol. ii. tab. 87. The second seems to be a new animal not yet known. _F._

[129] These species of the mouse, according to the imperfect account here given of them, are not to be found in the system. _F._

[130] It is well known that the European cats do not attack the Norway rat, _Mus decumanus L._ _F._

[131] This kind of hedge-hog is the hystrix, or _Erinaceus Malaccensis_. The bezoar procured from this species of animal is that called by the Portuguese _Piedra del porco_, which was formerly sold at a dear rate, but at present is of little value. _F._

[132] The above-mentioned _Coringuranga_ is without doubt the _S. Silenus L._ or the _Ouanderou_ of Buffon. The other apes mentioned by the author, for want of a more accurate description, cannot be referred to their proper place in the system. _F._

[133] The _Adibe_, or _Adive_, is the jackal, well known in every part of the East. These animals rove about in flocks; and when one of them sets up a cry at a distance, he is imitated by all the rest who hear him. In the book of Judges, ch. xv. v. 4. the hyæna is called _Schualim_. _F._

[134] The _Cenna_ (Tschenna), with red hair, which the author here describes as a wolf, may perhaps be a yellowish coloured kind of that animal, as his _Adibe_ is the real hyæna.--The mountain civet cat, _Malaweruva_, and the _Naypulla_, are without doubt varieties of the common civet cat. A few differences in colour and spots are not sufficient to make new species. _F._

[135] See the note, p. 212. Lucullus caused large ponds to be dug, and to be filled with sea-water, in order to keep in them conger-eels. Some of the Romans fed these fish with the flesh of their slaves. Ducks, which eat nothing but fish, acquire a fishy taste; but when they have been again fed for some time with corn, and other things of the like kind, their flesh becomes excellent. _F._

[136] India and Ceylon are the real native country of the common peacock. There can be nothing more beautiful than a flock of these animals flying in the sun-shine. This spectacle I have often seen. John Blackburne, Esq. of Oxford Hall, near Warrington, had a great number of peacocks in a park, which was at least two miles from his house, yet they often flew thither. _F._

[137] The wild cock, found in the Gauts, and the neighbouring forests, has been fully described by Sonnerat in his Voyage to India, vol. ii. p. 116-125. A very good engraving of it may be seen also in plate 94. One of these birds stuffed is preserved in the Royal Cabinet of Natural Curiosities at Halle. It is a great rarity, and its feathers are remarkably beautiful. _F._

[138] The falcon and sparrow-hawk were in Egypt consecrated to Horus.--As the Nayrs, or warriors, in the time of peace, lead a very indolent life, they commonly employ themselves in hunting, to which they train falcons. It is not improbable, therefore, that the art of falconry was conveyed from India to the Saracens. The emperor Frederic II. learned it from the Saracens and his Arabian subjects in Sicily during the time of the crusades, and wrote a book on it, entitled, _Ars venandi cum avibus_, which was continued by his son Manfredus, and which the learned Professor Schneider published at Leipsic, in 1788 and 1789, in two parts, 4to; because the first edition, in 8vo, of Augsburg, was out of print. The most valuable part of this work are the additions and illustrations of that learned naturalist; but one cannot help being surprised that the above-mentioned emperor should have possessed so much knowledge, and even of anatomy.--It is impossible to determine to what class the _Kaka_ and _Cembòtta_ belong, but the _Wesbambel_ is the large Asiatic pelican (_Pelecanus onocrotalus_.) _F._

[139] The _Magnakli_ is probably the _Oriolus galbula L._ or our golden thrush, which is found every where in the old world; but the Indian bird is a variety. That the small bird of paradise, _Paradisea regia L._ is to be found in the Gauts, is an observation entirely new, which requires to be confirmed by eye-witnesses; for, as far as is yet known, all the different kinds of the bird of paradise are to be found only in New Guinea, and the neighbouring islands, particularly Aru. _F._

[140] Without doubt Buffon’s _Poule sultane_ (_Fulica porphyrio L._) a very beautiful bird. _F._

[141] It is rather singular that the author should class bats among the birds merely because they can fly, when they are _mammalia_. Those here mentioned are probably the same as Buffon’s _Roussette_ (_Vespertilio vampyrus_, or, according to Blumenbach, _V. caninus_.) They live entirely on fruits, and are not blood-thirsty, as we might be induced to believe from Gmelin’s assertion in _Linn. Syst. Nat._ ed. xiii. In this respect they are confounded with the real Vampyre of Surinam (_Vesp. Spectrum_). This Vampyre exhales a very disagreeable smell, and is not eatable; but the former may be eaten, and are used as food by the natives of New Holland. They are accustomed to suspend themselves in the day time by the large hooks of their wings from the _Casuarina_ trees. I brought down six of them at one shot in the island of Amsterdam (_Tonga-Tabu_), and several more remained dead on the tree; for there was an immense multitude of them together. _F._

[142] This black-bird is the so called _Mayno_, or _Mayna_ (_Gracula religiosa L._). Numbers of them may be seen in England, particularly in London. They are brought from India and the Philippines, because they pipe exceedingly pretty; are easily taught; learn whole tunes, and even imitate words. _F._

[143] See a description of this bird in the _Asiatic Researches_, vol. ii. p. 109.

[144] The _Bajà_ or _Berbera_ is the gross-beak of the Philippines (_Loxia Philippina L._) already described by Brission. A great many of these nests are brought to Europe. _F._

[145] The Indian crocodile (_Lacerta Gangetica_,) has very long narrow jaw-bones, and is easily tamed. It is very remarkable that the crocodile is held sacred in India, as it formerly was in Egypt. Some of the Malays, for instance, at Batavia, are so superstitious as to imagine that such a crocodile is their brother or sister. They endeavour, therefore, to save some of their provisions, that they may every day carry food to the crocodile, which approaches at their call. _F._

[146] These _Candimarams_ are, by the English sailors, called _Catamarans_. Some of the islanders in the South Sea venture out to fish in another manner. Two long bundles of the boughs of trees supply the place of a log of wood, and some tie into bundles of the like kind canes or reeds. Several of these are united together in strata placed cross-wise; and sometimes the person who directs this frail vessel ventures to add to it a mast, and a sail formed of a mat. All vessels of this kind the English distinguish by the corrupted Indian word _Catamarans_. _F._

[147] All uncultivated nations formerly built, and still build their ships without employing sometimes a single nail. Vessels of this kind are still constructed at Archangel. In Arabia the planks of ships were sewed together. See Plin. _Hist. Nat._ lib. xxiv. c. 40. and _Arriani mare Erythræum_. The latter calls these ships _Madarate_. Niebuhr saw a ship of this kind from Oman, which was called _Tarad_. These vessels and their name have been therefore preserved these 1700 years; for the syllable _ma_ is a _formativum nominis_, and _Darate_ and _Tarad_ have a great affinity, or are the same word. In Otaheite also, and the neighbouring islands, all the ships, or rather large war-boats, have their planks sewed together, and the seams are filled up with the fibres which surround the coco-nut, in the same manner as our ships are caulked with oakum. Among the dissolved gums with which the seams between the planks are daubed over in India, we are no doubt to reckon resin. As far, however, as I know, the _Tschinam_, which consists of coco-nut oil, fresh lime burnt from muscle shells, and other ingredients, is principally used for this purpose. It is well known, that, for some time past, large ships have been sheathed with copper, to prevent them from being pierced by the sea-worm (_Teredo navalis L._) or the bottoms of them are daubed over with a particular mixture of tar and pounded glass. It has lately been discovered in England, that tar made from pit-coal is the best for withstanding the sea-worm. Oil of pilchards is here recommended for the same purpose; and indeed it would be worth while for some of the maritime nations of Europe to make experiments with it. _F._

[148] The Souffleur is the _Delphinus Orca L._ Because it is often seen at the northern Cape of Europe, the fishermen gave it the name of the _Nordkaper_. A figure and description of it may be found in the _Phil. Trans._ vol. lxxvii. p. ii. tab. 16, 17. I am rather surprised that the author should have been so soon acquainted with Professor Schneider’s work which did not appear till 1795, and that he makes no mention of John Hunter, whose observations on whales were translated from the Philosophical Transactions by my learned countryman Schneider, who added to them very valuable and useful notes. _F._

[149] The author seems not to have known that the salting of provisions, and particularly fish, in hot climates, is attended with great difficulties. The fishermen are often detained at sea by the wind and tide; their fish, in that case, are injured by the heat of the sun, and, if salted, spoil much sooner. Besides, salt not mixed with too much cathartic salt is necessary, and that is not at all times to be procured. _F._

[150] I have seen these so called elephant feet more than once in Otaheite and the neighbouring islands. They were hard to the touch, and sometimes red, though they were often of the natural colour, and like the rest of the body. The patients were able to walk without feeling much pain from the swelling. I had not an opportunity of observing whether this disease originated from the water. I am, however, of opinion, that it was occasioned by catching cold after violent heats, and by intemperance in eating; for the principal _Erihs_ only were attacked by it. _F._

[151] The snake, respecting which the author here says so much, is the well-known spectacle-snake, _Coluber Naja L._ called in the Portuguese, _Cobra de Capello_. An account was published, some time ago, in the Philosophical Transactions, by an Englishman, that he had cured several persons, bitten by the _Naja_, with volatile alkali. In five minutes after a person has been bitten, a locked jaw takes place. From 30 to 40 drops of spirit of hartshorn must, therefore, be immediately administered in water; the mouth must be forced open, if necessary, and the dose, in the course of a little time, must be doubled. Death ensues in two or three hours if no remedy be applied, and all the limbs become stiff, as the author says. I, however, doubt whether the _Naja_ be the aspis of the ancients. _F._

[152] The _Amphisbæna_ of the system has not two heads, but is of equal thickness at the head and tail; so that it appears as if it could advance both ways. There are, however, real two-headed snakes; at any rate, some of that kind have been seen in America. This monstrosity is perhaps transmitted by generation, as the _monstra per excessum_ in the families of _Ruhe_ and _Calleja_, whose descendants have more than five fingers and toes. It can be determined only by accurate anatomical and physiological examination, whether these two-headed snakes form a particular genus. _F._

[153] Rowe’s Translation, book ix. v. 1366.

[154] An account of the different methods employed to entice snakes from their holes, and to catch them, may be found in the Philosophical Transactions. For the tricks which they are taught see Kæmpfer’s _Amœnitates exoticæ_. _F._

[155] It is impossible that Pythagoras could have been the preceptor of Plato. The latter was born at Ægina 431 years before the birth of Christ, and the former was killed 471 years before that period, in a battle between the Syracusans and Agrigentines. _F._

[156] This goddess _Lakshmi_ is, by Sonnerat, called _Latschimi_. See his voyage, vol. I. p. 132. She is the goddess of riches, and, according to the Indian mythology, married _Vishnu_, and with him produced _Manmodi_ the god of love. In Fra Paolino’s Latin work, a German translation of which was published at Gotha, in 1797, with engravings, may be seen, Plate XII., three figures of _Lakshmi_, taken from brass images, preserved in the Museum at Velitri. In that work she is called the wife of _Vishnu_: and all the names given to her by the Indians are there enumerated. Among these are: _the goddess of good fortune_, _the woman in labour_, _the mother of the world_. Here the author calls her the _fruitfulness of the earth_, and, a little farther, _the goddess of riches_. It will be, in general, necessary in reading this part of the author’s book, to compare with it Sonnerat’s Voyage to India; also the _Code of the Hindoos_, or the _Ordinances of Menu_, by Jones and Hüttner, Weimar, 1797; and, lastly, the _Gentoo Laws_, by Raspe, Hamburgh 1778. These works contain many things which will serve to illustrate what is here said by the author. _F._

[157] The Indian legislators seem to have been early acquainted with their climate, and its influence on the health. In a word, they evidently seem to have been men of prudence and sound judgement; since in order to give their laws respecting cleanliness and health more importance and force, they took care to interweave them with their religious system. _F._

[158] The climate of India permits new-born children to be laid quite naked on a mat, and to be washed, as above, with cold water; whereas in the north it is necessary they should be defended from the cold. The mild Indian women, accustomed to obedience, may and must suckle their children themselves; but among us, where the women indulge sometimes in the most violent passions, heat themselves with dancing, and then expose themselves to the cold, and use sour, sweet, and salt food at the same time, many mothers when they suckle give their children poison, and therefore a sound nurse, subject to few passions, is better. _F._

[159] This is a new proof that the Indian legislators were well acquainted with the art of combining many things with their religion. The astrology, and other superstitions intermixed with it, can be readily overlooked in a people of so much mildness and softness. _F._

[160] The _Kaida_ of Rhude Hort. Malab. as well as the _Keura athrodactylus_, and the _Pandanus odoratissima_ is not a wild ananas, but a plant, the male flowers of which have a farina of an exceedingly agreeable smell. In Arabia and India people bestrew their heads with it, as we do ours with perfumed powder. _F._

[161] Youth destined to be Brahmans, must spend ten years within the precincts of the temple at _Triciur_, and avoid all intercourse with the female sex. They are obliged also to observe the strictest silence, which continues five years. This is the first degree of philosophy. _A._

It thence appears, that Pythagoras must have borrowed his philosophy in part from the Indian philosophers, or others whose doctrine was similar, for his scholars were subjected to silence during the same number of years. See _Diogenes Laertius_, lib. viii. 10. and _Aul. Gellius_, Noct. Att. lib. i. 9. _F._

[162] Sir William Jones is much prepossessed in favour of the Brahmans at Benares, and the Pagan practices usual in Bengal. In that country, however, greater revolutions have certainly taken place than on the coast of Malabar; and we have consequently just reason to suspect, that the customs prevalent in the former have lost much more of their original purity than those in the latter. On this subject see D’Anville’s _Antiquités Géographiques de l’Inde_, Paris 1775, where it is said, among other things, p. 117. _Le Malabar defendu par les Ghattes a été moins sujèt à des vicissitudes que d’autres parties de l’Inde_, &c. At _Cangiburam_ in _Carnate_ there is still a celebrated Brahman school, which, according to the testimony of Ptolemy, existed in the first century of the Christian æra; and its members are certainly equal in celebrity to the Brahmans of _Vanares_ or _Benares_. The academy of _Triciur_, on the coast of Malabar, is also in great repute throughout the whole southern part of India. _A._

The ceremonies by which marriage, according to the laws of the Indians, is solemnized and rendered indissoluble, serve as a new proof of the wisdom of their first legislators. These men clearly saw that chaste love and good education have a great and useful influence on a state, and the general happiness of its members. _F._

[163] In the original, at the beginning of this chapter, there is an historical and critical dissertation on the antiquity of the _Vèda_, which occupies no fewer than ten quarto pages. The author there controverts the opinion of the celebrated Sir William Jones, who asserted that this book of laws existed 1000 if not 1500 years before the birth of Christ. When Sir William heard that Fra Paolino was of a contrary opinion, he was so angry that he called him _Homo trium litterarum_; and the latter, in return, called him _Homo unius litteræ_. So far the two champions were on a level. But we are not impressed with so favourable an opinion of our author, when, after a panygyric on Sir William Jones, whose early death he laments, he concludes by saying: “He wished to explain every thing, but unfortunately left every thing in the dark.” After such an assertion, the intelligent reader, it is hoped, will hardly regret that the translator has left this dissertation in the dark also. _F._

[164] P. 28. and 29.

[165] Dialog. iv. De Legibus.

[166] The English, since extending their conquests in India, have found means to gain the friendship of many of the most learned and most judicious Brahmans. Some of their Literati have now in their possession complete collections of the sacred books of the Indians, and have made themselves so well acquainted with the languages in which they are written as to be able to translate several of them. Thus the laws of _Menu_ were translated by Sir William Jones; and the _Bhagwat-Dschitah_ (_Geetah_), together with _Hitopades_, was translated by Mr. Wilkins: the _Ezur-Vedam_ has been translated into French. It is not improbable that in the course of time we shall have translations of the principal and most useful part of the Indian writings. _F._

[167] This is a Portuguese word.

[168] Whether king _Menu_ be the same person as the Noah of the Jews, is still very doubtful. In general, many of the modern Literati lay too much stress on etymology. Thus Father Georgi, in his _Alphabetum Tibetanum_, has employed a great deal of learning to no purpose. Even Sir William Jones, in his papers on the people of Asia, has committed the same fault. _F._

[169] A German translation of this _Systema Brahmanicum_ was published at Gotha in 1797, with thirty copper-plates, under the title of _Darstellung der Brahmanisch-Indischen Götterlehre_. _F._

[170] These philosophers are not properly priests, nor do they belong to the family of the Brahmans, who, however, cause themselves to be received into all these four classes; yet they have nothing in common with the Gymnosophists, _Samanæi_, _Yoguis_ and _Gosua_, who never eat with them, nor enter their pagodas or temples. The last-mentioned form also four different classes, for they consist of hermits; members who live in common, and possess certain portions of land; mendicants, or the gymnosophists properly so called; and _Sanyasis_ (_Senasseys_), who all forsake their wives, and run about naked. All these philosophers, who, as already said, must not be confounded with the Brahmans, impose upon themselves penances which appear almost incredible. “Some of these people,” says Pallebot de Saint Lubin, vol. i. p. 25. “remain sitting on the ground so long that they are not able to move from the spot. Others keep their arms so long in an erect posture, that an anchilosis is formed between the joint of the arm and the shoulder-blade, and they are altogether incapable of holding their arm out straight. Some keep their hands always folded together; so that their nails grow through the flesh, and appear on the other side. Some drag after them monstrous chains; others support heavy beams in the air, and others roll themselves down from the tops of mountains, &c.” I myself saw one of these men who had a heavy chain suspended from his foreskin; another had stuck his head up to the neck in an iron cage, and a third had held his arm so long over the fire that it was entirely withered. The descendants of these philosophers have spread themselves to Tartary, where a great many of them are to be found: the _Khutuktu_ of the Kalkasians, and the _Dalai Lama_ of Thibet, belong to the same race. Besides the above-mentioned, there are also a great many other sects in India; such as the _Pandaras_, or _Phallophori_, of the ancients; who, at present, are known under the name of the _Lingamists_: also the _Cabirs_, _Taders_, _Paramanghas_, and others. These people are very improperly called _Fakirs_; for that word is not of Indian extraction, but derived either from the Arabic or Persian. _A._

[171] That the adherents of Bhudha have spread themselves in the east, north, and north-west from China, cannot be denied; but the periods assigned for the diffusion of the Bhudhist system are very different. According to Kæmpfer, in his History of Japan, the Japanese reckoned the year 1690 of the Christian æra to be the year 2234 after the _Sonkarad_, or death of _Sammona-Khutama_, who is called also _Prah_, and _Budha_; so that the first year must have corresponded with the year 544 before the birth of Christ. This æra of the Bhudhists seems, therefore, to fall about the time of Cyrus king of Persia, whereas the introduction of the Bhudhist system into the north was 600 years later. _F._

[172] Vol. I. l. 2. p. 153. Edit. Amstel.

[173] The passage is as follows: “Gestant annulum et baculum (Brahmanes). Vestis eorum in _superhumeralis_ formam composita est.” _Photius_, Cod. cxli. p. 999. Edit. Rothomag. 1653.

[174] This external perfection was necessary in every priest also among the Jews. We cannot, however, thence conclude, that the one nation borrowed this custom from the other: it is rather probable that they both borrowed it from the Egyptians. It is nevertheless possible that the legislators of many ancient nations may have conceived the idea of excluding mutilated persons from the priesthood, as nations in their infancy hold up their priests as patterns of perfection, and mediators between the Deity and man. _F._

[175] P. 45, 46, 47.

[176] There seems here to be some mistake. _E. T._

[177] See a short account of the Gentoos mode of collecting the revenues on the coast of Coromandel. _Lond._ 1783.

[178] Many of the oriental languages are distinguished by this peculiarity, that a small variation in a character causes a new syllabic variation, with a different pronunciation. This is the case, for example, with the Ethiopic alphabet, which has twenty-six characters, and each of these is varied by seven vowel marks. There are also twenty different marks for the diphthongs; so that the whole alphabet consists of 202 marks and characters. The Amharic language, generally spoken in Ethiopia, has thirty-three characters, which are also varied by seven vowel and twenty diphthong marks; so that the whole alphabet contains 251 marks and characters. In the _Transactions of the Academy of Petersburgh_, vol. iii. and iv. the learned Theophilus Siegfried Bayer has given engravings of a great many of these Brahmanic characters. They amount at least to 525 variations, if not more. _F._

[179] The alphabet of the _Barmans_, in the kingdom of Ava, was published at Rome by the Congregation _de propaganda fide_, 1787. 8. I received a copy of it from the learned Cardinal Borgia, so zealous for promoting useful knowledge, together with other alphabets which I still wanted; so that at present I flatter myself I have in my possession a complete collection. _F._

[180] See _Phoc._ in _Vit. Apoll. Tian. cod._ cclii.--_L. Vives Comment. in lib._ xiv.--_S. Aug. de Civitate Dei_, p. 1734. edit. Paris.--_Euseb. in Chron._ p. 72. edit. Scalig.--and _Philostrat. in Vita Apoll._ lib. iii. cap. 6. and lib. iv. cap. 6. _A._

The appellation _Gymnosophists_ signifies, as is well known, naked philosophers. It does not, however, thence follow, that the people so called by the Greeks must have come from India. The warmth of the climate would make clothing superfluous to such men, even on the banks of the Nile. They led a contemplative life, and from that circumstance also were called gymnosophists; but they did not bring the mode of writing by characters from India to Ethiopia. _F._

[181] See _Historischer Versuch über die Zigeuner_, Göttingen, 1787. _A._

[182] The richness of a language must not be estimated in this manner. It is generally said, that the Arabic is a rich language, because it has I know not how many words to express a _sword_. The literal meaning of one of these words is the _man-murderer_. This, however, is only a metaphorical and figurative expression; and a number of these may be found in or compounded from every language which has attained to any degree of perfection. Thirty or more appellations of the Sun might be collected from the Greek poets; but no one ever considered this as a proof of the richness of the Greek language. _F._

[183] Such Samscred words occur not only in Ptolemy, but also in Arrian and Strabo. This, therefore, is an evident refutation of the conjecture of Mr. George Forster, that the Samscred language was not known to the Greeks, and has existed in India only since the birth of Christ. See Forster’s Notes to the Indian Play _Sakontala_, p. 333, and 334. _A._

[184] See on this subject the Asiatic Researches, p. 116-120. also my _Systema Brahmanicum_, p. 83, and 279, where this event is represented from an original Indian painting preserved in the Borgian Museum. _A._

[185] See the _Asiatic Researches_, vol. i. p. 160, and vol. ii. p. 123.

[186] See, on this subject, my Samscred Grammar, p. 175.

[187] These three apparitions are evidently a mystic veil, behind which the Indian philosophers have concealed the history of the flood, and of the fall of the wicked angels. The former was believed by all the ancient nations; and in regard to the latter, the book _Mahábharáda_ contains the following remarkable passage: _Asuranguel deivatuam codiciaver_; that is, “The _Asuri_, or the wicked angels, contended with the utmost desire for deification.” This passage stands in the 13th page of the copy of the above book, which I have in my possession. Compare with it my _Systema Brahmanicum_, p. 279. _A._

[188] The goddess _Adidi_, or _Didi_, is the mother of the wicked dæmons, who in the Samscred are called _Asuri_, and who are exceedingly spiteful. See, on this subject, Father Hanxleden’s dictionary, under the articles _Adidi_ and _Asuri_. _Bali_, who of all these _Asuri_ was the most wicked, and possessed the most insupportable pride, made it his continual business to torment the gods and men. _Vishnu_ therefore assumed the form of a dwarf, overcame him, and punished him as he deserved. Other writers consider the above apparitions as an allegory respecting the history of the first king of the Assyrians called _Bel_ or _Belus_, who reigned at Babylon 1322 years before the birth of Christ, and caused himself to be worshipped as a deity. According to this opinion the Assyrians are to be here understood under the appellation _Asuri_. The author of the _Masabhàràda_, already often mentioned, relates, that _Báli_, or _Mahàbàli_, that is, _Bali the Great_, had a hundred sons, the first-born of which was _Bánnen_. _A._

[189] This manuscript is preserved in the Borgian Museum. _A._

[190] The most common forms of prayer addressed by the Indians to _Shiva_ are: _Shiva Shivaya namà_, that is, _Shiva_, _Shiva_, adoration to thee!--and _Maràvana namà_, To thee, O _Vishnu_ or _Naràyana_, be adoration! Particular names, as I have already said, are in general given to each god, and these names serve to express their attributes or properties. The Indians always repeat them three times in order, during their devotions; and as often as they pronounce one of them, they drop a bead of their rosary. _A._

[191] When the Pagans, during their ablutions, paint marks of this kind on their forehead, they always repeat certain forms of prayer, in honour of the deity to whom these marks are dedicated. At the time of public ablutions this business is performed by the priest, who paints with his finger the foreheads of all those who have already purified themselves. At private lustrations each person lays on the colours himself, without being under the necessity of offering up prayers. No Pagan can assist in any part of divine worship without being painted with the above marks. _A._

[192] Four different kinds of years occur in some of the ancient Grantham or Samscred books. One consists of 355, another of 365, the third of 360, and the fourth of 324 days. Besides these, there is also the year of Saturn, or _Shani_, which always completes its course in twenty-nine years and six months. Likewise the year of Jupiter, or _Brahaspadi_, which consists of 360 days, divided into ten months. In some of the Indian provinces the people still reckon by these years. This variety, in determining the revolutions of the planets, seems to shew that the Brahmans and _Samanæi_ were diligent observers of the heavens in very ancient periods. The orbits of the planets are divided into a certain number of _Yògiana_, each of which is equal to a mile. _A._

[193] It is very remarkable, that the zodiac of the Indians contains the same signs as that of the Greeks and other western nations: that these signs were, in part, used by the Egyptians; and that the seven days of the week, which Dio Cassius, _lib._ xxxvii. speaks of as an ancient establishment of the Egyptians, are named after the same deities as among them. The Turks, Persians, Tartars and Chinese have in their zodiac a series of signs totally different, consequently must have derived their knowledge from a different source; but at the same time from a people who had observed the courses of the heavenly bodies, and who had endeavoured to compare the solar year with the lunar. I cannot help entertaining an idea that the people of Upper Egypt and Nubia, who were considered as Ethiopians, were the first who had a knowledge of the planets and heavenly bodies; and that their knowledge, was communicated to the Egyptians, Arabians, and Indians, and to the whole East. _F._

[194] _Sandhi_, or _Sandhya_, is the time when day and night border on each other, the morning and evening twilight, says Mr. Samuel Davis; to whose dissertation I am indebted for the above calculation. _A._

[195] See, on this subject, the _Asiatic Researches_, vol. ii. § 15, p. 225, _On the Astronomical Computations of the Hindoos_; and § 16, p. 289, _On the Antiquity of the Indian Zodiack_, by W. Jones; also Sonnerat, _Voyages aux Indes_, vol. ii. b. 3. p. 178. and p. 201. _A._

[196] The first astronomical observations in India were made in the year 1181 before the birth of Christ. It is evident, therefore, that the Indians are among the oldest astronomers. See _the Asiatic Researches_, vol. ii. p. 393. _A._

[197] Lib. viii. cap. 17.

[198] See the _Asiatic Researches_, vol. ii. § xvi. p. 289.

[199] Compare with the above the calendar of the Greeks and the Romans, published at Basle in 1545, by Lilio Gregorio Giraldo. It will there be seen that the calendar of the Brahmans has a striking similitude to the ancient calendar of the Greeks. _A._

[200] In page 317, the author enumerated several Indian words which have a great similarity to Latin words of the same signification; and here we have another instance in _aghni_, ignis, fire. I shall take this opportunity of remarking, that several Lithuanian words have a great affinity to the Latin. Thus _awis_, ovis, a sheep; _Dièwas_, Deus, God; _dantis_, dens, a tooth; _senis_, senex, an old man; _arru_, aro, I plough; _wirs_, vir, a man; _gentis_, gentilis, a relation; _rossa_, ros, dew; _angis_, anguis, a snake; _lupus_, lupus, a wolf; _naktis_, nox, noctis, the night; _tu_, tu, thou; _trys_, tres, three. _Dus Diewas dantes, dus Diewas dunes_; dat Deus dentes, dat Deus panem.

[201] Compare with this observation a passage in _Euseb. Præp. Evang._ lib. iii. p. 102. which may serve as a proof that Orpheus and his cotemporaries entertained the like rude conceptions of the Deity. _A._

[202] Among the solemnities established by the Brahmans on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, the dedication of their temples, which is renewed every year, deserves also to be mentioned. On this occasion they are accustomed to ornament the _goturas_, or turrets, with a number of lights and lamps, in the same manner as is done in China during the feast of Lanterns. We may add, likewise, the festival of _Ciangu_, or the Horn, on which the god _Vishnu_ always blows when Nature is about to renew the business of creation. _A._

[203] _Shuga tarunni_ signifies, in the Samscred, the female papagay, the symbol of _Sarasvadi_, the goddess of eloquence. _A._

[204] These voices, it is probable, have an affinity to our treble, tenor, &c. That the reader may form some idea of the Indian singing, I have set to music the above Malabar song. _A._

[205] The instruments employed for an accompaniment to pastoral songs, are: the guitar (_Vina_), the spinet (_Kinnara_), the flute (_Vàyanacol_), and a particular kind of lyre called _Ciura_, which is described in the first volume of the _Asiatic Researches_. The Indian war songs correspond with our heroics, their pastoral songs with our lyrics, and their theatrical pieces with our dramatic poems; but there is an essential difference between them, as appears from the above specimens, both in regard to the taste and quantity. _A._

[206] One of the favourite pieces of the people is the _Pàvakali_, or so-called buffoon dance. This word is compounded of _Pàva_ and _Kàli_, the former of which signifies a merry-andrew, and the latter a play or dance. The comedies, in which dancing is always introduced, are called _Nàdaca_ or _Nadya_. The dance is called _Nadana_; a comedian, _Nàden_, or _Nàdaken_; a female dancer, _Nrtagui_; and theatric singing, _Gàna_, or _Guita_. _A._

[207] Mr. George Forster translated this play into German, from the English edition of Sir William Jones, and added to it notes which display talents and learning. It was published at Mentz in 1791. _Sakontala_, or more properly _Shakuntala_, was a daughter of _Vishvamitra_, and married to king _Dushpanda_. She had a son named _Bharada_, or _Bharata_, who may be ranked among the most celebrated of the Indian kings. More information on this subject may be found in the book _Mahàbharada_, which contains a circumstantial history of the heroine _Shakuntala_. If credit is to be given to this _Mahabharada_, and the poem _Yudhishtira_, the Indians, about the year 1600 before the birth of Christ, were engaged in a bloody war with the _Gebers_, or _Gaurs_; the consequence of which was, that the _Gebers_, under the command of one of their kings, fled to Persia, where they remained till they were expelled by the Mahometans. _A._

[208] Plato, Dial. III. de legibus; also Dial. II. de republica.

[209] Every body knows that poetry, especially when assisted by music and singing, has a great influence over all men whose sensations are not entirely callous; and therefore it has often been used by the founders of religious systems, to enable them to accomplish their views. But mankind, unfortunately, have abused this noble gift of Heaven, sometimes to render the most sacred things ridiculous, and to serve as an incitement to the most sensual voluptuousness. At present, even people of respectable talents employ it no better purpose; and by these means disgrace their character in a moral point of view. _F._

[210] The Indians have been looked upon with contempt, not only by the vain Greeks, but even by the western nations of more modern times. Holwell first directed the attention of the Europeans to the writings of the Indians, and the excellent ideas they contain respecting the Deity, Providence, and Virtue. Since that period, Hastings, Sir William Jones, Halhed, Wilkins, and others, have made us acquainted with many fragments of the Indian wisdom of early times. _F._

[211] See, on this subject, _Sonnerat Voyage aux Indes_; Vol. II. chap. 4. where engravings are given of the principal pagodas on the coast of Coromandel. As the Brahmans divide themselves into two different sects, one of which worship fire, and the other water, as the principal deity, there are also two different kinds of temples. _Tirunamala_, _Cialembron_, and _Tiruvalur_, belong to the _Shivanites_: _Tirupadi_, _Ciringam_, and _Cangipuram_, to the _Vishnuvites_. The pagoda at _Cialembron_ contains some ancient inscriptions with Indian characters: and these serve as a certain proof that the old Indians had characters peculiar to themselves; for the coast of Coromandel was never under the dominion of the Greeks. _A._

[212] 1 Kings, ch. xv. ver. 13.

[213] Vol. III. chap. 4. p. 36. It has been doubted whether the Venetian Doctor, Gemelli Careri, ever actually visited those countries which he has described; and it has been asserted, that having collected a great deal of information in Europe, partly from the missionaries and other travellers, partly from books, he then withdrew himself from society for several years, and composed his travels in his closet. This accusation, however, in my opinion, is entirely groundless. One needs only read with attention the description which he gives of the above subterranean temple, to be convinced that it could be written only by a person who had seen it. _F._

[214] Were these Greek characters, they might certainly be explained; but as that is not the case, it thence follows that neither the temple nor the statues are of Grecian workmanship. _A._

[215] What will be said to this by the critics, who assert that the Indians had no proper alphabet before the Christian æra? _A._

[216] Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvii. cap. 5.

[217] I have never seen or heard that gems are polished in Europe on a flat stone; and that, during this operation, they are directed merely by the hand. On the contrary, the lapidaries employ a wheel, driven by the foot; and having affixed to it small bits of tin, daubed over with emery and diamond-powder. By these the stones are cut down till they acquire the necessary form. In the island of Ceylon the small gems, which are found chiefly in the sand of the rivers near _Punto do Gale_, are rubbed backwards and forwards between two boards of hard wood, one of which is fixed, with the powder of the Corundam stone, or so-called diamond-spar, found in great abundance in the Gauts, near Tirunavati, and at Cape Comorin or Comari, in the granite rocks, until they acquire that long round form under which they are brought to Europe. These Corundam stones are used also for polishing steel. _F._

[218] Dutens, in his book _Des pierres precieuses et des pierres fines_, p. 38, says, speaking of the emerald, that it is exclusively found in America, near _Manta_ in Peru, or the valley of _Tunka_, in the mountains of New Granada and Popayan, and was not known to the ancients. The author of this voyage asserts, that he found emeralds in Ceylon, and I myself have obtained some of them from that island. The French jewellers, however, call these emeralds _Peridots_, which is the name they give to a bright green kind of stone, not very hard, found in Arabia, Persia, and India, the crystallisations of which have not yet been determined. I shall take this opportunity of observing, that in the British Museum there is a beautiful groupe of hexagonal smaragdine columns in quartz, which was procured from South America. Dutens, mentioned in the beginning of this note, the son of a jeweller in London, went to Turin as chaplain to the English ambassador at that court. He spoke exceedingly good French; because his father was a French refugee, and because he had himself resided a long time at Paris. _F._

[219] Lib. viii. cap. 10.

[220] Hist. Indica, cap. 10.

[221] See _Herbelot. Bibl. Orient._ p. 206 and 456. _Oberlin. Litterarum omnis Ævi Fata._ Argent. 1789. Tab. I. _Traité des plus belles Bibliothèques de l’Europe_, p. 33. and Sketches of the History, Religion and Learning of the Hindoos, p. 92 and 93.

[222] A certain kind of white East Indian chintz.

[223] It is indeed true, that a great part of the gold and silver brought from Brasil and Spanish America, passes first into the hands of the industrious Norlanders for timber, iron, flax, hemp, linen, and other merchandize; and then goes to China and the East Indies for articles of luxury, drugs, &c. But England, at any rate, does not lose much, as it draws large revenues from its extensive possessions in India, and has in its hands almost the whole trade of that part of the world. _F._

[224] Lib. vi. cap. 17, et 22.

[225] This observation of the author does not display much penetration. Commerce is the bond which unites the most distant nations with each other. Without trade our artists and manufacturers would have much less employment; and much less opportunity would be afforded them for exercising their ingenuity and invention. Ignorance and want of mental culture prevail in all those countries which are contented with their own productions. Providence requires more general benevolence, and less selfishness among men; and the only means for accomplishing that end, are the arts and manufactures, navigation and trade. They are indeed shamefully abused; but the friends of humanity ought to cherish a hope, that good will one day arise from this evil. _F._

[226] In the observations with which the author begins this chapter, he hazards assertions very erroneous. The intense heat in the tropical regions is destructive both to men and to animals. At Calcutta, which lies at a considerable distance from the line, wild pigeons sometimes drop down dead at noon, while flying over the market-place. People who are then employed in any labour, such as writers in the service of the East India Company, whose correspondence often will not admit of delay, sit naked immersed up to the neck in large vessels, into which cold water is continually pumped by slaves from a well. Such a country cannot be favourable to health or longevity. What are properly called the northern regions, are also a wretched and melancholy residence for the human race. It is only a moderate climate, such as that of Greece, Italy, and other countries lying under the same latitude, that can exalt men’s ideas, and produce the utmost degree of happiness. These gave birth to those illuminating rays which have contributed to the improvement of the human mind; and which, diffused thence to colder climates, still exercise their beneficent influence. _F._

[227] How the Marsians, a people long settled in Italy, should be here introduced among the Cimbri, the Teutones and the Huns, is to me incomprehensible. They inhabited their country so long that they might be considered as the first people by whom it was cultivated. Their history may be seen in a very scarce book, entitled _Mutii Phœbonii Marsi Historia Marsorum_, Napoli 1678, 4to. _F._

[228] On this very just assertion of Hippocrates, which is confirmed by Camper, some of our modern philosophers have founded their system of different races; according to which, the negroes are incapable of possessing moral qualities, and exhibit certain proofs of it in their looks. I have, however, seen thousands of these men, against whom so partial a sentence has been passed, and could observe nothing of the kind in their countenances, which often displayed great benevolence. Climate, manner of life, clothing, food, and other circumstances alter the soft parts of the body, as well as the features of the face; and the solid parts even, from the same causes, assume gradually a different form. Thus whole tribes acquire a peculiar cast of visage; and the shape, size, and turn of the body become changed. But this cannot destroy the powers of the mind, the passions, and the moral qualities, which alone constitute the character and the valuable part of man. _F._

[229] The sedentary mode of life which prevailed among the higher classes of the Grecian women formerly occasioned diseases of the like kind. In the history of the Argives, about the time of Megapenthes, we find that their women, on account of their sedentary life, occasioned by their spinning, weaving, embroidering, and other labours of the like kind, and perhaps also by impure air in confined apartments, and by the use of wine, brought on disorders which had some resemblance to the real _Tarantismus_ (not that occasioned by the bite of the tarantula). Bias, and Melampus the son of Amythares, were celebrated for curing this disease. Music and songs sung by handsome young men, kind treatment, and perhaps also dancing, brought back to Argos all the women, who had wandered to the forests and mountains. _F._

[230] See _Lettre à M. Sonnerat à l’Isle de France, de l’Imprimerie Royale 1784_, chap. vi. p. 102.

[231] The _Bangue_ is nothing else than our hemp, the leaves of which, when smoked, have an intoxicating quality. _F._

[232] See _Tractatio medico-practica de Lue Venerea, Hermanni Boerhaave_, Lugd. Bat. 1751.

[233] From the name Malabar china, I suspect that the _Vèppa_ is the _Swietenia febrifuga_, five _rubra_, lately made known by Dr. Roxburgh. _F._

[234] Perhaps the _Averrhoa carambola_ LINN. _F._

[235] Perhaps the root of the _Cissampelos pareira_ L.

[236] This kind of plums are produced by the _Phyllanthus Emblica_ L.

[237] See Rheede _Hort. Malabar_. vol. i. t. 57. What the author here says is incorrect. The wild cinnamon is the bark of the _Karuvà_, and is the _Laurus Cassia_ L. On the other hand, the true _Cassia lignea_ is the _Katou Karuà_ in the _Hort. Malab._ vol. v. t. 53, and the _Laurus Malabathrum_ L. _F._

[238] In the _Hort. Malab._ vol. vi. p. 19. and in the System _Guilandina Moringa_ L. _F._

[239] Amomum Curcuma LINN.

[240] Perhaps the _Melissa officinalis_ L. or our common balm. _F._

[241] This sensitive plant, according to every appearance, is a _Mimosa casta_ LIN. _F._

[242] The _Vayambu_ of Rheede, _Hort. Malab._ vol. xi. t. 60, is the _Acorus calamus_ LIN. _F._

[243] Lib. xii. cap. 5.

[244] Lib. xiv. cap. 38.

[245] The author probably here means the order of Cincinnatus. _F._

[246] All these are now in the hands of the British government.

[247] This kingdom, as well as the capital of the same name, was called by the old geographers _Candia_; but the more modern give it the name of _Candy_. The translator, however, has adhered to the orthography of the author.

[248] Lib. vi. cap. 23.

[249] An account of Thibet by Father Giuseppe, chief of the mission, may be found in the _Asiatic Researches_. There is also a letter on the same subject in the _Philosophical Transactions_. _F._

[250] This tree produces a singular kind of berries, which taste and smell as if a great number of spices were mixed together. _A._

[251] According to the author’s description we might be induced to believe that there were burning volcanoes among these mountains of Africa; but on the southern coast there are no volcanoes, and the flames seen by the author arose from the dry grass which the wild inhabitants of these districts are accustomed to set on fire. _F._

[252] As the whale is viviparous, and nourishes its young from the milk vessels which lie on each side of the matrix, the above substance cannot be the spawn of the whale. It is rather, as I know from my own researches, the embryo or eggs of the sea-nettle. _F._

[253] These fruits do not grow in the interior parts, but in districts which have been cultivated by the Europeans, particularly German and French settlers. The case is the same with the beautiful oranges and the vines from Schiras, which grow on the plantations of Constantia. _F._

[254] On the side of the island opposite to the harbour, where ships generally anchor, or E. by S. there is a high mountain, which, according to its external appearance, is of a calcareous nature, and which in the year 1775 I actually found so. It produces a few herbs, which afford a wretched support to the wild goats. In a valley on this mountain there is also a kind of spring, but it yields very little water. To the north east of the anchoring place there was also a spot amidst the volcanic flag, which was well covered with grass. _F._

[255] The man-of-war bird (_Pelicanus Aquilus_ LINN.) These birds are so careful of their eggs and young, that, rather than desert them, they suffer themselves to be caught by the hand. _F._

[256] I much doubt that these burning holes in the northern mountains of India are real volcanoes. They appear much rather to proceed from some inflammable matter under the earth, like that at _Baku_ on the Caspian Sea, arising from the remains of old volcanoes. _F._

[257] See _Lettre à M. Sonnerat par Charpentier de Cossigny, à l’Isle de France_, 1784, p. 58-60.

[258] It is remarkable that the northern lights should be seen in so low a latitude as that of the Azores. I have seen them in Prussia and England, but never in any part of Europe so far to the south. _F._