-^^' %. %X A <«ei fXAXf LvVV I ^^ ,^'- \.'^*- H^^8l^cnBffi||^ X^> # "•F >^ •J h. THE VIEW O F HINDOOSTAN. VOL. I. WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. quia ipsa siei obstat magnitudo, rerumque diversitas aciem in- tentionis abrumpit ; faciam quod solent, qui terrarum situs pingunt: in brevi quasi tabella totam ejus imaginem amplectar, NONNIHIL, UT SPERO, AD ADMIRATIONEM PRINCIPIS POPULI COLLATURUS, SI pariter atque insimul universam magnitudinem ejus osten- DERO. L. A. Fhri Epitome, Lib. I. LONDON: PRINTED BY HENRY HUGHS. M.DCC.XCVtU. o. ADVERTISEMENT. THESE Two Volumes are compofed from the XlVth and XVth of my Outlines of the Globe. I had many felicitations from private friends, and a few wiflies from perfons unknown delivered in the public prints, to commit to the prefs a part, in the form in which the poft- humous volumes might hereafter make their appearance. I might have pleaded the imprudence of the attempt, at my time of life, of beginning fo arduous an imdertaking in my 71ft year. I happily, till very lately, had fcarcely any ad- monition of the advanced feafon. I plunged into the fea of troubles, and with my papers in one hand, made my way through the waves with the other, and brought them fecure to land. 1 his, alas ! is fenile boaPcing. I mufi: fubmit to the judgment of the public, and learn from thence- how far I am to be cenfured for fo grievous an offence againft: the maxim of Jlrifiotle^ who fixes the decline of human abili- ties to the 49th year. I ought to fliudder when 1 connder Vol. I. a the ADVERTISEMENT. the wear and tare of twenty-two years ; and I feel fhocked at the remark of the elegant Delaney^ who obferves, * that * it is generally agreed among wife men, that few great * attempts, at left in the learned way, have ever been * wifely imdertaken and happily executed after that period !' I cannot defend the wifdom : yet, from the good fortune of my life, I will attempt the execution. It will be formed upon the model of my Introduction to the Arctic Zoology, imitating, as far as my talents will admit, the great examples left by the difciples of the Lin- M^AN fchool, and the folid writings of the liberal and com- municative race of the hyperborean learned, fitted by cli- mate to afliduous ftudy, and to retain the immenfenefs of their knowlege, when acquired. The Torrid Zone gene- rally enervates the body and mind. The divine particle melts away, and every idea is too often loft in irreHftible, indolence. Yet there are two writers, to whom I muft own the higheft obligations, who felt no degeneracy by the influence of climate. Their thoughts are as firm and colledled as if they had been braced by the fteady froft of the north. The firft is James Rennel Efquire, late Major of Engi- neers and Surveyor General in Bengal, The effects of his labors, ADVERTISEMENT. labors, more immediately applied to the national fervice, have been productive pf others, which have proved the brighteft elucidations of a country, till after the year 1757, little more than the objeJ D O O S T A K. 7 that account ; the Geographer mentions ^Termed among other ftations near that great river. When the goods were fhipped from Sa772arca?id, they fell down the flream, which, in the timxC of Herodotus, paffed through a marfhy tratSt, the paludes excipientes araxem, now the Aral lake, out of which it flowed, and, going fouth-vreft, fell into the Cafpiaii fea in the bay of Balchan. This paffage has been dellroyed above two centuries ago, and its ancient channel is fcarcely to be traced. Mafter Anthonie Jenkinfoft, a mod authentic traveller, gives the fol- lowing account of the caufe, in his travels into thofe parts in 1558, as related by Purchas, (fee p. 236) : " The water that " ferueth all that countrey, is drawne by ditches out of the *« river Oxiis vnto the great deftrudtion of the faid river, for " which caufe, it falleth not into the Cafpian fea, as it hath « done in times paft, and in fhort time all that land is like to " be deftroyed and to become a wilcierneffe for want of water, « when the river of Oxus fhall faile." I WILL now briefly enter on fome other ways pointed out by Other Routes. the ancients as commercial routes into India. One is that mentioned by Pliny, (lib. vii. c. 17.) who probably fpeaks on good authority ; his account is founded on intelligence delivered down by Po^npey, when he was purfuing the mitbri- datic war. It was then certainly known, that it was but feven days journey out of India to the BaBryan country, even to the river Icarus, which runs into the Oxus, by means of which, the Indian commerce may be tranfported by the channel of the Cafpian ^2., and again by the river Cyrus, the modern Kur, on Caspian Sea. the weftern fide as far as Pbafis, the Rione or modern Fafz, a large and navigable river, which falls into the head of the Eiixine 1 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. liuxine fea, and appears to me a communication of great pradlicability. Batn^. I MAY alfo mention Batna^ a large commercial city, built, (according to Ammianus^ lib. xiv. c. 3.) not remote from the ^ Euphrates in Mefopotajnia, by the Macedonians. It was filled with rich merchants ; an annual fair was held there in the beginning of September,, and it was then the refort of mul- titudes of people, for the fake of the commodities brought from India, and even Seres or China, and various other places, both by land and water ; the laft, by the channel of the Perjian gulph, and fo up the Euphrates. The Seres. Th£ Seres reminds me of the laft communication I fliall mention, which was to the north, leading to the diftant country of China. The Chinefe merchants defcended from their country, and leaving the head of the defeit of Gobi to the weft, reached little Bucharia, and got the conveniency of the river Ilak for part of their journey. Comedo. The ancient Comeda, the fame with Cajhgar, feated in Lat. 40° N. in the Cafia Regio of Ptolemy, lay at the foot of mount hnaiis. The Indian and Chinefe trade carried on through this city, is ftill confiderable. The river Sir, the old laxartes, is not far to the weft of Cajbgar, and might, by its falling into lake Aral, be an ancient channel of communication with the Cafpian fea. This city was the rendezvous, even in early times, of the merchants trading with the country to the north and to the fouth. This, I dare fuppofe, was the " receptaculum eorum " qui ad Seras negotii caufa profifciuntur penes huauni mon- <** tjsm" of Ptolemy; and neai" it, to the eaft, was the Lithinon Purgon^ WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. p Purgon, and l^urris Lapldea oiAmmianus^^ which, by the name, Turris could be no other than a beacon, fixed on a ftone tower. Lapidea. Hierken, to the fouth of Cq/Jjgar, was another celebrated Hierken, mart, and is flill the centre of commerce between the north of Jlja, India, 'Thibet, and SibiyJa. When the merchants reached the Indus, they fell into the trails before defcribed. The Seres, above fpoken of, were the inhabitants of the north of China, remarkable for their filk, which the ancients believed was combed from the leaves of trees, and, when fteeped in w^ater, w^as corded and fpun, and after their manner wove into a web. Thefe Seres had fome intercourfe with the Romans; for Florus tells us that they fent ambaffadors to Augujlus, who were four years on their journey. They w^ere a moft gentle race, and Ihunned mankind : yet carried on a traffic, in the fame manner as the weftern Moors do at prefent, wdth people they never lee. The Moors go annually in caravans, laden with Singular trinkets, to an appointed place on the borders of Nigritia. There they find feveral heaj^s of gold depofited by the Negroes ; againft each of which the Moors put as many trinkets as they think of equal value, and then retire. If, the next morning, the Negroes approve the bargain, they take the trinkets and leave the gold ; or elfe they make fome dedudtion from the gold dufl ; and in this manner tranfadl the exchange, without the left inftance of diflionefty on either part t. * Shaw's Travels, p. 302. t Taffy's Memoirs, p. 311. — Taffy's account is, that a commerce fimilar to this is carried on between a nation called the Cadenlls and the Negroes. The Cadenfis a£l as the middle man between them and the Tunifians, who go to their country, and obtain gold and negro flaves for European commodities. Vol. I. C Candahary io WESTERN II I N D O O S T A N. Candahar. Candabar, feated in Lat: 33° o' N. Long. 67° 15' E. is the capital of a recent kingdom, formed by the convulfion given to this part of the eaftern world. It was founded by Ahmed Abdalla, an Afghan prince, compelled by KoiiH Khan to join his army in 1739. ^^ ^^ aflaflination of the tyrant, he ap- peared again among his fubjedts, and added to his dominions Candabar, CaJJnnere, and fome other fmall difl:ri6ts. His fucceffors refide at Cabul\ he has an army of two hundred thoufand men, once clothed with Britifh manufacftures, which were fent up the hidus, and thence to Cabulhy the lefTer river. Candabar is a city of vaft ftrength, by nature as well as art, being feated amidft fens and rocks. The Governor, Hojein Khan, defended it eighteen months againft all the attacks of Kouli Khan. At length, reduced to extremity, he fallied out at the head of his inen, and fell, bravely fighting in defence of his country! Candabar and Cabiil were confidered of high im2:)ort:ance in a political light. The firft was efteemed the gate of India in refpevSt to PerJIa, and Cabul that in refpedl to Tartary, and both were in the middle ages the great emporia for Indiatt goods, which were tranfported into Weftern tartary, and from thence by the Cajpian and Euxine feas to Conjlantinopky and from that city to all parts of Europe. Candabar was the magazine of the Indian and Perjian goods, and Cabul of the fpices. They were conveyed in caravans, north-weftwards, to the famous city of Samarcand, in Lat. 40° N. and from thence the goods were put in boats, and fent down into the Oxus or Amu, which falls into the Cafpian fea, as I have before related, and there Qiipped for their different deftinations ; thofe for Rujfia, up the Volga ; thofe for Conjlantinople, up the river Cyrus, the modern Kur, which WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. ii which defcends a great and rapid river from mount Caucafus, and is navigable very far up, fo as to form an eafy communica- tion with the Euxine fea. Venice and Genoa received the Indian hixuries from ConJIajitinopIe^ and their own port of Cqff'a, and difperfed them over the other parts of Europe. Both thefe cities continue the emporia o^Ferfia^ India, 'Tar- fary, and all the circumjacent nations. The commerce is ftill confiderable, notwithftanding it has been leflened by that of the European nations, who have eftabliflied factories in almoft every part of the Indian empire. Cabulxs feated in Lat. 34.* 36' N. Long. 68° 58' E. at the foot of Cabul. the India7i Caucafus, and in fo happy a climate, as to produce the fruits of both the temperate and torrid zones, notwithftand- ing it is bordered by mountains capped with eternal fnow. The Indian hiftorians fpeak of it in the mod rapturous terms. It ftands on the river Kamebj which falls into the Indus sAAttock, but poffibly is interrupted by rapids, as it is only navigable by rafts. Cabul is the refidence of the Kings of Candahar, and the prefent capital. The Nubian Geographer (p. 66.) fpeaks of Cabul as a noble city ; that its mountains abounded with the fined aromatic woods, Neregil znd Myrobalans ; the firft may be NeUila Phylanthus emblica\ the others the Spondias purpurea, 8cc. All the Myrobalans had once a name in our fliops as gentle purgatives ; among other purpofes they are ufed in the tanning bufinefs. Of late days, Cabul has been noted for its vaft fairs of horfes and cattle ; the firft brought there by the JJjbec Tartars. Slaves are alio a confiderable article of commerce. Merchants refort to thefe markets from Pcrjia, China, and Tartary. It was taken C 2 by 12 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. by Kouli Khan by ftorm, who put great part of the garrifon to the fword, and made himfelf matter of a vaft treafure in arms, am- munition, and jewels. Kouli Khan fliewed here a ftrong fpecimcn of oriental juftice, by ripping up the bellies of eighty Kuzzdebajh^ or foldiers, for only being prefent when feme of their comrades forced one of the country women. Caffa. The Geitoefe, thofe once enterprizing people, made them- felves matters of Caffa^ a noted city and port on the Euxine fea, in the famous peninfula of Krim Tartary. This they feized in 1261, and made the emporium of the commodities of India and Perfia, which were brought down the Oxus, and the other routes mentioned in the preceding page. They colonized Caffa with their own countrymen, and gained prodigious wealth during the time they were in polTeflion. It was wretted from them in 1475, by Mahomet the great, and with it foon expired the mighty power of that city of merchants. Genoa, for cen- turies the rival of Venice^, equally potent, and equally brave, waged long and fierce wars with each other, incited more by avarice, than the ambition of glory. BocHARA. Bocharay not far to the fuuth of Samarcand, was another great emporium^ and communicated the eattern articles to all the neighbouring parts of Tartary. It traded with India, China, and Perjia, and partook of thofe of Mufcovy, by the caravans •which went from that empire to Cathay. This city feems to have been of more modern date : it is not mentioned, as far as i recoiled:, before the days of the Nubian Geographer, who wrote fome time prior to the year 1151? but it appears to have been in the next century a moft flourifhing place. 4 Anthonie WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 13 Anthonie Jenkinfon (Purcbas, iii. 241.) gives a very curious account of the ftate of Bocbara and its commerce, as it was in the year 1558. This has been uninterruptedly continued from the earliefl time to the prefent, for the northern parts of Afia have their wants and kixiiries to fupply even from India and China. The difcovery of the paffage by the Cape of Good Hope^ gave a great check to this inland commerce. No more com- modities were conveyed that way to the greateft part of Europe^ yet ftill the trade is very confiderable to the places I mentioned, and even to the RuJJian empire. Catberine has, as yet, no fliare in Hindoojian, no Indian fleets; her fplendid courts, and all the luxuries of her vaft cities are fupplied either from AJlra- kan, or from the other Cafpian ports; Afirakan is the great RuJJian flaple of the Indian commerce. Gurjef and Kijlar are the fame. Perjia has its Derbcnd, Niezabad, Baku^ and others. The Tartars have their bay of Ba/cban znd Mangujblak, through which, Bccbara ftill pours its Indian articles of commerce. It is foreign to the plan of out-line to enter into ininuticc. I muft therefore refer to the fecond Volume of my friend the Reverend Wm. Coxe's valuable Travels. The 4th Chapter will fatisfy the moft ardent curiofity. In refpe6t to the antient Rujfian commerce with thefe diftant Russian Com- parts, I iliall conclude the fubjedt with obferving, that after the various commodities of India had arrived through the channel of the Qxus into the Cafpian fea, they were fliipped for the Volga, the Rha of the antients. That river was fo little known to the antients, that they have not left us the name of a fingle place in its w^hole courfe. The merchants afcended that great river. After navigating it a very confiderable way they entered the MERCE. 14 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. the Kajna^ and arrived through the Kokra at Tcherdvn, feated in Lat. 60" 25' North, in thofe early times a mighty emporium. From thence the feveral eaftern articles of commerce were dif- perfed over all the arBic regions. The Nortmans and the ^ue- onSi people of the Baltic, had great intercourfe with them through the Neva, and Ladoga, another vaft emporium^ feated on the lake of the fame name. As a proof of the antiquity of its commerce, coins of Greece and Rome, oi Syria and Arabia, have been found in the antient burying places, evidences that the people of the eaft and of the weft had met there to fupply their feveral wants ; even at Tcberdyn, coins of the Arabian Caliphs have been difcovered. Notwithftanding the immenfe wealth of both Tcherdyn and Ladoga, fcarcely a trace is to be feen of thofe great emporia. The commerce of the firft ex- tended even within the arciic circle. The Beormas, the people of the old Permia, afcended the Petzora with their furs, ex- changed them for the produils of the torrid zones, and fall- ing down that northern river difperfed them over all theii' chilly regions. THE MARCH OF ALEXANDER TO THE PANJAB, 1 INTRODUCE again the Paropamijan Alexandria, No place could be fixed on with greater judgment whether as -x piece t/' armes, or an emporium of the mighty empire he defigned, from which he could form the vaft commerce he meditated ; for in his lucid intervals, a more able monarch never exifted. As from a head quarter, from hence he directed his expedition to B.atJra and Sogdiana, the modern countries of Balk,, Bucharia, a-nd WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 15 and Samarcand. Having fulfilled the objeils of his march he returned, and from this place fet forth on his great defign, the conqueft of India. I will attend his march acrofs the country to the banks of the Indus. The conqueror took a north-eaftern courfe, and pafled by the tra<51: of the modern towns of Kiilaut, Tazee, Meerout, Jom- rood, and Gundermouk. He crofled feveral rivers in his way, fuch as the Cophenes, or Cow river, or Nagaz, and the Cboey which falls into the Gurteus, or modern Kameh. On the upper part of the Cophenes, which is called Dilen, ftood Ghizni, once Ghizni. the capital of a mighty empire of the fame name, which con- fifted of the tracfl lying between the Indus and Parthia, to the fouth of the Oxus, and part of the antient Ba£fria. The city is now^ a heap of ruins, and fcarcely mentioned in hiftory. Its emperor Mahmocd I. furnamed Ghizni, firll invaded India in the year loco ; his firft conquefts extends only to Moultan. He in 1024 conquered the kingdom of Guzerat ; at that time all i?/;z- doojian was inhabited by the aborigines. With true Mahometan zeal he exercifed all forts of barbarities againft the Hindoos-, and in order if poffible to exterminate their religion, levelled with the ground their favorite Pagoda Sumnaut, and every other object of their worfhip. The Ghiznian empire continued 207 years. Mahomed \iQ 3^4? Fxped. Alex, and the Catheri of Diodarus Siculusi. * Plin, lib. V. c. 28. Arrian, ExpeJ. Alex. i. 319. -J- Lib. XV ii. c. 10. Vol. I. D They i8' WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. They are fuppofed to have been the fame with the vahant caft the Kbatre^ to this day renowned for their defperate valour. Alex- ander befieged them in their city : their defence was brave and obftinate : but they fell before the fortune of the Macedonian hero, who deftroyed the nation, and levelled their city with the ground. A namelefs city, as Mr. Rennel ftyles it, was to be found higher up the river, on the oppofite fide. This deferved to have been immortalized, as having been the place where Alexander that hero endangered his life by one of the rafli adions he was very fubje6l to fall into. He leaped into the city, was befet by enemies, and received a defperate wound in his fide by an arrow, which had transfixed his breaftplate. He fainted, but recovered the moment he felt an Indian going to ftrip him, and drawing a dagger pierced his aflTailant to the heart. I leave the reader to confult Arriany Exped. Alex. i. 396, about the event ; and Mr. Rennel, p. 128, as to reafons for fixing the fixteof the momentous affair in the place he does, about ten miles above the confl.ux of the two rivers. Gold, Gold is found in fome of the rivers of Tanjab. In refpeil to gold, we are informed by Herodotus, Thalia, c. 95, that the Indians paid their tribute to Darius in that pretious metal; and tells us, that it is procured out of the rivers, and alfo dup- ont of the earth, and fmelted by them into ingots before they make with it their donative. One of the epithets the Poets beftow on the Hydafpes is Aurifer, poflibly as being peculiarly rich in gold. Herodotus, Thalia, c. 102, relates, and feems to credit, the ftrange ftory of its particles being thrown up with the land of the vaft defert, probably that of Regijlan, by ants as big as foxes, and that the Indians went with three camels to colle W E S T E R N H I N D O O S T A N. of his fliips were daflied to pieces, and himfelf, and his admiral NearcbuSi with difficulty efcaped. The fides and channel are filled with rocks, and Alexander, through ignorance of the climate of India, undertook his expedition in the rainy feafon, which, befides the fwelling of the rivers (which impeded his march) made dreadful havoke among his troops by the difeafes of the country. The other two rivers, which complete the Panjab, are the Beyaby once the Beypajlja, and the Hypbafis of Alexander. The fifth and laft is the Setlege or Suttuluz, the Zaradruz of Ptolemyy and Hefudriis of Fliny. Thefe rife in the mountains that divide Thibet from India, and unite near Firofepour. Soon after which they divide, and infulate a pretty confiderable traped. There were other towns, fays Arrian^ Rer. Indie, i. p. 52S, on the higher grounds, and confifted of houfes built with bricks and mortar. Beyond Bakhor^ on the eaftern bank of the InduSi 2X&Dary and Ke7i, and Bibigiindy-check^ and Sitpour^ each known to us only by name. In Lat. 29° 8', on the eaftern fide of the Indus-, we meet The Sttlece. with the conflux of the Setlege, or HefudruS', with that river. The town oiVeh is at the forks. It is remarkable, that it is the onlv river we meet with from the difchanre of tlie Indus into the fea to this place, a tracft of above five hundred and twenty miles. It is the fouthern bountlary of the Panjab, or the Panjab. region of five rivers, io much celebrated for the bloody atStions F 2 within 36 WESTERN 11 I N D O O S T A N. within its limits, by the deftroyers of mankind, Alexander the great, T'i 77211 r Bek^ or 'T'a7nerlane, and KouU Kb a 71. It is a moil fertile tradt, often plain, but towards the north and north-eaft interfered by a chain of hills. The Setlege runs in one chan- nel for fome w'ay, then divides, and embracing a confiderable ifland, re-unites for a fliort fpace, and at Ferofapour feparates ao-ain. The fouthern branch retains its name; the northern affumes that of the Beyab, or Hypbafis. Thefe diverge con- fidcrably from each other, then converge, fo as almoft to meet at their fountains, at the foot of mount biiaus, or H'mimaleb. This tradl- is called Jallmdar, and has in it Suit a7i pour, and a few other towns. Near the fountain of the Beyab flands the famous temple Nagercote. of Nagerkote, greatly frequented by the Hifidoo pilgrims, out of veneration to the goddefs Nq/habo. This place out-miracles all miracles : cut out your tongue, and in a few days, fometimes a few hours, it will, with due faith in the faint, be again renewed*! This temple was immenfely rich, being paved with gold. It was guarded by the fort Kote Ka7igrab. It was taken by Ferofe III. in 1360!: To fuch a patron of litera- ture, he found a treafvire in a library of books of the BrabTnins^ He caufed one, which confilled of philofophy, to be tranflated in the Perjian language, and called it the Argmfients of Ferofe. Goropiin, as quoted by Purcbas, vi. p. 35, fays, that Nagerkote mountain is the higheft in the world. jELLAMooK-y. NoT far from Nagerkote, is Jellamooky, a temple built over the fubterraneous fire. Poflibly the country may be inhabited * Aj-een, ii. p. 133. f Ferifhta, i, p. 369. by WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 37 by the Gbebres, or worfliippers of fire, or Perfees^ defcendants of thole who hadefcaped the horrid maffacre oiTiumr Bek. About fifty-five miles above the difcharge of the Setlege^ the The Chunaub. Chunaub, ox Ac e fines .^ joins itfelf with the Indus, and continues a fingle channel about the fame fpace, equal in fize to that river. On the fouthern banks, nearly midway, ftands Moultan, capital Moultan. of a province of that name. The country is very produdlive in cotton ; and alfo fugar, opium, brimftone, galls, and camels, which ufed to be tranfported into Perjia. The galls indicate oaks, which I did not before know grew fo far to the fouth. The finefT: bows are made in this country; and it produces the moft beautiful, and mofi: adtive female dancers in all India, who were in the highefl efleem, particularly in the kingdom of PerJia. The air is excefiively hot, and very little rain falls in thefe parts. This is a circumftance which attends remarkably the lower part of tlie Indus, efpecially the Delta, where it has been known to have wanted rain for the fpace of three years. The city of Moultan flands in Lat. 30° 34', is fmall, and flrongly fortified. It has a celebrated pagoda, a mofque, with a beautiful minaret, and the place of interment of many pious Shiekhs. Abulfazel, ii. 137, fays, that it is one of the moft antient cities in India, It was not the capital of the Malli, which Mr. Rennel fuppofes to have been near Toulumba ; but they inhabited the circumjacent country. Moultan was taken by one of the generals of Tamerlane. Since the ravages made in this province, after the invafion of India by Kouli Khan, a conqueror equally barbarous, the trade of 38 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. of the place has received a confiderable check, ^he'cenot adds another reafon, that in his time, about the year 1665, the river was choaked np, which obftrucfted greatly all commerce from Lahore, and other places to the north-eaft. Ban-ians. This city is the great refidence of the Bayiians, or merchants and brokers of India. They are of this country, and have here their chieftain. They are of the great commercial caft of the Bhyfe, created, fay the Hindoos, by their Brimhas, or Supreme Being, from his thighs and belly ; but I fhall fay more of the Casts hereafter. Thefe form fettlements in all the commercial towns in India. They alfo fend colonies, for a certain number of years, to the trading towns of Arabia and Ferfa, and we find them even as far as AJlrakan. In the beginning of the prefent century, about a hundred and fifty or two hundred of this community went from Mmltaji to that city, and carry on a great trade in pretious flones ; they live in a large ftone Cara- •vanjery. As they die away, or incline to return home, a fupply is fent from India by their chief, feledted from among their young unmarried relations. As they have no females from their own country, they keep, during their refidence at .4/?; vz- Jtan, Tartarian women, but the contrail is only during that time. They are a fine race of men, and are highly ell:eemed for the integrity of their dealings *. Thefe fupport the molt im- portant trade of AJlrakan, by carrying it through AJlrabad to the inland parts of, the Mogul empire. This points out a more fouthern inland road than was known in the middle ages, when the merchants went by the way of Bochara and Samarcand, to the northern cities of India, Candabar and Cabul. * Commuiiicatcd to me by Dr. Pallas. At WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 59 At the diilance of about (Ixty miles from its mouth, ihe Chenauh divides into two branches, which flow from the north- weft from their origin, at the foot of the Himmaleh chain. The moft fouthern is the Rauvee, the old Hydraotes. About twenty- The Rauvee. four miles from its mouth, on the fouthern fide, ftand the fort and town of Toulamba. They lay in the route of Tamerlane., Toulamba. and were plundered, and the inhabitants enflaved by that monfter of cruelty, juftly called in I?2dia " the deftroying Prince." He excelled even his brother hero Alexatjder in the flaughter of mankind. Tamerlane., in his march into India, had colled:ed above a hundred thoufand prifoners : thefe hap- pened to fliew fome fymptoms of joy, at a repulfe the tyrant had received before the citadel of Delhi \ he inftantly ordered all above fifteen years of age to be maflTacred in cold blood. The fum was a hundred thoufand. The city of Lahore is next, abovit a hundred and fifty miles Lahore. diftant from Moultan. It is the capital of the Seiks., a people which fiiarted up in the fifteenth century, under a Hindoo of the name of Natiuck, born in 1470. They are a fet of religionifts, tolerant in matters of faith like the Hindoos, but, unlike them, The Seiks. admit profelytes. They require a conformity in certain figns and ceremonies, but in other refpe6ls are pure monotheifts ; they worfhip God alone, without image or intermediation. They may be called the reformers of India. They retain alfo a calvi- nif.ical principle, and take an oath ever to oppofe a monarchical government. They eat any kind of meat excepting beef, for like the Hindoos they hold the ox in the utmoft veneration. Their general food is pork, probably becaufe it is forbidden by 4 the 40 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. t\\t Mahometans, whom they hold in abhorrence. Their army con- fifts wholly of horfe; they can raife a hundred thoullind cavalry, and make war in the mod favage mode. They kept long con- cealed or unnoticed, at length became formidable by their courage and enterprize, and extended their conquefls over Lahore, Moultan, and the weftern parts of Delhi. Lahore is a city of great antiquity, and was the refidence of the firft Mahometan concjuerors in hidia, before they were efta- blillied in the central parts. In 1043, in the reign of Mahmood, it was clofely befieged by the confederated Hindoos, who were compelled to retire on a vigorous fally made by the garrifon. It is alfo a Soubalifliip of confiderable extent. Humaioon, father of Akhar, kept his court here part of his days. Its length, fuburbs included, was at that period three leagues. It had a magnificent palace, and feveral other fine buildings built of brick. Poflibly its trade is declined fince the obflTU(51:ion of the bed of the river, by the banks of fand or gravel. Here begins the famous avenue which extended five hundred miles, even to Agra. It confifts, according to Tbevenot, Part iii. p. 61, of what he calls Achy ivt^s.. It was planted in 1619, by Jehangir : He alfo erc(5ted an obelifk at the end of every cofe, and at the end of every third cofe was funk a well for the refrefliment of travellers. Pestilence. The peflilence firft appeared in the Panjab in 1616, fpread to Lahore, and then broke out in the Duab and Dehli. It never before was known in Hindoojlan, if the memoirs of Jehangir are to be depended on ; but Mr. Gibbon, iv. 328, afiTures us, that . ' the dreadful plague which depopulated the earth in the time of Jujiinian WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. -^ Ju/linian and his fucceflbrs, extended even to the Indies. The people whom it raged among at this time, according to Proco- pius. Bell. Per/. Hb. ii. cap. 23, were the Barbari, or inhabi- tants of the neighborhood of the Emporium Barbaricujjiy in the Delta oi the Indus*. Dodor Mead, in his elegant treatife de Pefle, p. 64, relates, that hidia was vilited with a peftilence in 1346: whether it was the fame with that which, from tlie earlieft times, took its origin between the Serbonian bog, and the eaftern channel of the Nile, or whether it might not have been the dyfentery or bloody flux is uncertain. Bontiusi has dif- cufled the point, and given his opinion that it is the latter, which at times carries off numbers equal to the plague itfelf. Cer- tainly there have been many inftances of fome dreadful difeafe carrying its terrors through Hindoojian, but diftipdtion muft be made between the wide wasting pestilence defcribed by Procopius, and the local difeafe, the confequence of famine ; fuch, for example, as that which has raged in the northern C/r- cars within thefe very few years. The province of Lahore is celebrated for its fine breed of Fine Horses. horfes. The ikTo^z*'/ Emperors iifed to eftablifli ftuds in different parts, and furnifli them with their lamed ftallions of the Perfian and Arabian kind, for the farther improvement. It was the north of India which fupplied them with the befl cavalry. I wifh the reader 'to confult Abulfazel, i. 167. 239, relative to the magnificent eftablifiiment of the dom.eflic ftables, and the ceco- nomy of the military cavalry in the time of his great mafter. Abulfazel, ii. 223, fpeaking of the rivers of this country, fays, Metals. that the natives, by wafning the fands, obtain Gold, Silver, * D' Anville, Antiq. Geogr. dc 1' Imlc, p. 39, 40, i Bontius, Lib, iii. Obf. 3. Vol. I. G Copper, 4^ WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. Copper, Rozveyy Tin, Brafs, and Lead. Rowey is unknown to me; brafs is fadlitious. I am doubtful as to feme of thefe metals being found in India. Farther enquiry may afcer- tain the metallic produ6tions of India in the courfe of this volume. Rock Salt. A VAST mountain of rock fait is found in this province, equal to that of Cardonna, and, like the fait of that mountain, is cut into difhes, plates, and ftands for lamps. Ice is an article of commerce from the northern mountains, and fold at Lahore throughout the year. Canal. The famous canal of Shab Nebr begins at Ragipour, and is continued almoft parallel to the Rauvee, and ends at Lahore, a diftance of above eighty miles. The intent of this canal feems to have been to fupply Lahore with water in the dry feafon, when all the Indian rivers are from twenty to thirty feet below the level of their banks. Three other canals, for the purpofe of watering the country on the fouth and eaft of Lahore, were drawn from the fame place. Thefe, formed in a diitant age, are ftrong proofs of attention to rural oeconomy, and the benefit of the fubjedt. Chunaub, The Chunaub, for a few miles, is continued from its forks in a fingle channel. Near Zufferabad, the Jhylum, or Behut, falls into it with vaft rapidity and violence. This was the place where Alexander fo nearly loft his fleet in the paflage through this turbulent conflux. The Chunaub flows in a ftrait channel from the foot of the Himmaleh or Imaus, and there originates from two ftreams which quickly re-unite. Gujerat, and Jum- moo and Miindal, are town and forts on its banks. From the origin of the Chunaub to that of th^Rauvee, is a plain trail, 6 bounded Upper. WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 43 bounded to the eaft by mount Imaus, bounded on the weft and fouth by the chain of the Panjab hills. There is another plain fimilar, from the upper part of the Setlege as far as the Ganges^ where it flows through the province of Sirinagur. I NOW afcend, from its union with the Cbimaub, the Behuty The BEHyr. the moft celebrated of the five rivers, the Fabulofus Hydafpes^ which flows in two magnificent meanders, and ifluing from a narrow gap between exalted mountains, from its origin in the romantic Ca/Jjmere\ partly along a plain, partly at the foot of mountains cloathed with forefts of trees of >fize magnificent, many of which are periihing continually through weight of years, and others fucceeding them in the full verdure and vigor of youth. Would my pen could be infpired like that of M. Bernier, who in 1664 attended in quality of a phyfician, and philofophic friend, to a great Omrah of that time, a follower of Atirengezebe in his fplendid progrefs to Cajhmere for the recovery of his health, by a change of the burning clime of H'mdoojlan^ for the falubrious air of the former. I leave to the reader the perufal of Bernier^ the nrft traveller, I may fay, of his, or any other age. I fliall in a very abridged form take up the account from the departure of the court from Agra. His fuite was an army. He was alfo attended by his fifter, which gave fplendor unfpeakable to the train of ladies. He left Agra in the moment pronounced fortunate by the im- perial altroiogers. To this day nothing is done without their aufpices. He took the road to Lahore^ hunting or hawking on each fide as occafion offered. Among the nobler game, a lion prefented itfelf. In crolling the rivers bridges of boats were ufed for the purpofe. The heats on the march were dreadful, G 2 caufed 44 VV E S T E R N HI N D O O S T A N. caiifed by the lofty mountains of Ca/J^mere, keeping the cool air of the north from rcfrefliing the parched plains. Between the Mountain Chenaiib and the Behut is the vaft mountain Bember. It feems Bemb£r. j.j^^ ^ purgatory to be paffed before the entrance into the Pa- radise of Hindoojlan can be accomplifhed. It is fteep, black, and burned. The proceffion encamped in the channel of a large torrent, dried up, full of fand and flones burning hot. " After palling the Bember^'' fays the elegant traveller, " we pafs "from a torrid to a temperate zone: for we had no fooner '* mounted this dreadful wall of the w'orld, I mean, this high, *' fteep, black and bald mountain of Bember, but that in defcend- *' ing on the other fide, we found an air that was pretty tolerable, *' frefli, gentle, and temperate. But that wdiich furprifed me *' more in thefe mountains, was to find myfelf in a trice tranf- *' ported out of the Indies into Europe. For feeing the earth " covered with all our plants and fhrubbs, except Iffbp, Thyme, EuRcPEAM " Marjoram, and Rofemary, I imagined I was in fome of our iR£Es. ii mountains of Auiergne, in the niidll of a forefl of all our " kinds of Trees, Pines, Oaks, Elms, Plane-trees. And I was ** the more aftonifhed, becaufe in all thofe burning fields *' of Indojlariy whence I came, I had feen almoft nothing of « all that." *' Among other things relating to plants this furprized me, *^ that one and a half days journey from Bember I found a moun- *' tain that was covered v/ith them on both fides, but with this '* difference, that on the fide of the mountain that was foutherly, Indian, *' towards the I}^dies, there was a mixture of Indian and Euro- ^^ pean plants, and on that which was expofed to the North, I " obferved none but European ones ; as if the former had par- " ticipated WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 45 *' ticipated of the air and temper of Europe and the Indies, and *' the other had been meerly European.''^ I NOW enter the kingdom of CaJJrmere, and immediately re- Kingdom of fume the words of the elegant traveller. " Thoufands of caf- Cashmere. *' cades defcend from the furrounding mountains of this en- *« chanting plain, and forming rivulets meandring through all " parts render it fo fair and fruitful, that one would take this " whole kingdom for fome great Evergreen garden, intermixed <' with villages and burroughs, difcovering themfelves between " trees, and diverliiied by Meadows, Fields of Rice, Corn, and " divers other Legumes, of Hemp and Saffron ; all interlaced *' with ditches full of water, with Channels, with fmall Lakes " and Rivulets here and there. Up and down and every Vvhere " are alfo feen fome of our European plants, Flowers, and all " forts of our Trees, as Apples, Pears, Prunes, Apricots, " Cherries, Nuts, Vines; the particular Gardens are full of «* Melons, Skirrets, Beets, RadiQies, all forts of our Pot-herbs, " and of fome we have not." This Happy Valley, this Paradise of Hindoostan, of Once a LAf;s, the Indian poets, is of an oval form, about eighty miles long and forty broad, and was once fuppofed to have been entirely filled with water; which having burft its mound, left this vale in- riched to the moft diftant ages by the fertilizing mud of the rivers which fed its expanfe. This delicious fpot is furrounded by mountains of vaft height and rude afpe(5t, covered with fnow, or enchafed in glacieres, in which this enchanting jewel is firmly fet. At the foot of the exterior chain is an interior circle of hills, fertile in grafs, abundant in trees and various forts of ve- getation, and full of all kinds of cattle, as Cows, Sheep, Goats, Gazelles, 4€ WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. Gazelles, aiid Mnfks. The approach to Capmere is alfo very rugged and difFicalt. We have mentioned the mountains of Bember ; befides thofe is one on which the pioneers of Aurenge- :zebe were obliged to cut through a glaciere, or a great mafs, as Bernier calls it, of icy fnow*. The capital of this happy fpot is fometimes called Ca/Jjmere, fometimes Sirinagur^ and fometimes Nagazi, is feated in Lat. 34° 12' North, on the banks of the river, which runs with a current moft remarkably fmooth. At a little diftance from it is a fmall but beautiful lake, with a communication with the river by a navigable canal. The town was, in Bernief'S, time, three quarters of a French league long, built on both fides, and fome part extended to the lake. Villas, Mofques, and Pagodas, decorate feveral of the little hills that border the water. The houfes are built of wood, four ftories high, fome higher; the lower is for the cattle, the next for the family, the third and fourth ferve as w\irehoufes. The roofs are planted with tulips, which in the fpring produce a wonderful eifecl;. Rofes, and numberlefs other flowers ornament this happy clime. The inhabitants often vifit the lake in their boats for the pleafure of hawking, the country abounding with cranes, and variety of game. V, The river, which rifes at Wat?' Nai^, near the fouthern part of KivER Behut, ' <^ '• OR Ihlum. the furrounding mountains, flows with a north-weftern courfe by the capital, and falls into lake Oullery which is fifty-three miles in length, and lies in the northern part of the valley, not remote from the kingdom of great Tbi-bet, then pafies through the outlet at Barehmooleh^ between two fteep mountains, and * P. 103. t B^ Chercfiddin, in his Life of Timur Bee, ii. 96. from WESTERN HINDOOSTAN, from thence, after a long courfe, to its jundlion with the Chunaub. This river is large and navigable, even within the limits of Cajlnmre. Bernier, p. 84. fays, it carries boats as large as thofe on the Seine at Paris. Many fmall lakes are fpread over the furface, and fome of them contain floating illands. Among others, Bernier, p. 118. vifited one, which he calls " A great lake amidft the mountains, which had ice in <* fummer, and looked like a little icy fea, having heaps of ice " made and unmade by the winds." This reminds me of the coalition and feparation of the ice in the Spitzbergen feas. This in queftion may be like the Ouller, for I fee none of any fize in the maps, excepting that expanfe of water. Among the miraculous waters of the natives, he reckons a periodical fpring, or the ebbing and flowing well of Sandbrare, which has near to it the temple of the idol oiBrare. The reader may amufe himfelf with the account, from p. 105 to no of this favorite writer, and at p. 117 thofe of another, much of the fame nature. The author of the Ayeen Akberry dwells with rapture on the beauties of CaJ}3mere\ whence we may conclude, that it was a favorite fubjedl with his mafter Acbar, who had vifited it three times before Abulfazel wrote. Other emperors of Hindoojlan vifited it alfo, and feemed to forget the cares of government during their refidence in the happy valley. By the falubrity of the air, and the chearing beauties of the place, they collevTled new vigor to refume the cares of government. The remains of the palaces, pavilion, and gardens, exhibit proofs of their elegance and fplendor. It appears, that the periodical rains, which almoft deluge the reft oi India, are fliut out of CaJJjmere by 47 ^8 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. by the height of the mountains, fo that only light fhowers fall there ; thefe, however, are in abundance fufficient to feed the thoufands of cafcades Avhich are precipitated into the valley from every part of the ftupendous and ro- mantic bulwark that encircles it. Amidft the various feli- cities of the CaJJnnerianSy one dreadful evil they are conflantly fubjedl to, namely, earthquakes; but to guard againft their terrible €ffe<5ts, all their houfes are built of wood, of which tiiere is no want. The CaJJjmerians are efleemed a moft witty race, and much more intelligent and ingenious than the Hindoos, and as much addidted to the fciences and to poetry as the very Perjians. They have a language of their own : but their books are writ- ten in the Shanfcrit tongue, although the charafter be fome- times Ca/JjmerJan^. They are alfo very induftrious, and ex- cellent mechanics. The various articles of their workmanlliip are fent into all parts of India t. This race is famous for the finenefs of their features, and their admirable complexions. They look like Europeans^ and have nothing of the 'Tartarian flat-nofed face, and fmall eyes, like thofe of Cafcbgiier and their neighbors of Thibet. It is certainly quite right, that this PaPvAdise, the region of eternal Spring, fliould be peopled with females angelic: they are uncommonly beautiful. The courtiers of the time of Bernier were moft folicitous to obtain for their Zenanas the CaJImierian fair, in order that they might have children whiter than the natives of Hindoojlan, in order that they might pafs for the true Mj^^^Z-breed, congene- rous with their monarch. * Ayeen Akberry, ii, 155. t Bernier, p. 93. The WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 49 The religion of the Cq/Jjmerians is the fame as that of the Hindoos; poffibly the pardonable fuperftition of the inhabitants, warmed by their romantic fituation, may have multiplied the places of worfliip oi Mahadeo^ oi Befchafi, and of Brama. Here is a fedt of religionifts, free from idolatry, which wordiip the Deity alone. They are remarkably benevolent, and abftain from the other fex. They muft therefore be continued by difciples. As to the Mahometans^ they are not numerous, and thofe fplit into fecfts*. The Ca/Jjmerian^ feem to have had an idea of the deluge, for, fay they, in the early ages of the world, all CaJJjmere, except the mountains, was covered with water. One Kujhup brought the Brahjuins to inhabit the country as foon as the waters had fubfided t. Neither were they ignorant of the hiflory of Noah, for the Indians fpeak of him under the name of Sattiaviraden, who, with his wife, was by the god Vichenou, who fent to them an ark, preferved from deftru6lion in a general deluge |. The firft monarch of the country v/as Ozvgnundj who was elected, fays AbuIfazMl, 4444 years before his time §, Here are numbers of hermits in places nearly inacceffible. They are highly venerated, fome being fuppofed to have power to excite the fury of the elements. Bernier, p. 104, found an an- tient anchoutc, who had inhabited the fummit of the lofty moun- tain Pire-poijale ever fince the time of Jehattgire, who was here in 161 8. His religion was unknown. To him was attributed the power of working miracles. He caufed at his pleafure great * Ayeen, ii. 155. f SamCj 178, J79. J Sonncrat, vol. ii. 158. § Ayeen, 179. Vol. I. H thunders, 50 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. thunders, and raifed ftorms of hail, rain, fnow, and wind. He looked favage, having a large white beard uncombed, whiclv like that of our Druid, '^ ftreamed like a meteor to the troubled air." The fage forbid the mr.king the left noife, on pain ot raifing furious ftorms and tempefts. Shawls. Cojlmiere is famous for its manufa£lure oi ^flm-wls, made of the wool of the broad-tailed flieep, who are found in the king- dom of 'Thibet ; and their fleeces,, in finenefs, beauty, and length, fays Mr. Bogle, in Ph. Tranf. Ixviii. 485, exceed all others in the world. The Capmeriajis engrofs this article,^ and have fadtora in all parts of Thibet for buying up the wool, which is fent into Cajhmere, and worked into Jljawls, fuperior in elegance to thofe woven even from the fleeces of their own country. This ma- nufacTture is a confiderable fource of wealth. Bernier relates,, that in his days, Jljaivh made exprefsly for the great OmrabSy of the Tbibetian wool, ccft a hundred and fifty roupees^ whereas thofe made of the wool of the country never coft more than fifty. Akbar was a moft particular encourager of the manufa(5lure. He not only paid a great attention to thofe of this province^ but introduced them into Lahore, where, in his days, there were a thoufand manufa.280i feft WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. go kft the lady, for a confiderable time, with the faints of Sikri! The pilgrimage was made from Agra. On this occafion he eredted at the end of every cofs, or mile and a half, a ftone ; and at every tenth cofs, a Choultry, or Caravanferay for travellers *» The whole diftance from Agra to Agimere, is a hundred and thirty Britijh miles. Thefe were imperial works I Jehangir kept his court at the latter, at the time that Sir Sir Thomas Thomas Roe was fent by our Jajnes I. on his interefting em- ^°^' baffy to the great Mogul. No monarch- ever did more good to his fubjedls, by his attention to commerce, at that time in its infancy, than our defpifed prince. Sir Thomas landed at Suraty m September 161^'-, continued following the court to dififerent places till 1618, and received every mark of exterior favor, notwithftanding the Eaji India Company, with mercantile meannefs, furnilhed him with prefents ill-fuited to the gran- deur of the Bri^lfh nation. The embafly proved, on the w^hole, fruitlefs, and he returned home, after doing all that a perfon of his abilities could to ferve his country. He was fruftrated by the deceit, meannefs, and rapacity of an eaftern court *. The approach to the coafts we left, is fignified by the ap- Sea-Ssakes. pearance of fea-fnakes ; the hiftorian defcribes them of a dufky color, and thicker than the Lana ferpents. As to their fiery eyes and dragon-like heads, I fmile at his credulity : the reft is true. Sea-fnakes are very frequent in the torrid zones. M. Vofmaer gives, in one of his fajciculiy figures of two of the fea- ferpents : one is fafciated with brown and white ; the other has a brown back and white belly. The tail of each is flat, ex- • Heylin's Cofmo^r. book ill. p. 198. I 2 a£tly 69 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. Syrastrena RiGlQ, GULPH OF CUTCH. GUZERAT. adtly refembling that of an eel, fuited to a fpecies which is entirely deftined to the watery element. They are met with off moft of the coafts of India, at the diftance of twenty or thirty leagues from land ; are never feen alive on the clement of earth, but frequently caft by the furges dead on the fhore. M. D'Ob- fonville, who has given an account of them, fays, they are from three to four feet long, and reputed to be very venomous. M. Bougainville gives an inftance of a failor who was bitten by one,, in bawling a feine on the coaft of New Ireland. He was in- jftantly affedled with moi^ violent pains in all parts of his body* The blood taken from him appeared diffolved ; and the fide on "which he was bitten became livid, and greatly fwelled. At length, by the afiiftance of Venice treacle, with flower de luce water, he fell into a great perfpiration, and was qmte cured *. On the weftern fide of this gulph was the Syrajirena regio of Arrian, fertile in wheat, rice, oil of Sefamumy or Sefamum orientale, Burm. Zeyl. 87. tab. 38, and Gerard, p. 1232, Bittyrum^ or Ghee, as it is called in India \ Carpafus is a word I cannot tranflate, but it appears to have been forae vegetable that was* ufed in making the Indian webs. From C\ij)Qjigat, the fouthern extremity of the gulph of Cutchi the land trends to the fouth-vveft, as far as Diu point. At the former, commences the better known peninfula of Guzerat. The weftern parts of which are mountanous and woody, the reft extremely rich, and once famed for a very confiderable commerce in their produdtions. The Ayeen Akberry, ii. p. 76, ipeaks thus of its manu failures : " It is famous for painters,. * Bougainville's Voy. Eng. Tranf. carvers^ WESTERN HINDOOSTAN', 61 ^' carvers, and other handicraftfmen. They cut out letters in *' fhells, and inlay with them very curioufly. They alfo make " beautiful inkftands, and fmall boxes. They manufadure: " gold and filver ftufFs, velvets, 8>:c. ; and they imitate the *' fluffs of furkey, Europe, and Perfia. They alfo make very « good fwords, Jemdbers, Kewpwehs, and bows and arrows, " Here is like wife carried' on a traffic in precious ftones. Silver " is brought hither from Room and Irak.'''' Along the coaft, quite from Cape Jigat, were a number of antient towns. Simylla, on the very cape, was once a con- fide^'able mart, in the days of Ptokmy. The famous Pagoda Jumnaut flood clofe to Putfan, on the Pagoda Juh:^ weftern fide of Guzzerat. It was deflroyed in 1022, by the ^^'''^'^' bigotted Mahmood*. The Hindoos believed that the fouls of the departed went to this place, to be transferred into other bodies, human or animal, according to their deferts. The riches in gems, gold, Sec. would be incredible, did we not know the power of fuperllition in thofe remote and unen- lightened times. On the Bceonzis injula flands D/V^, which long flourifiied un- Dir;. der its native owners. The judicious Jllbuquerque had cafl his eye on this ifland as a fit poll to enfure fafety and permanency to the Portugueje empire in India. He endeavoured to obtain leave from the monarch of Cambaya to eredl a fort, but the governor, as wife as himfelf, obltrudted the defign. In 1535, Nugno CAcugna fucceeded, and in forty-nine days made it io flrong, as to baffle the attempts of the prince, who, re- penting of his conceflion, endeavoured to wrefl it from the * Ferifhta, i. p. 7 1 to 86. Portuguefey ^2. WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. P-ortuguefe, and periflied in the fiege. His fucceflbr called in the "Turks, and, with an army of twenty thoufand men, renewed the fiege. The gallant governor, MenefeSy repelled all their affaults, and obliged them to retire with great lofs. In 1546 it underwent a third fiege, and with the fame ill fuccefs. After this? every attention was paid to a place of fuch importance. Jts fortifications were efteemed the fineft in India, to which it was deemed the key; they were feated on a rock, and had a vaft fofs cut through the live ftone. It became a place of im- menfe trade, and was the harbour in which the fleets were laid lip during winter. The fpkndor of the buildings, and the lux- ury of the inhabitants, were unfpeakable. Surat was deftroyed to favor its commerce, but when that city was reftored, the former declined fall:, fo that at prefent it has not only quite loft its former confequence, but, according to Nicholfon, is in a manner a heap of ruins. The governor, Don John Mafcarenbas, was, after a moft gallant defence, reduced to great diftrefs. He was relieved by Don John de ^^ great Don John de Caflro., governor of the Indies, then at Castro. Goa, who firft fent his fon Ferdinand, with fuch force he could fpare, to ftrengthen the garrifon : After which, collecting all the troops he could in Afia, followed his fon, landed his army, and joined the befieged. He refolved to attack the enemy, numerous as they were. He fallied forth, and gained a complete vi<5lory . The manner in which the fortrefs of Diu was reftored, is fingular. Cajiro was pofleffed of little more than his fword and his helmet. He tried every method to raife money, but in vain. At length he offered to depofit, as pledges for the fum, the bones of his fon Ferdinand, who had fell during the fiege. His WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 63,' His army, who idolized the gallant youth, prevaled on liim to reftore them to the grave. He then fent to the inhabitants of Goa one of his muftachos as fecurity for the fum required. They knew his rigid honor, and advanced the money. He died at Goa^ in 1548, aged forty-eight. He had the confolation of dying in the arms of the apoil:le of the Indies.^ Xavier. His body was interred in that city ; but his bones were removed to the convent at Bemjica, near Lijbon, beneath a monument^ which records the acf^ions of his glorious life*. The great bay of Cambay^ the Barygazenus finus of the an- Bay of Cam^ tients, now opens between Cape Dm and Cape St. 'John, on the ^^^' oppofite fliore, diftant a hundred and eighty miles ; it runs far inland towards the north, and ends with the river Af/Z'/>, the an- tient Mais, Ca?nbay, once the capital of a kingdom of the fame Camray, name, ftands on the weftern lide, near the bottom, in N. Lat.- 22° 20'. It is a vaft city, walle<# round with brick, and may be called the mother of Surat, which it fupports by its various' rich articles of comm.erce, ftiU confiderable, notwithftand" ing the retreat of the fea near a mile and a half. Cmnbay is a great manufacturing country, and furniflies the coarfe un- bleached cloths, much in ufe in Perjia, Arabia, Egypt, and AbeJJynia-, alfo blue pieces for the kime countries, and for the Engli/Jo and Dutch trade in Guinea ; blue and white checks for mantles in Arabia and Turky, fome coarfe, others enriched with gold; white pieces woven at Barochia, called 5^^^J" ; muflins with a gold itripe at each end, frr turbans; gauzes; mixed Huffs of filk and cotton ; fliawls made of the Cacbemirian wool ; befides immenfe bales of raw cotton, fent annu. '!v to Sirraty Bengal, China, Perjia^ and Arabia, for their fe\'eral mnnufac- * Murphy's Travels inFvrtugal, p. 263, 273. tories* 64 WES T E R N H I N D O O S T A N. tories. Add to thefe, rich embroideries of various kinds, and a great trade in various works in agate and cornelians, found in the rivers, whicli are turned into bowls, handles for knives, fabres, and various otli.er things. Nagra* Near Cambay are the vefliges of another antient city called Nagra, perhaps the Comanes of Ptolemy. Almeyda, when he vifited the coaft of Cambay, obferved a very antient town, with a large mofque, and near it a fpatious place, covered with, tumuli*. The moll learned of the natives informed him, that they un- • derftood by their records that Hercules, in his expedition to India, had here two great engagements with an Inuuin prince, and was defeated, and that the tumuli were the graves of the conquered. I mention this part only to fliew how exa<5l the Indians have been to preferve their hiftory, founded, as part may have been, upon fable. Arrian, i. Exped. Alex. p. 306. fufpe(Sts that he v/as never in l§idia, but that the inhabitants, hearing of his fame, adopted him among the gods of their country t. Great numbers of the inhabitants of the city of Cambay are Hindoos, who retain all their cuftoms, and all their fuperftition, in the fulleft primoeval manner. One tenor of their religion is to pay the utmoft attention to the brute creation ; this they obferve with a charity that would be incredible, was it not fo well attefted by travellers. The account given by Pietro de la Valle, who vifited this city in 1623, cannot but be acceptable to readers of curiofity. Hospital for. *' The fame day of our arrival," fays he, p. 35, " after we Birds. << -^^^ dined, and refted a while, w^e caufed ourfelves to be con- * Oforio. lib. vi. p. 345. Gibb's Tranf. f Arrian, Rerum. Indie, i. p. 523. 6 *' du^ed WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 6^ " duifled to fee a famous hofpital of birds, of all forts, which, *' for being fick, lame, deprived of their mates, or otherwife " needing fooil, and cure, are kept and tended there with dili- " gence ; as alfothe men who take care of them are maintained " by the public alms ; the hidlan Gentiles (who, with Pytbago- *' ras, and the antient Egyptians, the firft authors of this opi- " rion, according to Herodotus, believe the tranfmigration of *' fouls, not only from man to nian, but alfo from man to brute *' beail) conceiving it no lefs a work of charity to do good to " beaft-, than to men. The houfe of this hofpital is fmall, a " little rooni fufficing for many birds : Yet I faw it ftdl of birds *' of all forts which need tendance, as cocks, hens, pigeons, " peacocks, ducks, and fmall birds, which during their being ** lame or fick, or matelefs, are kept here ; but, being recovered " and in good plight if they be wild, they are let go at liberty ; *' if domeftic, they are given to fome pious perfon, who keeps " them in his houfe. The moil curious thing I faw in this " place, was certain little mice, who, being found orphans " without fire or dam to tend them, were put into this hofpi- " tal, and a venerable old man with a white beard, keeping " them in a box amongft cotton, very diligently tended them, " with his fpecflacles on his nofe, giving them milk to eat with " a bird's feather, becaufe they were lb little that as yet they *' could eat nothing elfe ; an;], as he told us, he intended when " they were grown up tj let them go free whither they " pleafed. " The next morning," (p. 36) adds he, <' we faw another For Goats, 5cc. " hofpital of goats, kids, flieep, and wethers, either lick or lame; Vol. I. K i- and 66 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. " and there were alfo fome cocks, peacocks, and other animals " needing the fame help, and kept altogether quietly enough, ** in a great court : nor wanted there men and women, lodged *' in little rooms of the fame hofpital, who had care of them. *' In another place, far from hence, we faw another hofpital of " cows and calves, fome whereof had broken legs, others, more *' infirm, very old or lean, and therefore were kept here to be " cured. Among the beads there was alfo a Mahometan thief, " who, having been taken in theft, had both his hands cut off; *' but the companionate Gentiles, that he might not perifli " miferably, now he was no longer able to get his living, took ** him into this place, and kept him among the poor beal\s, not ** fuffering him to want any thing. Moreover, without one of " the gates of the city, we faw another great troop of cows, " calves, and goats, which being cured and brought into better *' plight^ or gathered together from being difperfed, and with- " out mailers, or being redeemed with money from the Mabome- " ta?is^ who would have killed them to eat, (namely, the goats " and other animals, but not the cows and calves) were fent " into the field to feed by neat-herds, purpofely maintained *' at the public charge ; and thus they are kept, till, being re- " duced to perfect health, 'tis found fitting, to give them to ** fome citizens or others, who may charitably keep them. I *' excepted cows and calves from the animals redeemed from. *' flaughter ; becaufe in Cambaia^ cows, calves, and oxen are " not killed by any ; and there is a great prohibition againft it^ *' by the inftance of the Gentiles, who upon this account pay " a great fum of money to the prince ; and iliould any, either S " MabQjnetan WESTERN H I r^ D O O S T A N, 67 " Mahometan or other, be found to kill them, he would be " puniilied feverely, even with death." The country around is remarkably flat, and in pirts over- Vast Tijj£i» flowed with the moft rapid and fudden tides in the world. They rife four or five fathoms, and fweep before them every thing in their way. Some miles of this tradt muft be pafl'ed in the way from Swat. Fietro de la Falle gives, at p. 35, a curious account of the dangers attending the journey. The kingdom of Camhay was firft fubdued by Mahmomet I. in 1024, and after feveral revolutions, by the great Akbar in 1572. In later days it fell under the power of the AlahrattaSy and in 1780 brought on the Mahratta war, which ended much to our glory, and much to our lofs. This gave rife to the cele- brated march of the Bengal brigade, under Colonel Goddard, Goddard's I\'X ARCH from Calpy^ on the 'Jumna river, in Lat. 26° 7' N. Long. 80° 4' E. to AmedabacL, a march of about fifteen hundred miles : we were vidlorious ; but in the end, finking under the expence, were obliged to give up moft of our vafl conquefls. Amedabad is feated in 22° 58' 30" N. Lat. It is the befl for- Amedabad. tified city in Wndoojlan. It flands on the banks of a fmall na- vigable river, and is remarkable for its beauty. Its port is CatJi- bav, fifty miles to the fouth. Tljevenot^ p. 12, part iii. fpeaks highly of this city, and its magnificent mofque, its fplendid palace, and fine Meidan ; and alfo its vaft commerce in fattins, velvets, and tapeflries, with gold, fdk, and woollen grounds, and in the feveral productions of almoft every part of India. It was founded, fays the Ayeen, ii. 92, 96, by 'Tatar Ahmed., one of the fourteen Mahometan princes, fucceffors to Sultan Mahomet. The K 2 mofque 68 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. mofque and tomb of the founder are entirely built of marble and flone. The lafl: is of exqiiifite workmanfhip, and, notwithftand- ing it has flood above four hundred years, remains uninjured by the length of time. Afnedabad\W2.s founded out of the ruins of the Hindoo cities. The walls flill remain, and are lix miles in cir- cumference, in which were twelve gates. Such was its ftate in the days of Aureiigzebe. At prefent, not a quarter within the walls are inhabited, and nothing but the veftiges of the fuburbs, which once extended three miles round the outfide of the walls, are to be feen. The Mahrattas made aconqueft of it. Goddard Taken by attacked and took it by ftorm on February 15, 1780, after a moft Stoem. vigorous reliftance. It was garrifoned chiefly by Arabs and Sindiajts, the braveft of troops. Numbers periflied in the rage of the ftorm. No a6t of humanity was omitted by the general to the furvivers. The gratitude of the vanquiflied was equalled to the generofity of the vid:or*. Heroes mufi not entirely engrofs my pen : as a naturalifl:, I muft defcend to fpeak of inferior fubjedls, of the little fpecies of finch, which takes its name from Amedabad^ fee Latham iii. Amedaead Finch. 311. Ed%v. tab. 335. It is the left of the genus, remarkable for its beauty, and for a fweet but fhort note. They are often im- ported into Europe. The elegantfquirrel, called the Fair (Hift. Quad. ii. N° 343.) is alfo an inhabitant of the woods of Guzzerat. The flying Maucauco (Hift. Quad. i. N° i£6.) is co-tenant of the fame forefts. It wholly inhabits the trees. In dcfcend- * Wars in Afia, i. 90. 102. ing WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 69 ing it fpreads its membranes, and balances itfeif till it reaches the place it aims at; but in afcending, ufes a leaping pace. Its food is the fruit of the country. This is the animal which Abulfazul calls a cat which will fly to a fmall dillance *. This Sircar^ fays the Jyeen, ii. 76, is remarkable for the num- ber and fize of the mango trees, and the fize of the fruit. There is an avenue of thefe trees from Putt an to Berodeb^ a hundred cofes, or a hundred and ninety BritiJJj miles in length. The country is almoft a foreft in feveral dirtridts, which gives flielter to multitudes of leopards. From the river Mihie the coaft waves to the fbuth. After paffing the fmall found oi Ajnood, fucceeds that oiBarocbia, at Barochia. the the end of which ftands a city of the fame name, derived from ^^"^^^^"^ ^^' Barygaza, famed, in old times, as far the greateft port and erU'- porium in all India. In 1616 the Englijh., by the intereft of Sir Thomas Roe, had permiflion to eftablifli in this city a factory, which continues there till this day. By the year 1683 it had flourilhed fo greatly, that the inveflment for England was not lefs than 55,000 pieces of baftaes, &c. of different forts, manu- factured in the neighborhood, and in quantity and iinenefd fuperior even to Bengal itfeif t. Here was born Zarjitonachagas^ who was in the train of the Zarmonaoka* embafllidors fent by a king of the title of Porus to Augujlus, ^^^' when he was at Antioch. Strabo, lib. xv. y>. 104S, informs us that this perfon, who had all his life experienced the greateit * Aycen Akberry, iii. 90. t Purchas, i. 547, Orme's Fragsiients, Notes, cxxxi. ii. felicity,. 70 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. felicity, determined to quit the ftage before a change fliould happen to embitter his laft days. At Athens, according to the cuftom of his country, he devoted himfelf to the funeral pile, and, with a fmiling countenance, faw the flam.es furround him. On his tomb was infcribed — " ZAPMANOXHrAS INAOS ADO BAPrOSHS KATA TA DATPIA INAflN EOH EATTON AnoeANA- TISA£ KEITAI. Here lies Zarmonochagas an Indian from. Bargosa, who, according to the culiom of the country of the Indians, put an end to his exiftence." Coins. NUMBERS of antient drach'tiut have been found here, infcribed with Greek letters, and the names of Apollodotes, and of Menan- devy li'mgof Ba^n'a*f who alfo reigned in this part of India, and had, among other conquefts, added PaUa/ena to his form^er dominions. He was fo beloved by his fubjedts, that on his death there was a violent conteft among feveral cities, which of them fliould have the honor of pofieffing his body. The matter was compromifed by burning it, and dividing the allies among the rival parties. Tagara. The internal commerce of Barygaza in early times was as great as its naval. It carried on a vaft trade with a great city, called 'Tagara, the prefent Dowlafabad, or D/'ogbir, about ten days journey, or a hundred miles to the fouth fouth-eafl of the for- mer t. To this city was brought, from all parts of the Deccan, every object of commerce, and from thence in carts conveyed ( to Bajygaza, over fteep and lofty mountains, meaning the eaftern or Balagaut chain. About two thoufand years ago it was the metropolis of a vaft diftridl, called Arlaca, which * MenanJer was cotemporary with Antiochus the great. \ Arrian. Mar. Erythr. ii. 171. compre- WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 71 comprehended the modern Aurangabad, quite to the Tea at Bombay, and the fliores of Concan. Nor was this kingdom or Rajajjyip totally extinguiflied till the time of Sbab Jehan^ who terminated his reign in 1658*, Pluthana was another coeval town of commerce, which had confiderable intercourfe with Barygaza : The roads to it were over the fame mountains, but the dill:ance greater, being a journey of twenty days, or two hundred and feventeen miles. This city was on the lite of the prefent Pultanab^ a little to the north of the river Godavery, in Long. 76* %' weft, and Lat. 19° 5'. Barvgaza was alfo a port to Nebrzvaleby a place I have defcribed at p. 55. I fliall here add nothing more than that the inter- vening was a carriage road, and quite level. Th'E city of Bi-irocbia ftands on a rifing ground, furrounded with walls ; it is waflied by the Nerbudda, the antient A^^- madus. In the wars waged by Aurengzebe, in 1660, againft his brothers, it fided with the latter. After a flout refiftance, he took the place, put part of the citizens to the fword, and rafed part of the walls, which he afterwards reftored. It is now inhabited by weavers, and other manufacturers of cotton ; the neighborhood producing the heft in the world. Nature feems Fine Cottoks. to have furniflied the hot climates with the cotton plant, in pre- ference to flax or hemp ; the manufacture of the former being far preferable in the torrid zone to linen. Cotton quickly ab- forbs the perfpiration. Linen is notorious for remaining long; wet, uncomfortable, and dangerous. * Sec Lieut. Wilford's curious difquifuion on Tagara. Afiatic Refearche?,. i. p. 365 «o 375' The <^l WESTERN HI N D O O S T A N. The Mahrattas were mafters of this city till 'July 1773, ^^'hea it was taken by our Bombay army, commanded by that mofl able and popular officer Colonel V/edderbiirne^ who fell before the walls by a fliot from a murdering Ipecies of mufquet, called z. gicinal\ it is heavier and longer than the common, and has a larger bore, and placed on a reft for the fake of a furcr aim -. The natives can hit an orange with it at a hundred and fifty yards diftance. The place was immediately after taken by itorm, and the moft horrible exceffes committed by the troops in revenge of the death of their commander. Barocbia was added to the BritiJJo empire by the treaty of Boonah^ but in 17S2 was ceded to Madajee Sindia, a Mahratta chieftain t, in reward for his affifting us to make an advantageous peace, of which we were very undeferving. The NERBfD- The Nerbudda flows in Lat. 23° 10', Long. 82° 10', out of the fame lake with the Saone, and after running full ^^ytw hundred miles with a courfe nearly due weft, falls into the fea near Ba- roch'ia. The Saone flows out of the eaftern end of the lake, and taking an eaftern courfe, falls into the Ganges, in Lat. 25° 40', and fo forms a complete iiland of the fouthern part of Hin- doofran. It is alfo the fouthern boundary of the diviiion called Hlndoojlan Proper, as it is the northern of the Deccan. That v.ord fignifies the fouth, and is corrupted from the antient Hindoo word DachanoSy which has the fame interpretation. .Arrian, in his Mar. Erytbr. ii. 171, mentions a great tract, ftretching from Barygaza fouthward, called Dacbinabades. * Wars in A fin, i. 504. f To be farther mentioned. Farther PA, WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 73 Farther on is the port of Swalley^ where the European Port of S\^al- fliips, bound for Surat, frequently anchor, being the port of that city, three leagues to the north of that river. There the articles of commerce are landed, and the exports fliipped ; but the entrance, without a pilot, is very hazardous, by reafon of the fhoals. Mr. Herbert^ afterwards Sir Thomas, the accom- pliflied attendant on Charles I. the lall two years preceding his murder, found here, in November 1616, fix EngliJJj fliips ; three of a thoufand tons each, the other three of feven hun- dred each ; a proof of the vaft extent of our trade, fo early after the commencement of our commerce. I MUST not quit this place without dropping a tear over the ^^ ^ ^ lift r^^^ CORYATE. grave of poor Tom Coryate, the moft fingular traveller Britani, or perhaps any other country, ever fent forth. He lies on the banks of the Ihore, near Szvalley, where he finidied his long peregrinations i:i December 1617, during the time that the pious mmifter, the reverend Edward Terrie, chaplain to Sir Thomas Roe, was there. Tom was born in 1577, at Odcomb, in Somerfefjhire. After publifliing, in 161 1, his moft laughable travels, ftyled Coryate's Crudities, prefaced by above forty copies of verfes, by the waggiili wits of the time (amongft which is one in the antient Britl/h language) he fet out on his greater travels. In his Eiiropean travels, he tells us that he walked nineteen hundred and feventy-five miles in one pair of flioes, and had occafion to mend them only once. On his return to Odcombe, he hung them up in the church, as a donar'mm for their bring- ing him fafely home to his natal foil. Vol. I. L Encouraged 74 His Death. WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. Encouraged by Sir Paul Pindar^ whom he met with at Conjlantinople in 1612, he failed for t\\Q Levant, vifited Greece^ T'roy, Smyrna^ and Pgypt ; made his pilgrimage to Jerufalein ; had his arm tattowed with the mark of the crofs ; £\w the Dead fea ; from thence got to Alexandrette, from thence to Aleppo ; arrived at Nineveh and Babylon ; reached Ifpahan. From thence he proceeded to Candahar, Labor, and Agra ; there he enter- tamed the great Mogul with an cldquent oration, in the Perfian language, fu much to the content of that monarch, that he- beftowed on him a hundred roupees. Having a wonderful faci- lity in languages, he had a trial of fkill v.'ith our embaffador's- laundrefs, the greatell fcold in all Agra. I'ujii attacked her in her own tongue, the Hindoo, at fun-rife, and filenced her by eight o'clock in the morning. He now haflened to the final. conclufion of all his travels : he defcended to Surat, where he was feized with a flux, that was increafed by a treat of fack, given him by fome Englijlj merchants. He was a very tem- perate man, but could not relift a favorite liquor, io unex- pecfledly falling in his way. More of him may be {qqw in Mr.. Terrfs Voyage, printed in 1665, a book of much entertain- ment. But here poor Tom fell, in 1617, and here he lies be- neath an Indian foil, a fecond Archytas. Quanquam feftinas, non eft mora longa ; llcebit Injefto ter pulvere curras. RoadofSurat. The road of Surat is before the mouth of the river Tapfee; there fhips anchor two leagues from fliore, in ten fathoms^ and on a muddy bottom. The tide rifes about fix yards. The § mouth WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. >5 mouth and channels of the river are intricate and dangerous ; the goods which are brought are conveyed to Surat in hoys, yatchs, and country boats. Tliofe from Swalley are carried by land, and wafted over oppofite to the city. The Taptee arifes far remote, near Maltoy, in Lat. 21° 45', in The Taptee. the RajaJJjip of Goondivaneb. The city of Surat ftands in N. Lat. 21° 11'. The Abbe Surat. Rayno.l fpeaks of it as a paltry fifliing village, in the thirteenth century. I fufpect it to have been of far earlier origin, and am confirmed in my opinion by the Ayeen Akberry, ii. 79, which informs us, that in antient times it had been a large city. Raneer, on the oppofite fide, is a port dependent on Surat. The Fortuguefe polTeffed Surat foon after their arrival in India. The firft ioxx. was built in 1524, but its increafe and great prof- perity arofe from the fcttlements made there in 1603, by the EjigliJJj and Dutch. The Fortuguefe gave them every oppofition pofiible. They once made a vigorous attack on the Engl[flji but were defeated with prodigious llaughter on their part, and a very trifling lofs on that of our countrymen. It became the firft trading city in India, and, in confequence of wealth, the firft in luxury. In the latter end of the laft century, the in- habitants were computed at two hundred thoufand. Besides the greatnefs of its commerce, it was celebrated for "being the place at which the Mahometan fubjeds of the Mogul embarked, on their pilgrimage to Mecca, for vvhich reafon, in the archives of the empire, Surat is called the Port of Mecca *. PortofMesca. A lhip,one of the two which annually fail from Surat to Arabia, * Orme's Fragments, p. i6, L 2 filled 7« WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. filled with devotees of the higheft rank, and feme of the firft perfons of the court of Aurengzebe^ was taken in its pafTage, in the latter end of the lall century, by the infamous pirate Avery. Among the pafTengers was a lady faid to have been the daughter of the emperor. Jt proved a prize invaluable, in great funis of money, vefTels of gold and filver, jewels, and rich habits ; for ufually they are as much laden with merchandize upon account of the Moguls as upon thai of the pilgrims ; and their returns are fo rich, that they make a part of the European trade for the merchandize of Arabia Felix. Avery, after plun- dering the fliip of its wealth, difmiffed it and all its pafTengers. This piracy for a time embroiled iis with \.\\q Mogul', but th€ affair being explained as the a<5l of a robber, he difmiffed his anger againft the Englijh nation. In the beginning of the laft century only one fliip, great and clumfy, was employed on this religious-commercial bufinefs. It carried fourteen or fifteen hundred tons, and the richnels of its lading, both in going out and in returning, was immenfe *. This is the moft antient fadlory we have in Hindoojiaji, and all our veffels made for Swalley, or the road of Sural, for at one or other of thofe places all our countrymen landed, who intended to penetrate into the interior of the country. We find the illuftrious names of Roe, Herbert, and Sbirly, among the firft of our cauntrymen who. landed on thefe weftern Ihores. Sir 'Thomas Roe, foon after his arrival, took his journey to the court of Jehangir, then at Azimere, as we have related at p. 59. Some Very remarkable places occur in his route, in * Terry's Voy. p. 137, wliich WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 77 which we 111 all attend him, till we rejoin him again at Cbeitor. After leaving Surat he vifited Burbanpcmr, a great city, in Burhanpour. Lat. 11" 30 , Long. 76° 19' E. about two hundred and thirty- miles eaft of Suraty on the Tapieey the capital of Candei/Jj, in the Soubahjhip of Mahvahy flili a large and fiourifliing city. He took a northern courfe, pafled a high range of hills, and croffing the Nerbiidda reached Mundu, o^r Mimdoo^ feated on the Sepra, Mundu, a river rinng due north, near to Cbeitor. This city was once the capital of Malwab ; it is feated on a plain on the top of a lofty and fteep mountain. It has many remains of antient magni- ficence ; among others, the tombs of the Kiiijyan Sultans, Here alfo is the ton^b ^i the parricidal tyrant, MqJJireddee?i. He is laid to have ])•; Ji)lcd a city with women, and that all his officers were of tnat ll x *. About two miles from thence the Moguls had a palace, which Sir 'Tbomas Roe vifited, when Jebanglr was there.. Ougein is a large city, feated on the banks of the fame river, Ougei», fome miles above. Jbulfazul {-^j?, it fometimes flows with milk. It probably flows through a flratum of white clay, wliich in floods might tinge its waters with white, like " The chalky fVey that rolls a milky wave-f-."' It is fuppofed to have been the Ozene of Arrian\ Periplas Marls Erythrcei, the capital of a Civitas Regia. It is men- tioned by Arria7z as a place of vaft commerce, not only in the prodiKftions of its own country, but of thofe of other parts; all which were tranfported to Barjgaza, that vail empor/um, near the mouth of the Namafus. Among other articles were • Memoirs of Jebangir, p. 114. f Pope's Windfor Foreft. Onyxes^ 78 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. Onyxes^ Murrbini, or the ftone from which the Fafa Myrrbina, •or drinking cups, which the Rowans let fo great a value on, that 'T. Petronius had one which coft him ;iC- 35415 o^ our money, were made "•''^ Thefe cups received their value from their rich fculpture. Add to thefe mullins, Molocbina, cottons dyed of the color of mallow flowers, and a great quan- tity of common Othonium-) or courfe Dungarees. Some articles, v/hich we cannot interpret, were brought through the neigh- boring Scythia, or the Indo-Scythia, bordering on the Indus. I fliall, in another place, give at one view the various articles mutually exchanged by the merchants of India and of Europe in antient times. I fhall here only fele6t a few Angular gifts, fent as prefents to the monarch of Ozene, fuch as mufical inftru- ments, filver veffels, and beautiful virgins for his majefty's Ze- nana. Even in ihofe early times the merchants had their courfe of exchange, and made great profit by the change of the golden and filver denarii, for the money of the country t. Madagee Sin- The kingdoms of Ougein, Agemir, part of the Malivab, and ^^^' . Candeijb, is now in pofTeflion of the enterprizing M^bratta, Ma- dagee Sindia, who mxakes the capital of the firfl his refidence. He was originally a Jagbiredar of the Poonab Mabrattas : a yagbire means a grant of land from a fovereign to a fubjed:, re- vokable at pleafure, bvit generally, or almoft always, for a life rent. Sindia flung off his dependency, and makes quick advances to coniiderable fovereignty. LioM!. We have the evidence oijebangir, and the reverend Edward 'terry, that- in their days the province of Makvab abounded with lions. Jehang)r records, that he had killed feveral ; and • Plin- lib. XXX, c. 2. \ Airian, Periplus, 1,70. Mr. WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 79 Mr. Terry mentions his having been frequently terrified by them, in his travels throvigh the vaft woods and wilderneffes of the country* ; whether they exift at prefent is doubtful, being animals at left very rare at this time. But to return. SuRAT is a city of toleration, all fects are indulged in the free exercife of their religion. Fanaticifm,^ in all its extrava- gance, reigns here, amidft the various cafts of Hindoos ; and here are prailifcd all the dreadful aufterities, and ftrange atti- tvides of the felf-tor,"neiitors we have fo often read of. Here the Ferfecs exert their zealous worfliip to the pure element of The Persees. fire, according to the doctrine of their great founder. Near the city they have their rep'ofitories for the dead. They admit not of interment ; they place the corpfes on a platform, on the fummit of a circular building, expofed to birds of prey. The friends watch the bodies, and wait with eagernefs till one of the eyes is plucked out. If the right is plucked out, they go away, fecure of the happinefs of the departed fpirit ; if the left, they dejilore its eternal mifery. I SHALL not attempt to enumerate the articles of commerce of Surat. In its moil profperous ftate it was the emporium of all the produce of India and Arabia, and of all the produce of Europe and Africa^ wanted by the luxurious Afiatics, A Maho- Great Mer- metan merchant, living in 1690, had at once twenty large lliips, from 300 to 800 tons ; none freighted at lefs expence than ten thoufand pounds, many as high as twenty-five thoufimd. The extent of the Indian or country trade is evident here, by the numerous fleets which frequently turn in. Niebubr, who was at Surat in 1764, fpeaks in high terms of its flourifliing ftate, * Memoirs of Jehanglr, p. 43..— Terry's Voy. p. 194, 196. which TORY. 8a WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. -^,'hicTi probably may have revived equal to that of its beft days*. English Fac- We have llill a confiderable factory here; and to this great emporium of trade, on the weftern fide of India, are fent, by different routes, the rich manufacflures oiCachemere, particularly Ihawls. Unwrought cotton is the principal article of exporta- tion ; befides this, numberlefs kinds of manufactured cotton, made in the neighborhood, and the various manufactures of Cambay, Barochia, Brodera, Sec. centre in Siirat, and are in- cluded in its exports. I know of no medicinal articles, either the produce of, or exported from Siirat. The furrounding country abounds Mith wheat, equal in goodnefs with that of Europe^. This valuable grain feldom grows farther South than this latitude, and I think never exceeds tiiat of 10". Our factory there confifts of a Chief, (who is always one of the council of Bombay) two or three gentlemen, as counfellors to him, and four or five inferior fervants of the company, as clerks ; in all, per- haps, eight or ten Europeans. Our trade to and from Surat is very extenfive, and our political influence is very confiderable, fince we got the government of the Caftle by a grant from the Mogul', we likewife receive, jointly with the Mabrattas, and the Nabab, or governor, the amount of all the import and export duties ; and, for the maintenance of two or three com- panies of fepoys, to garriibn the caftle, we have a Jagbire in lands which yields a handfome revenue. The country in the neighborhood of Surat, is partly fubjecSl to the Mabrattas, and partly to fome fmall tribes. The Nabab's authority extends little beyond the city. ' Tom. ii. 41 to 62, t Hamilton i. p. i6i. All WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 8 All our factories from Tatla to Anjengo, and alfo thofe in the gulph of Perfia (if we have any that remain), and that at BaJJbra, are fubordinate to the prefidentfliip oi Bombay. The fliips are built of the Teek-"joood, the T'ektona grandh of TeekWood. L,mnceiiseft, both in point of workmanfliip and materials, of any ' that are confi:ru6led in I?7dia : and although fourth rates only ^ are mentioned in the letter, there is no doubt but that third ' rates may be conftruited, as there is a choice of timber. The ^ Spaniards build capital fhips in their foreign fettlements. ' The Eaji India Company have a teek fhip on her fourth voyage at prefent, which fliip has wintered in England^ ' therefore any objecSlion founded on the effe6ts of frolt on the ' teek timber, is done away. *' Frequent have been the opportunities I have had of ob- ' ferving how very rapid the decay of fliips built of European * timber is in the Eajl Indies ; and, on the contrary, how du- * rable the fhips are, that are built of the wood of that country ; * namely, the teek, which may not improperly be ftyled In- ' diajt oak. The number of fliips of war that were ruined in * thofe feas during the late war (1757 to 1762) may be admitted « as a proof of the former remark ; and the great age of the ' fliips built in India may ferve to prove the latter. What I mean * to infer from this, for your Lordfliip's ufe is, that fliips of war ' under third rates may be conilruded in India^ and Vv'ith mo- ' derate repairs lafl for ages ; whereas a fliip of European con- ' ftru6lion can remain there but a very few years; to which dif- * advantage may be added, that of lofing, in the mean time, the ** fervices of the fiiips that are fent to relieve the worn out ones." The Britannia, of feven hundred tons, which was built of teek., made feveral voyages to Europe. The 'feek is an evergreen, and eileemed a fiicred tree. The Gentoos repair or build their pagodas with this timber only, when other materials are not ufed. A prince of Cali- colan ....-Zocri' , f^r '-^ifu/d/ .J/'rr WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. S3 colan built one entirely out of a fingle tree. A purple color is obtained from the tender leaves, ufeful in dying filk and cotton, which are alfo medicinal. A fyrup extracted from them, mixed with fugar, cures the Apbtbee : the flowers, mixed with honeyj are prefcribed in dropfies. The Poon tree, Uvaria altijfima of Koenig, ferves for the Poo^^, or Maj-t mafts ; its chief excellence is its ftraightnefs, and its lightnefs ; ^'^^^' it is tolerably ftrong, but unlcfs great care is taken to keep the ends dry, it is apt to rot. It grows to the height of fixty feet? My good old friend DoiStor Patrick RuJJel'^ fliewed me a branch of this fpecies, and told me it was called in India the Maji tree. M. Sonjicrat, ii. p. 233, tab. 131, gives a figure of ir, under the name of VArbre de Mature. Surat for a long time was open to every attack ; nor was the fortification attended to till after it was taken and plun- dered, in 1664, by the famous Se'vatjee. The EngUpj and Biitcb Sevatjeb, flood on the defenfive, and were left nnmolefted. The Cover- ^°^'^'°^^ °^* nor deferted the place, and retired into the caftle; bcfides that, it had no other protedion than a m.ud wall. After the retreat of the free-booters, the citizens requefled of Aurengzebe^ that he would fecure them with a wall ; accordingly one was built, taking in a fpace of four miles in circuit. It was of brick, eight yards high, with round baftion?, and on each were five or fix cannons. Europeans are furprifed to hear of the extent of an Indian city, but they muft be told that, befides their towns being very populous, every houfe confifts but of one floor, which makes « See a full account of this great Botanift, in the Prefr.ce to the Plants of Corojnantlel, hy D.r. Patrick. Rufitl. M 2 them 84 WESTERN IIINDOOSTAN. The Mahra't- TAS, Their Govern- WENT, them occupy more ground ; befides that, every houfe is at- tended with a great garden, a requilite, as moft of the food of the Indians is vegetable. Sevatjee was founder of the Mahratta kingdom we fo often hear mentioned. The name is derived from Mahrat, the pro- vince in which he firft eflabliflied his independency. This hero derived his lineage from \\\t Rajahs of Cbietore, who pretend that their defcent is from Poms. He took advantage of the troubles- which arofe in his time in the kingdom of Vifiapour^ and again,, during the wars between Aurengzebe and his brothers. He ex- tended his conquefts from Baglana, nezr Surat, to the Portu- gueje diftrisfts near Goa, a little beyond the foot of the Ghauts.. His capital was Poo?iabj an open town, but he kept his archives at Poorundar^ a place of vaft ftrength, a fortrefs on the fummit of a mountain ; he died in 1680. His fuccelTors extended their conquefts, or rather their inroads, all over H'mdoojlan ; and even compelled the great Mogul to pay them a cbouty or tribute, to, fave his fubjedts from future calamities. From time to time they extended their dominions to a vaft magnitude, and divided them into two empires, that of Poonab^.. or the weftern, and Berar, or the eaftern. The firft is divided again among a number of chieftains, who pay juft as much obedience as they like to ^Paijhwab, or head, whom Mr. Rennet- juftly compares to the emperor of Germany^ and the chieftains to the princes of that great body ; they often quarrel with him, and often among themfelves, and never are united, but by the apprehenfion of a common danger. Their empires extend from Guzerat to near the banks of the Ganges., and foutherly to the § northern WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 85 northern borders of the dominions of Tippoo Sultan, Their forces confift of two hundred thoufand foot and horfe, and the £ame number in garrifon *. hi their inroads they come in clouds, and fpread defolation far and wide. A NEW empire is fpringing out of thefe people ; Madajee Sin" dia, a Jagbiredar of the Mabratta ftates (of Poonab) or mere landholder, is now fucceisfully conquering for himfelf. Since the year 1783 he has extended his frontiers from Mahva towards the Jumna, poffelTed himfelf of the flrong fortrefs of Guallior, and even gives a penfion to the unhappy Mogul Sbab Allum., ■who fled to him for protection, after having his eyes put out by a favage Rohilla chieftain, on whom Shtdia revenged the cruelty by putting him to a moft excruciating death. Such is the funk ftate of the reprefentative of the mighty emperors of Hindoqflan. Sindia refides at Ougein, in Lat. 23° 14', a little north of the Nerbudda river.. About the year 1740 Ram Rajah, a weak prince, fucceeded to the throne of the Mabratta empire t. His two miniflers agreed to divide his kingdom ; after which it became feparated into two, in the manner we have defcribed t. The fame fpecies of war was continued, and for a long time they carried their plundering excurfions to a great diltance. At one time they fent forth two armies of horfemen, confifting of eighty thoufand each %. They poured like a deluge, in 1743, over the low coun- tries weft of the Ganges, and exercifed their gothic rage again ft every thing animate, and inanimate ; the moft elegant works of art fell before their brutal fury. The EngUJJj were often in- * Rennel, cxxviii. t Same, Ixxxii. iv. % Same,lxxxv. volved 86 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. volved in war with them. In 1783 peace was concluded, at the expence of all the conquefts made by Goddard. We retained only the i{{Qoi Saifette, and a few illes within the gulph oi Bombay, The marches of thefe barbarians are admirably defcribed by the author of the memoirs of the late war in Afia, p. 281, voli. It relates to the armies of Ayder AIU, but applies equally to the military of all the powerful chieftains of Ijtdia. " It may," fays the ingenious writer, '* j^erhaps afford fome meafure of grati- *' fication to European curiofity, to be informed that the un- *' difciplined troops of AJia, generally inflamed with bang^ and ** other intoxicating drugs, pour forth, as they advance, a tor- *' rent of menacing and abufive language on their adverfaries. *' Every exprellion of contempt and averfion, every threat, " fitted to make an impreffion of terror, or to excite ideas of *' horror, that cuftom readily prefents, or inventive fancy can " fuggeft, accompanies the utmoft ferocity of looks, voice, and *' gefture. A murmuring found, with clouds of duft, announce " their approach, while they are yet at the dillance of feveral *' miles. As they advance, their accents are more and more " diftindly heard, until at laft, with their eyes fixed and wea- " pons pointed at fome individual, they devote him, with many " execrations, to deftrniftion, giving his flefli, like the heroes ■** in Homer, and the FhUtJline warriors, to the dogs, and the *' birds of the air, and the beads of the field. The numbers of *' the Af.atic armies, the ferocity of their manner, and the *' novelty of their appearance, would unnerve and overcome ** the hearts of the fmall European bodies that are oppofed to " them in the field of battle, if experience had aot fufficiently " proved WESTERN HINDOOSTAIvr. 87 " proved how much the filence of difcipline excels barbarian ^ noife; and uniformity of defign and adion, the defultory " efforts of brutal force, acting by ftarts, and liable to the con- " tagion of accidental impreflion." The land, from the mouth of the river of Surat, makes a Cape St. John. flight curvature as far as Cape St. John, or the Baryagazenum Promontorium. From this Cape, as far as Bo7itbay (according to Qur Eajl India pilot) the coaft is fkirted with illand«, divided from the continent, and from each other, by very narrow channels. To the north of it is Da7noo?i, a ftrong place, poffcfled, in the lail Damcon, century, by the Portuguefe, but now in a moll: ruinous ftate. It was once befieged by Aurengzebe^ who had determined to take it by ttorra, and fixed on a Sunday for the attack, thinking that the Chrijllans^ like the Jezvs, Mould on that day make no re- finance. The Governor, an old foldier, caiifed mafs to be faid at midnight ; then made a fally with all his cavalry, and a ftrong body of infantry, into a quarter guarded by two hundred ele- phants ; he knew the dread thofe animals had of fire: he alTailed them with fire-works. The dittracied beafts, in the darknefs of the night, and without their governors, rufiied on their own forces, which put the army into fuch diforder, that before morning, half was cut to pieces by the Fortiigueje^ and, in confeqnence, the fiege raifed. The trail that borders on the fea, from Bombay even as far Concan. as Sooiida, in Lat. 15°, is called Cohcaji. This was the Lyniirica of Arrian, ii. 171, a coaft full ot ports, of which he enumerates- feveral; it once formed part of the kingdom of Vlfiapour. Kt ihe partition teaty it was confirmed to the Mcrbratias, who now- poifefs 88 W E S T E R N H I N D O O S T A N . poffefs a line of coaft of three hundred miles in extent; out of which the Engli/h poffefs Bombay and its adjacent ifles, and the flrong hold of ViHoria : and the Portugueje, Goa, and the antient domain belonging to that once famous emporium. The part of the Concan next to the fea is low, but at a fmall diftance inland rifes into vaft ftrength. It is guarded by the celebrated mountains the Ghauts, which rife to a furprifing height, and The Ghauts, oppofe to the weft a mural front with Ghauts, i. e. paffes. They are the fame which the JFel/Jj call a Bzvkh. From the word Ghaut the whole chain deriv-es its name. They give entrance into the lofty, fertile, and populous plains of boundlefs view, which they fupport in the manner as buttreffes do a terrace, formed on an immenfe fcale. Thefe run not remote from the fea from Surat to Cape Comorin, at fome places feventy miles diftant, but ge- nerally forty, and in one place they advance to within fix. They have leffer hills at their bafes, clothed with forefts, particularly of the valuable teek. The plains are bleft, from their fituation, with a cool and healthy air. From the fides of the mountains precipitate magnificent catarads, forming torrents, the means of facilitating th-e conveyance of the timber, and giving a thoufand pi(5lurefque fcenes amidlf the forefls, EASTERN &c. The Ghauts are diftinguiflied into the weftern and the eaftern. The firit extend, as I have defcribed, uninterruptedly from Surat to the pafs of Palkaudcheryf when near Coimbetore they fuddenly turn, deeply undulating to the north. Then, at the pafs of Gujethetty, wind north and north-eafterly as high as Amboor and Mugglee, the laft about eighty miles due weft of Madras.. From hence they are not, by reaibn of the numbers . of WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 89 of branches, fufficiently marked on the maps: they feeni to take a northerly courfe, to comprehend Aurungabad, to crofs the Taptee, and continue wefterly, at irregular diftances from the river, till they arrive at a certain fpace from Surat. The whole chain, efpecially in the Concan^ feems a conne61:ed wall, inacceffible to the fiimmit, unlefs by paths worked by the hand of man, and is not to be afcended even by a lingle travel- ler, without the fatiguing labor of many hours ; horrible pre- cipices, roaring cataracts, and frequent reverberating echoes, terrify the palTenger on each fide; often violent guilis arife, and hurrv men and cattle into the black immeafurable abyfs. .Havint^ attained the fummit, the trouble is repaid by the magnificent profpecfl to the weft, of the far fubjacent country, broken into hills, and clothed with beautiful vegetation ; the coaft, tlie iflands, and the imraenfity of ocean. These Indiaji Appenines mark with precifion the limits of Seasons. the winter and fummer, or rather the wet and dry feafons, in India. They extend thiiteen degrees of latitude, from Surnt to Cape Coinorin. 1 hey arrelf the great body of clouds in their palTage, and, according to the Monfoons, or periodical winds from the nnrth-eaft or fouth-weft, give, alternately, a dry feafon to one fide, and a wet one to the other ; fome clouds do pafs over, and give a rainy feafon, but at a very confiderable diftance to the leeward; being too high and too light to condenfe and fall in rain, within a fmall dilfance of this great range. In Lat. 18° 58' is a very confiderable bay, filled with iflands, BavofBombay. well knowqi by the name of Bomhav-, which forms the heft and moft fecure harbour in India. This, as well as every part of Vol. I. N ■ this 90 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. this coall:, was the ui urped property of the Portugiieje ; but the greateft part of this extremity was wrefted from them by the Mahrattas ; a few places they retained for fume time, but at length all fell under the power of the new uiurpers. Among Bassein. the places was Bajfein, which had been taken by Nugns cfA- cag-ria, viceroy of India, in I555» and by him ftrongly fortified. It w^as in our days feized by the Mabrattas, and again, in 1780, by the EngJi/J:>, under General Goddard, who reflored it to its late makers by the treaty of 1782. Doctor. Fryer^ who vilited this city about the year 1670, when it was in polfeffion of the Portuguefe, fpeaks of it as a very coniiderable place, having fix churches, four convents, a college of Jefuits, and another of Francifcans, VisRABUY. About twenty miles from Bajffein, inland, is Vtfrabuy, fa- mous for its hot wells, which are in high efteem for their medicinal virtues, and accounted, by the HindooSy of great fan6lity. Isle of Sal- The principal ifle is that of Saljette, which is divided from JETTE. ^.^g continent by a very narrow channel ; it is about fifteen miles in circumference, and rich in fruits and vegetables. General Goddard included this ifiand in his other conquefts. It was wifely retained on the conclufion of the peace, and con- firmed to us by the laft peace, together with fome little ifles or rocks that lay within the important bay. Salfette was gallantly defended by an old man of ninety-two, who, being fummoned to furrender, anfwered, " He was not fent for that purpofe." It was not till he was flain in a bloody affault that the place was taken, but at the price of four hundred of ourgrena- 9 diers. WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 91 diers. The capture gave fiefli fecurity and importance to the ifle of Bombay. That iiland was part of the portion given to Charles 11. with Island of Bom- bay. his Queen, in 1662. His Majefty fent, in 1661, James Ley, Earl of Marlborough^ a moft experienced failor, with a ftrong fleet, to receive it from tlie Portuguefe. This nobleman was killed foon after his return, in the bloody fea fight againft tlie Dutch in 1665. " He was," fays Clarendon, " a man of wonderful " parts in all forts of learning, which he took more delight in " than in his title*." Charles, in 1668, granted theifland to the Eaji India Company, under a rent often pounds in gold, payable annually at the Cuttom-houfe at London. Its length is about feven miles ; it is flat, and at firft was extremely unwholefome, infomuch, that " two monfoons at *' Bombay is the age of a man," became here a i)roverb ; but by draining, and by prohibiting the ufe of putrid filh for manur- ing the coco trees, it is rendered tolerably healthy, and is be- come the great port and fliip yard of the Englijlj in IruJia ; three hundred fail can at one time lie here in fafety. On the ifle is the town, the docks, and arfenal, feated in Town-, Docks, Lat. 18° 58' N. Long. 72° 40' E. llrongly fortified; and behind them the Dungeree town for the natives. When the Portuguefe ceded this place to us, it had only ten thoufand inhabitants. By our mild government, in 1764 it increafed to fixty thoufand. Abbe Raynal gives this ifland a hundred thoufand inhabitants, of which feven or eight thoufand are failors. Mr. Ives calls it the grand ftorehoufe of all \\\q Arabia 7t and Perjian commerce. The * Lord Clarendon's Life, ii. 508. Anderfon's Did. li. ijg. N 2 Arabs 92 ' WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. Arabs ftill keep up a confiderable trade iii fliips of a thouland tons, either Indian built, or old hidiamen bought from the com- panv. One article is the Kufmiftj raifin, a fpecies without ftones, brought from Kafmi/Jj^ an ille in the Perfian gulph. The exports from India are chiefly cottons, 8cc. to a great amount; but the trade between thefe parts and the Perjlan and jirabkui gulphs, has of late been much injured by caravans crofling the iil:hmus oiBaJJbra^ conduced by the Syrians them- felves. The whole bay is full of llioals or rocks, yet with chan- nels of fufficient depth of water for the fkilful pilate to bring in fecurely the largett fliips ; and here, even our military fleets find conveniencies for heaving down and refitting. Admiral JVatfon^ and again Admiral Hughes, found here every fpecies of naval ftore ; here his Majefty's fliips winter and refit. Although Bombay is a place of very great trade, it is wholly as a magazine ; its native productions are nothing in the ac- .aip- Building, count, uulefs you reckoR fliip - building. There the fineft merchant fliips in the world are built, and all of Teek. The durability of this timber is beyond belief, greater than that of our heft Englijh oak; it refifls the worm longer than any other; but whether this be owing to the nature of the timber itfelf, or to the cement with which the plank is joined and covered, I cannot tell. Surat or Bombay built fliips w^ill certainly laft threefcore years (fome fay many more), in which time, how- ever, they are generally doubled once or twice, fo that the fides of an old Qiip are as thick as the walls of an houfe. Much is likewife faid of the number of years they fometimes run without having occalion to ufe a pump; but of this I cannot fpeak with WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 93 with certainty. All the repairs are efFedted by native carpen- ters, and all tlie Hiips, even the largeft, are built by them, and in a finiplicity of manner which would aftonifli an European workman. M. Sonnerat^ i. tab. 18, reprelents the Indian with all the powers of his art. The neighboring mountains fupply them with teek-wood, Bengal with iron and hemp, and the adjacent forefts with pines for marts. Bombay is alfo the great dep6t of artillery, arms, and am- munition, and all the means of furnifhing an army. Here is alfo a conliderable military eflablilhment, at prefent under the command of Sir Robert Abercromby^ K. B. Prefident of Bombay, Governor and Commander in Chief. From hence marched the force deilined to affift in the reduction of the tyrant Tippoo Sultan, and to give peace to the fouthern part of this vafb continent. A MOST unfortunate expedition took its departure from this Expeditions place in 1779 ; at which period it had not the happinefs of be- ^^'^^ ing under the rule of a Hastings. A little time before, Ro- ganaut Row, a Mahratta chieftain, fled from his country, and put hirafelf under the protedtion of this prefidency. He had been guardian to the young PaiJJjwa., Naron Rozu, his own nephew. In the numbers of intrigues that infefted the Hate of Poonah, a confpiracy was formed againft the youth. A band of aflaflins were employed to murder him. Roganaut^ better known by the name of Ragobab, was at the time confined in prifon. The nephew flew to feek fafety in his arms. In that cafe he would have been fafe, but he could only fling himfelf at his feet. The youth was murdered. The uncle exchanged his prifon for the Paijhwa-Jbip. Frelli confpiracies arofe, and Ro- ganaut TON, 94 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. ganaut forced to fly to the Englip for prote6tion *. Afpiring to the office, he flattered the EngliJJj with vaft advantages in cafe they efponfed his caufe ; and foon prevaled on them to commence hoftihties. Salfette, Baroach, and other places fell before them. The treaty of Poorunder^ in 1774, fecured thofe places to us for a time. In a little fpace war broke out again, fomented by Roganaut, affifted by our fears of the French^ who were bufy in their intrigues at the court of Poonab. In 1778 UvD£R Eger- a fmall army, under the command of Brigadier General Egerton, afliited by a field committee, ever embarraffing, from the days of the Duke of Marlborough to the prefent, was fent with him to advife, or rather to perplex the commanders. The army, which confifted of not quite four thoufand men, crofled the bay to Uptah river, marched by Panivel^ Campooly, and up the Bbore Ghaut to Candolah, which we found unoccupied : the objedl was Poo72ah. They reached the once fair city of 'Tullingaum, on January 1779. It had been burnt the night before, by the Mahrattas themfelves, who appeared covering the plains, nume- rous as the fands of the fea. They made frequent attacks on our army, and deftroyed feveral gallant officers, and numbers of our European foldiers, and Sepoys. We made a quick retreat to the village of JVorgaum. From thence our field committee fent a flag of truce, and offer of treaty. It was accepted, on con- dition that we were to relinquifli our paft conquefts of Salfetie, and other places; to give up Roganaut and two of the field com- mittee as hoftages, and to fend orders to General Goddard, on full march uith the Bengal army, to return inftantly home. God- * Account of Bombay, p. 48. 65. dard WESTERN IIINDOOSTAN. 95 dard received the humiliating orders, but reje6led them \vith Under God- DARD. indignation, and continued his route, marked in every place with glory and vi<5tory --•■. In January 1781, after the conqueft of BaJ]'ein, that able officer afTembled his troops at f^izrabuvy and in order to make a diverlion in favor of Madras, then in imminent danger, ad- vanced to Campooly, and from thence to Candolab, which the enemy had polTefTed themfelves of in great force, but they foon were driven from their arduous ftation. It Ihould feem that Tul- lingaitm had been rebuilt fince the laft expedition, for the Gene- ral found it jufl burnt, and Poonab filled with combuftibles, ready for the fame fate. He found an army of feventy thou- fand horfe and foot, ready to oppofe his little body of fix thou- fand ; yet fuch was the terror of the foe, that they again burnt the town of Tullingaum. An Indian town is as foon rebuilt as deftroyed; and every preparation was made for burning Poonab^ by filling the houfes with ftraw, and removing the inhabitants to the ftrong hold of Sattarab. Thus circumftanced, our Gene- ral thought proper to retreat, in order to affifi:, with part of his forces, his friends then befieged in I'ellicberry, by Sardar Khan, a general of Ayder AllPs. This movement was condutfted with fuch fecrecy and fkill, that the whole of the artillery and heavy ftores reached the foot of the pafs in fafety, and without the fmalleft interruption from the enemy, who were alionifhed, on * See the hiftory of this difgraceful bufinefs, in a little 4to. pamphlet, pubiiflied at Breck- nock in 1794, entitled, The Expedition of Tullingaum, &c. and the War in Afia, i. p. p. II. 65. 69. the 96 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. the morning of the i8th of April, to find that our pofl at Can dolab had been deferted during the preceding night. Ten thou- fand of the braveft undifciphned infantry in Hindoojian, followed him to the fubjacent country ; they confifted of Arabs' and Sindies, who attempted to harafs him in his march, but in vain : He repelled every attack with great flaughter. His own lofs confifted only of a few camp followers and common foldier?. I obferve at this time Hurry Punt, afterwards our friend in the campaigns in the My/ore, in 1792, among the hoftile commanders. Goddard returned with frefli laurels to Bombay, which even want of fuccefs could not fere. Ei.EPHANTA,&c. Besides the two iflands 1 have mentioned, fcattered over the found are feveral others, fuch as Carajija, Elephanta, Hog, Butcher, and Green ifland ; moft of them very fmall ; but all of them rifing in one part or other into a lofty hill. Caluana. Opposite to Caranja ftood the antient CalUana of Ar~ rian, ii. 17 r, a famous and much frequented emporium. It had been a common port to all nations till the Romans made a conqueft of Egypt : after which they prohibited every country from entering the Red fea, and monopolized all the trade of India : every port on this coaft was fliut againft foreigners, and that of CaUiana is particularized by Arrlan. The remains of that city were obferved by Dcdlor Fryer. But what gives this neighborhood great celebrity, is the vaft ca- vern?, the works of very old times, difcovered in the ifles of Salfette, and of Elephanta, and of certain other places hereafter to Fa.;; us Ca- be pointed out. The celebrated M. Niebuhr, who vifited thofe caves, and thofe in Salfette, in 1764, has given numbers of elegant Vt'RNS. WESTERN M I N D O O 5 T A N< 97 elegant plates of the various figures, attended ^vith defcriptions. See his fecond vokime of Travels, p. 25 to 33. Mr. Gougb has aUb publilhed a moil elaborate account of thefe wonderful caves, printed by "John Nichol, in 1785. — Finally, defcriptions may be found in the viith and viiith volumes of the Archaelogia, by the pen of MelTrs. Mackneil, Hunter, Pyke, and B0071. The accounts are of confiderable length, drawn up with great accuracy, "and attended with figures of the principal antiquities. Vaft hills have been excavated by human art, moil probably for religious purpofes. Mr. Ives gives the ground plan of that Til Elepha7itay by which it appears to be a hundred and eighty feet, by a hun- dred and fifty in dimenfions : part is fupported by vaft pillars, of a rounded form, f welling at the middle, refting on a fquare bafe : on the fummit of which, at each corner, is a fitting ape. In the entrance are left pillars, nearly limilar, but plain, and without figures. The infide is divided into feveral fquare apartments, the greatefl propt by the pillars above defcribed, and is a hundred and four feet fquare. At each angle it is divided into three fmall fquare rooms ; and at one of the entrances within (for there are three) is another, all, perhaps, chapels. Thefe are exprefTed in Mr. Pyke's plan. In every cave, defcribed by thefe curious travellers, are mod amazing numbers of fculptures, all cut out of the live rock, of human figures, extravagant deities, monfters, animals, foliage, and all that can ailonifli and bewilder the imagination. Many reprefent idols of the Indian mythology, figures half beafl and half man ; many faces and many hands to th-e fame fculpture ; • Vol. I. O and 98 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. and often the Cobra de Capeilo, that dresdful fnake, which is attendant on feveral of the incarnationa of Viflchenou. A lifli is one, which affiiTS to explain the oI)je»ft of the fculptures and iifes of the excavations. TiiEeE caverns are the haunts of monftrous ferpents. Hamil- toii, i. 239, tehs us, that on firing his fufil, to enjoy the thunder- ing echo of the report, he difturbed a Boa, fifteen feet in length, and two feet in girth, from its antient feat, which pvit the tra- veller to fpeedy flight, and an end to his curiolity. Most of the figures are colofl^d, from twelve to twenty-three feet high. Some of them, with all their extravagancies, are faid to be finely executed : many are crofs leg'd, in their attitude of prayer; many have rofaries, which prove that thefe places were ohjecSts of devotion. The woman v/ith three faces and four arms is engraven in Mr. Pyke's account. I beg leave to make a few remarks on that figure : round her neck are five necklaces, rich in pearls and gems, with pendent jewels; her hair is long, and hangs in beautiful ringlets ; her ears (not her ear-rings as they are called) hang to a vaft length, exactly in the Malabar mode; and her head- drefs is conic, in the Chinefe fafliion, which might have been in ufe in early times. The lait is dropt; the ftrange deformity of long ears are Itill retained : fo far is certainly of eaflern fculpture. But what can he faid to the figures found in another cave, in the neighborhood of Bombay., not exprefled by name : they are engraven in volume vii. of the Archaelogia ; fome have the faufage curl, others the cochkar twirl, in the hair, and others 7 the 99 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. the rich braid of pearl; all refembling, in fome degree, the fantaftic variety in the head-dreflfes of the Roman ladies, v/ith- out the left trace of oriental fallrion. I SHALL conclude with faying, that the cave of Elephanta takes its name from an elephant, with a leffer on its back, cut on the outfide of the cave ; and in a paflage is the rncle figure of a horfe, called that of Alexander the Great, to whom the Indians attribute thefe mighty works, as we V/elJJj do every thing ftu- pendous to our favorite Arthur. I mention this tradition to fliew its great antiquity, as well as that of the excavations them- felves. Arrian^ in his Periplus maris Erytbrm, ii. i66, fays that there were near Barygaza, foundations of camps, antient cha- pels, altars, and .x\d>. HumberJiQn, to march and join him. Before their arrival he, on January 5, attacked and took a few places of fmali confequence. He then directed his views to the richeft .j>arts oiAyder Alli^ dominions, to which he was encouraged by the dii^ance they were at that time from relief. He carried the Onore sacked, opulent town of Onore, which lay on the coaft, by ftorm. " Every man," fays an adlor in the tragedy, " in Onore was put *« to the fword ; the carnage was great ; we trampled thick on " dead bodies that were ftrewed in the way. It M^as rather ** fhocking to humanity; but fuch are but lecondary confidera- ■** tions to a foldier whofe bofom glows with heroic glory, and *' are WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 117 " are thought only accidents of courfe *." Notvvithftanding this fage reflection of our hero, it is faid that the Kilidar, or gover- nor, and twelve hundred men were taken prifonerst ; thefe pro- bably had retired till the bofoms of our foldiers had exhaufted their heroic ardour. Fortunately for the fouthern army, it had not made its jiincflion with the general, and fo efcaped the dif- grace of the mallacre. Which probably the generous commanders, had they arrived, might have diverted him from. Thus ftrengthened, he began his toilfome afcent up the Ascent of the Cj h auts Huffein Ghnrry Ghaut., with all windings, not lefs than three miles in extent, and ftrongly fortified at every turning. " Luck- " ily it happened," fays Wx, Sheen., " that the commander knew " nothing of this defile, otherwife it would have been madnefs " for him to have attempted it ; for if the enemy had made '* any tolerable defence, it would have been impregnable : but " it was defended only by the wild undifciplined troops of the " native Polygars. " However, the General's want of information was the caufe " of our fuccefs ; for in the evening, part of the eleventh batta- " lion, which I belong to, the light company of the Bombay Euro- ^^ peans, and part of the fifteenth battalion of Sepoys, began the " attack, and took the firft barrier with very little oppolition. " When we came to the fecond, we were alarmed at the " prodigious number and ilrong pofition of the enemy ; but *' finding it no lefs dangerous to retreat than to advance, we " charged home in all quarters, when the motley crew gave way *' and fled, leaving about five hundred killed and wounded. * Lieut. Hubbard's Letrer. f Annual Regifter, 1783, p. 88. Vol. I. O q <« Our m8 W EST ERN HIND003TAN. Ev-DNORE. RanaBidda- LURA. Its HisreRY. " Our fmall body, flufhcd with fuccefs, immediately proceeded " with the bayonet, and never flopped till they gained the fum- " mit of the (5^2^^, under W heavy -catinonading all the way." Bednore, the <§re:it object of the fatal expedition, ftands on the vaft plains of the fame name, at about nine miles diftance from the edge of the Ghauts. It is the prefent capital of the country, Ixut fince it is come into pofleflion of Ayder Ali^ the name is changed, in honor of him, to Ayder Nager, or the royal city of Ayder. In the hiftory of Ayder, i. 83 *, as a place of uncommon fplendor, beauty, and magnitude, with ftreets two leagues in length, every houfe in the centre of a luxuriant garden, filled with trees, and watered with hmpid ftreams. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Canhara, and was called Rana Bid- dahira. Ayder polTefTed himfelf of this place, and the whole of the rich province, by the following accident. The fon of the reigning Queen of Canhara lied to Ayder, imploring his prote<5tion and his afliftance to put him in poiTeffion of his kingdom, which his mother kept from him in a moft iniquitous manner. Ayder acceded to his petition, marched againft the ufurprefs, defeated her army, and, in the end, reconciled the contending parties. She received Ayder with every mark of refpeift, and even lodged him in the royal palace. Under this mafk flie, in concert with her hujfband (for flie had married a fecond, a Brahmin) determined on his dellrudtion by the mofl horrid means, that of blowing him up in the palace with gunpowder. A fubordinate Brahmin dif- * By M. M. D. L. T. (de la Tour) General of ten thoufand men in the Mogul empire, and formerly commander in chief of the artillery of Ayder Ali, and of a body of European troops in the fcrvlce of that prince. His work is not in the higheft efteem. covered WESTERN H I N D O O S T A X. 119 covered the plot: he appeared before Aydcr in prefence of the Queen, the King, and whole court, and charged the confpirators v>ith their crime. The trial comirenced on the ipot, the charge was proved, the Queen and her hufband put to death, and the king confined. Poffibly the complaint of the fon was uncon- Ititutional, for the throne of Canhara is faid to have always been filled with a female, who had the privilege of marrying whom fhe pleafed, but exempted herfelf from the cruel rite of burning with the body of her hufband, in the manner thr.t the affec- tionate fpoufes of her fubjedts were accultomed to do. Axder Seized by ^ -^ - Ayder. AlU feized on the kingdom, and all the immenfe treafure of the capital; but, what he thought of more importance, was a line of coall:, which flattered his ambition with the hopes of becom- ing as invincible by fea as he had hitherto been by land. From the time of the ftorming Onore, the General's conduct was totally altered. He grew irrefolute refpetling his proceed- ings, paid no attention to the plan he was to execute by the orders of the Prefidency, and neglecSted every comm.unication with them. Before this, he v.as held in high eftimation, as an officer * and a man. He remained a long; time in a ftate of de- fpondency. At length, aifluated by a paffion before latent, he fuddenly took the refolution of performing the fervice he was appointed to. He alcended the Ghaut, in the manner related. He appeared before Bednore, at that time wholly defenfelefs. It Bednore sur- r ' <• 1 • RENDERED. was then governed by Hyat Sato, a perfon or conlummate abdi- lities, and firm fidelity towards his mafter. He reflecffed on the * Hon. Charles Grevile, Britifh India, iii. p. 843. impoffibility 120 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. impoffibility of refiftance, and the danger of having both the province and city defolated by the rage of the conqueror. He fecretly fent to Matthews^ as foon as he had entered the plains, to offer to furrender the place, and to deliver to the Englijh all the treafures; on condition, that the perfons and property of the inhabitants fhould be fecured, and himfelf continued in the government under the Englijh^ with all the power he had under jiyder. Mat thews y now in polTeflion of the treafures of ages, and dazzled by the heaps of the gems of Hindoojlan, fuch flrong temptations rofe in view as inftantly to diflipate every virtuous idea he might before have poflTelTed. Avarice and rapacity oc- cupied their feats, and he rofe like the fiend Mammoti with all his attributes. The General feized on all the treafures, and im- prifoned Hyat Saib. He as fuddenly releafed him, and made to him a pretended reftitution of all his wealth *. Strong fufpicions of the General's condu6l pervaded the army. To allay their murmurs, he prevaled on Hyat Saib to prefent the troops with about the value of twenty thoufand pounds in pagodas. He had alfo quarreled with Mackod, Mackenzie HumberJloHy and major ShaWy after the capture of Bednore, on the fubjedt of pre- cedency with the company's troops. They quitted the army, and haftened to Bombay, to lay their complaints before the Pre- fidency. Their abfence was raoft fatally miffed. The General now, for the firft time, fent difpatches to the Prefidency, filled with falfe ftatements of affairs, and complaints againft the army, from the generals to the very common men. * Lieut. Sheen's Letter, in Capt. Oake's Narrative, p. 77. At WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. I2i At Bedf20?'e he found (to a patriotic commander) a more im- V'ast Maca- portant acqiiifition than any treafures. All Ryder's principal ma- dry^^&c.°"^' gazines, a very fine foundry for brafs cannon, a powder manu- fadtory, and immenfe ftores of every kind*. Matthews did not make a true eftimate of this fpecies of treafure ; his avarice made him negledl his fecurity, yet he weakened his army by making detachments to every place where the profpeil of plunder could allure him. He negledled the ftrong palTes into the My/ore, which, fecured, he might have reded fafely againft all the efforts of the returning Tippoo. Among other places he fent a detachment to Annampour, a firong fort, adjacent to Bednore, Annamhour. which Ayder had made the dep6t of the reft of his treafure. The place was taken by florm. Let Lieutenant Sheen relate the difgraceful event. — " When a pradlicable breach was efFe(5led, ' orders were ifTued for a florm, and no quarters ; which was ' immediately put in execution, and every man put to the Horrid Cruel- ' fword, except one horfemnn, who made his efcape, after ' being wounded in three different places. A dreadful light * then prefented itfelf ; above four hundred beautiful women, ' either killed or wounded with the bayonet, expiring in one ' another's arms, while the private Ibldiers v/ere committing * every kind of outrage, and plundering them of their jewels, ' the officers not being able to reftrain them t." " The troops were, however, afterwards, feverely rcpri- *' manded iox it. I had almofl forgot to mention, that fome of " the women, rather than be torn from their relations, threw * Hon. Charles Grevile's Britifli India, iii. p. 844. f Slieen's Narrative, p. 77. Vol. L R " themfelves 122 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. <^ thenifelves into large tanks, where they were drowned." The pretence for thefe briitaUties was, that the garrifon, an uncivi- lized people, had adled in contradicfkion to the rules of war among civilized nations. After the fpecimen we gave here, I fear the idea of the civilization the BritiJIj had arrived at, will not rife to any great height. Mattbe-zvs fupprefled in his dif- patches all accounts of this or fimilar tranfadlions, and alio of the vaft treafures. We are beholden to private letters for the hiifory. One officer was fo fliocked at one he had written, that he tore it to pieces! Lieut. 5'^^^/2 was not fo delicate ! All thefe lliameful relations have been contradiifled ; yet ftill, as Sir Tho- mas Brown expreffes,. they are among thofe " verities we fear, <' and heartily willi there was no truth therein." Man*galor£ The General, now in imaginary fecurity, defcended the G/jaut, to effedt new conquefls in the maritime country. He laid fiege to Mangalore. A pradicable breach was foon eifedted, which the gallant governor, Rujlan Alii beg, could not perfuade his timid garrifon to defend, fo he was compelled to furrender. A few years after, he unjuftly loft his head, in fight of the city, by order of his cruel mafter,. Tippoo Sultan, At Mangalore the General received intelligence, that Tippoo was in full march from the Carnatic to relieve his coun- try. After the receipt of the news, his mind grew quite dif- ordered. He re-afcended the Ghaut, and re-entered Bednore. In a few days the enemy appeared. His forces were fo nume- rous, that they not only covered the adjacent plains, but even every hill, and more remote than the eye could reach. Mat- thews, in a frenzy, marched out with his handful of men, and rt met TAKEN. WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 123 met the expedted fate; was at once defeated, with the lofs of five hundred men. He made his retreat \\-\\.o Bednorcy which he bravely defended feventeen days : but finding the garrifon reduced by ficknefs, and the number of flain, he capitulated on Bedkors re- honorable terms. The garrifon to be allowed the honors of war : '^''^^-'^^' but to pile the arms on the glacis ; to retain all private property, and to reftore all public. Sec. 8cc. Tippoo took pofTeffion of the city. Notwithftanding his fituation, the avarice of the Gener.I overcame every confideration. He ordered the officers to make unlimited drafts on the paymafter, who had before been greatly exhaufted by various contrivances. It was currently believed, that he had fent by his brother to Goa, three hundred thoufand pound*^, and a great quantity of diamonds, to be remitted to Bombay \ and that, even on the point of his departure, he had caufed the bamboos of his palanquin to be pierced, and filled wixh pagodas. When Tippoo examined the flate of his treafurv, he grew enraged at this infamous fraud ; he declared the treaty void : put the officers and their SepoySy faithful to them to the laft, indifcriminatcly in iron?, and marched them in that v condition, in a burning fun, to prifona at Scj'-ingapatani and other places. Numbers fell dead on the road, the remainder ar- rived at the place of their deftination in the utmofl: miferv, and that increafed by the wretched dungeons they were confined in. Thofe who periflicd, were nightly flung over the walls, and in Cbitteldroog the furvivors heard the tigers gorging therafelves with the corpfes of their happier friends *, * Lieut. Sheen's Narrative, p. 89. Tv 2 TH}i 124 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. TheGekeral The General was confined at Seringopafam : where he was POISONED. not luftered to linger long. Various are the accounts given of the manner of his end, but the mofl probahle is, that it was hy poifcm. Numbers of his officers fufFered in the fame man- ner, in different places, and died in the greateft agonies. His Also others. brother, who unfortunately returned from his journey to Goay and a Mr. Weldon., were taken into the jungles, and had their throats cut. Numbers of the unhappy men, fated to die by the poifonous draught, abftained from food for many days, till defpair and hunger compelled them to take the fatal draught. Others, who by delay made the executioners impatient, had the poifon forced down their throats. My pity is fufpended for as many as might have been guilty of the barbarity at Annam^ pour, was it poffible they could have been acceffary to the favage fury of their troops, ftained in every part of the expedition with flaughter, cruelty, fraud, rapine, and avarice *. It is evident that the feverities exercifed by 'Tippoo, after this victory, was here the determined refolution of infliding a juft punifliment ; but, unhappily, he included in it the innocent, as well as guilty. After his defeat of Colonel Braitbwaite, on the banks of the Coleroon, how different was his condudt ; he con- lidered Matthews as the fordid adventurer, Braithwaite as the generous enemy, and treated him and the wounded captives with a humanity that fhewed his coolnefs, and capacity of dif- tinguifhing between the one and the other. Kind OF Poison. I am uncertain what the poifon was; probably a vegetable, • Annual Regifter, 1783, p. 91. in WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 125 in which India is extremely fertile ; fome fpeak of the juice of the Milky hedge. Euphorbia Tiraculli, Syft. PL ii. 438. OJJifraga la^ca, Rumph. Amb. vii. 62, tab. xxix. Covim. hort. i. 27, tab. xiv. This emits moft copiouily a milk of lb caui^ic a nature, as is likely to produce a moft agonizing death. The juices of other Euphorbia are very deadly, as are thofe of the root of that beautiful flower the Gloriofa Super ba, Syft. PI. ii. 49, Lilium Zeylan. Comm. hort. i. 69, tab. xxxv. In one place I find another imintelligibly mentioned, -under the title of the milk of the coco nut bufh *. I NOW purfue the event of the complaints laid before the Prefidency of Bo7nbay, by the feceding officers. Their infor- mation appeared well founded. Matthews was ordered to be fuperceded, his misfortune being then unknown. Macleod was appointed to fucceed him in the command, and Humberjlon- and Shaw to ferve wwditx Macleod. The fequel is tragical. The new officers, on April 5, failed in the Ranger floop of ten guns, Lieut. Omen commander, to be landed for the purpofe of join- ing the army. On the 7th they fell in with the Mahratta fleet, a powerful fquadron, which attacked them without the left notice. Major Shaw was fliot dead, the General and Col. Huj72- berjlon through the lungs, and feveral other officers killed or wounded. After a defence, far too obftinate againft fo very fuperior a force, the furvivors ftruck, and were carried into Ghe- riah\ the Governor difowning any knowlege of the peace, which had actually been proclamed a very few days before. Such * Lieut. Hubbard's Letter. is 126 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. is the account given on the authority of the Eajl India Com- pany. The author of the War in Afia^ i. p. 483, makes our General a ^.ixote^ who, rather than be carried into Gheriah for a Tingle day, was above coming to an explanation, and madly fought the unequal force of the barbarians. Hujnberjion died of his wounds on yipril 30, of whom the author * gives a cha- rafber that (liould not be fupprefled. *' He died in the twenty- " eighth year of his age. An early and habitual converfancy " with the heroes of antient, as well as modern times, nDurilhed " in his mind a paffion for military glory, and fupported him *' under unremitting application to all thofe ftudies by wdnch " he might improve his mind, rife to honorable diftindtion, and " render his name immortal ; he being not only acute, but pro- " found and fteady in his views, gallant without ollentation, and " fpirited without temerity and imprudence." At .his early age he was great in the cabinet as in the field t. He laid the fineft plan for the overthrow of our great rivals, Ayder and his fuc- ceffor: and as far as they were attempted, they fucceeded. He was honored with the command of a fmall body of troops, oppofed • This youthful hero was di.fccnded from a younger brother of the Seaforth family. His father, Col. Mackenzie, married the only daughter of a Mr. Humberfton, of a rich old family in Lincolnfhire, feated at Humberfion, once a Benedictine abby, not remote from the moutii of the Humber. Old Humberfton left his daughter five hundred a year : the reft of his eflate to a brother's fon, who dyin^, was fucceeded, as next heir, by the young Colonel, then in India. He added the family name to that of his own. His brother, Francis Humbcrfton Mackenzie, of Seaforth, as I am informed, fold, by his mother's confeut, the Humberftoa cftate, and bought the Seaforth. t Hon. Charles Grcvfle's Britifh India, iii, p. 824 to 84S. fo WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 127 to the able Tippoo. By a fine retreat with two thoufand men againtt thirty thoufand Myforians, he eluded his fury ; and foon after, in conjun6lion with Macleod, repelled the attack of Tippoo on his lines, which forced that chieftain to the mortifying ne- ceffity of feeking fafety beyond the river Paniani, How op- pofite to the merits of io brave a youth was his fate ! Brutus's baftard hand ;:■ Stabb'd 'Julius Ctejar ; favage illanders Pompey the Great ; our hero dies by pirates. A. SMALL ifle, or rather rock, about a mile from Onore, was Taken by the made remarkable in the war againft Tippoo, by being ftrongly fortified by him, being intended for a magazine of all forts of naval ftores for building and repairing fhips. He had refumed his father's defign of becoming a naval power. Thofe Engllfb frigates fruftrated his plan in OSlober 1791, and, by the defpe- rate valour of a few marines, made themfelves matters of the place. We omitted to fay, that at Onore^ the fon of Francis Almeyda Oxore anb burnt the fleet of the prince of the place, defeated his army, and burnt, but did not think it worth his trouble to take the town. Barcelore, in Lat. 13° 25', is the next town of note, and the parts adjacent are very produdtive of rice, that great food of the Orientalijls. Mafigalore is a confiderable city, feated in Lat. 12* 50', upon Mangalore. a rifing ground. This alfo has belonging to it very confiderable rice grounds. It has the conveniency of three rivers, which unite a little above its fite. The Portuguefe fupply you with rice Vol. I. R 4 iiom. •lia- WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. from thefe two towns, and even fend it to the coafts of Arabia. As late as 1695 the Arabs of Majcat were in fuch ilrength as to come with their fleet, pkinder the country, and burn the two towns, notwithftanding the Canbarians have a hne of earthen forts, each garrifoned with two or three hundred men, as a defence againft free-hooters. The Portuguefe had a fadtory here, notorious, as I fear all their colonies are, for the exceflive debaucheries of both clergy and laity. avder's GREAT Aydcr Alii with all his abilities, entertained a moft grand, but vifionary plan, not only of becoming fovereign of the Indian feas, but of even retaliating on the Engli^/h^ the feveral invafions they had made into India. In order to become a naval power, he invited fliipwrights from all countries, and under them trained a number of his own fubjedls. He had in his own dominions abundance of materials ; and he fixed on Man- galore as his great dock, and military naval port. He has hitherto been unfortunate. In 1768, the place was taken by a fleet fitted out from Bo7nbayy and nine great fliips and feveral leffer were brought away *. Ayder foon recovered his port : and, irritated at the difgrace, redoubled his efforts to reftore his navy, and carry his great defign into execution. By the year 1781 he had almofl finiflied fix Ihips of the line, and feveral frigates and floops. He had heard fomething of the folidity and ftrength of the waters of the European feas, fo under the notion of combatting with oceans of ice, he firengthened his ihips with planks of great thicknefs t. But we did not permit • Annual Regifter, 1768, p. 67. t War in Alia, p. 506. I Avder WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 120 Ayder to make the experiment. General Matlbezvs^ fecure as he thought himfelf in poffeffion of Bednore, defcended on this city, and in a httlc time made himfelf mafler of the place, with three large fliips on the flocks, and feveral lefTer, which totally put to flight the naval vifion of the great Ayder. In 1783 Mangalore was invefted by Tippoo Sultan in perfon, with an army of a hundred and forty thoufand fighting men, affiftcd by \h.QFrencb. The governor, Colonel Campbely made a moft gallant defence, and fuffered every extreme of famine, till the place was given up, on honorable terms, at the conclufion of the war, when it was found a mere heap of rubbifli. It had been aflailed in the ftrangeft manner, bombarded by great maffes of ftones, flung out of mortars, which did infinite mif- chief : the poor foldier who was ftruck on the body, had a fud- den relief; thofe who received them on the extremities fuffered a long and agonizing termination of life. Majigalore remains in pofTeffion of the Sultan^ wuth the whole province of CaU' bara, the only maritime part allotted to him in the glorious partition treaty. Nelifuram is feated a few miles np a river, and is fuppofed Nelisuram, to be the Nelcynda and Melcynda of the antients. Near this river begins that vafl extent of coaft, called the Malabar Malabar^ he Royaume de Melibar of Marco Polo, p. 148, com- ^^'^^■^• prehending the feveral places, diftrids or principalities I fliall mention. It reaches to Cape Cotnorin, and owned the Zamorin^ or King of Calicut^ as Lord Paramount. Mount Dil/a, or Deli, is the next place of note, it is a fmall Mount Dula. promontory in Lat. 12° i', and within is a bay, on which pro- VOL. I. S bably 130 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. bably flood the Elancon emporium of Ptolomy. Marco Pohy the celebrated traveller of the thirteenth century, vifited the place in his journey through part of India. He calls this tradt Le Royaume d'Eli, and Albulfeda, Ras Heiliy or the Cape of Heili. Polo fays, it abounded with pepper, ginger, and other fpices. He adds, that if a 'fhip happened to be driven into their port by a tempeft, the king immediately confifcated it, faying — *' You never intended to come here, but God and " fortune difnofed it otherwife; fo we will profit of what ** they have been pleafed to fend." Cananore. Cananore ftand a little to the fonth of Mount DUla. In 1501 it was vifited by Cabral, on an invitation from the monarch of the place, w^ho treated him in the kindefl: and moft afFecflionate manner. The Portuguefe obtained leave to eretl a fort near the city, which w' as their firft and ufual ftep towards the enflav- ing the natives. The friendly monarch died. The new king, provoked by the barbarity of one Goes, who had taken an Ara- bian fhip, fewed up the whole crew in the fails, and flung them into the fea. Exafperated at this cruelty, the ruling prince laid fiege to the fdrt. The garrifon were reduced to the laft extremity by famine, when they were relieved, by the fea flinging on lliore great quantities of fhrimps *. Tri/Jan de Cunha arrived with his fleet, and relieved the garrifon. The city afterwards was taken by the Portuguefe, who continued maflers of it till it was belieged, in 1660, by the Dutch. General Abeil- In December 1790, in the beginning of the campaign of that year, againft 'Tippoo SultaUi Major-General Robert Abercromby * Oforioj i. p. 268. opened CROMBY. WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 131 opened it with the redu6lion of Cananore and Nurrcarow, which he inftantly efFeiled in the fight of Tippoo. Leaving garrifons behind, he took poft, on March i, 1791, on the head of the Ghauts^ at Pondicberrim, oppofite to Cananore. He then pro- ceeded to Periapatajn, along the plains of My/ore, about eigh- teen miles from the edge of thofe vaft heights. He reached that fort on May 16. It was deferted by the garrifon, after blowing up fome of the baftions ; and only eighteen miles in- tervened between him and the grand army, commanded by Lord Cornwallis, ready to inveft Seringapata?ri, the refidence of Tippoo. The Sultan exerted every refource of a great mind to avert his fate. He fought a pitched battle with the BritiJJj General, and fuffered a complete defeat. The Lord of Hofts interfered, and deferred his dellru6tion. The time of the Monfoons came on. The vidor was obliged to deftroy part of his train, and fall back to Bangaiore. The fwell of the Cavery forced Abercromby to retire " who had, with infinite " labor, formed roads, and brought a battering train, and " a large fupply of provifions and ftores, over fifty miles of " woody mountains, called Ghauts^ that immenfe barrier, which " feparates the My/ore country from the Malabar coaft. Part " of General Abercro}nby\ train alfo fell a facrifice to the necef- " fity of the times : and his army, who thought they had fur° "• mounted all their difficulties, had the mortification to find " their exertions of no utility, and had to return, worn down " by ficknefs and fatigue, expofed to the incefiant rains which '^ then deluged the weftern coafi: of thepeninfula*." * Major Dirom's Campaigns, p. 2. S 2 In 13^ WESTERN H I N D O S T A N. HriGHT OF THE Ghauts. Antient Com- M£RC£. Othonia. In the following year, he agahi afcended the toilfome paths to fame, fuccefsfully joined his great commander, and received the moft pleafi ng reward to noble minds, praife well deferved, and earned with hardships, perfeverance, and judgment. Viewing the immenfe range of mountains from below, in height a mile and a quarter from the fea? covered with forefts, the tops often hid in the clouds, they appear to form an un- furmountable barrier between the Myfore country and the Ma- labar coaft *. The tradl which now bears the name of Canhara, is by Arrian llyled Cottonara. The t?'a7is-ghautian part is the Fan- dionis Regio, which anfwers to the modern kingdom of Myfore. All this tra6t was, in Arriari's time, noted for its rich pro- dudlions and great commerce, particularly in the article pepper. The Piper cottonariciim was famous in all parts, but the hifto- rian limits the growth to one fpot. The country was far from being confined to that fingle article : It fupplied the merchants with numbers of the fineft pearls, ivory, and Othonia /erica, a certain mixed manufadlure of cotton and filk. Arrian, i. 539, fpeaks of the beautiful white linens of India ^ probably the fame with the modern calicoes. Thefe formed, as they do at prefent, a great part of their clothing. This trade is probably continued, to the prefent day, to the emporia of Tartary. ^Nfitn Anthonie Jenkinfon was at Bocbara, in 1558^, the Indian caravans brought great quantities of this fpecies of linen, which was much ufed by the 'Tartars to form their head- Major Dirom's Campaigns, p. 90. drefs. WESTERN n I N D O O S T A N. 133 drefs, infomuch that they rejected our kerHes and cloths, which JenkiJifon offered to fide •'•• . Nardos Gapanica., or NarduSy from a certain part of India Nardvs^ called Gapana^ is ano.her article of commerce. The Nardus was in high repute in former times, but now is out of fafliion. It was much ufed in form of a pomatum, with which the Ro- mans perfumed their hair. Horace fpeaks of it frequently, on feftive occcafions, and in one exemplifies the antient cuftom of bringing their pretious ointments in a box of Onxx or Alabajlrites : " Nardi pan^us Onyx eliciet cadum." Old Gerard, p. 1081, fpeaks of its medical virtues in his days. I cannot afcertain the plant. The Malebathrum was another valuable drug from this re- Maleeathrca: gion. Fliny, lib. xii. c. 12, and hb. xiii. c. 1, fpeaks highly of it as a perfume, in which it feems to have been an ingredient among many others. The Unguetitum Regale was compofed of not fewer than twenty-fix. That of Syria was alfo in high requeft. Horace fpeaks of his fitting with his old friend, Pojn- peius Varus, at a feaft, crowned with wreaths of flowers, and. highly perfumed : " Sspe diem mero " Fregi, coronatus nitentes " Makbathro Syria capillos." Pliny gives a very long lift of the perfumes ufed by the Romans. They were moftly pomatums, and confequently not the mofl: * Purchas, iii. p. 240. delicate. 134 Hyacinth. Amethyst. Testudo. Imports. WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. delicate. The variety was endlefs, and fome of the ingredients would feem now very fingular. They anointed themfelves with fome kinds, to fupprefs the rank fmell of their bodies, and often to prevent the effects of their intemperance and excefs in meats and drinks, being too fenfibly perceived. Diofcorides and Pliny fay, that the vegetable which yielded this perfume was a certain water-plant, that floated on the furface, like what we call duck- meat. , Gerard, p. 1534, called it I'alapatra, or Indian leaf, and gives the figure of a Ihrub, related to the clove. The Hyacintbus, a pretious ftone, mentioned by Arrian as an article of commerce. That of the antients approached the Amethxjl in value and color. " Emicans^" fays Pliny, " in " Amethyjio fulgor violaceus, dikitus eft in Hyacintbo'^ Thofe of India were the moft valuable. The Tejludo Cbryfonetiotica was a fmall fpecies of land-tor- toife, another export : it was fo called by the Greeks, being marked as if with threads of gold ; this is a faithful defcrip- tion given by the antients : Linnaus calls it I'edudo Geometrica ; La Cepede gives a good figure of it in tab. ix. The imports here (for it is well to know the antient wants of the countiy) were, a confiderable quantity of fpecie ; hence we may account for finding in India the coins of Europe; chry^ Jolites, an jElbiopian gem of a golden color; a few plain cloths; Polymcta, or embroideries of different- colors ; Stimfni', Coral, probably the red, from the Mediterranean fea, all others abounding in the eaftern feas ; rude glafs, brafs, tin, lead, a litde w'me, Samlarac, or red arfenic, Arfeniciim, or the common, wheat for the ufe of the fliips only, being fcarcely an article of commerce. 6 All WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 135 All this coaft, the Lyj7iirica Regio^ or modem Concan^ was greatly frequented by the Roman merchants. " Originally they performed only coafting voyages, from harbour to har- bour, failing from Cana^ the modern Cava Canim, on the coaft of Arabia Felix , till Hippalus^, an adventurous feaman, having confidered the fituation of the harbours, and the form of the fea, found out a navigation through the ocean, at the feafon in which the winds blow with us, fays Arriatj^ from the fea, and the weft fouth weft wind prevails in the Indian ocean : which wind is called Hippahcs^ from the firft difcoverer of that navigation. From that time till now, fome fail in a direct courfe from Cana, others from the harbour of the Aromatic, they who fail ior Lymirica make a longer ftay: others who fteer for Barygaza or &cythia, ftay not above three days; they fpend the reft of the time in completing their ufual voyage." A FEW leagues to the fouth of Mount D/7/^, ftands Telli- Teilicherrt. cherry^ in Lat. 11° 48', an EngliJJj fettlement, of late years de- fended by lines, of a weakening extent, formed againft the attacks of the late Ayder Alii. The place had been for years befieged by his forces, under the command of his General, Sadik Khan .- a vigorous fally, in January 1782, ended all his plans, which was conduced by Major Abingdon^ a brave and able * Arrian, Peripl. Mar. Eryth. ii. p. 174. t A harbour and place of great commerce, the Aromata emporium, not far from the Aiomota promontorium, or Cape Gardefui, the extreme eaftern promontory of Africa, officer. 136 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. officer*, fent from Bombay by General Goddard, with a detach- ment of the army for its rehef. The army %vas defeated, the camp taken, and the General wounded and made prifoner. He foon died of a broken heart, and was buried near the fort with due honors. A tomb was ere6ted over his grave ; lamps are con- tinually burning, and the Muff'elmen in numbers pay refpe6tful vifits to the place t. Ayder had a ftrong fortrefs near the Eftg- I'ljh limits; but if the lines were forced T'ellicbeny muft fall. The fituation of the town is extremely beautiful ; backed by hills finely broken, and wooded, interfperfed with valleys, and watered by a fine river; but its extreme healthinefs is a recom- mendation beyond all other beauties: it is equal to that of England, and is, on that account, the great refort of invalids. Pepper is the great article of commerce ; but cofFee is alfo cul- tivated there. TelUcheny once belonged to the French, but we made our- felves matters of it, I believe, in King lVilliam\ time. Hamil- ton fpeaks of the punch-houfes : this reminds me of a pleafant miftake of M. £^r;2/Vr, iii. 154, who taking the vefTel for the contents, fpeaks of a fatal liquor much drank by the EngliJ/j, called Boule-ponge, Mah£, Mahe, a French fettlement, is contiguous to TelUcherry, feated among mofl delicious wooded hills, and near the mouth of a river. The French fettled here about the year 1722 ; we took it in 1760, and, before we evacuated it, completely difm untied the town, but did no other damages. To this day we prevent * War in Afia, i. 263. f Franklin's Travels, 13. them WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 137 them from reftoring the fortifications, or augmenting their forces. The great fquirrel of Maiabar, Sonnerat,\\. tab. Ixxxvii. is New Squirrel, found near Mate ; it is as large as a cat, the ears fliort and tufted, the tail longer than the body, the upper part of the body reddifli. It frequents the coco-trees, is fond of the liquor of the nut, which it will pierce to get at ; has a moft llirill and Iharp cry. - The great flaple of this country is, as it was in the days of Pepper, Arrian, pepper. They cultivate here, and indeed far inland, the Piper nigrum and album ; alfo the P. longum^ or long pep- per, Rumph. Amboin. v. 333, tab. ti6. All thefe are climbing plants, and require fupport. The white is only the fruit in an unripe ftate. Raynal fays, we draw annually from this neigh- borhood fifteen hundred thoufand pounds weight. The interior of the Malabar coaft is filled with forefls of Great Trees trees, many of which are of maiedic fizes, and what the author „ n ' ■' ■> ' BAR LOAST. ftyles vaJlcB magnitudinis. I have formed a colledlion of the fpecies, moft of which Liniuvus was unable to afcertain. In thofe cafes I refer to our great Ray, and give the Malabar names, with references to the Hortus. The trees that are not to be found in this catalogue, may be met with in that of the Cey- lonefe. The name of Rheede prefixed, will evince them to be common to both countries. Katon Maragam Rheede Mateb. p. iv. tab. 13, Rail biji, ii. 1463 Idon Moulli — . . _ - _ Raii hiJl.W. 1482 Kara Nagolam — iv. tab, 18. « - - - - 14S3 Vol. I. T Coramotti j.g WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. Commotti — v. tab. 45- - - - R'^H ^'fl' ii« I49& Angolam — iv. tab. 17. - - - - - - 1497 KaraCandel— V. tab. 13. ------ 1498 Mail Elon — V. tab. I. ------ 1557 Katon Mail Elon — v. tab. 2. ----- i^^g Thoka — iv. tab. i") — Teek, fee before, p. 81. - - 1565 Calefiam — iv. tab. 32. __---_ j^gy Nyalel — iv. tab. 16. _----_ 1606 Kiruala — iii. tab. 42. _---»- 1644 Cratceva Tapia, Syft. pi. ii. 419. Panitsjica Maram — iii. tab. 41. - • - « - 1666 Syalita — iii. tab. 38. ----*-- 1707 Tongelion Perimaram — ----._ jy^^ Tondi Teregam — iii. tab. 60. - - - - - 1787 Panam Pulka Nux Myriflean, &: iv. tab. 5. - - - 1524 Tfiem-tani — iv. tab. ii. Raiihiji, 1556 — Rumphia Amboinenjis^ Syft. pi. i. 92. Dillenia Indica, Syft. pi. ii. 624. Coco Trees. Abundance of coco trees, the Cocos nucifera, Calappa, and T'enga of the Indians (not cocoa) are planted along this coaft. Of the body of the tree the Indians make boats, the frames for their houfes, and rafters. They thatch their houfes with the leaves; and, by flitting them lengthways, make mats and bafkets. The utility of the nut of this tree is great, for food, and for drink, and for the oil extracted from it ; of the thready rind is made cordage, called Kaiar, and I think it is woven into coarfe linen. From the branches exudes, on being cut, a liquor WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. liquor called Toddy \ the Indians hang, to the part left adherent to the tree, an earthen pot, in which is collecSted from a pint to a quart a day. From this liquor, fermented, is diftilled an excellent Arrack, and a very fiery dram called Fool, with which our feamen too frequently intoxicate themfelves. Areca Cathecu, or Pinanga, Rumpb. i. tab. iv. to vii. is, from the univerfal cuftom of chewing the nut with Betel, a moft ufeful tree, and greatly cultivated in every part of India, The FUny of India gives feveral plates of it, with the form of the nut, and frudtification, and of the cultivated and wild kinds ■'■■'". The nuts are ufually of the lize of a hen's egg: they are therefore broken and prepared for chewing, wrap- ped in the bitter leaf of the Betel, mixed with Chunan, or fliell lime, and in that form taken all over I}idia by people of every age, fex, and condition. Rumphius, i. p. 32, is moft particvdar about the ufe, and the great pomp and ceremony with which the Indian monarchs beftow it on the embafladors they receive from foreign ftates. It is the compliment of the country to offer this at vifits, or wherefoever people meet : it is an emblem of peace and friendfliip, is fuppofed to ex- hilarate the fpirits, to ftrengthen the ftom.achs (but at the expence of- the teeth), and is particularly in repute with ladies of intrigue, as it is fuppofed to improve the powers of love. "Y\iQ' Arabs call the Areca xxtt FaufeL Gerard, p. 1520, has Caufed it to be engraven. These trees are not found in Coromandel or Bengal. Tlie nuts are fent there in great quantities, as articles of commerce. * Betela-coii), Rhsede. v. tab, l6. T 2 The 139 u-o WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. The ule of this nut is, in many parts of India, greatly abufcd ; they are mauc the infl-ruments of philtres, charms, and incantations by the fair fex, and often the medium of a fatal poiibn. The firft is intended to conciUate the affetftion of their lovers, a pracSlice in all ages and in all countries. They are even faid to pofiefs the powers of changing afFedtions, to diiiblve that between man and wife, and transfer them to other objedts. They are next iifed as means of revenge, for the Jprette injuria forma. They are faid to be capable of preparing the nuts in fuch a manner, as to bring on the offending parties the completeft imbecility; or, if they j^refer another mode of revenge, death itfelf, lingering, and diftant ; even to any time tbcfe demoniac fair chufe. The lover falls into an atrophy, and wades away in the claffical manner, defcribed by the Greeks and Romans J when the waxen image was made the fatal incanta- tion. Riunphius records the Indian tales, and feems to believe them. He certainly was a man of abilities, and nothing credulous. Betel, The Betel, its concomitant, is a fpecies of pepper, Fiper Betel, a climbing plant, native of all India, and cultivated by props or poles, like the reft of the kind. Neither this, nor the Areca, hath efcaped our old friend Gerard: at pages 1520, 1521, he hath given good figures of both kinds. White I MAY mention other fpecies of the vegetable kingdom that Sand£rs. are articles of commerce from this coaft. Such is the Santalum album, Rumpb. Atnboin. ii. 42, tab. 11, which grows to a great fize. This wood has a ftrong aromatic fmell, and is burnt in all the houfes of the Orientalijls for the fake of its falubrious and V/ E S T E R N H I N D O O S T A N. 141 and fragrant fcent. A pafte is alfo made of the powder of the wood, with which the Indians^ Cbinefe^Perfians^ Turks, and Arabs, anoint their bodies, iifing their perfumes as the Romans did of old. Gerard, p. 1585, fays, that the Indians life a deco6tion of the wood in fevers, and various difeafes. Red Sanders, Santalum rubriim, the Pterocarpus fanta- REoSANDBRSk llnus, Linn.fuppL pL 318, Fl. Zejl. N°4i7. Draco arbor, Com- mel. hort. i. p. 213, tab. 109, Rati hiji. pi. iii. arbor. 113, grows here. It has a place in our difpenfaries, and its wood is made "ufe of in various works, and all the different forts of houfe- hold furniture, benches, tables, &c. * and toys, on account of the agreeable fcent. Blocks of the wood of this tree are of a ftoney hardnefs and weight t. The gum and fap are of intenfe rednefs %. The Amomwn Cardamomum, or Minus, of Runipb. Ajnboin. v. Cardamomum, 152, tab. 65, grows here naturally, particularly in places covered with the aflies of plants burnt on the fpot. Confult Gerard, p. 1542, for the form of the fruit. The feeds are ufed in the Indian made-diQies ; and, mixed with Areca and Betel, chev/ed to help digeftion, and llre.igthen the ftomach. We retain it in our difpenfary. As to the Amomuin Zinziber, our common ginger, Rumph. Ginger, Amboin. v. 156, tab. 66, IVoodvUle, i. 31, the beft in all India is cultivated in this country, and univerfldly ufed to correcSt the in- fipidity of the general food, rice ; and is alfo mixed in the difhes of perfons of rank. This was one of the imports of the Spicy Expoe,«-s. Romans, as was the Cardamomum, Piper, Myrobalanus, Calamus * Rumph. Amboin. ii. + Rail Hift. ii. 1805. J Same. aromaticuSy, i,^, WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. aromaticus^ Nardus, Cojtus, Xyloclnnamomumt Afpalathos, and Sefama, or the oil extrafted from its feed. Cassia. Bastard cinnamon, the Ccijfia of the fliops, and Laurus Cojfia, Burman. Zeyl. 63, tab. 28, grows here in great plenty, and the bark is a great article of commerce in India : fome little is fent to Europe, but the confumption is very fmall, as we prefer the true fpecies : the bark is more red, and has a lefs flavor. It is faid, that the forefts of Malabar produce annually two hundred thoufand pounds weight. It is endlefs to enumerate the plants or trees of India ; the knowledge of its vegetable kingdom can only be learned from the number of books exprellly written on the fubjedt ; yet, in the courfe of this topography, 1 fliall incidentally give a brief account of the moll: Angular, or the moft ufeful. In this place I fliall de- tain the reader a little longer than ufual, to mention the ufeful Bamboo Ried. Bamboo, a reed which is found frequent in the country. It is the retreat of tigers, panthers, bears, and other beafts of prey ; and the haunt of infinite numbers and varieties 'of the monkey tribe. Botanifts ftyle \\. Ariindo Bainbos, ■xACi. Arundo arbor', it is an evergreen. The Item is of a vivid green, but as it grows older, becomes of a duller color. I refer to the Syjlema Flanta- rum for the fynonym^s. Rumphius, iv. 8, defcribes, but does not give its figure. In the Hortus Malabaricus, i. tab. 16, it is found under the title of Ily. Bamboo is not the Indian name, but one impofed on it by the Portuguefe, from the violent ex- plofion the hollows give on being fet on fire, occafioned by the confined air, little inferior to that of a piece of artillery. This plant grows to a prodigious height, fo as to over-top all trees of t the WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. the foreft ; and its circumference fo great, as to occafion hyper- bolical exaggeration. Pliny fays, that the joints of thofe which grew about the AcefineSy are fo large, that a fingle one is fuf- ficent to make a boat. *' Navigiorum etiam vicem praeftant (11 '' credimus) fingula internodia." Pliny feems to credit the re- lation ; and Acofia^ (Aromatum liber) an author of credit, in- forms us, that he had frequently feen them in ufe on the river, near Cranganor, on this coaft, and that they were capable of carrying two Indians', one fate on each end, with their knees joined, and each carried a fliort oar, or paddle, with which they rowed with vaft rap-.dity, and even againft the ftream. The honorable Edward Monkton, who had been at Goa, has alTured me, that the above mud have been a miftake. The largeft joint he ever finv (which always grows at the bottom of the plant) was not two feet in length, and about the thicknefs of a llout man's leg. The bamboo is fubfer^'ient to other vifes limilar, but far more important. The reed, foimed into a frame, and covered with Ikin, becomes a boat of the fame fort with the Br i tip coracles, or rather the vitilia navigia, in which the Britons even croffed our narrow feas *. Jyder Alii had great numbers, w^hich he car- ried with him in his campaigns : thofe frames were carried by two men, and the fkins by two more ; and in a quarter of an hour they were ready for ufe ; one of thefe veffels was capable of containing twenty-five men, or a piece of cannon, with which they croffed any rivers they found in their march t. As to the horfes, they fwim by the fide of the coracle, held by the horfeman (who is in the boat) by the bridle, in the fame * Tcur in Wales, i; 234, t Hift. of AyJer AUi, i. ii6. niannei: 143 144 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. manner as the Scots pafs their nags over the narrow arms of the fea *. It is pretended, .that thefe canes are fo difiiked by the cro- codiles, that they never feize on the navigators, as the fliarks in Greenland do on the poor Greenlanders, whom they bite in two, feciired as they feem to be, in their canoes. In moft places, the joints are iifed as pitchers to carry water> and fome will contain fnfficient to fupply the family for the whole day. From this ufe it is named the Arundarbor Vafaria. At the fiege of Manga/ore^ 'Tippoo Sultan mounted his fpears on light bamboos, a hundred and forty-feven feet long, and made liis defperadoes mount the breaches, and under the fire of his artillery affail the brave ga'rrifon, inflidling diftant and unexpecSled wounds or death t. In China, the joints perforated ferve as pipes for conveyance of water, and in the fame country, by macerating them, the Chinefe make their paper, both coarfe'and fine; fplit into len- der lengths, this cane is of much ufe in making mats. In fliort^ its ufes are innumerable. They are often made ufe of for frames of houfes, for which, their ready fiflibility, and their lightnefs, peculiarly adapt them. They are greatly fearched after, as poles to carry burthens, but particularly for the poles of Palanquins ; for this purpofe they are bent while growing, to give them a proper curvature ; -and when richly carved, as they often are, are fold at a vaft * Voy. Hebrides, lad edit. p. 326. Lucan, lib, iv. 131, t Wars in Afia, i. 497. price WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 145 price in the luxurious Coromandel, and other parts. Linjcofany and M. Sonnerat, give prints of the effeminate great men of India, attended by their flavifh train, and making their fellow- creatures their beafts of burden, who go at the rate of two leagues an hour : I obferve fome of their attendants in the fafliion of the high toed flioes, prohibibited in England in the reign of Edward IV*. Some I obferve attended with a dwarf or two, acuftom formerly very frequent, even in the European courts. This reed is alfo called Mambu, and was celebrated in early times by the Arabian phyficians, for producing from its joints a fort of infpillated juice, of a fweet talle, called I'abaxar, and Tabaxar. Sacar Mambii. It often grows dry, and is difcovered by its rattling within the hollow of the reedt. It was a famed medi- cine with all the Orientalijls, in outward and inward heats, bilious fevers, and other diforders of that nature, and in dyfen- teries ; and it was reckoned peculiarly efficacious in difcharges of coagulated blood, fo frequently left in internal wounds. Thefe ufes made it once a great article of export from the Malabar ports. The Brahmins alfo ufe this Sacar in their medical prefcriptions. In this hot country, the reed is often applied to another ufe, adapted to refrefli the exhaufted native; it is bent fo as to form arbours and cool walks of confiderable length, delicious retreats from the rays of the vertical fun. Finally, the application of it as an inftrument of punhhment (in China at left), of the moft * HolinfheJ's Chron, p. 668. f AcoHa, in Eluf. Exot. 164, 246. Vol. I. U fevere J 46 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. fevere nature. It is ufed as the baftinado, and often till death enfues, in the molt cruel manner. Sugar. Sugar was originally brought from Indiay by the intro- dudion of the plant, the Saccharum Officinarum. I fhall here give fome account of this ufeful article, and its various removals from its native place into Europe, where it was for fome ages cultivated with great fuccefs. '* Jrabiai" fays P/iny, lib. xii. c. 8, " produces Saccaron, but the bell is in India.''' It is a honey ** collected from reeds, a fort of white gum, brittle betv»een *' the teeth : the largeft pieces do not exceed the lize of a hazel " nut, and it is ufed only in miCdicine." ANTiciuiTY OF. The cane was an article of commerce in very early times. The prophets Ifaiah*- and Jeremiah \ make mention of it: " Thou haft brought me no fweet cane, with money," fays the firft : and the fecond, "To what purpofe cometh there to ** me the fweet cane from a far country ?" Brought for the luxury of the juice, either extradted by fuftion or by fome other means. In the note on the elegant poem, the Sugar Cane J, Dodlor Grainger informs us, that at firft the raw juice was made ufe of; they afterwards boiled it into a fyrup, and, in procefs of time, an inebriating fpirit was prepared therefrom, by fermentation. Its Removals. Sugar was firft made from the reed rsxEgypt, from thence the plant was carried into Sicily, which, in the twelfth century, fupplied many parts of Europe with that commodity ; and from thence, at a period unknown, it was probably brought into Spain^ by the Moors. From Spain the reed was planted in the Canary * Ch. xlv. 24. .j. Ch. vi. 20, X Note in Book ix. 22. iflands, WESTERN HINDOOSTAN, 147 iflands, and in the Madeira, by the Portuguefe, This happened about the year 1506. hi the fame year, Ferdinand the Ga- thohc ordered the cane to be carried from the Canaries to St. Domingo. From thofe iflands the art of making fugar was introduced into the iflands of Hifpaniola, and in about the year 1623 into the Brazils-, the reed itfelf growing fpontaneoully in both thofe countries. Till that time fugar was a molt expenfive luxury, and ufed only, as Mr. Anderfon obferves, in feafts, and phyfical neceffities. I SHALL here anticipate the account of the ftate of fugar in Into Spain. Spain, where in Europe it firft became ftationary, borrowing it from the ninth volume of my Outlines of the Globe. It was, till of late years, cultivated to great advantage in the king- dom of Granada, and great quantities of fugar made in the ingenios, or mills. In the year 1723, in the city of Mefril, were eight hundred families : Their principal commerce was in fugars and fyrups, made in four fugar works, from the planta- tions of canes, %vhich reached from the fouth fide down to the fea fide ; but thefe and the other fugar works are greatly decayed, by reafon of the exceffive duties. This, with the increafed demand for fugar, on the prevaling ufe of chocolate in the kingdom, which requires double the quantity of that article, has occafioned a drain of a million of dollars out of the country, in payment for fugar, preferves, and other confec- tionaries. This is very extraordinary, confidering that Spain is poffeifed of fome of the fineft fugar iflands, befides the j^ower of manufadurjng it within its home dominions*. I NOW digrefs feveral leagues to the wefl, to the Laccadive Lacca,divb _ , . 1 . , Isles. ifles, a confiderable group, the centre of which is nearly op- * Uztariz, ii. ch. 94. U 2 polite J48 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. pofite to Tellicherry. They extend from Lat. lo" to i2* 5c! north, are low, and not to be feen farther than fix or feven leagues, Thefe are fuppofed to be the ifles intended by P/o/^- my^ by the title of Infula Nujnero xix. but, in fadt, they are thirty-two, all of them fmall, and covered with trees, and rocky on their fides, moftly as if laid on a bottom of fand, attended with reefs, and the channels bet ween. them are very deep. They are commonly navigated by our fliips, in their way to t\iQ Perjian Gulph, or the Red Sea. That called the ix| degree channel, or the paffage between the moll fouthern of the Laccadives, the ifle of Maliqu.e, and that called Mamala, or the viii. degree channel, between the ifle of Malique, and the moft northern of the Mald't'ce ifles, are thofe which are in ufe. Each illand has its name : Captain Cornwal fays,, that called Calpenia has a river, where fliips. of two hundred tons may float and clean. The principal traffic of thefe ifles, is in the products of the coco trees, fuch as the oilj the cables, and cordage; and in fifli, which is dried and fent to the continent of India., from whence they get rice, &c. in return. They alfo trade to Mafcat, in large boats, and carry there the fame commodities, and bring back Ambergrise. dry and wet dates, and a little coffee. Ambergrife is found often, floating off thefe ifles. Hamilton mentions a piece in poffeffion of a certain Rajah, valued at £. 1,250 flerling. It is now generally fuppofed to be a mineral ; Cronjled, at left, ranks it among them : the beft is of a grey color,. is a ftrong perfume, and is alfo much nfed in medicine. It is highly efteemed as a cordial, and in nervous complaints ; and, in extremities, is ad- miniftered often as a perfuaflve to the foul not to quit its earthly tenement. A, Captain WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 149 A Captain Coffin, engaged in the fouthern or Guinea whale fifhery, found in a female fpermaceti whale, three hundred and fixty ounces of ambergrife. This is faid not to be unufual, but then it always is in fickly emaciated fiflies. Thefe inftances do not prove that it was the produ6lion of the fpermaceti whale, the food of which is /quids, or the fepia : many of the horny beaks were found adhering to the ambergrife, or im*- merfed in that foft fubftance. It appears to me, that the whales fometimes fwallow it, that it difagrees with them, and a6ls as a fort of poifon, bringing on a decay, and death; and that the parts of the fepia found lodged in it, are the undilTolved remains lodged in the ambergrife. Mr. Coffin fold his prize at nineteen fhiliings and nine pence per- ounce. This is related in Phil. Tranf. Ixxxi. p. 43. Midway between thefe ifles and thofe of the Ma/dives, is Isle or r.lAir- the ifle of Malique, a fmall, low, and folitary fpot, furrounded with breakers, feated in Lat. 8° 20' north. It is inhabited, and dependent on a Rajah on the Malabar coafl. A large ihallop of twenty-two oars came off to a French India fliip in 177O': among the people were three who appeared of rank, and who very politely offered their fervices to the European officer. The Maldive iflands are to the fouth of the laft. They Maldive. extend from north to fouth, inclining a little to the fouth-ealf, from Lat. 7° 25' to a little more than Lat. 1°. Thefe are the moft lingular and numerous groups of illes in the world : From their numhGr Ptolemy names them Infult^ mccclxxviii. The Nubian Geographer calls thefe ifles Robaibat, The. 150 WESTERN H I x\" D O O S T A N. The two Mahoimtart travellers of the ninth century, make them amount to nineteen hundred ; and the fea which fur- rounds them, and lies to the north-weft of them, they called the Harchend fea. The natives make the number of their ifles amount to twelve thoufand. They were difcovered in 1508, by the younger Ahneyda-, and conquered by the Portugueje from the Moors, who had ufurped the fovereignty of them from the natives, who probably came originally from the adjacent Ma- labar. The Europeans did not long maintain polTeflion. The Portugueje had obtained leave to erect a fort on one of the ifles ; bat they were foon cut off by the MaJdivianSj and their fort demolifhed. They are divided into thirteen Attollons, or provinces, and are governed by one king; but each AttoUon has its particular governor, who rules with great oppreffion. The fubjeifts are miferably poor, and none dare wear any cloathing above the waift, except a turband, without a particular licenfe. The king affumes the magnificent title oi Sultan of \.h& Maldives, king of thirteen provinces, and twelve thonfand ifles. From Mr* Dalrymple's chart of the Maldwes, they feem divided into thir- teen groups, each pretty nearly equidiftant, and each with their proper name: their form is mofl: Angular; they are reprefented as reefs of fmall and very low iflands, regular in their form, and furrounding a clear fpace of fea, with a very fliallow por- tion of water between them.. The chief is called Atoll Mal^ divas : they have only four ports, in which their few articles of commerce are collected. One WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 151 One article is the Cozury, a fmali fpecies of lliell, the Cvprcea Trade in Moneta of Linnans, D'Argenville^ tab. xviii. fig. K. It is very ^"^""'^^ Shells. Angular that many parts of the world fhould for ages pail be obliged to theie little and remote illands for their fpecie ; and that the contemptible lliells of the Maldives, prove the price of mankind, and contribute to the vileft of traffic in Negro-land\ but fo it is ! Thefe fliells are coUeifted twice in the month, at full and new moon. It is the bullnefs of the women, who wade up to their middle to gather them. They are packed lip in parcels of twelve thoufand each, and are the cur- rent money among the poor in Bengal. A Cowry is rated there at the hundred and lixtieth part of a penny, fo that it is impoffible to find a coin fo fmall as to be of ufe to the poor in a country where provitions are fo exceedingly cheap ; eighty Cowries make z pun, and from fifty to fiKtypunStthQ value of a roitpee, or four fhillings and fix-pence EngUPj,^ They are re-exported to England, France, &:c. ; and from thofe places again to Guinea, as the price of the unhappy natives. Ha- milton, i. 347, miftakes the manner of gathering them, vrhen he fays — " The natives fling into the fea branches of coco trees,. ** to which the fliells adhere, and are collecfled every four or " five months." The exchange for them from Bengal, is rice, butter, and cloth, which is brought from that country in fmall. velTels, fitted for the fhallow navigations. These iflands, as well as the Laccadives, have befides a brifk trade with the weftern coafts of India, chiefly in coco nuts, and the feveral manufactures from that ufeful article. Among which, x.h.Q Kaiar, or cables and ropes, made of the filaments of the nuts, have a vaft fale on all the coafl oi India. + Fish 152 Vv^ESTERN HINDOOS TAN. In Fish. Fish is another article; the fpecies is faid to be chiefly the BonitOy or Scomber Pelamys. Thefe annually migrate among the illes, in AprU and May. They are caught both by hook and net, are fplit, and the bone taken out, fprinkied with fea water and fet to dry ; then put into the fand, wrapt up in coco leaves, and placed a foot or two below the farface, where they become as hard as fLOck-fifli. Veffels come from Atchee?i in the ifle of Sumatra, with gold duft, to purchafe this necefiary, which is again fold there at the rate of ;^.8 per thoufand. The coco tree is the only one which thefe ifles do produce, for they are univerfally fandy and barren. Of this the inhabi- tanis build veffels of twenty or thirty tons. The cables, ropes, fails, and every individual part is made of this tree ; which even fupplies the fire-wood, and proviiion, oil for their kitchens and lamps, fugar, and candied fweetmeats, and ftrong cloth. They are furniflied with water from wells, which they dare not fink deeper than five or fix feet, otherwife the fait water will percolate through the fand. On them they depend, nor do thefe ever fail. All, Rajah of Cananore, and High Admiral of Ayder AIll, made a conqueft of thefe illes, took the king captive, and cruelly put out his eyes. In this ftate, he prefented him to Ayder, who highly difapproving of the barbarity, deprived the Rajah of the command of the fleet, and treated the unhappy prince with the utmofl humanity, gave him a palace, and fettled on him a re- venue to fupply him with every pleafure he was capable of tafling *. The poets of Aydef^ court added to his title on this * Hift. of Ayder Alii, i. 98. occafion, WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 1-3 occafion, " Kifig of the ijlands of the fea ;" and in their poems placed him above Alexander and Tamerlane. Let me here fay, that he had his poet-laureat ahvays refident, who had a ftipend of a thoufand roupees a month, and the rank of a general of a thoufand men *. Part of the inhabitants profefs Paganifm, part Mahometifmy the firft retained from the original. Their language is Cingalefcj or that of Ceylon \, which points out their primoeval ftock. As to Mahometifjn it is a more modern, religion, derived from the Moors. Some bury their dead, others burn them, hke the Hindoos : but Knox, our belt authority, fays, that the poor only inter; the rich commit them to the funeral pile 4:. Hamil- ton faw, on one iiland, certain tombs, «' fculptured," fays he, ** with as great variety of figures as he ever faw in Europe^ To return to the continent. A few leagues below Make, at Sacrifice a fmall diftance from the coaft, is the Sacrifice Rock, fuppofed to have received its name from certain Fortuguefe, taken by fome of the neighboring cruizers of Cottica, and on that rock made viiflims to the revenge of the Indians §. The city of Calicut, feated in Lat. 11° 18, ftands about eight City of Ca- leagues to the fouth of the Rock of Sacrifice. This place is cele- brated as being the firft land in India which the Europeans ever faw, after the long interval of the Roman commerce. Here the great Gama, on May 18, 1698, firft faw the fertile rifings and plains of Malabar, backed by the lofty Ghauts, rife before him. Kir. Dalrymple, in one of his plates, gives a vi-ew of what it now ♦ Hift. Ayder Alii, i. 99. f Hamilton, i. 348. X Hift. Ceylon. 115. § HamiltoDj i. p. 304. Vol. I, X is, I.ICUT. 154 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. Its antient Trade. The Zamo- R£EN, is, and, in refpefl to its natural fituation, what it muft have been at that time. The works of art are too minute to be perceptible, amidft the bold and eternal operations of nature. Calicut was at that time the greateft emporium of all hidia. The commerce of the Arabs with this port was prodigious. Pretious ftones, pearls, amber, ivory, Chijia-wzref gold and iilver, lilks and cottons, indigo, fugar, fpices, valuable woods, perfumes, beautiful varniflies, and whatever adds to the luxu- ries of life, were brought there from all parts of the eaft. Some of thefe rich commodities came by fea ; but as navigation was neither fo fafe, nor purfued with fo much fpirit as it hath been fince, a great part of them was conveyed by land, on the backs of oxen and elephants. All its fplendorand all its opulence was owing to commerce, yet the houfes were mean, but not crowded, detached from each other, and furrounded with delicious gardens ; none were built of ftone, but the royal palace, which rofe with great magnifi- cence above the other buildings. The town was very exten- iive, and very populous. At the arrival of the Portuguefe it was governed by a mo- narch, called the Zamorin, who, like a lord paramount, had all the other princes of Malabar as tributaries. The account, as related by the Portuguefe hiftorians, is, that fix hundred years before the arrival of Gama, or about the year 898, Perimal reigned fupreme over the whole country. In his old age he became a convert to Mabometijmt and determined to refign Ms dominions to his relations, and finilh his days at the holy city of Medina. His fucceffors retained the antient religion, and are confidered as chief of the Nayrs. I will relate the tale in the elegant WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 1 -^ elegant language of Camoens, who gives a faithful recital of the event, dreffed in poetical numbers, by the elegant pen of Mr. Mickle. Great Samoreen, her lord's imperial %le. The mighty Lord of India's utmofl foil : To him the kings their duteous tributes pay. And at his feet confefs their borrow'd fway. Yet higher tower'd the monarch's antient boafl; Of old, one fovereign ruled the fpacious coaft. A votive train, who brought the Koran's lore. What time great Perimal the fceptre bore. From bleft Arabia's groves to India came : Life were their words, their eloquence a flame Of holy zeal ; fir'd by the powerful ftrain. The lofty monarch joins the faithful train; And vows at fair Medina's fhrine to clofe His life's mild eve, in pray'r and fweet repofe. Gifts he prepares to decic the Prophet's tomb. The glowing labors of the Indian loom ; Orixa's fpices, and Golconda's gems : Yet ere the fleet th' Arabian ocean flems. His final care his potent regions claim. Nor his the tranfport of a father's name : His fervants now the regal purple wear. And high enthron'd the golden fceptres bear, Proud Cochin one, and one fair Chale fways ; The fpicy ifle another lord obeys ; X 2 Coukmy 156 WESTERN HINDOOSTAN, Coulam, and Cananoor's luxurious fields, And Cranganore to various lords he yields ; While thefe, and others thus the monarch grac'd, A noble youth his care unmindful paft j Save Calicut, a city, poor and fmall, Tho* lordly now, no more remain'd to fall : Griev'd to behold fuch merit thus repay 'd. The fapient youth the king of kings he made j And honor'd vi'ith the name. Great Samoreen, The lordly titled boaft of power fupreme j And now great Permal reiigns his reign. The blifsful bow'rs of Paradife to gain. Before the gale his gaudy navy flics. And India finks for ever from his &y^^. And foon to Calicut's commodious port The fleets, deep edging with the wave, refort ; Wide o'er the fhore extend the warlike piles. And all the landfcape round luxurious fmiles* And now, her flag to ev'ry gale unfurl'd. She tow'rs the emprefs of the eaflern world. : Such are the bleflings fapient kings beftow. And from thy ftream fuch gifts, O Commerce, flow. Gama was at firll well received at Calicut^ but the jealonfy of the Arabs, prevented his friendfhip with the Zamorin from being of any duration. The Partuguefe never could make themfelves mafters of the place ; but at length Albuquerque, in WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 157 ^505, prevaled on the reigning prince to permit him to build a Seized by Al- fort not far from the city. This gave him the command of the commerce, notwithilanding the city remained under the line of its antient rulers, who very frequently were engaged in wars with their European neighbors. The EngUjh had their factories here, but, I believe, have long fince deferted the place. As to the Portuguefe, they became fo diftreffed, by the union of the Dutch with the Zamorin, that they blew up their fortrefs, and entirely quitted the neighborhood. It was afterwards either undermined with the fea, or overthrown by an earthquake, for Hamiltoii fays, that in 1703 his fhip, which drew twenty-one feet water, flruck on its ruins. Ayder Alii advanced towards this town. It was voluntarily BvAvDERALii, furrendered to him by the Za77iorm, who proftrated himfelf at his feet, and prefented him with two bafons of gold, one filled with pieces of gold, the other with pretious llones ; and two fmall cannons of gold, with golden carriages of the fame metal. Ayder raifed him from the ground, and promifed to rertore to him his dominions, on condition of paying a fmall tribute. The two princes parted, feemingly in perfecSt amity. The next day the palace appeared on fire. In defiance of all attempts to fave it, it was wholly deftroyed, and with it peridied the prince, his family, and vaft treafures. The Zamorin had juft received let- ters from the Hindoo Rajahs of Travancore and Cochin, bit- terly reproaching him with betraying his country to the Maho^ metansj and becoming apoftate to his religion, declaring him degraded and expelled from his call. So affefted was he with the difgrace. 1^8 W E S T E R N H I N D O O S T A N. difgracc, that he determined on the fatal Jo ar, fee page 56, and by that rite made the horrible expiation * ! By Major In the year 1 782, this city was taken by Mz]oy Ablngton. He ■svas fuperfeded in his command by Colonel Humberjlon. The environs were at that time in polTeffion of the enemy, under Mugdum Sahebt a general of Ayder\. The youthful hero, panting after glory, falUed forth with a handful of men, and gave him a total defeat. Mugdum, feveral principal officers, and between three and four hundred men, fell in the acStion. His forces confifted of three thoufand foot and near a thoufand horfe. " I am afliamed," fays the modeft vidtor, " to name *' the number of my troops : they were io few, that you will <' think me rafli to have ventured an acSlion. In confequence " the enemy evacuated all the country, which belonged to the " Zamorin, whom I reftored to his polTeffionst." Pakiani. Panianiis a town a few miles farther, where the Engl'ifb had once a fettlement. What makes it particularly remarkable is, that the GbautSy oppofite to the place, have in them a gap, be- tween fourteen and fifteen miles in length, and about fixteen miles in width, occupied chiefly by foreil trees, and is defended by the forts of Annamally and PaUcaudcberry, and others : It being the important pafs to and from the Malabar coaft, and of late years has been very frequently the feat of adlion. In the campaign of 1783, the forts of Annamally and Palicaud- r.herry were taken by that mofl able officer Colonel Fullar'toriy who knew how to conquer, and knew how to record his aftions. * Life of Ayder AUi, i. in. \ Britifh India, iii. 832. 6 The WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. x^q The laft was completely rebuilt by Ayder., fince the war of 1767 with the Englijh, and was furnifhed with all the advantages of European conftrudlion and defence ; and attended with every difficulty of approach from for efts, interfedtions of i\\Q Paniani river, and deep rice grounds; yet on the 13th of November , by the condufl of the commander and the valor of his troops, it was furrendered by a garrifon of four thoufand men, after a long and defperate defence*. It was afterwards evacuated; but by the partition treaty referved to us, with other acceffions, "which gave entrance into Dindigiil^ and our interior acquifi- tions. Let me not omit, that at Palatchy, not remote from Pali- caudcherry, the land attains its greateft height, and the river runs Eaft and Weft, into the Coroma?idel and Malabar feas t. In Sep- tember 1790, Lieutenant-Colonel Hartley, with a finall detach- ment of General Meadozvs''s army, marched from Dindigul to- ward the coaft weftward, to clear the country of enemies, and favor the great attack on Tippoo Sultan. He defcended the Ghauts by the Paniani gap, reached the coaft, gained a moft brilliant vidlory over one of the Sultan's generals at Tervannagurry, on December 10, and completely broke the enemy's force on the weft of the Ghauts. He took Turuckabad, the capital of the country, continued his march northward to Cananore, joined General Abercromby, and fliared with him the fatigues and glory of the campa!igns of 1791 and 1792. It is a break between the nortaern and fouthern ridge of the Ghauts. The monn- The ^ Paniami Gaie, tains on each fide are fo high, as to arreft the clouds and winds; * Fullarton's Campaigns, p. i66. t Same, p, 159. but i6o WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. COIMBOTORE COUKTRY. CRA^•GA^"ORE. but the laft rufli with vaft violence through this great breach. During the north-eaft Monfoons, fhips at fome diftance at fea, as foon as they come within the openings, feel the fierce efFedl of the wind, which pours on them with vaft fury, but before they reach the line of the gap, and when they have paffed it, the flilleft calm fucceeds. The river Paniani rifes frcMii the north-eaft in the Coimbotore country, and paffes through the breach, and in the rainy feafon •is navigable for fmall boats, to the foot of the Ghauts, Its fource is from an elevated plain, fixty miks in extent, rifing fuddenly out of the furrounding country like a vaft terrace, and faces the great gap : Such are common in India, and are features almoft peculiar to the country. TwENTY-iive miles fouth of Paniani is Cranganore^ the northern frontier of the RajabJJjip of Travencore, When Gama arrived on this coaft he was furprifed with a vifit of certain deputies from that city, informing him, that they were, like him, Chrijiians, and requefting to be taken under the protedlion of his great mafter, Emmanuel. Gama received them with the utmort affedlion, and afliired them, he fhould recommend their interefts to the Por/z/oz/^ Admirals*, whom he fliould leave on the coaft. After his departure, a quarrel happened between them and the Zamorin. A Qiip loaden with fpices was on its way from Calicut to Cranganore ; fuch was the avarice of the Portuguefe, that they could not refift making it a prize. The nephew of the Zamorin^ who was their warm * Oibrio, lib. I. p. 134. friend, WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. i6i friend, reprefented to them the danger of offending his un- cle ; and at the fame time affured them, that the cargo was de- figned to be difpofed of to them. All was in vain ; they took the fhip, and flew fome of the crew. The nephew demanded fatisfa(5tion, but his remonftrances were received with con- tempt. Lopez SoareZf a Portuguefe admiral, came into India about this time with thirteen fliips. He found that the Zamorin, and the citizens of Cranganore, were preparing to revenge the injuries done them. He failed for that port, landed his men, and, affifted by the King of Cochin^ attacked the Indian armv, gained a complete viftory, and purfued the fugitives into the city, and fet it on fire. It was to no purpofe that the Chrijlian Burnt. inhabitants entreated the conquerors to fpare their churches. They did indeed attempt to quench the flames, but to no pur- pofe, for very few of the places of worfliip efcaped. This hap- pened in 1504. T\\Q Portuguefe built a ftrong foit near the fpot, about a league up the river, or channel, which is not above a quarter of a mile broad, but very deep, yet on the bar, at fpring-tides, had not above fourteen feet df water. A new city arofe, but the Indians rebuilt it at fome dilf ance from the antient fite, and it became one of the finefl in India. A chan- nel divides it from another narrow ifle, which is about four leagues long, and runs north and fouth, parallel with the main land. Another channel divides it from that of Cochin. The Dutch, under Commodore Goens, made themfelves mailers of Cranganore in 1660, without meeting the left refiftance. The Portuguefe, enervated with luxury, and detefted for their cru- YoL. I. Y clcv, ,5a WESTERN HINDOO STAN. eltv, in a finale year loft every one of their pofTeffions in Mala- bar to their antient foes, who fucceeded to their wealth and power, fapported by wifdom, oeconomy, and valor. As foon as they were matters of the place, they prohibited all boats or veffels from entering at the tw^o channels, determined to pre- vent furprife, and illicit trade. Jews in India. This city was diftinguiflied by two moft remarkable circum-- ftances : the one (to begin with the moft antient) was its having been the refidence of a republic of 'jews, part of the tribe of Manajjeb, who had been carried into captivity by Nebuchadnez- zar, who fent numbers of them to this diftant place. Their hiftory fays, that they amounted to twenty thoufand, and that they were three years in travelling to this place,, from the time of their fetting out from Babylon. When they arrived they were treated with great humanity by the natives, and allowed every indulgence in both religious and temporal concerns. In procefs of time, they grew fo wealthy as to purchafe the little kingdom of Cranganore. Hamilton, i, p. p. 321, 322, makes them increafe to eighty thoufand families, but in his days they were reduced to four thoufand. They eftabliflied a common- wealth, and felefted the two fons of one of the firft families, emi- nent for their wifdom, to govern them jointly. One of them, in- ftigated by ambition, murdered his brother : after which the commonwealth became a democracy; and their territory, many centuries ago, returned into the hands of the natives. Power- ful as they were, they are at prefent very poor, and few. Num- bers of them had removed to Goa, where they were greatly encouraged by the Zamorin of the time. They have to this S, day WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 163 day a fynagogue, near the king's palace, at a fmall diftance from Cochin, where are preferved their records, engraven on copper plates, in Hebrew charadters, and when any of the charadlers decay, they are new cut, fo that they can fliew their hiftory from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the prefent time. The Macenas of Malabar^ M. von Rbeede, caufed thefe records to be tranflated into low Dutch : The perufal would be very defirabie. I truft that thefe plates were not forgeries to im- pofe on the curious governor, as the famous infcription on the death of the Dani/h monarch, Hardicanute, at Lambeth, w^as by a witty wag, which fo capitally deceived the firft antiquaries of our days *. That St. Thomas preached the Gofpel in India, I make no Christians in doubt. He firft vifited the ifle of Socotora ; after performing the orders of his Divine Mafter, he paiTed through the feveral kingdoms which intervened between that ifle and "jerufakm. From Socotora he landed at Cranganore, where he continued fome time, and made numbers of profelytes, and, in all proba- bility, eftabliflied a church government. From thence he vi- fited the eaftern parts of India, and met with martyrdom at Meliapour; where we fhall refume the hiftory of this great Apofl:le. Those Chrijlians on the Malabar coaft grew into a potent people ; but, if we may credit Marco Polo, p. 135, there was in the centre of Itidia a country called Abafia, divided into feven kingdoms, three of which were Mahometan, the other four ^* See European Magazine, Vol. xvii. Vol. L Y 2 Chrijiian. i64 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. Cbrljiian. The ChriJlJans diftinguifhed themfelves by a golden crofs worn over their foreheads ; but the Jezvs who were among them were marked on their cheeks with a hot iron. Or Christians But what Weighs greatly with me concerning the truth of oMAs, ^^^ exiftence of the Indian.ChriJlians^ or Chrijlians of St. Thomas, as they are ufually called, is, that the knowlege of them had KNOWN IN Eng- reached England as early as the ixth century ; for we are cer- LAND IN 883. ^^.^^ j.^^^j. ^^^ great Alfred, in confequence of a vow, fent Sig- helm II. in the year 883, Bifliop oi Sherbourn, firft to Rome, and afterwards to India, with alms to the Chriflians of the town of Saint 'fbom-as, now Meliapour, who returned with various rich - gems, fome of which were to be feen in the church of Sberbourn (according to William of Malmjhury, lib. ii. 248) even in his days. I have not extent of faith to favour the legend of the place of the martyrdom of the faint, which was fixed by pious hiflorians to have been at St. Thomas on the Coromandel coaft ; of which the reader will find an account in the following vo- lume. Their Rites, The rites and cuftoms of thefe Chriflians differ in feveral refpeds from thofe of the church of Rome. In fome they ac- cord, which makes me imagine there might have been fome accidental communication of the nature of that I have men- tioned above. Oforio, i. 212, gives an account of their ceremo- nies. Speaking of the Chrijlians ^ of Cranganore, he thus goes on — " The Chrijlians who refide here, are generally very poor, " and their churches of a mean appearance. They keep the " fabbath in the fame manner as we do, in hearing fermons, " and performing other religious duties. Thehigh prieft, whom -i- <' they WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. «< they acknowleged as the head of their church, had his feat " near fome mountains, towards the north, in a country called " Cbald^is. He has a council compofed of twelve cardinals, " two bifhops, and feveral priefts : With the affiftance of thefe, « he fettles all affairs relating to religion ; and all the Cbrijlians " in thefe parts acquiefce in his decrees. The priefts are fhaved <' in fuch a manner, as to reprefent a crofs on their crowns. " Tbey adminifter the facrament in both kinds, making ufe of " the juice of preffed grapes, by way of wine, and allow the laity " to partake of both ; but no one is admitted to this folemn " ordinance till he has made a confeffion of his iniquities. " They baptized not their infants till they were forty days old, " except in danger of death. When any one amongft them is " feized with a fit of ficknefs, the prieft immediately vifits him, " and the fick perfon is greatly animated by the holy man's <* fupplications.- When they enter their churches, they fprin- " kle themfelves with holy water. They ufe the fame form of " burial as in other catholic countries : the relations of the de- <' ceafed give great entertainments, which laft a week, during *' which time they celebrate his praifes, and put up prayers for *' his eternal happinefs. They preferve.the facred writinsrs in " the Syrian or Chaldctan language, with great carefulnefs ; " and their teachers are ready in all public places to inft:ru6l *' every one. They keep the Advent Sunday^ and the forty " days of Lent, with great ftri6tnefs, and obferve moft of the « feftivals which we have in our church, with the fame « exadlnefs. They compute their time likewufe in the fame «< manner as we do, adding a day to every fourth year. The '' firft 165 i66 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. *' firft day of July is kept as a holiday, in honor of St. Thomas, '- not only by thefe Cbrijiians, but many of the Pagans alfo. " There are likewife convents for the priefts, and nunneries " for their women, who adhere to their vows of chaftity with ** the utmoft probity. Their priefts are allowed to marry once, <' but excluded from taking a fecond wife. Marriages amongft " other people cannot be annulled, but by the death of one of *' the parties. When a woman becomes a widow, fhe forfeits " her dowry if married within a twelve-month after the death " of her hufband. Thefe are the cuftoms and manners which " the Chrijlians in Craj^gamre, as well as many other-parts of " India, have obferved with the utmoft fidelity, from the time " of St. T'bomas." When Gama arrived on this coaft, there were about two hun- dred thoufand of them in the fouthern parts of Malabar ; during thirteen hundred years they had been under the Patriarch oi Babylon^ who appointed \}ii€vs: Metarcne or Archbifliop. They were extremely averfe to the do6trine of St. Francis de Xavier, when he came among them, and abhorred the worfliip of im- ages, which they confidered as idolatry. They refufed to ac- knowlege the Pope's -fupremacy, . and at length were per- fecuted as heretics, with all the horrors of the inquifition, newly eftabliflied at Goa. Xavier had never troubled his new converts with any inftrudlion, nor ever inftilled into them any knowlege of the principles of the Chrijlian religion, any farther than implicit obedience to the head of the church. He gave them crucifixes to worfliip, and told them, they were then fure of heaven. His preaching was fubfervient to the political in- terefts WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. tereils of his country; his abilities, and his labors for that end were amazing. In him appeared all the powers which, in after times, gave to his order that vaft importance in the affairs of the univerfe. I will conclude this article with faying, that out of the fifty thoufand inhabitants found in Bednore when Ayder Alii took pofTeflion of it, thirty thoufand were Cbrijlians, " who," fays his hiltorian, i. p. 83, " were endowed with great " privileges." Cranganore^ and a fort on the oppofite fide of the river, named Jacotta, gave rife to the important, war of the Mvfore. They had been taken from the Portugueje by the Butch, and pofTefTed by the laft a hundred and fifty years. Ayder Alii, feeing the conveniency of Cranganore to his Myforean kingdom, in 1780, feized and garriibned it. In the enfuing war, the Butch re- pofTefTed themfelves of it. In 1789 ^ippoo Sultan, the fuccefTor of Ayder, determined to make himfelf mafter of it, in right of his father. He raifed a mighty army, which fo alarmed the Butch, that they refolved to difpofe of the two forts to the Rajah of Travancore, an ally of the Englijh, in order to divert the ftorm from themfelves. I'ippoo marched with his forces, and attacked the lines of 'Travancore. The battle between his army and that of the Rajah, the latter in defence of Cranganore, on May i, 1790, was the fignal of the general war, on which commenced the firtl: campaign in June following. The con- clufion of that glorious war was the putting us in pofTeflion of the whole coail, from Caroor as far as mount Dilly, a trait of a hundred and twenty miles. This is the rcfult of the partition treaty. Cochin 167 108 WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. Cochin-. Cocbiii lies ill Lat. 9° 58' N. on the fouthern fide of the chan- nel, on an illand oppolite to another that ftretches to the fouth. It is a Rajahjlnp, poffibly dependent on that of Travancore, who feems to have undertaken the defence of the whole trail fouth- ward, by ere6ling the famous lines of Travancore, which begin at Crangamre and extend alrnoft to the foot of the Ghauts. The coaft is very low, fcarcely difcernible, except by the trees. The foundings are gradual, and are, at the diftance of two miles from fliore, ten or eleven fathoms. Ships ufually lie three or four miles from land ; a dangerous bar is an obftrudlion to en- tering the harbour ; and a moft furious furge at times beats on the Iliore. This was one of the firfl places vifited by the Portuguefey after their arrival at Calicut. It was at that time governed by a prince, tributary to the Zamoriti, but who fliewed every adt of friendfhip to the Admiral, Cabral, and his companions. At his time the harbour was capacious and open. While he was there, two of the Chrijlians of St. Thouias came and requefted him to convey them to Portugal, that from thence they might vifit Jerufakjn, and the Holy Land. Gama himfelf afterwards vifited Cochin, and received every mark of refpecft. The prince continued faithful to his new allies, and aflifted them with a confiderable army againft the Zamorin. At length fortune de- clared againft him ; the Zamorin burnt his capital, and made himfelf mafter of his dominions. The Portuguefe under Fran- cis Albuquerque, fays Lafitau, came, in 1503, to their affiftance, expelled the Zamorin, and Duarte Pacheco, whom Albuquer- que had left behind, by his aftoniQiing valor and prudence^ re- inflated WESTERN HINDOOS TAN. 169 inflated Triumpara, the reigniiig prince, but only to fit him for a new mortification. In the traafpoits of his gratitude he per- mitted the Fortugiiefe to build a fort. This gave them fidl power over their faithful ally ; and, under pretence of reducing his rebellious fubje " and rendered all attacks from without impradticable. Im- *' mured within this natural fortification, he encouraged the ** cultivation of the arts and fciences : he invited the approach '* of men of genius and knowlege ; he cultivated the friend- " fliip of the Brahmim, and was himfelf admitted into their *« fociety, by the ceremony of pafling, (as Raynelidijz) through " a golden cow, which became the property of the BrahtninSy " the cow being facred in Indiaj as formerly in Egypt ; and by ^^ preparing his own military flores, calling cannon, making " gunpowder, &c. he rendered himfelf independent of foreign " aid. The fubjecfls of his remoter provinces, who, to avoid " the ravages of war, had taken refuge within the woody circle, " now returned with their families and effedts to their former " habitations/' This mode of fortification he evidently copied from his wild neighbors, the Polygars ; but they live in almofl a favage flate, while he adopted their plan to fecure the cultiva- tion of the mild arts of peace ! Lines OF Tr A- EvEN the approach to this difficult retreat was impeded by the famous lines of I'ravancore, which extend from the fouth- ern banks of the river of Cranganore, clofe to fea, to the foot of the Ghauts, flrongly fortified in their whole extent : Thele proved the firfl check to the ambition of Tippoo Sultan. He wilhed to provoke the Rajah to begin hoflilities, in order that he might not be charged with being aggreflor. For feveral days, from the 23d to the 28th of Hecember 1789, the Sultan'^ horfemen rode up to the Rajatf^ lines, and made ufe of every VANCORE. WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 177 every infulting expedient to draw the firfl a6t of hoftility from the I'ravancore troops ; but finding them aware of his artifice, and that a detachment oiEngliJb troops was ftationed at fome dif- tance, he at laft gave way to.liis rage, and on the 29th of Decern" her attacked the lines by ftorm. His troops had filled the fofs with cotton. They paffed by that means into the interior of the lines, when, by fome accident, the cotton took fire, and the whole formed a tremendous blaze. In their rear were the flames ; in front a furious enemy. A6tuated by defpair, they fought with incredible valour : out of fifteen hundred men, only forty were taken, the reft fell vidiims to the rage of the I'ravan- corian defendants*. I'lppoo, from the outfide of the lines, was a fpecTtator of the horrid carnage of his foldiers. The Nayrs preffed on him on all fides, and being repulfed with dif- grace, and himfelf thrown from his horfe in the retreat, he is faid to have made an oath, that he never would wear his tur- ban again, till he had taken the Rajalf^ lines, and accordingly he prepared to attack them by regular approach t. On April 12, 1790, he com})letely executed his menaces. He attacked the lines v/ith fuch vigour, that he made himfelf maflier of them, totally deftroyed this famous barrier, and laid Cranga7iore in ruins, carried defolation through the country, and put every opponent to flight %. The difgrace which Tippoo fufFered, was owing to three bat- Of tjie Nayrs. talions oi Nayrs, and five hundred archers, in ail three thoufand * Mackenfie's Sketch, i. p. 18. f DIrom's Campaign?, 257. % Mackenfie's Sketch, i. p. 37. Vol. I. A a men. lyS WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. men, who, flimulated by the caufe of their country and of their religion, were crowned with vidory *. The Nayrs are the nobility of Malabar, the antient dominions of the Zamorins, and in times of their profperity formed the body guards. On the firll: appearance of Cabral at Calicut^ the Zamorin fent two of his Nayrs to compliment him on his arrival. They have at all times been famed for their valour and love of war. They are of the great military cafls the Kbatre t, and fupport to this day the fpirit of their anceftors. They are exceffively proud, and are never known to laugh. They are hefides fo very in- folent to their inferiors, that it is faid, if a perfon of the lower order dare to look at a Nayr, he may be put to death on the fpot with impunity. Among the good qualities of the Nayrs, may be reckoned their great fidelity. It is cuftomary for them to un- dertake the condudl of Cbrljlian or Mahometan travellers, or ilrangers, through their country. The latter never venture without taking a lingle Nayr with them, who makes himfelf refponfible for their fafety ; even an old decrepit man, or a boy is fufficient for the purpofe %. Should any misfortune be- fall the charge, it is related, that the Nayrs, imable to bear the difgrace, have frequently been known to put themfelves to death §. Notwithflanding this, at other times they are notorious * Britifli India, by the Hon, Charles Greville, Iii. 766 :— Alfo Mackenfie's Sketch of the War with Tippoo Sultan, i. p. 17. •}■ Sir Thomas Herbert's Travels, 2d edit, p. 337 : He calls them Cuttcriss, meaning Khatres. % NieuhofF, in Churchill, 272, 273. ^ Dellon's Voyage, 94, 95. robberss WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. ,7^ robbers, and even will murder the traveller [unprotedled by one of their caft. In their perfons they are well made, and of great ftrength; ' Their complexion more black than olive, their hair crifp, but longer than that of the Ne_^ro ; their ears enormoufly long ; they think that cuftom graceful, they lengthen them by art, and hang on them and their nofes numbers of baubles. They at times load their arms and necks with filver bracelets and chains of pearl. In time of war, on their head, they wear a moft ungraceful clout hanging down, pointed on each fide, and a Ihort wrapper round the waift, with a dagger lluck in a fafli ; all the reft of them is naked. In one hand is a fword of vaft length. Such is the figure of one given by Captain Byroriy engraven by Fivares. In religion they are of the Hindoo ; in marriage ftriift monogatnijls. Parallel to Mount D/7// and to Mahe, a fmall dominion, CoorgaNayrs. called Coorga, extends bevond the Ghauts^ unfortunately into the Mjfore, It confifts of mountains and vaft forefts, fiieltering tigers and elephants innumerable, being one of the few places in which the laft are at prefent found in a ftate of nature. The late Ayder Alii in vain attempted to fubdue the brave inhabi- tants. Family feud between the Rajah and his brother, enabled him to effecSt his purpofe. He deftroyed one family, made prifoners of the other, and polTefled himfelf of the country. The prefent Rajah^ then a boy, was fon to the younger of the contefting brothers. This youth was by Ayder compelled to be- come a Mujfulmany with all the flitimeful ceremonies of initia- A a 2 tion. t8q western HINDOOSTAN. tdon-. He was enrolled among the Cbelas^ or corps of {laves, and continued fo till he made his efcape, in 1785, into his own dominions. His faithful fubjeds flocked to him. The firft adl was the (laughter of a brigade of Tippod's troops. T\\e.^ajab inftantly offered his fervice to the Englf/Jj : It was accepted, and he proved a moil: ufeful ally. Mercara^ his capital, was in the hands of the enemy. We offered our affiftance to reduce it. This he declined : but, after Tome prudent delay, befieged it with his own people, took and dilmantled it, that in future his fubjefts might depend on their own valour in the field for the defence of their country. At the treaty of Seringapatam^ Mar- quis CoRNWALLis gencroufly ftipulated for the fecurity of the gallant Rajah. Tippoo Sultan grew irritated to a degree of phrenzy at the demand, and broke off the adual negotiation with our General, who began to renew hoflilities. Tippoo^ find- ing a relu(5lance in his troops to defend the capital, was com- pelled to accept the dicftated terms t, and the laurels of humanity and fidelity added new glories to the head of the conqueror. This account I have felected from the curious relation of the My/ore campaigns, by Major Dirom: that of the natural face of the Coorga country fliall be delivered in his own words %. This little dominion " affords not only the Sandal, and mofl •<* valuable woods in India, but teems alfo with the fpontaneous ■« productions of all the richeft fpices of the Eaft. Enjoying a, • Dirom, p. 92. f p. p. 238, 245. X fame, p. 95. « fertile WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. i8i ^ fertile foil and temperate climate, this mountainous country is ♦< a fund of wealth, that requires only peace and commerce to " render inexhauftible. It is a beautiful fcene to contemplate ; " a delightful journey to the traveller ; but a molt arduous " march, and formidable barrier to an invading army." From Cape Comorin I take my departure for the illand of IsleofCal- P £ N T Y N Ceylon^ the neareft part of which, the ifle of Calpe?ityn, is about a hundred and fifty miles diftant. The intervening fea is the gulph of Manaar^ which grows narrower and narrower till it reaches the fragments of the prior jundion with the continent, of w^hich Cape Koiel^ a large promontory of the Maraivars, and various rocks, are parts. The Cape will be defcribed in my progrefs from Cape Comorin along the eaftern coafts of Hin^ doojlan. Before Cape Koiel is the infula-foUs of FUny, lib. vi. 22, the RAMANAKoiEt. ifle of Ramana Koiel, or the ifle of the temple of the god Rama, founded near the edge of the water, and on vaft ftones, to break the force of that element. Rama had a right to a temple oppofite to Ceylon, for he killed the giant Ravanen, king of that ifland, and placed his brother, Viboucbanen, on the throne. Ratmj was highly venerated in this country. The capital of the Marawars, and the refidence of the prince, was named, in honor of the deity, Ramana-dabaram, The paffage between this illand and the continent is called Odioroa paflage. It is extremely fhort, about five miles broad, and not exceeding in depth three feet. From the eaftern end of the ifle o^ Ramana Koiel, js a chain of rocks which runs quite acrofs the narrow channel to the ille of jU WESTERNHINDOOSTAN. of Manaar, almoft adjacent to the Ceyloneje fhore : the length is abovit thirty miles, but the whole chain is frequently inter- fered by narrow pafTages, fo very fliallow, fays d'Apres, in his Neptune Oriental^ p. 85, as to be navigable only by the fmall craft of the neighboring fliore, and that only in calm weather, fo difturbed is the channel in gales by a dreadful furf. The little velTels that wilh to make the paffage, go under Manaar, where they muft unload, pay duty to the Dutch, get their vef- fel dragged through the pafs, and take in their cargo on the other fide. It is very probable, that this fucceffion of rocks was part of an ifthmus, which in very early times had united Ceylon and the continent; for the water on each fide of this chain, does not exceed thirteen or fourteen feet. Pliny, in the paffage before cited, takes notice of the greenifli caft of this part of the channel, of its being filled with flirubs, that is, with corals ; and of its being fo fliallow, that the rowers often bruflied off the tops with their oars, Adam's Bridge. This chain of rocks is called Adam's Bridge ; the tradition is, that our common father, after his tranfgreflion, was cafl: down from Paradife, and fell upon Ceylon ; but that afterwards, this bridge was made by angels for him to pafs over to the continent. Manaar is, as the name implies, fandy. The little channel is on the eafl:ern fide, and defended by a fi;rong fort, garrifoned with a hundred men, notwithftanding it is impaffable for any veffels which draw more than four or five feet water. It had on it feven churches, built by the Portugueje. The natives were converted by St. Francis de Xavier, and fiill continue profeffors 9 of ISLAND OF CEYLON. i8 of Chri/llanityy notwithftanding they have labored under many perfecutions. The pearl muffel is found in great abundance on this coaft, and the filhery has, at different times, been atteixled with good fuccefs, fince the Dutch have become matters. Pliny fay?, that the greateft plenty were found in his days on the coafts of T'abrobanay and Toidh, and Perijnula, on the peninfula of Malacca. A SPECIES of Manati is certainly found here. EaldauSj a Manatu learned clergyman, who refided long in Ceylon, defcribes it (ChurcbUr% Coll. iii. 793) fo exadly, that we cannot miftake the animal he intended. " Here is a peculiar fifli (properly « a fea-calf) of an amphibious nature; the females have *' breafts, and give fuck, and the flefh, when v/ell boil'd, taftes <* not unlike our fturgeon, and might eafily be miftaken for « veal." From Manaar is the very fhort paflage into the great iiland of C E r I. O N^ known to the antients by the name of Tabrobana, I will not Ceyl^ko attempt to expofe their miftakes in refpedl to extent, and fome other particulars, as long as the identity of the ifle is afcer- tained. Strabo mentions it in lib. xv. p« 1013, noticing the Strabo's aukwardnefs of tlie inhabitants in failing, and fitting their mafts in their velTels. Along the coafts are obferved various amphi- bious animals, among which he plainly includes Manati \ fome he compares to oxen, others tohorfes, and other land animals; the Dugungy (De Buffon, xiii. 374, tab. Ivi.) may poffibly have been '» i84 ISLAND OF CEYLON. been among them. This Strabo deUvers from the account left by Oneficrilus, a follower of Alexander the Great, who fent him on a voyage to India, where he informed himfelf of many things, among which is no fmall fl:iare of fable, or mifrepre- fented accounts. Mela's. Mela fpeaks of this ifland as the part of another world, and that it never was circumnavigated. Pi.iny'5. Pliny, lib. vi. c. 22, gives us a large chapter on the fubjedl of this illand : he not only gives the authority of Megafibenes, who had written a hiftory of India, and of Eratojlhenes, a famous geometrician, who pretended to give the circumference of Ceylon, but has drawn many lights from the four embafladors actually fent from this ifland to Rome, in the time of Claudius. By accident, a freed flave of a farmer of the Roman cuftoms in the Red Sea, was driven to the coaft of Ceylon by a ftorm ; fuch an impreflion did he make on the king of the ifland by his favorable report of the Romans, that determined him to fend thefe envoys. From them many particulars were learned j they were not fparing of any thing which tended to exalt the glory of their country : they faid that it contained five bunded cities ; the chief was Palefmundum, that had two hundred thoufand citizens. For other particulars I refer to the old hiftorian ; more is beyond my plan. Ptolemy's. Ptokuiy comes next, who is particular as to the produdlions of this great ifland. He mentions rice, honey, ginger, beryls, hyacinths ; and gold, filver, and other metals ; and he agrees with Pliny about its producing elephants and tigers. He alfo fays, the antient name of Ceylon was Symondij but in his days it was ISLAND OF CEYLON. 185 was called Salice, ftill in fome meafure retained in its Indian appellative Selen-Dive. The principal places named by the geographer, are Anurogrammum^ of which the Cingalefe fay- Anurogram- there are great remains in the veftiges of the antient city Ana- ""*** rodgurro. Maragrammon, the capital town, which anfwers to the modern Candy ; Talacoris emporium, and Nagadiba, Prafodis Jinus, and nvimbers of other places*, which fliew how well known this ifland was to the Romans, either by their fleet from the Red fea, or their coafting traders from the weftern fide of India. I will only mention Malea Mons, or the modern Tale, famous for the Pafcua Elepbantum\ Bumajani, the great haunt Pascia Ele- of elephants, and which were driven, and probably fliipped, at ^"'^^''■""' a port ftill called by the Dutch, Geyeweys of Elephants van plaetSy and tranfported in vaft fliips to Ca/inga I, probably the fame with the modern Calingapatam, a city and port on the coail: of the northern Circars, El. Edrifi, p. 31, fpeaks of this ifland under the name of El. Ebrht. Serandib, and Marco Polo under that of Scilam. It is celebrated by each for its rich gems. By miftake the Nubian Geographer places the diamond among them ; but all the reft it produces in high perfection, and feveral kinds of aromatics or fpices. Silk was alfo exported from hence in his days. Me fpeaks highly of the ruling monarch, who had fixteen privy counfellors, four of his own people, four Cbrijiians, four Mahometans, and four * Ptolem, Geograph. f Ptolem. Geograph. ^llan, Nat. Anim. lib. xvi, c. i8. X The lame. Vol. I. Bb J^a7; i86 ISLAND OF CEYLON. "Jews'^ fuch was the moderation of this excellent prince ! He loved good wine, which he procured from Panhia and Perjiciy and difperfed among his fubjedls. He was indulgent in this gift of heaven, but a moll fevere enemy to incontinence. Ceylon VISITED THE Portuguefe were the firft of ih^ European nations who AlmeVda^'^'^^ vifited Ceylon. It was difcovered by Laurence Almeyda^ in 1505^ who was driven accidentally from his cruize off the Ma/dive ifles, by the violence of the currents, into a port called by the natives Gabalican*. The ruling prince was, as he is now ftyled, emperor, and is lord paramount over the lefler kings; he is ftyled moft great, invincible, and tailed^ -, the firft of his race coming from Slam, with a tail a foot long, pendent from be- hind ; his pofterity in due time (according to lord Monboddd's fyftem) flied their tails, and became as capable of the arts of government, as any European monarch whatfoever. Ahneyda was received by the governor with the utmoft courtefy. He fent PelagJo Souza, one of his officers, to the royal refidence at Colombo, where he was introduced to the emperor. He met with a moft favorable reception, formed a league with his im- perial majelly, who agreed to ^-^j Emmanuel -annu^Wj two hun- dred and fifty thoufand pounds weight of cinnamon; on con- dition, that the fleets of Portugal ihovXd defend his coafts from all hoftile invafions. It is well known that the Portuguefe foon after made themfelves mafters of the principal ports, and en- groffed the whole trade of the valuable bark. The Moors, or Arabs, exerted every effort to prevent them from eftablifhing * O&rio i. p. 153. t Wolf's Ceylon, p. an. themfelves HERE. ISLAND OF C E Y JL O N. • 187 themfelves in Ceylon. This highly coaceriied the ArabSy who before that time were the fole venders of the cinnamon, which they carried to Suez, from whence it was conveyed over tlie ifthmus, and from Alexandria to all parts of Europe ; all their endeavors v.ere to no purpofe ; that rich trade became mono- polized by thefe new rivals. The Dutch firft landed here in 1603, and viflted the em- Dutch land peror. In 1632 they received a formal invitation from the ruling monarch, and in confequence appeared off the coaft with a potent fleet. They confederated with the king of Ceylon, and after a ftruggle of feveral years, and after great bloodflied, they expelled the Fortuguefe, whofe power ended in the taking of Colombo, in 1656, after a fiege of feven months, in which the P§rtuguefe exerted all that fpirit and valour which originally made them lords of the Indies. The emperor repaid the Dutch all the expence in cinnamon, and other producSlions of the ifland; and inverted them with many privileges; and in re- turn found himfelf exadtly in the fame dependent ftate as he was before his victories. The Dutch fortified every one of his ports. They have befides a grant of coaft round the ifland, twelve miles in breadth, reckoning from the fea*. His majefty maintains a magnificent court at Candy, but at any time his good allies, by the fole interdidtion of the article fait, may make him and his fubje6ts to fubmit to any terms they are pleafed to didtatet. * Wolf, p. 244.. t Elfcheflcroon, in Wolf's book, p. 33T. R b 2 The i88 ISLAND OF CEYLON. FormofCey- The form and extent of the iile of Ceylon^ are very much undetermined. The figure which is generally adopted in the maps, is that of a pear, with the ftalk turned towards the north. The length, from Dondra-head fouth, to Tellipeli north, is about two hundred and eighty miles; the greateft breadth, or from Colombo to Trincoli, is about a hundred and fixty. The latitudes of the two extremes in length, are between 5° 50' o", and 9° 51'. Its extremes of longitude are 79° 50', and 82° 10'. The ifland rifes from on every fide to the mountains, which run in chains, principally from north to fouth. The higheft CoNDE Uda. and rudefl tra(5t is the kingdom of Conde Uda, which is imper- vious, by reafon of rocks and forefls, except by narrow paths, which are alfo impeded by gates of thorns, clofely watched by guards. At the weflern fkirt of thefe mountains foars Hamalelly Adam's Peak, and, in the European language, Adam's Peak. It rifes pre-emi- nent above all the reft, in form of a fugar loaf. Le Bntn, ii. p. 81, gives a view as it appears from the fea. On the fummit is a flat ftone, with an impreflion refembling a human foot, two feet long, it is called that of our great and common anceftor. The Cingalefc, or aborigines of Cey/on, fay that it is of Btiddo^ their great deity, when he afcended into heaven, from whom they expect falvation. The Mahometan tradition is, that Adam: was caft down from Paradife (we make his Paradife an earthly one) and fell on this fummit, and £^'^ near Judda, in Arabia, They were feparated two hundred years, after which he found his W'ife, and conducted her to his old retreat ; there he died, and there he was buried, and there are two large tombs. To this day many votaries vifit his imaginary fepulchre ; the Mabome^ tans. ISLAND OF CEYLON. 1S9 tans out of refpedt to our common father ; the Clngakje under the notion 1 have juft mentioned. Is there not a trace of Cbrif- tianity in the opinion of the Cingalefe refpeding Buddo, of the neceffity of a mediator, which they might have colleded from the Chrijlia7is of St. Thomas f Here they hght lamps, and offer facrifices, which, by antient cuftom, are given to tlie Moor;/!} pilgrims. All the vifitants are, in places, obliged to be drawn up by chains, fo rude and inacceflible is the way to this mount of fandlity. From this mountain ruflies the great river Mavila-Ganga, or Ganger. Ganges^ which pafles unnavigable, clofe to Candy^ a very long and rocky courfe to the fea at Trhicomale. All the reft of the ille, except fome marfliy flats adapted to the culture of rice, are broken into thoufands of hills, beauti- fully cloathed with wood. The intervening valleys are often moralTy, or confifting of a rich fat foil; but the fertility of the open parts is aftonifhiagly great. The account given by Ptolemy of the mineral or foffil pro- Minerals. duilions, is, in a great meafure, confirmed. Iron and copper are found here, as is black lead. A gold mine is faid to be latent in one of the great mountains, but the working prohi- bited by the emperor. Of gems, the ruby, fapphire, topaz, the Gems. electric tourmalin, Cronjledt. Ed. Magellan. fe6l. 85; and the cat's eye, or Pfend-opal, and hyacinth, are met with. But what occafions the neglect of the mines, and of the gems, is the at- tention to the great ftaple of the ifland, the important bark of the cinnamon. Dodlor 'Thunberg is very exadl in his account of the gems of Ceylon, Travels, iv. 315. They are dug up about Matura, and the liberty of fearch is farmed for no more than 190 IS I. AND OF CEYLON. than one hundred and eighty rix-dollars a year. Amethyfts, and an infinite variety of cryftals and cryftalline gems, are found in that neighborhood. The account of my able correfpondent well merits perulal. Inmiabitants. The inhabitants are the Cingaleje ; thefe are aboriginal, and differ totally in language from the people of Malabar.^ or any other neighboring nation. Their features more like Europeans than any other. Their hair long, moft commonly turned up. They are black, bvit well made, and with good countenances, RELiGfoM. and of excellent morals, and of great piety. Their religion is derived from Buduoy a profelyte of the great Indian Foe: his do6trine Ipread over Japan and Siam, as well as that of Foe*. It confifts of the wildell idolatry, and the idols, the objedls of their worfliip, are the moil monftrous and phantaftic. The pa-- godas are numerous, and many of them, like feveral in India:, of hewn-ftone, moft richly and exquifitely carved. The Cingalefe beliQVQ Buddo to have come upon earthy and that to him be- longed the falvation of fouls : all human happinefs, fay they, proceeds from him : all evil, from the devil, to whom he per- mits the power of punin.:iment. When fick, they dedicate a red cock to that being, as the Romans did one to EJculapius, During the time he inhabited the earth, they tell us, that he ufually fate under the fhade of the Jicus religiofa, which, in honor of him, is called in the Cingalefe tongue, Budagbaba. His religion is the eftabliflied religion of the ifland. Government. The civil government is monarchical. The emperor, in the time of Knox, was abfolute, and clamed the moft iindifputable * Knox, 72, 73, 75, Kaempfer's Hift. Japan, i. 241. right I S L A N D O F C E Y L O N. tqi right over the lives and fortunes of all his fubjeas. He was a moft barbarous tyrant, and took a diabolical delight in putting his fubjeas to the moft cruel and lingering deaths. Elephants were often the executioners of his vengeance, and were directed to pull the unhappy criminals liinb from limb with their trunk?, and fcatter them to the birds of the air, or beafts of the field. The emperor's refidence was at Candy, nearly in the center of the ifland; but he was, in Knox's, time, by the rebellion of his fubjefts, obliged to defert that city. The government is faid, by PFo/ff, p. 235, to be at prefent very mild, and regulated by the ftatute laws of the land, the joint produdiion of divers wile princes, and are conlidered as facred by the Cingakfe. It is pof- lible that the tyrant, in the days of Knox, had deftroyed the liberties of his country, which were afterwards reftored. The Robert Knox. author Robert Knox is a writer fully to be depended on ; a plain honeft man, who, in 1657, failed in one of the Eaft India Com- pany's fliips to Madras', and on the return, in 1659, was forced by a ftorm into Ceylon, to refit : when his father (who was cap- tain) went on fhore, and, with fixteen more of the crew, were feized by the emperor's foldiers, and detained. The Captain died in a year's time. Our author lived nineteen years in the ifland, and faw the greateft part of it. At length, with difficulty, he efcaped, and arrived fafe in England, in September 1680. His hiftory of the ifland, and of his adventures, were publKhed in 1680 ; and appears to be the only authentic account of the inter- nal parts, and the only one that can be entirely relied on. There is in this illand a race of wild men, called Wedas, or Wedas, on Bedas ; they fpeak the Cingakfe language, but inhabit the depth ^°^^ ' Q of 192 ISLAND OF CEYLON. of woods, and the faftneffes of the mountains, and are, in all refpe(5ts, as favage as the domefticated animals are in the ftate of OrBarbari. nature. I fiifpedl them to be what Solhms* calls Barbari, -to diftinguifli them from other Indians in a llate of civilization ; for I think I have met with elfewhere, the diftinsftion between a wild people, and others in a poliflied ftate of manners. These Wedas wear their hair long, colle»5l it together, and tie it on the crown of the head in a bunch. Their complexions are, comparative to the other Cingalefe, light : they inhabit the depth of woods, and their Ikins, that way, efcape the effedl of the burning fun. They live entirely on flefli, or on roots ; the firft they either eat raw, or dried, or preferved in honey. They live either in caves, or under a tree, with the boughs cut and laid round about them to give notice when any wild beafts come near, which they may hear by their ruftling and trampling upon them t. They are like them, without law, and, as JVolf, page 259, fays, without religion. Knox, p. p. 61, 62, alTerts the contrary. The wilder fort never fhew themfelves ; the tamer will enter into fome kind of commerce with their civili- zed countrymen. Their drefs is only a cloth wrapped round their waifts, and brought between their legs. A fmail ax is iifually ftuck in the wrapper. They are fkilful archers, and very nice in their arrows. The heads are of iron, made by the fmiths of the civilized people. They have no ether means of befpeaking them, than leaving near the fliop a pattern, cut out of a leaf, with a piece of flefli by way of reward : If he does the * Polyhiftor, c. 65. Thefe may be the fame with the JFedas, which Solinus fjyf, made a trade of felling parrots to the Romans. -j- Knox, p. 62. work, 1 S L A N D O F C E Y L O N. 193 work, they bring him more meat, otherwife they llioot him in the night. After this account of tlie loweft of the human race, I fear Elephant. I ftiall injure the half reafoning elephant, on putting him on a level with fuch of our own fpecies as have fcarcely any of the reafoning particles left. This illand was celebrated by Pliny^ lib. viii. c. 9, for its race of elephants, which were larger, and more adapted for war, than thofe of India. He alfo gives the methods of capture *. They are, at prefent, taken in different manners, and after being tamed, are fent to the great annual fair at Jaffanapatam. The merchants of Malabar and Bengal^ have notice of the numbers and qualities of the elephants to be fet up to fale ; fometimes a hundred are fold at one fair. A full grown beaft, twelve or fourteen feet high, will be fold at the rate of two thoufand dollars. The manner of taking thefe huge animals is thus defcribed by Do6lor T'bunberg, iv. p. 240, who undertook a journey up the country to fee what the Dutch call an Elephant-toil, or Jhare, " which ferved for capturing and inclofing a great number of elephants. The toil was conftrudled of ftout cocoa trees, almoft in the form of a triangle, the lide neareft to the wood being very broad, and augmented with flighter trees and bufhes, which gradually extended themfelves into two long and impercepti- ble wings. The narrower end was ftrcngly fortified with flakes, planted clofe to each other, and held firmly together by ropes, and became at length fo narrow, that only one fingle * Lib. viii. c. 8. Vol. I. C c elephant 194 ISLAND OF CEYLON. elephant could fqueeze itfelf into the opening. When the governor gives orders for an elephant chace on the company's account, which happens at the expiration of a certain number of years, it is performed in the following manner : A great multitude of men, as well European as Cingalefe, are fent out into the woods, in the fame manner in which people go out on a general hunt for wolves and bears in the north of Europe. Thefe difFufe themfelves, and encompafs a certain extent of land which has been difcovered to be frequented by elephants. After this they gradually draw nearer, and w-ith great noife, vociferation, and beat of drum, contract the area of the circle ; in the mean time the elephants approach nearer and nearer to the fide on which the toil is placed. Finally, torches are lighted up, in order to terrify ftill more thefe huge animals, and force them to enter into the toil prepared for them. As foon as they all have entered, the toil is clofed up behind them. The laft time that elephants were caught in this manner, their numbers amounted to upwards of a hundred, and on former occafions has fometimes amounted to one hundred and thirty." " The firft care of the captors, is to bring them out of the toil, and to tame them. For this purpofe one or two tame elephants are placed at the fide w^here the opening is, through which each elephant is let out fingly, when he is immediately bound faft, with ftrong ropes, to the tame ones, who difcipline him with their probofcis, till he likewife becomes tame, and fufFers himfelf to be handled and managed at pleafure. This difcipli- nary correction frequently proceeds very brifkly, and is fome- times accomplilhed in a few days, efpecially as the wild elephant is at the fame time brought under control by hunger." The ISLAND OF CEYLON. 195 The horfes of the illand are defcended from the Arabian Horse. breed. Thefe are kept in a wild Hate, in certain iflands called Ilbas de Cavallos. They are at certain times forced into the ponds and rivers, and caught by people, who, in the mofl dex- terous manner, fling over any part they pleafe a noofe. Thefe are fent to a fair, immediately following the elephant fair, and fold for large prices. The peafants make no fort of ufe of horfes ; but in their place employ the buffalo, which they catch and.tame for the cart, and all their rural work *. The fpecies of deer are very elegant; here are found the Deer. fpotted JxiSj Hijl. ^lad. N" 56, the middle lized, N" 57, and the great, N° 58, called by the Dutch, Elk, as tall as a horfe ; and the rib-faced, N° 60, with a tufk from each upper jaw, point- ing downwards. The little Indiaji muflc, called Meminna, not larger than a hare, is a native of this ifle. This has, like the laft, its tufks. Buffaloes are very common here, wild and tame; and are Buffalo. the only animals ufed here for rural CEConomy. WiLD-BoARs are very numerous, and very fierce. "To fight Wild-Boar. « an enemy, to hunt the elephant, and catch the wild-hog, are " the three points of valour among the Cingalefe.^'' MoNKiEs fwarm here; the Wanderow is a fpecies mentioned Monkey. by Knox, with a great white beard from ear to ear, a black face, and dark grey body. There is a variety of the above quite white. The purple-faced, N° 107, has a triangular white beard, pur- ple face, and black body. * Wolf, p. 170. C c 2 The 1^6 ISLAND OF CEYLON. The Rillow or Rolleut^ay, N" 122, is diftinguiflied by the long hair on its head, lying flat and parted. They are as large as a blood-hound, and are able to catch hold of a child, and run up with it to the top of the loftieft trees ; and after admiring it for feme time, they will lay it gently down on the place they took it from. Thefe are very numerous, and very audacious, and will rob the corn fields and gardens in the very face of the owners, and as foon as they are driven out of one end of the field, will come Skipping into the other, and fill both their bellies and hands. Of late years it has been difcovered, by a Rujfmn tanner, that their fkins might be drefTed, and made into flioes. The tail-lefs Macauco, N' 146, and the Loris, N° 148, are found here. jACKAt. The jackal, N* 172, is numerous here, as it is all over India. Tiger. The tiger, N' 180, is too frequent in Ceylon. Thefe animals are fliot with crofs-bows, placed in their haunts. Pliny fays, that tigers and elephants were made by the people the execu- tioners of their kings, whenever they had offended them. They appointed a folemn hunting match, and expofed their monarch to the fury of thofe beafts. Beak. Bears, N° 2o8, are very common, even in this neighbor- hood of the Line. /^o//"fays, they are large and black, and feed on honey, as they do in Europe. Civet. The Civef, N" 274, is frequent in Ceylon. The" Mungo, or Indian Ichneumon, N' 255, is found here. This weefel is famous for its antipathy to the Naja, or Cobra de Capelloy and for its inftant recourfe to the antidote to the fatal 4 bite, ISLAND OF CEYLON. j^y bite, on its receiving a wound from that dreadful ferpent. The plants it feeks relief from, are the Opbiorrhiza Mungos^ Strych- nos Colubrina, and Opbioxylon ferpentinum. The laft is figured in Burman. Zeylan. 141. tab. 64, and in Rumpb. Amboin, vi. 25, tab. xvi. The Naja is found all over the hotter parts of India^ and is Naja, diftinguiflied by a mark on the back of the head, of the form of a pair of fpedlacles, alfo by the power of dilating the Ikin of the head into the form of a hood, from which it has gotten the name of the Cobra de Capello^ or hooded fnake. They grow from four to eight or nine feet in length, and are juftly dreaded by the Indians. Their bite is generally mortal, yet there is a remedy (if timely applied) that has its efficacy. The mortal effect fome- times takes place in a quarter of an hour, fometimes in two or three hours. In its fatal facculus it feems to contain the poifons of the Seps^ one of Lucari'^ deadly lift *. An univerfal gangrene takes place, and the flefli falls from the bones ; con- vulfions fometimes bring on death, according to the degree of viruSy on which the fymptoms depend. This fpecies never diftends its hood but when it is agitated by fome paffion, fuch as fear, or rage, it then quits its creeping- attitude, raifes the fore part of the body a third of its whole length, fpreads its hood, and moves its head around, darting a fiery glare to every part, often remaining in all other refpedts immoveable ; or its motion becomes flow, fteady, and cautious, * Manant humeri fortefque lacerti : Colla caputque fluunt : calido non ocius auftro Nix refoluta cadet, nee folem cera fequetur. Lib, ix. Lin. 780. fo 198 ISLAND OF CEYLON. fo that in India it is held to be the emblem of Prudence ; it is alfo held in veneration equal to a deity. The legends of the country are full of flrange tales relating to its acSlions ; they call it Ne//a Pamdou, or the good ferpeni ; it is often rcprefented twifted round the deities, under the name of Calengam^ in me- mory of the victory of one of their gods, over an enormous Naja. This certainly is not the Beaf Adder. The Indian jugglers, efpecially thofe of Malabar, have a power of taming thefe dreadful animals, and inftructing them to dance, after the in- harmonious and flow air of their flagelets. The ferpent firft feems aftoniflied, then begins to rear himfelf, and fometimes by a gentle motion of the head, and with diftended hood, feems to liften with pleafure to the notes. This is faid not to be peculiar to thofe which are accullomed to the exercife, but even the fnakes newly taken, will fhew the fame difpofition, and fling themfelves into the fame attitudes. Nieuhoff giwQ% a plate of thefe jugglers, and their fnakes, and Kcempfer a much better. I SHALL mention here two or three Indian ferpents, defcribed by M. d''Obfofiville, notwithftanding I am uncertain of their native place ; one is called, in French^ le Javelot, a fpecies of JV?- culus, of a green color, five or fix feet long, and moft fatal in its bite. It generally lurks, extended or fufpended, among the branches of trees. So fituated, that they either can dart on their prey, fuch as little birds or infe(5ls, or remove themfelves with * See Voyages aux Indes Orient, par M. Sonnerat. Tom. i. p. p. 168, 169, tab. 45, 46, 47. a fpring I S L A N D O F C E Y L O N. 199 a fpring from bough to bongh. It does not appear that they attack mankind, but rather ghde from his approach : but the Indians have the fame notion as the Arabs have, of its being a flying ferpent. The Poifon- Snake is only two feet long, and very flender, Poison-Snake. and freckled with pale brown or red. Its bite brings death as rapidly as Lucan''s Volucer ferpens. Our author faw a Gentoo bit by one. The fufFerer could only give a Oiriek, and advance a few fteps, when he fell down dead. The Burning-ferpent feems to poflefs the dreadful poifon of Burning-Ser- three fpecies : It gives by its bite the fymptoms of raging fire, ^^^^* like the Torrida dip/as. It caufes, at other times, the blood to flow through every pore, like the i/2:;;zorrZ'(3yj' ; at other times> to caufe fwelling like the PreJIer, and to incite racking pains ; at length, by a happy numbnefs, death brings kindly relief to the miferable fufterer. The Reverend Edzvard 'Terry * faw a criminal put to death at Amedavad^ with all the effedts of the bite of the Dip/as and of the Prejler. This fpecies much re- fembles the laft in form ; both inhabit dry, hot, and rocky places ; and live on infects full of faline and acrimonious parti- cles, which cannot fail of exalting the virus of the ferpents that make them their food. Our great Ray^ Syn. §luadr. 331, enumerates feveral of the Ceylonefe ferpents : one is the Oehcetulla, i. e. ocuUs infejius, the very fame with that defcribed above, under the name of Javelol. The Ninypolonga is the fame with the Afp, which kills the perfon it bites, by flinging him into an endlefs fleep. * Voyage, in 1615, p. 381. The 20O ISLAND OF CEYLON. Boa. Crocodile. Lizard. The vaft Boa, the Anacandaia of the Ceylonefe, is common here, and is compared for lize to the mail of a fliip*. ^intus Curtius mentions it among the monftrous ferpents which aftonifh- cd the army of Alexander in his march into India. This is com- mon to Africa, and the greater iflands of India, It is the ferpent which Livy, Dec. ii. c. i6. feigns to have given Regulus fo much employ on the banks of the Bagrada. To what I have faid of the Cobra Manilla, at page 82, I may here add an inftance of the rapid fatality of its bite : A gentle- man refident in India, fent his fervant on an errand into a clofet ; the man cried out, that fomething had pricked his finger ; before his mailer could reach him, he fell down dead on the floor ! Perhaps the fame with the poifon fnake ? Crocodiles are very common in Ceylon, and Ibmetimes are found of the length of eighteen feet. The Lacerta Calotes is a fingular lizard, with a ferrated back. The Lacerta Iguana is common to both the Indies, and grows to the length of five or fix feet ; its flefli is eaten, and thought to be medicinal. The Lacerta Gekko is a fpecies juftly dreaded for the poifon, which exudes even from the ends of its toes, and which infe<5ls, to a degree of fatality, any thing it pafles over ; its urine and faliva are equally dangerous ; its voice, which is acute, like that of a cricket, flings a whole company into confternation. The Indians obtain from it a deadly poifon for their arrows. They * See Dodor Shaw's nioft elegant work, The Naturalift's MifccUany, Vol. i. tab. 8. tie ISLAND OF CEYLON. 2or tie one of thefe animals pendent by the tail, and provoke it till it emits its deadly faliva on the point of the weapons, which kill with the flighteft wound. This dreadful reptile feldqm at- tains a foot in length. The Draco volans*, the animal which bears the dreadful FlyingLizard. name of Dragon^ is no more than an innocent little lizard, fur- nifhed with membranes, extending along the fides in form of wings, with which it makes fliort flights from tree to tree, chirruping as it goes. Beneath its chin is a long flender ap- pendage ; the tail is very long and flender, but the length of the whole creature is not more than nine inches ; and this is the only animal that bears really the form feigned by poets and writers of romance for that of the tremendous dragon. The infe6ls of Ceylon are of uncommon fizes : fcorpions have Insects, been found there eight inches long, exclufive of the legs ; Sco- lopendr^ feven inches in length ; and of fpiders, the Aranea avicularia, Seb, muf. i. tab. 69, with legs four inches long, and the body covered with thick black hair, a fpecies that makes a web ftrong enough to entangle the fmaller fpecies of birds, on which it feeds. The hare of Ceylon differs in no pefpect from the EngliJJj hare. Hare. The crefted porcupine, N° 314, is an animal of this ifland. Porcupine. A bezoar is fometimes found in its flomach : the reign of its pretended Alexipharmic qualities is now over. T'averjiier gave five hundred crowns for one, which he fold to advantage. It is * Same, Vol. ii. tab. 51. Vol. L D d a mere 2oa ISLAND OF CEYLON, a mere concretion like the human calculus, and of courfe of no kind of efFecSt. Soj-iRREL. The white legged fquirrel, ii. p. 139. Var. a. is a variety of the common fquirrel. The CeyloneJ'e fquirrel, or Dandoelana, Ind, ZooL tab. i. is remarkable for being three times the fize of our fquirrel, and having a tail twice as long as its bod^r. The palm fquirrel, N" 346, lives much in the coco trees, and is yery fond of the Sury^ or wine extracted from the palms. Shrew. The perfuming fhrew, N''424, is a native of this and others Q,i \\\Q Indian ifles. Its mufky odor is fo fubtil, as to pervade every thing it runs over. It will totally fpoil the wine in a well- corked bottle, by barely paffing over the furface. Sloth. The two-toed lloth, N° 251, and Wolf^ 181, is common to Ceylon, India^ and South- America. The fliort-tailed Manis, N' 460, inhabits this ifland. Ant-Bear. The Talgoi is a fpecies of ant-bear, or eater ; we cannot afcer- tain the fpecies, unlefs it be the fame with the Cape, N" 466. A Mr. Stracban, in the Ph. TranC Abr. v. 180, gives an account of one found in this ifland, with the fame manners as the others, of its laying its llimy tongue before the ants' neft, and pulling it into its mouth as foon as it finds it covered with thofe infedts. If it is not the fame it is a new fpecies. In the Faunula Indie a I have made two, this and the Obfcure^. Bat. The cordated bat, N" 499, with its heart- fhaped appendage to the nofe; and the flriped, or Kiriivoula, N* 507, inhabit * Doctor Thunberg, iv. p. 1 78, mentions a fpecies, but leaves it undefcribed. 4 Ceylon. ISLAND OF CEYLON. 203 Ceylon. The monftrous fpecies called the Ternate is very fre- quent here. The Matiati I have mentioned at page 183, and the water elephant feems no more than the Dugung^ N° 469. Many of the above mentioned animals are, in all probability, common to the continent of India^ and doubtleflly many more which have efcaped the notice of travellers : there is all the appearance of Ceylon having been united with the continent ; and that the g^lph of Manaar was once folid land. The Mal- dives^ and Laccadives, feem likewife to have been fragments of the once far extended continent. Birds, which have the locomotive power fo flrongly in their Birds. formation, have a lefs chance to be local than the preceding clafs. The ornithology of my friend Latham, is as unerring a guide, as human imperfedion can produce. In refpedl to the birds, I fhall here, and elfewhere, only point out thofe on whom nature hath impreffed any charadlers worthy of philofophic attention. To Ihun prolixity, I avoid giving (in general) defcriptions of either beails or birds. In refpecl to the firfl, I refer en- tirely to the third edition of my Hi/lory of ^ladrupeds, in which I flatter myfelf the reader will find them amply treated. As to the general enumeration of birds, it will be found at page 67 of my Indian Zoology, Vvith references to Mr. Latham-, or, in cafes where any fpecies are common to Great Britain, to the Briti/h Zoology. The lift of the known quadrupeds of India, its filhes, reptiles, and infei?ts, are alfo given in the fame work. D d 3 There 204 Falcon^ Indian Rol- L£R. BUCEROS. Oriole. ISLAND OF CEYLON. There are feveral forts of falcons in this ifland, many of which are trained for the purfuit of ganne. There is a white fpecie?^ with an elegant pendent creft of two feathers. My friend Mr. Lot.en, long Governor in Ceylon, could not give any. account of any part excepting the head. The- black, and white, Ind. Zool. tab. ii. is a fmall kind, pied like a magpie; Th© fmall brown, hawk, in BrowrCsIllvJir. 6j tab. iii, is another found, here.. /J^o//^ fpeaks of a white hawk, which is, witii the Malabars, a bird of augury, for if they fee him fly over their heads in a morning, they will not that day either undertake a journey, or any bufinefs of moment. This may be perhaps the fpecies v/ith a white creft.. Among birds of elegance of color may be- mentioned, the India?! Roller, Ediu. 326, and the fwallow-tail'd, 327, with its two fingular external. feathers in the tail, of vaft length. Among grotefque birds may be reckoned the two fpecies of Buceros, or horn-bill; the Rhinoceros, Edw. 281, called from the fingular recurvated acceffiiry beak, by the Dutch, Dubbeld Bek\ and the Wreathed, Latham, i. p. 358, called in Ceylon, the Tear Bird, being fuppofed to have, annually an addition of a wreath to its bilL They make a great noife when they fly, and have a fluggifh flight, perch on the highefl: trees, feed on ber- ries, and are reckoned very fweet food. The golden oriole,. Br. Zool. ii. App. 626, is an European bird, is called in India the Mango, bird, from its feeding on the fruit of that tree.. The bee-eater, Merops Apiajier, and the greater redftart, Latham, i. p. 176, are alfo common to India,. The r S L A N D a F C E y L O N. 20: The fafciated Curucui^ Ind. Zool. tab. iv. and the fpotted, Corucuc B-raivn's Ilh/Jir. tab. xiii, are elegant birds from Mr. Loten\ Col- lection, as is the Zcylan Barbety and the red crown'd, Bro^-jjit's lllufir. tab. xiv. xv. The red-headed cuckoo forms the 5th plate of my Indian Cuckoo> Zoologv, as does the red-wingVl wood - pecker, tab. vi. Mr. Latham gives another, ii. 580, under the name of the Ceylon. The European Hoopoo is frequent th-ere. I may fay that our Hoopoo. common nut-hatch, and creeper, the wheat-ear, the wry-neck, tiie yellow wren, the houfe fwallow, the woodcock, and fnipe, are alfo natives of India. The creepers of this ifland, the Ceylon^ Latham^ ii. 712, and tlie Lotenianyjic^i and the green-gold, 716, are elegant little birds. Kjiox mentions a fmall green Parrot found in Ceylon, but Parrot, not remarkable for its loquacity. The Romans were very fond of the parrot kind, which they muil have had from the eaftern fide. The Indians (BarbariJ profited of this paffion, and made them an article of commerce. The Wedas are moft fkilful ar- chers, and probably do the fame. Thefe birds inhabit the forefls, in which, fays Sollnns^ c. ^c^^ the trees were fo lofty, that they were beyond the reach of the arrows aimed at their inhabitants. Parrots were efteemed by the Indians as facred, particularly by the Brachmans *. The yellow-crov/n'd tlirufli, Brown's Illujir. tab. xxii, is kept Thrush^ here in cages, and is remarkable for its powers of mimicking every note that is whi-ftled to it.. * ^Elian, de Nat. An. lib. xiii. c. 18. It 2o6 I S L A N D O F G E Y L O N. Tauor-Bxrd. It is impoffible not to mention the tailor bird, Ind. Zool. tab. viii, a warbler ; on account of its wonderful neft ; my own account of its oeconomy, taken from the hidian Zoology^ P^ge 44, deferves attention. It is thus introduced : " Had Providence left the feathered tribe unendowed with ** any particular inftin<5t, the birds of the torrid zone would " have built their nefts in the fame unguarded manner as thofe <* of Europe : but there, the leffer fpecies, having a certain <* prefcience of the dangers that furround them, and of their ** own weaknefs, fufpend their neft at the extreme branches of *' the trees : they are confcious of inhabiting a climate replete *' with enemies to them and their young; with fnakes that ** twine up the bodies of the trees, and apes that are perpetu- ** ally in fearch of prey ; but, heaven-inftru6led, they elude the ** gliding of the one, and the a6tivity of the other. " The brute creation in the torrid zone, are more at enmity *' with one another, than in other climates ; and the birds are " obliged to exert unufual artifice in placing their little broods ** out of the reach of an invader. Each aims at the fame end, ** though by different means. Some form their penfile neft in ** fhape of a purfe, deep, and open at top ; others, with a hole " in the fide ; and others, ftill more cautious, with an entrance " at the very bottom, forming their lodge near the fummit. " But the little fpecies we defcribe, feems to have greater " diffidence than any of the others ; it will not truft its neft " even to the extremity of a {lender twig, but makes one more <* advance to fafety, by fixing it to the leaf itfelf. " It ISLAND OF CEYLON. 207 " It picks up a dead leaf, and, furprifing to relate, fews it to " the lide of a living; one, its flender bill being its needle, and " its thread fome fine fibres ; the lining, feathers, goflTamer, " and down. Its eggs are white: the color of the bird, light " yellow ; its length three inches ; its weight only three fix- " teenths of an ounce; fo that the materials of the neft, and its " own fize, are not likely to draw down a habitation that de- " pends on fo flight a tenure." Two fly-catchers, of uncommon form, attradt the eyes of all Fly-Catcher, flrangers : fmall birds, wdth tails of enormous length, darting through the air like arrows. Both are engraved by Mr. Ed- wards, one in tab. T13, of a black and white color, with a cunei- form tail; the other with a rufous back and tail, and two fea- thers exceeding the others in length by near nine inches. As thefe are remarkable for the length of their tails, a pie, engraven by Mr. Edwards, in tab. 324, is diftinguiflied for the ridiculous brevity of that part, and alfo. for the beauty of its colors. Einnans calls it Corvus Br achy urns. Swallows (I do not know the fpecies) never quit Ceylon. Pigeons in India afliime the raoft beautiful colors. The Pigeon. pompadour pigeon of this ifland, Brozvn's lUuJlr. tab. xix. xx. the general color of which is a fine pale green ; the male di{^ tinguiftied by having the coverts of the wings of a fine pom- padour color, is one proof. I mention this in particular, on account of its hiftory ; but more fo for that of the magnificent tree on which it ufually alights to feed. This fpecies fwarms in certain feafons in the ifland of C?y- FicusIndica. Ion, particularly when the fruit of the Eicus Indica, or broad leaved 208 ISLAND OF CEYLON. leaved Waringent is ripe. They alight in vaft multitudes on that grotefque tree, and are caught with bird-lime by the na- tives, who prepare the twigs againft their arrival. Mr. Lot en in- formed me, that when he was governor in Ceylon, one morning at break of day he faw fome hundreds entangled on the boughs of the great JVaringen tree, before his window, and ordered one of his Ceylonefe fervants to take them off. They are excellent food, and are often fliot by the Europeans. They are obferved never to alight on the ground, but to perch on high trees, and give this the preference, on account of the fruit. It is for the fame reafon the haunt of various other birds ; but notwith- llanding the fvveetnefs of the fruit, it is neglc6ted by mankind. This tree immediately attraded the attention of the antients. Oneficritus, tlie philofopher who followed Alexander the Great in his expedition into India, commanded his galley, and re- corded his a6lions, firft gives us an account of this wonderful tree. For this, at left, he does not merit the fevere remark made on him by Strabo, lib. xv. p. 1022, who feems incredulous to all he fays ; poffibly there may be other j^oints in which he may be alfo defended. This tree rifes high in the air, then drops its boughs, which take root, and fucceflively create new Hems, till a vaft extent is covered with the arched fhade. It is €ven faid to form of itfelf a foreft of arched avenues, and a 'labyrinth of alleys, impenetrable by the rays of the vertical fun ; perhaps the extent may be exaggerated. We will con- tent ourfelves with giving the dimenfions of one near Manjee, Aveft of Patna ; the diameter of which was from three hundred and fixty three feet, to three hundred and feventy three : the circum- ISLAND OF CEYLON. circumference of the fliadow at noon, eleven hundred and fix- teen ; that of the feveral ftems, which were no more than fifty or fixty, nine hundred and twenty-one. Hundreds of people may find a comfortable retreat beneath its foliage. Such is the account given by the veracious Mr. Mar/dm^ in page 131 of his excellent hiftory of Sumatra. Pliny, lib. xih c. 5, gives the fuUeft defcription ; he was beft qualified, for by the time he lived, the Romans got tolerably well acquainted with the country. His account is elegant and faithful : fpeaking of the trees of Indian he fays — « Ficus ibi " exilia poraa habet. Ipfa fe femper ferens, vaftis diffunditur " ramis : quorum imi adeo in terram curvantur, ut annuo « fpatio infigantur, novaraque fibi propaginem faciant circa *< parentem in orbem, quodam opere topiario. Intra fepem *' earn, ieftivant paftores, opacam pariter, et munitam vallo " arboris, decora fpecie fubter intuenti, proculve, fornicato am- " bitu, Superiores ejus rami in excellum emicant, filvofa mul- *' titudine, vallo matris corpore, ut Jx. p. plerceque orbe col- " ligant, umbra vero bina fladia operiant. Foliorum b.titudo " peltse effigiem Amazonicse habet: ea caufa frustum integensj " crefcere prohibet. Rarufque eft, nee faboe magnitudinem ** excedens; fed per folia folibus coiSlus proedulci f^pore, dig- *' nus miraculo arboris." He concludes with faying, that it was found chiefly about the Acef.nes, ttie modern 'Jcnaub, which, falling into the famous Hydafpe^^ the Behut, proves its growth in thofe days, at left as far north as Lat. 30° 30'. It did not efcape the notice o{ Alexander the Great, who, after his defeat of Fo/7<;j, admired it on his march to farther ilaughters. Vol. I. E e After •09 zio 1 S L A N D O F C E Y L O N. After the fine defcription given by the Roman naturalift, I fliall not injure ^intus Cur tins., by tranfcribing, from Book ix. ch. i, the few very inferior lines he has written on the fubjedt. It is now difcovered to the very fouth of L^dia, and fpreads through many of the iflands, even to the Moluccas. They are frequently planted in market-places, and are therefore called, Waringen daun Bazaar ; their extenfive fhade proving very grateful to all who frequent thofe fpots of bulinefs. The Por- tuguefe, from its multitude of roots, ftyle it Arbor de raix. It is by the EngUJJj ufually called the Banyans tree, or more pro- perly I'ogey tree, being that under the fliade of which the reli- gious of that fetft ufually pradtife their fenfelefs aufterities. Plin]') lib. vii. c. 2, defcribes them under the name of Gymno- fopbijia. Philofophos eorum, quos Gymnofophiftas vocant ab exortu ad occafum praeftare, contuentes folem immobilibus " oculis : ferventibus harenis toto die alternis pedibus infiftere. Others again have fuppofed this tree to have been the tree of life, and to have furnifhed the leaves with which our firlr pa- rents betrayed their fenfe of fliame after the fall. Milton adopts the laft opinion, and gives us the following beautiful verfion of the Latin naturalift : — Soon they chofe The fig tree, not the kind for fruit renown'd. But fuch as at this day to Indians known. In Malabar or Decan fpreads her arms. Branching fo broad and long, that in the ground 7 The ISLAND OF CEYLON. 211 The bending twigs take root, and daughters grow About the mother j a pillar'd fliade. High over-arch'd, and echoing walks between : There oft the Indian herdlman, (hunning heat, Shelters in cool, and tends his pafturing herds At loop-holes cut through thickeft ihade. Authors who have treated, or given figures of this magni- ficent tree, are Rbeede, in his Hortus MalabaricuSy iii. p. 85, tab. Ixiii.; Rtimpbius, in vol. iii. p. 127. tab. Ixxxiv. ; Boullaye de GouZi at p. 194. ; Lijtfcbotan, in his curious travels, at p. 68, and Catejby in his Hiftory of Carolina., iii. p. 18, and tab. xviii.? Mr. Hodge'?, Travels, tab. p. 27. Finally, I may mention the figures in Clufius's Exotics, p. 2, and that in Gerardy p. 15 12,, (copied from the former) but rauft obferve that both feem m.ore regular than nature will admit. That magnificent bird the peacock fwarms in Ceylon : Its Peacock. legs are much Jonger, and its tail of far greater length in its native ftate, than they are with us. This moft elegant and fu- perb of the feathered creation, is confined (in tlie ftate of nature) to India, and adds higlily to the beauty of the rich forefts of that vafl: country, and fome of its iflands. It inhabits moft parts of the continent, even as high as Lat. 31° 14' N. fup- pofing it to be yet found on the Hydraotes, the modern Rauwee. It was imported from India into Greece, as M.lian fiiys, by the barbarians, by which he mufi; mean the natives of the country of that bird. A male and female were valued at Athens at a E e 2 thoufand cia ISLAND OF CEYLON. thoufand draclwue-i or^C-S^- 5- lo- Santos poffibly was the next place they were known at, where they were preferved about the temple of Juno^ being birds iacred to that goddefs : but their life was afterwards permitted to mortals, for GelliuSi in his NoBes Attica, c. 16, commends the excellency of the Sam'um peacocks. But they were known in Judo'a many years before the days oi Alexander. The monarch, firft in all human wifdom, and who fhined pre-eminently in the knowlege of natural hiftory, imported them in his I'harJJjiJ]} navies, which made a three yenrs voyage to procure for Solomon the rich produdlions of the Eaft, and the objeds of the ftudy he fo fondly cultivated. There can be no doubt but that the birds imported were peacocks, not Mthiopian parrots, as has been conjectured, natives of a country nearly bordering on the very fea from which his navies took their departure. Apes, ebony, and fpices might have been procured from ylfrica, on one hand, or Arabia on the other ; but peacocks and pretious ftones, feera at all times the mono- poly of India, Wood-Fowl. The Habun Koekella, or wood-fowl, Ind. Zool. tab. vii. fecond edition, is found near Colombo, but is not common. It is at once diftinguifhed by its double fpurs : in lize it is equal to a common fowl. jgjg^ Among the aquatic birds is the great white-headed. Ibis, Ind. Zool. tab. xi, w^hich makes a fnapping noife with its bill; it lofes its fine rofeate color in the rainy feafon. Allied to the wood curlew of the ArHic Zoology, ii. N° 360, a native of the Brajils, and fouthern parts of North America. In ISLAND OF CEYLON. 213 In the Indian Zoology, tab. xiii. xiv, are engraven the wild goofe and duck of Ceylon ; I refer to that work for their haunts and hiftory. The Anhinga^ tab. xv, clofes this brief ornithology. It is the Anhinga. terror of pallengers ; it lurks in thick bullies by the water fide, and, darting out its long and llender neck, terrifies them with the idea of fome ferpent going to inflifc a mortal wound. I WILL not attempt to enumerate the fiflies of C^v/o;z ; there Fishe:. do not feem to be any that are local. It appears to me, that thofe of India fpread from at left the parallel of Cape Comorin, over the vaft fea that comprehends the fj)ace from thence to the Mo- lucca ifles, fills the Bay of Be}igali and furrounds the great ifles which form the hidian Archipelago. In the courfe of this volume I fiiall point out thofe which, in form or colors, ex- hibit the moft wonderful proofs of the operations of nature. I SHALL here only mention the few which I received from Sir Jofepb Banks and Mr. Loten^ as authenticated fpecies. The firft is the tiger-fhark, Ind. Zool. tab. xvi, fifteen feet long, finely marked with white bands on a duiky ground, faid to feed on fliells and cruftacea. A Balijies, the Kangewena of the Cingalefe, with one horn BAtHTiSi on the forehead ; it grows to the length of two feet, and is efteemed good eating. Balijles maculofus, or Pot toe bora, elegantly fpotted, alfo a good fifh ; grows to the length of fifteen inches. Balijles truncatus^ feemingly cut in two, like our Mola. A Diodon, a fingular fpecies, armed with Ihort ftrong fpines. The Ikon Toetomba, or box-fifh of-ihe Malayans. A VERY 214 ISLANDOFCEYLON. A VERY large ipecies oi fivord-JiJJj, (different from that de- fcribed in the ^r. Zool. iii. N" 68), is found in thefe and other of the Indian fe3.s. There is a very fine fpecimen of it in the BiHttfb Mufeum, which is elegantly figured in Do6tor Shaw's Naturalift's Mifcellany, vol. ii. tab. 88. It grows, as I have been informed, fometimes to the length of thirty feet : It is at per- petual enmity with the whale tribe ; and a mofl dangerous ene- my, for it will fmk beneath thofe monftrous animals, and rifing with great force, transfix them with its vaft fnout. There have been infl:ances of its miflaking a fhip for one of the cetaceous genus. An Eq/l India-m3.n. had its bottom pierced through by a fword-fiili, and the weapon quite embedded to the very bafe in the timber. The fifli was killed by the vio- lence of the fnock ; but had it been able to withdraw the fword, the vefTel probably muft have funk in confequence of the leak. The timber, with the weapon lodged in it, is pre- ferved in the Mufeum, to authenticate the fad;. This verifies the report of Flim, lib. xxxii. c. 2, refpeding the common fword-fifn, in cafes wholly fiaiilar. Xiphiam, id eft, Gla- DiuM, rop-o mucronato eje : ab hoc navis perfojjas mergi in Qceano ad locum Mauritaniae, ci\\i gotta vocetur, non procul Lixo fiumine. Opp'w.n gives a true account of the Xiphias, in Book ii. L. 462, hi. 547. The lail has a very entertaining de- fcription of the manner in which the antient Majfdians took thefe fmgular fillies. A MOST elegant flriped fpecies of Scorpana. The Echineis lineatus, a new fpecies; and finally the Labrus Zeylanicus, Ind. Zool. tab. xvi. While ISLAND OF CEYLON. 215 While I am in this element, I fliall remark that the Sepia Oc- Monstrous topodia<, Br, Zool. iv. N" 44, grows in the Indian feas to a moft ^^^^^' amazing llze. A friend of mine, long refident among the Indian iiles, and a diligent obferver of nature, informed me that the natives affirm, that fom^e have been feen two fathoms broad over their centre, and that each arm was nine fathoms long. When the Indians navigate their little boats, they go in dread of them ; and \q'^. thefe animals fhonld fling their arms over and link them, they never fail without an ax to cut them off. These may parallel the enormous Po/rpz/J", or ^i?,/^/^, defcribed by Pliny, lib. ix. c. 30, which made its nightly invaiions on the magazines of falt-filh at Carteia, and long put both men and dogs at defiance. Ceylon is peculiarly happy in its Flora ; the trees and vege- Vegetables. tables of India feem crowded witiiin its limits. There may be local vegetables in this illand, and others again on the conti- nent ; but I fear my deficiency in botanical knowledge will de- prive me of the power of pointing them out. Ceylon has been likewife peculiarly happy in its fiorifts, wdio have enumerated and defcribed its vegetable treafures. From their labors I fliall mention thofe of molt ftriking ufe, beauty, or Iingularity, with references to the authorities and figures. My chief guide v.'ill be the Flora Zeylanica, compiled by hinnaus from the manu- fcripts of Paul Herman, who from the year 167010 1677 had made feveral botanizing journeys through the ifland, with great hazard to himfelf, and at vaft expence to the Hates of Holland. Thefe had been lofl above fifty years, and then dif- covered and communicated, in I745> by Augujlus Gunthery apo- thecary 2i6 ISLAND OF CEYLON, thecary at Copenhagen, to Linncvus, \vbo reduced the plants into iyftem, and pubUdied the Flora at Stockbohn, in 1747. Burtnan favored us with his Tbejaurus Zeylankits in 1737, a quarto, en- riched with no plates. The Hortus Malab^iricus was pubUflied at the expence of the munificent Governor of the coafts of Ma^ labar, Rbeede von Vraakenjlein, in tw'elve volumes folio, be- tween the years 1678 and 1693 : And the Herbarium AwbQ'menfe^ in fix volumes folio, compofed by the Pliny of Jndiat George Everbard Rumpbius^ was pubUflied between the year 1741 and 17505 under the care of the able Burman, Thefe are works to which I Hi all frequently refer : the w^ord Rbeede will denote the fpecies to be a native of Malabar \ Rumph, that it is a native alfo of Atnboina> But to proceed to the enumeration ; Cakna. Indicat Syji. PL i. p. 2. Rumpb, Amboin, v. tab, Ixxi. Katu Bala^ Rheed, MaL \u 85, tab. 43, the only ufe is in the feeds, which the Arabs vSq in their rofaries. Amomum. The different fpecies oi Amomum, and the Co/lus Arabicus^ Jacq. Am. i. tab. i, have from the earUefi: of times been imports of this and other parts of India, Curcuma. R.otunda,y Rumpb. 4. tab. Ixvj, is a plant with a tuberous root, equally in ufe as a medicine, and as a food. iKoEMPFERiA. Galanga, Biirm, ZeyL 33, tab. 13, has been a celebrated medicine under the name of Galang(t mcyoris et minoris " radix. Rotunda, Rbecd. xi, tab. 9, is the Zedoary, which retains its place in our difpenfatory. NycT/iNTHEs. Arbcr fr'rijiis, -Gerard, 1527; Matijapumera?n, Rbeede, i. 35, Ruii Hl/i. PI. 1698. It has the appearance of an olive. It drops its ISLAND OF CEYLON. aiy its boughs at the rifing of the fun, and is only cheerful in the night. The Indian poets make it to have been the Daphne of India, once beloved by the fun, whofe embraces fhe rejedted like the Ovidian Daphne. Grandijiorum, Merian, tab.xlvi, inhabits M/a'/<3t/^^r; thisifland Jasminum, and Sumatra are famed for the rich odor of their flowers. The J. Azoricumarts ; it is not at prefent in our difpenfary. IPOMOEA. ^(amoclit, Rumph. Amboin. v. 421. tab. 155, is a beautiful climbing plant, much ufed in India for making bowers. Nauciea. Orientalis, iii. tab. 55, is a tree that affords a beautiful yellow wood. aVIorin-da. Umbellata, iii. tab. 118, is a common ufelefs wood in the watery places of all parts of India., with a fmall tuberous fruit. The root is ufed for dying red. Frondofa, ISLAND OF CEYLON. 2i«) Frondofa, iv. tab. 51, is an elegant fiirub, called by the Met- Mussoenda. tayes, the Leaf of the Princefs-, becaiife their ladies are fond of the grateful odor of its white leaves. It takes the generic name from its quality of opening its Mirabilis. flowers at four in the evening, and clofing them in the morn- ing till the fame hour returns, when they again expand in the evening at the fame hour. Many people tranfplant them from the woods into their gardens, and ufe them as a dial or clocki efpecially in cloudy weather*. Jalapa, v. tab. 89, is a climbing plant ; notwithftanding its trivial, its ufes are quite unknown. It is common both to India and Peru. The famous Jalap comes from an Americajt plant, the Convolvulus Jalapa. Infanum, v. tab. 85. This is the commonefl, but poorefl Solanum. food univerfally ufed in India. It has been long lince intro- duced into Spain, where it is an univerfal ingredient in made- diflies, and called by the Spaniards, Berengenas. The Arabians fay, that Mabojuet found this plant in Paradife, w'hich makes his followers particularly fond of it. .S". Indicum is another fpecies, figured in Burnt. Zeyl. tab. 102. Barbatum, Rumpb. Amboin. 5, tab. 88, and C. Trutefcens, fig. Capsicum. I, 3, 4, of the fame table. Thefe Capjicums have a much more hot tafte and acrimony in the torrid zone, than even with us ; and are univerfally ufed in the diflies of the Indians, but the excefs always renders them wrinkled and chilly, ap.d brings on premature old age. Nux Fomiea, Rumpb. Amboin. ii. tab. 38, grows to a large SraYCHNoa. Ilze ; the kernel is flat, inclofed in a round fruit, fee Blackzvall, tab. 395. It was formerly kept in the fliops of our apothecaries, * Knox, p. 20. F f 2 but 220 ISLAND OF CEYLON. Rhamkus. Mangifera. Amaranthus. Cerbera. but being a rank poifon, and liable to abufe, is now totally re- jected, efpecially as it was found to be of no fort of ufc. Here are four fpecies of Rhamnus, Lineatus^ Biirman. Zeyl. tab. 88, Napeca, Rmiiph. Amboin. ii. tab. 42, or Vidara Laiit\ the chief ufe is to dete<51: wizards, to whom is given to drink an infafion of the root ; if it makes them fick, they are fuppofed guilty, if not they ftand acquitted; much as wife an experi- ment, as that of fwimming of witches in otir ifland. The other two kinds are the common, Rh. Jiijuba, ii. tab. 36, and Rh. OenopHa, Bur man, Zeyl. tab. 61. Indica, Rumph. A}7tbohi. i. tab." 25, 26. This tree, valuable for its fruit, grows to a vaft fize, and affumes the habit of an oak, and is a tree of the firft beauty. The fruit is oblong, and fometimes grows to the fize of a goofe's egg. When ripe, it is of a yellow and red color, and contains a large kernel, which is covered with a moft juicy pulp. It is reckoned (after the Ananas) the moft delicious fruit in India, and very few other fruits are eaten in the hot feafon. It is often dreffed different ways in made difhes. Of them is alfo made a 7nango-rob, moft acceptable to fick people. It is often brought over to England pickled. The timber is not of any value. This tree is not found in the Molucca illes. Cajlrenjis, v. tab. 84, is the beautiful annual, the amaranthus cocks-comb, that we often fee an ornament to our gardens. Manghas, arbor ha£laria^ ii. tab. 81. This alfo grows to a great fize, and in the weftern parts of the different ifles. The fruit is far lefTer than the Mango. It is of an oval form, with one fide concave, as if a piece had been bitten out. This, the Cingalefe fay, was the fatal apple tafted by Evcy whom they feiga ISLAND OF CEYLON. 221 feign refided along with her mate in this illand : They there- fore call it Adam'?> apple. It lies under the repute of beino- of a moft poifonous quality ; but that notion is efFedlually exploded by Rumphius. It is even taken, in form of an infufion, inter- nally. The kernel may be noxious when eaten to excefs, and even fatal, which may be the cafe with the beft things. In Malabar it is called Odallam. Rheede^ i. p. 71, afferts, that it is a common poifon,and that a very fmall portion proves immediately fatal. The wood is of no value: if wounded, it plentifully exudes a milky liquor. The kernel is fometimes preffed for the oil, with which candles are made ; but they emit a moft rank fmcll. Oleander is common to this country, and the hotter parts of Nevium. Spain. The Bromelia Ananas^ Rumph. Amboin. v. tab. 81, grows Bromelia. wild in many of the hidian ifles ; fuch as Celebes, Amboina, and even the Philippine ifles * : It was not, therefore, introduced from America. It is common to both worlds, and was originally brought from the Brafils into Spain. It is now frequent in Europe ; bvit cultivated with greateft fuccefs in England. The natives of Macajfar call it Pangram. The name Nanas, and Naja, which is ufed in fome places, is caught from the Bra- filian Nana, which was changed by the Portiiguefe into Ananas, and conferred on the plant, which they found alfo in India. This is the moft delicious fruit of the country, and long fince cultivat- ed with great attention, by transferring it into the richeft foils. Ceylon glows with numbers of the moft fplendid or odori- Pancratid.vz. ferous flowers. The Pancratium Zeylaniciim, Com. Hort. i. tab. 38, is a beautiful white flower, with a charming fcent. * Rumph. V. p. 12^. Aftaticunty ISLAND OF CEYLON. Crinum. Afiaticumy M'lIIer^s plates, tab. no, and the Cr'mum Zeyla- nicmiiy Trew's Ehret. tab. 13, is that elegant fpecies with a white flower, and pale purple fl:rij)e. Gloriosa. Superba, Com. Hort. i. tab, 69, Ind. Zool. tab. 3, well merits the pompous name. The Cingaleje ftyle it Najajala, poliibly from the root being poffeflcd of a poifon equally potent with the fatal ferpent Naja. PotiAKTHEs, The tuberofe, Polianthes tuberofa, Rumph. Amboin. v. tab. 98, a flower of too exquifite a fcent for the majority of peo- ple. It emits its odor molt ftrongly in the night. The Ma- layans therefore ftyle it Sandal Malam, or the mijlrefs of the- night \ comparing it to a frail fair, viliting her lover in the dark, fweetly perfumed, and highly drefled. It was introduced into England in 1664, and is mentioned by our Evelyn^ that glory of his days, by the name of Tuberofe Hyacinth, in the Aiigujl of his Kalendarium Hortenfe, Calamus. Rotangi Rumph. Amboin. v. tab. 51 to tab. 56, are the varieties of plants which yield the canes which are ufed to diftend the hoops of the fair fex in Europe. They grow to lengths incredi- ble, fome creeping along the ground, others climbing to the fummits of the higheft trees, and form a moft grotefque iimili- tude of cordage. MiMusops. Elengi, Rumph. Amboin. ii. tab. 63, approaches nearly the clove, and is remarkable for the rich odors of its flowers. Tameolifera. Pedunculata, ii. tab. 4^, is a fruit tree of no great value, refembling an oblong plumb. Laurus. We now are to touch on the glory of Ceylon, perhaps of the vegetable kingdom. The Laurus cinnaniomum, Burman. Zeyl, tab. 27, Raii Hijl. PL ii. 1554 to 1563, U^Qodville, i. 80, Gerard, 3 ^532. I S L A I^ D OF CEYLON. 223 1532. This is an elegant fpecies of laurel that grows to the height of twenty feet ; the flowers fmall, and of a yellowilh color : the fruit pulpy, with an oblong ftone. This valuable tree grows in greater quantity in the ifle of Ceylon, than any other place. It grows wild in the woods, with- out any culture : every province does not poiTefs it, there is none in that oi Jaffa?iapatam, nor Manaar, but abound in moft of the internal parts, and about Negumbo and Gale. A pigeon, I think the Pompadour, Brown's Ilhijlr. tab. 19, is the fpecies, which, by carrying the fruit to different places, is a great dif- feminator of this valuable tree. I do not believe it to be pecu- liar to this ifland ; but the bark is infinitely fuperior in quality to any other. Botanifts enumerate numbers of kinds, but they only vary being taken from trees of different ages, or growing in different foils, and fituations. It may be found in Malabar, Sumatra, See. but is depretiated by another name, CaJJia, and Canella, to our unfpeakable lofs ; Cinnamonium was a more dig- Cinnamon, or i- , Cassia. nified name. The antients fpeak of it under that title, m fuch high terms, that the Dutch wifely retained the name, which gave it greateft refpedlability. Our countryman, the late Taylor White, Efq. in Ph. Tranf. vol. I. p. 860, and Mr. Coinbes, refi- dent in Sumatra, in page 873, are entirely of opinion, that C/;z- namon and Cajfia do not fpecifically differ. Mw.JVhite''^ account 'is accompanied with fomc very good figures of the leaves of the former. The celebrated bark is the inner, and is reckoned the moft perfed when taken from trees of feven or eight years old, if they grow in a wet flimy foil; but thofe which grow in the warm white fan:d. 22A ISLAND OF CEYLON. fand of the vallies, come to maturity in iive years. Sel^a fays, that the ages of the trees are fourteen, fifteen, or fixteen years. It is the heat which gives the bark that quilled form in which it comes over to us, efpecially the fmaller and more deUcate fort, which is taken from the fmalier branches. The bark is firll freed from the external coat, when it is on the trees ; is then cut lengthways, dripped off, dried in the fand, and fo becomes merchantable. The barkers of cinnamon are brought up to the trade, and are called Chialiajes. The account given by Mr, Efcheljkroon of the management, is moft authentic; from him I fliall tranf- cribe what will be highly fatisfaftory to the readers. At page 339 of Wolfe's account of the ifle of Ceylon, he begins thus : — " The time for barking the tree commences in the months of ** June and Julv, and fometimes even in Augujl : now as foon as " they come out of their villages for that purpofe, every dif- *' tri<5t fends a detachment of Dutch foldiers, and another com- " pofed of the natives themfelves, called Lafcaryns, along with *' them, in order to guard the wood where they are to work, *' and this partly on account of the roving Cingalefe moun- " taineers, which fometimes fall on the barked cinnamon, and " make it their booty ; but ftill more for the purpofe of having " an eye upon the Chialtafes themfelves, that they may not be " able to conceal any of the cinnamon, and afterwards carry « it off. " The bark that is peeled during the day, mull be carried every ** evening to the Dutch guard, belonging to their refpedlive dif- ♦* trials; there cleanfed, well dried, and made up into bundles, " and afterwards taken in clofe cafes to the fadlory, where they " are ISLAND OF CEYLON. 225 " are weighed, and received by the company as payment of the ** aflelTment or tax impofed on thefe people by government. " A man muft be a very good hand indeed, that can gather " thirty pounds of cinnamon in a day ; whence it is eafily " calculated, how many perfons it will take to gather ten or " twelve million pounds, and that too of the belt ; for what " is brought in is looked over before it is weighed, and the " refvife of it burned. <* At the time for gathering this drug, the company are " obliged to draw out a cordon of feventy-two miles in cir- " cumference ; and as there are a great many of thefe corps de *' garde, it follows that the company muft pay a great many *' 'Europeans, as well as Cingalefe. Thefe cinnamon barkers are " under the command of a captain, called a Malabadde, and are " diftributed into four different claiTes. All the Cbiliafes muft " be ready at all times to work at the Governor's command, for " on him it depends how much is to be barked and delivered in; ** and this again depends on the demand for it from Europe" This important article of luxury was well known to the an- tients. The Greeks called it YLmxyMi^ov, and fometimes HuAo>:a(r<«, or Cajia Lignea, and Kao-o-ia c-i^ty^, to the bark, from the pipe- hke form it aftlimed by the rolling up. V/e have applied the word Ca^Jia to the inferior cinnamons of Malabar and Su' matra. The Romans called it Cinnamo7num, but generally with fome addition. The Xy/o-cinnomomum, or the wood, we are told by Pliny, was fold for twenty denarii, or twelve fnillings and eleven pence /^r pound. The juice, or exprefted oil, at one thoufand Vol. L G g denarii, a26 ISLAND OF CEYLON. defiariijor ^.'^1, 5. 10. The DapbnoideSj or I/ocinnamofif {eems not to be thought the genuine kind, yet fold at the price of three hundred denarii^ or ;^.8. 13. 9, the fame price as the true cinnamon. The Cinna77iomimi caniocans was the exprefled juice of a nut, and perhaps a different article from the true c'ui- najnon^ was fold for no more than forty afles, or two fhillings and feven-pence. The antients, according to Pliny, efteemed, as we do at prefent, the cinnamon of the young twigs. It was chiefly made ufe of as a perfume, either as an ingredient for their unguents, or to rub their bodies with, in form of oil. They appear to have been ignorant of the tree that produced it, as well as the country ; they fuppofed that it came from that part of JEtLiopia which bordered on the Troglodytes. Pliny fays they bought all they could of their neighbors ; but even Mr. Bruce, who would certainly do all the honor he could to Mthio- pia, never mentions it among his botanical enumerations. Pliny talks confufedly of along voyage made with the cargoes of this pretious article, and of the croffing of vaft feas : of the cinna- mon being under the prote6lion of the god AJfabiiiuSy and of its never being cut without his permiffion. I dare fay that the Cinnamon and Cajfia came then as it does now, from the Ma- labar coaft, and Taprobone or Ceylcn, and that the merchants croffing the Sinus /Ethiopicus in fearch of it, induced the Roman Naturalift to make JEthiopia its native country *. The antients give a moft romantic account of thefe trees, that of their being guarded by a dire fpecies of bat, fighting cruelly with their fharp claws -, and by flying ferpents ; one was * Pliny, in lib. xii, c. xlx. and other parts of his Nat, Hift. treats largely of this tree. the \.URVS Cassia. ISLAND OF CEYLON. 227 the enormous bat of the torrid zone ; the others, the winged lizard, before defcribed. Its modern ufe for culinary purpofes is unknown to none. Cinnamon-water is alfo a fine liqueur. From the leaves is ex- tracted a thick and fragrant juice, appropriated for the candles of his imperial Majefty of Ceylon ; and from the roots is ex- tracted the oil of camphire, and a fort of camphire fuperior to what we have in the fliops, which likewife is referved for the Emperor, who efteems it an excellent cordial. Seba^ in Ph. Tranf. abr. vi. 326, from whom we have the account, fpeaks highly of its virtue in arthritic cafes. The bark, and eflential oil, is an article in our difpenfary. I NOW naturally pafs to the Laurus CaJJJa, the rival to the Lai laft. It is the carna of Rbeede Malab. i. 107, tab. 59, Burjiian Iiid. 91, Black-wall, tab. 319. I leave to botanilts the fettling of the difpute, whether it is diftinct, or a variety of the laft. The diftinCtion between the bark of this and the real cin- namon, is, that this breaks fmooth ; the real, fplinters. This has a llimy mucilaginous talte ; the true cinnamon, rough, and with a rich aromatic Imeil. Occidentale, Runiph. i. tab. 69, is common to Eajl and Weji Anacardium. Indies. It is the Cujljezv of the laft, the Caghii of the Cey- lonefe. Heptaphylla-) — iv. tab. 22, would be invaluable, was it not {o Sophora. common ; it is the moft admirable medicine in the cholera, and the cholera Jiuxus, bilious complaints, excefllve vomiting, pleu- rifies, and poifon : it is remarkable for its links of berries, con- nected like beads. G g 2 Xofnentofa, 22S Bauhima. ISLAND OF CEYLON. Cassia. Tomentofa, and Acuminata, Burjn. ZcyL tab. i8, and Raii Hiji. ii. 1558, are found here. The true ebony, which grows plen- tifully in tb.is illand, is fuppofed to be a Ipecies of Bauhinia ; yet this once valuable wood is not afcertained. Various kinds of Caffia, or Senna^ are natives of Ceylon \ among others, the ufeful C. Fijiula, ii. tab. 21, fo good and fine a purge. GuiLANDiKA. BonduCy V. Riimph. tab. 48, G. Nuga Sylvarum, v. — tab. 50, are reniarkable for their rough nuts, with a hook at the end, arrefting the travellers. The G. Movinga, — v. tab. 74-5, has a long {lender pod, and ere<51; ftrait dem. Monopbylla, Burm. Zeyl. tab. 65, and L. AcidiJJittia, — ii. tab. 43. Thefe bear fmall fruits refembling lemons. Btlimbi, — i. tab. 36, is lingular for being loaden with fruit iffuing from the knots of the body of the tree; the Av. Ca- rafnbola, — i. tab. 35, for its long angular apples ; and the Av. Acida, — vii. tab. 17, for fmall rounded fruit, growing on the fide of the ftalk. Tapia, Commel. Hort. i. tab. 67, or garlick pear of the IFeJi Indies. Cr. Marmelos, Rumph. i. tab. 81, has a large pear-fhaped fruit, of a difagreeable fweetnefs, and rank fmell. Antiquorum, Com. Hort. i. tab. 12, Euph. nerei folia, Rumph. iv. tab. 40, an elegant flender angular fpecies. Euph. Tira- culli, vii. tab. 29. Pyriferum, — i. tab. 47, a roundifh fruit, called in the Weji Indies, Guava, full of feed, and very indifferent to the tafte. X Malaccenjis.,— LiMONIA. AVERRHOA. Crataeva. Euphorbia. PiSIDIUM. ISLAND OF CEYLON. 229 Malaccenjis, — i. tab. 36, 38, Nati Scbambn, Rbeede, 1. tab. Eugen-ia. 18, Rail Hiji.u. 1478, is a pear-lliaped fruit, growing to the bare rtalk, a cooling and refrefhing kind. — Eug. lamboSy i. tab. 39, Malacca Schambii^ Rbeede, i. tab. 17, Rait Hiji. ii. 1478, is remarkable for its crooked timber, ufeful for the ribs of fliips. — Eug. Acutangula, iii. tab. 115, Tjleria Samjiravadiy RbeedCj iv. tab. 7, Raii Hi/i. ii. 1480, and — Eug. Racemofa, iii. tab. 116, Samjlravadi, RJjeede, iv. tab. 16, Raii HiJl. ii. 1479, bear edible fruits. Ceylon has four fpecies of myrtle; M. Cumini, Rumpb. i. tab. Myrtus. 41, fmelling like cumin feed ; M. Zeylanica, remarkable for its great fragrancy ; M. AndrofamoideSy M. Caryopbyllata, from its aromatic fmell ; and M. Pimenta, or all-fpice, common to both the Indies. Granata, Woodville, i. tab. 58. The pomgranate, is here cul- Punica. tivated, and profpers greatly. Gutta^ Blackwall, tab. 393, Raii HiJi. PL ii. 1661, grows to be Cambogia, a large tree, and bears a roundifli ribbed fruit, of a yellow color. The wood yields a fine yellow concrete folid juice, brought over in large cakes. It is in our difpenfary, and adls powerfully both upwards and downwards. Some phyficians hold it to be a dangerous medicine ; others commend the ufe, but all recommend it with caution. It is prefcribed in droplies, and leprous cafes. Painters know this drug as the richeft of yellows. LotuSy Alpin. /Egypt. 50, or water lilly, the hotus Mgyptiaca Nymphoea. of Pliny, lib. xiii. c. xvii, which appeared after the falling of the waters of the Nile. The old Egyptians laid the fruit ia 230 ' ISLAND OF CEYLON. in heaps, to putrify, and after drying them made bread of the farina. N. Ne/um^Oj Taratta, Rumph. vi. tab. 63. This elegant plant was the antient Faba Mgyptiaca. The flower is of a beau- tiful rofe color. The fruit is well figured in Gerard^ 1552 ; it is like a poppy cut in two, and with twenty-four round cells, in each of which is a bean. The root was reckoned by the an- tients very delicious, either raw or dreft. The figure is fo ftrik- ing, that the Indians feign that Cupid was firft feen floating down the Ganges on one of them, but the lovely floating flowers would have been a more fuitable couch for the amorous deity. It has alfo a grateful fmell, not unlike cinnamon. The antients feigned that this plant was fliunned by the crocodiles of the Niky on account of the jirickly flalks. The Indians eat the beans. OcHN'A. Squarrofa, Burm. Zeyl. tab. Ivi, a very elegant flirub. Calophyllum. Inophyllum, Rumpb. ii. tab. 71. This grows to a vaft fize, and is a tree of amazing circumference ; its leaves very large, of a fine green, and yield a delightful fliade. Rbccde, iv. 76, tab. 38, informs us it grows to the height of ninety feet, and the circumference of twelve, and then it bears fruit three hundred years. The flowers fmall, but of a mofl: fragrant odor; the fruit round. The wood is excellent for wheels, and the greater mechanical ufes. Candles are made of the fruit. This magii'fitcnt tree adorns the fliores oi India. 'Vht Mala^ bars call it ronjia-^jiaram. Eleocarpus. Serrata^ iii. tab. loi, Rumphius calls it Ganilri, and fays it is one of the talleft trees of India, and proportionably thick. The I S L A N D O F C E Y L O N. 231 The fruit is perfed;ly round, of the fize of a mufquet ball, and of a bluilli purple color ; the flones feem elegantly carved, are coUecfted in facks, and fold at a good price, and being ftrung, ferve for ornaments for the neck and bread, and for beads for the rofaries for the Mahometans. The timber is ufed for build- ing ; and is an inhabitant of watery places, and even moun- tains. Indica^ Poenoe, Rbced. Malab. iv. tab. 15, Raii H'ljl, PL ii. Vateria. 1482. This tree grows to the height of fixty feet, and to fix- teen in circumference, at the bottom ; and if wounded exudes a rofin ; is an evergreen, and will continue to bear fruit three hundred years. The fruit is of the lize of a walnut, and has a bitter kernel. Marts are made of the younger trees. The Indians excavate the bodies into canoes, which will hold fixty men. Capfularis, Rumph. v. tab. 78. The Chineje make a thread corchorus. of the italics ftronger than cotton. jilifmoides, Rbeed. Malab. xi. tab. 46. Alpin. JEgypt. ii. 51, Stratiotes. tab. 36, 37, a water plant; found alfo in the Nile, mentioned by Diofcorides and Pliny ; is ufed in Egypt as a ftyptic. Champaca, Riimpb. ii. tab. 67, a moft elegant flowering michelia. Ihrub. The flowers are of the richeft faffron color; and are ■ufed by the natives of India to flrew over their beds and furniture. The females ftick the flowers in their hair, a fine contrail to its jetty blacknefs. Afiatica, i. Biirm. Zeyl. 21. The roots are ufed by the dyers annona. for dying red. A. Squamqfa, Rumpb. i. tab. 46. Bur7n. Zeyl. 21. The fruit 232 BiGNOXIA. 5esamum. BOMBAX. Hibiscus. ISLAND OF CEYLON. frnit are of no value, and are chiefly devoured by the bats ; fometimes are gathered before they are ripe, and left to ripen under heaps of rice, and then eaten. Indica, Rheed. Malab. i. tab. 45. Rait H'lji. ii. 1741, a lofty, but not fpreading tree ; loves fandy places ; its fruit of a great lize, oblong and flat; the leaves ufeful in dying black. Orientate^ Burni. Zeyl. tab. 38, fig. i. This is an annual, cultivated in Italy, in early times, on account of the feed, from which abundance of oil ufed to be exprcfled. It is thought, that no vegetable contains fuch a quantity. Arrian frequently mentions the feeds or its oil •'••, as a great article of commerce from India, and the other eaftern regions. It was nfcd both as a food, and in medicine t . Rumphius, v. p. 204, tab. 76, defcribes another Sefajnum iifed for the fame purpofes, nniverfally cultivated in India. Pentandrum, Rumpb. i. tab. 80. Pajiia Paniala, Rheede, iii. tab. 49, 50, 51, pod of the wool-bearing tree, Gerard^ 1552, a tree that grows to the fize of our walnut; bears long pods filled with feeds, wrapped in a fine fliort down, too fliort for fpinning; but after being drefled is of great ufe in fluffing beds and the like. The wood is excellent for making palings, and other fences. B. Ceiba, Jacq. Am. p. 192, tab. 176, bears a long pod, with a prickly coat; common to both worlds. Populneus, Ruinph. ii. tab. 74. H. Roja Sinetifn, iv. tab. 8. This Flos Fejlalis, as it is called, is the ornament of every * Arrian, Mar. Erythr. ii. p. 150. t Pliii. lib. xviii. c. 10. lib. xxiii. c. 4. fcafl, ISLAND OF CEYLON. n. feaft, and inflead of the invl/a Ciiprejfus^ follows every un- married youth to his grave, be they Cbrijlians be they Gentiles, Herbaceum, iv. tab. 12. and G. Arbor eum, iv. tab. 13, the laft Gossymum, having a more fhrubby ftalk than the other, the firft is fown annually, but thrives better on the dry Coromandel coail than any other. This produces the great manufactures of the Indies^ Cottov, callicoes, and every other fpecies fo well adapted to the climate. Thefe plants are natives alfo of the hotter parts of America, and oi Africa \ and even cultivated with moft profitable fuccefs in Valentia in Spain ; page 421, vol. vi. of the MS. part of this work, gives fome account of the produce. Ferrea, vii. tab. ir, is alow tree, remarkable for giving a Mesua. pleafant fliade, and the rich mace-like fcent of its flowers. Fer- rea, Syift. PL iii. 269, Baiulla Ijiampacum, Rbeede, iii. tab. z^'^y Raii Hift. 1680. The fuperb flower, Barringtonia Speciosa, Lin. Suppl. PL 312; Cook's fecond Voyage, i. p. 157. Butonica, Rimiph.\\i. 170. tab. 114, is found in this ifland, and in all tropical countries : Is a lofty tree, and of confiderable thicknefs, but is feldom erect, bending fo that the branches hang into the water, for it is univerfally an inhabitant of watery places. The fruit is large, and quadrangular, as reprefented in Clujius's Exotic, lib. ii. c. 5. It is ufed, in Aniboina as a remedy in the colic. In Ternate and Java, it is made into a pafte, mixed with other drugs, and ufed to intoxicate fifh, as is done by the Cocciilus Indicus. Draco, ii. tab. 70, is a tree that grows to a vaft height, much Pterccarpus, efteemed for the fweetnefs of its flowers, and the beautiful red- nefs of the wood, uniform or varied, fo as to refemble flames of Vol. I. H h fire 234 ISLAND OF CEYLON. fire burfting out of the fmoke. It is therefore in great repute for the making of chefts, and furniture: v/hen ufed as fuel it yields a fcent, grateful as that of the fandal or citron. It is alfo called the Dragon-tree, as it exudes a thick juice, of a blood- red, refembling that which falls from that tree, which has been long famed for that quality. Ervthrina. Corallodendron^ ii. tab. 76, a tree quite brilliant with its fear-. » let flowers. It grows ufually near the fliores. It is pretended, that fuch is the fplendor of the long fpikes, that during the flowering feafon they adlually terrify the filli from the coafts on which they grow. Phaseolus. Vulgaris. Ceylon, and India in general, produce numbers of fpecies of kidney-beans. The fpecies jufl mentioned is the fcarlet. The Ph. radiatus and max. are engraven in Rumph. v. tab. 139, and 140. DoLicHos. Pruriens, Nai Corann, Fl. Zeyl. N" 539, is remarkable for its efFeds. The downy pile on the pods occafions the moft into- lerable itching, far beyond that of the nettle. It is called at Surat, Cohuge-i from which it was corrupted to the Englijh name of Cow-itch ; Ray, vol. i. p. 887, names it Pbafeolus Zurratenfis^ and Cowbege ; and fays it has been proved a mofl efiicacious re- medy in the dropfy. Rumpbius figures it in vol. v. tab. 142, under the title of Cacara Pruritus. It has been fometimes ap- plied for wanton purpofes, to fet people an itching. The au- thor of Hudibras makes it one of the drugs ufed in his days to counterfeit the feats of witches. I fliall give the wliole lift, fince I may have occafion to refer back to it : — With ISLAND OF CEYLON. 235 With drugs, convey 'd In drink or meat, All feats of witches counterfeit j Kill pigs and geefe with powder'd glafs. And make it for inchantment pafs ; With Coiu-itch meazle like a leper. And choak with fumes of G//OTt'_y-pepper : Make lechers, and their punks with Dewtry, Commit phantaflical advowtry; Bewitch hermetic-men to run Stark flaring mad with Manicon. Ceylon and India have great varieties of HedyfaTum. The Hedtsarum. H. PulcbeUunif Burm. Zeyl. tab. 52, is very remarkable for its long fpikes of circular pods. TinBoria^ Rumph. Amboin. v. tab. 80, is common in all parts Indicofera, of India in a cultivated ftate : but its native country is Guzeraty where it grows wild ; but its name is derived from Indicus, a pa- tronimic taken from the country it was originally brought from. It is alfo found wild in Madagafcar. The rich blue dye is pro- cured from it in all parts of Hindoojlan, and ufed in the various manufactures. Diofcorides, lib. v. c. 68, fpeaks of two kinds, one extracfted from what he calls certain Indian reeds. Pli?iy errs when he fays it is from the flime which adheres to thofe ■ plants. Diofcorides mentions it medicinally : Plijiy as a paint. The fpecies of Citrus are two, C. Aurantium Sinenfe, or Citrws. China orange, probably originally imported from that country, and the C. Decumanus, Rumph. A7nboin. ii. tab. 64, the Shaddock ^ or Piwipelmofe of the Wejl Indies^ which is only cultivated in H h 2 Ceylon, .^6 I S L A N D O F G E Y L O N. Ceylon, not aboriginal. ^Fo/f mentions the lemon, and Burman, in his Thefaurus, gives a little lemon, 'CnQhimon Nipis, Rmnpb. ii. tab. 29, perhaps the common lime. Nepenthes. I NOW proceed to the wonder of the vegetable kingdom, the famous Bandura, Burm. Zeyl. tab. 17, Cantbarifera, or Baun Gujtdi, Rumph. Amboin. v. tab. 59, the Nepenthes Bejlillatoria of Linnans. This is an herbaceous plant, with narrow leaves. From their ends iffues a very long tendril, which finiflies with a long cylindrical tube, fometimes fix inches in length, and furnifhed at the extremity with a circular valve, completely at times clofing the orifice. This is filled with a pure limpid water, which continues during the time that the valve is fhut; when it is open the liquor is dried up, but the flock is renewed at night, when the valve is again clofed. Rumphius has feen a pint of water in thofe of Amboina. They feem a variety of the Ceylonefe, being thickefl in the middle. Thofe of Ceylon being truly cylindrical. The Dutch call this plant, Kannekens Kruydy or the Can Fruit, from its fingular form. Linnaus, if I may colled: from the name, imagines it to have been the Nepenthes of Homefs Odyjfey, Book iv. which we are told was prefented to Helen, by the wife of "Tboney king of Egypt, together with the receipt for preparing The mirth- infpiring bowl, Temper'd with drugs of fov 'reign ufe t' afluage The boiling bofom of tumultuous rage : 'To clear the cloudy front of wrinkled care. And dry the tearful fluices of defpair, Charm'd ISLANDOFGEYLON. 237 Charm'd with that virtuous draught, th' exalted mind All fenfc of woe delivers to the wind. Pliny, lib. xxi. c. 21, gives an account of its efFe6ls. That wicked wag, Martin Folkes, in his witty defcription o^xht Arbor Fit (2., will have it to have been the all-conciliating fruit of this tree, the Panacea which Helen always kept by her, and nfed on all cccafions. The Cingalefe ftyle this plant Bandura, i. e. Priapus Vegetab'r- lis ; had Mr. Folkes known this, it would have furnifhed him with new arguments. That fingular charadler drew up the hu- morous paper with wit, which all its obfcenity cannot deftroyo It was intended as an impofition on the good Sir Hans SloanCy and the reading was actually begun before a meeting of the Royal Society, when a member, more fagacious than the reft, dif- covered the joke, and put a ftop to the fecretary's proceedings. Martin Folkes himfelf fucceeded in the prefident's chair. In Ceylon are found two fpecies of the bread-fruit, the Arfo- Bread Fruit. carpus of botanifts. One, the Integrifolia, Lin. Suppl. 412; the The Integri- other, the Incijus, 411. It is fingular, that this bleffing to the °^'*^' ifland fhould pafs fo long unnoticed : Yet Knox-) page 14, in- formed us of (perhaps) both kinds, certainly of the firft, and that above a century ago. The Integrifolia he calls by the Ce/' lonefe name, Warragah, which is the fpecies filled with great kernels : fee the fruit expreffed in different plates, entire and dif- fedted, by M. Sonnerat., in his voyage to Nezv Guinea, at page 99,. Thefe kernels are taken out and boiled by the natives, and often prove prefervatives againft famine in fcarcity of rice. Ex- teriorly the rind appears prickly, but the fpines are foft, and Vol. J. H.h 3. give 238 I S L A N D O F C E Y L O N. give way to the touch. After the interval of a century, from the time of Knox, Dodlor Thunberg* gives an account of both fpecies. This he fays is the Maldivian four Jack of the Dutcb^ that it contains two or three hundred great kernels, each four times the fize of an almond ; and that the fruit grows to the weight of thirty or forty pounds ; that the talle is unpleafant, and cadaverous, yet that not fewer than fifteen diflies are pre- pared from it. He adds, that the trees of both kind are replete with a milky juice, as tenacious as bird-lime itfelf ; and Kjiox adds, that the boys apply it to that purpofe. RumpbiuSf i. p. 104, calls the larger variety of this fpecies Saccus Arborens major^ Nanba, and gives the figure in tab. xxx. The other he names Saccus Arboreus tninor Tsjampedaka, fee p. 107, tab. xxxi. both thefe are oblong ; the laft fack-fhaped. The leaves are entire and ovated. The fruit grow in a moft fingular manner, hanging by the ftalk from the body of the tree,- ex arbore trunco prode- mata, fays Bauhin, in his Pinax, p. 511.. See alfo the figure in Rumpbius, and alfo in Linfchottcn, tab. 76, 77. Place*. This fpecies grows in moft of the fame places with the follow- ing. It is alfo frequent in the Maldive iiles, from whence, in about the year 1727, or 1728, fome roots were brought, and planted in this ifland. From this circumftance the fpecies is called Maldivifcbe Syr Sack. Doctor Tbunberg, in our Phil. Tranf. vol. Ixix. has publiflied a long account of thefe fruits, under the name of Tfitodium, and particularly diftinguiflied the fecond kind by the name of Macrocarpon^ or long fruit. Both kinds have various names : * Travels, iv. p. 255. The I S L A N D O F G E Y L O N. 339 The Portuguefe call it the Jacca, of which, notice will be taken in another place. The fecond kind is only mentioned by Knox under the name Incisus. of VellaSy who fays it is as foft as pap. This is the fame with the Seedlefs, or Apyreneoi George Forjier, PL JEJcul. Inf. Oceani Anjir. p. 25, which is of a globular form, and is univerfally cultivated in Otaheite, and poffibly others of the South Sea iflands. It is alfo defcribed by Doctor Tbunberg, and faid to grow as large as a child's head. This is filled with a fubftance like the crumb of new-baked bread ; and is univerfally ufed in the iflands of the South Seay but lefs fo in Ceylon, It is the Bread Fruit of Lord Anfon^ p. 310; Ed. ifl: of Captain Cook'^ firil: Voyage, i. p. 80. tab. II ; and of Mr. Ellis, in his Monograph, p. 11 ; and the ArtO" carpus incifus of Lin. Suppl. 411. The varieties of the incifus, which have kernels, are thofe engraven by Rumpbius, i. p. no. tab. xxxii. under the name of Soccus lanofus. The Granofus, — p. 112. tab. xxxiii. and the Syi- vejiris, — p. 114. tab. xxxiv. but thefe are all negledled in Ota^ heite *, in preference of the Apyrene. The leaves of every one of thefe are like that of an oak, and deeply lacerated, and of the length of two feet, and the fruit pendent from the boughs. This, fays YioGiox'^hunberg^, is common in Ceylon, and from ptAcr?. Coromandel to Gape Comorin. It is found near Columbo, Gale, and feveral other place?, both wild and cultivated. It feems amazing, that Mr. Bligb fliould be twice fent to the iflands of the fouthern ocean for thefe valuable plants, when it appears that they may be had with fo little difficulty from Ceylon. Dodtor Tbunberg brought feveral hundred flirubs of * G. Forller's PI. JEk. p. 26, f Thunberg's Travels, iv, p. 255. Vol. I, H h 4 both; 240 ISLAND OF CEYLON. both fpecies, and quantities of feeds, all of which were de- ftroyed by a violent ftorm he met with, no farther off his port than the coaft of Flanders *» Coix. Lacryma, Rmnpb. Amboin. v. tab. 75, refembles very much a fugar cane. The Butch have found out its excellency in chicken broth : io it is introduced to all the good tables of Amboina. Hermandia. Sonnerat, ii. tab. 85. The Indians call it Arbor Regia, as always certain plants are found under its fliade or protection : it is alfo full of ants, which bite with great fliarpnefs : it bears a fmall cluftered berry. This tree is ufeful in medicine, yet is failaced under its- fliade ; the feconrl, becaufe meetings were hel a Dane by birth, who engraved not fewer than twenty- one, and, with feveral others from different places, publifhed a 3 fplendid ISLAND OF CEYLON. fplendid work in 1776, with the title of * New Illustrations * OF Zoology,' under the patronage of my late worthy friend Marmaduke 'Tuyijlal', Efq. and myfelf. From the fame colle<5lion was formed my Indian Zoology, begun In 1769, and left a fragment. It was refumed and pub- liflied more complete in one volume quarto, in 1790. I refer the reader to the preface to that work for an account of its rife and progrefs. Mr. Lotcn returned into Europe in 1758, and coming into 'England^ where he lived feveral years, in 1765 he married his fecond wife, Lcztitia Cotes, of the refpedtable houfe of CoteSy in SbropJJnre, feveral years after which he returned into Hol- kind, and died at Utrecht, on February 25, 1789, aged eighty, and was interred in St. Jacob's church in that city. During the whole of my acquaintance with him, at frequent periods he endured the moft fevere fpafmodic complaints in his cheft, which for months together difabled him from the ufe of a bed. I fhould not have mentioned thefe circumftances, was it not to add to his other virtues, thole of unfeigned piety, and refig- nation unexampled amidft the trial of fevereft mifery. In the north aide, weft ward of JVeJlm'mJler Abby, is a moft magnificent cenotaph, ere£ted in 1795, to perpetuate the me- mory of this excellent man, the performance of Thomas Banks. A fingle figure, reprefenting Generofity attended by a lion, fuftains a medallion of his head; and on a pedeftal is a brief hiftory of his life and his charadter, in Latin. There is another infcription, confifting of the fifteenth pfalm (excepting the laft K k 1 verfe) ^5X 2Z2 ISLAND OF CEYLON. verre) fo exprellive of the life of a good man, concluding with thefe words — Such was John Gideon Loten. PONTA DE Pedras. Jaffana- TATAM. The Ape-God, Hannaman. After this account of my worthy friend, I refume the view of Ceylon^ beginning at the northern extremity of its coaft, Ponta de Pedras^ Lat. 9° 52', the Boreum promontorium of Ptolemy, and taking the ealtern fide, furround the whole ifland. This north- ern extremity is broken into two, or perhaps more ifies, divided from the greater by a very narrow channel ; the other fide is faced by rocks and flioals, and afFeded by mofl: variable cur- rents. The city of Jaffanapatam flands on the weftern fide of one of the ifies ; this retains its Cingalefe name ; moft of the other places in the neighborhood have been changed toD-utch. When the city was taken from the natives by the Portuguefe, in 156a, they found in the treafury the tooth of an ape, fo highly vene- rated by the people of Ceylon, that immenfe fums were offered for its redemption, but in vain. To deftroy this \}\ecQ of idola- try, the viceroy ordered it to be reduced to powder, and then burnt. Apes are in many parts of India highly venerated, out of refped; to the God Hanfiawany a deity partaking of the form of that race, with the addition of heads of bears, who rendered the god Vitcbe7ioii great fervices in this very ifie, fiaying giants, and performing fo many wondrous deeds. In vol. iii. p. 863, of Churchiir^ collecftion, is a long detail of his exploits. There is a wonderful extravagance in the Indian mythology; the warmth of ISLAND OF CEYLON. 253 of their climate creates ideas filled with the ftrangeft imagery. The tooth was probably worfhipped as one belonging to his godQiip. Most of the eaftern fide of Ceylon is guarded with fand banks TRiNcoMAit. or rocks "-^-. T'rincotnale harbour is in Lat. 8° 30', a fine and fecure port, protected by a flrong garrifon, confiiiing of about four hundred men. Such was the number in fort OJlejidurgb, when it was taken by affault, on January 11, 1782, by our brave feaman, Sir Edzvard Hughes ; which, on Auguji 26 of the lame year, was wrefted from us by his acflive and gallant rival Suf- frein. On September 2d, the former came off 'Trincomale, and to his great furprife found the French colors flying on all the forts. Suffrein, with a fuperior fquadron, failed out of the harbour, fecure, as he thought, of victory. Our brave admiral, and his officers, enraged at the lofs of the place, eagerly accepted the offer of combat. The contending admirals difplayed every proof of courage and fkill. Suffrein''^ fliip was reduced to a wreck, and he obliged to remove his flag to another. By fome negledt of ours we loll: the difabled fliip. Night alone terminated the battle. Suffrein retired into 'TrincomaJe, crowding in without order. Thus fecured, Hughes left him relucftantly, and failed for Madras with his fliattered fquadron. Our lofs was inconfi- derable, in common men, fur it did not exceed fifty-one killed * Between the bay of Trincomale and the fort Calirauw is the country called Bedas, a traft of foreft, comprehending a hundred and twenty miles. The habitation of the Bedas. and a54 ISLAND OF CEYLON. -and three hundred wounded. In officers we fuffered feverely. The captains hnmlcv^ Watty and Wood fell in the a<5lion. The lofs of the French was enormous. Four himdred and twelve men were killed, and fix hundred and feventy-fix were wound- ed. The carnage on board the gallant Suffrein\ fliip, the HcrOt was unheard in any fight of any age, it was an unparalleled car- nage. Many of the French captains had behaved ill, fix were broke, and fent prifoners to the illand of Mauritius ; and thus ended the unavailing {laughters in the Indian feas. The Ganges of Ptolemy runs into this harbour. Barticalo. Barticalo is the next port, lying in Lat. 7° 40'. This alfo has a ftrong fortrefs. Here the Dutch firft landed in 1638, and took it by capitulation from the Portuguefe. The mountain, the Monk^s-hoody fome leagues inland, is a remarkable fea mark. Barticalo may have been near the fite of the town called by Ptolemy, Bocona ; near it is a river which preferves the name, being called by the natives Ko-bokan-oycy or the river of Bokan *. From the mouth of Kobakan river, the land trends to the fouth-weft. Nothing remarkable occurs till we reach Malawe\ between that place and Tangala, is a large plain, thirty miles in circumference, noted for the chace of elephants ; their antient place of embarkation, the Geyrreiveys of Elypbants van plaets, is a little farther to the weft. Matura. a little more to the weft is Matura, where the Dutch have a ftrong fortrefs ; their policy is only to fortify the ports. * D'Anviile, Aiitiqurte de I'lnde, p. 146. Bondra^ ISLAND OF GEYi^ON. 255 Dondra-headyh next, that point is the moft fomhern of any Don-dra-head. in the ifland. A little to the weft is Tanazvar, remarkable for Tanawar. having been the Daiana of Ptolemy^ facred to the moon ; the place ftill has its temple, or Pagoda, highly venerated by the natives. Near it is one of the Dutch pofts, of which they have a fucceflion every ten or twelve miles, guards to the internal parts, and one may fay, to the iraprifoned Emperor. The gar- rifons are provided with flags, by which fignals. either of internal commotions, or the appearance of fhips, are conveyed all along the coafts, even to Colombo, the feat of the Dutch government. Almoft every one of thefe pofts are near the mouth of fome river or torrent, which rufli on all ftdes into the fea, at fhort intervals from the lofty mountains. Punta de Galle is a little to the north-weft of Dondra-head, in Punta ee Lat. 6°, turning almoft due north. The town is ftrongly for- tified, and is a place of great trade. The fleets return from hence to Europe^ and generally fail by December 25th. In Colombo. Lat. 7° we find CoIo?nbo, the Dutch feat of government, and chief of their cities, built in a beautiful and magnificent man- ner ; it was, as I have before mentioned, taken by them from the Portuguefe. The death of their gallant general, Gerard Huljl, caft a gloom over their fuccefs, and caufed their impor- tant acquifition, for a while, to be loft in their forrow. Nigombo is a fortrefs fome miles to the north of Colombo, Nigombo, and is the great guard to the cinnamon country. The whole interval from Colombo is filled with beautiful villages, and open 256 I S L 4^ N D OF CEYLON. Isle of Cal- Open towns, charadteriftic of Dutch neatnefs and induftry. The PENTVN. long iflebf Calpentyn lies near the fliore, about thirty-fix miles Isle OF Ma- farther north. That of Manaart fee p. i82> concludes all I ^AAR. ihall fay of this niagnificent ifland. T H E [ 257 ] THE LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM JAMES, Baronet; COMMUNICATED BY LADY JAMES. OiR William James embarked in a fealife at twelve years of age. He was more than twenty years at fea before he got the command of a lliip. He was with ?>\.i Edward Hawke in the Wejl Indies, in 1738, as a junior officer. Some years after, he commanded a fhip in the Virginia trade ; in her he was taken by the Spaniards, in the Gulph of Florida, and carried a pri- foner to the Havannah. His fufFerings after his captivity will be related hereafter: — In the beginning of 1747? he went to the Eaji Indies as chief officer of one of the Eaji India Com- pany's fliips, and performed two voyages in that ftation. In 1749, the EaJi India Company appointed him to the command of a new fhip called the Guardian, equipped as a fliip of war ; in her he failed to Bombay, to protedt the trade on the Malabar coafl-, which was much annoyed by the depredations of Angria^ and other pirates, with which thofe feas fwarmed. During two years he was conftantly employed in convoying the merchant fliips from Bombay and Surat, to the Red Sea, the Gulph of Perjia, and up and down the Malabar coaft, from the Gulph oiCambay to Cape Comorin. He was frequently attacked on this fervice by the different piratical flates. At one time, when he had near feventy fail of fliips and vefTels under his charge, he was alTailed by a large fleet of Angria\ frigates and Vol. I. L 1 gallivats, 15S T H E L I F E O F gallivats, full of men. With the Guardian, Bombay grab, and Drake bomb ketch, he engaged the enemy, and kept them in clofe adlion, whilft his fleet got fafe into Tellicberry. In this confli(fk he funk one of the enemies largeft gaUivats, and ob- liged the reft to feek for fafety in Gheriah and Severndroog. About the beginning of the year 1751, Sir William was ap- pointed commander in chief of the Eaji India Company's ma- rine forces, and hoifted his broad pendant on board the P; 0- teBor, a fine (hip of 44 guns. On April 2d, 1755, he was fent with the ProteSfor, Guardian, Bombay grab, and Drake bomb, with fome gaUivats, to attempt fuch of the ports belonging to Angria which lie to the northward of Gheriaby his principal fortrefs, and capital. The chief of thefe fortrefles was Severndroog, where Angria' %^ veflels refitted, and took flielter when they could not reach Gbe^ riab. It was well defended by batteries along the fhore, and the entrance of the harbour was fecured by a ftrong caftle, on which were mounted feventy pieces of cannon. Angria'^ people con- frdered Severndroog as their ftrongeft hold next to Gberiab. Sir William, having reconnoitred the place, and informed himfelf of its ftrength, brought his (liips with a leading wind clofe to the caftle-walls, and by a fteady well-dire61;ed fire (whilft the Drake threw in her bombs) foon brought on a parley, and in lels than three hours the governor furrendered the caftle, and the vefTels in the harbour ; from hence Sir William went to Fort Vivaria, which quickly followed the fate of Severndroog i and the next day four other forts were numbered in his con- quefts : all thefe falling, was a fevere blow to Angria, who t had SIR WILLIAM JAMES, Baronet. n^g had a fliort time before attacked a fleet of Duicb fliips, under the protedion of a 50 gun fliip and a frigate : The Dutcb fleet was difperfed, and the 50 gun fliip, and fome of the merchant- men, were brought in great triumph to Gheriah. When Sir William returned with his vidlorious fleet to Bom- bay, he found Admiral Wat/on there, with three Hne-of-battlc fliips, and fome frigates, Sec. The government oi Eo772bay con- fulted with the Admiral about means to deftroy the powers of Angria, and the Mahratta ftates joined in the confederacy, for they had fuffered by his depredations. Sir William was fent with his little fquadron to reconnoitre Gheriab, a place reprefented to be almoft impregnable from the fea. He judicioufly flood clofe in to the walls, under the cover of night, and with his boat founded and examined the channels leading to the harbour, and oiiter road ; in the day-time he flood in within gun-fliot of the walls ; and having in two days made himfelf perfectly mafter of the enemy's ftrength, he re- turned to Bombay. This piece of fervice he performed with fo much promptnefs and fkill, that he received the thanks of the Governor and Admiral ; and they were fo well perfuaded, from his report, of the pradicability of the enterprize, that no time was loft in equipping the fliips, and embarking the troops. " The fquadron formed oft^ Gheriah the loth February., 1756. Sir William^ in the ProteSior, led the fquadron to the attack in one divifion, whilft another divifion of frigates led the bomb- ketches in another line; a heavy and tremendous fire began on our part from the fliips of the line, whilft the fliells were thrown with great fuccefs from the bombs into the harbour, where all Jngria"^ fliips were havvled for fafety ; thefe were foon let on L 1 2 file iGo THELIFEOF fire by the bombs ; the fire from the caftle and batteries foou flackened, and before the evening fet in, the caflle furrendered., and Gberiah, and all its dependencies, fell into ovir hands. Thus fliortly ended an enterprize, which, for many years, had been in contemplation by the European governments in India, but which was never before attempted, from an idea that no force fufScient could be brought againft the walls of this caftle. Lord Clh-e, at this time a lieutenant-colonel, commanded the land forces. On the Malabar coaft, foon after this, he fell in with a French Ihip from Mauritius, very much, his fuperior in men and guns ; fhe was called Vlndienjie : after a fmart action llie ftruck, and Sir William carried her in triumph to Bombay, Sir IVilliam James, in an eminent manner, difplayed his nautical abilities, by Ihewing, that ia defpight of a contrary monfoon, a communication between Bombay and the Coro- m a nde I co2.^ may be efFeded in cafes of exigency*. This paffage was attempted by Sir William in the firft in- flance, and he accompliflied it in nearly as fliort a time as it ufually was done in the favorable monfoon. It was of the ut- moft moment that he fucceeded at the time he did, for by it, he confirmed to Admiral Wat/on (then in the Gajigcs) the intelli- gence of the war with France, and brought to his affiftance 500 troops, by which the Admiral and Colonel Cli'je were ena- bled, in March I'jc^'j, to take Chandenagore, the chief of the French fettleraents in Bengal. In elfedting this palTage, the commodore croiTed the equator * The tracks are laid down in Air. Arrawimidi's map of the world. ill. SIR WILLIAM JAMES, Baronet. 261 in the meridian of Bombay, and continued his courfe to the Ibuthward as far as the tenth degree, and then was enabled to go as far to the eaftward as the meridian of Atcheen head, the N. W. extremity of Sumatra^ from whence, with the N. E. monfoon, which then prevaled in tlie bay of Bengal, he could with eafe gain the entrance of the Ganges, or any port on the Coromanckl coaft. In the beginning of this narrative it was mentioned, Sir Wil- liam had fufFered fliipwreck. The uncommon hardlhips he and his people encountered were as follows : — After they were releafed from the SpaniJJj prifon at the Hai'annah, they em- barked in a fmall brig for Carolina. The crew of the brig, and Sir William and his people, amounted to fifteen. The fecond day after putting to fea, a very hard gale of wind came on ; the velfcl ftrained, and foon became fo leaky, that the pumps and the people bailing could not keep her free ; and at length, be- ing worn out with labor, feven of them, with Sir William, got into the only boat they had, with a fmall bag of bifcuit ami a keg of water ; the veiTel foon after difappeared, and went down.. They were twenty days in this boat withoiit a compafs ; their bifcuit foon got wet with the fea, which for two days made a breach over the boat ; a fnuff-box Sir William had v/ith him ferved to diftribute their daily allowance of water ; and after encountering every difficulty of famine and fevere labor, on the twentieth day they found themfelves on the iiland of Cuba, not ten miles from whence they had been embarked out of a Spanifb prifon : but a prifon had no horrors to them. The Spa- niards received them once more into captivity; and it is remark- able,. 26a T H E L I F E O F able, that only one out of the feven. perifli^d, though after they got on fliore, but few of them had the ufe of their limbs for many days. In the year 1759, ^'^^ JVilliam returned to his native country. The Eq/i India Company prefented him with a handfome ele- gant gold-hilted fword, with a complimentary motto, expreffive of their fenfe of his gallant fervices. Soon afterwards he was chofen a director, and continued a member of that refpe8 139, 140, 141 - 5 - 20 86 134 J3 IS 16 40 76 30 5^ B. Babel Mandel Badria M m - 29 - 7a Bakhor N D X. P^se ' Page Eakhor - 35 Bucephala, city of - 20 Bamboo reed, its vaft ufe - 142 Buffalo - 115 Banians, merchants of India - 38 Burhanpour - 77 Banian tree - 7.07 Barace - 55 C. Barbiers, a difeafe - 102 Barygazenus finus - 63 Cabul - 10 Barochia, ancient Barygaza - 69 taken by Kouli Khan - 12 Barticalo - 254 CafFa, taken by the Genoefe - ibid. Baflein - 90 Canthi-colpus fmus - 55 Batns _ _ _ - 8 Cdicut, city of - - - 153 Bdellium - 25 raicient trade - 154 Bember - 4+ feized by Albuquerque - 157 trees of - ibid. by Ayder Ali - ibid. Bchut, or Chelum, ancient Hydafpes - 17 by Major Abington - 158 Beormas, or Permia - 14 Calllana - 96 Betel leaf - - 140 Calophyllum, Ponna-maram - 230 Bijore 15 , 16 Calpentyn, Ifle of - 181, 256 Birds, hofpital for - 64 Cambay _ ■ . - 63 of Ceylon - 203 Camels - 35 Englifh, in India I 204 Camoeirs quoted - 155 Boa conftridor - 20 Canals - - - 42 Bochara - . _ - 12 Cananore - 130 trade of - '3 ancient commerce at - 132 Bombax, or cotton tree - 232 Canhara province - 114 Bombay, bay of - - 89 Candahar _ . . • 10 Ifle of - 91 Canooge - 20 town, docks, &c. - ibid. Cap; Comorin - 174 fhip building at - 92 Ramas - 114 expeditions from - 93 St. John - 87 under Egerton - 94 Caranja, Ifle of - - 95 under Goddard . 95 Cardamomum - 141 Bonito fifliery - 152 Carwar bay - lis Bontius quoted - 21 quadrupeds of - ibid. Boule-ponge - 136 Cailigar - 8 Brachmins flaughtered by Alexander - 24 Caihmere - 45 Braminabad - 31 its princes - 51 Braithwaite, Colonel - 124 Tamerlane there - 52 Bread fruit - - - 2 37. 239 Marco Polo there Cafpatyrus, city - ibid. - 29 Caflia, N D Caffia, a coarfe cinnannon Page - 142 Coco-tree, its vaft utility Page - 138 fame in Ceylon Caftro, John de - - 223 - 62 CofFee-tree planted in Tellicherry at Ceylon - 136 - 246 Cathay _ _ - Cathsei of Arrian - 12 - 17 Coimbotorc Coins, ancient, found in India - - - 160 - 70 Caucafus, the Indian - 3 Colombo _ _ _ - 255 Caverns, famous Ceylon, Ifland of - - 96 - 183 Commerce, ancient, from India by land 4 articles of - - - ibid. Strabo's account of - ibid. RufTian - 13 Mela's Pliny's Ptolemy's - 184 - ibid. - ibid. Comorin, Cape its fea facred Comedae, or Cafligar - 174 - ibid, - 8 EI. Edrifi's - 185 Goncan - _ _ - 87 vifited iiy Laurence Almeyda - i85 Conde Uda - 188 Dutch land here - 187 Conftantinople - 10 form of - - 188 Cophene?, river - 15 inhabitants of - 190 Coracles with bamboo frames - 143 religion of - quadrupeds of government of reptiles of - birds of - fiines of - - ibid. - 193 - 190 - ^97 - 203 - 213 Coral, red, an import into India - 25, 134 Cornwallis, Marquis - - 180 Corj'ate, Tom - - "73 Coflus - _ - 25 Cottonara, coaft hf, modern Canhara 132 Cottons, fine - - 71, 80 vegetables - 215 Cotton plant - 233 Cheitor Charming cf fnakes Chelum, or Hydafpcs Chenaub river - 56 - 198 - 17 - ibid. Cowitch, or dolichos pruriens Cqulang - _ , Cranganore burnt - 234 - 172 - 160 - 161 Chockbar Choule Chriftians in India - 33 - 1=4 - 363 caufe of the Myfore war - i6y Crocodiles of Ceylon - - 200 Cunha, Triflan de - - - 130 or St. Thomas's known in Engknd in 883 - 164 - ibid. Cutch, gulph of - - Cyprea nioneta fhell 55, 60 - 151 their rites - ibid. Cyrus river, a channel of commerce from Chryfolite gem Ci;inamcn, or calTia - 25 - 223 India ... - 7 Cobra de Capello - 197 D. de A'l^inilla - lOI de Aurellia - ibid. Dabul - - - - 109 Cochin - 168 Dachanus, Dachinabades - 72 M ra 2 Damoon, N D X. Damoon, a iTrong town Darius, his voyage down the Indus Date tree Deccan Delamcotta _ - - Delhi Delta, the, of the Indus Deluge, notion of - - Defert, fandy DiJla mount Dondra-head - - - Draco volans, an innocent lizard Diu - E. Earthquake - . - Ebony _ - - Elephants, ancient commerce in Elephantum pafcua Elephanta, Ifle of - El. Edrifi Erythrceum, mare Euxine fea _ - - Expedition of Semiramis of Darius of Alexander Fadlory, Englifli Ferafapour - - Ferdud Ferofe III. his canals, the Shah Nchr Ficus Indica Fifties of Ceylon Fifli fall on the land at Bombay Flowers of Ceylon Forfler, Mr. journey of Francifco Bareto Rolen Page - 87 G. - 29 Page - 248 Galie, Punta de - - 255 2 Galiivats - 106 - 5 Gamboge, drug and paint - 229 - 39 Ganges, the Ceylonefe - 189 25,29 Gedrofia _ _ _ - 27 - 49 Gekko, a moft poifonous lizard - 200 - 30 Gems, ancient - 134 - 129 of Ceylon - 189 255 Genoa - II - 201 Getce - - - - 25 60, 61 Ghauts, the - 88 height of - 132 afcent of - - - 117 Ghebres . - - - 37 - 48 Gheriah - 107 - 228 Ghizni - ' - - 15 - J93 Ginger _ _ _ - 141 - 185 Glafs, rude - 134 - 96 Gloriofa fuperba, a fine plant - 222 - 185 Goa, irfe of - - 109 - ^9 feizcd by Albuquerque - no - 8 Gobi, defert of - - 8 - 27 Goddard's, General, march - 67 - 29 Gold -■ 18 - 14 Grabs _ _ _ - 105 Gulph of Cutch - 60 Guzerat _ _ _ . ■ JSjto H. - 80 - 36 Hackeries, an Indian carriage - 100 - 19 Hamath, founded by Solomon - 4 - 42 Hannaman, the ape god - 252 - 21 Harmozia, the modern Ormus - - 27 - 213 Hartley, Lieut. Col. his exploits - ■ - 159 - IC2 Haemodus, mons - 3 221 Hephiftion - 22 - 52 Herat town - 5 - 32 Hermits - - - . - 49 Hierkeii N D X. Page Hierkeii - . ■ - 9 Hindooftan, the Perfian name of Ind a. 2 Hofpital for birds - 64 for goats - 65 Horfes, fine - - - - 41 Hud i bras, quoted - 235 Humaion _ . _ 30. 40 Humberfton, Colonel, killed - 125 Hunary, Ifle of - - - 103 Hyacinthus, gem - 134 Hydafpes - 17 Hydraotes - ibid. Hydras, or Nitrias - 106 Hyder Ali, his rife - , - 127 projeds of a navy - 128 Hortus Malabaricus - 216 Amboinenfe - ibid. Hyphafis, fl. - 22 James, Sir William life of JafFanapatam Jehangir Jellamooky Jenaub, a river of the Panjab Jenkiiifon, Anthonie Jews in India Iguana, an edible lizard Jiggerkhars, magicians Jigat, Cape of Ilak, river India, ancient loads to peninkila of Indigo Indo-Scythia -Indus, the vaft tides of - - ic8 - 257 - 252 - 59 - 36 - 17 - 7 - 162 - 200 - 33 - 60 - 8 - 235 - 25 26 Indus, length of * review of Infula Prafiane Joar, dreadful ceremony of John, St. Cape Jones, Capt. John Ifle of Ceylon Bombay Caranja Elephanta Salfette . Jumna Jumnaut pagoda K. Kamch Kanara, Ifle of Kliatre Knox, Robert Kokra Kouli Cahul Kuzzlebafli L. Page ■ 54 29 ■ 24 56 87 16 183 91 96 ibid, ibid. 30 61 - ir - 103 - 18 - 191 - H - II - 12 Lacadive Ifles - _ _ - 147 Ladoga - _ _ - 14 Lahore - 39 Laribunder - - - 32 Legs, fwelled - 172 Leonnatus _ _ - - 27 Leopards, where numerous - 69 Limyrica, the modern Concan - 8' Lions in the province of Malvvah - 78 Lithinoa Purgon - 8 Liver, impofthume of - 33 Lines of Travaacore - 176 Lizards - 200 Loten, Governor - 250 Lucca - - - 52 M. Macleou N D X. IVl. Madeod Illadagee Sindia Mahe- - productions of MahmooJ I. Mabratias, the - Malabar coaft Malebathrum Maldive Iflaads mott numerous commerce of Malique, Ifle of Malli Manaar, Ifle of Manati Mangalore, taken Pige - 125 - 78 - 136 - 137 - 15 - H - 129 - 133 - 149 - 150 - 151 - 149 - 17 182, 256 - 183 - 122 the great port of Ayder Ali 128 Mango tree Manfura, imports and exports Marwars, the Mare Erythraeum Matthews, General, his march excefies of his army finds vaft magazines, 3cc. at Bednore - - - poifoned - - " Matura - " " Mavila Ganga, a river of Ceylon - - Merchants - - " Metals - - - " Milky hedge - - " Milton, quoted Minerals - 220 24^ 25 - 181 - 29 - 116 - ibid. 121 124 254 - 79 - 41 - 125 - 210 - 189 Money, an export of the Romans into Indi Monkeys of Ceylon Monkton, Hon. Edward Monftrous Sepia Moors - 78 - 195 - 143 - 215 - 9 Psg-- i.Ioultan , - - 15. 37 Mount Dill.'- - 129 Mundu - 77 Mufa, tree of , koowlege - 24.2 l^luficanus - 24 i^lyrabolans,. fruits • IX N. Nagercote - - - - 3^ Nagra - 6+ Naja, ferpent - 197 Nayrs - 177 Nala Sunkra - 30 Nardus - 133 Nearchus, voyage of, to the Pe Tian Gulph - 27 Necho - 29 Nelcynda - - - - 129 Nelifuram - ibid. Nepenthes, an admirable plant - 236 Nerbudda - 72 infulates great part of Hin- dooftan - ibid. Neva - 14 Nicaea, city of - - - 20 Nigombo - 255 Nilab, the old name of the Indus - - 17 Nile - 23 Nomurdis - 33 Nortmans, Sueons, Beormas, their com- merce with India - 14 Nofliabo - 36 Nymphiea Nelumbo, the couch c f Cu- pid - 24,230 0. Onore facked - 116 Oritae - - " - 27 Othonia - - ' - 132 ©ugein N D X. Ougein Page - 77 Port for letters - - - - ^73 Oufeley, Major Oxen about Siirat and Bombay Oxydracse Oxus, river - 19 - 99 - J7 - 6j 10 Ports, Dutch, or military ftations Ceylon Prafiane Infula Punta de Galle in - 255 - 24 - 255 P. Plants of Ceylon of Malabar coaft - 215 - 139 Puddar river _ - - 54.55 Panjab - - - 17^ 35 Partition treaty by allies againft Tippoo Sultan . - - - - 114. Paifliwah of the Mahrattahs, what - - 84 Pagoda - - - - 18 1 Palms - - - 247, 248, 249 Paludcs excipientes araxem Paniani gale Parrots . - - Pak-opamifan Alexandria Pattala Peacocks Pedras, Ponta de - Pepper- Perfees, the Peftilence - - Petzora Phafis, river Phoenix dactylifera Pigeon, Pompadour Pilgrims to Mecca Pine apple, or ananas Pirate coaft _ - - Plains, elevated Pultanah Poifonous plants Polymita:, or embroideries Poon tree, the Porcah Porus, king, battle of with Alexander Quadrupeds of Malabar of Ceylon R. ■ "5 " 193 - 7 - 158 Raipotana - - - - 55 - 159 Ramana Koiel - 181 - 205 Ramas, Cape - 114 5, 14 Rana paradoxa - 103 - 25 Ra:)na Biddalura - 118 - 211 Rauvee, river - i7>39 - 252 Regiftan, defert of - 18,30 - 137 Renas - - - - 16 - 79 Rhinoceros - 20 - 40 Roads, ancient, to India - 3 - 14 Rotang calamus - 222 - 7 Routes, different into India - 7 - 248 Roe, Sir Thomas, quoted 57. 59 - 207 Ruffian commerce, the ancient, to India 13 - 75 Ruftan AUi Beg - 122 - 221 - 104 S. - 88 - 71 Saciilice, rock of - - - 153 - 222 Sago-tree - 245 25> '34 Salfette, Me of - - - 90 - S3 Salt rock - 42 - 172 Samarcand - 6, 10 r 19 Samiel, wind - 31 Samorin, N D Saniorin, or King of Calicut Sandarac Sanders, white and red - - I40> Sandracotta - - " Sandy defert - - " Sangala - - - " Scylax, his voyage down the Indus Sea fnakes ' - Seafons, 'winter and fummer caufed by the Ghauts _ - - Seiks - - ■ " SeleucusNicator S-emiramis's expedition Sepia, monftrous - - - Seres, the - - " Seringapatam - - ' Serpents - - " Sefamum - - - " Otientale - . - Setlege, river - - - " Sevatjee - " " Severndroog - - " Shaw, Major, killed Shawls manufaftured at Calhinere Sheep - " ■ Siddee, or admiral of the coafts Silk, the opinion of the ancients concern- ing it Solis Infulae of Mela of Pliny Spring, ebbing Spices, how anciently conveyed to Eu- rope Squirrel, new Sumnaut Stabrobates Stimmi Sugar antiquity of - - its removal into Spain Sultani, tribe of - - Page Page 154 Surat, road of - 74- 134 city of - - 75 141 taken, in 1664, by Sevatjee - 83 23 Swalley, port of - 73 30 Swelled legs - 172 17 Syraftrena Regio - 60 29 59 T. 89 Tabaxar - 145 39 Tadmor in the wildernefs - 4 23 Tagara - 70 27 Tailor bird, its wondrous ceconomy - 206 215 Talapatra, or Indian leaf - 134 8 Tanawar - 255 180 Taptee - 75 lOI Tartars, Ufbec - II 60 Tatt?, city, the old Pattala - 31 232 Taxila - 16 22 Tcherdyn - H 83 Teek tree excellent for {hip-building - 81 108 vaft duration of - ibid. 125 Tellicherry - - . - 135 50 Termed, on the Oxus - 6 lOI Termites, or v/hite ants - 19 IC4 Teftudo chryfonaetica - 134 Tide of the Indus - 26 • 9 Tides, vaft, in Cambay - 67 - 26 Thomas, St. - 163 - 181 Tin, lead, brafs, &c. - 134 - 47 Toads, vaft - 103 Toulamba . - - 36,39 - 3 Towns, moveable - 35 - 137 Travancorc, kingdom of - 175 - 15 lines of - 176 - 28 Travelling in India - 99 - 13+ Trees, vaft, in Malabar - 137 - 146 Trincomale - 253 . ibid. Turbo Scalaris - 1 02 - 147 Turkey, of the - JI4 - 16 Tiirris I N D Turris Lapidea Tuberofe plant Vafco de Gamz Vaft tides heats toads Vegetables of Ceylon Veh, one of the Alexandrias Vifrabuy Unguentum Regale Volga Voyage of Nearchus of Alexander Uie Great af Scylax Page - 9 - 222 - 67 - 32 - 103 - 215 23,35 - 90 - 133 - 13 - 27 - 23 - 29 w. Wedas, or Eedas Weddcrburne, Colonel, killed Weldon, Mr, ■VVentle-trap (hell Wine - - « X. Xavlcr, Francis St. lands at Goa his hiftory Z. Zabaim, a gallant king of Goa Zamoreen - - _ Zarmonachag-as 191 124 102 134 "3 ibid. Ill 15+ 69 Vol. I. Nh THE VIEW O F HINDOOSTAN. VOL. II. EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. - 82 Great Mount St. Thomas Pullicate Tripetti Pagoda ■ 90 - gS - 99 River ITINERARY. Page River Pennar, Gandicotta, Pe- nuconda - - 102 River Kriflma, Sattarah, Merit- che - - - 103 River Beemah, Vifiapour - 105 River Tungebadra, Bifnagur city 1 06 Sera - - - 108 Canoul, Timerycotta, Golconda 109 Fort of Golconda - -no Guntoor, Maffulipatam - 115 E-iver Godavery, Aurungabad, Dowlatabad, Pagodas of EUora 117 Bexier - - - 118 The Bain-gonga, Nagpour, Be- rar, or Eaftern Mahrattas, Deogire - - - 119 Delta of the Godavery - 1 20 Circar of Rajamundry, Chico- cole - - - 121 Bobilee - - - 123 ViGgapatam - - 127 BimlipatanijCalingapatam, Gan- jam _ _ _ 128 Chilka lake, kingdom of Orixa 129 Pagoda of Jagrenaut - - 134 Black Pagoda - - 140 Soumelpour - - ibid. Soorungur - - - 141 Cattack - - - 143 Cape Palmyras, Bramnec river 144 JBalafore - - " 145 Page Gangetic Hindoostan. 146 The Ganges, Hoogly river - ibid. The Sunderbund - - 151 Origin of the Ganges - - 160 Latac, defert of Gobi - 162 of Lop - - 163 Sirinagur - - - 164 Hurdw^ar - - - 165 Streights of KupelijCow's mouth 166 Province of Rohilla - - 169 Canoge - - - 171 The Jumna, Panniput, Carnawl 172 Canals of Ferofe - - 174 Delhi _ - - « 17^ Pagodas of Bindrabund, Agra - 1 80 Etawa - - - 184 Fizozeabad - - - 185 Gwalior, fort - - ibid. Calpy - - - 187 Jetalpour, Bundelcund, Mow - 190 Rajah Ghur, River Cane - 19 1 Pannaha - - - 192 Heerapour - - "193 Bilfah, Bopaltol - "194 River Nerbudda, Hurdah - 195 Afhur Ghur " - 196 Allahabad , .. _ 202 Chunar Gur . - - 208 6en;ares, ITINERARY. Benares, Rhamnagur Bidjigur fort Lutterpoor fort. River Goomty Sultanpour, Lucknow - Gazipour _ _ _ Buxar, River Gogra Fyzabad, city of Oude River Soane Fort of Rhotas Safleram - - - Palibothra, or - - Patna - - - Nuncas Nullas Mongheir - - - Gyah - , _ Deogur _ - _ Cofa river, Boglepoor Mauldah Province of Bengal. Page 2IO ■ 214 216 217 218 219 220 221 223 ibid. 224 227 280 282 283 284 285 Rajamahel - - - 286 Gangia Regia, Gour - 28y Moorftiedabad - - 291 Cofimbuzar, Motte Gil, Plafley 294 Jellinghy river - ~ 295 Bandel, Hoogly - - 296 Chinfura, Chandernagur - 297 Calcutta - - - 299 Old fort at Calcutta Buz Buzzia fort Fulta, Culpee Jellinghy, Hoorlngotta, Mah- mudpour City of Dacca River Teefta Alexandrian Caucafus Kingdom of Napaul River Cofa - - Chains of Imans and Emodus Bootan, Coos Beyhar Delamcotta fort Buxaduar, bridge of Chooka - Caflle of Poonaka, Deb Rajah's Country, Taffifudon River Burrampooter Chammaning, LafTa - l- Lake Palte Kingdom of AiTara • Ghergong - „ - Goalparah - - - Union of Ganges and Burram- pooter Silhet and Tipera Garrow hills Mountaneers of Tipera Chittigong Page- 338 339 340 342 ibid. 343 346 ibid. 348 349^ 35^ 351 354- 356^ 357 36o> ibid. 365 ibid. 368 370 372 ERRATA. iPage 8. line 13. for Stone Hinge, read Stone Hengn ibid. — ■ 16. for a boajied pile, read this boajied pile. 23. — 5. for Pcndichcrri, read Pondicherry. 29. — " 25. for begun, read began. 50. — 20. for mar.iifaBories, read manufailures, 51. _ I, ioxjlands, rezd Jfand. 52. — 23. for Tumulic, read Tamultc, 55. — 4. for remain, read remains. 72. — 3. for ^w, read //;^. ibid. — 4. dele /;«. 73. — 2. {ox form, xtzA forms, 74. — 6. for w^tTf, read Vf was. 135. — 14. iorfahoms, xt2A fathoms. 172. — 22- for Sirhiad, read Sirhind. 227. — 26. for NuLLUs, read Nulla. 281. — 19. for Saccbarafus, read Saccharatus. I NOW refume my journey along the continent, and begin East Cape. my progrefs at Eajl Cape, a little to the north-eaft of Cape Comorin, and the eaftern end of the Ghauts, which finifli here in the gulph of Manaar. The Ghauts are in this place very narrow ; but as they go northward, widen gradually to the eaft, till they reach the province of Dindigul, which they fkirt on the whole weftern and part of the fouthern fide. The fea coaft extends northerly from Eaji Cap£,o\- Manapar, in Lat. S'ao , as far as Cape Calymere, in Lat. io° id, with a flrong curvature towards the eaft, interrupted only by the long promontory of Koyel, which points due eaft. This fpace comprehends the king- doms or provinces of I'inevelly, Madura, Marazvar, or the Mara- zvars, and Tondlman, all the way waflied by the gulph of Manaar and Palks bay. The greateft breadth of thefe countries is about feventy-fix miles. The length, to Cape Calymere, tv/o hundred and twenty. The whole extent is watered with frequent rivers, all flowing from the north-weft. I doubt whether any are ufeful in navigation. Vol. II. B The 2 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. TiNEVEiLY, The kingdom of T^ineveUy is feparated from tliat of Travan- OR ' Fala.mcottah. core by the Ghauts. Its extent of coaft, to the border of the Marazvars, is little lefs than a hundred miles. This province and Madura are flat, and extremely produdlive of rice, which yields a great revenue to the Nabob of Arcot. Abundance of cotton grows in the drier parts. The principal places in the firft zie T'inevelly and the fort of Palamcottah ; the laft has in its neighborhood a peculiar manufacture of muflin. At Madura^ variety of cloths adapted for table-linen, towels, 8cc. Madura and Palamcottah are garrifoned by our troops, but the revenues of thie country are colledted by the Nabob oi Arcot. Fishing Coast. '^^^ coaft of Tinevelly is Called the fifhing coaft, from the valuable fifliery of pearls, over which the Dutch clame the fovereignty, and have along the whole extent numbers of fet- tlements. The Portuguefe once poflefled this coaft. Among the niultitude of villages that fkirt the fca, feven are particu- larly diftinguiflied. Tutocoryn (the Sojicure of Ptolemy) is the chief, where are three large churches,built by Xh&Portuguefe,tw(y of which have been applied to the ufe of the Calvinijis. Arrian takes notice of the fiflieries, which he calls KoXu/iS'-jo-;? ra 7r;j;!cs;, Div N-G FOR °^ ^^^^^ diving for pearl. El. Edriji, p. 32, and Marco Polo, p. 13S, prove the continuance in their days. The fiftieries are carried on by the natives, who come with their fmall veffels from dif- ferent places. They have two feafons in the year, the firft in March and April, the fecond in Auguji and September, and they keep a fair after each feafon for the fale. They do not fifh every year -, they firft make trial of the ground by fending a few barks, each of which bring back a thoufand fliells : If they do not find in them a thoufand pearls to the value of ^YQfanos, t or Pearl EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. or about half-a-crown each, they abitain from fifliing that year. The barks are protedted by two or three Dutch frigates, and pay to that nation for every diver, or, as it is reckoned, accord- ing to he Britn, ii. 84, for every llone, which, being faftened to the foot of the diver, to accelerate his defcent, eight piafters. The fleet of barks fometimes amounts to hundreds. A cord is faftened under the arms of the divers, and held by the perfons in the veffels ; the ftone, of eighteen or twenty pounds weight, perforated and faftened to a cord, is fixed to his great toe ; he is alfo furniflied with a fack, with the mouth diftended with a hoop : he then defcends, and on reaching the bottom, flips off the ftone, which is drawn up to the fnrfare, and begins to fill his fack with the fhells. That done, he gives a lignal by twitching the rope, and then he is pulled up by his comrades*. The water he dives in is ufually of the depth of twelve fathoms, and the diftance from the fliore four or five leagues. When he is drawn up, he ufually ftays half a quarter of an hour to take breath, then plunges again ; and a fuc- cefTion of them continue this flavifti employ for ten or twelve hours of the day : the ftiells are left in vaft heaps to putrify till the feafon is entirely over. The gains of adventurers in the pearl filTiery are very fmall, as the fuccefs is precarious. It is not often that great pearls are taken, generally they are of tlie fmall kind, what are called feed pearls, which are fold by the ounce, to be converted into powder. The fliells are found adhering to the coral banks. Numbers * Sec Frontifpiece ii. to de Favanne's Conchyliogic. B 2 of 4 E A S T E R N H I N D O O S T A N. of iliarks lurk about the diving places, which often devour the poor adventurers in defiance of the Abrajamins, or magicians, whom Marco Pola, p. 138, fays, the traders take with them to charm thofe dreadful fiflies from every power of doing hurt. Pearls of The high eftimation in which pearls were among the an- A-NTj'^uiTY. j^gj^^-g i5 evident from the value of one prefented by Julius Ctefar to Servilia, Brutus'i mother, which, according to Jrbuthnofs computation, was worth ^.48,437. 10s. and that which Cleopatra gallantly fwallowed, diflblved in vinegar, at a feaft flue gave to Marc Antony, was valued at £.^o,'^6:\. 11 J". 8^ *. Arabian. I HAVE, in my defcription oi Arabia (Outlines of the Globcj vol. X.) given a long account of the pearl fiflieries of the Red Sea, antient and modern. I fhall not here repeat what I have faid, any farther than to obferve, that the fliell which produces the pearl is the Mytilus Margaritiferus of Gfn. Lin. vi. 3351. UArgen-cilky ConchoJyologie, tab. xx. fig. A. Bonanni^ ii. tab. i, P-93- Artificial. Linmeus, in a letter dated December 23d, 1755, informed me that he had difcovered the art of caufing thefe pretious articles to be generated in the river Muffels, Br. Zool. iv. N* 76, 77. In another letter wrote in the following fpring, he fignified to me his refolution of not difcovering the fecret. " Nollem edere Tr; *' de origine margaritarum quia turn unufquifque famulus pro * P'i"}'> lib. Lx. c. 35. Cleopatra made a wager with Antony, that (he would give him ^ ftipper that fhould coft centies H. S. or ;^. 80,729. 3^. itd. After the firft courfe fhe took one of the pearls out of her ears, and fwallowed it, diflblved in vinegar. She was about to pre- pare the other for her lover to pledge her, but was prevented by L. PJancus, who decided that ihe had won the wager, notwithftanding (he had only taken one of the pearlf, or half the value of the wagered fupper. « libitii EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. <; " libitu caufet apud conchas quot velit margaritas, inde cadat <' pretinm et valor earum quo ipli harum poffefTores partem divi- " tiarum amittant ob meam curiolitatem, mihi fufficit videffe ; " fpedatoribus, qiiomodo fa6ta iint, mea cura, nee vero quo- " mode fiant." T'avernier gives figures of the largefl pearls he ever fawi Pearls of vast among others is the fine pear-fliaped pearl taken in the Perjian ^^^' Gulph, and bought by the king of Ferfia for 1,400,000 livres, or jC' 58j333' 6j. ^d. fierling; alfo the great pearl which hung about the neck of the rich artificial peacock, which adorned the throne of Aiirengzebe and his fucceiTors, till Koidi Khan made it j)art of his vaft plunder. The hiftory of Taveniier merits mention, for the fidelity History of of his travels into countries little known. He was by birth a -^^^^^'^^ Sivifs, and the fon of a very able geographer : he himfelf was tiie greatell traveller of his age. Befides his European travels in the early part of his life, he fpent forty years in fix journies into Turky, Per/la^ and India, and entered deeply into commerce,, chiefly in that of jewels. He vifited the principal diamond mines, and fupplied the great men in India and Verfia with: thofe valuable articles, and every fort of pretious ftones, and: with pearls. The prices he gave or offered were immenfe. He returned with vafl wealth. In his advanced age, not content: with his prodigious acquifitions, his avarice induced him to truft a cargo of effects bought in Fj^aiice, valued at ;^. 220,000,, to a nephew, to be difpofed of in the Leiiant.. This, by the mifcondudl of his relation, was loft. To repair the misfortune,, he determined on a feventh voyage, and died on the road, at Mofcomi,^ 6 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. MofcoWi in 1689, aged 84 ; a ftrong proof of the predominancy of a ruling paffion. Chank Shells. The Pearl Mufiel is not the only objedl of the diver. There is a confiderable trade carried on in the fliells called Chanks or Sliankos, or oblation fliells, which are in great efteem with the Mahometans^ for making bracelets and thumb-rings, which are made ufe of in dra\ving the bows. The Hindoos alfo make them ferve to hold oil, to illuminate their pagodas. The feafon of fifliing is from the middle of December till the middle of May. It is the Murex 'Trltonis of Linno'.us^ Rumph. Muf, tab. xxviii. fig. c^6o. Bonan. iii. 188. It is common to India, Africa, and the Mediterranean, and is ftill nfed in inany parts as a trumpet for blowing alarms or giving fignals : it fends forth a deep and hollow found. They were in ufe among the Romans ^n. their earlier days. Buccina jam prifcos cogebat ad arma Quirites. Cypr^ea Mr. Efcheljkroon, p. 330, add?, that abundance of the Cyprcea Moneta, or Co-zvries, are alfo found here. That author's account of Ceylon is added to Wolfs hiftory of that ifland. Salt-pws. ^ll the coaft on the Madura and Ceylonefe lide is low, and well adapted for falt-pans. A great quantity of fait is made here and in Ceylon. The Dutch wifely confine the bufinefs to thefe parts, and prohibit the making of it in every other fettle- ment they have in India. They keep their warehoufes always filled, and if there happen to be a fuperfluity, they Ipoil it by mixing it with fand, or flinging it into the fea. By their pof- feflion of this neceffary of life, they make it the moft powerful w^eapon EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. weapon poffible, againft even the Emperor of Ceyhn himfelf ; for on the left quarrel they forbid the iffuing of any from their magazine, fo that he and his fubjeds muft inftantly fub- mit. The kingdom o^ Madiera runs far inland to the north-eaft; Kingdom or it formed the fouthern part of the Regnum Pandionis of Pto- lemy, the Pandi Mandalam of the modern Indians. Its capital was the Madura of Ptolemy, and was the royal refidence of the antient monarchs. In later days it certainly was the fcene of the moft impudent fraud that ever was made fubfervient to the great purpofes of religion. Robert de Nobili, an Italian Jefuit, ^ religious and, next to Xavier, a chi f apoftle of India, feated himftdf in j^^ju^'^ °^ * this country, and obferving the deep veneration that the Li- dians paid to the B''ahmins, as deibended from the gods, he affumed their charatfter; he befmeared his face, and imitated the moft auftere and painful mode of living prailifed by their penitents, till he had perfuaded the credulous people that he really was of that venerated order. By incredible pains he had acquired a knowlege of the cuftoms, religion, and language of Madura, fufficient for the purpofes of his defign. By this ftratagem he gained over to Chrijiianity twelve Brahmins, and by their influence engaged amazing numbers of people to liften to his inftrudlions, and to receive his doctrine. To confirm the truth of his chara6ter of Brahmin, he forged a deed on old dirty parchment in the antient Indian letters, to prove that the Brahmins of Ro?ne were of a far older date than thofe of India, and defcended in a direcSf line from the god Brahma ; and when the authenticity of his mufty old parchment was called in: •qu eft ion, EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. Pagoda. Splendid Choultry'. qiieftion, he made a folemii oath before the affembly of Brab- mins, that he derived really and truly his religion from the god Brahma. This impofture fucceeded for a great length of time, till in the year 1744? Pope BenediSi XI. detefting the fraud of thefe Jefmt-Brahmins, declared their whole proceedings to be impious and unlawful. The pagoda at Madura is among the moft fuperb in all India ; 1 faw numbers of drawings made on the fpot by Lieut. Pater/on, with all the wild fculptures fketched with great accu- racy. The figures were cololTal, men, tigers, and elephants. The tigers are as big as life, all cut on fingle ftones, fome of which were not lefs than thirty-five feet long. How muft our rude Druidical temple of Stone Hinge fink below this work ; fu- perior in works of elegant art, and much more fo in the vaft fize of the ftones, lifted up to their places, in days, as antient perhaps, as thofe in which the Britons reared a boafted pile. ]Mr. Blackadir, in the Arcbaelogia, vol. x. p. 449, gives a cu- rious account of this pagoda, and of the attendant Choultry, or building for the overflow of devotees. It is well known that in other places choultries are the fame as Caravan/eras erected on the fides of roads for the reception of travellers. It was built by Trimul Naik, king of Madura. It was begun in 1623, was twenty-two years in building, and coft a million fterling. It has four rows of pillars, each of a fingle ftone twenty feet high. The roof confirts of long ftones reaching from capital to capital; every capital is carved diiferently with fome legendary tale. The deity of the temple is Choc a Lingam, not prefented in an obfcene form, but in that of a block, with the outline of a hu- man EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. man face on the top, and a golden glory above. Three hun- dred dancing girls, and a certain number of mufic men, are in conftant attendance, who daily celebrate praifes of their deities, with melody and dance *. The Vaygaroo rifes from feveral ilreams in the province of Province o Dindigul, which unite juft as they enter the kingdom of Ma- ^»>'^^g"^- dura, and run in a fingle channel as far as the head of the Delta. Dindigul extends about eighty miles from fouth-weft to north-eaft, and is about thirty-five miles in breadth. Its eaftern boundaries are 'J'inevelly and Madura ; its weitern, Co- i7nh£tore. This was one of the conquelis of Tippoo Sultan, My confcience would never revolt at wrefting thefe ufurpations from a cruel tyrant. It is called the valley of Dindigul, a tradl extremely productive of rice. The town is large, and well for- tified. Its principal llrength confilis in a high and almoft in- acceflible rock, on which is a fortrefs which might be made impregnable, but it was taken by florm in 1783+, and is now garrifoned by the company's troops. The valley of Dindigul is feated amidft lofty mountains. We pofTefs this, and the other cetled countries of Barra-mabal and Selini in full of fove- reignty : the manufactures of thofe countries will produce to the company a complete inveftment of cloth for the European markets ; their produce is eflimated at annually, Baramaul -AXidi Selim - 457512 Dindigul - _ - - 120000 577512 Pagodas, or j^. 231,004. i6j'. reckoning each pagoda at Sj-]. * Archael. x. p. 453. | Fullaiton's Campaigns, p. 113. % Tho. Kingfcote, Efq. Vol. II. G Barra- lo EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. Barra-mahal (which indudes Selim) is to the north-eaft of Dindiguli and extends in length north-eafterly about a hundred and fifteen miles. Thefe provinces border on the Carnatic, and on Coimbetore. and, containing the paffes through which I'ippoo muft force his way into our territories, are of no fmall importance to the fecurity of our poffeffions *, and alfo give us the entrance into the dominions of our ambitious neighbor. (^i^Y OF The citv of^ Madura was a fquare defended by a double wall Madura. ^^^^ ^ ^^^^ . ^^^^i fide was in extent a thoufand yards : it had been in antient times the feat of a prince, fovereign not only of this province, but alfo thofe of Tritchinopoly and Tinevelly, Delta of the Madura ftands on the river Vaygoroo, about fixty miles from Vaygaroo. ^^^ ^g^^ ^^^^ -^^ L^,._ ^o ^^> ^^.>^ ^^-g -g ^i^g ^^^ j.-^g^ ^^ ^Yi^ ^^^_ ern coaft which has its Delta : it includes the great projedtioii Koyel; and between the mouths of the fouthern and moft northern ttream prefents a front of about fifty-fix miles. Madura be- To return to Madura! — The city was befieged in 1751, by SIEGED IN 1751. a Captain Co/)^. This is one of the many inflances in which the Europeans interfered in the difputes of thofe very people, among which they obtained a fettlement in the guife of hum- ble and fuppliant merchants. Sometimes the Frejich, and fometimes the Engli/Jj, were the aggreflxjrs, /. e. fided, and took a warm part with the Indian princes, who had held up the allurement of gold, the price of their affiftance. Cope made his breach in the firft wall in Madura with the only cannon he had. The Europeans, and the Sepoys, or Indian foldiers trained • See Mr. Rennel's moit accurate Memoir on the fubjeiSl of the Partition Treaty, and the a« cndant map, 1792. § to EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. li to European difcipline, bravely entered the breach. A fiii- gular fight prefented itfelf at the foot. In the lecond wall appeared three champions (one a very bulky man in com- plete armour) who fought with the iitmoft gallantry, till they fell overpowered with numbers. The Madurians had {o fe- cured the inner wall, that Cope, after fome lofs, was obliged to retire, and to burit his fingle cannon, which had done fuch fervice, leaft it fhould fall a trophy into the hand of the enemy*. This war, and another in Tinevelly, were carried on by the Engl[fh in fupport of their ally, the Nabob of the Carnalic, from whofe ufurped power thofe provinces had revolted, pof- fibly in fome diftant period. The next coaft is that of the two Moravars, the greater and The Mora- "^ VARS. the lener : the latter is alio called Shevigunga. In 1773 we car- ried Qur arms into thefe countries, under the condudl of General Jofepb Smith, who, after killing the Rajah, efFe6led its conqueft. Thefe, and the adjacent countries, are covered with thick forefts, and little cultivated, by reafon of the favage inhabitants, Polygars and C0LLERIJE.S. the Polygars and CoHeries, who may be truly ftyled Sylvejires homines : As to the word Collerie it fignifies a thief, and moft truly, for plunder is their fole employ : their government, and that of the Polygars, is feudal. Of the Colkries, there are thirty or forty thoufand. Calicoil was the ftrong hold of the lord paramount the Rajah, furrounded by woods and artificial flrengths : he was in it when furprifed and llain. More will be faid of the Polygars, when we fpeak of the famous chieftairt of Bobilee, in the northern Circars. * Orme, i, p. 120. C 2 The 12 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. A SAVAGE RACE. The CoJlsries have fire-arms, but their chief weapons are 'fpears of vaft length, with which they creep along the ground, -and make great havoke among horfes and men ; while fome are firing among the thickets, others with their long fpears appear on the adjacent hills, leaping from rock to rock with the agility of monkies, and with horrid fcrcams and howlings. Both Poly gars and Colleries are aborigines of India, and Hindoos, The Colleries pay the utmofl refpedt to their idols ; the lofs of them enrages them to madnefs. A Colonel Hero?!, an indilcreet officer (afterwards juflly broke) in 1755, ^n taking one of their forts, carried off feveral of their facred images. In revenge, they afterwards put to death every foe, Engli/Jjy or EjtgUjh-fepoy^ which fell into their hands, and even women and children in the paroxyfm of their fury. Their country is capable of cultivation, and of bearing great quantities of grain, but is left wild by the favage inhabitants. Their riches con lilt in Ilieep and cattle. The greater Marawar is more civilized, it has numbers of weavers, who manufa<5ture abundance of cotton. These provinces are now annexed to the great nabobfliip of the Carnatic; their coafts extend only fifty miles. In the middle they run eafterly, and end in a very long and narrow Cape Kovei,,or poi^^j diredly facing Ceylon, terminating in the Cape Koyel, the CoLisDioNYs. colis, or Coliadis infula of Dionyfus, 595. Flin. lib. vi. c. 22, names it Colaicuvi promontorium, and (mis-informed) fays it is four days fail to the neareft point of India. It is from this lingular point that I have begun my account of the great ifland of Ceylon, (fee p. 183.) the which had fo evidently formed part of the continent of India, as Britain had that of France; the rocks EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 13 rocks and iflands between the Mora-ivars and Ceylon being flroiig proofs of the one, as the rip-raps in the ftreights of Dover, are of the other. The Polygar Tondiman rules over a traft of country now Tondiman, named after him. The extent of coaft between Tondi and Cot- tapatam, two of the chief towns, is about forty miles : the depth inland about fixty. The chieftain rules over a valt herd of Colleries, natives of his mountains and forefls. He has been a true friend to the EngHJJj., and ever ready to fupply them with provifions, which are delivered at the outfkirts of his woods, and fent vmder convoy of our troops to the place of deftination. The fouthern boundary of this country is that of the Mara-zvars : the north-eaftern, the kingdom of 'Tanjore, into which we now enter. That kingdom was once independent, but no^v is an ap- Tanjore. pendage to the Nabob of the Carnatk, and a fublidial ally of the EngliJJj, who receive from its monarch the annual fum of ^. 160,000. Its extent is faid to be equal to that of Portugal, and is reported to be the garden of India. The foreits confift of the richeft trees, and the plains are overftocked with cattle and flieep. This country involved us in a war in 1758, in which the French took an adive part : Its capital, feated on a branch of the Cavery, was befieged by them ; but the fiege was foon raifed, it was a treafure we referved for ourfelves. In 1773, it was taken by furprife by the company's troops under General Jofepb Smith ; our troops were in the royal prefence before the king was apprized of the attack ; he was feized like Balthazar in the midil of his courtiers. The booty was im- menfe, 14 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. menfe, which the affailants divided entirely among thcmfelves. After that, we made a point of honor to reftore the monarch to his throne ; the capital had by that time recovered in. part its former profperity : the expedition highly anfwered the intent : we eafed the inhabitants of their new-acquired riches, and re- turned perfedly fatisfied with our acquiHtions. This city was, before the eruption of ^yder Ali^ fuppofed to contain a hundred thoufand inhabitants. Their religion is Hindoo: they pofiefs a moft magnificent pagoda, of a pyramidal form ; and the fummit finifliing with a globe, the bafe of which is hid in foliage : the ftones which compofe this building are large and rvule. Mr. Hodges, in tab. xxiii. gives a view of it ; Captain Trapaud, another : The latter in an ornamented ftate, the fides of the pyramid being covered with globular ftones placed in rows. Thefe pyramids, and thofe at Deogur, hereafter to be mentioned, have a chamber in the centre without any light but what is given by a lamp. Mr. T'rapaud in the fame plate, gives a figure of the famous bull which is cut out of one block of granite, weighs a hun- dred tons, and was brought from a place a hundred miles dif- tant : the height to the top of the head is thirteen feet : the length from the cheft to the rump, fixteen : girth round the neck and cheft, twenty-fix ^'^ This may have been the First Bull of Zoroajler. I fliall not enter into the legend, a tale fo nonfenfical as to weary any, except he is poflefiTed of the phrenetic fancy of the pious Hindoo. Delta OF THE THE whole of the kingdom is included within \^\q Delta of Cavery. * Mr, Knight's Eflays, &c, pt 57. tab, xvii. the EASTERN HINDOO STAN. I5 the Cavery, which is divided by multitudes of ftream^. It is taken notice of by Ptole7ny^ under the title of Chaberis Flu. OJlia. Excepting the Coleroon, the moft northern, I doubt whe- ther any were navigable. The moft fouthern is anonymous, but may be known by a place named in the map, Cottamoody. This Delta is an irregular rhomb. The diftance to Calymere point is about forty miles, and from that point, where the land trends due north, to Forto-novo is eighty. Calymere point, the CalUgicum promontorium oi Ptolemy, juts into the fea in Lat. 10° 20', and with Cape Koyel, forms a bay in the concave fliores of the Marawars, and part of Tanjore. All the coafl from Cape Comorin to Calymere point, and from thence Nature of the Coast to the mouth of the Godavery, is flat and fandy : this fort of appearance, in places, runs far inland, and often infulates naked rocks, and fugar-loaf peaks. From Calymere point, the coaft runs almoft due north, fwelling out a little about midwav, as far as the mouth of Kijinah river, in nearly Lat. 16° north. The northern part of the ftreight between the continent and Ceylon, which lies from Cape Calymere to the clufter of ifles off the northern end of Ceylon, is called PalJi's PaJJage. They pro- Paik'sPassage, bably are the fhattered remains of land which once made con- tinent of the prefent ifle of Ceylon, of which Adam's Bridge is the other part. Within the Delta, at a few leagues beyond the Cape of Ca- Negapatam. lymere, ftands Negapatam, the Negama of Ptolemy, a neat city, and place of confiderable trade : it is wafhed by a river, capable of receiving veiTels of two or three hundred tons. It was firft fortified in 1690, and furroimded with walls in 1742: it did i6 E A S>T E R N H I N D O O S T A N. (lid belong to the induftrious Butch, and grew very confiderable by the weaving bufinefs, carried on moft fuccefsfully in feveral villages in the adjacent diftricft. The Dutch took it from the Portuguefe in 1658, and we took it from the Dutch in November 1781, in our univerfai war. Ayder Alt took fliare in the de- fence ; it was an inlet into his country, and he was interefted in preventing it from falling into the hands of his formidable enemies. After a fliort but vigorous defence, it furrendered to the fpirited attacks of our commanders. Sn Edward Hughes had the condu6l of our fleet. General Monro that of our land forces. The garrifon confifted of eight thoufand men, of which only five hundred were Europeans, the reft Myjorean troops. The moll honorable conditions were granted*. The Dutch, on the peace, malicioufly gave this city and its appendages up to us, to increafe the over-powering weight of territory of the Britijh empire. The 'Portuguefe found a town here on their firft arrival ; it probably had been a place of great antiquity, the Nicama or Nigama of Ptolemy. Tranquebar. T'ranquebar is the next place of note, it is feated in Lat. 1 1°, and belongs to the Danes, who firft made a fettlement here in i6i7j and have, after various failures of later years, carried on a flourifhing trade in the manufaclures of the country. They were once reduced fo low, as to be obliged to pawn three of the baftions of their fort ro fave themfelves from famine -f . Isle of Sering- The various branches of the Delta coalefce as they advance towards the eaft : not remote from that fide of Tritchmopoly^ * War in Afia, i. 225. f Hamilton, i. they HAM. E A S T E Pt N H I N D O O S T A N. 17 they unite ia a fmgle ftream, then divide, and form the illand of Ser'nighain^ noted for its pagoda, and the dekiges of hlood which fteeped in gore the furrounding Delta : we may extend the bloody fcene much farther. French, EngliJJj, and natives fell innumerable vicStims to the dire ambition of European ftrangers, T^ritchinopoly had been an independent RajaJJnp-^ each party formed defigns on it. The Englijh, under the heroes Laurence and Ciive, poffeffed themfelves of the capital in 1751. The French, under Duplex, of the iiland. Tritchinopoly is a " ftrong city of the fhape of a parallelogram, feated at a fmail dif- tance from the fouthern bi-anch of the Cavery. The ground about it is in general uneven, and often marked with lofty rocks, infulated by the plainer ground. At that called th,^ French, fifty French rock. dragoons of the fame nation were cut to pieces by the Mahrattas, then our allies. The Ji.ngli/h went loon after to perform the piety of interment, and found all their bodies devoured by jackals'^. The Su^ar-loaf rock\ alfo had its lliare of flauehter. Sugar-loaf '^ ROCK. Laurence, by his defeat of the French under Jftruc, at the Golden rock, enfured the fafcty of Tritchinopoly. A body of ten Golden- rock, B^7 «8 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN, Or may not they be tempted to follow armies by the daily fall of obje<5ts of their rapine, by the ftroke of natural death ? But whether they are expedlant of the ilaughter of battle, or whe- ther they are brought from afar by the effluvia from the nu- merous flain, nothing injures the juftly and animated defcrip- tion of our poet, when he compares the great foe of mankind to a vulture, expecting the mighty prey, the firil of men, and all his race, whom he ignorantly fuppofed a deftined banquet for his malignant jaws ; no one will regret my quoting the fine palTage, of which the preceding hemiftics are the begin- ning : As when a flock Of ravenous fowl, though many a league remote Againfl the day of battle to a field Where armies lie encamp'd, come flying, lur'd With fcent of living carcafles defign'd For death, the following day in bloody fight ; So fcented the grim feature, and upturn'd His noflril wide into the murky air Sagacious of his quarry from fo far. Book x. 1. 273. Falcons. The falcons of this country are the Chine fe. Lathoni., i. 35. tab. II.; the Cbeala^ vii. p. 33, both large fpecies, and the Crejled Indian^ JVil. Qrn. p. 82. The fineif hawks were pro- cured from CaJJjmere, and other northern parts of the empire, who are attended by natives of the country from w'hence the birds are brought. Akbar had a vaft eftablifliment for the 7 amuferaent EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. amufement of falconry, which is minutely defcribed in the ift volume, p. 306, of the Ayeen. Of owls, here is a new and large fpecies, which may be Owls. called the ' double ear'd,' with two pair of long tufts of fea- thers ; wings and back grey, fpotted ; breaft, pale grey. The Coromandely a fmall fpecies, defcribed by M. Sonnerat, ii. p. 186; we may add the great horned fpecies of Ceylon. Brown's Illujlr. p. 8. tab. iv. and the beautiful EngliJJj v,'h.\\.Q owl, Br. ZooL i. N° 67, which extend to thefe tropical regions. M. Sonnerat, let me obferve, had formed an immenfe collec- of m. Sonke- tion of the fubje^Sls of natural hiftory, during his great travels ^^^' in India, which extended even to New Guinea \ unfortunately they were all brought into Pondicherry to be fhipped for Eu- rope, when the city was taken, and the whole treafure of this indefatigable naturalift left to perifh. On January the ift, 1779, the Deux Amis, a fmall French Indiaman, was wrecked near my houfe. Among other letters found in it was one from M. Son- nerat, containing a fum total of all the plants, animals, birds, Sec. which he had collefted, and full of exultation in his good fortune. I lent it to a friend, Vviio took it into his head to for- ward it by pofk to he Jardin de Roy, as an infult on the French nation, and fo deprived me of what I fhould have efteemed an interefting piece of hii^ory. The Malabar Shrike, Latham, vii. p. 56. tab. cviii, deferves Uhi.h-B.hK notice, on account of the fingular feathers in its tail. From the Shrik.e. end of the exterior of each fide feather, the (haft is continued naked near fix inches, and the end dilated into an oval web ; the head is furuifiied with an elegant creft, with tips inclining backward; 40 Parrot. Cockatoo. HORNEIIL. EASTERN HI N D O O S T A N. backward : the color is univerfally black ; inhabits moft parts of India : thofe of Malabar are of the fize of a thruih ; thofe gI Bengali large as a jackdaw ; fly heavily, and feen only in the evenings. The Gingi Parrot, P/. Bnl. N' 239, takes its name from the adjoining diftrtdt. It has a long cuneiform tail : the reigning color is green ; lefler coverts, dull red. As I have mentioned very few birds on the weftern fide of the Indoojlan continent, I fliall intermix the moil: curious fpecies with thofe of the Coromandel fide. A MOST elegant fpecies of Cockatoo, white, with the under fide of the creft crimfon, and of the fize of a raven, begins to make its appearance about Guzerat, and is faid to inhabit many parts of India. They are common, according to Man^ deljloe, Book i. p. 34, in the forefts and beautiful avenues of coco-trees about A?}iedabad, which are quite animated with monkies and parrots of various kinds. Thefe are called Kaka- iuas, from their note ; are very familiar, eafily tamed, and taught to fpeak : they breed in great numbers in even the cities of India ; the buildings of which are frequently fo inter- mixed with trees, that the traveller fcarcely difcovers the ftreets till he has got into them. The Cockatoos are fo domefticated, as to make their nefts under the eaves of the houfes undif- turbed by the haunt of men ; they are not confined to the con- tinent, but extend as far as Amboina. The Hornbill of Gingi, Sonnerat, ii. tab. cxx. has the accef- fory bill incurvated like tile lower, and fliarp pointed. It is faid to feed on rice and fruits. The EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 41 The fecond fpecies is found on the Malabar coaft. The acceflbry bill is oblong, convex at top, and rounded at each end. The '2>^Q'f3X^x qI Coromandel^ Sonnerat ^ ii. tab. cix. is ren:iark- Bee-eater. able for its almoft uniform pale yellow color. In" this country are four f[:)ecies of partridges; my friend Partridges. Mr. Latham^ or Sonnerat, muft be confulted for their defcrip- tions. The Indian, Sonnerat, ii. tab. xcvi. Latba7n, iv. p. 752. The Gingi, So7in. p. 169. Lathajn, iv. p. 773. Pondicherry, Sonn. p. 165, and the little quail of Gingi, Sonn. ii. p. 172. Latham.^ iv. 789. The colors, or their difpofitions, is in moll of them very elegant. Among aquatic birds are the common crane, Br. ZgoL ii. Crane. App. p. 534, and the beautiful Indian crane, Edw. tab, 45. The Coroma?idel heron, a fmall M'hite fpecies, with the back of the head and neck, and fore part of the neck of a fine pale yellow ; and finally, the violet heron, Latham^ v, 97. P/. Enl. tab. 906, in length about three feet, entirely of a bluifli black, glofTed with violet, except the fpace from the eyes to the breaft, which is of a fnowy whiten efs. Le Bec-ouvert of Pondicherry, PI. Enl. tab. 932, and that of Bec-owert. Coro7nandel, Sonn. ii. tab. cxxii. Latham, v. 83, are common on this coaft. They do not exceed fifteen inches in length : the firft is wholly white, except the back, and the primaries and feconda- ries, which are black : the other has a white back, the cro\vn fpotted with black, and chin, and fpace betv\'een the bill and eyes, of the fame color : the bill is the character of the genus. It is long, like the herons, but from the tip half way its length. Vol. II. G the 42 EASTERN HINDOOSTA X. the mandibles recede from each other, and leave an open- fpace. Plover. The long-lcgged Plover, Br. Zoo!, ii. N* 209, is common to England, the Jfejl I?tdies^ and this country. Courier. The Curforius Aftaticus, Latham, Index. Orniih. ii. p. 751,. and Syn. Av. v. 217. PL Enl. tab. 859, is a rare bird, found here. PoRPHYRio- Here are met with the Porphyrio, Latham, v. 253, and fome other gallinules ; to be traced in the rude attempts to figures on the Indian and Chinefe papers. Skimmer. The Black Ikimmer, Ar^t.Zool. ii. N° 445. Lathajn, vi. 347^ is common to North America and the Coromandel co7i.?i. Ducks. Among the ducks I fliall only mention the Coromandel, La- tham, vi. 556. PL Enl. tab. 949, 950. GijjcEE. A LITTLE beyond Pondicherry, the fmall river Sce-aiir flo-.vs towards the Ihore. About forty miles from the coaft are the fingular mountains of Gingee, three in number, fortified with a ftrong wall, flanked with tov/ers, including the whole within a triangle. On the funamit of each is a fort : that on the top of the greatell is feated on a folid rock, rifing fuddenly from the area of the hill, quadrangular, and quite mural on every fide ;. and in a cleft of the rock is a fupply of very fine water. It is tenable by ten men againft any open force that can be brought againft it. Befides thefe forts, on all parts of the mountains- arc redoubts above redoubts. Yet, in 1750, European valour furmounted every difficulty, and the able M. BuJJy made him- felf mafter of it by florm. It w^ns done in the night, a time in which every Indian falls under the terror of the gloom. 9 Gingee EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 43 GiNGEE was in former days the refidence of a race of Mah- ratta princes, who ruled from hence as far as the kingdom of 'Tanjof-e, and were the anceftors of the famous Sevagi, who became fupreme over the whole nation of the Mabratta name. It was that hero, v/ho, in 1677, took this ftrong fortrefs, and added its dominions to his own. Still farther to the north the river Paliar falls into the fea. It rifes at the foot of the eaftern Gbauts, flows through a tract drenched in blood, and its waters defiled with gore. On the fouthern branch ftands Aniee, a ilrong fort and town, twenty Arnee. miles fouth oi Arcot. Here Clive, in 1751, totally defeated Ra^ jafaheb, fon of Cbundafabeb, who after his father's death con- tinued attached to the Frencb. Of the different places in this tradf none fuffered the miferies of warfo feverely as Vandezua/Jy, Vakdewash. a town and fort on a fmall branch of the Paliar, in 1760 in polTeffion of the Englijh. Two great rivals in the nrt of v»'ar were then on this ftage. Colonel Eyre Coote, and the unfortu- nate Lally, who had invefted VandewaJJj. Coote inftantly marched to its relief, and on January sad attacked, and obtained a molt brilliant vidlory, the faving, at this period, of hidia to the Britijb empire. In the action, the fnperiority of the Englt/Jy general over the Frencb was molt apparent, who fled in great diforder towards Pondicbeny. He left behind him prifoner M. BuJJVi who, on every occafion, fliewed abilities far greater than thofe of his vaunting commander. On our fide fell, mortally wound- eed • Orme, ii. 580. away EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 45 away the great objedts, and reinforced the garrifon. Ayder made his attack on our general, who had formed his order of bat- tle, and rufhed on the enemy with fuch impetuofitv, that the Myforean flirunk back, and left Coote in pofleffion of the field of action. This was the laft time in which thefe great com- manders were deftined to face each other in the field. Neither of them furvived long; they fell victims to their amazing and Deaths of conftant exertions of body and mind. Ayder died in 1782, at ^^'^^^'' the age of foiirfcore. Sir Eyre Coote on April 27, 1783, ao-ed 58. After his relignation he had retired to Calcutta^ where he was invefted with full powers to refume his former com- mand, which, exhaufted by fatigue, he had religned to General Stuart, In his paflage from Bengal, he was, during five days, purfued by a Trench fleet, and with all the appearance of the impofi[ibility of an efcape. His great mind funk under the idea of being made a prifoner ; and fo deprived of the fair hopes he had of bringing the war to a fpeedy conclnfion. His fliip and treafure arrived fafe in Madras road : but he furvived only two days ; he was attacked by three ftrokes of the pallV, >,.,^ c ^ ■I ■' ' J L J ' AND OIR £,TRE and breathed out his great foul under the third, without pain, ^'0^' e- and without a groan. His body was trznfyoned to Europe. Th.^ Eafl India Com- pany gratefully eretfted, as a memorial of his military talents, a magnificent monument in Wejlminjler Abby. Vicftory is re- prefented hanging his medallion on a palm-tree; flags, and other trophies are placed beneath : a mourning Indian fits on one fide pouring the contents of a full cornucopia, the fruits of his victories, into a fliield. This is a cenotaph \ his mortal part 46 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. part having been interred, on September 14th, at P.ockbourne, HampJJjire, in the family vault. He entered early into the army, and is fliid to have ferved in Scotland in 1745. In 1754 ^^^ landed at Madras, being in one of the regiments fent to India under the command of a Colonel Jdlercron. His firft diflindion was that of being appointed, in 1757, to command at Calcutta, in which he was fupeneded on a difpute between him and Cli'i-e refpeding the right. Coote was prefent at the battle of Plajfv. The day preceding the action, the commander in chief, Colonel Clive^ called a council, in which it was debated, whe- ther the attack fliould immediately be made, or the army retire to Cut'xab during the rainy feafon. Coote dreaded the effect a retreat might have on the common foldiers, which might fup- prefs the ardor with which they were then infpired. The council divided. Thirteen lided with Clive, and only feven with the gallant major. The colonel retired to an adjacent grove, and paffed an hour in gloomy meditation. He returned con- vinced of the folidity of Coote's advice, and inilantly diredted that the troops Ihould crofs the river to the attack the next morn- ing *. The great event is fufficiently known : but the caufe of immediate action is fuppreffed by the hiftorian of the fearlefs vi6lor, who feemed to be fuperior to advice ; yet, after reflec- tion, was too wife to decline what every one muft acknowlege the necellity of. The cenotaph was not the only honor be- ftowed on this faithful fervant. The Eafl India Company eredled in their temple of Fame in the India-houje, a ftatue to his * Ormc, ii. p.p. 170, 171, memory, EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. memory, by Bacon. He is in the habit of an EngliJJj general officer, having before his death attained the rank of lieutenant- general. His fword in his right-hand points to a truncated palm-tree. To fill the meafure of his honors, his royal mafter, with him graced the red ribbon in 1771, and he bore it with unrivalled luilre amidll the coeval companions. His predeceffor in the paths of glory, Stringer Law- rence, had alfo the honorary rewards of merit from the com- pany. A il:atue ereded in 1764 (in his life-time) in the India- boufe^ dreffed in a Roman habit, with a fword in his right-hand pointed towards his fide. After his death, a magnificent monu- ment was erected by his grateful mafters, in memory of his un- common fervices. For Discipline established, Fortresses PROTECTED, SETTLEMENTS EXTENDED, FRENCH AND INDIAN ARMIES DEFEATED, AND PeaCE CONCLUDED IN THE CaRNA- Tic. On the top of the monument is the buft, expreffive of his brave open countenance. The Genius of the company is point- ing to it, and Fame is proclaming his noble exploits, holding in her hand a fliield on which the infcription is placed. On a tablet is reprefented a large city befieged, and beneath is tlie word Tritchinopoly ; the foundation of his glory, and that of the fafety oi India. He ferved in that country from the year 1746 to the year 1766 ; for the term affigned on the bafe of the mo- nument of his fervice is tvrenty years : he continued in employ till 1754, when he was ungratefully fuperfeded by Colonel Ad- lercrcHi an ofiicer of fuperior rank, fent to Madras with troops from Europe. Lazvrence, at the fame time, received a commif- fion of lieutenant-colonel in the king's fervice, and from the company 47 48 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. company a fword enriched with diamonds. Thefe did not countervail the unmerited mortification impofed on him. hi 1755, he had the pacific employ of being fent to invite the Nabob of Arcot to Madras. He died in London^ on Januaiy loth, 1775, aged 78 ; having attained only the rank of major- general. He was lamented as a man and as a foldier. Let me repeat his great eulogy in refpe6t to his military conduit, by faying, that he was the first who introduced difcipline into India, and of courfe enfured conqueft over native troops, till we, by the wifdom of an Ayder or a Tippoo, are faced by troops equally trained in the leffons of war taught by our illuftrious veteran. Arcot. Near to the banks of the Paliar, about fixty-lix miles from the fea, ftands Arcot, the Arcati Rcgia Sorce of Ptolemy, and Soro-mandalam, corrupted into the modern Coromajidel, giving name to the whole coaft. The princes of which were called for a long facceffion Soren *. In far diflant times it became a naboblliip : on the confufion which enfued after the invafion of Hlndoojlan, by Kouli Khan, the perfidious Nlzain al Muluc^ viceroy or foubab of the Dccan, kept pofleffion of that vafl truft. Something fliould be given refpe<5ling that infamous traitor, who, to gratify his revenge againft rival courtiers, in- vited KotiU Khan to invade Hindoojian. After being the caufe of the ruin of his mafter, the defolation of his country, and the malFacres of thoufands of his fellow-fubjeiSls, araidft the con- fufion which enfued, he feized on great part of the Decan, over which he prefided by the authority of the emperor, dignified * D^Anvillc, Antiq. de I'lnde, p. 327. with EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 49 uitli the title of Nizam ul Muluc, or Regulator of the Empire. He made himfelf independent, and became lord paramount over thirty nabobfhips, fuch as that of ^;to/^, which.- then comprehended the greateft part of the Carnatic. Over this he appointed, in 1743, Anwar-o''Dien -'■•', the firft particular nabob. Future nabobs were gradually ftripped of much of their territory. The Nizam had been educated under Aureng- zebe, and lived to the year 1748, in which he died, at the un- common age of 104 ; certainly a miracle for a great man to ef- cape during fo long a period, the rage of battle, private affiiffi- nation, or the jealoufy of cotemporary princes. His fon fnc- ceeded to his vaft dominions, which remain now in his pofte- rity, and form one of the great powers of Hindoojlan in the prefent time. The reigning Nizum was one of the confederate allies engaged in our late war with Tippoo Sultan. At this time the reigning Nabob oi Arcot^, weakened and overwhelmed with debts, has been told by us that it would be prudent in him to cede to us his government. He feemed not quite of our opi- nion, and remonftrated againft it ; and the affair was referred to the court of diredtors : whether the equivalent offered to his highnefs has been accepted by him, I am yet to learn. He lives at Cbepauk, a mile from Madras, in princely ll:ate ; upon part of the polTeffions for which the JLngUjJj paid a fine to his pre- deceffors, in acknowlegement of the original permillior., there to form their fettlement. The city of Arcot is of vaft extent. The fort is a mile in Cm v. circumference, ill builr, and weakly defended in refjietfl to * Orme, i. p. ifS. Vol. II. H Malls, 50 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. walls, towers, and fofs. In this ftate it was attacked by the young hero Clive, in 175 ij when it was garrifoned by eleven hundred fokliers. Clive marched againft it with only three hundred Seafoys and two hundred ILuropeayis^ and eight offi- cers, fix of whom had never feen fcrvice. He halted ten miles from the place. The enemy's fpies reported that they were marching through a dreadful tempeft of thunder,, lightning, and of rain. The garrifon thought them more than men, and evacuated the fort with all fpeed. Clive marched coolly through a hundred thoufand fpeitators, gazing on them with admira- tion and refpei5t, and took poffeffion of the fort •'••. He did not confine himfelf within its wails ; he made- frequent fallies, and beat the foes in every adtion. At length they polfelfed them- felves of the town. A clofe fiege commenced. He defended the place from September 6th to November 15th; vv'hen, tired of confinement, he took the field, and left the future defence to Captain Kilpatricky an officer of approved gallantry. Sadras. To return to the coaft. Sadras ftands near the fea, a little" to the north of the river Paliar. It is a Dutch fettlement, ori- ginally made for the purchafing the manufacflories of the country. It is feated in a very fertile country, which enables the induftrious inhabitants to fupply their neighbors at Madras with the various produdions of their gardens, which the fteril foil of that country denies to the capital of Coromandel. In 1754, i^ ^^'^•'' ^^^ place in which the conference was held be- tween the Englijh and the French for fettling a peace ; but by the arts and the demands of M. Dupleix, it ended with the Itrongeft exafperation on both fides t. A little to the north of * Orme, i. 183. \ Same, p. p- 339- 3+i- Sadras EASTERN HINDOOSTAN, 51 Sadras ftands the feven pagodas, a mofl wonderful affemblage Seven Pagodas. of temples, and other places of Hindoo worfliip, fecond only in antiquity to thofe of Elepbanta and at Ellora, which are fubterraneous, cut out of the folid rock. Thefe are elevated high above the furface, excavated out of folid rocks rifmg to different heights, and by the wondrous fkill of the antient ar- tifts hollowed into various forms ; the natural roof is often felf-fupported, foraetiraes it is as if held up by pillars left in fit places, poffibly more for ornament than neceflity, cut out of the fame rock. Where the fizes of the rocks will admit, there are inilances of two pagodas, one cut out of the fame rock above the other, with the communication of a ftaircafe formed out of the live Hone. Staircafes frequently occur, as if once leading to edifices now deftroyed. Excavations fuppofed to have been de- figned for Choultries, or the fame charitable purpofes as the Mahometan caravanferas, are not infrequent. That this was a place of commerce I little doubt, and pro- Roman Coi-.s. bably frequented by the Romans. The grounds of my conjec- ture is, that a pot of gold and fdver coins * has been found here by a Ryot^ or hufbandman, with charadlers which neither Hindoos nor Mahometans could explain ; they probably muft be ' Roman. We know that their trade extended even farther than the Coromandel coafl, and I have alfo been informed that Roman coins have been feen in the pofleflion of BrahniinSy the only people of curiofity in all thefe extenfive regions, and fuch coins muft have been found within their neighborhood. * Afiatic Refearches, i. 158. \\ 2 The 52 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. The furface of multitudes of the rocks are covered with fculptnres of varieties of kinds; numbers exprefs the human> form, defcribing the actions of the heroes celebrated in the Ma-- babarat. Antient Other figures defcribe the Hindoo mythology, fuch as Kir- JJjen attending the herds of Kunda^hofe. In another place is a gigantic Vifonou afleep on a couch, with a vaft fnal<.e, in num- bers of coils, ferving as for the head of the great deity; all cut out of the body of the rock. There are belides numbers of figures of animals ; Among them' an elephant as big as life; and a lion larger than the natural fize, well executed, and each hewn out of the fame ftone. The name given to the laft ani- mal is Singy which always means in the Hindoo tongue a lioit. The fame name is alfo beftowed to the monftrous figures fre- quent in Hindoo fculpture, from the dillorted figures which feem originally copied from the lion, but either by fancy or want of fl<.ill turned into real monfters. Most of the fculptures upon the temple-rocks of this city are well explained by a number oi Brahmins^ who refide in an adjacent village, ftill retaining its antient name : and thefe holy men feem perfccftly acquainted with the hillory of the orna.- ments of the place. The antient name of this place is Mavaliparam in the I'u^ midic tongue, but in that of the more northern Hindoos, Ma- bdbalipur, or the city of the great Bali, a hero famed in Hindoo romance *. It had been a city of vaft extent, built, or perhaps in part formed, by excavating the numerous rocks which rofe * Afiatic Reftarches, i. p. 146. out EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. out of all parts of the fiirface; poffibly we muft confine thefe Angular works to pagodas, choultries, palaces, and other pub- lic places. The inhabitants in general might obferve the connmon mode of building ftill ufed in all Indian towns. Let me obferve that brick might have been in ufe for the better fort, for remains of pagodas are to be found here made of bricks *. This city was placed clbfe to the fea : a great extent ftill may be traced by the lingular remains. Much has been covered by the fea, and inundated by the effecfts of an earthquake f. Many fimilar rocks, excavated and fculptured like thofe to this time exifting, are to be feen on the fliore, and in fuch parts of the fea where the depth doth not prevent them from being vifible. Thefe ruins are called by the feamen the seven- pagodas, for to that number have they been confined. Thev have their utility to navigators, as marks for approaching- the coaflr. It is to William Chambers, Efq; that the public is indebted for a large and moft extenfive account of thefe wonderful anti^ quities, to which I am obliged for the foregoing extracts ];. I recommend the perufal of Mr. Chambers'^ account to every reader of curiofity, who cannot fail of being highly gratified. I truft it will not be long before they will be further explained by the elegant defigns of Mr. Thomas Daniell, the greateft tra- veller in Hindoqftan of this or perhaps any other times. His prefent publications merit the encouragement of every perlbn ©f tafte. His labors and his hazards deferve their favor. He * Afiatic RefeircheSj p. 149, 153. f P. 154 to 157. ■|; PuHiflietl in the Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 145. N" v. obliged S^ 54 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. obliged me with the fight of his drawings. I anticipate from thera the knowlege of MahabaHpirr, and hope it will not long be denied to the public at large. MtLiAPoi'R, OR About thirty miles to the north of Sadras flood the antient St. 1 HOME. Maliarpha, and the Mellapour of the more modern Indians. At the time it came into the pofleffion of the Portuguefe^ it was quite in ruins, but had been the emporium of Soro-mandalam. The new-comers changed the name to that of San Thome, from the St. Thomas difcovery they had made that St.Thomas had fufFered martyr- M.-iRTVh.ED. ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^jg place, in a cave at the lefier mount ftill called af- ter his name. He had fled from his perfecutors, was dif- covered there, and transfixed with the lance of a Brah7nin\ his body was buried in old Meliapour., and is laid to haye been found amidft the magnificent ruins in 1517. Marco Polo, who fet out on his travels in 1269, reports that he was informed that the body was depofited in a chapel in that city. It was difco- vered on the fearch made after it in 1522, when the bones were found, and the lance by which he was flain. Thefe holy re- mains were carried to Goa, where they were interred with much refpedt. Pretekdfd Two pretended evidences of the reality of the miffion were iai-d to have been difcovered in the year 1533 : one was a plate of iron, tlie other a piece of marble, with letters cut on each in fome unknown language. Thefe were decyphered by certain Brahmins of Narjinga, and found to give the important hiftory. Jt was to this place that the bifliop of Sherborn was fent by our great king Alfred, and returned loaded with rich gifts of fpices and pearls. The Portugueje rebuilt the city with great magni- 9 ficence,. EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N, 5^ ficence, and it became a mofl commercial and opulent place : but its commerce declined on the rile oi Madras, and it is now become a place of very little conllderation ; no part of its for- tifications remain, except a piece of a ruined wall. The other proof of its former importance is, that it gave title to a Portu- guefe bifliop. The greatefl part of the Indian inhabitants are Roman Ca- tholics. By their religion they were attached to the neighbor- ing French at Pondicherry, and on that account they were active in giving intelligence of what we were doing at Madras ; this induced Admiral Bofcaiven to take poffeHion of the town, pre- vious to his ill-condudted fiege of the French capital. The inhabitants pretend that they are defcended from the Portti-- guefe. Thefe, and many others of the mixed breeds of this part of India, are often formed into companies, or mixed in garrifon with the Seapoys. This mongrel breed is far inferior in courage to the common native Indians. They are called by them Topajfes, from their wearing a hat ; a name retained by Topassej. the European nations. Madras, or as it was called by the natives Chinapatam, flands Madras. three miles to the north of San 'Thome, in Lat. 13' 5', in the moft inconvenient fpot imaginable, clofe to the fhore, continually vexed by a moft tremendous furf, with a fait river on the other fide, which cuts off all frefh water, and by its inundations in the rainy feafon, threatens deftrucStion, Add to this, a Ixirren fandy Climate, trail, incapable of bearing even a blade of grafs, perpetually fcorched by a moft burning fun ; yet fo healthy, that it is the great refort of the invalids of Bengal^ who here foon feel the good 56 EASTERN HINDOO STAN. good effecfls of the climate : yet it would be intolerable was it not for the regular refrefhing breezes and coohng fhowers that come from the fea at ftated hours. Thefe happily arrive in what is called the * Celeftial fummer,' when the fun is vertical, and their neceffity the ftrongeft. The winds that pafs over the land, come heated by their pafTage over the fands like the air of the mouth of an oven. The night and day are here nearly equally difparted, though not in the fame exadl divilion as under the equator, yet, partly in that, and wholly in other re- fpe6ls, fo as to vindicate the beautiful quotation from our cele- brated Prior, vol. ii. p. 157- To make that paffage more clear, I muft introduce the doubts of Solomon refpedling the habita- bility of the frigid and torrid zones, according to the notions which were held of them bythe antients. I -doubt of many lands, ifthey contain Or herd of beaft, or colony of man. If any nations pafs their deftin'd days Beneath the neighb'ring fun's direder rays. If any fuffer on the Polar coaft The rage of A>-clos, and eternal froft. May not the pleafure of Omnipotence To each of thefe fome fecret good difpenfe. Thofe who amidft the torrid regions live, May they not gales unknown to us receive j See daily fliow'rs rejoice the thirfty earth. And blcfs the flow'ry buds fucceeding birth ? May they not pity us, cohdemn'd to bear The various Heav'n of an obliquer fphere : While E A S T E R N n I N D O O S T x\ N. 57 While by fix'd laws, and with a juft return They feel twelve hours that (hade, for twelve that burn ; And praife the neighb'ring fun whofe conftant flame Enlightens them with fcafons ftill the fame. Fort St. George (the new name for Madras) was founded about Fort St. the year 1643, by permiflion of a prince tributary to the king of Golconda, the Gentoo Rcja of Chandergherri^ on their purchafed land of Cbinapatam --'•■. Poflibly we had as little territory round our infant fettlement, as the 7yr/<3';r queen gained round Car^ thage by her ftratagem of the lengthened thongs of her bull's- hide. Had his majefty looked into the mirror of fate, he Prophetic Vision* would have feen his own kingdom fwallowed up by Aureng- zebe, in 1687 : he would have feen, undqr that prince, the Hin- doojlan empire* fpread over the mighty peninfula ; after a few years the glafs would have reflected a wondrous change : A Terfian monarch carrying his arms to the capital of the empire, bidding its weak monarch defcend from his throne ; and, ftill more mortifying, bidding him remount the abdicated ftate : he would afterwards have feen this mighty emi:)ire fall to pieces, disjointed by the defed:ion of the great viceroys, and the em- peror himfelf left with lefs power and lefs dominion than the weakeft of thofe governors, who had lately trembled at his nod. The horrors of the vifion would have multiplied : he would have feen a fallen monarch, and the miferable Mogid\ and tender family, left to fufFer the pains of hunger and thirft ; ladies of the blood royal ftarved to death ; and others in de- fpair precipitating themfelves from the fnmmit of the palace * Orme's Fragments, 84. t Shah AUum. Vol. 11. I into 58 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. into the river ; his Tons lifted up and daflied before his face on the hard floors, and himfclf flung recumbent, and his eye-balls torn from their fockets by the daggers of mercilefs favages, by order of a Rohilla ruffian *. A ftill more wondrous fcene would have paired before his eyes : the defcendants of thofe mer- chants, thofe humble fuppliants to whom he had granted a little tra6l of o-round, riling into a great people ; he would have feen them affume the ftate and power of natural monarchs ; depofe or create kings and princes, as fuited their interefts ; wage fierce wars with other European nations on the Indian fliores, Euro- peans who firft came among them in the fame humble guife. He would have feen them traverfe the great empire with their armies from eail to weft, from north to fouth : flied deluges of blood to maintain their wrongful clames : mutual maflacres arife before his eyes ! Struck with horrors fucceeding horrors, he would have dafhed to pieces the terrific glafs, and left to fu- ture times to unfold the eventful afts that at prefent we are forbidden to know, forbidden to reveal ! Some hiflorian may arife, and, like Horatio^ in Hamlet •, high on the ftage, deliver the eventful hiftory, and Speak to the yet unknowing world. How thefe things came about : So fliall you hear Of cruel, bloody, and unnatural adls : Of accidental judgments, cafual flaughters : Of deaths put on by cunning, and forc'd caufe : And in this upfliot, purpofes miftook Fall'n on the inventors heads. * Hill. Tranfactions bv Jonathan Scotf, Eiq. vol. ii, part v. p. 293. The EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 59 The famous feat of government, Madras, may be divided into two parts. The fortified part, called Fort St. George, a place of great itrength, firetching along the very fliore, and guarded on two fides by its wandering river. This fortrefs includes within it the White 'To-ivn : the Black Toivn ftands to the north- weft, is very large and populous, and is inhabited by the richeft Indian merchants, and the Armenians, Beyond that are the fuburbs, a large divifion inhabited by Indian natives of all ranks, fubjetft to the Company ; befides thefe, are at a fmall dif- tance two vaft villages, filled with Indian natives, manufadur- ers, and artificers. When Mr. Orme \vas refident in India^ there were not fewer than two hundred and fifty thoufand inhabitants on the adjacent territories of the Eajl India Com- pany. The prefent territory belonging to Madras was granted to it The Jaghirs. by the great Mogul, and is called the Jagbire, fee vol. i. p. 78 ; this our Company, with a degree of certainty, interpret a perpetuity. This grant extends along the coaft a hundred and eight miles, from Alemparve fouthward, as far as Pullicate northward, and inland as far as the town of Conjeveram, and brings in a reve- nue of a hundred and fifty thoufand pounds a year. Before the profitable trade of war by its rapid acquifition of wealth, gave a mortal check to honeft induftry, the loom furniflied a great and flourilliing commerce : all the country was full of looms : but I am informed that fome years ago (till a late revival of trade) there were fcarcely goods enough to load a fliip. Fort St. George underwent in our days two memorable fieges, Seized in 1746. I % attended 6o EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. attended with very different fuccefs. The firft was in 1746^ when the celebrated De la Bourdonnais appeared before the place. He began his attack on September the 7th, and it was furrendered to him on the 12th; the generous enemy gave the conquered the molt eafy terms ; every private citizen was permitted to enjoy his own, and nothing but the property of the Company was taken, and a ranfom agreed on for the prefer- vation of the town ; his rival Dupleix, governor of Pondicherry^ infifted on the total deftrudlion of Madras^ but le Bourdonnais adhered religioufly to his terms. Thefe were immediately broken, in the moft infamous manner, by Dupleix \ and our merchants plundered in a manner that refledled the higheft diflionour on. the French nation. Soon after a furious ftorm arofe, and annihilated the French marine in India^ and fecured to us the remainder of the Englijh empire in Hindoojlan. The town was at this time defencelefs, and our fquadron driven by the winds from the coaft. In 17 ;8, the attack and the fate of Madras were very differ- 1n 1758, BESIEG- '•^ ' ^ ID EY Lally. eni;. The violent Lally marched againfl the place in December^ when in taking poiTeffion of the Black Town, a moft animated .a£tion was fought in the very ftreets. Colonel Draper com- manded the party, and after the lofs of feveral brave officers was obliged to make his retreat. At this time Madras was de- fended by a brave garrifon, and by men of approved condudt and valour : Mr. Pi got., the governor, who received his mili- tary inftrudion from the General, Colonel Laurence, behaved with the activity and refolution of a veteran. Major Calliaud and Captain Prejlon kept the field, and diftinguiflied themfelves by EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 6i by their bravery and prudence. La/Iy continued before the place, with unabated vigour, near three months. He raifed the fiege on the i6th of February 1759, fo precipitately, that h© had not leifure to execute his barbarous refoiution, that of lay- ing the Black Tozvn in aflies, fliould he be neceffitated to make a retreat. The country which bounds the eafl: and fouth of Madras is Choultrt- rendered by art extremely beautiful. That towards the town of St. 'Thome is the Choultry Plain, about three miles and a half in extent, and the fteril fands covered with plantations, inter- mixed with villas and other habitations. The fame plain ex- tends to the weftward ten miles, and all the way occupied by the retreats of the citizens of Madras^ efpecially near the ex- tremity, about the greater Mount St. Thomas. Many of the houfes are elegant in their architecture, and the apartments fpacious and magnificent. Here the owners, and their company, enjoy themfelves in the verandas, or open porticos, in the cool breeze of the evening. Every houfe is illuminated, and affords the ftranger an enchanting fpe(5lacle *. On the i8th of July, 1780, the felicity of this plain was dif- Inroad of turbed by the barbarous inroad made by Jyder All, who, at the head of a hundred thoufand men, poured down on the plains of the Carnatic like a refiftlefs torrent, which fwept away every villa, houfe, and village which lay in its courfe in the vicinity of Madras. The then governor, and the principal people, feemed in a ftate of torpidity, ftupidly incredulous to all the accounts of his more diftant advance. " I was," fays Mr*. • Hodgcs's Travels, p. 10. Hodges^, 62 . EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. Hodges *, " a melancholy witnefs to the efFeds of the inroad, *' the multitude coming in from all quarters to Madras, as a *' place of refuge, bearing on their fhoulders the fmall remains " of their little property; mothers with infants on their breafts, " fathers leading their horfes burthened with their young " flimilies ; others fitting on the miferable remains of their " fortunes on a hackery, and dragged through the duft by " weary bullocks. Every object was marked by confufion and " difmay ; from the i8th to the 21ft the numbers daily in- " crealing, and it was fuppofed that within the fpace of three *' days not lefs than two hundred thoufand of the country peo- " pie were received within the Black 'Town of Madras I"" Tippoo Saeb commanded that part of the army which car- ried its devaftations to the walls of the city. There was a mo- ment in which he might have entered the Black Tozvn with the fugitives, and burnt it : he might have even taken Fort St, George^ the gates having been left open in the univerfal con- fufion. " Theie advantages were happily negle6led ; he con- tented himfelf with carrying a general defolation through the environs, and then rejoined his father's army. The prefidency of Madras had collected about fix thoufand troops, as foon as it had recovered from its confufion. They were flationed in places moft fit to fi:op the progrefs of the enemy. The defeat of the detachnient under Colonel Baillie flung our government into defpondency. Jyder attempted ter- ritorial conqueft. He befieged and took Jrcot, and many other * Hodges's Travels, p. 7, pofts EASTERN HINDOOSTAN-. 63 polls of ftrength. He was then proclamed Nabob of the Car- natic, and exercifed all the marks of fovereign power *. At length the genms of Mr. Hastings reftored the declining flate of the Carnaiic. Forces were detached from Colonel Goddard'?, army in Guzerat\ and others from Bengal^ under the celebrated Coote, who was appointed commander in chief, and by a feries of unparalleled victories, before related, was both fword and fliield to the re-animated country. Great is the deftrudtion in Europe by the various effects of Havoke of . r 1 <- • 1 i-r r 1 1 /-I, , Indiam War. war, the Ivvord, ramine and dileaie : but how fmall are they in comparifon of the fame fcourge when inflicled on the inha- bitants of Hindoojlan. Let it be exemplified in the dreadful inroad juft recited, as given by a writer of the firft authority t. In 1781, perilled within xhejagbire of the Carnatic 150,000 1782, by ficknefs at Madras - - - - 20,000 1782, inhabitants of Madras by famine - - io,coo 1782, at iVf<:7(;/r^j", inhabitants of the country forced in by Ayder _ - _ _ 50,000 1782, died in removing northward in confequence of the famine - _ _ _ _ ^Ojooo 1782, feized and carried from the Carnatic^ ma- nufacturers and youths _ _ _ 20;0C0 1782, deftroyed during the war in different parts of the Carnatic ----- 250,000 540,000 * War in Afia, p. 171 ; fome fay that Tippoo Saeb was fo proclamed. t Hon. Charles Grevillcj ii. p. 521, I The (ji EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. The flaughters and deil:ru6lions which defolated the northern parts of Hindoojlan by 'Tamerlane and Kouli Kba?t united, can fcarcely equal thole brought, in more detail, on Coromondel by our modern deilroycr. In all the battles, flaughters, famines, and the general malTacre at Behliy Kouli Khan occafioned the deaths of two hundred thouland only *. Tamerlane wanted his record of Death; yet lean enumerate a hundred thoufand innocent prifoners murdered in cool blood before Dehli. Above that number malTacred in the city w?hen it was ftormed. The flreights of Kupeli furniflied its tens of thoufands, and heca- tombs fell vi6lims in hundreds of places to the barbarity of Mahometan zeal. Could a juft calctilation be made of the ex- ploits of ytyder and Nadir Shah, adluated by ambition, and Ta- merlane by bigotted cruelty, the lalt would fairly carry the palm from his fucceeding rivals for the glory of barbarity. March ot This incurfion was amply .revenged on Tippoo Sultan, the fon wALLis. of Ayder, by the Marquis CorjiwalUs, of whom fame can fcarcely give the extent of his praife. On him was beftowed the im- portant charge. He quitted Madras on the 29th of Janiiary, Vellcut. 179 r> and the fame day joined the army at Felhut, eighteen miles diftant ; Meadows, as fecond in command, alfo joined. It v/as thought necefTary to carry fifty days provifions for the troops. It v/as found afterwards unnecefTary, as Tippoo, deceived by the manoeuvres of the Marquis, had left a great part of the country, in the early march, unravaged. He continued his march nearly due weft till February ijth, when he turned * Frafer's Hid. Nadir Shah, p. 222. northward EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. , 65 northward to Cbittore, eighteen miles diiiant from the fpot he left, nearly oppofite to Vellore. After a march of about fifteen miles he chained the pafs of Muglee^ on the eaftern Ghauts^ and Ascent of Mug LEE. in fix hours went through it unmolefted, fo little did Tippoo fufpcvff the route his lordlliip would take. All the heavy artil- lery was got up with eafe ; the roads were fo good that the bul- locks were not unyoked ; the troops affifted with the drag- ropes, and the docile elephants affifted, by pufliing with their heads the heavy guns from behind. The army encamped a little beyond the pafs at Palimnare^ having furmounted the ftupendous rampart toward the Canmticy and gained the level of the table-land, which is fupported as if by buttreffes on every lide. That part between the parallels of Chittore and Da- rampoory, in the Barah-mahal^ is reckoned about three thou- fand feet above the low land of the Caniatic. The nature of the Ghauts^ and their courfe, I have, in vol. i. p. p. 87, 88, 89, before noted. The Myfore, the fcene of two years glorious but arduous adventure, was entered about four m.iles beyond Falimnare. From thence, for the fpace of about forty miles, the march was nearly weft. At Color., forty- Colar. three miles from Bangalore, is the Maufoleum of Ayder All''?, father, Nadim SaeO. Ayder was born at Deonnelli, a fmall for- trefs, not far to the north - weft of Colar, which, with a certain portion of land, was granted in fief to Nadim by the famous Nizam ulMuliic^. It probably was built by his fon, who by the elegance and extent of this pile, has paid him very * Life of Ayder All, i. p. 49. Vol. II. K high - 66 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. OVSCOTTA-. Bangalore. The Pettah. high refpe£> *. Ayder himfelf, on his death, was carried to this place embalmed, and laid in ftate during four months ; after which he was carried and depofited in the fplendid building of the fame nature at Seringapatatn. A LITTLE beyond Colar, the march inclines a little foutherly. Oufcotta, a fort clofe to the road, is barely mentioned, pof- iibly not important enough to merit the attention of our army. At Ki/lnaporur,h ten miles from Bangalore^ firfi ap- peared the army of T'ippooy taking poffeffion of the heights, and cannonading our rear, having previoufly burnt the country eighteen miles round the city, to prevent the army benefiting from its fertility. The Marquis fate down before it on March the 5th ; fecure of his principal objed:, but inconfcious of the prolongation of its fate. Bangalore is the capital of a kingdom of the fame name, built by the Hindoos, afterwards improved and fortified by jiyder and his fon. In 1655 it belonged to a Polygar Rajah, who was difpoffefled of it by a general of the king of Bejapour t. It went through a quick fucceffion of matters, till it fell into the hands of the father of Aydcr, as a reward from the king of My/ore for a vi6lory he had obtained for him over the Mah- rattahs |. It is feated in Lat. 12° 67' 30", Long. E. from Green- wich 77° 22' 17". The Pettah or town of Bangalore is of a confiderable extent, and fortified with a rampart. The palace, built by T'ippoo, * Plate I. p. ] J of the fine views in the Myfore Country, by Major Allan. •}■ Views in the Myfore by Mr. Hoiue, aii elegant unpaged work, 1794.. % Hift. Ayder, i. p. 50. appears E A S T E R N H I N D O O S T A N. 67 appears by the view of it by Mr. Home, of uncommon elegance. The capitals and bafes of the pillars are fculptured with beautiful excentricity, and the arches undulated in the in- terior fide, in a manner peculiar to the Or/V;//^/ architects. The natives of Bangalore are chiefly Hindoos. A great many MiiO'iilinen or Moormen reficie there, and the troops that gar- rifon the fort are compofed of the latter. In the neighborhood are manufadliires of filk antl woollen-cloths. The wool is proba- Wool. bly that of the country. Doctor Anderfo7i -••■• informs us, that the country, a hundred miles weft of Madras, rifes fix hundred yards above the level of the fea, and the flieep on rhofe elevated fit nations are woolly, and in no refped; different from the fiieep in 'Europe, but the fleeces ftrong and harfli, which are manufa^^lured into a ftuiT by the natives called Cambahe. The borders of the Myfore is double that difl:ance, and the elevation above the fea increafing, and confequently the purity and coolnefs of the air, Tippoo need not go out of his dominions to fupply his looms. The Pettab was attacked and taken by florm on March 7th, Pettah taken. with the lofs of a hundred officers and men. The death of the gallant Colonel Moorboufe damped even the joy at the fuccefs. A treafure was found in the town of every kind of neceffary. Monuments to the feveral officers who fell that day, and in the neighborhood, were erected in the cemetery, with infcrip- tions recording their fate. Batteries were immediately ereiled againft the fort, and a pra(5ticable breach foon efFedted. The attack was led by Co- * Li his Correfpondence, &c. printed at Madras, 1791. K 3 lonel 68 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. lonel Maxivell, about eleven at night. In an inftant the whole Blue Lights, environs were illuminated by the blue lights fufpended from the rampartf, as cuftomary with the Indians. The material ufed by them is no other than the antient Naptha^ remarkable for its extreme inflammability. The antients had two forts, the white and the black -•■•, both liquid, and were ufed in lamps. Everv fortified place in Hindoojian has its walls befet with branched irons ready to receive the pendent lights, which give an uncommon degree of fplendor. They might ferve to illumi- nate the infernal council-chamber, or to facilitate a midnight llaughter. How completely does the efFe6l anfwer to the fine defcription given by Milton of the iHumination of the Pandemo- nium, to which the horrors of the night of alTault might, by the caufe, give to the fimile greater aptnefs. From the high walls> Pendent by fubtile magic, many a row Of flarry lamps and blazing crefTets, fed With Naptba and AfphaUus, yielding light As from a fky ! The thunder of the artillery, the noife of the mnfquetry, the fanguinary fliouts of the afTailants, and the groans and fhrieks of the dying, added horrors to the terrible fcene. The garrifon fled from the mercilefs foldiery, and part choaking up the pafTagc of the oppofite gate, left multitudes like a herd of timorous goats or flocks expofed to reliftlefs carnage. The • Strabo, lib. xvi. p. 1078. Alfo Plin. Nat. Hill, lib, ii. c. 105. veteran EASTERN HINDOOST AN. 69 veteran governor alone flood by his colors when transfixed by a thouland bayonets, he fell as glorioufly as an old Roman, or the immortalized Velafque^.-^ wrapped in the ftandard he died to defend. The Marquis CornwaUis fent to T'ippoo the offer of the honored remains to be interred. T'ippoo nobly replied, that to an old foldier no place could be found fo fit as that on which he breathed his iafl. The interment was accordingly per- formed by the Mujj'cbnen after their own rites. Both Pettab and fort were taken in the face of a powerful army, commanded by Tippoo in perfon. He made fome fruitlefs attempts to relieve them. The importance to us was of the firft rate : it became the depot of If ores and provifions, a hofpital for the fick or wounded, and the place through which our reinforce- ments of every kind from the Carnatk were to arrive ; and as it happened unforefeen, became the head quarters during the monfoon, after our inevitable retreat from Seringapatam. The fuccefs at Bangalore infpirited our friends, and depreffed the mind of the enemy ; and, according to perhaps the cuftom of even European nations, occafioned great defection from the neighboring chieftains, who, in India particularly, feldom ad- here long to the declining fide. The Polygars efpecially, who, having no more to fear from the tyrant, poured in fupplies to our army from every part*. Bangalore lies, the neareft w^ay, only eighty miles from Se- ringapatam, 'Tippoo''^ capital ; the fall of which was to terminate all our labors : but the march towards it was inevitably delayed * Mr. Home. for 70 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. iVIarch to Se- ringapatam. Battle of. for the want of provifions. The country to th€ eaft was laid wafte by the Sultan. It was therefore impoffible to receive them in quantities adequate to the great wants of a nunaerous army, and its more numerous followers. A convoy of provifions and ftores, and a reinforcement of troops from the fouthern pro- vinces, arrived at the head of the Ghauts. The army was alfo obliged to make feveral excurfions for the purpofes above men- tioned : to Vincatighery weftward, to Deounnelli and Cbimta' balabariim northward. Both the laft were unfinifhed, but built on an excellent plan. Thefe were defigned as part of a wife and regular fyftem of adding great ftrength to numbers of his fortrefles, which might have ilood a regular fiege, and long obftru(5ted the progrefs of any invader. The army began its march from Bangalore on May 3d, and took the more dillant route to Seringapatam, that of ninety-four miles, by Cancakelly to Sultanpetta, where it quitted the mountains, and after that to Arakeery, not rem.ote from the capital, which ftands in an iiland of the Cavery, and bovmded to the north by the rude Ca- rigat rocks. Tippoo quitted the iiland, and encamped on a poll of great ftrength, moft judicioully chofen, which the Marquis was determined to furprife and force. The attack was made on the 15th, under his lordlhip. Colonel Maxivel vinA Colonel Lloyd were the great charadlers of the day. The enemy were defeated with much lofs, and many trophies added to the vic- torv. Our flain and wounded moft inconfiderable. General Abercrombie, who with his army had furmounted the Ghauts, advanced as far as Periapatan, twenty miles from Seri^igapatam, where he lay. The Marquis intended to form a junction with him : EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 71 him : but his evil genius interfered. When his lordfliip in- tended to crofs the ford of the Cavery at Kanainbuddy^ he per- ceived it was impoffible to move the heavy artillery from the place they were. Moft of the bullocks were dead or dyin"-, and provifions began to fail after the junftion of the Nizaurs army, on yipril 13th, which was prefent at the battle, and by its igno- rance obftrucled rather than promoted the attack of ours. He was ohliged to dtftroy the whole of the heavy artillery (\Qi- tined to reduce the city, and indignantly compelled to retire, and to leave the glorious vifion to be realized in the following year. Mr. Rennel mentions the lingular circumftance of "Tippoo feeing three hoftile armies lying encamped feven miles from his capital, the Byitljb, the Mabrattas, and the wretched ca- valry of the Nizam, which had marched from Hydrabad, a dif- tance of four hundred and fix miles, eager to partake of the prey. General Abercrombie was directed to defcend the Ghauts^ which he did in light of Kummer iil Deen-t the boafted favorite officer of 'TippooH, without the left impediment, except from the inceiTunt rains which at that feafon deluged the coaft. I SHALL not trace our army's retreat from S^ringapatam Battle of farther than Mailcotta, about fifteen miles to the north of that city, a fpot famed for the bloody defeat of Ayder AH by the Mabrattas, in 1772, under the Paijbzva Madab-ro%t\ a gallant youth of twenty-two. The quarrel was, a clam>e of the Cbout, or tribute, made by him in behalf of his people, which was evaded by Ayder. His hiftorian, ii. p. 180, calls the Mabratta army two hundred thoufand, half of which was cavalry. The youthful warrior feigned a retreat : The exp)erienced Myforean was 72 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. was deceived, and followed his enemy with indifcreet ardour. Madab-rozv made a fudden return, and after feveral fkilful ma- noeuvres furrounded the whole army of his veteran foe, who he himfelf was wounded, and with very great difficulty efcaped into Seringapatam^ with the lofs of his whole army, artillery, baggage, and colors. Strange it is to fay, that he foon reftored his forces : in India no prifoners are taken ; the fugitives re- turned to him, and he purchafed from his conquerors the arms and horfcs he had loll: : as the feudal rule of the Mahrattas entitled them to the difpofal of any plunder they take. Madah- j'oiv returned home with glory : foon after he fell into a de- cline. He was brother to the unfortunate Naron-row; fee p. 93 of the preceding volume. He forefaw his folly, gave the moft falutary advice *, and dying, left him to the fad fate which foon followed. Lord CornwaUis marched towards Bangalore, where he had left Colonel Duff as governor. He fent the numerous fick to the hofpitals, and drew from thence the convalefcent, and fuch ftores, ammunition, and artillery which were requillte for his future defigns. He found that the Muglee pafs, which he had afcended in his march from Madras, was too far to the north to receive, with any fafety, the neceffary fupplies. He pre- PoticoDE Pass, ferred for that purpofe the PoHcode pafs, which is conneded with Bangalore, is of eafy afcent, and leads through a fertile country into the Carnatic. This and its feveral forts were now in poiTeffion of the enemy. Their expulfion was neceffary, and that was the object of his lordfliip's expedition. * Hift. Bombay, p. 42. The Droogs. EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 73 The My/ore country is an immenfe inclined plain, with an Face of the tindulated furface, which, with little affiftance by dams, form in the hollows, tanks, or receptacles for water, which is preferved for the cattle, or for the paddy or rice fields, through which it is condudled by fmall gutters ; but the principal grain of the country is raggee, which requires no more moilture than the falling of the monfoons. This plain is dotted with nu- merous hills, which rife fuddenly from the furface ; they are of different forms, and often cloathed with the perpetual ver- dure of mango and other beautiful trees. Numbers arc forti- Hill fort?, or fied on their fummits with a llrong fort, once the refidence of the leffer Hindoo Rajahs before they were fwallowed up by the various Mahometan conquefts. Many received by the con- querors additional fortifications, which rendered them impreg- nable to a native enemy : fuch are Save}^-droog, Outre-drooo-, and variety of others, which proved eafy conquefts to the Britijb commander. The celebrated Aorfios Petra was a fortrefs of this nature. With what vaunting circumftances does the hif- torian of the Macedonian hero defcribe this fingle conqueft ! How lightly does the modeft record of the vi(5lor over the My- forean kingdom touch on more numerous acquifitions of the fame kind, poflibly of equal, perhaps of fuperior ftrength. All thefe forts have their proper names, and moft of them with the addition of Droogy i. e. a hill fort. Views of numbers are given by Major ^//^;2 and Mr. Home^wYnch. convey a full idea of the partial inacceflibility beftowed on them by nature, and the additional difficulties created by art. To clear the country from Vol. II. L thefe 74 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. thefe impediments of communication, was the firft bufinefs of our able commander after his return from Sermgapata?n. Oujj'ooi^ Rayacotta, and other forts which commanded tlic Policode iwfs were firft reduced. T'ippoOy fenfible of the import- ance of the firft, had m.ade great exertions for its improvement, which not being completed, were abandoned on our firft ap- pearance ; after fpiking the guns, and blowing up a baftion. This acquifition was inftantly garrifoned by Captain Welfh. At Rayacotta, Alldfi^ tab. vi. was found a fhew of refiftance, but by the perfeverance of Major Gozodie, the Kiliedar, or governor, furrendered on condition of retiring beyond the power of the tyrant. Odeadurgum and Ancbi/lidurgum^ Allan, tab. iv. were added to the conquefts, and garrifoned, and the others deemed ufelefs were deftroyed. The country was alfo to be cleared from many other hill forts to the north-eaft of Bangalore^ obftru6lions to future ope- ration : None but Nundi-droog, Allan, x. defended itfelf with fpirit ; it ftood on the fummit of a liill one thoufand three hundred feet high, on three parts inacceflible ; the fourth ad- mirably defended by art. The affailants found danger from the artillery, and the rolling down of vaft rocks : at length it fell by ftorm. Lord Cornwallis thought the gallant Gowdic, the officers and men employed in the arduous attempt, worthy of public thanks. Kummaulghtir, Allan, xi. a fort on a conic- hill, fmall, but of vaft ftrength, furrendered on firft fum- mons. Saven-droog. Saven-droog, Allan, xii. xiii. Home, ix. x. and other forts - between EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 75 hQtwc^n B a }ig a lore and Seringapatam^ were next to be redaced. The firft is feated on a rock half a mile in perpendicular height, from a bafe eight or ten miles in circumference. It divides in the middle into two heads, by a vaft chafm, each head crowned with a citadel : the lides, wherever acceffible, defended by walls above walls, even in places where it might be thought that fecurity was needlefs. The name even is tremendous ; Saven-droog, the rock of death, furrounded by a vaft foreft, which emits a pefti- ferous vapour, fatal to any troops which lie long before it. Tippoo called this rock Gurdon Sheko, or the Neck of Majesty, and exulted, as for certain vi6lory, when he heard that our troops intended to fit down before it. We gave dileafe no time to operate againft us. After cutting roads through the forell, the commander of the adventure. Lieutenant Colonel Stuart, open- ed two batteries on December 17th, and another on the 19th. Taken. Lieutenant Colonel Nejbitt dirccfted the ftorm, led in different points by the Captains Monjon, Gage, Lindfay, and Robert/on, Two guns gave the fignal of affault, and the troops marched to the animating mufic of Britons strike Home ! An hour, in open day, put us in pofleffion of this important place, with lofs of an arm only, to a fingle private ! The garrifon confifted of fifteen hundred men ; about a hundred were killed : num- bers perifhed by flying to the precipices to efcape the afTailants ; and the reft either had deferted, or found the means of re- treat. It is fingular that the name of this hill fliould agree in found and fenfe with the Weljh, figuratively taken : Safn-drwg figni- L 2 fying 76 EASTERN HINDOOSTAK. Maugree Pagodas. fying the infedious mouth breathing an halitus fatal as the lleam of Avernus. Vast Forest. From Shevagunga, a fort about twenty miles north of Saven- droog, is a for^ft which extends as far as the Cavery, near feventy miles, bounded on the weft by the Maddoor. It embraces Sa'i:e7t-dyoog and many other droogs, and fwarms with tigers, and various beafts of prey. The tigers are of a ftupendous fize ; one which was prefented by Ayder, fit owner of thefe domains, to the Nabob of Arcot, was eighteen feet in length, which was three feet longer than any fcen before. Maugree, Ho?ne, xii. a large town, midway between Saven- droog and Outre-droog, w^as a place of fandlity during the Hindoo reign. The Pagodas and Choultries are numerous and magnificent, but abandoned, and falling faft to decay, in pro- portion as the numbers of the profefTors of the Hindoo religion decline. The remains of the paintings and fculptures of the antient mythology evince the former fplendor. OuTRE-DRooc. Outre-droogy feven miles from Saven-droog, is in flrength only inferior to it. On the aceefiible part it was defended by fix ftrong walls, rifing on the fteep fide one above the other : this was called the lower fort. To Lieutenant Colonel Stuart was committed the capture : Captain Scott rapidly carried it by efcalade. The Killedar had hardly time to afk a parley. Lieu- tenants 'James, Doufe, and Macpherfon followed the blow. Supported by Scott, they gained the fort on the fummit, through the fix walls, and put the garrifon to the fword, ex- cepting thofe who chofe to avoid its edge, by precipitating , themfelves down the rocks. Holea^ EASTERNHINDOOSTAN. 77 Holea-droog, Allans iii. Home, xvii. xviii. a fmall conic rock, Holea-drooc. fouth of Outre-droog, of wondrous ftrength, acceflible only by- one path, was attacked and taken in June 1791. Six thoufand cattle and two thoufand Iheep were collected about this fort : it fell afterwards into Tippod'% hands, and was retaken early in the following year. Raingury is a rock foaring to a point in the centre, guarded ftrongly at the bafe and above with rows of walls, and on one fide it has a great tank. It was quickly re- duced by the rapid attack of Captain JVelfj, in December 1791, as was Shevenghury, a mile and a half diftant. It confifts of immenfe fquare rocks, folid and precipitous, on which the fort is placed ; we retained both till the peace. The firft had been lately improved with new works, and provided with guns, am- munition, and flores, taken from the following fort. Chena- Chenapatam.. patam. Home, xvi. is a low fort on a plain, difmantled by the Sultan for its want of ftrength. No one was inadtive ; even the' Brinjarries, or retailers of grain, did their part, and with the arms provided to defend their bags and cattle, valiantly attacked and took the lower fort of Gopauldroog, and even attempted the Gopauldroog. higher: but repulfed, marched triumphantly into camp with the plunder of the firft. The Nizam and the Mahrattas did their part in the field. Actions of the Nizam and The firft fent a great reinforcement to our general from his ca- Mahrattas. pital, commanded by his fon. The lower fort of Gurrumcondab, in the eaft of the My/ore, was taken by his principal officers, but not without the affiftance of ovir artillery. It was retaken by the eldefl fon of 7'ippoo : and again put in the polTeffion of the Nizam by the help of the Engli/7j. The Mahrattas, headed by their 78 E A S T E R N H I N D O O S T A N. puRS£RAM their leader Furferam Bbow, kept themfelves in exercife, and diverted our military with their lieges. Mr. Diro?n defcribes, p. 10, II, their artillery in a mod laughable manner; yet they came back in triumph, affifted perhaps by the Bombay brigade, and the hero Captain Little *. They marched northward to Sera., taken in the early days of Jyder, who was formally invefted Soubah of the place. They thence proceeded to Cbitteldroog, a fort of vaft ftrength, feated on a ftupendous rock, to which Mr. Fadetf's, map gives the height of two thoufand fix hundred and forty yards ! ! ! This alfo was one of the early acquilitions of Ayder. Here was confined the crew of the Hannibal, taken by the gallant Suffrein, and delivered, in Augi^ 1782, to the favage Ayder, contrary to every law of war and humanity. Purferam Bhow proceeded under the tuition of our Captain Little, and was taught to take Hooly-Onore, and Bankapoiir, and Simoga, on the banks of the Tungebadra, and fliev/ed him how to gain a complete victory over a large body of Tippoo's forces near Simoga t, commanded by his fon Reza Saib. Purferam, elate with his plumes, forgot he was to join Abercrombie's army, and aflift in the redudion of Seringapatam. He marched toward Biddenore : was followed by Kumtnir ul Dien, and by letters of recal from Lord Coiirjoallis, he haf- tened to co-operate in the original intent of the difcordant alli- ance. Purferam Bbozv loft fight of the battle of February 7, which decided the fate of the tyrant. General Abercrombie, by • Dirom, p. 103. See more in Lieutenant Moor's Narrative of the Operations of Captain Little's detachment, p. 169. The reader will find, in p. 129, an accurate view of Chltteldroog. + Dirom, p. 103. various EASTERNHINDOOSTAN. 79 various inevitable impediments, could not efFeft his juniflion with the vid:or till the 16th ; and it is not probable that Purfe- ram Bhow ever quitted his lide : happy was it that he did not. He faved the horrors with which his colleague Hurry Punt, and the Nizam's generals were leized, when Lord Cornzvallis cruelly left them alone all night to force his way into the centre of an enemy's fortified camj^ in the dark I like a common foldier ! with part only of his forces ! without cannon ! ! with- out fear * ! The little fort of Hoolea-drobg was honored by having its neighboring valley made the rendezvous of the combined ar- mies dir-edted to give peace to Hindoojlan, by the fubduing the ambition of an ufurping tyrant. All the vanity of the camp of cloth of gold ^ appeared in the empty ftate of the eaftern princes, the Choudered elephants ftifF in gold and filver, the Cbubdars proclaming the fwelling titles of the riders, or attempting to filence the noify multitudes of their military mob. The long array of the Britiflj army marched in aweful filence, and with the gravity of men fitted for great exploits ; deep fenfe, long experience, and determined perfeverance marked charadleriftic, the face of every veteran ! their adiions were correfpondent. I fhall emerge with them out of the foreft, and crofs with them] the Madoor ; again fee the fatal heights of Mailcotta, and, in bloody vifion, the two days fight of our great commander, * Dirom, p. 141. t The famous interview between Flenry VIII. anJ Francis I, between Guines and Andres, as fplendid and fdly as the parade at Holcadroog. victorious 8o EASTERNHINDOOSTAN. vidorious againft every well-planned baftion, and every defence the genius of Tippoo could invent for the prefervation of em- pire, fubjedls, and the endearing connedlions of parental love. Would my pen could rife to defcription adequate to the fubli- mity of the various fubjed:. In juft defpair of attaining thefe heights, I return to my peaceful pen. I attempt the origin of the humbled city, fome farther traits, and the defcription in its raoft fplendid ftate. It is faid to have belonged to a pious Polygar Rajah, who, taking a pilgrimage to Ramijj'eram, entrufted the care to his neighbor, the prince of Mvfore^ who, on the good man's return, refufed to give up the truft, and it continued in his race during three centuries *. Through indolence, the Rajahs latterly appointed a Vifier, who fuftained for them the cares of government, and the office became hereditary. In 1747, ^^'^^ Vifier of the time depofed his mafter, appointed in his place an infant of the royal family, and affumed the reins of government : he paid all re- fpedl to the nominal Rajah, who was venerated by his fub- je6ts, as is the prefent. They are kept in great ftate, and fliewn once or twice a year to the people. Ayder Ali, Aydcr is firft mentioned in adive life appearing in the year SOME Account ^ , r- ^ ^ ,,, r /-,,,, ^ OF. i75o> ^t the age of twenty-two, at the head oi a fmall body of forces in the army of Nazir-jing, and was in the battle in which that great Souhah was aflaffinated. He is faid to have learned the rudiments of war among the French troops, whom he looked upon as the firft of men. He ferved long with them, * Mr, Home. and EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. Si and was employed on feveral important expeditions. He made the French difcipline his model ; even while in their fervice he feduced feveral of their men and officers to ferve in his particular corps, which was irregularly connived at by reafon of the fingular ufe Ayder was to them. In 1770, Stenet^ a French officer, continued with him. In 1755 Ayder had the command of fix thoufand men in the fervice of M. Dupleix. At that time, by the death of his bro- ther, a ftrong fortrefs, a fertile territory, and a large body of troops devolved to him ; he returned to Mvfore^ to his native prince, and was appointed by him generaliffimo of the army. He foon fuffered by the jealoufy of the prime minifter, Caneroy who traiteroufly invited the Mahrattas to invade the country. Ayder, furprifed, was obliged to retreat into Seringapatam, the capital of the kingdom ; he encamped before the city, the Mah- rattas followed him, and the treacherous Canero ffiut the gates againft him, and left him to his fate. Ayder convened his principal officers, told them his ftory, affured them he would not be the caufe of the deftrudtion of fo many brave men, took an affectionate leave of them, and difmiffed them, after advifing them to take fuch meafures as prudence might fuggefl. At midniglit he affembled thirty men, on whofe courage he might rely, furnifhed each with a large fum in gold, and then, by fwimming the river, eluded the ftrid; watch the Mahrattas kept on him. He went inftantly to Bangalore, where he found his uncle governor, who received him with open arms. Ayder immediately raifed an army, and, after various great aclions, affiled by his faithful partifans, he determined to attack the Vol. II. M royal 82 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. royal army fent to oppofe him. The armies met : the generals had a coPiference ; the refult was, an agreement between both for a confederacy, not againit the king, but the traitor Ca}2ero. A deputation was fent to Seringapatmn. Canero was given up ; Jyder appointed regent of the kingdom, and guardian of the young prince. He left Canero to be tried by the Brahmins^ who condemned him to death. Ayder changed the fentence to one more fevere, to be fliut up in an iron cage, and left expofed in the moft public place of the city ; he lived two years, and his bones vvere to be feen in his ftrange prifon feveral years after his death. Ayder continued to the lawful prince the fame treat- ment as he or his predeceffors experienced under the ufurp- ing Vifiers, a fplendid confinement, and the fame annual exhi- bition of his perfon to the faithful Hindoos. The founder of Seringapatam, the capital of the My/ore kingdom, judicioufly placed it in an ifland of the Cavery\ about eight miles to the north of the town of My/ore, the an- tient capital, and a fortified poll*. The channel of the river, moft rude and rocky, is at all times a ftrong defence, even when the water is loweft. Part of our troops paflcd it when it was up to their necks, in order to poflefs themfelves of the ifland, after the vidtory of February 6th and 7th. The important fpot is in the middle a mile and a half broad ; the length four miles : from the middle it flopes on every fide to the river. The fort and outworks occupy about a mile of the weft fide, and face the north. The ground which it covers towards that point far more ftecp than in other parts of the ifland, and the ground * Mr. Rennd. on EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 83 on the oppofite to it rifes high, and gives a diftirxft view of every part of the fort. This fortrefs, was diftinguiflied by its white walls, regular outworks, magnificent buildings, and antient pagodas, and lofty mofques. The works are of great ftrength, but part were incomplete when we fiite before them ; fome were made by Europeans, fome by Myforeans, many of whom have acquired confiderable fkill in military architecture. It is probable that Tippoo himfelf was applying to that branch of fcience, for in his tent was found a cafe of military inlhu- raents of Lo;z(7'c»;2-make. In his towns were founderies of cannon, and of the feveral inftruments of war. A LITTLE to the eaft of the fort is the Dowlet Bang., or the State Garden, a fmall fquare. To the fouth of that is the Pettab, or town, of Sbaher Ganjam *, about half a mile fquare, Shaher Gak- JAM. with regular crofs-ftreets fhaded on each fide by trees, and fur- rcunded with a ftrong mud wall, and defigned for the bazar, or market people, and the merchjints. In 1780, when Ayder All invaded the Carnatic, he felecTted from the inhabitants all the weavers and youths he could find, which amounted to twenty thoufand : Thefe he forced up the Ghauts, and fettled in this Pettah, where he had his eftablifli- ment of manufactures of cloths of different kinds. He made all the cloathing for his army, which was uniformly of a purple ground, with white fliripest. The flaves whom he had made who were RiutSy or hufbandmen, he difperfed into different parts of the country. • That is, the city of the granary or treafury of the people,— Major Oufely. t Mr. Kingfcote. M 2 The 8^. EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. Laul Baug. The Laul Bang, or the Garden of Rubles, fills the eaftern end of the ifland. It was the work of the Sultan, and laid out by himfelf. The tafte was the rtrait-lined rows of vaft cyprefs trees, of molt refrefliing fhade, with parterres filled with fruit trees, flowers, and vegetables of every fpecies. Before the war, the whole fpace between this garden and the fort was covered with hoiifes, all of which, except the Dow/^t Bai/g, were deftroyed by Tippoo, in order to creel batteries to guard againfi the approach- ing attack. Mausoleum. O^ cutting down the noble cypreflTes and other trees which compofed the Laul Baug, was difcovered the magnificent Mau- [oleum in which the body of Ayder was depofited after its re- moval from Colar. It is undefcribable for want of terms in Moorijb architedure. It ftands on an elevated fpace, and rifes into two ftages, with pointed and fcolloped arches in front of each : the upper is ornamented with rich ftone-work : the fummit crowned with a globe, fhewing three parts of its cir- cumference, as common to moft mofques and facred buildings. The minorets and turrets of elegant but fantaftic forms *. It was built by his own orders, iflTued after the beginning of the Carnatic war ; on one part is a mofl bombaftic infcription in _the eaflern manner. This Maufoleum is in the midft of a fquare, formed of handfome Choultries for the lodging the Faquirs, which, on tne capture of the ifle, were converted into hofpi- tals for the European fick t. Can.-.ls. No part of the Sultan\ garden, nor the fouth part of the • Allan's VUws, tab. xix. f Dirom, p. i86. ifland, E A S r E R N li I N D O O 3 T A N. 85 ifland, wants water : a canal is cut through the rifing ground oppofite to the weft end of the ifle, from a rivulet which is con- veyed in an aqueduct into the iiland, one branch towards the fort, and another meandering to the fouthcra extremity of the great garden. I omitted to fay that the Cavery is croffed on its Bridges, weftern end by two bridges : the old, which paiTes into the fort; the new, a thoufand yards to the fouth. I REFER this defcription to the elegant views of Seringapa- fam by Major Dirom^ Major Allan, and Mr. Home. The plans given by the firrt fliould be particularly attended to. In one of Mr. HG7?ie\ is, in the near view, expreffed the eternce domus of fome Mujfelmen of rank. The tombs are elegant, but limple ; and a moft beautiful urn, on a neat pedeftal, cannot but attracft the eye of tafte. Intermixed is the invifa cuprejfus retaining its claflical fite. But to the view of this capital by Major Allauy is added the pleafing proceflion of the two fons of Tippoo, going as hoftages to Madras for the performance of the treaty made by their father. This magnificent Jpeciacle gives the fulleft proof of Britijh conduct and courage in attainment of vidlory, as of moderation, and of the fweets of parental feelings tov\'ards a fubdued enemy. The light of Darius^s tent could not aife^ft us more. The Bound hedge, the frequent concomitant of the fortreffes Bound Hedge. oi Hindoojian, appears here^in great ftrength. It is the practice in the Polvgar fyftem of defence, and copied by the civilized natives from the wild warriors of the forefts. Of the latter, the fort of Calicoii and that oiFalam Courcby are ftrong examples *. ♦ FullartCtfi's Campaigns, p. p. 88. 123. This ee EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. This begins oppofite to each end of the ifland, and reaches the edge of the river. It extends northward, oppofite to the weftern end of the ifland, but contra(5ts in breadth as it pafles to the eaflern end. The bound hedge is often defended at certain intervals or openings by fmall redoubts, to interrupt the pioneers employed in cutting a breach through it : Such were thofe in the bound hedge at Tondicherry^ which fo long im- peded the taking of the place, in 1760, by Colonel Coote *. CoMPONEKT These local defences are formed of every thorny tree or ^llm'^'' cauftic plant of the climate. Palmira trees, or the Borajfusfla- belliformis, are the primary. Thefe are planted to the depth of from thirty to fifty feet. In the interftices of the trees, which are very clofely placed, are confufedly fown or fet, the following plants. Pandanus odoratijjimus^ or wild pine; fee my preceding volume, p. 241 ; CaBus Tuiia, Etiphorbia Tira- culla, or milky hedge. The juice of this is fo cauftic as to fcald not only the human flcin, but the hide of a horfe, on whom it may fall in forcing through this infernal hedge. Several other forts of Euphorbia : Th.t Aloe littoralis oi Koenig, Convol- vulus muricatus, and other Convohuli. The Miinofa cinerea, horrida, injiia, and another, as yet undcfcribed, armed with moft dreadful thorns. The Guiliadina unite their powers ; intermix- ed is the Guil. Bonducella, Guil. Bonduc^ and another not laid be- fore the public, to which Koenig gives the epithet lacinians, which it fully merits. The Calamus rotang, or rattan^ and the Arundo bajnbo-) often aflift in the impenetrability. The laft is * Orme's Hift, i, p. loi. ii. p. 665. remarked EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 87 remarked to be admirable for the purpofe, fmce nothing equals it in reiifting the edge of the ax, or the fubtile fury of fire *. To conclude, plants innumerable, of unknown fpecies, the feeds of which, arrefted by the antient hedge, grow and intermix, preferving it in order and verdure everlalling. Within the hmits of this flrong defence Tippoo formed his fortified camp, flrengthened with every thing which his exten- five mind could invent, hi his front line were a hundred pieces of cannon, hi the fort and illand, or the fecond line, three hundred more. Numbers of redoubts, well provided with artillery, were difperfed in various places ; one, called the Sul- tan's, was under his peculiar care ; it was ill defended, and bravely attacked : it fell beneath our fuperior valour. The ene- my, afliamed of their conduft, made feveral defperate attempts to retrieve their charadter, and regain the royal charge. We preferved our honor, but at the expence of numbers of brave men, officers and privates. Captain Sibbald, the commander of the detachment, was killed, bravely fighting. As a pofthumous reward, the name of Sultan's was changed to Sibbald's re- doubt I : this may be faid to have decided the fate of Serin- gapatam. To Mr. Dirom % I leave the conclufion of the glo- rious event. — Let me only give the difparity of numbers be- tween the alTailants and defendants, as the moft convincing- proof of the fuperiority of Britijh valour. Our troops con- lifted only of two thoufand eight hundred Europeans, and five thoufand nine hundred natives. The total eight thoufand • Dirom, p. 68. f P. p. 170, 171. \ P. 218. 9 feven 88 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. feven hundred, oppofed to five thoufand cavalry, and between forty and fifty thoiifand infantry, defended by every protedion that the mihtary art could invent. Campaicn- in In returning towards the Choultry plain, I fliall, from Ban- ijb-j. " galore^ for a fliort way tread the fame route as I did in my ad- vance with the Britijh army, in their march into the Mvfore in 1767. The war in which the Prefidency of Madras was en- gaged with Ayder AH and the Nizam, wiio had been fimply drawn into alliance w'ith him, is a fubjedl fo apt, that I cannot omit a flight mention of it. General Jofepb Smith and Colonel Wood were the two able officers who led our armies. Sjjiith took Cavenpatai)?, and fome other fmall places, and then laid fiege to Kifnagherri, in the Barramahal^ which he was obliged to raife at the approach of Ayder, who, taking advantage of the pafs of Vellore, fuddenly fate down before Caveripatam, which Smith had before made himfelf matter of. He then attacked Sjnith on his march, who, after fome lofs, retreated to a ftrong poft near "TrinomaUee, in the Carnatic, where he was joined by Wood with a large force. Near that place, on September 27th, 1767, he attacked the allied armies. The Nizam and his troops inftantly gave way, and he loft all his family cannon. Ayder, by his conducl and courage, barely permitted the name of victory to be clamed by our able commander, but ftill it had the effects ; the Nizam made peace with us, and went home in difguft, and Ayder retired to the mountains. Sometime before, Ayder had detached his fon TippooSaib, then only feventeen years of age, on an inroad into the Carnatic, at- tended with all the calamities to the poor country, as did that we EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 89 we have juft defcribed. He particularly vented his rage againft our faithful ally the Nabob of Arcot, whofe battles we were bound to fight as well as our own. This obliged -5>«/V>6 to relin- quiih all his conquefts in order to defend his own country. The war was purfued with various fuCcefs. The hiftorian ^^ 1768. of Ayder, i. p. 153, fays that SiJiitb^ in 1768, penetrated as far as, and took Oufcotfaf and that he even attempted Bangalore, Smith paid every refpecft to Dhnelli, the birth-place of Aydcr^ which the hero very politely acknowleged, by prefenting our general with two beautiful horfes. In the fame year we made an unfuccefsful attack on the fort of Mukvaggle^ not far from Colar, where we were repulfed with lofs. Colonel TFood^ who at this time commanded a part of our army, was not difcouraged from attacking Ayder, who was then on his march to protecSl this territory, and notwith- ftanding the difparity of numbers gave him a bloody defeat; after a conteft of fix hours the field was left covered with dead bodies ; our lofs amounted to above three hundred in killed and wounded. Maderow and his Mahrattas were allies with us in this war. Notwithftanding the fuccefl~es we met, our gene- ral palTed his time very uncomfortably. He was embarrafied and comptrolled by the advice of field deputies placed about him, divifions and difienfions daily increafing among officers, and by the foldiers, and even by the officers deferting to the popular enemy ; and, add to this, an overwhelming expence. Ayder, perhaps fenfi.ble of thefe evils, again gave our army the flip, and with a body of chofen horfe appeared within feven miles of Madras, where he di(ftated a fhameful peace to the Prefidency, Shamifwl 1- TT XT PEACS. \ OL. II. N at §0 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. at the moment in which the advance of General Smith might have cut him and his detachment to pieces *. Great Mount I nqav regain the Choultry Plain. At the diftance of about Sr. Thomas. ten miles from Madras Itands the great Mount St. Thomas: It is the place of retreat of the moll: opulent inhabitants of the former, from the heats and other inconveniencies of fitua- tion. On the fummit is a chapel belonging to the Catholics, aceeffible by a hundred and twenty-feven fteps, and dedicated to the great Apoftle, but his miracles have long fince ceafed. The air about this mount is peculiarly wholefome and reftora- tive ; it is efteemed the Montpellier of India. Invalids who have labored under the dreadful intermittents of Bengal, and through weaknefs been obliged to be carried to this place from Madras, have, in four days, recovered flrength fufficient to walk to the top without any affiftance. In a noted grove called Pop Tope, a few miles diflant, are found abundance of what are called by the 'EngliJJi Braminey kites, the Pondicberry eagle of Latham, i. p. 21, and PL Enl. tab. 416. It does not exceed the fize of our kite ; the body is chefnut colored, the reft of the plumage white, with a dark ftreak pafling along the length of each feather ; the tail is even at the end ; they fly high, and feed only on live animals. It takes its name from being a bird highly venerated by the Brahmins. The common Englijb kite, Br. Zool. i. N* 53, is found in * Mr. Rennel's Introdudion, xcviii, great EASTERN II I N D O O S T A N. gi great numbers in this country ; they live here all the vear round, and with the hooded crows, Br. ZooL i. N° 77, feed in the very ftreets ; but in Bengal the kites retire to the mountains, and return in the dry feafoii, telling that the rains are paft. As to the crows, their familiarity and audacity is amazing; they frequent the courts of the Europeans, and as the fervants are carrying in dinner will ahght on the dillies, and carry away the meat, if not driven away by perfons who attend with flicks for that purpofe. Let me here obferve, that a Mr. Edward Bu/keley, a furgeon in the laft century, communicated to our great Ray, the defcrip- tions, attended with drawings, of twenty-feven fpecies of birds found about Madras. The account is given and the draw- ings engraven in ]Mr. Rafs Synopjis Avium ; a proof, in thofe early times, of attention to fcience. Far to the weft of Madras are a chain of hills, often inter- rupted, which begin about the fame diftance from Gingi ; the laft are formed of immenfe rocks detached, and feemingly placed on each other by human art, and intermixed are feveral of the ftrong forts of the natives. In the neighborhood of Pondicherry they are formed of decompofed fieldt-fpath and ferruginous matter ; within them are vaft grottos, which have been by the Indians formed into Pagodas, fupported by co- lumns, probably like thofe QiElephanta, What is very fingular " is, that on thefe mountains, now deftitute of every mark of vegetation, are found vaft trees, wholly petrified, lying in all diredions acrofs the ravines ; and fome, fo as to form bridges over thofe chafms. Thofe trees are now of the fame materials N a asv §2 EASTERN HI NDOOSTAN. as the rocks tbemfelves; they prove that this tracft had once been well wooded, and that by fome mighty convullion they were totally reverfed, their bowels caO. up into the face of the day, the powers of vegetation denied, and the trees left to receive the petrific juices, prefervative to the end of time, me- morial of the mighty phoenomenon : For thefe and many other notices we are obliged to M. Sonnerat, who paffed over India with the fpirit of a true philofopher. On the mountains of Valliacat^ the neareft to Madras^ are found my Indian Badger, Hijl. fiuad. i. N° 180, and the Two- toed Sloth, N° 360. Among the quadrupeds of the forefts of the Carnatic is the following mimic of the human form : I - iliall take the account of it from that given by Mr. Grofey bro- ther to my lamented friend Francis Grofe^ of worthy and face- tious memory, who gave to the public an entertaining voyage to the Eaji Indies. " Fencajeey" fays Mr. Groje^ (in vol. i. p. 232.) " a merchant ** of the Carnatic RajaJf^ dominions, and an inhabitant on the *' fea coaft, fent up to Bombay^ to the then governor of it, '< Mr. Home, a couple of thofe lingular creatures, as a *' prefent, by a coafting veiTel, and the make of which, " according to his defcription, and that of others, was as fol- *' lows : ** They were fcarcely two feet high, walked eretil:, and had *' perfectly an human form ; they were of a fallow white, « without any hair, except in thofe parts that it is cuftomary *< for mankind to have it. By their melancholy they feemed " to have a rational fenfe of their captivity, and had many of « the - EASTERN HINDOOSTAN'. 93 " the human a<5lions ; they ma^e their bed very orderly in the *' cage in which they were fent up, and on being viewed would ** endeavour to conceal with their hands thole parts that mo- ** defty forbids manifcfting. The joints of their knees were " not re-entering like thofe of monkies, but falient like thofe ** of men, a circumftance they have (if I miftake not) in com- ** mon with the Ourang Outangs in Sumatra^ Jai'a-, and the *' Spice lllands, of which thefe feem to be the diminutive, *' though with nearer approaches of refemblance to the human *' fpecies. But though the navigation from the Carnatic coaft " to Bombay is a very fliort run, of not above fix or feven de- " grees, whether the fea air did not agree with them, or that " they could not brook their confinement, the female ficken- " ing firft, died, and the male, giving all the demonftrations of ** grief, feemed to take it to heart, fo that he refufed to eat, " and in two days followed her. Upon this the governor wrote *' afrefii to Vencajee, and delired him to procure another couple *' at any rate, as he fliould grudge no expence to be mafter of " fuch a curiofity. Vencajee'^ anfwer was, he would very wil- *' lingly oblige him, but that he was afraid it would not be in " his power ; that the creatures came from, a foreft about fe- " venty leagues up the country, where the inhabitants would " fometimes catch them on the fkirts of it, but that they were " fo exquifitely cunning and fliy, tliat this fcarcely happened " once in a century." Here may be mentioned the large black cattle of this coaft, with fmooth hair and even backs ; thofe with lumps on their backs being rather uncommon- Thjk 94- EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 5?ANDIC0TE Kats. Oriental Mouse. Flora of Co- ROMAND£I,. Tab. I. The Serval, Hijl. ^ad. i. N" 69, was omitted among the animals of Malabar^ where it is chiefly found. It inhabits the forefts, and very feldom defcends from the trees, in which it breeds ; is fierce and untameable. The Malabars call it Ma- yipute. Bandkote Rats are the peft of this country, as they are of all India. It was firft defcribed to me by my venerable coeval Do(5tor Patrick Ruffel, but I never could procure afpecimen. It is generally agreed that the Bandicote is at lefl five times the weight of the brown rat ; and comparative with that kind it has a fliorter and thicker tail ; that its general form is much thicker, and the back arched, fo that at firft light it looks like a little pig ; it is lefs a<5live and alert than the brown rat, is infi- nitely mifchievous in gardens ; burrows imder the houfes, and will even undermine them, fo as to caufe them to fall ; never goes on board fl^ips. The Fallnqiiin boys eat this kind, but will reje<5l the common rat. The Oriental Moufe, HiJl. ^ad. ii. N"" 304. Sbaws Nat. Mifcel. N° 73, is an elegant little fpecies, grey, marked length- ways with twelve lines of fmall pearl-colored fpots. Very lately hath appeared the Plants of Coromanijel, publifhed by William 'Roxburgh-, M. D. under the aufpices of the East India Company, in a manner worthy of it. An in- ftru6live introduction is prefixed to the work by Doiftor Patrick Riijfel. I fele(ft from this fplendid Flora a few of the trees, which, from their magnitude, contribute to the ornament of the country. The firft is the Gyrocarpus Jacquiniy or Catamaran tree, employed EASTERN II I N D O O S T A N, 95 employed to make rafts, which are employed inftead of boats in the open road of Madras, being a very light wood. The fiflieries are carried on by hooks and lines faftened to the fides. The raftmcn go in the greateft fwell far to fea, and return laden, with booty. The Strychnos Potatorum, Lin. SttppL p. 148, or clearing nut, Tab. 17.- is another native of the mountains. Moft of the waters of India are foul. The nut is rubbed on the infide of the unglazed veflTels, which occafions a fubfidence of all the water poured into them : No provident foldier or officer travels without them. The TeSIona Grandis, Teek tree, fee vol. i. p. 8r. of this v/ork, Tab. VL grows plentifully about the Godavery. Bajfta latifolia is a ufeful tree : the wood is hard : from the Tab. XIX. flowers is extracted an intoxicating liquor ; from the feeds an ordinary oil. Dillenia Pentagyna, a native of the vallies far above the Tab. XX. mountains. Butea frondofa exudes a gum rich in color as the ruby, is Tab. XXI. aftringent, and promifes to be ufeful in medicine and in dying. The lac infed:s are often found on the fmaller branches. Butea fuperba, a twining plant, unequalled in the fplendor Tab. XXIL and richnefs of the flowers. Defcription of colors omitted. Stercidia iirens, a vaft tree. Bark very aftringent. Tab. XXIV. Nauclea cordifolia, a beautiful wood like box, and very clofe Tab. LIU. grain ; capable of being had in large pieces. Profopis fpicigera bears a pod from fix to twelve inches long. Tab. LXIII, The 96 Tas, LXXI. TAB.LXXIir. Tab. LXXI V. Tab. III. EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. The feeds are lodged in a mealy fubftance, which lall is eaten by the natives. Borajfus flabeUiformis grows to the age of a hundred years. Thefe antient trees yield wood for rafters, being very hard. The leaves are imiverfally ufed for writing on with a ftyle. The feeds, when yovmg, ferve as a cooling jelly, and are much ^aten by the natives with fugar and rofe-water. In the begin- ning of the hot feafon it is tapped, and yields a quantity of toddy. Cocos nuciferai or coco-tree ; every where in the moift fandy foil near the fea. Phoenix farifjifera. In dry, barren, and fandy land near the fea is a dwarf undefcribed fpecies of date-tree ; the trunk about fifteen or eighteen inches long and fix in diameter, inclofing a mealy pith, which, being feparated from the fibrous w^ooded part, becomes a coarfe food for the poor, and in times of fear- city has preferved numbers of lives : fortunately it is one of the commoneft trees on the coaft. So far refpedls the trees of magnificent fize. I defcend to one fmall, but of the firfh utility in the art of dying the rich manu- fadtures of the country. T\i&Adenlandia umbellata,oxChay-root^, grows wild in all parts in the dry fandy foil near the fea, but is now improved by cultivation every where. It produces the richeft fcarlet for painting chintzes. It alfo ferves, according to the preparations, to dye brown, purple, and orange, and their various fliadcs. Boclor Roxburgh has given a long account of *■ Hamilton, i. p. 370, fpeaks of the Shaii fou-.d near Mafliriipatam, as ufed by the natives to ftain calicoes with the moft lively colors in the v/orld. the ASTERN HINDOOSTAN. the proceffes nfed in the producing the colors, and to him I refer the reader. A MOST commendable fpirit of improvement in arts, manu- faiflures, and natural hiftory, has of late rifen in Hindoq/ian, particularly in the fcience of botany, with a view to the promo- tion of the arts, and of rural ceconomy. Trees and plants of congenial climates have been introduced from Africa^ and the New World, and from different and diftant parts of tropical Ajla, and been cultivated with fuccefs, by the fkill and afli- duity of DocSlor James Anderfon of Madras^ and Do6tor William Roxburgh of Samulcoitab, in the Circars, and many other pa- triotic charadlers, liberally affifted by the prefident of our fo- ciety Sir Joseph Baxks. The filk manufadiure has its mate- rial brought home from the very egg. Immenfe plantations of the proper mulberry-tree is feen every where. The very Nabobs have caught the glorious flame, and bent their minds to the ufeful employ. The Morus papyri/era has been brought from Japan. The Cactus cochenillifer, or Nopal, the Tuna mitior, Dell. Hort. ii. p. 399. tab. ccxcvii. has been imported from its native country the Brazils, from the Ille of France, from the Cape, from St. Helena'^, and from Kew garden ; in each of which it had been cultivated, ?.nd in the three laft for the purpofe of gradual tranfportation. The infe days journey from B'fnagur', to \vhich the king of Blfnagur retired after the capture of his capital in 1565. From Gangapataniy on the northern mouth of the Fennar^ the land runs due north as far as Motapill'i, when it forms a ftrong curve towards the eaft ; the point of which is one fide of the chief mouth of the great river Kifmia or Kripna^ in about River Krishna. Lat. 15° 43'. Its Delta, which winds round as far as Mafiilipa- tam-y is not confidcrable. This river annually overflows a vaft tracfl of country, like the Indus on the weftern fide of this em- pire, and like all the other great rivers on this extenfive coafl:. The KiJIma rifes from the foot of the weflern Ghauts, and not more than forty-five miles from Severr.droog, on the weftern coaft. There is another branch to the eaft, that rifes flill more r.ortherly. On the fide is Sat tar ah, a flrong fortrefs, the capital Sattakak, of the Mabratta ft ate, in the time of the Rajahs of Sevatjee'^ race : it was taken by him in 1673, and found to be the depo- iitory of immenfe treainre ; at that time it belonged to the king of Vifiapore : it was afterwards ufed by the Mabrattas as the lodgment of their riches, and alfo as a retreat -for the more defencelefs inhabitants of Foonah, and other open towns, in time of potent invaiions. The river continues defcending to the eaft. In Lat. 17°, is Meritghe. Meritche, a ftrong fortrefs, with a Jagbiredar territory, con- quered from its owner by Ayder. In Lat. 16*45', a fmall river difcharges itfelf into the K'lJJma from the -north. It would not be worth mentioning, but that Fannela, a fortrefs of vaft ftrength, was made by Samhagi, the profligate fon of Sevatjee^ his refidence juft before his furprifal in 16S9, betrayed by CabHs .104 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. CalUs Caun, the vile inflrument of his pleafures, corrupted by Aurengzebe. His extravagant love of women brought on him ruin. Informed by Cablis that a Hindoo of rank and great beauty was on her road to be delivered by the parents to her hufband, according to the cuftom of the Hindoos, he inftantly put himfelf at the head of a fmall body of horfe to carry away the prize, and ordered Cablis to follow at a dill:ance for his pro- te(ftion, in cafe of accidents in that hoftile time. Tiie traitor "had given notice to jlurengzebe of this expedition, who, fend- ing a body of cavalry, furprifed Sambagi jnft as he had dif- perfed the nuptial prccellion. " Sambagi appeared before Aurengzebe with undaunted *' brow; who reproached Cablis Caun, not with his treachery, " but the encouragement which his proflituted miniftry had <* given to vices, which at length had led his fovereign to ruin, *' and ordered him to inftant death. To Sambagi he proffered *' life, and rank in his fervice, if he would turn Mahometan, " who anfwered by an invedtive againft the prophet, and the " laud of his own gods. On which he was dreffed in the fan- *' taftic ornaments of a wandering Indian devotee, who beg. in " villages with a rattle and a cap ^^ith bells. In this garb he " was tied looking backwards upon a camel, and led through " the camp, calling on the Raipoofs he faw to kill him, but none " dared. After the proceffion his tongue was cut out, as the " penalty of blafpheming Mahomed. In this forlorn condition *' Aurengzebe, by a meffage, again offered to preferve his life if " he would be converted ; when he wrote ' Not if you would " give me your daughter in marriage :' On which his execu- " tioa EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 105 " tion was ordered, and performed by cutting out his heart ; " after which his limbs and body were feparated, and all toge- *' ther were thrown to dogs prepared to devour them. This *' horrible cruelty produced not the expected fubmiflion from " any part of the Mabratta government, which it only ani- " mated the more to continue the war." Into the north lide oi Ky'ijlonay in Lat. 16" 20', falls the great Ruek Beema. river Beema^ after a courfe of three hundred and fifty miles. It rifes at the head of the weftern Ghauts-, parallel to Choul in the Concan, and not above fifty miles from the fea. It defcends rapidly towards the fouth-eaft. In Lat. 17° 40', it receives a fmall river from the weft, on the fouthern banks of which flands Fijiapour, the capital of the famous kingdom of the fame name, is now pofTeifed by \.\\q Mabralias^ but once was govern- ed by its own monarchs, till conquered by Aurengzebe in 1686. It was of great extent, and reached to the weftern fea, where it polTeiTed the .ports oiDabul^ Fingorla, and Carapatmi. The capital, Vlfiapour or Vejapour, as it is often called, is fome Visiapour. leagues in circuit, feated in a fine but naked country, well wa- tered. It makes a fingular appearance from an adjacent emi- nence, filled with numbers of fmall domes, and one of a majcilic fize. It was once a city of great fplendor, and filled with pa- laces, mofques, maufoleums, and public and private buildings of great magnificence; many of them are fallen to ruin, and give nielancholy proofs of its former fplendor. I fliall not attempt to detail them. The palaces of the kings, and acwom- modations for their attendants, were within a vaft fort, fur- rounded with a ditch a hundred yards wide ; the depth- ap- YoL. II. P peared Io5 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. Crocodile Garrison. The Tunge- eadra. City of Bis- XAIbUR. peared to be great, but is now filled with rubbifli : within the fort is the citadel. 'Tavernier, p. 72, fliys, that the great ditch was filled with crocodiles, by way of garrifon, to prevent all ac- cefs by way of water. Lieutenant Moor, p. 334, has his doubts about this, imagining that there never was any water in this fofs. That fuch garrifons have exifted I doubt not. I have read in PurcbaSy ii. p. 1737, that in Pegu, the fofies of fortified places were flocked with thofe tremendous animals, not only to keep out enemies but to prevent defertion. This pradtice has cer- tainly been of great antiquity in fome parts of India : Pliny, lib. vi. cap. xx. mentions it as ufed in a fair city of the Horatc?, a people I cannot trace : " Horat:e," fays the naturalift, " urbe *' pulchra foffis paluftribus munita, per quas Crocodili humani ** corporis avidiffimi, aditum nifi ponte, non dant." The Krijhna, above and below its conflux with X}i\QBeema, is fordable ; and a few miles below its channel is fix hundred yards wide, made horrid with the number and rudenefs of the various formed rocks, which are never covered but in the rainy feafon. The Tungebadra is another vaft branch of the Kri^fhna. It falls into it in Lat. 16° 25', and originates extremely fouth, from a doubtfal fountain. Towards its lower part it divides into three or four fmall branches, which rife remote from each other ; the moft fouthern is the Coorga Nayrs country ; the moft northern from the head of the Ghauts oppofite to Onore, and fcarcely twenty miles from the fea. What mufl: give this river great celebrity, is its having had on its banks, in Lat. 15° 22', the fplendid city Beejanaggur or Bifnagur. Feripta fays, that it 9 was EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 107 was founded in 1344 by Belaldeo^ king of the Car na tic, which in thofe days included the whole peninfula. It was vifited by Co'far Frederick, a Venetian traveller, in 1565, and found de- ferted and ruinous, having been facked by four confederated Maho'inetan princes two years before, on which its monarch had retired to Peniicojida, as before related. Frederick fays that its circumference was twenty -four miles. Mr. Rennel has given us a view of its prefent ftate from Lieutenant £?;z/?2//, who vifited it in 1792. " On the north-weft fule oi Comlapoitr fort," (fays Mr. Emmit) " diftant half a mile, there are a great num- " her of rugged hills covered with pagodas, which have once " been very beautiful. This place has been inclofed in ftrong *' ftone-walls on the eaft fide, and bounded by the river on the *' weft. The circumference of the whole appears to be about *' eight miles, though I was told much more. Betwixt the im- " menfe piles of rocks crowned with pagodas, I traced feveral " ftreets from thirty to forty- five yards wide, feme of them now " producing fine rice : there is one ftreet remains pretty per- " fedl', it is near the S.W. angle of the bounds. It extends about *' N. E. and S. W. half a mile, and is about thirty-five yards *' broad, having colonnades of ftone on each fide, and a very " large pagoda at the S. W. end in perfedt repair. On the weft ** fide of this ftreet there is a large mango grove, which is *' bounded by the Toombuddra. There are a niuiiber of Tcreams " through thefe ruins, that have formerly been employed to fill *' a great number of canals, the remains of which appear all *' over this once delightful place. I enquired of a number of " people the name of this place, all of whom told me it was Pa " called io8 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. " called Allputna, The river at one place at the foot of thefe « ruins is only fixteen yards wide, below which there has been *' a ftone bridge." These anguft ruins are in the little Ch'car of Annago-ondy, which does not extend above twenty miles around this vali city. It is very lingular that that little Circar is now poffelTed by a lineal defcendant o^ Ram-Raj ab^ the laft great monarch of Bee- jamaggur-i and its attendant nations Canarme and Malabar, united feven hundred years before under the rule of Kifnendeo, 'J'ippoo wifhed to referve this little tratft to himfelf, for the fatis- failion of generoufly reftoring to the defcendant the fmall relique of the great empire of his anceftors. He is denied the title of Rajah, inftead of which he has the diminutive Rayed bellowed on him ; this fuitable to his revenues, which do not exceed two lacks of rupees, or twenty-five thoufand pounds per annum, with the empty regality of a mint at Annagoondy. Sera. About fifty miles to the fouth of Bifnagur is Sera or Scirra, capital of a confiderable SoubahJJjip, till it was reduced by Ayder AH, in conjundlion with Bazaletzing king of Adoni. It was articled that he fhould have all the moveable plunder, fuch as cannon, ammunition, &c. &c. and Ayder remain poirefled of the place. The city was taken, and the agreement fulfilled, fo that Ayder remained mafier of an extenfive territory adjacent to that of My/ore, of which he was proclamed Soiibab. Sera fi:ands about fixty miles to the north-wefi oi Bangalore. The Marquis made t\iefoubah/}jip of the former the quarters of the Mahrattas, at the time their fervices were not wanted, in the interval be- tween his two great campaigns. Bordering EASTERN HINDOOS TAN. 109 Bordering on the fouth fide of the middle part of the Tun- Adost. gebedra is the diftri6t of Adoni, its capital of late, a line city, once tributary to Golcondab. Rachore is another diftridt, which Rachore and Canoul. of late has become the property of the Nizam. Canoul^ famed for its Nabob, who perifhed after killing in fingle combat the victorious Nizam. Innaconda is another little territory, fince annexed to his Innaconda. fucceffor. Palnaud^ with its ftrong fort Timerycotta, is adjacent Palnawd, to the eafl, and now is annexed to the Carnatic. Guntoor is e ^^otta, the moft eaflern and maritime, hereafter to be mentioned as firft of the northern Circars. These diilrids, the laft excepted, \\\x\\ Sollapour, another to the weft, on the north fide of the Kri/Jjna, are part of the boun- daries of the once potent kingdom of Golconda. It had Golcosda. been part of the antient Tellingana, which had in old times ex- tended as far as the bower of Fijtapour, and along the coalt all the way from the river Fennar fouth, to Orixa northward, wiiere to this day Mr. Rennel enables me to fay, that the language of Tellingana is ftill fpoken. Golconda, fmce it has been poireffed by the Nizam, has been enlarged by the addition of the terri- tory of Doziiatabad, fince named Aurungabad, and alfo i^art of Berar. The Nizani'i dominions from fouth to north are from Lat. 15° 50', near Canoul, to Lat. 21° 25', near Ga'wile. The ereateft breadth from eafl to wefl is about three hundred and feventy miles. The kingdom of Golconda abounds in corn, rice, cattle, flieep. Produce, and every necefiliry of life, alfo in fifli, which are found in the numerous rivers, to the formation of which art in no fmall meafure ITO EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. meafiire contributes. Nature contributes in feme parts by the vaft hollows between the hills, but the water contained in them is increafed by dams made acrofs their difcharges, fometimes half a league long. After they are filled up by the rainy feafon, the inhabitants introduce the water into the lower country by means of fluices, which fpreads unfpeakable fertility into the fubjacent grounds. Capital. The capital was antiently named Bagnagar, and afterwards Hydrabad. It is the prefent refidence of its monarch the Ni- zam ; it is a large city. Thevenot fpeaks of the palace as a mag- nificent building, and alfo a place called The Four Towers, which feems defigned to convey water to the former. Here was a citadel of confiderable ftrength ; but after feveral afl^aults Fort of Gol- it was, in 1 687, taken by Aurengzebe. The king had retired to a fort on an impregnable rock, but doubting the fidelity of his troops, appeared before the Mogul in filver chains, and fur- rendered himfelf in the mofl abjecSl manner. He was refiiored to his dominions ; but in a little time the conqueror repented of his generofity, and again took the field. He in perfon en- gaged in the fiege, and fixed his quarters at Hydrabad ; he after- wards refigned the condudl of it to one of his fons, Sultan Azim. The king was ftill in his flirong fortrefs, which bore the name of his kingdom. It ftood at the difiance of two leagues from the capital ; on the fummit are five round towers : the lower defences were fix miles in circumference, and above them others of far greater firength, fome of which were cut out of the live rock : a breach was effected, but the courage of the garrifon was never tried ; the king being betrayed by two or three CONDA. EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. m three of his general officers, \vho in the night abandoned their poft: the enemy rufhed in, and a dreadful flnnghter enfued; the king was taken, and treated with great indignity, and being Tak^en. brought before Aurengzebe^ it is even faid that he caufed him to be fcourged to extort the difcovery of his treafure : After this the kingdom was annexed to the Mogul empire. Among the produ6lions of the kingdom of Golconda muft be Diamonds. reckoned that moft pretious of gems the Diamond. The Adamas was certainly the fame with tlie modern diamond. Pliny, lib. xxxvi. c. 4, is the only author that treats difFufely of it : He fays it was very little known, and only to princes, and even to few among them ; that it was the moft valuable article not only among pretious ftones, but among every other pro- duction of the world : Maximum in rebus humanis non folum inter gemmas pretium habet Adamas diu 77on niji regibus et lis admodum paucis cognitus. He fpeaks of fix different kinds, but none but the firft is the diamond of the moderns. It was fuppofed at one time to be found only in gold mines ; but he juflly obferves, that thofe of India were not, and adds with great judgment its relation to a cryftal : from its great hard- nefs, its indomita vis, the Greeks beftowed on it the name Ada- mas ; and Adamantine is an epithet frequent with the Greek and Latin poets. Diamonds are found in India chiefly in the provinces of Golconda and Vifiapour, and in that of Bengal. That of Bundel- cund, fouth of the Jumna, Raolconda, in Vifiapour, and Gandi- cotta are famed for their mines, as is Coulour in Golconda ; Ma- banuddy river in QriJJa and Berar, the diitriCt on its banks, are faid 112 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. faid to produce diamonds. The diftridl was Sabarce of Ptolemy, and what is very ftriking the river Mabanuddy was his Adamas. The diamond is found generally in the narrow crevices of the rocks, loofe, and never adherent to the ftony ftratuni. The miners make ufe of long iron rods, with hooks at the ends, and with thefe they pick out the contents of the fifTures, and wafli them in tubs, in order to difcover the diamonds. In Coiilour they dig on a large plain to the depth of ten or fourteen feet ; near fixty thoufand people are employed, the men to dig, the women and children to carry the earth to the places in which it is to be depofited before the fearch is made. Ta-jerjiler, who vifited the feveral mines, thus defcribes the procefs : " AftePi the miners have pitched upon the place where *' they intend to work, they level another place clofe by of the *' fume extent, or elfe a little bigger, which they enclofe with a " wall about two feet high ; in the bottom of that little wall, at " the diftance of every two foot, they make fmall holes to let in " the water, which they ftop up afterwards till they come to *' drain out the water again. This done, their labours are pre- " ceded by ails of devotion, and a very fimple feaft. When *' that is over the men fall to digging, the women and children ** to carry the earth to the place prepared in that manner as I *' have already defcribed : they dig ten, twelve, and Ibmetimes ** fourteen foot deep, but when they come to any water they " leave off. All the earth being carried into the plate before- " mentioned, the men, women, and children, with pitchers, *' throw the water which is in the drains upon the earth, let- ^' ling it fuak for two or three days, according to the hardnefs "of EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 113 "" of it, till it come to be a kind of batter, then they open the '< holes in the wall to let out the water, and throw on morc " water ftill till all the mud be walhed away, and nothing left ^' but the fand : after that they dry it in the fun, and then they ^' winnow the fand in little winnows as we winnow our corn. *' The fmall duft flies away, the great remains, which they pour ^' out again upon the ground. " The earth being thus winnowed, they fpread it with a *' kind of rake as thin as they poflibly can, then with a wooden *' inftrument, like a pavior's rammer, about half a foot wide at ** the bottom, they jx>und the earth from one end to the other *' two or three times over; after that they winnow it again, " then, and fpreading it at one end of the van, for fear of loling ** any of the earth, they look for the diamonds." The king was proprietor of the mines; to him the mer- chants pay a tribute for liberty of digging, and alfo two per cent, for all they buy. The Banians are the great traders of the country. Diamonds are alfo found in the gravel or fand of rivers wallied out of their beds, and carried down with the ftream. The river Gouel, near SownelpouKy is the m.oft noted and the moft antient. Marco Poio, in p. 144 of his travels, mentions a wondrous way of getting thefe ftones : He fays that they are found in cer- tain vallies of India, environed with rude mountains, almoft in- acceffible by reafon of rocks and precipices ; thefe again terrific from the number of great ferpents, and of white eagles, which make thefe reptiles their prey : diamonds alfo cover their bottom. Vol. IL Q I» 114 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. In order to attain the valuable objea3,the merchants with great labor afcend the mountains, and fling into the valley great pieces of flefh, the eagles inftantly feize and carry them into their nefts, v^dth quantities of diamonds flicking to them ; they follow the eagle, and collect all they can find, but it fometimes happens that the birds fwallow the flones with the meat; the merchants watch the roofting places, and recover the diamonds, which they find in the droppings. Part of this- fable is adopted by the author of the Arabian Nights T'aleSy the only book in. w^hich it ought to be found,. Pitt's DiA- I SHALL not detain my reader longer than to give him the. fize of tv/o of the moft capital ftones yet ever found ; the one graced the liat of the tv, o lail: monarchs of France on days of ftate. It is known by the name of the Rege?it,, having been purchafed by the Duke of Orleans in the muiority of Louis XV- Its w^eight in the rough was 410 carats, when cut 135, or i|oz, ; the cutting coft X'4>500 5 tlie ciiips were worth /. 8,000.; the diamond duft ufed in cutting it coft ^.1,400. This had been the property of Thomas Pittt governor of Fort St. George^wl-^om. Pope charges with coming by the diamond in the following manner, exprefled in his admirable hiftory of Sir Balaam : Afleep and naked as an Indian lay,. An honeft fadlor flole the gem away y He pledg'd it to the knight, the knight hadwiV So kept the diamond, and the rogue was bit. 1 HAVE little doubt but the poet in this inftance, as in many others, gave way to his wafpidi humour, and having, caught at fome EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 115 fome ill-founded ftory, gave it full credit. Pitt was very much hurt by the lines, and on his death-bed made a declaration that . he bought it of a Brahmin for £. 20,400 ; that was not thought fufficient, a farther vindication was given in his funeral fer- mon. It is faid that >r. 80,000 had been offered for it by a pri- vate perfon ; the price given by the Regent was ^. 135,000. The Emprefs of Rujfia had a flill larger gem, one of the weight of 193 carats when cut. This had been the property of an American, who fold it to Count Orloff for ^.104,166, and the favorite bellowed it on his Imperial miftrefs. We now defcend out of Golconda, and crofling the Kijlnah Guntoor. enter on a part of a new fovereignty, a fmall dillri6l called the Guntoor, poffelTed in 1780 by Nizaju Ally^ fon to the famous "Nizam al Muluc, whom I have before mentioned to have borne io diftinguiflied and difloyal a part in the ruinous invafion of Hindoojlan, hy Kouli Khan, in 1739. This was an unfortunate interruption of our line of coaft, as it lies between us and what are called the northern Circars, but this has lately been ceded to us. It is now reckoned among the northern Circars, which comprehends the Guntoor, Condappily, Ellore, Rajamundry, and Cicacole, a narrow maritime tracft of vaft extent, and the great- eft part running direct north by eaft. From Kijinah point the land turns a few miles to the north- eaft, and finifhes with that of Divi, projecting from an ifle formed by the river : This, with another point about fifty miles diftant, makes a fine femilunar bay, a tract now divided between Condapilly and Ellore. Almoft immediately within point Divi, in the Circar Condapilly, lies MaJJulipatam, in Lat.i6' 8' 30 ', in Massulipatam. the diftrict called by Ptolemy, Mejfolia. " From hence," fays Q 2 he. Ii6 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. he, " lliips bound for the Aurea Cberfonefus, or peninfula of « Malacca, took their departure." Prior to the rife of Madras', this place was the great emp07'luni of the eaftern coaft of Hin~ doojlan ; it was at that time an independent port, and frequented by E^^/i/?', and veffels of other nations. The coaft is low, bot- tom oozy, and the tide rifes about four feet. The Ea_l} Indiar Pilot and jyApres make the Ki/l?tab divide into three branches, and form three ifland3,on the moft northern of which ftands Af^sy^ Julipatam. Fatavi always fignifies a city ; here, poflibly, that of Mejfolia might have flood : it was antiently an emporium fa- mous for its commerce, being happy in a harbour capable of receiving fliips of pretty conliderable burden, and the only one from Cape Comorin to this place that could receive one of three hundred tons; its trade is chintz, and painted cloth, i.e. calli- coes ; its dyes are famous all over India, produced from a plant, Hamilton, i. 370, calls Sbaii, growing on the grounds overflown by the fpring-tides ; it is alfo famed all over India for its fnufF, of the moft exquifite flavor. The Mogid had in Ha-^ milton^s time a cuftom-houfe here ; we, our fad:ory, which was built with teekwood; we coveted fomewhat more, our ambition was conqueft. The Frencb got the ftart of us,, and in 1750 took the town by furprife, by means of a force fent frora Pondicberry^K. M. Btiffi concerted the plan, the ableft officer the French ever had in India, next to La Bourdonnais ; they did not profit of their fuccefs more than a few years, for in April, in the year I759> we agahi pofTefTed the place t. The northern boundary of the bay of Majfulipatam is, like * Ormcj i. p. 146. t Same, ii. p. p. 480. 489. the EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. 117 the other, compofed of low iflaiids, formed by the difcharge into the fea of the great river Godaveryy or Gonga Godavery, the River Goda- Tyndis of Ptolemy. It rifes within a hundred miles from the weftern fea, and nearly in the parallel of St. John''?, point ; it performs a courfe of above fix hundred miles, of which about two-thirds are navigable for boats of one ton and a half burden.. Not remote from its fource is NaJJir Turmeck. The waters of the river, which is here named Gunga, are efteemed peculiarly facred, and are the great refort of pilgrims to perform their ablutions. It foon after enters the Nizam''?, dominions, and crofTes obliquely fouth-wefterly till it reaches the borders of Berar. About twenty-two miles from the river, in Lat. 19' 45', Long. 75* 53' eaft, ftands Aurungabad^ built by Aureng^ Aurungabad. zebe^ not far from Dozulatabad, on the borders of a lake. Ta- vernier, ii. p. 61, vifited it in 1645, at which time the emperor was employed in building a magnificent mofque and monument and Choultry in honor of his firft wife : the marble for the two firfi: was brought from Lahore^ a journey of four months. 7'avernier met with not fewer than three hundred waggons loaden with the blocks, the lefl; drawn by twelve oxen. This place was long after its foundation confidered as the capital of the country. Dozvlatabadf or Deogire, till the rife of the former had been Dowlatabad. the chief city. The fortrefs is feated on a lofty mountain, feemingly inacceflible : the city ftands at the foot, and only a few miles from Aurungabad. The pagodas of Eliora are a very fmall diftance from Dozvia- Pagodas of Ellora. i/jbad, they refemble the lubterraneous \\qx\-2X Elephant a %. lee * vol. ,i8 EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. vol. i. p. 96, but infinitely fuperior in extent. Tbevenot, who -vifited them, fay?, that they -reached above two leagues, a raatchlefs affemblage of Pagodas, temples, and chapel-^, fup- . ported by columns, and covered with ftatues of coloflal fize, but of bad fculpture, being of great antiquity, and the work of the early Hindoos, On defcending the Godavery, inLat. 18° 50', Long. 78° 12' eaft, the great river Manzorah empties itfelf in the former ; it ori- ginates very far to the weft, not a hundred and forty miles from 'Bombay, at a fmall diftance from Ahjnednagur, a large city, noted for the death oi Aurengzebe, in 1707. The river has a fouth- wefterly courfe, and the names of many places on its banks BsDE-R. unnoticed in hiftory, till we arrive at Beder, in Lat. 17* 50'. "^bevenotf who vifited it about the year 1666, calls it the capital of '^elUngena. It is a great city, encompaffed with brick-walls, em- battled, and with towers equidiftant. The artillery had mouths three feet wide. Nizajn, in the late My/ore war, brought feme of them into the field ; they were of an enormous length, and each required a hundred oxen to draw it, they were ufelefsly oftentatious : till the year 1657, Beder was governed by its own princes. Aurengzebe added it to his own empire ajfter a fhort fiege. It was then governed by an old ofiicer of great fidelity, who rejedled every eflay of the emperor to corrupt him ; when a pradticable breach w-as made, the fignal given for an affault ; by the fall of a rocket near the magazine it blew up, when it was covered with the garrifon, who had aflembled on it to repel the enemy-: the greater part perifhed, v/ith the governor and his three fons, and numbers of the affailants. The city proved ] a rich EASTERNHINDOOSTAN, 119 a: rich booty, being at this time the depot of great part of the treaftire of the young fovereign Adil, who was foon after taken, and the name of Beder changed to Zifferabad, or the city of victory. In Lat. 17° 20', the Godavery receives into its channel the The Bain GONGA. great river Baijt Gonga, which flows from different Ihort courfed flreams from the foot of the God\joanah chain, and runs above four hundred miles nearly fouth, and moftly through unknown land, till it is loft in the former ninety miles from the fea. On the Kanhar, which falls into the fouthern fide of the Godai:ery., in Lat. 21% about feventy miles from the conflux. Hands Nagpour, the capital of Berar, or the dominions of Moo- nagpour. dajee BovnJIab, chief of the eaftern Mahrattas ; his country is that of Berar and Orixa. The firfl appears in the map almoft Bejiar, or ,,, 1 r/T. 1. • J/- r Eastern Mah- a blank, perhaps a roreit nearly impervious, and or courle un- rattas. known. Nagpour is fmall, and almoft defencelefs, the chieftain's treafure being depofited in a ftrong hold called Gawile, about a hundred and twenty miles from it. This pra6lice is common to many other Lidian princes. The land around the capital xifes into fmall hills, and is w-ell cultivated. 1 SHALL not omit that about fixty miles to the N. W, of this Deogire, capital is another, D^o^/r^, the antient capital of Godzvajtab, and Godwanah. the refidence of the Rajah Rmndeo. It was attacked by Alia, Ibn oiFerofe II. in 1293, Ramd&o fought with, but was defeated bv him before one of the 2;ates of the citv : and foon after his retreat into the citadel was obliged to fubmit to the viclor, and obtained peace, but on moft exorbitant terms. RaJiideo's ^on, with a ftrong army, attempted to releafe. his father from the condition, 120 EASTERN II I N D O O S T A N. condition, was again defeatcl, and forced again to purchafc peace on the mod rigoro-iis articles ; and Alia retired with trea- fures ineftimable : Whether it continued its independency does not appear. Delta of the From the conflux of tlie Bain Gonga to the liead of the Delta GoDAVERY. ^^ j.j^g Godavery is above fifty miles ; it is thirty-five miles from the head to the fea, is called the Hie of Nagur, comprehends only five hundred fquare miles, yet is of greater value, in pro- portion to its extent, than any other fpot in the eaft, without excepting the famous Delta oi Egypt. This, and the Delta of the Kijlnah, are, like thofe of the Nilef of vaft fertility, enriched by the foil brought down by the annual inundations. The banks of the firft (within the mountains) are covered with immenfe Teek Trees. forells of 'Teek trees ; when the wood is floated down, the fliips built with it are launched in the following fingular manner : *« The fliip or veffel is built with her keel parallel to the *' fliore, and as it n"iay happen from 200 to 300 feet from low " water mark : wjien completed, flie is placed on two ftrong ** pieces of timber called dogs (in the nature of a fledge of enor- ** mous dimenfions) and on thefe a fort of moveable cradle is " conftrudled, to iceep the veflel upright : two long Palmyra ^' trees, as levers of the fecond kind, are then applied to the ends ^' of the dogs, and by means of thefe powers they, together *^ with the veflel that refts on them, are gradually puflied for- ^' wards over a platform of logs, until they arrive at the lowed ■** pitch of low water, or as far beyond it as the levers can be ■*' ufed. Tackles are applied to the ends of the levers to increafe ^' the power; the fulcrums are wreaths of ropes faftened to " the. EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. I2I <' the logs on which the veffel Aides, and are removed forwards «* as fhe advances : two cables, from the land lide, are fattened <' to the veffel to prevent her from Aiding too rapidly, and ** thefe are gradually let out as flie advances. " It is commonly the work of two days to tranfport the *' veffel to the margin of low water. If the tide does not rife *' high enough to float her from thence (which it feldom does *' if the veffel be of any confiderable burden) part of the cradle " is taken away, and the fliip left chiefly to the fupport of the " cables till high water, when they are fuddenly let go, and the ** veffel falls on her fide, and with the fall difengages herfelf " from the remains of the cradle, and at the fame time plunges " into deep water. A fliip of 500 tons has been launched in this *' manner •'••." The Circar of Rajahmiindj-y^ the fourth from the fouth, is Circar of Rajahmundry. divided into three parts by the great forks or branches which form the fanious ifle of Nagur. Then commences the long Circar Cbicacole: Its length from the borders of Rajahmitndry Chicacole, to Chilka lake is two hundred and feventy iniles, bordering on the coaft from end to end, by fandy waftes, three miles in breadth ; beyond that is a plain, according to Mr. Grevilie, rifing nowhere above twenty-five feet from the fea, and ex- tending thirty-five miles inland, in many parts indented by the range of wooded mountains which bound the whole of the weiiern border. A fmall part is in cultivation, the reft con^ fifts of woods, waters, towns, and barren waftes. Numbers of rivers run dired from the hills to the fea, and feveral as natural » Mr. Rennfl, p. 167. Vol. 1L R divifions 122 EASTERN HINDOO STAN. divifions to the little diftridls. The fertility of many parts is owing to tanks, and canals from them, diftributing water to va- CiiMATE. rious parts. The climate of this and other Circars is exceflively hot, and Coup de Soleil frequent and fatal : the hill fever is alfo very deftrudlive. r^ From the fouthern end of the wooded mountains of this Chain of Mountains. Clvcar, commences a barren lofty chain inacceffible almoft to mankind : it runs nearly due weft to the borders of Berar^ fifty miles, then turns fliort, and continues a dire6t parallel to this Circar, till it comes oppofite to the northern extremity ; it then curves eaftward, and with the Cbilka lake forms an impenetra- ble barrier to the north. Manufactures The manufaftures of the Circars are various ; the different OF THE CiR- i^inds of cotton, the muflins of Cbicacole, the beautiful woollen carpets of Ellorej and filks of Burrampore, from raw materials from Bengal and China, and the bay fait exported to Madras, which alone amounts in value to twenty-five lacks of rupees, or ;C- 7>500- Circars The Circars were granted to the French by the Nizam, in JheVrTncm. ^753- ^^^ celebrated M. Buffy, equally great in the capital as in the field, headed their army, and by attending his highnefs had full opportunity of influencing his councils. His firft campaign opened with exploits full of horrors, and undertaken by party motives, againft a brave and potent Folygar. The country is governed by thofe chieftains of the wooded and mountainous regions, who, like the Britijh petty princes of old, live in their ftrong holds and towns buried in the depth of woods. We are told by Mr. Orme, that the power of fome could extend EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 123 extend to the raifing three thoufuiid men ; one of them, in a former war, joined either the EngUJlj or French difputants about their wrongful poffeffions with that number. All the people of this part of India are Hindoos, and retain the old religion with all its fuperftition : This makes the pagodas here much more numerous than in any other part of the peninfula ; their form too is diiterent, being chiefly buildings of a cylindrical or round tower fliape, with their tops either pointed or truncated at the fammit, and ornamented with fomething eccentrical, but frequently with a round ball, ftuck on a fpike : this ball feeras intended to reprefent the fun, an emblem of the deity of the place ; fometimes two or more are united, fometimes they are lingle. The Polygars of this country value themfelves highly on Polygars. their antient defcent, and efteem themfelves the firft oi Hindoos next to the Brahmins, and equal to the Raipoots. The diftri(5t of each chieftain is generally about twenty fquare miles ; they have rnany little towns and forts, befides ; they have here one fort in the moft difficult part of the country, intended as the laft retreat of the Polygar and all his blood. It is feated in the center of the mountainous foreft, and acceffible only by a nar- row winding path, of the width capable of receiving only three men abreaft, and five miles in length, and every turning- guarded by works. Mr. Ornie, ii. isS-) defcribes the fort. In 170, Ranzarao polTefTed that of Eobilee, in Chicacole, about Polygar of '-^'^ ^ ^ BOBILEE. 140 miles to the N. W. of Vizigapatain : His neighbor, the Rajah Vizeramrauze, wiflied his deri:ruXV. uncultivated mountains. The wood is excelTively heavy and hard, and ufed by the waflier- women to beetle their cloths. Ccejalpina fappan, a valuable tree, of great magnitude, and Tae. XVI. very thorny. Its ufe in dying a cheap red is great, mixed with the chay-root : it feems of the fame quality as Braziletto, Doc- tor Roxburgh makes great ufe of the young trees in the pepper plantations for the vines to climb up. In a few years they will attain fize enough to be cut and fent to market. Swietenia febrifuga, a very large tree, growing on the moun- Tab. XVH.. tains of Rajabmundry. The wood hard, heavy, and of a dull red ; it is moft durable, therefore ufed in all the timber work of 134 Tab. XXIII. Tab. XXV. Tab. XXXIII. Tab. XXXV. XXXVI. Tab. XLVI. Tab. LI. Tab. LXII. Tab.LXXVIII, Paoodas of Jagrenaut. EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. of the pagodas ; a decodion of the bark dyes browns of various Ihades : poffibly, from the trivial, it is ufeful in fevers. Ailantbus excel/ay a tree which grows to an immenfe fize. It Inhabits the open valHes. The timber is white and light, and ferves for the fifliing Catajiiarans. Sterculia cohrata, a great tree, growing on the mountains ; fheds its leaves in the cold or wet feafon. Uvaria cerajoidesy a great tree, fupplying timber ufeful to the natives. Uvaria tomentoja and lutea, remarkable only for their fize, but may add to the magnificence of the fylvan fcenery. Diofpyros melanoxyloji, grows a vaft fize, particularly the male tree ; an ebony. The centre of the large trees only is black, and valuable. The outfide timber is white and foft, often eaten by infects, which leave the black untouched : fheds its leaves in the cold feafon. Nauclea cordifolia^ a great tree, furniflies a moft beautiful wood of the color of box, lighter, yet clofe grained. Sapindus rubiginofa, a large and ufeful timber tree. Towards the centre the wood is of a chocolate color. Ulmus integrifolia, a very large tree, native of the Circar mountains. The natives efteem the timber to be of excellent quality, and ufe it for many purpofes. Calls its leaves in the wet or cold feafon. There are in Hindoojlan many deciduous trees, but incomparably fewer than in Europe. A FEW miles to the north-eaft of Cbilka lake, clofe to the fea, fland the famous Pagodas of Jagrenauty which confift of three large EASTERN II I N D O O S T A NT. 135 lar^e and lofty buildings, fwelling out in the middle like a bar- rel, and tapering upwards to a point ; thefe are land-marks, and may be feen eight or ten leagues at fea. Befides thefe are multi- tudes of fmall ones; each of which is a fandluary, and contains a deity *. Befides thefe are other buildings of different forms, fome for the reception of pilgrims, of which not lefs than a hundred and fifty thoufand annually vifit this venerated place, who are entertained here. A fingular charity is obferved ; the Cajls feed promifcuoufly without fear of pollution, a conftant dread in every other part. Anquetil du Perron^ who vifited the place, fays, in vol. i. p. Ixxxi, of his Zend-avejla, Difcourfe Pre- limi}iaire, that the three great Pagodas are inclofed in a fquare wall made of enormous black ftones, and that each fide of the wall is a hundred fahoms in extent, and that in each is a gate facing the four points of the compafs. M. Sonnerat, i. p. 218, from the report of the Hindoos, beftows on it a very high antiquity, greater than I can fubfcribe to, that of near five thou- fand years. On one of the great Pagodas is an enormous ox or cow, cut out of fi:one, with all the fore parts projecting from the wall t. This the reader need not be told is the favorite facred animal of Hindoojlan. Near the Pagodas is a large chapel, in which the Brahmins Image of the- "^ Deity. deliver their difcourfes. As to the deity, he is exhibited in form of a ftone mofl: rudely cut. Inftead of one eye he had a ruby; inftead of the other he has a carbuncle. A Dutcb^nan, chief of the fadory, knew the difference, and dexteroufly purloined the * Anquetil du Perron. t Hamilton's Voyage, i. p. 382. rubyo- 33(> EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. iiiby *. The image has alfo a mouth and nofe painted with ver- miUon. None, except Pariars, are denied admittance to the pre- tence of the deitv. The Ayeen Akberry, p. i8, gives a moft fuper- ilitious account of the difcovery of this image; the author fpeaks of more images than one : He fays, " the Brahmins wafli the <' images of Jagrenaut fix times every day, and drefs them " every time in frefli clothes ; as foon as they are dreffed fifty- " fix Brahmins attend them, and prefent them with various " kinds of food : the quantity of vicTtuals offered to thefe idols *< is fo very great as to feed twenty thoufand perfons ?" This image is never removed out of the temple, but its effigies is often carried in proceffion in a mofl enormous coach four {lo- ries high, with fixteen wheels, and capable of containing two hundred perfons : it is drawn by a cable of great length ; zea- lous votaries will fling themfelves before the wheels, to gain a death that is to enfure a happy immortality. Hamilton vifited this holy temple, but was not admitted into the interior ; the report of that part he had from a Hijzdoo fervant whom he fent in, and who gave him his remarks. There are no windows, but it is lighted by a hundred lamps. Cells for Ne ar the Pagoda are feveral cells or convents, the lodgings of B&AHMINS. the Brahmins ; there are about five hundred ; part of whom are perpetually employed in the praifing of the deity, attended with the mufic of tabors and cymbals, while another part is bufied in drefling quantities of rice for the ufe of the numerous poor, but a portion is always offered firft to "Jagrenaut ; much alfo is * Antequil du Perron. fold EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 137 Ibid at a very cheap rate to the multitudes of pilgrims who crowd here from all parts of India. Thefe are not permitted to pay their refpeits to his godfliip till they have performed their ablutions in the adjoining tank or refervoir, which is made of different colored (tones. The legend of Jagrenaut is, that he was a foreigner, but Legend. was found on the fhore by certain fifliermen in his prefent form, that he addreffed himfelf to them, and informed them that he came in pure charity to refide among them, and re- quefted a proper lodging, which the reigning prince imme- diately fupplied in its preient form. M. Sonnerat fays, that he is the fame with ^iicbena ; that Same with 11 • n r- QuiCHENA ; able traveller gives two figures of him, in vol. i. tab. 46, 47 ; in one he is reprefented dancing on the Calengam, or the Cobra de Capelloj which he had killed in fight : in the other he is en- tangled from head to foot in the fatal ferpent. M. Sonnerat fujjpofes him to have been the fame with the Apollo of the with Apollo. Greeks, who Hew the great ferpent Python. The Indians cele- brate their deity with numbers of feflivals in memory of his triumph over the Indian Python^ nor do they think their falva- tion fecure without paying one pilgrimage to his Pagoda. That able writer Sir William Jones., in his DilTertations on the Gods of Greece, Italy-, and India, gives us the figure of Surya, or the Indian Apollo, but does not mention him as the fame with the great Jagrenaut or ^lichena. This temple is deftribed in the Ayeen Akberry, \\. 18. The account merits the reader's attention. What a field of tafle and fpeculation will not India be to a future Meavnas patronizing a Vol. II. T fuitable '^ 8 EASTERN' HINDOOSTAN. luitable artift. The following defcription from the Jycen muft at prefent content us : " Near to Jugernaut is the temple of the " Sun, in the erecting of which was expended the whole reve- " u.\\Q of Orija for twelve years. No one can behold this im- " menfe edifice without being flruck with amazement. The " wall which furrounds the whole is one hundred and fifty " cubits high, and nineteen cubits thick. There are three en- " trances to it ; at the eaftern gate are two very fine figures of " elephants, each with a man upon his trunk. To the weft " are two furprifing figures of horfemen, completely armed, " and over the northern gate are carved two tygers, who hav- " ing killed two elephants, are fitting upon them. In the front " of the gate is a pillar of black ftone, of an o6lagonal form, " fifty cubits high : there are nine flight of fi:eps, after afcend- " ing which yon come to an extenfive enclofure, where you *' difcover a large dome, conftru6ted of ftone, upon which are « carved the fun and the ftars, and round them is a border, ** where are reprefented a variety of human figures exprefling " the different paflions of the mind, fome kneeling, others " proftrated with their faces on the earth, together with min- " ftrels, and a number of ftrange and wonderful animals, fuch " as never exifted but in imagination : This is faid to be a " work of feven hundred and thirty years antiquity. Rajah " Nurfing Deo finifhed this building, thereby ereiling for him- *' felf a lafting monument of fame. There are twenty-eight " other temples belonging to this Pagoda^ fix before the nor- " them gate, and twenty-two without the enclofure, and they ** are all reported to have done miracles.'' All EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 139 All this country is filled with game, deer, antelopes, and birds, terreftrial and aquatic, in numbers incredible : the fea and river fwarm with fi flies. The wonder ceafes when we confider the ftricfl refpedt paid by the Hindoos to the Pythagorean doc- trine ; they will not eat of any animal food, they will neither deftroy any animal, or fufFer to be deflroyed any thing in which is life. Parcitc mortales dapibus temerare nefandis Corpora. Sunt fruges ; funt deducentia ramos Pondere poma fuo, tumidaeque in vitibus uva? j Sunt herbse dulces ; funt qus mitefcere flamma Mollirique queant. Nee vobis lacleus humor, Eripitur, nee mella thymi redolentia florem, Prodiga divitias alimentaque mitia tellus Suggerit, atq. epulas fine casde et languine pra-bet Carne ferse fedant jejunia. They never drink wine. Like the followers oi Pythagoras they never eat of any thing that had life ; like them they firmly be- lieve in the tranfmigration of fouls ; they hold the elements of water and fire in the utmoft veneration ; the water of the Ganges is thought peculiarly facred. A cow is moft particularly re- fpected. They are monogamifts, have their deities, idols of the wildeft and moft horrible forms, have wonderful legends of their adions and moft myftic tales. The Pagodas are the tem- ples, many of extravagant magnificence in ftrange and vaft fculptures. T a The 140 EASTERN 11 I N D O O S T A N. The Pagoda of this deity is certainly of moft elTential ufe to mariners on this very low coaft : it appears from the fea to con- liil of three great towers, one of which is much higher than the other two : on the top of each is a great ball, ftnck on a fpike, the emblem of the deity. The fea off this land is deep, but as it is not viiible till the fliip is almoft on (hore, the utility as a land-mark is very great : the depth of water even near the ihore, fays the Eajl India Pilot, is twelve fathoms. Among other Pagodas, a few leagues to the eaft is the Black Pagoda, another land-mark ; it is feated on the weftern branch of the great river Mabanaddy, or Cat tack, near the mouth. About twenty-three miles diftant, v.tux Point falje, is the eail- ern difcharge : thefe form a fmail Delta. This river rifes at the foot of the hucknow hills, in Lat. 21° 14', Long. 81° 21' eaft, and after a winding courfe pafles by Cattack, about fifty miles from the fea. The mouths were called by Ptolemy, fluvii Adamantis OJlia, the river itfelf the Adamas, from its being known in that early time to be produ6live of diamonds, particularly in the region called by that great geographer, Sahara. I am not certain whether they were found in mines or by digging. In TaverniefS) time they were met with in the bed of the river. Sonmelpour, or Sumberpour, in Lat. 21° 28', is in the neighbor- hood of the great fearch after thefe pretious ftones, of which he gives, in p. 139, the following account : " In this river they " find the diamonds ; for after the great rains are over, which " is ufually in December, they ftay all January till the river is " clear, by reafon that by that time in fome places it is not *' above two foot deep, and in feveral places the fand lies above " the EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 141 « the water. About the end of January, or the beginning of " February,, there flock together, out of the great town, and fome " others adjoining, above eight thoufand perfons, men, women, " and children, that are able to work. They that are fkilful " know by the fands whether there be any diamonds or no, <* when they find among the fand little flones like to thofe we " call Thunder Hones. They begin to make fearch in the u river from the town of Sumbulpour, to the very mountains <^ from whence the river falls for fifty leagues together." At Soorangur, about thirty miles north-weft of Sumbulpour, is the burial place of Alexander Elliot, Efq; I think elder bro- ther to ^w .Gilbert Elliot, a deferved favorite of Mr. Hajiings, one who was allowed by general confent to have been the moft amiable charadter, and pofTelTed of the molt elevated fpirit that ever dignified human nature. At this time the French intrigues at the court of Poonab, added to their hopes of detaching the affedtion of the Berar Rajah from the Engli/Jo, endangered the exiftence of the EngliJJj empire to the higheft degree. To preferve the alliance of that prince, Mr. Hajlings fixed on Mr. Elliot to be refident at the court of Nagpour. Another ac- cident happened after he had left Bengal for that purpofe, which caufed him to redouble his fpeed : M. Chevalier, late governor of Cbandernagore, had efcaped from thence, and was purfuing the fame route before him. M. Chevalier was a per- fon of firft rate abilities, and as warm in the intereft of his na- tion as Mr. Elliot was in that of his own. He alio was on his way to Nagpour, and from thence intended to return to France, where his great knowlege of the politics of India would have. enabled 142 EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. enabled his court to form the plans the moft pernicious to the fafety of our Indicui empire. Mr. Elliot had fet out in the rainy feafon, without any profpecft of accommodation neceflary to his ftate of health, laboring under a diforder peculiar to the eaft, originating in bilious obftrudlions, the cure of which de- pended on the quantity of mercury. In thofe circumftances he heard that M. Chevalier was at no great diftance before him ; he pufhed on by forced journies : unfortunately, juit as he had his chace in view, his progrefs was retarded by a fudden over- flow of one of the great branches of the Cattack\ regardlefs of his health, or the dangerous medicines he had taken, he plung- ed into the rapid Itream, followed by a few of his attendants and Sepoys^ and found M. Chevalier at the capital Cattack. He clamed his perfon with fuch manly eloquence, that the Rajah furrendered him. Mr. Elliot engaged the paroles of M. Chevalier, and his companion M. Monneron, to return and furrender themfelves at Calcutta to the Governor General, which they did in the moft honorable manner. Mr. Elliott purfued his journey, and in a few days, in OSfober 1778, fell devoted to genuine patriotifm, and fidelity to the interefts of his country. The Mahrattas have fince built round it a town, and ftill farther to preferve his memory, named it in honor of him Elliot Gunge ^ or Elliofs Town, Mr. Ha^flings caufed a mo- nument to be eredted over his grave : he experienced affli6lion equal to his lofs ; and in his paiTage to England compofed an imitation of Horace^ Ode xvi. Book ii. equally a proof of his af- fection, as of his turn, uncommonly elegant, for compofitions of this EASTERN II I N D O O S T A N. 14^ this nature. It has been more than once printed, which, I trufl, will be fufficient apology for the omillion in this place. The city of Cattack is the capital of Qrixa., and is of great confequence, as it is the only road into the £f^^^^/ government. Part of Orixa is at prefent fubje^t to the Nizam, or the Soubab of Deccan ; the reft has been conquered by the Mahrattas, and the chief is ftyled the Berar Rajah, as that province forms a por- tion of their conquefts. The city oi Cattack ftands on an illand of the river, and is of Cattack. an oblong form, a league in length and a mile in breadth, and walled round. In Hamilton\ time it was defended by artillery, but the walls and city were in a moft ruinous fituation, and not a quarter inhabited, but the magnificence of many of the build- ings evinced its former fplendor. Abulfazulf in the Ayeen, ii. p. 16, mentions a fine palace in that city, built by Rajah Muckund Deo, confifting of nine ftories. The firft ftory is for the elephants, camels, and horfes. The fecond, for the artillery and military ftores, where are alio quarters for the guards, and other attendants. The third is occupied by the porters and watchmen. The fourth is appro- priated for the feveral artificers. The kitchens made the fifth- range. The fixth contains the Rajah's public apartments. The feventh is for the tranfadtion of private bufinefs. The eighth is where the women refide. And the ninth is the Rajah's fleeping apartments. To the fouth of this place is a very antient Hindoo temple. In refpedt to the palace, we have, on the borders of England and Scotland, numbers of fquare caftel- lets, known by the name of border-houfes, which in one refpcift 4 refembled J44. EASTERN HINDOOSTAN. refembled the former, having been formerly the joint tene- ments of the lord and his family, fervants, and every domeftic animal. CapePalmiras. Cape Pahniras^ the antient Promontor'nun Calingon, projedls into the fea, in Lat. 20° 43', fome leagues beyond the eaflern mouth of the Cattack. It is an ifland dii^inguiflied by its palm- trees, and was a place on which our Eafi India Company did defign to eredt a light-houfe for the direction of lliips round that point, and into Bali/ore road. The land from Pahniras bends inward, and forms a large femilunar bay, ending at the entrance into Hoogly river, the molt w^eftern branch of the Ganges. Bramnec Immediately within the bay the river Bra?7inec falls into the fea by the town of Kannaka, and is, I fufpecft, miftaken by M. d'Anville for the Cambyfum OJiium of Ptolemy. The river there is capable of receiving a fliip of two hundred tons : This is the Ada7nas flu-clus oi Ptolemy, fo named from the gems found in its neighborhood. A diamond mine is at this time worked on one of its branches, called the Soank, remote from the mouth. The inhabitants of this diftrict are induftrious, and are engaged in hufbandry, fpinning, and weaving, and make a great deal of butter. The country from hence to Balafore is extremely fer- tile ; it alfo produces iron in great plenty, w^hicb, iniread of being hammered, is caft in molds for anchors, which are infe- rior in goodnefs to thofe of Europe. All the fliore (which is the whole w^ay fandy) during the laying feafon is fwarming with tortoifes, I fuppofe the green, which refort here to difcharge their eggs : this I give on the authority of Hamilton, On that of EASTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 145 of my friend DocStor Patrick RtiJJ'el I may add, that one nearly related to my Coriaceous tortoife, Br. Zool. iii. N° i, has been taken of the weight of a thoufand pounds ; from him I alfo learned that the long-tailed fpecies, xXiq Tejludo ferpentinayWd.^ alfo a native of this country. Of land fpecies the T'ejludo fcabra^ de la Cepede, tab. x. La Cimgrinee, tab. xi. La RouJJ'atre^ tab. xii. T". Lutaria, tab. iv. T. Graca^ tab. viii. Balafore is the tirft place on this fide which lies in tlie great Balasork. province of Bengal-, it Hands in Lat. 21" 32', on a fmall river, and is by land only four, by water twenty miles from the fea. Its diftridl is amazingly fruitful in pulfe, and moll fpecies of edible vegetables, fuch as Do/, Granu Callivancoes., rice, and even wheat, a grain which providentially will grow in both the torrid and ardic regions. The manufactures are very con- liderable in all branches of the cotton. This city has alfo a confiderable trade with the Maldive ifles, Trade. which it fupplies with rice and other grain, and receives in. return Coivries, and Kaiar, or coco -nut cables. Pilots are here always ready to carry the fliipping into the Hoogly river during the feafon ; this coaft is extremely dangerous, as is evident by the number of wrecks that cover the fliore. About Balafore^ the tides begin to fnew marks of confinement; the fpring tide rifes ten feet, the neap feven. A Squirrel is found here in fome refpedls refembling the Squirrel. Bombay y ]S!''336, nofe pink-colored ; face, fore part of the neck, fore leg?, belly and infide of the thighs yellow ; ears much Vol. n. ■ V tufted, 146 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. tufted, and cinnamon colored, with a line of the fame color reaching from each to the throat ; backlide and much of the tail a rich purplilli cinnamon, the reft of the tail yellow. Gangetic Hindoostan. The Gakgss. The extremity of the bay of Bengal^ the antient Sinus Gangeticus, appears filled with toe trail; through which once flowed its feven celebrated difcharges of the Ganges, of them two only remain unclofed. The Hoocly. Hoogly river (the greateft and moft ufeful difcharge) opens with its vaft mouth fomc leagues to the north-eaft of the Subanreeka river. It retains its name at left as high as the town of Hoogly. The part which opens into the bay of Bengal is properly an eftuary, and continues fo till it winds half round the ifle of Culpy ; that done, its channel is nearly due north, bend- ing eafterly as it approaches Calcutta. For a great extent before the entrance are numbers of longitudinal banks, formed by the mud or fand brought down by the waters of the river, of the fame form as thofe which lie before the mouth of the Thames, and effedted by the fame means. They are infamous for frequent wrecks, either of adventurers returning with the wealth of years to infult with eaftern luxuries our contented countrymen at home, or of /«^/^- bound youths filled with pa^olian dreams, each thoughtlefs of the inevitable fate \vhich awaits them in the gilded deeps of Hindoojlan. 2 I SHALL, G A NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. .147 I SHALL, in my account of this celebrated river, give firft a defcription of its mouths, of the appearance of the country be- tween them facing the fea ; the knowlege the antients had of that part, and then begin the detail of this river, and its twin the Burrampooter^ from their fources to their difcharge into the bay of Bengal. The Indian name of this river is Pudda or Padda, and Burra Names of the Ganges. Gonga, the Great River, or by way of eminence Gonga, or the River. There may be a third origin of the name, that of Gajiges, from Ganga, one of the three goddeffes of the waters venerated by the Hindoos. The learned prefident of the Afiatic fociety joins her with Teniana and Serefzvata*. Ganga is re- prefented lightly treading on the furface of the ftream, with a flower of the Nelumbo, or water lily, in each hand; we meet with other Gongas and Ganges in India, as we do with our Dee or Divona, rivers in Britain ; the Mavilagonga in Ceylon, and others of the name of Gafiges, may be brought as inftances in. this great peninfula. Many of the rivers of India are held to be facred, this, fuper-eminently fo : it is called the Heavenly River, and fuppofed to be the great purifier of all the fins of mortality. The natives of Bengal are carried by their friends, when at the point of death, to its fiiores, and are placed up to their middle in water ; if they chance to die with the additional advantage of holding a cow by its tail, in the important mo- ment, that circum.rtance is no fmall confolation to their fur- rounduig friends. Thofe who have neither means or fi:rength to be brought there, think upon the river, and fay, " O Ganges, * Afiatic Refearches, i. 256. The figure of Ganga is opj-ofite to that pnge, U 2 , " purify KNOWN. ,48 G A NOETIC HINDOOS TAN. ** purify mc." Many perfons who live at a diftance, even the Mahometans^ will caiiie the water to be brought to them in bot- tles at a confulerable price. The antient gov^ernment ufed to take advantage of the fuperftition, and by impoling a duty on the facred element raiie from it no contemptible revenue. When first The time that this river was firft known to the antients is not certain. It appears from Strabo, lib. xv. p. loio, to have been failed up as high as Palibotbra, the modern Patna. He fpeaks of the navigations of this river in the plural number, and confequently that they had been frequent. Slrabo fays, that it rifes in the Indian Cancajus. Mela, more particular, places its fountain in the Emodus, and all the antients agree that it was the largeft: of all rivers then known, and that it had feven mouths. Lucan twice afferts, that Alexander the Great had the glory of penetrating as far as this river. I prefer the quotation from the tenth book, as finely expreffive of the bar- barous rage of conqueft which poffeired that hero.~For the benefit of the £;^^'///Z' reader, I fliall give the beautiful tranlla- tion by our admirable poet the ill-fated Rozv. The poet, f^jeak- ing of his tomb at Alexavulria, thus begins : There the vain youth who made the world his prize. That profp'rous robber, Alexander lies j When pitying death at length had freed mankind. To facred refl-, his bones v/ere here confign'd : His bones, that better had been tofs'd and hurl'd With juft contempt, around the injur'd world. But fortune fpar'd the dead, and partial fate Forages fix'd his Tharjian empire's date. If GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. If e'er our long loft liberty return. That carcafs is referv'd for public fcorn. Now it remains, a monument confeft How one proud man could lord it o'er the reft. To Macedon, a corner of the earth. The vaft ambitious fpoiler ow'd his birth. There foon he fcorn'd his father's humbler reign. And view'd his vanquifh'd Athens with difdain ; Driven headlong on, by Fate's refiftlefs force. Thro' AJids realms he took his dreadful courfc : His ruthlefs fword lay'd human nature wafte. And defolation follow'd where he pafs'd. Red Ganges blufli'd, and fam'd Euphrates flood. With Perfian this, and that with Indian blood. Such is the bolt, which angry 'Jove employs. When undiftinguifhing his wrath deftroys. Such to mankind portentous meteors rife. Troubling the gazing earth, and blaft the fkies. The antients inform us, that the Ganges had feven mouths; Its seven- Mouths. at prefent we can trace only two with any certainty. The Hoogly river, and that which is by pre-eminence called the Ganges.^ not much lefs than two hundred miles diftant from each other. Ptolemy enumerates five of the mouths by name; the Oj Cambufium-, which I fliould rather give to Hoogly river, than as d^Anville does to the Bramnec, or what he calls the Kenka ; but he gives the name of Magnum OJlium to the Hoogly river, becaufe it is at prefent the moll frequented ; but that mouth 149 150 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. mouth is placed by Ftolemy as the fecond. Is there any reafoii to fuppofe its having been long fince fliut up, and the Hoogly river fo widened as to become fince that time the principal. The Os Camborichutn is the third, now alfo clofed ; the PJeu- dojlimum, the fourth. The laft mouth mentioned by Ftolejny is the AntiboUs, which feems the fame with the mouth now called the river Ganges^ the chief branch which gave name to the vaft bay, the Gangeticus Sinus, the modern bay of Bengal. There are even at prefent eight openings, each of which may have been in its time a principal mouth of the river. Tliis feems evident by the rivers which finifli in thefe openings, and point northward towards the main channel, but none reach the mother river excepting the Hocringotta. Mr. Rennel clearly ex- prefles the courfe of thefe antient difcharges. Anquetil du Per- ron gives, a bold uninterrupted channel to each*. The banks of mud or fand are conftantly forming at the diftance of twenty miles from the iflands ; fome are only a few feet below the fur- face ; in a fmall time they will appear above water, and by freih additions form new illes, and add fucceffively to the depth of the Delta. The head of the Delta is at Jeliingby, two hundred and twenty miles from the fea in a ftrait line. This branch of the Ganges is called at firft the Cqffimbuzar and Jellingby rivers, and lower down alTumes that of the Hoogly. The CoJJlmbuzar is dry from OBober to May. The Jellingby is unnavigable dur- ing two of the drieft months. The voyage up thefe branches muft therefore be undertaken at the clofe of the rainy feafon. The only fubordinate branch of the Ganges, which is at all * C;irte Generale, in his Recherches Hiftoiique, &c. times GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 151 times navigable, is the Cbundnah river, which feparates at Mah- mudpour, and falls into the Hooringotta. At the great trait which faces the bay is a colledlion of flat iflands divided by a labyrinth of canals, and covered with trees, forming altogether a foreft as large as the whole principality of Wales. I cannot particularize the trees ; but the aquatic Rbizo- phora Mangle^ or Mangrove of the IVeJl Indies and Guinea^ is very frequent along the fliores. This tradt is called the TFoods or The Sunder- BUND. Sunderbund. The numerous canals form a complete inland na- vigation along the lower part of the Delta for thofe who do not chufe to go up the Hoogly river by fea. There are two of thefe paflages, one named the Sunderbund, the other the Ba- liagot\ the firil opens into Calcutta river, about fixty-five miles below the town ; the other opens into a lake on the eaft fide of Calcutta, from which a fmall canal has lately been cut to unite the lake with the river: this paffage is in ufe to go up the Ganges towards Patna, and when the JelUngby is too low for navigation, that is generally from December to May. Thefe paflages afford a moft grand and curious fpe6tacle, a navigation of above two hundred miles through a foreft divided by num- berlefs ifles, by a continual labyrinth of channels, fo various in point of width, that a veflel has at one time her mafts almoft entangled in trees, at another, fails iminterruptedly on a capa- cious river beautifully flcirted with woods. How particularly rapturous muft this be to the naturalift, prefented by each of the elements with the moft Angular or beautiful produdtions of nature ! But this rich fcenery is unfortunately infefted more than Tigers, any 152 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. any other part of India with Tigers, the moft voracious and de- ftruaive animal of the peninfula. This part was probably famed for the tremendous animal : Seneca dlftinguiflies it in his Oedipus by the epithet Gangetica Tigris. Thofe which fupplied the Roman amphitheatres with the obje(5ts of the fport, were procured from fome part of this great empire, which protluced the largeft and the fierceft. The firft which appeared in the SpeBacula at Rome, were in the time of Augujlus, having been prefented to him by certain arabaffadors from India. Zarma- nuSf or Zarmanochagas, whom I have mentioned before, was one of them, hi the Sunderbunds, the tigers are particularly fatal to the wood-cutteis and falt-makers, who refort there in the dry feafon ; they will not only feize on them in the iilands, but even fwim to the boats at anchor, and fnatch the men from on board. The Pietifts, who annually vitit one particular ifland for the fake of wafliing themfelves in the facred water, often fall vidims to thefe terrible animals : they have fuch power as to carry off a man with the utmoft facility ; they will even go full fpeed with a buffalo, which they will feize out of the field or parture, In my HiJI. fiuad. i. p. 279, I have given a melancholy inllance of their fpringing among a party of gen- tlemen and ladies recreating themfelves on the iilands of the Ganges, and carrying away one of the company ; fuch accidents are not uncommon. Another party in the beginning of this century was more fortunate : the company were feated under the flaade of trees on the banks of a Bcngalefe river; a lady among them obferved a tiger preparing to take its fatal Ipring, and with amazing prefence of mind laid hold of an umbrella, and G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 153 and furling it full in the animal's face, terrified it fo that it in- ftantly retired. This lady afterwards fell into diftrefs, but was gratefully relieved by the whole party, as each individual might fuppofe that his particular exiftence might have been owing to her. I am told that the tigers are fometimes plagued with flies, which fettle about their eyes, and frequently make them almoft blind : Thefe wander remote from their ufual haunts, and give themfelves up to deftruiflion. Large rewards are given for deftroying of tigers in general ; the fkins, the claws, and the teeth, are articles of exportation. The colors of thefe animals differ to their age or ftate of Color of. health; the ground color of a young or vigorous bead is almoft of a brilliant orange ; the black intenfe, and the little w^hite it - has is moft pure. In old or fickly beafts the black is dull, and the yellow fades to a fandy hue. An animal of the panther or leopard kind, of a deep black color, with the fpots of a more intenfe black, was taken in thefe forefts, and added to the menagery in the tower of London by Mr. Hajlings. By the fize and ftrength it more probably merits the name of panther than leopard. An animal of the laft fpe- cies, of a dirty white color, fp.otted with grey, taken near Jgra^ was prefented to Jebangir. It is fingular that in the Torrid Zone many more inftances of the accident of white animals Ihould have been found, for it is recorded that the fame emperor had CtQU an antelope, a hawk, a crow, a partridge, a quail, and a peacock of that color. The one-horned Rhinoceros is very common in thefe iflands, Rhinoceros. it loves forefts and fwampy places, and is a frequent concomi- VoL. II. " X tant 154 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. tant of the tiger. Bontius even fays, that the Indians have a popular notion that there is between the two animals a ftrong friendlliip. The fact is, the rhinoceros repairs to wet places out of love of rolling itfelf like a hog in the mire; the other retires here from the burning heats, or to quencii its raging thirft. The Rhinoceros, when provoked, is a moft dangerous enemy, and extremely fwift. A gentleman of my acquaintance, once in the fervice of the Company, had landed on one of thefe iflands, and roufed a Rhinoceros, which ruflied on him, flung him down, and ripped open his belly ; the animal proceeded without doing him any farther injury ; the gentleman furvived the wound, and lived to a very advanced age. Cujjs made of the horns are reputed to communicate to the liquor poured in them an antidote againft poifons. Bontius fpeaks frequently of the fcrapings of the horn as a remedy in feveral difeafes. Let me here mention that the duty on the fait made here, and in different parts of this province, produces, as ufual in all countries, a vaft revenue. In Bengal it yields annually >r. 430,000;. and the woods are inexhauftible magazines for boat building, to carry on the vaft commerce of the Ganges, and its contributory ftreams. Natural The natural hiftory of this lingular tradl lliall now engage History, my attention : — The tides, and vaft bores, or leading waves, the current, and annual inundations fnall be referved till my return from the fountain of this vaft river ; I mean, after my flight view of the zoology of the Sunderbund, at once to gain the head of the Ganges, to defcend the ftream, and in the pallage note its parti- cularities, or thole of the great rivers which augment its waters. * When' GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. I55 When I fpeak of the Zoology oi t\\Q Woods, I muft confine Birds. myfelf to the feathered tribe of the aquatic kind. All thofe of Bengal may be found here, probably at all times, but mod cer- tainly in the dry feafon, when the woods and perpetual moif- ture of the fwamps muft make them a defirable retreat, either for the fake of food, or of laying their eggs, and bringing up their young. During the parching heats moft other parts of Bengal, in- Water Fowl, deed of India itfelf, becomes uninhabitable to birds of the divi- iion of water fowl. The wet tradls about Surat may alfo be the retreat of thofe of the weftern parts of India, and poffibly even thofe of the remote Caticafan or E;;^o^(^/ chains. Do6lor Fryer, p. 119, and p. 317, mentions 5/-^«?geefe ; Br, Zool. ii. N° 270, and birds which he calls Colum and Serafs\ thefe are both of the crane kind : the Colum, he fays, is of a grey color, with body as large as a turky, and with long legs and neck. The Serafs, he fays, is of the fame fpecies, and that both are remarkable for a du- plicature of the wind-pipe in form of a French horn ; the du- plicature is double in the Colum and fingle in the Serafs-, one of them may be our common crane. He tells us that they come in mighty flights from Mount Caucafus at the approach of the cold, announcing their approach by very loud notes long before they are feen. Doctor Parfons, in Ph. Tranf. vol. Ivi. p. 21 r, has a juft idea of the genus of thefe birds, which he mentions from the fame authority as I do : they may be of fome of the fpe- cies of cranes 1 mention a little farther on. My friend Mr. Latham departs from his ufual judgment, when he fuppofes, vol. ii. p. 434, that the Colum is our wild fwan ; but then he X 1 gives 156 G A N G E T I C H 1 N D O O S T A N. gives us a new piece of knowlege, that the mute fwaii is found about Surat. I fhall not in this place mention, any of the ter- rcftrial birds of the province of Bengal, but confine myfelf ta thofe Vrhom inftind: and necelllty compel to frequent thefe watery haunts. In gratitude I mnil mention the feveral friends to whom I am indebted for information refpedting the natural hiliory of this rich province. Sir Elijah Impey, and his lady, gave me the moll liberal acceCs to their vaft and elegant colledlion of draw- ings, made with much fidelity on the fpot ; to them I was in- debted for permiflion to have feveral copies made by my paintrefs Mifs Stone, taken from the moll curious fubjeils of their cabinet- Mrs. Edivard Wheeler communicated to me the numerous paint- ings which fire colledted in. Bengal, nor was Nathaniel Middle- ion, Efquire, lefs favorable in promoting my defign. He laid before me his great treafare of Afiatic drawings of quadru- peds, birds, fifhes, and vegetables,, with the offer of per- miflion to have copies made of thofe I thought might fuit my purpofe. Jabirc. The firfl bird I fhall mention is the Indian Jabiru, Latham^ vii. p. 231, a diflinifl fpecies from the American, it is of a large lize, and feeds on fnails, Argali. The next is the great Heron, the Argali, or Adjutant, or Gigantic Crane of Latham, vii. p. 232. tab. cxv. It is found alfo in Guinea. It arrives in the internal parts of Bengal before the rainy feafon, retires at the approach of the dry ; fuch I be- lieve is the cafe with almoft all of the aquatic fowl of Bengal, It grows to the height of five feet when ereft ; the bill is of great GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 157 great ftrength, and vaft length, compreffeJ, and fliarp pointed : the ciixumference at the bafe of one meafured by Mr. Ives was Cxteen inches ; the extent of wings fourteen feet ten inches ; the length from tip of the bill to that of the claws feven feet fix inches. It is a bird of a filthy afpedl, the craw appears red and naked, palling over the flionlders, and returns in front, and becomes pendulous, and is covered with long hair below the breaft. It is a moft iifeful bird, clears the country of fnakes, and noxious reptiles and infe^f^s ; many particulars are given of its manners in the eleventh M.S. volume of the Outlines, containing NigPvITIan Africa. In Bengal'it finiflies the work begun by the Jackal and the Vulture \ they clear the carcafes of animals from the flefli ; thefe remove the nuifances of the bones by fwallowing them entire ; they are as familiar in Bengal as in Africa, and undaunted at the fight of mankind. The In- dians believe them to be invulnerable, for that they are ani- mated with the fouls of the Brahmins ; they are held in great veneration by both Indians and Africans. Mr. Ives miffed his fhot at feveral, which the fi:anders-by obferved with great fatis- fa(5lion, telling him he might flioot to eternity and never fuc- ceed. The Lobaugung Heron, Latham, v. p. 238, is a large and Heroes. elegant made fpecies. The bill long, flender, and black, with a deep notch in the bafe of the upper mandible; head, neck, lower part of the neck and the primaries black ; the reft of the plumage white ; legs very long, and red. The Violet Heron, or Monichjore, Latham, vii. p. 236, is com- mon, and the objed: of falconry, and is efteemed as good eating. The 158 G A NOETIC HINDOOSTAK. The fmall white Heron called Cado^^, with a yellow bill, and black legs, — 236, and the yellow necked, with a pendulous black creft, — 239, are fpecies added by Mr. Middleton. The Cinnamon,— 235, is another new fpecies. The yellow flipper'd Egret is a fpecies added by Sir E. Impey, of a pure white color, with black legs and yellow feet. The great white Egret is frequent ; the European Heron, Br. Zool. ii. N° 173. The Bittern, — N° 174, and the little Bittern, — ii. App. tab. viii. The Stork, Latham, v. 47, and the Ny^i- corax^ — 53, may be given as birds of Bengal. A LARGER and lelTer bittern form new x'pecies, from the col- ledlion of Sir E. hnpey. The crown of the head of the firft is dulky, fpotted with white. The bill of the leffer is of a fine yellow ; crown, head and neck tawny ; wings and back ferru- ginous. Cranes. Among birds of this clafs is the elegant Indian Crane, La- tham, 38, 39. Edzv. tab. xlv, a migratory fpecies even as far as Lake Baikal. The common Crane, Br. Zool. App. tab. vi. The Demoifelk, Latham, p. 35, which, with the Indian, are in vaft flocks on the banks of the Ganges ; and finally, I may add the bunch-back, a new fpecies, of large fize, with a black bill and crown, white neck, and all the reft of the body black ; the legs dirty yellow : the flioulders are fo elevated that I give it the name of deformity. Ibis, The white headed Ibis of p. 212 of the firft volume is com- mon ; it is called at Calcutta, Junghil; the pink colored feathers of the tail are there vifed by the ladies as part of their head- drefs. The black headed, Lathatn, vii. 240, is named Butiore, and GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. and is of the fize of a heron. There is a third fpecies of the fame fize, with a long yellow bill, cheeks naked and yellow, wings pale brown, tail black, legs long, and pink colored. To the Snipes may be added the White, Latham^ v. 141, in which, white and grey predominate. The Golden Plover, Br. ZooL ii. N° 208, is found here, from the very arSiic regions. The Indian, Latham, vii. 254, does not exceed the lize of a lark. The Vappi pi Jacana, Latham, vii. 256. tab. cxvii, is a fine bird, as big as a golden pheafant ; the two middle feathers of the tail are of a vaft length, and iaicurvated like thofe of the pheafant. The Flamingo, Latha^n, v. 298, is common on the banks of the Ganges. The knowiege of the gulls and terns of India is a dejidera- turn. The white, vii. 266, is faid to be found there. Among Sir £. Impefs birds I found a very fmall black crowned gull, above of a light afli color, white below", wing white, edged with brown. The Barred-head Goofe, vi. 277, is as large as the common goofe, with a bright yellow bill; head, throat, and hind part of the neck white; the back part of the neck marked with two black crefcents ; back and tail fine pale grey, front of the neck black, legs reddifli yellow ; arrives in Bengal in the wet feafon by hundreds, as is fuppofed, from the Thibet mountains ; refts on the corn fields in the upper part of the country, and is very deftrud:ive to the grain ; its flefli efteemed; departs at approach of fummer. The 159 i6o GA NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. The Grey-headed Goofe, vi. 458, is the elegant fpecics com- mon alfo to JJ'rica. The cheeks of the male are white. The Pink-headed Duck, vii. tab. cix. has its bill, head, and part of the neck of a fine pink color ; the whole plumage be- fides of a deep chocolate color. Is feldom feen in flocks, ufually in i^airs, is domefticated for the table. I MET in Sir E. Impefs cabinet, a white-headed duck. The Falcated Duck, vi. 516, is fuppofed to migrate to thefe parts from the Mxjngolian deferts. The Englijh Garganey, Er. Zool. ii. N° 289, migrates into Bengal. Little doubt is there but numbers of other European water fowl may be met with in thefe watery regions. Pelican. The great white Pelican, — 575, is feen in vaft abundance in thefe parts and all parts of the Ganges, as is the Rofeate,— 579. I am much indebted to Lieutenant Moor for much inil;ru6tive information. I beg leave to repay him a trifle, by telling him, that the tw^o birds which were fliot near Simoga, fee p. 209 of his narrative, are no other than the white Pelican. Pelecanus Onocratalus of Linnaus, and the bird I juft mention. Anhinga. The black-bellied Anbinga, the fame as the Ceylonefe, is common here. I may add to the former account that it fwims quite up to its neck, the body being concealed in the water. Ganges, ITS The Ganges Ihall now be taken into confidcration. — This great river rifes from two ftrearas in the kingdom of Tbibet, in about Lat. 33° 10/6, on the weftern fide of Mount Kentaife. Thefe pafs weftward through two lakes, the Mapana and Lanken. The name the firft ftream is called by in Du Halde, in his map of China, vol. i. is LanktJJjou ; his map may be confulted, as well as Origin. G A N G E T I G H I N D O O S T A N. l6i as that of Tief entailer, in the latter end of M. du Perron's fecond volume, where the fame lakes are given under the names of Manfaroar and Mapana. In refpecl to the fountains themfelves, we owe the little knowlege we have of them to the laudable curiofity of the great Cambi, who, in 17 17, fent fome Lamas to explore them, and bring back fome of its water to Pekin, a journey of twenty-five hundred miles. This difcovery proves that the fountains of the Ganges were many hundred miles far- ther diftant from the limits of Hindoq/lan, than the Europeans imagined, who placed them, on the report of the Hindoos, at the foot of the Mount Himmaleh. The paffage from the origin is through great and rude mountains, and after a long courfe it burfts out through a rock called Gangoutra. It precipitates mofl awfully into a vaft and deep chafm, according to Tiefental- Father Tie- 7 • 1 X 1 IT ,-, /- -r^ . FENTALLER. l^r in about Lat. 33 north, and Long, eaft from Pans 73*. That Reverend Father is the only European who has the honor of having penetrated fo far. The country of eminent men fhould, for its honor, be mentioned. Father 'Tief entailer was born at Bolzano,, in the 'lyrolefe; became of the fociety of ye/us, and pafled feveral years, dating from 1743, as a miflionary in India. This fpot is called the fecond fource of the Ganges, which after a courfe of eight hundred miles from its origin, amidft lofty and favage mountains, efcapes from its long confinement at a place called Hurdzvar, into the vaft and fertile plains of Hindoojlan ; from hence it runs navigable, with an eafy and fmooth courfe of thirteen hundred and fifty miles, through the immenfe plains till it reaches the fea. Pliny feems to have a better account of the Pliny's Ac- count OF. courfe of the Ganges than we are willing to allow. His dcfcnp- VoL. II. Y tion i62 G A N G E T I G H I N D O O S T A N. tion does exadly correfpond with the truth. He defcribes its furious courle from its fountains, and the noife it makes at its cataracts, its Gangcutras^ and its placid paffage along the plains after it has efcaped from its confinement. ' Alii (dicunt) cum * magno fragore ipfius fl:ati;n fontis erumpere, dejedtumque < per fcopulofa et abrupta, ubi primum molles planities con- * tingat, ubi lenem fluere, &c. &:c *.' Certain later communications from the ingenious Mr. Da- jiiell, occafion fome deviations in defcription of its firft courfes from the two heads : that from the more northern runs almoft Latac. due welf above two hundred miles as far as Latac, a fortrefs in little Thibet) placed on the fummit of a lofty mountain, the re- fidence of its Rajah ; his territories border on CaJJjmer, and are about thirty or forty leagues broad, but produce little except mufk, cryftal, and wool, backed with a range of mountains cloathed with fnow, inhabited by mufks, Hiji. ^ad. i. N" 124, Quadrupeds j^j^j other quadrupeds of fnowy regions, fuch as the Argali, or Wild Sheep, p. 44. H. The Ibex, — N° 15 ; the Caucafan Goat,— ]M° 16 ; the Chamois^ — N° 20; and thie Beart — N" 20S ; and pof- fibly many other hardy animals which can bear the cold of thefe exalted regions. I find the fame among the more fouth- ern chains of Imau5\ and alfo the fineft falcons, highly valued on the warm plains of Bengal^ the feat of the gay antelopes, and other objedls of game of thefe noble and generous birds. Desert of An immenfe defert, little known, originates immediately to Gobi. the north of the fountains of the Ganges ; I may fay to that of * Lib. vi. c. xviii. the G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 163 the Indus, in about Lat. 37° 30' ; its coiirfe is north-eafternly be- t^veen Long. 74° 45', and 105° ealt, bounding or dividing part of HindooJIan, Thibet, weftern Tartary, Tangitt, and the Monguls, and ends in Lat. 49* 20', at the lake Dalay fior, in Cbineje Tartary ; the whole extent is not lefs than two thoufand three hundred and ninety-feven miles. It is named the Gobi, and by the Chi- vefe, Sbamo and Han Kai. It confifls of fands imftable and tremendous as thofe of Arabia, which would be impaffable had not nature placed acrofs them, at very remote diftances, three chains of hills, or narrow tradts of folid ground, the roads which travellers muft take ; and amidft this ocean were plea- fant vallies, entirely infulated by the fand. Occafionally, in the middle ages, thefe roads were the paffage which merchants took, either from the countries bordering on the Cafpian fea, or from Europe itfelf, as their bufinefs might call them through Tartary and Bucbaria into India, or the diftant China. As the traveller in antient times advanced as far eaftward in the great " "Tartarian as the defert of Lop, the terrible fcenery laid hold of Desert their fancies ; they were terrified with the delulion of daemons which haunt thefe dreadful deferts : they imagined themfelves to be called by their names by voices familiar to them, till they were brought to the edge of fome precipice ; or at times they were recreated with the found of aerial mufic. Thefe romances reached Europe, when our Milton, fond of that fpecies of read- ing, fell in with our authority Marco Polo *, he adopted this relation, which he put into the mouth of the lady in Comas, * See his voyages in Bergeron's collection, p. 35. Purchas, Pilgrims, iii. p. 75. y 2 when, i64 G A N G £ T I C H I N D O O S T A N. when, like the antient travellers, flie was benighted and bewil- dered on her way : A thoufand fantafies Begin to throng into my memory Of calling iliapes, and beclc'ning iliadows dire And aery tongues, that fyllable men's names On lands and fliores, and defert wildernefles. Two Streams OF THE Ganges. SiRINAGUK, Glaciekks. To return : — A little beyond Latac^ the river fuddenly bends towards the fouth-eaft, and after near a hundred miles courfe receives the branch of the Ga?tges which flows from the lake Lanken : the courfe ftill continues inclining to the eaft ; it pafles through a gap in the Himmaleh chain, which forms the Gan- gout r a juft mentioned ; this word fignifies a cafcade of the Ganga or Ganges. The river from hence is called the Baghyretty ; it pafles along the w^eftern. foot of the great chain, through the fertile Kajabpip of Sirinagur, environed with lofty wooded moun- tains ; the trees very large, on this fide covered with thofe of the country only ; on the other with European trees, fuch as oak, walnut, cherry, peach, rafpberry. Sec. &c. Many of the hills are very high, of a fugar-loaf fhape, covered with a fmooth and verdant turf, and have a flatted top; they rife to a great height one above the other, and are crowned on the fummit of each with a village. From the fummit Mr. Daniell faw the Glacieres of India, which made a moft majeftic and awful ap- pearance even at the diftance of a hundred and fifty miles. The ice rifes often into lofty fpires on the grandeft of fcales ; 4 the G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 165 the light fides were ftained in the moft elegant manner with a rofeate color. Another great river, called the Ahicmundra^\s\\\Q\\. rifes far amidft the mountains of Thibet, joins the Baghyretty* at Dcuprag. Here Mr. Rennely on the authority of Mr. Daniell, places a middle Gangoutra. A few miles below the city of Si- rinagur it alTumes the name of Ganges^ and retains it the reft of its courfe : it flows through the remainder of Sirinagur to Hurdzvar, where it rullies through another Gaiigoutra, through a gap in the Sewalic chain, unheard of before, till pointed out to us by the inveftigation of Mr. Danie/l : As to the Ahicmun- dra, he reprefents it as a river confined through a rocky chan- nel only a hundred yards wide, and of immenfe rapidity, and crolTed by rope bridges of peculiar conftrudions. Mr. DanieWs travels in this part of Hindoojlan were attended with great difficulties, but with all the pleafure that muft attend the elegant mind of the fine artift. In this part of his journey he croflTed the Ganges, in about Lat. 28° 30', to Sumbrul-, eafterly to Barwiaghiir, Afulghur, Nejigabad, and the Hurdwar ; from thence he returned through the foreft at the foot of the Sezvalic movmtains to Loldong, continued his arduous route to Condawar Ghaut, entered the pafs there, and made a fix day's journey over the mountains to Sirinagur. What a feafi: may the public expe6l of intellectual and vifual entertainment from the pro- du(5lion of a pencil, of which they have had already a tafte fo fully fatisfaitory. Hurdwar is feated to the weft fouth-weft of Sirinagur, amj.dft Hurdwar. moft piiturefque mountains of conic form. I have feen a drawing taken on the fpot : it is the great refort of the Hindoos, who flatter themfelves that it is the fource of their venerated ftream. j66 G a N G E T I C H I N D O O S T a N. Streights of ftream. The gorge into the mountain is called the llreights of Kupe/i, The bloody tyrant, Tamerlane, in his invaiion of India in 1399, could boaft of penetrating farther than any invader ever did before. Here he found great numbers of Hindoos, probably retired to this facred place ; they difperfed at his ap- proach, fled into the woods, were purfued and maflacred without mercy, according to the cruel fpirit of Mahometlfni, ever exerted againft thofe who differed from them in reli- gious matters. Cow's Mouth. The hiftorian of Tamerlane mentions a place, fifteen miles above thefe ftreights, diftinguiflied by the fculpture of a cow, the animal fo highly venerated by the Hindoos, and to which they refort even to this day in great numbers. The barbarian found great crowds of thefe innocent people when he was there : he attacked them, but met with a feeble refiflance, fo that multitudes fell viilims to his cruelty. The upper Gangoiitra was once fuppofed to have been the famous cavern called the Co'-jo's Mouth, but the opinion is now laid afide : this was like the rock near which Tamerlane commit- ted one of his mafTacres, and was likewife their great refort. A cavern of this name, and flill greatly frequented, certainly exiils. It was vifited by Father Tiefentaller, yet by the medium of Mr. Rennel, through the channel of Mr. Daniell, we learn no more than that it may he in a north or north-by-weft diredion from Hurdwar. Into the Ganges flow multitudes of great rivers from each fide, which give a matchlefs inland navigation. It receives in its courfe through the plains eleven rivers, fome of which are equal in fize to the Rhine, and none lefTer than the Thames : it maintains thirty G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 167 thirty thoufand boatmen, by their carriage of fait and food for ten milHons of people in Bengal and its dependencies, which occafions a vaft expenditure ; add to this the exports and imports, the common interchange of divers articles within its limits, its fiflieries, and its travellers, which do all together oc- calion annually an expenditure of two millions of money. I SHALL not detain my reader any longer than to fay that there are certain tracfts of land which require lefs moiiUire than others from the nature of their production ; thefe are defended from the inundations by vaft dikes, they in various places ex- Vast Dikes, tend a thoufand miles, if united, and are kept up at an enor- mous expence. One branch of the Ganges is thus confined for the extent of feventy miles, and of the breadth of the Thames near Batterjea ; fo that when the river is full, palTengers look down on each fide as from a lofty eminence into the fubjacent country. Just before the rains fet in, which is about the middle of AnnualFioods. July-i the waters of the Ganges begin to increafe, occafioned by the fnow on the tops of the hills from w'hence the river ifiTues (above thirteen hundred miles from the fea) being melted by the fun ; as foon as the rains commence it hourly fwells, pouring with the moft impetuous velocity, and the river has the appearance of a fea, and in fome parts, where there happen to be rocks or very high hills on each fide pretty near the river, the water being there pent up, it rifes to a prodigious height, and the current is fo ftrong and rapid, that it is hardly polTible for any boat to ftem it. After about two months, when the violence of the rain be- gins l68 G A N G E T 1 C H I N D O O S T A N. gins to fubfide, the water falls almoft as fuddenly as it arofe, and that which was of late one entire flieet of water, except perhaps fome tops of trees, now appears to be a fertile country, covered with woods, corn fields, and other plantations, and the different arms which the river branches into, form many little iflands, which in the rainy feafon one has no idea of. Some of thefe little iflands produce three and four crops yearly ; rice, which grows only when it is covered with water ; after that corn ; then water melons, Szc. Current. In the dry feafon the current is very flow, not above three miles an hour, in the wet feafon from five to eight ; the defcent is only four inches in a mile. In the time of the inundations, the veffels fail in all directions as over a vaft inland fea : the dangers of voyaging is very great, either from the fierce eddies occafloned by other rivers difcharging themfelves into the Ga}2ges, or, in the low feafon, by the falling in of great frag- ments of the banks, or by the flriking on trees funk beneath the furface of the water, which often occafion mofl fatal acci- dents. The Indus at one extremity reaches the fea after a courfe of a thoufand miles, the Ganges after a courfe of two thoufand one hundred and fifty, yet their courfe is exceeded by fome of the Sibirian rivers. The length of the Oby, moft part of which is navigable, is two thoufand two hundred miles ; that of the Lena two thoufand five hundred and fifty : thefe are forced northward into the Icy Sea by the Altaic chain, which forms a right angle near the fouthern end of the UraUian chain, and, with their various branches, extend to the northern parts of the GANGETIC HINDOOS TAN. 169 the empire of China, leaving to the fouth the vaft extent of Tartary. The firft province we enter on after pafline; Hurdwar is that Province of ^ f S ROHIILA. of Rohilla. It feems to be governed by Reguli. It is poffefled by the pofterity of certain Afgans, who quitted their native feats among the Kumaoon mountains, and defcended to this country in 1673, to feek their fortunes. Firft, Daood diftin- guifhed himfelf by his valour : but was cut oflf by the barbarity of a chieftain whom he had lifted under. His fon, AUee Mahum- med, fucceeded to his high qualities, which, after various fuc- cefles, enabled him to eftablilli a new ftate. He left children, and over them appointed guardians : by their valour and pru- dence they extended their dominion, particularly by the con- queft o^ xhQ Rajah oi Ferrochabad, by whom they were unjuftly attacked ; they added his territories to theirs. They had a large part in the bloody battle of Paniput, hereafter to be mentioned. "They afterwards allied themfelves with S'jjab ul Doivlah, Nabob of Oicde, fo far as to ftipulate to pay him forty lacks of rupees for protedling them, in 1773, from an invafion of the Mabrattas, by permitting a Briti/Jj brigade in his pay to march \mder Sir Robe?-t Barker againft them, who drove them over the Ganges ; but as foon as the Robillas found themfelves in fafety, they evaded payment, and we affifted the Nabob to make a conqueft of the country. This brought on the celebrated Rohilla war in 1774, which was carried on by Lieutenant Colonel Champion, and foon concluded by his decifive victory at Kutterah^K The terms of agreement were fettled by the treaty of Lol- * Hamilton's Hid. of the Rohillas, p. 231. Vol. II. . Z do7ig, 170 G A N G E T I C n I N D O O S T A N. Bloody ATTACK ON THE English. dong, a town on the eaiiern fide of the river juft within their territory. We added to the Nabobfhip of Oude the province of Rohulcinid, but baniflied to the wefl: fide of the Ganges, about feventeen or eighteen thouland men and their families, the moit rebelUous of the nation. This war was reprefented at home in the moit infamous hght, that for the agorandizement or the pleafure of an ally, " the whole nation, with inconfider- *' able exceptions, was flaughtered anch baniflied ; the country " was laid wafle v>ith fire and fword, and that land, ditlinguiflied " above mod others by the chearful face of paternal govern- " ment, -xwA protected labour, the chofen feat of cidtivaticn and " plenty, is now throughout a dreary defer t^ covered with ruflies " and briars, and jungles full of wild beafts I ! ! *" Let me add, we got an increafe of fubfidy to the conquering .brigade, and the dilfrict of Benares for the Company, of the yearly income of two hundred and forty thoufand pounds. As to the brigade it is to over-awe the neighboring itate, and more than probable to keep in order our nominal ally, but real fub- jet^. This for a time may enable us to fupport our unhappy boaft of having a territory from the ftreights of Kupeli to the mouth of the Ganges, reckoning along its windings a courfe of thirteen hundred and fifty miles. Sumbul, Anopcbine^ and Bn- dayooHf are places diftinguiflied by capital letters on the banks of the Ganges^ but their hiflory is not given. Furruckabad is another capital of a fmall diftridt, feated alfo on the Ganges^ be- longing to a Robilla chief. In 1794, tliefe favage clans arofe with all their native ferocity.. 1 imagine the caufe to have been a feudal quarrel between the « Same p. p. 252, 268. chieftain G A N G E T I G H I N D O O S T A N. 171 chieftain of Ramporey and fome clamant on his title. General Abeycrombie commanded in thofe parts. On November 25th, a bloody adtion took place ; our whole line was fet in motion : the charge of the enemy was mod daring and gallant ; it could not be furpaffed ; both lines met and intermingled ; the bay- onet prevaled, and our army purfued the enemy acrofs the Doojure Millach. The Rohillas were twenty-five thoufand in number : the charge of the enemy was peculiarly fingular ; they formed in a line infinitely beyond the extent of ours, in deep wedges, fuppofed to be fifty deep : when both lines came within about five hundred yards, Golaum's people fcattered individually, approached in that extraordinary manner, and contefted the point with our bayonets : they appeared to defxHfe our mufquetry, and upon every difcharge of artillery embraced the ground, initantly rifing and advancing to the charge. Their arms were fpears, match-locks, and fwords, which latter they employed with deftru6tive efFe6t; and their attack, as by uni- verfal confent, was called the Highland charge. The flaughter on both fides was dreadful ; that of the EngliJJj moft uncom- mon : befides privates we loft one colonel, one major, two cap- tains, and nine lieutenants, and had eleven officers wounded ; a proportion far beyond what ever w^as known in engagements with undifciplined favages *. Canoge is at prelent a middle fized town on the weit fide of Can-oge. the Ganges^ in Lat. 27' 3', and in the great Naboblliip of Oude^ feated at the jun6tion with the Calini or Callynuddi. The city may have been the Calinlpaxa of Pliny. It is a place of great * Calcutta Gazette. — Golaum was one of the chieftains. Z 2, reputed 172 GANGETIG IlINDOOSTAN. The Jumn'a. reputed antiquity, being faid by FeriJJjta, i. p. p. 9. 16, to have been the capital of Hindoojlan, "nder the father of the Pona who was conquered by Alexander, In the lixth century it is reported to have liad thirty thoufand (liops for the famous In- dian chaw the betell, and fixty thoufand bands of muficians and fingers who paid tax to government. A peftilence is fup- poled to have depopulated the place. It is faid to have been the head of an empire. It fubmitted to Mahmood^ in 1018, in his eighteenth expedition. The Indian hiftorians are full of the accounts of its grandeur, extent, and populoufnefs : it is at prefent a town of middhng fize. ylbulfazel^ in the Ayeen, \\. Y). 47, lays no more of its ftate, than that it was in antient times the capital of HindooJIan, I SHALL no'-' quit for a time the Ganges y and crofs north- weftward the fpace between that river and the Jumna. The laft was the Jomanes of ?liny^ and the fuppofed Erranaboas of Arrian, Rerum Indie ^ i. p. 514. It is the firit great river that contributes to augment the Ganges : it rifes in Lat..32% in the RajahJJjip of Sirinagur, about eighty miles fouth-weft of Gaji- goutra, and pafTes through the gorges of the mountains, in about Lat. 30% near Schaiirampour. Between Lat. 29* and Lat. 30% in the province of Sirhiad, near the weftern banks of Paniput. the Jtimna, are the famous plains of Paniput and Carnaivl, celebrated for the frequent battles fought on their wide ex- panfe : three are on record ; the firft is related in the fublime Battle of the poem. The Marabbarat, which confifts of two hundred thou- fand lines, compofed by the learned Brahmin, Krijlma Dmy- payen Veias, painting the great deeds of the heroes of the :. time. Barabharat. G A N G E T I G H I N D O O S T A N. 173 fime *. Vidtory gave to Arjoon^ the favorite of the god Vijhnou^ the empire oi Bbaratvir/Jy, or Hindoojlan. It was fought in the days of Lamecb \ a learned friend will contend with me that it mufthave happened towards the latter end of the firft century of Methufakm^ Amio Mundi^ 793, The poem was preferved in the znk, and delivered about three thoufand years after its compo- fition, through all the changes and chances of that vaft period, to be tranilated from the Sajtfirit into the EngliJJj tongue, for the benefit of the prefent curious generation.. The fccond battle was at a vaft interval. The famous Kouli Battle of Khan, after croffing the I'ndus at Attocky pitched his- camp on the plain of Carnazvl, on February nth, 1739, o" his march towards Delbi^ to depofe that weak monarch Mahomed Sbab. The emperor pitched his fplendid camp on the fame plain : a battle took place on the next day. The Mogul brought into the field two hundred thoufand horfe and foot. Kouli Khan fought with fifty thoufand horfe, brave and hardy troops. Vidlory quickly decided in his favor. On his fide only two thoiifand five hun- dred were killed, on that of the Mogul feventeen thoufand. Above twenty thoufand more were mafllacred in the furrounding towns and villages three days after. This decided the fate of the empire, which, after the reigns of three more imbecil mo- narchs, was intirely dilToived, and divided among the moft pow- erful Soiibabders. The third battle was on the adjacent plains of Paniput, Or Panipvt. The MabrattaSf ambitious of making all Hindoojlan their tribu- * Ayeen, ii, p, i!j. taries. 174 GANGETICHINDOOSTAN. taries, affenibled a valt army, and took the ufual route of in- vaders, and reached thefe famous fields. It feems to have been a confederacy of Hindoos againft the Mahometan powers. The great Abdalla, or Ab'med Sbab, headed the latter. It is faid that the army of the former confifted of two hundred thoufand men^ of the latter a hundred and fifty thoufand. The battle was fought with uncommon obilinacy. Victory declared for the Mahometans*. The Mabrattas loft fifty thoufand men, and were fo weakened by this fatal defeat, as from that time vifibly to decline in their confequence. Cantals of In about the year 1359, that ufeful prince, Fcrofe III, cut a canal near the northern hills irom the Jumna to his royal hunting palace of Sufedon, about twenty miles weft by weft of Paniput, to fupply it with water. It was fixty miles in length, and paffed over the plains of Carnawl. Not long after, he founded the city and caftle of Hijfar, about eighty miles diftant, due weft of Faniput. His new city was feated in a fandy de- fert on the way from Perjia to Delhi, fo that the travellers were often greatly diftrefled for water. By the perfuafion of a Dervijhi who had predided his acceflion to the throne, he con- tinued the canal from Sufedon to HiJJar, an extent of a hundred and fourteen miles. He again cut a canal from the river Setlege to Hijjcir Ferofebad, to extend the comforts of the travellers. Its length was a hundred miles : Its mouth was fuppofed to have been at the conflux of the Beyah with the Setlege. Thefe imperial works were taken up again by Shab Jehan, who not * See a moft circumftantlal account of this battle in the Afiatic Refearchcs, iii. p. p. 91. 139. only GA NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. 175 only repaired and deanfed that part of the canal between the hills and Sufedon, but continued it by a new cut to Delbi^ over the plains of Paniput*. I refer the reader to p. 42 of my firft volume, for the account of the canal in the province oi Labor. Sevexty-two miles below Panipiit, on the weft fide of the Delhi. river, ftands the once famed city of BeWi^ in Lat. 28'' 57'. The fpace between the Jumna and the Ganges, as far as their junc- tion at Allahabad, a length of near five hundred mile?, is called the Dooab, a name common to lin:iilar trails : it anfwers to the The Doae. claffical Inter amna and Intcramnatcs. It is pretended that Delbi was built by one Delu three hundred years before Cbrijl\ we First City. will fpeak with more certainty, when we fay from Feri/Jjta, i. 156, that it was firft made a royal refidence in the year 1200, by Cuttub ul d'lei^ abiek, who, from the ftate of a flave, raifcd him- felf to the SultanJIoip ; and in that year conquered the province of Delhi, before that time governed by a Rajah. The Ayeen Akberry fays its more antient name was Inderput. The city be- came the capital of the empire, but it rofe or fell to decay ac- cording as it was honored with the prefence of majefty, or de- ferted by the court. Thus we find thofe travellers mention it as a moft miferable and ruinous place, w'ho have happened to vifit it at the time of its defertion. It is faid that the prefent Delhi had been preceded by two other cities of this name, near to each other; the firft, as old as the time of Porus. The Indian tradition is, that it had fifty- two gates. The fecond was built by Mirz-a Baber, a defcendant Second. ••Confult the Ayeen, ii. p. 107. Dow's Feriihta, i. 366, and Mr. Rennel, p. p. 72, 73. of i-6 G AN GET I C H I N D O O S T A N. of Tamerlane^ who, in 1525, marched from his territories above Ccibiil, and made a conqiieft of this countrv. It was then ornamented with numbers of fepnlchres of the Pat an kings and religious perfons. The Ayeen gives the name of feveral. There was alfo a very fine ox\& ol Humayon, father oi Akbar. We find from the fame authority that it was cuftomary for the living -princes to build for themfclves maufoleums in the midft of pleafant gardens. Thir». The third city is the prefent, built by Shah Jeban, w^ho came to the throne in 1628. It rofe out of the ruins of the preced- ing, and was named by the vanity of the Emperor Sbabjehana- bad : he built a magnificent palace included within a fortrefs ; they were made of a brick of a fine red, and a ftone like marble, of the fame color, and form a moft gay appearance. The length of the city is built parallel to the fides of the river, the reft is furrounded by a weak brick wall. There are befides feveral magnificent houfes belonging to the great men ; the reft of the buildings are mean, made either with frames of bamboo, or cottages of mud, which dries into hardnefs in the hot feafon. The exaggerated accounts of the Indians make the city contain two millions of inhabitants, a thing impoflible, as the exadl Bernier makes its circuit only nine miles. When the court quits Delhi, even on a progrefs, it feems depopulated ; of fuch multitudes does the imperial train, and thofe of the great men confift. Abulfazel barely mentions the magnificent buildings in the feveral Delhis. The inqutfitive Bernier fpeaks of others : both thefe authors tell us that they were fecured within forts ; pof- fibly G A N G E T I C II I N D O O S T A N. 177 fibly the laft was within the raoft fplendid, but being brought in the character of a phyfician to a lady in the imperial feraglio, he was led blindfolded. He indeed fpeaks of a magnificent mofque, with a gate oppofite to each front. This I guefs to have been the Jummah Musjidf or Friday Mofque ; becaufe, fays The Jummak Mr. Danieli, it is ufed only on that day. He gives in the firfl: "^■''°* plate a view of the gate, and in his twenty-fecond of the mofque itfelf. The materials of this fine edifice are alraoil entirely white marble, bordered with red flone. The facade has in the centre a gateway, with a colonnade of a double row of piiiaf S, and exteriorly, pointed arches with fcoiioped fides. Two lofty mi- narets terminate the front, fluted ; and the fluting and rifing interventions alternate red ftones and white marble. Each mi- naret is furrounded with three equidiflant galleries. Beyond the faqade is the mofque, with three grand domes entirely of white marble, and ribbed from the apex to the bafe. This Mr. Daniell juftly obferves may be reckoned in the firft clafs of Mahometan architecture. He attributes the building to Sbab Jeban. The gate is, of its kind, the molt elegant, and has on each fide a beautiful colonnade, each of which terminates with a light open pavillion covered by a dome, forming near two thirds of a circle ; what adds to the grandeur of this gate is, it is elevated far above the ground, and to be afcended to by two magnificent flights of fteps. — In Mr. Bamell\ thirteenth plate is a part of the forr, faid to have been built by Sheer Shah. Kear Ferofe Shah's Cotil/a, N* VII. are fome antient build- ings, circular and plain, but not inelegant. That in the front has a flat roof fupported by pillars, and on it another, with Vol. II. A a pillars 173 G A N G E T I C n I N D O O S T A N. Cotsea-Bauc. Massacre by TaM£RLANE. ^ECO^'D BY KouLi Khan. pillars holding up the fummir. In the back ground is a fquare periftyle of fquare pillars, fupporting a dome ; other build- ings in view are round and plain. 'Numbers of fouterrains appear with entrances through pointed arches. Cotfea-Baug, N° III. is a moft magnificent palace, built on the banks of the Junma, in the reign of Akbar^ by a lady of the name of Cotfea ; Baug fignifies a garden. It has a moft exten- five front, with three rows of falfe windows, with pointed arch^es within each ; at each end is a beautiful angular pavil- lion, with winJj::: ^^ ^'"^"" '^^^^■^' "^°^ beautifully made of what I may call ftone fillagree : tke ::;;:.'' ^^indows are bow. Debli twice underwent the moft horrid malTacres. One \?. -f^f^s- in the time oi MabmoodWl. whe^ it was entered by the Tartar Tamerlane. A party of his troops had been before fent to occupy the city, deferted by the emperor. A dreadful fcene commenced : the Hindoos, to prevent the pollution of their wives and daugh- ters, and themfelves from every fpecies of infult, firft fhut the city gates, fet fire to their houfes, murthered their wives and children, and then rufhed in defperation againft the enemy. The gates w'ere forced, a general ilaughter enfued, and the ftreets rendered impalTable by the heaps of flain» In oar days, in the reign of Mahomed Sbab, a feeond mafTacre took place, not lefs terrible. When Kouli Khan entered the city in triumph, a ftiot was fired at him from one of the houfes,. which killed an of&cer by his fide. The fignal of Ilaughter was given, and a himdred and forty thoufand people periflied by the troops of the unrelenting tyrant in the fpace of three days. The city was plundered, and the emperor left a prey to his great men. His dominions fell to pieces, divided among his viceroys, >< who GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 179 who left to him the empty ftate. He lived to the vear 1747. The death of his faithful Vifier Cummir til dien, on whom he placed the fulleit confidence amidft all his misfortunes, put an end to his exiftence. On hearing of the account he fell into a fwoon, and expired fitting on his throne. Dehli, in 1756, was yet fated to undergo a third calamity. PtuNOERED et Abdalla. The reign of Allumguire II. was ufliered in with the plundering of the capital. Abdalla^ l^i"g of Candabar, juftly incenfed at the perfidy of the Vifier^ marched to Debli, eftablifhed himfelf in the citadel like Kouli Kban^ and notwithftanding he was re- ceived by the poor Mogul as a royal gueft, he gave the city to be facked by the mercilefs Afghans, Every excefs was committed ; terror pervaded the inhabitants, and multitudes fell filicides to their apprehenfions. Abdullah fent part of his army into the Dooab of the Jwnna and Ganges to glean after the harvefi: of Nadir, and to lay fiege to Agra, but he was compelled to recal his troops, then attacked by the peftilence. In Debli, in 1788, were exercifed the unheard-of barbarities Shah Alum. on the unhappy Shab Alum, the laft of the Mogul emperors, de- fi;ribed in the prophetic vifion in p. 57, by the Robilla favage Golawm Kauder. The prince, the pageant of every fuccefsfnl party, was feized by that ruffian, and, probably through private revenge for paft injuries, he here fufFered from him the moft horrible effects of his malice. The villain was afterwards feized by Madajee Sindia, the great Mabratta chieftain, and under- went punifliment due to his deferts. His nofe, ears, arms, and legs were cut off, and in that condition fent to Sbah Alum, at Debli, but he died by the way. The wretched emperor be- A a 2 came i8o G A N G E T I C H I N D O S T A N. Pagodas of BlNDRABANJ). ACRA> came a penfionei' to his avenger, and is, I believe, living to this day. In the way to Agra, on the weft lide of the Jumna, are the beautifiil and fingular Pagodas of Bindraba77d, They are of the fame form as thofc at Jagrenaut, but the oiitfide moft ele- gantly fculptured ; certain carved ribs go equidiftant from top to bottom, and between them the furface is divided into fmalt fquares prettily filled with rofettes. There are two of theft; buildings given in the fame plate^ the thirteenth by the match^- lefe pencil of Mr. DanielL Matura, the old Mehtrab, Ayeen, ii. 47, and the Myrthe taken by Tamerlane^ is at a fmall diftance from thefe Pagodas ; proba^ bly they belonged to it, as Abulfazel fays it hatl many idolatrous temples to which the Hindoos refort. The piety of the peoi^k of Myrthe might incenfe tlie favage zeal of 'Tamerlatu againft them,, for his hiflorian, ii. p. 71, fays, that in taking the place he caufed all the male inhabitants to be flayed alive. Y'ROM Ds/bi to Agra is a hundred and feventeen miles. Tra- vellers fpeak in the higheft: terms of the magnificence of this city, which was firft made the imperial refidence by Sulla?t Secunder, about the year (fays Ferijbta, ii. 68). 1488, who em^ belliftied it in the moft fplendid manner. Before that time he- lived at Bianay a magnificent city, which foon after fell into decay on the rife of Agra. The magnificent ruins, vv'ith vaft vaults or caverns, were to be feen in the days of the author of the Ayeen, ii. p. 46. It was famed for its fine fugar, its Indigo, and Henna, or dye, with which the ladies of India color the palms of their hands and Coles of their feet. The empei-or Akhar G A NOETIC HINI>OOSTAN. iSi Akbar added greatly to the fplendor of^^ra, and built a fine cita- del of red free-flone. The author of the ^yeen fays it had, in his time, five hundred flone buildings in the moft elegant tafte, in the Bengal) Guzcrat, and other ftyles,, and decorated with the moft beautiful paintings. Aibufazel was born near this city, and boafts of the tombs of his anceftors in the mofques of the place. The once fplendid Agj-a is now ruinous. Mr. V/illiam Hodges, who accompanied Captain Cook in his fecond voyage round th-e world, and whole drawings are fuch ornaments to the narrativei- vifited Bengal in 1780, and continued there till the year 1783^ He publilhed, in aqtm tint ay views on the Ganges and Jumna ^ Among them is one of the ruins of Jgra, waflied by the. Jumna, and another of its fort. Mr. Hodges fettled during fome years in London, and continued unrivalled the firft land- fcape painter in our capital; his ideas highly-improved by the variety of great fcenery he has had opportunity of contempLu- ing ; all which appears evident in his performances, Agra, and the neighboring village Secundra, are juftly cele- Mausol-eum on brated for their wonderful Maujoleums ; that of Akbar at Agra, eredted by his fon Jebangir, of which Mr. Hodges gives two views, in vol. ii. tab. XV and XVI-, with feveral of the attendant" buildings of thefe imperial follies, with their mofques^ their? Choultries, and paviilions, and refidences of the Mollahs and holy- men, who at ftated times performed the lacred officesi The Maufoleum itfelf is fquare, fiat roofed, and ornamented with- feveral cupolas and minarets. In a large print publifhed fepa— mtely by Mr. Hodges, is a view of the gateway, a vaft pile. On< fev-er.y. Akbar. O A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. -every fide are two rows of magnificent arches, enriched with moft magnificent fcnlpture, or beautifully inlaid with marbles of different colors. This is the entrance into a garden of twenty acres, finely planted, and laid out into walks, amidft which arile the various buildings. The minarets and domes of the Maufo- hum are of white marble ; the other parts compofed of marbles of various colors, like the former, inlaid in red flone : fancy muft have been exhaufted in the invention of ornament. In the middle of the Maufoleu^n is a vafl hall, in the middle of which a plain farcophagus of \vhite marble, contains the poor remains of the great emperor, with no other infcription than that of Akbar. I SHALL not, fays the philofophical Bernier^ flay to difcourfe of the monument of Akbar, becaufe whatever beauty is there, is found in a far higher degree in that of Tcijcniabel, or the Crown of the Seraglio, the favorite queen of Sbab Jcban, who eredledthis maufoleum to her honor. She was that extra- ordinary beauty of the Indies, whom he loved fo paffionately, that it is fiid that he never enjoyed any other woman w hile fhe lived, and when flie died he was in danger to die himfelf. Mr. Daniel/, in his eighteenth plate, fully verifies the opinion of Bernier. The gateway is of the moft exquifite workman- ship ; in the centre is a large pointed arch, and within that four leflTer ; on each fide two others one above the other ; the whole front is unfpeakably rich in fculpture, or inlaid work ; the building is fquare, and at each corner an angular tower, orna- mented with fculptured compartments, and on each a moft ele- gant cupola : from the two fides of this building is a long range of G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 183 of cloiflers, with pointed arches; beyond thefe cloifters ap- pears the Maufoleum ; in the center is a magnificent dome, anti at a fmall diftance, on two fides, are two lofty minarets ; the whole is compofed of marble of fnowy whitenefs, brought from Candahar^ fix hundred miles diftant. Tavernier, part ii. p. 50, affirms, that he faw the beginning and completing of this work, with the aflTi (lance of twenty thoufand men always at work^ The allies of the fair Tajamahel are depofited in a white farco- phagus, in a hall beneath the great dome. In Berniey\ time, portions of the Alcoran were continually read with profound refpecSl to the honor of the deceafed. Both- the gardens in which thefe maufolees are built, are inclofed in a lofty wall, with a gallery running round the fummit of each. Bernier and his friend who was with him, agreed in their ad- miration of thefe celeftial gardens, efpecially of the laft, which on one fide was bordered by the magnificent Jumna , and every part embelliflied with fountains, and laid out in a tafte the candid. Frenchman never expedted to find on the plains of Hindoojian, He gives up every comparifon of French elegance, and at length eonfefles " that he does not yet well know whether he is not in- feded ftill with Indiamfm ; but I muft needs fay, but that I be- lieve the I'ajemahel ought to be reckoned amongft the wonders of the world, rather than thofe unfliapen maflTes of the Mgyp" tian pyramids, which I was weary to fee after I had feen them twice, and in which I find I fee nothing without but pieces of great fliones ranged in the form of fteps one upon another, and within, nothing but very little art and invention." To continue the funebrial fubjetft, we may fay, that the two immediate 184 GA NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. immediate fucceffors of the great Akbar were interred in this ^ity. His ionjebangir was depofited in 1627, in a garden near the great Bazar. Mahometans deteft all fculpture or painting, yet the tomb, which is covered with a black hearfe cloth, is belct with portraits with white torches, and the figures of two Jefuits at each end. It is pretended that the fon and fucceflbr, Sbab Jeban, paid them that mark of refpecft, as he and his father had been indebted to the order for their knowlege in mathematics ^nd artrology. Sbab Jeban was buried in this city, in a tomb begun by himfelf, and which an unnatural fon, who could fuffer his parent to die in a fevere and long imprifonment, would never trouble himfelf about completing. Notwithstanding Agra is feated in only Lat. 27% it is fubjecft to fliarp frofts. Mr. Hodges^', when he was there, found the mornings clear and very cold, and frequently fo frofty, that he has feen feveral tanks frozen entirely over ; but in the mid- dle of the day it was generally very hot. In a book newly tranf- lated from the Te?Jian called Mutagberin, or modern times, p. 287, there is mention of a froft at Dehli which lafled three nights, by which brazen velTels filled with water burft. Debit is feated in Lat. 28° 37'. Mr. Hodges'?, account of the effects of froft at Debliy inclines me to believe that of the Indian hifto- rian. Etawa is a village on the north fide of the Ganges, once a oconfiderable town. The Ravines, vaft chafms formed by the rains, which leave on each fide lofty hills truncated on their tops, are etched by Mr. Hodges, vol. ii. tab. III. Various remains of the town appear on the fummits of the clifi's, and even at the » Travels, p. 117. bottom JCTAWA. G A N G E T 1 G H I N D O O S T A N. 185 bottom of the very ravines : As to the pafs, it is reprefented in vol. ii. tab. ii. and exhibits the windings of the Jumna^ bounded by a naked country. The difF is perpendicular, and fo clofe to the water, as to render the march extremely difficult. In the neighborhood oi y^gra are feveral other fine buildings, Fi7.ozeaba&. fuch as a modern tomb, and a long oratory at Fizozeabad, from which the Mollahs explain the Koran to the people. Thefe are in Mr. Hodges, vol. ii. tab. XVIII. ; he has alfo given in the fame vol. tab. XIX. a view of the hunting palace of Sbekoabad, now in ruins, once the delight of Dara Sbeko, one of the unfor- tunate fons of 6'Z'^Z' j''(?y6^;z. I CANNOT help digreffing about fixty miles to the fouth- GwaliorFort, weft of Etawa to Gwalior, a great and ftrong fort, placed on an infulated rock, Hoping like that of Edinburgh ov Sterling into the level country : the one end is a very lofty precipice. Its length is four miles, its breadth unequal ; the top an inclined plain ; the walls and towers fkirt the w^hole edge of the moun- tain. This was a conliderable poft as early as the year 1008, and fo ftrong as feldom to be reduced but by famine : Such was the cafe when it was taken by the emperor y^/Vw;;^ in the year 1231. It had been originally a Droog or Hindoo fortrefs. Thefe fpecies of elevated infulated rocks are frequent features in In- dia ; fiich w^ere thofe which gave Alexander the Great fo much trouble in reducing. This became at laft a ftatc prifon ; many a foul and midnight murder has been committed on captives of royal blood v. ithin its walls. In the neighborhood of this for- Lions near X H AT F O R X trefs, and that of Rboias Gur, are numbers of lions. Thofe who deny that thofe animals were natives of India, aftert, that here Vol. II. B b was jS6 G A N G E T I C Ii I N D O O S T A N. was a royal menagery, and that the breed was propagated from the bealls which had efcaped. I find in Bernier, part iv. p. 48, that Aurengzebe frequently took the diverHon of lion hunting, but cio not learn that the noble animal was ever turned out for the imperial diverlion. The Ayeen Akberry^ ii. 296, re- lates many inftances of the valour of Akbar the Great, in his engagements with this tremendous animal, but is filent whe- ther they had or had not been a;:origines of Hindnojlan. Mr. 'Terry ^ in the vaft forefls utAv Mandoa, fee p. 78, more than once iaw lions, or heard them roaring ; they were alfo frequent about Mahvab ; thefe muit have been their molt fouthernly haunts, as the trail: between Labor and Cacbemere is the m.oil: northerly, where they were the game of Aurengzebe, as related by Bernier. I have never heard of their exceeding the two limits I mention; poffibly they may have been extirpated in other parts of Hindoojlait : certain it is, that it had a Hindoo^ name, that of Smg^ which is no fmall proof of its having been, once fpread over the whole empire, at left as far as climate -». would permit, On the downfal of the Mogul empire^ this fortrefs fell to the fliare of the Mabratta chieftain, Madagee Scindia. In 1779, ^^'^ entered into an alliance againft him. I never endeavour to in- veftigate too nicely the motives of our Hindoojian wars. QqXq- v\t\Popbam was fent againft the fort, which was at that time garrifoned by twelve hundred men : but for an accident, The caftle's flrength Had laugh'd a liege to fcorrio Some G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 187 Some banditti v/ho plundered the country, and made their nightly excurlions roiind the fortrefs, had for the lake of pil- fering made an attempt to find a path up the rock ; they fuc- ceeded, and in the dead of night often got within the walls. This was communicated to Colonel Popham ; he firft fent feme trufty people with one of the thieves ; the pratfticability of fur- prifing the place, notwithftanding the great danger of the at- tempt, was made evident. In the midft of darknefs the rock was fcaled, the parties got lafe up, mounted the walls, and in a few minutes, on AuguJJ 4th, 1780, made themfeives maimers of Gxvalior, impregnable except by the refiftlefs hand of famine. I refer to Mr. 'Jonathan Scott for his very curious account of the wonderful bulinefs. In 1783, Madagee fet down before the place with an army of fevcnty thoufand men ; treachery alone could have given him fuccefs. The place was garrifoned by Indians^ part of whom permitted his entrance on one fide, while an attack w^as made on another, equally ill defended. Mr. Bodges^ in his firft vol. tab. V, VI. gives two fine views of the fortrefs, and at p. 139 of his travels, the account of the capture, from Mr. Scott. Abidfazelt in the Ayeen^ ii. p. 47, fpeaks of the iron mines of G-zvalior., of its fi.ne fingers, and beautiful women ; of the pro- fitable and rich copper w^orks of Beerat^ and a filver mine not worth working ; and of the confiderable manufactures of woollen carpets and glafs at Allore. Calpv, a town on the fouthern banks, about feventy miles Calpv, from Etazia^ is famous, for being the place from which Ge- neral GoDDARD began his ftupendous march acrofs the broadefl B b 2 part i88 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. part of the peninfula into Guzerat *. His is the merited fame, but the Colonel LeJIie, an officer highly credited in America by ovir hero Wolfe^ had the conduit in the early part. A frequent fuccellion of war and peace had long been known between the prefidency of Bombay and the weftern Mahratias, occafioned by the factions in the court of Pocnah. A partial account has been given at p. 93 of my firft volume; the whole is well told in the hiftorical account of Bombay, printed in 178 1. After fome ftrong difputes between the fupreme council at Calcutta, and the governor general, the genius of Mr. HaJIings got th6 better ; and it v^as determined to fend the Bengal brigade on the great defign of croffing the Peninfula, effc6i;u-illy to decide the long reigning difputes. This force has been exaggerated, but it confifttd in the whole of only fix thoufand fix hundred and twenty-four nathe troops, without a fingle European corps, and thofe commanded by a hundred and five European officers. To thefe the author of the JVar in Afia, i. p. 22, adds the firll re- giment of cavalry, all compofed of natives, commanded by Cap- tain Wray, and the fame number of the nabob of Oudes, or Vifier\, Candabar horfe. From the force of cuftom, this little army was followed by a train of very near thirty-two thoufand fervants, futlers, &c. Sec. dreadful plagues to difcipline, and to the mind of an European commander. On April 3d, 1778, part of the firft brigade arrived at Allaha- bad-, and on different days others, with the artillery park, ftores, and treafure, arrived at Corah. LeJlJe joined the troops on the * Authorities for this March arc from the Account of Bombay j and the Journal, ^c. printed for Faclen. TIth G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 189 nth of May\ on the 19th, part of the army made the event- ful paffage over the 'Jumna in boats, covered by twelve two pounders, and two placed on the weftern heights of the river, oppofite to the city and fort of Calpee or Culpee, In this city are numbers of tombs, fays the Ayeen^ ii. p. 47, of great per- fonages; it had its own princes tributary to Debli. Two thou- fand Mahratta horfe made a fliew of oppofition, but were foon difperfed by the artillery. After fome farther flight refiftance, the fort and town, abandoned by the garrifon and inhabitants, fell into our hands. On May the 27th, June 2d and 3d, the whole paffage was efFedted. The commander of the Mahratta force in this part was Gungadur Punty who had orders from Poonab to nfe all his efforts to obilruCt the progrefs of the EngHJJj, in which his brother Ballagee^ who had a diftriift far- ther to the weft, w-as to affift. The march from Culpee w^as attended with the utmoft diffi- culty, through narrow roads, and amidft hillocks of Conkar. Conkar. This fubftance feems to me a genuine lava. The hillocks rife to a confiderable height, are moft rude and irregular, and of moft grotefque appearances, compofed of fcoria, exa5 our army to what Ballagee expeded, that he pUindered fome of his villages, but a threat from Mahomet Cawn put an end to his excefles. From hence the march pointed towards the Nerludda^ fee Nirbuma. vol. i. p. 72. It was made through a difficult country, through numbers of narrow pafTes ; they lead to Hupiabad Ghaut, a long defcent, bounded on each fide by a chain of rude and lofty mountains, conducting to the banks of the famous river. The bottom is fandy, intermixed with rocks, the breadth not exceeding that of the Jumnab at Calpee, the depth at this time only three feet. On January i6th, 1779, the army w^ent to- wards Charkeerah ; the country mofl: of the way covered with grain as far as could be feen, efpecially wheat, the ears of which were juft formed. From the Nerbuddah, at this place, to the province of Berar, was only fourteen miles. The death of Mr. Elliott had fuf- pended the negotiation with the Rajah of Berar. It had httn iliU carried on between him and the Governor General. The high charader of Colonel Goddard had reached the ears of Mocdagee ; he fent a confidential perfon to him: the diftance to Nagpou"/', his reiidence, was too great for the Colonel to go in perfon. He fent there his fecrctary, Mr. IFatber/lon, a gen- tleman of ability and fidelity, fully inftruvSed in the bufinefs he was charged with. The march was continued, and after pafling the Nerbuddah, the army entered the province of Can- deijh at Hurdab, The courfe lay obliquely fouth-weftwardly, to- Hurdah. wards the river "Taptee, vol. i. p. 75, all the way fertile, and ex- ceeding rich in wheat. Near Charwab, Colonel Goddard had in- C c 2 telligence 5^6 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. telligence of the Bombay army; he alfo heard of the unfortunate convention of Worgaum. It was alfo reported, that twenty thoufand Mahratta horfe were affembled to diilurb his march. This determined him to make for Burbampour, a city, I refer the reader for an account of to p. 77, of my firft volume. Asher-Ghur. !><' tiis approach he had a view of Hajfir or A/Jjer-Gbur, an impregnable rock, eompofed of conkar and llone, and vifible twenty miles diftant on every fide ; the rock was like part of the Cape of Good Hope^ table land, and not lefs than a mile in diameter, and of a triangular form. A fmgle bullock can only afcend at a time. It is faid that there is a lake on the top, and a canal the length of the fort, and fpace for the growing of corn, which makes it the moft unconquerable fort in the world.. The garrifon confiils of fifteen hundred men, FeriJJjta, iii. p. 82, fays four thoufand ; he adds, that there was a lake on the top^ and that it was well furniflied with fprings. It was befieged by Sbab Jeban in 1625, when he had a rebellion againft his father Jebangir. He met with a repulfe which obliged him to fubmit to mercy. It is mentioned in. the Jyeen, ii. p. 64^ as a place of vaft ftrength. Grapes. This place is famous for its grapes, which were ripe in Fe- bruary, they were ibid at the rate of a roupee, or half a crown,. the lixteen feer of near a pound weight each. The oranges were very indifferent, the myangos not yet ripe. On the nth of January, CdkinG^ Goddard received the famous letter figned Carnac and Egerton *, diredling him to return • Wars in Afia, i. p. 8i. Account of liengal, p. ^83.. to GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. »197 to Bengal 'y he nobly anfwered, that in obedience to the orders of the fupreme council he was ordered to protect Bombavt and that thofe orders he fhould obey. This he did with incredible celerity and fpirit ; it was through a fine country^ filled with villages and inhabitants. On February 6th, he left Burharn- Goddard ar- rives at SURAT, pour ; and on the 25th, including a halt of two or three days,. he reached Surat ; a march, according to the account of Bom- bay J of near three hundred miles. The fupreme council, to- exprefs their fenfe of his merit, fent him a brevet of brigadier general, and gave him full power of treating with the Mabrat- tab court. No fooner had he arrived at Surat, than he fixed on a healthy fpot for his army, in order to recruit the fatigues of its march. He then fet out for Bombay, to concert with the pre- fidency the plan of the campaign : It would not be refponfible for it, yet agreed to furnifli him with affiflance,. and accord- ingly fupplied him with four companies of Europeans^ and two battalions of Sepoxs, commanded by Colonel Hartley. Goddard returned to Swat, and immediately fet his army in motion, on January ift, 1780. I have, at p. p. 67. 90, of my tirft volume, related his ftorming A7nedabad. Let me here add,- that the gallant Hartley had the condu to- irtS GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. to its relief, but on their way they heard it was taken. They continued fometimes moving towards our army, fometimes ■flackening their- pace ; they feemed to be as Admiral Hawke defcribed the French to have been previous to the adion of November 20th, " afraid to fight, and afhamed to run away." At length they encamped near Broderab, a town and ftrong -fortrefs, the capital and ufual refidence of Futty Si}7g, fixty-nine BritiJJj miles north-eaft of Surat ; their intent was to diftrefs Goddard, by depriving him of forage and provifion : this he -ended by a decifive ftroke on ^pril 3d ; he marched, at two in the morning, with a chofen body and fome artillery, and after going feven miles entered the very centre of their camp^'undif- covered, and began his attack. After a vain and confufed oppo- lition they fled to a neighboring ground, where he renewed the charge, and the whole army, of forty thoufand men, left him -mafter of the whole country. Of his little force he had not more than twenty killed and wounded. Thus was the difgrace of Worgaum moft efFedtually done away. The general returned towards Bombay \ and on December nth, in the fame year, took BaJJein^ the ifle of Salcette, and other places. In 1781, he made an expedition towards Poonab, and trod the fame fteps nearly with thofe taken by Egerton, and his field committee, in 1778, fee p. 95 of my firft volume, oppofed by an army of feventy thoufond men. He was obliged to retreat, but with fuch judg- ment, and with fo little lofs, as to aftonifli the enemy, who, after being frequently repulfed with immenfe flaughter, left him to purfue his march luimolefted. LiM.iTH OF -H£ This celebrated march is eftimated by the author ofxhcJVars Mar<:h. m G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 199 inAfia at fifteen hundred miles. For want of better informa- tion, at p. 67, of my firft volume, I was there led into an error. Unlefs he begins the march of the brigade from a diftant pare of Bengal, it muft be greatly over-rated. I meafured it by the original map which Lady Janies, a near relation of General Goddard'Sy favored me with the ufe of: it there appears to be eight hundred miles from Calpy to Surat. I certainly may give it a far greater length, and fairly, by adding his marches to RaJJein, to Amedabad, to Brodera, to Vizrabuv, and from thence np the Ghauts towards Poonab, attended with glory but not with fuccefs. The feveral marches may add a few hundred miles to the General's military labors, but I rauft confine my eftimate to the march itself, which exceeded eight hundred miles, amidll a hoftile people for a great part of the way, who watched every opportunity of harafling him ; often amidfl • want of provifions, and always under a burning fun, or a de- luging monjoon. In an advance to the defence of his country- men, he had the difficulties of a retreat. What Jufiin applies to that of the Ten Thousand, may, with exadl juftice, be ap- plied to the exertion of. his great abilities in the condudt of his brave legion. " Pott mortem Cyri neque armis vinci, neque *' dolo capi jx>tuerunt, revertentefque inter tot indomitas na- " tionesj et barbaras gentes, pertanta itineris fpatia virtute fe " ufque terminos patriae defenderuiit.'.' After the expedition agaiuft Poonah^ the General returned Generai, re- \<^.Bonibay\ and in "July 1781, prepared a plan of operations for cay. the enfuing campaign, and laid it before the fele6t committee of Bombay, who concurred in the expediency, and fent to the go- vernment l^d® G A N G E T I C HI N-D O O S T A N. vernment of Bengaliov its concurrence: Something preparatory was to be done. Such was the fpirit and zeal of the General, that he failed there in perfon at the moft tempeftuons time of the year '•^■. He effected a meeting witli FuttySing, and obtained from him a body of five thoiifand horfe, and made every difpo- tion for opening the campaign. But new plans were adopted at Bengal, and the General had the mortification to find his own totally fruflrated. In April 1782, he propofed to the feledt committee of Bombay a fecond plan of operations, of great im- portance, and calculated on moderate and limited principles : this met the fame fate as the former. Sails tor Eu- The General continued at Bombav in a declining fiate of *"^^' health, worn out by the fatigues which he endured in his fa- mous march, and in his various campaigns, and agitated perhaps by the mortification he felt at the failure of his plans. His acStive and enterprizing fpirit made him eager to take the field • on every occafion, when the hardfhip to which he expofed himfelf contributed to deftroy a conftitution naturally delicate, and put a premature period to his life. He failed for Europs early in the year 1783. He arrived at Falmouth in a moft weak ftate. The commanding officer at Pendennis Cajlle, happened to be a fellow foldier of his in the Carnatic campaigns, who inftantly removed him into the caftle, and gave his friend every DiE!. relief in his power. All was in vain ; he expired in ten days after his arrival, on 'july 7th, at the early age of thirty-nine, and was interred in a vault at Fltbani \nKent, made by his kinf- * Much of this part is taken from a fcnfible pamphlet, printed for Debrett, 3 J83, entitled, « A retrofpective View, 5cc. of India AfFairs." woman GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. sor woman Lady Janies (a Goddard), for the reception of her de- parted relations. The General was of a refpedtable family in Wilt/hire : he devoted himfelf to a military life at a very early period; he went to Indm at the age of fixteen or feventeen, Charactek, and was employed on every important occafion that occurred, firft on the coaft of Coromande/, under thofe great mailers Coote and Lawrence. He afterwards ferved in Bengal during twenty years ; and had, as has been mentioned, the honor to bring the arduous march acrofs the peninfula to a glorious con- clufion. Few men have quitted life fo high in charadier ; he was brave, generous and difinterefted, and equally as great in the cabinet in planning his deligns, as he was adive and fuccefsfiil in the execution. In a letter to a friend, he exprefles the fol- lowing greatnefs of mind, * I have quitted the diamond mines * without polTeffing myfelf of a trinket, and lliall ufe the fame * conduct throughout the expedition, hopeful of preferving the ' honor of the army, and my own reputation : and what I hold * moft dear, the fame and character of the man "■■■■ which is fo * much connected with the event of my operations!' We now return to Calpy-, and repafs the Jumnah. At Corab Colonel Carnnc, in 1765, gave the final overthrow to the Sujab ul Dowlab. The remnant of his army, difpirited by the defeat at Buxar, fled ; and the Mabrattas, which compofed a part, dif- perfed by our artillery, fecured themfelves beyond the river. From Calpy to Allababad is about a hundred and fifty miles. Moil of the courfe of the Jumna is ied by numbers of rivers on both fides, particularly on the wcftern, which are very ex- * Mr. Haftiiigs. Vol. II. D d tenfive 202 G A NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. AiiAHABAD. Tort. Taken by Sir Robert I'tETCHiR. ten five ftreams, and furnilli an inland navigation far to the fouth-weft. At Allahabad we rejoin the Ganges. I may here obferve (to give the higher importance to the great river) that from its arrival at Hurdwar to this city, its breadth is all the vv^ay from a mile, to that of a mile and a half, and is navigable in every part, notwithilanding it is fordable in a few places above the conflux of the 'Jumna. Allahabad is feated at the jundlion of the two great rivers. It fucceeded another city called Piaug. In this city is a vaft fort, Hodges, vol. i. tab. XX, containing within its precincfls a royal palace of great magnitude, built of ftone, hewn out of rocks bordering on the river, at a vaft diftance from the place. It was founded by Akbar as a place d'armes to command the navigation of both rivers. The unfortunate Shah Alum, after the decided battle of Corah, flung himfelf on the mercy of the Englijlj, and had this palace afligned to him for his refidence> with a fupport out of the revenues of Sujah ul Dowlab, till he broke with us, or we thought proper to break with him. The waters of the Ganges are in every part held facred, but at its junction with the Jumna are thought peculiarly fanftified : The city is therefore called Allahabad, or the City of God. The fltuation is remarkably hot, but at the fame time remarkable for the vaft quantity of provifions, fifh, fowl, wild boars, and the venifon of deer and antelopes. This city was taken by Sir Robert Fletcher in 1764. It was then the capital refidence of Sujah ul Dowlah, but it was refigned to him as foon as we found an advantageous exchange. In re- 3 ipea GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. i03 fpe6l to the fort, it was the firft of a vaft chain of fortreffes, that extended nearly in a line from 'Lahore to Chunar. Giir on the Ganges, all of which were raifed by Akbar, and muft have fe- cured the empire from the confines of Perfia to the borders of Bengal*. Within the fort were ereiled by Akbar two buildings of inimitable elegance, a proof of the perfection of architedture, under the patronage of that great emperor. The Chalees Satoon, 'rHE Chalees o i Satoon. or the fort'9 pillars, is raifed upon arches with pointed tops above the Jumna. Thefe arches fupport a pavilion, octangular in its form, fupported by a periftyle of plain fquare columns and fculptured capitals ; above is a fliort roof, and over that is another periftyle like the former, with a parapetted gallery and walk on the exterior, with a roof over the pillars fimilar to the lower. Between two of the arches are lattice-work doors with open work ; above is a roof, a cupola, and dome. This elegant llruvSture feemed defigned for the retreat of the emperor in the burning feafon, to attraCl every breeze that arofe on the fine current which waflies its bafe. Mr. Daniell has given this in his Vlth plate. Small cazerns, lodgements of guards or domeflics, furround them at fome diftance. In the large flagged area in the Amnabad part of the fort. Rich Pavilion* flands a pavilion of unparalleled elegance, the other fpeci- men of the tafte of Akbar. It flands on a fmall elevation of ftone, M'ith a bend running round the top ; it rifes from that on another, which forms the floor of the building, which is a * Hgdgei's Travels, p. 99. D d 2 fquare 204 GANGETIC HINDOOS TAN. fquare periftyle of columns, with diverging bafes, and capitals curioufly carved ; the cohimns are ribbed, and near their tops dovibly fafciated : within is the apartment of retreat from the heat. On each front are rows of fquare doors, and above each a window obtufely arched. Over the columns in every front hangs a fhort roof, above is a parapet, the lower part moft beautifully carved, and above that worked into matchlefs fil- lagree. At a fraall diilance from this is another fquare low building, with a fliort roof limilar to the former, furmounted with its fillagree parapet ; this furrounds a terrafs for the be- nefit of the cool air. In the centre had been a marble building, which the nabob ftupidly removed to ornament his Hummmn or bath at Oude. At each corner of this terrafs ftands a miniature pavilion, fquare, with the four fides clofed with fillagree of a moft charming pattern ; there is an overhanging roof, the fum- mit rifes fquare, and finilhes into a neat point. This building is certainly the chef d'oeuvre of Indian architedture, an uncom- mon exhibition of fillagree in ftone. The area in which it ftands is protedted with a handfome wall, againft which feem to be cazerns, and over certain parts appear plain edifices, with common bell-fliaped cupolas, fupported by a few plain pillars. Mr. Daniell gw&s this in his Vlllth plate, a mofl delightful proof of his fkill. jviAusotEUM OF In the fame common precin^ infantry being ferried over it without the left interrup- tion. Sultanpour; Sultanpour is the next place of note in afcending the Goomty, fifty-five miles above Jonpour, and ninety-two miles from Sul- LucKNow. -tanpour, ftands Lucknow, of late years made the capital of the province of Oude, inftead of the antient city of that name, being confidered as more central and m.ore commanding fince the conqueft of Robilcund, and is nov/ the refidence of the Nabob. It is extenfive, but meanly built. The walls of the houfes are chiefly mud, covered with thatch, and many entirely confift of mats and bamboos. A few houfes are built of brick; the fi:reets narrow, crooked, and the worft contrived of any of India. In the dry feafon the heat, duft, and infecls, make them intoler- able ; in the wet feafon they are fcarcely paflTable. Yet this was a great city in the time of Abuifazel\ how fmall has been the improvement fince his days. Mr. Hodges, in his travels, has Given GA NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. 217 giv^n a view of the palace of the Nabob, begun by Sujah ul Dozvlah, and continvied by his fucceflbr Ajopb. It is built on an eminence, and commands a fine view of the Goomlyj and the country to the eaft, a plain of five hundred miles, extending as far as Calcutta. We fliall now defcend again to the banks of the Ganges^ to Gazipour. Gazipour, a city on the north fide of the river, twenty miles below Benares. This place is remarkable for a magnificent palace, on a clift impending over the river, built by Fiz ally Cawfit a governor under the late Sujah ul Doivlah^ Nabob of Oude. The feveral edifices left by that tranfient favorite fliew him to have been a man of magnificent tafte. A polygonal tower fi:ands in the river at the bafe of the rock ; above that is a noble pile, fl:anding on an arcade with round arches, fitted for catching the refrefhing breezes. Beneath that, from the very fliore, rifes another part of the palace, confifting of three ftorics, with arches of different architecture, the windows being pointed, fee Mr. Hod'^es, vol. i. tab. VII. Fiz Ally was expelled from his poflTefiions by his mafier ; had he not, this place would have fallen to ruins ; for no fon ever lives in the palace of a de- ceafed father, but builds a new one for his own ufe. This is the caufe of ^o many ruins of magnificent modern founda- tion. Sujah id Dozvlah finifhed his fpirited courfe in 1775. ■ Near this palace is a moll magnificent tomb (Mr. Hodges, Tomb. vol. i. tab. VIII.) founded by Fiz Ally, as a family fepulchre; the centre building is covered with an elegant dome. He was, like the founders of many of the Egyptian pyramids, difap- pointed of his hopes in both of his fplendid piles. Both the Vol. II. , F f monarchs 2i8 G A N G E T I G H I N D O O S T A N. monarchs of Egypt and the Indian prince, built, as Job exprefles it, " defoJate places for themfelves." The pride of Gazipour^ perhaps of the Mahometan religious architecture, is the beautiful mofque (given by Mr. Hodges, vol. ii. tab. VII.). This has domes fingularly fwelling out in their middle ; but the ftriking parts of this building are the lofty turrets, fome of which are compofed of various parts, or- namented with the true Acanthus, the fame appears in the ca- pitals of the pillars of the Corinthian order. I am at a lofs to know the founder of this curious place of devotion. Battle of A FEW miles lower dowu, at the jun(5lion of the Cara7nnajfa BUXAR. with the Ganges, is Buxar, celebrated by the complete victory gained O&ober ^iCi, 1764, by Mz^or He^or Monro, with nine thoufand men, chiefly compofed of Sepoys, over an army of fifty thoufand Indians, colle(5led by Sujab ul Doivlah and his al- lies ; their defeat was attended with the lofs of fix thoufand of their forces, and a hundred and thirty pieces of cannon, and all their tents and ammunition. River Gocra. Aeout eighty miles below Buxar, the Ganges receives into its channel the great river Gogra, or Soorjew, which rifes in Lat. 33°, out of a lake in the kingdom of Thibet, called Lankee Dee, almoft clofe to the head of the Ganges-, from thence it takes a fouthern courfe, pent in betw^een parallel chains of lofty and fnow-capt mountains, burfts through the great chain of the Emodus, and continues its confined paffage, rufliing through another chain parallel to that of Emodus, named the mountains of Kemaoon, till it gains the plains of Oude, and after a courfe of about eight hundred miles is loft in the Ganges, near fifty miles above Patna. For GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. ^19 For want of information I muft defcend many miles down the ftream, before I meet any place remarkable enough to de- tain me. Fyzabad, on its eaftern bank, in Lat. 26" 50', is a vaft Ftzadas. city, and was once the capital of the province of Oiide. The very magnificent palace of the late Sujab ul Dowlah^ Nabob of Oude, is in ruins, fmce he had removed his refidence to Luck- now. The views of Oude and Fyzabad, may be itQn in vol. ii. tab. XIII. XIV. of Mr. Hodges'^ Views. The city of Oide ftands diredily oppofite. The author of the City of Oude. Ayeen Akberry, ii. 41, fays, that it was in his time the largeft city in Hindoojlan ; he mentions it as a place of peculiar fandtity. Feri/Jjta boafts of its exifting two thoufand two years before the chriftian sera. Of later days, after what I may call the fall- ing to pieces of the Mogul empire, it became the refidence of the ufurped fovereign Sujab ul DowIab\ its nabob had his palace here and at Fyzabad, and ornamented both places with his fplendid buildings. Mr. Hodges j in his ift vol. tab. 1. gives a view of what he calls the ruins of old Oude, or of certain pa- laces eredled in the time of the father of Sujab. Let me men- tion, that in the floinifliing time of the Mogul empire, to this Naboblliip was anne.Ked the Ible honor of VisiePv, the title of which is ftill continued to the poffeffor in its fallen days. Abulfazel fpeaks of the trade of thefe cities from its northern Antient neighbors. " From the northern mountains," fays he (in vol. ii. p. 42.) " the principal articles imported are the following, " 'viz, gold, copper, lead, mulk, cow tails, honey, chook, *' (which is an acid made of lime and lemon juice boiled to a *' confiftence), pomegranate feeds, grapes, dried ginger, pepper,- " red wood, tincar, civet, zedoary, wax, woollen cloths, woollen F f a *' ware, 220 GANG E TIC HINDOOSTAN. « ware, and various fpecies of hawks, together with amber, *' rock flilt, affafoetida, and glafs toys. In return they carry *< back earthen ware." In refped: to the ginger, pepper, affafoetida, and zedoary, they are here found in countries more northern than the ufual places of their produdlion ; mufk is a production, and woollen cloths are the manufacStures of Thibet', fo that what- foever wool is worked in India, muft be the exports of thofe climates, and the cow tails are thofe which belong to the fpe- cies I defcribe, vol. i. N* 8, of my Hiflory of Quadrupeds. Let me mention here that Abulfazel fays, that all thefe articles are conveyed on the backs of men, horfes, and goats. River Soane. In defcending the Ganges we pafs by the city of Dynapour, feated at the mouth of the river Soane, the antient Namadus and Sonus, which Mr. d'Anville places in his map as rifing from the Monies Deorum Pden<2. Its origin is very lingular, from a lake, in Lat. 23% Long. 83° 50' W. which gives rife to two great rivers, the SoaJie, which takes an eaflern courfe, and the Ner^ budda, which takes a weftern, and falls into the fea in the gulph of Cambaya, thus infulating a great part of Hindoojlan, flowing in contrary diredions fifteen hundred miles. As to the naviga- tion of the Soane, I have been informed, by an intelligent friend who is acquainted with this river, that it is navigable through the province of Babar, but our knowlege of it extends no farther. Mausoleum at At Moiicab, at the mouth of the Soane, on the weftern bank, Hands the maujolemn of Mocdum Shah Dowlet, chief of the diftriifl:, built by himfelf in the reign of Jehafigir. It is a moft beautiful building, fee Mr. DanielPs Views, tab. XII. It is of a fquare form, with a colonnade on every fide, the arches An- gularly MOKIAH. GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. ^m giilarly flat at top; above, at each corner, is a fquare pavilion arched on the fide, and covered with a dome ; over the center is one of a great fize, riling out of a fquare building, containing the remains of the deceafed. A mofque with a flatted roof, with five rows of falfe windows above each, and three arched entrances with pointed tops, appear on the front. From each fide extends a colonnade, with tops refembling thofe of the maiijoleiim. About a hundred miles to the fouth-weft of Dynapour, on the Fort of banks of the Soa^ie, ftands the impregnable fortrefs of RbotaSy defcribed by AbuJfazel, in the Ayeen, ii. p. 32, and FeriJJjta^ ii. p. 176, in thefe terms, " It is fituated on a lofty mountain of mofl <' difficult accefs ; there is only one entrance, and that through a " fleep afcent of two miles to the gates, which are three, one above **^the other, 'defended by guns and rolling ftoncs. On one fide " is the river Soane, running beneath an immenfe precipice ; " another river, under a like precipice, guards another fide, and *' unites with the Soane a little below. On the third fide is " a deep valley, filled with impervious woods which fpread " over the adjacent mountains. It is fourteen cofe in cir- " cumference at the bafe. The inclofed land is ten miles in cir- " cumference, is cultivated, and contains towns, villages, and " corn fields ; within this fpace are many fprings, and water ** may be procured in any part by digging three or four ells " below the furface. There are feveral lakes within the fort." In the year 1542 it was in pofTeHion of its own Rajabf but w^as Taken bv- Sheer Khak. taken by Sheer Kban, the famous ufurper o^ Babar, by a deep but well contrived piece of treachery. He was in a habit of friendfhip with the Rajab, and feigning an expedition into Bengali prevaled on him to receive his wives and treafures into the 9,%z GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. the fortrefs till his return. The Rajah, not lefs deceitful, ac- cepted the propofal with joy, meaning to make himfelf mafter of Sbeefs depofit. A long train of covered Palanquins filled with armed men, but fuppofed to contain the women, was fent in. A multitude of foldiers, in form of bearers of the women, or car- riers of the treafures, were permitted to enter. The confequence was, the flaughter of the garrifon and pofTeflion of the fort, the Rajaby and a few of his followers, alone effetfted their efcape. Mr. Daniell gwts different views of this fortrefs, and its ap- proach. One is of the Rage Gaut, or principal road, confiiling of fliort fteps, N° V. A round tow^er appears on the top, and a noble catarad; falls down a precipitous gap full in view. N" XX. lliews the vafl precipice impending over the Soane, which ap- pears to be a fine river. The entrance up to the fort on this fide is, at the firfi: approach, extremely narrow, with precipices on both fides ; and where they ceafe, the entrance is fi:rongly fortified. Part of the fortifications and a mofque are feen on the fummit, from whence is a mofi: extenfive profpedl: over the Sonne of a flat country. Besides the mofque is a Pagoda, a temple of the Hindoos, the original founders of the great fortrefs. The moft elevated part is of the glafs-houfe fiiape, like thofe at Bindrabund', be- fore it is an elegant portico, divided into three parts, each with an angular roof: but as to the form, confult Mr. Daniell''?, folemn view of it, at plate XI. embofomeJ in darkfome woods. At Agourec, about feventy miles weft of Rbotas, feated on the Soane, are feveral Pagodas of a lingular form, exactly like fpire fteeples, with a fmall neat open portico to each, fupported 9 in GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 223 in front Avith three or four pillars. They are lliaded with a very lofty ficus Indica, fee preceding volume, p. 207. The pendent branches have taken root in numbers of places, and are forming a foreft of themfelves. The furrounding country is hilly and wooded, and extremely beautiful. Thirty miles to the north of Rhotas is Sqfferam, the birth Sasseram. place, and place of interment of Sheer Khan. He was of Jfghan origin, had a grant of the lands about Eajferam^ and was made Soubah of Bahar; rebelled, and ufurped the province. He drove the vivtwous ■^nnc& Hmnami from the throne in 1541, who fled to Perjia, and fuffered a long exile. Sheer Khan was killed at the fiege of Chitore, in 1545, by an explolion of gun- powder, but not till he had news of the furrender of the place. He was a prince of great abilities, but great vices. After the reign of three other ufurpers, filled the throne. At length, in 1554, Humaion was rettored, but died in the following year. Sheer Khan built in his life time a moil fplendid maufoleum at Sajferam, in which he was interred. It rifes out of a fine tank, and was joined to the land by a bridge now ruinous ; it confifls of two {lories, both angular, the lower fupported by pointed arches. Each have a gallery round the top, with numbers of equidiflant cupolas rifing out of them. From the upper is a moil noble dome, of an elegant form. Various other buildings rife round it which I cannot trace, mixed with trees. This maufoleum is given by Mr. Hodges^ in a large plate detached from his views, and does him much credit in the drawing, and in the execution by Mr. Morris. About twenty-two miles below Gazipour, on the fouth bank Palieothra. of the Ganges, flands Patna^ the difputed Palibothra of the an- tients. 224 GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. tients. Mr. i?^w^^/ fixes it here, or very near to this city. Pliny fpeaks highly of its great extent and wealth, and the high re- putation and power of the Prafii, the furrounding people ; but fuch was the fame of this their capital, that their name was often loft in that of the Palibothri) derived from the city. Me- ga/lbenes, in Arrian, i. p. 529, fays, that the length of Palibotbra was ten miles, its breadth near two ; that it was furrounded with a fofs, and with wooden walls thirty cubits high, and that it had DLXX towers, and LXIV gates. Pliny could never have been ignorant of a city of fuch importance, had it been on the con- flux of the Ganges and the Jtunna ; it muft therefore have been on that of feme other river. Mr. Rennel therefore very juftly places it near Patna, and fuppofes, not without reafon, that the Soa7^e had once flowed near its walls, and that Pali- botbra was feated on the forks of both rivers. The change of the courfe of rivers in the level countries of India is not un- common, even to diftances greater than that the prefent object of illuftration. But to give feme degree of certainty to the fuppofed fite of Palibotbra^ the remains of a very large city has been difcovered very near to Patna, called Patel-pootber^ or Pataliputra. The Soane^ which once joined the Ganges near the walls of this antient city, now falls into that river at Mo- neab, twenty-two miles above Patna. I can fee no reafon to contradidl this account. The refpetft I pay to the judgment and accuracy of Mr. Rennely takes from me every doubt of the real fituation of this once magnificent city. Megasthenes Mega/ibenes, the embaflador from Seleucus Nicator, made LONG RESIDENT r, i-i I ^ • f y THERE. Palibotbra his relidence durmg his long abode in India. He kept a regular journal, which proved the fource from which Straboy GA NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. StrabOy Jrriafi, and Pliny, drew their knowlege refpedting the hiil:ory of India. Strabo, lib. ii. p. 121, fpeaks of this writer with very nnjuftifiable feverities. Arrian-i Exped. Alex. lib. vi. p. 321, fpeaks of him and Eratofthenes, the great Alexandrian librarian, as authors of moft approved authority. Fliny proba- bly made his extracts from Strabo. Its fucceffor Fatna, the capital of Bahar, with the fuburbs, Patna. extends five miles along the banks of the rivers, but is often in depth not more than a fingle ftreet. It is built with the fame inequality as other Indian cities, magnificent ftone buildings, difgraced by multitudes of miferable mud and ftraw cottages ; the whole is fortified. Mr. Daniell, N" X, gives a view of part, impending over the Ganges. In 1763, we had a fadory in this city, defended by fortifications, and garrifoned. A war, the caufe to be mentioned in its place, had happened in Bengal, and fpread far to the weft; the parties the Englijlj Company, and its renewed Nabob Meer Jaffier ; and on the other fide Sujah ul Dozvlab, and his ally Mir Cqffitn, our depofed Nabob, who, at that time, pofieffed Fatna. The members of the facStory took it in their heads to make themfelves mafters of the place, and, notwithftanding it was powerfully provided with troops, they fncceeded in their defign. The governor and his garrifon fled, but recovering their fpirits, returned and retook Patna within four hours after they had fliamefully deferted theii' charge. The Englijlj were foon obliged to evacuate the fort; they were overtaken in their retreat, ftood two engagements, in the laft of which they were totally defeated. Some deputies we had fent to treat about the releafe of the prifoners were Vol. IL G g murdered, --:> War with MiK CoasiM. 426 GA NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. murdered, with all their attendants, on the road. The gen^ tiemen, and others, who had been taken after their retreat, and Massacre of carried to Patuay were barbaroufly flaughtered there in cool THE EngUSH. blood, on Augnjl 6th, by a German Rejiegada, by the orders of Mir CoJJim, in cowardly revenge for the various victories our gallant Adams had gained over his forces, allifted by his ambi- tious ally Sujah ul Dowlab. The Gerinan had invited about forty of the principal prifoners to fup with him, when he com- manded his Sepoys to fail on his unfufpedting guefls and cvit their throats. The troops at firft refufed to undertake fo bafe an affaffination, but offered to fight the Englijh on equal terms. At length, compelled to the horrid fervice, they executed the command of the German, the infamous Somers, but not before fomc of the affaflins fell l>y the gallant refiftance of our unfor- tunate countrymen, who to the lail: made the moft determined defence with bottles and plates ; every weapon, even the knives and forks, had been previoufly removed. Every other pri- foner in the city underwent the fame fate, to the amount of two hundred. The bafe affaflin fled to Sujab id Dowlab, v/ho,. to his great difgrace,. refufed to- deliver him up to the due ven- geance of the EngliJJj, who clamed that vi61:ini to the manes of their flaughtered friends.^. Of Henry The epitaph on Henry Lufbington, a youthful but diflin- guiflied charailer among our ill fated countrymen, is placed on a Cosnotapb in the church at Eajibourne, in Su{fe\\-, by his difconfolate parents. It is an impartial hiftory of hisfliort but glorious life, which the reader will find in the appendix. Here I lliall only give its great conclufion, that while " the Sepoys^ were lyUSHINGTOK. G A N G E T I C H 1 N D O O S T A N. 227 were executing their execrable orders on Mr. Eliisy a moft inti- mate friend of his, the generous youth rullied upon the afTafllns unarmed, and feizing one of their fcymeters killed three of them, and wounded two others, till oppreffed with numbers, he greatly fell." Every -good man naturally wifhes to hear that the end of a villain is fuitable to his deeds. How are we difappointed, when ^Ix.Joiiatban Scott "^^ tells us, that he was not impaled. But End ofSomroo. being a good foldier, he found protedlion from the native ftates, and ferved under them ; apj^ointed to a command in that cha- rader, he committed the maflacre at Patjia. He died in tran- quillity poffeffed of a corps of Sepoys^ which was continued after his death for the maintenance of his fon and a favorite concu- bine, with a falary of fix thoufand five hundred pounds a month. Pie was a German of very low birth. When he lifted into the French fervice, he took the name of Summers. His comrades, from his gloomy countenance, changed it to Sombre^ and the Indians corrupted it to Somroo. His barbarous em- ployer, Mir Cqffimi was not fo fortunate in his end. After ef- caping from the battle of Buxar, he wandered from place ta place, at length died miferably under the walls of Debli. Our Company foon became repoflefled of Patna. Major Adams, a brave and experienced ofiicer, purfued Mir Cojim, the barbarous author of the murders ; defeated him at Balafara, uQzv Mooj'/hedabad, on July 19th, 1763; and again completely on Battle ob Augiijl 2(1, on the banks of the Nuncas NulluS) where it falls f- Vol, ii. p. 263, 264^ G g '2 into 2aa GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. into the Ganges', and finally at Oiida Nulla, in a fituation which was defended by vaft monntains, by fwamps, by the great rivers, and by every artificial defence, protedted befides by a hundred pieces of cannon. An army thus fituated might have thought itfelf impregnable againft any enemy but famine. Adams made his attack in the dead of night, on the mountain fide, the part fuppofed to have been invulnerable. He forced the entrenchments ; an incredible ilaughter enfiied, and as many periflied by the facred waters of the river as fell by the edge of the fword *. The whole country v>^as abandoned to us ; the ftrong city of Mongheer fvuTendered in a few day;, and Patnay the fcene of the malTacre, was taken by fiorm, and pof- fibly multitudes of the innocent fuffered the punifhuien'^ ." to the gnilty alTaflins. Patna is one of the great fubordinate refidences of the Eng- iifh fince they made themfelves fovereigns oi Bahar. It carries on a great trade in falt-petre, opium, fait, and tobacco. The Salt-petr«. iwqx Sura, i.e. the Salt-petre river, is fo ftrongly impregnated with that fait from the earth, as not to be drinkable, as is the cafe with moft of the waters of the country. Moft of the falt-petre imported by the Eaji India Company is ma- nufa6tured in the province of Babar, from the earth, and alfa in many other parts of India. Doitor Watfon, bifhop of Landaff, gives an ample account of the procefs of making this important article, and of the quantities exported into Europe, which amounts annually to fome millions of pounds weight, * Mr. Jonathan Scott, vol. ii. p. 424. yet GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 229 yet this is only one-third of the mannfavTture, the other two he- ing difj^erfed over China, and other parts of JJia, merely for the making of fire-works. The Gunduc, or Sulphur river, impregnated with the other Sulphur River. ingredient for illuminations as well as nitre, falls into the Ganges at Hajypour, oppofite to Fatna, rifing in Napaui. Ac- cording to Abulfazel, in the Ayeen, ii. p. 29, the water is faid to infeft the drinkers of it with wens, like xhQ goitres of the A/pSy which grow to a moft frightful magnitude. The Opium, which is fo effential, yet pernicious a neceffary Opium. with the Orientalift, is extracfted here in great quantities by incifion from the frefli heads oi X\\q papaver fomniferum. The feeds are fown in the beginning of Otiober-, when the periodical rains do ceafe. The plant begins to be fit for incifion in De- cember, and continues fo till March ; it requires a dry foil, and can be brought into maturity only in the dry feafon. The rent of the land it is cultivated on, is eleven or twelve roupees, or twenty-feven or thirty fhillings a beyab, or a third of \.\iQEngliJ/j acre. Opium is univerfally fiiioked by the foldiery at night, which flings them into fo deep and heavy a fleep, that a few refolute- and difciplined men may beat thoufands before they recover their fenfes. There have been inftances of a whole company of Sepoys being fent into the other world when thus entranced in opium. It is not uncommon for the Indian foldierv to intoxi- cate themfelves with that drug, when they wilh to animate- themfelves to fome defperate action. The duty on this fatal: drug, the Indian gin,, brings in to Bengal 201 immenfe revenue. ^ Let. 230 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. ^o\ssT. Let me add, that from the poppy was prepared the fatal draught called Poujl, which the Emperors employed to deftroy fuch perfons whom they did not dare to take off in public. Such were the means which Aurengzebe ufed to difpatch his nephew Sepe Cbekoub, and others, his relations, in the fortrefs of Gualior. " The PouJl," fays Bernier, book i. p. 167, " is " the firfl thing brought to them in the morning, and they " have nothing given them to eat till they have drunk a great " cup full of it. This emaciates them exceedingly, and maketh " them die infenfibly, they lofmg little by little their llrength *' and underftanding, and growing torpid and fenfelefs." Tobacco. ANOTHER vegetable narcotic, Tobacco, found its way into Hindoojlan about the year 16 17, introduced by the Portuguefe^ who originally received it from the Brazi/s. The reigning Emperor Jehangir thought it fo prejudicial to the health of his fubjeds, that he prohibited the ufe of it throughout his do- minions *. It is lingular that a cotemporary monarch, our James II. fliewed perhaps a greater diflike to this herb. Be- fides his famous book the Counter-blaji to Tobacco, he publifhed a ftrong proclamation againfl the ufe, and at the fame time laid on it a tax equal to a prohibition. But neither in Britain nor in India, could the love of this filthy plant be fuppreffed. Be- fore our fatal ^imerican war, Virginia alone fent us five hundred and fifty thoufand hogiheads of a thoufand pounds each. It is univerfally cultivated in Hindoojlan, and in both countries brings », vafl revenue to the ftate. It is faid, that not fewer than * Memoir of Jehangir, p. 42. thirty GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 231 thirty thoufand oxen loaded with Tobacco pafs annually- through one province, Coimbetore, in its way to Pondigory, near Calicut, where there are immenfe magazines of that be- loved drug. It is ufed in Hindoqftan in all the modes it is in ILwvpe. It is commonly fmoked in Segars, or fmall twilled rolls. Perfons of rank, and even the ladies in the Zenanes-, in- dulge in the praifice. The apparatus is often very magnificent : hookers, of the moft exquifite fillagree work. This luxury is committed to the care of a particular fervant, called a Hooka- badar. //>Wo(5/?^;r has in ufe another drug, equally pernicious in its Bangue, effefts as the opium. The pretence of taking it is to exhilarate the mind, to drive away care, like the Nepenthes of old, and to procure pleafing fleep; but the reverfe is the confequence^ drunkennefs like ideotfy, or the moil furious madnefs enfuesv An individual rendered mad with an excefs of this drug, will. foni£times take it into his head to run a muck, i. e. draw his dagger, run ftraight forward like a mad dog, and ftab every body he meets; much mifchief has been done by thefe fellows* I have heard of one v/ho was transfixed by a foldier, with his long lance;, he forced the whole length of the weapon through his body, till he had reached the foldier, and addetl him to the number of the flain. This drug is C3.\\ed Bangue, it is extracSled from the leaves and the feeds of the Cannabis Indie a oi Linnaus, on Hemp, the very fame plant v.hich has fpread itfelf from India all over Europe, and is fo well known in our manufadlures of rapes, > cables, and fail cloth. Acojla, p. 290, c. 54, defcribes it under the 232 G A N G E T I G H I N D O O S T A N. the name of Bangue. Rumpbius, v. 208, tab. Ixxvii. gives an ample account of it, he fays, " it is fometimes taken in a Tuiuid " form, mixed with Areca and Pinanga.'" The leaves are often fmoked, mixed with tobacco ; and if the object is pleafing fleep, nutmegs, and the richeft fpices, are added. It is pro- perly enough called by the Malay es, Ji^^Sh or the herd of fools. Alander"^ fpeaks of another fort of Bangue, prepared from the leaves of the Hib'ifcus Sabdarisfa. This he fays, on the autho- rity of Herman, is alfo in ufe in India. This vegetable is an actual poifon ; for we know that the water in which the hemp plant is foaked, to prepare it for manufacture, is moft fatal. By the 33d. c. 17, Henry VIII. there is a prohibition of its being foaked in any pond or running ftream, on account of its being fo deftruiflive to cattle ; and if drank, when flrongly infufed, a<5ts almoft inftantaneoufly mortal to the human race. Datura Ferox. The Datura ferox, Acojla 288, may be added as another plant ufed for the fame intoxicating purpofes. Mr. Ives fays, that if the Indians are in pofTeffion of any fecret poifon, it is of the feeds of this fpecies. According to Acojla, it brings on the fame kind of phrenetic joy as the preceding. The droll Buttler, in his Hudibras, part iii. canto i. 1. 321, mentions this plant under the name of Dewtry. Make lechers and their punks with Dewtry, Commit phantaftical advowtry. ♦ Inebricntiaj Amxn. Acad. vi. 184. It GANGETIGHINDOOSTAN. 233 It is faid to caufe fuch an alienation of mind, as to tran- fport a man from the objedl about him, and place before him imaginary fcenes, fo that any thing may be done with him, or before him, without his regarding it then, or re- membering it afterwards*. Thieves are faid to give it to people they wifh to rob, and women to their hufbands in order to commit before them unfeen advowtry not phantajllcal. This alfo is the poifon or philtre which, by proportioning the dofe, is fuppofed to kill or fafcinate in a certain fpace ; a tale long fince exploded. As I am on the fubjedl of vegetables, I may fay, that the Sue- Aloe. cotrine aloe is found in Bengal^ and in moft parts of India. The Euphorbium antiquorum is frequent, efpecially in Ceylon, and produces, on incifion, the true gum. Rice is cultivated with great fuccefs in Bengal', the low wet Rics. lands are finely adapted to its culture. It is fown in the begin- ning of May, immediately before the rainy feafon commences. The firft crop is got in about the latter end of September-, the fecond, and greateft, about the end of December. Its nature is fuch, that its fuccefs depends on a foil immerfed in water ; were the periodical rains to ceafe, Bengal would become a defert. In the year 1769 there was io very long a drought, that there was almoft a general failure of the crops of rice, the fole fupport of the common Indians. A famine, unheard of in ftory, was the confequence, above two millions of people perifhed in the moft dreadful manner; their end was exemplary, no riots enfued,. they died with refignation by thoufands, in the ftreets, or the * See Gray's Hudibras, part iii. canto r. note on 1. 321, 322. Vol. II. H h highways, 234- "Gi'M Arabic. GA NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. highways, on their way to feek in vain for food ; the recital is too horrible; let thofe Who delight in fuch doleful hiftory, apply to the 402nd page of vol. xli. of the Gentle7nan\ Ma- gazine., or the more labored account given by the Abbe Raynaly in the 2d volume of his entertaining hiftory. Mr. K'es., p. 44, mentions three fpecies of trees which pro- duce th.Q gmn arabic. I fuppofe, by his defcription, he means the Mimoja. Linnceus enumerates feveral ; poffibly the Senegal and Arabian may extend to India ; but the black phyficians pro- cure their gum from Arabia. This reminds me of the materia medica of thefe fwarthy fons of Mfculapius, which I infert from Mr. Ives as a curiofity. Indian mate- ria MEDICA. Bezoar from ---------- Orangabad^ Gum Arabic ---------- Arabia. Olibanum ----------- Arabia. Gambog. ----------- Succotra. Rad. Salop ----------- Perfia. Piper long. - - - _--»_-- Calicut. 01. Cinnamon - -------- Cochin. Cort. de Pala ---------- I'ellicherry.. 01. Caryophyl. ----- C alii cut and Telli cherry. Sem. Cardamom. - - - - CalUcut and Tellicberry, Rad. Rhubarb, ift fort ------- Bengal. Rad. Rhubarb, 2d fort ------- Bengal. Opium ------------ Bengal. Fol. Sennae - - -------- Mocha. Myrrh ------------ Arabia. -^ Thus GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. Thus ------------ Arabia. Affafoetida ------,---- Perjia, Rad. Zinzib. ------- all over India. Coloquintid. - --------- Goa. Gum Benzoin ---------- Bengal. Rad. Rhubarb, 3d fort ------- Bengal. Sal Nitri ----------- Bengal. Fol. Rofar Rub. Perfia. »3S Cantbarides is a moft plentiful article in their magazine of Cantharides. drugs. The falacious Mahometans make great ufe of them, and give a great price for the dangerous provocative. This infedl, the Meloe veficatoria, is not noted as a native of Hin- doojlan, either in Linna;us's Monograph on that infedt, nor in his Syjlema Natura^ nor in our Faunida^ yet it certainly is a native of the country, being enumerated among the articles imported from India into England. Lieutenant Moor-t p. 408, believes it to be the very fame with the Cantharides of Spain. I leave this in doubt. The following is the fum of drugs for which we are indebted to India, and the illes remote or near, for the prefervation of that bleffing health in our dif- tant clime. Thefe only we admit at prefent into our materia medica. Ferula affafoetida. Styrax Benzoe. Acorus Calamus. Laurus Camphora. Laurus Cinnamomum. Caryophyllus aromaticus. Myriftica Mofchata. Piper longum. H h 2 Piper 236 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. Piper nigrum. Caffia fenna. Piper. Tamarindus Indxca. Opium. Pterocarpus Santolinus. Amomum Zinziber. Columba radix. Curcuma longa. Bubon galbanum. Kasmpferia rotunda. Cambogia gutta. Cardamomum minus. Manna. The Szvedes, if we confine ourfelves to the 7nateria Indica of the famous LmntBia<, fought aid in a far greater extent in the vegetable kingdom than we have done. Tlie Engli/Jj difpenfary draws its medical help from not two hundred fpecies, of which only the above are fought from India. The Swedes, in 1749, had hopes of relief from the powers of five hundred and thirty-five. India flattered them with medical affiftance from fixty-five. All the healing art is confined to the Brahmins, and their materia medic a to the vegetable kingdom, the native plants of the plains and woods of the empire. They have their botanical books in the Sanjkrit language. The Amercqfh, one of them, contains in a fingle chapter a vocabulary of about two hun- dred vegetables * . In. bilious cafes, they prefcribe copious purgings; they fliun bleeding and emetics. In feverifli dif- orders they wifely rely on extreme abftinence, and the fove- leign medicine water-gruel made of rice -f . Surgery. Surgery is totally unknowH among the Hindoos, It fliould • Afiatic Refearches, ii. p. 345. f Sketches of Hindoos, ii. p. 93, feem Art REvivEDj GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 237 feem that in cafe of wounds, gun-ilint or fabre, nothing more was done, than wafliing them, and tying them up with frefli leaves ; and after fifteen days the patient was out of danger, and could move about, but during that time he had taken nothing but the C<7;;o/, or water-gruel of rice*. The inflance was of a Mr. Stuart^ wounded in the defeat Ayder had from the Mahrattas at Malecotta. He was taken prifoner, car- ried to a Choultry by way of hofpital, and treated with the hu- manity juft defcribed. I MUST by no means omit one branch of European furgery, Taliacotia?* that has of late been pradifed with great fuccefs by a Poonab artift, who has lately revived the Taiiacotian art, differing only in the material, for he does not apply to the brawny parts of porter's, See. Sec. to reftore the mutilated patient. I am not mailer of the procefs, but am told it is by cutting the fkin and mufcles of the forehead on three fides, and drawing it over the deficient part. If the bridge of the nofe is injured, I prefume that mufl be fupplied by fome ingenious invention. The Hir- carrah^ or Madras Gazette of Augujl 5th, 1794, informs us, that Cowasjee two years before fell under the difpleafure of tippoo Sultariy who inftantly ordered the nafal amputation. The fufferer applied to the great reflorer of Hindoojlan nofes, and a new one, equal to all the ufes of its predecefTor, immediately rofe in its place. It can fneeze fmartly, diltinguifli good from bad fmells, bear the raofl provoking lug, or being well blown v/ithout danger of falling into the handkerchief. It * Sketches of the Hindoos, ii. p. 94, will- «,5 GANGETIC H I N D O O S T A N. \vill lad the life of the wearer ; nor hke the Taliacofian, need he fear, That when the date of Nock is out. The drop of fympathetic fnout. Attar of After this fabje6t, I fliall perfume my paper with a brief ^°^^^' account of that hixury of India, the Attar of rofes. Lieutenant Colonel Poller gives a full hiilory of the procefs of extradling this eiTential oil, in vol. i. p. 33a of the Afiatlc Refearches. The rofes grow cultivated near Lucknotv, in great fields of eleven acres. The oil is procured by diftillation; the petals of the flowers only are ufed; and in that country no more than a quantity of about two drachms can be procured from a. hundred weight of rofe leaves, and even that in a favorable > feafon, and the procefs performed with the utmoft care. The oil is by accident of different colors, of a bright yellow, of a reddifli hue, and a fine emerald. Inventress of. It is to the mother of Mebr ulNeJJa, Begum, afterwards called Nourjehaji Begum, or Light of the World, that the fair fex is in- debted for this difcovery*. On this occafion, the emperor of Hlndoojlan rewarded the inventrefs with a firing of valuable pearls. Nourjeban Begum was the favorite wife of Jehangir ; Ihe was a fecond Diana, her game the fierceft of India. In a hunting party fhe killed four tigers, with a matchlock, from her elephant. Her fpoufe was fo delighted at her Ikilfy that he • Life of Jehangir, p. 24. made G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 239 made her a prefent of a pair of emerald bracelets, valued at a lack of rupees, or twelve thoufand five hundred pounds, and beftowed in charity a thoufand Mohuns, at forty fliillings a piece * . Being on the fubject of natural hifrory, I will here refame Quadrupeds. the zoology of Indiay beginning with the generous animal the horfe. The great men of Hindoojlan fupply their ftables from Horses. Perjia or Arabia at a prodigious price. The peninfula has its native horfes; they can boaft of neither Hze or beauty, but they are adequate to the purpofes of the country : Let me fay, that oxen or buffaloes are the general beafts of draft, and often are broke for the faddle. The countries about Cabul fend great numbers of horfesy of Tartarian breeds, to the great annual fairs of that city. They are bought up by the merchants, and difperfed over the north- ern parts of India, Joorkeys and Tagees are horfes about fourteen or fifteen hands high, are fit either for draft or faddle, and fuppcfed to be fo- reign horfes naturalized. The Tattoo horfes are of the poney kind, about ten hands high, llender and elegant, yet ftrong, and much ufed to carry men and baggage. It was one of this fort I faw at Keiv feveral; years ago, not thirty inches high, moft elegantly made ; a cu- riofity fent over as a prefent to the royal family. The Mahratta horfes, ufed by thofe people to mount their formidable cavalry, are very fcrubby but adtive, and by the ce- * Same p. 42. lerity -40 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N, lerity of their motions, and the fkill of their riders, are juftly dreaded by our troops. The Tanians are procured from Thibet., they are of a middle fize, thick, very ftrong, and generally pied. They are ufed in the draft, but not for the faddle. The Emperor Akbar has conftantly twelve thoufand horfes in his ftables, chiefly brought from foreign parts : numbers are continually going out as prefents, and others coming in to fupply their place. Mule. The DJhikketaei, or wild mule, Hijl. ^ad. i. N° 2, and the KouLAK. Koulan^ N° 3, or wild afs, may juftly be reckoned among the animals of India ; they are both found within its borders, in the vaft fandy defert of Gobi. The Koulans collect towards au- tumn in herds of hundreds, and even thoufands, and diredt their courfe to the north of India, to enjoy a warm retreat during winter. Barboga, as quoted by Pallas, fays, that they penetrate even to the mountains of Malabar and Golconda. Oxen. Albulfazel, ii. 13, fpeaks of the vaft bullocks of Sbereefabady in the lower part of Bengal, of a milk white color ; which, like camels, will kneel down to be loaden, and will carry feventy four maunds, or above eleven hundred pounds. I have a draw- ing of a very large red Indian ox, with a hunch on the fhoulder, and fhort horns, which probably came from this province. How favorable muft the rich plains of India be to the increafe of cattle, which could, in 1791, fupply the Marquis Cornwallis •with the multitudes deftroyed, before and after his unavailing vidlory of Seringapatam ; yet could inftantly anfwer his demand of G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 241 of fix tboiifand draft, and twenty thoufand carriage bullocks, for the confuraption of the enfuing campaign. It is impoffible not to take notice of Mr. Kcr's Bos Arnee^ de- Bos Arnee. fcribed in his 2d vol. of the Animal Kingdom, p. 747. I have feen only the horns, which were in pofTeffion of Sir Joseph Banks. They were incurvated into the exa6l form of a crefcent, and flood upright on the animal's head. 1 forget their length, but think it was between two or three feet; but I never fhall forget that of the whole animal, which was met in a wood in the country above Bengal^ by a Briti/b officer, who informs us, that from the tip of the horns to the ground, it muft have been fourteen feet, ^ale portentiim neque militariSy 8cc. &c. It partook of the form of the horfc, bull, and deer, and was very bold and daring. The figure of the horns is faithfully given oppofite p. 747, and we are prefented with that of the whole animal, in vol. i. p. 295. Buffaloes, N" 9, are ufed for the dairy. Mr. Danielle in his Buffaioes. Vllth plate, gives a figure of a loaden ox of a great fize, very frequent in the neighborhood of Delhi. It has a great bunch on the flioulders, otherwife I fliould have fuppofed it to have been the Buffalo, to which are attributed the vafl horns I have feen in the Briti/Jj Muj'eu}7i, which are fix feet fix inches long, and will hold in the hollow five quarts of liquid *. They are ftrait almoft to the ends, where they bend flightly. Such is the exact form of thofe in Mr. DanieWs animal ; they point nearly forward, diverging as they pafs the nofe. I fufpecl that tbofe in the ByitiJJj Mufeum belong to the ox fpecies. Hift. Qi_iad. i, p. 29, Vol. 11. I i The j^^ GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. The fheep of India are covered with hair inltead of wool, except towards the very northern parts. My four-horned ram, p. 39. E. is found at AJfam, the tail is fliort and pointed. Among Lady Impefs drawings-, I find what is infcribed the JJjawl-goat with fmooth horns, with a fingle fpiral twift, and between them a long tuft of white hairs ; face white, bounded lengthways with a dark line, cheeks pale red ; hind ])art of the head and neck, fore-part of the throat and the beard white, reft of the hair black, all very long; ftrait ears, white and jjendent. Aktelopes. India, efpecially Bengal and Oude, abound in feveral elegant fpecies of Antelopes. Among them is the Jlgazel, N" 24, the Uindoojlan, N° 31, a clumfy fpecies, with a hump on the fhoulders, and the white-footed, N° 32. The laft is the Nilgau^ or the orey ox of the Indians. It is a fort of royal game, and a great objed of chace to the princes of the country. Bernier fays, that they are driven into nets and killed with pikes, and other weapons by the numerous Chajfenrs. Aurengzebe ufed to pre- fent the Qmrahs attendant on him with the quarters. The following extract from an agreeable traveller, gives a magnifi- cent idea of an Oriental hunt. Grand Hunt- " The time chofen for the hunting party is about the begin- ♦' ning of December^ and the diverfion is continued till the heats, *« which commence about the beginning of March, oblige them " to flop. During this time a circuit of between 400 and 600 ♦* miles is generally made, the hunters bending their courfe to- " wards the fkirts of the northern mountains, where the country « is INGS, GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. « is wild and uncultivated. The Vifir takes along with hirti " not only his court and feraglio, but a great part of the inha- " bitants of his capital. His immediate attendants may amount " to about 2000; but, befides thefe, he is alfo followed by 50^ " or 600 horfe, and feveral battalions of regular fepoys^ with " their field pieces; the whole camp does not fall fhort of " twenty thoufand men. Four or five hundred elephants are " alfo carried along with him, of which fome are ufed for riding, '• others for fighting, and fome for clearing the jungles and " forerts of the game. About as many fumpter horfes, of the " beautiful Perftan and Arabian breeds, are carried along with " him. A great many wheel carriages drawn by bullocks like- " wafe attend, which are ufed chiefiy for the convenience of the " women; fometimes he has alfo an EngliJJj qS\2\.{q or two, and " fometimes a chariot ; but all thefe, as wtII as the horfes, are " merely for lliow, the Vifir himfelf never ufing any other " conveyance than an elephant, or fometimes, when fatigued " or indifpofed, a palanquin. The animals ufed in the fport " are principally grey hounds, of which there may be about «' 300; he has alfo about 200 hawks, and a few trained leopards " for hunting deer. There are a great number of markfmen, " whofe profeflion it is to flioot deer, with many fowlers who " provide game, as none of the natives of India know how to " fhoot game with fmall fliot, or to hunt with flow hounds. " A vail number of matchlocks are carried along with the com- " pany, with many Englijh pieces of various kinds, 40 or 50 " pairs of piftols, bows and arrows, befides fwords, daggers, >.' and fabres without number. There are alfo nets of various i i 2 " kinds. ^43 odA G A N G E T I G H I N D O O S T A N. «' kinds, fome for quail, and others very large for fifliing, « which are carried along with him upon elephants, attended «' by filhermen, fo as to be always ready for throwing into ," anv river or lake that may be met with. Every article that *' can contribute to luxury or pleafure, is like wife carried along " with the army. A great many carts are loaded with the *< Ganges water, and even ice is tranfported for cooling the " drink. The fruits of the feafoa and frefli vegetables are *' daily fent to him from his gardens, by bearers Rationed at « the diftance of every ten miles, by which means each article ** is conveyed, day or night, at the rate of four miles an hour. <* Befides the animals already mentioned, there are alfo fighting <' antelopes, buffaloes, and rams, in great numbers ; alfo feveral " hundred pigeons, fome fighting cocks, and a vaft variety of *' parrots, nightingales, Sec. 8cc. " The Nabob, with the attending gentlemen, proceed in a *' regular moving court or durbar, and thus they keep con- *' verfmg together, and looking out for game. A great many " foxes, hares, jackals, and fometimes deer, are picked up by ** the dogs as they pafs along. The hawks are carried imme- *' diately before the elephants, and let fly at whatever game is " fprung for them, which is generally partridges, buflards, " quails, and different kinds of herons ; thefe lafl affording " excellent fport with the falcons, or fharp- winged hawks. ** Wild boars are ftarted fometimes, and either fhot or run " down by the dogs and horfemen. Hunting the tiger is, •' however, looked upon as the principal diverfion, and the dif- " covery of one of thefe animals is accounted a matter of great ** joy. GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 245 joy. The cover in which the tiger is found, is commonly long grafs, or reeds of fuch an height as frequently to reach above the elephants; and it is difficult to find him in fuch a place, as he commonly endeavours either to fteal off, or lies fo clofe to the ground, that he cannot be roufed till the ele- phants are aimoft upon him. He then roars and fkulks away, but is lliot at as foon as he can be feen ; it being ge- nerally contriv^ed, that the Nabob fliould have the compli- ment of firing firft. If he be not difabled, the tiger con- tinues to fkulk. along, followed by the line of elephants; the Nabob and others fhooting at him as often as he can be feen, till he falls. The elephants themfelves are very much afraid of this terrible animal, and difcover their apprehenfions by flirieking and roaring as foon as they begin to fmell him, or hear him growl, generally attempting to turn away from the place where he is. When the tiger can be traced to a par- ticular fpot, the elephants are difpofed of in a circle round him, in which cafe he will at laft make a defperate attack, fpringing on the elephant that is neareft, and attempting to tear him with his teeth or claws. Some, but very few of the elephants, can be brought to attack the tiger, and this they do by curling up their trunks under their mouths, and then attempting to tofs, or otherwife deftroy him with their tufks, or to erufh him with their feet or knees. It is confi- dered as good fport to kill one tiger in a day; though, fome- times, when a female is met with her young ones, two or three will be killed." The 246 , GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. KiLGAu. The Nilgau is naturally very pugnacious and fierce ; when the males fight they will fall on their knees at a diftance from each other, and make their approaches in that attitude, and when they come near fpring and dart at each other. The Indians feem a mild people, yet the great men amufe themfelves with the combats of elephants, buffaloes, tigers, deer, antelopes, rams, and goats, trained to the purpofe : they are alfo ex- tremely fond of cock-fighting. Akbar^ fays the jiyeen, i. 229, kept great numbers of animals, efpecially deer, for this diver- fion, and wagers were laid on every battle. A deer that run away three batdes, was degraded and turned out of the Khajeh^ or choice rank. A deer that gave proofs of courage, was ho- nored with the name of Atkul. Hunting Leo- The common Antelope, N° 39, is a favorite object of the chace. Thcfe were taken by the Chittab^ or hunting Leopard, N° 184, which is carried chained in a fmall chariot. As foon as the little herds of antelopes are difcovercd (for they never aflbciate in numbers more than five or fix) the keeper unchains the leopard. " This crafty animal (fays Ber^iier, iv. 45.) doth ** not prefently and dire61:ly run after them, but goes winding " and turning, fiiopping and hiding himfelf, fo as to approach *' them with more advantage, and to furprife them. And as *' he is capable to make five or fix leaps with an almofi: incre- *' dible fwiftnefs, when he finds he is within reach, he lanceth ** himfelf upon them, worrieth them, and gluts himfelf with " their blood, heart and liver. If he faileth (which often hap- " pens) he flands fl:ill, and it would be in vain for him to at- " tempt to take them by running after them, becaufe they 2 " run PARD. GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. 247 " run much fafter, and hold out longer than he. Then the " matter comes gently about him, flattering him, and throw- " ing him fome pieces of flefli ; and thus amufing him, puts " fomething over his eyes to cover them, and fo chains him ** and puts him on the chariot again." The fmooth horned variety, i. p. 91. refembles the other in Smooth- all refpecfts but the horns. The vagabond Faquirs frequently telope. carry the horns of both kinds as weapons ; they place them parallel, unite them in the middle, and arm the points with iron. The Cbinefe Antelope, N° 44, or A. gutturofa, is found on the borders between I'angut and Hindoojlan, but is properly a Scythian animal. The beautiful fpotted deer the Axis., N° 56, enlivens the banks of the Ganges. Among the fabulous accounts Pliny had fuffered to difgrace his book, viii. c. 21, which enumerates the animals of India., is a very juft one of this fpecies, which he fays was facred to Bacchus. The little bright ruft-colored mufk, N' 68, was among Lady MuskDeers. Impey\ drawings. Wild boars of vaft fize, and of a brown and brindled Whd Boars. color, lodge in the jungles, and are uncommonly fierce. They are fhot by the Polygars, and fold to the Europeans ; and they and the pigs are efteemed excellent meat. The Arabian, or fingle-bunched camel, N* 69, is frequent Camel?. on the banks of the Ganges, about Patna ?ind Monghier; all this part of Bengal being, in the dry feafon, adapted to the feet of this peculiar animal. They are nfually employed to carry the 2^8 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. the baggage of armies ; and for greater expedition, to convey expreffes, when the nature of the country will permit. Elephants. I HAVE fpoken little of elephants, the celebrated quadruped of Indiay whether its ufes be confidered in war, or as contri- buting to the oftentatious magnificence of oriental pride in time of peace. The ufes in the campaigns of Hindooftan have continually lefiened, fince the European method of fighting has gained ground ; the Moguls difcover their inefficacy againft artillery and mufquetry. Their ufe has been of great antiquity, Porus brought two hundred into the field againft Alexander the great, and his fuccelTor Seleucus Nicator, received five hundred from Sandracotta as the price of his retreat. FeriJJjta, vol. i. p. 153, informs us, that Pitu Rai, Rajah of Ajmere^ in 11 92, brought to battle three thoufand elephants ; five hundred was no uncommon number in later times. How tremendous muil have been the concurfus I the commanders in chief have fre- quently feledted each other for a fingle combat in the fury of an engagement, both mounted on their elephant. In our me- mory, there is a fmgular inftance in which both the heroes loft their lives, both of the high rank of Nabob. One of them Soubah of the Deccan, or ISHzam, named Murzafa Jing, or the Invincible, had put the army of his rival to flight, he purfued with ardour, and came within fight of the enemy. A conquered chieftain, Nabob of Canoul, indignant at his inglorious fit nation, directed the governor of his elephants to turn back, and meet the infvilting foe. They foon brought the beafts fide by fide, when the victor v/ith uplifted fcymeter, in the a6l of cutting down the late fugitive, was by him transfixed through the head G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 249 head with a lance. The late conqueror fell dead on his ele- phant; he who bravely renewed the fight, fcarcely furvived his triumph a moment, being inftantly llain by the enraged troops of the unfortunate Soubahdar. The trial made of the elephants in the Myforean campaign, Utility as hath totally removed every obje<5lion to their ufe. Major Dirom, burthen! p. 113 of his narrative, informs us, that the great objedion to thofe animals being employed with the army, was the difficulty of their fubfiftence, as it was fuppofed they could not live with- out a very large daily allowance of rice. The elephant is not only the moft powerful and moft ufeful, but one of the moft hardy animals that can be employed with an army. He carries a load equal to fixteen bullocks, and without rilk of lofs or damage on the march. He fubfifts upon the leaves or fmall branches of trees, on the fugar cane, or the plantain tree ; in fliort, he lives upon forage which horfes and bullocks do not eat, any kind of grain will fupport him, and he will work as long without grain as any other animal. The lofs of elephants, although they had their full fhare of hardfiiip and fatigue, was inconfiderable in proportion to that of cattle ; and fo far from being an incumbrance, or an expedient of neceflity to fupply the want of bullocks, they will hereafter be confidered as the firft and moft effential clafs of cattle, that ought to be provided for the carriage of an Indian army. The firft volume of the Ayeen Akbern is a true houfliolJ Of the ayeen "^ _ Akberrv. book, it contains a particular of the ceconomy of that great and magnificent Emperor Akbar. I never informed the reader, that the whole of that work was compofed by his able Vol. II. K k miniftcr a5o G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. minifter Abulfazel. The reader will lament to hear the fate of this great man, who was in the year 1601 murdered in the Decan, where he had been fent by his mafter on fome import- ant bufinefs, by the contrivance of Sultan Silecm, eldeft fon to his mailer Akbar. Sileem, confcious of his own demerit, dreaded his return, and the effects of his wife advice. He in- lligated a lawlefs Rajab, named Nerjingb Deo, by a great reward to execute the foul murder. He attacked him y\Q2.v Givalior\ and notwithltanding Abulfazel made a moll gallant defence, he was overpowered, flain, and his head cut off, and fent to the bafe Sileem *. Akbar felt the utmofl forrow at the lofs of his able minifter. Notwithflanding this he w^as reconciled to his affaflin ion, received him with the utmoll: affedtion, and even nominated him fuccelTor to the empire. In what a venial light muft murder be feen in thofe days I Sileem did fucceed, by the name of Jebangir, and was called a good emperor ! The firft volume of the Ayeen Akberry is as minute as the Northumberland houfliold book, but on a greater fcale. It is a very curious performance. Among other departments, is that of the Feel Khaneb^ or elephant ftables ; every minutia refpedl- ing the management of thofe vaft animals may be found there. I fliall only mention a few particulars; the price of an elephant yx'^ taken from the w^oods is about a hundred roupees, but by difcipline it may be brought to the value of a lack of roupeeSy or twelve thoufand five hundred pounds t. Height of The ufual height of thefe animals is about nine feet and a Elephants. * Gladwin's Hift. Jehangir. Events relating to Sultan Sileem, p. vi. t This in the time of Akbjir. half* G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 251 half, or ten feet ; if they reach twelve feet, are efteemed very large and uncommon ; but when they attain fifteen or fixteen (which does fometimes happen) they are looked on as exceffes, exadlly as we (liould on one of our own fpecies of the height of nine feet. In the time of Akbar elephants were found in the ftate of nature in Agra, in the wilds of Begawan and Nerwar, as far as Berar in the foubahfliip of Allahabad, in that of Malwab, in that of Babar, efpecially about Rhotas, and in the foubahfliips of Bengal and Orixa. It is poffible that by this time they may be extirpated from the more populated parts. The caufe of elephants being firft trained for domeftic ufe, was owing to KriJJjen, firft king of Hindoq/Jan, who, fays Fe- ri/bta, vol. i. p. 10, was fo fat, that no horfe was equal to bear his weight; he therefore, through necefiity, found out the method of catching and taming elephants. The fantaftic tribe of Apes are very numerous in the forefts Ape?. of hidia. Of the genuine apes, or tail-lefs, are the Goloks, Hijl. ^adr. i. N° 89; the two varieties of Gibbons, N" 88, and the Shaggy, N* 88. p. 184. tab. xxxviii. firft defcribed by myfelf from a fine fpecimen in the late Sir AJJjton Lever's AIu- feum. Thefe are known by the monftrous excefs of length of arms. The Fygmy, N° 87, is more common. M. Scbreber fays the great Ourang Oiitang is found in Bengal, and other parts of India. The little Baboon, p. 198, is a fpecies I never met with. Babjon. K k 2 Tlie 2C2 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. The fierce and malignant Lion-tailed B. ]N° io6, is met with in fome parts of this peninfula. MoNKiEs. Of true monkies, the elegant fpecies the Green, ]S!° 113 ; the Talapoin, N° 117 ; a black variety of the white eye-lid monkey, N' 114: the thumb of that in Lady Impey^s coUedion had no flat nail, the reft of the toes clawed ; the Monea, N* 120, and the Tawny, N" 126, a malevolent fpecies, are all found in India. There are certainly other fpecies of large fize, and very dangerous when infulted. I'avernier was once in great danger of being killed by a troop of them he met with in fome woods near Amedabad. He was in company with the prefident of Suraty who prevaled on him to try a new fowling piece on one of the tribe. He accordingly fhot a female, who fell dead on the boughs. The whole troop, to the number of fixty, de- fcended inftantly, and made an attempt to go into the preli- dent's coach. They would have afluredly deftroyed him, had they not been by the numbers of his fervants beaten away ; yet they perfifted following the carriage above a league. I'avernier gives an account of a ridiculous fpecies of conteft, which he had feen a few leagues from Madras, in the public roads, cut through the forefts of Bamboos, &c. in which the apes or monkies breed in great numbers. " In feveral parts of " this road," fays the traveller, " there is rice to be fold, and " they that would fee the fport, caufe five or fix bafkets of rice " to be fet up in the road, fome forty or fifty paces one from " the other; and clofe by every bafket they lay five or fix *' battoons GANGETIC HINDOOS TAN. 353 « battoons about two foot long, and two inches about; then *' they retire and hide themfelves ; prefently they fliall fee the " npes on both fides of the way defcend from the tops of the " bamboos, and advance towards the bafkets which are full of " rice. They are about half an hour fliewing their teeth one " at the other before they come near the bafkets ; fometimes ** they advance, then retreat again, being loath to encounter. *' At length the female baboons, who are more courageous *' than the males, efpecially thofe that have young ones, which ** they carry in their arms as women do their children, venture ** to approach the bafkets, and as they are about to put in their " heads to eat, the males on the one fide advance to hinder <* them. Immediately the other party comes forward, and thus ** the feud being kindled on both fides, they take up the bat- ** toons that lie by the balkets, and thralli one another in good " earneft. The weakeft are con drained to fly into the woods, <* with their pates broken and their limbs maimed, w^hile the " matters of the field glut themfelves with rice. Though it " may be when their bellies are full, they will fuffer fome of " the female party to come and partake with them." The dogs of India are generally of the currilh kind, with Dogs. lliarp eredt ears and pointed nofes. Thofe kept by l\i& pariars, or poorer people, are fmall. Thofe kept by the Poly gars refem- ble the others in form, but are of a confiderable fize, and fmooth haired, and are ufed by their mafter in the chace of the wild boars, and perhaps others of the fiercer animals. Every dog in India is as much the objedl of charity with the Mahometans as they are in Europe, Akbar had his hunting eftablifhment, he 9 colleded =54 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. colleded his dogs from all countries ; the beft were thofe from Cabuli/ia?7, northern dogs; mention is made of his gre-hounds. I do not find that his majefty made any ufe of his kennel, which feemed a matter of ftate. He hunted the Hon, the elephant, and the l^uz, or hunting leopard, but more to lliew his impe- rial courage, and his fkill in fliooting with the fufil or bow, than from any pleafure he had in the difcipline of the pack. His politic Vifier Abulfazel, is by no means fparing of his eulogy (i. 196.) on the feats of his great mafter in the chace. " It is," fays he, " impoflible for me, in my barbarous Hindoo " dialed, to defcribe in fit terms the adlions of this inimitable *' monarch." The EjigUjh fooliQily enough import into Bengal, at vaft expence, packs of hounds, which are foon worn out by the climate. They are landed in full health, but in about a month they ufually perifli of a liver complaint. Yox. The fox of Bengal^ Hijl. ^ladr. i. N° 170, is fmall, of a light brown color, face cinereous, with a black llripe down the mid- dle, and a white fpace round the eyes and middle of the jaws ; the legs fulvous, the tail tipt with black. Its food is chiefly roots and berries, and infedts. They have no fort of fcent like the European, and do not exceed in fize a rabbet. They are courfcd with gre-hounds, and afford molt excellent diverfion, being fo fwift and fo nimble in turning as frequently to beat the fleeteft dogs. Jackals. Jackals fwarm here, and all over India. They are intoler- ably foetid, and therefore the proper objects of chace. They are ftout as an Engliffo fox, and afford excellent fport, which in this GA NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. 255 this hot climate is very fliort. The fportfmen take the field at break of day, but they are obliged to return foon after fun- rife. The jackals are generally turned out, being caught by the Hindoos for that purpofe. Thofe people are wonderfully .expert in imitating the voice of all forts of beafls and birds. They mimic the fqueal of a hare feized by a Jackal, which brings together the whole troop, moft of which falls into a net laid for that purpofe. Ongole, the extreme northern diftri6t of the Carnatic, is Wolvej. much infefted with wolves, — N* 159, large and fierce as thofe of Europe. I am indebted to Mr. King/cote for the account of this and the two following animals. The ftriped Hycena, the Cherruk of the Indians, — N" 177, in- Hyaena. habits the clefts of rocks not remote from Madras, whence they prowl out at night, and deceive mankind by their voice, fimilar to the human, but particularly to that of children, by which fometimes perfons are deluded within their cruel reach. Bears, of the fame fpecies as the European, are not unfre- Bears. quent in Coromandel. M. de Buffon makes (vol. v. tab. xxxiv. p. 226.) a great mif- take in giving the beautiful fpotted dog of Dalmatia, vulgarly called the DaniJJj dog, to Bengal, no other kind is to be found in that province than the curs I have mentioned. I HAVE fpoken of the lion and the pantherine animals. The Feune. leopard, — N° 182 ; the lefler leopard, — N' 183; and the panther, — N° 181, inhabit the peninfula. The hunting leopard, — N° 184, runs up trees, and makes great havock among the poor monkies. The 256 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. Bengal Cat. The Bengal Cat,— N° 1 93, is a moft elegant tigrine fpecies, remarkable for wanting that antipathy which the feline race have to water. One of this kind was long in poffeflion of my honeft and ingenious friend the late Mr. Lee, nurferyman, of Hamjnerfmith, who gave me the following account : that it fwam on board a fliip at anchor off Bengal, that after it was brought to England it coupled with the female cats, which twice produced young. I faw one of the young, which was marked in the fame manner as the male parent, but the ground color was cinereous. It had as little fear of water as its fire, for it would plunge into a veffel of water near two feet deep, and bring up the bit of meat flung in by way of trial. It was a far better moufer than the tame cat, and in a little time cleared Mr. Lee's magazine of feeds of the fwarms of rats, which, in fpite of the domeflic breed of cats, had for a long time made moft horrible ravages among his boxes. Lynx. The Lynx, N° 203, hitherto fuppofed not to be found in In- dia, is, as I am affured by Do6lor Pallas, a native of its northern parts. The poets may ftill harnefs it to the triumphal car of Bacchus returning from his celebrated conquefls. Vidla racemifero Lyncas dedit India Baccho. But I believe that part of the peninfula owes the gift of the vine to modern times, to the Britijlj votaries of the god. Vines (but not for the purpofes of making wine) have of late years been introduced, but the exceffive heat of the climate obliges the planters to form a long fkreen of a certain height, and to plant the -:>/ GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. the trees oppofite to the unfavorable afpeiV, and to bring; the bearing branches over fo as to face the cooleft wind, by which contrivance the grapes are brought to perfec- tion. Different varieties of the hunting Lvnxes, or the Siyab- Hunting Lynxes. ^bujis, are found ni Bengal-, at firft they were trained only to hunt hares and foxes, but Akbar brought them to feize the agile antelope. There are in that province the Perfian^-^ N* 207, and the Caracal of Bengal^ de Buffon, ix. 262. tab. xxiv. I REPEAT my mention of the Ichneumon^ — ii. N° 255, weefel, Ichneumon, or Majtgoufiy the famous ferpent-killing weefel of Indian not only to diilinguifli it from the Egyptian, which is lefTer, and has a much fliorter tail, but to introduce the elegant lines of Lucan, tranflated by Ro%ve, on the nature of the animal, which quite agrees with that of £fV/)/. Thus oft' the Ichneumon on the banks oi Nile Invades the deadly Afpic by a wile ; While artfully his flender tail is play'd. The ferpent darts upon the dancing fliade ; Then turning on the foe with fwift furprife. Full on the throat the nimble feizer flies. The gafping fnake expires beneath the wound, "J His gufliing jaws with poilbnous floods abound, \ And llied the fruitlefs mifchief on the ground. J The FoiTunc, — N''28o, is found in Bem^al, as well as Af'i ^^^^ the red and green, — 311. Edw. 6. Of Rollers here are the Benga/, — 410. PI. Enl. 285 ; the Ori- Rci.ler.s. ental, — 411. PL EnL 619, 2iWf\ Indian^ — 412. Edw. 326; all of the richeft colors ; the Fairy, — vii. N° 46, has its crown and upper part of the neck of a rich blue, the upper part of the body of the fame color ; wings black, marked with three fmall blue fpots ; tail dull blue, lower part of the body black. Many of the Grakles of the Eajl Indies are remarkable for Grakles. fpeaking, hnging, and whiftling, even much more diftincftly than the parrot kind ; they foon become familiar; the greater and leffer are of a black color, and their heads furrounded with a naked yellow fkin. The Dial grakle, Latham, vii. 92, is trained in Sumatra like a cock for fighting, but the confli name, that he remained there as long as was neceffary in full feeurity. He was mafter of the lives and fortunes of the inha- bitants, many of which were poiTeffed of immenfe riches; they offered the vi6tor large fums for his ptote6tion. He gave it to them gratuitoufly, and contented himfelf with his reward from the new Nabob, without the left: oppreffion of the people. Moor/hedabad is now declining very faft ; it loft: its advantage of being the feat of government, and fince that time, by the re- moval of the board of revenue, in 1771? to Calcutta. Surajab 'Dowlab had efcaped to this city in the night after the battle of Plaffey ; diftrufting every one, he determined on a fecret flight; refledions on his barbarities urged that meafure. The account given by Mr. Or me, of the manner in which he paffed the midnight hours before his fatal defeat, reminds me of the awful fcene of the tent of Richard III. before the battle of Bof'worth. The Indian tyrant did not feem lefs agitated. After attempting to fecure his treafures, he fled from his ca- * Same p. 65, pital GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 293 pital with a fingle eunnch and his favorite concubine. In the article Rajahmabel, I have mentioned his fad but deferved fate. He fell in only the twentieth year of his age, by the particular orders of Meera^n, the fon of Jaffier, a youth not exceeding feventeen, but fierce and cruel as the falling tyrant. It is not ftrange, that the fame fun which heightens the fury of the beafts of prey, fhould infedt the human kind with congenial rage and barbarity. At Moo7'JJoedabad is a religious building of great fingularity ^^o^^ elegant and extetit, a Cuttera (Hodges^ vol. ii. tab. XVII.) erecfted for the reception of pious or learned perfons, invited from all parts by its founder Jaffier Khan. He maintained above two thou- fand readers, beadfmen, and chanters, who were conftantly em- ]')loyed in reading the Korati, and in other a6ls of devotion. He was greatly celebrated for the mildnefs of his manners^ love of learned men, and rigid obfervance of juftice. The front is extenfive, finifhing at each end with a lofty poly- gonal tower, with a multitude of little domes, each covering the cell of fome pious or fcientific inmate. Beyond ap- pears large domes, probably over the mofque. Thefe were erected at the expenfe of the defl:ru<5tion of feveral neighbor- ing Hindoo temples, which he pulled down for the fake of the materials, and even compelled the poor Hindoos to affift in the abominable tafk. of building the mofques*. The branch of the Ganges which waflies the city of Moorjje- dal>adf becomes a channel of great importance, and a much frer • Narrative of the Government of Bengal, tranflated from the Perfian, by Fr. Gladwin, Efij. . p. 121. quented. 294- GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. quented paffage from Calcutta into the main part of the river : but unfortvinately is almoft dry from O&ober to May. CosiMBuzAR. At the diftance of about two miles from that city is Cof.in- buzar, a fmall town, but the center of trade of all the Euro- SiLK. pean fadors ; vaft quantities of raw hlk is prepared here, and great variety of piece -filk. and handkerchiefs made, befides ftockings, gloves, and other articles, all knit by the men. The fdkworms are fed on a dwarf fpecies of mulberry, the Morus Indica of Linnaus, the Babeqarajiy, and Caju Befaar of Rumph. Amb. V. tab. v. and the 'Tinda Parva of Rheede, in Rays Hijl. PI. ii. 1569. I do not find a botanift to vindicate my putting the fpecies naturalized in Europe among the trees of hid'ia. MotteGill. ^n the neighborhood is Motte Gill-, or the lake of pearl, one of the moft elegant Mahometan palaces, now the relidence of an Englijh factor. It receives its title from the pellucid water of :the lake; that of the Ganges is fo muddy as to produce a fedi- ment of one-fourth. Plasse.y. Below this town the channel paffes by PlaJ'ey, a fmall place, immortalized by the glorious vivftory obtained on June 22d, 1757* by Colonel Clive over the army of Surajah Dowlab, compofed ef fifty thoufand foot, eighteen thoufand horfe, and fifty pieces of cannon, with a handful of men fliort of three thoufand two hundred, of which nine hundred were E.uropeans. He forced the camp, and after a w'ell contefted fight, in which the faith- ful general of the Nabob was flain, drove the Indian army out of the field, and gave to the Eajl India Company the eventual pofl^eflion of Wndoojian. I cannot pals by this diftinguiflied charader without a fliort eulogy. No age produced an officer * equal GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. equal in intrepidity. Amidft the greateft dangers he retained the moft wonderful coolnefs, bin inftantly purfued his plan, or changed it inftantaneoufly, according as the greatnefs of his ge- nius fuggefted, and the neceffity of the moment required. His life was full of fertility in refources. His friends admit of his foibles. I will not raife motes in my own eyes to obftrucSl the beauty of the imagery. I only am hurt by the fiditious treaty with Omi- chund. The generous JVatfon declined to participate in the means. Others might have been ufed. Omkhimd played the part of a doubte traito-r, neither fide would have cenfured his fate,^ and the fecret might have remained for ever fecure. He died eventually of a broken heart ; had his death been antici- pated a few days by any other means, where would have been the crime 1 We were not always ix^ delicate ! Political necefllty has made many an honeft man a knave ! From TlaJJ'ey^ the branch of the Ganges proceeds fouth, and is foon- augmented by the Adji^ which rifes about a hundred and fixty miles to the north-wefV, and not far below their conflux it meets- the Jeliinghy., a moft meandering branch of the Ganges^ Jellikohy which quits the parent ftream fixteen miles above Moorjbedabady and is another channel of communication between the capital, Calcutta^ and the Ganges, and all the vaft internal navigation by means of the numerous auxiliary rivers. Eleven, fays Mr. Rennely are of fuch magnitude, that moft of them equal the Rhine, and none are inferior to \.h.Q Thames. This begins at a town, called Jeliinghy, which gives name to the branch almoft to Hoogly'y yet even this is unnavigable in certain periods, not- witliftanding 295 296 GANGETIC HINDOO STAN. vvithftanding a ftream pafles through its channel the whole year. Ban-del. Baudely a fmall town on the \veftern fide of the river, is a factory belonging to the Portuguefe. I cannot learn how long that nation had been fettled in Bengal, but believe it to have been very early. Fitcbe, before mentioned, found the Portu- guefe fettled at Hoogly, but it is agreed that they were totally ex- pelled by Aurengzebe, in 1633, for their infolent and diflioneft condudt. HooGLY. The fmall but antient city of HoogJy flands a few leagues lower on the weftern fide of the river. Abulfazel mentions it as being in his days inhabited by Europeans. It is the firft place that the Englijh ever vifited in Bengal, at left with com- mercial views. The Dutch had the ftart of us, for they fettled in that province in 1625. The medical art is not only favorable to the profelTors themfelves, but has been the occafion of un- fpeakable advantages even to their native country in general. Boughton, a furgeon, was the firft which opened our trade with Bengal, in 1636. He had been fent for from Sural to attend a daughter of the Emperor Shah Jehan's at Agra. He cured the lady, and was rewarded by her father with many favors, and the important one of a patent to trade free of cuftoms through- out his dominions. He proceeded to Bengal, meaning to pur- chafe goods, and to return to Sural by Tea. His patent might perhaps have been of little fervice, had not the Nabob of Ben- gal wanted his afliftance to cure a favorite woman, which he fucceeding in, the great man took him into his fervice, and gave him GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 297 him an ample falary, and confirmed the Mogul's, patent. Bougbton fent notice to the governor of Siirat^ by whofe advice the Com- pany fent from England^ in 1640, two fhips. The Nabob gave them all encouragement, and their fuccefs was the origin of the vaft advantages we have enjoyed in thefe parts *. In 1757, when Hoogly was in polTellion of Surajab Dowlab, it Attacked by THE English im was attacked by fea by Admiral Watfon, and by land by Major 1757. Kilpatrick, and taken by ftorm. Some plunder was made, but it fell far fhort of our expedations, for the inhabitants, affifted by the Dutch from their neighboring fettlement at Cbinfuray Chinsura. Hodges^ vol. ii. tab. IV". removed their moft valuable effedts into a place of fafety. The depth of water is here confiderable, for in 1757, the Kent of feventy guns was fent upon fome fervice far above the town of Hoogly. The river at that place is of a vaft breadth. The ffreat Bore^ or head wave of the tide beo-ins Bore, or Head ^ ' "^ Wave. about feventy miles lower, at Hoogly point, where the river firft contracts its channel, and it is perceptible above the town. At Calcutta, this head rifes inflantaneouQy to the height of five feet. There, and in all parts of its courfe, the bouts imme- diately quit the lliore, and make for fafety to the middle of the river. A FEW miles below Hoogly, on the fame fide of the river, is Chanderna- the Fre?7cb fettlement Cbandernagor, defended by a fort of great firength. It was attacked by land and water on Marcb 23d, 1757, and ctirried, after a fliort but moft bloody conteft. Our fmall body of troops was commanded by Colonel Clive, our fliips by the Admirals Watjon and Pococke ; only two out of * Mr. Orme, vol. ii. p. 8. Vol. II. Q q the 298 G A N G E T 1 C H I N D O O S T A N. the three, theKeni and the T/'^er, could be brought into adlion; they fuffered moft feverely. Among the numbers of wounded ■were Captain Spel^e of the Ke?2t, and his fon, a moft amiable youth, who were ftruck with the fame fliot. The fequcl to me, a parent, is too affedting to relate ; the fon furvived the fatal blow only a fortnight; a great example of filial affetftion, fortitude, and refignation. Mr. Ives gives, at p. 132, the narra- tive with all the proof of a fenfible and good heart. Of Admiral Vice Admiral Watfon^ commander in chief of our naval force WatsuN. in India, died at Calcutta^ in Augujl of the lame year, of a pu- trid fever, lamented equally by the natives as tliQ Eng/i//j. His charadler was moft exalted. " His integrity, humanity, gene- " rolity, and diftntereftednefs were fuch, as to become prover- " bial even among the Indians *." His abilities as a feaman kept pace with his moral reputation. Th.Q.EaJi India Company paid him the fame pofthumous honors as it did to their military commanders. A magnificent cenotaph was ereiled to his me- mory in Wejlminjier Abby. He appears there in a grove of palm-trees, ftanding, by a fenfelefs chronology, in a Roman habit, prefenting a branch to a proftrate figure, defigned as the genius of Calcutta, which had been relieved from the tyranny of Sujah ul Dozvlab by the joint efforts of the Admiral and Clive. Let me not omit that Sir George Pococke, the Admiral's fecond in this and other gallant ac'lions, had the compliment of a iiatue (in his life-time) placed between Clive and Stringer in the India Houfe. Thefe, with that of Sir Eyre Coote, form a quater- nion unparalleled in the annals of Hindoojlan. • Ives's Voyage, p. 179. About G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 29^) About fifteen miles lower down, on the eaftern bank, {lands Calcutta, Calcutta, in Lat. 20° 33' north, the emporium of Bengal, and the feat of government. The EngliJJj made their fettlement here in 1690, at that time the moft unhealthy place that could be chofen, near to marfhes and ftagnant waters, and a falt-water lake which fwarms with fifh, and overflowing annually, leaving amazing quantities to putrify, adding to the badnefs of the air. Hamilton gives, of his own knowlege, an inftance of four hun- dred burials in lefs than half a year, out of the twelve hundred Englijlj then refident ; but by the care and induftry of the inha- bitants by draining, and the removal of ftagnant waters, the air is highly improved, yet ftill is, next to Bombay, the moft fatal to the Europeans ; a foreft, and fome muddy lakes ftill remain. " During the rains," fays Dodlor Liiul, (p. 80.) " this rich " and fertile country is almoft quite covered by the overflow- " ing of the river Ganges, and converted, as it were, into a large " pool of water. Difeafes rage among the Europeans in the " months of July, Augujl, September, and October, attacking " chiefly fuch as are lately arrived. Here, as in all other places, " ficknefs is more frequent and fatal in fome years than others. " The diftempers are fevers of the remitting or intermitting " kind ; fometimes they may begin under a continued form, " and remain feveral days without any perceptible remiffion, " but they have in general a great tendency to a remiflion. " They are commonly accompanied with violent lits of rigors *' or ftiiverings, and with difcharges of bile upwards and down- " wards. If the feafon be very fickly, fome are feized with a *' malignant fever, of which they foon die ; the body is covered Q q 2 " with 300 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. " with blotches of a livid color, and the corpfe in a few hours " turns quite black and corrupted. At this time fluxes prevale, «' which may be called bilious or putrid, the better to dillin- *< guifli them from others, which are accompanied with an in- « flammation of the bowels. In all tliofe difeafes at Bengal, ** the lancet is cautioufly to be ufed." Abulfazel is filent about Calcutta, fo we give over enquiry after the antient hiftory. The date of the origin mull be from ourfettlement, in 1690, by Job Charnock, agent to our Company ; who, after an a6l of grace from Aurengzebe for all murders, felonies, Sec. committed on his fubje6ts, permitted us to build a fort on this fpot. He had been imprifoned by the Nabob, and fcourged, for which he determined on revenge. A flitted by the number of EngliJJj then in the river, he raifed an in- furredion, and actually defeated the garrifon at Hoogly, and committed great excefles. It w^as this probably made it necef- fary for him to have the pardon juft mentioned. He is fpoken of with great afperity by Haiuiltoji, in his fecond volume ; he makes him a perfed: favage. But to him we owe this important fettlement. „, ^,„ One sood deed of C;^^r«o^/^'s will ferve to introduce a very VV IVES SELc O DEVOTED TO auticut attd Angular cuftom, which might have been perhaps better mentioned before, that very antient one, of wives de- voting themfelves to the excruciating death of burning on the lofs of their huflaands. Men frequently finifhed their days in that manner on being feized with a tadium of life, or the ap- prehenfion of a change of fortune, after a long courfe of hap- pinefs. Calanus the Brahmin^ who followed Alexander out of India^ GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. India, thus devoted himfelf, and died prophetic. We have mentioned, at p. 69 of the preceding vohime, the fimilar end at Athens of Zarmonochagas the Barvgazan. But now we fhall give the tragical cataftrophe of the fair fex. Char nock, at- tended by his ruffian band, went once to attend one of thofe fad ceremonies. The devoted widow was of uncommon beauty, he caufed her to be refcued; the lady proved an Ephefian matron, forgave the violence, and lived with him lovingly for feveral years : fhe even had influence with her admirer to make him not only to change his religion (if he had not adopted any), but to ailume that of the Hindoos; flie died, he ereded over her remains a tomb, and on the anniverfary of her death, facrificed on it-a cock as acceptable to her manes. Such is the account given by Captain Hamilton, in his voyage, ii. p. 8, and which he fays was univerfally credited. He died January loth, 1692. Charnock\ tomb is to be feen near the eaft end of the new church in Calcutta. By the infcription his executors thought proper to make him a good chriftian, fuch is part of his epitaph, Mortalitatis fuas exuvlas Sub hoc marmore depofuit ut In fpe beatas refurre(ftionis ad Christi judicis adventum Obdormirent ! ! ! 1 RELATE the above ftory, as the facrifice of the cock gives fame probability to it, in cafe the reft is true. That bird is not an 301 302 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. an uncommon vivTtim among Ibme mongrel Hindoos. Mr, Hodges law the head of one cut off and flung upon the altar, at a grand facrifice performed by the wild mountaineers, in a diftri(5t not far from fort Bidjegur in Bahar * . I have another inftance among the wild inhabitants of the Garrozv hills, in the north-eall of Bengal. There the hen, as well as the cock, is facrificed. Among thofe people it makes part of the nuptial ceremony t. The zgreeahle Bernier, iv. 119, gives an inftance of perfe- verance of a fair widow, whom no perfuafions could move from this horrid ad: of felf devotion. The account is fo well told, and the ceremonies fo minutely related, that I cannot forbear giving it in the words of the ingenious writer :. " When I was « palling from Amadevad to Agra, over the lands of the Rajabs " that are in thofe parts, there came news to us in a burrough " where the Caravane refted under the fhade (ftaying for the " cool of the evening to march on in their journey), that a ^* certain woman was then upon the point of burning herfelf " with the body of her hufband. I prefently role, and ran to <* the place where it was to be done, which was a great pit, " with a pile of wood raifed in it, whereon I faw laid a dead ^' corpfe, and a woman, which at a diitance feemed to me pretty " fair, fitting near it on the fame pile, belides four or five Brah- '< niins putting the fire to it from all fides ; five women of a *' middle age, and well enough drelTed, holding one another by << the hand, and dancing about the pit, and a great crowd of ♦ fiodges's Travels, p. 91. f Afiatic Refearches, i. p. 27. " people, G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. " people, men and women, looking on. The pile of wood was " prefently all on fire, becaufe ilore of oil and butter had been " thrown upon it; and I faw at the fame time through the *' flames, that the fire took hold of the cloaths of the woman " that were imbrued with well-fcented oils, mingled with " powder of fantal and faffron. All this I faw, but obferved " not that the woman was at all difturbed, yet it was faid that " fhe had been heard to i:)ronounce with great force thefe two " words, FIVE, TWO, to fignify, according to the opinion of *' thofe that hold the foul's tranfmigration, that this was the *' FIFTH time fhe had burnt herfelf with the fame hufband, " and that there remained but t'joo times for perfection, as if *' fhe had at that time this remembrance, or fome prophetical ** fpirit. But here ended not this infernal tragedy, I thought *' it was only by way of ceremony, that thefe five women " fung and danced about the pit ; but I was altogether fur- " prifed, when I faw that the fiame having taken hold of the " cloaths of one of them, fhe call herfelf w irh her head fore- *' moft into the pit ; and that after her another, being over- " come by the flame and fmoak, did the like. And my aflonifh- " ment redoubled afterwards, when I faw that the remaining " three took one another again by the hand, continued their " dance, without any apparent fears, and that at length they " precipitated themfelves one after the other into the fire, as " their companions had done. It troubled me faSiciently that " I knew not what that meant ; but I learnt fhortly after that "'< thefe had been five ilaves, who having feen their miflrefs " extremely 3«3 304 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. " extremely afRided at the ficknefs of her hulband, and heard " her promife that fhe would not furvive him, but burn her- *< felf with him, were fo touched with compaffioii and tender- " nefs towards this their prieftefs, that they engaged themfelves ** in a promife to follow her in her refolution, and to burn " themfelves with her." A SECON D inftance, given by Bernier, is of a woman of middle age, and not unhandfome. " To reprefent unto you the un- " daunted cheerfulnefs that appeared in her countenance, the <* refolution with which ilie marched, waflied herfelf, fpoke to *' the people ; the confidence with which fhe looked upon us, ** viewed her little cabin made up of very dry millet llraw, and *' fmall wood, went into this cabin, and fate down upon the pile, " and took her hufband's head into her lap, and a torch into *' her own hand, and kindled the cabin, while I do not know *' how many Brabjnins were bufy in kindling the fire about. " To reprefent unto you, I fay, all this as I ought, is not pof- *' fible for me; I can at prefent fcarce believe it myfelf, though " it be but a few days fince I faw it !" It is not to be fuppofed that all thefe devoted women face the fire with equal intrepidity. There are frequent inrtances of their being feized with the utmoft terror, and even attempt to efcape ; but the infernal Brahmins will, with their poles, thruft them into the flames, and fornetimes tie their legs and arms, and fling them into the burning pile. The afhes are collecfted, and generally flung into the Ganges, or if not in its neighborhood into fome facred river. If diftant from any, they 9 are G A N G E T I G H I N D O O S T A N. 305 are placed in a pot of red earthen ware, which is inclofed in a neat plain tomb of flone *. There is an appearance of fortitude in this action. I would not detraft from the merit, or the affedlion which they feem to bear to their hufbands, but fhould they endeavour to avoid the pile, they would be deemed infamous by their cajly and be rejeded and defpifed by all their relations. The Hindoo laws do not compel this fad duty, but they ftrongly recommend it. " It is proper," fay they t, " for a woman after her hufband's " death to burn herfelf in the fire with his corpfe : every wo- " man who thus burns herfelf fli all reniain in paradife with her *' hulband three crore and fifty lacks of years by deftiny ; if " flie cannot burn, flie muft, in that cafe, preferve an inviolable " chaftity ; if flie remains always chafte, flie goes to paradife, " and if flie does not preferve her chaflity flie goes to hell." Under the Mahometan government, leave for burning mult be obtained, nor is it ever granted till after every perfuafion is ufed to divert them from fa phrenetic an a6lion ; they are fomethiies refcued from the flames by troops of the wandering FaqtiirSf who fometimes meet on the fpot in great numbers when they know that it is fome fair and young woman that is to be burnt, and that hath no great kindred nor much company with her : for the women that are afraid of the pile, and fly away from it, knowing that they cannot be received again amongfl the Gentiles, nor live with them, becaufe they repute them infamous after they have committed fuch a fault, and * Mr. Daniell. I Halhed's Code of Gentoo Laws, p. 286. Vol.. 1L E. r brought 3o6 GANGETIC IIINDOOSTAN. brought luch a difgrace upon their religion; fuch women, I fay, are ordinarily the prey of this kind of men, who are alfo counted infamous in the Indies, and that have nothing to lofe. Faqi/irs. There are in India a fet of felf- tormentors of a very differ- ent nature, a fet of Faquirs or fanatics, who profanely ftyle themfelves Togeys, or latited to God. Thefe fellows will vow to Itand on their legs till their limbs fwell as thick, as their bodies ; others on their heads with their feet upwards for hours ; others fuffer their hair to grow till it covers their bodies, and becomes as infedled as the plica polonica ; others again will fuffer their nails to grow till they refemble the claws of wild beafls, or con- tinue with their arms acrofs till the limbs become immoveable. 1 cannot relate all the madneffes of thefe people; the various attitudes may be ictn in a plate in Linfcbotten'& voyage, under a great Ficus religiofa, or Banian tree, beneath the fliades of which they acfl their follies. Buc the mofl ferious of all may be feen in Ha7nilton\ voyage, vol. i. 270, who lliews two fellows voluntarily fufpended on hooks fattened to a beam, in honor of the god Jagernaut, and turned about in the air by perfons em- ployed for that purpofe. To conclude — Mr. Cambridge forms a very humorous poem out of a ftory told by one of our travellers, who met with a fel- low who fell on a very lingular means of mortification, by riding in a fort of fedan with the bottom fluck full of nails. A rich Indian would perfuade him to quit his feat. The reafon- ing of the Indian, and the moral of the flory, fliall be given in the words of my ingenious friend. Can 1 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 307 Can fuch wretches as you give to madnefs a vogue ? Though the priefthood of Fo on the vulgar impofe. By fquinting whole years at the end of their nofe ; Though with cruel devices of mortification They adore a vain idol of modern creation : Does the God of the Heav'ns fuch a fervice diredl. Can his mercy approve a felf-punifliing fedt; Will his wifdom be worfhipp'd with chains and with nails, Or e'er look for his rites in your nofes and tails ? Come along to my houfe, and thefe penances leave ; Give your belly a feaft, and your breech a reprieve. This reas'ning unhing'd each fanatical notion. And ftagger'd our faint in his chair of promotion. At length with reludance he rofe from his feat. And refigning his nails and his fame for retreat. Two weeks his new life he admir'd and enjoy 'd. The third he with plenty and quiet was cloy'd ; To live undiftinguifh'd to him was the pain. An exiflence unnotic'd he could not fuftain. In retirement he ligh'd for the fame giving-chair. For the crowd to admire him, to reverence and flare : No endearments of pleafure and eafe could prevail ; He the faintfliip refum'd, and new larded his tail. Mr. Ricbardfon, in his Jrabic and Perjtan diilionary, gives the following extraordinary account of thefe extraordinary re- hgionifts, under the article Fakyr — " A poor man. A reli- *' gious order of mendicants thns named by the Arabians^ R r 2 " by 3o8 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. " by the Ferfansy DerviJJj, or Sof, and by the Indians, Se- " najey. In this fmgular clafs of men, who, in Hindoq/iany << defpife every fpecies of clothing, there are a number of « enthufiafts, bnt a far fuperior proportion of knaves ; every « vagabond of abilities who has an averfion to labor, being re- " ceived into a fraternity which is regulated by laws of an un- " common and fecret nature. The Hindoos view them with a «' wonderful refpedl, not only on account of their fandtified re- " putation, but from a fubftantial dread of their power ; the ^^ Fakeer pDgrimages confiiting often of many thoufands of " naked faints, who exadt wherever they pafs a general tribute, " and their chara6ler is too facred for the civil power to take " cognizance of their condufft. Every invention, in a word, of « perverted ingenuity is exhaufted in diftorting and deforming ■, '« nature, fome, of the moft elevated enthufiafra, ftriking off even *' their own heads on great folemnities, as a facrifice to the " Ganges, which they worfliip; if the nerves of the felf-devoted " victim are powerful enough to difmember it completely, he " unqueftionably goes to heaven, if not, his former fandtity is " queftioned, and his future happinefs remains a doubt." Varisties of. In the frontifpiece to volume i. I have given figures of two of this clafs. The firft, with great length of hair, is one of the felf-tormentors who are mentioned at p. 306, and who prac- tife the moft luiheard of aufterities. Thefe are the enthufiafts which bear the name of Togeys : others I have feen named Saniajfes, or Pilgrims ; but Mr. Craufurd makes them fynoni- mous with the former. The other figure I have given in the iame GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. 309 fame plate, is one of thofe which are called in General Goddard^s march, fee p. 192 of this volume, Pandurams. Their manners are defcribed there ; more fully in Doiv's FerifJjta^ i. Introd. p. xxxiii. The figure wdl CKprefTes the form of what Mr. Dow calls one of the army of robuft faints. They go quite naked, excepting the concealment of certain parts in a purfe, tied by a firing which goes round the waift. Their hair is fhort, except before,, where it is drawn up, and tied in a bunch on the top of the head. Their beards are long : over their flioulders are flung two beaded ftrings which hang before, and appear to be badges of fandtity. The 7^ogeys wear the fame, but the upper firing confifts of larger beads. They carry a long ftick with a trident at the end, and a fort of bafket to contain any necelTa^ lies. There is another kind of Faquir of a more dignified order : Ghossain Fa- thofe are the Gbojfain Faquirs. They bear a very refpe(5table ^'' appearance, and wear an elegant loofe cloathing which reaches to the ground. Their arms are covered to the wrifts with clofe fleeves ; a fcarf falls from their flioulders to their feet : one part is flung gracefully over one fhoulder r on their head is a Ipecies of conic turband. In one hand they ufually carry a firing of great beads, in the other a long flight flick ; thefe, as well as the other Faquirs^ are very commercial. Mr. Bogle * found feme in Thibet, who bring from the fea coafts to the in- terior parts, pearls, corals, fpices, and other pretious articles of fmall bulk, which they exchange for mufk, gold duft, and other things of fmall bulk, which they can conceal in their cloaths. * Phil. Tranf. vol. Ixvii. p. 483. The The Khatre. GA NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. The Brahmins are the well known chief of the religious or- ders of the Hindoos, created by the deity Brimha from his mouth, as his was the bufinefs to inltru6l mankind in rehgious duties, and the Brahmins alfo were permitted to read the vedas^ or facred books. Their perfons were facred, and to kill a Brah- min was one of the five fins inexpiable in this or the next world. Every prieft mult be a Brahmin, but every Brahmin is not a prieft. They mingle in feveral fecular employs. They are prime minifters, embaffadors, and of other worldly bufinefles. Notwithftanding they profefs an abhorrence to the fhedding of blood, and never eat of any thing that has had life in it, yet they engage in the military line in different ftations *. Hurry Punt was a Brahmin of the firlt rank, and Purferam Bhow was alfo a Brahmin, and yet both of thefe were ailive leaders in the Mahratta armies, which confederated with us in the late war againft Tippoo\. The common drefs of the Brahmins are fliort robes, which do not reach below the knees ; over their flioulders is a loofe mantle, and on their breaft hangs, from the left fhoulder, the Zennar, or facred firing, made of a certain kind of cotton. They wear beards long and venerable. Their heads, like thofe of other Hindoos, are fhaven, and only one long lock left behind |. Let me here mention the three other greater cajls, made by Brimha. I refer to volume i. p. 56, for an account of the warrior, or Khatre, who was formed from his arms, and hii duty was to defend the people, to govern and to command. • Dirom's Campaigns, p. 7. t Moore's Narrative, p. 166, to which is annexed a very ridiculous tale. X Sketches of the Hindoos, ii. p. 41. 8 The GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 311 The Bbyfe was created from his thighs and belly. His bufi- TheBhyse. nefs was to fupply, by agriculture and traffic, the neceflaries of life. The Soodera he created from his feet, and to him devolved TheSoodera, the duty to labor, to ferve, and to obey*. The Khatres alfo have their Zennar, but it is diftinguiflied by the number of threads : that caft having fewer threads than that of the Brab~ min, and the £4>y^ than that of the Khatre\ as to the Soodera, none of them are permitted to wear that badge of diftindlion. The Soodera is a moft numerous caft, confifting of near a hun- dred inferior cafts. But to return to Calcutta. — The firft fort was built of brick, Old Fort at Caicutxa and named Fort William^, in honor of King lVUUa7n. Num- bers of people, attracted by the commercial advantages, flocked to this new fettleraent. The goods of the provinces on the Ganges were brought down to feed the luxuries of the weft, and thofe of Europe conveyed acrofs the vaft ocean to fupply the new^-acquired wants of the eaft. I cannot trace the progreffive increafe ; let it fuffice to fay, that the prefent number of inha- bitants amounts to five hundred thoufand. The EngliJ/j quarter is built in the moft elegant and fuperb manner in the European ftyle ; and the buildings have more the appearance of palaces than the refidence of private perfons. Some that are built quite on fpeculation will take a rent of a thoufand roupees, or J^. 125 Engli/b a year. A fine fet of prints, lately engraven by Mr. "Tbo- mai DiinieJlj (hew the moft fplendid parts of the city, and many * Sketches of the Hindoos, i. p. 127. of 312 G A N G E T 1 C H I N D O O S T A N. of the manners of the inhabitants. I remember feeing at Mr. Hodges a picture of a fine country-feat. I took it for the houfe of fome 'Englijlj7nan of high rank in our own country, till I fpied in the grounds an -elephant, which marked the place it belonged to. "New Citadel. The citadel was built immediately after the battle of Plajfey, on a fcale fo large as to render it ufelefs. To garrifon it is re- quired an army fufficient to take the field, and face an enemy without the proteition of fortifications. The river has fize and depth enough to bring up to the very city fliips of any burden which trade to India. But I do not read that Calcutta received any infult by land or water till the year 1756, when it was taken by Surajab DowJah, after a very flight defence, occafioned by the weaknefs of the garrifon, and the bafe defertion of the place by the governor, Mr. Drake. The few who were taken were, by the Nabob, ordered (in general) to be fecured for the night. They were by the unfeeling fbkliery driven into a common dungeon, which in one of the hotteit nights of the BiACK Hole. country produced the well known tragedy of the black hole at Calcutta ; a hundred and twenty-fix of the unhappy prifoners ' periflied before morning, among whom were feveral of the gentlemen of the failory. Surajah Dozvlah had fondly flattered himfelf with the certamty of immediately expelling the E?ig' liJJj out of Bengal, but he wanted the experience and the abili- ties of his predecefTor. Surajah Dowlah was -ambitious, cruel, avaricious, weak, capricious, and profligate. Colonel Clive was fent to retrieve the affairs of the diflrefTed colony. He em- barked at Madras with fuch forces as could be colleded toge- ther. GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 313 ther, anchored in Bali/ore road, and under the convoy of Ad- miral JVatforiy made the fpirited refolution of inftantly failing up the river, the Hoogly, and making an attack on the captured city. No fooner were our fliips brought into adtion, and our men landed, hut Surajab abandoned the place; foon after his camp was forced ; the battle of Flajfey fucceeded, the tyrant taken and put to death, and the vaft kingdom of Bengal became the property of a company of Britijlj merchants. The bulk of the inhabitants of Calcutta are Indians from all Inhabitants of parts ; their houfes are equally mean with thofe of the natives ^^''^"'^^^* in the other cities of India^ and built in the fame ftyle, but fuch an emporium occafions it to be the refort of people of every na- tion ; here are found abundance of the mongrel Portuguefe. I believe they originated from fome banditti of that nation, who for a long time infefted the Sunderbujid^ or rather its canals and neighboring fea, with their piracies, they mixed with the natives, and increafed to a great degree. The Armenians are a very numerous people, and the mofl Armenians. commercial of the eaft. Shah Abbas, the great Sophy of Perjia, gave them their firft importance. He colonized Julfa, the great fuburbs of Ifpahan, with thirty thoufand of that nation, who carried on the vaft commerce of the empire, efpecially that of filk. ^ournefort, (ii. 291.) who travelled in 1700, gives a very ample account of them. The celebrated traveller, Char din •t (iii. 77. 86.) is alfo very particular. In Tourneforf^ time they fettled in various parts of Europe. They are fo numerous at prefent at Venice as to have a church for their peculiar fer- vice. Vol. II. S f The 314 Sir William Jones. His Father. GANGETIG HIND COST AN. The BritWj nation hath carried to thefe diftant realms its love of hteratnre. On 'January 15th, 1784, the Afiatic Society was formed in this city, under the prefidentfliip of Sir JViUiam Jone^, Knight, one of the puifne judges of the court of judicature. As we have a diftant clame to that gentleman as a countryman, a defcendant of the antient Britons, I muft indulge an honeft pride in giving the proof. His father, William Jo7ies, was born as fome fay in the year 1675, in the parilh of Llanfihangel Trer Beirdd, in Anglefey. Sir F/illiam ufed to fay it was in 1680. By his fecond wife he had two children. Sir William, and a daughter, now living. His education was at a common fchool in the parifli of Llanfechell. It muft have been by ftrength of natural genius, that he acquired that fcience which afterwards rendered him fo eminent. It could not have been from little parifli-fchools in thofe days in Anglefey that he could reap any fuch advantages. He became the moft able mathematician of his time, and taught that fcience under the patronage of Sir Isaac Newton, which he obtained by publifliing, when only twenty-fix years of age, the Synopfu Palmariorum Mathefeos. This difproves the common report of his having gone to London for the firft time m 17 14? with the family of Lord Bulkeley. He became fo diftinguilhed by his knowlege in va- rious branches of fcience, as to be admitted a member, of the Royal Society, and to have died one of the vice-prefidents in 1749. Such is the date of his death given in the obituary of the Gentleman's Magazine, in the month of that year. Sir William, that glory to his name, was born only three years before that event took place. I muft lament that it is from a foreign GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 3:5 a foreign paper I muft take the few anecdotes of his life. From the Madras Courier, I learn that he was educated at Harrozv fchool. He was removed to Univerfity College Oxford^ of which I think he became a fellow. In 1769, he had the happinefs of accompanying the prefent Earl Spencer in his travels in France^ and refided fome time at Nice. He no fooner ftept into public, but he became eminent in almoft every branch of fcience. His great faculty in attaining the languages was amazingly fortu- nate. The Oriental were thofe which engaged him moft. If I can acquire a lift of his works, I fliall lay them before the reader in the Appendix. In 1783 he was appointed one of the puifne judges at Calcutta, and received the honor of knight- hood. His literary labors in India were amazing, confidering his rigid attention to the duty of his office. On the 27th of April, 1794, it pleafed Heaven to deprive the world of this ornament to human nature. 1 had the honor of once exchanging a letter with this dignified perfonage. My acquaintance did not extend farther. Where there is a general confent of opinion to bear evidence to his excellent qualities, I may venture to tranfcribe the following eulogy, without fear of giving a character exaggerated by partiality. " Endowed," fays his panegyrift, " with a mind of extraor- " dinary vigor. Sir JVHUard Jones, by unwearied induftry, aided « by fuperior genius, fuccefsfully explored the hidden fources " of Oriental {cience and literature, and his attainments in this *< interefting branch of learning, were fuch as to place him far *' beyond all competition, the moft eminent OnV;^/^/ fcholar in ** this or perhaps any other age. In his public charader, the S f 2 *' labor GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. " labor he afforded in the difpatch of bufinefs, the clearnefs of " his difcernment, and his legal abilities, well qualified him for " one of the guardians of the laws, and the rights of his fellow " citizens. As a fcholar, his name is known wherever litera- " ture is cultivated. In private life he v/as companionable ; " mild, gentle, and amiable in his manners, and his converfa- " tion rich and energetic. In fine, in all the relations of an *' high adminiftrator of juflice, a fcholar, a friend, a compa- " nion, and a hulband — he left behind an example rarely ta *' be paralleled !" Let me finifli with faying, that his beatitude commenced at the early age of forty-four. His end could never be ftyled pre- mature. "For honorable age is not that which stand- " ETH IN length OF TIME, NOR THAT IS MEASURED BY *' number of years. " But wisdom is the grey hair unto men, and an " UNSPOTTED life IS OLD AGE. *' He PLEASED God and was beloved of him, so that *' living amongst sinners he was translated. " He being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled " a long time. " For his soul pleased the Lord, therefore hasted " he to take him away from among the wicked." The three volumes of the tranfadions of the fociety, have done it much honor. I have been indefatigable in procuring materials for thefe two Indian volumes ; fliould they ever be perufed by a member of the fociety, they may prove a ftimulus to its induftry, when the fociety perceives the fcantinefs of ma- terials, efpecially when they remark it in the inftances of natural G A N G E T I C II I N D O O S T A N. 317 natural hiftory. We collea from the firfl volume, p. 376, an account of a rnanis, the tail as broad and more obtufe than that New Makis. of the common fhort-tailed, Hiji. fluad. ii. N° 460. It is called, in the Sanjkrit language, the Vajracite^ or Thunderbolt reptile, from the exceflive hardnefs of its fcales. In its ftomach was found a number of fmall flones, probably taken in to aflift digeftion. I SHALL, being on the fubje(5t of zoology, mention a delicious and beautiful fifh, which comes up the river annually as high, as Calcutta^ in llioals immenfe. The Polyneinus Paradijeus of Linnaus^ the Mango filh of Edw. tab. 208. It receives the Mango Fuh. Englijh name either from its brilliant orange color, like a ripe mango, or from its coming up in the Mango. Its length is, from the tip of the nofe to the end of the tail, nine inches ; but what gives it great Angularity, are feven ftifF fubftances like thick briil:les, which iffue from near the gills ; they gradually lengthen to the exterior, which is in length fix- teen inches. Thefe fillies firft appear about Calcutta from the fea in June, fpawn, and return to the fait water in fix weeks. It is not known from what part they come ; it is certain, that it is not from the fide which walhes Orixa, at left my liberal friend Doctor Patrick Rujel informed me, that he never obferved them in that fea. They are faid to be the beft of Indian fifli. The Ganges fwarms with infinite quantities of fiflies ; but I Other Fishis, do not obferve, that the genera are numerous. The fpecies which abound moft are thofe of the Cyprinus, or carp kind ; of them I obferve the Englijh Chub, and I have heard of the common Carp, of great fize. The Anjana is a fmall fpecies + taken 3i8 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. taken in large numbers, dried, and fent up the country for fale. A SINGULAR apodal fifli found near Dacca is about three feet long, head fmall, and much deprefled ; back greatly elevated, near the lower part a lingle fin of five rays, ventral begins not remote from the mouth, unites with that of the tail, which ends rounded ; color a yellowifli white, dark on the back. The genus of Silurus is extremely numerous ; among them are fome undefcribed, and very curious. I muft acknowlege my obligations to Nathaniel Middleton^ Efq. for permitting me to have copies made from his numerous colledion ; many are as yet not afcertained. Among the known fpecies are feveral curious Lepturi, one of the charadlers of which is the tail conlii\ing of a long briftle. Some Ophidiums, among them is the Opbidium aculeatum^ Gm* Linn. iii. p. 1174. Blocb. v. p. 58. tab. clix. There is a Shark taken in the gulph of Bengal of a new kind, with a fharp and flender nofe. I conclude with another Shark, which is to me a new difcovery in the Indian ocean ; the Squalis PriJiiS) yet Pliny was not unacquainted with ir, who calls it, Maximum animal in Indico Mari. It was reprefented to him as of the length of two hundred cubits ; the fad; is, it does not exceed that of fifteen feet. Paper. The produ6lions of the fociety are printed at Calcutta, and on paper the manufacture of the country. I will not be pofitive that they are printed on that, made from the Crotolaria jtmcea, 'Trew's Ehret. tab. 47. mentioned in Phil. Trans. Ixiv. p. 99. v.'hich is fown before the rains begin, and gathered in Decern- ler\ GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 319 ber ; of the bark is made ropes, nets, packing cloths, &c. and of the rags of thofe is fabricated the paper. LiEUTEXANT Cbarks Bamilloii, in the ^/f^/Zc Refearches, i. MahwahTree. p. 300. defcribes a tree found in Babar called the Mahwah, or Maduca, of the Po/yandr/a inonagynia kind. The fruit yields on expreffion an oil, ufeful as the ghee or Indimi butter ; the flower yields, by diftillation, a water, ufeful in adding ftrength to the Cunie, or rice food of the Indians-, and the timber is of great toughnefs, and poffibly ufed in fliip-building, and for beams for houfes. It muft be of great value for the laft pur- pofe, as it refifts the ravages of the pernicious ternies^ Mr. Alexander Dahymple has given, in his firft number of Nerium Tinc- the Oriental Repofitory, p. 39, an account of the Nerium tinHo" '^°^^^'^^* rium^ or tree Indigo, with a good plate, communicated by Dr. Roxburgh ; it is a native of the Rajahmundry Circar. It will be found a good fubftitute for the common Indigo ; it grows wild, is very hardy, and not liable to the accidents which affecft the common Indigo plant by the wet, and which often difappoint the hopes of the manufacturer. This grows to the height of fifteen feet, and yields a beautiful wood, white as ivory itfelf. I MAY add fi-om the fame repertory, p. 38, to the Cochin^ Bread Frl^it- vol. xi. p. 146, that the bread-fruit tree grows mofl luxuriantly in that neighborhood, and that the Butch call it Maldiviny "Jack. It is amazing that we did not difcover this before, and fave our- felves the humane but difaftrous voyage of Captain Bligb in fearch of this fruit. I beg Dodor Ander/on's pardon if I judge wrongly of him, by thinking he was unacquainted with ths trug: 320 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. true fpecies. There are two varieties, one with a fmall fruit full of feed, capable of propagation in the univerfal manner. This is the ftock of the other, and is called by Rumpbius, i. p. 112. tab. xxxii. Soccus Granofus\ the other has no feeds, fo is only cultivated by cutting ; this is the kind in general ufe. It is engraven and well defcribed by Do6lor For/ier^ in his Ge- nera, p. 51. tab. xli. li. A, and in his fon George's, PL Efcul, Ins. oceani Aujlralis, p. 25 ; and there is an excellent one by my late friend Mr. Ellis, who has collected every thing relative to it. Dr. Forjier gives it the apt name of Arto-carpos, from APTOS bread, and KAPnoS fruit. It is fpread over the Ladrone ifles, the Marquifes, new Hebrides, the Society, the Friendly and the Sandwich ifles, and rarely on the ille of New Caledonia. Its mod weftern fituation is the Philippines and Princes ille, in the ftreights of Sunda. A farther account fhall be given of this ufeful tree. I fhall only add, that we are obliged to our countryman Da?npier (Voy. i. p. 296.) for the difcovery. Sugar Cane. I SHALL repeat my notice of the Sugar cane, merely to fay, that there is no place in which it grows with greater vigour, or is more produdlive of its juice, or capable of being manufac- tured into finer fugar than in Bengal. A heavy duty, nearly mounting to a prohibition, at prefent deprives us of the ufe of it in the parent country, where fugar is now become a neceffary. We now feel the power of monopolifts, and trufl in the mercy of legiflature to releafe us from their fangs. Bengal besert. Having taken notice of a necefTary, from the vegetable king- dom, I Ihall give the luxuries, which it yields to a Calcutta table, or the fupplies for a Bengal defert. I am indebted to Mrs. GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 3ai Mrs. Edward Wheeler for the catalogue. Many of the fruits furnifli a beautiful ornament to that lady's dreffing room, imi- tated in wax. I fliall prefix the Bengallian names, and then endeavour to give the Linnccan. CuTTAL, Arlo-carpus ifttegrifulia, Hort. Kew. iii. p. 321. Linn, Suppl. 412. This is defcribed and engraven in Rumpbius, i. 104. tab. XXX. xxxi. under the name of Soccus arboreus, major Nanca. In many parts of H'mdoojlan it is called Jack. The The Jack or fruit refembles that of a melon, the figure in Rumphius is Jack- J''^^^* Jhapedy it is entirely covered with angular prickles, not unlike cryfl:allizations, but they are {o foft as not to injure the hand. The fruit grows to an enormous fize, fometimes fo large as to require two fi:out men to bring it to table ; even Rumphius fays, that it is frequently fo heavy that a man cannot lift it. By the fize, fo vaftly fuperior to what it attains in other places, I (hould conjecture it to be a gigantic variety, the fame with the bread-fruit with kernels. It is wonderful that this, and fome other Indian fruit, fliould ever find admittance into a de- fert. Some compare the fmell to garlic, mix-d with frowfy apples, others to a much more filthy thing. It grows in moft parts of India and its ifles, and in ditFerent parts is known by different names. It mull: be difl:inguifiied from the Arto-carpus of Dofior Forjier, by its ovated undivided leaf. Tall. Arriani, Rer. Indie, p. 522. Corypba umbracidifera, fee p. 148 of the firft volume. Naureal, Cocos nucifera, Coco palm, p. 118. 131. Cajoore, Phoenix dadfilyf era. Date palm, p. 248. The fruit does not ripen to perfection in Bengal, is therefore imported. Bon Caujoo, Jungle dates — Cummarunga, Vol. II. T t T^JRMOOGE, ^2a. GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. TuRMOOGE, Mufk Melon, Gerard^ 917. Cucumis Dudaimy Ssift, PL iv. 206. ' TuRBOOZE, Cucurbita Citrullus, Water Melon, Gerard, 913. CoNCHREE ; Cucurbita Melo f Our Melon ? SiiERiFA, Annona Palujlrh, Cuftard Apple of Brown's Ja- maica, 256. Papeia, Carica Papaya, Papaw oi Jamaica, p. 360. Bromelia Ananas, Pine Apple, not a native of //7^/V?, was firft introduced into the royal gardens at Agra by the Portuguefey as we are alTared by the imperial memoirs of Jehanglr, p. 41. But it certainly is a plant common to South America, and to Ibme of the iflands of India *. Kella, Mufa. Two of thefe KeJla are the Mufa Paradifiaca, and the M. Sapientum ; the Plantaine and the Banana trees of the Weji Indies. In the preceding vol. i. p. 240, I have taken notice of the genus. Raum Kella, a Mufa — Cbappa Kella — Bale, Bat AVI A Limbo, Citrus decumanus. Shaddock or Pumpel- mofe, vol. i. p. 235. Naringue, a fmall fort of Orange. Amar, Punica granatum. Pomegranate ; Abulfazel fays that Satagong, near Hoogly, was remarkable for the excellency of this fruit. AuMLY, Tamarindus Indica. The Tamarind. AuME, Mangifera Indica. Mango, vol. i. p. 213. PucHA Aume, Ripe Mango. » See vol. i. of this work, p. 221. CUSHA GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. CusHA Apple, Anacardium Occidentale, Gufhew Nut, Cate/by^ Carolina, App. 9. tab. ix. Daufool, or Burret — Commel Gutta — Gyragun — Seme— Tela chooca. Byar — Golaub — Golaub Jumba— Coruncha — Bomhee — Pe- niala — Woir — Aumloche — Berriale. Strawberries grow in the woods about Patna, India was as much beholden to its northern neighbors, in Ber- flier's time, for feveral good fruits, as we are to Spain and Por- tugal for oranges, lemons, almonds. Sec. 8cc. Perfia^ Samar" cand, and Bocbara fiipplied Dehli with frelli melons, apples, pears, and grapes, which were fold at great prices during the whole winter. All forts of dried fruits are brought from the fame countries, fuch as almonds, pillachia nuts, prunes, apricots, raifins, and the like ; the climate of Hindoojlan being too hot for the produ6tion of thofe kinds. Poffibly the difficulties of the roads prevent the modern epicures from getting out of the nearer CaJ]:mere all the fame forts of fruits, befides numbers of European plants which grow there fpontaneoufly. I may alfo add, that nature has given that country our moft valuable foreft trees ; the mountains are cloathed with oaks, elms, plane trees, and pines. After the conqueft oi Cabul, Cahdabar, and Cajhmere, loads were annually brought to market. Akbar had his fruitery. In the Ayeen, i. p. 92, begins an enumeration of all the fruits, native or imported, and alfo their feafons : we are told the coun- tries they are brought from, Vind-Abulfazel is particular in point- ing out which were moft agreeable to the imperial palate. Tt :i Every 3*3 -,24 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. Every thing relative to the kitchen is noted in a moft particular manner ; great attention is paid to the imperial larder. The provifions are noted, the different forts of mutton and fowl ; the products of the kitchen garden ; the variety of grain and jDulfe, even to fplit peas, and every fpecies of pickle and incentive to appetite. Not but the imperial Akbar was the moft temperate of men. He ate but once in twenty-four hours, and always rofe with an appetite. Climate of The climate produdlive of thefe luxuries is far from being en- viable. The longevity^ in fome inftanc^s, is boafted of, as proofs of its goodnefs, but the thoufands and ten thoufands who fall fuddenly in the prime of life, are melancholy convictions of its general infalubrity. We will begin with the ingenious Mrs. Kinder/ley's account of the welcome flie had on her arrival at Calcutta, in April 1766. " During the hot or dry feafon, which " begins at the beginning of March, and continues till the be- *< ginning of June, a typbon, commonly called a Korth-weJIer, " from the point from which it originates, is very frequent in " February and March. It is to ftrangers moft terrific, attended ** with thunder, lightning, and rain ; the loudnefs of the thun- *' der, the terrible flaflies of lightning, the roaring of the wind, ** which carries all before it, and the deluge of the rain, are al- ** together tremendous ; it appeared as if every crack of thunder " mufl tear the roof of the houfe from end to end. *' The tempeft being fpent, was fucceeded by the azure morn, " and the radiant fun, which, tempered by the coolnefs of the *< earth, formed fome hours of the moft delightful climate " that can be imagined, but was too foon followed by excef- « five GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 325 " five heat ; for after every North-zvefier, the heat fenfibly in- " creafes till the rains commence. Every one now begins to " look forward to that feafon, wifliing it was come. " The thermometer has been known to rife to iro, at that *' time people are nearly fufFocated ; they creep for relief un- " der verrandas^ or the porticos, where the dews are cooling ; *' but fliould they indulge a fleep, death is the certain confe- *' quence. " The baneful influence of the fun is a melancholy reflec- " tion ; the number of fudden deaths amongft the Englijh by the " coup de Soldi, and the caution they are obliged to ufe to pre- " ferve life, makes this feafon very uncomfortable, and when " it happens, as it fometimes does, that the rains are late before " they fet in, the mortality exceeds belief. " Life and death fo rapidly fucceed, that medicines very fre- " quently have not time to operate before the great event has " taken place. People live as if in a camp, talk of death as fami- " liarly, and as if it was an event more probable to take place to- " morrow than the next day., — " Let us eat and drink for to- " morrow we die."' The illnefs of which moft peopie die is what is called here a pucker fever, /, e. the ftrong fever, which frequently carries a perfon off in a few hours ; the phyficians efteem it the highefl: degree of putridity, but fome have a more lingering illnefs, fuch as a bile in the il:omach, which indeed is a diforder very few are entirely exempt from in thefe cafes ; the intenfe heat relaxes the coats of the ftomach, fo as to prevent digeilion, which occafions much illnefs, and ofttimes death. The 326 GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. j-oGs. The fogs of this country are horrible, frequent and thick, and moft inwholefome. Officers fent into the fait marflies for the purpofe of taking a furvey, have found the vap lurs fo grofs and putrid, that every now and then they were oblir^ed to af- cend the higheft trees for the fake of getting a little refpira- tion ; few efcape without a fit of illnefs, and numbers a^e out of thofe fent on this horrible fervice *. <« It is true indeed that the fair fex in general efcape thi <' cruel fevers of this climate, which is owing to the tem- « perance of their lives, and their not being obliged to expofe " themfelves to the violent heats, as our fex is often under the . *< neceffity of doing. But the Englijh women are not without <* their diforders; they are feized with an oppreffion of their ** nerves, flow fevers, and bile. Thefe, with a conftant per- <' fpiration, foon makes the rofes on their cheeks to vanifh. " A pale yellow complexion fucceeds, and every fymptom of <' youth and beauty difappears." " Every thing but cold is in extremes here; the heat is *< intenfe, the rains floods, the winds hurricanes, and the hail- *' ftones, I dare not tell you how large, leit you Ihould think « that I take the licenfe of a traveller. But what I always *' behold with reverence and awe, and at the fame time with " pleafure, is the lightning, not an evening paffes without it ; « it is not that offenfive glare of light I have been ufed to fee, *' but a beautiful fire which plays amongft the clouds, and «« paffes from one part of the heavens to another in every di- " redion, and in every variety of vibration." * Phil. Tranf. vol, Ivii. p. 2l8. Icon- GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 327 I CONGRATULATE the inhabitants of this burning region, that the art of ice-making has been difcovered, and moft fuc- cefsfully purfued. I refer the reader to the account given of the procefs by Sir Robert Barker, in vol. Ixv. p. 252 of the Phi- lofopbical 7'ranfaciions, which is in ufe at Allahabad, Motte Gill, and Calcutta ; places between 25 i and 23 1 of nortli latitude, the narrative tedious, and unneceflary to be tranfcribed in a climate, where the natural cold feldom fails producing ice fufficient for the luxury of every returning year. By this means the Dives of this country may have the comfort of cooling his tongue while he is tormented in that flame ; but let me admonifli him in time to remember the Lazaru/es, leaft hereafter he fliould find himfelf tranfported to that Torrid Zone, where no ice- makers will be found, where the wretched Pan'ar will no more receive his evil things, nor the luxurious Nabob his good ! The government of Bengal, and its vaft dependencies, was Government. firft veiled in a Governor General, and a fupreme council, con- fiding of a prefident and eleven counfellors. This mode was altered by the T3th of George III. or in 1773, into a Governor General and four counfellors, of v/hich the firft Governor Ge- neral was Warren Hajiings ; and Lieutenant General Cla'uermg, the Honorable George Monfon, Richard Barwel, and Philip Francis, who had the direction of all affairs, civil and military, over the territorial acquifitions and revenues in the kingdoms of Bengal, Bahar, and Orixa, and they or the major part to have power of fuperintending and controlling the Prefidencies of Madras, Bombay, and Bencoolen ; in particular that they Ihould have no power to make war or peace with any of the bidian ftates without their approbation. 2 By 328 GANGETICHINDOOSTAN. Bt the fame act, the EngUJb laws and courts of judicature was fixed at Fort William, in Calcutta, confifting of a chief juf- tice, and three other judges, with power and authority to exe- cute all civil and criminal, admiralty and ecclefiaftical jurifdic- tion. The court v/as alfo to be a court of record, and a court of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery, for the town of Calcutta and Fort William- in Bengal, and the limits thereof, and the fac- tories were fubordinate thereto. What the bufuiefs the criminal court has had in other cafes, befides the convi6lion of Nundcomar for forgery, a crime not capital by \hQ Hindoo laws, I am at a lofs to fay. He was charg- ed and convitfled of a crime committed fix years before. Within that period, the unhappy difputes between the prefident of the fupreme council, Mr. Hajlings, and the majority, were carried to an extreme height. Nundcomar, a Brahmin of high rank and great wealth, had a quarrel with the prelident, and charged him with accepting bribes in three inftances. The majority of the council took advantage of this declaration, and endeavoured to make it a charge againft Mr. Hajlings. It was fliaken off within the period, and the difcovery of the Brahmin's forgeries came to light. They feera never to have been urged againft him by the prelident of the council, nor was the profecution in any degree excited by Mr. Hajlings, notwithftanding the violence he fhewed againft him ; notwithftanding his faffcring himfelf to be made the tool of the three diftenting members of the council to effeifl the ruin of the Governor General. The profecution was advifed by a Mr. Farren, an attorney, in behalf of an individual, a private perfon. Nundcomar was of courfe tried before the proper court, at the head of which Sir Elijah hnpey was chief juftice. The GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. The trial was fair, and the guilt fully proved, and conviAion and execution the confequence. A crime too horrible for my belief was attempted to be afcribed to Mr. Hajmgs, that of joining with the chief juftice to murder the criminal with the fword of juftice. He fufFered by the cord in Auguji 1775. The account of the execution was moft pathetically drawn up by the flieriff who attended, and who evidently was no friend to Mr. Hajlings *. He moft affededly defcribes his wonderful calmnefs and refignation; fome afcribe it to his being afllired by his friends in power that he had nothing to fear, and that he was certain of being reprieved, even at the foot of the gallows ; but after cheating him, as the Devil did the Santon Barfifa in the TurkiPj tales, they fpit in his face and difappeared. Mr. Broome thinks Niindcotnar fliould have been refpited, becaufe forgery is not a capital offence by the laws of Hindoojlan. In England made fo merely in fupport of commerce ; but adds Mr. Broome, there are other reafons why the governor general might (ought) to have refpited execution. Nundcomar was the bittereft enemy which Mr. Hajlings had, and united againft him with his moft malignant enemies. Elevated charadters like the wife of C<^r lliould not undergo even fufpicion — greatnefs of mind — and com- mon delicacy fliould have made the man to whom the power of mercy had been delegated, to have ufed his heavenly prerogative in favor of the wretched criminal ! It is but juftice to fay, that his vaft fortunes were reftored to his fon. He had Mx.^-Xwq lacks of roupees in money, and about the fame in jewels and rich goods t; « Preferved in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1780, p. 555. f Hiftory of Bengal, Mr, Jonathan Scott, ii. p. 459. Vol. II. U u who 329 330 G ANGE TIC HINDOOSTA N. who ever heard of a man being hanged in England who was worth one miUion and forty thouland pounds ? SARACE^^^JIc I SHALL here give a brief view of the early conqueft of this Conquests. ^ _ vaft empire. The Saracens, loon after the deceafe of their great impoftor, made inroads into Hindoojian, inroads of pillage and maffacre, but none of them of permanent conqueft. The firft monarch who ever made an eftablifliment in India, was Mah- mood, emperor of Gbizni, a country lying between the antient Oxus and the Indus, comprehending the modern Turkejlan, the UJbecks, and Bucbaria ; the capital was Gbizni or Gafna, a little to the fouth of CahuL Mabmood made feveral incurfions before he could fix his ftandard in Hindoojlan. In the year loii he penetrated as far as Debli\ in 1018 he took the antient city Canoge, fee p. 289 of this volume, and deftroyed the Pagodas of Matura, the Methora of Pliny, not remote from Canoge. Ferijhta, i. 73, fays, he found there five idols of pure gold, with eyes of rubies of immenfe value. Mabmood, as much adtuated by a bigoted zeal againft the religion of the Hindoos, as by am- bition, maffacred its votaries by thoufands, and deftroyed all their temples. He died in 1028, before which time he had reduced India from the weftern part of the Ganges to Guzerat. This enormous mafs of empire often fell to pieces by its own weight, and was as frequently re-confolidated by the valour and prudence of fome of the fucceeding emperors. The lives of the monarchs of this vaft empire were fcenes of warfare, trouble, and flaughter. The provinces were perpetually revolting, and conquered again at a great expenfe of blood and treafure. Akbar the great had re-united moft of them ; his great grandfon Auren^zebe GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN, 331 Aurengzebe reduced the reft, but died at laft at Amednagur, in the Deccan, in the refpite of a campaign, in the centre of his do- minions, hi lefs than forty years after his death the vaft em- pire fell to pieces, and refolved into numerous provinces. Hindoojtan was greatly depopulated by the llaughter of the aboriginal inhabitants, either in war, or by the horrible maf- facres caufed by the fury of Mahometan zeal. The bigotry of the religion at length was foftened, and the remaining Hindoos enjoyed a fort of toleration. We may judge of the numbers that were left, when we fay that they are at prefent as ten to one in comparifon of the followers of Mahomet. Their language gave way to that of the conquerors. The Perjian was adopted, and the old tongue, like the JFel/h in England, became a dead language. Whether any diftricSl, fecluded by mountains, retains, like Wales, its primasval lan- guage, I am yet to learn ; poffibly that language (if it does exift) as well as the PerJian, may have corrupted each other by the adoption of words. Abulfazel, in his ift vol. p. 296, makes a complaint of that kind, fee p. 254 of this volume. I have my fufpicions that fonie primaeval people do ftill exift. Mr. Hodges, in N' VII. gives a view of a hill village in Bengal, inhabited by a race of men totally diftind: from thofe of the plains. They were for a long time quite at enmity with the low-landers, they defcended from their faftneffes with the fury of wild beafts, deftroyed the villages, and drove away the cattle, exa(5lly con- formable to the old practice of our Scottijlj highlanders. The habitations of thefe people are fimple and rude beyond expref- fion, and their manners favage ; yet in the year 17795 they were U u 2 reclamed 332 G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. Akbar. reclamed by the prudence of a Mr. Cleveland^ ^vho went un- armed among them, and at length perfuaded them to raife a body of men among themfelves, for the purpofe of protecfling thofe very people who had been the kte objects of their ravages.- The fpecimens of the antient Hindoo tongue is locked up in books intelligible only to the Brahmins, who make it their Itudy. It is called the Sanjkrit, of which I have taken notice at p. 211. Mr. Halbed, in the introdudtion to the Gentoo laws, gives an ingenious account of thefe old books, and fpecimens of the language and types. Empire under Hi}idooJlan, in the days of Akbar, was divided into twelve SoubahJJjips, or viceroyalties, and each of thofe committed to the care of a Soubah. The hiftory of thefe provinces is given by Abulfazel, in the fecond volume of the Akberry, now and then we meet with in it fome inftances of credulity, but on the whole it is a fine view of the empire and its revenues, and of all that concerns its political ftate. To each SoubahJJnp is added an ac- count of its revenue in money, its ftrength in military forces, in elephants, and other particulars, of which I give a fpecimen in the firft article, that of Bengal. « The Soobah oi Bengal^' fays Abulfazel, ii. 19, " con fills of " twenty-four fircars, and feven hundred and eighty-feven « mahls. The revenue is fifty-nine crore, eighty-four lacks, " fifty-nine thoufand three hundred and nineteen dams, or " Sicca rupees 1,49,61,482-15-2 in money, and the Zemindars " (who are moftly Koits) furnifh alfo 23,300 cavalry, 801,158 " infantry, 170 elephants, 4,260 cannon, and 4,400 boats." Bengal, Soobah of Bengal. G A NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. 333 Bengal, fays FeriJJota, ii. 139, was added to the empire by Humaioon, in 1538; he took its antient capital Gour, and changed its name to Genutabad, or the Heavenly city. Ferijhta lliould have faid, that it was firft conquered by the emperor Altump, who began his reign in 1210, but it appears to have recovered its independency. After the fecond conqueft, Bengal revolted again ; but was afterwards fubdued by Akbariw 1576. Bahar, in all probability, followed the fortunes of Bengal, Bahar. both in the conquers and the revolts. Allahabad was early a part of the empire o^ Hindoq/lan ; we Allahabad. know from Ferijhta, i. 387, that Mahmood Shah had a vifier named Jehan, who in 1393, ufurped this province, and reigned imder the name of Sultan ul Sbirki, or king of the eali. Abul- fazel, ii. 39, fays, he was a eunuch of the palace, and dignified by the emperor by that title. Agra, like Dehli, early fubmitted to the force of the Ghiznian Agra. arms. Malwah was added to the empire of Hindoojlan by the em- Malwah. peror Humaioon. Bandees. Akbar, under the pretence that the monarch of Dandees. this kingdom reigned ill, depofed him, and made it part of the empire. Berar had been part of the Deccan, it was conquered by Berar. Mortaza Nizam el Mulk. Gujerat. During the inteftine tumults of the year 1572, Gujerat. Akbar marched into this kingdom, which fubmitted without ftriking a blow. Its laft prince was Mahmood. On his death, the 334 AjMEER. Dehly. Lahoor. MULTAN. Tatah. Cashmere. GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. the Omrahs quarrelled among themfelves, which brought on the ruin of their country. Akbar concluded v/ith the taking of Sural in the fame year. Ajmeer was conquered by the emperor Akbar in 1567. Dehly was among the firft conquefts of the Mahometans. Lahoor was conquered by the firft Mahometan invaders, and remained annexed to the empire till the great diflblution of that vaft body in our days. It is at prefent the capital of the Seiks. Multan had been frequently conquered by the emperors, and finally and efFe6tually by Humaioon. Tatah was conquered by the troops of the fame emperor. The conqueft of Cajhmere, by Akbar ^ is related in the hiftory of that happy valley. Cajhmere^ fays its hiftorian?, had its own princes four thoufand years before its conqueft by Akbar in 1585. Akbar would have found difficulty to reduce this para- dife of the Indies, lituated as it is within fuch a fortrefs of mountains; but its monarch, 3 i//b/iirZ'a little time ; in a fliort while he fell a vicSlim to the iinwhole- -fome climate of CoosBeyhar. Mr.i^^;z;^^/prefented me with afmail print of a view^ of Delamcotta, as a moft fatisfadlory proof of the -courage of the commander who could attempt fuch an adven- ture. It produced offers of peace from the great Ltifiia. It 'feems the infult was offered to us by his tributary the Deb or 'Deeb Rajab^wh-O^ tributary to the former, rules immediately over ■the Boo fanners. This produced the embaffy of Mr. 5(5^/^-, in 1774, who was nominated for that purpofe by Mr. Hajlings. On the borders of Bootaji, after eroding the mountains from Coos Beyhar^ is the town of Buxaduar, feated on the flat top of a wooded hill, furrounded with others of conoid forms, covered with trees to their fummits. This place is ex- cefiively unwholefome from May till the end of. September, oc- cafioned by the bad air arifing from the vapours exhaled by the power of the fun, and falling in form of a C\t\\ after fun- fer, which renders the air raw, damp, and chilly ; even in the moft fultry climate the thermometer \vas., between May 15th and the aad, never at two in the afternoon above 82° or below 73°. I have a view of this place, made in Mr. Bogle's expedition, and a few others, which I obtained copies of by Mr. Ha/Ihigs's permilTion. At Cbooka, about thirty-eight miles farther to the north, is a fpecimen of a bridge, common in this country, but to others of furpriiing ftrudturc, compofed of iron chains covered with planks, and flretched from precipice to precipice acrofs the rivero G A N G E T I G H I N D O O S T A N, 351 river. I have given a plate of this, done by a painter attendant on the embalTy. Thirty-two miles farther north ftand the caftle and town of Castle or Poonaka\ a plate is alfo given of this. It reprefents the face of ^°°^'^'^a. the country, and the ftyle of building, and a view of the exalted mountains of fnow, foaring above others, which any where elfe would alionifli the traveller with their height. Not remote fram hence a chain of hills, branching from the great Emodus o\: Hhn^ maleb, inclofes the narrow traift wliich is dillinguifl:ted by the name of the Ded Rajah's country. As a head-piece to the fecond volume, is given a view of the The Dee Ra- great naked mountam Doimgala, of the town, and the various entrenchments caft up, on the flope of its fjte, for its defence. A precipitous road leads to the top. On the fummit of a lower Herile hill, is the religious houfe Dounga chin. This view is taken near Vu'iga Puga, on the road to T'ajfifudon. On approaching Tajfifudon is a fine view, given as a head- piece to the firft vokime, of a valley watered by a large river. It is wholly furrounde TaJJifudonythQ capital TAssisvDorf. of Boot an. Between this city and Poj-adrong is the great Emodal chain, capt eternally with fnow, the fame which over- tops the other fnow-capt chains, and fliews itfelf to the diftant inhabitants of Bengal, This range is alfo the boundary be-^ tweea 352 G A N G E T I C 11 I N D O O S T A N. tween Bootan and the Lama's country, or Great Thibet. From this hmit, to the great river Btcrrampooter, is in many places a hundred and fifty miles in extent. The river Teejla rifes not far from the former, and haftens fouth through Bootan and Bengal^ till it is loft near Dacca in Be?7gal. This country rifes into mountains of prodigious height. The fummits eternally covered Math fnow, the fides M'ith Trees. forefts of ftately trees of various kinds; fome, fvich as pines, afpens, birch, cyprefs and yew, holly and elder; afli is un- common, oaks have not yet been difcovered in Bootan ; firs, and others known in Europe^ others again peculiar to the country and climate. Many of thefe forefts are ufelefs to mankind, being placed amxidft rocks inaccefiible. At their bafe, the val- lies and fides are cultivated, and are produdlive of wheat, barley, and even rice. In the depth of the valUes rufli num- bers of furiovis torrents, which, increafing in their courfe, .and at length gaining the plains, are loft in the rivers of Bengal. The objefts wiiich ]\h\ Saunders had in view in his travels, was a knowledge of the vegetable and mineral kingdom ; we may expe- pbagus *. Thb River I NOW arrive at the banks of the Burrampooter, and crofs MFooTER. ,^^^ ^^^ facred land of 'Thibet. Here we muft make a long and reverential flop ! in honor of a river fuperior to the Ganges in fize, fuperior in extent of courfe, and fuperior in the num- ber of nations which it vifits, and fuperior in a mofl: Angu- lar aberration from its original fetting out, unfortunate only in not pafling through a tra<5t known to the clallical learned of remote and of prefent ages. It wandered through barbarous climes, unknown, and undecided as a moft capital river, till the recent year of 1765. » iEIiande Anim. lib, xvi. e. xt, tranfcribed into the Hift. Quadr. i. p.p. 27, 28. 2 The GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. 35; The Tbibetians name this river Sampooy or the River ; the Or Sampoo. Indians call it Burrampooter \ it is faid to be written in the Sanjkrit language Brabma-pooter, or the fon of Brahma. The feat of the antient Bracbjnani may be placed near its banks, be- tween the Cbajimaning and LaJJa. This great river rifes in about Lat. 32' 30' north, eaft Lon- ORicmoFi gitude from Greetiwicb 82° 40', in the kingdom of Tbibety or country of the grand Lauia^ and on the oppofite fide of the fame mountains which give rife to the Ganges. It originates from three fprings, the neareft of which does not meafure ^in the map) above fifteen miles from the head of that celebrated river. From its fountains it bears, for the far greater part of its courfe, the name of the Sampoo. It takes an eaftern direc- tion for a confiderahle way, keeps confined in the vale of Tbibetj between the vaft chains of the Tbibetian mountains, probably with a moft rapid courfe. The fummits of thefe chains are covered with eternal fnow, the vallies deep, each with their torrent, which helps to augment the rivers oi Ben- gal. The cold of ^bibet is very great, occafioned by the vaft trail of fnowy regions, which the northern wind palTes over in its courfe. Mr. Bogle found at Cbanmaning, where he Great Colb. wintered, the thermometer in his chamber 29* below the freezing point, notwithftanding the latitude was in 31° 39', or eight degrees to the north of the burning Calcutta. In ^pril all the Handing waters were frozen. In Tbibet the mountains are quite naked, and bear a very different afpedl from thofe of Boot an, or that part which is adjacent to the province of Bengal. 1 may here obferve, that the inhabitants of Bootan, Tbibety Z z 2 4[famy 35$ G A N G E T I G II I N D O O S T A N. AJfam, and T'ipra^ are not lefs fubjedt to Goitres^ or wens, than the inhabitants of the European Alps. Chaft.manixg The firft city near its banks is Chanmaning\ the n&xt is LaJTa, or LahaJJa, the capital of the kingdom, in Lat. 30" 30'. The river walhes the walls, yet I do not find that Mr. Bogle makes any mention of its being navigable, notwithftanding it is above fix hundred miles from its fource. I have been informed that in part of its tourfe along Thibet, it is as broad as the LahassaCity. Tbaines Tit JVeJbninfter. The cxty oi Lahajfa is well built with Itone, and has confiderable commerce with China, chiefly by the means of caravans ; it alfo fends caravans to Senli?iginjki, in the Ruffian dominions in Siberia, by which it receives numbers of the manufadtures of Europe. It is very populous, and of a confiderable fize ; is the refidence of the chief officers of go- vernment, and of the two Cbinefe mandarines and their fuite. Thefe mandarines have adlually a garrifon of a thoufand men in the city. It is alfo inhabited by Cbinefe and Cacbemerian merchants and artificers, and is the daily refort of numberlefs traders, who come in occafional parties, or in ftated caravans. Besides mufii, the fine wool, and cow tails, Thibet produces Gold. great quantities of gold, either w^aflied from the fands of the Sarnpoo, or the leffer rivefs, or dug out of the mines. The Lama never ufes any in his mint, but it is exchanged for the articles of commerce, particularly with the Cbinefe. Rhubarb is alfo an article of commerce. I may mention that Thibet fupplies India with great variety of fine falcons. It is alfo famed for its breed of great dogs, which Marco Polo fays are 9 almoft GANGETIC HIND DOS TAN. 357 almoft as tall as an afs, and are much iifed in the chace of wild beafts. Beyond the river, oppofite to LaJ/a, and immediately beyond the chain of mountains called Kanibala^ adjacent to the Sampooy is the vaft lake of Palte, or Jambdro, about a hundred and fifty Lake Palte, miles in circuit, fo filled with a fingle ifland as to leave around it only from three to eight miles breadth of water. On it is a monaftery, the feat (according to the Thibetian mythology) of Lamijj'a Turcepano^ or the great Regenerate, the divine fpirit of a Lame/a, or female Lama, regenerated. The Lama, the Prince, the Prieft, and, I may fay, the Deity The Lama. of the country, refides about feven miles from LaJJa, at Puteli, a vaft palace, on a mountain near the banks of the Biirram- footer. He is fuppofed to be immortal; it is true that he appears to die, but it is only the a61: of his removing into another body, that of an infant, who is difcovered by the priefts by a certain token known only to themfelves, and is called the Belai Lama, When Mr. Bogle was there, the Regenerate was difcovered the Taysho by the 'Tavpo Lama, a charader fecond only to him in fanc- tity and authority, and is his guardian during his minority. He has feveral palaces ; in one of which Mr. Bogle lived with him feven months. He reprefents him as the moft amiable and intelligent of men, maintaining his rank with the utmoft mild- nefs of authority, and living in the utmoft purity of manners. Every thing within his gates breathed peace, order, and digni- fied elegance. It 358 Religick. MCJNASTIC. Treatment of THE Dead. GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. It is fcarcely known from whence the religion of this coun- try fprings, but it is pure and fimple in its fource, conveying very exalted ideas of the Deity, with no contemptible fyftem of morality; but ii its progrefs greatly changed and corrupted. One grofs corruption is the mode of polygamy. Inrtead of a plurality of wives, the woman is allowed a plurality of huf- bands. A fet of brethren are allowed one wife in common, and they live in the utmoft harmony together. True it is that a modeft and virtuous lady, wife to half a dozen of the TayJJjo LaiJia's nephews, complained to the uncle that the two youngeft did not contribute that fliare of love and benevolence to the common ilock, which duty and religion required*. The Lamas j or priefts, form the moil: numerous body in the Hate, as well as the moft powerful, and have the priefthood jcntirely in their hands, and befides fill up many monaftic orders, which are held in great veneration among them. Celibacy, I believe, is not pofitively enjouied to the hamas^ but it is held indifpenfable for both men and women who embrace a religious life ; and indeed their celibacy, their living in com- munities, their cloyfters, their fervice in the choirs, their firing of beads, their fafts and their penances, give them much the air of chrillian monks. The Tbibetians neither bury their dead, not yet do they burn them, like the Hindoos^ but expofe them at the bleak pinnacle of fome neighboring mountain, to be devoured by the wild beafts and birds of prey, or eonfumed by time, or the changes of the feafon. Mr. Bogle adds, that amicUl this fcene of horror, • Phil. Tranf, Ixvii. p. 477. of GANGETIC HINDOOS TAN. 35^ of mangled carcaffes and bleached bones, fome miferable old wretch, man or woman, loft to all feeling but that of fuperfti- tion, will relide, and perform the fad office of receiving the bo- dies, affigning each its place, and gather the remains when too widely difperfed. This religion has in a few inftances a refemblance to the Hindoo ; they have a great veneration for the cow, but confine it to the filk- tailed fpecies of their own country ; they highly refpea the waters of the Ganges. One of the firft efFeds of the peace between us and the Lama, was the obtaining leave to build a place of worfliip on the banks of the facred river. The Delai Lama is the great objedt of veneration of all the Tartars heathen Tartars, who every year come up from the moft lam'a. ^^^^ diftant parts, and make rich offerings at his flirine. Even the emperor of China, a Manchew Tartar, acknowleges him in a religious capacity, and entertains, at vaft expence, at his palace at Pekin, an inferior Lama, deputed as his Nuncio from Thibet. Even the CzMr has fent refpecStful letters, and prefents to the great Lama. Numbers of Sunniajfes, or Hindoo pilgrims, vifit Thibet as a holy place, and the Lama conftantly entertained a body of two or three hundred in his pay. The Thibetiaris are of a fmaller fize, and lefs robuft make, than their fouthern neighbors the Boutanners ; their features are Tartarian ; their drefs like the Chinefe, with a conical hat, light boots, and a tunic of brocaded filk. At Lajfa the river begins to take a winding courfe to the Course of the . ' • ■,-, ^ ■ -K 1 r, 7, River conti- fouth-eaft, till it reaches a city called in Mr. Re/iners map nued. Champa, in Lat. 28' 40', beyond which it turns full fouth, and continues i6o GA NOETIC HINDOOSTAN. Kingdom of Assam. ' Rajah's Pa- lace AT Gher- CiONG. River now called bur- rampooter. continues in that direction till it reaches Lat. ay"; midway is its greateft diftance from the Ganges, being not lefs than twelve hundred miles, after beginning its courfe within fifteen miles. From Lat. 27% it as fuddenly turns to the weft, bounded on the eaft and fouth by a great chain of mountains; it now runs through the kingdom of Affam. The capital, Ghergongy is in Lat. 26° 30'. It has four gates, and the city is encompaffed with a bound-hedge of bamboos. The Rq/a/fs palace is fur- rounded by a caufey, planted on each fide with a clofe hedge of bamboos, which ferves inftead of a wall. On the outfide there is a ditch \yhich is always full of water. The Rajab's feat is adorned with lattice-work and carving. Within and without have been placed plates of brafs, fo well poliflied, that when the rays of the fun flirike upon them they fiiine like mirrors. It is an afcertained fadt, that 3000 carpenters and 12,000 laborers, were conftantly employed in this work during tw^o years before it was finifiied. When the Rajah fits in this chamber, or travels, inftead of drums and trumpets they beat the dhol and daitd. The latter is a round and thick inftrument made of copper, and is certainly the fame as the drum, which it was cuftomary in the time of the antient kings to beat in battle and marches. The river now aflumes the name oiBurrampooier. It is cer- tainly navigable to that city for large boats, which place is at the diftance of fix or feven hundred miles from the fea. The hiftory of this kingdom has been lately given in the Jfatic Refearches, ji. p. 171 ; it fpeaks much of its wealth, and of the plenty and excellency of its natural productions, and that it abounds in all metals GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. 361 metals but tin. Gold is produced in every part of the country Gold. by walhing the fand of the rivers, and is one of the fources of revenue; twelve thoufand, feme fay twenty thoufand people, are employed in that work, each of whom has from the Rajah a certain wages. Its gum lac is excellent, and it is very pro- dudive of 111k. Among the fruits which this country produces, are mangoes, Fruits. plantains, jacks, oranges, citrons, limes, pine apples, and pu- nialeb, a fpecies of amleb, which has fuch an excellent flavor, that every perfon who taftes it prefers^tto the plumb. There are alfo cocoa-nut trees, pepper vines, Areca trees, and the Sad'ij in great plenty. The fugar-cane excels in foftnefs and fweetnefs, and is of three colors, red, black, and white. There is ginger free from fibres, and betel vines. The ftrength of vegetation and fertility of the foil are fuch, that whatever feed is fown or flips planted they always thrive. The environs of Ghergong furnifli fmall apricots, yams, and pomegranates ; but as thefe articles are wild, and not aflifted by cultivation and engraftment, they are very indifferent. The principal crop in this country confifts in rice and maJJj. Ades is very fcarce, and wheat and barley are never fown ; lignum aloes is alfo a produc- tion of this country. The fllks are excellent, and refemble Suk. thofe of China ; but they manufac5ture very few more than are required for ufe. They are fuccefsful in embroidering with flowers, and in weaving velvet, and tantbund, which is a fpecies of filk, of which they make tents and kcnauts^ One of their great forefts is inhabited by abundance of ele- phants, flx or feven hundred may be taken in a year, but they Vol. IL 3 A are 362 GANGETIG HINDOOSTAN. are negleded by the natives, who have neither bOTfes, camels, or afies, fuch as are brought from, other countries. Pkople cf thj. people of AJJcim are a bafe unprincipled- natioHrand' have no fixed religion. They follow no rule but that of theif own inclination,, and make the approbation of their own vicious minds the teft of the propriety of their acflions. They do* nbt adopt any mode of worlhip pra6tifed cither by heathens or Mabommedans, nor do they concur with any of the knb\Vb! fe6ts which prevale amongft mankind ; unlike the Pagans of Hindoojian, they do not reje61; viiluals which have been drefied' by MuJJ'dmen, and they abftain from no flefll' except h'u'man.. They even eat animals that have died a natural death. Ikvaded vh Colonel Dqto^ voL iii. p. 357, informs us, that it was iii-' ^' vaded in 1665, by Emir Jmnla, the great general of Aureng- zebe. The king of AJfam had given the provocation, by falling down with a great fleet of boats as far as Dacca^ and, taking advantages of the civil wars of Indiay plundered all this part of Bengal, jumla^ in purfuance of his mailer's orders, took the' field, defeated the monarch of JJJatJi, and forced him to quit his kingdom. A more powerful enemy in turn obliged Jumla to quit his conqueft, the periodical rains and inundations fur- prifed the vicSior ; it was with great difficulty he retreated. A fatal licknefs pervaded his army, and the general himfelf funk before that foe which yields to none. Soil. The foil of AJJam is replete with nitre. Vaft quantities of gunpowder are made in that kingdom, round, and fmall like the EngliJIy, and very ftrong. It is pretended, that the ufe of artil- lery and fire arms was the invention of this country. It is cer- 4- tain G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 363 tain they have artillery, and are very fkilful in the ufe of it. E}?iir Jumla carried away numbers of cannon on his return from his invafion oi AJfam ; but I have little doubt, but the art of cafting or making them origiiiated in Europe-. They might Antient Ar. have learned it early from the Portuguefe renegadoes. The in- vention has alfo been attributed to the Cbinefe-, but Du Halde, i. 262, fairly confeffes it to have been of modern date; He tells us, indeed, that at the gates of Nanking, \\\^xt are three or' four thick and fliort bombards which were never ufed,'and^ only fliewn as curiofities. The Chineje have not even fkill enough to make ufe of the few patteraroes they have on board their fliips. Another argument for the knowlegefof' fire arms among the Indians, is drawn from the C^«/05:code>iaf Jaws, fee p. liii. of the learned introduction by Mr. Halb£d, in which the ufe of fuch pernicious weapons is prohibited; The word ufed in that " code is Agnee-ajiery or weapons of fire. By this can' be in- agn-ee-aster. tended only war rockets and lire arrows. The firft are i dread- ful, they are carried by a particular body of men, called Rocket men, and are flung chiefly among the bodies of the enemies cavalry ; they burft like hand grenadoes, and make great havoke. The rocket con lifts of a tube of iron about eight inches long, Rockets. and an inch and a half in diameter, and clofed at one end ; it is filled with powder like the common rocket, and fattened to a pipce of bamboo four feet long, pointed with iron. Near the open end is a match, wliich is fired before it is flung; fee the Sketches, &:c. fof the Hindoos, by ^ Cra-ivjurd, Eiq. a neceflary attendant on this work to fnpply its many deficiencies. It is a 3 A 2 per- 364 G A N G E T 1 C II I N D O O S T A N. performance not to be lurpafTed for elegant concifenefs, and comprehenfive brevity. Thefe rockets a6t with great force, for I have heard of one that paffed through the body of a bullock, and afterwards killed a man. If I remember right, they are alio ufed in lieges. Fire arrows are ufed either to burn Ihipping, or to fet on fire belleged towns. Thefe were fre- quently ufed in Europe from early times. Thofe in India were difcharged from a bamboo ; after they had flown a certain way, they divided into feveral different darts or ftreams of fire, each of which took effe(5l^ and could not be extinguifhed ; this fpecies is now lofl:> but was known in the w'ars between the Saracens and the Grecian empire. Le feu gregeois, or the Greek fire, was the deftru6tion of the Saracennic fleet before ConJlantinQple^ in 718. It was miflile, and difcharged feveral Gunpowder. ways, fome of which W'as by darts or javelins. We will admit the early application of gunpowder for warlike purpofes, and will alfo admit that the difcovery of that fatal fecret was dif- covered in India and in ClAna ; but excepting in the inflances we have induced, it is never iifed but for fire-works on feftive occalions, in which the Indians excel all the world. We will alfo allow, that it was found out very long before the days of Roger Bacon. That great man made the difcovery in England before the year 1292 (the time of his death). He even hints at the application that might be made of it in battles and in fieges ; but above a century elapfed before it came into military ufe. Poflibly the knowlege of gunpowder might have reached him through the WTitings of the Arabs ; he was deeply verfed in their books. The Jrabs received it from their coun- trymen G A N G E T I G H I N D O O S T A N. 365 trymen who had early invaded, and were minutely acquainted with the manners and pra<5tices of India. The Sanjhrit, or fcripture book of the Hindoos^ mentions an engine called Sbetagbnee^ or the weapon, that would kill a Shetachnee. hundred men at once. I do not believe it to have been a cannon, but one of thofe divilible arrows conftrufled on a vaft fcale. I fliall conclude with remarking, that both the author of the Hindoo Sanjkrit, and our great Milton, agree in afcribing the in- vention of gunpowder, and its application to warlike pvn-pofes> to fpirits. The former fays, that the war v.hich was waged^ during a hundred years, between Dezvla and 0{foor, the good and the bad, was carried on by means of the infernal engines ;, but the war between our celeftial beings was at once decided; fo unequal was the artillery of Satan againft the thunderbolts of the Almighty. At Goalparah, in Lat. 16' 10', the Burrampooter enters the GoAiPARAHi province of Bengal. There the Europeans have fadors, who, by means of that great river, carry on a confiderable trade with places very remote. Irregular chains of mountains run from hence due fouth, and fniifli near the fea in different parts- of the diftri<5t of Cbittigong, and are backed by the immenle foreft of Meckley to the eaft ; all to the weft is the level Bengal. Before this river reaches the fea, it makes three great curva- Unioi*ofthe BURRAMPOOTEK,- tures, paffes near Dacca, and is after united with the Ganges and Ganges. by different branches. It now very near approximates that river, in a magnificent bed of four or five miles in breadth. It now takes the name of the Megna, and a little before it reaches the bay of Bengal, falls into the Ganges, and lofes its very o 66 G x\ N G E T I C HINDOO S T.A N, very name, after a couiTe of numbers of miles more than its rivdr river. Tlie^o;'^ up the river Megna, and other difcharges. of the Ganges, are often twelve feet high. In the rainy feafon, air the water at thefe enormous mouths is frefli, and .even con- tinues, on the furface, at left many miles into the fea. '■^I SHALL now return as far as Lat. 25° north, to defcrihe tyvo fmall diftricts little known, and which are parts of the Hi?i- doojlan empire, or, if you pleafe, part of the EngliJJj, as lords of SilhetandTi- Bengal. Thefe are the little provinces of Silbet and Tipera, bounded by the Burrampooter, or Megna, on the weft, and by. the chain of mountains, and the forefts of Meckley on the eaft ; their northern limits are a line drawn from I. at. 25° ; the fovithern, the fea. The firft, Silbet, is exactly midway between Calcutta and China, three hundred and fifty miles from each, a'tempting fliortnefs of way for our adventurous heroes, did not . the wife Chinefe fliut all the doors againft the Europeans. WildEle- I^^ the vaft forefts of Tripura, or Tipera, in the eaft oi Bengal, . which ftretch far into Meckley, is ftill abundance of elephants, which in November quit the woods, and vifit the new-dried marflies to ravage the adjacent crops of rice and fugar-canes. Thefe prove probable objects of chace. The account of the captures is very curious. It is given in vol. iii. p. 229, of the Afiatic Refearcbes, and is worthy of the reader's perufal. The manner of copulation is there afcertained to be exadtly in the manner of a horfe ; and the manner of the fucking of the young, is alfo fhown to be with the mouth, not the trunk, as is afferted by the Comte de Buffon. 'Silbet is a very mountanous region. I know of no hiftorian who fpeaks of it but Abulfazel (ii. 15); he fays it furniflies abundance PHANTS. G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. 367 abundance of eunuch-flaves for the feraglios. He mentions the China root and ltgnu7n aloes amono- its productions. The China Root. firft had, about the year 1533, much reputation in our fliops as ^^^^^^ Aloes. a remedy in the venereal difeafes. Garcias ab Orta, a Portu- guefe phyfician, who made a long refidence in India^ is the firft who fpeaks of it, at p. 172 of the firft book of his Aromata. The plant it oiiginates from is the Smilax China\ numbers of botanical writers defcribe it. Kampfer, in his Aman, Exot. 781^ tal). 7. Gmelin iter, iii. tab. 6. and B/ackzvall, tab. 433. Dodlor 'Tlmnberg (XQUcYihes it at p. 151 of h\s Floi^a Japonica, :in<\ alfo the other fpecies, ftyled the Pjcuch China. Old Gerard, at p. 1618, gives a figure of the roots of both kinds ; but it is very long fince they have been flruck out of our difpenfaries. Among the luxuries of Silhet, the honey is reckoned the mofh Hon'ey<,. exquifite, as fuppofed, from the quantity of orange trees which grow there, and afford thofe infedts fuch delicious fudtion. T^HE lignum aloes is an article which feems to puzzle the botanifts. That which is defcribed hy Gerard, p. 1622, was a moil fragrant wood, which, when put to the fire, exuded an oil ftill more odoriferous. It is fuppofed to have been the Agollocbum of Diofcorides, the Agoligen of the Arabs, and the Xylo-aloe of the later Greeks. It is defcribed by Ab Qrta, and other old botanifls,^ but none can determine the tree to which it belongs. Garcias procured the branch of a tree of this kind fronx Malacca. Rujnpbius, ii. tab. Ixxix. has a long defcription, and print of another, under the n:\xnQ of Arbor excacans. Linnaus^ calls it Excoecaria Agollocha. The former fpeaks of the fragant fmell of the wood, in which it agrees with the Agalhcha, but faysjt. 368 Garrow Hills. Inhabitants. Men. GANGETIC lUNDOOSTAN. fay?, that the juice is extremely noxious to the eyes. Gerard mentions ilill a more pretious kind, which was fold for its weight in gold, and was ufed only hy princes ; this was the Calumba^ and may poffibly be the Columba root of our dif- penfary, which is faid to be a valuable cordial. Mandelfloe'^ fl)eaks of a fpecies he names the Calamba, chiefly ufed in fune- rals, for the burning the bodies of Indian priefts and princes. Between the northern borders of Silbet, and the river Bur- rampooter, are the Garrozv bills. The foil is very rich, produc- tive of excellent rice, uncommonly large muftard feed, and very good hemp ; they have coals from which the inhabitants have the art to extract an oil iifeful in cutaneous diforders. The inhabitants have been fuppofed to be a favage people. John Elliott, efqt. who, in 1788, firft vifited them for the good purpofe of reclaming them, firft undeceived the public. He found the men ftout, and well fhaped, with a Caffre-Uke nofe, and flat fmall eyes, overhanging brows. Their looks ferocious and furly ; yet, on acquaintance, they were found to be of a gentle difpolition, honeft, and moft tenacious of their words ; when in liquor they are uncommonly merry, and fo fond of dancing, that men, w^omen, and children continue the exer- cife till they can fcarcely ftand. The men wear a broad girdle which pafles ov. This barbarity refulted from the notion that they are left at heme to Cviltivate the lands for their hufbands who are gone to war againft them, and who could not othervvife fally forth, were not the women left to raife food for them. If they happen to kill a pregnant woman, they exult in their good fortune, as they deftroy two * enemies GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. enemies at once, and bring home two heads from the fame peifon. When the men go to war they go in the night, and make their attack by furprife, and fpare neither women nor children, and always cut off the heads in order to bring them home as tro- phies of vi<5lory. They alfo he in ambiiQi, and wait a length of time in expe6tation of their foes, whom they deftroy without mercy ; but fhould they in either cafe be difcovered, they make a daftardly retreat. When a conqueror returns he is met by his friends and family with favage exultations, with founding conch-fhells and the collilion of plates of metal. The wife and hufband pour fermented liquor alternately into each other's mouths, and he waflies his bloody hands in the liquor they are drinking. There are rewards for bringing home the head of a foe ; if any captive is brought alive, it is the prerogative of a chieftain to take it off his flioulders. At weddings and funerals they make a feaft, and kill a Gayal or mountain bullock, or a hog. If at a funeral, they boil the meat, and pour fome of the broth into his mouth, and tafle forae of the fame liquor as an offering to his foul ; this they repeat feveral days. After wrapping the body in a fort of fhroud, they place it on a ftage with a fire beneath, pierce it with a fpit and dry it, cover it with two or three folds of cloth, in- elofe it in a cafe, and bury it, and like more civilized people fcatter fruits and flowers over the grave. The food of the Cuci is the flefh of elephants, hogs, deer, or Food of. 3 B 2u other 371 37^ G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N. other animals, which they find dead. The carcafes or limbs they dry, and eat them occafionally *. Chittigong. Chittigong is the laft diftri(St in that province ; it is a narrow territory running along the fliore of the bay of Bengal^ about a hundred miles in length, bounded to the eaft by a range of mountains, which extend as high as Lat. 24° 50'. Abulfazel, ii. 13, fpeaks of it as a city fituated amongft trees, and f:iys, that it was in his time a great emporium^ the refort of Ghriftian and other merchants. The Portugueje afterwards called the city and province Chattingam and Xatigan. M. d'Anville thinks that the river it ftands on was the Catabeda of Ptolemy. The city is placed in Lat. 22° id. V151TED EARLY The firft Europeans who vifited thefe parts were the Portu- BY THE A ORTU GUESE. " giieje. John Sylveira was fent there with four fhips about the year 15 18, by Lopez Soarez, governor of the Indies. He arriv- ed, fays Offbrio, ii. 250, at the port of Chattingam, or what we call Chittigong, and met with (apparently) the moil friendly re- ception from the inhabitants, who, at that very time, were plotting the deftrudtion of the ftrangers ; fkirmilhes enfued, with vidory to the Portugueje. During their flay at that port, they received an invitation from the governor of Daraca (Ara- can, a potent kingdom adjoining to Chittigong, on the fouth) to bring his fhips before that city. Sylveira complied with the requeft, and failed up the river, but on difcovering that the friendly countenance Ihewn to him by the governor, was the • Of the Cuci, or mountaneers of Tipra, Afiatic Refearches, ii, p. 187. refult GANGETIC HINDOOSTAN. refult of a proje(5t concerted between him and the people of Chattifigajn to bring him into a fnare, he foon fell down the river, but not before he was attacked, and nearly defeated by a moft numerous fleet prepared for his reception. The king of Aracan feized on this country, and in order to make a frontier againft its late mafter, Sbah Jehan^ he took into his fervice a vaft body of fugitive Portuguefe^ w^ho for various crimes had fled from Goa, Cochin, and others of the Portuguefe fettlements in the Indies. He beftowed on them lands in Cbit^ tigong, and gave them liberty to a6t as they pleafed. Accord- ing to what might be expe6led from the profligacy of their manners, they took to piracy, entered the rivers and chan- nels, efpecially thofe of the SunderbundSt furprifed the in- habitants, carried away all they could find, and burnt every thing they could not carry away. They made flaves of the younger part of the people, and either fixed them to the oar, or fold them to the Portiiguefe of Hoogly, and different parts of India. They feized on the ifle of Sundive, and ertabliflied them- felves on other iflands of the Ganges. They grew fo daring, as to feize on all the commercial veflels belonging to the fubjedls of the Mogul, and were very fuccefsful in their courfes. They eledted an Aiigujline friar for their king, who ruled over them a number of years. It was difficult to fay, v.hether the priefts or the people were the mofl profligate. The former confifted of fuch who had abandoned their convents, and been guilty of every kind of wickednefs. Aurengzebe determined to extirpate thefe banditti, and to 4 recover 373 374 GANG E TIG HINDOOSTAN. recover Chittigong from the king of Aracan *. He direded Sbaiffay the Governor of Bengal^ to head the forces deftined for the expedition. He firft failed for the ifle of Smidive, on which the Aracanners and fome of the pirates were ftationed ;. they at firft bravely defended themfelves, but at length were overpowered. Shaijla next attempted to win over the Portu- guefe who remained in Cbittigo?tg, and fucceeded in his defign. The king of Aracan difcovered their intended defection, and. refolved to put them all to the fword. Being apprized of their danger, they all at once fliipped themfelves for Bengal, and joined the general of the Mogul with a moft numerous body. Part of them lifted under him, and attended Ameid, the fon of Sbaifta, in his expedition. The fleet arrived on the coaft, de- feated that of Aracan^ laid liege to the capital of Chittigong^ took it, changed its name to IJlamabad, and re-annexed it. to. the province of Bengal. * Dow's Feriflita, iii. p. 396, ... FINIS. APPENDIX. EPITAPH in Eastbourne Church, Sussex. Sacred to the Memory of HENRY LUSHINGTON, Eldeft Son of Henry Lushington, D. D. Vicar of this Parifli, and Mary his Wife; Whofe fingular Merits and as fingular Sufferings cannot fail of endearing him to the latefl: Pofterity. At the Age of Sixteen, in the Year 1754, he embarqued for Bengal in the Service of the India Company, and by attaining a perfeft Knowledge of the (Perftan) Language made himfelf eflentially ufeful. It is difficult to determine, whether he excelled more in a Civil or a Military Capacity. His Adivity in both recommended him to the Notice and Efteem of Lord Clive : whom, with equal Credit to himfelf and SatisfacStion to his Patron, he ferved in the different Charadlers of Secretary, Interpreter, and CommifTary. In the Year 1756, by a melancholy Revolution, he was, with others, to the Amount of 146, forced into a Dungeon at Calcutta^ fo fmall, that 23 only efcaped Suffocation. He was one of the Survivors, but referved for greater Mifery ; for by a fubfequent Revolution in the Year 1763, he was, with 200 more, taken Prifoner at PatnOy and, after a tedious Confinement, being fingled out with John Ellis and William Hay, Efquire?, was, by the Order of the Nabob Cojfim Ally Kawn, and under the Direction of one Someroo, an Apoftate European-, deliberately and inhumanly murdered : But while the Sepoys were performing their favage Office on the firft-mentioned Gentleman, fired with a generous Indignation at the Diftrefs of his Friend, he rufhed upon his Affaflins unarmed, and feizing one of their Scymitars, killed three of them and wounded two others, till at length oppreffed with Numbers he greatly fell. His private CharaiSter was perfetftly conlulent with his public one. The amiable Sweetnefs of his Difpofition attached Men of the worthieil Note to him ; the Integrity of his Heart fixed them ever firm to his Interefts. As a Son, he was one of the mofl: kind and dutiful ; as a Brother, the moft affectionate : His Cjenerofity towards his Family was fuch as hardly to be equalled ; his Circumfiances and his Age confiJered, fcarce to be exceeded. In (hort, he lived and died an Honor to his Name, his Frieuds, and his Country. His Race was fhort (being only 26 Years of Age when he died) but truly glorious. The rifing Generation muft admire, may they imitate fo bright an Example ! His Parents have ereiSed this Monument as a lafting Teflimony of their AiBidion and cf his Virtues. N X. A. Page - 4 143. 2^85 - 28 Xi.ERAJAMIKS Abulfazel, an author Acheveram pagoda Adamantis fluvii oftia - - 149 Adamas fluvius,in Ptolemy's time, famous for its diamonds - - ibid. Adams, Major _ - - 228 Admiral Watfon, of - - 298 Adoni - - - icg Agouree pagodas - - - 222 Agra - - - 180 Akbar the Great, his tomb - •• 181 Alucmundra, one of the firft branches of the Ganges - - 165 Allahabad - - - 202 crocodiles at - - 207 Aloe, Succotrine _ - - 233 Ananas, or pine apple - - 322 Anderlbn, Doctor James, his great im- • provement in ufeful arts - - 97 Annagoond}-, Circar of - - ic8 Antelopes - - - 243 Ants, white - ,- - 274 Aornos Petrae - - - 73 Arcati Regia Sora - - 48 Arcot - - - ibid, city - - - 19 Vol. II. P»Se Arcot, city, taken by Clive - - SO by Ayder Ali - - 62 Argali heron - - • - 156 Armenians, a commercial people - 3^3 Arnee - - - 43 Artillery, antient - - - 363 Afher-ghur - - - 196 Afiatic Refearches - - S^ AITam, kingdom of - - 360 Affes, wild _ - - 240 Attar of rofes _ - - 238 Aurungabad - - "1^7 Aurengzebe - - - 104 cruelty to a Mahratta prince ibid. Ayder Ali, his rife - - 80 cruel inroads - - 6r defeated by General Smith 88 his maufoleum - - 84 comparifon between him and Kouli Khan and Tamer- lane - - 64 defeated by Colonel Wood - 89 B. Bahar - - - - 335 Baghyretty, oiie of the firft branches of the Ganges - - - 165 Bain Gonga river - - 119 3 C B-!-fore N D Pag-- P3g« Balafore - I4S Black hole, Calcutta - 3'a trade of - - - ibid. Black town, the - 59 fqulrrel found at - ibid. Blue lights, what - 68 Bandel - 296 Bobilee Polygar, extraordinary fior ' of 123 Bandicote rats - 94 Bogle, Mr. embaffador to Thibet 347. 349 Bangalore _ - - - 66 Boglepour - 284 taken with great flaughtcr - 68 Bopaltol _ _ _ - '94 Bangue - 231 Bore, orjiead wave - 297 Bats, great - 260 Bofcawen, Admiral • 32 Barra-mahal - - - 10 Bos Arnee - 241 Bec-ouvert - 41 Boughton, an Englifh furgeon, Inlro- Beder- - 118 duces our trade into Bengal - 296 Beema river - 105 Boundhcdge defcribed - 8S Bees - 27s component plants . 86 Benares - 210 Bootanners - 347 a great academy - 211 Bootan - 348 obfer\'atory at - 212 Bradypus, urfiform -258 Bengal _ _ - - 285 Braminey kites, facred - 90 firfl trade to - 296 Brahmins - 306 how populous -285 cells for - 136 revenues - ibid. Bramnec, river - H4 defert of - - 320 Bread-fruit - 319 plants of - 323 Brodera, battle of - ~ 198 climate of - - 324 Budde Budge fort, ludicrous capture of 337 vaft heat - ibid. Buffaloes - 241 fogs - 326 Bundelcund - 190 government - 3*7 Bulkeley, Edward, a furgeon and early Saracennic conqueft of - 330 naturalifl at Madras - 91 Soobah of - - - 33a Burhampour - 197 Berar, or Eaftern Mahrattas - 119 Burrampooter - 354 Bidjegur - 214 Buxar, battle of - - - 218 Eilfah, famed for its fnufF - 194 \ Bimlipatam - 126 C. Birds of Coromandel -3'6 of the Sunderbund - 155 CafFre troops - 34 of Bengal - 260 Calcutta - 3" turious, of Napaul - 344 difeafcs of - - 325 Bifiiagur - 106 old fort - ibid. Biftemia, a Hecate, rebels againft Au- - new citadel - 312 ^rengzebe - 192 taken by Surajah Dowlah - ibid Calcutta, N D X. Calcutta, black hole Calingapatam Calingam promontorium Calpy Cambyfum oftium Camels - - _ Canal from the Sunderbund to Cal- cutta Canr.ls of Ferofe Candeifh Cane river - - - lui Canoge, antient city of - - ^71 antient grandeur - - '7* the Calinipaxa of Pliny - 171 Canoul, Nabob of - - - loO Cantharidcs - _ ■ 205 Cape Palmiras - _ iaa Carnacs Colonel _ _ _ 201 Carnacic, the, its extent - - 25 climate of - - 100,101 Carnawl battle - - - ^73 Carroor - - - 21 Caflimere, or Paradifc of the Indies - 334 Cafts, the four great - - 310 Cat, Bengal _ _ . 256 Cattack, province of - - - 143 caftle - . _ ibid. city - - - ibid. Cavery, its origin - - - I4 Chains of the northern mountains - 345 Pliny's account of - - 346 Imaus and Emodus - - ibid. Chalees fatoon - - - 203 Chalmers, Lieutenant, his gallant defence of Coimbetore - * 23 Chammaning - - - 356 Chandeniagor - - 297 Chank (hells - - - 6 Charnock, Job, account of - - 300 Pjgc Page - 3" Cheyt Sing - 213 - 126 Chenapatam - 77 - 144 Chicacole Circar - 121 - 201 Chilambaram, Pagoda of - 26 - 144 Chilka lake - I2g - 247 China roots - 367 - Chittah, or hunting leopard - 246 - 151 Chitteldroog, immenfcly ftrong - - 78 - 174 Chittigong - 372 - 195 its hiftory - ibid. Portuguefe pirates fettle there 373 Chooka, iron bridge a - - 350 Choultry plain - - - 61 inroad of Ayder into - - ibid, horrible deftrudion - - 63 Chunar gur - - - 208 Churge budard - - - 271 Chufero, maufoleum of - - 204 Circars, northern - - - 122 granted to the French - - ibid, conquered by the Englifli - 127 climate of - - 122 Cleveland, Mr. reclames the favage in- habitants near Rajamahel - - 286 Climate of Bengal - _ _ 324 Clive, Lord - - - 294 fiift appearance of - - 33 Cochlneel introduced into India - - 97 Cockatoos - - - 43 Cock-fighting - - - 269 Coimbetore - - - 21 Coins, Roman, found near Sadras - 51 Colar, maufoleum of Ayder's father - 65 Cold and froft excefEve at Agra and Dehli - - - 184 CoUeries, a wild people - - 12 Coloroon river - - 24 Columnar rocks, immenfe, in Bootan - 352 Combat, fingle, between two Nabobs - 248 3 C 2 Coos I N X. Coos Esyhar Coote, Sir Eyre Page - 347 - 33 account of - 45, 46 Conkar, a lava - - - i8g Cornwallis, Marquis'f, march againfl: Tippoo - - - 64 Coromandel coaft - - - 26 climate - - 100 winds of - - ibid. trees and plants of - - 94 Cofa, the - - - 345 Cofimbuzar _ _ _ 294 Cotfea Baug, a fine palace at Dehli - 178 'Cowries - - - 6 Cow's mouth - - - 166 Crocodiles _ . _ 207 Vifiapour garrifoned by - 106 Cuci, or mountaaeers of Tipra - - 370 Cudapah - - - I02 Cuddalore town - - - 3^ Culpee - - - 338 Cypraea moneta - - - 6 D. Dacca, city of - - - 340 Darwin, Dodlor - - 13' Daniell, the painter, his merit - - 165 Datura ferox - - - 232 David, St. fort of - - - 28 Deb Rajah's country - - ■ 351 Deeb, or Deb Rajah of Bootan - - 350 Deer _ _ . 247 Dehli - - - - 175 facked by Tamerlane - - 178 by Kouli Khan - - ibid. by AbJalla - - 179 Dclamcotta, in Bootan, taken by Captain John Jones - - - 349 Page Delta of the Vaygaj'oo - - 10 of the Cavery - 14 Deogire - "9 Deogur - 283 Defert, a Bengal - - 320 Devicotta fort - 24 Diamonds in Golconda - Ill, 112 at Sumbulpour - 140 at Soank - 144 antient at Sabaras, and in the Adamas fluvius - - 140 at Panala, in Bundelcund - 19a Dikes, vafl: - - - 169 Dindigul - - - 9 Diflria of Siihet - - - 366 of Tipera - - ibid. Divi Point - - - "S Dogs .- - - 253 of Thibet - - 357 Doab, the - - - ^75 Deonnclii, the bir;h place of Ayder 65, 70 Doungala, a vaft mountain in Bootan 350 Dowlat Baug, or flate garden at Seringa- patam - - "83 Dowlatabad - - -1^7 Droogs, or hill forts - - 7J E. Elephants, fingle combat on, between the Nizam and Nabob of Canoul, both flain 248 Elephants, vrfiere found wild - - 366 Elihu Yale, of - - - 29 Elliott, Alexander, Efquire, his great abi- lities and worth - - 14J Elora, pagodas of - - - U? Empire, Mogul, how formed - - 330 Emodus, Iraaus, and other lofty chains, 346, 347 Emodus, I , N D •J'.ivioJus, very lofty beuvcen TefTifudon ajid PiU'iJro.ig - - _ 347 'Erranaboas, Arrian - - 172 Etawa - _ _ 1^^ Faquirs, felf-tormentors Mr. Cambridge's poem on ' rieties of Faquirs Ferofe Shah's Cotilla canals of Ferofe Ficus Indica, a vail tree Fire flies Filh, new, apodal, near Dacca Fiflies of the Ganges Filheries, pearl Flood?, annual, in the Ganges Fogs at Bengal FolTane Weefel Fox of Bengal Frederic, Ccefar, an early traveller - Frofts, fevere, at Agra and Dehli - French rock Fruits, foreign, imported into India Fulgora, or fire flies Fullarton, his campaigns Fulta - - Fizozebad - - Fyzabad Gandicotta, and fortrefs GangaridsB Calingae ■Ganges, river, its origin Pliny's account of names of /acred 306 Ganges, waters how far carried known to the antlents its mcutlis its Delta beauties of two ftreams of annual floods vaft rivers flowing into it vaft- dikes confining the flream 148, 284 - 148 - H9 - 150 - 151 - 164 - 167 -165 167 - 308 current of - 168 - 177 - 174 - 31 Gangetic Hikdoostan - 146 - 290 -318 Gangeticus finus - 150 - 317 Gangia Regia - 289 2 Gangoutra 164, 165 . 167 Ganjam - 126 - 326 Garrow hills, inhabitants - 368 - 257 Gazipour palace - 217 - 254 tomb at - ibid. - 107 George, St. Fort, a Madras - 57 - 184 GhofTain Faquirs - 3='9 - »7 Gingee mountains - 42 - 323 Glacieres of India 164, 346 - 291 Goalparah -36s - 126 Gobi, defert of - 161 -338 Goddard's march - - 187 - 18s reaches Surat - 197 - 219 length of his march - 198 fails for Europe - 200 dies - ibid. his high character - 201 - 102 Godavery, river 117, 120 - 129 Delta of - ibid. - 169 Gogra, river - 218 - ibid. Golconda - 109 - 1+7 Golden rock _ . _ - '7 - ibid. Gold at Thibet -356 Gooriity, N D Goomty, river - - - 215 Goura, or Gour - - - 289 Grapes, excellent near Aflier Ghur - 196 Grunting ox - - - 354 Gum arable - - 234 Gunpowder invented in India - - 364 Guntoor diftrid, the - - 109,115 Gwalior fort - - - 185 lions near - - ibid. taken - - - 186 Gyah - - - 282 H. Hangnefi: grofbeak Hares Harrifon Heats at Bengal near Calpy Height of the land lOO Madras above the level Heights, fheep and wool Hemp Himmaleh, mountain Hindoo Kho Hodges, Mr. his merit Hoogly, river city attacked by Hooringotta, river Horned turkey Horfes Hudibras quoted Hunting, grand lynxes Hurdah Hui dwar Hyaena 265, 266 - 258 - 18 - 324 - 189 miles v/eft of of the fea of the Endifh - 67 - ibid. - 231 - 34^ - 347 - 181 - 246 - 297 - 339 - 344 - 239 - 232 - 242 - 257 - 19s - 165 - 255 Pag* Jabirubird - . - 156 Jacca, a monflrous fruit - - 32 1 Jackals - _ _ . 354 Jagrenaut, Pagoda of - - 135,140 cells for Brahmins - - 136 legend of - , - -137 fame witli Quichena - - ibid. with Apollo - - ibid. a land mark - - ^35 Jaghire, what - - - 59 James, Commodore, his gallant attempt to relieve St. David's - * 3^ Ice-making at Bengal - - 327 Ichneumon - - - * - 257 Tehangir, his horrible cruelty - - 205 JelHnghy river . _ . 29S Jefuit, religious fraud by a - "7 Imaus, animals of - - 162 India Materia Medica - _ » 2^4 Indigo tree - - - 3^9 Indooftan empire under Akbar - - 332 , under Aureugzebe - 335 Infers _ _ - 272 Jones, Sir W[!liam - - - 334 Jonpoor - - - _ - 215 fort _ . _ 216 bridge near - - ibid. Iflamabad, or Iflama Gurr - - 194 Jummah Musjid, a moft fplendid mofque at Dehli - - -17? Jumna river - - - 172 Kiflnah, or Kriflina, river Kites in India - 103 - 90 Kleinhovia, N D E X. Kleiiihovia, a tree, finely defcribed by Doftor Darwin - -131 Ko Kaf, or frofty mountains - - 346 Kouli Khan, his cruelty - - 178 Koyel, cape - - - 11 Kupeli, ftreights of - - 166 Tamerlane's ne plus ultra - - ibid. L. Lac - - _ _ 230 Lally, Comte, takes St. David's - 29 taken in Pondicherry - - 34 Lama, the Great - - 357 Language of Hindooftan - " 33^^ Lafla - _ _ 356 Latac city - - - - 162 Laul baug, or garden of rubies - - 84 Law, Mr. - - - 283 Lawrence, Colonel, account of - -47 Leopard, hunting - . _ 246 Lignum aloes - t - 367 Lions - - - 185 Little ourang outangs » 92, 93 Loldong - - - - 169 Lombard!, what - - _ 281 Lop, defert of - - - 163 Lucan quoted - - 37, 148 Lucknow - - - 216 Lufhington, a gallant youth, his fad fate 226 his epitaph — (Appendix) Lynxes - - - 256,257 M. Madah-row Madras climate of 71 55 ibid. Madras, now Fort St. George - - 57 defcribed - - ijQ feized by M. le Bourdonnais, in 1746 - - . ibid. befieged in 1758, by Lally - 60 mountains to the weft of - - 91 Madura - _ 2, 7, 9, 10 Madwah tree - _ - ^IQ Magnum Oftium - _ 1^.0 Mahabalipur - _ - S2 Mahanaddy, river - - - 140 Mahmudpour - - _ o^a Mahomed Shah dies at Delhi - - 170 Mahrattas, eaftern - - 1 1 g Mailcotta, battle of - - -71 Marabharat, famous battle of the - 172 MafTulipatam - - - 115 Materia Medica, Indian - - 234 Matura, Tamerlane's cruelty there - i8a Mavaliparum, antient city - - 5? Mauldah - _ _ 285 Maufoleum of Akbar, near Agra - 181 of Tajemahel - - 182 of Chufero - - 204 of Purvez - - 205 of Sheer Khan - - 223 Meadows, General, his campaign in Co- imbetore - - - 22 Megafthenes - - _ 224 Megna, river - - _ 340 Meliapour - - . _ 54. now San Thome - - ibid. Meritche - - - 103 Merzapour - - - - 208 Milton quoted - - 37, 38, 164 Mines of copper and filver - - 1 8 J Mir Coflim - - - 225 Mogul empire, how formed - - 330 Moneah, a maufoleum at - - 220 Q Monsheir N D Page Page Mongheir . _ - - 280 Orixa, kingdom of, or northern Cir- Moorfhedabad - 291 cars - - - 129 moft elegant academy - 293 Ouda Nulla - 228 Moravars, the - II Oude, city of - - 219 Moths produdllve of filk - 27s trade - ibid. Motte Gill - - . - 294 Ourang Outangs, little 92,93 Mount St. Thomas - 90 Oufcotta, Ouflboi- - 31 its falubiity - ibid. Outredroog, a ftrong fore - 76 Mountains, moft exalted in Afia - 351 Oxen - 240 Moufe, oriental - 94 Mow, taken by Goddard - 190 P. Mughs, or Muggs - 340 Muggle, pafs of - 6s Mules, wild - 240 Pagoda of Chilambaram - 26 Mul waggle, firft unfuccefsful attack on 89 fortified - 27 Murex Tiitonis - 6 of Jagrenaut 135, 14a Mus tag, or mountains of ice - 347 Black - 140 Myfore country defcribed - 73 thrufh -267 hiftory of - - - 80 Paliacat mountains - 9h 92 niaftered by Ayder Ali - - 82 Paliar, river - 43 war in 1791, 1792 - 64 Palibothra - 223 v.-ar in 1767 - 88 Palks FaiTage - 15 Palmiras, Cape - 144 N. Pake, Lake - 357 Panala diamond mines - 192 Nagur, Ifle of - - - 120 Pandurams - ibid. Nagpour - 119 Panther, black - J55 Napaul - - - 343 Panniput, battle, the firft - - 173 Negapatam - 15 Parrot, Alexandrine - 262 Nerium tindorium - 3'9 Parthalis, kingdom - 129 Nilgau antelope - 246 Paflaragc, a curious bird - 271 Nizam ul Muluc, account of - 48 Patna - - - - 225 Nuncas Nulks - 227 maflacre of the Enghfli there - 226 Nundcomar, his defervcd end .328 opium at - 229 NundeJroog, ftrong hill fort - 74 Peacock, Thibet - - 34S Pearl fiihery 2 0. diving for - ibid. Pearls, antiquity of - 4 C'. iilVl • - 229 Arabian - 16 Pearls, N X. Page 16 - 5 - 102 - 31 - 102 - 131 - 67 Pearls, artificial large Pennar, river - « Penaur, river, its courfe Penuconda Pepper, black Pettah taken Perfecutions in Hindooftan Phcafant, Impeyan - - - 345 black - _ _ ibid. Pigeons, Akbar's paffion for - - 268 Pirates, Portuguefe, infeft Bengal - 373 Pitt's diamond - - - 114 Plafley battle - - - 294 horrible appearance of the field after - - - S^ Pococke, Admiral - - - 298 Polygars - - H, 123 Pondicherry, befieged by Admiral Eof- cawen - - 3^ fiege raifed - "33 taken by Colonel Coote 34 CafFre troops at - ibid. befieged by Colonel Monro 35 Zoology of _ _ 36 Poonaka, caftle, in Bootan - - 351 Pop Tope, kites found at - - 90 Poppies _ _ . _ 229 Porto Novo, battle of - - 27 Poultry originate from India - - 269 Pouft, or poifon of poppies - - 230 Priapus, Indian deity - - 129 Prior quoted - - - 5^ prophetic vifion - - "57 Pullicate, fettlement and lake - - 98 Purferam Bhow, his campaigns - 78 Pythagorean doctrine, adopted by the Hindoos - - - ^39 Vot. il. Quadrupeds of Bengal Quarries rare on the Ganges R. Pags - 291 - 191 - 28^ - 287 - 121 - 119 - 32 - 153 - 151 - 221 - 239 - 29 - 169 - ibid. Rajah Ghur Rajamahel Caravanfera at Rajahmundry, circar Ramdeo, Rajah of Godwanah Rayacotta Rhinoceros Rhizophora Mangle Rhotas gur - - - Rice - . _ Robins, Benjamin, of Rohilla, province of war cenfured - "7° fecond v.ar in 1 794 - ibid. 171 Roxburgh, Do£lor William, his merit 94, 132 Rural ceconomy - - - 281 Ryuts, or Hufbandmen - - ibiJ. Sadras - - - 5^ Salt pans _ _ _ , 6 Saltpetre - - - - 2 2!5 Salt rock, in Bootan - - 352 Sambagi, fon of Sevatjee, his fad end - 104 Saone, river _ _ _ Saracennic conquefts of Bengal - 33*^ SalTeram, a fplendid maufoleum - - 223 Sattarah fortrefs - - -1^3 Saunders, Mr. a naturalift, vifits Bootan and Thibet _ . _ 347 3D Savendroog, I N D X. Pag«. Savendrooj, or rock of death - 74, 75 Secundra, tombs at - - - 181 Seringham, Pagoda - - - ^9 Seringapatam defcribed - - ^2 when pofleficd by Ayder 8 1 fortified camp forced by Lord Cornwallis - 87 nofturnal attack - 79 maufoleuiu of Ayder - 84 Serpents - - - 276 Seven Pagodas - - - 5° Shah Alum . _ - _ 202 Shaher Ganjam, peopled by perfons forced from their homes by Ayder, in his in- roads - - 63, 83 Shakefpeare quoted - - - 58 Shawl Goat _ _ _ Sheep _ _ - Sherborne, Biftiop of, vifits India - 54 Sketches of the Hindoos Silkworms - - - 2j2 Silhet, diftria of - - - 366 Sirinagur - - - 164 Soank, diamonds found near - - ^44 Sollapour _ _ - - Sonnerat, Monfieur, of, - - 39 Somroo, a villanous aflaflin - - 226 Soobah of Bengal - - - 33^ Soorungur, the burying place of the able ana amiable Mr. Elliott - 141 Soumbtlpour, diamonds found near - 140 Soundings in the gulph of Bengal Speke, Captain, his misfortunes - 298 Sugar cane - - - 3^* Sugar-loaf rock - - - 17 Sulphur, river _ _ _ 229 Sujah el Dowlah - - - - Sunderbund, or woods - - 151 natural hiilory of - I54 202 Surajah Dowlah Surat, Gcddard reaches _ _ _ iqy Tiefentaller, Father, account of - 161 Syah Ghufli, a lynx - - 257 T. Tajamahel, beautiful maufoleum of - 182 Taliacotian art revived - - 237 Tamerlane, his fhocking barbarities - 166 Tanjore ,- - - - 13 nature of the coafi: - -IS Tafllfudon, capital of Bootan - - 351 palace there - - ibid. Tavernier, the traveller - - 5 Teek woods - - - 120 Teefta river - .. _ _ ^42 Thibet, kingdom _ _ _ o^^ religio;i - - - 358 Thibet, great cold at - _ _ 755 gold at - - _ ibid. peacock - - - 345 dogs - - - 356 Tiefentaller, Father - - - 166 Thomas, St. Mount - - - 90 its great falubrity - ibid. Thomas St. martyr'd in India - - 54 pretended evide:ice of - ibid. Tigers - - - - 151 Tincai, in Bootan - - - 353 Tinevelly - - - 2 Tipera diflriift - - - ^70 Tippoo Sultan fubmits - - - 87 Tobacco, when introduced into India - 230 Tombs of Mahometans - - 85 Tondiman the Polygar - - - 13 Topaffes - - " - 5S Tortoifes - - - 144, 145 Tranquebar - - - 16 Tree, I N D Vaygaroo, Delta of Vellore * Vifiapour Vi.lon, prophetic 9, 10 44- 65 - 106 - 57 Page Page Tree, new, at Bahar - 319 Vizigapatam . - 127 Trees of Coromaiidel - 94 Urfiform Brad ypus - ' . - 258 of the Circars - 133 Vultures, hiftory of . - 36 of Bootan - 351 European, fruits of - 35i w. Trinchinopoly _ _ » - 17 efcalade of - 18 Watfon, Vice Admiral _ - 298 Trincomale, battle of _ - 88 Weefel, mu(k . - 258 Tripetti Pagoda _ _ _ - 99 Wheeler, Mrs. Edward - - 321 pilgrimages to - ibid. White town, the - - 59 Trivadi Pagoda - 31 "Winds of Coromandtl - - too Tungebedra river - 106 Wives felf-devoted to the flames - 300 Wolf - 255 V. Woods, or Sunderbund - - 151 natiual hiftory of - - 154 Vandewafii, battle of - 43 Wool - 67 Yale, Elihu, of 29 • Here are annua] races in the Englilh manner I / ., ^ro AV-^ .V DATE DUE J" HIGHSMITH 45-102 PRINTED IN USA »>. .r Il ,(\ f "x?- ^ rJd*' k^ ^t ^ h. ^^^^ .■i^\ ^^^ <^ ^^r \ -^ r '^ f / A .v*^' V A-^- :^^ V y^V