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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[110] The appellation Tupasi is derived from the Samscred word Duibhasbi. Dui signifies two, and Bhasbi a man who speaks two languages; an interpreter. This name, indeed, may with propriety be given to the Tupasi; for, besides their mother tongue, they speak some one of the European languages, either English, French, Dutch, or Portuguese. At Cochin they are called Gens de chapeau, because they wear a Topi or small hat; whereas the other Indians, not descended from Europeans, make use of the Romali, that is, a white turban of the finest muslin. These people have the upper part of their bodies quite naked; but bind round their loins a piece of white linen, which is called Bastra. As long as this cloth is new, it is named Codi. If it has interwoven in it red stripes, it is called Sòmen, Tòmen, and Pudava. If such stripes are painted on this linen, it is called Tùvaden or Toren. If it consists of yellow or red silk, it is named Pattupudava.—Ciatta or Penncupayan is the name of a jacket lying close to the body, worn by Malabar female Christians when they appear in public. It reaches no lower than the girdle, to which the Pudava is fastened, and which they wear as well as the men. On the head they have no ornament whatever, but turn up their hair smooth behind, and fasten it in a roll on the crown. How much would these Indian dames be astonished at the ornamented head-dresses of our European ladies! A.

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

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

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

[114] Cheese made of buffaloes milk is highly esteemed by the Italians, notwithstanding their celebrated Parmesan (Lodesan.) It is called Caccio di cavallo. F.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[123] The squirrel here described is different from the Taguan, the Sciurus petaurista of Pallas, and the S. sagitta of Nordgren. It appears to be a kind not yet known; for the northern S. volans, S. volucella, and S. Hudsonius, are none of them so large. F.

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

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

[126] The bezoar goat, Antelope Gazella L.—Which of the antelopes of the ancients this Kuran Antelope is, cannot with certainty be determined. F.

[127] The civet cat is the Viverra Zibetha, and V. Civetta L. for I am convinced that these two varieties have been unnecessarily made distinct species.—The Kirri is the small variety of the Viverra Ichneumon L. and the above-mentioned Marapatti is a larger. The red variety, mentioned afterwards, belongs also to this species. F.

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

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

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

[131] This kind of hedge-hog is the hystrix, or Erinaceus Malaccensis. The bezoar procured from this species of animal is that called by the Portuguese Piedra del porco, which was formerly sold at a dear rate, but at present is of little value. F.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[140] Without doubt Buffon’s Poule sultane (Fulica porphyrio L.) a very beautiful bird. F.

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

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

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

[144] The Bajà or Berbera is the gross-beak of the Philippines (Loxia Philippina L.) already described by Brission. A great many of these nests are brought to Europe. F.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[156] This goddess Lakshmi is, by Sonnerat, called Latschimi. See his voyage, vol. I. p. 132. She is the goddess of riches, and, according to the Indian mythology, married Vishnu, and with him produced Manmodi the god of love. In Fra Paolino’s Latin work, a German translation of which was published at Gotha, in 1797, with engravings, may be seen, Plate XII., three figures of Lakshmi, taken from brass images, preserved in the Museum at Velitri. In that work she is called the wife of Vishnu: and all the names given to her by the Indians are there enumerated. Among these are: the goddess of good fortune, the woman in labour, the mother of the world. Here the author calls her the fruitfulness of the earth, and, a little farther, the goddess of riches. It will be, in general, necessary in reading this part of the author’s book, to compare with it Sonnerat’s Voyage to India; also the Code of the Hindoos, or the Ordinances of Menu, by Jones and Hüttner, Weimar, 1797; and, lastly, the Gentoo Laws, by Raspe, Hamburgh 1778. These works contain many things which will serve to illustrate what is here said by the author. F.

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

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

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

[160] The Kaida of Rhude Hort. Malab. as well as the Keura athrodactylus, and the Pandanus odoratissima is not a wild ananas, but a plant, the male flowers of which have a farina of an exceedingly agreeable smell. In Arabia and India people bestrew their heads with it, as we do ours with perfumed powder. F.

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

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

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

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

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

[164] P. 28. and 29.

[165] Dialog. iv. De Legibus.

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

[167] This is a Portuguese word.

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

[169] A German translation of this Systema Brahmanicum was published at Gotha in 1797, with thirty copper-plates, under the title of Darstellung der Brahmanisch-Indischen Götterlehre. F.

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

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

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

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

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

[175] P. 45, 46, 47.

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

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

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

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

[180] See Phoc. in Vit. Apoll. Tian. cod. cclii.—L. Vives Comment. in lib. xiv.—S. Aug. de Civitate Dei, p. 1734. edit. Paris.—Euseb. in Chron. p. 72. edit. Scalig.—and Philostrat. in Vita Apoll. lib. iii. cap. 6. and lib. iv. cap. 6. A.

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

[181] See Historischer Versuch über die Zigeuner, Göttingen, 1787. A.

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

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

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

[185] See the Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 160, and vol. ii. p. 123.

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

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

[188] The goddess Adidi, or Didi, is the mother of the wicked dæmons, who in the Samscred are called Asuri, and who are exceedingly spiteful. See, on this subject, Father Hanxleden’s dictionary, under the articles Adidi and Asuri. Bali, who of all these Asuri was the most wicked, and possessed the most insupportable pride, made it his continual business to torment the gods and men. Vishnu therefore assumed the form of a dwarf, overcame him, and punished him as he deserved. Other writers consider the above apparitions as an allegory respecting the history of the first king of the Assyrians called Bel or Belus, who reigned at Babylon 1322 years before the birth of Christ, and caused himself to be worshipped as a deity. According to this opinion the Assyrians are to be here understood under the appellation Asuri. The author of the Masabhàràda, already often mentioned, relates, that Báli, or Mahàbàli, that is, Bali the Great, had a hundred sons, the first-born of which was Bánnen. A.

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

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

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

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

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

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

[195] See, on this subject, the Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. § 15, p. 225, On the Astronomical Computations of the Hindoos; and § 16, p. 289, On the Antiquity of the Indian Zodiack, by W. Jones; also Sonnerat, Voyages aux Indes, vol. ii. b. 3. p. 178. and p. 201. A.

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

[197] Lib. viii. cap. 17.

[198] See the Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. § xvi. p. 289.

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

[200] In page 317, the author enumerated several Indian words which have a great similarity to Latin words of the same signification; and here we have another instance in aghni, ignis, fire. I shall take this opportunity of remarking, that several Lithuanian words have a great affinity to the Latin. Thus awis, ovis, a sheep; Dièwas, Deus, God; dantis, dens, a tooth; senis, senex, an old man; arru, aro, I plough; wirs, vir, a man; gentis, gentilis, a relation; rossa, ros, dew; angis, anguis, a snake; lupus, lupus, a wolf; naktis, nox, noctis, the night; tu, tu, thou; trys, tres, three. Dus Diewas dantes, dus Diewas dunes; dat Deus dentes, dat Deus panem.

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

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

[203] Shuga tarunni signifies, in the Samscred, the female papagay, the symbol of Sarasvadi, the goddess of eloquence. A.

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

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

[206] One of the favourite pieces of the people is the Pàvakali, or so-called buffoon dance. This word is compounded of Pàva and Kàli, the former of which signifies a merry-andrew, and the latter a play or dance. The comedies, in which dancing is always introduced, are called Nàdaca or Nadya. The dance is called Nadana; a comedian, Nàden, or Nàdaken; a female dancer, Nrtagui; and theatric singing, Gàna, or Guita. A.

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

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

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

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

[211] See, on this subject, Sonnerat Voyage aux Indes; Vol. II. chap. 4. where engravings are given of the principal pagodas on the coast of Coromandel. As the Brahmans divide themselves into two different sects, one of which worship fire, and the other water, as the principal deity, there are also two different kinds of temples. Tirunamala, Cialembron, and Tiruvalur, belong to the Shivanites: Tirupadi, Ciringam, and Cangipuram, to the Vishnuvites. The pagoda at Cialembron contains some ancient inscriptions with Indian characters: and these serve as a certain proof that the old Indians had characters peculiar to themselves; for the coast of Coromandel was never under the dominion of the Greeks. A.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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