(•I;,ssJQS4i^ i»RFSEN"n:r) ir> IIM. / .^ fjiO h .r^' ..>-.- UJ Q — I a. INDIA AND THE HINDOOS: JUrCF zd mS. ISAAC R. Bin, A POPULAR VIEWC. -19 » ) or THE GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, GOVERN.^NT, MANNERS. CUSTOMS, LITERATURE AND RELIGION OF THAT ANCIENT PEOPLE ; WITH AN ACCOUNT OP CHRISTIAN MISSIONS AMONG THEM BT F." De W. ward, XiATS MISSIONARY AT MADRAS, AND MEMBER OF THE ' AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY." NEW YORK : CHARLES SCRIBNER, 1851. Entered according to Act of Co^'irpss, in the year 1S50, by BAKER AND SCTRIBNER, Id the Cleric's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District ot New York. <3lftff6lTt and Mrs. Isaac R. Hitt Nov. 17 931 C. W . BENEDICT, Stereotype r, •iOl WiUiam St., N. Y 1 TO EDWARD ROB'NSON, D.D., PRESID ENT; WITH THE OTHER OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE i^MnsmHo^]^ ®iaiiisEg''ii'^iL s®©ii]is''S', THIS VOLUME IS BrSPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THEIR FELLOW LABORER IN THB CAUSE OF EASTERN LEARNINS, THE AUTHOR. A FEW WORDS TO THE READER. Of those who take this volume in hand, a few may recog- nize in the author an acquaintance and friend, while to others he is a stranger, whose name even they have never before heard. To this latter and more numerous class, a few intro- ductory statements may not be inappropriate. In the Fall of 1836 I sailed from Boston, a missionary to the natives of Southern India. My shipmates were the Rev. Messrs. Cherry, Cope, Crane, Muzzy, Tracy, Dr. Steele, and our wives. Two of these. Dr. Steele and Mrs. Muzzy, lie buried on the continent, and Mrs. Cherry at Jaffna, Ceylon. Our destination was the ancient and far-famed city of IMadura,* where and in the neighbormg villages Christian operations had been successfully commenced, under the direction of the Rev. Messrs. Todd, Eckard, Hall, Lawrence, Poor, and Dwight, the first and last three of whom were in the field when we arrived. After residing for about six years in that city, I removed to Madras, and was associated with Rev. Messrs. Winslow and Hutchings, and Mr. Hunt. Here I labored in preaching, superintending schools, and writing for the press, until the state of my health requii-ed a return to my native land, from which I had been absent ten years. During my residence in * Pronounced Madjura. Vi PREFACE. India, I travelled much over the southern districts— went tt Ceylon twice, and acquainted myself with the condition of that lontT-established and successful mission— jo^i"»eyed southward and witnessed the wonderful effects of evangelizing efforts in Tinnevelly, with its whole villages of converts to Christianity —spent several days^af Tatijore, under the roof of the aged and venerable Kohloff, a pupil ani successor of the celebrated Swartz— travelled westward to^ngalore, where, during several months of ill health, I shared the hospitality of the Rev. Mr. Crisp, (whose necessary return to England cannot be too much regretted, so well qualified was he for the post he then held, of instructor to a large class of native young men, who were pre- paring for the ministry,) ^passed on to Mysore, also the centre of interesting missions under the London and Wcsleyan Socie- ties. Hundreds of miles have I journeyed through native towns and villages, alone or accompanied by esteemed fellow- laborers, preaching the Gospel, superintending schools, circu- lating Bibles, distributing tracts, arguing with Brahmins, min- gling with the thousands who were congregated at annual festivals, and warning them of their sin and danger — entreat- ing the common people, who " heard us gladly," to behold the "Lamb of God," and using all means at our command to secure for our faith an interested attention from the multitude of idolaters. Hours were spent in exchanging thoughts with missionaries of all societies and denominations upon the condi- tion of the Hindoos, and the most hopeful way of inducing them to embrace the better faith of Christ. While there, I took notes upon what I saw and heard ; and since my return I have been permitted to plead for the Hindoos in most of the cities of New York, in many of the churches of Connecticut, PREFACE. "VI I in company with my worthy friend, the Rev. Mr. Cowles, and to a limited extent at the West. The reception I everywhere met with was of the most gratifying character, and I would express thus publicly my thanks to the many pastors who have allowed me to address their congregations upon this subject of deep and enduring interest — the wan' *'** India, and the way to relieve them. ^^ Providence at length indicafffl that I should assume a pas- toral charge, which I have done, over an endeared people, but with no abatement of my interes" in the cause of India mis- sions. During my journeyings over the country, it was often sug- gested to me, that when I had no further use for my manu- scripts, in oral lectures and addresses, I should put them in a form for the press. Hence, this book, which is designed as a plain, colloquial statement of facts, the results of reading and conversation, confirmed and illustrated by personal observation and reflection. The aim of the work is to bring before the reader's mind India as it was and as it is, in a secular as well as a religious aspect. Reader, allow me, in conclusion, to entreat you to think more about the Hindoos, especially in respect to their religious state and prospects. Thinking will lead to feeling ; feeling to prayer ; and prayer to effort. If this book awaken in any mind a deeper interest in the Hindoos, or lead in any instance to increased exertion for their social happiness or spiritual im- provement, my aim will be secured and my prayer answered. F. De W. ward. Gcfieseoj (Livingston Co., N.Y..,) Sept., 1850. CONTENTS. ^X^APTER I. GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. Pag« Relative position — Boundaries — Geographical divisions — Names of opposite Sea Coasts — Mountains described — Droogs — Rivers — Tanks — Wells — Modes of drawing water — Cataracts — Courtallum — Nullahs — Hot Springs — Lakes — Salt Marshes — Face of the Country — Seasons — Climate — Extremes of heat and cold — Means of avoiding the constant and oppressive warmth — Longevity — Dis- eases — Features of Constitution needful in a foreigner who would live long in India — Rapidity of death's doings illustrated by facts — Comparative healthfulness of different seasons — Cities and large Towns named and described ------ 1 CHAPTER II. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. Introductory remarks — Elephants — Rajah of Mysore's State Car- riage — Rhuioceros — Wild Boar — Camel — Dromedary — Bear (an- ecdote of an Indian Himter and Mountain Bear) — Deer, various species — Goat — Sheep — Buffalo— Ox — Cow — Brahminee Bull — Ganjal — Arnee — Yak — Horse — Ass — Mule — Dziggetai — i^Ionkey, various tribes (anecdote of a Monkey and flock of Crows) — Bat — Porcupine — Sloth — Armadillo — Mangoose — Loris — Squirrel — Chipmuck— Rats— Ratel— Rabbits— Martin — Civet — Ichneumon — Tiger — Lion — Panther — Leopard — Cheetah (mode of use by hunters)— Cat— Jackal— Hyena — Lynx — Thibet Dog — Native Dog — Lizzard — Gecko — Scorpion — Centipede — Tarantula ^- X CONTENTS. Faos Cobra-de-Capella — Tic Polonga— Mountain Snake— Crocodile- Anaconda— Tortoise— Frog— Insects (sc?ne presented when enter- ing a long-closed house;)— White Ant (a choice dish)— Ant Hills as seen by Bp. Heber— Birds and Fishes, a large variety of each Class — Botany, including Vegetable, Fruit and Forest Trees, Flowers — Minerals, &c. -------27 ' CHAPTER III. HISTORICAL SURVEY. What is known of Ancient India— Invasions by Sesostris, Semira- mis, Darius and Alexander — Invasion by Mahmoud of Guznee — Somnaut captured— Its venerated Idol and Temple Gate — Success- ors of Mahmoud — InvasionVby the Portuguese — Dutch — East India Company — Black Hole of Calcutta — Governors-General — Relation of India to England — Remark of Dr. DufF — Measures pursued by the English — Opinions and Feelings of the Hindoos — An Historic Law respecting India — Characteristics of the several periods of Hindoo History — An Eloquent Extract - - €1 CHAPTER IV. INHABITANTS OF INDIA CLASSIFIED. Population — Native Hindoos — Mohamedans (Annual Festivities) — East Indians — European Ptesidents, of several grades — Arabs — Parsees — Chinese and Jews ------ §3 CHAPTER V. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. The three Presidencies — Governor- General — Metropolitan Bishop — Officers, &c. in the four Departments, Revenue, Judicial, Mili- tary, and Ecclesiastical — General Remarks . - . - gj CHAPTER VI. PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE HINDOOS. Figure and Physiognomy — Bodily Structure and Strength — Pedes- trian Agility and Endurance — Emblematical Marks upon the CONTENTS. XI Fags Forehead, Neck, &c., — Dress of the Men, of the Women, of the Children — Ornaments ; their kind, value, and dangers - - 100 CHAPTER VII. COURTEOUS CUSTOMS. Hindoos a polite people — Visit from a Native — Salaam — Namaska- riim — Sashamgam — Modes of addressing superiors— Epistles — Materials of Writing — Different Styles of Address, to an Inferior, an Equal, and a Superior — Remark by Abb6 Du Bois - - 108 CHAPTER VIII. A HINDOO AT 1 (O.ME. Native Dwelling described — Furniture — Its apartments, especially the Room of Anger — The Hindoo returning home — Preparations for a meal— Rice and Curry — Mode of Eating — Sleeping-room — Different modes pertaining to different classes — Price of dwellin*' — Evil Eye, and other superstitious fears — Flower Gardens — Market — Times of eating — Topics of conversation - - - ng CHAPTER IX. HINDOO WATER CRAFT AND SAILORS. Author's arrival at Madras — Reflections — Catamaran — Massuli- boat — War Steamer — Merchantman — Dhony — Basket-boat — Budgerow ---------- 127 CHAPTER X. HINDOO LAND CONVEVANCES. Travelling propensity of the Hindoos — Primitive mode of carrying a child — Cart and Bullocks — Canopied cart — Palanquin — Tonjon — Miscellaneous vehicles in City and Town . - - - 140 CHAPTER XI. HINDOO LITERATURE. Languages of India — Antiquity of the Sanscrit — The Vedas — Shas- tias — Pooranas — Ramayanum, Analysis of, and Quotation from Xii CONTENTS. Pags the Poem — Remark by Dr. DufF— Institutes of Menu, and other Works on Hindoo Jurisprudence — Ethics — Extracts from the Cu- ral and Ovviya — Miscellaneous Proverbs — Puncha tantrakathy — Moothory — Nannery — Nalladiyar— Hindoo Poetry - - 155 CHAPTER XII. SCIENCE OF THE HINDOOS. The Hindoos not a barbarous People — Arithmetic— Geometry — Al- gebra — Trigonometry — Astronomy — Geography — Chronology — Natural Philosophy — Chemistry— Mineralogy— Botany— Geology — Doctors — Medical Institutions at Calcutta — Polytechnic Institu- tions — Lawyers — Present state of Learning in the land - - 181 CHAPTER Xm. ARTS AND OCCUPATIONS OF INDIA. Introductory Remark — Agriculture — Modes of Cultivation — Native Plow, Harrow and Threshing Machines — Cultivation of Rice, Wheat, Barley, Indigo, Opium, Sugar, and Tobacco — Fabrics — Na- tive Loom — Glass — Potter — Carpenter — Blacksmith — Goldsmith — Shoemaker — Brassfounder — Barber — Confectioner — Florist — Shopman — Washer-man — Oilman — Milkman — Fisherman — Dis- tiller — Palanquin Bearer — Difficulty of introducing Modern Im- plements — Public Buildings — Descriptions of Temples at Ele- phanta, Syringham, and Madura — Droogs — Reflections upon be- holding these Ruins - - - - - - - -195 CHAPTER XIV. POPULAR AMUSEMENTS OF INDIA. Hindoos not fond of work — Card-playing — Backgammon — Domi- noes — Checkers — Chess — Quoits — Marbles — Cock-fighting — Dancing — Story-telling ; Tale of the three deaf men — Theatrical Exhibitions — Hunting — Gymnastics and Jugglery, illustrated by descriptions of wondrous feats— Remarks . - . _ 206 CONTENTS. Xlll Pass CHAPTER XV. MUSIC OF THE HINDOOS. Remarks on the universal prevalence of Music — Antiquity of Hin- doo Song — Remarkable statements by Sir William Jones — "No accounting for tastes" — Hindoo Gamut — Extract from Abbe Du Bois — Names of musical instruments — Style illustrated by Stan- zas from the Poem of Arumuga Tambiran, sung at his baptism — Two verses written in English by a Convert at Calcutta — Au- thors of "Spiritual Songs" in Southern India - - - 219 CHAPTER XVI. PECULIAR CEREMONIES. Two circumstances that impart importance to the Birth of a Hindoo — Hindoo Names, whence derived, and the Ceremony of giving them — Hindoo Marriages — Courtshii^ — Desirable Qualities in a Wife — Kooleen Brahmins — Death — Exclamations of a Mother over a Dead Child — Strange Comforters — Nuisances on the Gan- ges — Burning of Bodies — Singular Custom in the Northern Dis- tricts — Parsee mode with their Dead — Mohamedan Cemeteries — Also Roman Catholic — Graves of Foreigners — Superiority of the Gospel over Brahminism in the Dying Hour - - - 228 CHAPTER XVII. WOMAN II» INDIA. Importance of Female Influence — Facts illustrating the relative posi- sition of women in India : (1) Grief at their birth ; (2) Subjection exacted ; (3) Not to mention her husband's name ; (4) Not to speak of her husband's excellencies ; (5) Not to be seen walking with him ; (6) Not to take food with him ; (7) Is not inquired after by guests ; and (8) Is not taught even the rudiments of knowledge — Remarks by a Hindoo writer — Life and self-immolation of Hol- lee Lutchema — Suppression of Sutteeism — Lord William Bentinck —Appeal -. 240 XIV CONTENTS. Paob CHAPTEIl XVIIL HINDOO CASTE. Definition of Caste — Four-fold division — Origin and duties of Brah- mins, Kshatiras, Veishas, aid .Soodras — Pariars — Six facts illus- trating the evil influence ot Caste upon its adherents — Its anti- social and anti-benevolent jclaaracter — A barrier to the progress of Christian truth— A cc^iiveria1.^.Calcutta— Apology by Abbe Du Bois — Early Views of ^iirtz, Bishop Heber, &c. — Action of Bishop Wilson and ]\fpdem Missionaries — Caste doomed, and what is now expected of all converts to Christianity - - 256 CHAPTER XIX. RELIGION OF THE HINDOOS. Design of the Chapter — Brahm — Brahma — Vishnu — Siva — Ganesa — Supramunyan — Doorga — Kaiee — Latchmi— Sarasvati — Mun- muthan — Indru — Sooryu — Kartikeya — Parvuna — Vuroona — Yumu — Weakness of them all — Immorality — Character of the worshippers — What can elevate India — Appeal to the Reader 267 CHAPTER XX. iriNDOOISM IN PRACTICE. Facts indicating the Religious Tendency of the Hindoos — Car Draw- ing — Sailing — Hook Swinging — Passing through the Fire — Other and like Observances — Quotation from Bishop Heber respecting the Moral Character of the Hindoos - - . - . - 278 CHAPTER XXI. MEANS FOR ADVANCI:N'G CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. Harmony between these m.eans— First Agency, Preaching; to Stated Congregations, in the Highways, at the Mission- House and at Tayats, with Trials of Body, Mind and Heart — Second Agency, Bible and Tract Distribution — Its Necessity and Success — Third Agency, Education, (1) Day Charity Schools, (2) Boarding Schools, (3) Literary Seminaries, (4) Theological Academies, and (5) English Schools— Concluding Remarks - - - 288 CONTENTS. XV Fagb CHAPTER XXII. LIGHTS AND SHADES OF MISSIONS IN INDIA. Quotations from the Abbe Du Bois, with Remarks in Opposition — Considerations favorable to the Cause of Christian Truth in India — (1) Change in Governmental Policy ; (2) Disconnection of Gov- ernment from Hindoo Festivals and Superstitious Ceremonies ; (3) Improved Character of Foreign Residents; (4) Posture of the Na- tive Mind tovv^ards the Religion of Christ; {-5) The existence in India of a Christian Church, with many thc^and Members ; (6) The array of Organized Means for Propagating the Truth ; and (7) The Practical Interest of all Christendom in the Prospects of the Hindoos — Certain Offsets to these Encouragements— Summing up of the whole subject -------- 306 CHAPTER XXIII. CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN INDIA. The interest felt by Christendom in India — St. Thomas— Roman Catholic Missions — Society for Propagating the Gospel — Danish Missionary Society — English Baptist Missionary Society — London Missionary Society — Scottish INIissionary Society — Church Mis- sionary Society — Free Church of Scotland Missions — American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions — American Baptist Missionary Society — Presbyterian Foreign Missionary Society — Free Will Baptist INIissions — Evangelical Lutheran Missions — Concluding Remarks -------- 323 CHAPTER XXIV. GLOSSAEY ; Or, Vocabulary of Words and Terms in common use by writers on India, arranged in alphabetical order ----- 330 CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. Relative position — Boundaries — Geographical divisions — Names of opposite Sea Coasts — Mountains described — Droogs — Rivers — Tanks — Wells — Modes of drawing water — Cataracts — Courtallum — Nullahs — Hot Springs — Lakes — Salt Marshes — Face of the country — Seasons — Climate — Extremes of heat and cold — Means of avoiding the constant and oppressive warmth — Longevity — Diseases — Features of Constitution needful in a Foreigner who would live long in India — Rapidity of death's doings illustrated by facts — Comparative healthfulness of different seasons — Cities and large Towns named and described. The vast continent of Asia terminates on the south in three peninsulas, the central and most important of which is India. Bounded on three sides by water, and on the fourth disjoined from the high table-land of Thibet by the lofty Himalayas, nineteen hundred miles in length and in breadth fifteen hundred, with its extreme points in 8° and 35' Ts^orth Latitude, and in 67° and 92' East Longitude, this extensive country embraces within its ample limits forty districts, viz : in Northern India^ Cashmere, Sirmoor, G-urwal, Kumaoon and Nepaul ; — in India Proper, I 2 INDIA. Lahore or the Punjaub, Mooltan, Delhi, Oude, Sind, Ajneer or Rajpootana, Agra, Kuch, Guzerat, Malwa, Allahabad, Bahar and Bengal ; — in the Deccan^ Khandesh, Gondwana, Berar, Orissa, Aurungabad, Beder, Hyderabad, the Northern Circars, and Beja- poor ; and in Southern India^ Dcoab, Ceded Dis- tricts, Northern Carnatio, Kanara, Mysore, Barama- hal, Salem, Central Carnatic, Malabar, Koorg, Coim- batoor. Southern Carnatic and Travancore. The Sea Coast on the west side from Bombay to Cape Comorin is called by Europeans the Malabar^ and that on the East side the Coromandel. The Mountains of the Peninsula are few in number, but lofty and majestic. The Himalayas (or *' Seats of Snow") which form its northern boundary constitute one of the sublimest features in the structure of cur- globe, the highest peak as yet ascertained, rising 27,000 feet above the level of the sea, and lofty as the Green Mountains of "Vermont if piled upon the Chim- borazo of South America. This cloud-capped summit is esteemed the chosen residence of Siva, who, in re- tiring from Ceylon, threw up the Himal ayahs as his. place of retreat. Dewtas or spirits, are supposed to inhabit the most inaccessible glens, and by feigned sounds to lure the unfortunate traveller on to his ruin. In those lofty ranges the extremes of heat and cold are excessive, the former melting the snow and laying the mountains bare, while the latter is so intense as to split and detach huge masses of rock, which roll into the valleys and chep chasms below with loud and GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. 6 terrific reverberations. These mountains and elevated plains, rich in the precious metals, furnished, in the time of Herodotus and Ctesias, that quantity of na- tive gold and auriferous sand, which gave rise to the fabled ants, industriously amassing stores of this precious ore, and fountains from which it bub- bled up from a seemingly exhaustless depth. The inhabitants of the villages skirting the sides are poor, illiterate yet simple minded — the chiefs, however, being jealous of foreign visitors. This stupendous chain of hills is indented with ''passes," through which travel- lers and, at times, armies journey to and from Nepaul on the south side and Thibet on the north, for com- merce and on predatory excursions. Encircling the base is a plain about twenty miles broad (called " Tarryani") upon which the waters from above pour down with such profusion that the river beds, unable to contain the torrent, overflow and convert the ground into a species of swamp, which, acted upon by the rays of a tropical sun, throws up a rank vegetation, long grass and coarse shrubs, dense and almost impenetrable. In these gloomy regions the elephant, the tiger and rhinoceros, prowl unmolested, while the few human beings who can resist the pesti- lential vapors, present a meagre, dwarfish and sickly aspect. Waiving any special mention of the Kumaoon, Sewalick, and Vindhya Mountains, all of which lie north of the Dekkan, our attention may be directed to a double range of hills, lining the opposite coasts of the southern peninsula and called the Eastern and Western 4 INDIA. Ghats. The latter commences near the river Tuptee; in 20° North Latitude, and extends to Cape Comorin, while the former, beginning near the river Kistna, in 16° North Latitude, stretches to the Cauvery River on the south. From the Gulf of Cambay to the Bay of Bengal is a tract of high country, which, with the two ranges before named, form a triangle enclosing a table land elevated three thousand and more feet above the level of the sea. The mountain scenery of this region, thou2:h destitute of those features which invest the Himalayas with so awful and sublime a character, is beautiful and picturesque. A traveller leaving Madras, after traversing a country of prairie smoothness for a distance of a hundred miles, finds himself at the foot of the Western Grhats, where a steep ascent of two thousand feet brings him upon the level surface when he moves forward with ease until he reach the base of the Neilgherries, to attain the summit of which he has six thousand feet more to rise. Here the air is clear, the climate cool and healthy, the fields fertile, well cultivated, and free from jungle, while, as a farther compensation for his labor, here he meets the violet, primrose, butter-cup, wild thyme, fern, dog- rose, woodbine, mosses and litchen, with various vegetables and fruits, which he has not before seen since leaving his fatherland. The native of that delightful region will tell you that he dwells in a favored spot — in a country whose origin was celestial. •' The God Rama," he says, " being i\\ pursuit of his enemy, Ravena, who had forcibly carried off the Divine GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. O Goddess Sita, sped through the vaulted heavens, hav- ing his sword drawn, ready to deal the death-blow of revenge. In the forgetfulness of his direful wrath, lo ! by an incautious wave of his mighty weapon, he struck the moon with the point thereof, and severed from the face of that beautiful orb a chain of verdant mountains, which immediately fell to the earth in the province of Coimbatoor and united the Eastern and "Western Ghats. Hence the name Chandgherry, (or Mountains of the Moon,) which was subsequently changed by Rama to Neilgherri, (or Blue Mountains;) because he would not be reminded of his awkward mistake." In proof of his statement, the Coimbatori will point out the place on the lunar orb from which the hills fell off! Ootacamund, a village about six thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea, and two hun- dred miles S. AVest from Madras, is much resorted to by European invalids from all parts of the Peninsula, as also from the adjoining islands, because of its clear air and invigorating climate. Excepting these table lands and cloud-piercing heights, Southern India is very level, presenting immense areas of barren sand and dense jungle, with occasional rocks rising from the plain to the height of 100 to 200 feet, like icebergs in the northern seas. Upon the summit of these rocky acclivities the traveller often finds a fort, (called a Droog) which has done good service in years long past, when life and property were exposed to the invader's power. One of the mc/st remarkable of these is the b INDIA. fortress of Dowlatabad, the Capital of Arungabad This fort is a mass of granite, standing more thaa a mile and a half from the hills, and rising to an eleva- tion of five hundred feet. Another, and the most remarkable in India, is Sevendoorg, twenty miles north- west from Ban2:alore. This has a base of about eisrht miles in circumference and a height of about half a mile. In some cases a temple has been erected on the solitary summit which, with a pagoda at the base, secures a lar^e share of reverential attention from Bramins and other devotees. The largest Rivers of India are the Indus, Sutlij, Jumna, Granges, Brahmapootra, Nerbudda, Tuptee, Muhanuddee, Grodavery, Toombudra, Pennar, Palar and Cavery — which run a united distance of about ten thousand miles : — most of them rising in the lofty Himalayas, and falling into the Bay of Bengal or Ara- bian sea. Of these the Indus is noted for its length and variety of appearance, flowing a distance of 1700 miles, and forming the boundary line between the Pe- ninsula and Afghanistan. The Ga7iges is far famed for the spiritual efficacy of its waters, especially those parts of the stream which happen to run from South to North, contrary to the general direction. The Brah^ mapootra rises in Thibet, near the mouth of the Indus, sweeps through Assam with a curve westward, uniting with the Granges just above Calcutta. The Godavery is sometimes called the Second danges, because of its sacred origin and purifying efficacy. The Krishna^ from the resemblance in its color to that of Vislma GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. 7 in his ninth incarnation, is also an object of reli- gious worship. The name of Punjaub (or land of streams) which the natives apply to a small portion of the Northern Hindostan is descriptive of at least one half of the peninsula. The valley of the Ganges is the most extensive and luxuriant on the face of the globe, forming a tract of 400,000 square miles, the greater part of which is susceptible of cultivation of some kind, and much is extremely fertile. In the southern dis- trict there are but few perennial streams. During a large part of the year the bed of the river presents the appearance of an extended plain of arid sand, with a mere brook running through its midst, but so soon as the rainy season sets in, the mountains pouring down the flood that has fallen upon them, the desert is con- verted into a stream, or more frequently a raging tor- rent, majestic to behold, refreshing to the neighboring vegetation but annoying to the traveller who must wait till it has subsided, ere he can safely attempt to cross. As these rivers are an uncertain reliance for agricultu- ral purposes the country is supplied with tanks or large artificial lakes, measuring from two to twenty miles in circumference, encircled with an embankment of clay and clods, into which the water is allowed to flow du- ring the rainy season, and is there retained for future use. Upon each side, gates are built, by the raising of which the neisjhborino: fields are irrisrated and made fruitful. One of these is essential to every extensive farm, as without it man and beast could not subsist, and the fields would lie barren and useless. There 8 INDIA. are, it is true, large wells to be frequently met with, but these would be quite insufficient to supply water for cattle, and field-irrigation. The mode of obtaining water from the wells or tanks (when a large quantity is needed) is by means of a sweep, or Pecotah. One man climbs an upright post and placing himself on a transverse beam, treads backward and forward, thus sinking and raising an iron bucket, which another standing below guides as it passes up and down and empties when full into the channel prepared for it. This labor is performed with great rapidity, and is ac- companied by a pleasant song, almost the first sound the foreigner hears after landing, and the last he for- gets. In respect to Waterfalls India is unequalled. This might be expected from the loftiness and rugged char- acter of the Himalayas and other mountain ranges. Two instances must suffice by way of illustration and proof. The river Shirawati or Carawooty rises in the western Ghats, and falls into the Arabian Sea not far from Bombay. The bed of the stream near the Cata- ract is one fourth of a mile in direct breadth, but the edge of the fall is elliptical, with a sweep of about half a mile. This body of water rushes, at first, for about three hundred feet at an angle of 45° in a sheet of white foam, and is then precipitated to the depth of eight hundred and fifty more into a black abyss, with a noise like thunder. It has, therefore, a depth of eleven hundred and fifty feet, quadrupling Niagara in the depth to which it sends its foaminor waters. Another GEOGRAPHICAL 6URVEV. 9 fall of less grandeur though greater utility is to be met with at Courtallum about 100 miles north from Cape Comorin. A horse-shoe indentation is made into the east side of the Grhats, near their southern extremity, about two miles in breadth and one in depth, within which the village is situated, with its native huts, for- eign dwellings and consecrated temples. During the prevalence of the western monsoon the clouds are so driven as to cause almost hourly showers of light rain to fall within this enclosure, giving to the air a de- lightful and invigorating coolness, especially when con- trasted with the heat which prevails but a few miles inland. Upon the summit of the mountain the water collects in large quantities and is precipitated over seven lofty ledges before it reaches the basin below. At this place Hindu superstition has erected several temnles of large dimensions and great sanctity, and a native, who would not hesitate to take a false oath elsewhere, would tremble to do so on this sacred spot. This is a favorite resort for foreigners, who will bear patiently the greatest domestic inconvenience, if they can but inhale its refreshing air and bathe in its health-giving flood. So soon, however, as the western rains cease, a rank vegetation springs up, dangerous to the life of all but native inhabitants. I spent sev- eral weeks in this delightful Sanatarium and have full knowledge of its worth and beauties, as well as the society of the agreeable and good who are wont to assemble in that "happy valley." The traveller through India is ever meeting with 10 INDIA. small streams, from a few feet to several yards in breadth, called nullahs. These arc either arms pro- jecting from neighboring rivers, or streams from the adjacent hills, and, though not imposing in appear- ance, are useful in feeding tanks and watering the herds. Hot Springs are very numerous in the mountains, and river beds being much frequented for medicinal purposes, and with religious reverence. An English officer speaks of one he met with near the source of the Jumna, the water of which was sufficiently warm to boil rice, and the deposition of which led him to suppose that it was occasioned by the decomposition of pyrites. In some of those Greysers the temperature is 170 and even 194° Fah., and at the elevation of ten thousand feet above the sea. Others have been found in the middle of the river Godavery, in the valley of the Nerbudda, in the G-ondwana district, in Bundelcund, in a village near Pooree, in Setacuno on the Granges, and in a village near the city of Delhi. In these springs the thermometer, plunged in, ranges from 100° to 140°, and a strong smell is diffused throughout the surrounding neighborhood. Lakes are but few in number, and those of limited dimensions. Just north of the Bay of Cambay there is an immense region of marshy land called the "run," where the waters, accumulating during the monsoon, evaporate when the rain ceases to fall, leaving a saline incrustation, which the natives collect, cleanse, and use for culinary purposes. Another salt lake was GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY 11 found high in the Himalayas at an elevation of six- teen thousand feet. As to the face of the country characterizing the four geographical divisions before named, Northern India is very mountainous, but the regions between the hills susceptible of high cultivation, India Proper is divided between the vast desert of Rajpootana, the extensive valleys of the Ganges and Indus, the salt marshes of Kutch, and the jungly regions about the mouth of the sacred stream, the Dekkan has the two- fold features of level and sandy plains from the sea to the foot of the Ghats, and a table land upon their summit, while the same features belong to the Southern region, where it terminates in a dense jungle and re- mains without cultivation and well nigh uninhabited several miles north from the Cape. Of Seasons there are but two in India, the dry and rainy, produced by the periodical winds called rtiori' soons. During the former, vegetation labors under a deadly languor, and the sunlight penetrates with diffi- culty the dense vapors with which the atmosphere is loaded. Then follow the rains, a fall of two or more weeks of which without interruption being not at all uncommon, during which inundations from the burst- ing of tanks and the overflowing of streams frequently level to the earth the mud hut of the distressed native, and drown his flocks beneath their swelling waves. In the year 1822, the Brahmapootra overflowed its banks, by which calamity thirty-seven thousand per- sons were drowned, besides sheep and cattle without 12 GEOGR^PHTCAL SURVEY. number. If the rain come not at the ordinary time, or if not in sufficient quantities, disastrous effects fol- low during the entire year. In 1793 so great was the scarcity occasioned by the drought, that parents sold their children for a few pounds of rice. Distress of such severity is uncommon, but inconvenience, desti- tution and suffering from a like cause is far from un- usual in those equatorial regions. To talk of an Indian summer would be to include the whole year ; to speak of its atitumn would be absurd, for its trees are never denuded of leaves ; spring would be equally unmean- ing, when vegetation blossoms in every month, and winter is there unknown. The Climate of India, as distinguished from that of the western world, is characterized by warmth, continual, and often extreme. A few statistics will illustrate the point. During the month of January the mean temperature is — in Calcutta . . . 69^5' Fah. " Bombay ... 77° " '' Madras . . . 78" 15' " While in the State of New York it is 25°, making a difference during the coldest part of the year of 49"^. Again during the month of May the mean tempera- ture is — in Calcutta ... 88^ 6' Fah. " Bombay ... 85° " *' Madras ... 89° " while in New York State it is 70 in July — making the difference in the warmest weather of 17°. The mean GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. 13 temperature throughout the year is 30° higher in In- dia than in the State of New York. The averasre cold- est month in India (the mountainous region excepted) is warmer by 6° than the average warmest month in this State. Over the largest part of the peninsula the thermometer never sinks below 60° while it often rises to 95 or 100°. In the Northern Circars it has stood at 100° at midnight and 110° at 8 o'clock A. M. On the 15th of May, 1849, the thermometer stood in the City of Madras as follows : at 10 o'clock . . . 156° Fah. " 12 " ... 169 " " 12 " . . 181 '' This was, of course, under the direct action of the solar rays. In the shade, it was above 100°. Such is the intensity of the heat, that birds sometimes drop down dead in the streets and squares of Calcutta. Travellers who are compelled to pass the day in tents, often creep beneath the table or cot to shield them- selves from the heat that strikes through the canvass. A modern author upon these equatorial regions, says, with much liveliness and truth : "It is all well for any one to sit by his fireside in Old England, and im- agine and talk about the " sunny east" as superemi- nently splendid, and to be coveted ; but if he ever have the opportunity of being conveyed in a palky, (palan- quin) about 2, P. M., on any day in April, from Fort St. "William to Grovernment-house and back he will never after repine, though doomed forever to remain in that climate which Prince CaricioUi described to be 14 INDIA. in Britain, ''where the sun is never seen ; and where there is no ripe fruit, but roasted apples." The cli- mate of India is little understood by Englishmen (Americans) "at home," and an instance of which appeared in a letter I read, in which the fair writer said '• she could picture her correspondent reading under the shade of a palm-tree;" whereas the only- endurable place was a room with all the blinds closed, and a punka waving over head. The reader may like to know what means are in use to shield the foreigner from the distressinsr effects of this constant and fatally-tending heat. Dwellings are located in places most open to the sea, are large and airy, with lofty ceilings, terraced roof for promenading, Vene- tian blinds, instead of window-sash and glass, bamboo mats for the floor, (carpets being too warm, and at- tractive to snakes, scorpions and smaller vermin,) and the whole painted white or green. Between the rising and setting of the sun, a foreigner should not leave his house without the shelter of a carriage, a palanquin, or a thick umbrella. Large fans, called pimkahs, made of the fragrant Cuskus grass, arc suspended from the ceiling, and kept in motion by a servant sta- tioned on the verandah or in an adjoining room. Mats formed from the same material, are hung outside of the door and window, and kept saturated with water. These adjuncts relieve the heat of the parlor, the din- ing-room, office and church. Hand fans are often used at meals, by a native, standing behind the chair. Bathing once a day, is universally practiced, two or GEOGRAPHfCAL SURVEY. 15 mere rooms for this purpose being attached to each dwelling. It has become ah admitted fact, after many and fatal trials, that spirituous liquors, and even wine and beer, so far from being needful to an Indian resident, are injurious and to be avoided. In the higher parts of the Peninsula, as at Delhi, in Lat. 28° the winter's cold is sometimes 3^ or 4° below the freezing point, and the tanks are frozen over. The previous statements have respect to the country gen- erally, those parts removed from the chilling influ- ence of the snow-clad Himmalayahs. With a due regard to these precautions, and a calni, contented disposition, a foreigner may live many years in that "land of the sun" while such is the liability to transgress in one or more of these impor- tant respects, that human life is held by a brittle thread. Extreme simplicity of diet, and great tran- quility of mind, may procure for some of the native fakeers (or religious devotees) a lengthened life ; but taken as an average, this is a climate in which the force of vitality receives a quick developement, and is subjected to speedy exhaustion. The oldest native I met in India, was a preacher in Tanjore — a pupil of Swartz, and ordained by that illustrious Missionary. He had passed his ninetieth year ; was very decrepid, yet in preaching, his voice was clear, and sufficiently loud to be heard by a large audience, and his manner earnest and effective. But a few months after the occa- sion of my being at that interesting station, he, and the Rev. Mr. Kohloff, (pupils, both, of Swartz) ascended to 16 INDIA. the presence of that Saviour, ^vhom for more than sev- enty years they had preached with boldness and success. India has been called " Scotland's church-yard," the tombs of those deceased islanders meeting the eye of the traveller at every stage of his journey. The DISEASES most prevalent in India are cholera, fever, hepatic derangements, dysentery, and various forms of inflammation. Among the natives, scrofula, leprosy, elephantiasis, and opthalmia, are very common. Cholera had its origin in that land, and there remains the same mysterious and fell messenger now that it was forty years ago. Elephantiasis (where one leg or both assume the shape and almost the size of that of an elephant) and leprosy (where large white spots appear upon the face, hands, arms, and where the toes and fingers drop off in gradual succession) are very frequent with natives, and at times with Euro- peans. Here I will repeat the remark of an eminent sur- geon upon the features of constitution desirable in one who expects to live long and enjoy health in that land. "A vivid color, animated countenance, firm step and voice, clean tongue and inoffensive breath, "with what is called the white of the eyes clear, or without the slightest yellow tinge, are in general very sufficient proofs of good digestion and well performed visceral secretions ; and these, with the other requi- sites, may, with propriety entitle their possessor to a passport to the plains of India. On the other hand, young men who seem sluggish, sallow, with somewhat GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. 1? bloated countenances, whose movements are lansruid, and the white of whose eyes has a yellowish or suf- fused appearance, ought to meet with a decided rejec- tion : for in them there certainly lurks the seed of future disease, which will not be slow to shov7 itself if ever they are exposed to ardent heat in a tropical country." If there be those of the human family to Vvdiom it may be with special appropriateness said, '•'• Be ye ready, for at such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" — it is to the foreJ2:ners resident in India. " This hour, perhaps, cur friend is well, The next we hear his passing belL" Let a few facts suffice by way of illustration : A civilian of Bengal whose duty had led* him to a remote district, was returning home on account of an attack of fever, having written to his wife, acquaint- ing her of his intention. Resting, during the day, at the Bungalow of a village, he learned that a European had just breathed his last in an adjoining room. Anxious to secure decent interment for the body, he struggled with his illness, and attended the remains of his fellow safTerer to the grave, reading the burial service at the sepulture. Exhausted by this sad and painful duty, he got into his palanquin, but had not proceeded far before he was overtaken by the pangs of death ; a paroxysm of fever seized him, and he died on the road. The bearers set down the palanquin and fled into the wood, leaving their deceased mastei 18 INDIA. alone, for nothing but the strongest attachment can induce a Hindoo to touch, or even to continue with the dead body of a person who belongs not to his caste. In the meantime, the wife of the deceased gentleman, alarmed by the tidings of his illness, had hastened to meet him, and was made acquainted with her loss by the frightful spectacle that met her eyes. She could gain no assistance from her own bearers, whose caste kept them aloof, and finding it impossible to induce them to touch the body, she sent them to a neighbor- ing village to find those that would aid her, while she took upon herself the melancholy task of watching the fast decaying remains. She soon found that her ut- most strength would be insufficient to repel the daring attacks of insects, ravenous birds, and savage animals, which were gathering around, waiting for an advan- tageous moment for attack, and, in the energy of de- spair, she tore away the earth with her hands and buried her dead husband I Such is the rapidity with which death does its work in that Eastern clime, such the heartlessness produced by the false system of re- ligion there dominant, and such the trials to which females are subjected to in that strange land — trials under which they often sink beyond recovery, but sometimes display an energy and heroism which awaken in the beholders emotions of equal wonder and admiration. AYhen leaving Madras for a journey to the South, I parted with Mrs. Winslow, in the possession of usual health. Reaching Trichinopoly we found a letter GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. 19 informing us of her death on the day after we left We had not long resided in Madura, when a letter from Ceylon brought the intelligence that Mr. and Mrs. Perry followed each other, at an interval of but two days, to their heavenly home. My colleague, the Rev. Mr. Dwight, attended divine service on Sabbath after- noon, and was a corpse next morning. Mrs. Cherry, and Mrs. North were called away during the same week. When Heber wrote those touching lines — " Death rides on every passing breeze, And lurks in every flower; Each season has its own disease, Its peril every hour," little did that amiable prelate imagine that he would himself illustrate their meaninjr, and confirm their truth. I have recited them when standins: in the bath room at Trichinopoly, which he entered, in the posses- sion of perfect health but to be brought out a lifeless corpse. The comparative healthfulness of the different seasons is indicated by the following table, con- taining the observations made during seven years. Of 1000 deaths of Europeans, the proportions stood thus : 92^ occurred in the month of January, 65i 69i 54S a February, iC March, tt April, It May, u June, 20 INDIA. 70| occurred in the month of July, 90i " " August, 98i " " September, I04k " " October, 116i " " November, 106 " " DecGmber. It may seem extraordinary that the cooler season of India is the most prejudicial to health. I give the reason in the lan£;uas:e of another : " Accustomed to a constant and profuse determination of moisture to the skin, the cold season, causing a complete revul- sion, occasions more unhealthiiiess than any other, and a dry, irritable state of the surface, which is indescrib- ably unpleasant. To the old Indian it is peculiarly distressing." ''I can bear the chilling blasts of Cale- donia," said a Scotchman, " but this cold, I know not luhat to do ivith it.^^ A descriptive view of the leading cities and toivns of India, will conclude this geographical survey of the Peninsula. LOCALITY AND CHARACTERISTICS. Calcutta, situated on the Hoogly, (a branch of the Ganges) one hundred miles from the Sea, in latitude 22° 30' North, and little more than half a century ago a petty village of mud huts, is now the '' city of palaces," the " metropolis of the East," the residence of the Grovernor- G-eneral, Metropolitan, with other high officials, civil, military and ecclesiastical, of the GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. 21 East India Company, and contains an estimated pop- ulation of 550,000. Madras^ a large and fortified town on the eastern coast in lat. 13° 5' North, and the capital of the South- ern provinces was obtained by purchase from the reigning prince in the year 1693, and now numbers about 450,000 inhabitants. Bombay, the third principal English town in India, is situated on an island of the same name, at about 200 yards from the western coast, in lat. 18° 5Q' North. Ceded by the Portuguese in 1661 it has be- come eminent for its excellent harbor, superior ship- wrights, and extensive commerce, and comprises, of Hindoos, Parsees, Mohamedans, Portuguese, Jews, and Armenians not far from 200,000. Benares, the " Jerusalem" of India, is located on the northern bank of the Ganges, in lat. 25° 30', about 460 miles northeast from Calcutta. The In- dian legends have it, that this place was originally constructed of gold, which, because of the wickedness of the people, has degenerated into mud and thatch! It is esteemed by religious Hindoos as "the most Holy City" — "the Lotus of the world, not founded on com- mon earth, but on the point of Siva's trident, a place so sacred that even a beaf-eater, if he die there, (hav- ing been charitable to the Brahmins) is sure of salva' tion.''^ The resort of pilgrims the country over, and a mart for very extensive commerce it contains a pop- ulation of Hindoos, Mohammedans, Turks, Persians and Armenians to the number of 700,000. 22 INDIA. Delhi, the ancient capital of the Mohammedan em- pire in India, lies upon the river Jumna, in lat. 28^ 40', and 900 miles N. E. from Calcutta. Ruins of splendid palaces, lofty gateways, and noble mansions, covering an area of twenty miles, attest its former grandeur. The Badshahi Mahal, built by the Empe- ror Shah Jehan, and still the residence of the royal family, retains its form and beauty — the boastful in- scription surmounting the State presence-chamber, ^^ If there be a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this,^' remaining legible as when first engraved. With a population, in the time of Aurungzebe, of not less than two millions, it has diminished, in these later years, to about 250,000 Agra, at one time the capital of the Moghul em- pire, and one of the most splendid cities of India, stands on the river Jumna, in lat. 27°, and about fifty miles south from Delhi. The Taj Mahal, an edifice erected by Shah Jehan, is considered the most perfect specimen of oriental architecture in existence. Its present importance is derived from its being the resi' dence of the Lieut. Grovernor of the north-western provinces of the East India Company's dominions. Ah?}ienabad, formerly a city of great opulence and commerce, lies on the river Subrmuttee, in lat. 23^, 321 miles north from Bombay, in the G-uzerat district, and contains an estimated population of 100,000. Ahmednuggur — one of the principal stations of tho British government in the Deccan, is situated in lat. GEOGRAPHCAL SURVEy. 23 19° 12', with inhabitants to the number of about 200,000. Allahabad^ at the confluence of the Jumna and Ganges, in lat. 25° 27', is maintained by the Brit ish government, as the chief military depot of the up per provinces. Its position at the junction of two sa- cred streams gives to it unusual sanctity, and suicide at the spot where the rivers unite is a frequent prac- tice. The travelling distance from Benares is about 75 miles eastward. Aurungahad^ the favorite residence of Aurungzebe when viceroy of the Deccan, is situated in lat. 19° 54', and about 150 miles east from Bombay. Bangalore is a large fortified town, upon the first summit of the Eastern G-hats, and about 200 miles fom Madras. The healthfulness of the climate causes it to be much resorted to by invalids from the low country. Bejapoor^ in lat. 17^, was, in former times, one of the largest cities in Asia, the fort measuring eight miles round the outside. The principal object of interest now remaining, is the Mausoleum of Moham- med Shah, a plain square building surmounted by a dome of 350 feet in circumference, and visible fouT. teen miles distant. Calicut, on the "Western coast, in lat. 11° 15', is celebrated as being the landing place, and first settle- ment of the Portuguese in 1498. Cuddalore, a town on the Eastern coast, 12 miles South from Pondicherry, derives historical import- 24 INDIA. ance from its being the locality of the third English factory established in the country. Dindigul a populous village, about 40 miles north from the city of Madura, is the seat of one of the Missionary Stations under the direction of the Amer- ican Board of Foreign Missions. Goa^ situated upon a small island on the Eastern coast, in lat. 15° 30', and once the most splendid city in India, and for many years capital of the Portuguese dominions in the East, retains but a shadow of its for- mer greatness. The city, with a territory of 40 miles in length and 20 in breadth, still belongs to the crown of Portugal. Hyderabad^ standing on the south side of the Moosan, in lat. 17° is the capital of a Mussulman gov- ernment, the principal resort of the Mohammedan families of the Deccan, and contains a population of about 200,000. Juggernaut^ on the Bengal coast, in lat. 19° 49', is one of the most celebrated places of Hindoo pilgrim- age in India, and multitudes annually resort thither to be present at the bathing and car festivals. Kuttack is a large, well-built town, in lat. 20° 27', containing, of native inhabitants, not far from 40,000. Loodiana and Ferozepoor are important stations of the British territories, on the north-western frontier, both in lat. 30, and the centre of Missionary estab- lishments under the Presbyterian Church of America. Madura, (pronounced Madjura) the former capital of a Hindoo kingdom is situated in lat. 9° 56' , on GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY. 25 the south side of the river Vygaroo, and contains somo of the most extraordinary specimens of Hindoo archi- tecture now extant ; among which is the temple of Tiroomul-Naik, measuring 312 feet in length, and covered with descriptive sculptures. Travelling dis- tance south from Madras, 292 miles. It- is known to the people of this country as the centre of a success- ful Missionary Station ; having connected with it, Dindigul, Teramungulum, Tirapovanum, Sivagunga, and Maloor. Moorshcdabad^ in lat. 24, was the capital of Ben- gal until superseded by Calcutta, and contains a present population of 160,000. Nellore, a populous town, about 100 miles north from Madras, is the seat of the Am. Baptist Mission. Seringapatam, memorable in the wars of Hyder and Tippoo, Cornwallis and Harris, is situated in lat. 12, and, from being one of great populousness and im- portance, has been almost abandoned, on account of its remarkable unhealthiness. Tinnevelly^ a region just north from Cape Comorin, is agreeably known as the centre of a most success- ful Missionary establishment of the English Episco- palians. Trichinopoly, a large and populous town on the Cauvery River, v/as much noted in the wars between the English and the French, having in its centre a rock 300 feet high, on which are a pagoda and other buildings, and is at present one of the principal military 26 INDIA. stations of the British government. Situated in lat. 10° 30'; it is 207 miles south from Madras. Tanjore^ near to Trichinopoly, was, at one time, the chief seat of learning in Southern India, and is still memorable as the residence of the Missionary Swartz. ^ Tranquebar, just east from Tanjore was settled by the Danes in the year 1616, and sold to the English about four years since. Pondicherry^ on the coast, about 90 miles south from Madras is a well-built city, belonging to the French, and was once the most splendid European settlement in India. The reader will do the author injustice by suppos- ing that the statements now made respecting the ge- ography of India, have had for their object the impart- ing of information never before met with. The design has been the rather the bringing to his recollection par- tially forgotten truths, or effaced impressions, that thus the way may be prepared for a more interested perusal of the pages which are to follow. India has now been entered — its mountains, rivers, plains, and cities have been hastily surveyed — the way is thus cleared for a nearer view of its productions, history, and national manners and customs. CH APTE R II. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. Introductory remarks — Elephants — Rajah of Mysore's State Carriage — Rhinoceros — Wild Boar — Camel — Dromedary — Bear (anecdote of an Indian Hunter and Mountain Bear) — Deer, various species — Goat — Sheep — Buffalo — Ox — Cow — Brahminee Bull — Ganjal — Arnee — Yak — Horse — Ass — ^lule — Dziggetai — Monkey, various tribes (anecdote of a I^Ionkey and flock of Crows) — Bat — Porcupine — Sloth — Armadil- lo — ^Mangoose — Loris — Squirrel — Chipmuck — Rats — Ratel — Rabbits Martin — Civet — Ichneumon — Tiger — Lion — Panther — Leopard — Cheetah (mode of use by hunters) — Cat — Jackal — Hyena — Lynx — Thibet Dog — Native Dog — Lizzard — Gecko — Scorpion — Centipede — Tarantula — Cobra-de-Capella — ^Tic Polonga — Mountain Snake — Croc- odile — Anaconda — Tortoise — Frog — Insects (scene presented when en- tering a long-closed house) — White Ant (a choice dish) — Ant Hills as seen by Bp. Heber. Birds and Fishes, a large variety of each Class — Botany, including Vegetable, Fruit and Forest Trees, Flowers — Min- erals, &c. India abounds with illustrations of zoological , bo- tanical, and mineralogical science. Almost touch- ing the equator on the south, and on the north, losing itself in snowy peaks of unmeasured height ; presenting vast wastes of arid and barren sand inter- sected with large tracts of jungle and forest, where the foot of man has seldom trod ; with a climate that passes from the extreme of tropical heat to arctic cold, 28 INDIA. - the peninsula is an ' epitome of the world,' and its natural productions answer in variety and value to this diversity of climate and soil. Beginning with animated nature^ the Elephant first claims our attention. This large and noble ani- mal abounds throughout the moist forests of South- ern Bengal, a portion of the western Grhats and the base of the Himalaya Mountains. Vast droves ten- ant the forests of Ceylon, where they are captured for their massive trunks of valued ivory, and for trans- portation to the continent, there to become the auxil- iary of armies, the pride of princes, and the servant of merchants. When at Bangalore, I counted seventy elephants of various sizes and age, attached to the pal- ace of the Rajah, several of which were trained to draw the royal chariot. In the temples of the land, may be seen from one to ten of these animals, ready for use in imparting eclat to religious processions and marriage festivities. AVe are told that at Yizicr All's wedding, in the year 1796, there was a grand proces- sion of twelve hundred elephants ; of which a hundred had howdahs, magnificently adorned with silver trap- pings ; while that upon the animal which the Nabob rode was made of massive gold, richly set with pre- cious stones. The elephant has been much used by Europeans and native princes, in hunting the tiger, but the sport is attended with great danger, and is re- pulsive to this naturally mild and timid animal, though in the contest it is usually the victor — receiv- ing its enemy on its tusks, tossing it into the air, and NATURAL PRODirCTIONS OP INDIA. 29 standing ready to stamp its ponderous foot upon it so soon as it reaches the ground. The R/nnocei'os exceeds the elephsint in clumsiness of figure, and is not much inferior in size and weight. The leading feature of interest in its physical struc- ture, is the horn upon its nose, which projects, not unfrequently, thirty inches upward. So long as the animal is quiet, this appendage lies loose between the nostrils; but when excited, the muscular tension is so great that it becomes immovably fixed, and can be darted into a tree to the depth of several inches. From the earliest times, this horn has been regarded as an antidote against poison. Goblets made from it were much in use among the Hindoo princes, be- cause, when poisonous liquids were poured into them, the noxious qualities were, it was thought, certain of betrayal, by a brisk effervescence. In some of the northern districts, attempts have been made to render this animal available for carrying travellers and bur- dens, but with little success. Bishop Heber mentions meetinsf with one which was so tame as to allow a howdah and driver upon its back. The rhinoceros lives in Bens^al, and the lower ransres of the Hima- layahs ; feeding on coarse grass and other vegetable substances, especially those containing much succulent matter ; seeking amidst mud and water protection from the scorching heat ; disposed to be at peace with the tiger and its other neighbors, but when provoked, becoming a furious and deadly foe. A few, only, have been brousrht to the western continent, the ex- 30 INDIA. pense of transportation being great, its appetite vora- cious, and hunger throws it into a paroxysm of rage. The Wild Boar still roams the jungles of India, and to hunt it is one of the field sports to which for- eigners are enthusiastically attached ; though the ar- dor has somewhat abated during later years. Camels are found in large droves throughout G-uze- rat, Patna, and Mooltan ; and, like the elephant, are made serviceable to the merchant, the traveller, and the warrior. The East India Company maintain a corps of Dromedaries^ mounted by two men each, and armed with musketoons and swivels. Two species of Bear are common in India, of which the kind inhabiting the Grhats is hardly exceed- ed in ferocity of temper by the tiger or hyena ; and the second, or Ursine, which makes its appearance in the forests of Oude, Orissa, the Carnatic and Coro- mandel, is far more mild and harmless. A northern traveller gives us an account of an escape from the fatal embrace of the former species, which indicates much forethought and ingenuity on the part of his native attendant. I present it in the w^ords of the writer. "Upon gaining the summit of a hill which overhung a precipice, a bear started from a recess in a neighboring covert, and advanced, evidently with sinister intentions, towards us. I w^as about to fire when one of my guides motioned me to desist, giving me to understand that he would attack the enemy unarmed. Almost upon the extreme edge of the pre- cipice, stood a tall tree with vertical branches, very NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 31 tough and elastic. The hill-man approached the bear, and thus withdrew its attention from me, toward him- self, when he adroitly sprang upon the tree, as nim- bly followed by the exasperated beast. Having reached the upper branches, the man slipped a strong cord over the top of the limb upon which he stood, at the same time dropping the reverse end upon the ground. This was instantly seized by another native, who, pulling with all his strength, drew the point of the bough downward until the branch projected nearly in a horizontal line from the stem. This being done, the mountaineer crept cautiously as near the extremity as he safely could, followed as cautious- ly by the bear : but so soon as he saw his angry foe upon the bent bough he dexterously let himself down by a cord to the ground. The bear thus unexpectedly deprived of its victim made an effort to retrace its steps, when no sooner had it relaxed its grasp of the bough for this purpose, than the hill-man suddenly cut the cord, which had been securely tied to a tree, and the depressed branch instantly gained its origi- nal position with an irresistible momentum. The suddenness and vigor of the recoil shook the disap- pointed and angry creature from its hold, elancing it, like the fragment of a rock, into the empty air, from whence, uttering a stifled groan, it was hurled over the precipice, and falling with a dull crash upon the rocks below, became food for beasts and birds of prey." Bears of smaller size and milder temper are led about the country with trained monkeys and goats, soliciting 32 INDIA. attention by their absurd postures and antic move- ments, by which not a little gain comes to the owners from the amused and astonished multitude. Of the Deer tribe India contains many species. The Antelope^ which occupies the place of Capricorn in the Indian zodiac, and in size and form resembles the Arabian gazelle, the well-known emblem of maiden beauty, is spread over the entire peninsula, and is re- markable for elasticity of bound, symmetry of figure, and soft lustre of its full and liazle eye. The Musk deer is a nocturnal animal of a solitary disposi- tion, dwelling among the elevated ranges of the Himalaya Mountains. The perfume for which it is hunted is contained in a bag^ beneath its bellv, and is removed from the creature when alive, otherwise it is taken up by the absorbents, and thus lost to the hun- ter, and the flesh throughout rendered unfit for food. The Ceylon deer is the smallest of the cervine tribe, being about the size of a fox, and furnished with ex- quisitely-formed legs, scarcely larger than a lady's fin- ger. The Nepaul stag' nearly resembles the red deer of America. The Rttsa or Tamboo deer is antlered, strong and brave, and roams free and fearless amid the jungles of Bengal and Ceylon. The Spotted Axis is similar to the fallov/ deer, and abounds in Bengal and on the banks of the Granges. The Hos: deer is found in the Ptohiila country and Decca districts, roaming in heavy grass jungles, feeding at night, and sleeping during the day. It is easily irritated and fe- rocious in defence. The common Roebuck makes its NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 33 home among the crags and ravines of the western fron- tier. The White Ori/x, a species of the antelope, with a bulky body, slender legs and dark mane, is met with upon the banks of the Indus. The Chira^ another species of the antelope, and an inhabitant of the Hi- malayas is the unicorn of traditionary existence. The Chickara, or four-horned antelope, which inha- bits the forests and hilly districts of Bengal and Ba- har is small in height, fleet in movement, and timid in disposition. The NyUghatv, or blue cow, a dweller in the central provinces and base of the Himalayas, is large and strong, and considered in past times as royal game to be hunted only by princes. The Giraffe is occasionally met with in the north-western provinces. Among the Goat-tribe, by far the most noted and valuable is the species spread throughout Thi- bet, and in the valley of Cashmere, from the wool of which are made the shawls of world-wide fame. The Empress Aurungzebe had one of so delicate tex- ture that she could draw it through the ring of her fin- ger. Goats of a more common kind are numerous throughout the country, being kept for their flesh, milk and skins. Sheep are numerous and their flesh much used as an article of food. The Indian Buffalo is large and ungainly, with long, rough horns, lying back almost upon its shoul- ders, its dark skin, covered with hair short and wiry, its eyes dull and unmeaning, its gait slow and measured. But for all these disasfrceable and re- a pulsive features there is the compensation of great 2* 34 INDIA. utility for the plow and heavy draught, while the fe- male furnishes milk from which is made a butter much used ir culinary preparations. The buffalo is well- nigh amphibious, delighting in the long, rank pas- ture which springs up in moist and undrained lands, and lying for hours submerged almost to the muzzle beneath the cooling waters. The Indian Ox resembles the American in varieties of color and size, but with the exceptions of having a bunch above the shoulders, and a dewlap hanging half way to the ground. Those used in the artillery corps and by travellers are large and strong, moving at the rate of three to four miles per hour. Coivs yield much less milk, and that of an inferior quality in the eastern than western continent. Those v')f English breed are at times to be met with among Europeans, but seldom among the natives. The cow, as first created of all animals, is held in highest vene- ration by pious Hindoos, and to kill it is the last of pardonable offences. Several years ago, a kino- of Travancore, in order to atone for his cruelties, caused a colossal golden coiv to be made, through the body of which he passed with profoundest reverence, and made it the era from which all his edicts were dated. The rock from beneath which the Granges takes its rise is supposed to be a petrified cow, and the orifice is called the '• coiu's mouth p The Brahminee Bull claims a special notice. These creatures are consecrated when calves to thw divinity Siva, whose emblem is usually painted upon fjv^*^^^''^!^^ NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 35 their haunches and forehead. They are allowed full liberty to go where they please and feed upon what they like: One is always to be seen near the bazaar, where it unceremoniously appropriates to itself grain, grass, hay, or whatever takes its fancy ; the owner bearing the depredation with religious patience, be- lieving that to inflict upon it a blow would ensure the divine displeasure. They are the greatest pests with which the country is annoyed, and respect to national prejudices alone saves them from the fatal bullet of the vexed foreigner. India presents many species of Wild Oxen, some of which have been domesticated and made useful to the agriculturist and traveller. Of these the Ganjal is most important, resembling in size and shape the En- glish bull. A species called the Arnee inhabits the southern base of the Himalayah Mountains, and ex- ceeds in size any of the cattle kind yet discovered. One shot near Sangree Island weighed 2,000 pounds, though pronounced by ship butchers but two years old. Some of the native princes keep them, under the name of fighting bullocks. The Yak roams over the mountainous resfions of Bootan and Thibet, and is domesticated throu2:hout the central parts of the Peninsula. The horse4ails, as they are commonly called, used as standards by the Persians and Turks, are made of hair (dyed of a fine crimson) from the tail of this animal. Horses are numerous throughout India, those of highest value being brought from Arabia, the Cape of 36 IKDIA. Good Hope and England. The native horse is small, ugly and slow, its use being confined almost wholly to the aborigines. Potties imported from Pegu and Acheen are in very general use, the former resembling in shape, strength and temper the Canadian pony — the latter that of cur western prairie. The value of a first class Arabian or Cape steed varies from two hundred dollars to four hundred, though one of suffi- cient excellence for family purposes may be purchased for one hundred and fifty. A civilian of rank, with a family, keeps from three to six horses, the climate re- quiring great care in their use. Each animal has a groom, who not only attends to it when stabled, but who runs by its side when the gentleman goes out for a ride, and is ready to receive the reins when he alights. Horses are not used for drawing conveyances except within the city or town limits, long journeys being performed in palanquins, or spring carts, drawn by oxen. In the northern districts the traveller meets with the Wild Ass, where it frequents the salt marshes and open plains of Cutch and G-uzerat. Mules are common, the country over, and are ser- viceable in conveying burdens, especially salt and rice ; — a useful but abused animal. Far in the north, the Dzig-g-etai is met with in large droves. Quick and watchful, it takes alarm at the least appearance of danger, and, on the approach of the enemy, skims the desert, clears the hills, and bids defiance to pursuit. Turning to the quadrumanous order of animals, the NATURAL PR0DUCTI0X3 OF INDIA. 557 Monkey claims our special consideration. With this creature India greatly abounds. In addition to a favorable climate and agreeable food, a reason for this abundance may be found in the fact that the monkey is held in religious esteem. Temples of magni- ficent structure and gorgeous decoration have been erected in its honor, one of which, when plun- dered by the Portugese on the island of Ceylon, contained the tooth of an ape, encased in pure gold. In. such esteem was this relic held by the natives, that they offered 700,000 ducats for its ransom. At Ahmenabad, the Capital of Gruzerat, there are three hospitals for monkeys, where the sick and lame are fed and nursed by salaried medical attendants. City, town, and village, throng with these mischievous, chattering, and amusing specimens of mock humanity When a resident of Madura, I saw them by hundreds, fearlessly scaling the lofty pagodas which grace that ancient city, perched upon the dwellings of the native inhabitants, engaged in earnest and noisy dis- cussions, or committing depredations by tearing off the tiles, and grinning at the surprised and vexed inmates thus unceremoniously exposed to sun and rain ; — all this, in part, to satisfy hunger, but the rather as it would seem, to gratify an instinctive desire for mischief and fun. The following scene was witnessed but a short time since, at Tillicherry, and is thus stated by the beholder himself. "A few yards from the house where I was stopping, a thick pole, at least thirty feet high, had been fixed into 38 INDIA. the earth, round which was an iron ring, and to this was attached a strong chain, of considerable length, fastened to a collar round the monkey's mid- dle. The ring being loose, easily slid upon the v-ole when he ascended or descended. He was in the habit of taking his station upon the top, where he seemed perched, as if to enjoy the beauties of the prospect around. The crows, which in India are very abun- dant and audacious, taking advantage of his elevated position, had been in the daily habit of robbing him of his food, which was placed every morning and evening at the foot of the pole. To this, he had vainly expressed his dislike, by chattering and other indica- tions of his displeasure equally ineffectual. Finding that he was perfectly unheeded, he adopted a plan of revenge equally ingenious and successful. One morning, when his tormentors had been particularly troublesome, he appeared as if seriously indisposed. No sooner were his ordinary rations placed at the foot of the bamboo, than the crows w^atching their oppor- tunity, descended in great numbers, and began as usual to demolish his provisions. The monkey now began to slide down the pole by slow degrees, as if the eflforfc were painful to him, and reaching the ground, rolled about for some time in apparently great agony, until he found himself close by the vessel containing his food, where he lay in a state of seeming insensi- bility, waiting a favorable opportunity of perfecting his scheme. With one eye but half closed, he sees a crow approaching ; it nears him. ; it stretches out its NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 39 neck, when, lo ! it is seized by the wrathful avenger, who, after a few preliminary grimaces and chatter- ings, deliberately placed the captive between his knees, and began to pluck it, with the most humorous grav- ity. When he had completely stripped it, except the large feathers in the pinions and tail, he flung it into the air as high as his strength would permit, and, after flapping its wings for a few seconds, it fell on the ground with a stunning shock. The other crows, which had been fortunate enough to escape a similar ca^tigation, now surrounded it and immediately picked the poor thing to death. The expression of joy on the monkey's countenance was altogether indescribable. Never again was he molested by those voracious intruders." After what I have personally observed of this ani- mal, I am prepared to attach full credence to this sin- gular incident. My friend, the Rev. Mr Crane, of Dindigul, had a large black monkey with a face most tastefully decorated with whisker, mustache, and like genteel appendage, which, if placed in similar circumstances, would fully equal his Tillicherry brother. The species most common in India, are the Gibbon^ or long-armed, the EnteUus^ or long-tailed, the Wanderer^ and the Togul, A few specimens of the Ourang- Outang have been met with in the cen- tral regions. Bats of various sizes are numerous, and to the trav- eller, in his bungalow, exceedingly annoying. Some of them are furnished with wings, which, when out- 40 INDIA. stretched, measure five faet from tip to tip, and are very destructive to fruit-trees in G-uzerat aad on the Coromandel Coast. Porcupines extensively inhabit the mountainous ranges, and the long quills with which they are fur- nished, and w^hich they annually shed, are gathered by the natives, and used for beautifying boxes and dresses, in the same way as by our American Indians, but more perfectly wrought. On different occasions I purchased a Sloth and an Armadillo^ both of which I kept for several weeks, observing their habits, which were curious and instruc- tive. In Bengal, and along the eastern shore, is found the Tivo-toed Sloth ; and in Bahar there is a variety which has a considerable resemblance to the bear, and lives on ants. The Mangoose is about the size of a weasel, and is the only creature that dare attack the cobra de ca- pella. If bitten, it runs into the neighboring wood, feeds, it is thought, upon some antidote, and returns to the combat. The animal is domesticated, and trained to guard the sleeping infant from snakes and vermin, while the mother is at work in the field. The Bengal I oris, or slow lemur, is about the size of a small cat, of a pale brown color, and, during most of the day, sleeps, or lies without motion, like the sloth, of which some consider it but another species. Among various kinds of Squirrel, the Malabar holds a first rank. It measures from fourteen to twenty NATURAL PnODUCTIOXS OF INDIA. 41 inches in length, and is furnished with a fine bushy tail, and moves with ranch ease and gracefulness. Chipmucks are abundant, as also various species of Rats and Micp. Among the former of which, is the RateJ^ which is very troublesome in disinterring and feeding upon the buried dead. Hares, Rabbits, and Martins, find a home in the northern districts, while Civets, Badgers^ Racoons, and Ichneuraons hunt the rats, bats, and larger serpents. Among the Carnivorous Quadrifpeds of India, the Tiger holds a distinguished place. This most agile and daring of beasts, which forms a prominent fea- ture in the zoology of that land, makes its home amid the jungles of Bengal, and the mountain ranges of the northern and central districts, where it roams free and fearless, finding no enemy daring io measure strength with it, except, occasionally, the elephant and rhinoceros. In the the province of Khandesh one thousand and thirty-two of these fierce creatures Vv^ere killed between the years 1825 and 1829, as given in official reports. To hunt the tiger, mounted upon the lofty elephant, was once a favorite sport with native princes and foreign residents ; but its extreme danger has led to its general abandonment. The bound of the tiger, v/hen springing upon its prey, is tremendous, extending, as it is said, to the distance of one hundred or more feet. It is from this spring that the animal gets his name. He, as it were, *' shoots himself at his prey ;" and tiger, in the Arminian lan- guage, signifies the arrow — the name also given to the 42 INDIA. River Tigris, on account of its velocity. In many of the Indian languages, the name of tiger is tippoo. Lions exist in vast numbers throughout the pro- vinces of Saharampoor and Loodianah, some of them equalling in size those at the Cape. A maneless species is so numerous in Guzerat, that an English officer killed eleven in one month. The Bengal lion has the mane magnificently developed, attains a very large stature, and displays equal courage with that of its African relative. Panthers and Leopards tenant the jungly and hilly districts of the peninsula, and are hunted for their beautiful skins, which are used by religious mendi- cants and Government officers. A species of leopard called the Cheetah, with limbs long and slender, is trained to aid the hunter in his field and jungle sports. One of them, after being blinded and chained, is placed upon a cart and carried far out into the field, and when the hunter sees an antelope or deer, turning the head of the Cheetah in that direction, he removes the blinds and chains, allowing it to move, as its in- stinct suggests, slowly and stealthily towards its vic- tim. When approaching sufficiently near, it makes a few astounding springs, seizes its prey by the neck, and will not relax its hold till the owner entice it away by pieces of meat and a draught of fresh blood. Other of the feline genus, as the Domestic Cat and the Nepaul tiger cat, make their habitation in the Peninsula, though to a limited extent. Of the Canine tribes inhabiting India, a prominent \ NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 43 place belongs to the Jackal. The foreigner has not to journey far into the interior before becoming acquainted with its nocturnal cries, (resembling the scream of a woman in deepest distress) arousing him from his slum- bers by its unwonted sounds. So soon as night falls they commence their predatory excursions to the vil- lages, seizing upon fowls and other domestic artimals, carrying away lifeless carcasses and offal, thus uniting the evil habit of the thief with the good offices of a scavenger. In some parts of the country the custom prevails of bathing the hands in the blood of a slain jackal, v/henever one kills or witnesses the death of a wild beast. The origin of this strange habit has not come to my knowledge. The Striped Hyena resides in the caverns of the mountains and clefts of rocks or in dens, from which it comes forth with more strensrth and darinoj than the w^olf, following the flocks, breaking open sheepcotes at nisfht, and committin2: ravas^es wnth an insatiable voracity. In some instances the hyena has become tame and domestic like the dosf. The Lynx lives in the northern provinces, and the Caracal makes his appearance in Bengal. The Ounce is found in all the central part of the Deccan, and in Guzerat. The most remarkable of the canino animals of India is the Thibet clo^^ a gigantic kind of mastiff, which inhabits the table-lands of the Hima- layas. It is used as a watch dos:, for which it is well .adapted by its size, strength and ferocity of temper. Another of the canine species frequenting jungly 44 INDIA. and hiily regions, and resembling in many features the jackal, hunt in packs, and even will rush upon the tiger, tearing him in pieces ere he can strike more than two or three down with his fatal paw. The domestic or Pariar clog is meaji in appearance and destitute of all those noble traits which belong to his western relative, and, as a consequence, receives rouo;h usao-e from native and foreiofner. In our viev7 of the animated nature of India, the next class to be noticed is that of Reptiles, includ- ing various species, from the Crocodile to the harm- less Lizard ; — with which last-named creature our il- lustrations will begin. " Shaped like unto a crocodile, of a sad, green color, and but a little creature, the fear of vviiom presents itself mostly to the eye, for they are in no v/ise hurtful," is a description of the lizard, which, though quaint, is correct and gra- phic. Measuring from three to six inches in length, having feet so shaped as to allow of creeping safely and rapidly upon the sides and ceiling of the smoothest wall, it feeds upon flies and insects, v/hich it ap- proaches with a slow and cautious tread, and trans- fixes vrith a sudden thrust of its sharp and forked tongue. To look upvrard and see a half dozen of these reptiles creeping upon the polished ceiling is not at all agreeable to a new comer, wliile to have one fall upon the hand vrhen writing or reading sends a chill through the frame not to be coveted. But the alarm is not all on one side, for the animal makes such a descent sole- ly by a mistake, and were it possible would certainly NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 45 apologize for this intrusion, as he rectifies his error in the very practical manner of making himself off with the greatest possible speed. A few of these harmless creatures find their home upon every wall, remaining concealed behind a mirror or other suspended frame during the day, and coming forth at night to seize upon their tiny prey. In some parts of the country there is a large green lizard called the Gecko^ named from its favorite and habitual sound, and in distinction from the last mentioned, containing a bag filled with poison, with which it can sufiuse its victim and pro- duce death, unless the part be removed. India abounds with Scorpions of various sizes and color, from one which may be covered with a dollar coin to that which equals a full-sized hand, the former usually of a light cast, and the latter dark or jet black. An elongated body terminates in a slender tail, formed of several joints, the last of which ends in a small, conical bag containing the poisonous fluid, to which is attached a tubular sting, through which it is thrown into the object it seeks to harm. This tail is carried above the body, when the animal is walking, and is projected beyond the front of the head when put to harmful use. The wound is painful though seldom destructive, ammonia being the most successful curative. The cautious Hindoo will not put his hand into or under a jar or box before he as- sures himself that he will not encounter this noxious reptile: It is currently believed that if encircled with fire it will sting itself to death. A celebrated natu- 46 INDIA. • ralist speaks of putting a female scorpion with her young into a glass case. She soon destroyed all but one, which took refuge upon the back of its parent, and avenged the death of its brethren by killing the old one in its turn. It is a timid creature, flying ra- pidly from impending danger, and never using its sting except as a means of defence, or to secure food. Centipedes are found in similar localities with the scorpion, and are at times more than a foot long and thick as a man's finger, having two sharp teeth with which they inflict wounds painful and dangerous. Tarantulas^ the largest of the spider kind, are occa- sionally met with in unfrequented places, or long un- opened rooms. I killed one, the body of which was nearly the size of the palm of my hand, of an olive brown color, and covered with a soft down. The bite is painful, though not fatal. Dr. Hussel, an eminent scholar in zoology, has de- scribed forty-three distinct species of Snakes common in India. Among the seven which are poisonous, there is one — the Cobra-de-Capella — that is dreaded be- yond any object with which our earth is cursed. In length from three to six feet, in circumference about two inches, its head is small, and covered on the fore- part with large smooth scales, just below w^hich is a dilatation of the skin which is capable of being raised or depressed at the pleasure of the animal. When irri- tated the skin is expanded and elevated like a hood ; hence the name of "hooded snake." The animal never bites so long as this outer skin is folded, but its erec- NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 47 tion, with an accompanying hiss, is a signal of ag- gression and peril — perils for let the minutest globule of the concentrated poisson find its way into the sys- tem and death must ensue. Lunar caustic, though efficacious as remedial to the bite of the viper, is found of little or no avail as a counteraction to the venom of the cobra. Jugglers carry them about the country for exhibition and reward, keeping them in subjection by the power of music. Though very numerous there are but few instances on record of death from their attacks, such precautions are used to avoid the places where they dwell. By the natives they are regarded with religious reverence, and the title of " good snake" is that by which they are usually designated. On the Island of Ceylon a venomous snake called the Tic Polonga is occasionally met Y*^ith. Such is the strength of its poison that the first bite will kill a * fowl in less than a minute. It is naturally indolent, and will not attack unless it is irritated. The Whip Snake conceals itself among the foliage of trees, darts at cattle grazing below, causing the largest ox to die of agony within an hour's time. Mountain Snakes, from four to eight feet in length, and quite harmless, are carried about the country by indigent, low-bred natives for exhibition, with trained monkeys and bears. The Crocodile of the Ganges is distinguished from the Nilotic species by its projecting eyes, and narrow, elongated muzzle. Its teeth are many, and disposi- tion carnivorous. The habit of throwing infants and 48 INDIA. small children to these monsters of the sacred stream, has long formed a leading feature in the superstitious observances of that idolatrous land. Alligators are common in the rivers of the north, esjDecially the Ganges, upon the shores of which they are ever seen basking in the rays of the sun. Anacondas, twenty to thirty feet in length, infest the Delta of the Ganges, concealing themselves in large trees standing upon the water's edge, and by a terrible fling of their massive and powerful bodies encircling and crushing whatever comes within their fatal reach. We have an account of a Boa Constrictor^ killed upon the banks of the Ganges but a few years since which was found to measure sixty-two feet and some inches in length. Tortoises measuring four and a half feet from the tip of the nose to the tail, and fourteen inches high, are to be met with at times in the northern regions. Frogs are abundant. Bishop Heber speaks of see- ing one which was large as a gosling, and very beau- tiful, being green, speckled with black, and almost transparent. India svrarms with Insects, arising chiefly from the warmth of the climate, there being no portion of the year throughout the largest districts, when the cold is sufhcient to destroy the minutest animal life. Let a house remain closed for a fev/ weeks, and upon opening the door and windows, the reader, were he here, would observe several things which would startle, NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 49 if not terrify him. Turning his eye upward he would see two, three, or more lizards (before referred to) seem- ingly ready to make a descent upon him. Looking downward he would observe the mat covered with in- numerable tiny, black ants moving in all directions with business-like order and speed. If there be a ta- ble in the room he would notice the upright post pro- vided with an encircling brass cup, into which water or oil may be poured, and thus the food be guarded from the attacks of these intruders, and a like pre- caution with the bedsteads, bureaus, and safes. He would observe the book-case standing at a little remove from the wall, to protect it from the rav- ages of the white ant^ that marvel in natural history. Though small and apparently harmless, they are the most destructive creatures with which we are ac- quainted. Nothing but stone or mortar can resist their power of devastation. Moving just beneath the surface, mole-like, they enter by myriads a table, box of books, chest of clothes^ or whatever be left exposed to their intrusion, and cease not their work of destruc- tion until nothing is left but the bare shell. Boxes must be placed upon a stone or some metallic substance three to four inches in height — books must be bound in Russia leather, or often removed and brushed — beams of dwellings must be saturated with tar ; and all to guard against one of the tiniest, most insignificant- looking, and yet most formidable of the animate crea- tion. Let the visitor beware how he lift up the corner of the mat lest the sting of a concealed scorpion raako 3 50 L\DIA. him repent the incautious act, or a snake erect its threatening crest. Let him wait till evening draws on, and a light is brought into the room, and if it be at the right season of the year, a cloud of ivinged ants will make their entrance, encircling the lamp in a countless swarm, some just burning their feet upon the glass shade, others more boldly flying right into the crater, there to meet their death. In an hour or so they begin to disappear, leaving their wings on the table, and adopting the more humble mode of creeping' like their less aspiring brethren. Let him go out the next morning, and the native lad will be seen, bag in hand, gathering from their hiding places these wing- less visitors, from which is made a curry more deli- cious than turtle soup to an alderman ! If he retire to rest without the shelter of a muslin hanging sur- rounding his couch the music and fang of the mosqui- to will forbid repose. If upon rising he take not the precaution of looking into his shoes his foot may come in contact with a scorpion, or small snake. Casting his eye around during the day he would see the com- mon fly without number. Opening a drawer a com- pany of roaches will manifest their terror by a sudden and rapid withdrawal from notice. The loasp will be seen passing up and down the Venetian blind in search of food, and the locust will pierce the ear with its sharp, shrill notes. These statements may give to the reader a no very pleasant impression of a residence in that Eastern clime. I state but the facts in the case, admitting, however, that there is such a thing as NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 51 becoming so accustomed to these sights that they may be seen and heard with but slight effect upon the weakest nerves. Constant precautions are needful in protecting person and property from their painful and destructive visits, but the eye becomes so habituated to seeing them in all places and times, that no special emotions are awakened so long" as they keep at a respectful distance. At night fire-flies glitter among the boughs of the Banyan tree, or dance around tho spreading tamarind, producing a singular but beautiful effect. Bees abound in hilly districts, building their nests in hollow trees and rocky caverns, and yielding a honey of but inferior excellence. The silkworm produces materials for a fabric greatly used in years past, but confined at present to Brahmins, Mohamme- dans, and the more wealthy of the natives. Tho Termes form a substance which yields a beautiful Ver- million, and was much used before the discovery of cochineal. Within another insect is an article called lac, which is much used in fabricating brads, rings, and other ornaments of female dress. Ant-hills, seven and more feet in circumference, and five and six feet high, are often met with upon the plains, especially in iungly districts, which seem so much beyond the power of a tiny insect to construct as to lead to an ancient opinion that " in India there are monstrous ants, as large as foxes." Bishop Heber remarks, that " the pyramids, when the comparative bulk of those who reared them is taken into the estimate, are as nothing compared to the works of these termites. The coun- 5^ INDIA terpart of one of these hills is as if a nation should set to work to build up an ^artificial Snowdon and bore it TuU of halls and galleries." The Birds of India, though less splendid' on the whole than those of South America, are, in many cases remarkable for splendor of plumage, symmetry of form, and sweetness of ton®. We have the Condor^ occasionally met with in the extreme northern regions measuring fifteen feet between the tips of its out- spread pinions; the Pondicherry Vulture^ equalling in size a large goose ; the Bengal Vulture, which is often seen preying upon the human corpses that float down the sacred Oranges to the sea ; the Lammer- geyer or bearded vulture, a rare and unsocial bird, whose home is among the Himmalaya ranges ; the Pondicherry Eag-le, esteemed sacred on the Malabar coast ; the Finch-Falcon of Bengal ; the Fork-tailed Shrike J also a native of Bengal, and named " king of the crows," because of its incessant assaults upon that tamer and weaker race ; the Calao of Malabar ; the Malabar Shrike, with its head surmounted by a tufted plume ; the Rhinoceros Horn Bill ; the Jocose Shrike, named from its lively disposition and amusing manners, and known in the writings of Hafiz as the Bulbul or Persian nightingale ; the Mina or Grakle, most noted linguist of the feathered tribes ; the Par- adise Grakle, remarkable for its destruction of locusts and which, when kept near the farmyard, spontane- ously acquires the various cries of ducks, dogs, geese, sheep, pigs, and poultry ; the Pagoda Thrush, so called NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 58 from its frequent occurrence among the pagodas of Malabar and Coramandel ; the King Fisher^ inhabiting the hottest parts of the continent ; the Wood-pecker ranging the 'svhole country from the southern Cape to the sombre forests of the Himalayas ; Parrots of various kinds and abundant in number ; the Peacock which roams in a wild state throughout the forests of the Peninsula ; the Jungle cock^ whose locality is among the Ghats; the Croiv, which in multitudes throng the yard of every dwelling, allowing no frag- ment of food to escape their vigilant eye and ravenous appetite ; the Impeyan Pheasant^ whose home is in the northern mountains ; the Horned Pheasant, com- mon in the Nepaul district ; the Quail and Patridge of various species, and general distribution ; the Pas- sarage Bustard highly esteemed on account of the delicacy and fine flavor of its flesh and consequently bearing a high price in the India market ; the Golden Plover; the Coroma?idel Courier; the Promeprop; the Gigantic Stork or Adjuta7it, a voracious creature, devouring at one meal what would satisfy four men, very useful as a scavenger in clearing the streets of ofFal, and regarded with superstitious reverence because supposed to be possessed of the souls of Brah- mins ; the Pondicherry and Coromandel Heron^ which last is also common on the banks of the Granges and other Indian rivers ; the Bengal Snipe ; the Horned Turkey of Bengal, with a fleshy, blue, cal- lous substance behind each eye giving it the full effect of a horned animal ; the P early -plumaged Gull ; the 54 INDIA. Black-backed Goose ; with many species of the Duck kind^ and Poultry such as are found in the farmyards of the western continent. Our limits allow little else than the naming of these various tribes, leaving the reader to consult elabo- rate treatises on ornithology for a more extended acquaintance with their pecularities of structure and habit. India being almost surrounded by water, is supplied with a variety of excellent fish, among which may be named the Pomfret^ of a flavor more delicate than the turbot ; the Robal^ the Scir Fish, the Bumbalo, which, when dried, forms a principal article of food among the Lascars, or Hindoo sailors ; the pale brown Eel, King- of the herrings, more than eight feet in length ; the Russelian Gymnetris, the Remora, which is em- ployed by the natives in capturing the tortoise ; the Dolphin, distinguished by the splendor of its varying hues ; the insidious Dory, inhabiting the rivers and other fresh waters, which, when perceiving a flying insect hovering over the water, shoots out a jet of water from its tubular mouth so suddenly, and with such unerring aim, as to tumble the insect in a stupified state upon the surface of the stream ; the Unicorn Acantharus ; the Climbing Spartts, which moves at pleasure up the trunks of trees growing by the water side, remaining hours out of water ; the Soher, with pre-eminent flavor and beauty ; the Whrahl, inhabiting the lakes, and much esteemed as a nutritious and healthful food for invalids ; the Leopard NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 55 Mackerel, the Flying Gurnard, which swim in shoals, ever and anon darting into the air, and making its way to a considerable distance ; the Carp ; and the Mangoe Fish, called by the natives Tvpsy Mucliee, and regarded by Europeans as the most delicate food brought into market, and is, therefore, dried and salted for sale ; with several lesser species not worthy of special notice. India does not excel in the character of its Shell-fish, though the number is great. Oysters and Lobsters are abundant, but of an inferior flavor. Crabs are large, palatable, and often dressed for the table of the European. Tanks swarm with small Land Crabs, which are eaten only by the more indigent natives. The Pearl Oyster inhabits the straits of Manaar, between the Continent and Ceylon, and is obtained by diving. These beds are less abundant and valuable than in former years, yet still yielding a revenue to government and wealth to individuals. The shells to be found upon the shores of India, are w^orld-renowned, and need no particular mention. A valve of the Tridacna Gigas, the largest shell known, presented to Francis I. of France, is used as a bap- tismal font, in the church of St. Sulpice, in Paris. Thus far of zoology, or animated nature, as it ap- pears in India. A few facts must suffice upon its Botany. The vegetable productions of a country so extensive, and w^ith such varieties of temperature and soil as those in Hindostan, must be verv numerous and diverse. The herbarium in the museum of the East India Company, contains about nine thousand 56 INDIA. species, which would be greatly multiplied were the whole country to be searched with the diligence and zeal that portions have already been. The vales of Cashmere, Delhi, and Serinagur, abound with varie- ties of the rose and the ^o^Nex'ing jessamine. In ad- dition to these, vre find in different parts of the country the elegant atimuca ; the tchamhaga^ much used for adorning the hair and perfuming the clothes ; the misscenda, vrith its white leaves and blood-red flowers ; the ixora^ which, from boughs six feet in height, exhibits its scarlet and yellow tufts of bloom, enlivening the foliage of the wood ; the sindrimal, opening at four in the evening and closing at four in the morning ; the nyctmithes samhac^ Vv'ith which the Hindoos perfume their hair before retiring to rest ; the nagataUi^ which creeps along the wall, covering them with its foliage, together with various species of the violet, primrose, buttercup, lily, &c., which are chiefly found on the mountain sides or deep valleys. The chief food of the frugal Hindoo is rice, in which all the provinces abound. AYheat, barley, maze, and millet, are also grown, especially wheat, which is the prevailing crop throughout the northern districts. To these may be added peas, beans, and several vegetable species, unknown in this western world, are met with in the uplands, as also potatoes and many kinds of berries. Commerce is indebted to India for indigo, opium, flax, hemp, tobacco, sarsa- parilla, jalap, cotton, anise, betel, saffron, sesamum, many dyes, besides various reeds and canes. These NATURAL PRODUCTIOXS OF INDIA. 57 are cultivated with different degrees of success throughout the peninsula. Among the forest trees of India, the first place in utility, and far from the last in majestic beauty, belongs to the Teak, a hard and almost incorruptible timber, fitted to supply the place of the oak in ship- building, and is, in this respect, its superior; that it will not corrode iron, nails, and bolts. For universal application, rapid growth and durability, the Bamboo occupies the next place. It shoots up to the height of sixty feet in a single season, acquires a diameter of more than six inches at the base, is tough, strong, firm and light, and may be made to answer a variety of most needful purposes. Thick jungles of bamboo cover large portions of the peninsula, and by prevent- ing circulation of air make the regions around very unwholesome. Various species of Palm trees give a character to the scenery of India and furnish the in- habitants with many valuable products. Of this largo tribe the Cocoanut tree holds the first place. Our limits forbid an enumeration of the various uses to which this tree is appropriated, and it must suffice to say that not a portion is allowed to remain unused. The great fan palm furnishes roofs for the native cot- tages. The smaller fan palm and palmyra yield toddy, an intoxicating liquor much used among the lower class of Hindoos, and leaves upon which letters &c., are written with the iron style; and the Sago and Area palm. The Babul tree is one of the most beau- tiful and ornamental in India, its flowers emitting a 3* 58 INDIA. delightful fragrance, and its timber much esteemed where lightness and strength are required. To these may be added the Sandal ivood tree^ which grows in the south-west part of Mysore, and is exported to Ara- bia and China, and to close the list the Indian fig or Banyan, which stretches its immense branches and holy shade not only over the pagodas and choultries, but over serpents and other venomous creatures — an emblem of benevolent nature which sustains and blesses the evil and the good. This tree is regarded with religious homage by the Hindoos, believing, as they do, that the birth-place of their god, Yishnoo, was beneath its overspreading branches : temples are erected near it and images placed under its shade. On the banks of the river Nerbudda stands.- a tree of this ven- erated species which measures two thousand feet around the principal stems, the larger trunks of which amount to three hundred and fifty, and the smaller ones exceed three thousand. This tree is called Cub- beer-burr by the Hindoos, in memory of a favorite saint, who took it under his special patronage and care, and it has been known to shelter seven thousand men beneath its shade. This species, though thus honored and useful, is doing more to demolish the splendid edifices of India than any other cause, the seeds falling into the crevices of the wall, vegeta- ting, spreading apart the long-cemented piles of stone and brick, causing temples and palaces and pagodas to become heaps of shapeless ruin. The Saul tree, producing a resin much used for naval purposes, and NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF INDIA. 59 as incense in the temples. This tree is used in detect- ing witchcraft, an account of which the reader will find in the last chapter of the volume ; the Cadukah of Telinga, bearing a gall producing a very permanent yelloto ; the Jack tree^ with its pumpkin shape fruit hanging from its loftiest branches. Our fruit trees, as the apple, pear, plum, apricot, peach, walnut, almond, &c., thrive in the northern pro- vinces, while the southern districts abound in mangoes, guavas, plantains, custard apple, limes, lemons, but not oranges, (these being confined to the northern re- gions and Ceylon,) pine apple and shaddock. In the Himalaya Mountains trees are sometimes of enormous size, measuring twenty feet in girth, more than a hun- dred and fifty in height, and exhibiting a sheer branchless trunk of sixty feet, surmounted by a vast crest which waves above like a gigantic canopy. In those regions all kinds of European trees and plants flourish in abundmce. Amons: the smaller trees and shrubs common to India are the Daphne Cannabina^ from which is manufactured common, but useful, paper; the Rice- paper plant which grows luxuriously in Bengal ; and the Acacia^ well-known for its airy and elegant foliage, besides yielding the gum-arabic of commerce. In respect to Mineral ivealth India is one of the richest of known countries. G-rains of gold are to be found in the bed of many of the northern rivers, while rich mines of the same precious ore and of silver oc- cur in the Carnatic, Assam and Bengal. There arc 60 INDIA. copper mines in the mountains of Kumaoon, and in the provinces of Agra and Ajmere. L'on is common throughout the peninsula. Assam and the Kumaoon Mountains furnish large quantities of Lead. Some mines of Tin are ^Yorked in the district of Ajmere. Zinc is exported in large quantities from India to England. Quicksilver and Antimony are found in a few places. This, too, is the land of the Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst, Onyx and other precious stones. And in this country are quarries of Marble and Alabaster, of Sulphur, Coal and Naptha, of com- mon Salt and Saltpetre. Tradition has hardly exag- gerated in the accounts it has transmitted to us re- specting the minerals and metals — the precious stones and gems of heaven-favored Ind. Such is a rapid view of nature, animate and inani- mate, as presented in that eastern clime. We but enter the field of inquiry and research before we are compelled to leave it, the proportionate limits allowed to this branch of the subject being more than reached, and yet much remaining to be said. But what we have seen suffices to convince ns that the Hindoos have ample acquaintance with the Most High as made known by His w^orks, so that they are " without ex- cuse" if they render not to Him the homage of grati- tude and praise. CHAPTER III. HISTORICAL SURVEY. What is known of Ancient India — Invasions by Sesostris, Semiramis, Darius and Alexander — Invasion by Mahmoud of Guznee — Somnaut Captured — Its venerated Idol and Temple Gate — Successors of Mah- moud — Invasions by the Portuguese — Dutch — East India Company — Black Hole of Calcutta — Governors-General — Relation of India to England — Remark of Dr. DufT — ^Measures pursued by the English — Opinions and Feelings of the Hindoos — An Historic Law respecting India — Characteristics of the several Periods of Hindoo History — An Eloquent Extract. " "Whoever attempts to trace the operations of men in remote times, and to mark the various steps of their progress in any line of exertion, will soon have the mortification to find that the period of authentic history is very limited. Beyond the era of written annals lies the region of uncertainty and conjecture." Respecting no country does the student of antiquity find this to be more true than of India. The Hindoos having no historical records that deserve the name, and such accounts as they do possess are mixed up with so many improbable and monstrous fictions, that we are left in total isfnorance as to well-determined facts. From the ^' Yedas," which were written about the time of King David, and the '' Institutes of Me* 62 INDIA. nu," we learn that the country anciently composed several separate kingdoms, varying in extent, and at constant warfare among themselves. Two families, in a special manner, bore rule, distinguished as the sun and moon, probably on account of their comparative power and splendor. Other accounts tell us that in the early days there were ten kingdoms in India, speaking different languages, five of which occupied the southern, and five the northern districts. It is a well-ascertained fact that neither the present race of Hindoos or their immediate ancestors are the aborigi- nes of the soil — but who the original possessors of the country were, and whence they came, are questions which have called into requisition the learning and research of England and the Continent, though with ill success. The Rev. Dr. Ward, of Serampore, closes a labored examination of Hindoo manuscripts in this decisive manner : " Such is Hindoo history as given by themselves, or rather an imperfect gleaning from a great and confused mass of materials, which have been thrown together in the Puranas, to arrange and settle which, so as to chose what is true and re- ject what is false, requires a mind more than hu- man. A real and accurate history of this country, from its commencement to the present time, with the dates of events attached to them, is out of the ques- tion." Sir "Wm. Jones says, " The dawn of true In- dian history appears only three or four centuries be- fore the Christian era, the preceding ages being cloud- ed by allegory and fable." Major Milford, an eminent HISTORICAL SURVEY. 63 Orientalist, adds his testimony, that '^ with regard to history the Hindoos have really nothing but romances, from which but occasional truths may be extracted." After saying that India was one of the earliest inhab- ited portions of our earth, the sober historian is com- pelled to admit that a veil of obscurity hangs above its rise and early progress, which has thus far baffled all attempts at removal. But few can hope for victory where Robertson and Jones and Milford ha,ve met with signal and admitted defeat. Leaving ancient India concealed beneath the mist of antiquity and fable we will view the country when shone upon by the rays of historical truth. Sesostris, Semiramis, Darius and Alexander were the earliest to bring that peninsula before the modern world. Respecting the first of these heroes there is much difference of opinion. Some contending that he came against India in the year 970 before Christ and made large conquests, and exported much booty, while Robertson and others are in doubt as to the extent and even the fact of these invasions. It is thought " that some light may be thrown upon this subject by the researches now in progress for the interpretation of Egyptian hieroglyphics." The expedition undertaken by Semiramis rests upon more reliable testimony and commands our more intelligent belief. From the pages of Diodorus we learn that this illustrious queen having extended her dominion over western Asia to Bactria, and having been informed that India was the most populous, wealthy, and beautiful of kingdoms, 64 INDIA. determined upon its conquest. After three years spent in preparation, she landed an army of half a million horse and foot upon the eastern bank of the Indus, crossing upon a bridge of boats built under the direc- tion of architects from Phoenicia, Cyprus, and other maratime provinces. Here she was met by Strabro- bates, a Hindoo general, who had collected a force even greater than that of Semiramis, supported by a numerous band of elephants trained for warfare. The contest was long, sanguinary and dpubtful, but at length the proud and ambitious invader was obliged to sound a retreat to the boats, amid the wild confu- sion of which it is thought that- she herself perished. Next following the Egyptian king and Phoenician queen, we read of Darius, the Persian monarch, as undertaking to explore and conquer that country. Having learned through a general whom he sent thither, the populousness, fertility and high cultivation of the country lying east of the Indus, he crossed that stream with an invading army in the beginning of the fifth century before Christ ; subdued the provinces of Mooltan, Lahore, and possibly Guzerat, drawing from these conquered princes a large tribute in gold and other valuable commodities. This dominion of the Persians continued for less than two hundred years, but during the latter part of that period it was merely nominal. In the year 327 before Christ, Alexander the G-reat having conquered the Persian empire, crossed the In- dus with the professed design of compelling these trib- IIISTCRICAL SURVEY. 65 utary states to pay their dues to him as the successor of Darius. Commencing his march for the far-famed Ganges he was met by Porus at the head of a nu- merous army of native soldiery. This resistance, add- ed to a m.utiny in his ranks upon the banks of the Sutledge, comipelled him with much reluctance to retrace his steps without gratifying his ambitious designs and long-cherished hopes. Determining, how- ever, not to return in disgrace, he performed the extra- ordinary and hitherto unattempted project of sailing down the Indus, exultingly beholding the Arabian Sea, and thence, after incredible toil and danger, re- turning to his capital. "When Alexander withdrew, the natives set about corrupting the troops left behind, by encouraging them in every manner of excess, which resulted in the final extinction of all foreign suprem- acy among them. Seleucus, and after him several generals, ending with Antiochus, undertook excursions to regain those distant possessions, but their success was limited in extent and duration. After these repeated inroads of the Persian and Greek armies, the Hindoos enjoyed a quiet of several centuries, during which an enemy was preparing, whose impression upon the country was to be exten- sive, lamentable and lasting. About the middle of the sixth century of the Chris- tian era the eagle eye of Mohammedan ambition and rapacity was directed towards India, and this ill-fated land was destined to become the prey of conquerors surpassing in cruelty all who had as yet crossed its p< 66 INDIA. borders. After several attempts at a permanent do- minion, but repulsion by the Hindoo princes, the time was at hand when resistance would no longer avail for their protection and freedom. In the year 998 Mah- moud ascended the throne of G-huznee, one of the most important principalities of Afghanistan, and speedily commenced preparations for adding India to his do- minions. In the year 1001 he made his first appear- ance on the east of the Indus, penetrating so far into the Punjaub as totally to defeat the King of Lahore and Mooltan, returning with fame and booty to his mountain fastnesses. During the following twenty- four years he made twelve expeditions into the coun- try, in the course of which he overran most of the western provinces, plundering Delhi and other eminent cities, carrying away vast stores of gold and silver, diamonds and precious stones, which he displayed to the admiring gaze of the Grhuznee mountaineers, thus arousing their ambition and eager desire for more ex- tensive inroads upon a land so teeming with wealth and luxury. In the last of these incursions Mahmoud entered the province of Guzerat, upon the southern boundary of which was located the village of Somnaut, renowned as the abode of a shrine of extraordinary sanctity. Attached to this far-famed temple were two thousand Brahmins, five hundred dancing girls, three hundred musicians, and other attendants in great numbers. After a long and desperate contest Mah- moud succeeded in capturing this venerated town, and upon beholding the gigantic and far-famed idol, with HISTORICAL SURVEY. 67 wrathful zeal struck off its nose, giving orders for its entire and instant demolition. As the attendant Brah- mins saw the threatened downfall of this object of their profoundest veneration, they fell on their knees and proffered an immense sum for its preservation ; — but the king indignantly replied, " / am a breaker, not a buyer of IclohP The work of demolition proceeded ; and on its reaching the interior of the image, there was disclosed a treasure in pearls, rubies, and dia- monds, almost beyond conception, and far surpassing the immense sum tendered for its redemption." These were carried to the metropolis, and conspired, with other events, to render G-huznee for the time one of the most eminent cities of the east. With the trea- Hures of Somnaut, Mahmoud carried the gates of that town wherewith to grace his mountain home — which latter trophy has obtained no little modern notoriety from the attempt of a late governor-general to recon- vey them to their former abode — an attempt which brought upon his lordship the reproof of Christendom, the rebuke of his employers, and which conspired with other acts of like folly to lose him his vice- regal crown. In the year 1291 Mohammed (successor of Mahmoud) succeeded in establishing^ himself at Delhi, and thus commenced the first Afghan or Patan dynasty, the second commencing in the year 1291, and continuins: until near the close of the fifteenth century. Then followed the Mogul dynasty begun by Baber, a descendant of Tamerlane, in the year 1525, when Mohammedanism reached its height in India, 68 INDIA. extending from Allahabad on the North to Ahmednug- gur, (40 miles East from Bombay) on the South. One of the most eminent of these Mogul emperors was Akber Khan, who flourished between the years 1556 and 1695, and who ruled with so much excellence of wisdom and ris^hteousness that the native historian tells us that ^^his memory still floats upon the tears of all India.'''' By his daring and judicious manage- ment the central provinces were preserved in complete tranquillity, and Guzerat, Bengal, and a part of the Deccan were added to his already extensive empire. During the reign of his son Jehoughier (1605 to 162S) the English first established themselves on the western coasts of the Peninsula. Then followed Aurungzebe, great-grandson of Akber, Vv^ho ruled from 1658 to 1707. From his great-grandson Feroksere the East India Company obtained the grant of a large township in Bengal, through the personal influence of Dr. Ham- ilton who had succeeded in relieving the Emperor of a painful malady. The Persians, under the celebrated Nadir Shah, obtained a short-lived notoriety over parts of this down-trodden land. Our limits forbid a detailed narrative of the events that signalized the rule of Mahmoud and his successors during their rule over India. " Nothing in mxodern times has equalled the ferocity and desperation of these Moslem conquer- ors. Urged on by a mad enthusiasm ; intoxicated with the hope of rich booty, and inspired with the promise of beatitude if they died fighting with the mfidels, they sprang like tigers on their prey. A fer- HISTORICAL SURVEY. 69 tile country was left desolate ; flourishing cities, heaps of ruins ; palaces were burnt, temples pillaged, and rivers sacred to their fathers flowed with human blood." During the reign of Tamerlane, surnamed the *' destroying prince,''^ an hundred thousand natives were massacred in a single hour. Timur the ^^fire- brand of the miiverse'^ and greatest wholesale butcher of our species ever known, plundered and massacred without distinction of religion or sex ; " his track was followed by blood, desolation, famine and pestilence." The ]\Iogul Aurungzehe and Mahrattee Sevagee, were scarcely less ruthless destroyers of the Hindoo race, wherever obstacles were presented to their mad and plundering ambition. Nadir Shah entered In- dia, slaughtered the inhabitants of Delhi, without regard to age or sex — captured Oude — seized upon the imperial treasures and conveying thence $15,000,000 in specie— $5,000,000 in plate, $75,000,000 in jewels, —the renowned Peacock throne valued at $5,000,000 and other valuables to the amount of $60,000,000, besides elephants, horses and camp equipage of the deposed Emperor. From the ill-fated days of Nadir Shah, the Moghul Empire in India began to decline — the various provinces became independent principali- ties, some under Mohammedan governors, and others under Mahrattas, until the city of Delhi, with a small district around, formed all that remained to the house of Timur. *'The cessation of the Mohammedan power in India 70 l^iDlA, can never be regretted by one to whom are familiar the records of that beautiful but ill-fated country." Providence was so arranging events that these ruthless spoilers of that fair land were to yield their dominion to a people of another faith and higher impulse. No more do we read of twenty, seventy, or an hundred thousand slaughtered in one day without compunction of conscience, or the assigning of any plausible excuse, the inhabitants of whole provinces hunted like wild beasts for royal amusement, women devouring their own children in excess of agony. That dark volume finds a close, and the day has dawned, dim and faint at first, but the light of which will ever increase till that land become enliohtened and Christian. In the year of our Lord 1498, Vasco de G-ama, a Portuguese navigator, having performed the unwonted feat of doubling the Cape of G-ood Hope, landed at Cal- icut, a place of great trade upon the western coast of the peninsula. The period was very favorable to the interests he sought to promote, and which were ere long to be realized. After fewer delays and less oppo- sition than might have been anticipated, the Portu- guese established a commercial empire which lasted a century, and to which, whether we consider its extent, its opulence, or the slender power by w^hich it was formed, or the splendor by which the government of it was conducted, there had been nothing comparable in the history of nations. When de Grama landed for the first time on the shores of India, he endeavored, by the numbers of his retinue, their splendid attire, and HISTORICAL SURVEY. 71 orderly movements to make a favorable and deep im- pression. But the historian has recorded a mistake made by these foreigners, which detracts somewhat from the dignity of the occasion. Some of the sailors, seeing a pagoda and Cv')ncluding from the beads worn by the Brahmins and the sandal wood incense, that it was a Christian temple, at once entered, and noticing a variety of pictures upon the wall, prostrated them- selves before them, as before the Mat^onna and Saints. But one of the worshippers, as by chance he looked up and observed the strange and uncouth aspect of these imaginary apostles, some of whom brandished four and five arms, and had enormous teeth projecting out of their mouths, judged it advisable to guard himself by the exclamation, " If these be devils it is God whom I worship.''^ In the year 1596, Houttnan, a Dutch navigator, sailed for India in charge of four ships laden with mer- chandize, and well equipped for an encounter with enemies on sea or land. Traffic was commenced with the islands of Sumatra and Java — was extended in 1605 to Ceylon, and thence to India. Omitting his- torical detail, let it suffice to say that "so bold, assid- uous and enterprising were the Dutch, that in less than eighty years from the time that Houtman first sailed from Rotterdam they possessed all the ports and places at which the Portuguese had been established, with the exception of G-oa and a few subordinate towns, and had, besides, formed settlements on the Co7omand<'"l coast.'' 72 -INDIA. But the golden prize, the land of gold and gems, was destined a third time to change possessors. An English armament, coursing the Southern and Eastern seas, captured, on different occasions, Portuguese and Dutch Indiamen, laden with spices, calicoes, pearls, porcelain, ebony, and other rich productions of this teeming land. A display of these, in London and other cities of Great Britain, inflamed the desire of the English to be engaged in so lucrative a trade and accordingly application was made to Elizabeth, the reigning queen, for the necessary charter of protection and privilege. In the year 1599, her Majesty com- plied, with the request, and " granted an exclusive charter to a company of London merchants, to trade with all the countries between the Cape of G-ood Hope and the Straits of Magellan," under a name sim- ilar to that which is still retained to their successors of the present day. One feature of the Charter was that no gentleman should be connected with the com- pany — a dubious privilege in our modern estimation. The first factories or trading houses of this company w^ere established at Surat, Ahmenabad and G-ogo, on the G-ulf of Cambay ;— then followed the acquisition in 1639 of Madras, in 1664 of Bombay, in 1696 of Calcutta, and in succeeding years, of Benares, Seringapatam, Ceylon, G-uzerat, Sinde, and, lastly, the Punjaub. In many of these instances of annexa- tion, resistance was made by the native residents, in some cases aided by the French and other European Colonists, but under Clive, Hastings, Wellesley, Corn- HISTORICAL SURVEY. 73 wallis, Harris, Col. "VVellesley (now Duke of Welling- ton,) and other eminent English Grenerals, Hindoos and Mohammedans, rulers and people have been com- pelled to cower before the English lion. The history of that vast and powerful monopoly, *'The East India Company," is deeply interesting as illustrating the trite adage of "great effects from little causes." The charter which was granted in December of 1600, received modifications and renew- als in 1609 '36 '57 '61 '67 '83 '86 '98 and in 1702 '8, and throughout the reigns of the Greorges, to the year 1812 — while the company itself has been extending its limits, increasing its power, until its terminus has become the limit of the Peninsula itself. Events of thrilling and often most painful interest arrest the reader's attention when perusing the history of British ascendency in India. Let one suffice. For fifty or more years after the occupancy of Calcutta as a trading town, an event occurred, which, for condensed suffering and terrible results, scarcely has an equal iu the annals of human barbarity and war. The reign- ing Prince (Suraja Dowlah) had become suspicious of the foreigners and manifested a determination to visit them with displeasure. Unable, from the condition of their fort and fewness of their numbers, to resist an invasion were it made, they determined to desert their insecure abode, and embark on the ships which lay in the river. But when the hour of embarkation arrived, the crew of the vessels, anxious for their own safety, moved down the stream and could not be induced by 4 74 INDIA. the most earnest appeals addressed to their humanity and patriotism, to return for the rescue of their endan- gered countrymen. Night was at hand, and with it a command from the Nabob, to keep the foreigners in custody for examination on the coming day. In look- ing for a place of confinement, the guard found a room in the Fort which had been employed to confine refractory soldiers, and here were they destined to pass that memorable and to many of them a last night. " The place selected was but eighteen feet square, with only two small windows barred with iron, opening into a close verandah, and scarcely admitting a breath of air. Into this narrow receptacle the whole of the ofiicers and troops, one hundred and sixteen in num- ber, were compelled to enter, and on their venturing to remonstrate, the commander ordered every one who should remonstrate to be instantly cut down. Thus were they forcibly thrust into this fearful dungeon, into which the whole number could with difficulty be squeezed, and the door was then fast barred from without. Their first impression upon finding them- selves thus immured, w^as the utter impossibility of surviving one night, and the necessity of extricating themselves at whatever cost. The Jemadars (or Indian Gruards) were walking before the window and Mr. Holwell seeing one who bore upon his face a more than usual expression of humanity, adjured him to procure for them room in which they could breath, assuring him of a reward next morning of a thousand rupees. The man went away, but returned, saying it HISTORICAL SURVEY. 75 was impossible. The prisoners thinking the offer too low, tendered two thousand. The man again went and returned saying that the Nabob was asleep and no one durst wake him. The lives of a hundred and forty-six men were nothing in comparison with dis- turbing for a moment the slumbers of a tyrant! Every moment added to their distress. All attempts to obtain relief by a change of posture, from the pain- ful pressure to which it gave rise, only aggravated their suffering. The air soon became pestilential, producing at every respiration a feeling of suffocation. The perspiration flowed in streams and they were tor- mented with the most burning thirst. Loud cries being made for " water," the humane Jemadar pushed through the bars several skins filled with that fluid, but this produced only an increase of calamity, through the violent efforts made to obtain it. About eleven o'clock the prisoners began to die fast — six of Mr. Holwell's best friends expiring at his feet and being trampled upon by the survivors. Of those still alive, a great proportion were raving or delirious ; some uttered incoherent prayers, others the most fear- ful blasphemies. They endeavored by most furious invectives to induce the guards to fire into the prison and end their miseries — but without effect. When day dawned the few who had not expired, were most of them either raving or insensible, and of the one hundred and forty -six who had been enclosed, there breathed only tiventy-three .'" The reader after perus- ing this narrative, will no longer wonder that the 76 INDIA. ** blcL.k hole of Calcutta'''' is proverbial, the world over. The news of this disaster reaching Madras, Col. (afterwards Lord) Ciive was at once despatched to Calcutta with a considerable force bv land and sea, to avenge the death of llieir countrymen. Success attended the enterprise — the author of the black -hole tragedy fell by an assassin's hand — and the com- mencement of British rule in Bengal may be dated from that hour. The reins of government first held by Lord Clive, passed, in 1772, to Warren Hastings, and successively to Lords Cornwallis — Teign- mouth — Wellesley — Minto — Marquis Hastings — Ben- tinck — Auckland — Ellenborousfh — Hardino:e and Dal- housie — whose differences of character £:ained for them the titles of the "unscrupulous," "prudent," "am- bitious," "good," "foolish," "brave," &c., but whose administrations without exception, though in diffarent ways, tended to produce the result we now behold- that of British Sovereignty from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, and from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. Within these limits there are, it is true, small territories under the jurisdiction of other European powers. The French, the Portuguese, and the Danes have small colonies on the Eastern and Western Coasts at Pondicherry, G-oa, &c. These they are allowed to retain by courtesy anJ because at- tempts at their expulsion might involve the home gov- ernments in war. Serampore, near Calcutta, onoa held by the Danes, has been purchased by the East HISTORICAL SURVEY. 77 India Company as also Tranquebar, south from Madras, and the like transfer will be made ere long of the other territories. There are also several provinces, the native rulers of which are allowed to retain an appearance of independent possession and rule. Such are Hyderabad, Nagpore, Oude, G-uzerat, Mysore, and Travancore. These territories differ but in name from other parts of the country. They are directly subservient to the East India Company, and let them act as if independent they would soon wake from their delusion. An English gentleman, called "Resident," is placed near the capital of these tribu- tary provinces and a military force officered by English- men is paid from the treasury of the Rajah. Let this Prince, with all his parade of royalty and independ- ence adopt a course opposed to the will of this Resi- dent, he is at first warned, and if that do not suffice the semblance of power is taken from him and he in- carcerated (perhaps in his own palace) with a largo pension, but still a State prisoner. This topic may be closed with the following remarks from the eloquent pen of Rev. Dr. Duff: ''A region of Asia, equal in extent to the whole of Europe (exclu- sive of Russia) with a population of more than a hun- dred and forty millions, — all of them aliens in blood, language, and religion ; and many consisting of war- like tribes, so gallant and brave as to have again and again repelled the combined hosts of the Moslem con- querors, with a heroism not unworthy of the best sons of Greece : — this vast region, situate, by the ordinary 78 INDIA. route, at a distance exceeding half the globe's circum- ference, has, to its uttermost borders, been subjected to the uncontrolled dominion of British sway. So absolute and undisputed is the supremacy of the Bri- tish sceptre — so regular and perfect the organization of the British power, — that an English subject, under the designation of Grovernor-G-eneral — who may never have trodden on the Indian soil, — may embark on board a vessel in the Thames — traverse fifteen thou- sand miles of ocean — proceed up the mighty Ganges as far as Dover is from Gribraltar — perch himself on one of the peaks of the Himalayas — and there, by a single sentence from his lips, or a stroke of his pen, as by the waving wand of a mighty enchanter, set all the teeminsT millions of India in motion !" This lansruaoje though strong and eulogistic of national prowess, is strictly correct. The Seiks were the last power to resist foreign invasion, but they have been compelled to succumb to the hitherto unconquered arms of the English in the East. All India is now in truth, what it has long been in name, " British IndiaP " Have the measures employed to secure this result been, in all cases, accordant with justice, integrity and mercy?" Far from it. The public will not bear such a portraiture of Clive and Hastings as will pre- sent them free from blemishes dark and forbidding:. In proof of this, the reader is commended to the narra- tives of those earliest Governors of India from the powerful pen of Macaulay. Without wishing to class these officers with Teignmouth and Metcalf and HISTORICAL SURVEY. 79 *' honest William Bentinck," yet history compels us to the opinion that, with great differences in the charac- ters of the Governors, the same general features have characterized every administration from Clive to Dal- housie, and that when force has not been practicable, recourse has been had to intrigue and other sinister measures. *' How do the Hindoos bear the yoke of their for- eign conquerors ?" They know that they are an enslaved people, and that for ages past they have been as dust under the rolling wheel of the war-chariot and attempts have been made to reassert their independ- ence. One of the latest of these efforts occurred in the year 1806, at Vellore, when there perished of the four European companies encamped in the Fort, one hundred and sixty-four soldiers, besides many British officers. A later effort of the kind was made at Ban- galore in the year 1834, which (had it not have been discovered) would have resulted in the death of the whole cantonment of a thousand or more persons. These instances are few in number and limited in results. The system of caste among the Hindoos is preventive of that unity of action essential to the suc- cess of such an enterprise, while the Mohammedans are too few in number (though not destitute of desire and zeal) for such an enterprize. Much conversation with intelligent Hindoos and Mohammedans upon this subject, has led me to the ad- vised conclusion, that however iniquitous may have been many of the measures by which India has be- 80 INDIA. come subjected to British control, and however pain- ful and galling is the present state of servitude and debasement, the country is, on the whole, better gov- erned than for centuries before the arrival of the first English vessel, and the mass of the people w^ould be far from desiring a transfer of the reins of government to native rulers, or to any other European power. We may be assured that the wish is strongly reciprocated. The pages of history indicate this fact, that ^HoliaU ever city or nation has^ in the lapse of past ages, held in its hand the keys of the Indian commerce and influence, that city or place has, for the time, stood forth in the van of the civilized world, as the richest and most flourishing P So long as Arabia enjoyed the full benefit of Indian commerce, it was far-famed as "Araby the blest." *' Indian com.merce found Pal- myra composed of brick, and left it more precious than marble." Monopoly of the Indian trade enabled Tyre, single-handed, to resist, so long, the mightiest assaults of the Macedonian conqueror. Direct trade with India and the East, speedily raised Alexandria into such pre-eminence, as to eclipse all surrounding cities. Through Moslem victories Bagdad started up at once the Rome, the Alexandria, the Athens of the East; and Ghuznee was long famed as the "Celestial Bride." During the century of Portuguese dominion, Lisbon outpeered all her rivals. England knows full well that she owes not a little of her present greatness to the fact that among her many colonies India is one, and loth will she be to HISTORICAL SURVEY. 81 part with that extensive and antique land. Aus- tralia — Singapore — the Cape — Helena — New Zealand — Canada. She would part with all before losing India. It is a crown jewel. But I must pause at this point. The several periods brought to notice in this chap- ter may be thus characterized. When under the Native Rajahs, India seems to have excelled in wealth, magnificence, and literature ; — under the Mohamme- dan conquerors, the land was cursed with oppression and cruelty, the only road to preferment being con- version to Islamism ; vvhile under the English rulers it is enjoying general quietude, peace and prosperity ; the people gradually rising to the attainment of that character which will make them happy in this life, and blessed in the life to come. I cannot better close this chapter than by present- ing to the reader the following truthful and eloquent passages from a well-known writer upon the East. "It must have been to accomplish some very important moral change in the Eastern world, that so vast an empire as is comprised in British India, containing nearly an hundred and fifty millions of people, should have been placed under the dominion of one of the smallest portions of the civilized world, and that at the other extremity of the globe. Is it not manifest that in the mental and moral improvement of this vast empire. Great Britain has a work of benevolence before her, which, in national glory, will eclipse all her other achievements, as much as the meridian sun A* 82 INDIA. exceeds in splendor the morning star. Know, then, the country of the Howards and the "Wilberforces, thy high destiny I Never were such miseries to be re- moved — never was such a mighty good put into the power of one nation — the raising of so many spirits from the darkness of error and the wretchedness of sin, to the light of truth, and the blessedness of heaven." CHAPTER IV. INHABITANTS OF INDIA CLASSIFIED. Population — Native Hindoos — Mohamedans (Annual Festivities) — East Indians — European Residents, of several grades — Arabs — Par- sees — Cliinese and Jews. India, within the limits before named, contains an estimated population of one hundred and fifty mil- lions. This vast assemblage is divided into numerous tribes, differing widely from each other in origin, ap- pearance, habits, interests, and religion. They may be arranged with sufficient accuracy, into four classes, of which the first are Native Hindoos, to the num- ber of about one hundred and thirty-eight millions. These, though widely diverse in language and man- ners, adhere to a similar system of religious belief, and are thus united in the strong bond of sympathy and interest. Of this aboriginal population, the remaining pages of the volume will speak in detail, and, therefore, no further mention need be made in this place. The second class comprises the Mohamedans^ who number about ten millions. These are the S4 INDIA. descendants of the early invaders of the soil, and they are not ignorant or forgetful of the fact that their fathers once conquered and ruled the land. The Mohamedan is in manner, cold and repulsive, his countenance seldom wearing a smile, and his bearing lofty and austere; in religion, most bigot- cdly attached to his own modes of faith and wor- ship, and, in heart, at deep enmity with his Euro- pean conquerors — being ever ready to take an active and resolute part in their expulsion. Insurrec- tions and mutinies have, with few exceptions, been traced to Mussulman craftiness and hate. Mosques, with their towering minarets, where the Koran is read, and prayers recited, are to be met with in all the leading cities and towns of the country. Wher- ever a Mohamedan be, or however engaged, he per- forms his devotions with the most scrupulous exact- ness, fearlessly confessing his attachment to the Prophet and his creed. Many of them are employed as seamen on the small craft that navigate the eastern seas, especially along the opposite coasts and to the neighboring islands of Ceylon and Singapore. I have often observed, and never without deep emotion, the following act of religious homage and conscious de- pendence, in these ever imperiled sons of the deep. Before weighing anchor, the captain stations himself near the mast, and commences, in a loud tone, the recitation of a prayer to the Prophet. At brief inter- vals the whole crew respond in unison, "^/Za^," and at the close of the supplication, they thrice repeat the INHABITANTS OF INDIA CLASSIFIED. 85 sacred name. On one of their days of annual festiv- ity, each Moorman masques himself in the most per- fect manner possible, by painting his body with colors of various hue, decorating himself with most fantastic attire, and then " en masse" perambulating the streets with drums beating, horns blowing, banners flying, presenting a scene alike uniqu3, grotesque, ludicrous, senseless and pitiable. On another day each follower of the Prophet hires or loans a horse or pony, and in military array, parades the streets, much to the amaze- ment of the gazing multitude and the amusement of the foreign beholder. A Mohamedan's dress is more European than that of the Hindoo, being a pair of loose trowsers of silk, a flowing gown of cotton, with turban and shoes. Their language is Hindostanee, though they readily acquire the tongue of the people among whom they may chance to dwell. Their em- ployments are as clerks and accountants, local and travelling tradesmen, soldiers, seamen, tailors, wash- ermen and instructors of Europeans, (their's being the language of the army.) They are industrious, and less addicted to gross and open immorality than are their heathen neighbors, upon whom they look down with deepest contempt, despising them for their gen- eral character and conduct, and especially their wor- ship of idols. But few accessions have been made to Christianity from among the followers of the Prophet, and but few of their youth are allowed to attend upon Missionary instruction. A third division includes a large and increasing INDIA. number, to whom are given the names of Indo- Britains, East-Indians, country-born, or more eupho- niously, and, to the persons concerned, more accepta- bly, Eurasians. The offspring of temporary unions, which gave them European fathers and native mothers, they are in general but lightly esteemed by those above and below them. The conduct of the European residents towards this class of citizens has, it cannot be denied, been in too many cases illiberal and highly wrong, especially as they, and two or more genera- tions, in most instances, are wholly without crime in respect to their birth. There is no excuse for this wholesale dislike, especially while among them are many persons, than whom community can desire no better members. A policy more enlightened, lib- eral, and Christian, has begun to prevail, and the East-Indian will ere long occupy the place to which he appropriately belongs and be judged of, not accord- ing to his parentage, but by his real and personal merits. The great fault committed by this class is their wasteful expenditure in personal decorations, their mistake of the florid and bombastical, for the simple and appropriate in language and attire. This appears in the names they give to their children. " I believe a friend was adhering to truth, who, after observing, that if you meet with one Mary, Elizabeth, or Anne, you at least encounter five Floras, Theodo- sias, Calinas, and Clarissas. '* Not long since," says a writer, " I was in a room where five Anglo-Indian ladies assembled, whose names were Amelia Wilhel- INHABITANTS OF INDIA CLASSIFIED. 87 mina Rose, Christiana Aurora Comfort, Jemima Cle- ment, Amelia Theodosia Clarissa, and Augusta Di- ana Noel Babington. These improprieties are both the cause and effect of their so long and entire exclusion from European circles. The East-Indians are scat- tered over the Peninsula to the number of four hun- dred thousand^ most of whom are content with the humble stations and small incomes of clerks and writers in government and commercial establishments, shopkeepers and musicians, while a few are enterpris- ing, wealthy, and every way worthy of confidence and respect. The names of Messrs. Yan S., C. and D. are familiar to all who have resided in the city of Madras ; — philanthropy and religion having no more benevolent advocates than these Anglo-Indian gentlemen. A fourth class is formed of foreign residents, to the number of about fifty thousand. Of these the large proportion are salaried agents of the British govern- ment, the rest being commission merchants or shop- keepers, lawyers, artizans, and Christian teachers. Of these, none but Missionaries contemplate a perma- nent residence in the country. The Governor-G-en- eral remains so long as the Ministry with which he is connected is in power, except ill health or misdeeds require his return. Officers, civil and military, may revisit their father-land on furlough at the expiration of ten years, an additional ten allowing them to remain at home upon the pension of their rank. Judges and other high officials often reside in the country from thirty to forty years — their income being 88 INDIA. ample — their health but slightly impaired, — and their habits so Indianized as to render a return to Euro- pean customs undesirable and repulsive. Common soldiers at the close of twenty years' service may return to their western home, though some among them form matrimonial alliances with the daugrhters of their countrymen or East Indians, constituting a community of their own, and subsisting on their annual stipend, with the addition of small sums they may in various ways secure. Among them are a few respect- able and worthy persons, while the majority become enslaved to intemperance and lie down in a dishonored and unlamented grave. In the ranks of the India soldiery may at times be found men of high families, classical education, brilliant genius, and accomplished manners. Family feuds, disappointed attachments and vicious acts, caused them in haste or from seem- ing necessity to enlist, and here they are leading a life of toil and wretchedness — a sad, but self-inflicted punishment for error and sin. Parents and friends at times trace their relatives to India, and the Prodigal willingly accepts from those he left in disgust and rage, the twenty pounds required for his redemption from debasing and toilsome service. I am acquainted with editors, bank accountants, teachers, musicians, and artists, who went to India as common soldiers, and, through the benevolence of others, or borrowed money, obtained their release from military servitude. The time has been when to be connected with a house of agency at Calcutta, Madras, or Bombay was a cer- af rNHABITANTS OF INDIA CLASSIFIED. 89 tain passport to a princely fortune. But those palmy days have long gone by. Property is, it is true, still accumulated, but with greater toil and less speed. The trade between India and the west furnishes, of course, much business to the houses of commission ; but there are rival claimants for patronage, and years must elapse ere a sufficient amount be realized to allow the senior partner to retire, and yield his place to a junior colleague. Besides commission mer- chants, there are to be met with in the most import- ant cities of India, auctioneers, artizans and shop- keepers, who are toiling for wealth in that misnom- ered land of gold and gems. The children of foreign residents are sent home at the early period of five to ten years ; regard to health, habits and mental culture rendering the change absolutely necessary. The instances in which childhood and adult years have been passed in India with no prejudice to body, mind, or morals, are " few and far between." In addition to the four general classes now named, the traveller through India meets with Arabs, the horse-jockies of the country, shrewd, daring and unscrupulous ; with Parsees, or fire worshipping Grhebers, descended from the original inhabitants of Persia, who devote themselves to merchandise on a small scale ; with Chinese adventurers, especially on the west and eastern frontiers, who import the fancy articles of their ingenious country, and manufacture shoes and other wearing apparel ; and, at the southern extremity of the Peninsula, with Jews who for centu- 90 INDIA. ries have remained isolated and distinguished from the heathen and Mohamedans around, not ** bowing down to idols" but worshipping God, after the manner indicated in the books of Moses and the Prophets. These last are divided into ancient, or Black, and modern, or White Jews, whose origin and history has awakened just, and very deep interest, throughout the Christian world. The reader who would further ac- quaint himself with the descendants of an ancient and honored ancestry, as also with the Syrian Chris- tians, who inhabit the same southern region, is com- mended to the writings of Dr. Buchanan, who visited those communities in the early part of the present century, and has left on record the results of his investigation, in his deeply interesting '' Researches in AsiaJ^ CHAP T E R V. GOVERNMEx\T OF INDIA. The three Presidencies — Governor- General — IVIetropolitan Bishop — Offi- cers, &c. in the four Departnaents, Revenue, Judicial, JNIilitary, and Ecclesiastical — General Renaarks. India has been divided by her British rulers, into the three Presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bom- bay, which are located in the north and north-east, south, and west and north-west parie of the Penin- sula. These large sections are sub-divided into dis- tricts, Zillahs, villages and hamlets. Each presi- dency is under the guidance and control of a Grov- ernor, assisted by three members of council, all of whom receive their appointments from the Court of Directors in London — the governors of Madras and Bombay being inferior in rank and authority to the one residing at Calcutta, who is honored with the title of Governor-G-eneral. This officer supports a state dignity scarcely inferior to that of an independ- ent sovereign. The office is sought for by the highest dignitaries of the realm, as, in addition to honor and emolument, the occupant is a Privy councillor, and 92 INDIA. entitled to vice-regal privileges and respect. The names of Clive, Hastings, Wellesley and Ellenborough occupy a leading place on the pages of English politi- cal history. In respect to rank, the officer next suc- ceeding the Governor- (xeneral, is the Metropolitan, whose home is also at Calcutta. This post has been held by the learned Middleton, the amiable and lamented Heber, and the thoroughly protestant and boldly practical Wilson. The British residents of a rank inferior to that of those named, may be arranged into four general classes : — the revenue — the judicial — the military — and the ecclesiastical. The Revenue department includes those officers who are devoted to the general supervision of the peo- ple, with special reference to the collection of the rents. One of^these resides in each district, under the title of Collector, with an Assistant. His powei is great, respecting all, European or Native, within his limits ; nothing of a public nature being allowed to occur without his', knowledge and permission. His responsibilities are weighty, his duties arduous, and his better feelings often being put to a severe test. The British government is virtually a rack renting land- lord : — the Ryotivarre system^ as it is called, which prevails throughout most of the country being com- pared to a ''cider screw, while each district is like the squeezed apple, the collectors applying the extent of their power and then transferring the handle to their successors." The assessment is variable, being annu- GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 93 ally made, according to an actual survey of every acre of the ground and its measure of productiveness. The v/hole extent of the Province is divided into three classes ; the dry fields the irrigated field., and the irrigated garden land: these being again distin- guished by a subordinate classification of twenty vari- eties in each division. "When the peasant's crop fails or is defective, remissions of tax are made ; when it is unusually abundant there is an increased assess- ment. "When the crop of one inhabitant of a village fails, his neighbors are required to make good the defi- ciency ; and when the crops of a whole village fail or are defective, the neighboring ones are required to make up the difference to the State, The estimated proportion of the gross produce of the soil, taken as tax by the government, under this system \s forty-five parts in a hundred. But this is not all; for in every vil- lage there are several officers to each of whom a propor- tion must be allotted. There is the Brahmin^ or public priest, the Astrologer^ who lets the people know when the stars and seasons are in proper humor for favoring the labors and enterprizes of the village ; the Potail, or Mayor, the Clerk .^ or register of events and trans- actions, the Guardsman^ the Schoolmaster, the Bar- ber, Doctor, Musician, SfC, each claiming his share, which the owner w^ithholds at the peril of serious loss iu the future. The respect in which the oppression is greatest, is, that the government is so unwilling or unable to lose the revenue, and the consequent effort made by the Zemindar or lessee to obtain the required 54 INDIA. amount from the people under his chaige, bo their harvest what it may. Here is demanded on the part of the revenue officer, constant and most watchful vig- ilance; the effort being ever made by the Zemindar and Rygots to convince him that payment of the full amount is quite impossible, and thus induce him to petition government for a reduction of assessment. If he be a person of natural kindness of heart, the appeal is hard to resist, while over against this Sylla stands the Charybdis of G-overnmental displeasure. The fact is notorious to those much versed in Indian affairs, that the "reputation and prospects of a col- lector depend, to a large extent, upon his realizing a full revenue and that a recommendation for reduc- tion in the amount of assessment is considered in the light of a register of his own inefficiency. " But let their income fail them to a pound, 'Ware, 'ware, my friend, for this is tender ground. Lo! what a hubbub rises o'er his headj What sundry sharp and cutting things are said Of me7-e incompetence and sheer neglect, And what, if it recurs, he must expect." These circumstances render the position of a Col- lector of Revenue onerous, responsible and trying. A contest is ever going on between the wishes of those between whom he stands as umpire and his own bet- ter feelings — his regard to mercy, truth, and faithful- ness, and his self interest. But the office is one of great honor, and much emolument, (the salary aver- aging $15,000 per annum) and is, therefore, notwith- GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 95 standing its toil and anxiety, eagerly sought and highly prized. The Judicial department comprises the several offi- cers who have in charge the administration of justice. Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, are each the resi- dence of a Chief Justice and Puisne Judge — persons eminent for their attainments in the legal profession, and placed, by the amount of their salaries, above all temptation of unfaithfulness to the truth. "While Sir AVm. Jones was making deep research into Hindoo literature and science he was presiding with great ability over the Metropolitan Court. Of inferior rank to these are the Session Judges, which answer to the Justices of the State of New York, who examine into the merits, and adjudicate cases, which come before them through the Collector of the district, their decisions going to the Presidency Court for review. Each village has its police, with power to dispose of minor offences, reporting the same to the Collector. There is still another court, intermediate between the Sessions and the village, the judges of which are natives, or East-Indians, and conducted in the lan- guage of the country. In the chief cities there is a court of high grade, called the Foujde a dawlit, and answering to our Court of Appeals. Natives can be tried at any of these courts, Europeans only before the Judges of their own country. In the Supreme Courts, juries have the decision of cases, but in the Sessions this is left to the Judges, from whom appeals can be made to Calcutta, and thence to the " Queen 96 INDIA. in council." Every court of importance has attached to it natives, well versed in the different languages of the country, and in Hindoo and Mohamedan Law. The Sherii^htadar^ the Collector's assistant, is a native of rank and high salary. Integrity and truth- fulness are essential requisites in one holding this appointment, but confidence is too often sadly mis- placed. The Tahsildar^ who presides over several vil- lages, is entrusted with important duties, and main- tains considerable state. Peons, or native consta- bles, are ever to be met with, bearing their badge of office, in the form of a belt over the right, and Tinder the left shoulder, and staff in hand ready to quell disturbance and afford relief. The Military department \^ by far the largest of the four, though inferior in rank to those named. India was conquered by the sword, and force is still required to keep it in subjection. The Indian army is composed of two general classes ; — the European^ which forms part of the standing army of England, but who are sent to the East for a term of years, and at the expense of the E. India Company, the whole number of which, cavalry, artillery, infantry, sappers, miners, and engineers, varying not far from forty thousand rank and file ; and the native Seapoys, of whom there are about two hundred regiments of a thousand each. These corps are officered by Eng- lishmen, with native subordinates called Subkadars, Jemadars, Harildars, Naiks, &c. That these few thousand soldiery should be able to keep the millions GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, Q-; of India in complete subjection, carrying their arms into rebellious territories, and neighboring provinces, and with uninterrupted success, is a fact which finds not its like in the history of any nation, present or past. It would appear, in looking at the subject from a distance, that a conquering state could not rely upon the fidelity of soldiers obtained from the nations conquered. Yet the native troops of India have shown that such confidence may be placed with- out harm. On repeated occasions have the faithfulness and heroism of the Seapoy been put to the severest test, but never has hope been disappointed. The dis- affections that occurred at Yellore, Hyderabad, and Bangalore were occasioned by too great and needless encroachment upon national usages, and urged on by men of aspiring character and ancient family who aimed at a regaining of ancestral dignity and renown. The British Colonies in Burmah, China, Singapore, and Aden, are all defended by native troops from India. After a term of service, the Seapoy is pensioned by the government, which furnishes an additional motive to fidelity. Not less than half a million of natives are dependent upon the national treasury. India has been territorially assigned to the Church of England and Scotland, and a revenue secured by- land rental, goes to the support of the Ecclesiastical department. The Archbishop resides at Calcutta, and subordinate bishops at Madras and Bombay, and invested with such official importance that the Lord Padre Sahib is second only in rank to the governors. 98 INDIA. Chaplains have been settled in some seventy c»r eighty places, among whom the names of Henry Marty n — Brown — Thomason — Buchanan — Corrie, and Hough, are not alone worthy of honorable mention for fidelity in ministerial duty. By means of the four departments now named, rev- enues are secured for the advantage of the holders of the East India Company stock — the rights of justice are made to be respected by the community at large — rebellions are quelled, and quiet sustained — while the spiritual wants of the residents are supplied from teachers of their heaven-descended faith. '' The protection of private property is now generally effected by a British administration, though cases of personal hardship occur ; bodily suffering and barba- rian punishments are restrained ; means for an equit- able administration of justice have been provided ; superior courts of appeal have been established ; native chiefs and tributary princes have been com- pelled to submit to law, and observe something like equity in their proceedings ; a vigilant police for the suppression of crime and trial by jury have been either established or restored; the most perfect tol- eration of religious differences exists, and protection is afforded to each person in the observance of the rites of his chosen religion ; peace reigns in districts formerly distracted and torn by the contentions of despots ; in- dustry is protected from robbery and private wrong, while the enterprising and successful may amass cap- ital without alarm and enjoy it in security ; coloniza- GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. 99 tion by European citizens, and the increased liberty of the native and country-born population, the freedom of the press, and rapid intercourse with Britain is opening channels of instruction and giving an impetus to knowledge and enquiry, unprecedented in the past history of India." Another writer, himself too, an Englishman, ex- presses himself very differently. A few lines from his poem will suffice to illustrate his view of the con- duct of his countrymen towards that conquered people : "We're always taking, and we never give ; We care not if they die or if they live ; Hard task-masters ! beyond a Pharoah's law. We first withhold, and then we take the straw. Yet look to see the tale of bricks the same, If not, 'tis them, and not ourselves to blame : For joy or wretchedness, for weal or woe, We've one sole sentence, " Pay us what you owsP With no desire to act the part of an apologist for all of England's wrongs, past or present, towards India, I am yet of the opinion that the satirist has allowed himself a latitude of opinion, and severity of state- ment, better accordant with poetic license, and per- haps wounded ambition, than sober truth. While there is much of duty left undone, I do not believe that England is as faithless to her trust as this writer would fain have us believe. There is, however, ample room for improvement. CHAPTER YI. PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE HINDOOS. Figure and Physiognomy — Bodily Structure and Strength — Pedestrian Agility and Endurance — Emblematical Marks upon the Forehead, Neck, &C.5 — Dress of the Men, of the Women, of the Children- Ornaments; their Kind, Value, and Dangers. With difterences of figure and aspect, arising from varieties of climate and occupation, there is a family likeness among tlie native Hindoos, which sufficiently marks them as one people. Their complexion is of various shades, from a light brown to a deep jet — the face oval, with a forehead neither high nor command- ing — eyes soft and dull — eyebrows generally well- formed — nose and mouth of European cast— -hair black, long, wiry, and not at all inclined to curl — with a general expression soft and retiring, though accom panied with a dash of cunning, which puts you on your guard against that unfortunate hypocrisy which seldom has its concealed abode under a perfectly inno- cent exterior. Without the high cheek-bone of the North American Indian, or the thick lips and curly looks of the African, or the fiery eye of the Malay, or APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE HINDOOS. 101 the impassioned look of the Arabian, the national fea- tures bear a close resemblance to those of the Cauca- sian race, of which they are commonly considered a branch, and from which they differ chiefly in the size and projection of their ears, and in general dignity of carriage and address, caused, to a large extent, by their condition as a conquered, enslaved, and, of course, obsequious people. "Women of the higher classes are characterized by forms delicate and graceful — hair fine and long — eyes dark and languishing — with skins polished and soft. No country furnishes a style of female beauty superior to that which is found among the higher circles of Hindoo society. AVhatever of attractiveness the lower classes may possess during the early years of life, is effaced by uncontrolled tempers, menial pursuits, rough usage, and want of mental cultivation. In bodily form and structure the Hindoos are, as a nation, of a much lighter frame than the inhabitants of higher and invigorating regions. Still, in this respect, a diversity exists, even in that country — the mountaineers of the North being strong and muscu- lar, while the southerners are of a more slender and delicate form. The traveller is struck with the difTer- ence between the appearance of a company of India seapoys and British grenadiers, though the army con- tains some of the finest forms the country can supply. Free use of ghee, and other oleaginous articles of food, often produces corpulency, (there deemed a great beauty,) but not a giant frame. Palanquin bearers, 102 INDIA. Cavardy and other Coolies, by a practice which begins in childhood, become able to bear heavy burdens, but as a general rule, their physical organization is incom- patible with great bodily strength. In pedestrian agility^ and poiver of Jpiig endur- ance^ many Hindoos are scarcely behind the natives of North America. A set of bearers will carry a palanquin, heavily laden, forty miles between the setting and rising of the sun, returning with the same the following night. The groom always accompanies the horse, and is seldom far behind when the rider reaches the end of his course. The Coolies, employed in unlading ships, will carry bags of salt and rice, to and from the shore and store-house, scarcely inferior in weight, to those borne by London porters. Mail car- riers move at a regular speed of six miles to the hour, be the contents of the leather bags upon their head ponderous or light. The mass of community, how- ever, do not excel in strength of body and limb, but are far superior to Europeans in speed of foot. A custom, universal among the native inhabitants of India, and one which attracts a foreigner's early attention, is that of inscribing various marks upon the forehead, neck, and arms, with a paste, made of sandal wood, and cow's manure, moistened by water, and rubbed upon a stone. Of these, the simplest is a small circle about an inch in diameter impressed on the middle of the forehead. Another mode is that of drawing horizontal lines across the forehead, neck, &c., or perpendicular ones from the top of the fore- APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE HINDOOS. 103 head to the nose. The origin of this singular custom is veiled in obscurity, but its present intent is twofold ; it distinguishes the wearer as a disciple of Brahmin- ism, while it indicates to which of the two great sects he belongs. The Vishnuvites make the lines perpeU" dicular^ and the Sivites, horizontal. A part of the religious observances of each morning is to imprint this emblematical sign, (a box or bag of the material being kept prepared in every dwelling,) and to be seen abroad without it, subjects the delinquent to the reproof and persecution of his neighbors and towns- men. One of the first and most absolute require- ments of a Christian convert is to remove his '^sacred ashes,^^ and to appear in public with the least portion of this mark of the beast upon forehead, neck or arms, brings upon the transgressor the censure of his reli- gious teacher, and, if it be repeated, exclusion from church communion and privileges. It is understood by all to be a declaration of attachment to Paganism in preference to any other creed. Females put but a small quantity upon the forehead, while the fakeers, or devotees, besmear their whole visible person with this whitened dust. The dress of respectable Hindoos is simple, deco- rous, suited to the climate, and, when well adjust- ed, produces a very graceful effect. The garments worn by the men consist of a loose piece of white cotton cloth, in which there are neither strings, but- tons or pins, wound close about the waist, and fall- ing below the knees, with a second, of finer mate- 104 INDIA. rial, though similar color, thrown across the shoulder, like a Roman toga, and, except the head, arms, and feet, covering the entire body. A native, when he saw a picture of his tnajesty, Greorge the Third, in a Roman habit, was heard to ask, "why he Vv'ore gar- ments like the Hindoos, and not like the English ?" The hair is usually cut or shaved close to the scalp, except a small lock in the rear of the head, the removal of which is an act of great turpitude. The majority of the people leave the head uncovered, unless the heat or cold constrain the person to draw his upper garment over it like a hood ; (in this respect, also, imitating the custom of ancient Rome.) The more respectable classes, especially they who associate with foreigners, cover the head with the turban : — an article which consists of a strip of cotton cloth, nar- row and long, wound, when damp, upon a block of a required size and shape, and, when dry, removed and worn as a hat. It can be unwound, washed, and re-made when need be — its color, shape, &c., suiting the taste of the wearer. Before a Hindoo puts on a new garment, he plucks a few threads out of it, which he offers to different divinities, that they may be propitious, and that it may wear well. The feet are protected from sharp stones, by means of the san- dal^ or leather sole, with a strap above the instep, and another across the large toe, or are encased in shoes made with velvet ''uppers," covered with gold and sil- ver thread, open at the heel, and turned up at the toe in true oriental style. Stockings are seldom worn, APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE HINDOOS. 105 never, indeed, over two thirds of the Peninsula. Be- sides the expense, which could illy be incurred, and the great heat, this article of dress would stand much in the way of a free and unrestrained use of those ser- viceable parts of the human body — the toes. AVe, in this western world, place a high estimate upon these extremities of the frame — indispensable as they are deemed in walking. But to appreciate their exceed- ing utility, it is needful to go to the East. They are called by the Hindoos the " feet fingers." In addition to the use made in keeping the shoe on the foot, the tailor, if he does not thread his needle, twists his thread by them, the cook is aided by them in cutting his meat ; the joiner in holding the board while he planes it; the driver wrenches the tail of the ox to make it move more quickly ; the pedestrian picks up whatever may have fallen, by the same means. To confine the toes within the narrow limits of stockings or socks, were to deprive the Hindoo of a medium of effort he can illy dispense with. Natives who arc much in the society of Europeans, wear a long, loose gown, beneath the toga, which completely covers the upper part of the body, and the arms. The orna- ments worn by Hindoo gentlemen, are confined to rings upon the fingers, ear-drops, a band about the arm, and, after marriage, a small band around the toe. The more abundant, showy, and expensive dec- orations are left to their " better halves." The fe^nales of India have fewer articles of dress than their sons and brothers, but these are large, and very 5^ 106 INDIA. graceful. The Chalice consists of a long piece of cot- ton, nauslin or silk, wrapped round the middle, and falling in ample and elegant folds below the knees. One end is gathered into a bunch in front, while the other crosses the breast; and is thrown over the shoul- der. Its length is from seven to ten yards, and as to color, texture, and value, may vary from one of plain white cotton, costing but a dollar, to one of muslin or silk, valued at ten times that amount. To this garment is at present very generally added a jacket, with half sleeves, which closely fits the form, and cov- ers, though not conceals, the bust. This simple attire is in wide contrast with that which prevailed in this country less than twenty years ago, when two bushel sleeves, and a head dress broad as the umbrella of a native prince, gave the belles of America, an outline, which, if filled up with sinew and bone, would have made them, of all created beings, the most unmeaning in shape, either for use or beauty. T remarked that the ladies of India appropriated to themselves the larger share of decorative ornaments. Upon each wrist are bracelets of silver, konk-shell, or glass, called bangles, numbering from five to twenty. Pendants of gold, or less valuable material, are sus- pended from the ear to the shoulder, and hooks, through the nose, reach to the chin. Bands of silver, of much weight, encircle the arms and ancles. n two or more of the toes is a silver ring, one of which emits a tinkli>ng sound when the wearer is walking Around the neck are hung strings of large beads, of APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF THE HINDOOS. 107 coral, or glass, with collars set with small gems and precious stones. Married la