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JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL,

EDITED BY

THE SECRETARIES. —

VOL. XXVITTI.

Nos. I. tro V.—1859.

in different parts of Asia, will commit their observations to writing, and send them

to the Asiatic Society at Calcutta. guishif such communications shall be

ball entirely cease.” —

me OP Sin Wm. Jones.

PRINTED BY C. B, LEWIS, BAPTIST MISSION PRESS.

1859,

CONTENTS.

Amherst, Itinerary in the District of, ...........ccsssenssssecconses

Asses, Wild, different Animals ae BE ic shiv naeeh See

Botanical Notes made during one month’s tour tite ree

main to the three Pagodas and Shan States, ...............

Bundeleund, account of Pergunnah Mahoba,. zillah Heer.

POPS AN}. ace a3 e

Peseherment of a Avene Aman: ane in 4 i

teenth century with a translation and notes, ...............

Great Rorqual of Indian Ocean, on the,... eRe

Hindu dramatists, sig of three early, Bhasa, Taeluile

MME OMB R | daice nich wed pod veras oi MER ad era hinfdcin nears fel seianocais

Helicide, description of some new eatin ee aes with

remarks on some previously described species,

Influence of Mountain-Attraction on the determination of ue

relative heights of Mount Everest near Darjeeling and

the lofty peak lately discovered near Kashmir,

India, Introduction of writing into,.........

Indian Are, second letter on,

Reply to Mr. Pratt’s Telkae 6 on, SAE ease vis

Patna; Letter containing inquiries into a rumour respecting

the stoppage of, in the year 1858,

Memorandum on the nature and effects of ane gods

ing of, on 10th August, 1858, as ascertained at Attok

and its neighbourhood,

SE MIPIGAEN, VOOR OMI IAL, Vdd) Ud Aub sd okind tock. ddd teddy vale val

Page

4:21

229

457

199

317

1V Contents.

Page

Literary Intelligence,.............: Ber re oe.

Lucknow, Notes on ie Blass of, with Catalogues of the cul-

tivated and indigenous plants, ............ Be Oo

Memorandum on Education in China drawn up from nadine:

tion afforded by the ex-Imperial Commissioner Yebh,...... 48

Meteorological Observations (Abstract) taken at the Sur-

veyor General’s office, Calcutta, for the months of June

to December, 1858... sau woseenes LOM INGO, ROVI:

from Janae i May, 1859, =. ah i. COX axl:

Orissa, Notes and Queries suggested oak a Visit to, in Janu-

ary, 1859... seogtee nied vasni-oomeeepeeene eee

Persian Gulf, enor on ne Geese specimens sone Sats . “AL

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

—— for December 1858, and January 1859, ............ 584

ae February, March, April and May, 1859, ...... 156

——- June, July and August, 1859, 0 ...../5.. ee 254,

September oo. 102.0. sa 0s) Qe Oe

————- October, November, Be cen. vs eneetnee, OVS

Reviews of recently published Sanskrit works, .....,............ 501

Shwe Dagon Pagoda, History of, . pais te hee a be ieee 473

S‘rustikta, or Litany to Fortune ; bot and comnentary via

translation, ......... As See PL 21

Swayamvara of the ee tlds mah ay han. in ee an-

cient’ world generally: ies. ss5. eee seek cos oes ee a ae

INDEX TO NAMES OF CONTRIBUTORS.

Alabaster, C. Esq., Memorandum on Edueation in China drawn

up from information afforded at, the ex-Imperial Commis-

sioner Yeh, outed eee AS

Anderson, Thos. M. D., ee on Le oe of yield with

Catalogues of the cultivated and indigenous Plants, ...... 89

Contents.

Becher, Major J. R. Engrs., Letter containing enquiries into

a rumour ak the stoppage of the River Indus in

the year 1858, . Peas ae

Blyth, Edward Esq., on ‘the diferent seed botee ne as , Wild

Asses,

—_—_—__—_———— On the great Rorqual of Indian Ocean, ...

Carter, H. J. Esq., Report on Geological specimens from the

Persian Gulf, collected by Lieut. C. G. Constable, I. N.,

Cowell, E. B., M. A., On the Swayamvara of the ancient Hin-

dus and its traces in the ancient world generally, .........

Freeling, J. H. Esq., B. C.S8., Account of Pergunnah Maho-

ba, zillah Humeerpore, Bundoleuid. enero

Hall, Fitz Edward, M. A., Deciphaaniauts of a siisket. oe

scription, dated in the fourteenth century with a trans-

lation and TOtes, .......6.-

Ditto, Ditto, Fragments of fires San iad: atnatists iw.

sa, Ramila and Somila, eee

Ditto, Ditto, S’ri-sikta or Litany to Bivviie. ott Ba com-

mentary with translation, ey AES A Ree

Henderson, Captain W., Engineers, Meta aninduan< on ile na-

ture and effects of the Flooding of the Indus, on 10th

August, 1858, as ascertained at Attok and its neighbour-

hood,. rae FOS aelircacleclcisa, <sidoee

Long, ee fe ores sae eaters sug ie by a Visit to

Orissa in January 1859,. :

Miller, Professor, Max, All Souls Oued on bate ieteedction

of writing into India, ............. siete tice

Mason, Rev. Dr. F., A sketch of icon, ire : Bae

Parish, Rev. C., Botanical Notes during a month’s tour from

Maulmain to the three Pagodas and in Shan States, ......

Phayre, Col. A. P., History of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, ......

Pratt, Ven’ble Archdeacon J. H., M. A., Second letter on the

On the Influence of

Mountain-Attraction on the determination of the rela-

tive heights -of Mount Everest near Darjeeling, and the

lofty peak, lately discovered near Kashmiir,..........e.06) 0+

Page

229

481

V1 Contents.

Page

Raverty, Capt. H. G., Notes on Kafiristan,............seessecenses S17

Tennant, Capt. F. P., Bengal Engineer, Reply to Mr. Pratt’s

letter to the Asiatic Journal on the Indian Are of Meri-

dian, are >. 17

Tickell, Major S. R., Teneo in ee eet of icone

Temaggerl, . 4:0): 0<eailes ola njsleig sacl omtaeiar dass dep hss oe EER meee

Theobald, W. Jr., Esq. rece eae of some new Buse an

Indian Helicidz with remarks on some previously describ-

Cd SPCCIEB,, «y.-. «nids\os bhai diemsmentanbee Meiee sien on Jo des + Galery, |UD

NN IN ee

JOURNAL

OF THE

mola liG. SOCTHT Y.

PPP PS ISLS PPS LL SAIS SLI INI NL IOS OILS III

Nowe Lead.

PL PDADAI DADO I LPP LIVIA NAPPI INI ID IL SOL I PS NII ILI

Decipherment of a Sanskrit Inscription dated in the fourteenth

century, with a translation and notes— By Firz-Epwarp Hatt,

Hisq. M. A.

The inscription here published was dug from the ruins of a temple

in the village of Harsauda, which hes about ten and a half miles

from the town of Charwa, in the district of Hoshungabad. I am

indebted for it to Maulavi Muhammad Mazhar Jamil, the energetic

Assistant Superintendant of Hurda and Hindia. The stone on

which it is incised is now in my possession. A. superficies measuring

about eleven inches by thirteen comprehends the writing; beneath

which are rude outlines of S‘iva, and of seven other divinities, six

male and one female, supporting him on either side.

Devapala, the ruler mentioned in this monument, does not seem

to be identifiable with any medieval prince of the same name,

hitherto discovered. Nor has it been ascertained whether he

belonged to the royal house of Malava which included the last

Bhoja and his son Udaydditya in its lineage. From the manner in

which he is spoken of it might, however, be inferred that his descent

was not a source of particular pride; or it would have been detailed

with the usual degree of amplification.

As the substance of this inscription is meagre, so is its language.

And it is not only meagre. A number of deviations from the

No. XCVI.—New Serizs, Vou. XXVIII. B

2 Decipherment of « Sanskrit Inscription. [Nowt.

standard purity of the classical idiom will not fail to be perceived

by the learned reader.*

ATA | aa: fara |

(KS N gt AW

VARAGAITAH WATT THAT: |

iN a ES han

@ ag waatqar Sos grasa face! vk

Wicd} Waat Hats TaAMTatsarxey |

AUIS CASA Fae Al Cafe | R |

aU: AMifaatTAsyEA fe fratias: |

aN OL tent EN

fafaat wat SA: W AT STPIAATHS: |) 3 Il

° Ss

aqq wyqanafaneiernagy Roy amas x Wat

eafamasiat aaaswedaeafanaiga eTeTast-

Cfacisa aa Cas CHA Sle TACIT UTA aC CaaS AE-

° g

Siwaqrawareaqcasyaysaequisequcatat agyay-

aaaaapasaacies Ufa |

aya YAR SSMU WH |

~ EN QL ANON ~

qae faaarat g ata fra <a) 2 |

oN ~ ALN

Tada aaa faaesa |

LN Tes g iter XY RD

ala euNars gq fawy wlecaqad 14 1

=. (J iz ~ nf :

BASeye Taataly Ureita Yaa: |

Wa: IAMS ARH GAT: GAA | <I

delta: Beatasaya

sifaeatsagaataa fa:

AUISsMRISAT sfust TSAI

* A few faults of the engraver are here noted as specimens. The first stanza

has yTayfa facta ; in the third it may be that he ought to have written fafaur:

and the seventh immetrically exhibits @wq, In the twelfth stanza the original has

QAVIS YU. This must be corrected as in my text, or else to GABA:

1859. ] Decipherment of a Sanskrit Inscription. 3

Sivaatar AsAtaaiia: io i

AGTH! RLATATAA AT

afaqua agate cfe: |

alata cat uafanat Fer

Yaa: PASAT: | S|

Aasalle AA Ya ANITA FTAA |

afaait<aaieu WwWA BEX GT: ye |

SUTaTE TUE eufanrTe THAT |

WAC SsaTs Waircaifafyad Te: | ro |

dafaurat eaacsauaTagca

QUIATAS BMT AHMAD STARA | ee |

MAAC AAAI fayaauAtTa FT |

TATU ATA RAPTA IT TACT TH || VR I

TH Ad ALT: TaATHi

AMS Ul AT: Wad aa |

aera al wad Bufas

GAT AAA TIST | USI

aes eIaa Bat aA feaeqat |

AAT WUT TMS MAA SaMAaaAT || ve |

au Wag Searsaae eses | faa |

TRANSLATION.

Om! Adoration to S’iva!

1. Persistently do I supplicate Heramba,* the son of Parvati;

him who is reverently saluted, by the gods, at the outset of all

undertakings.

* A name of Ganes’a, the mythological patron of letters, and, more particularly

the remover of obstacles.

+ The dau,hter of Himalaya, and wife of S’iva.

4 Decipherment of a Sanskrit Inscription. [No. 1.

2. May Bharati,* who dispels the darkness of the world’s stoli-

dity, as the light of the sun dissipates the gloom of night, confer

upon you celebrity for increase in the power of discourse.

3. May the matted locks of Pinakin,f resembling, in colour, black

bees on the water-lily, and adorning the quarters; and his menacing

utterances ; and the regulated evolutions of him whose abode is on

the yambu-bearing mountain ;{ bestow upon you prosperity.

In the year twelve hundred and seventy-five, or, in numerals,

1275; on Saturday, the fifth day of the moon’s increase in Marga :§

when, in the happily|| thriving czty of Dhara, was held the govern-

ment—whose fortunes and successes were greatly increasing through-

out the earth—of the feet of the fortunate Devapala Deva; endowed

with all excellencies; resplendent with the decoration of the five

great titles which he had obtained ;{] supreme sovereign, great king,

* Or Saraswati; the goddess of learning. A victim to the incestuous passion

of her father, Brahma, she is fabled to have been childless.

+ That is, S‘iva; from pindka, his bow, or trident.

t This is an epithet of Pinakin, with which word it might, in translating, have

been placed in opposition.

Mandara, or else Merumandara, is the mountain on which stands, according to

the Puranas, a gigantic jambu-tree, the Eugenia Jamboo.

There is an allusion here to the boisterous dance of S’‘iva, the édndava,

§ Or Margas'irsha, as below.

|| The position and use, in this place, of swasti, ‘happily,’ are peculiar. An-

other interpretation is, however, admissible.

§ The Sanskrit of the words from ‘ endowed’ to ‘obtained’ is identical with a

clause which Colebrooke renders with an expression of distrust as to his under-

standing the whole of it. See his Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. II., p. 303, note.

It may be erroneous to take samastapras'astopeta as an independent expression.

Again, but for the order of the original words, it might be considered that ‘ the

five great titles’ are enumerated in ‘ supreme sovereign,’ Xc, Only four of these

denominations are, however, specified, on some oceasions where the five titles are

spoken of in proximate connexion with them. See, for instance, Colebrooke

ubi supra.

Mr, Walter Elliot says: “Lord of the pancha mahds‘abda, or ‘ five great

sounds,’ is a title always joined with that of mahd-mandales’wara, and never with

that of the sovereign, in any of the more modern inscriptions. It does, however,

occur among the titles of Pulakes‘in, in the copper inscription of Capt. Jervis.”

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. IV. p. 33, note. All that can safely be

1859. ] Decipherment of a Sanskrit Inscription. 5

chief ruler, lord paramount, emperor ; to whom majesty was derived

from the boon of the favour of the auspicious Liswaya:* or, ea-

pressed metrically ;

4. In the S’aka year twelve hundred and seventy-five, called Chi-

trabhanu,f in the light fortnight of ALdrgas'irsha,

5. és fifth day and Saturday{ concurring, under the asterism

whose superintending divinity is Vishnu,§ during the yoga|| termed

Harshana, and the karana¥ over which Dhatri holds the presidency ;*

the matter under record was transacted.

said touching the phrase in discussion is, that its import is not yet determined, nor

the grounds which were reputed as authorizing a ruler to affect its appropriation.

* Perhaps the king’s mother ; possibly, the local name of some goddess. But

the Sanskrit is hardly decipherable with any certainty,

+ As the present inscription came from the south of the Nerbudda, it is deserv-

ing of remark that its style of date is at variance with the alleged local variations

in reckoning the cycle of Brihaspati. See the Asiatic Researches, vol. III. p. 217;

8vo. edition.

{ In the original, Antaka, or Yama; the name of the regent of Saturday. For

convenience of reference, the regents of the days of the week are subjoined :

Sunday. S’iva.

Monday. Durga.

Tuesday. Guha.

Wednesday. Vishnu.

Thursday. Brahma,

Friday. Indra.

Saturday. Yama.

§ This constellation is the twenty-third, or Sravana.

|| For the meaning of this technicality, and for a list of the yogas, see Cole-

brooke’s Miscellaneous Essays, vol. II. pp. 362 and 363.. Also see Col. Warren’s

Kala-sankalita, p. 74.

§] Called, in the Sanskrit, by its less usual name, ¢ithyardha, or ‘half a lunar

day ;’ the length of its duration. See Colebrooke’s Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. II.

p- 364.

* Dhatri is Brahm4; and his Karana is Balava. The Karanas and their

tutelars are particularized below :

Variable Karanas. Tutelars.

1. Bava. Indra.

2. Balava. Brahma.

3. Kaulava, Mitra, the sun.

4. Taitila. Aryaman, the sun,

6 Decipherment of a Sanskrit Inseription. [No. 1.

6. In the auspicious fown of Undapura* there lived, in time past,

a person by name Dhosin; renowned, in the world, for every virtue,

and highly considered by the saints in heaven.}

7. His lawfully begotten son was the fortunate Bilhana; pure of

purpose, and, in form, the peer of Ananga.t And his son was the

fortunate Dhalla, so called; high-souled among merchants, and of

repute challenging respect.

8. His younger brother, who bore the appellation of Kes’ava,

was @ man of guileless mind in affairs of traffic, kind to the people,

an abode of merit, ever devoted to the gods of the earth,§ and

warmly attached to his own relatives.

4, Regarding his perishable body as like a drop of water on the

leaf of the lotus, the well-starred|| Kes’ava applied his heart to

pious observances.

10. In the neighbourhood of Harshapura he constructed a

superb* temple to S’‘ambhu, and a reservoir like the sea.

5. Gara. Bhi, the earth.

6. Vanija. Rama.

7. Vishti or Bhadra. Yama.

Invariable Karanas.

1, S’akuni. Kali.

2. Chatushpada. Ukshan.

3. Naga. Naga.

4. Kinstughna. Maruta.

* This is not to be mistaken for what is now vulgarly called Indore; a corrup-

tion, it is said, of Indravara.

+ Viloka, ‘the other world ;’ heaven, or hell, according to circumstances. In

the acceptation of paraloka, this word has no place in our dictionaries.

{ ‘The bodiless;’ an appellation of the Hindu Eros, whom S’iva reduced

to ashes.

§ A magnificent epithet of Brahmans.

|| To translate sx-janman, conformably to its etymology, by ‘ well-born,’ would

convey a wrong impression in our idiom. .

{ So I render des’a-vibhage, at a venture. ‘In a section of the place’ would be

a strict translation. ‘The fifth case after this term may be accounted for by the

particle vz which it embodies, But the Sanskrit is impure.

* Closely, ‘ pleasing to the people.’

1859. | Decipherment of a Sanskrit Inscription. 7

11. Near him* he caused idols to be set up of Hanumat, Kshetra-

pala, Ganes’wara, Krishna, &c., Nakulis’a, and Ambika.+

12. For his general benevolence, his bounty, his constant enter-

tainments to Bréhmans, his adoration of the gods, and his offerings

to fire, he acquired the highest renown.

13. The following words of good faith Kes’ava addresses to the

community: ‘as for human kind who look upon this my temple,

well known over the face of the earth, may these worthy people at

no time whatever think ill of it.’

14. This elegant eulogy was composed by the learned Deva

S’arman, had in esteem by the great,{ and the augmenter of my

good fame.

* The writer’s meaning is, ‘near the image of S’ambhu, sheltered by this temple.’

+ Kshetrapala, or ‘the guardian of the soil,’ is, at least now-a-days, a personage

of uncertain or various identification. At Benares he is one with Bindu-madhava,

among the Vaishnavas; and, with the S’aivas, the same as Bhairava, The latter

view has the support of the Batuka-bhairava-stotra. In many places, as I know

from personal observation, the name of this agrestic protector is bestowed on

figures of Hanumat.

The unnamed divinity, coupled with Krishna, is Garuda. His place is at the

right hand of the principal image of a group, as that of Hanumat is at the

left hand.

Ganes’wara is Ganes’a, elongated for the sake of the metre.

Of Nakulis’a, as here intended, I can affirm nothing positive. But it is not

necessary to presume a mistake, in this place, for nakules’a or ‘ lord Nakula,’ one

of the forms of S’iva: since this god, as S’ambhu, is already embraced in the

sacred company under description. In Nagoji Bhatta’s scholia on the Chandi-

patha, ad finem, is a passage, purporting to be taken from the Véréhi-tantra, in

which the Destroyer is called Nakulis’a, as being the consort of Nakulf, a Tan-

trika name of Durgd. Nakulis’a—written, perhaps, Nakules’a also—is, again,

an inferior manifestation of S‘iva. Further, in what is stated to be an extract from

the Vdmana-purdna, Nakulis’a is given as the title of one of S’iva’s bands of

attendants; that which is stationed at the west of him. Once more, Nakuli—as

distinctly appears from the Nakuli-vdgiswart-paddhati—being Saraswati, Naku-

lis‘a is one with Brahma. The worship of this divinity has, however, long been

disused. I have never seen but a single temple to him, that at Pohkar, near

Ajmere.

Ambika is Parvati. See the first couplet, and a note on it.

¢ This phrase may also import ‘ well-affected towards the great.’ As the

8 Decipherment of a Sanskrit Inscription. [No. 1.

May happiness ever attend the scribe and the reader of this com-

position. Be there auspiciousness !

Fort-Saugor, September 2nd, 1857.

inscription has so much to say of traders, it is just possible that Mahdjana may

intend this class of persons, and not ‘ great’ or ‘ respectable.’ The word, it should

seem, sometimes bears this sense in Sanskrit; but, perhaps, by insensible or

ignorant adoption of the signification attached to it in the spoken languages. See

Colebrooke’s Digest of Hindu Law, &c., Vol. II. p. 308, foot note; Svo. edition.

The continuous notation, observed on the stone, of the metrical portion of this

record has been followed in the transcript now edited.

These fourteen stanzas are all in the Vaktra measure, three of those which

succeed the prose being excepted. That numbered as the seventh is S'ubhd or

Buddhi, I shall recur, on a future occasion, to the class of mixed metres to

which this appertains. The metre of the eighth stanza is likewise composite, a

species of wpajdti, but of which I can discover no specific appellation. Its first

and fourth quarters are Indravajrd ; its second, Vans’astha ; and the third, Indra-

vans'd. The thirteenth stanza is Sdlini.

I avail myself of this opportunity to rectify an error into which I have fallen

regarding the acceptation of the phrase pdddnudhydta. See p. 226 of vol.

xxvii. of this Journal, foot-note. My opinion there expressed, besides having

the weighty support of Colebrooke, was based upon an examination of all the

instances, accessible to me when I wrote, of the employment of this locution,

But it appears, from two examples occurring in the same inscription, that it some-

times indicates merely a kindred successor, or, perhaps, only a successor. Where,

of two brothers, elder and younger, the latter accedes to the throne in sequence to

the former, the words pdddnudhydta are, in the cases alluded to, used to denote

their relation as consecutive princes. See the Journal of the Bombay Branch of

the Royal Asiatic Society, for January, 1851, pp. 219 and 220.

1859. ], A Sketch of Toungoo: History. By

A. Sketeh of Toungoo History.— By Rev. Dr. F. Mason.

To the Editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Srr,—Perhaps none have read Capt. Yule’s paper on the ancient

Buddhist remains at Pagén with more interest than myself, espe-

cially his invaluable historical note. Iam full in the belief that

when we become better acquainted with the Talaing and Burmese

historic literature, we shall have a history of the country nearly

as accurate as Macaulay’s, if not quite so poetic. Native histories

are difficult to be obtained, when obtained difficult to read, and

when read, difficult to translate, so as to interest European readers.

When I came up to Toungoo in 1853. I read two different histories

of the country in Burmese, but have never before offered a sketch

of their contents to the press, for the reason given above. Capt.

Yule’s article, however, exhibits so clearly the lack of historical

documents on this country, that every contribution, however small,

to supply the deficiency, cannot but be acceptable. It is to be

regretted that so few thoroughly versed in the languages have Jeisure

to do any thing in this department, we are indebted to Col. Burney

and Major Phayre for nearly all we know of Burmese history.

Capt. Yule is surprised to find all the details of the architecture

at Pagan of Hindu origin; but there is little reason for astonish-

ment when it is known that Anoratha, or Anoratha Sau men,*

when he established Buddhisin in Pagan, built all the Pagodas and

temples in Pagan after the exact models of those then existing in

Thatung or Satung, of the same size, and in the same order. Such.

is the testimony of Talaing tradition, and L believe of Talaing history.

There is proofon the pages of your Journal, that he sent to ‘Thatung

for Rahans and priests versed in the Pitakat to teach his people,

aud that he obtained the descendantst of Sona and Uttara, the

first Buddhist missionaries from Central India to Burinah. As

Thatung was then the principal city in the country for religion, it

probably held a similar distinetion in the arts, and as Solomon sent

* g9¢99q,00G6]0C

+ May, 1834. ‘‘ Inscription from Ramree Island.”’

t Erroneously rendered in the Journal. “ Through the instrumentality of

Sonathera and Uttarather, and their disciples and survivors.”

10 A Sketch of Toungoo History. [ No. 1.

for his builders to Tyre, so Anoratha procured his from Thatung ;

while there is room for little doubt that Thatung was originally a

Hindu colony, and it is quite certain that it was in frequent com-

munication with Ceylon. Capt. Yule says: “ Suvannabumme,”’ he

adds, but unfortunately stating no authority, “1s still the classic

Pali name of Satung.”’ No better authority will be required than

that furnished by your Journal. The inseription from Ramree

Island* was made subsequent to A. D. 1786, and in that Suvanna-

bumi stands as the classic name of Thatung. “ In the sacred

era 236,” as we read, “ religion was established by the venerable

Sona and the venerable Uttara in Suvannabume, the Thatung

country.’

There is great confusion and often contradiction of dates in all

the native histories through the carelessness of copyists. We cannot

be certain of au approximation to accuracy without comparing

different copies, and different histories.

Yours very sincerely,

Toungoo, December 15th, 1857. F. Mason.

History oF TounGeoo.

The history opens with a brief epitomy of Gaudama’s life, and

states that he came to the country of Toungoo, here denominated

Zeyavatana.t When he reached the place where old Toungoo

was subsequently built, he said to his favourite disciple Unanda :

“ Here thou and I were brother white cocks in a former state, each

with five hundred followers, and fed in this place. Hereafter my

relies will be enshrined here and worshipped.’ Crossing the

river, on the east side, on the site of the present famous Pagodas

of Myatso-nyie-noung,§ he said to Ananda: “Thou and I were

* See note + above.

+ Rendered in the Journal: “ In the country of Suvanna bumi (in Burmah

called Sathum).”

t C@OOIOS Cyd

g (God26\a8cp06

1859.] A Sketch of Toungoo History. 11

born white cocks in this place, and here we came at night to roost.

Hereafter my relics will be enshrined here and worshipped.”

After stating that the Pagodas were not built in the days of

Dwattaboung, the founder of Prome, A. C. 443, the history passes

to Dammasoka. ‘In the sacred era 223 [A. C. 320], Dammasoka,

the universal monarch, residing at Palibrotha, having obtained the

relics, called up the rulers of eighty-four thousand countries and

provinces, and gave to each eight portions of the relics, com-

manding them to return aud enshrine them in their respective

countries, building over them Pavodas, and digging wells and tanks

in their vicinity. The Toungoo chiefs took their relies and built

four Pagodas over them in the places previously mentioned by

Gaudama.”’

From Asoka the history passes abruptly to Narapadiesethu king

of Pagan, whose classic name is here given Tampadiepa* country.

He descended the Irrawaddy A. D. 1191, and guided by astrological

prognostications, came up the Sitang to the Toungoo Pagodas,

which being in ruins he repaired them, and on leaving, appointed

one of his ministers, Nandathurieyaf governor of the country,

who made Kampamyen?, on the Sitang in the north part of the

province, the seat of his government. He was succeeded at his

death by Men Hlazo § of whom nothing is said, but that his son

Thawonlenkya|| ruled after him. Thawonlenkya, changed his capital

and settled on the north side of Htswa creek, twenty or thirty

miles north of the present Toungoo. Here he founded a city which

he called Kya-khat-wara,f] where people gathered to him in great

* g8o

+ pRogAoo

t MOd\GE

§ oC ced)

| D6coayC

1 Jo050q,

12 A Sketch of Toungoo History. [ No.ab.

numbers from every direction. Warieyu,* king of Martaban,

came up, destroyed the city, and carried away the ruler and his

family to the town of Thu, between Shwegyen and Sitang. his

event is placed A. D. 1256. According to 'Talaing history, this

king there called Wareyo, did not come to the throne till A. D.

1281. The same king appears, though not by name, in the

‘Inscription on the great bell brought from Aracan,+ according

to which he did not ascend the throne of Pegu till A. D. 1870; but

the same event in the history of Martaban is placed in 1289. If

the bell inscription be asumed as the most correct, then Toungoo

history must be out a whole century or more.

While in captivity, Thawonlenkya had two sons born unto him,

the great Thawonf and the little Thawon; and when about to die,

he charged his sons, saying, “This is not our country but Ramey,

20 to Zeyawatana, If you wish to be good men, go up the river

Athawatie Poung-loung,§ and follow up Khaboung creek till you

reach a small mountain spur [Toungoo}.’’|| In accordance with

their father’s iustructions, after his death, they came up the river

Sitang and established themselves at the place indicated, A. D. 1278.

Another character is now introduced. <A teacher at the town of

the Htieling, said to one of his pupils, Karen-ba, “ If you go south

you will become a good man.” He went south, and after remaining

some time at Kentha, finally removed, and took up his abode in the

south-east of Kaylen, naming the place the Karen city. Tradition

says that this man was a Karen, his name which signifies “ Karen-

father,’ and his founding a city, called “ Karen city,” confirms the

* Ol a9 In Talaing history OGG) GE) 9

+ Journal of A. S. of Bengal, April 1833. The translator places the event in

1622 by omitting a figure in the date, and changing the era, The text says in

the sacred era 1913 fewe. 909920050e9 20g¢ | but the translator

drops the first figure, and then renders it as the vulgar era.

$ 0005

§ lo000BEdIEsea0d€ ive. the Sitang.

| GODS e

1859. | A Sketch of Toungoo History. 13

tradition, yet many Burmese say he was a Burman, and his name

Karen-ba, an epithet and not his proper name.

When the brothers heard of Karen-ba’s proceedings, they com-

municated with him, and entered into an agreement to found a city

together. After traversing the whole region in search of a suitable

locality, they ultimately determined on the site of old Toungoo

some twenty-five miles north-west of the present city, where they

founded “ Great Toungoo,’’ A. D. 1281. It is said they built mat

houses on each of the four sides of the city to the four great guar-

dian spirits, or Nats, making offerings to each; which proves they

were not pure Buddhists.

The elder brother was killed by the younger and died A. D. 1317.

‘The younger brother survived seven years dying A. D. 1824; and

his widow and son being discovered in a conspiracy to assassinate

Karen-ba, they were both put to death. Karen-ba died a natural

death A. D. 1842; but the next two kings. who succeeded him were

murdered after short reigns; when Thimpanka came to the throne,

in whose days the kingdom flourished. He exchanged ambassadors

with the Talaings, the Burmans and the Yunes;* and conquered

the five provinces of Yelway.t Associated with the Talaings, he

made war on the king of Prome, Tsau yan noung,f took him and

put him to death A. D. 1870. Passing over two other kings, we

meet with ‘Men Bouneg,§ who sent presents to the king of Ava

Tswatsokay|| to maintain peace, and also to Byanya-oo,{ king of

Pegu. This king, according to Talaing history, died A. D. 1388,

which synchronises with this history. This Men Boung patrouised

the cultivation of the lands, it is said, as well as the making of offer-

# 66 OQ Cochin China,” says Judson, but I take them to be Shans,

F oqycy

t cdla$esoc

§ o€co00€

r QICOIOD

4 qoo08

14 A. Sketch of Toungoo History. [No. 1.

ings. While absent at Myahla, a town inthe northern portion of the

province,—where our present Deputy Commissioner, Capt. D’Oyly,

is founding a Shan colony—the Shans entered Toungoo and assum-

ed the reins of government, but he returued suddenly in a single

night, attacked the Shans, and defeated them with great slaughter.

He died A. D. 1892. Passing on, we find A. D. 1428 the king of

Toungoo allied with Byanya-yan* king of Pegu in a war against

Prome. ‘The Pegu king, who, according to Talaing history, reigned

between A. D. 1418 and 1450, besides land forces, brought fifty war-

boats against the city ; and the king of Toungoo brought two hun-

dred elephants, one thousand horsemen, and twenty-nine thousand

infantry. They took the city and carried off much plunder.

A daughter of the king of Toungoo having married the son of

Narapadi king of Ava, Toungoo became a dependency of Ava. Na-

rapadi died, it is said A. D. 1468, and the Ava Chronicles, as trans-

lated by Col. Burney, represent him as reigning in 1449.

After twenty-nine kings had reigned Zeyathuraf came to the

throne, an independent sovereign, A. D. 1485. He removed his

capital, first to the mouth of Kaboung creek where he built Dwaya-

wadie,t and next to the site of the present city of Toungoo, which

he built and named Ketumatie§ [i. e. Possessed of the royal banner]

A. D. 1502 says one history, A. D. 1510 says another. This name

was retained in official documents, but Toungoo, the name of the

first city transferred to it in common use, though being situated in

a plain, far from the mountains, it is inappropriate. One hundred

and seven thousand, five hundred and twenty-four persons were said

to have been employed in building the city. Zeyathura had several

brdhmans at lis court, and they exercised considerable influence

* qjpoe|

7 CAOYI2YS}

7 2 0003 The same name appears to have been given to Sandoway.

See Journal May, 1854.

§ Ganaqec3 This name appears to have been previously given to Pagan.

Journal April, 1838.

1859. | A. Sketch of Toungoo History. 15

over the religion of the people. On my arrival, in 1853, I found a

ruined building in the north-west corner of the citv, which contained

decayed wooden images of Vishnu, and some other Hindu gods, to

which the inhabitants were in the habit, formerly, of making offer-

ings; and in the account of the ceremonies at the completion of

the city, it is said that Ganesa was placed on a stone slab on the

south side of the city. In the centre was an image of Gaudama

with the Pitakata before him. The people were assembled without

the walls and a procession formed, with the king at the head, who

entered the city at the principal gate on the east side. When he

reached the outer gate of the palace, the brahmans and the chief

architect exclaimed: ‘ Let the ruler of this land and water, the

excellent king of the law, possessing great glory, ascend into the

golden palace which he has built; that he may observe the ten

laws of kings, that he may give, during the whole of his life pros-

perity to religion and to the inhabitants of the country.’ At the

foot of the palace steps, he did homage to ‘ Brahma, Indra, Devas

aud to the three objects of Buddhist worship, exclaiming: “I

worship the Buddha, I worship the law, I worship the priesthood.”

Soon after the completion of the city, the king was involved in a

war with Ava, then ruled by Narapati, the “Shwe-nau-kyany-shang,

proper uname Narapati” of Crawfurd’s table, there said to have

ascended the throne A. D. 1501, which synehronises with Toungoo

history, and goes far to confirm the statements of both. A.D. 1503,

Zeyathura went out to meet the kiug of Ava with twelve hundred

fighting elephants, six thousand horsemen, and fifty thousand foot,

who was defeated and entered into a treaty. Another war was

followed by another treaty, and the king of Ava finally gave his

daughter in marriage to the king of Toungoo; who died A. D. 1531.

Mentara his son ascended the throne, and conquered Pegu to

which city he removed the seat of his government; and gave

Toungoo to “the Shan Menyay-thie-ha-thu,’’* who, at his death,

appointed his younger son Thie-ha-thu, his successor. After a short

period his elder brother Htsen-phu-shen took the reins of govern-

ment, but when he obtained the throne of Pegu he restored Toungoo

* god qo80009

16 A Sketch of Toungoo History. [No. 1.

to his brother, who ruled under the name of Menkhaung.* This

was A. D. 1551, and Talaing history has a Hsen-phu-shen king of

Pegu, who died A. D. 1562.

Menkhaung was succeeded by his son Menyay-kyau-ten,f who

built a large palace in the middle of the city, the ruins of which

still remain. He was succeeded by his elder brother, Natshen-

maha-damma-yaza.{ In the year 1601, the son of Nyounyan-maha-

damma-yaza,§ king of Ava, came against Toungoo, and took it. In

Crawfurd’s table, Nyoung-yan, there “ Naung-ram,’’ ascended the

throne of Ava A. D. 1597, quite in agreement with this history.

He left Natshen in charge of the city, but took his mother and

his two brothers Menyay-kyau-ten,|| and Menyay-kyau-tswa,Q] and

placed them in the city of Penya.* In the year 1611, intelligence

was seut up from Toungoo to Ava that the Portuguese and Ara-

canese were about to come against the city. The king gave orders

for succours to be sent to Toungoo in charge of Menyay-kyau-ten,

but before he arrived, Toungoo had been taken, and Natshen with

all his court carried captive to Syriam, A. D. 1612. In the same

year the king of Ava took Syriam, and “having done in it as he:

wished,”’ returned with many captives.

The next and last date in the book is A. D. 1637, where it is

stated, that all the officers of government received their appoint-

ments from Ava, to which place all the taxes collected were to be

carried. With the complete subjugation of the country to Ava,

the history closes.

* oCedlé

+ OC Aeaqsore

t go3qCour00 gga

§ cpo0€q Sewslogqa@)

| OC Acagqisore

1 OC A c0qog1

* O6 300

1859.| Reply to Mr. Pratt’s letter to the Asiatic Journal. 17

Reply to Mr. Pratt’s letter to the Asiatic Journal on the Indian Are

of Meridian.—By Captain F. P. Tennanr, Bengal Engineers,

F. R.A. S. lst Assistant G. LT. Survey of India.

A couple of days ago, I received the copy of the letter from Mr.

Pratt to the Secretary of the Asiatic Journal. As Iam not a member

of the Society I should be much obliged by your communicating the

following answer.

1. I must explain; that the direction of the plumbline at any

point of the earth’s apparent surface is determined by combined

action, of the centrifugal force resulting from the earth’s revolution

round its axis, and the attraction of every particle of the matter con-

stituting the earth. These are the only forces in action; and the

result would be; were all the mater in the earth free to arrange

itself; that the figure would be rigorously an ellipsoid of revolution,

whose ellipticity would depend on the law of the earth’s density in

approaching the centre.

2. The earth however is not fluid. The position of every particle

of by far the greatest portion of matter is almost unchangeable. In

addition to this, there are many projections from the general surface,

and depressions below it, as well as internal irregularities of struc-

ture. All these are small with reference to the enormous mass of

the earth itself which may therefore be most simply considered

as an ellipsoid of revolution + superfluities of matter in certain

positions — certain deficiencies. So also the total attraction of the

earth is the resultant of the attractions of the ellipsoid and the

separate irregularities.

3. Were the ellipsoid alone existent, the plumbline would be

every where normal to its surface, that bemg one of the conditions

of equilibrium, but in consequence of these irregularities the

direction of the plumbline is changed and there is hardly any point

of the earth’s apparent surface where it is perpendicular to the sur-

face of the fundamental ellipsoid.

4, In geodesical operations we project all our stations, and con-

sequently tle arcs joining them on a surface which is always

perpendicular to the plumbline; that surface being selected which

18 Reply to Mr. Pratt’s letter to the Asiatic Journal. [No.1.

is defined by the mean sea level ; and it is on this consequently that

our arcs are measured. As this differs from the fundamental ellip-

soid, only in consequence of the attractions of the irregularities, it

follows, that, could we remove all the consequences of the attrac-

tions of all the irregularities, we should have the lengths and

amplitudes of our ares as though they were measured on the fun-

damental undisturbed ellipsoid. very difference is caused by some

irregularity ; and this is certain, though we may be unable to assign its

origin. That we shall ever be able to account for all these differences

I do not expect. Omniscience alone could assign the places and masses

of all the portions of the earth—but, that irregularities sufficient to

account entirely for every deviation from the fundamental form

exist appears a result of the laws of matter absolutely unquestionable.

5. The case of the form of the earth is thus assimilated to that

of the orbit of a planet. Did the solar centre of our system alone

exist with one planet, this last body would describe a rigorous ellipse

about the sun; but, in consequence of the existence of other pla-

nets, this mean ellipse nowhere satisfies observation, but we can al-

ways find an ellipse which will correspond to three observations. but

will soon exhibit sensible deviations from observation. It is univer-

sally recognized that this is a legitimate consequence of the law of

gravitation. No one for many years has ventured to doubt that the

apparent irregularity of a planet’s motion is caused by the attrac-

tion of other planets. Theory has fully accounted for all the devi.

ations; and lately, when the observed positions of the planet

Uranus were found undoubtedly to differ from the computed places

after all kuown corrections were applied, Astronomers did not assert

that the orbit was nearly but not quite an ellipse, that the law of

change could not be assigned, &c.; on the contrary, the develop-

ment of the irregularity brought about a general tendency to seek

its cause, and finally, Messrs. Adams and Leverrier predicted within

narrow limits, the place and mass of the disturbing planet which we

now call Neptune. Had they followed the course Mr. Pratt seems

to take, they would have upheld the irregularity of the orbit; and,

what is now a triumph for the universal law of gravitation, would

have been a reproach to science.

6. The uncorrected data of any two ares close together will give

1859.| Leply to Mr. Pratt's letter to the Asiatic Journal. 19

an ellipse strictly analogous to that in common use in physical as-

tronomy and known as the orbit due to the varied elements ; where-

as the mean or fundamental ellipse derived from a number of dis-

tant observations will nearly, though not quite, satisfy all and bear

the same relation to the previous one that the mean orbit does to

the varied orbit.

7. Here the analogy ceases. The Heavenly bodies in connection

with the sun are few and definite; we can thus assiga the law of

variation of the elements of the orbits. On the earth we cannot,

and in the heavens as on the earth the varied elements without this

law, are useless. The mean elements in the heavens would give

places not very far removed from observation for a limited time, on

the earth they would do so always, the difference arising from the

motion inter se of the celestial disturbing masses and their fixity on

the earth.

8. I have now I think sufficiently explained my reason for con-

sidering (from theory) the true form of the earth to be an absolute

ellipsoid. I now proceed to consider Mr. Pratt’s 3rd and 4th paras.

—Arguing from the known changes in the form of the apparent

surface which is visible to our eyes, Mr. Pratt reasons that there are

changes in the curvature of the unperturbed surface, by which I

mean, that which is the result of removing entirely the effects of all

irregularities. Nothing could I think possibly be more fallacious

than the argument. ‘The change of outward form of the earth is

caused by the transference of matter, and it is known principally by

relative changes in the height of adjacent parts. In consequence of

these changes, are also changes in the perturbed form of the earth,

but when we eliminate all the effects of disturbing matter we

evidently must, both before and after the changes, attain the iden-

tically same fundamental form.

9. Indeed we only know of these so-cal'ted actual changes except

in very exceptional cases* (which moreover are of small extent)

by reference to the sea level whose changes (being those of the

disturbed surface) are small in comparison, if the fundamental form

be fixed. If that, however, be liable to variation we have lost our

reference, and we cease to have evidence of the changes of height.

* Such as the voleanic peak Jorulco and Coral Isles, and landslips.

D 2

20 Reply to Mr. Pratt’s letter to the Asiatie Journal. [No.1.

10. From what I have said it im mediately follows that the coin-

cidence of the deduced form of an are with the fundamental one is

evidence of the absence of local disturbance or compensation for its

effects, while deviation from the fundamental form shows in itself

that the local disturbance has been either wrongly estimated or

entirely neglected. IRPf this be not so, we have to add to a sufficient

and actually existent though numerically unassignable cause for the

difference, one whose existence is uncertain, if not, as I believe,

impossible.

11. Mr. Pratt appears to rest his opinion that I have misunder-:

stood the subject, on the fact that I have not gone through his

voluminous computations and produced a new result. I have not

been guilty of this presumption. Our knowledge of the forms of

the disturbing masses is very imperfect, and their internal constitu-

tion is almost unknown, so that I cannot flatter myself that I should

attain a result in which I.had more confidence than in Mr. Pratt’s;

and the research required would be very great. I have therefore

preferred showing that the result at which he arrives has no claim

to be considered a satisfactory representation of the form of India

either practically or theoretically; and, if I have succeeded (as I

believe I have) my answer must be considered conclusive as to the

existence of some flaw in Mr. Pratt’s data or processes without my

actually pointing out where it occurs. As, however, my avoidance of

the subject has been misunderstood, I may say that there is some

reason to believe that the masses of the Himmalehs have been

considerably overstated in Mr. Pratt’s paper, while no notice has been

taken of the mountains of Central and Southern India.

12. In Article 7, Mr. Pratt remarks on the indefiniteness of my

estimate of the attraction at Banog. With my opinions I could

evidently have no such confidence in the best attainable estimate as

would have justified the time and labour requisite for its production.

The most cursory consideration of Mr. Pratt’s estimated attractions

at the stations mentioned in his paper with a knowledge of the

position of Banog will show that I am justified in calling it enormous

on Mr. Pratt’s hypothesis. That such was the view I took, and that

I did not extend Mr. Pratt’s law as he appears to imagine, is evident

since by it, the attraction would, in longitude, much exceed the 20

at which 1 took it.

1859.] Reply to Mr. Pratt's letter to the Asiatic Journal. 21

13. The next point requiring notice is the note to page 11,

where I submit Mr. Pratt is in error. The surface on which the are

is projected is that which is modified by local attraction or C n of

his figure and not C B which represents that attained after eliminat-

ing the local attraction’s effects. ‘he stilting process is actually

carried on and the reductions to the lengths of the arcs are

necessary. ,

14. Krom the figure of the earth, the astronomer seeks to deter-

mine the radius or the length of the line joining his place to the

earth’s centre and the angle which this line (or its projection on the

plane of the meridian) makes with the perpendicular to the surface.

Mr. Pratt’s figure being confessedly only very local cannot give

these data.

15. The Geodesist again seeks to determine from one station

whose latitude is known and also the azimuth and distance of a

second, the latitude of the second, their difference of longitude and

the azimuth of the first at the second. Mr. Pratt’s figure cannot

give these, as I have shown in the case of the longitude and reverse

azimuth at Karachee.

16. In my second paper noticed by Mr. Pratt I say, ‘I have

shown in my former paper that the ellipse given by Mr. Pratt for

the Indian meridian is useless for Geodesical purposes. I have

now, I think, shown reason to believe that there is no evidence

which will warrant our considering that any real departure from the

mean form exists,” and again “the only figure of any Geodesical or

astronomical importance is, that determined as usual from the con-

sideration of a number of arcs situated in various circumstances as

regards sources of probable local disturbance, I think I have

supported this.

17. Were we possessed of a large number of observations of

latitude and longitude extending over India or the whole world, the

true step to take, after the astronomical precedent, would be to

determine (which of course is theoretically possible) the size and

position of the deflecting masses requisite to reconcile the observed

places with those geodesically determined. Whether the requisite

observations will ever be available, or the Analytical Giant who

must use them, is almost beyond even speculation. Meanwhile, let

22 Mr. Pratt’s Second Letter on the Indian Are. [Nowt.

us put full faith in the law of gravity as not to be shaken by

dubious analogies.

18. I trust I shall not be supposed to depreciate Mr. Pratt’s

analytical conclusion. All knowledge is gain and Mr. Pratt’s law of

dissection is an acquisition which will doubtless find its practical

application in due time. At present we can only look on the

results of the paper as an arithmetical illustration of the formula

and as not to be employed in the question of the earth’s figure.

YEDDA AL ARAEAED SDD LD LLL III LPI A IDI De

Myr. Pratt's Second Letter on the Indian Are.

To the Secretary of the Asiatic Society.

Srr,—In reply to Mr. ‘ennant’s letter brought before the Society

at its last monthly meeting, it appears to me quite sufficient to ask

your readers to read again my letter in your Journal No. III. 1858.

The question appears to myself to be a very simple one, and L

wonder at Mr. Tennant’s not seeing it in the same light.* I can

readily comprehend his being disappointed that the effect of the

Himmalayas should be so troublesome; in this I can fully sympa-

thise with him. But I have too great a respect for the Law of

Universal Gravitation to leave out of consideration such a disturbing

cause. These Himmalayas are as great a tyrant in the delicate

problem of determining the curvature of the arc of meridian in

Hindostan, as the planet Jupiter is in the Solar System. But as

* T have not noticed his analogy drawn from planetary orbits, simply to avoid

being drawn into a discussion on Physical Astronomy. But I may say

thus much, that this supposed analogy does not help matters at all. In the

Survey in order to map the country, they use the Fundamental Ellipse. This

analogy would therefore require that the Fundamental Ellipse should be used to

find the place of a planet. But it is the “ Instantaneous or Varying Ellipse”

which is used for this purpose, It is the corresponding Local or Varying

Ellipse, therefore, in going from place to place, that ought strictly to be used in

mapping the country, and not the Fundamental or mean Ellipse. As far as there

is any approach to analogy, Messrs. Adams and Le Verrier pursued precisely the

same course which I have followed.

1859. | Mr. Prati?s Second Letter on the Indian Are. 23

sure as I feel that Messrs. Adams and Le Verrier (to whom Mr.

Tennant refers) never dreamt of ignoring the existence and attrac-

tion of that troublesome Planet, so clear does it appear to me that

the Himmalayan attraction must not be trifled with and passed

over.

2. It was to calculate this that my paper of 1855 was written.

Other disturbing causes may exist, and should be estimated. But

this cannot do away with the importance of estimating the effect of

the Himmalayas. I have spared no pains to discover an antagonis-

tic cause which would nullify the influence of the Himmalayas, but

without effect. During the present year, I have forwarded to the Royal

Society two other papers ; one, estimating the effect of the deficiency

of matter in the Ocean, which extends down from Hindostan to the

South Pole; the other, the effect of any slight deficiency or excess

in the density of mass of the earth prevailing over large spaces—

such variations in density from the density of a fluid mass, under

the same circumstances, as are not at all unlikely to have taken

place in the crust of the earth in its becoming solid, or by expansions

and contractions since that change occurred. The first of these

disturbing causes we know exists, because the Ocean exists and ig

less than half as dense as rock. The amount of the effect is, how-

ever, uncertain because the depth of the Ocean is unknown. The

result of the paper, therefore, shows the tendency and the nature of

the effect, but not the exact amount.* The other calculation, viz.

that of the effect of slight but wide-spread departures from the law

of density in the interior mass, required by the fluid theory, was

suggested by the hypothesis of Mr. Airy, that there might be a

deficiency of matter below the Himmalayas which would, in a large

degree, counteract their effect on stations on the Indian are from

Kaliana southwards. The result of this calculation is unfortu-

nate ; for it shows that such departures from the fluid-density as

I have alluded to, and which may not improbably exist, will have a

sensible and important effect on the plumb-line; bué we have no

possible means of becoming certain whether these variations of

* The attraction of the mountains and the deficiency of attraction of the Ocean

are shown also to have a marked effect upon the sea-level, raising the level at

Karachee many feet above the level at Cape Comorin.

24 Mr. Pratt’s Second Letter on the Indian Are. (No. l.

density do exist or not. The uncertainty of the existence or not of

this invisible enemy, and the utter impossibility (with our present

knowledge) of ascertaining whether it does exist or not, and there-

fore whether our plumb-line is affected or not by some such invisible

cause, is very troublesome—very far more so than the Himmalayas ;

because in their case there is a definite mass which it is possible to

measure, and the attraction of which can be calculated. There is

this to be said, that, as far as my investigations help me to make a

comparison, the effect of the Himmalayas seems to be much more

important, while it is more manageable, than any other of the

probable causes of derangement. But, whether or not, the Himma-

Jayas are a certainly-existing and a definite mass, and their effect

ought to be calculated, The calculation is not so “ voluminous” or

tedious as Mr. Tennant seems to suppose—not near so toilsome as

some of those in which his duties occupy him.* Were it not for the

peculiar law of dissection made use of, no doubt it would have been

an hereulean work which any one might well shrink from. But

this law reduces it simply to determining from the Survey Maps

the average height of the neighbourhood of about ninety different

places; multiplying them by the cosine of the azimuth, reducing

the result to miles, and multiplying it by 1”.189, which gives the

deflection. In the parts beyond the range of the Survey Maps, and

which have not so great an effect on the stations of the are in

question, an average form is obtained from Humboldt’s observations

and from other sources, and the calculation requires only the sum-

mation of a few simple arithmetical series. All the heights used are

noted down in the Six ‘Tables pages 78—-83 of the paper of 1855 ; and

upon a correction being given me of any one of the heights, I can

(and any one who will examine the method cam) in five minutes

find how much the resulting deflection of the plumb-lne must be

altered—such is the simplicity which this law of dissection introduces.

* He observes that the effect of the mountains in Central and Southern India

have not been considered, If Mr. Tennant will draw the lunes and compact-

ments on a map as described in my paper and note down the heights and

depressions of the several parts he will see that the effect will be too trifling to be

taken notice of. This examination would not occupy him half an hour.

1859.| | Mr. Pratt's Second Letter on the Indian Are. 2:

3. These calculations have been gone through again lately by

a practised computer, working them under my direction by another

course. The result is, that while the first calculation (of 1855)

makes the deflections in the meridian at Kaliana, Kalianpur and

Damargida to be 27”.853, 11” .968 and 6.909 ; this revised calcu-

lation makes them 27.9438, 12”.047 and 6”.790. The differences

are too trifling to be of any moment; and what variation there is

rather aggravates the effect. All the separate errors in the first

calculation, the aggregate of which has made this small discrepancy,

have been detected, so as to make the two calculations exactly to

tally. If there be, therefore, anything wrong in these results,

if must arise solely from the heights being wrongly taken,

or the density being wrongly assumed. The density used is

that of the comparatively small rock Schehallien, and must be

rather under the mark than over it; as that rock is but a few

hundreds of feet high, whereas the most important part of the

Himmalaya mass is two miles high, and the lower parts must be

denser, rather than lighter, from the pressure of the superincumbent

weight. As to the heights, my own persuasion is, that, if anything,

the most important heights are taken too small rather than too

great.* But they are all written down in the six tables for in-

spection and criticism: and nothing can be easier than to point out

which are too small and which too large. Any information of this

kind forwarded to me I will immediately make use of, to correct the

results—a work which will cost no labour and take but little time.

4. The calculations in the latter part of the paper of 1855 (after

para. 47, p. 87) are more Jaborious: and here some numerical

errors have crept in, one of which Mr. Tennant has pointed out,

for which I thanked him in my former letter to you. These errors

have no effect, however, upon the results of the paper. This part

has, moreover, received a revise in my communications sent home

last September. The result regarding the effect on the curvature

of the Indian Are will be modified—-increased or diminished —accord-

*The Himmalayas rise to more than five miles. But the greatest height I

have taken in any one place falls a trifle short of two miles. The heights of beds

of rivers above the level have been taken wherever they could be found, and not

of the overhanging ridges and peaks,

26 Mr. Pratt's Second Letter on the Indian Are. [No.1.

ing to the existence, or not, and the character of, other co-operating

disturbing causes.

5. The great importance of this subject in the problem of the

Figure of the Earth—not the average figure of the whole earth, which

has been sufficiently well determined, but of the separate parts—

will be seen from the following facts :—

I.—Colonel Everest, in his large and valuable volume of 1847,

assuming, as Mr. ‘Tennant would do, that the Indian Are is curved

like the average ellipse of the earth ; and ignoring, as Mr. Tennant

would do, the effect of the Himmalayas, brought out this result

(see p. clxxvili of his Introduction), that by his geodetic com-

putation Kuliana was farther north from Kulianpur by 1-10th of

a mile than by the astronomical latitudes. He attributes this im-

portant discrepancy to mountain-attraction: but does not prove that

mountain-attraction will produce this exact amount of error.

My calculation shows that the effect of mountain-attraction is, not

only to produce this amount, but a much greater amount, even

three times as great: and the only way of making things tally is to

assume that the form of the Indian meridian is noé that of the

average ellipse.

II.—If any one will turn to pp. Ixx, Ixxi of Colonel Kverest’s

volume he will see the great care with which the amplitudes* of the

ares between Kaliana and Kalanpur, and Kalianpur and Damargida,

were observed. For example; for the first, 36 separate stars were

observed and the average results taken. Of these separate

observations 29 differed from the mean by less than 1” in

excess or defect, 6 by less than 2” and one was 2”3; 80 near were

the individuals to the mean value; and yet, to get an accu-

rate result, 36 observations were thought necessary—showing

that even a deviation of 1” was considered of importance. But

Himmalayan attraction produces in this same amplitude (or differ-

ence of latitudes) an error of more than 15”, and surely cannot be

passed by.

I1I.—It is a fact palpable to the most ordinary observation, that

the surface of the earth is not that of a perfect spheroid (or ellipsoid

* The amplitude of an arc of meridian is the difference between the latitudes of

the two extremities of the arc.

1859. | Mr. Pratt's Second Letter on the Indian Ave. 27

of revolution,) and therefore its parts, at any rate near the surface,

do not exert the sane amount of attraction as if it were a spheroid.

Hor example; mountains rise up on the North of India, and the

Ocean spreads to the South. These, no doubt, we may conceive to

be removed—the mountains to be pared down to the sea-level, and

the density of the sea to be increased to that of rock. Were this

done, the plumb-line might hang all right, in the true vertical or

normal belonging to the surface of a spheroid. But since we cannot

actually cut down the mountains, nor fill up the ocean, the plumb-

line wild not hang right for this purpose. If, therefore, we wish in

imagination to remove the mountains and to fill up the ocean, we

must do it by calculating their amount of influence, and allowing

for this amount in our calculations. Zhen we may use the plumb-

line, with this correction, as the true vertical or normal to an elliptic

surface, but not before.

6. My object in writing these papers has not been to detect and

expose flaws in the operations of the Great Trigonometrical Survey

—very far from it; but to assist in pointing~out the sources of

error, and the further observations and surveys which are necessary

to remedy the evils which must inevitably follow if these sources

of error are not attended to. The elaborate and well-executed

survey must be utterly useless in determining with accuracy the

curvature of the Indian Continent, and therefore of mapping the

country with high scientific nicety, unless this is done. Except to

suggest a remedy in so important a work, after my attention had

been called to it in 1852 by the present Surveyor General, I could

never have devoted the time which has been necessarily occupied

on this highly interesting subject, even with the relief which the

assistance of a practised computer has afforded. The difference in

the views which Mr. Tennant and I take of the subject must arise

from some misconception which I am unable to fathom.

J. H. Prarv,

Calcutta, November 9th, 1858.

P. S.—Since the above was written, Colonel R. Strachey has

favoured me with some information regarding heights in Tibet. 1

have given the results of these new data in a third paper to the

Royal Society. They do not at all meet the difficulty. |

E 2

28 Fragments of three early Hindu dramatists. [No. 1.

Fragments of three early Hindu dramatists, Bhisa, Rémila, and

Somila— By Firz-Epwarp Hatt, M. A.

Elsewhere I have stated my belief that these are the poets who

are named, with implied eulogy, near the opening of the Malavikagni-

mitra.* Bhasa should seem to be also called by the longer name of

Bhasaka; and it may be doubtful, owing to the variations of manu-

scripts, whether Somila be orthographical, or Saumila. That the

author of the Adlavikdgnimitra, to whom these poets were of course

antecedent, is the Kalidasa of Vikramaditya is, perhaps, question-

able. Yet, whoever he is, he belongs to a respectable antiquity :

and such are his own merits that his encomium would scarcely be

expected of any competitors but such as once enjoyed considerable

repute. In the ensuing verses we have all the remains of these

three play-writersthat appear to have reached the present time.

For these few lines we are indebted to the S'arngadhara-paddhati,

of which work I have collated several excellent and somewhat vener-

able copies. I commence with the relics of Bhasa, whose era may be

carried back, with positiveness, to the seventh century, at the least.

Supplials, in the translations, are indicated by italics.

WUl Wale tsar ware

fanaa Peaqqaaat

* Preface to the Vasavadattd, pp. 14 and 15, foot-note: also pp. 20 and 21,

foot-note.

+ See the preface to the Vdsavadattd as by the last note. Bana, in the Harsha-

charita, speaks of Bhasa. He is also extolled by Rajasékhara. But Rajasé-

khara’s' age is still to be precisely determined. It is certain that he was not very

ancient. The Jagaj-jiva-vrajyd of Jayadeva, cited in the sixth chapter of the

Padya-vent, a poetical anthology by Venidatta, son of Jagajjivana, whimsically

characterises Bhasa, with Chora, Maytira, Kalidasa, Harsha, and Bana:

qararchagriaat: FugT wa

arTet eTe: afagare aifeeret rare: |

CH Cal CLA: TSATG s1U:

~ ~AX =

aut aa aga ataar ailaat atqara il

1859. | Fragments of three early Hindu dramatists. 29

SATS CAAA Te aA

aaqyauquyfeana || *

‘ Beauteous show the decorative lines of sandal traced on her brow

by her attendants ; and so the marks,—as it were plasters over wounds

from Cupid’s shafts,—on the tract of her pale thin cheeks.’

efaaraistine Haswase fata: |

aaa: Hw wcyaratsra: it

‘How different, in operation, from other nooses, is the noose of a

sweetheart’s arms! Fastened about the neck, it imparts life ; loosen-

ed, it produces death.’

HUTea AISTU Va cla ata aie wias

aefeairate fratafa ac ageata |

Cai ae eta afaauna fafa

wwangal Satecaz fasuafea i t

‘The cat laps the moonbeams in the bowl of water, thinking them

to be milk. The elephant imagines that the moonbeams piercing

through the intervals in the foliage of the trees, are esculent stalks

of the water-lily. The mistress, again, after dallying, grasps at the

moonbeams lying on the bed, taking them for her garments. Oh!

the moon, intoxicated with radiance, bewilders the whole world.’

ala tfawafa ae Tanhatre a §

We weeufa faafaasaas: |

ara wwiafa wafca aafear

arat <fcR za Rraquta THE I |

* This Stanzais in an wpajdti measure consisting of alternate Lndravajrds and

Upendravajrds. Such a metre is denominated Smriti.

+ Vaktra.

t Sikharint.

§ Query afaxty P—Ebs.

|| Vasantatilak a,

30 Fragments of three early Hindu dramatists. [ Nort.

‘The sun, like the vile, keenly annoys for a brief season. The

deer casts his horus, as the ungrateful man forsakes a friend.

Water becomes serene, as does the thought of active duties to the

holy sage. The moist soil dries up, as does the wretched lover.’

Ramila and Somila, wherever they have been found mentioned,

are mentioned in conjunction; the Beaumont and Fletcher, perhaps,

of the classical Indian theatre. Only a single stanza of theirs is

accessible to me.

THe: BRAT Pay wat cay qearesai

fafaa tafeenfe aa TUReT WETS wa! |

MA AHA MS ATH CICA ATTA

ai aretiaad Gang ee: garerigar 1*

‘In one who has been ill, there is emaciation ; when one is wound-

ed, effusion of blood; and, in the case of a person bitten by a

venomous animal, flow of saliva. There is nothing, however, of

these in this instance. How, then, did the wandering self-styled

ascetic die? Indeed, it is surmised that tle rash man cast his eyes

on the opening buds of the mango-tree, newly resonant with bees

transported with aroma: and so he perished.’

The spring-time is here suggested. The general purport of the

stanza is, that the memory of the poor devotee, a mere neophyte,

was carried back, by the humming of the bees, to other and more

genial circumstances ; that the reminiscence was too much for his

acute sensibility; and that the shock deprived him of existence.

Kalidasa himself would not have been disgraced by this conceit,

* §’ drdilavikridita.

PPLADPAAL PALS LLL SLL LDP LF LPLL LLLP SS LS IFS ILS LEAL

1859. | On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindis. 31

On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindis, and its traces wm the

ancient world generally.— By KE. B. Cowutt, 2. A.

One of the favourite incidents in the heroic poems of the Hindus

is the rite called Swayamvara or the choice of a husband by a

princess from an assembly of suitors met from all parts to take

their chance in the lottery. Success is not represented as depend-

ing on their own efforts, as in many of our fairy tales, where the

knight wins the lady by his own prowess in a tournament; the

heroes here submit themselves in silent rivalry to the princess’s in-

spection as she walks along their line, and selects from the throng

the favoured suitor by presenting him with a garland, or a cup of

water, or some such token of regard. The readers of Hindt poetry

will at once remember many instances of this peculiar institution,

which must have been not uncommon in actual life as well as in the

ideal world of the heroic times, since we find it apparently alluded

to in the following passage in Arrian’s Indica. ‘* The Indians nei-

ther give nor receive gifts when they marry, but when their daugh-

ters are of a marriageable age, their fathers bring them out publicly,

and set them as the prize for the winner in a wrestling or boxing

or running match, or any such manly exercise.”? This hardly cor-

responds with the practice as we find it described in Hindt liter-

ature, since Arrian represents the lady as acting a merely passive

part, whereas, if we may judge by the poems and by the very name

Swayamvara (from “ Swayam’’ “ herself,” aud vara, “ choosing,’’) she

had a much more active share in the transaction.* Dean Milman

* The custom is not found among the various forms of marriage given in

Manv’s third book, but this may be explained by the fact that the Swayamvara

relates only to the choice of the husband, the nuptial ceremony being performed

afterwards according to the proper rites. We find an allusion in a later part of

the Institutes which proves the prevalence of the custom, as it is said (ix. 90, 91),

“three years let a damsel wait, though she be marriageable; but, after that

term, let her choose for herself (vindeta,) a bridegroom of equal rank ; if, not

being given in marriage, she choose her bridegroom (adhigachhed yadi swayam, )

neither she nor the youth chosen commits any offence.” ‘The Scholiast explains

it of the so-called Swayamyara, “ adhikagunavardldbhe samdnajatigunam varam

swayam vrinita.”

82 On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindus. [| No. 1.

has, to a certain extent, familiarised the English reader with the cus-

tom by his spirited translation of the scene in Wala, where Dama-

yanti, the princess of Vidarbha ( Berar), chooses the prince of Nisha-

dha from the assembly of mingled gods and men.

* On the gods an instant gazed she—then upon the king of men;

And of right king Bhima’s daughter named Nishadha’s king her lord.

Modestly the large-eyed maiden lifted up his garment’s hem,

Round his shoulders threw she lightly the bright zone of radiant flowers.”

The Swayamvara of the sister of king Bhoja forms one of the most

beautiful episodes in the Raghuvans’a, of which we may ere long

hope for an English translation from Professor Griffith, already so

favourably known as the translator of the Kumdra Sambhava, or

“ the birth of the Wargod.” Similar scenes occur in almost every

Hindt poem ; in fact a Swayamvara is nearly as much an established

ingredient in Sanskrit epics, as a catalogue of ships or heroes

is in those of the west. We need only mention here those in

the Naishadha and the Mahabharata; in the latter, besides that of

Nala, translated by Dean Milman, we have that of Draupadi, trans-

lated by Professor Wilson. Nay, the rite was so popular with the

poets that it is even made current in the life of the gods; and the

Swayamvara of Lakshmi forms the subject of the drama, which

Urvasi is acting before Indra with her sister nymphs, when she

loses her presence of mind and lets a mortal’s name escape from her

lips.

In the following pages, I have collected from classical writers

some of the more remarkable instances of the prevalence of this

custom in other parts of the ancient world as well as India; we

shall find traces of its presence in widely different climates, Greece,

Gaul and ancient Persia; and in the last case, it may lead to an

important and, I believe, hitherto unnoticed corroboration, from

a Greek author, of one of the fine old traditions in Firdausi’s

Shahnameh.

The first instance is one which the classical student will easily

recall in the 6th book of Herodotus, where he discusses the rise of

the family of the Alemzonide, and its great increase of wealth and

power by the marriage of Megacles with the daughter of Cleisthenes,

the tyrant of Sicyon. This marriage is described as a true Sway-

1859. | On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindus. 33

amvara; Herodotus’ account reads like an episode of some ancient

poem, when he represents the various princes and nobles flocking as

suitors to the court from the chief cities of the Grecian world. The

historian tells the account in his very best manner, how the favour-

ed suitor Hippocleides at last grew presumptuous with success and

«‘ danced away”’ his fortune by his thoughtless frolic, and gave birth

to the current proverb, éu ¢povtis “ImmoxXeidy, while the young

Athenian carried off the bride, and their descendant in the third

generation was Pericles.

Another instance occurs in Justin’s narrative of the founding of

the city of Marseilles. A colony of Phoczans, under the leader-

ship of Simos and Protis, landed in Gaul near the mouth of the

Rhone. On their repairing to the court of Nannus, the king of the

tribe, in whose territory they wished to settle, they found him, as it

chanced, engaged in the ceremony of his daughter’s marriage, whom

he was preparing to deliver, more gentis, to the bridegroom whom

she might select at a banquet. All the invited guests came as suit-

ors, and among the rest the Greek strangers were invited to attend.

At a given moment the maiden is introduced into the assembly, and

her father bids her hand water to the man of her choice; when

forthwith, unheeding the others, she turns to the Greeks, and holds

out the cup to Protis. The fortunate adventurer thus became the

king’s son-in-law, and founded Marseilles, where his memory was

probably honoured as a patron hero. Athenzus tells the same story,

on the authority of a lost work of Aristotle; and adds that there

was still a family in Marseilles called Protiade from their founder.*

But the most interesting of all these parallels is one which Athe-

nus has given us in the same place as a quotation from the tenth

book of the history of Alexander (ray isropiov tov rept “Ad<Eavopov)

by Chares of Mytilene. In itself, the narrative wears a peculiarly

striking character, all the more so from its entire disconnection with

any context, as almost every other line of Chares has perished; and

the actors of the scene appear and vanish abruptly, without our

* Cf, Justin, xliii. 4; Athenzeus xiii. § 36. Aristotle represents the founder s

name as Euxenus, and Protis as his son by the marriage ; but this is only one of

those ever-recurring uncertainties in the “ dissolving views” of legendary, as

distinguished from authentic, history.

34 On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindis. [No. 1.

being able, from classic sources, to identify their persons or times.

We give it in the historian’s words.

“ Zariadres was the younger brother of Hystaspes, and both were

fair, and the people say of them that they were born of Venus and

Adonis, Hystaspes ruled over Media and the region below it, and

Zariadres over the country above the Caspian gates as far as the

Tanais, Now Omartes, the king of the Marathi, a tribe beyond the

Tanais, had a daughter named Odatis; and of her runs a legend

that she once saw Zariadres in a dream and fell in love with him,

and the same thing likewise happened with him towards her. For

some time they continued thus, loving each other from the image

in the dream. Now Odatis was the fairest of all the women

in Asia, and Zariadres too was fair; but on his asking her in mar-

riage of her father, Omartes would not consent, as he had no male

child, and he wished to marry her to some one of his own people.

And not long after, Omartes summoned all the nobles of his king-

dom and all] his friends and relations, and made a marriage feast, but

told no one who it was that should marry his daughter. At length

when the feast was at its height, he called Odatis into the banquet-

hall, and said to her in the hearing of all the guests, ‘ Oh my daugh-

ter Odatis, we are now making thy marriage feast; look round

therefore on the guests and view them all, and take a golden cup

and fill it, and give it to him whom thou choosest as thy husband;

for his wife shalt thou be.’ And she then, looking round upon all,

walked sadly away, longing to see Zariadres; for she had previously

sent a message to him, how that her marriage was about to be so-

lemnised. Now he chanced at the time to be encamped by the

‘Tanais, and immediately on hearing it, he left the army secretly and

crossed with only his charioteer ; and mounting his chariot by night,

came riding through the city, having driven more than 800 stadia.

As he drew near the festal place where they were holding the mar-

riage, he left his attendant with the chariot hard by, and marched

boldly in, having put on a Scythian dress. On his entering the hall,

he beheld Odatis standing before the sideboard, and weeping bit-

terly as she slowly filled the cup; and standing close by her, he

said in a low voice, ‘O Odatis, Iam come as thou badest, I thy

Zariadres,’ And she, turning round, bebeld the stranger, fair to the

1859. | On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindis. 35

eye and like to him whom she had seen in the dream, and overjoyed

she gave to him the cup; and he, seizing her in his arms, bore her

away to his chariot and fled. And the servants and handmaidens,

who knew of their love, stood silent, and when her father charged

them to speak, they said that they knew not whither she was gone.

And this story of their love is known among all the barbarians who

dwell in Asia, and greatly indeed do they prize it, and they sculpture

it upon their temples aud palaces, aye and even in their private

houses; and many of the nobles call their daughters Odatis after

her.”’

Firdausi’s great national epic is a Mausoleum in which he has

embalmed all his country’s ancient heroes, and inscribed all the old

names associated with her days of independence, before her glories

succumbed to Islam at Cadesia. He tells us that he collected his

materials from the legends which he found floating amongst the

Dihkdns or \anded proprietors* of Persia, more especially in the

remoter provinces. He thus gathered together the fragments of

“ Border Minstrelsy,’’ and incorporated them in his own great poem,

which, far from being a mere tissue of his own inventions, like

Ariosto’s Orlando, was meant to be a faithful monument of all that

was remembered of Persia’s heroic times.

That his work contains so little that is available for historical

researches, arises from various causes, but there is no need to in-

crease their number by supposing wanton infidelity to his trust on

the part of the poet. So few of the Greek writers on Oriental sub-

jects are preserved, that we have hardly any means left us to test

* “Yes Dihkans formaient une classe de l’ancienne noblesse persane. Ils

etaient selon Ja definition qu’en donne le Modjmel-al-Tewarikh, “ des chefs, des

propriétaires de terres et de villages,” et formaient une aristocratie territoriale

qui retint, méme sous le gouvernement des arabes, son influence locale...... Leur

condition sous le khalifat devait étre 4 peu prés la méme que celle des familles

saxonnes de l’Angleterre qui gardérent leurs propriétés sous les Normands, et 4

qui leur influence héréditaire tient encore aujourd’hui lieu de titres de noblesse

[country families|.” M. Mohl’s preface to his edition of the Shahndmeh, vol. i.

p- vill. The position of the dihkans is a most important link in the chain that

connects the present reminiscences of Persia with her own earlier times. Their

authority is quoted in every part of the Shahnameh.

36 On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindus. [No. 1.

these legends; and the very form in which we have them has been

doubtless subjected to continual changes, as they floated on the lips

of successive generations, ere they were stamped by Firdausi

(A. D. 1000) into their present permanent shape. As it is, they

bear all the marks of a legendary age,—deficient in everything but

spirit and imagination,—and it is hopeless to construct a system

from their chaos. Still such a system might have been partly pos-

sible, had Ctesias and Chares been preserved to us,—many a legend

which now lies buried under its surrounding inventions, would have

started into a new significance, if we could have compared it with

some Greek account, which had preserved the true lineaments of

the story.

The legend of Odatis, which has been casually saved by Athe-

neus’ quotation from Chares, is a single specimen,—we have no-

thing else of the kind; but this legend is at once to be recognised

in the Shahnameh; and the striking confirmation thus presented

makes us realise how much we have lost in the wreck of Greek

Oriental history.

Lohrasp, the king of Persia, had irritated his son Gusht4sp by

his excessive partiality for his children by another wife. Gushtdsp

in despair first fled towards India, but is followed by his uterine

brother Zartr (Zariadres,) who persuades him to return to his fa-

ther’s court. He is, however, again provoked to fly, and he now

bends his course to Rim. On arriving at the capital, he in vain

seeks for employment in the court, and, failing this, in the bazar;

and he is well nigh reduced to desperation, when a Dihkan, in a

neighbouring village, takes pity on his forlorn condition, and lodges

him as a guest in his house. Of the remainder of the story we add

a literal version, line for line with the original as given in Macan’s

edition, vol. il. pp. 1038—1040.

The Kaisar of Rum cast about in his mind,

That, since his daughter was now of age,

Her star of fortune high, and she ripe for marriage,

Tt was time that she were given to a husband.

He would gather an assembly in his palace

Of all his wise nobles and counsellors,

1859. ] On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindus. 37

There should meet together all his peers,

And his men of renown, lofty of stature.

In her father’s palace that moon-faced maiden

Was to wander through that assembly, seeking a husband,

Aud her maidens were to stand round her in a ring,

That no man might see her lofty crown.

Now at that time behind the Kaisar’s pardah,

Were three daughters like roses in spring,

Fair in stature and countenance and gentle manners,

Fair too in judgment, modesty and virtue.

The eldest of them all was Kitayun by name,

And wise was she, bright-bearted and happy.

And one night Kitaytan had seen a dream,—

She had seen a landscape bright with sunshine,

And a band of chieftains had appeared in her sight

In a bright cluster like the Pleiades ;

And amidst them all was a stranger,

A gallant exile desolate-hearted,

His stature a cypress, his face like the moon,

And he sat as a king sits on his throne.

And Kitayun, in her dream, gave him a garland,

And she took from him another, full of colours and scents, in

return.

In the morning when the sun came forth,

The nobles all awoke from their slumbers,

And the Kaisar called a great assembly together,

None of great or puissant but was there ;

Glad they hastened to the assembly,

And they called the peri-faced princess in.

With her sixty handmaidens came Kitdytin,

A bunch of fresh narcissuses in her hand,

And she walked along until sadness came over her,

For not in that assembly was the man of her choice.

And she turned from the hall and went back to her chamber,

Walking slowly and weeping and with a longing heart.

Then the earth became black like a raven’s wing,

Till the sun again lifted bis head from the mountains.

On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindis. [ No. 1.

Then the Kaisar commanded that from the men of low decree

To the men of highest wealth and birth in Rim,

All should come with one mind to the palace,

If among them might be found one whom the princess approved.

When the news spread through the city,

To the nobles and high and low,

All turned their faces to the palace of the king,

Each, in his hope, full of colours and perfume.

And the good Dihkan said to Gushtasp,

“ How long sittest thou hidden in thy cell P

“ Come, for if thou seest the palace and its pomp,

“ Perchance thy heart may lose its burden of grief.”

When Gushtasp heard this, he rose and went with him,

And he hastened to the palace of the king ;

And he crept to a corner, away from the great men,

And sat him down, full of grief and with a wounded soul.

The attendants came forth with watchful hearts,

Kitayun and her rose-cheeked handmaidens,

And she slowly walked round her father’s hall,

Her wise men behind her and her maidens before.

When from afar she beheld Gushtasp,

She exclaimed, “ My dream has lifted its head from darkness !’’

And she decked the head of the gallant youth

That same moment with her royal crown.

When the wise vizier beheld her deed,

At once he ran before the Kaisar,

“She hath chosen a man from out the crowd,

“Tn height like a tall cypress in the garden,

“ With a cheek like a rosegarden, and broad shoulders,—

‘All who look on him are lost in wonder.

“Thou would’st say, ‘he was the strength of the Almighty!’

‘ But I know him not, who he 1s.”’

Him answered the king, “ God forbid that my daughter

“Should bring shame from behind the curtain on her race.

“Tf I give my daughter to a fellow like this.

“My head will lie down in dishonour.

“Go take her, and him too whom she hath chosen,

1859. | On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindus. 39

¢ And their heads shall be smitten off in the palace.”

The vizier replied, “This is no such direful matter ;

* Many a noble hath done thus before thee.

“Thou badest thy daughter choose a husband,

“Thou said’st not that she was to choose none but a king.

“She sought for one who might please her heart ;

“urn not then thy face from the path of God.

“Such hath been the custom of thy ancestors,

“ Those proud and righteous pure ones ;

* By this law hath Rim been established on its base ;

“Wander not thou in a desert land.*

“Thy words are unblessed, utter them not,

“And stray not in a path untrodden by thee before.”

When the Kaisar heard his words, he made his resolve

To give his peerless daughter to Gushtasp,

But he said to her, “ Go with him such as thou art,

“‘ Never shalt thou have treasure or crown or signet from me.”’

When Gushtasp beheld this, he marvelled greatly,

And he called to witness the Maker of the world.

Then he turned and spake to the royal maiden,

“Oh thou brought up in softness and delicacy,

With a rank so lofty and a crown thine own,

Why hath thine heart chosen such as me ?

Thou hast chosen an outcast, and with him no treasure

Shalt thou find, but thou must pine with him in sorrow.

Oh seek thine equal among these nobles,

That thy face may yet be bright before thy father.”

Kitayun made answer, “ Oh jealous one,

“Vex not thyself with the decrees of heaven ;

“Since I am content with thee as my husband,

“Why seek’st thou crown, or sceptre or throne ?”’

Then sadly walked out of the Kaisar’s hall

Kitaydn and Gushtdsp with many a sigh,

And they came to the house of the Dihkan,

And sat them down shrinking and sad.

* Literally “in the land of the owl.”

40 On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindis. [No. 1.

We need hardly stay to dwell at length on the many points of

coincidence between the legend of Chares and this of Firdausi.

Gushtasp, Zarir, the dream, the Swayamvara and its denouement are

at once prominent in both, and point unmistakeably to a common

source. The very differences are not without a meaning ; the Persian

recension has naturally linked the tale to its national hero, Gushtasp,

in preference to the less famed brother, Zarir; and instead of the

Tanais and the Marathi, we have the more familiar Rim of Firdausi’s

owntime. But the peculiar features of the ancient story remain

unchanged amidst the fluctuations of time and place; it is still the

old legend which was “ known among all tke dwellers of Asia’ and

“sculptured on their temples and palaces.’’ Chares of Mytilene

hands it to the grammarian of Alexandria, who preserves it through

the dark ages in the west; while in its own land it lives in the

memories of the people, (volitat vivw per ora virtim,) through all

the changes of Arsacide, Sasanide and Mohammedans, until Firdausi

arises under Mahmud of Ghazni, and stereotypes it from the lips

of the Dihkans of his day.

SLPS LALLA LIL LLP LL IL PPO

1859. | Carter on the Persian Gulf. AL

Report on Geological Specimens from the Persian Gulf collected by

Lieut. C. G. Constable, I. N.—By H. J. Carter, Hsq., Bombay.

This Report has, sofar as the Persian Gulf is coneerned, been

drawn up partly on Geographical, and entirely on Geological, data

specimens and sketches furnished by Lieut. C. G. Constable, I. N.,

who, assisted by Lieut. A. W. Stiffe, also of the I. N., has been,

and still is, employed in surveying parts of the Gulf; and in

whose accuracy I have reason from actual experience, to place

every confidence.

Geography.—Sailing northwards from Muscat, we observe that the

great chain of mountains behind the town known by the name of

Jibel Akdthur, or the “Green Mountains,” is continued on to

Ras Mussundum, which forms the western promontory of the

Persian Gulf, where they suddenly sink to an altitude of 400 feet,

while not more than thirty miles further back there is a point

6,700 feet high. The Straits themselves are also about thirty miles

broad, and on the opposite side the land slopes into the sea with a

more or less even shore and without promontory for a considerable

distance north and south, forming a strong contrast with the intense-

ly fretted out and rocky termination of the chain on the Arabian

side, Striking, however, as the contrast is at these two points,

there are two mountains within sight of Ras Mussundum on the

opposite coast, which are respectively 8,500 and 5 to 6,000 feet

above the level of the sea; the first, which is Jibel Shemeel, is about

70 miles northward, and the other, called Jibel Bees, about 60 miles

eastward. ‘These, then must be regarded as the two pillars of the

Straits on the eastern or Asiatic side.

Again, from the Straits westwards, if we trace the shores of the

Gulf, it will be observed, that while the north-eastern side is bor-

dered by the mountainous chain of which Jibel Shemeel forms

a part and which continued on north-westwards up into Khour-

distan, borders the Mesopotamian valley under the name of the

Khourd Mountain, the south-western or Arabian side is, with

the exception of a low hill here and there, only a few feet above

the level of the sea, from the western promontory of the Straits

42 Carter on the Persian Gulf. [No. ab

up to the town of Kouett at the top of the Gulf, and even far

beyond this into the plains of Mesopotamia.

Lastly, turning our attention to the Persian Gulf itself, we find

that although the bottom is, as a matter of course, more or less

uneven, yet that it shallows generally, from the great fault marked

by the chain of mountains on the north-eastern side on towards the

Arabian coast. Hence the deep water, which nowhere exceeds 50

fathoms, is all on the Persian side, while a greater part of that on

the south-western half of the Gulf, especially where the great Pearl

Banks are situated, is not more than 10 fathoms deep.

The principal Islands, too, are all on the Persian side and towards

the mouth of the Gulf, while those which are in the south-western

half are, with the exception of Bahrein, almost all insignificant,

either from their little size or low altitude.

Geology.—On entering the Gulf, Lieut. Constable’s specimens

from Ras Mussundum show that this promontory and the mountains

about it, are chiefly composed of a more or less fine, compact, lead-

blue passing into black, limestone, which in some parts is fossili-

ferous, as the remains of a large Pecten attached to some of the

specimens proves.

Passing further in we come to the islands of Larrack and Hormuz,

which are twelve miles apart, and the former about twenty-six miles

north of Ras Mussundum. Larrack is 400, and Hormuz 700 feet

high. From Larrack we have specular iron-ore as its characteristic ;

and from Hormuz, rocksalt, sulphur, gypsum, specular iron-ore, and

pyrites. Hormuz is described as consisting of a plane of salt-rocks

about 50 feet above the level of the sea, out of which rise several -

white peaks which attain the altitude mentioned. Around these

the salt-rocks present a dreary waste of ridges and ravines covered

with a soft red earth, which has been eliminated from their inter-

stices by deliquescence of the salt during the moist and rainy wea-

ther. The white peaks, on the other hand, are composed of a

greenish-white jasperous rock, like an ill-formed or decomposing

diorite, charged with nodules of pyrites and intensely impregnated

with salt ; this rock looks like a pseudo-trap diorite, that is, a trap-

diorite which has accidentally become mixed with stratified deposits

during its fluidity.

1859. | Carter on the Persian Gulf. 43

Passing on to the island of Kishm, which is within ten miles of

Hormuz, and the largest by far in the Persian Gulf, being about

55 miles long, but very narrow; the specimens and descriptions of

this island show that it presents the same kinds of rocks as those

of Hormuz and Larrack, but in addition to these there is a stratified

sedimentary formation upon it of great extent, and upwards of 500

feet in thickness.

The latter is particularly well seen about the town of Kishm,

which is situated at the eastern end of the island, in long inclines

terminating in bluff precinices, some of which are 570 feet high.

Again at Bassadore, which is situated at the opposite or western end

of the island, it is equally well seen in the form of flat-topped pre-

cipitous elevations called the “ Great’? and “ Little Hummucks,”’

of which the former is 500 feet high.

This formation consists of upwards of 500 feet of calcareous clay,

capped by from 30 to 40 feet of a more or less coarse, and more or

less consolidated, detritus of shells and calcareous grit.

The clay is of a light grey colour, very fine consistence, effervesces

violently with acids, and is veined throughout with fibrous gypsum.

Tt is also very plastic, and is used extensively in Kishm for pottery.

Some portions bear impressions of bivalves, but those which I have

are too imperfect for description.

The detritus of shells, again, may be coarse or fine to almost chalky.

The shells are semifossilized, easily separated from the mass in which

they are imbedded, and bear such a resemblance to those of the

present day that they appear to be the last raised from the bottom

and sides of the Gulf. Whether this formation is conformable to

the clay beneath, and whether the two belong to the same, or to

two different geological epochs, further observation must determine.

Thirteen miles from Bassadore on the same island, are “ the Salt

Caverns’ where a green trap-diorite is found, specular iron-ore,

sulphur, &c. as at the islands of Larrack and Hormuz, and these

voleanic products, as well as the sedimentary formation, we shall

presently see, are also extended to the mainland or coast opposite.

After the island of Kishm, we come to the great and Little ‘Tombs,

Polior Nobflure and Surree ; the furthest not more than 55, and the

nearest only 15 miles from the western end of Kishm; and here

@ 2

44. Carter on the Persian Gulf. [No. 1.

again in each, we have most of the characters of the foregoing islands,

viz., green trap-diorite, specular iron-ore, gypsum, salt, sulphur, &c.,

as well as a white calcareous grit containing semi-fossilized shells,

similar to that which caps the clay on the island of Kishm, but the

clay appears to be absent. Here the calcareous deposit is identical

with that which I have called “ Milliolite,”? on the south-east coast

of Arabia and with that “ free-stone” from Khattiawar imported at

Bombay under the name of * Porebunder Stone.”’ That from Polior

and the Great and Little Tombs contains a large cancellated Lucina,

characteristic of the same formation at Morbat on the south-east

coast of Arabia; also Zridacna, Avicula margaritifera, or the com-

mon Pearl-Oyster, Fistulana, a small Hehinus, Corals, &c. :

From the island of Aboo Moosa, a little to the south of the latter,

the characteristic specimens are again the “ Milliolite” resting on the,

veined clay; and there is a compact yellow limestone peak probably

of Eocene age which rises to 370 feet above the level of the sea;

but there are no volcanic products here.

Going back to the Persian side of the Gulf, we have again the

*‘ Milliolite’’ characterizing the islands of Kais, Hindi Arabi and Mon-

akeyla, all situated very near the shore; but no longer any volcanic

products in either.

Lastly, we arrive at the islands of Karrack and Khago, which are

close together, and about 35 miles north-west of Bushire, Karrack

presents the same kind of sedimentary formation as that of the

island of Kishm; but here the clay is changed for a very fine lamin-

ated sandy deposit with little scales of mica, capped, however, as

usual with the coarse shelly deposit.

The rock from Khago is a caleareous gravelly “ Milliolite,’’ compos-

ed chiefly of rounded pieces of shells firmly consolidated. The same

kind of rock also forms the islets of Hargooz, Farsee, Arabi, and

El Kran, which are situated near together more towards the Arabian

side of the Gulf, about 80 miles south of ISarrack.

Returning to the Persian side, on the mainland opposite Bassadore

is a sulphur mine, which is much worked by the Arabs, and about

20 miles further on is the town of Linga, close to which are hills of

fine diorite like that near Muscat; and alittle to the west of these,

we come again upon the sedimentary formation first seen at Kishm,

1859. ] Carter on the Persian Gulf. A5

which is here raised up into a hill 330 feet high, and on the top of

which is the fort of Kalah Leshtan. As at Kishm, 30 feet of the top

consist ofa coarse, shelly detritus, and the 300 feet below of clay

thickly veined with fibrous gypsum. Still further on, at Jilla el-

Abed, which is opposite the island of Khais, we have trap-diorite

again and specular iron-ore with rock salt.

Beyond this, at Assaloo, we have the characteristic gypseous for-

mations of the coast, viz. earthy and massive white, crypto-crystal-

line gypsum ; and at Tahree again, we meet with the ‘ Milliolite,”’

sloping up from the shore a little distance from the sea, so as to

form an inclined plane with a scarp behind, in which an innumerable

quantity of troughs of different lengths have been cut at right angles

to the inclination, and which, from the number of wells present,

would appear at some remote period to have been used as a garden,

perhaps for supplying the town, which now lies in extensive ruins a

little distance off on the shore ; there are also holes in the precipi-

tous parts of this incline, where it has been cut through by ravines,

which appear to have been used for sepulchral purposes ; but Lieut.

Constable, who has a full description of the whole, will one day, I

trust, lay his interesting account of this locality before the public.

Lastly, at Bushire we have the same kind of fine sandy deposit

capped by shell-detritus or shell-concrete as that of Karrack, indicat-

ing that the nearer we get to the Shat el Arab, from which che

whole has probably been derived, the coarser the sediment becomes,

while the further off we go, as at Kishm, the more subtle it is.

At Bushire there also appears to be a still more modern shell-

concrete.

Observations—Hence we learn that there are two striking geolo-

gical features at least in the Persian Gulf. One the presence of a

sedimentary formation of more than 500 feet thickness, which has

been raised above the level of the sea; and the other, the existence

of a voleanic area, including all the islands at the eastern end of the

Gulf and part of the mainland, which is characterized by the presence

of trap-diorite and a great development of rock-salt, gypsum, sul-

phur, pyrites, specular iron-ore, &c.

The type of the sedimentary deposit we have found to be upwards

of 500 feet of fine calcareous clay veined with fibrous gypsum, and

46 Carter on the Persian Gulf. [ No. 1.

eapped by 20 to 30 feet of a calcareous, shelly grit more or less coarse,

more or less chalky in consistence, and in which the shells are semi-

fossilized or semi-lapidified. Whether these two distinct deposits

are conformable to each other or not I am ignorant, but the sketches

of them which I possess are in favour of the former; at the same

time, although conformable, they may contain fossils of different

geological epochs, which would prevent their being grouped toge-

ther. Unquestionably the calcareous shelly grit of Kishm is iden-

tical with the same formation, slightly modified, in the other parts

of the Gulf, and which modification identifies it with the same

deposit on the south-east coast of Arabiaand that on the outer or

western coast of Khattywar in India, which I have termed

** Milliolite,”? and assigned provisionally to the Miocene era. Pro-

visionally, therefore, it might be as well to consider that of the

Persian Gulf together with the clay, also Miocene.

Another interesting point then presents itself, viz—When were

the volcanic islands of the Gulf raised above the sea? And this

seems to be answered by the position of the Miocene formation at

the island of Kishm, which, resting upon these rocks, and being

capped with a material which must have been deposited at the

bottom of the sea, proves that the elevation of these islands, or this

voleanic out-burst, took place after the Miocene period, and was

the last great convulsive displacement to which the earth, under

and about the Persian Gulf, has been exposed; for there has not

been any other subsequent sedimentary deposit of any consequence

raised above, or probably deposited in, the sea of the Persian Gulf

since that period.

Having arrived so far then, we may with profit, perhaps, trace this

volcanic agency a little further, and first following the Mekran coast

on to Kurrachee, we find an extensive area in the province of Luss,

where this disturbance is stillin great activity ; not, however, pour-

ing forth fire and lava, but sulphurous gas and water, which, bub-

bling through a clay deposit of great thickness, has thus formed

mud-mountains and mud-craters over an area between the highland

of the interior and the sea which occupies the greater part of this

province. Moreover, the very same kind of sedimentary formation,

equally broken up too as that on the island of Kishm, characterizes

1859.] Carter on the Persian Gulf. 47

this area towards the sea, and from thence, as I have stated in my

“Summary of the Geology of India,”’ is continued on into Lower Sind.

But what struck me forcibly in the portions of mud from these

mud-voleanoes, which were sent to the Society by Mr. H. B. Frere,

Commissioner in Sind, was the presence of calcareous matter mixed

with sulphur and passing into gypsum or sulphate of lime,—con-

nected with the great development of impure rock gypsum (that

is gypsum veining an aluminous, earthy, consolidated base, which,

from Lieut. Constable’s specimen, appears to exist throughout

the sub-range of mountains between the highland and the sea all

along the north-eastern side of the Persian Gulf, indicating that

this has been formed in a similar way, and that the process above

described is going on now and has existed for ages.

Now carrying our speculation out a little further, and going to

the upper end of the Gulf, we may reasonably infer that as the

saine range of mountains bordering the north-eastern Coast of the

Persian Gulf is continued on into Persia, and up into Khourdistan

under the name of the Khourd Mountains, forming the north-eastern

boundary of the vale of Mesopotamia, in which springs of asphalt

abound,—the same source of subterranean disturbance, (probably a

carboniferous deposit mixed with pyrites) exists throughout; and

finds its different outlets allalong the great crack or fault in the

earth, which must accompany the precipitous or south-western face

of this highland tract.

Furthermore, it is not improbable that the so called “marbles”

of Nimroud and of all the great cities which have existed in this

vale that have been brought to light, and which are chiefly compos-

ed of mottled impure rock-gypsum, precisely like that of the hills

on the shores of the Persian Gulf, have been obtained from quarries

in the sub-ranges of the Khourd Mountains. Lastly, might it not

have been the outburst of volcanic matter which we now know to

have been that which threw up the Miocene formation of the

Persian Gulf, and the last upheaval, apparently, of any consequence

in this sea, that caused the disturbance of level in the vale of

Mesopotamia, which led to the overflowing of these cities with the

_ mud under which they now lie buried and thus concealed from view.

Perhaps in no part of the world could the phenomena connected

48 Carter on the Persian Gulf. [No. 1.

with the formation of rock-salt, rock-gypsum, sulphur-pyrites, and

specular iron-ore, be studied with such ease, certainty and success,

as along the sub-ranges of mountains which extend from Mekran up

into Khourdistan.

Of the formation composing the highland I can only infer, as the

scarps are said to present a white aspect, that it is capped by the

eocene limestone, which forms part of it when extended into Arabia

on one side and into Beloochistan and Sind on the other.

PLPDALDADAAL.

UPDDIS

Memorandum on Education in China drawn up from information

afforded by the Ex-Imperial Commissioner Yeh.— By C, ALaBas-

TER, Lsquire.

_ Education in China is so much influenced by the direct as well as

indirect patronage of the State as to be there rather a Government

than, as in most other countries, a public institution; not only does

Government in great measure support it by the establishment of

free Schools at every official station in the Empire, but, by keeping

the Public Examinations in its own hands and by making these the

only means of gaining rank or position, it prescribes the nature and

extent of the knowledge chiefly acquired for their attainment.

The theory on which it acts seems to be that of Confucius, the

wisdom of which the long stability of the Chinese Empire has tested,

that to make men good subjects you have only to make them wise,

to do which, it is only necessary to give them education ; and again,

that though a strong Government, keeping the people down by

severity, may prevent their rebelling, it is only a good one ruling them

by persuasion, that can prevent their desiring and seeking to do so.

This theory, having been adopted, has been put in practice in

China for centuries, the measures taken for its efficient working

reflecting the highest credit on Chinese statesmen.

First.—All official employment has, until very lately, when this

rule has been most unhappily deviated from, been the reward

of knowledge, representing as it does in Chinese minds, wisdom,

knowledge only to be acquired by following the course of study

prescribed by Government.

1859. | Memorandum on Education in China. 49

Secondly.—The Emperor, by his example and by his periodical

exhortations, sets and keeps up the fashion, and by making the in-

terior not the exterior of a man the test by which his pretensions to

position are determined, causes his subjects to devote more care to

the former than to the latter.

And lastly, by keeping up a system by which all the burthens of

the state fall on the rich ignoramuses, while all the prizes fall to

the scholars, the spirit of economy, so strong in Chinese breasts, is

enlisted in the pursuit of knowledge.

Thus, Education is so widely spread in China, that Yeb, when

asked how they managed to do justice there, none of the Mandarins

being able to speak the local dialects, was able to say, Why, very

easily: all the depositions are written down and submitted to the

parties interested, and there is not a single household in China

which has not at least one member able to read.

The elementary schools are, however, all in private hands, and so

early do the Chinese youth commence their studies, that the rudi-

ments are always taught at home, one Chinese philosopher, indeed,

saying that education should commence previous, not subsequent to,

birth, and the sage Mercuis is cited as an instance of the favorable

results of this course being followed.

Having then learnt his A B C at home, or more correctly,

having had his eye familiarized with the written character by getting

up a certain number of easy simple signs answering to our pothooks

and hangers, and been instructed in a few ordinary rules of decorum

and behaviour, the young student is, if his father is too much

engaged to attend to his instruction himself, and too poor to hire a

tutor to do it for him, sent off to a public day School, where a

little book is put into his hand which he has to learn by rote, and

having thus accomplished the first drudgery of his life, it is explain-

ed to him ; the first sentence impressing on him that he is by nature

good, and that if he becomes depraved, he is then in an abnormal

and unnatural condition.

To give him time to digest this and other similar pieces of wisdom,

_a-second book, more difficult than the former, is given him to be

learnt by rote, before it is explained, and having mastered this, he is

50 Memorandum on Education in China. [No. 1.

advanced to a higher class and the glorious study of Confucius is

opened to him.

By the time he has learnt the four books by heart, and hag read

some of the commentaries upon them, he has finished the curriculum

of study taught at ordinary schools, and, unless his family think his

talents are sufficient to promise success at the examinations, his

course of study; returning to his family utterly deficient in all

scientific knowledge, believing that the world is flat, and that three

quarters of it are Chinese, ignorant of Mathematics and caring

little how far it is to the moon, but fully impressed with the truths

that honesty is the best policy, that if you would be respected,

you must respect others, that it is your duty to honor your parents

and lay down your life for your prince, that you should never do

wrong under any circumstances whatever, that you will do more by

reforming yourself than by seeking to improve others, and that it

is advantageous to tell the truth to your friends.

Should, however, the student shew signs of talent, his family

subscribe to hire a tutor for him to read with, or he offers himself

as a candidate for admission at one of the Government Schools,

where, if successful, he has the advantage of receiving the instruction

of the best masters, gratis, until he is qualified to try for a degree.

In these Schools, the Masters of which receive salaries varying

from 4 to 40 Pounds a month, the books written by the ancient

sages, edited by Confucius, are read with the numerous commen-

taries upon them, and the hving commentary history, is studied;

here too they are first initiated into the mystery of paraphrasing

the moral maxims of the ancients and of writing themes upon them.

They now go in for their first degree, being equally able to

compete if they have studied at home instead of at these public

Colleges, and if successful, their education is thenceforth the care of

the State. Educational Officers being appointed to assist and direct

them, keeping up the spirit of emulation in them by frequent trials

and examinations.

Many, however, now give up their studies, seeking employment

as teachers in the schools or as tutors in private families and some-

times sacrificing their pride to their covetousness, becoming clerks

in Public Offices.

1859. ] Memorandum on Education in China. 54

Such as persevere, and there are instances of men doing so sixty

years, become gradually perfect in the art of writing essays, and

_ take their next degree, which renders them eligible for office, and,

unless they prefer giving up their ambition for a tutorship, enrols

them in the large band of expectants, as they are called, who, in

the hopes of gaining a post at some future day, give their services

gratis until that time.

There is a higher degree than this, which, if you wish it, gives

you office the moment you obtain it, but the examination for it is

so strict and so severe, that comparatively few pass it; for this, you

are not only required to paraphrase or write essays on texts taken

from the four books, or the five classics, and to be well read in

the history of China, but, the Ex-Commissioner says, must be

able to write essays on subjects like the following :—“ The dews

fall in Autumn” shewing the connection between this extract from

the Book of Odes and the system of taxation, in short to shew

how every act of Government is, or rather might be, based on

the classics.

This, as the degree of Master in Masonry, is the highest generally

taken, but there is one still higher conferred by the Emperor

himself, assisted by the greatest scholars in the Empire, this consti-

tutes the successful candidate, a Member of the Imperial College of

the Hanlin, where he is employed writing state papers until the

Emperor has need of his services as an administrative Mandarin,

or despatches him on some special mission, the diplomatists of

China being generally selected from this body.

Thus, from the commencement of their education to its termina-

tion, Moral Philosophy is their only study, having mastered that

they are then, says Confucius, wise, and as the wise man, he adds,

is not a kettle, meaning thereby that he is fit for all purposes, not

for one only, he is qualified to act as Judge and put his fellowmen

to death, although, like Yeh, he has never opened a law book, as a

revenue Officer, although ignorant of Arithmetic, or as an Engineer,

although he has never heard of Geometry.

The explanation Yeh gives of this is, that the Chinese Officials

always keep clerks to look up the law of a case, while they elicit the

facts, or to make any calculations that may become necessary, a

: ee

52 Memorandum on Education in China. [ Nien EE

latitude always being allowed, justice rather than equity being

Jooked for in their Courts, and a surplus, rather than a nicely

adjusted balance, in their accounts.

They have no industrial, agricultural or Art-Schools, sons, gener-

ally following in the footsteps of their fathers, thus rendering these

unnecessary, for though, says the Hx-Commissioner their establish-

ment might lead to improvement, they are not required, things going

on very well as they are, and no improvement being wanted.

The study of languages is also neglected, for, as Yeh says, all

foreigners who go to China learn Chinese, and what is the use of

our taking all the trouble of learning foreign languages, to no end,

for he ignores or disbelieves the fact, that foreion literature could

give him many new ideas; in short, all knowledge, save of the

writings of the wise men of China, is considered useless and

unprofitable.

But although the area is so circumscribed, it takes a long time

travelling over, so slowly do they progress, and some are thirty or

forty years at their books, before they can take even the first degree,

it is possible, however, to take them all at an early age, an instance

being mentioned of a boy of sixteen gaining a chair in the Imperial

College, while Yeh was only nineteen when he took his first, and

nine and twenty when he took his last degree,—knowledge being

the sole qualification required.

The final examination, that for the degree of Hanlin, is held by

the Emperor himself, assisted by the wisest members of the College,

that for the next or Doctor, is also held at Pekin, the expenses of

the successful candidates from and back to their villages, being

defrayed by Government even for the next, that equivalent to the

English Master of Arts examination, it is thought necessary to send

special Examiners down from Pekin, who, while on their Mission,

rank with the highest provincial authorities, the last degree alone

being conferred by the Literary Chancellor, an Official equal in

rank to the Lieutenant-Governor of a Province.

Such is a brief sketch of male education, which, widely spread as

it is, exercises a powerful influence over the Chinese mind, but

which, ignoring as it does religion, as Yeli confesses, merely checks

vpen vice aud utterly fails in its great object to make men good.

1859. | Memorandum on Education in China. 5B

Female education is not so widely spread: the female members of

a family having their cookery and embroidery to fill up the hours,

which, in the absence of all amusement, the boy is compelled to

devote to his books; but girls nearly always receive some instruction

from their parents, and if of good family are expected to be able to

read and make verses.

There are instances of Chinese ladies devoting themselves to

literature, and some of their best histories are written by women,

but as there is nothing tangible to be gained by female learning, the

Chinese ladies rarely go beyond the four books, even if they go so

far, and having accomplished this, they return to their kitchen, where,

more fortunate than their husbands, they acquire at least one useful

science.

Save in the Province of Kuangtung (Canton) there are no girl-

schools in the Chinese Empire, and as the Hx-Commissioner’s

modesty prevented his investigating their internal arrangements,

we have no certain knowledge on this point; it is also customary

in some places for daily Governesses to be employed, but the Ex-

Commissioner is also quite unable to give any information respecting

them.

LLB OOO”

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

ASTATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL,

For December, 1858.

PL PID IYPYLYIYPLIIYIYVIV IYI

The Monthly General Meeting of the Society was held on the Ist

instant.

A. Grote, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair.

The proceedings of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Presentations were received.—

1.—From Dr. Theo. Cantor, vol. I. of the Ichthyologiae Archipe-

lagi Indici Prodromus by Doctor Bleeker.

2.—From the Secretary Royal Society of Antiquaries at Copen-

hagen, several publications of that Society.

3.—From the Secretary Royal Society of London, several Nos. of

- the Society’s Proceedings, Vols. 146 and 147 of the Philosophical

Transactions of the Society, and several other publications.

4.—From the Secretary Geological Society of Dublin, through

Mr. Oldham, several vols. of the Journal of that Society.

5.—From the Secretary Government of Bengal, copy of a report

on the Survey operations of the Lower Provinces for 1856-57.

6.—From Baboo Ouongomohun Deb Mitter, a copy of the Mittra

Bungsabulli.

Maharaja Suttish Chunder Roy Bahadoor, proposed by A. Grote,

‘Esq., and seconded by the President was named for ballot at the

next meeting.

Mr. C. Alabaster proposed by A. Grote, Esq., and seconded by

W.S. Atkinson, Esq., was also named for ballot at the next meeting.

The Couucil reported.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 55

I.—Recommending that Dr. Max Miller proposed by A. Grote,

Hsq., and seconded by HE. B. Coweil, Esq., as a corresponding

member, be named for ballot at the next meeting.

2.-—That they had appointed a Committee for the examination of

the Stacy coins received through Major Ferris. That the Committee

had examined them, and given in their report, stating that, with a

few inconsiderable exceptions the coins were correct according to

the Catalogue. They had therefore empowered the Committee to

order the payment of the sum named for the coins to Captain

Wroughton, and to purchase an iron safe, should it be necessary for

the security of the collection.

Communications were received—

1.—From the Venerable Archdeacon Pratt, a rejoinder to Capt.

Tennant’s reply to his paper on the Meridional Are.

2.—From C. Alabaster, Esq., two catalogues of the bound and

unbound Chinese Books in the Society’s Library.

Resolved that the thanks of the Society be givento Mr. Alabaster.

3.—From the Officiating Under-Secretary Government of India,

copy of a despatch from the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of

the Punjaub, communicating particulars of what has been ascertain-

ed regarding the fate of Mons. A. Schlagintweit.

From R. Tumpxe, Hsq. Secretary to the Chief Commissioner for the

Punjaub.

To G. F. Epmonsrone, Hsq. Secretary to the Government of India

Foreign Department, with the Governor General.

Dated Lahore, the 15th October, 1858.

Sir,—I am directed to forward for the information of Hig

Lordship the Governor General, copies of a letter and enclosures

from the Commissioner Trans-Sutlej States, dated 5th Instant,

from which it appears that Mr. A. Schlagintweit, Magnetic Surveyor,

was taken prisoner by the Indijans about twelve or fourteen

months ago, and if not killed by them, as is currently rumoured,

must be still in captivity.

I have the honor, to be, &e.

W. Wy xp, Captain,

Assistant Military Secretary, for Secretary.

56 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 1.

From Major Ki. Laxn, Commissioner and Supdt. Trans-Sutlej States.

To R. Vemene, lisa., Secretary to Chief Commissioner, Punjaud.

Dated Dhurmsala, the 5th October, 1858.

Sir,—I have the honor to forward for the information of the

Chief Commissioner the copy of a letter dated 2nd October, 1858,

to my address from the Deputy Commissioner Kangra, together

with a translation of the statement of Kutuballee Shah Yarkun-

dee. If his information is to be depended upon, Mr. A. Schla-

gintweit must have been taken prisoner by the Indijans about

twelve or fourteen months ago; and if not killed by them, (as is

currently rumoured) must be in captivity.

2. In obedience to demi-official instructions of the Chief Com-

missioner, Major ‘Taylor deputed in June last, messengers specially

to Yarkund for the purpose of procuring more definite intelligence

regarding Mr. Schlagintweit. Their return may be shortly ex-

pected.

I have the honor, to be, &e.

EK. Lake,

From the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra.

To the Commissioner and Superintendent Trans-Sutlej States.

Dated, Dhurmsala, 2nd October, 1858.

Str,—I have the honor to subjoin an extract from a demi-offi-

cial communication from Mr. G. Knox, Assistant Commissioner of

Kooloo, together with a translation of the Vernacular statement sent.

2ud. The account has the appearance of being true and circum-

stantial ; if it is so, and the account forwarded by the missionaries

from Lahoul has also foundation, Mr. Schlagintweit must have

long survived his first capture, as according to the story told to the

missionaries he was living unmolested in the neighbourhood of

Yarkund in December 1857, when a roving party of Indijans found

him and eventually murdered him.

8rd. You will remember that two men from Yarkund whom Mr.

Knox had an opportunity of questioning said that Mr, Schlagint-

weit had gone away with the Indijans.

ee A ee | a ee ae ee, ee

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 57

4th. If I can elicit any thing more from Kuttub Ali Shah, I will

report upon it. We may hope to have both Omerdeer’s man and

the messenger sent by Haree Chund back before the passes are

closed.

I have the honor to be, &c.

R. Taytor,

Deputy Commissioner.

Statement of Kuttus Autre Suan VYarkundee, taken before Mr.

Knox, 28th September, 1858.

Last year in the month of Sawun (July) viz. 14 months ago, the

Indijans came to Yarkund to fight with the Kuttes and Chinese,

and I went to Kurghulluck, two days’ journey on this side. The Indi-

jans took me and all the Punjabees, Cabulees, Cashmerees and Hin-

doostanees, in all some 40 or 50 persons, prisoners. At that time

two Indijans and a Majanee were accompanying a Sahib who was

coming from the Ladak side; these three men ran away with the

Sahib’s property and came to Kurghullock, there they stopped

in the house of one Kurbun Khujjuck and they said to him, We have

some property for sale, do you take it. When he had sent for the

property and examined it, he found it to consist of 12 or 14 Thans

Keenkhab, and some loongees, and some Daryayee, and some other

property also, but I did not see it with my owneyes. Kurbun having

seen the things, went and reported the fact to Hajee Nussur, Kar-

dar of the Indijans, saying that these men were poor and had nothing

of their own, they must have robbed this from somebody. Hajee

Nussur sent for them and intimidated them, questioning them

as to where they got the property, and whose it was. They at first

asserted that the property was their own, but when threatened

severely they stated that Mahomed Ameen had brought a Fering-

bee with him, and this property belonged to that Feringhee,

_and we have taken it and are escaping with it. Hajee Nussur asked

| where the Feringhee was, they replied “ God knows! He was on

his way to Yarkund, if he has gone there he will have arrived at

| the village of Gullean.” Hajee Nussur therefore sent two or three

of his own men and told them to go and fetch the Sahib ; they

therefore went to Gullean and brought the Sahib from thence to Kur-

: I

)

58 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. (ANIGAR.

ghulluck and Mahomed Ameen was also with him. Nobody under-

stood the Sahib’s speech in that country, they searched therefore

for somebody who could understand him, in hope of finding some

one who could understand Hindoostanee or Punjabee. I was in

confinement and they took me to the place. Hajee Nussur told me

to ask the Sahib why he had come there. I asked the Sahib. He

replied that there was a Shahzada, son of Mihmood Shah, living in

the Indijan country, and he had visited him (Mr. Schlagintweit) in

Lahore, and had said, Do you come to Indijan, and I will establish

friendly relations between the Nawab of Indijan and the Sahibs ;

that it was on this account that he was on his way to Indijan.

Hajee Nassur confiscated all the Sahib’s property, and put the

Sahib in confinement and sent him to Tullah Khan, a principal

Sirdar. When they put the Sahib in confinement, he said to me,

“* No one here understands my language and my belief is that these

* people will kill me, should you go to that side of the country, if

“you go by Koolloo, tell this matter to Hay Sahib; if you go by

“Cashmere tell it to whatever Sahib you meet.” After this the

Sahib went away. On the day that the Sahib went to Sirdar Tulla

Khan, on the same day, the Chinese force came to fight with the

Indijans, and the Indijans fought for halfan hour and then ran away,

and took the Sahib with them; when the Chinese force came, all

the Indijan Kardars ran away, and we, forty or fifty men, who

were in confinement, got free. I afterwards heard that Dil Khan

the great Chief of the Indijans had taken the Sahib’s property, and

put him to death, but I only heard this from the report of travellers

of Kashgur and Yarkund. I did not see it with my own eyes. Ques-

tion.—Do you know anything of the property of the Sahib or. his

servants ? Answer.— No—I do not know anything about them. I

only saw the Sahib and Mahomed Ameen Moghul; some also said

that Mahomed Ameen also had been killed; others that he was

alive; others that he had his nose and ears cut off.

(Signed) Kuttab Allee Shah Yarkundee.

Nuggur, 28th September, 1858.

(Evtract.)

A man has come to-day and gives some intelligence about Mr.

Schlagintweit, he says he saw him when the Indijans were taking

a eS

———

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 59

him off, and Schlagintweit told him to mention what had occurred.

I have taken down in writing his statement and herewith enclose it

to you. I have given him a Purwannah as far as Kangra, as from

all I see and hear I don’t think him a spy or suspicious character.

He says he is on his way to Rambag. If you think as I do will you

kindly give him a purwannah onward. I send him in person to you,

so you can gather much more from him by talking, and much more

than I can convey to you in writing.

(Signed) G. Kyox.

4. From Baboo Radha Nauth Sikdar, an abstract of the Meteo-

rological observations taken at the Surveyor General’s Office during

the months of June and July.

The Officiating Librarian submitted his usual monthly report for

November last.

Dr. Thomson gave some account of the Botanical results of a

recent visit to Parisnath.

LIBRARY.

The Library has received the following accessions during the month of

December, 1858.

Presented.

Atheneum, for August 1858.—By Tue Eprrors.

Indische Studien, Vol. 4. P. 3.—By Dr. Weserr.

Journal of the Statistical Society, London, for September 1858.—By

THE SOCIETY.

The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine.—No. 106

for SepremBeER, 1858.

Zeitschrift der Deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft.—By Pror.

Dr. BrocxHaus Vot. 12, P. 3., AND AN INDEX oF VoLs. 1—10.

Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, Vol. 107, P. 1. for Juuy, 1853.

Al-hadirae Diwanus of Al-Yezidiii—By Dr. EnentMann,

Bleeker, P. Ichthyologiae Archipelagi Indici Prodromus, Vol. 1,

Batavia.—By Dr. Cantor.

S. M. Le Roi Frederic VII. de Danemark, sur—la construction des salles

dites des géants Copenhague, 1857.—By tue Royat Soctrry or ANTI-

QUARIES AT COPENHAGEN.

Rafn. C. C. Inscription Runique du Pireé interpretee.—CopENnHacus.

1856, DITTO DITTO.

igh

60 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 1.

Extrait des Antiquites del’ Orient.—CoprnnuaGusn, 1856.—Dirto.

Antiquarisk Tidsskrift, 1854.—Duirro.

S. M. Frederic VII. Roi de Danemark, Vestiges D’Asserbo et de

Soborg decouverts,—CopenHaAGug, 1855.—Dirro.

Rafn. C. C. Antiquites Americaines, CoPENHAGUE, 1845, RoYAL 4to.—

Dirro.

Saga Jatvardar Konungs Hins, Helga, Copmnuacus, 1852.—Dirro.

List of Members and of Books published by the Society, pamphlet

1857.—Dirro. |

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Nos. 27, 28, 29, 31 and 32,

1857-58.—By tur Royau Society or Lonpon.

List of Fellows of the Royal Society, 1856-57.—Dirtro.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, for 1856-

57, Vol. 146, Parts 2 and 3, Vol. 147 P. 1 and 2.

Address of the President at the Anniversary Meeting of the Royal

Society, 1857.—Dirro.

Jounson, M.J.(M. A.) Meteorological Observations made at the Red-

cliffe Observatory, Oxrorp, 1856.—Dirvo.

Observations Meteorologiques, faites a Nijne-Taguilsk, Annee 1856,

— Panis 1858, Ditto.

Compte Rendu Annual addresse A. S, Exc. M. de Brock., Pur le direc-

teur de Vobservatoir Physique central, Annéé 1855, St. Pererspoure,

1856.—Dirro.

Sir Humphry Davy’s Discourses, 1820-26 London.—Dirro.

Report on the adjudication of the Copley Rumford and Royal Medals,

London, 1834,—Dirro.

ScuEevutTz, GrorGe AND Epwarp. Specimen Tables calculated and

stereomoulded by the Swedish Calculating Machine, London, 1852,—2

Copirzs.—Dirro.

Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, New

Series Vol. 3. P. 4. 1855-58.—By THE AcapEMy.

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol.

8, 1856.—Ditro.

Bopp. Franz. Vergleichende Grammatik des Sanscrit, Send, Griechis-

chen, Lateinischen, Littanischen, Altslavischen, Gothischen, und Deuts-

chen. Erster Band, Berlin, 1857.—By THE AUTHOR.

Journal of the Geological Society of Dublin, Vol. II. P. J, 2, 3,

Vol Ile P. ly 2, 3;-4, You. TV. PB. 1,2, Vol. Voi Rade Quam

6.—By Toe Socrery.

The Oriental Baptist for November 1858.—By THE Epiror,

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 61

Calcutta Christian Observer for Nov. 1858.—By tue Eptirors.

Bibidharta Sangraha, for Assar.—By THe Epiror.

Written defence of Roy Kissory Chand Mittra by Babu R. L. Mirrra.

Report on a project for the supply of Water to the Poona Cantonment,

with Plans and sections in a separate case.—By THe Srecrerary P.

Works DEPARTMENT.

Sansecrit Worterbuch Herausgegeben von der Kaiserlichen Akademie

der Wissenschaften, by Proffr Bohtlingk and Rudolph Roth. Erster

Theil and Zweiter Theil.

The Oriental Christian Spectator for October, 1858.—By THe Epitor.

Carrington A. Catalogue of 3735 Circumpolar Stars observed at Red-

hill, for 1855.—By tHe Roya. Society.

Report of the Survey Operations of the Lower Provinces from Oct.

1856 to Sept. 1857.— By THe Govt. or BENGAL.

Defence of Roy Kissory Chund Mittra. From Baboo Rajendralal

Mittra.

PuRCHASED.

Travels in Central Africa, Vols. 4 and 5—By Dr. Barrnu.

Comptes Rendus, Tome 47, Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9.—By THE ACADEMY oF

Sciences, Paris. .

The Annals and Magazine of Natural History No. IX. Sept. 1858.

The Literary Gazette, Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

Revue des Deux Mondes, for August and Sept. 1858.

Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Tome 8. Paris.

Journal des Savants, for August 1858. Paris.

Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, No. 7. Paris.

Geschichte des Englishen Reiches in Asien, Von Karl Friedrich Neu-

mann, Erster and Zweiter Band, Leipzig, 1857.

Guenee’s Suites 4 Buffon, Histoire des Insectes,—Lepidopteres, Tome

IX. Paris.

—— Planches, 10 Livraison Insectes, Lepidopteres, Paris.

Notices et Extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Imperiale, Tome

16, 17, 18, p. 1st Tome 19, p. 2.

Expedition de Timiour-lenk our Tamerlan, by Mr. Charmoy.

Vendidad Sade, Troisieme Livraison, Paris, 1855.—By Mr. Juues

| THONNELIER.

62 Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. [ No. 1.

For January, 1859.

At the Annual General Meeting of the Society held on the 5th

January, 1859.

A. Grote, Esq., V. P., in the Chair.

The proceedings commenced by the Secretary reading the follow-

ing note from the Hon’ble Sir James Colvile, Kt., President of

the Society, announcing his wish to resign, in consequence of his

intended departure from India.

Calcutta, December 24th, 1858.

E. B. Cowztt, Esq., Seeretary, Asiatic Society.

Str,— My resignation of the office of Chief Justice has been accept-

ed by the Secretary of State for India ; and I purpose to leave India

at the end of March, 1859.

In this state of things I ought not, I conceive, to be proposed for

re-election as President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, at the

approaching annual meeting of the Society. The Society ought

then to have the opportunity of electing a President who may be pre-

sumed to becapable of performing the duties of the office during

the whole year. I beg, therefore, that you will circulate this letter

amongst the Members of the Council, in order that they may deter-

mine whom they will propose as the next President; I beg also

that if there be no objection to that course, this letter may be laid

before the Society at its annual meeting.

I am naturally desirous to take that opportunity of expressing my

deep sense of the honor which the Society has conferred upon me, in

electing me for ten successive years to be its President ; and of

apologizing for my many short-comings in the discharge of the duties

of that office. I have never disguised from myself that I owed this

distinction rather to the accident of official rank, than to my per-

sonal qualifications for the office. Ihave always felt that the Pre-

sident of our Society ought to be one who had established some

reputation for himself, either in the field of scientific inquiry, or

in that of antiquarian research ; and I was once most anxious to

make way for one who had every qualification which the President

of such a Society ought to possess, the late Sir Henry Elliot. His

absence from Calcutta frustrated my desires; and I continued to

- ‘] fe oe ~

ai eee ake ee ee

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 63

enjoy the honor annually bestowed upon me, with an undiminished

sense of my own unworthiness, and chiefly because I was assured

by my friends that my continuance in the chair was useful to the

Society. If it has been so, the result is mainly due to the effi-

cient and friendly co-operation of the gentlemen who have from time

to time held the office of Secretary, and of my other colleagues in

the Council.

That the Society may find, as it easily may, an able and more

efficient President, and may long flourish under him and his succes-

sors, is the sincere wish of

Sir,

Your most obedient faithful servant,

James W. COLVILE.

The Chairman observed that he felt sure that this announcement

would be received by the meeting, and by the Society generally,

with very great regret. He then moved the following Resolution

which was seconded by Mr. C. Beadon.

That the Society, while it congratulates the Hon’ble Sir James

Colvile on his approaching return to England, desires to express

its regret at the loss of his valuable services, and to record its

grateful thanks for the zeal and ability with which he has discharg-

ed the office of President for the last ten years, and has uniform-

ly exerted himself to promote the objects and interests of the

Society.

Carried unanimously.

The Secretary proceeded to read the following report :—

The Council of the Asiatic Society in submitting their usual An-

nual report, again have to remark with regret, that the continued

disturbance of the country appears materially to have interfered

with the welfare of the Society.

The total number of Members* now on the rolls is 183, against

* Ordinary. Paying. Absent.

1851 130, 124, 6

1352, 139 WR. 7

1853 146, 123, 23

1854 155, 129, 26

1855 162, 128, 34

1856 167, 181, 36

iar 147, 109, 38

1858 133, 95, 38

64 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 1.

167 in 1856, and 147 in 1857, shewing a decrease of 34 ordinary

Members within the last two years.

The elections during the year have been only two, while the losses

-have been 16. Of these 11 have been caused by retirement.

four by death, and one under bye law 13 of the Society’s rules.

Of the 183 Members on the rolls, 88 are absent in Europe, and two

are life Members, leaving only 93 on the paying list.

Dr. H. Falconer and B. H. Hodgson, Esq., have, on their de-

parture for Europe, been added to the list of honorary Members,

and Herr R. Schlagintweit has been elected a corresponding Mem-

ber of the Society.

The obituary includes the names of four ordinary Members, viz. :

the late Bishop Wilson, Lieutenant I. J. Burgess, Dr. F. P. Strong,

and Baboo Nogendra Nauth Tagore; of one honorary Member,

General Count Ventura; and of one associate, Mr. H. Pidding-

ton.

In the Venerable Bishop Wilson, the Society has to regret one

who was for many years a zealous Member, and who for ten years

held the office of Vice-President.

Mr. Piddington was connected with the Society for nearly thirty

years, and at various times served in the capacities of Officiating

Secretary, Assistant Secretary, and Curator of the Geological Depart-

ment. In him the Society has lost a most able and constant contri-

butor to the Journal, and Science an indefatigable votary.

FINANCES.

The loss of a large number of Members, and the difficulty of making

remittances from the Mofussil, have seriously affected the income of

the Society. The total receipts during the past year have been

Rupees 17,206-6-1, whilst those of the preceding year were Rupees

22,504-12-3. The expences have been Rupees 15,088-14-7. To this

sum, however, has to be added the cost of the repairs of the Society’s

premises, Rupees 2,280, which will make the expenditure amount to

about the same sum as in 1857.

The income includes a sum of Rupees 500, paid by Rajah Pra-

taub Chunder Singh as the amount of his compensation fee, which has

been invested in Government securities, and another of Rupees

1,734-16-8, received from the Oriental Fund in liquidation of the ad-

vance made to it in 1856.

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 65

The liabilities of the Society amount to Rupees 6,810-3-10; to

meet which there is a cash balance in hand to the extent of Rupees

3,451-12-3, Company’s paper, to the value of 5,000, and outstand-

ing assets to the amount of Rupees 6,289-10-3. Rupees 2,255-7-3

have been written off in the course of the year as unrealiza-

ble.

The probable receipts of the ensuing year may be assumed at Rupees

12,300, and of expenses at Rupees 11,533, the estimate under the

usual heads being—

INcoME.

MMMM Gt hos ok ax Ge ee ves ees se ace ce 0,000 “OO

NeteeO Ce gh Oh I 100= 0: 0

Government Grant at 300, ei weet hdd <1 Tue UO).,.Ox 0

ee 700 O O

te eo ale Re Ae Oars Be tel wes m leh. 1,000,..0.. O

ES Se el ke is aa tS e nine eo ig Kygl' am & acne 250 O O

Ns. eign oa dS ais eaten sla saceisrayy <s)4gd ojo: eer os a0... :0) @

Rs. 12,300 0 O

RAE oo inlay a nin aitlel Ai gfels alec edineg 1,025, 0. O

EXPENDITURE.

Museum, ........ i cient cae kedings a Ae wii tata 0

Library meeitichinont; Me ere tet rare aigitea! 45) 0s 936 0

Es) SAR Ok 500 0

Rn oy. ee ee ek. Galea ee ares «. 300 0

Ee 5721)! lint OB ied. Miiepele Welle e Fb) aisad e 200 @)

Seneral Petablishment, .2..05. 6. tees ae ce eee. 1,494

CaS SOD aS "SS OC Ores

=n)

I er SO Site Gea s eid cescay.w) 2,500 O

etre re a ete ae 500 O

Me a i Se 4.00 ©)

Ts ole sg oa) ne aa 5 a oe ins s os ae 58 0

Rs. 11,538 0 0

IE UCT ADG, a Pade vive ix sa ee cern ce eeek 961 Bo 4

66 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 1.

LIBRARY.

The Library has received important accessions of Scientific and

Oriental works to the extent of 3800 vols., curing the year under

report. The presentations from learned Societies and Institutions

have been rich and various, and the Society’s purchases include

most of the leading scientific and other periodicals.

Mr. Chaloner Alabaster has furnished the Society with a Catalogue

of the Chinese works in the Library, which will shortly appear in

the Journal, and the Librarian is preparing a list of incomplete

Works and Transactions of learned Societies, in order that the Vols.

wanting may be procured from Europe.

Sracy CoLLECTION OF Corns.

The Council having been in treaty during the last two years for

the purchase of this collection of coins, have at last succeeded in

securing it. A Committee which was nominated to examine the

coins, reports them to be complete, according to Mr. EH. Thomas’s

Catalogue, with a very few exceptions. The sum of 2,988 Rupees

originally subscribed for the purchase of this collection, was realized

in full, and the balance, Rupees 1,062, has been made up from the

Society’s Funds out of the grant of 1,200 Rupees, accorded for

that purpose by a special vote. The Committee hope ere long to

determine the best means of preserving and exhibiting this valuable

collection, together with other coins already in the Society’s posses-

sion.

MUSEUM.

The repairs of the building having occupied the greater part of

the year, the Museum has been closed to public inspection for a

lengthened period. The trouble of removing at every successive

stage the articles occupying the Society’s premises, has protracted

the repairs considerably. They have, however, now been completed

and the objects in the Museum re-arranged.

JOURNAL.

Owing to the continued troubles of the country, and the conse-

quent hindrance to the prosecution of scientific researches, only 4

Nos. of the Journal have been issued.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 67

OrienTAL Funp.

It was announced in the last report, that the Oriental Fund

would soon be in a position to enable the Editors to complete

the unfinished works, and to commence a new series. The Council

have since paid off all the liabilities of the Fund which had fallen

due, and issued 7 Nos. of the Bib. Indica, including portions of 5

different works. Of these 4 have been edited by Babu Rajendra

Lal Mittra, 2 by Mr. F. E. Hall, and 1 by Pundit Ishar Chandra

Vidysagara. The names of the works are—

Lalita Vistara, or Memoirs of the Life and Doctrines of Sakya

Sinha Fas. III, IV, V, being Nos. 143,144,—145, edited by Baboo

Rajendra Lal Mittra.

2. ‘Taittiriya Brahmana of the Black Yajur Veda, with the com-

mentary of Sayanacharya Fas. III. being No. 147, edited by Baboo

Rajendra Lal Mittra.

3. The concluding part (Fasc. III.) of the Sankhya Pravachana

Bhashya, with an English preface, being No. 141, edited by F. E.

Hall, Esq.

4. Surya Siddhanta with its commentary, the Gudhartha Pra-

kasaka, Fase. IV., being No. 146, edited by F. E. Hall, Esq.

5. Sarvadarsana Sangraha; or an Hpitome of the different

systems of Indian Philosophy, by Madhavachyarya; Fas. II. being

No. 142, edited by Pundit Issurchandra Vidyasagara.

The publication of the Taittiriya Yajur Veda will be resumed

during the ensuing year; andthe Editors report that they hope

very shortly to send the ninth Fas. to the press. The various un-

finished works will be completed as speedily as possible, and when any

new works are undertaken, it will be done with every regard to the

recommendations of Professor H. H. Wilson, and the wishes

expressed in the dispatch of the Hon’ble Court of Directors.

OFFICERS.

The Council have had every reason to be satisfied with the zeal

and assiduity with which the Curator and the Assistant Secy. have

discharged their duties. The latter has obtained leave of absence

for 6 months, and his office has been temporarily filled by Baboo

Bhobany Persaud Dutt.

The Report was adopted.

68 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Wauds

The Meeting then proceeded to ballot for the Council and Officers

for the ensuing year. Dr. Hatwell and T. Oldham, Esq., were appoint-

ed scrutineers, and at the close of the ballot, the Chairman announced

the following result :—

A. Grote Esq... .is.s...2<. President.

Cols R.cStracheys © so). 62:

Dros Thomson; 2:2; Vice- Presidents.

Baboo Ramapersaud Roy,

C. Beadon, Esq.

Dr. T. Boycott.

Baboo Rajendralal Mittra.

KE. A. Samuells, Esq.

Baboo Ramgopal Ghose.

T,. Oldham, Esq.

Capt. C. H. Dickens.

Capt.W. N. Lees.

Dr. W. Crozier.

W.S. Atkinson, Esq., ...

E. B. Cowell, Esq., ...... UOPUSSI AG Tle!

After acknowledging in a few words the honour which had just

been conferred on him, the new President congratulated the meeting

on those passages in the Report which announced the resumption

of the publication of the Bib.-Indica, and the completion of the

purchase of the Stacy Cabinet of Coins.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

ABSTRACT STATEMENT

RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY

FOR

THE YEAR, 1858.

70 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

[No 1.

STATEMENT

RECEIPTS.

CONTRIBUTIONS. 1857 1858

Received from Members, Rs. 7,068 0 O 6,923 8 O

————— 6,923

ADMISSION Fee.

Received from new Members, .. 256 0 0O 96 0 0

—___—_-—— 96

JOURNAL.

Sale proceeds of and Subscription to the Jour-

nal of the Asiatic Society, 1931-1005.” 496° 73 20

— 496

LIBRARY.

Sale proceeds of Books, 1,225 4 0 566 5 9

Refund by transfer of amount erroneously

charged in Messrs. Willams and Norgate’s

account of 1857, as per contra, “e 170 10 O

Sale proceeds of old plates, 10 One

Ditto duplicate coins, 37 12°56

Museum Zoovoey.

Received from the General Treasury at 300 Rs.

per month, ais 3,600 0 0 3,600

SECRETARY’S OFFICE, 9 5 6

Discount on postage Stamps, ots 015 0

Refund of Postage, .. as 21-6 6

Sale proceeds of old Ink Bottles, he 0: :b338 8

— ae

VesTeD Funp, 240 0 O

Interest on Company’s Paper from the Bank of

Bengal, ab 220-0 30

Discount on ditto, an or 6.2

Interest on 1734-10-8 advanced to the O. P.

Fund from Ist January to 30th June, 1858,

at 4: per cent. dis ca 34 ]1 1

| —-——— 286

GENERAL EsTABLISHMENT, 74.9 9

Savings, 30 10 6

Fine, zs eA Ll 0536

; ——- 36

Deposit AccounT, pays] la ies

Lieut. H. G. nase ; 27. OFA0

A. Grote, Esq. 4 4 0

Major J. G. Stephen, . - 32 0 0

Baboo Roodernauth Doss, | 6 0)

Carried over, 12,320

Abstract of the Cash Accounts

0 0

By (0

ake:

10 6

1 3

10 5

4 0

1 65

1859.]

Mos 1.

of the Asiatic Society for 1858.

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

DISBURSEMENTS.

JOURNAL. 1857

Freight, .. ne WE ‘ 1d. i;o LO

Printing charges, ae ate 4 23-1, O

Lithogr: aphing, : 185 12 0

Commission on Sale i "Books, 7 PAZ SO

Purchase of Postage Stamps, ae o. 27 4 Bi O

Engraving, fs : 13",,.0 »,0

Copying charges, ve We Ba by 0° 0

Petty charges, , he: faa FS SG

2,450 1 9

LIBRARY.

Salary of the Librarian 12 months at 70 per

month, eet O20) OO

Establishment ditto at 8 per month, 96705 0

Purchase of Books, La? 50

Ditto a copy of the Panoramic View of Calcutta, 6 0

Book Binding, oa oe brain aoe fal

Postage, oy she 95:0

Commission on sale of iooles: a fa 24, 13

Cleaning charges, we ats oe 7 14

Freight, .. ne ee ae 14 81

Extra Duftory,

A Wooden Ladder for the Library,

Two Blank record Books,

Lithographing,

Two pieces of new Mat for the Library Room,

Repairing Punkha of the ditto,

Copying charges, o-

Petty Charges,

Museum.

Salary of the Curator E. Blyth, Esq. at 250 per

month, 12 months,.

_ House rent at 40 per faonthy, 12 months,

| Extra Taxidermist’s salary,

| A Blank record Book,

_ Ten Shelves ditto,

| Establishment, ee

Contingent charges, ate

Six Glass Cases for Birds,

4,496

CEO) Been:

iw)

“NJ

—

mMHoowococoovooos

3,000

480

ise

ocmsANW COS

1858

oo2 1h.

1,595 3 10

5,463 15

Carried over,

7,411 14

72 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Nork.

Brought forward, 12,320 1 5

Stacy Coin CoL.Lecrion. 1857

Subscriptions for the purchase of the Collection, 212 0 0

Amount of last year’s subscriptions, ain ed ee, Oe

Messrs. WILLIAMS AND NoRGATE.

Received through Rajah Radhacant Deva, in

on parcels, 26 0 0

Proceeds of sundry books sold on ithe Seem

of Weber’s Modern Investigations on Ancient

India; 7. ? Lo Og

Ditto ditto a copy of Muller’s Buddhism, iL Oe

Ditto ditto a copy of Bopp’s Ca Gram-

mar) 04. 25 0 0

Ditto ditto a copy of Goldstiiker’s Sanscrit Dic-

tionary, .. ee 5 0 0

Ditto ditto White Yajurveda, Vol. I. 32) Bow

. 4,419 8 5 BO. 60 <0

ORIENTAL PUBLICATION FunpD.

Received from the Oriental Publication Fund...

765 5 4 1,734 10 8

Prorit & Loss.

Received from the Administrator General’s Office

being a dividend on account Capt. W. E.

Boyes’ contributions, in part of amount written

off in 1856, 104 6 O

Ditto ditto Oriental Bank on a Bill for 50Z¥., 210 0

Ditto ditto Muddoosoodun Dey, sale proceeds

of a copy of the Mahabharata, in part of

amount written off in 1856, he aS 15°00)

122 0 0

Dr. J. Fayrer.

Refund of Postage, .. Fe ee 1-2.

—_— a

BALANCE oF 1857,

Bank of Bengal, 4 AP ig 2,022 Lee

Cash in hand, oe ae ae 8 14 0

2,030 9-3

Inefficient Balance, .. AA oe a ST T5158

ae ee ee SE

Carried over, 20,118 14 7

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

Brought forward,

SECRETARY’sS OFFICE. 857

General Establishment, ate ae 822 0 0

Secretary’s Office Establishment, .. BL ONO

Copying charges, ar ae oe 10 0 O

Postage,.. 3 as a een OY

Stationery, oe 15% 6) 3

Three Blank Books for writing, : ee 16° 8-0

Purchase of Postage Stamps, ar 13 11 O

Preight, .. ea ae 14 0 O

A Sheet Almanae for 1858, a ps 10 0

Petty charges, ee a te Par a

1;739 (0 9

BUILDING.

Assessment, ie aie sie 281 4 O

Ditto for Lighting, .. as oe toy. O80

895 2 6

Stacy Corn CoLLECcTION.

Paid to Major W. S. Ferris, on account of

Mrs. Wroughton, for the ae Coins, as

per receipt, : »» 4,000 0 O

Ditto a Lock for the Gene Bam 'els Ae 3) 0: 20

Deposit ACCOUNT.

Rev. H. Hislop, ais of AS 16 11 O

frente. ©. J. Terrot, .. ait aed 9 0 0

Rev. Isider Lowenthall, Hi ae 9 0 0

Babvo Roodernauth Doss, sce Any 9 0 O

Lieut. H. G. Raverty,.. as é Lie O40

Hon’ble Sir J. W. Colvile, Kt. ss Bs a eae

A. Grote, Esq. ae . 4 4 0

1 355. 15° 0:

VESTED FuND.

Paid Commission for the Collection of Interest

on Company’s Paper, oe 0 8 10

Ditto Interest on Company’s Paper, 2 Gol)

Ditto for Purchase of Government Security at

5 per cent. No. 51,090, dated 28th February,

1856-57, ee 500 0 O

AAI GAC

J. S. Law, Esa.

Paid Freight on his account, oe Be A 2.0

Carried over,

7.411 14 8

1,661 0 9

356 4 0

4,003 0 0

167 15 0

502 15 9

402.0

14,107 4 2

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

Brought forward,

Co.’s Rs.

No. 1.

20,118 14 7

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 75

1857 1858

Brought, forward, 14,107 4 2

Messrs. WILLIAMS AND NORGATE.

Amount debited by transfer being erroneously

entered in their account of 1857, in the fol-

lowing items.

6 Bopp’s Comparative

Grammar, ne bal Aa)

25 Weber’s Ancient

India, Lae en eee

15Muller’s Buddhism, 017 6

£14 8 3at2s.p.

rupee 144 2 0

Ditte ditto duty on Parcels, .. 2680

—— 17010 0

Commission on sale of Books, 2 8 0

Freight, .. 4 4 0

Purchase of Books on their account, PM al

Bills on Oriental Bank Corporation at London,

£50-5-3 at 2s. ss 502 10 O

Packing charges, ie ae O} Oy ht ;

2,970 11 4 702 111

MISCELLANEOUS.

Advertising Meeting, .. we oe 14 6 O

Meeting charges, aa ae oa eT ROAD ieO

Polishing a Table, 4 rg ae La AN ME

New Mat for the Room, 811 0

White-washing a Punkha for the Meeting Room, 6 6 O

Illumination of the Asiatic Society’s Rooms on

the 1st of November, ba is 65,15. 3

Petty charges, aa Se a 24 6 0

432 15 0 279 8 6

15,088 14 7

BALANCE.

Bank of Bengal, as venir © Agen Ya

In hand, .. aie te 9 8 10

3,451 12 3

Inefficient Balance, .. ay peck. 5/8) 29

= Sana 5,030 0 0

Co’s Rs. 20,118 14 7

76 Proceedings of the Asiatic Socvety. [No. 1.

STATEMENT

Abstract of the Oriental

BAuANcE oF 1857, 1857 1858

Bank of Bengal, _.. 3,059 9 O

Cash in hand, ae 29 4° 9" 3,088,18.24:9

Inefficient Balance, .. Es oor QAIZ 14 68-0 S201 ge? BS

SALE oF ORIENTAL PUBLICATIONS,

Received by Sale of Bib. Indica, sig foie 6 20

Ditto by Subscription to ditto, a 187 10 0

Ditto by Sale of White Yajurveda, .. 46 4 0

1,157 11 4 1,015 6 9

GOVERNMENT ALLOWANCE,

Received from General Treasury at 500 per

month, ve 6,000 0 0 6,000 0 0

VeEstTep Funp. |

Interest on Company’s Paper from Bank of

Bengal, se 210 0 0 140 0 0

Deposit Account.

Received from Mahomed Hajee, os 43 ]1 0

Custopy oF ORIENTAL WorKSs.

Savings of Establishment, woe 20 3 0 0

Prorit AND Loss.

Received from the Administrator General’s

Office being a dividend on account of

J. Reddie, Esq... We ne 012 3

Carried over, 12,404 9 8

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. i

No. 2

Fund for the year 1858.

1857 1858

SALE oF ORIENTAL PUBLICATIONS.

Commission on Sale of Books, .. 5313 6 42 8 0

Vestep Funp.

Commission paid to the Bank of Bengal for

Collecting Interest on Company’s Paper, .. O° 548

Interest paid to the Asiatic Society on the

Loan of Rs. 1,734-10-8, He bf 3411 1

100 8 6 ————--— 35 0 9

Custopy oF ORIENTAL WoRKs.

Salary of Librarian, at 30 per month, we 360 0 0

Establishment, oe ae aes Os O

Book binding, ae ne ae 3207. 0-.0

Books cleaning, . 6 we 34 427° 9

A blank book for writing, £8: 0

Twenty Stone Pedestals for the Almirahs of

the Library, fe 10 0 0

Ticca writer for examining the list of Sanscrit

Books, Me : 20 0 O

Be Gasa O see 911 4 9

ASIATIC SOCIETY.

Paid to the Society on account of Loan in full, 1,734 10 8

Copyine MSS.

Copying Charges, .. hae) area 36 8 0

Bris. Inpica,

Freight, a 20 8 4

Examining and making a list of the above, .. 5 0 0

Packing Charges, .. Se oe 24+ @

Postage Stamps, 4A A? st BF.) 0

A blank Acct. book, .. are 014 0

30 11 4

Kiras-utn Maarrar,

Printing Charges, .. ae oe AN 122 8 0

Tar TTIRIYA BRAHMANA’,

Printing Charges, .. 3 ys -. | L14) 14°00

VEDA NTA SuTRAS,

Printing Charges, .. as ee 36 8 0

Carried over, 4,091 9 6

78 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No 1.

Brought forward, 12,404 9 8

Eee

Co.’s Rs. 12,404 9 8

Examined,

Asiatic Society’s Rooms BHOBANYpPROSAD Dutt,

31st Dec. 1853. Offg. Asst. Secy.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 79

Brought forward, 4,091 9 6

ITQUAN.

Printing Charges, .. ve ae as 66 14 90

SARVADABSHANA SA’NGRAHA.

Printing Charges, .. BH ye 35 207.40

LALITA VISTARA.

Printing Charges, .. ahs he ss 450 0 0

Sa‘NKHYA PRAVACHANA BHA’SHYA,

Printing Charges, .. he oi a 182 8 0

Fatu’HUL SHAM.

Editing Charges, .. ii fos a 104 0 O

Faru’Huu A’svu’ IsMAIL,

Editing Charges, .. <= ae 128 8 0

5,230 11 6

BALANCE.

Bank of Bengal, ae oe 000g 2E iF

In hand, o% Me 7,0 25

5,057 2 0

Inefficient Balance, A Wis opel Te 2

——$———- 7,173 14 2

Co.’s KRs:. 12,404 9 8

Errors Excepted.

E. B. CowE.u,

Secretary.

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

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1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

LIST OF ORDINARY MEMBERS

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL,

ON THE 31st DECEMBER, 1858.

The * distinguishes non-subscribing Members.

OL OO OOOOOeee™

Abbott, Lieut.-Col. J. Artillery, Jullunder.

*Allen, C. Esq., B. C. S., Europe.

*Anderson, Lieut.-Col. W. Bengal Artillery, Europe.

Atkinson, W. 8. Esquire, Calcutta.

Avdall, J. Esquire, Calcutta.

*Baker, Lieut.-Col. W. E. Bengal Engineers, Europe.

Batten, J. H. Esquire, B. C. S. Cawupore.

Beadon, C. Esquire, B. C. 8., Calcutta.

Beaufort, F. L. Esquire, B. C. 8., Calcutta.

*Beckwith, J. Esquire, Europe.

*Benson, Lieut.-Col. R., Europe.

Birch, Major Genl. R. J., H. C. B., Caleutta.

Bivar, Capt. H. S. 18th Regt. B. N. I., Assam.

Blagrave, Capt. T.C. 26th Regt. B. N.1., Trans-Sutledge Provinces.

Blanford, H. F. Esquire, Calcutta.

Blundell, E. A. Esquire, Singapore.

*Bogle, Lieut.-Col. Sir A. Kt., Europe.

Boycott, Dr. T. Bombay M. S., Caleutta.

*Brodie, Capt. T. 5th Regt. B. N. I., Europe.

Busheerooddeen Sultan Mahamed Sahib, Calcutta.

82 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. (No. 1.

Chapman, C. E. Esquire, B. C. 8., Rajshaye.

Chapman, R. B. Esquire, B. C. S., Calcutta.

Colvile, Hon’ble Sir J. W. Kt., Calcutta.

*Colvin, B. J. Esquire, B. C. S., Europe.

*Colvin, J. H. B. Esq., B. C. S., Europe.

Cowell, E. B. Esq., B. A. Calcutta.

Crozier, Dr. William, B. M. S., Calcutta.

Dalton, Capt. E. 8. 9th Regt. B, N. I., Chybassa.

De Bourbel, Lieut. R. Bengal Engrs., Barrackpore.

Dickens, Capt. C. H., Calcutta.

Drummond, Hon’ble E., B. C. S., Caleutta.

Eatwell, Dr. W. C. B., Calcutta,

*Edgeworth, M. P. Esq., B. C. S., Furope.

Elliott, Hon’ble W., M. C. S., Madras.

Ellis, Major R. R. 23rd Regt. B. N. I., Bundlekund.

Elphinstone, Lieut. N. W. 4th Regt. B. N. I., Goorgariah.

Erskine, Major W. C. Commr. of Sagur, Nurbudda Territories,

Jubbulpore.

*Fayrer, Dr. J., B. M.S., Europe.

Freeling, G. H. Esq., B. C. S., Hameerpore.

Fytche, Major A. 70th Regt. B. N. IL., Bassein.

*Gladstone, W. Esq., Europe.

Govinchundra Sena, Baboo, Calcutta.

*Grapel, W. M. A. Esq., Europe.

Grote, A. Esq., B. C. S., Calcutta.

Hall, F. E. Esq., M. A., Sagur.

Halsey, W. S. Esq., B. C. S., Hurope.

*Hamilton, R. Esq., China.

Hamilton, Sir, R. N. EB. Bart., B. C.S., Indore.

Hannyngton, Lieut.-Col. J. C. 63rd Regt. N. I., Berhampore.

Hearsay, Major Genl. J. B., K. C. B. 10th Light Cavalry, Barrack-

pore.

Herschel, W. J. Esq., B. C. S., Jungipore.

*Hichens, Lieut. W. Bengal Engineers, Europe.

Ishureepershad Singh, Rajah, Benares.

*Jackson, L. 8. Esq., Europe.

* Jackson, W. B. Esq., B. C. S., Europe.

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatie Society.

Jadava Kishna Singh, Baboo, Calcutta.

*James, Capt. H. C. 32nd Regt. B. N. I., Europe.

Jerdon, T. C. Esq., M. M. S., Gazeepore.

*Johnstone, J. Esq., Europe.

Joygopaul Bysack, Baboo, Calcutta.

Kabeeroodeen Ahmed Shah, Bahadoor, Sassaram.

Kaliprasunno Singh, Baboo, Calcutta.

Kay, Rev. W., D.D., Bishop’s College.

*Laidlay, J. W. Esq., Europe.

Layard, Capt. F'. P. 19th Regt. B. N. I., Berhampore.

Lees, Capt. W. N., M. A. 42nd Regt. B. N. I., Calcutta.

*Liebig, Dr. G. Von, B. M.S., Europe.

Loch, G. Esq., B. C. S., Calcutta.

Loftie, Lieut.-Col. M. E., Nusserabad.

*Low, Major Genl. Hon’ble J., Europe.

Lushington, F. A. Esq., B. C. S., Calcutta.

Maclagan, Capt. R., Roorkee.

Macleod, D. F. Esq., B. C. S., Lahore.

Macrae, Dr. A. C., B. M. S., Calcutta.

Manickjee Rustomjee, Esq., Calcutta.

*Marshman, J. C. Esq., Europe.

*Middleton, J. Esq., Europe.

Medlicott, J. G. Esq., Calcutta.

*Mills, A. J. M. Esq., B. C.S., Europe.

*Money, D. J. Esq., B. C. S., Europe.

Money, J. W. B. Esq., Calcutta.

Morris, G. G. Esq., B. C. 8., Monghyr.

Morton, D. T. Esq., M. D., Rangoon.

*Muir, J. Esq., Europe.

Muir, W. Esq., B. C.S., Allahabad.

*Nicholls, Capt. W. T. 24th Regt. M. N. I., Europe.

Oldham, T. Esq., F. R.S., Calcutta.

O’Shaughnessy, Sir W. B., Bangalore.

*Ouseley, Major W. R., Europe.

*Phayre, Lt.-Colonel A., Rangoon.

Prasunnonath Roy, Rajah, Bahadoor, Degaputti, Rajshaye.

Pratt, the Venerable Archdeacon, J. H., Calcutta.

M 2

84 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

Prataépchandra Sinha, Rajah, Calcutta.

*Prinsep, C. R. Esq., Europe.

Prasannacumar Tagore, Baboo, Calcutta.

Radhanath Sikdar, Baboo, Calcutta.

Rajendra Dutt, Baboo, Calcutta.

Rajendralal Mittra, Baboo, Calcutta.

Ramanath Tagore, Baboo, Caleutta.

Ramaprasad Roy, Baboo, Calcutta.

Ramchandra Sinha, Rajah, Calcutta.

Ramgopal Ghose, Baboo, Calcutta.

*Riddell, H. P. Esg., B. C. S., Europe.

Roberts, A. Esq., B. C. 8., Lahore.

Roer, Dr. E., Cuttack.

*Rogers, Capt. T. E., Europe.

*Royle, Dr. J., F. R. 8., Europe.

*Russell, R. H. Esq., Europe.

Samuells, E. A. Esq., B. C. S., Calcutta.

Saxton, Capt. G. H. 38th M..N. I., Cuttack.

Schiller, F. Esq., Calcutta.

Sherwill, Capt. W. 8. 66th Regt. B. N. I., Dum Dum.

*Smith, Col. J. T., Europe.

Smith, Rev. W. O., Calcutta.

Spankie, R. Esq., B. C. S., Saharunpore.

*Sprenger, Dr. A., Europe.

*Stephen, Major J. G. 8th N. I., Europe.

Strachey, Lieut.-Col. R., Calcutta.

Strachey, J. HE. Esq., B. C.S., Calcutta.

Sutherland, H. C. Esq., B. C..S., Tipperah.

Satyasharana Ghosal, Raja, Calcutta.

*Thomas, EK. Esq., B. C. 8., Europe.

Thomson, T., M. D., F. R. 8., Botanical Gardens.

Thornhill, C. B. Esq., B. C. 8., Allahabad.

Thuillier, Major H. L. Artillery, Calcutta.

Trevor, O. B. Esq., B. C. 8., Calcutta.

Ward, J. J. Esq., B. C.S., Cuttack.

Watson, J. Esq., B. C.S., Monghyr.

Waugh, Col. A. S. Engineers, Derra Dhoon.

[No. 1.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 85

Woodrow, H. Esq., Calcutta.

Young. Capt. C. B. Bengal Engrs., Calcutta.

Yule, Capt. H. Bengal Engrs., Calcutta.

wes

ELECTIONS IN 1858.

Baboo Kaliprasunno Singh, Calcutta.

H. C. Sutherland, Esq., C. S., Tipperah.

Loss oF MEMBERS DURING THE YEAR 1858.

By retirement.

Seton Karr, W. Hsq., Jessore.

R. N. Cust, Esq., Allahabad.

C. Gubbins, Esq., Europe.

J. J. Gray, Esq., Maldah.

Hossein Ally Mobumed, His Highness, Ex-Ameer of Scinde, Cal-

cutta.

Jenkins, Lieut.-Col. F., Assam.

Row, Dr. J., Meerut. ;

Thurburn, Capt. F. A. V., Lucknow.

Campbell, Dr. A., Darjiling.

By Death.

Dr. F. P. Strong, England.

Right Rev. D. Wilson, Lord Bishop, Calcutta.

Lieut. F. J. Burges, 17th Regt. B. N. I., Nowgong.

Baboo Nogendra Nauth Tagore, Calcutta.

H. Piddington, Esq., Associate Member, Calcutta.

General Count Ventura, Hony. Member, Hurope.

Loch, T. C. Esq., B. C. 8., Europe.

List oF Honorary MeEemeers.

M. Garcin de Tassy, Membre de |’ Instit, Paris.

Sir John Phillippart, London.

86 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No 1.

Count De Noe, Paris.

Prof. Francis Bopp, Memb. de |’ Academie de Berlin.

Sir J. F. W. Herschel, F. R. S. London.

Col. W. H. Sykes, F. R. S. Do. Si

Prof. Lea, Philladelphia.

Prof. H. H. Wilson, F. R. 8., London.

Prof. C. Lassen, Bonn.

Sir G. T. Staunton, Bart., F. R. 8., London.

M. Reinaud, Memb. de 1’ Instit, Prof. de 1’ Arabe, Paris.

Dr. Ewald, Gottingen.

His Highness Hekekyan Bey, Egypt.

Right Hon’ble Sir Edward Ryan, Kt., London.

Prof. Jules Mohl, Memb. de I’ Instit, Paris.

Col. W. Munro, London.

His Highness the Nawab Nazim of Bengal, Murshedabad.

Dr. J. D. Hooker, R. N., F. R. 8., London.

Prof. Henry, Princeton, United States.

Lieut.-Col. Sir C. H. Rawlinson, London.

Lieut.-Col. Sir Proby T. Cautley, K. C. B., London.

Raja Radhakanta Deva Bahadur, Calcutta.

B. H. Hodgson, Esq., Europe.

Dr. H. Falconer, F. BR. S., B. M. S., Europe.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.

Kremer, Mons, A. Von, Alexandria.

Porter, Rev. J., Damascus.

Schlagintweit, Mons. H.

Schlagintweit, Mons. R.

Smith, Dr. E., Beyrout.

Tailor, J. Esq., Bussorah.

Wilson, Dr., Bombay.

Nietner, J. Esq., Colombo, Ceylon.

Schlagintweit, Mons. A.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 87

Associate MEMBERS.

Blyth, E. Esq., Calcutta.

Karamut, Ali, Syud, Matawalli, Hooghly.

Long, Rev. J., Calcutta.

MacGowan, Rev. J., Ningpo.

Stephenson, J. Esq., Europe.

Tregear, V. Esq., Bareilly.

PILI PS PILI IIL LI PI PDO LDS

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No. II. 1859.

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LPAIIS III

Notes on the Klora of Lucknow with Catalogues of the cultivated and

indigenous Plants—By Tuos. Anperson, Jl. D., FL. S.,

Garrison Asst. Surgeon, Fort William.

As a large part of Northern India, including the Punjaub, is under

cultivation at all seasons of the year, its Flora may justly be styled

Agrarian ; only on unreclaimed land, does a spontaneous, shrubby

(rarely arborescent) vegetation occur, and this composed of a limited

number of well known species. From the existence of greater humi-

dity, along the base of the Hills, a luxurious forest exists there, which

seems to be merely an extension of the arboreous vegetation of the

outer Himalayas. The plants, in the neighbourhood of all the stations

inthe Upper Provinces, are, with a few exceptions, of this Agrarian

type, but mingled with an introduced Fora of considerable amount

and with an extensive number of truly cultivated species.

In native gardens, many species, indigenous in Southern India,

the Himalayas, and countries beyond the Indus, are cultivated,

which, from boundaries being broken down, and the gardens aban-

doned, spring up spontaneously in waste places. To these are to

be added a small, but widely spread, number of plants introduced by

the various conquerors of the country, such as Argemone Mexicana,

Anona sguamosa and reticulata, Parkinsonia aculeata, etc. These

various elements of the Flora of Northern India increase the mani-

fold difficulties of all young Indian botanists in whose collections

these cultivated plants are always to be found. That I may attempt

No. XCVIII.—New Serizs, Von. XXVIII. N

90 Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. [No. 2

to supply a want, I myself have much felt, and at the same time avoid

conveying a wrong impression of the extent of the Flora of Lucknow,

I shall exclude from the catalogue all cultivated and introduced

plants, and shall detail them at length in the following notes on the

peculiarities of its climate and cultivation. Lucknow is situated

in Lat. 27° E. Long. 81° on the right and south bank of the

Goomtee, a considerable stream which rises in the marshy country

about Khyraghur, near the base of the Nipal Himalaya. The valley

of the Goomtee varies at Lucknow from one to four or five miles in

breadth, and for the most part consists of a richly cultivated

alluvial soil, interspersed with patches of sand, whick are often

blown into hillocks by the prevailing winds. The valley is bounded

on both sides by banks of kunkur (nodules of limestone) rising

about forty or fifty feet above the level of the river, which in some

parts of its course, runs at their base. These banks are intersected

by ravines of considerable extent running at right angles to the

course of the river; they serve during the rains to drain the adjacent

country. The sandy patches extend across Oude to the banks of

the Ganges at Cawnpore, and are there connected with the sandy

valley of that river.

The climate of Lucknow presents, with well marked features, the

three seasons of Northern India, namely the cold season, from the

middle of October to the end of March, the hot dry season, from

the beginning of April to the middle or end of June, and the rainy

season, extending over the months of July, August and September,

passing into the cold weather during the first fortnight of October.

The distinctive features of these seasons at Lucknow are, in the

cold weather, considerable dryness, greatly diminished power of the

sun’s rays, though favoured by a cloudless sky, great nocturnal

radiation, and consequently an extended daily thermometric range.

My records of meteorological observations were destroyed during

the mutinies of 1857, so that I am unable to give a thermometric

table, but the minimum temperature recorded during 1856 was

37° Fahr. In the hot weather, the existence of steady hot

westerly winds, excessive dryness, returning power of the sun’s rays,

and decrease of thermometric range give an almost African cha-

racter to the climate. On the accession of the rains, the climate is

1859. | Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. 91

completely altered, the atmosphere becomes saturated with moisture

and the fall of rain is considerable, the heat is much diminished,

nocturnal radiation almost ceases while the sky is clouded, and the

daily range of the thermometer reaches its minimum. As the season

advances, the climatic conditions of the cold weather return, and by

the 10th or 15th of October, that season has again commenced.

The climate of Lucknow more resembles that of the Punjab and

Scinde than might be expected in so Hastern a district, for Rohil-

cund, several hundred miles to the west, has moister and more

equable seasons. That such is the case at Lucknow is exemplified

by the existence there of several species peculiar to the arid regions

of India, and the Arabian deserts, and which, except at Cawnpore,

do not occur east of the dry countries bounded by the Jumna.

Dr. Thomson has thoroughly explored the neighbourhood of

Moradabad in the west of Rohileund, the district, immediately

east of the Ganges, or west of Oude, and has not met with

them there, nor did I observe them in the eastern districts of

that province either at Shajehanpore or Bareilly. Among these

dry country plants, are Capparis aphylla forming extensive jun-

gles in the hottest parts of the Punjab, and found sparingly at

Lucknow. Corchorus depressus, Linn, a native of the Arabian deserts,

occurring in the Punjab, near Agra, and also at Lucknow. <Alhage

Maurorum, the camel thorn of the desert, a peculiarly dry country

plant common in the Punjab, which I found at Lucknow and traced

along the sandy patches to Cawnpore where it was observed many

years ago by General Hardwicke. Berthelotia lanceolata found

formerly by Genl. Hardwicke at Cawnpore, and not known elsewhere

east of the Jumna except at Lucknow.

Most of these plants are also found in the Deccan, where the

climate is similar to that of the dry parts of the Punjab, and the

North Western Provinces.

This peculiar Flora does not extend much beyond Lucknow in any

direction, except towards Cawnpore. At Nawabgunge, eighteen

miles to the east of Lucknow, it ceases, on the north it extends

twenty or thirty miles, and on the west, only six or seven. This

proiongation of the dry climate and desert Flora of India into the

richly cultivated and well-watered province of Oude is interesting

NW 2

92 Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. [ No. 2.

and at the same time difficult to account for. The want of meteoro-

logical observations precludes the possibility of any reason being

assigned, and causes us for the present to remain contented with

the fact. Dr. Thomson suggests as a possible explanation, a depres-

sion in the chain of the Himalaya, north of Lucknow, which would

cause a diminished rainfall and consequently a drier climate. Our

knowledge of the topography of Nipal is, however, so limited that

this suggestion cannot be tested by a reference to maps or altitudes.

In all parts of India, but especially in the North Western Pro-

vinces, there is, as I have already said, a large and diversified non-

indigenous Flora. To a young botanist, these plants are most

perplexing and it is not for several years that he is able to distin-

guish the truly wild species of his district from those that have

been introduced. In no book has this character of the Flora of

Northern India, received sufficient prominence ; even Dr. Royle, in

his Illustrations of Indian Botany, only refers to it incidentally.

The descriptive works on botany that exist only serve to increase

his confusion, ag many of the species are included in these works

irom the fact of their being natives of the Himalayan or South

Indian forests. It seems therefore desirable to accompany the

catalogue of the indigenous species by some notice of the culti-

vated and introduced plants, and in so doing, I shall distinguish as

much as possible between those species which are cultivated on a

large scale,as field crops, and these found only in gardens, or orchards.

In all climates, plants cultivated for the use of man have an

important influence on the physical aspect of the country. In

temperate regions, where cereal grains and other annual species form

the crops, there is wanting that luxuriance and diversity of form

which are given to the tropical landscape by a cultivation composed

of the economic palms, plantains, perennial Huphorbiacee, and tall

annual grasses and leguminose. Northern India, with its widely

different seasons,yielding at different periods of the year the products

of the temperate, as well as of the torrid zone, presents, in a consi-

derable degree, the physical appearance of both.

The cultivation of Upper India may be divided into three periods

corresponding to the seasons of the year.

First—the season of wheat and vetch cultivation, extending over

1859.] Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. 93

the cold season, the harvest occurring in the end of March and first

week of April. Second—the season of cucurbitaceous cultivation,

lasting from the harvest of the first season to the beginning of the

rains. Third—the season of tropical grains and leguminose, com-

mencing with, and lasting through the rainy season.

I.—The season of Wheat and Vetch cultivation.

In the beginning of October, when the rains have subsided, the

ground is rapidly prepared for the reception of the cold season

crops, by its surface being several times turned over, by means of

the rude native plough ; the seed is sown in shallow furrows, and the

ground smoothed by a log of wood being dragged over it by a pair

of bullocks, the driver standing on the log, to steady its progress

and increase its weight. From the dryness of the climate after

October, irrigation forms an important part of the agriculture of the

cold weather, and the fields are flooded with water several times during

this period. The water is obtained either from wells, or natural

ponds of water.

In the valley of the Goomtee, the water is near the surface, and is

easily raised by an earthen vessel, attached by a short rope to the

end of a pole so fastened to an upright post, as to admit of the end

to which the vessel is secured, being lowered into the well, while tlie

other extremity, which is loaded with a stone or mass of clay, lessens

the force required to raise the bucket when filled with water. The

principle is that of a lever, the resistance to be overcome, being the

bucket full of water, the fulcrum, the points of attachment of the pole

to the upright post, and the power, the loaded extremity, to which a

man also adds his weight. Two men are required, one, to raise and

lower the bucket, and another, to empty the water into the trough,

from which the field is watered. On the land above the valley of the

river, the wells require to be sunk below the kunker beds. There the

water is obtained by means of bullocks raising a large leathern bucket

or basket, attached to a strong rope of untanned hide passed over

a large wheel, fixed over the well. The bullocks to lessen their

labour work on a greatly inclined plane the length of the rope. The

wells are often eighty feet deep, and contain cold, good water. I have

never observed the Persian wells in Oude, though they occur at

Cawnpore, aud commonly, north-west of Meerut and Delhie.

94 Jotes on the Flora of Lucknow. [ No. 2.

From the tanks or ponds, the fields are irrigated by the water

being raised to the necessary height, by rude locks which are alter-

nately filled, and emptied, by means of closely worked wicker baskets,

with ropes attached, held at arm’s length, between twomen. From

the highest lock, the water ramifies in water-courses all over

the fields. The species of plants cultivated are numerous, and

consist almost entirely of those of temperate regions and which pro-

bably have been established in Northern India for many ages. ‘The

following list, though professedly including only the plants found

near Lucknow, from the extensive distribution of the wheat and

vetch cultivation over Northern India, comprises in reality nearly

all the species, cultivated in the cold season, in the countries north-

west of the Soane to the Indus.

Cultivated plants of the cold season.

Papaver somniferum, Linn.

Lepidium sativum, Linn. Cultivated in gardens and near wells

in fields.

Eruca sativa, Lam.

Bcnania.s \ Largely cultivated for their oil yielding seeds.

inapis juncea, Linn. : .

Brassica Napus, Linn.

— oleracea var. B. vulgaris, D C.

var. I’. Botrytis @ cauliflora, D C.

Raphanus sativus, Linn.

Linum usitatissimum, Linn. Cultivated only for the oil yielded

by its seeds.

Trigonella foonugreecum, Linn. Seeds used as a condiment iu

curry.

Cicer arietinum, Linn. Gram, of Kuropeans;a white flowered

and large-white seeded variety is cultivated at Lucknow under the

name of Kaboolee chunna.

Medicago sativa, D C. Cultivated very sparingly by the natives,

as fodder for horses.

Vicia Faba, Linn.

5"), auens:

, Sativa, Linn.

Lathyrus sativus, Linn.

Pisum sativum, Linn.

1859. | Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. 95

Ligustium ajowain, Roxb.

Foeniculum vulgare, Gartn.

Daucus carota, Linn.

Coriandrum sativum, Linn.

Anethum sowa, Roxb.

Pimpinella involucrata, W A.

Carthamus tinctorius, Linn.

Solanum tuberosum, Linn.

Nicotiana Tabacum, Linn.

Capsicum annuum, Linn.

Plantago Isphagula, Roxb. Cultivated for its demulcent seeds.

Major. Cultivated at Lucknow for its seeds, which are

used as food for birds.

Beta Bengalensis, Roxb.

Ricinus communis, Linn.

Cannabis sativa, Linn.

Allium sativum, Linn.

Porrum, L.

Ascalonum, L.

—— Cepa, L.

Hordewow hexastichon, L.

Triticum vulgare, Willd.

var. aestivum. An awned and an awnless variety, are

cultivated.

Panicum miliaceum, Willd.

From the custom of sowing several species together, or in alternate

furrows, the fields present brighter, and more dciversified hues, than

they do in countries where agriculture has made greater advances.

Within the limit ofa few acres are often to be found, Sinapis

juncea, Hruca sativa, Brassica napus, and Linum usitatissimum ;

with Carthamus tinctorius in one of the corners, or occupying one

of the furrows, and near the well and shaded by a fig, moringa

or neem tree, Lepidium sativum, Foeniculum vulgare, Coriand-

rum sativum, Trigonella foenugrecwum and one or two of the

species of Allium. The leguminose of the cold season are also

generally grown together; near Lucknow, I have noticed in one

field Pisum sativum, Ervum lens, Vicia sativa, Lathyrus sativus and

96 Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. [ No. 2.

Cicer arietinum. The borders of the field, where they are conti-

guous to a footpath or road, are often lined by plants of castor-oi!

or Sesbania Afgyptica, in a single row, with Lablab vulgare and

cultratum twining round their stems. As the natives seldom clean

the seeds before sowing them, weeds spring up abundantly with

all the crops, and are left almost unmolested. The commonest of

these are Argemone mexicana, Fumaria officinalis, var. Vaillantii;

the species of Stnapis cultivated for economic purposes, Saponaria

vaccaria, Medicago denticulata and lupulina, Melilotus parviflora,

Phalaris canariensis, Cichorium Endivia, Convolvulus arvensis, Ana-

gallis arvensis, B, cerulea, Chenopodium album and hybridum, Aspho-

delus clavatus, and in wheat and barley fields, Avena fatua and

Lolium temulentum.

II.—The season of Cucurbitaceous cultivation.

This season commences at the return of the hot weather in the

beginning of April, contemporaneously with the harvest of the cold

season crops. The most characteristic plants are Cucurbita citrullus,

Cucumis melo, momordica, and utilissimus, which are extensively culti-

vated until the rains. During this season, the mangoe ripens its

fruit, also Grewia Asiatica, Mimusops Kanki, and Artocarpus inte-

grifolius. These Cucurbitacee are most successfully cultivated on

the sandy beds ofrivers, and on low lying ground, which from being

under water during the rains, is not available for the crops of that

period.

The following species I observed, commonly cultivated in Oude,

in April, May and June.

Cucurbitacee.

Cucurbita Citrullus, Linn,

— maxima, Duch.

Pepo, Linn.

—

Lagenaria vulgaris, Ser.

Cucumis melo, Linn.

— momordica, Roxb.

— sativus, Linn.

— utilissimus, Roxb.

Luffa pentandra, Roxb.

acutangula, Roxb.

1859. | Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. 97

Momordica Charantia, L.

Trichosanthes anguina, L.

In the fields and waste places, several of the weeds found among

the crops of the cold weather, still exist, with the addition of several

species almost peculiar to this season; such as, Sida retusa, Sida

humilis, Corchorus trilocularis, Tribulus terrestris, Crotalaria neg-

lecta, Cyanopsis psoraloides, Spermacoce hispida, Vernonia cinerea,

several species of Blumea, Vicoa Indica, Krancoecuria crispa, Hchinops

echinatus, Cirsium Wallichi, Microlonchus divaricatus, Campanula

canescens, Trichodesma Indicum, Celsia Coromandeliana, one or

two species of Lewcas, Physalis flexuosa, and several grasses, of which

Imperata arundinacea and Cenchrus echinatus are the commouest.

I1I.—In the end of June, the occurrence of moist easterly winds

occasional thunderstorms with slight showers are the first signs of

the approach of the rainy geason.

These first falls of rain are anxiously looked for, by the agricul-

turist, as they serve to soften the ground, scorched by the burning

sun, and drought of the previous four months, and when they occur,

he loses no time in preparing the soil, for the reception of the

“kurreef”’ or rain crop. In the beginning of July, the rains have

become quite established, and their vivifying influence is at once

visible ; the face of nature becomes completely altered, and every-

where, the earth is covered with a carpet of the richest green,

composed of the strictly tropical cultivation of the season, and of

tropical weeds, and tall grasses. The perennial plants, stunted by

aridity and excessive heat, become so affected by the prevailing

moisture, as to be difficult of recognition, and have thus given rise

to many of the doubtful species of systematic works. ‘I'hese forms

are most common among Leguminose, Composite, Labiate and

Acanthacee. ‘Tropical grains and Leguminose form the majority of

the cultivated species. The most conspicuous plants among them

are Hibiscus cannabinus, with its purple-centred, yellow flowers.

Crotalaria guncea, which in September, produces long terminal

Spikes of sweet smelling bright yellow flowers, so numerous, that the

green of the leaves is obscured by the mass of blossom. Both

these species yield a strong fibre, used in the manufacture of coarse

paper, canvass, and cordage. Among the economic grasses, Zea

98° Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. [ No. 2.

mais, the tall Penicillaria spicata and Sorgum vulgare are the most

striking, so tall and so thickly planted are they that even on horse-

back the view is obscured by them. Several species such as, Paspa-

lum frumentaceum, Lleusine coracana, yield grains little known to

Europeans. They are used by the poorer natives, but so inferior is

the nourishment they afford, that sloughing of the cornea, and other

diseases of debilitated constitutions are ascribed to their use.

Tropical weeds, of the orders Lythraces, Leguminose, Convolvu-

laceze, Scrophulariacesze, Acanthaceze, Amaranthacex, Commelynacee,

are abundant. Among them are the various species of Ameletia,

and Ammannia, Crotalaria sericea and mysorensis, Cassia pumila,

Mucuna prurita, Rhyncosia and Desmodium, Ipomoea pestigridis

sessiliflora and pilosa, Bonnaya serrata and veronicefolia, Herpestes

monniera, Striga densiflora, Digera arvensis, Amaranthus spinosus,

Achyranthes lappacea, Commelyna communis and Benghalensis.

Anileima nudiflorum, several cyperacese and graminex, principally

of the genera Panicum, Eleusna, and Andropogon. The rains culti-

vation of India being widely diffused, the following list of Lucknow

plants consists of species found nearly all over India.

Cultivated Rains Plants.

Hibiscus cannabinus, L.

sabdariffa, L. In gardens only, introduced from the

W. Indies.

Abelmoschus esculentus, W. and A.

Gossypium herbaceum, L. Produces two crops in the year,

one at the end of the rains, another in April.

Crotalaria juncea, L. Largely cultivated for its fibre.

Indigofera tinctoria, L.

Phaseolus lunatus, L. In gardens only.

Mungo, L.

———-—— _radiatus, Roxb.

aconitifolius, Jacq.

Dolichos sinensis, L. Three varieties with white, brown, and

black seeds respectively.

Lablab vulgare, Savi. Several unimportant varieties.

cultratum, DC. This species with L. vulgare, though

rains plants, are to be found in fruit all through the cold season,

though otherwise then nearly dormant.

1859.1] Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. 99

Canavalia gladiata, D C. Common in gardens and near native

houses.

Mucuna eapitata, W. and A. In gardens only.

Batatas edulis, Choisy.

Solanum Melongena, L.

Lycopersicum esculentum, Mill.

Piper Betle, L. It is extensively cultivated at some villages near

Bunnee, eighteen or twenty miles from Lucknow.

Amaranthus polygamus, L.

oleraceus, L.

ganeeticus, L.

Basella alba, L.

Zingiber officinale, Rosce.

Curcuma longa, Roxb.

Dioscorea alata, L.

Colocasia antiquorum, Schott.

Zea mays, L.

Oryza sativa, L.

Paspalum scorbiculatum, L.

Oplismenus frumentaceus, Roxb.

Pennisetumi talicum, R. Br. Setaria, Beauv.

Panicum miliaceum, Willd.

Penicillaria spicata, Willd.

Sorghum vulgare, Pers.

Saccharum officinarum, L. Flowers in the rainy season, but the

crop is not cut until the end of the cold weather.

Eleusine coracana, Gartn.

stricta, Roxb.

IV. The long established plants of the native gardens, the fruit

aud common ornamental trees of Northern India form the last | ortion

of the vegetation of Lucknow, to which I shall advert, before detail-

ing the indigenous Flora.

In European gardens, are to be found in the cold season, most of

the annuals, common in gardens in England, and several of them

have become favorites with the natives, but I shall pass them over as

they are here without interest to the botanical student. ‘These plants

of native gardens have probably been cultivated for many gener-

o 2

100 | Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. (No. 2.

ations, the origin of several is doubtful, many of them are indi-

genous in some part of India, either north or south, some have been

introduced from Persia and the oriental region, and a few cosmo-

politan species seem to have been imported by the different con-

querors of the country. They spring up often on rubbish heaps, or

by the wayside and near villages and towns, and are thus apt to be

gathered and included in the Flora of the district. Out of the list

appended, those most worthy of notice are. Chetranthus cheiri,

Hibiscus mutabilis, Guateria longifolia, which probably here reaches

its northern limit as it seldom or never flowers, and is nearly decidu-

ous ; Cookia punctata, Eriobota Japonica, Pyrus sinensis, are common

in the gardens of the Nawabs. Ananus sativus succeeds well,

though not extensively cultivated. A few trees of Cocos nucifera

exist at Lucknow, though the climate is utterly unsuited for them.

Lofty trees of Ailanthes excelsa, a tree rare north of the J umna

occur very commonly at Lucknow.

List of cultivated plants and trees of the native gardens and

orchards or “ baghs.”

Ranunculacee.

Delphinum ajacis, L.

Magnohacee.

Michelia champaca, L.

Anoncee.

Guatteria longifolia, Wall.

Anona squamosa, L.

reticulata, L.

Papaveracee.

Papaver somniferum, L. Several garden varieties.

dubium, L.

Rheas, L.

Crucifercee.

Cheiranthus Cheiri, L.

Caryophyllacee.

Dianthus chinensis, L.

Linacee.

Linum trigynum, Roxb.

1859. | Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. 101

Malvacee.

Malva sylvestris, L.

Althaea rosea, Cay.

Hibiscus Rosa sinensis, L.

mutabilis, L.

Bombacee.

Bombax malabaricum, D C.

Bytineriacee.

Pentapetes phoenicea, L.

Tiliacee.

Grewia asiatica, L.

Aurantiacee.

Bergera Konigii, L.

Citrus decumana, L. The pumelo.

Aurantium, L. The orange.

“

Bergamia, Risso. The common acid lime.

Limetta, Risso. The sweet lime.

medica, L. Common citron.

Sapindacee.

Sapindus emarginatus, Vahl. Cultivated near villages in Oude.

Nephelium Lichi, W. and A. Cultivated in the gardens of

Nawabs and at the old cantonment of Lucknow.

Meliacee.

Melia Azedarach, L.

— sempervirens, Roxb. Is it merely a variety ?

Azadirachta indica, Ad. Juss.

Ampelidee.

Vitis vinifera, L.

Balsaminee.

Impatiens Balsamina, L.

Oxalidacee.

Averrhoa carambola, L.

ftutacee.

Ruta angustifolia, Pers.

Zanthoxylacea.

Ailanthus excelsa, Roxb.

102 Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

CAaLYCIFLOR&.

Rhamnacee.

Zizyphus jujuba, Lam.

vulgaris, Lam.

Terebinthacee.

Mangifera indica, L.

Moringee.

Moringa pterygosperma, Gartn.

Lequminose.

Papilionacee.

Clitoria Ternatea, L.

Sesbania aegyptica, Pers.

Erythrina indica, Lam.

Dalbergia Sisso, Roxb.

Mimosee.

Mimosa pudica, L.

Acacia serissa, Buch.

Guilandina Bondue, Ait. hort. Kew.

Poinciana pulcherrima, L.

Parkinsonia aculeata, L.

Tamarindus indica, L.

Cassia Fistula, L.

suffruticosa, Kon.

auriculata, L.

occidentalis, L.

Bauhinia variegata, L.

var purpurea.

— candida.

Bauhinia purpurea, L.

Bauhinia pariflora, Vahl.

Rosacee.

Amygdalus Persica, L.

var nectarina.

Prunus triflora, Roxb.

Rosa indica, L.

cordifolia, Roxb. The flat China peach.

[No. 2.

1859.]

Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

103

Rosa centifolia, L. Cultivated for the manufacture of rose-water

and ottar of roses.

Eriobotrya Japonica, Lindl. Sparingly cultivated at Luckuow.

Pyrus sinensis, Lindl.

Common in the larger native gardens.

Granatacee.

Punica granatum, Linn.

Lythracee.

Lawsonia alba, Lam.

Lagerstroemia indica, Linn.

Myrtaceae.

Psidium pyriferam, Linn.

— pomiferum, Linn.

Eugenia Jambos, L.

— Jambolana, Lam.

Papayacee.

Carica Papaya, L.

Crassulaceac.

Bryophyllum calycinum, Salisb.

Cactee.

Opuntia Dillenii, Hard.

Rubiacee.

Nauclea cordifolia, Roxb.

Gardenia florida, L.

Morinda citrifolia, L.

Hamiltonia suaveolens, Roxb.

Ixora coccinea, L.

Composite.

Callistephus chinensis, Nees.

Helianthus annuus, L.

tuberosus, L.

Tagetes patula, L.

erecta, L.

Chrysanthemum indicum, L.

sinense, Sabin.

Artemisia indica, Willd.

Calendula officinalis, L.

104 Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. [ No. 2.

Amberboa indica, D C.

— moschata, D C.

Centaurea Cyanus, L.

Cichorium Endivia, Willd. Cultivated in gardens, and springing

up spontaneously with the cold weather crops.

CoROLLIFLORE.

EHbenacee.

Diospyros tomentosa, Roxb.

Sapotacce.

Bassia latifolia, Roxb. At Lucknow and throughout Oude spirit

distilled from the flowers.

Mimusops Kauki, L.

Jasminee.

Jasminum pubescens, Willd.

revolutum, Sims.

grandiflorum, L.

Nyctanthes arbor tristis, L.

Apocynaceae.

Nerium odoratum, Lam.

Vinca rosea, L.

Tabernaemontana coronaria, R. Br.

Plumiera acuminata, Ait.

Allavoranda cathartica, L.

Carissa carandas, L.

Thevetia nereifolia, Juss.

Bignomacee.

Millingtonia horteusis, L.

Sesamee.

Martynia diandra, Glox.

Convolulacee.

Argyreia speciosa, Swt.

Quamoclit ploeniceum, Choisy.

vulgare, Choisy.

var album.

Pharbitis Nil, Choisy. Cultivated in gardens and also apparently

wild near Lucknow.

— cerulescens, Choisy,

1859. ] Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. 105

Calonyction muricatum, G. Don.

Convolvulus purpureus, L. Several inconstant varieties are

described, named from the colour of the flowers.

Cordiacee.

Cordia Myxa, L. Commonly planted by road sides.

Scrophulariacee.

Russelia juncea, Zuce.

Acanthacee.

Barleria Prionitis, L. Wild, but also cultivated in gardens.

Verbenacee.

Vitex Negundo, L. Wild, but also cultivated on account of it

sweet smelling flowers.

Vitex incisa, Lam. Cultivated at Lucknow.

Gmelina asiatica, L. Cultivated in an orchard at the village of

Onnao near Lucknow.

Labiatee.

Ocimum sanctum, L. Cultivated as a sacred plant by the Hindoos.

Mentha viridis, L.

Solanacee.

Physalis peruviana, Linn. Cultivated for the sake of its acid

berries.

Amarantacee.

Celosia cristata, L.

Gomphrena globosa, L.

Nyctaginee.

Mirabilis jalapa, L.

Santalacee.

Santalum album, L. Occurring frequently near Hindoo villages,

but always planted.

Euphorbiacee.

Emblica officinalis, Gartn.

Cicca disticha, L.

Jatropha curcas, L.

Planted near villages as hedge

—_—————_- — Tiraculh, L. plants,

Kuphorbia antiquorum, L.

Pedilanthus tithymaloides, Poit. j

106 Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. [No. 2.

Urticacee.

Morus levigata, Wall. Black mulberry.

cashmeriana, Royle. Long white fruited mulberry.

Ficus Carica, L.

idica diet Generally planted in North Western India,

though both spring up spontaneously

everywhere.

religiosa, L.

Artocarpus integrifolius, L.

Amentacee.

Salix babylonica, L.

Coniferee.

Thuja orientalis, L.

Cupressus sempervirens, L.

ENDOGENS.

Marantacee.

Canna indica, L.

Iridacee.

Iris chinensis, Curt. Probably introduced from China, common

in native gardens.

Amaryllidee.

Crinum asiaticum, L.

latifolium, Roxb.

Pancratium Zeylanicum, L.

Agave Cuntala, Roxb. (a vivipara, Royle).

Bromeliacee.

Ananas sativa, h.

Liliacee.

Hemeroeallis fulva, Linn.

Polianthes tuberosa, Linn.

Palmecee.

Caryota urens, L. Two trees, thirty feet in height, have been for

many years in the “ Char Bagh” garden.

Borassus flabelliformis, L. Commonly planted near Lucknow for

the sake of its sap, and for the leaves from which larger fans are

made.

1859. | Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. 107

Cocos nucifera, L. The cocoa nut palm has been planted in

several of the gardens in and near Lucknow. ‘The trees are forty

and fifty feet high, and though full grown, they never flower.

| Pandane.

Pandanus odoratissimus, L. Extensively cultivated on account

of its powerfully fragrant flowers.

Graminee.

Bambusa ?

This extensive introduced Flora, large though it is, increases in

importance when considered with reference to the comparatively

small number of really indigenous species. The truly wild plants

probably amount to five hundred or six hundred species, and are

most well known and widely distributed in India. None of them

are rare, except Kohautia gracilis, Royle, a new species of Trifolium,

Gmelina asiatica, and Crypsis phleoides.

Unfortunately my list is not so complete as it might be, for, as

my original collections were lost during the mutinies, it has been

compiled from a set of duplicates I sent to Dr. Thomson, and from

a smnall collection I made, while or service at Lucknow last year.

The truly wild species drawn from these materials exceed four

hundred, though many of the rains plants, especially grasses, are

wanting. List of the indigenous plants of Lucknow.

EXxoGEN&.

Ranunculacee.

Rauunculus sceleratus, L.

Menispermacee.

Tinospora cordifolia, Miers.

Cocculus villosus, D C.

Cissampelos Pareira, L.

Nymphacee.

Nympheza Lotus, L.

—#-- stellata, Willd.

Nelumbiacee.

Nelumbium speciosum, Willd.

Papaveracee.

Argemone Mexicana, L.

108

Notes on the Hlora of Lucknow.

Fumariacee.

Fumaria parviflora, Lam. Var Vaillantii.

Cruciferae.

Nasturtium palustre, D C.

Sisymbrium Irio, L.

Sinapis juncea, L.

Capparidacee.

Gynandropsis pentaphylla, D C.

Polanisia viscosa, D C.

Capparis horrida, L.

aphylla, Roth.

Cr cm

Flacourtiacee.

Flacourtia sapida, Roxb.

Violacee.

Tonidium suffruticosum, Ging. Mss.

Polygalaceae.

Polygala arvensis, Willd.

— Vahliana, D C.

Tamarascieae.

Tamarix gallica, L.

Hlatineae.

Bergia ammannoides, Roxb.

| Caryophyllaceae.

Saponaria Vaccaria, L.

Silene conoidea, L.

_ Mollugo spergula, L.

— pentaphylla, L.

———-— nudicaulis, Lam.

Spergula pentandra, L.

Stellaria media, Sm.

Linaceae.

Linum trigynum, Roxb.

Maloaceae.

Malva rotundifolia, L.

Urena lobata, L.

Abelmoschus moschatus, Moench.

[No. 2.

ee ee ee

1859. ] Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. 109

Abutilon indicum, G. Don.

Sida retusa, L.

acuta, Burm.

humilis, Willd.

cordifolia, L.

—— mysorensis, Herb. Madr. in W. and A. Prod. FI. md.

Byttneriaceae.

Melochia corchorifolia, L.

Waltheria indica, L.

Tiliaceac.

Corchorus depressus, L.

—

trilocularis, L.

olitorius, L.

capsularis, L.

acutangulus, Lam.

Aurantiaceae.

Glycosmis pentaphylla, D C.

Feronia elephantum, Corr.

/Eele marmelos, Corr.

Sapindaceae.

Sapindus emarginatus, Vahl.

Meliaceae.

Azadirachta indica, Ad. de Juss.

Oxalidaceae.

Oxalis corniculata, L.

Zygophyllaceae.

Tribulus terrestris, L.

CALYCIFLORAE.

Tthamnaceae.

Zizyphus Jujuba, Lam.

Zizyphus cenoplia, Mill.

Leguminosae.

Heylandia latebrosa, D C.

Crotalaria mysorensis, Roth.

juncea, L.

sericea, Retz.

neglecta, W. and A.

110 Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. [No. 2.

Crotolaria luxurians, Benth.

Medicago lupulina, L.

denticulata, Willd.

» Melilotus leucantha, Koch.

parviflora, Desf.

Trigonella (an. n. sp,)

Cyamopsis psoraloides, D C.

Psoralea corylifolia, L.

Indigofera linifolia, Retz.

enneaphylla, L.

tinctoria, L.

hirsuta, L.

Glycine labialis, L.

Tephrosia purpurea, Pers.

Sesbania wgyptica, Pers.

— aculeata, Pers.

Zornia angustifolia, Sm.

Aeschynomene indica, L.

Uraria picta, Den.

Desmodium gangeticum, D C,

triflorum, D C.

latifolium, D C.

Alhagi maurorum, Lour.

Alysicarpus monilifer, D C.

nummularifolius, D C.

vaginalis, D C.

bupleurifolius, D C.

Vicia hirsuta, Koch.

Abrus precatorius, DL.

Rhynchosia medicaginea, D C.

Mucuna prurita, Hook. Wild, as well as cultivated.

Butea frondosa, Roxb.

Dalbergia Sissoo. Wild in jungly places near Lucknow.

Mimosa rubicaulis, Lam.

Desmanthus natans, Willd.

Acacia Farnesiana, Willd.

Arabica, Willd.

1859. ]

Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

Guilandina Bondue, L.

Cassia Sophora, L.

— pumila, L.

— Tora, L.

Fi |

Bauhinia variegata, L, Doubtfully wild near Lucknow.

Rosaceae.

Potentilla supina, L.

Lythraceae.

Ameletia indica, D C,

Ammannia octandra, L.

—_—_——~ vesicatoria, Roxb.

— multiflora, Roxb.

— pentandra, Roxb.

— rotundifolia, Buch. Ham.

Onagrariae.

Jussiaea repens, L.

Ludwigia parviflora, Roxb.

Trapa bispinosa, Roxb.

Halorageae.

Myriophyllum spicatum, L.

Cucurbitaceae.

Bryonia scabrella, L.

laciniosa, L.

Coccinia Indica, W. and A.

Momordica Charantia, L.

Trichosanthes cucumerina, L.

Portulacaceae.

Trianthema crystallina, Vahl.

obcordata, Roxb.

pentandra, L.

Portulaca oleracea, L.

quadrifida, L.

Paronychiaceae.

Polycarpaea corymbosa, Lam.

Hapalosia Leeflingiae, Wall.

112 Notes on the Flora of Lucknow. [No. 2.

Ficoideae.

Glinus lotoides, L.

Cacteae.

Cactus Indicus, Roxb. Probably introduced into India

from America.

Saxifagaceae.

Vahlia viscosa, Roxb.

Umbelliferae.

Hydrocotyle asiatica, L.

Loranthaceae.

Loranthus longiflorus, Desr.

Rubiaceae.

Randia dumetorum, Lam.

Hedyotis Burmanniana, Br.

Bigelowia lasiocarpa, W. and A.

Spermacoce hispida, L.

Compositae.

Vernonia cinerea, Less.

Elephantopus scaber, L.

Sphaeranthus mollis, Roxb.

Grangea maderaspatana, Poir.

Bertbelotia lanceolata, D C.

Blumea lacera, D C.

hieraciifolia, D C.

oxyodonta, D C.

aurita, D C.

Inula vestita, Wall.

Vicoa indica, D C.

Francoeuria crispa, Cass.

Caesulia axillaris, Roxb.

Kiclipta prostrata, L.

Blainvillea latifolia, D C.

Xanthium sturmarium, L. I can find no distinctive charac-

ters between European and Indian specimens of this species,

so marked or constant as to constitute X, indicum Roxb.

Bidens decomposita, Wall.

1859. ]

Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

Chrysanthellum Indicum, D C,

Glossogyne pinnatifida, D C.

Matricaria Chamomila, L.

Artemisia Indica, Willd.

Myriogyne minuta, Less.

Machlis hemispherica, D C.

Filago prostrata, D C.

Gnaphalium luteoalbum, L.

crispatulum, Delil.

— Indicum, L.

Emilia sonchifolia, D C.

Echinops echinatus, Roxb.

Microlonchus divaricatus, D. C.

Cirsium Wallichi, D C.

Microrynchus nudicaulis, Less.

——.—————- asplenifolius, D C.

Sonchus oleraceus, L.

Campanulaceae.

Campanula canescens Wall.

COROLLIFLORA.

Lentibulariaceae.

Utricularia stellaris, L.

Primulaceae.

Anagallis arvensis, L.

Jasmineac.

Jasminum Sambac, Ait.

Apocynaceae.

Carissa edulis, Vahl.

Vinea pusilla, Murr.

Asclepiadaceae.

Calotropis gigantea, R. Br.

procera, h. Br.

Pergularia pallida, W. and A.

Gymnema sylvestre, R. Br.

Gentianaceae,

Erythraea Roxburghii, Don.

118

114

Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

Slevogtia orientalis Griseb.

Limnanthemum cristatum, Griseb.

Hydrophyllaceae.

Hydrolea Zeylanica, Vahl.

Convolvulaceae.

Batatas pentaphylla, Chois.

Pharbitis Nil Chois.

Tpomeea reptans, Poir.

Pes tigridis, L.

sessiliflora, Roth.

eymosa, R. et Sch.

| |

sepiaria, Koen.

Convolvulus pluricaulis, Chois.

arvensis, L.

Evolvulus alsinoides, L.

Cuscuta reflexa, Roxb.

Borvagineae.

Cordia Rothii, Roem. et Sch.

Ehretia levis, Roxb.

- aspera, Roxb.

Heliotropium Europeum, L.

brevifolium, Wall.

Arnebia hispidissima, D C.

Cynoglossum frucatum, Wall.

Trichodesma indicum, R. Br.

Scrophulariaceae.

Verbascum Thapsus, L.

Celsia coromandeliana, Vahl.

Antirhinum orontium, B. indicum, Benth.

Lindenbergia urticefolia, Lehm.

Limnophila gratioloides, R. Br.

Herpestes Hamiltoniana, Benth.

monniera, Humb. and Kunth.

Dipatrium junceum, Ham.

llysanthes parviflora, Benth.

pilosa, Sw. h. sub. 2nd ed. p. 288.

[No. 2

1859.]

Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

Bonnaya brachiata, Link.

parvifiora, Benth.

verbenaefolia, Spreng.

veronicaefolia, Spreng.

Mazus rugosus, Lur.

Veronica anagallis, L.

agrestis, L.

Orobanchaceae.

Phelipaea indica, G. Don.

Acanthaceae.

Ruellia latebrosa, Roxb.

ringens, Roxb.

Dipteracanthus dejectus, Nees ab Eyen.

Barleria cristata, L.

Prionitis, L.

Asteracantha longifolia, Nees ab Esen.

Rostellaria procumbens, Roxb.

Rostellaria

Adhatoda ;Vatica, Nees ab Esen.

Rungia pectinata, Nees ab Esen.

repens, Nees ab Hsen.

Peristrophe bicalyculata, Roxb.

Andrographis paniculata, Nees ab Esen.

Verbenaceae.

Verbena officinalis, L.

Lippia nodiflora, Rich.

Gmelina asiatica, L.

Vitex negundo, L.

Labiateae.

Ocimum Basilicum, glabratum, Benth.

inodorum, Koen.

Salvia plebeia, R. Br.

Nepeta ruderalis, Hamilt.

Anisomeles ovata, R. Br.

Leucas zeylanica, R. Br.

- aspera, Spreng.

116

Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

Leucas cephalotes, Spreng.

Leonotis nepetaefolia, R. Br.

Solanaceae.

Solanum nigrum, L.

verbascifolium, L.

Jacquini, Willd.

Physalis minima, L.

— flexuosa, L.

Datura alba, Nees ab Esen.

fastuosa, L.

Hyoscyamus niger, L.

Amarantaceae.

Desmochaeta atropurpurea, D C.

muricata, D C.

Digera arvensis, Forsk.

Alteranthera sessilis, R. Br.

Aerva javanica, Juss.

Celosia argentea, L.

Achyranthes aspera, L.

lappacea, L.

Amarantus spinosus, L.

~ oleraceus, lL.

—_——- polygamus, L.

—————~ polygonoides, L.

tenuifolius, Willd.

Nyctagineae. -

Boerhaavia diffusa, L.

Polygonaceae.

Rumex acutus, Roxb.

Polygonum Roxburghii, Meisn.

flaccidum, Roxb.

glabrum, Willd.

lanigerum, R. Br.

| Chenopodiaceae.

Chenopodium album, L.

hybridum, L.

Salvadora persica, L. non Wight.

[No. 2,

1859.]

Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

Euphorbiaceae.

Kuphorbia Helioscopia, L.

dracunculoides, Lam.

—_—_——— hirta, L.

thymifolia, Roxb.

parviflora, Roxb.

Crozophora tinctoria, A. Juss.

plicata, A. Juss.

Phyllanthus Niruri, L.

simplex, L.

Fliggea retusa, Roxb.

Urticaceae.

Trophis aspera, Retz.

Ficus caricoides. Roxb.

Stilaginaceae.

Antidesma diandra, Heyne.

Amentiferae.

Salix tetrasperma, L.

ENDOGEN 2”.

Orchidaceae.

Zeuxine sulcata, Lindl.

| Hydrocharideae.

Hydrilla verticallata, Rich.

Palmaceae.

Pheenix sylvestris, Roxb.

Liliaceae.

Asparagus racemosus, Willd.

Asphodelus fistulosus, L.

Gloriosa superba, L.

Commelynaceae.

Commelyna communis, L.

Bengalensis, Roxb.

Aneilema nudiflora, Kunth.

118

Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

Juncaceae.

Juncus bufonius, L.

Typhaceae.

Typha elephantina, Roxb.

Lemnaceae.

Lemna orbicularis, Roxb.

Potamogetonaceae.

Potamogeton indicus, Roxb.

Resticeae.

Ericcaulon quinquangulare, Linn.

Cyperaceae.

Carex Wallichianus, Pres.

Fimbristylis communis, Kunth.

Isolepis barbata, R. Br.

supina, R. Br.

— lupulina, Nees in Wight.

squamosa, Vahl.

Scirpus mucronatus, L.

maritimus, L.

grossus, Vahl.

Eleocharis palustris, R. Br.

Kyllingia monocephala, L.

triceps, L.

Mariscus dilutus, Nees ab Esen.

Cyperus distans, L.

— Irio, L.

— rotundus, L:

— difformis, L.

— racemosus, L.

— rotundus, L.

— pumilus, L.

— niveus, Retz.

— compressus, L.

-— mucronatus, Rottb.

———-— pygmaeus, Vahl.

[No. 2.

1859.

Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

Gramineae.

Oryza sativa, L.

Zizania aristata, Kunth.

Coiz Lachryma, L.

Crypsis schoenoides, Lam.

Phalaris canariensis, L.

Alopecurus agrestis, L.

Setaria glauca, Bearw.

Panicum colonum, Linn.

paludosum, Roxb. .

maximum.

spicatum, Roxb.

umbrosum, Retz.

verticillatum, Linn.

uliginosum, Roxb.

cinncinum, Retz.

repens, Roxb.

Burmanni, Retz.

Digitaria sanguinalis, Scop.

Lappago racemosa, Willd.

Pennisetum cenchroides, Rich.

n. sp. ?

Cenchrus echinatus, Linn.

Aristida setacea, Retz.

Pragmites karka, Kunth.

Arundo bifsria, Retz.

Cynodon Dactylon, Pers.

Dactyloctenium eeypticum, Willd.

Chloris barbata, Swartz.

Leptochloa tenerrima, Roen.

Hleusine indica, Gaert.

verticillata, Roxb.

Lolium temulentum, L.

Avena fatua, L.

Poa tenella, L.

annua, L.

—— flexuosa, Roxb.

119

120

Notes on the Flora of Lucknow.

Poa cynosuroides, Retz.

viscosa, Retz.

Eragrostis pozeformis, Link.

— verticillaris.

nutans, Nees.

interrupta, Nees.

— Koenigii.

Perotis latifolia, Ait.

Saccharum spontaneum, L.

Imperata arundinacea, Cyr.

Apluda aristata, Linn.

Andropogon involutus, Steud.

Heteropogon contortus, Pers. _

Cymbopogon Iwarancusa, Roxb.

CRYPTOGAM®.

Marsileaceae.

Marsilea quadrifolia, L.

Azolla pinnata, L.

Hquisetaceae.

Equisetum arvense, L.

OPIN SIP IOP ISN PLN INI LOPLI AND OPIN PL ORIOL

[No. 2.

1859. ] The Sri-sukta, or Litany to Fortune. 121

The S’ri-sikta, or Litany to Fortune; text and commentary, with

translation. By Firz-Epwarp Haut, M. A.

The period is now rapidly approaching when the contents of the

Vedas and of their principal appendages will be unfolded. Among

these appendages there is, however, at least one class of writings,

not altogether devoid of interest, which an investigator labouring

on Indian soil may, perhaps, treat of with less difficulty, if not more

satisfactorily, than a scholar restricted to the limited appliances of

Europe. I refer to the Vaidika intercalations known by the name

of khila, paris’ishta, or, still oftener, with whatever correctness,

padas'ishta. In rare instances do we meet with two manuscripts,

unless one is puuctually reproduced from the other, in which the in-

corporations of this stamp correspond throughout. Even as for the

Rig-veda, numerous transcripts of it must be inspected before we

can assure ourselves that we have exhausted the more ordinary apo-

eryphal passages with which that collection is interspersed. At any

rate, a careful examination of fifteen copies of it has conducted me

to this conclusion.

Data are scarcely yet brought to light that would authorize one

in pronouncing on the age and origin of the interpolations in the

primitive Hindu seriptures, which I here contemplate. To turn, for

a moment, from the Veda proper, we have, for a khila, the Hari-

vans'a, a supplement to the Mahdabhdrata, and yet certainly not con-

temporaneous with the main poem. Undoubtedly itis later. On

the other hand, of the Ahidas inserted in the Rig-veda, while many

are, without question, of comparatively modern date, there are a

few, among those not traceable to other Vedas, which discover, to

some extent, characteristics of archaism. If not very good imita-

tions, they must, then, be accounted genuine relics of antiquity.

The traditional, but sufficiently uncritical, belief of the pandits, as

touching the Vaidika khilas, is, that they are excerpts, one and all,

from branches of the Veda no longer extant in their integrity.*

* In Central India, at all events, females of Brahmanical descent are allowed

fo read the Vaidika khilas, with their phala-s’rutis, and those of sacred hymns

generally. A phala-s’ruti is an appendant text of scripture, importing, in strict-

122 The Sri-stkta, or Litany to Fortune. [No. 2.

That some of them are ancient, we have so good an authority as the

compiler of the Laws of the Manavas ;* and Yaska, while citing a

fragment of a khila, does not afford the slightest indication that it

was regarded, in his age, as spurious, or even a8 deutero-canonical.+

A dissertation of a recent speculator would impress the conviction,

which is commonly entertained by the Hindus, that the S’ri-sukta

was once comprehended in some portion, now lost, of the Atharva-

veda.t

ness, the benefit to be derived from repeating the words to which it is attached.

Oblivion or disregard is, however, manifested, in this permission, of the fami-

liar declaration :

wyafessyat Tat a Btanract |

afa wicamara grea afaat aaa |

‘ Women, serviles, and merely titular Brahmans are not to listen to the three

Vedas. Hence was the history of the Bhdrata devised by Vyasa the holy sage.’

* IIT., 232. Kullika Bhatta instances, in exemplification of a khila, a S’ré-

sukta; the very one, it may be, now published. In company with it he names

the S‘iva-sankalpa. The beginning of the thirty-fourth chapter of the Vdja-

saneyt-sanhiiad is still popularly known by that designation.

+ Professor Rudolph Roth’s Zur Litteratur und Geschichte des Weda, p. 31;

and Nirukta, Erliuterungen, p. 58.

+ I here extract a part of Govinda S’astri’s commentary on the forty-fifth

aBiiplet of the — rahasye: BTW VAs SYaIUITGe-

AVIA aM sustear) aw

a MRS ATARATAT

saleaisfa waafa weaaTecie |

aa yar feasafaad varfa

Wat Vale wad aaa wea yy

@ aradefe eer cemmantae

qua safes fated facura |

faamcisty faeaiched waar

aAt vale Gad Aaa wow |

rata WeErEMlcuifsera adler sugem za.

as _ os ~

qa| wausasaat Bewatevaretaaayaar ata

1859.] The Sri-sikta, or Litany to Kortune. 123

The S’ri-sikta, when seen in the Arg-vedi, occurs, in. my expe-

rience, invariably at the end of the fifth mandala. Though brief, it

is by no means insignificant. Indeed, it has been selected for pre-

sent notice on the ground of its marked pre-eminence among the

dq | wandtarenrtey Seaawaagfesfafa fetran-

(Vaal wamawatfuata | wa wa waftunfaxa |

aaaa aa fas ata faaa TaET |

aia wag aifaat ag cara arias:

afe aaaqrena |) aa aq far waeul ware daa

waat SAMIARATTAS aT afaaata | acarsfaaaryt

Wiad | xq Fada favavar Wa waaiawif: wd

aia dace far uri He, aaeds ata freq atau

Hcg | dtfaatt qaawe daaalua wha: Sta fraser

aaa Fava | Gfaat aqaaiyat fqara ae waad

watatuete wear feraq Ealz graraatafaat sat

aaa. aa ASH aaasCaataal ATV aftaa, | ate.

qale vasAaaeaia wea aTTRTITAI ATI

LAMAN: | Shenfataw dara aH saws feat: |

A passage is given, first of all, professedly from the Lakshmi-stava of the

Kas't-khanda. Tt runs thus: ‘ Unrivalled mother of Madana, abiding in the

mansion of Upendra, thou art S’ri. With countenance delightful to the mind

as is the moon, to the moon thou art lustre, avd radiance to the sun. LEffulgent

art thou throughout the bright triple world. Constantly be thou benignant, O

Lakshmi, protectress, to thy adorers, Ever art thou the intrinsic combustive

energy of fire. Vedhas, through thy agency, created this multiform universe

Vis’wambhara also, by means of thee, has upheld 7 all. Constantly be thou

benignant, O Lakshmi, protectress, to thy adorers.’ This, urges Govinda, on the

argument of verbal similarity and indiscrepancy of import, is paraphrased from

the S’ré-sikta of the Atharvana-veda. Some nameless scholiast of the Sapta-

s‘até is next alleged to have spoken of ‘ the S’ré-sikta, notoriously A’tharvana.

From the Lakshmi sikta nirukta a couplet is then adduced, with its explana-

tion: and it should thus seem—as will be seen in the further progress of this

paper—that not only the S’ré-sikta, but its appendix as well, has enjoyed an

exposition other than that which I now print. Govinda tells us, in fine, that

somewhere else it is shown at length that the S’ré-sékta is the theme of a detail-

ed account in the Meru-tantra. All this is abundantly flaccid and unsatisfying -

124 The Sri-sikta, or Litany to Fortune. [No. 2.

compositions to which it belongs. In legal treatises its use is pre-

The first book of the Vishnu-purixa, ninth chapter, has these words, in the

narration of the churning of the ocean :

aa: mcarfaate fanfare feat |

Beat waeMaisfaal waayFat I ce kt

ai GZqaeI Gat MaMa HET: ,

* Subsequently, seated on an expanded lotus beaming with brilliancy, the god-

dess S’ri, bearing a lotus, emerged from that sea of milk. Joyfully did the great

sages laud her with the S’ri-sikta.’

According to the commentator, who repeats its commencement, that hymn

was the very one with which we are concerned. No one can know more about

the matter than he knew: and he can have known nothing.

Another melody addressed to S’ri, but claiming Indra for its author, will be

found in the same chapter of the “ishnu-puréna that has just been qnoted from,

beginning with the hundred and sixteenth stanza, and ending with the hundred

and thirty-first.

Still another set of verses, eulogistic of Lakshmi, extending to only seven cou-

plets, is cited, agreeably to one version, in the Déna-kamalékara and elsewhere.

Colebrooke has translated them in his Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. I., pp. 179

and 180. Here is the first of them :

CA °, NEN

a at: areaqrat at aw cquaafeaat |

=~ _~ SS e

BASU Al <a aa wif yaw |

But of much more customary occurrence than any of the before mentioned

poems is the Lakshmi-hridaya-stotra, in one hundred and six stanzas. It pur-

ports, in its colophon, to be derived from the Uttara-kénuda of the Atharva-

rahasya, whatever that work may be. The introductory lines are subjoined :

qee Wl Vata ASAT Tat

THVT RAAT aaa aqaTsH |

HATE AARRIT SAI carat

alata waaay f waTatee Ra I

‘To Lakshmi—identical with supreme prosperity; lustrous as pure gold;

splendour incorporate; of apparel like gold ; whose person glitters with all man-

ner of embellishments ; bearing a citron, a golden vase, and an aureate lotus ;

the primeval energy; the universal genitrix; reposing on the left thigh of

Vishnu—I make obeisance,’

—

1859. | The Sri-sikta, or Litany to Fortune. 125

scribed for more than one important solemn ceremony,* and, espe-

cially, at regal inaugurations. Asa Vaidika ‘£hzla, it likewise stands

by itself, I believe, in having induced a commentary.

Neglecting inferior readings, a8 hardly meriting specification, I

have collated five manuscripts of the scholia now published. The

oldest of them which bears a date was transcribed only sixty-five

years ago. In one of my copies, they are attributed to one Vidy-

Adhara; another names Vidya Tirtha Mahes’wara as their author ;

a third assigns them, somewhat incredibly, to Vidyaranya Swamin ;

and the rest are silent.

In the absence of smaller types provided with the accents, the

exhibition of these marks has been dispensed with in the text of

the ensuing hymn. Nor has it seemed necessary, as for the trans-

lation, to state at full all the optional interpretations suggested in

the gloss.

SAA |

fecwmaui efeat qaacaaeaTa |

wat Tecra] wail aTaaST wT TS I

BIlsa:| SE alage: atatfa FS | Braga at Bla Ara

faga xfa at) @ aaa fecwaai fescue wag at:

alfamae FT weneta | Elcat efeaama | efeaten-

Yui at |

Set efeMeqacs aywe |

zfa Sdiqumay | gawcwcent qq cary y

qaifa gamifa caatfa Fat ea Ae GeraAa | @RATS-

PUT YAM AIMS | CUMS TA TH) BT VA

eamafaay | sal qadlinafqnaegaia | we aur

aq aa qaw az cad causa) afeaawEst ar

wat waaa yaaa! agdatsafeat qt) fecwat

* Noticeably during the S’dradi-nava-ratra, or nine nights in the light fort-

night of Aswina, one of the leading Hindu festivals. It is indispensable to

read the S’ri-sikta at that season. The Lakshmi-hridaya-stotra and Sapta-

s’ ati are also largely perused at the same time.

126 The Sri-sukta, or Litany to Fortune. [ No. 2.

ferwernia| fecwufanet at | wat wamqata | Teat-

STATS AT TIM qatfefawara | [Saar 8. Xo. | Ua-

aut faa a ag ATU ATS SSSS | WALA SAAT HA

acdtatafa ura: | ated Sarat Frafs as: ye

ai a Sl ae Hagel wahlaavaifaata |

aut fer fat aad TRaTA Ta | 2 |

HIS | Faas: BY aaayauifadiarnaacfeaaa-

ulaitfaae: | diagawagat wall ® agaaenssa |

wai Meawaiaif saat wai ferw gaa ai dead ahaa

YRaly Yaustaseayaag fees waaay R |

wayat cyaut vhearcusifeata |

faa eagrea Hei Sat FAITH | 3 Il

ATS: | ara raat: wa TAT TATAMNTA | BAAS

yaaa: Wat ufeyaitafa faa | cya Tat aa qet-

wia| wiaargatudt wheat asaiat wea dfeda var-

fudt vaaw aiufastea| edt Saastiera | Araawisi at

fae waar | Gareui at | SuFaT Bald yates) Tat-

ENl Sat Bt: Al ai TaAT Gaatay 21

at attaai Fecworateaat saat eat avaaita |

ya feat waaat atfasiass fea 1 2 1

Sasa | At asaaagqiiract <efeqwenfaqya: |

qqeut a) AE a ata yatufateta awe | a fa

Faat wala vormaga, iiwat st Lacreanarcad

aq fad STS AQHA) SUTETPae: | Fec~mratet

fecuw qaaw we Bq varmta fecwyART GI-

at: Srataaatatfata at) sei feat aMtrestaqaata

eae aT UAWRISATSHUUGICfe: | WHA WA Favret

qUl CRA | HAT aSMAy! ssa vaca) cat

Mawfy w adaet ware warcufeta ma: | uy faa

aaa fauararetata | waaat wasquia | atfafa sfasi

fsafatmsad walt vaTsa |e |

ee]

1859. | The Sri-sikta, or Litany to Hurtune. 127

asl pure awe sail fea Sta SqaATIATIATA |

at ufaatat wea wuasaaiia await at eutia yu

GUlsy | BA yu eauaatasnauary: srarfea: |

ast WHIT TAITATATA! TaTat vaRet at atfaser-

wa | Ba VMN | AWKET Beat sasail GATTATATA |

aa Baa Saye Safeqraset afsatas Mat at

Sai Gerala UNA at) ufsat wasateuia) Wararat

at| =etafa fautarsaeia: l fanrgcarear: aaitatata

MT SATE | [SAARI Yo. é.] Satcarget at at faa

aia EMA Hew cfast sag guanfa, wefafa wa: |

Be SA A aaa Hat await amt yw | Tarent

ai carta) saadifaawura et wemaga Giga 14 | TW eI

sifcgau audisty stat aaufaas case fae |

TW BAA TVA FIT Al Al SUL AH Fal BIA ei

sarsuaa weata atet TIS TATE | aigesa aite-

ae @iw qa xq aut AQIS aaea SF Blaq aya:

trate Sati aaay fa: |

| WIM WIA FT a Tawa: Gat |

zfa arrawmcata (2. e9.]| fae famataat a Aar-

Sfasta: mea: | aaufefa Ta: | ATATTA: |

fast Tea REG |

afa qaaqeaa! Saaaact ae fase aaa warfa

maeats qa quer acquetay: |) wat w-afe-

teaaafyat ara awa sfecizaeafae saac

faa zea BUTT faqrcafaqae: ea

Stig at faae: atfas afaat az |

mIgeaTstH we sf. atfiats carg A ot

BME | Fst fqae: SG avleawa war Hsu: |

aifaa aiataatfad] cana Saat | RACAL AT |

a4 afaat faatafua afeasa gira ae ay-

qig sywaq | sealer ue swayze mIZHatsfe Saat

128 The Sri-sukta, or Litany to Fortune. [No. 2.

sfa| aya afd am ant at wis adaneete F aa

Calg AST 9 Il

atauaast SeaIal AISA |

wufaaaats uv adi fame & Weta <1

ware | afanaananiemafaatana| ast cei

swaafaaw: | swaiafsgad aaa art sruvarfa |

@ Uwmayfaaaafl aa aqaaefsaafuafe & aa

Wea Tera faae faqrey | <|

Tea Turaat faayai aaifaaita |

cael wanarai atlases Fraaie 1

SUSU | Wl AWE ww ae wad qerera |

stat Ratsha uufaqauwia) faaqet fad facu<

autefa: Wei aeea | atifaat atie: qearaaiice-

ail waraifeasuagaatfafa aaa) aduatat agqurfwar-

aHadaasrala| Brareyai at | ai weat feafas ara

SUSA SYST BAT vasa Vc Il

aqe: ataargia ara: waanlafs |

"Gaat euaae ata Bl Baa GW: ret

BWUsy | SBA aaa: aa aatsfeara| srafi asa

a| aw afafsag aa arama, wat trateaetat

aa alate | wasted aaedtae aasigie wy

aafaafad wiswmiate waate | St eater am aifas

afa Baatatsaata |i te |) aM 2 I

aaa UST Wal ate aaa Aca |

faa aaa & aa alat WaAtfaala | A I

HOST | AAA REAAA YAW YR at Bag war:

a ayaay: | stauafata arqauata| [Anan a. ¢.]

Wal HAL | Ba F aea ys a af adiany wara

aqa| aqaadt aasararatfcat arat aq aadit faz

HAA HAT aM area Fraqreaqyy 4 22 I

1859.] The Sri.sikta, or Intany to Fortune. 129

am: ead fanita fala va F Ze |

fa a eal arat faa aaa 4 Fah 22 I

SIS | Wu: aatfwars ear: | farnfe Serarta

aria ea saeay ) Bat deawauatefa urs | =

faaia fadtare sus Aaa ne ue awe faga) wisfa

aq eat arat faa a aa qe ax fraray dara || rz |

smrat patel ufe fuga watt |

asi fecwat Wat AITSST a BT Te 23 1

SAS: | Bl MAIS) Tea afusarqai fers

awafe ra: | WRCMR WHBwASTT | Ugatfaayt

ugama| wasatent at) ute vayfuartadial) afeeni

at| ufseta dfeafe aaRaavata| fags fugeqmta|

qyaituafaaite fasaaqe ll 3 |

ast pateal af waat taarfeaita |

eat fecunat wail aaget | BT TE Re |

sae: | arat araig¢a, a ateal afeact FaTe-

faau: | feararee: | aedt cwarfeul at) cwaci aT |

afe <wWENA | BAW Winaqia, aaa safyad-

afmxguifearstadia| Bat BIG wAIMATATA | aRUI

at | fasnaai ve |

at a Bl ae Biaaet Uaaaunifasta |

sei tecw sad arat creat sare_ fares YRara SARI

Sess: | wad wfasa) ara: ar) ere: afearfear: |

SHIA LA eaea fediaat war awa) By cara

Toa: | Wl AT: 2 I.

eft Slama Baraa|

130 The Sri-sukta, or Litany to Fortune. [ No. 2.

TRANSLATION.

First varga.

1. Do thou, Jatavedas,* on my behalf invoke Lakshmi: radiant

as gold, and as fulvous; necklaced with gold and silver flowers; a

moon zn glory ; of the nature of gold.

2. Do thou, Jatavedas, on my behalf invoke that Lakshmi: who

passes not away ; who being present, I shall possess gold, milch cat-

tle, horses, and human beings.+

3. I invoke the goddess S'rifo draw near: with steeds in her van,

aud cars in the midst, especially announcing herself in the cry of

elephants.{ May the divine Sri be propitious to me.

4, J invoke that S’ri to draw near: transcending expression and

conception ;§ gently smiling ; environed with gold ; moist; effulgent ;

satisfied; the satisfier ; sitting on a lotos; lotos-hued.

5. I betake myself,|| for refuge, to that S’ri: agit were, a most

brilliant moon; splendid with celebrity ; honoured, by the gods, in

the world above ; bountiful ; alotos im loveliness. Thee do I solicit,

that my evil fortune may Bs removed.

Second varga.

6. Resplendent as the sun, by reason of thy austerities the eryp-

togamous bilwa] tree was generated. Through thy favour may |

its fruit henceforth preclude, for me, misfortunes within and with-

out.

* He is identified with Agni, or Fire. Etymologically, the word is variously

accounted for, Even our scholiast gives three explanations of it.

+ Namely, children, grandchildren, friends, and thralls, says the commentator.

t In this stanza, Lakshmi is regarded as an army moving to victory. Fur-

ther; as elephants are found only with the wealthy, their presence betokens

her.

The scholiast notes the lection saqut, DNS of horses,’ for SaTaTe |

Many manuscripts of the pure text cae in place of W4 aifady, yafeaty, « glad-

dened.’

§ This epithet, it is asserted, is denoted by the pregnant monosyllable @ |. Just

below, Sri is styled moist, as having been ehunnied from the milky ocean. Hence

one of her titles is a fsrqat : daughter of the sea.’

|| Several of my copies (oe the mere text interpose WE after ACW an addition

which the commentator censures.

{ The aegle marmelos. According to the Vamana purana, Lakshmi bore it in

her hand.

1859. } The Sri-sikta, or Litany to Fortune. 131

7. May the friend of the gods,* and Renown, with the gem, be

secured tome. In this realm I was brought forth. Do thou be~

stow upon me fame and a prosperous estate.

8. Calamity, squalid with hunger and thirst, the elder sister of

Sortune,y would I repel. Turn thou away from my dwelling all pover-

ty and want of increase.

9. I invoke that S’ri ¢o draw near : characterised by odour ; hard

to be conquered ; ever teeming with harvests ; resident in cowdung ;

mistress over all creatures.

10. May I obtain the wish of my heart, the object of my vow?

veracity of speech, the products of cattle, and the various descrip-

tions of edibles.§ May prosperity abide in my habitation, and re- .

nown.

* Kubera, says the expositor. He is attributively called, to be sure aange

‘the friend of Trymbaka’ or S’iva: but it is exceedingly questionable whether

any very ancient authority designates this divinity by the simple word eq, or

indeed, takes any note of him whatever. Kirti, or Renown, was daughter of

Daksha. The gem spoken of is said to be the famous ‘ jewel of reflection,’ the

Hindu cap of Fortunatus. Or Manibhadra may be meant ; Kubera’s treasurer.

A modern air, it is obvious to observe, infects the whole of this stanza ; and

the same remark is applicable to that which follows.

+ This relationship I find predicated in the Kartika maéhdtmya, a section of

the Sanatkumara sanhita.

{ The goddess is here viewed as one with the earth. It is still a notion every-

where current among the Hindus, that Lakshmi delights to lurk in cowdung.

§ By the products of cattle the several modifications of milk are signified.

Esculents are classed as those to be licked, those to be drunk, those to be suck-

ed, and those to be masticated.

This couplet, slightly altered, occurs in tbe Yajur-veda, Vajasaneyi-sanhita,

XXXIX., 4; p. 973 of the edition of Professor Weber :

aaa: aarata att: AaaAls |

UAat SAA Cal aM: Bl: Baa afa |ret |

Mahidhara explains this to the following effect : ‘ May I obtain the desire of

my heart, the fruit of my toil, and truthfulness of utterance. May the ornament

of cattle, the savour of aliment, fame, and fortune, continue in my abode. Be

this oblation effectual.’

s 2

132 The Sri-sikta, or Litany to Fortune. [No. 2.

Third varga.

11. Excellent progeny has been born fo thee, in Kardama.* Do

thou, Kardama, inhabit, with me my abode ; and cause that S‘ri thy

mother, lotos-garlanded, shall dwell with my family.

12. May water} perform its humid offices. Tarry in my domi-

cile, Chiklita ; and make that S’ri, thy divine mother, shall remain in

my household.

13. Do thou, Jatavedas, on my behalf invoke Lakshmf{: moist ;

accompanied by lotoses : thrift personified ; yellow ; lotos-garlanded ;

a moonin glory ; of the nature of gold.f

14. Do thou, Jatavedas, on my behalf invoke Lakshm{: moist ;

verge in hand ; a mace ¢o wrong-doers ; of comely complexion ; wearing

a golden necklace ; a sun én glory ; of the nature of gold.

15. Do thou, Jatavedas, on my behalf invoke that Lakshmi: im-

perishable, who being attendant, I shall acquire gold in exuberance,

kine, bondwomen, horses, and human beings.§

Manuscripts of the uncommented text of the S’ré sékta usually

give, in sequence to the hymn, more or fewer of the couplets which

here follow. The preference has purposely been accorded to the

most copious form of the adjunct thus constituted.||

* Of Kardama and Chiklita, as sons of Lakshmi, I have seen no other men-

tion than in couplets contained in this paper.

+ By metonymy, for the regents of water. So says the glossarist.

+ The expositor proposes a second, but far-fetched, mterpretation of the term

which I render ‘ accompanied by lotoses.’

Yellow is not the ordinary acceptation of faye | Perhaps ‘tawny’ is here,

as elsewhere, the precise equivalent. Colebrooke, in one place, represents it by

“ tan-coloured.’’ Algebra, &c., from the Sanskrit, p. 228. Lakshmi is some-

thing of a chameleon, as will be perceived in the course of this article.

The second half of the thirteenth stanza is a literal repetition from the first.

With the change of a single word, it is found again in the fourteenth. In severe

al of my manuscripts of the text, the thirteenth and fourteenth stanzas are

transposed and confused.

§ This couplet simply contains two words more than the second, and does

not differ from it, except in them, as to tenor.

|| Since preparing these pages for the press, I have received, from my very

learned friend, Dr. Max Miiller, a copy of the third volume of his Rig-veda-

sanhité and Sayana’s commentary. In his Varietas Lectionis I see that the S ri-

stkta is exhibited at large, together with the verses above referred to. My most

extended reading of them turns out to be fuller than his by only half a stanza.

59.] The Sri-sukta, or Litany to Lortune.

a: afe: vad WaT ASaeaaa Sea

Qa VATUT FT Blala: Gat HAT 2 I

UMlagt UHR Ural waywara |

aaa wate waits oa ere aT Sa |e

BACs We PALA ATs |

ud a saat efa waqatais cfs Fy 8

qaqa wal sears wa cya |

Yaat Had] Atal BraATAt RATT A I 2

qaataed qaed Gal ua aa! |

uafast ceufaded yaaad 14

aaaa aia faa Sta furq caet |

Ga uae afaat wel <etg Sifaa: |e 4

a Ra aw Alaa aT Atal arsaat afer: |

wat wayarat vata Stam HTT |< 4

acfantada aise

PATA BHUYAGATH |

anata efcama aaa

Tuaaafaate vate waa <I

famudt wat <df aradt aaa faata |

aa fraaut <a} aaraqyaaaatal ¢ yf

aging vw fage faunal a wate |

Ta Al Tl! VATTATA | Ae |

qqiaes ufafa aqua

aqaa yaearaatta |

faafud foaaatsage

earcug ele atau I re il

wae Hea Blefaata =fa fast: |

ae: Pays Bee aar | ez I

awea ae aregasary

VUAala Alaa |

aa Ul oa TST STH

134 The Sri-sikta, or Litany to Fortune. [No. 2.

WadgHe <TTATT: |) 22 I

seuLaeefey qua: |

HAILIAATAIT AIT AA AFT | 2. |

TRANSLATION,

1. Let that pure person who diligently sacrifices, day by day,

with clarified butter, constantly ruminate, ¢f desirous of fortune, the

hymn of fifteen stanzas.

2. Lotos-thighed and lotos-eyed art thou. Lotos-faced, lotos

born, lotos-eyed, in such wise befriend me, that I may obtain feli-

city.

3. Giver art thou of horses, giver of kine, and giver of wealth.

Most opulent, may riches accrue to me: and do thou, goddess, bestow

upon me all my desires.

4. Grant unto me sons, grandsons, affluence, corn, elephants,

horses, kine, and chariots, and to be long-lived: for thou art the

mother of sentient creation.

5. The fire possesses wealth; the wind, wealth; the sun, wealth ;

the Vasus, wealth; Indra, wealth; and Brihaspati and Varuna,

wealth.

6. Son of Vinatdé, quaff the moon-plant juice. May Vritrahan

imbibe the moon-plant juice. Jay the ministrant priests, procurers

of riches, partake of the moon-plant juice. May the gods confer

upon me the requital of sacrifice.*

7. Be the litany to Fortune meditated: for of meritorious vota-

ries there is no resentment, nor malevolence, no avarice, no sinister

sentiment.

8. Lotos-tenemented, lotos-handed, supereminently fair, beau-

teous with white fragrance and white blossoms, adorable, beloved of

Hari, lovely, source of the vigour of the threefold universe, be gra-

cious to me.

* This couplet has before been alluded to, in the foot-note to p. 123. The

gloss there taken from the Lakshmi-sikta-nirukta has helped me to one or two

suggestions.

1859. | The Sri-stkta, or Litany to Fortune. 135

9. To the spouse of Vishnu, one with the earth, the resplendent,

Madhavi, the cherished of Madhava, the kind to her attendants, the

dear to Achyuta, the goddess Lakshmi, I offer salutation.

10. We recognise the great Lakshmi; and we reflect on the

consort of Vishnu. Therefore may Lakshmf{ speed us.

11. Lotos-seated, resembling the leaf of the lotos, dwelling in

the lotos, of eyes long as the petal of the lotos, Padmini, loved of

all, propitious to the wishes of the world, place thy lotos-foot in my

heart.

12. The renowned A’nanda, Kardama, S’‘rida, and Chiklita, issue

of S’ri,* are the Rishis of this ode: the goddess Sri zs ifs divinity.

13. Of auspicious dignity, longeval, and exempt from sickness

does she render her worshipper : and wealth, grain, cattle, the gain

of numerous offspring, and life prolonged to a hundred years does

she provide to him. With signal deference is he revered who does

her honour.

14. Debt, penury, sin, hunger, sudden death, fear, sorrow, dis-

quietude of mind: for my behoof may they be done away with for ever.

Saugor, May \1th, 1858.

* Tt has already been remarked that Kardawa and Chiklita are called sons

of Sri. A’nanda and S rida here swell her progeny. S’rida, if identical with

Kubera, has a different maternal descent assigned to him in the Paurdnika theo-

gonies. Ananda, so far as 1 am aware, is altogether a stranger, except to the

Jainas.

136 On the Introduction of Writing into India. [No. 2.

On the Introduction of Writing into India.— By Professor

Max. Muuter, All Souls, Oxford.*

Was the collection of the ten books of Vedic hymns the work of

persons cognisant of the art of writing or not? Were the 1017

hymns of the Rig-veda, after they had been gathered into one body,

preserved by memory or on paper? ‘This is a question which, if it

cannot be fully answered, requires at least to be carefully discussed.

We can hardly expect to find an answer to this question in the

hymns themselves. Most persons acquainted with the history of

popular poetry among the principal nations of antiquity would be

ready to admit that the original composition and preservation of

truly national poetry were everywhere due to the unaided efforts of

memory. Nor is there one single allusion in these hymns to any-

thing connected with writing. Where writing is known, it is almost

impossible to compose a thousand hymns without bringing in some

such words as, writing, reading, paper, or pen.

Let us consider the Old Testament.

The Ten Commandments were not only proclaimed by the

voice of God, but Moses “ went down from the mount, and the

twotables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were

written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other

were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the

writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.’’

(Exodus xxxii. 15, 16.) Here we can have no doubt that the author

of the Book of Exodus, and the people to whom it was addressed,

were acquainted with the art of writing. Again we read (Exodus

xxiv. 7), that “ Moses took the book of the covenant, and read in

the audience of the people;” and (Hxodus xxv. 16.), the Lord

commanded Moses, saying, “ Thou shalt put into the ark the testi-

(* This paper is an extract from a work now in the press on the history of

ancient Sanskrit literature. Professor Miiller has sent it for the Society’s Journal

in the hope of eliciting some fresh information from European or native scholars

in India on the interesting questions which it discusses. —Eps. |

1859. ] On the Introduction of Writing into India. 137

mony which I shall give thee.’’ The covenant here spoken of must

have existed as a book, or, at least, in some tangible form.

A nation so early acquainted with letters and books as the Jews,

would naturally employ some of the terms connected with writing

in a metaphorical sense. Thus we read in the Psalms (lvi. 8.)

“ Put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book ?”

Ixix. 28. “ Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and

not be written with the righteous.”

xl. 7. “Then said I, Lo I come: in the volume of the book it is

written of me.”

xlv. 1. “ My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.’’

In the Book of Job (xix. 23), we actually read, “ Oh that my

words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!

That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for

ever!’ “ Printed’ here can only mean “ written.”

Proverbs ii. 3. “ Write them upon the table of thine heart.”

In the Homeric poems, on the contrary, where the whole Grecian

life lies before us in marvellous completeness and distinctness, there

is not a single mention of writing. The Avypa oypeta, carried by

Bellerophon instead of a letter, are the best proof that, even for

such purposes, not to speak of literary compositions, the use of

letters was unknown to the Homeric age. The art of writing, when

it is not only applied to short inscriptions but to literature, forms

such a complete revolution in the history of a nation, and in all the

relations of society, both civil and political, that, in any class of

ancient literature, the total absence of any allusion to writing

may safely be supposed to prove the absence of the art at the time

when that literature arose. We know the complete regeneration

of modern Europe which was wrought by the invention of printing.

Every page of the literature of the sixteenth century, every pam-

phlet or fly-sheet of the Reformation, tells us that printing had been

invented. ‘lhe discovery of writing, and more especially the appli-

cation of writing to literary purposes, was a discovery infinitely

more important than that of printing. And yet we are asked to

believe that Homer should have hidden his light under a bushel,

and erased every expression connected with writing from his dic-

tionary |

138 On the Introduction of Writing into India. [No. 2.

But though it is certain that the Homeric poets did not write, or,

if we are to adopt the legendary language of certain critics, though

it is certain that blind Homer did not keep a private secretary,

there is no doubt that, at the time of Pisistratus, when the final

collection of the Homeric poems took place, that collection was a

collection of written poems. Pisistratus possessed a large library,

and, though books were not so common in his time as they were at

the time of Alcibiades, when every schoolmaster had his Iliad, yet,

ever since the importation of paper into Greece, writing was a

common acquirement of the educated classes of Greeks. The

whole civilisation of Greece, and the rapid growth of Greek litera-

ture, has been ascribed to the free trade between Eevpt and Greece,

beginning with the Saidicdynasty. Greece imported all its paper

from Egypt ; and without paper no Greek literature wonld have been

possible. The skins of animals were too rare, and their preparation

too expensive, to allow the growth of a popular literature. Hero-

dotus mentions it as a peculiarity of the barbarians, that at his time

some of them still wrote on skins only. Paper (papyrus or byblus)

was evidently to Greece what linen paper was to Europe in the

middle ages.*

Now, if we look for any similar traces in the history of Indian

literature, our search is completely disappointed. There is no men-

tion of writing materials, whether paper, bark, or skins, at the time

when the Indian Diaskeuasts collected the songs of their Rishis;

nor is there any allusion to writing during the whole of the Brah-

mana period. This upsets the common theories about the origin of

prose literature. According to Wolf,+ prose composition is a safe

sign of a written literature. It is not soin India. The whole of the

Brahmana literature, however incredible it may seem, shows nota

single vestige of the art of writing. Nay, more than this, even

during the Stitra period, all the evidence that we can get would lead

us to suppose that even then, though the art of writing began to -

* Plin. Hist. Nat. xiii. 13. § 27.: “ Cum chartze usu maxime humanitas vite

constat et memoria.”

+ Wolf, Prolegomena, lxx—lxxiii.: “Scripturam tentare et communi usui

aptare plane idem videtur fuisse atque prosam tentare et in ed excolendé se

ponere.”

1859. | On the Introduction of Writing into India. 139

be known,.the whole literature of India was preserved by oral tra-

dition only.

It is of little avail in researches of this kind to say that such a

thing is impossible. We can form no opinion of the powers of

memory in a state of society so different from ours as the Indian

Parishads are from our universities. Feats of memory, such as we

hear of now and then, show that our notions of the limits of that

faculty are quite arbitrary. Our own memory has been systemati-

cally undermined for many generations. To speak of nothing else,

one sheet of the “Times” newspaper every morning is quite suffi-

cient to distract and unsettle the healthiest memory. The remnants

of our own debilitated memory cannot furnish us with the right

measure of the primitive powers of that faculty. Even at the

present day, when MSS. are neither scarce nor expensive, the young

Brahmans who learn the songs of the Veda and the Brahmanas,

and the Sttras, invariably learn them from oral tradition, and know

them by heart. They spend year after year under the guidance of

their teacher, learning a little day after day, repeating what they

have learnt as part of their daily devotion, until at last they have

mastered their subject, and are able to become teachers in turn.

The ambition to master more than subject is hardly known in

India. This system of education has been going on ever since the

Brahmana period, and as early as the Pratis‘dkhyas we find the most

minute rules on the mnemonic system to be followed by every teacher.

The only difference in modern times, after the invention of writing,

is that a Brahman is not only commanded to pass his apprenticeship

at the house of his Guru, and to learn from his mouth all that a

Brahman is bound to know, but the fiercest imprecations are uttered

against all who would presume to acquire their knowledge from

written sources. In the Mahabbarata we read, “'Those who sell the

Vedas, and even those who write them, those also who defile them,

they shall go to hell.’* Kumarila says “That knowledge of the

truth is worthless which has been acquired from the Veda, if the

* qafanfaaraa aerai qa waar |

~ . >s ~

aetal Saialaa qa facyaitaa: ||

140 On the Introduction of Writing into India. [No. 2.

Veda has not been rightly comprehended, if it has been learnt from

writing, or been received from a Sudra.’’*

How then was the Veda learnt? It was learnt by every Brahman

during twelve years of his studentship or Brahmacharya. This,

according to Gautama, was the shortest period, sanctioned only

for men who wanted to get married, and to become Grihasthas.

Brahmans who did not wish to marry were allowed to spend forty-

eight years as students. The Pratis’dkhya gives us a glimpse into

the lecture-rooms of the Brahmanic colleges. ‘The Guru,”’ it is

said,f “who has himself formerly been a student, should make his

pupils read. He himself takes his seat either to the east, or the

north, or the north-east. If he has no more than one or two pupils,

they sit at his right hand. If he has more, they place themselves

according as there is room. They then embrace their master, and

say, ‘Sir, read!’ The master gravely says ‘Ow,’ é. ¢.‘ Yes.’ He

then begins to say a pras’na (a question), which consists of three

verses.t In order that no word may escape the attention of his

pupils, he pronounces all with the high accent,§ and repeats certain

words twice, or he says ‘so’ (iti) after these words.”

* Kumiarila, Tantra-Varttika, i, 3. p. 86.

qaaafa ware Saas ara |

waufanarate waar 7 aA |

+ Pratisikhya du Rig-veda, par A. Regnier, Journal Asiatique, 1856. Chapitre

XV. .

{ If the metre is pankti, the pras’na may consist of two or three verses ; if

the metre is longer than pankti, two verses only constitute a pras’na; if a hymn

consists of one verse, that by itself forms a pras‘na. Samayas, i. e. passages

which have occurred before (and are sometimes left out in the MSS), are count-

ed, if they consist of a complete verse. Two Dvipadas are counted as one verse,

and, as the Commentator adds (v. 12.), the two half-verses of each Dvipada-line

are to be joined in recitation, and only if there is one odd Dvipada-line remain-

ing, a pause is to be made at the end of the first half-verse. If there are some

verses remaining at the end of a hymn, they may be joined to the last pras’na ;

if there are more than two verses, this is optional.

§ The only words which, in the Sanhité-patha, would be likely to escape the

pupil’s attention are monosyllables consisting of one vowel only, and that a vowel

not changed into a semi-vowel, in which form it would be more audible. This

would restrict the rule regarding repetition to the two words @ and w. Thus

for pra, which is pra +- 4, the Guru would have to say prd dor pra a itt. Instead

1859. | On the Introduction of Writing into India. 141

The chief difficulties in the pronunciation of the Veda are the

changes of the final and initial letters.* The pupils are instructed

in these euphonic rules independently (the S’iksha), but whenever a

difficult case of sandhi occurs, the Guru examines his audience and

explains the difficulties. And here the method followed is this.

After the Guru has pronounced a group of words, consisting of

three or sometimes (in long compounds) of more words, the first

pupil repeats the first word, and when anything is to be explained, the

teacher stops him, and says,“ Sir.’+ After it has been explained

by the pupil who is at the head of the class, the permission to con-

tinue is given with the words, “ Well, Sir.” After the words of the

teacher have thus been repeated by one, the next pupil has to

apply to him with the word, “Sir.” When there is no difficulty

the rule seems to be that the Guru says two words at a time, which

are then repeated by the pupil. If it is a compound, one word

only is to be pronounced by the Guru, and to be repeated by the

pupil. After a section of three verses has thus been got through,

all the pupils have to rehearse it again and again. When they have

mastered it, they have to recite the whole without any break, with an

even voice, observing all the rules of gandhi, marking slightly the divi-

sion in the middle of compounds, and pronouncing every syllable with

of ud uw shya deva, ud u u shya deva. This repetition would not take

place in wdv eti, because u is changed into v. If sarvodatta could mean a word

being wholly udatta, then «u would be excluded, and the rule would refer to é

only. But sarvodatta means recitation when the accent is disregarded, and all

syllables are pronounced with a high tone. The Commentary construes the rule

differently. I construe ee yaqa Valarwa | afaa Baremsam

Tadasa awa fe WAT Wastes cara | ;

* These are chiefly the change of a final m into Anusvara before r and the

ushmans; the common sandhi of the tshmans; the suppression of a final n;

its transition into r; its transition into a sibilant; the absence of sandhi

where ri follows ; the sandhi of r, and the hiatus.

+ The text is feats] g &e.

{ Here again I differ from the Commentator, who takes parasya as an adjec-

tive referring to etad, i.e. guroh. At the end of a half-verse, this address, bho !

is to be dropped; at the end of an Adhyaya it is optional.

142 On the Introduction of Writing into India. [ No. 2.

the high accent.* It does not seem as if several pupils were allowed

to recite together, for it is stated distinctly that the Guru first tells

the verses to his pupil on the right, and that every pupil after his

task is finished, turns to the right, and walks round the tutor. This

must cecupy a long time every day, considering that a lecture

consists of sixty and more pras‘nas, or of about 180 verses. ‘The

pupils are not dismissed till the lecture is finished. At the end

of the lecture, the tutor, after the last half-verse is finished, says,

“Sir,” the pupil replies, “ Yes, Sir.’ He then repeats the proper

verses and formulas, which have to be repeated at the end of every

reading, embraces his tutor, and 1s allowed to withdraw.

These rules speak for themselves. They show that at the time

when such rules were necessary, and when young Brahmans had

to spend from twelve to forty-eight years of their lifef in doing

nothing but learning and rehearsing the Veda, such a system must

have had an object worthy of such efforts. Such an object existed,

if, in the absence of writing, the sacred songs, which were believed

to be the only means to salvation were to be preserved and guard-

ed against loss and corruption. If, at the time of the Pratis‘ékhyas,

writing had been known, some mention of a book as a sacred object

would surely have occurred somewhere. We know from the

Grihyasiitras every event in the life of a Brahman, from his birth

to his death. Not a word is ever said about his learning to write.

The earliest allusion to this system of oral teaching occurs in a

hymn of the Rig-veda which must be ascribed to the Mantra

period. In the primitive poetry of the Chhandas period there is

no mention either of writing or teaching. But in a satirical

hymn of the Vasishthas (vii. 103. 5.), in which the frogs are

* According to some S‘akhas, not the S‘akhalas, certain words (prepositions) are,

in this final recitation also, to be followed by the particle zt ; abhi is even, in some

cases, to be prounced abhityabhi. Some other rules are given, all of which are

optional. The text of the Veda, as repeated in the lecture room, is neither San-

hita, Pada, nor Krama-text. Some few Sakhds only maintain that the Sanhité text

should be used pure et simple.

+ Cesar (de Bello Gallico, vi. 14.), speaking of the Druids, says: “ Magnum ibi

numerum versuum eciscere dicuntur, itaque nonnulli annos vicenos in disciplina

permanent, neque fas esse existimant ea literis mandare.”

1859. | On the Introduction of Writing into India. 143

compared with Brahmans, teaching their pupils, it is said: “ One

frog repeats the words of another, like a pupil who repeats

the words of his teacher.” No similar allusion to writing is to be

found even in the latest hymns, the so-called Khilas. If writing

had been known during the Brahmana period, is it likely that these

works, which are full of all kinds of mystic lucubrations on the origin

of all things, should never with a single word have alluded to the

art of writing, an art so wonderful that the Greeks would fain

ascribe its discovery to one of the wisest gods of the wisest nation

on earth? If letters had been known during the period when men

in India were still able to create gods, the god of letters would have

found his place in the Vedic pantheon side by side with Sarasvati,

the goddess of speech, and Pishan, the god of agriculture. No

such god is to be found in India, or in any of the genuine mytholo-

gies of the Aryan world.

But there are stronger arguments than these to prove that, before

the time of Panini, and before the first spreading of Buddhism in

India, writing for literary purposes was absolutely unknown.

If writing had been known to Panini, some of his grammatical

terms would surely point to the graphical appearance of words. I

maintain that there is not a single word in Panini’s terminology

which presupposes the existence of writing. The general name for

letters is varna. This does not mean colour in the sense of a paint-

ed letter, but the colouring or modulation of the voice.* Akshara,

which is used for letter and syllable, means what is indestructible,

radical, or an element. We speak of stops as signs of interpunc-

tion; Panini only speaks of virdmas, stoppages of the voice. The

names of the letters are not derived from their shape, as in the

Semitic names of Alpha, Beta, Gamma. With the exception of the

r their names are their sounds. ‘he name for r, Repha, does not

occur in Panini. Katyayana, however (iil. 3, 108, 4.), explains the

derivation of Repha, and in iv. 4,128, 2, he uses it for ra. In the

Pratis‘akhyas likewise, the word is well known, and as the participle

riphita is used in the same works, there can be little doubt that

Repha is derived from a root riph, to snarl or hiss.

* Aristotle, Probl. x. 39. 7d 5¢ ypdupatra wan eat) THS povis.

144 On the Introduction of Writing into India. [No. 2.

The terms for the three accents show no traces of writing, such as

the Latin word “ circumflexus.”

What would have been more natural, if writing had been known

in Panini’s time, than that he should have called the dot of the

Anusvara, vindu, 1. e. dot, and the Visarga, dvivindu, the double

dot? Let us take a later grammarian, Vopadeva, and we find such

words at once. In Vopadeva, the Anusvara is called vindu, the

Visarga, dvivindu. What the Pratisakhyas and Panini called the

Jthvémiliya, the sibilant formed near the base of the tongue, and

Upadhmdniya, the labial flatus, Vopadeva calls Vajrdkriti, having

the shape of the thunderbolt (x), and Gajakumbhékriti, having the

shape of an elephant’s two frontal bones (,). The term arddha-

chandra, or half-moon, belongs to the same class of grammatical

terms. Why should these words occur in later grammarians, and

not one of them be found in the Pratisakhyas or Panini ?

Another class of words which would be sure to betray the exis-

tence of writing where writing was known, are the words expressive

of reading, composing, book, chapter, paragraph, &c. The most

usual word for reading in Sanskrit 1s adhyeti or adhite and at first

sight the very existence of such a word might seem to prove tlie

existence of books that could be read. But we have seen in the

Pratis‘akhyas what was meant when the pupils asked their tutor to

make them read. Adhyeti and adhite from adhi, over, and 2, to

go, mean “he goes overa thing, he conquers it, acquires it; and

the very expression “to read a work from the mouth of the tutor,”

would be sufficient to show that the work existed, not as a book, but

in men’s memory. Another expression of the same kind is found

in Manu (x. 1.): “ All the three castes may read the Veda, but the

Brahman alone is allowed to proclaim ¢. e. to teach it (prabrtiyat).”’

To teach is expressed by the causative of the verb adhyeti, adhyd-

payati, he makes read, 7. e. he teaches. The ancient Hindus dis-

tinguish between two kinds of reading, the grahanddhyayana, the

acquisitive reading, and the dhéranddhyayana, the conservative

reading ; the former being the first acquisition of a work, the latter

its rehearsing in order not to lose a volume that once belonged to

one’s mental library. This rehearsing, or svddhydya, self-reading,

1859. | On the Introduction of Writing into India. 145

was as sacred a duty as the first acquisition. It was by means of

this svadhyaya alone that works could be said tolive. We meet with

similar expressions in other literatures of the ancient world. Ahura-

masda, when he wishes his law to live among men, requres Jima to

be not only the “rememberer’’ (mereta), but the bearer and pre-

server (bhereta), of the Zarathustrian revelation. And many cen-

turies later, Mahavira,* the founder of the Jaina religion, is called

sdraé, varaé, and dhdra€é of sacred knowledge, 1. e. smdéraka, a remem-

berer, vdraka,a guardian who keeps it from profane eyes, and

dhéraka, a holder who does not forget the knowledge which he once

acquired.

Even so late a writer as Kumarila, when he speaks of the material —

existence of the Veda,can only conceive of it as existing in the

minds of men. “The Veda,” he says, “is distinctly to be perceived

by means of the senses.+ It exists, like a pot or any other object,

inman. Perceiving it in another man, people learn it and remember

it. Then others again perceiving it, as itis remembered by these, learn

it and remember it, and thus haud it on to others. Therefore, the

theologian concludes, the Veda is without a beginning.” These

theological arguments may be passed over: but immediately after-

wards, in order to show that the Veda has a material existence,

Kumiarila uses another curious expression, which shows again that

to him the Veda existed only in the memory of men. “ Before we

hear the word Veda,’ he says, “we perceive, as different from all

other objects, and as different from other Vedas, something in the

form of the Rig-veda that exists within the readers, and things in

the form of Mantras and Brahmanas, different from others.’’ Such

* Kalpa Sutra, ed. Stevenson, p. 29.

} deus: afata yaqay:| aa veticaey Tear

AUR wet | acta Baga ser rasts Mca sea,

aadadiaarteat Tl aim aI aca aaa fea: aaigq-

dita faaqsat | Weaayquafaasas Ge 2eqqei<t-

ata giant te Feuicaaafarad qciaclqaaa

ae Bea TET amaataquife<arta aralasaaryy-

SY Haat Walesa: Far: |

146 On the Introduction of Writing into India. [INoe2.

arguments would not occur to people who were accustomed from

time immemorial to appeal to a book as the sacred authority of their

faith. When contemporaneously with our Reformation, Nanak

founded the religion of the Sikhs, we find in India, as well as élse-

where, that a book, a real book, was considered as the firmest founda -

tion of a new faith. ‘At their assemblies, when the chiefs and

principal leaders are seated, the Adi-Granth (the first book) and

Das’ama Padshahka Granth are placed before them; they all bend their

heads before these scriptures, and exclaim, Wa! Gurujika Khalsa!

Wa! Gurujiki Fateh! A great quantity of cakes, made of wheat,

butter, and sugar, are then placed before the volumes of their

sacred writings, and covered with acloth. These holy cakes, which are

in commemoration of the injunction of Nanak, to eat and to give to

others to eat, next receive the salutation of the assembly, who then

rise, and the Acalis pray aloud, while tke musicians play. The

Acalis, when the prayers are finished, desire the council to be seat-

ed. They sit down, and the cakes being uncovered are eaten of by

all classes of Sikhs; those distinctions of original tribes, which are

on other occasions kept up, being on this occasion laid aside, in

token of their general and complete union in one cause. The

Acalis then exclaim, “Sirdars! (chiefs) this is a Gurumata’” (a

great assembly); on which, prayers are again said ‘aloud. The

ehiefs, after this, sit closer, and say to each other: “ The sacred

Granth (book) is betwixt us, let us swear by our scriptures to

forget all external disputes, and to be united.’’*

Such a scene would be impossible among pure Brahmans. They

never speak of their granthas or books. They speak of their Veda,

which means “knowledge.” They speak of their S’ruti, which

means what they have heard with their ears. They speak of

Smritt, which means what their fathers have declared unto them.

We meet with Bréhmanas, 1. e. the sayings of Brahmans; with

Sitras, i. e. the strings of rules; with Veddngas, i. e. the members

of the Veda; with Pravachanas, 1. e. preachings; with S’dstras, i. e.

teachings ; with Dars’anas, i. e. demonstrations ; but we never meet

with a book, or a volume, or a page.

If we take the ordinary modern words for book, paper, ink,

* Asiatic Researches, xi. 255.

' 12

nee ee ee, a ee

ht, on

a ee

1859. | On the Introduction of Writing into India. 14:7

writing, &c., not one of them has as yet been discovered in any

Sanskrit work of genuine antiquity. Book, in modern Sanskrit, is

pustam or pustakam, a word most likely of foreign origin.* It occurs

in such works as the Hitopade’sa, where we read of a person,

“neither read in books nor taught by a tutor.” The Hitopades’a

itself is said to be written (likhyate) as an extract from the

Panchatantra and another book.t

To write is likh and lip, the former originally used in the sense

of scratching, whether on stone or leaves, the latter, in the sense

of covering a surface with ink. Thus in S’akuntala, the chief

heroine, when advised to write a love-letter (madanalekha), com-

plains that she has no writing-waterials (lekhanasddhandni), and

her friend tells her to take a lotus-leafas smooth as the breast of

a parrot, and with her nails to scratch the letters on it. This is

clearly writing. In the Vikramorvasi again, Urvas‘i not daring to

face her lover, writes a letter (Jekha) on a birch-leaf (bhirjapatra).

The king, who sees it, calls it bhivjagato aksharavinydsa, “ letters

put down on a birch-leaf;’’ and when he reads it, he is said to

make the leaf speak (vdchayati). The leaf (patra) is used here not

in the sense in which we found it in S’akuntala, as the leaf of a

tree, but as a leaf or sheet of paper. This paper was made of the

bark of the birch-tree; and hence, when the queen picks up the

love-letter, she thinks “it is a strip of fresh bark which the south

wind has blown thither.’

Passages like these, to which we might add the well known in-

troduction of the Mahabharata, leave little doubt that, at the time

when these modern plays were composed, writing was generally

practised by women as well as men. Why should there be no

such passage in any of the genuine early Sanskrit works, if writing

had then been equally known ?

* Could it be apestak, originally the Sanskrit avasthdna? See Spiegel,

Grammar of the Parsi Language, p. 204.

| Waa Aa yale ay eTAa fraa |

£ There are, I believe, but two Sanskrit MSS. in Europe which are written

on birch bark, one in the Royal Library of Berlin, the other in the Library of

All Souls College, Oxford.

148 On the Introduction ef Writing into India. [No. 2.

In Manu’s Code of Laws we read (viii. 168): “ What is given

by foree, what is by force enjoyed, by force caused to be written

(lekhita), and all other things done by force, Manu has pronoune-

ed void.’’ Here again we have clearly writing. But this is only

another proof that this metrical paraphrase of the laws of the

Manavas is later than the Vedic age.

In the Laws of Yajnavalkya also written documents are men-

tioned, and the Commentator (ii. 22) quotes Narada and other

authorities, all in Slokas, on several minor points connected with

the signing (chihnita) of papers, and the treatment of witnesses

who cannot write (alipyjna). But I have found no such traces of

written documents in any of the ancient Dharmasiitras.

The words for ink (masi,* kali, mela, gola) and pen (kalama), have}

all a modern appearance, and as to Adyastha, the name of writer

caste, proceeding from a Kshatriya father and a Sudra mother, it

does not even occur in Manu.

Another class of words which would be likely to contain allusions

to writing are those used for the various subdivisions of literary

compositions ; but these too point to a literature kept up by oral

tradition only. We observed before that a lecture (adhydya) con-

sisted of sixty questions or pras’nas. We find these very words

used instead of chapters and paragraphs in the Sanhitas, Brahmanas,

and Sitras. In the Rig-veda we have the ancient division in

siktas, hymus; anuvdkas, chapters (7. e. repetitions) ; and mandalas,

books (2. e. cycles): and the later division in vargas, classes ;

adhydyas, lectures; and Ashtakas, Ogdoads. In the Taittiriyaka,

the division is into Kandikds (sections), anuvidkas, pra'snas, and

ashtakas. In the Kathaka we have granthas, compositions, and

sthdnakas, loci. The name of the Satapathabhrdmana is derived

from its 100 pathas or walks; and Shashtipatha is used for a work

consisting of sisty walks or chapters. Other words of the same

kind are prapdthaka, a reading, a lecture ; dhnika, a day’s work;

parva, a joint, &e. We look in vain for such words as volumen,

a volume, Jiber, ¢. e. the inner bark of a tree; or BiBXos, ¢. e. BYBros,

the inner bark of the papyrus ; or book, 7. e. beech-wood. :

* Lalita Vistara, adhyaya, ix. p. 139, 1. 17.

+ Undadi-sutras, iv. 84. calamus, reed.

se a eee

1859. | On the Introduction of Writing into India. 149

It is clear from the evidence which we have examined, that it is

far easier to prove the absence of writing during the early period

of Sanskrit literature, than to discover any traces of writing even

at the time when we are inclined to suppose that it was known in

India. Writing was practised in India before the time of Alexander’s

conquest, and, though it may not have been used for literary purposes,

we can hardly doubt that a written alphabet was known during the

greater part of the Sitra-period. The Greek writers tell us exactly

what we should expect under these circumstances. Megasthenes

declared that the Indians did not know letters, that their laws

were not written, and that they administered justice from memory.*

This is perfectly true, if, as has been pointed out,f we restrict their

ignorance of letters to the fact that they did not employ them for

literary purposes. Strabo himself, when quoting the statement of

Nearchus that the Indians wrote letters on cotton that had been

well beaten together, points out the contradiction between this

author and others (7. e. Megasthenes), who declared that the

Indians used no letters at all.t There is, however, no real contra-

diction between these two statements, if we only distinguish be-

tween the knowledge of letters and their use as a vehicle of

literature. Nearchus fully agrees with Megasthenes;for he also

states that the laws of the Indians were not reduced to writing.§

And Megasthenes agrees with Nearchus ; for he also shows himself

perfectly acquainted with the fact that the Indians used letters for

inscriptions on milestones, indicating the resting-places and dis-

tances.|| Nothing could offer a stronger confirmation of our

opinion that the Indians had become acquainted with the art of

writing during the Sitra-period and before the conquest of Alex-

* Strabo, xv. 53.:.... “Aypdpois wal Tatra vduors xpwpévors. Ovde yap

vypdupata cidévat avTovs, GAA’ amd wynuns ExaoTa dioica Oat.

+ Schwanbeck, Megasthenis Fragmenta, p. 50.

t Strabo, xv. 67.: °EmoroAds de ypapew ev oiddcr Alay KeKpoTnuévats, TOY

trdrwy ypdupacw abrovs wh xpicGar payever.

§ Strabo, xv. 66.: Néapyos 5¢ wep) Tv copioTay obTw éyer* TOUS Ev VouoUS

aypdpous elvat.

| OF Gyopavduot . . . ddomo.wbo1, Kal Kath dena oTddia oTHAny TWEaor Tas

extpowds kat Ta SiacThwata Snrovoas.

150 On the Introduction of Writing into India. [ No. 2.

ander, but that they abstained from using it for literary purposes,

than this apparent contradiction in the accounts of Nearchus and

Megasthenes. Curtius, differing from Nearchus, maintains that they

wrote on the soft rind of trees,* a custom which we saw preserved

in the play of Urva’si. We could hardly believe that the Indians

should have used skins for writing. And though Nicolaus Da-

mascenus declares that he saw the ambassadors of Porus to Cesar

Augustus in Antiochia, and that they brought a letter written

ev OupOépa, we must remember that that letter was written in

Greek,y and that the word d¢f@epa might have been used for paper

in general +

We shall not be able to trace the Indian alphabet back much

beyond Alexander’s invasion. It existed, however, before Alex-

ander. This we know from Nearchus himself, who ascribes to the

Indians the art of making paper from cotton. Now, in looking for

traces of writing before Alexander’s time, we find in the Lalita-

vistara, which contains the life of Buddha, that the young S/akya

is represented as learning to write. Though the Lalita-vistara

cannot be regarded as a contemporaneous witness, it is nevertheless

a canonical book of the Buddhists, and as such must be ascribed

to the third council. It was translated into Chinese 76 a. D. As

we have seen before the system of instruction practised in the

lecture-rooms of the Brahmans, it will perhaps be of interest to

glance at the schools in which Buddha was educated, or supposed

to have been educated.

“ When the young prince had grown, he was led to the writing-

school (lipi’s’ala).§”” We may leave out all the wonderful things

that happened on this occasion, how he received a hundred thousand

blessings, how he was surrounded by ten thousand children, preced-

ed by ten thousand chariots full of sweetmeats, of silver and gold;

how the town of Kapilavastu was cleansed, how music sounded

everywhere, and showers of flowers were thrown from the roofs,

* Curtius, 8, 9. “ Libri arborum teneri, haud secus quam charte, literarum

notas capiunt.”

+ Strabo, xv. 73. Thy 5€ emiaroAny EdAAnVICew ev BipOepa yeypammevnv.

¢ Herodotus, v. 58.

§ Lalita-Vistara, Adhyaya, x.

—

SS) ey

—— a on ee

1859. | On the Introduction of Writing into India. 151

windows, and balconies ; how not satisfied with this, celestial ladies

walked before him to clear the road, and the daughters of the wind

scattered celestial flowers, besides other fabulous beings who all

came to honour the Bodhisatva as he went to school. These

marginal illustrations may be dropped in all Buddhist books, though

they leave but little room for the text. When Buddha entered

the school, Vis’vamitra, the schoolmaster (Darakacharya), unable to

bear the majesty of Bodhisatva’s presence, fell to the ground, and

had to be lifted up by an angel, named S’ubhanga. After the king

S’uddhodana and his suite had left, the nurses and attendants sat

down, and Bodhisatva took a leaf to write on (lipiphalaka) made of

sandal-wood (uragasaérachandana-mayam). He then asked Vis’vamitra

what writing he was going to teach him. Here follow sixty-four

names, apparently names of alphabets,* all of which Bodhisatva ig

acquainted with, whereas Vis’vamitra is obliged to confess his

ignorance. Nevertheless Bodhisatva stays at school, and learns to

write together with ten thousand boys.

The alphabet which he learns is the common Sanskrit alphabet,

with the omission of the letters 1, ri and ri. It consists of 45 letters,

and, asin our own primers, every letter is followed by a word

containing that letter at the beginning or in the middle. These

words in the Lalita-vistara are so chosen as to illustrate some of

the chief points of Buddha’s own doctrines. The alphabet is :—a,

aid, Wau, ©, ai; 0, au,am, alvsk, kh, g,) eh, i+ ch, chh, j, jh, n; t,

aera -b thyvd: dh, ns \p, ph, by bh, ms y, 7, v5 9, sh, 8, h, ksh.

Though the further education of Buddha is not fully described,

we see him soon afterwards in general competition, the most distin-

guished scholar, arithmetician, musician and everything else.f This

comprehensive system of education, through which Buddha is here

represented to have passed, is the very opposite of that followed by

* The most interesting names are Anga (Bhagalpur), Banga (Bengal),

Magadha, Dravida, Dakshina (Dekhan), Darada, Khasya (Cassia hills), China

(Chinese), Hina, Deva (Devardgari), Bhaumadeva (Brahman), Uttarakurus,

anudruta (cursive).

+ Among the subjects in which he shows his learning, figure Nirghantu,

Nigama, Purana, Itihdsa, Veda, Vyakarano, Nirukta, Sikshd, Chhandas, Kalpa,

Tyotisha, Sankhya, Yoga, Vais’eshika,

152 On the Introduction of Writing into India. [ No. 2.

the Brahmans. We nowhere meet in the Buddhist literature with

those strong. imprecations against book-learning which we found

among the Brahmans, and which may be heard, I believe, even at

the present day.

If thus the first, though rather legendary, trace of writing, as

a part of the elementary education in India, is* discovered in the

life of Buddha, it is curious to observe that the first actual writing,

the first well authenticated inscription in India, is likewise of Bud-

dhist origin. There are no Brahmanic inscriptions earlier than

the Buddhist inscriptions of As’oka on the rocks of Kapurdigiri,

Dhauli, and Girnar. They belong to the third century before

Christ. They call themselves Jipi, a writing, or dharmalipi,t a

sacred writing; and they mention the writer or engraver by the

name of lipikara.§ This last word lipikara is an important word,

for it is the only word in the Sitras of Panini which can be legiti-

mately adduced to prove that Panini was acquainted with the art

of writing. He teaches the formation of this word, ii. 2, 21.

There is indeed another passage, which has frequently been quoted,

where Panini teaches the formation of the adjective yavandni. This

is simply the feminine of yavana, as Indrdni is of Indra. Katyayana,

however, and the Commentator, both maintain that yavanani is

used asa name of lipi, and that it meant the writing of the Yavanas.

I see no reason to doubt that the examples which we find in the

Commentaries go back to the very time of Panini, and I am quite

willing to admit that Panini gave his rule on yavandni simply in

order to explain Yavanani, as the name of a certain alphabet. But

I must demur to any further conclusions. Yavanais by no means

the exclusive name of the Greeks or Ionians. Professor Lassen

has proved that it had a much wider meaning, and that if was even

* In an ancient inscription of Khandgiri (Journal of the Asiat. Soc. of Bengal,

vi. 318), a kirg is mentioned who in his youth learned to write, and was taught

besides, arithmetic, navigation, commerce, and law (“tato likharipagana nava

vapara vidhi vi’siradena.’’)

+ Etaya athdya iyam lipi likhita; for this purpose was the writing written.

t Iyam dhammalipi Devénam piyena piyadasinaé rénd liklapita asti eva,

752.

§ Burnouf, Lotus, p. 752.

1859. ] On the Introduction of Writing into India. 153

used of Semitic nations. There is nothing to prove that Panini

was later than Alexander, or that he was acquainted with Greek

literature. In the Lalita-vistara, where all possibie alphabets are

mentioned, nothing is said of a Yavanani or a Greek alphabet.

The Sanskrit alphabet, though it has always been suspected to be

derived from a Semitic source, has not certainly been traced back

toa Greek source. It shows more similarity with the Aramzan

than with any other variety of the Phoenician alphabet.* Yavanaui

lipi might mean that variety of the Semitic alphabet which, pre-

vious to Alexander, and previous to Panini, became the type of the

Indian alphabet. But all this is merely conjectural. It is impossible

to arrive at any certain interpretation of Yavanani, as used by

Panini; and it is much better to confess this, than to foree the word

into an argument for any preconceived notions as to the origin of the

Indian alphabet.

There is another word in Panini which might seem to prove that

not only the art of writing, but written books were known at his

time. This is grantha. Grantha occurs four times in our texts of

Paninit In 1. 3, 75, it is so used as to apply to the Veda. In

IV. 3, 87. it may refer to any work. In IV. 3, 116, it is applied to

the work of any individual author. In VI.3,79. it may refer to any

work that is studied. I do not attribute much importance to the

fact that I. 3. 75. and LV. 3, 116. are marked as not explained in

the Commentaries ; for I confess that in none of these four pas-

sages can I discover anything to prove that grantha must mean a

written or a bound book. Grantha is derived from a root grath,

which means nectere, serere. Grantha, tlierefore, like the later

sandarbha, would simply mean a composition.t It corresponds

* Lepsius, Zwei sprachvergleichende Abhandlungen, p. 78., Schulze’s conjec-

ture about Mesnud. Weber, Indische Skizzen.

¢ 1. 3. 73—77 na. vy.:

AACSAT TAT SUA || &. 3. O4

ufuaa Ad Oe | 8.3. <9 |

Ha WA 8. . Ved tl

DUAR Fg. R. OE |

t Thus the Commentator to Rig-veda, 1, 67, 4, explains chritanti by agnim

uddis’ya stutir grathnanti, kurvantityarthah,

154 On the Introduction of Writing into India. [ No. 2.

etymologically with the Latin ¢extus. Thus it is used by the

Commentator to Nir. I. 20, where he says that former teachers

handed down the hymns granthato’ rthatas'’cha, “ according to their

text and according to their meaning.” In the later literature of

India grantha was used for a volume, and in granthakiti, a library,

we see clearly that it has that meaning. But in the early liter-

ature grantha does not mean pustaka, or a book ; it means simply a

composition, as opposed to a traditional work.

This distinction between traditional works, and works composed

by individual authors, is of frequent occurrence in Panini. From

IV. 8, 101. to 111. he gives rules how to derive the titles of works

from the names of those by whom they were proclaimed (tena

proktam). But in most cases these derivations are used by Panini

as intermediate links only, in order to form the names of Charanas

wlio read and preserve these works. Never, he says (1V. 2, 66.),

use the derivation, which would be the title of a work, in the case

of hymns (chhandas) or Brahmanas. Do not call a work proclaim-

ed by Katha, Katham, but only speak of Kathas, 2. e. those who

hand down the works proclaimed by Katha. Another still more

significant restriction is made by Panini. With reference to modern

works, he says you may use the neuter in the singular or plural,

instead of the plural of the masculine. The Brahmanas taught by

Yajnavalkya may be spoken of as such. But the ancient Biahmanas

first proclaimed by Bhallava, &c., can only be spoken of as “the

Bhallavins”’ (Bhallavide), because it is only in the tradition of his

descendants that the works of Bhallava and other ancient sages

may be said to live.

However we examine the ancient Sanskrit phraseology with

regard to books and their authors, we invariably arrive at the same

results. In the most ancient literature, the idea even of authorship

is excluded. Works are spoken of as revealed to and communicated

by certain sages, but not as composed by them. In the later liter-

ature of the Brahmana and Sutra period the idea of authorship is

admitted, but no trace is to be found anywhere of any books being

committed to writing. It is possible] may have overlooked some

words in the Brahmavas and Sttras, which would prove the exist-

ence of written books, previous to Panini. If so, it is not from

any wish to suppress them. I do believe that the Brahmanas were

1859. ] On the Introduction of Writing into India. 155

preserved by oral tradition only, but I should feel inclined to claim

an acquaintance with the art of writing for the authors of the

Sttras. And there is one word which seems to strengthen such a

supposition. We find that several of the Sitras are divided into

chapters called patalas. This is a word never used for the sub-

divisions of the Brahmanas. Its meaning is a covering, the sur-

rounding skin or membrane; it is also used fora tree. If so, it

would seem to be almost synonymous with liber and BiBAos and it

would mean a book, after meaning originally a sheet of paper made

of the surrounding bark of trees. If writing came in towards the

latter half of the Satra period, it would no doubt be applied at the

same time to reducing the hymns and Brahmauas to a written form.

Previous to that time, however, we are bound to admit that the

collection of the hymns, and the immense mass of the Brahmana

literature, were preserved by means of oral tradition only,

SOLDDLDP LPL SPALL LIS LD IDI LLIN LIL I LOLI

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL,

For Frsruary, 1859.

The Monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society was held on

the 2nd instant.

The proceedings of the December and January meetings were

read and confirmed.

Presentations were received.

1. From Lieut. EK. H. Fergusson, Superintendent, Government

Observatory, Bombay, a copy of the Magnetical and Meteorological

Observations made at the Bombay Observatory in the year 1857.

2. From Captain Burbank, Steamer Fire Queen, an Andaman

Canoe.

3. From Rt. Rev. P. Bigandet, Bishop and Vicar Apostolic of

Ava and Pegu, a work on Buddhism in Burmah.

4, From Captain F. A. V. Thurburn, a small tin box containing

124 copper coins collected at Ajodheia, of which 5 or 6 may prove

valuable, and which he begged to present to the Society.

5. From Dr. Macgowan of Ningpo corresponding member of

the Society, some Chinese iron coins.

6. From Mr. Jennings of Messrs. Osler and Co. through Major

Thuillier, a map of China and part of Hindostan, published in the

16th century. (Sent for exhibition.)

7. From His Highness the Maha Rajah of Burdwan, a ball

found in the small intestines of a Giraffe which died suddenly.

8. From E. A. Samuells, Esq., Dinapore, two wooden cannons

bound with iron, and a female figure in stone.

9. From M. Natalis Rondot of Paris, commercial delegate at-

tached to the mission of M. de la Grene in China, two copies of his

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 157

new work entitled Vert de Chine et dela Teinture en Vert Chez les

Chinois.

Maharajah Suttish Chunder Roy Bahadoor, and C. Alabaster,

Esq., duly proposed at the December meeting, were balloted for and

elected ordinary members, and Dr. Max Muller, likewise proposed

at the December meeting, was balloted for and elected a corres-

ponding member of the Society.

Letters were read.

From Captain F. A. V. Thurburnand B. J. Colvin, Esq., an-

nouncing their withdrawal from the Society, and from W.S. Seton

Karr, Exsq., stating that he had ceased to be a member of the So-

ciety at the close of 1853, before his departure for Europe (letter

not received.)

The following gentlemen were proposed as members.

Major A. H. P. Stuart Wortley, M. P., proposed by A. Grote,

Esquire, seconded by W. S. Atkinson, Esq.

H. Stainforth, Esquire, B. C. S., proposed by A. Grote, Esq., se-

conded by Col. R. Strachey.

Baboo Kassy Nauth Roy Chowdry, proposed by Baboo Rajendra

lal Mittra, and seconded by Baboo Ramapersaud Roy.

H. Scott Smith, Esq., Civil Engineering College, proposed by Dr.

W. Crozier, and seconded by H. B. Cowell, Esq.

W. Theobald, Esq., junior, proposed by A. Grote, Esq. and

seconded by W.S. Atkinson, Esq.

Lieut. W. G. Alexander of the 93rd Highlanders, proposed by

Major H. L. Thuillier, and seconded by W. S. Atkinson, Esq.

Capt. F. W. Stubbs, Bengal Artillery, proposed (for re-election) by

Major H. L. Thuillier, and seconded by W. 8. Atkinson, Esq.

The Council reported that they had appointed the following Sub-

Committees for the year 1859,

Finance.

Capt. C. H. Dickens.

Baboo Ramgopaul Ghose.

Philology.

E. A. Samuells, Esq.

Rev. J. Long.

F. i. Hall, Esq.

158 Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. [ No. 2.

Dr. E. Roer.

Captain W. N. Lees.

Baboo Rajendralal Mittra.

Library.

E. A. Samuells, Esq.

Baboo Ramapersaud Roy.

Lieut. Col. R. Strachey.

Captain W. N. Lees.

Captain C. H. Dickens.

Baboo Rajendralal Mittra.

Natural History.

Dr. T. Boycott.

Ki. A. Samuells, Esq.

T. Oldham, Esq.

Dr. T. Thomson.

Dr. W. Crozier.

Lieut. Col. R. Strachey.

H. F. Blanford, Esq.

Meteorology, and Physical Science.

The Ven’ble J. H. Pratt.

Major H. L. Thuillier.

Lieut. Col. R. Strachey.

Baboo Radha Nauth Sikdar.

T. Oldham, Esq.

The Council presented a report recommending that the Hon’ble

Sir James Colvile, Kt., be elected an Honorary member as a mark of

respect for his long and zealous services as President of the Society.

Communications receiwed.

1. From F. E. Hall, Esq., a paper on certain Sanscrit Inscrip-

tions. 3

2. From Baboo Radhanauth Sickdar, an Abstract of the Me-

teorological Observations taken at the Surveyor General’s office,

during the months of August and September, 1858.

The Curator exhibited a skull with magnificent horns of the

Wapite stag, of North America, or miscalled Elke of the Anglo

Americans, from California; the specimen sent for the occasion by

J. W. Linzee, Esq., of the firm of Dutts, Linzee and Co., American

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 159

merchants. The peculiar characteristics of the Wapite, as dis-

tinguished from the Show of Thibet and other large stags, were ex-

plained, and some observations made on the geographical distribu-

tion of the particular group of Deer, in which the Cervus elaphus

of the British Islands is included.

The Curator also exhibited the lower jaw and other bones of a

Dugeng, found in an Andamanese hut, and presented to the Society

by Captain Niblett of the Steamer Sydney. Though inhabiting the

Straits of Malacca, he was unaware of this marine animal hav-

ing previously been met with in the Bay of Bengal. It is not rare,

however, in the Gulf of Calpentyu, in Ceylon, and occurs also along

the Malabar Coast, where it is miscalled ‘Seal’ by Europeans. The

entire skeleton of an adult, it was remarked, would be a valuable

acquisition for the Society’s Museum.

Various other donations were announced, as especially some rare

bird skins and skeletons from J. H. Gurney, Esq., M. P., of Nor-

wich, and a variety of specimens from the Andamans and interior

of the Tenasserim Provinces collected and presented by the Secre-

tary.

Read a paper by Dr. Anderson on the flora of Lucknow and its

neighbourhood.

The thanks of the meeting were voted to Dr. Anderson for his

interesting communication.

Reduction of Subscriptions.

Mr. Oldham begged to state for the information of members that _

the Council had under discussion a proposal for the reduction of

the contributions payable by members. He thought it desirable

that this should be known as widely as possible.

The Officiating Librarian submitted his usual report for December

and January last.

Liprary.

List of fresh accessions to the Library during December and January.

Presentations.

Letter to Sir David Brewster, F. R. S., &c. on Results in Terrestrial

Magnetism.—By Joun Attan Brown, F. R. S.

Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie for August and September, 1858.

160 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 2.

The Oriental Christian Spectator for November and December, 1858.—

By rue Epiror.

The Oriental Baptist for December, 1858, and January, 1859.—By THe

EDITOR,

Comets and the Comet of 1858. A Lecture by J. Burgess, Esq.—By

THE AUTHOR.

The Calcutta Christian Observer for December, 1858, and January,

1859.—By rue Epirors.

Ueber das Catrunjayu Mahaétmyam, Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der

Jaina. Von Albrecht Weber, Leipzic.—By THE AUTHOR.

Zur Litteratur und Geschichte des Weda, drei Abhandlungen von Ru-

dolph Roth. Stuggart, 1846.

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Session 1857-58.

Indische Studien Band IV. parts 2 and 3.

Journal of the Indian Archipelago. Vol. 2. New Series, No. 4.

Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government. No. 47, Re-

port on a Project for the supply of Water to the Poona Cantonment.

With Plans and Sections in a separate case. No. 48, New Series. A short

Review of Mr. Plowden’s Report on the Salt Excise of the Bombay Presi-

dency. By Nicholas A. Dalzell, Esq.—By tHe GoVERNMENT o¥ BomBay.

Selections from the Records of the Madras Government No. 50. Re-

port on the Agricultural Exhibitions in the Provinces in the year 1s57.

Desiderata for the Madras Exhibition of 1859.—By THe Baeneat Go-

VERNMENT.

Annals of the Indian Administration, Part IX. 1858. Edited by Mere-

dith Townsend.—By Tur Home GoveRNMENT.

Bibidhartha Sangraha for Bhadro, 1265.—By rue Epiror.

Sanscrit Worterbuch von Otto Bohtlingk und Rudolph Roth. Bogen

41—72.—By Tre Epirors.

The Atheneum for September, 1858.—By Tue Epiror.

The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Jour-

nal of Science. Nos. 107-108 for October and November, 1858.

Journal Asiatique No. 45 for July, and No. 46 for August, September,

1858.

Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesselschaft. Zwolfter

Band IV. Heft Leipzig, 1858.

Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en We-

tenschappen. Deel 26, Batavia 1854-57.

Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal, Land-en Volkenkunde. New series,

Deel 3, parts 1 to 6. Batavia.

Proeve van Soendasche Poezij (sindiris) Door K. F. Holle.

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 161

A Lecture on Surveys and Surveying, by Captain Walter S. Sherwill.

F, G. S.

Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society, Vol. X. p. II.—

By THE Society.

Bombay Magnetical and Meteorological Observations, 1857.—By THE

BomBay GOVERNMENT.

Reports of the Juries of the Madras Exhibition of 1857.—By THE

BENGAL GOVERNMENT.

Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. I. Part 2.—By THE

GOVERNMENT oF INDIa.

Notice du Vert de Chine et de la Teinture en Vert chez les Chinois:

Paris.—By M. Natrauts Ronpor.

Purchased.

Revue des Deux Mondes, Tomes 25 to 28, 1858.—Paris.

et Magazin de Zoologie, Nos. 8 and 9, 1858.

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Nos. 10 and 11, for October,

and November, 1858.

Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Tome VIII. and IX. No. 1.

Comptes Rendus, Nos. 10 to 18, 1858.—Tables des do. Tome XLVI’

for 1858.

The Westminster Review for October, 1858.

Analectes sur |’Histoire et la litterature des Arabes D’Espagne par Al-

Makarri. Tome 2, p. lL.

Kitabe Seerute Rosoul Allah, by M. Ibn Ishak, translated by Dr. Fer-

dinand Wistenfield, Gottinger, Erste and Zweite Abtheilung for 1857-58.

Useful Plants of India. By Major Heber Drury, 1858, Madras.

Journal Des Savants, for September and October, 1858.

Edinburgh Review for October, 1858.

Quarterly Review for October, 1858.

The Literary Gazette, Nos. 16 to 19. New series.

American Journal of Science and Arts, No. 77, September, 1858.

The Natural History Review, No. 4, for October, 1858.

Precis de Jurisprudence Musalmane, Par Sidi Khalil, Deuxieme Tirage.

Paris, 1858.

LIBRARY.

List of Books received in February, 1859.

Presented.

Essays on the Religion and Philosophy of the Hindus. By H. T. Cole-

brooke, Esqg.—By Messrs. Wittiams AnD NorGate.

Caleutta Christian Observer for February, 1859.—By rue Eprrors.

Oriental Baptist for February, 1859.—By rue Eprror.

Selections from the Records of the Madras Government, No. 51, Re-

162 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 2.

port on Vaccination. No. 52, Rules respecting applications for Grants-in-

aid of Schools unconnected with Government.—By THe HomE Govern-

MENT. |

Ditto No. 53, Papers relating to the General Revenue Survey of the

Madras Presidency.—By THE Mapras GOVERNMENT.

A Catalogue Raisonnee of Oriental Manuscripts in the Library of the

(late) College Fort Saint George now in charge of the Board of Exa-

miners, 1857. By the Rev. Wm. Taylor, 2 copies.—By THE SAME.

Selections from the Records of the Bengal Government, No. 29. Report

on the Rivers of Bengal, by Capt. W.S. Sherwill. Papers of 1856-57

and 58 on the Damooda Embankments 2 copies.—By Tue Brneau Go-

VERNMENT.

Memorandum on the Province of Assam, by G. R. Barry.—By Wm.

SMOULT, Esq.

On the Nature and Use of the Indian Bael in Diarrhoea, Consumption,

&c.—By Henry Remrry, Esg.—By THe AUTHOR.

Journal Asiatique, No. 47, for October, November, 1858.—By THE

Asiatic Society, Paris.

Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie for October and November, 1858.

The Athenzum for December, 1858.

The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, Nos. 110

and 111, for January, 1859.

Purchased.

Revue des Deux Mondes, 15th November, 1st and 15th December, 1858,

and Ist January, 1859,

Annuaire des Deux Mondes, 1857-58.

Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Tome 9, Nos. 2, 3, and 4.

Comptes Rendus, Nos. 19, to 26, 1858, and No. 1 for January, 1859.

Literary Gazette, Nos. 20,to 29 New Series, 1858.

Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Third series, Vol. 2, Nos. 12,

and 13, for December, 1858, and January, 1859.

Journal of the Statistical Society, London, for December, 1858.

Revue et Magasin De Zoologie, Nos. 10 and 11, 1858.

Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London for Octo-

ber, 1858.

Mutanabbii Carmina Cum Commentario Wadhidii, Fasc. 2. Berlin, 1858.

The Athenszum for November, 1858.

Reis naar het Oostelijk Gedeelte van den Indischen Archipel. in het

jaar, 1821; Amsterdam, 1858.

Journal des Savants for November and December, 1858.

Lieder des Hafis, Vol. II. Part 1, by Dr. Hermann Brockhaus, 1853,

Leipzig.

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 163

For Marca, 1859.

The Monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal

was held on the 2nd instant.

Lieutenant-Colonel Strachey, Vice-President, in the Chair.

The proceedings of the February meeting were read and con-

firmed.

Presentations were received.

1. From the Home Government of India, certain copies of Se-

leetions from the records of the Madras Government.

2. From the Bengal Government, certain copies of Selections

from the records of the Bengal Government.

3. From W. H. Smoult, Esquire, a copy of “ Memorandum on

the Province of Assam” by G. R. Barry, Esq.

4, From Henry Remfry, Esq., Attorney at Law, a copy of his

tract “On the Nature and Use of the Indian Bael in Diarrhoea, Con-

sumption, &c.”

5. From Captain H. Strachey, five rare MSS.; viz.,3 vols. of

the Persian Tarikhi Hyderi, by Mirza Hyder, and the Diwans of two

Turki poets.

6. From D. I. Money, Esq., B. C. S.,4 Sepulchral Alabaster

Urns found in Thebes, in 1846.

The following is an extract from the letter accompanying them :—

“My pear Arkinson,—I brought with me from Thebes in

1846, four Sepulchral Alabaster urns, which were found in a tomb not

far from the Tombs of the Kings. They contained some part of

the human body mummied, but the contents in moving about have

been lost. The top of each is separate, and represents one of the

Egyptian deities. You can easily recognize their Jupiter Ammon,

Anubis, and the Cynocephalus, and the 4th must be familiar to the

Asiatic Society, to whom.I wish you to present them. One of the

urns has been broken and another repaired. There are therefore

only three, with four tops ; one has a saucer at the bottom on which

the urn rested.”

The thanks of the Society were specially voted to Mr. Money

for these valuable presents.

x 2

164 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 2.

The following gentlemen were named for ballot at the next

meeting :—

The Bishop of Calcutta, proposed by Mr. W. 8. Atkinson, se-

conded by Dr. T. Thomson.

Sir Mordaunt Wells, proposed by Sir J. Colvile, seconded by

Mr. W.S. Atkinson.

Lieutenant-Colonel Baird Smith, proposed for re-election by Mr.

W.S. Atkinson, seconded by Dr. T. Thomson.

Baboo Nundolala Bose, proposed by Baboo Rajendralal Mittra,

and seconded by Baboo Jadaba Krishna Singha.

A letter was read from Rev. W. O’Brien Smith announcing his

withdrawal from the Society.

The Hon’ble Sir James Colvile was balloted for and elected an

Honorary Member.

The following gentlemen duly proposed at the last meeting were

ballotted for and elected ordinary members.

Major A. H. P. Stuart Wortley, M. P.

H. Stainforth, Esq., B. C. S.

Baboo Kassynauth Roy Chowdry.

H. Scott Smith, Esq., Civil Engineering College,

W. Theobald, Esq., junior.

Lieutenant W. G. Alexander of the 93rd Highlanders.

Captain I’. W. Stubbs, Bengal Artillery (re-elected).

Mr. E. B. Cowell read a paper on the traces of the Swayamvara,

an Indian form of Royal marriage, as found in different parts of the

ancient world.

The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Cowell for his in-

teresting communication.

The Officiating Librarian and the Zoological Curator submitted

their usual reports.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 165

For Apri, 1859.

The Monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal

was held on the 6th instant.

Fitz Edward Hall, Esq., senior member present, in the chair.

The proceedings of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Presentations were recewed :

1. From George Loch, Esq., B. C. 8., ten Jeypore marble

Figures of Hindu Divinities, some of them partially mutilated.

2. From the Royal Institution. of Great Britain, the Proceed-

ings of the Institute.

3. From the Madras Government, No. LIV. of the Selections

from the records of that Government.

4. From the Home Government, No. XVIII. of the Selections

from the records of the Bombay Government.

The following gentlemen duly proposed at the last meeting were

ballotted for, and elected ordinary members:

The Bishop of Calcutta.

Sir Mordaunt Wells.

Lieut.-Col. Baird Smith (re-elected).

Baboo Nundolal Bose.

The following gentlemen were named for ballot as ordinary

members, at the next meeting.

The Hon’ble G. F. Edmonstone, B. C. S., proposed (for re-elec-

tion) by A. Grote, Hsq., seconded by W. 8S. Atkinson, Esq.

H.C. Bayley, Esq., B. C. S., proposed by A. Grote, Esq., seconded

by W. S. Atkinson, Esq.

The Council also proposed Dr. P. Bleeker, of Batavia, as a cor-

responding member of the Society.

Letters were read:

1. From the Hon’ble Sir James Colvile, Kt., tendering his

thanks for the honor conferred on him by the Society, in electing

him an honorary member.

The letter is as follows:

““My prar S1r,—I have to acknowledge the receipt of your

letter of the 9th instant, announcing my election as an honorary

member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

166 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 2.

“T beg you to express to the Society my high sense of the honor

it has done me in conferring upon me this far more than adequate

reward for my poor services as its President.

“T have, &c.,

(Signed) “J. W. Convinn.”’

“W.S. Arxrnson, Esq.”

Communications were received :

1. From Captain H. Strachey, some additional memoranda

upon the fate of Herr Adolphe Schlagintweit, with a suggestion

that the Society should address the Government to enquire

whether any steps have been taken officially to ascertain the fate of

the traveller, aud to recover his papers and property.

Note by Capt. H. Strachey.

The proceedings of the Asiatic Society for November, 1858, con-

tain a memorandum by Capt. H. Strachey, dated 20th August, re-

garding the fate of Herr Adolphe Schlagintweit, and the recovery

of his collections, instruments, and manuscripts. Captain Strachey

has subsequently obtained some further information on the same

subject, which is given in the accompanying memorandum, No. 2,

dated January, 1859. This information is still very meagre, but

goes to confirm the other numerous reports of the traveller’s death,

as given in the annexed extracts from the up-country newspapers.

As it does not appear that Government has yet taken any steps

for the recovery of Schlagintweit’s effects, or of instituting more

particular enquiries regarding his fate, as suggested in the conclud-

ing paragraphs of Captain Strachey’s first memorandum, or other-

wise, it is recommended that the Asiatic Society do address the

Government on the subject, and solicit their action.

In the continued absence of instructions from Government

Captain H. Strachey has now himself collected and forwarded to

Messrs. H. and R. Schlagintweit in Berlin, all manuseripts recovered

in Kumaon, and such of the instruments (chiefly German Ther-

mometers) as appeared to be worth transmission. None of the

collections have come within his reach.

Memorandum No. 2.

Man Singh and Nain Singh Milmal of Jwar in Kumaon, left

Adolphe Schlagintweit at Peshawur at the end of December, 1856,

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 167

or beginning of January, 1857, and returned to their own country

during the next three months, making a few observations by the

way. After this they had no further communication with him,

excepting by a message sent in March, 1857, through Capt. H.

Strachey, 66th Ghoorka Regt., which requested Man Singh to

join Adolphe Schlagintweit again, either at Kangra in April, or

later in Ladak, which, however, Man Singh did not attempt.

Going as usual to the Gar fair, in the summer of 1857, Man

Singh heard only some vague reports about Adolphe Schlagintweit

from traders of Ladak, the substance of which is given in the 9th

paragraph of memo. No. 1.

In December, 1857, Man Singh received a packet of thermome-

ters, &c., with sundry notes from Hermann Schlagintweit, through

Mr. B. Colvin, Assistant Commissoner of Kumaon. These had

been sent from Calcutta in April of that year, but owing to the

disturbed state of affairs in Upper India soon. after, and Man

Singh’s absence in Bhotan, their delivery was delayed till his re-

turn to the lower hills at the end of the year. Je made little or

no use of these instruments since, and ultimately returned them to

Captain Strachey.

In September, 1858, Man Singh, being again at the Gar fair,

got some further information about Adolphe Schlagintweit, chiefly

from one Nurpur, a native of Sunam in Kumaon of Bischir, trad-

ing to Ladak and Yarkund. ‘This person was himself at Yarkund

in 1857. When Adolphe Schlagintweit arrived in that quarter

the Turks of Khokund, were already at or near the city. Adolphe

Schlagintweit himself did not enter the town, but his guide, Ma-

homed Amin, did so, and left it again, either before or during the

siege, under what relations with his own master or with the Turks

was not known to informant.

As the siege continued, and the Chinese were shut up in their

citadel, they obliged sundry of the inhabitants of the place to take

part in the fighting ; among others, a lot of foreign merchants, in-

eluding about forty-five (45) of the Bischris, of whom 15 only re-

turned, informant MVurpur being one of them; the rest were either

killed or made prisoners.

After the siege was raised, informant heard that Adolphe

168 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 2.

Schlagintweit had joined the camp of the Turks, and been at first

well received by them; and on their retreat towards Khokund, he

accompanied them as far as Kashghar. As they were carrying off

with them a lot of their prisoners to be kept or sold for slaves (ac-

cording to the custom of Turkistan), some of the Bischris being

among the number, Adolphe Schlagintweit remonstrated that they

were British subjects and should be released. On this arose a

dispute; the Turks accused Adolphe Schlagintweit of taking part

with their enemies, and ended by killing him.

Informant had certificates fromthe Chinese Authorities of Yar-

kund, testifying his services in the siege, and promising him some

reward at a future opportunity.

The above account of the Bischri Nurpur was confirmed by one

Uniar, an Argon of Ladak, who had received letters from his

friends at Yarkund to the same effect.

Recovered from Man Singh.

1 Boiling Thermometer (German).

1.. 2 Ground ditto in cases ditto.

1 Large Newman’s Thermometer (broken).

9 1 Boiling Apparatus, in box.

"* ‘) 1 Old Geneva Watch.

1 Small Magnifying Glass.

1 Set of observations on temperatures of rivers and

3 wells in the Punjaub and Rohilkund, &c., from

January to March, 1857; and a few other papers.

Of these, 1 and 3 have been kept by Capt. Strachey to send

home, and 2 left with the Assist. Commissioner at Almora, being

of no further use.

(Sd.) H. Srracuey,

Capt. 66th Goorkha Light Infantry.

Almora, January, 1859.

Newspaper Eutracts referring to the above, furnished by Ouptain

Strachey.

“A letter written from the borders of Thibet, informs us, We are

sorry to say, of there being no doubt of the murder of the enterpris-

ing and scientific traveller, Mr. Adolphe Schlagintweit. This, it

now appears, took place at the end of the past, or beginning of the

present year. It has, however, only become recently known, at

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 169

least publicly so, in this country, though it would appear to bave

been communicated to the friends of the deceased gentleman in Ger-

many so far back as April last ; his death having been sent to Europe

from Lahore, where it was known through official letters received

from Cashmere. ‘ Why,’ asks our correspondent, ‘ was this not made

known to the public generally ?? Our present information is very

scanty, but is to the effect that Mr. Schlagintweit was murdered by a

plundering party of Khokund people, who suspected that he was

eonnected with their enemies, the Chinese. None of Mr. Schlagin-

tweit’s instruments or papers have yet been discovered, though

people have been sent in search of them, and some have, it is suppos-

ed, been taken by servants by the Cashmere route.

“Some short time ago, we announced that the enterprising and

scientific traveller, Herr Adolphe Schlagintweit, had been murdered,

and we now find confirmation of the fact in an extract from the letter

of the Simla Correspondent of the Evening Mail (Times) of the 17th

ultimo, as follows—

“ From the same source, positive, and, I fear, authentic information

has been received of the death of theadventurous explorer and natural-

ist, Adolphe Schlagintweit, one of the three brothers already so well

known for their scientific researches, pursued under the auspices of the

East India Company in India and among the Himalayas. Although

rumours of his death, someaccompanied by circumstantial details, have

been for some time circulated, they were not known to rest on any

good authority. It appears that a party of Khokundhis belonging toa

tribe which was in revolt against the Chinese, came into the Yarkund

territory early in the spring, and drove the few Chinese troops in

the villages into the town of Yarkund. In one of the villages near

the town, the Khokundhis found Schlagintweit residing, and in the

course of conversation he asked them why they did not attack

Yarkund itself, where the Chinese force was so small, and they

were so numerous, For some unexplained reason they were

offended at this question. They retired and held a consultation, the

result of which was that they decided he must be a friend of

the Chinese, and wished to eusnare them; and in the dead of night

they surrounded his house and killed him, to the great regret of

170 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 2.

their chief, who has saved some of the unfortunate traveller’s instru-

ments. The letter contains a few details respecting his collections

and the movements of his retainers, which I have forwarded to one

of the most eminent of our English savans, as perhaps the informa-

tion is not of sufficient general interest for newspaper readers. Major

Lake on one side of the Sutlej, and Lord William Hay at the other,

will no doubt exert themselves to get the most complete information

respecting the manner of his death, and to secure his valuable collec-

tions, instruments, and papers. Some of his followers left for Cash-

mere, others for the Cis-Sutlege, before the snows set in, for the pur-

pose of making observations.”

From reliable information received from the Commissioner Trans-

Sutlege States, we fear but little doubt now remains as to the fate of

Mr. Adolphe Schlagintweit. It appears that he was taken prisoner

by the Indijans about 12 or 14 months ago, and, if not killed, is still

in captivity.”’

The Secretary reported that the Council recommended that Capt.

H. Strachey’s suggestion be adopted, and moved “that the Society

do address the Government accordingly.”

This resolution having been seconded was put by the chairman and

earried unanimously.

2. From Baboo Radha Nanuth Sikdar, an Abstract of the

Meteorological Observations taken at the Surveyor General’s Office,

Calcutta, for the month of October, 1858.

Reduction of Subscription.

The Council submitted the following report :

“The Council have again taken into consideration the rates of sub-

scriptions of members, with a view to their reduction.

They have long felt that such a measure was on every account

most desirable, provided only it could be effected without serious

danger to the financial credit of the Society.

An apprehension that the immediate loss of income, which any

reduction must occasion, would cause serious embarrassment, and

the uncertainty how soon, if ever, the influx of new members would

be sufficiently large to restore the balance, has hitherto deterred

the Council from recommending any reduction.

—— SS

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 171

The great importance, however, of widening the basis of the society,

and obtaining for it a more general support, has been so frequently and

urgently pressed upon them, that, after much anxious consideration;

they have at length agreed to recommend that the experiment should

be tried, trusting that a large accession of members may justify the

anticipations of its advocates.

The Council have come to the conclusion that, if any reduction is

made, it ought to be a considerable one, in order that the measure

may obtain any fair chance of success.

The rules which fix the present rates of payment are as follows:

Rule 8.—Ordinary members shall pay an admission fee of Rs. 32

and a quarterly payment of Rs. 16 in advance, commencing from

the quarter in which they are elected, so long as they are resident in

India. These rates to be continued for 2 years, and to be then

subject to revision.

Rule 10.—It shall be optional for any member to compound for

the quarterly contributions by the payment of 500 Rs.

Rule 11.—All sums so paid shall be invested in Company’s paper

and kept as a reserve fund, the interest of which alone shall be

appropriated to the current expenses of the Society.

The Council propose to rescind these rules aud substitute for

them the following.

« Ordinary members shall be divided into two classes,—one Resi-

dent, one Non-resident.

“ All members who reside within 8C miles of Calcutta shall be

deemed Lesident.

“ Residents shall pay an admission fee of Rupees 32, and a quarter-

ly payment of Rs. 12.

* Non-residents shall pay an admission fee of Rupees 82, anda

quarterly payment of Rs. 6.

** All payments to be made in advance, commencing from the quar-

ter in which members are elected, and continuing so long as they are

resident in India.”

At present the number of paying members is 102, of whom about

one-halfare resident. Supposing this proportion between residents

and non-residents to be maintained in future, the Council have cal-

eulated that 200 members of both classes will be required in order

to provide for the present necessary expenditure of the Society.

172 Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. [No. 2.

EXPENDITURE.

General charges for Library, Museum and Establish-

WSN He Pe FN Hod Ga oi SOO Re a EOD

Sonn ital = Saeiy emesis i ee EL eee Ce OD

7200

Income. :

100 ‘Residents at’ Re. 485/74 466 iw cnet. oe eB OO

100 Non-Residents at Rs. 24, ....... ..00.-...0 2400

7200

The present number of members must therefore be nearly doubled,

if the Society is to be enabled to maintain the position it now occu-

pies.

The Council do not disguise from themselves that the measure

they are proposing is one which is not free from risk. They are

satisfied that it ought to be successful, but they are no less impress-

ed with a conviction that to ensure success a resolute effort is

necessary.

They therefore make an earnest appeal to all the members of the

Society, and more especially to such as have been the active promot-

ers of a reduction, that in the event of the measure being carried,

they will use all their influence to obtain for the Society that

enlarged support without whichits resources must be seriously

crippled, and its usefulness proportionally impaired.

The Council entertain the fullest confidence that this appeal will

be responded to by all who have at heart the welfare of the Society

and the advancement of science and literature in India; and with

this conviction they have no hesitation in recommending the pro-

posed measure to the adoption of the Society.”

The Secretary proposed that the ordinary general meeting in July

be made special for the consideration and final decision of the

question, and that in the interval the votes of non-resident mem-

bers be taken, in compliance with rule 45.

This resolution was put and carried.

The Curator exhibited the skull of a Tibetan yang (or so call-

ed ‘wild Horse’), together with that of a Ghor-khur (or so called

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 173

‘wild Ass’), from Bikanir, lent to him for that purpose by Major

Robert C. Tytler.

Liprary.

List of books received for the April meeting.

Presentations.

The Atheneum for January, 1859.

London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, No. 112, Feb-

ruary, 1859.

Journal Asiatique, No. 48, December, 1858.—By Tue Asiatic Society

OF Paris.

Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Part VIII. No-

vember, 1857, to July, 1858.—By THe Roya INSTITUTE.

Memorandum of Col. A. Cotton on a Railway from Beitkul Harbour

to Hydrabad.—By THe Mapras GOVERNMENT.

Bibidharta Sangraha for Kartic, No. 55.—By THE Epitor.

Oriental Christian Spectator for January and February, 1859.—By THE

Epirors.

Calcutta Christian Observer for March, 1859.

Oriental Baptist for March, 1859.

Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government, Continuation

of No. XVIII. New series, Revenue Settlement in the Province of Sind,

—By THe Home GovERNMENT,

Selections from the Records of the Madras Government, No. LIV. Pa.

pers relating to the Budget of Public Works for 1857-58.

The Calcutta Review for March, 1859.

Purchased.

Journal des Savants for January, 1859.

Comptes Rendus, Nos. 2, 3 and 4 for January, 1859.

Literary Gazette, Nos. 30 to 33 for January and February, 1859.

Revue des Deux Mondes for 15th January and Ist February, 1859.

Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Tome IX. No. 5.

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Vol. III. No. 14.

Westminster Review, No. 29, January, 1859.

The Quarterly Review, No. 209, January, 1859.

The Edinburgh Review, No. 221, January, 1859.

American Journal of Science and Arts, Nos. 78 and 79, November 1858,

and January, 1859.

Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, No. 12, 1858, and No. 1, 1859.

174 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 2.

Catalogue Annuel de a Librairie Francaise, pour 1858, par Ch. Rein-

wald.

Kl-Azraki’s Stadt Mecca, by Ferdinand Wiistenfeld, Leipzic. Erster

Band, 1858.

Natural History Review and Quarterly Journal of Science, Vol. VI.

No. 1, January, 1859.

Memoires sur les Contrees Occidentales par M. Stanislaus Julien. Tome

II. Paris, 1858.

Le Boustan de Sadi, Texte Persan avec un commentaire Persan, par

Ch. H. Graf. Vienne, 1858.

Opuscula Arabica by William Wright, 1859.

Avesta die Heiligen Schriften der Parsen Von Dr. Friedrich Spiegel,

Zweeter Band, Leipzig, 1859.

Dorin, Bernhard. History of the Afghans, from the Persian of Neamut

Ullah, London, 1836.

Weber, Dr., Catrunjaya Mahatmyam, Band I. No. 4, Leipzig, 1858.

For May, 1859.

The Monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal

was held on the 4th instant.

E. A. Samuells, Esq., senior member present, in the chair.

The proceedings of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Presentations were received :—

1.—From Chaloner Alabaster, Esq., some Chinese curiosities in

two boxes.

2.—From Mons. Garcin de Tassy, Paris, copy of a pamphlet on

the Bostan of Sadi. '

3.—From Devidyal Singh, of Benares, through Pundit Iswara

Chundra Bidya Sagara, a copy of Manava Dhurma Prokash, or

Menu Smriti Ka Vasha, being a Hindi translation of the Institutes

of Menu. é

4.—From the Bombay Government, No. XLIV. of the Selections

from the records of that Government.

The following gentlemen duly proposed at the last meeting were

balloted for and elected ordinary members :

The Hon’ble G. F. Edmondstone, B. C.8., Lieut.-Governor, North-

western provinces (re-elected).

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 175

E. C. Bayley, Esq., B. C, S.

Dr. P. Bleeker was elected a corresponding member.

Major R. Tytler, proposed by Mr. Atkinson and seconded by Mr.

Samuells, was named for ballot as an ordinary member at the next

meeting.

The Council submitted the following report :—

The Council beg to recommend that Rule 49, which directs that

“no person shall be proposed or elected a member of the Society on

the day of the annual meeting,” be rescinded.

The annual meeting is devoted specially to business matters relat-

ing to the general affuirs of the Society ; but there is no apparent

reason why the election of members, which is strictly a matter of

business, should be prohibited.

Practically the rule has been found for the last two years extreme-

ly inconvenient. In both years several candidates who had been

proposed in December stood over for election till February, and in the

former of these years, 1857-58, one candidate who was anxious to be

elected in order to make use of the Library expressed annoyance at

the delay.

~ he Council therefore propose to rescind the rule; and asan

appeal to non-resident members is in this case necessary under Rule

45, they recommend that the votes of such members be at once

taken, so that the question may be disposed of at the special meeting

which is to be held after the disposal of the ordinary business on the

first Wednesday in July.

Communications were received :

1.—From Messrs. Hermann and Robert Schlagintweit.

A Circular note in reference to the fate of Herr Adolphe Schla-

gintweit.

The note is as follows :—

Str,—Lord Stanley, the Secretary of State for India in Council,

has been kindly pleased to send us for our information a most care-

fully compiled collection of official papers and memoranda, which

the Government of India as well as several Civil and Military Offi-

cers have been good enough to collect in the hope of elucidating

the fate of our brother Adolphe Schlagintweit, in charge of the

Magnetic Survey of India since 1854,

176 Proceedings of the dsiatie Society. [ No. 2.

The papers contain :

1. <A large and most elaborate memorandum, which Capt. Henry

Strachey, 66th Gorkhas, has given himself the great trouble to

compile, partly from evidences of several Natives, partly from notes

contained in the Indian newspapers. This memorandum is accom-

panied by another most valuable communication, the result of Capt.

Strachey’s indefatigable personal inquiries.

2. Letters from the Dewan of Kashmir to the Chief Commis-

sioner of the Punjaub.

3. Several evidences taken by Major Lake and Messrs. Knox

and Taylor, the Civil Officers of the Kangra District.

Besides these official letters, the following gentlemen obliged us

by private communications:

a.—Rev. H. Jaschke, Missionary at Kyelong in Lahoul with

whom, before starting for Ladak, Adolphe had the pleasure of stay-

ing some weeks. The Rev. gentleman also was kind enough to take

charge of a part of his luggage, and of such spare instruments which

Adolphe did not think advisable to take with him on his journey to

the North.

b.—A. C. Gumpert, Esq. Consul of Hamburg and Oldenburg at

Bombay who had kindly put himself in communication with several

officers of the Panjab and regularly forwarded us the results of his

inquiries.

¢e.—Lord Elphinstone, Lord Hay, Major Ramsay, Hon’ble W.

Elhot, L. Bowring, Esq., W. Russel, Bsq., the particularly well in-

formed special correspondent of the Zimes and some other geutle-

men, equally obliged us, when oceasion presented itself, with their

advice and information, in addition to that which we owed to the

Indian press. In England especially, Col. Sykes, M. P., and Sir

Roderick Murchison communicated us any letters they had receiv-

ed; in Germany it was chiefly our celebrated and most kind friend,

Baron Humboldt, who assisted us in making our inquiries.

From an examination of these papers there is but too much rea-

son to fear that Adolphe Schlagintweit has lost his life in Central

Asia, probably in Kashgar after having left Yarkand.

Capt. Strachey’s last memoir, Almora, January, 1858, says:

“ After the siege of Yarkand was raised, Adolphe Schlagintweit

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 177

had joined the Camp of the Turks and accompanied them as far as

Kashgar. As they were carrying off with them a lot of their pri-

soners to be sold for slaves, some of the Bissahirs being among the

number, Adolphe Schlagintweit remonstrated that they were British

subjects and should be released. On this arose a dispute. The

Turks accused Adolphe Schlagintweit of taking part with their

enemies and ended by killing him.”

A quite recent letter from December 31st, 1858, to January 11th,

1859, from Mr. Vardouguine, Russian Officiating Consul at Tchou-

goutchak in the Russian part of Central Asia, seems also to confirm

his death. We received this letter through the energetic exertions

of Prince Gortschakoff and it was delivered to us by Baron Bud-

berg, the Russian Minister at Berlin. This letter had taken an

admirably short time to reach us, being the answer to a request of

November 8th, 1858. In this letter he is said to have been killed

by order of Bouzrook Khan from Kokand who had_besieged Kashgar

and invaded Turkistan.

We feel most deeply obliged for all these numerous proofs of

general sympathy in Hurope and India, and we allow ourselves to

draw the attention of our friends in India to the fact, that even

now it will not be quite impossible to save at least through their

zeal a great part of his journals, observations, instruments and col-

lections, which are the more valuable on account of the countries

in which they were made.

Capt. Henry Strachey states, that according to information he

received, several boxes with collections, drawings, books and some

instruments are in Dehra in the Surveyor General’s Office; the

Missionaries of Lahoul have informed us that similar objects are

still left in their charge; we do not think it improbable that even

those, which Adolphe Schlagintweit carried with him, during his

travels in Turkistan, might be recovered by a plan we have the

honor to propose.

We are perfectly aware, that these objects cannot be got without

Government’s usual energetic assistance, and without the sanc-

tioning the comparatively small expenses necessary for this purpose.

In consequence of the following extract of a letter addressed to us

by the India House as early as July, 1858, we consider it our duty

again officially to request the kind assistance of Government.

178 Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. [ No. 2.

The letter says:

With reference to the letter addressed by General Sabine to the

Secretary of the Royal Society, dated 14th May, 1858, in which he

states “ that the eighty stations visited by the Messrs. Schlayint-

weit are independent of those visited by Adolphe Schlagintweit in

his last and fatal journey of which they have a prospect of receiv-

ing a@ journal and observations,” the Court expect that you will use

every exertion to recover your late brother’s Memoranda of the

researches on which the Government of India employed him.

(Signed) J. D. Dickinson.

We therefore have the honor to propose in reference to his manu-

scripts and collections :

1. That the objects at Dehra be repacked in accordance with

Capt. Strachey’s plans.

2. That the Missionaries at Lahoul be requested to send at

Government’s expense from Lahoul to Kangra the collections, ob-

servations and instruments, &c., and to draw up a report, specifying

the claims to which Hari Chand, the son of the Negi of Lahoul is

entitled, for the journeys he undertook last summer in search of

our brother.

3. That a note may be issued to the Lieut.-Governor of the

Punjaub and to the Commissioners of Kamaon, Simla and Kangra

authorizing them to distribute freely circulars in the vernacular

languages among the trading people of their districts, promising a

reward for any papers, drawings, instruments or other property of

Adolphe Schlagintweit delivered to them, the amount of remunera-

tion being dependent on the nature and quantity of the property

restored. It is beyond all doubt, that the traders would carry on

such circulars to Kashmir, Ladak and the countries of Central Asia

which Adolphe Schlagintweit has visited.

4, That all the instruments, collections and observations thus

recovered, be forwarded to us, if small parcels, overland to Berlin,

if boxes, to London, addressed “ Schlagintweit, India House,’ for

being worked out and put up like our other collections.

Finally we have the honor to add that copies of this circular note

have been officially dispatched,—

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 179

To the India House, London; to the Seats of Government in

India; and to the following officers and gentlemen in India.

Col. R. J. H. Brrew, Calcutta.

L. Bowrine, Esq., Private Secy. to the Governor-General.

The Commissioners of Kamaon, Kangra and Simla.

G. Epmowstong, Hsq., Calcutta.

Hon’ble Watrrr Exuiorr, Madras.

A. C. GuMPERT, Esq., Bombay.

Rev. Jascuxer, Lahoul.

W. Muir, Esq., Allahabad.

Col. Ramsay, Nepal.

W. Rosszx, Esq., Oude.

The President of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta.

Major kicnHarp Stracuey, Ditto.

Capt. Hunry Srracuey, Ditto.

Col. Waveu, Mussoori.

We have the honor to be, Sir,

Your most obedt. Servts.,

(Signed) H. and R. Scunaginewetr.

The secretary stated that before this circular had reached him he

had written a letter to Government on the subject, in accordance

with the resolution agreed to by the Society at the last meeting.

He begged to read the letter, which was as follows :

“ From THe SECRETARY TO THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL.

“To C. Brapon, Esq.

“ Secy. Govt. of India, Foreign Department.

“ Srr,—I am directed by the Asiatic Society of Bengal to address

you in reference to the fate of the lamented traveller, Herr Adolphe

Schlagintweit.

“From intelligence which has been received, there is unfortunately

little room to doubt that this gentleman was murdered by a party of

Turkomans near Yarkand, at the end of 1857, or the beginning of

1858.

“ Accounts of his death have been derived from various sources, but

it does not appear, from the information which has reached the

Society, that any steps have been taken by the Government oflicially

to ascertain the particulars of his fate, or to recover his papers and

z 2

180 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 2.

collections, which must be of very considerable interest and impor-

tance.

“The Society have therefore directed me to inquire whether the

Government have at present moved at all in this matter, and if they

have not done so, to express a hope that they will at once take such

steps as may be desirable to ascertain the circumstances attending

his death more accurately, and if possible to recover his papers and

property, thus showing that the Government of India does not re-

gard with indifference the fate of a gentleman employed in the pub-

lic service, who lost his life in the prosecution of scientific discovery

and research.

*T have, &e.,

“(Sd.) W. 8. Arkrnson,

“* Secy. Asiatie Society.”

2.—I'rom Professor Max. Muller, of Oxford, a paper on the origin

of writing in India, and the probable period at which it came into

use for literary purposes. |

3.—From Baboo Radhanauth Sikdar, Abstract of the results of the

hourly meteorological observations taken at the Surveyor General’s

Office, in the month of November last.

4.—From E. Blyth, Esq., a paper on the cartilaginous fishes of

Lower Bengal.

5.—From the same, a paper containing remarks on the different

animals known as wild asses.

6.—F rom the Secy. to Government, Public Works Department, a

paper by Capt. Henderson, on the nature and effects of the recent

flood of the Indus.

This paper was read by the Secretary, together with a note by Col.

R. Strachey, who differed from Capt. Henderson as to the probable

origin of the flood. Some discussion ensued, in which Capt. Yule,

Col. Baird Smith, Mr. Oldham, and others took part.

The general impression was that the catastrophe which caused

the inundation must have occurred in the neighbourhood of Acho,

not far from the Gilgit valley, and not towards the head waters of

the Nubra or Shayook, as supposed by Capt. Henderson.

Mr. Samuells read the following note upon the wooden guns taken

at the battle of Berhampore by Col. Dunsford in October, 1858,

aud which he lately presented to the Society :—

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 181

“In the proceedings at the February meeting, as published in the

newspapers, it is stated that the two wooden guns now before the

meeting were presented by me to the Society on behalf of Col.

Rowcroft. This is a mistake, arising probably from Col. Rowcroft

having last year made me the medium of presenting a chair of state,

and other articles, which he had captured at Suttasee in Goruckpore.

“These wooden guns were taken by the force under Col. Dunsford

at Berhampore, a place on the road between Buxar and Arrah,

where the rebels where signally defeated towards the end of October

last. ‘They had no carriages, and were simply laid on raised beds of

earth, and pointed over a low wall so as to command the road up

which it was supposed our troops would advance.

‘* The maker, a Nepalese, it is understood, had guaranteed that

they should stand three discharges without bursting; but in fact

they both burst at the very first discharge. A large piece was blown

out of the side of one, which is said to have killed a sepoy in the firing,

and the others fairly broke into two pieces.

“These were the only two wooden guns which the rebels ever

finished, but several others were found in course of construction at

Jugdispore, when the place was captured. The mode of construction

was peculiar. The guns, it will be observed, are fashioned out of

solid blocks of saul timber, and in order to facilitate the labour of

boring and get rid of the sawdust, the blocks were suspended from

one end, and allowed to rest on the point of the augur, which was

worked from beneath by means of the common native bow. The

euns were about six feet in length, and were bored to about two-

thirds of their length. A copper cylinder was then inserted as a

lining, but 16 appears to have had no base, and this was probably

the chief cause of the destruction of the gun, as the powder must

have gotin behind the cylinder, and forced the copper forward in a

crumpled state when the gun was fired. The diameter of the bore

is 4¢ inches, and of the block from 9 inches at the muzzle to 12

inches at the breech. It was bound with stout hoops of iron at

distances of a few inches apart, and with rope between the hoops.

The whole was covered with leather, which, however, had disappeared

before the guus came into my possession.

“TI nave only to add that after the battle of Berhampore the guns

182 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 2.

were removed to Buxar, by Mr. Garstin, the Deputy Magistrate

at that place, and that I obtained them from him. He informed

me that there were several balls of hammered iron belonging to them

lying at Dvomraon, and promised to forward them, but they have

not yet reached me.

“We have notices of several wooden guns having been observed in

Burmah and China, but this is, I think, the first instance of guns of

this description having been employed in Indian warfare.”

Major Robert C. Tytler exhibited some fine Positive Photogra-

phic illustrations of Indian Architecture and scenery, of which the

Negatives as well as the Positives were taken by Mrs. Tytler and

himself, chiefly in the Upper Provinces. The pictures were of great

beauty and of an extraordinarily large size, being the full size of

Hollingsworth’s largest negative paper 22 inches by 18. They elicit-

ed great admiration.

Major Tytler remarked that he had brought them to the notice

of the Society, chiefly with the object of encouraging Photography,

in a scientific point of view; such illustrations were of great value

in elucidating the researches of the Society.

The cordial thanks of the Meeting were voted to Major and Mrs,

Tytler for this very interesting exhibition and a hope was expressed

that at the next meeting Major Tytler would oblige the Society by

shewing a further selection from his Photographs.

The Officiating Librarian submitted the usual monthly report.

Liprary.

The Library has received the following accessions during the month of

April last.

Presented.

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, No. te for February,

1859.

Address delivered at the Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society

of London, by the President of the Society.

Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. XXII. Part I.,

March, 1859, London.

Journal Asiatique, No. 49, January, 1859, Paris.

London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of

Science, No. 113, March, 1859.

Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 183

Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, for December, 1858.

Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, No. I, 1859,

London.

The Atheneum for February, 1859.

The Calcutta Christian Spectator for March, 1859.

Bibidhartha Sangraha for Agrahayun Saka, 1780.

Le Bostan de Saadi, par Garcin de Tassy. Paris, 1859.

Annals of the Indian Administration, Part I. Vol. III. March, 1859.—

By tHe Home DEPARTMENT.

Manuva Dhurma Prokash, or the Institutes of Menu in Hindui.—By

DEVIDYALL.

Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government, No. XLIV.

Report of the examination of the Mineral Districts of the Nerbudda Val-

ley.—By J. H. BuackweE 1, Esq.

Quaritch’s Catalogue of valuable Books. London, 1859. 2 copies.

Books purchased.

Garnett, Rev. Richard, Philological Essays. London, 8vo. 1859.

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, &. No. XV. March, 1859,

London.

Journal des Savants, for February, 1859, Paris.

Grimm, Jacob und Wilhelm, Deutsches Worterbuch—Dritten Bandes

erste Lieferung Leipzig, 1859.

Brockhaus, Hermann, Die Lieder des Hafis, Persisch mit dem Com-

mentare des Sudi, Zweiten Bandes Zweites Heft, Leipzig, 1859.

Comptes Rendus, Tome 48, Nos. 6,7 and 8. Paris, 1859.

Revue des Deux Mondes, for 15th February and Ist March, 1859,

Paris.

Literary Gazette, Nos, 34 to 37 for February, 1859.

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Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa in January 1859.—

By the Rev. J. Lone.

1. Orissa now and formerly. Orissa is so cut off from other

parts of India through the want of easy and cheap communication

that little is known about it,—though whether we consider its fa-

mous temple, the stronghold of Hinduism, or its ancient history

when Buddhism was in the ascendant,—there is very much to inter-

est the philanthropist and the antiquarian. The paucity of ruins in

Orissa is no criterion of its past condition, as for example,—the

Nepal Terai, now a deadly jungle, was 8000 years ago the abode of

a powerful race, and Janak, Ram’s father-in-law, held his Court

there ;—the Sunderbuns a few centuries ago could boast of a

flourishing population and of five cities,—and in Purulia, now an

Ultima Thule, the ruins of a large city may be found. Though in

Orissa there are few monuments of antiquity to throw light on the

past yet we can grope in MSS., traditions and customs.

2. Inference as to its future prospects. There is a cry raised

now that investigations into the past condition of India are of

no practical use, and that Indian experience is of no value,—

but the fact is overlooked that the past is mother of the future,

and that the former social condition of a people has an important

bearing on prospective measures for their enlightenment. Antiqua-

rian enquiries in Nepal, Ceylon and China show that Buddhism, so

noted in its regard for enlightening the masses and opposing caste,

No. XCIX.—New Serirs, Vou. XXVIII. 2A

186 Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. | No. 3.

was for ages predominant all through Orissa both among rulers and

people,—though Orissa be now the garden of Hinduism and Jagan-

nath its Jerusalem. Even Jagannath itself stands on the site of a

Buddhist temple and contained the celebrated tooth of Buddha,waich

was kept there till the 4th century, A. D., when it was carried for

a short period to Patna, the ancient Palibothra, then the capital of

North India, it was soon after brought back to Puri, but on an

invasion of the country, it was conveyed A. D, 311 by a king’s

daughter concealed in her hair to Ceylon, which was then becoming

a place of refuge to the Buddhists from the Brahmans’ rage. Prin-

sep, Lassen, Burnouf have established from the evidence of MSS.,

Inscriptions on pillars, rocks, &c., that Buddhism was the state reli-

gion of India froin the days of Asoka 3 centuries B. C. to the 4th cen-

tury A. D., while the Chinese travellers Fa Hian and Hiuan Thsang

give us information of its prevalence up to the 7th century A. D.

3, My enquiries in Orissa. I spent ten days at Puri and subse-

quently visited Bhubanesar, Kattak, the rock cut caves of Kandigiri,

the country on the borders of the Chilka lake; in all those places L

sought by procuring Sanskrit or Uriya MSS., by conversation with

intelligent pandits, natives and Wuropeans to ascertain the local

traditions and to gain any information which would prove a clue to

the past history of Orissa. Sterling’s Orissa alas is the only work

written by an Huropean that throws light on former days, with the

exception of Major Kittoe’s account of his visits to the Cave tem-

ples at Bhubanesar. Subsequent books indicate that the writers

knew little of the people below the surface and are mere plagiarisms

from Sterling’s work.

4. Myths are sometimes truths in symbol. Lassen in his Indische

Alterthumskunde has shown that the Epic poems of the Ramayan.

and Mahabharat, though myths, may yield their quota of geogra-

phic and historic truth to the careful investigator. Wilson has made

the Vishnu Purana subserve the same object, and we need for India

in the present day a Walter Scott who will render old legends,

popular songs, and mythic works conducive to the cause of historic

research,

5, DSS. relating to Orissa, In the following MSS. procurable

in Orissa, are scattered data and hints, which may be of value to one

1859.] Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. 187

investigating the former social and religious condition of the people

of Orissa.

Urxrat Kuanp MS. in Sanskrit.

A section of the Skandha Purana, detailing the places of pilgrim-

age in Orissa from Jagannath to the Vaitarini river and the origin

of the worship at Jagannath. It follows the same plan as the Kasi

Khand, which gives similar information regarding Benares.

Kerra Manatmea MS. in Sanskrit.

A part of the Skandha Purana, stating various points about the

sanctity of the places at Bhubanesar—the ancient Benares of Oris-

sa before Jagannath rose into popular estimation. I found this

MS. held in great esteem by the pandits at Bhubanesar.

Karina Sanuitd MS. in Sanskrit.

A collection from various Puranas, giving the legends relating to

Jagannath, Kanarak, Bhubanesar, Jajipur.

Irrad4s Samucuay MS. in Sanskrit.

Au account of Rajas and temples in various parts of India.

Manvawt Paweat MS. in Uriya.

Records of the Jagannath temple, begun in the 13th century, by

Churang Deva, the first of the Ganga Vansa line of Rajas. This

MS. is referred to in the Courts as an authority to decide disputes

among the officers of Jagannath’s temple. It gives an account of

Kala Pahar the great Moslem iconoclast of Orissa.

GagsapaTt VansApati MS. in Uriya.

A Genealogical account of the Orissa rajas of the Gajapati line,

with the various temple officers at Jagannath.

RAs Cuarita MS. in Uriya.

History of the Kings of Orissa of the Kesari race.

KAwat Kavret Porat MS. in Uriya.

Au Epic poem celebrating the conquest of Conjeveram.

Exd4ura Manatmea MS. on Bhubanesar.

Srva Purana MS. in Sanskrit.

Gives information about Bhubanesar.

JaganMouHana MS. in Uriya.

Description of Jagannath and its festivals.

Use might be made of the MSS. referred to by Wilford such as—

2a 2

188 Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. |No.38.

A BEnGatt PANDIT’S COMMENTARY ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE

MAHABHARAT.

VixzaMa Sicar MS.

Desa MAA and Kusnutra SaMASA OF THE PURANAS.

Buuvana Kosa oF THE BHAVISHYEA PURANA.

KritapHArdvatl MS.

Tard Tantra MS.

It is a subject of regret that Lassen in his great work the Alter-

thumskunde had not these MSS.

We want some one to do for Orissa, what Major Troyer in Paris

has performed for Kashmir in his Rdjatarangint, viz. to give us a

translation of the pith of the above MSS. with notes and prelimi-

nary dissertations. As the valley of Kashmir, owing to the dis-

covery of a MS. 40 years ago, has afforded so rich a field of inves-

tigation into the social and religious condition of its people in days

of yore—surely Orissa is not barren of incidents on the same sub-

ject ?

6. Life of Sangkar Acharyea of use for Orissa. In connec-

tion with the history of Orissa a life of Sangkar A’chdryea coimn-

piled from such MSS. as the Sanexar Karud, Sanexar CuHa-

RITRA, KERALUTPATI, SANGKAR BIJAY AND Sarva DarsHana San-

GRAHA is desirable. Light would thus be thrown on the state of

Orissa when the dogmas of Sangkar gained the ascendancy over

the Vaishnav and Buddhist systems. Though Sangkar himself was

so liberal as to be a follower both of the Vedantie and_Tantric

systems, yet to the Buddhists he was the malleus hereticorum, and

like Charlemagne he resorted to the sword when the process of

conviction was too slow. Professor Wilson in his “ Sects of the

Hindus” has made much use of these MSS., but he admits that a

JSurther analysis of them would be of great value in giving the state

of Hinduism in the 9th century, A. D. He wrote his account 30

years ago, but since that period immense progress has been made

with reference to oriental research in France, Germany, Russia and

England.

7. Chaitanyea. The effect of Chaitanyea the great Vaishnab’s

preaching in Orissa in the 16th century would deserve investiga-

tion. His doctrines gained rapid ascendancy when Pratap Rudra

1859.| Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. 189

Deva, one of the Gajapati kings who ruled from A. D. 1503

renounced the Jain doctrines and adopted those of Chaitanyea.

The following printed books afford some information on the

subject.

CHAITANYEA CHANDRODAY, CHAITANYEA BuHAGavat, CHAITAN-

yEa CHARITRA.—But there are many MSS. hoarded up by the

Gosains as carefully as the Jains hoard up theirs—these ought to be

procured.

8. Jain MSS. desirable. The Jains have very valuable libraries

in Rajputana which, judging from what China has yielded, may also

remove some of the veil which hangs over Orissa. I was two years

ago in a Jain house in Benares where there was a large collection of

Jain MSS. Dr. Stevenson has made use of Jain MSS. to give in-

formation regarding certain places in the Bombay Presidency. These

MSS. might afford a clue to the connection of the Jains or Buddhists

in Central India with those in Orissa. A Buddhist inscription has

been found in a Buddhist temple in Nagpur of the date 657 A. D.,

and it was not until the 13th century the Jains were expelled from

the Pandyan country.

Analyses of these works with notes on the plan that Hodgson

and Ksoma de Koros have adopted, would be of great use. The Asia-

tic Society might publish some in their Bibliotheca Indica, which

hitherto has contained few works throwing hght on the social con-

dition and manners of the people of India.

9. Romanising in Orissa. All the Sanskrit MS. used in Orissa

are written in the Uriya and not in the Nagari character, though

the latter is the sacred character of India and hence called the Deva

Nagari or divine character, but the Brahmans will not accept an

universal character—nationality prevails over theory—and yet there

are men who dream of abolishing all the Indian alphabets and sub-

stituting the English alphabet for them!

10. Uriya language. The Uriya language has been very little

cultivated : the Brahman scholars in Orissa as well as in Bengal

despised the Vernacular. The Bhagavat Gita however was trans-

lated from the Sanskrit into Uriya three centuries ago ; among ori-

ginal works are the Rasa Kalol on Krishna, the Vaidehivilas about

Ram, the Labaneatatva, a tale, the Mukunda Mala, Jarati bhakti a

190 Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. [No.38.

Vaishnav work, Rasamanjart and Rasapanchak with several Mahdt-

meas or temple legends.

11. Fractions of Languages. Valuable as is the Uriya language

for imparting to the common people an elementary education, it

is not likely to be much cultivated: the people of Orissa are too

few to render it probable that the expenses of creating a litera-

ture can be borne by them or by Government, it will be much

easier for Uriyas who wish to acquire knowledge to gain it through

the Bengali, a kindred language, which is rapidly developing it-

self. The Bengali is already rapidly encroaching on the Uriya. The

cultivation of the smaller dialects or “ fractions of languages’? in In-

dia promotes division and isolation, even natives when left to them-

selves prefer the cultivation of a more refined Indian laneuage—

thus in the Sonthal districts Hindi is being studied, as also in

Chota Nagpur, while among the Karens of Burma the Burmese

language must be ultimately the vehicle for communicating to them

literature and science. Both in Assam and Orissa Government

teaches Bengali to the highest classes in the schools.

12. Pali elements in Uriya. When the Buddhists held sway in

Orissa, Pali was probably in use, it would be interesting to trace out

what Pali elements are in the Uriya language and also if there be

any Telegu elements, as Caldwell in his “ Dravidian languages”

states that “Telegu was formerly spoken as far north as the mouths

of the Ganges.’’ We very much need a Comparative Grammar of

the Bengali, Hindi, Mahratta and Uriya languages, pointing out

their Scythian, Sanskrit and Pali elements and their various dialecti-

eal changes.

13. Orissa and Bengal little connected. Orissa seems in very

early times to have had little direet connection with Bengal. Though

Adisur sent Brahmans from Kanauj to Bengal, because probably of

the influence of Buddhism there, the Pal kings of Gaur being Bud-

dhists—and Sakhya Muni the last great prophet of Buddhism had

died in Assam, there is no mention of Orissa in connéction with

them. Even now there is not a single Bengali Mahant at Jagannath,

though there are about 120 of that class, some of whom realise half a

lac ayear income. Hence customs differ much in Bengal and Orissa,

the following prevail or prevailed in Orissa as distinct from Bengal.

1859.|] Notes and Queries sugyested by a Visit to Orissa. 191

14. Peculiar Customs in Orissa. If a brother dies childless his

brother is to marry the widow in order to raise up seed to the deceased

—in satis women were burned in a pit—the Brahmans eat no fish—the

impurity of a Sudra after the death of a relative lasts only 10 days,

in Bengal 30 days.—Marriages take place at a riper age.—Barbers

and cultivators eat in the houses of the bearer caste—there are no

Brahmini bulls reverenced—at shrads only pinda or vegetables are

offered.— Raghu Nandan’s smritis have no authority—women are

kept more secluded.—Brahmans eat onions, wear no shoes,—the

women tattoo their forehead and arms,—many Sudras know a little

Sanskrit,—the Brahmans study the Yajur Veda, in Bengal the

Sama Veda. It would be interesting to enquire into the special

causes of the diversity of some of these customs.

15. Was Hinduism introduced into Orissa in the days of Ram Chan-

dra ?

The Ramayan mentions Ram’s sojourn during part of his exile

in the Dandaka forest and near the Godavery, places to the South

West of Orissa; while tradition connects the rocks of Khandigiri

with Hanuman and states that Kapila Muni resided in their neigh-

bourhood. The 4th section of the Raghu Vansa gives the march of one

of the Hindu armies of Ram’s period to the borders of the Bay of Ben-

gal which must have been near the coast of Orissa. A king of Kashmir

Lalitadyea is stated in the Rdjtarangini to have marched an army

about Ram s’era to the South of India. ‘The progress of the Arian

race having been a gradual one South, Kashmir, Hastinapur, Oude,

Benares, Palibothra, Gaur, becoming successive ceutres, a place like

Orissa could hardly have been overlooked as affording facilities for

embarking by sea to the South. In Manu’s time Brahmans were

sea-captains and traded with foreign countries, while the chief seats

of religious worship having been on promontories of the sea such

as Somnath and Dwarka in Scinde, Ramiseran and Mavalipur in

South India, Sagur Island in Bengal, Jagannath and Kandrak in

Orissa, would show that the ocean was used in early times for pil-

grimage and religious propagandism.

16. When was Buddhism introduced into Orissa? Probably iu the

days of king Asoka about 250 B. C. as appears from the Dhauli in-

scription—he sent Buddhist missionaries in all directions to the

192 Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. [No. 8.

slopes of the Himmalayas, and the banks of the Indus, as well

as his own brother as a Buddhist missionary to Ceylon; subse-

quently a close religious intercourse between Ceylon and _ Palibo-

thra, (Patna) was maintained by sea. We have in Fa Hian’s travels

(8rd century A. D.) an account of vessels sailing between Tamluk

to the North of Orissa and China, while Buddhist remains are found

on the Madras coast at the Kistna and Mahavellepuram. Want of

roads were no obstacle to Buddhist itinerants as the Rajtarangini

states of them. }

Bandvanéim prabajyorjit tejasan.

Orissa would form a central point for pilgrims travelling be-

tween Bahar, the fount of Indian Buddhism and Ceylon, pilgrims

landing from Ceylon at Jagannath would see Buddha’s tooth there,

then proceed to Bhubaneswar the Buddhist Benares of that day,

thence to Vishnupur a mighty place at that period, and so on to Paras-

nath, or they might have proceeded to ‘l'amluk or Tamralipti* and have

gone up the Ganges.

17. Orissa nationality. While in Bengal we have never had any

traces of independence and nationality, in Orissa it is different.

The Orissa rulers three centuries ago extended their sway as far

North as Tribeni on the Hughly, the Southern Prayae of the Hin-

dus, and as far South as the Godaveri, while the Orissa Raja op-

posed in battle the mighty Krishna Roy, king of Vijayanagar.y+

The Orissa peasants are an honester and braver race than the Ben-

gali, happily for them they are not ground down by zemindars as

the Bengal peasants are under the permanent settlement, the ze-

* Tamluk is described by Huian Thsang in the 7th century as a place where

great traffic was carried on by land and by water. In the 3rd century Fa Hian

found 1000 monks there and a tower erected by Asoka, while before the Christian

era, according to Klaproth, Dharmasokar, king of all Jambudpi, sent an Embas-

sy to Ceylon which embarked at Tamluk.

+ We have an analogous instance of the power of nations bordering on Bengal

in the case of the Asamese who in the days of Aurangjib destroyed the army sent

under Mir Jumla to conquer their country. ‘The Tripura men have been noted

for their bravery and even the women rushed to the battle field and some of

them, as the Tripura MSS. show, like the Mahrattas led armies.

1859.| Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. 193

mindar cannot oust them at will. There is a report of Mr. Forster’s

on this subject which well deserves reprinting.

18. Hill people of Orissa. The hill population of Orissa is very

different from that of the plains, they belong to the aboriginal tribes

but little is known of their original languages and traditions.

Their Rajas were the Rob Roys of their districts, the oldest family

is that of the Raja of Kurdah. Six centuries ago they came from

the North West of India. It would be worth enquiry what Scey-

thian or Celtic remains are to be found in those hilis, any structures

in the form of cairns, cromlechs, burrows. Dr. Wise in his paper

in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. XXI.

Pt. I. p. 255 shews the general identity in idea and design of the

Celtic structures of Hurope and the Buddhist relics of India; Pro-

fessor Westereaard has written on a similar subject with regard to

Iceland.

19. Jagannath temple, origin of its peculiarities. The interior

of the temple of Jagannath cannot be seen by Europeans, I have

found the natives of Orissa more jealous about allowing Huro-

Peans into their temples than the natives of Benares,—is it that

never having felt much of the rough hand of the Moslem dealing

unscrupulously with their prejudices, they have therefore become

so exclusive? The interior of the temple is said to be a regular

pantheon having temples to Hanuman, Vibhishan, Suryea, Indra,

Nanda, Kuvera, Sitala.* There are various points besides this in

connection with Jagannath, which seem to indicate that it was an

eclectic system selecting from different sects and incorporating ali ;

thus though Jagannath gives much ascendancy to the Vaishnavs,

yet the Pandahs at Jagannath all belong to the Shakta sect of the

Sivites, they do not, however, practice those horribly obscene rites

* It would be worth enquiry as to when the worship of Sitala, the goddess

of the small-pox, arose. Dr. Wise of Dacca collected much information on this

subject which he has taken to Europe with him, Near Calcutta there is a temple

to the goddess of cholera erected forty years ago, when this epidemic arose in

India. It would be interesting to know also when the worship of the gram devaté

or village gods arose in Bengal, the brahmans do not admit their pedigree ; to the

South of Calcutta a god called Dakhin Roy is worshipped as the protector of the

ryots against floods and tigers. Is this a god of the old aborigines of Bengal ?

194 Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. |No. 3.

observed by the same sect at Santipore. It seems also to retain

some traces of the old Buddhistic system, thus the Rath Jatra proces-

sion is said to have been derived from the Buddhist procession with

the birth of Jagannath, there is no procession like this connected with

other gods of Hinduism. ‘The practice also peculiar to Jagannath

of all, excepting the lowest classes, eating together, seems a remnant

of that Buddhistie principle which had for its system of action

long before the French Revolution, “liberté, egalité, fraternité.”’

The architecture of the car of Jagannath is like that of certain

Buddhist religious buildings, the temple of Jagannath similar to

the Gaya temple corresponds in its architectural shape with that

of the Buddhist temple at Patan in Nepal, the brahmans call the

temple of Maha Buddha or Gaya, Jagannath. The brdhmans found

the easiest way to obliterate the remembrance of Buddhist idols

was to adopt them and give them brahminical names.

20. Bhubaneswar and its ruins. Next to Jagannath the place

of greatest interest in Orissa is the city of Bhubanesar, the ap-

proach to it is most striking. The traveller emerges all at once

from paddy-fields into the midst of a deserted city, another Pal-

myra, ruins of temples all around, but no worshippers, remind-

ing one strongly of the ruins of Toglokabad near Delhi or of

Sarnath the old site of Buddhist Benares. When Bhubanesar

with its 999 Siva temples was founded, Buddhism was waning

from Orissa and the Sivite system was gaining the ascendancy, not

merely owing to persecution but also to a reaction from the strict

and ascetic system of Buddhism, like what took place in England from

the prudery under Cromwell to the licentious days of Charles the

2nd. Buddhism itself was altering too, and after introducing a

system of hero-worship, its followers ended in the worship of female

deities, and finally many adopted a system half Sivite, half Buddhist.

What a contrast between the worship of the original Buddhists in

Orissa and the later period when they adopted the Tantrik system.

The existence of this system in Nepal among the Buddhists was

discovered with great difliculty by IModgson, and as it spread to

Thibet in the 11th century and was powerful in India according to

Ksoma de Koros in the 9th century, its origin was probably coeval

with the erection of the Sivite temples at Bhubanesar.

1859.| Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. 195

21. Was Bhubanesar originally Buddhist ? It is singular that no

civil buildings remain in Bhubanesar with the exception of some

ruins pointed out as the site of the palace of the Kesari rajas, who

are said to have founded Bhubanesar A. D. 620, and to have made

it the seat of their government. Is it not probable that the exist-

ing Sivite temples were made out of Buddhist ones? In Europe at

the Reformation, Roman Catholic Churches were turned to Pro-

testant uses. The Brahmans of India adopted the same plan with the

buildings of their Buddhist rivals, the Musalmans did the same

with Jain buildings. Js at not probable there was a Buddhist Bhu-

banesar ? It lay on the high road from Puri to Magadh, and as

at Delhi the ground has been the site of three distinct capitals of

three different dynasties, so why may Bhubanesar not have been

Hindu and Buddhist at successive periods ?

22. Rock-cut Caves of Khandigirt. Six miles from Bhubanes-

ar are the Buddhist Caves or Kuanpicir«i among the oldest in

India, executed probably about two centuries B. C., half a century

after Buddhism gained a footing in Orissa. The caves of Ajunta

were not excavated till about A. D. 1100, and yet it is singular

that nine-tenths of the fifty different groups of Buddhist caves in

India should be in the Bombay Presidency, so far away from Ma-

gadh the seat of Indian Buddhism. The Khandigiri caves are adapt-

ed either for solitary ascetics or for monks living in community.

Why is the verandah of one of them carved into a form to repre-

sent the tiger’s head ? The Pali inscriptions over some of the caves

which have stood the storms and changes of twenty centuries, afford

a strong contrast with the ephemeral paper memorials of the Mah-

rattas and Moslems in Orissa. Jain merchants who occasionally

come on pilgrimage here have erected a Jain temple on the top of

one of those cave hills, behind the temple they heap up memorial

stones like the cairns of the Celts. No buildings are near those

eaves, the Buddhists always preferring their fraternities to be locat-

ed away from the din and noise of cities.

23. Kandrak temple. As a monumental link between the old

Vedic worship and Buddhism we have the temple of the Sun or

KanA4rak,—there is another temple to the Sun at Ajmir—land-

marks on the sand of time to show the passing away of false sys-

2B 2

196 Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. [No. 3.

tems—it is singular that in Orissa, whatever the deity be that the

temple is dedicated to, the figures of the nine planets occupy a posi-

tion over the doorway. At the time when this temple was erected

about the 12th century,—the worship of the Sun was still recog-

nised, the Sauras or Sun worshippers are frequently mentioned in

the life of Sangkara Acharya about the 10th century. The agni-

hotra or sacrifice to fire was performed in Bengal at the close of last

century by Rajakrishna Ray of Nuddea; he is said to have been the

last person in Bengal who kept a fire perpetually burning, the

relies of a worship once common to the highlands of Persia and

the plains of India. This temple of the Sun now presents a com-

plete image of desolation, tens of thousands of bats occupy the in-

terior of the temple and a bear has taken up its abode amid the

ruins, while around is a waste of sand relieved occasionally by a

beautiful convolvulus or the spike grass which vegetates so easily

in the sand.

The temple, however, in its obscene sculpture, shews what in-

fluence the Tantrik system had at that time gained in Orissa.

It was the time when Sivism had won its ascendancy by fire and

sword; the temple of Jagannath dates from this same period as

do all the great Sivite temples in South India. How was

it the sculpture of this temple escaped the iconoclast hand

of Kala Pahér? A stone which formerly topped the doorway is

20 feet long by 44 square, its weight is 10 tons, the nine planets

are beautifully sculptured on it, near it hes a bar of iron 20 feet

long by 10 inches square weighing 15 tons, close to it are three

figures in stone of lions rampant on the elephant 63 feet high by

6 feet long.* ‘The immense size of the stones and beauty of the

sculpture shew that the mechanical arts were in a forward state

eight centuries ago. Those enormous stones were brought from

* At the time of James Prinsep, the Asiatic Society applied to the Govern-

ment for permission to remove some of the sculptures to the Asiatic Society’s

Museum, No answer was sent, but the present Commissioner G. Cockburn, Esq.

is quite willing to grant it. Time and the influence of vegetation are rapidly

undermining a temple. A Surveyor lately proposed the stones should be used

up for surveying purposes. A few years ago the Raja of Khurda through mer-

cenary motives destroyed some of the finest parts of the temple.

1859.] Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit_to Orissa. 197

the Kattak hills, but how were they carried over the sand?

Is it not very probable that the sea formerly flowed up to the

base of the temple? In Orissa the land has been gaining on

the sea all along the coast, and so has the sand; in Puri there are

many buildings now buried under the sand, which in the memory of

living men were known to have been built above them. The same

process which is increasing the Sandheads and filling up,the Hooghly

river is going on in Orissa. ‘The deposits brought down by the

hill streams and large rivers of Orissa must be gradually silting

up the coasts.

24. Cuttack—ancient city of Orissa. The foundation of Cur-

TACK is attributed to the 10th century,—is not this the modern

city however ? Was not ancient Cuttack situated to the North,

at a distance from the treacherous Mahanadi river,—immense ruins

have been found there, which served to build the Fort of Cut-

tack and to form the revetment. Probably old. Cuttack was the

political and commercial capital of Orissa, for which its position

at the head of the Delta and on the road to Magadh or Bahar

favoured it. Cuttack had until lately a fine monument of anti-

quity Fort Barabati, a splendid specimen of an old fortification

which contained remains of the Kesari Raja of the 14th century.*

Though Kattak was the capital of the Mahrattas in Orissa, there

are no documents available in Orissa to throw light on their career:

like the Musalmans in Orissa they seem to have intermeddled very

little in internal arrangements of the country, they were men of the

sword not of the pen. The Patans, however, have gained such a

hold in Orissa that one-tenth of thefpopulation is Afghan.

Queries.

I append a few additional queries or desideranda relating to other

points about Orissa.

* In 1837 by the Magistrate’s orders the fort was pulled down and sold to sup-

ply metalling for the roads. An ignorant or perverted taste would lead somo

men to obliterate all recvllections of the past. They see not the force of

Dr. Johnson’s maxim, “ Whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future

predominate over the present, raises us in the scale of being.”

198 Notes and Queries suggested by a Visit to Orissa. [No. 3.

(1) The having the hills explored by a Botanist, who would also

ascertain the Uriya names of all plants in Orissa with their signifi-

cation and their use in medicine.

(2) Information about Orissa in the last century or the century

previous as contained in Portuguese, French or Dutch works. Ex-

tensive trade was carried on with Balasore by Kuropean traders.*

The Portuguese wrote much about India and an examination of the

Libraries of Portugal would throw much light on many Indian sub-

jects. The Dutch also have published various works, Lindeschon-

ten’s Travels deserve examination.

(3) The etymolegy of the names for Orissa Utkal and Ordesh ?

(4) There are more than 60 Deva Ddsi or temple girls con-

nected with the temple of Jagannath,—when did they first form part

of the temple establishment and what is the extent of this prac-

tice in other parts of India?

(5) Why should the Buddhist system in Orissa have merged

into the Siva system instead of into the Vaishuab, the latter being

a much more congenial one ?

* We saw in the Balasore burial ground a tomb, with this inscription, ‘‘ Here

lies the body of Avon, late wife of Capt. Francis William who died 1684.”

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 199

Memorandum on the nature and effects of the Flooding of the Indus

on 10th August, 1858, as ascertained at Attok and its neighbour-

hood.—By Capt. W. Wenperson, Engineers.

On the Indus, 7th January, 1859.

T begin by observing that this is not the first flood of the sort,

but that one on a somewhat larger scale, but in other respects very

similar, took place in May,* 1841. I have seen two very brief

accounts of this flood, one I think collated by Col. Abbott, the other

furnished by Col. Cunningham. J have also collected at Attok and

the neighbourhood some information on the effects of this earlier

flood; and as the two are very similar and mutually throw light

upon one another, I shall have to refer to that of 1841, and so

premise this allusion to it.

The first point on which information is called for is the spot

where the obstruction took place. This can only be ascertained by

sending up an Officer by way of Cashmere. In the meantime I may

offer a few observations.

The obstruction of 1841, took place in the upper part of the val-

ley of the Shayok River or northern Indus which joins what is consi-

dered as the main Indus at Keris, and I think brings down more

water than the other, which from its long and straight course is na-

turally considered the principal or parent stream. The blocking took

place in the part of the Valley where the stream runs at the back

of a high range which separates it from the Nubra Valley. I have

been over this ground and was struck with the frequency and soli-

dity of the glaciers which occupy almost every valley in the range,

with their tributary glens also. The range is granite, and large

rough blocks of that rock form an important component of these

glaciers.

The first information was received in the neighbourhood of Attok

about the middle of July 1858, and of all that I have heard of, that

which appeared most worthy of credit was a letter forwarding what

purported to be a general warning by the Syuds of Kangra or

* J have no books to refer te, so that the date is assigned on native evidence,

which is particularly uncertain as regards time.

200 The Flooding of the Indus. | No. 3.

Kangri. The Attok boatmen declared at once that the warning re-

ceived in 1841, emanated from the same place ; they recognized the

style and stated that the same form of adjuration was employed |

and that the signatures appended were the same, except that two or

three individuals, who might fairly be supposed to have died in the

interval, were omitted from the later document. Search was then

made in the house of Bulloo, the oldest of the Mullicks of the boat-

men, but though it was well known that the paper was preserved

there till a year or two ago, the search proved unsuccessful.

There is a village named Kaneri marked in the Surveyor Gene-

ral’s map of the Punjab and adjoining countries, and I believe this is

the place alluded to, it is at no great distance from the Nubra and

Shayok Valleys, and if the fact be that both papers issued from it, a

fair inference is that in both cases the obstruction was at no great

distance from its site; for in these valleys such news would not

travel far except it were down the course of the river. We know that

the damming of 1841, took place within two or three days’ march

of the village, and, till better evidence be obtained, can but conjec-

ture that this also occurred in the Shayok or in the Nubra valley.

Both are well adapted for the purpose, being wide with strangula-

tions at intervals, having comparatively a small slope of bed and be-

ing supplied from large glaciers above with considerable and unfail-

ing streams of water. For though the main fall of the Indus-bed

takes place between Kangri and Attok, yet the general character of

all the streams I have observed in the Himalayas is to fall in steps,

a comparatively sluggish portion intervening below the first rush of

the minor tributaries, to be succeeded by the main stream making

its way in a series of rapids for two or three hundred miles. Both

the Nubra and the upper Shayok are thus comparatively slow flow-

ing, and in the former especially there are numerous quicksands.

I have two or three times crossed the Shayok, and found it in the

summer time a stream of considerable size.

On the other hand, and contradictory to the above, all Major Be-

cher’s information pointed to the river of Gilgit, and that pretty

consistently ; but as this cannot be reconciled to the facts I have

noted, as I understand them, I am inclined, till more evidence is

obtained, to discredit it. I do not find in the map alluded to glaciers

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 201

marked so far west asthe River of Gilgit* nor are the mountains

from which it comes so high or so snow-clad as those to the east-

ward. Indeed I do not know in any part of the Himalayas a

region so likely to give birth to catastrophes of the kind as that

around the upper part of the Shayok.

The solution of the point is, however, very easy. The whole

Indus above the Gilgit river is open to travellers proceeding under

the protection of the Maharaja of Cashmere, and any officer start-

ing from that valley and striking the Indus at the foot of the

Nunga Purbut, (a route which I recollect an officer of the artillery

following in the summer of 1855,) and thence marching upwards,

would very soon ascertain positively the exact locality of the ob-

struction. I should be glad if opportunity offered to proceed thither

for the purpose, and regret that when in that country before, I

gave less attention to the matter than I should have done had I

thought that a flood like that of 1841, could by any chance occur

again in any definite number of years.

The second point mooted is the nature of the obstacle. We

may pronounce with almost certainty that this was the sudden irrup-

tion into a comparatively narrow valley of an immense fragment of a

glacier. I have already alluded to the glaciers of the region where

I suppose the obstruction to have taken place. I have never seen

those of Switzerland, but from what I have heard of them I think

that the ones now referred to differ from the character ordinarily

assigned to those in Hurope, as they certainly greatly excel the lat-

ter in magnitude. Yet even in Europe a catastrophe similar to those

which have taken place in the Indus valley occurred in that of the

Drance in 1818. When crossing from the Nubra to the Shayok

valley in August 1855, my companion, who had been in Switzerland,

would at first hardly admit that the enormous mass of earth, rock

and ice commingled and agglomerated together, with a broad

stream of the dirtiest brown water issuing from its foot, and which

I pointed out, filling up a tributary valley on our left, was really a

glacier; and several hundred miles farther south crossing the great

shed between the Lanskar and the Chenab, he pointed out the fea-

tures he had been accustomed to see, and which we generally find

* There are however glaciers in every direction and some remarkable ones. Eps.

202 The Flooding of the Indus. [No. 8.

in description, clear ice of various tints of green, and deep crevasses

crossed by snow bridges, and with comparatively clean water running

within them. The formation in this case was lime-stone, in the

former case granite. With regard to the magnitude of these glaciers

I need only say that I travelled nearly a whole day along one

which was upwards of fourteen miles in length, varying in width from

half a mile to two miles, and several hundred feet in depth.

The glaciers are, it is well known, in constant motion; their pro-

gress being subject to the same laws which regulate the motion of

rivers. As they advance, their ends melt away and the Moraine gets

washed down by the streams that issue from the body of the gla-

ciers. The flow of one glacier measured by Prof. Forbes showed

an onward movement of about 450 feet per annum, and it is evident,

' that where a glacier is cut off above the melting point by a stream

running past its end, this motion must make it tend very consider-

ably to encroach into the valley of the stream.

A landslip in one of those huge banks is quite a conceivable con-

tingency, and in no case more likely than when the glacier protrudes

witha narrow base and extended top from a small feeding glen com-

ing in, nearly at right angles, into a narrow valley, whose stream

crosses the path of the glacier, washing away the narrow foot which

the mass behind protrudes, and on which it rests. This foundation

being once undermined, the falling forward of a piece of the gla-

cier is the result to be expected ; and it is possible that this result

often takes place, but that it is not often that circumstances so com-

bine as that the process is delayed till a mass of formidable dimen-

sions topples over.

The remarkable opacity of the water of the Shayok, caused by the

glaciers I have described, struck the Messrs. Schlagintweit when

carrying on their observations in the neighbourhood, and by adopt-

ing a simple test of comparison, they satisfied themselves that in

this character it exceeded the water of any stream which they had

encountered.

The third point is the “length of time the obstacle remained.”

On this head the only information to be obtained is native, and

that is always vague with regard to matters of time. The warning

that came down the river purported to bear date the 2nd July, but

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 203

it appears more likely that this date was subsequently inserted in

the copy, because it would not allow time for the paper to have

travelled down, it having been handed to the Assistant Commis-

sioner Lieut. Shortt, at Shumsabad near Attok, in the middle of the

month.

The paper stated that the river had been closed for three months,

which would make the beginning of April, and, as the outburst took

place apparently on the 8th August, would give for the whole dura-

tion a little over four months. But I do not think it likely that so

long an interval elapsed—

1st.— Because the period is almost certain to have been exaggerated.

2nd.—Because the thawing powers of the May sun which make

that month so peculiarly dangerous from the frequency of avalan-

ches, is likely to have caused the slip.

3rd.—Because from the latter end of May to August those snow-

streams are so large that a four months’ supply, including that pe-

riod in the four months, could hardly be supposed to remain stored.

4th.—Because a rather shorter period is assigned, and at a less

favorable time of the year, from February to May, for the storage of

1841, which contained apparently about twice the quantity of water,

while it is from previous considerations unlikely that any material

difference existed between the sites of the two obstructions.

Iam inclined to think that the stoppage took place about the

middle of May, that it existed for a month before information was

sent down below, as till that interval it would hardly be considered

a really serious matter; the paper must then have taken about a

month to reach Attok, which it did in the middle of July, and after

thata delay of nearly another month occurred before the water

appeared. The time could not be much shorter than that, though

it may have been longer.

The fourth point referred to is the length of time during

which a diminution of the stream was perceived below. On this

point, I can state that though after the warning rumour came to be

pretty generally discussed, people fancied that the stream was pecu-

liarly low, and that it lent corroboration to the report, nothing oc-

eurred which would have excited much attention but for the alarm

inthe country around, and Major Becher assigned as a reason for

2F 2

204 The Flooding of the Indus. [No. 38.

regarding the warning with suspicion, that there was nothing

unusual to be observed inthe conduct of the river.

But the truth is, that there is no reason to think that any of the

tributaries, at the point where glaciers abound, is of importance

sufficient to affect perceptibly the Indus at Attok; nor indeed is it

conceivable that any stream, by the subtraduction of which the

Indus could be sensibly diminished, could be dammed up for three

months (and I have shewn that the time could not be much

shorter) ; while it is certain that if this were possible, its occurrence

would cause a flood far more extensive than that of the 10th

August last.

The occurrence of a few cloudy days diminishing the snow melt-

ing, or of showery weather in the Hills, cooling the atmosphere

there, produces changes in the river, when alternating with bright

weather, far more than sufficient to disguise the cutting off of half

a dozen of the rivulets which feed the upper waters of the Indus.

The river rose last year rather early, compelling me to remove the

usual boat-bridge a full month sooner than in 1857, while it after-

wards continued for a considerable time at a moderately high level,

fluctuating, but not making much progress. We were thus able to

establish the bridge in another site, where it continued till 1st June.

But all that can be gathered from this is, that along the upper

Indus the spring of 1858 was warmer than that of the previous year,

but that the genial April was succeeded by cold and cloudy weather.

Jt is indeed a matter of tradition that in 1841 the river became

very low previous to the flood, so much so, that men used to cross

it by fording above Attok, and when I was collecting information

on the subject, they told me that when the bridge of boats was up

in February, the river fell in one night several feet, so much in fact

that they nad to remove boats from either side. I have consider-

able doubts as to the correctness of either story; and, presuming

them both to be amplified from a real paucity of water, have still

no reason to think that they had anything to do with the fact of

one of the feeders of the river being dammed up some six hundred

miles off; besides that, as I before hinted, the period of storage

from February to May appears too short. It was also a prominent

part of the tradition that the water was much warmer than usual ;

1859. ] The Flooding of the Indus. 205

as if the snow-supply had been cut off. This I think as improbable

as the other circumstances narrated ; and to illustrate the probabi-

lity of their being exaggerated into falsity, | may mention the facts

with regard to another phenomenon universally insisted on.—All

accounts of the flood of 1841 particularize the wave or wall which

swept down the channel of the river, and the noise occasioned by if,

which was the first harbinger of the approaching destruction. Some

of my informants gravely talked of this wave as 50 or 60 feet high,

and of the roar being heard while the water was still a considerable

distance behind. In Col. Abbott’s notes on the matter, these points

are prominent, and it is added that in front of the great wave was a

moving mass of carcases, trees, and other matter, swept on by the

power of the water.

On this last occasion I was myself on the river in a row boat,

which a wave one foot high would doubtless have swamped, but

wave there was none, nor noise either, nor any appearance of car-

eases Or anything of the kind. The river commenced rising

quickly, but step by step, nor until it had attained a considerable

height was there any sign of drift-wood, field-produce, or other

floating material.

I made fresh enquiries into the circumstances observed on the

previous occasion, and then discovered that there was living till

1857 an old boatman called Lutchoo, who it was well known to all

the men had been sitting on his boat in the middle of the bridge at

the time the flood occurred, and had managed to float away upon it

aud ultimately to come safe to land in the mouth of the Herrot.

Ido not deny that this was avery remarkable escape, nor do I

doubt that one dam might give way in amore gradual mode than

another, but I feel convinced that a three feet wave would have

swamped every one of the old Attok boats, and looking to the ordi-

nary action of running water, am certainly inclined to believe that

the flood came down in 1841 much as it did in 1858; and that the

wave, the roaring, and the mass of dead bodies, are all fictions to-

gether, and in the same way I think that the diminution of water

in 1841 has been invented or exaggerated, and thatif any such took

place it was not owing to the obstruction at all; for on the one hand

the stoppage of the main stream of the Indus, at any poiut where it

206 The Flooding of the Indus. [No. 3.

deserves such a name, is too wild a supposition to be seriously

advanced, and is not the least borne out by the extent and nature

of the flood; while, as insisted, the feeders which run through the

tract where glaciers are common are too insignificant to affect the

Indus at Attok.

The fifth and sixth points enumerated, the height to which

the waters rose at the obstruction, and the distance to which the

stream was dammed back, are of course far beyond our ken, when

the very location of the obstruction itself is indeterminate to a dis-

tance of about 300 miles, nor can they be ascertained in any other

way than by actual inspection ; for though a very rough approxima-

tion might be made to the quantity of water discharged, the high

valleys vary so much in breadth and in longitudinal slope that the

question would still remain undecided ; early inspection will settle

the point, and that alone will.

The velocity with which the flood water came down was very

different at different points of the course, being in the general

greatest at the first, and diminishing as the slope of the bed

decreased. From Attok to Kallabach the velocity was fifteen miles

per hour, the fall of the bed being about two and a half feet per

mile; and this leads me to note that the velocity of the prior flood

appears to me to have been under-estimated in an account I have

seen (prepared I think by Colonel Cunningham). It is there

stated that the flood water passed a village on the upper Shayok

valley at 2 p,m. and that it reached Torbela at the same hour just

two days after. From this a velocity of between eleven and twelve

miles is deduced.

I should rather be disposed to think that only one day elapsed, and

that the velocity attained to nearly twenty-three miles per hour,

but for one consideration, which is this. ‘he water certainly reach-

ed Attok a little before sunset, say about 6 Pp. m. and from Attok

to Torbela is forty miles. This would give therefore, if the hour at

Torbela be correct, a velocity of but ten miles per hour. I should

expect, from the river here debouching out of the bills upon the

Chuch plain, a great diminution of velocity between Torbela and

Attok, (to be to some extent recovered below Attok), but not such a

falling off ag this ; aud therefore I think it probable that tlhe time at

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 207

Torbela was somewhat later than 2 Pp. M. on the day after that on which

the dam gave way, giving a velocity of about twenty-one and a half miles

per hour to Torbela, and of thirteen thence to Attok. But, however,

that may be,as I was at Attok on the 10th and at Kallabagh on the

12th, as I made enquiries on the way down, and at Maree, opposite

Kallabagh, found an European Patrol Officer who could speak with

certainty on the point, the rate I have given above may be ac-

cepted as an accurately observed one for the portion of the river I

have particularized. The highest velocity I have obtained in the

annual floods at Attok is thirteen miles per hour, and judging

from what I know of times of transit, I should estimate the highest

ordinary velocity between Attok and Kallabagh at eleven miles for

the whole way. With regard to the velocity on this occasion above

Attok I ean only offer the following,—presuming the obstacle to have

taken place as on the former occasion in the vicinity of the Nubra

valley, we cannot assume the place at less than 9000 feet above the

sea-level, or say 8000 above the Indus at Attok. Taking the ex-

treme distance at six hundred miles we have a mean fall of 134 feet

per mile to set against the 213 feet per mile from Attok to Kallabagh,

while we know that as far as Torbela the river runs in a compara-

tively confined rocky channel and at all times with considerable

velocity. It seems probable then that up to Torbela the velocity

with which the first flood water travelled, considerably exceeded

15 miles per hour, that from Torbela to Attok it did not attain

this velocity, but that it did from Attok to Kallabagh, below which

place again it fanned out more leisurely, until 150 miles below

the effects were hardly to be discerned and the time of first

arrival cannot be ascertained. The flood water reached Attok at 6

A. M., and the rise was at its maximum about 1.80 p. m.; the total

height attained above cold weather level was 80 feet, while the

earlier flood, I estimate from ail the information and circumstantial

evidence which I have been able to procure, culminated at 12

feet higher. The annual flooding in July and August reaches about

50 feet ; in 1856 it was a little over that; in 1851 it was almost

exactly 50 feet; while in the other years I have observed it,

it has fallen a little short of that height ; so that this flood may be

taken at Attok to have been 30 feet over the ordinary flood

208 The Flooding of the Indus. [No. 3.

level. At the time the occurrence took place the river was about

half level, so that the rise which ensued in 73 hours was 55

feet nearly. This rise was of course greatest at first, and during

the last hour or two very gradual. About 10 o’clock the rapid

increase ceased, and when I then crossed the river (not without

danger) it was about 6 or 7 feet lower than the maximum height 7

which it attained. This would give for the 4 hours a perpendi-

cular rise, on the mean, of 12 feet per hour. I was close to the

bank during the whole time, and though more intent on saving the

boats &c. than on watching the progress of the water, can give an

approximate conjecture as to the rate at which the river in-

creased. During the first hour it rose about 26 feet, second 12 feet,

third 7 feet, fourth 4 feet. At first it came welling up quite quietly,

but very rapidly, not less for a little time than a foot per minute.

This of course did not last very long, for as the width, the depth

and the velocity increased, so did the discharge, and while the rise

was very obvious till about 10 a. mM. it then ceased to strike a tran-

sient observer. The width meanwhile at the narrowest part at

Attok was a little over 1500 feet, the breadth before the flood came

down having been about 800. I have not had an opportunity of as-

certaining what the rise was at Torbela and above it, but it must

have beeu in the general greater than at Attok; that is, in places

with the bed as narrow, and the banks as steep and immoveable,

and with the egress as confined, a greater rise will have taken place ;

for below Torbela hes the Chuch plain, sloping in comparison gently

to the river. Over this ground the flood-water widely extended, and

gradually returned, while the general direction of the Indus and

of the Cabul river a little above their junction is almost directly

antagonistic, and the Indus flood, keeping in a great measure its

course, rolled over the stream of the Cabul river and filled up its

channel and the adjacent low ground to a length of about 380 miles,

with an average breadth of more than 2 miles, and a depth at base

of 60 feet above the original level of the stream. This large

safety-valve exhausted much of the destructive effects which would

otherwise have been felt below; though the country was probably a

loser rather than a gainer by the exchange; for the valley of the

Cabul river is low, well cultivated and thickly populated in compa-

rison to any tracts I know near the bed of the Indus.’

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 209

Below Attok we find a comparative diminution of violence, though

between Neelab and Shadeepore where the river finds a passage

through the limestone range of the Neelabgosha the channel being

in general narrower, abounding too in sharp turns where dead walls

of rock oppose a bar to a free run, and throughout being closed in

by steep limestone cliffs, the height attained by the flood is in

parts even greater than thas recorded at Attok. Leaving the

limestone for sandstone, the channel widens out and becomes less

abruptly tortuous, so that between Shadeepore and Mokkadd, the

maximum rise is much less than above; still more is this the case

through the gravel hills which dip even less steeply into the

channel, and which have at foot been worn more to the requirements

of the river.

Here the rise reached only 10 or 12 feet over the annual flood

mark.

The hills of the salt range, through which the river runs just

above Kallabagh, did not cause such an additional rise as might have

been expected ; for the passage through is short and below all is

open. The height as measured at Mr. Mathew’s house at Marree

gave only 8 feet above flood-level. The annual rise here which at

Attok is 50 feet reaches only 16 or 17 feet over cold weather

mark. Below Kallabagh the river fans out very remarkably, with

however a strong set upon the right bank. Here the rise was very

small indeed. The annual flooding at this part attains no great

height, and is principally striking by its vast expanse. Damage

resulted below Kallabagh, but not by submergence, it was the effect

of the set of the current alluded to.

Farther down, the effects are marked not by inundation and de-

struction but by the after-result, a comparative subsidence which

covered all the islands and flats along the right bank of the river

with the spoils of the regions above. The extensive mud-banks

and reed-jungles in the vicinity of Hsankheyl were particularly

rich in this deposit; and between Kallabagh and this place we

were fortunate enough to recover 17 out of 20 of the large

boats (about 80 tons measurement) which had been carried away

from their moorings below Attok. A little below Esankheyl where

the Koorrum river falls into the Indus, we got the last of the

210 The Flooding of the Indus. [No. 3.

boats, and observed the harvest of drift wood, so abundant above,

tail away and disappear. Beyond this only a few straggling pieces

made their way. A slight rise, but insufficient to suggest anything

beyond the usual rains of the season, was observed between Esan-

kheyl and Dera Ismail Khan; below that, nothing was noticed

unusual, The swelling of 1856 which at Attok we know did

not attain by 283 feet the rise of the 10th August last, seri-

ously injured Leia, and almost washed Dera Gazee Khan away,

breaching an embankment which had been constructed above; so

different are the effects after passing over a large extent of flat

country of the continuous swelling of the river and a flood which

alone attained a much greater height, but was transitory in its

nature. The same fact I observed in my enquiries about the flood

of 1841, which was also but little regarded below Kallabagh. With

reference to the running off, of the flood-water, it is difficult to

speak with much precision. There was a violent storm of rain

about Attok on the 7th August, and I know that storms in the

Himalayas are often very wide spread and extend far down into

the plains, not I mean exactly synchronously, but about the same

time a disturbance will be found to have occurred over a large tract,

in some parts snow, in others rain, and in others again wind and

dust. Inthe summer of 1855 I thus traced two storms by their

visible effects, and by enquiries from HKuropean Officers, the one

nearly north and south, and the other westward—the directions in

which I happened to be travelling—and each for a distance of about

300 miles.

It is possible then that the storm I speak of may have been a

portion of one which swelled the pent-up lake, and issued in its

outburst, but whether this be the case or not, the probable occur-

rence of rain in the hills about the time of the flood makes it im-

possible to assign any correct date of its subsidence.

The fall was at first slow, but the river was about 8 feet below its

maximum by sunset, during the 11th the water however continued

higher than the yearly flood ever attained to, and it was not till the

afternoon of that day, that the boatmen would venture to man a

boat to go down, alleging that all their usual land-marks were co-

vered, and that without them they dared not navigate the stream.

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 211

During the night, however, the river fell a little over 20 feet and

during the 12th it had, in actual height, returned very much to the

position it occupied before the flood came down. But the stream

was very violent and disturbed, for there had taken place ona

grand scale the action which on a small one is annually repeated in

August and September, viz. the filling up of the bed above strangu-

lations, and at other points where a check is imposed on the velocity,

with detritus of a solid character brought down from above. ‘This

induced much swell and great rapidity over these banks, and the pro-

cess of their being cut away from down stream upwards made itself

apparent. For several days the ferry at Attok was nearly closed

on this account, and the boatmen pointed out with some apprehen-

sion very rough water in places where it had never been observed

before. Gradually the shingle banks were removed from under the

main stream, but it appears that there is still an unusual amount of

detritus in the bed at Attok, and that the surface-of the stream is

sensibly raised thereby.

With regard to the “effects of the flood’’ I have little informa-

tion about the tracts much above Attok; but1l should have known

if there had been extensive loss of life or property. That these es-

caped so far 1 attribute to the warning received about one month

before the occurrence, and which, though under-valued by most of

the officers to whom it was made known, was less easily disposed of

by people living on the very bank of the river and bearing in mind

what had happened only seventeen years before.

Without precautions taken, and I know that they were very ge-

neral as far up as my information reached, such immunity as re-

sulted could hardly have taken place; for the flood must have passed

during the night from near Chelass to a little above Attok, and

though the upper part of this tract, say as far as Torbela, appears

more scantily peopled than either above it or below it, some of the

villages near the river are situated within the rocky channel and

placed upon the deltas of detritus brought down by small tributaries,

Jn such situations they are of course greatly exposed to the dan-

ger we speak of; and had no warning been received more injury than

appears to have taken place must have ensued.

Where the flood came down during the day, as it did probably

262

a Ge g

212 The Flooding of the Indus. [ No. 3.

nearly all the way above Chelass, and certainly every where below

and west of Attok, people unless caught in some peculiar position

could without much difficulty escape, except, as always happens in

such cases, the few who, by over-eagerness to save property, expose

their lives to foolish risks. There were very few human bodies

(not above three or four apparently) seen to pass Attok, and the cattle

and stacks of grain, straw, &c. which came down in considerable

numbers belonged principally to the vale of Chuch.

Accounts regarding the catastrophe of 1841 agree in stating that

many bodies were seen to pass Attok, and allowing for the probable

amount of exaggeration, it is I think unquestionable that a very

considerable loss of life then occurred, and had it not occurred then,

there would probably have been more to chronicle now. The great

cause of difference is clearly the experience of effects and the ex-

pectancy of repetition in the present case. A flood of the sort hav-

ing happened within the memory of all the grown population, and

having proved very fatal, as soon as warning was received in 1858

the people not only took precautions, but became prepared, on ob-

serving or hearing of anything unusual on the part of the river, to

place themselves at a safe distance from it; without the experience

ofa similar disaster it was hard to tell what was going on or where

it was to stop, and thus at Nowshera some people placed their pro-

perty on the top of their houses when the rise over-stepping their

calculations, destroyed both house and property.

At Attok again I saw natives, who had in mind what they had

heard of the previous flood, go off at once up the hills, while the river

was rising, though quickly by no means alarmingly so. It is also

to be borne in mind that the former flood was much greater, for not

only did it over-top that of 1858 by 12 feet at Attok, and the

addition of asingle foot in height to a torrent of depth, width, and

velocity such as the Indus then presented would have been a very

great increase indeed, but occurring as it did in May when the bridge-

of-boats was up at the lower site, it had a much lower level to start

from. For the bridge in question has never been held by the na-

tive boatmen after tlhe submergence of a rock near which is their

well known water mark,and the actual rise which took place ina

few hours must therefore have been upwards of 80 instead of about

55 feet.

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 213

Now this greatly added to the danger, for people who found the

water coming down were, from having had no experience of the sort

of thing before, peculiarly liable to fall into the fatal error (by

which most of the lives lost were sacrificed) of getting upon kuolls

or other rising ground, on which they found themselves surrounded

and cut off before they were aware. In the present instance the civil

officer applied to me in behalf of some individuals who were thus

surrounded, near a village a few miles above Attok; they most for-

tunately escaped through the flood not rising over their knoll, and

their waiting till an exit was again provided by the subsidence of

the waters. Had the stream risen a little higher, their case was

nearly hopeless ; for of course under the circumstances, no means of

assistance could have been brought from a distance. At Attok

many of the houses in the Mullah Tollah or boatmen’s village, just

below the fort, were demolished, so was part of the opposing village

of Khairabad, but in both cases the property was almost entirely

saved. In the Chuch valley lying between Torbela and Attok, a few

villages were wholly or partially destroyed, and in the valley of the

Cabul river all those near the water as far as Nowshera. But in

both cases the principal losses were in grain ard other field-produce,

and in cattle, both districts being low and well cultivated. Heavy

loss was also sustained, principally by householders, at the station

of Nowshera, and by Government in the destruction of roads and

bridges, and stores of various sorts collected at Khairabad opposite

Attok. On this point some interesting information regarding the

vicinity of Attok will be found in the report of proceedings of a

special committee of which Major Robertson, Lahore and Peshawer

Road, was president; and which was assembled in September last

with the view of considering points relating to the catastrophe

which had just taken place.

Below Attok most of the villages are placed on the high banks,

between which the river runs and there is hardly any cultivation

near the water so that no damage of any note occurred till at

Mokkadd about 80 miles below Attok, where upwards of 100 houses

were demolished and some cultivation destroyed. Marree also

suffered, though to a less extent, and Kallabagh, the last place where

injury of that sort occurred, lost some 10 or 15 houses,

214: The Flooding of the Indus. [| No. 3.

Below this, the chief damage done was the eating into the land on

the right bank, an action which appears to go on, though in a very

minor degree, almost year by year. For some little time as the wa-

ter wis falling the process was rapidly carried on, so much so that

I saw the people busy cutting down fine large trees in order to

anticipate the otherwise certain loss of the wood by the agency of

the water.

All common mud and stone buildings on which the water rose

to any extent were of course destroyed, no buildings of substan-

tial masonry were, as far as I know, subjected in sufficient mea-

sure to the test. The Nowshera Barracks were not seriously in-

jured, but they were not exposed to the violence of the stream, and

the lowest of them had not more than 5 feet of waterin it. A

good many trees were certainly uprooted, because we found several

cast up on the subsidence of the waters; but trees were not promi-

nently observed floating down, and except in circumstances like

those noted near Kallabagh trees were rather destroyed where they

stood than carried away.

The upper waters of the Indus, where I conjecture the stoppage

to have occurred, run through a country almost destitute of vegeta-

tion and it does not appear that along the course of the main river

there are forests so situated as to have been affected by this flood.

A good deal of drift wood was floated out of the creeks into which

Nullahs coming down from the more wooded country empty them-

selves, but this occurs always on the river being greatly flooded by

the summer rains, and on this occasion was not a feature of unusual

prominence.

Dead animals too were rare. The higher Indus valley is very des-

titute of cattle, and part of what did exist there probably owed

their safety to the warning communicated to their owners.

The banks, where not rocky, suffered according to the set of

the stream, but not at any place that I know of to any very remark-

able extent except below Kallabagh, to which allusion has already

been made. This extended from a short distance below that town

to near Esankheyl, varying of course at different points. The great-

est action appeared to be about 5 or G miles below Kallabagh, as

the river was falling.

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 215

Fresh channels were opened in different parts of the river’s course,

where it is not circumscribed by rocky banks. The most note-

worthy was at Attok, just below the seraie which hes up stream of

the Fort. This is below the junction of the Cabul river, where the

real bed consists of a double trough worked out in the slate Rock,

which comes to the surface in the centre. This trough is 1300 feet

broad, and hitherto since 1841 the river has in the cold weather run

altogether under the right bank, leaving the other hollow filled up

with large blocks of granite, boulders of various sizes, and sand.

Since 1849 this has sometimes been entirely dry and sometimes has

had an insignificant rill running over it, the tendency being for the

rill slightly to increase year by year. But before the prior flood, a

stream of considerable size ran here, and now again we have one up-

wards of 800 feet wide and about 5 feet deep. The river moreover

seems to have set the materials in the bed above, so that a tendency

to pour more and more water into tne new channel has been esta-

blished. The boat bridges now consist of one-third more boats than

used formerly to be sufficient.

A little below Kallabagh again, where the set was so marked upon

the right bank, its result has not been, as might have been expected,

to deepen the channel running under that side; but by encroaching

on the land it has actually shallowed it, so that the navigation, which

was conducted exclusively in that channel formerly, cannot now

make use of it, but is forced into another which was not previously

passable for boats.

I do not think however that this change will prove of a permanent

character.

Silt deposit has taken place to an enormous extent wherever

there has been a checked or diminished current, particularly in the

Chuch valley above Attok, the valley of the Cabul river, and every

Nullah and stream opening into the river. Of all the effects pro-

duced, this is the most striking and will doubtless prove the most

lasting. In constructing the Road Trans Indus, we passed over

for several miles the silt deposited by the flood of 1841. Where eul-

tivation had been carried over it, it was no longer to be recognized, but,

where the land had been left unused, it was still found overlying, in

the shape of a fine grey admixture of sand and clay about 15 inches

216 The Flooding of the Indus. [No. 3.

thick, the very different natural soil below. In August 1858. the

Trunk Road for nearly four miles to the Hast of Attok, and on the

west, wherever sufficiently low to come under the influence, up to

beyond Nowshera, was buried under this deposit. The total length

so covered was 12 miles, and the depth averaged one foot, while

wherever the silt was left on the road it equally covered all ground

on the river side and a good deal on the upper. The water of the

flood was surprisingly muddy and wherever not agitated by a vio-

lent current deposited this silt in abundance. It seems, as far as I

have been able to ascertain, that this silt is highly injurious to gar-

den ground—and there is a good deal of vegetable cultivation near

Attok—but that for the ordinary cereals it does not do any harm

when ploughed up with the subsoil. The natives complain of it as

burning up their cultivation through its not retaining a certain

quantity of moisture and from the quantity of sand it contains.

Where laid thickly and in sheltered situations, it remained in the

form of a sticky mud for 2 or 3 months; but in the open fields it

cracked in every direction, and in about a month and a half was fit

to be ploughed up. Going from Attok towards Nowshera the extent

visible was very great, and, before the grass and weeds burst through

the cracks, the appearance was that of very striking desolation.

But no where was this objectionable deposit productive of more

annoyance than onthe Grand Trunk Road, which, in spite of the

measures taken at once, was impassable for about ten days, till the

silt dried ; and when that process was complete and the cake got

broken up, it issued in a light fluffy dust, which causes a heavy drag

on all traffic; and in dry weather, rises in clouds almost unbearable.

All the road which has thus suffered had been metalled with

shingle, was in all respects nearly finished, and was beyond all

comparison, the smoothest and most pleasant piece of road between

Lahore and Peshawur. It sustained no injury of any moment

beyond what I have particularized ; and it was not at first, nor till some

three months had elapsed, that we became fully aware how much

the silt deteriorated the road surface for purposes of trafiic.

A good deal has been done to remedy the injury and in the course

of another year it is to be hoped that it may be entirely effaced.

The silt appears to consist of very fine sand with just sufficient

1859. ] The Flooding of the Indus. 217

clay to cement it together, and if it could be kept damp (not wet)

would yield a soft, but, for light traffic, a very pleasant and suitable

surface.

The last point to which attention is directed is the peculiar

effects of the flood upon the Cabul river.

The slope of the bed of this river is a little under 2 feet per mile

and very uniform throughout the part affected. The directness

with which it lies contrary to the course of the Indus has already

been noted, and it would appear that the flood water, finding vent

that way, ran over the down stream of the river, no doubt check-

ing it and interfering with it in some degree, but probably not alto-

gether destroying it.

The velocity with which the flood passed over the Cabul river was

probably at first somewhat greater than what. it had through

Chuch, diminishing asit ran up. Nowsliera was reached about 8 a. m.

giving a mean speed of upwards of 10 miles per hour. The first effect

observed there was, that the water was running backwards a little more

rapidly than it usually ran forward; so singular a statement, as it

would appear at first sight, was naturally, till often reiterated, met by

incredulity. But when the fact became certain, there could not be

much hesitation about the cause, especially as it was well known

that on the prior occasion great destruction had taken place at the

city of Nowshera, and as the residents in the cantonments were

well aware of the report that another such flood might be expected.

Soon light materials, particularly stacks of wheat-straw, were seen

floating up, and these were heaped against the bridge of boats,

which now curved up instead of down stream, and at last in the

course of the forenoon broke up by the snapping of the two strong

cables (one inch and seven-eighth inch) which, heavily fastened down

at their extremities, and passing over low towers, supported the boats

against the stream. ‘These being now in part released were carried

up the river, and some were stranded on the open plain 7 miles above.

The flood still continued rising and was at its maximum at

Nowshera about 3 Pp. M., about which time the last of the dwelling-

houses, which were mostly built between the Trunk Road and the

river bank, fell to pieces. It was observed that such of the houses

as were not provided with upper windows gave the appearance of a

2 i

218 The Flooding of the Indus. [No. 38.

sort of blowing up when they fell after the water had covered the

doorway. There must have been, on such occasions, a certain amount

of compressed air within and while I don’t think that it could have

lifted the roof, yet, when the walls gave way and the structure fell,

it was to be expected that the air would make its exit through the

breaking roof, and so carry a cloud of dust up with it. The

barracks being of brick masonry (and particularly good brick

masonry,) and being on higher ground than most of the other

buildings in the station, escaped without material injury. The flood

now reached about 80 miles up the river, but stopt short by about

G miles of the point where that of 1841 was distinctly to be

traced to.

The height attained in the lower part of the Cabul river valley

was very striking. It appeared to surpass anything reached near

Attok. The causes I think were, that below the junction the right

bank, on which the Indus would infringe, is bluff, and a side-current

would be set off up the Cabul river, while again, as is observed of

the tide, which in gulfs far surpasses the height attained in the open

sea, the water, pouring in through a narrow opening and spreading

out into the valley beyond, would maintain a fall in that direction ;

and before the check reached back again to the mouth a quantity

greater than the fair capacity of the closed sac would have been

forced into ib.

The stream turned perceptibly by the evening, and ran down during

the night, and this circumstance was the cause of much loss of pro-

perty which in the day light might have been saved. Natives ap-

pear also to have had a dread at Nowshera of entering the water on

account of the number of snakes and rats which were driven from

their holds as the water rose. Nothing of this sort was observed at

Attok, though there were a few serpents in the water. This is

usual however in the large rain floods which occur yearly.

During the morning of the 11th household furniture in consider-

able quantity from the station of Nowshera was seen to pass Attok;

and stacks of straw, Persian wheels, and such things, in large num-

bers from the valley of the Cabul river.

The deposit of silt was very great throughout the valley, as might

have been expected in such a blind opening, and the water, after the

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 219

turn, ebbed away with sufficient gentleness to leave it nearly undis-

turbed over all the open ground beyond the actual banks of the river.

The out flow in the bed also does not appear to have been peculiar-

ly rapid, and no remarkable cutting away of the original solid banks

was observed.

PPL LLDLLPOPPLPPIPOLPPLIPLPLIVIIIIVIIIF

Letter addressed to R. H. Davies, Esquire, Secretary to the Govern-

ment of the Punjab and its Dependencies.—By Major J. Bucur,

Deputy Commissioner, Cashmere, 1st July, 1859.

Srr,—I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of 2nd April,

1859, directing me, in accordance with the instructions of a despatch

from the Secretary to the Government of India in the Department

of Public Works, to ascertain the particulars of the recent imunda-

tion of the river Indus in August 1858, and to trace the residence of

certain syuds of “ Kangri,” or “ Kangra” who are reported by Captain

Henderson to have conveyed to the boatmen of Attok, a written

warning of the coming danger.

When your communication reached me, I addressed Captain Sandi-

lands (who is Officiating at Attok during the absence of Capt.

Henderson) requesting him to send me the original paper, from which

I should best be enabled to identify the authors ; I also asked him to

record the evidence of the boatmen, who had affirmed that the letter

was authenticated by the same signatures as that alleged to have been

received by them in 1841 on the occasion of the previous flood.

Jt seemed surprising that such an intimation should not first have

reached Jehandad Khan of Umb, the principal Chief on the river’s

bank above Attok, for if it came from the source of the obstruction

it would have been passed downwards from point to point, as had,

I knew, been done in 1841.

Captain Sandilands replied that no document had reached the boat-

men direct,—that the writing alluded to was a copy, which had been

forwarded to the executive Officer, from the Office of the Assistant

Commissioner at Attok; and he appended a copy of this and the

depositions I had requested.

2n 2

220 ‘The Flooding of the Indus. [No. 8.

The deposition of the Jemadar, and head boatmen of Attok, is to

the effect that their communication “to Captain Henderson related

only to the flood of 1841 in the reign of Maha Raja Sher Singh when

such a letter had come to them ; they remembered only the name of

Syud Kasim, but not where he lived. On the present occasion they

had received no written warning nor any reliable information—only

the general rumour.”’

The copy of the letter sent by Captain Sandilands was dated 29th

Har. 1915 8. (about 10th July, 1858,) bearing the seals of “ Syud

Jumal’” and “Syud Kasim,” addressed to Zerdad Khan, Meerdad

Khan and others of the Tarkheylee tribe, living at Kazeepore, near

Huzroo.

I then wrote to the Assistant Commissioner and obtained the ori-

ginal letter.

Syud Kasim, and Syud Jumal are brothers—Syuds, generally known

and respected, living at “ Kalinjur” in the Jagheer of Jehandad

Khan near the Indus, in Huzara. I know them both well, and Syud

Kasim had informed me of the general report that the river was ob-

structed somewhere in its upper course.* The letter was at once

acknowledged ; they had written it to their marriage relations (whom

I also know) on the authority of Jowala—a trader of their village

who had received, and read in their presence a Hindee note from his

brother Khuzana of Umb (Jehandad Khan’s place) informing him

that he (Khuzana) had learnt from intelligence which the Khan had

received, that the river was shut up in its bed, and therefore he had

sent off his property for safety.

Khuzana being called, stated that he was with Jehandad Khan at

Bara (on the hills above the left bank of the Indus) and that the

Khan advised him to remove his property from Umb, as one “ Nasir

Shah” of Bimbal (a village two days’ journey from Umb in the inde-

pendent country of the Akazye tribe) the brother of one of the Khan’s

servants, had written, that news had reached from a Raja “ Gohree-

tan” or “ Gohr Aman,” that two tributaries of the Indus were closed.

* T made this generally known to all the villages of Huzara on the Indus, tell-

ing them to be on their guard and to make what arrangements they thought best.

—Scarcely avy loss occurred to property and none to life.

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 221

He (Khuzana) did not know who this Raja was, or where he ruled ;

he believed he was somewhere “ high up the river.’’*

Jehandad Khan had died in the interim, but his minister Mahamud

Ruffahn stated that the Khan had received no message or writing

from any Raja, and no more authentic account, in support of com-

mon rumour, than a letter from “ Nasir Shah” of the Akazye tribe,

brother of Gholam Khan, one of the Khan’s servants, which contained

no particulars beyond the information of persons coming “from above,”’

that the river wassomewhere closed, The Khan, however, took the

precaution to remove his effects from the river’s edgeto Dogana. He

had no means of acquiring certain information, having no communi-

cation with the Chiefs above ; but in 1840-41, just before the former

great flood, a writing on the bark of the birch tree (bhoj putta) was

sent down the river from above as a warning; it was not known from

whence; but was said to come from a tribe of some name like

“ Hoodur.”’+ It conjured all men, Hindoo and Musulman, to fly from

the river’s side, and was couched in general terms.”

I then addressed Syud Umran of Sultanuh on the Indus, a man of

ereat repute, as the brother of Syud Ukbur Badshah of Swat, asking

him, if he had received intimation of the recent flood of 1858. He

answered that he had received none in this instance ; but that, in 1841

Syud Ukbur had received several communications from priests (Ool-

mah) of Gilgit.

Hence then, as to the writing sent down from somewhere near the

site of the barrier of 1841, there is no doubt, it is universally spoken

of in Huzara ; and, since I have been in Cashmere, I have learnt that

Raja “Kurreem Khan” of Gilgit sent a warning written on bark

to the inhabitants of the plains, the bark being used to convey greater

credit. But as regards the late inundation of 1858, no such com-

munication from the spot seems to have been made.

* Gohr Aman is the Raja of Yussim who lately defeated the Garrison of Maha

Raja Golab Singh in Gilgit, deposed the protected Raja of Gilgit (a minor,)

and seized his country. He is chiefly known from his custom of selling men as

slaves or exchanging them for dogs.

+ There is said to be a village named “ Hoodur” under Gilgit ou the borders

of Chilass on the right bank of the Indus; though it does not appear in the

map.

222 The Flooding of the Indus. | No. 3.

As I mentioned in my letter of 29th March last, Captain Hender-

son had travelled from Cashmere towards Ladakh, and up some por-

tion of the course of the “Shayok,” one of the main tributaries of the

Indus, had seen huge glaciers borne down or projecting into the stream,

and in all probability had read Captain Alexander Cunningham’s book

on Ladakh, where this “ cataclysm’’ of 1841, as well as those previous

to it,* is fixed at 80 miles below the village of Sasserh, and 20 miles

above the junction of the river Chang Chinmoo with the Shayok.}

Following up this direction on the map,{ he found near the head of

another branch, issuing from the Nubra lake, the village of Kangree,

which seemed to represent or resemble that from which the letter of

the Syuds came. .

But as the letter from which the deduction is drawn, proves to

have travelled only a few miles from the Syuds of Kahiajur in Huza-

ya to the Tarkheylees of Kazeepore, and as I can learn nothing of

any Syuds of Kangri,—I have no doubt that the mistake has arisen

from the similarity of the Persian letters in the two names, and I

think this disposes of the questions of the previous warning and of

the locality of the informants.

It is certainly very desirable to ascertain the locality of the late

obstruction, and I have purposely deferred my reply, as I was on the

point of leaving for Cashmere where I should have the greatest facili-

ty for enquiry ; but in my letter of 29th March I have already indicated

the spot as in the vicinity of Gilgit. This was the result of my enqui-

ries from the frontier beyond Huzara, and of information communicated

by the authorities of the Maha Raja of Cashmere,§ whose Fort of Boon-

* In 1826 and 1833, A. D.

+ See Cunningham’s “ Ladakh,’ Page 101.

{ Map of the Punjab published in the Office of the Surveyor General of India.

§ Translation of a letter dated 15th Asaj, 1915 or 30th September, 1858, from

Wuzeer Poonoo, Offg. Governor of Cashmere, to the Vakeel of the Maja Raha of

Cashmere at Huzara.

““* ** The Hurkura (messenger) I sent to Iskardo has returned and reporis

that the river coming from Gilgit joins the Attok (Indus) 4 coss above the Fort

of Boonjee, and a branch coming from Nuggur and Hoonza joins the Gilgit

river below Gilgit. The late inundation proceeded from these “ Hoonza’:

and **Nuggur” rivers, there was a lake above Hoonza in the mountains, the

waters of which were dammed up and have now been set free. Have the good-

ness to communicate this to the Deputy Commissioner of Huzara.”

1859.1] The Flooding of the Indus. 223

jee in Hussoora district is situated on the left bank of the Indus,

between the confluence of the rivers of Gilgit and “ Astor’? or Hus-

soora, and watches the road to Gilgit.

Since I have been in Cashmere, I have carefully questioned men

from Gilgit, Hoonza, Nuggur, and Ghor, and particularly two

(Mahomed Khan and Hunneefa) who had left Nuggur only 24 days

deputed by the Raja Zaffir Zaid Khan to ask the aid of the Maha

Raja against Raja “Gohraman” in Gilgit. All accounts agree

that the late stoppage* was of the river of Hoonza, about a day’s

journey above the fort and town of that name, and 4 or 5 days

journey Northward of Gilgit. It was caused by the subsidence of a

mountain side called “ Phungurh’’ on the left or Nuggur bank, from

the action of rain and snow above, and of the stream. below, in the

winter of 1858. The vast fragments of rock, and earth, and trees

and drift wood, dammed up the arrow bed of the river for 6 months ;

when the waters swollen from the melting of the snow in the moun-

tains, burst a sudden passage in August, and destroyed many forts

and villages and lands of the Hoonza and Gilgit districts. The

lake mentioned by Wuzeer Poonoo was probably the back water of

this huge dam.

Captain Montgomerie of the Engineers, who has charge of the

Grand Trigonometrical Survey in Cashmere has arrived at the same

conclusion regarding the site of this barrier of 1858, by an enquiry

altogether independent of mine.

I have already reported that ment} were deputed by me from

Huzara in the direction of Gilgit to make personal enquiry and

if possible see the very spot; but letters from the border of the

Kohistan country with Gilgit, received on 26th May, declare their

inability to proceed further, because of hostilities between the Chief

of Nuggur and those of Hoonza and Gilgit; “the road is closed

to all travellers, and four men, who lately went from Chilass, were

robbed and put to death.’’—I had hoped to have been able from their

enquiries to confirm or dispel a present disquieting rumour that one

of the five tributary rivers near Gilgit is still obstructed.

* Of 1858, A. D.

+ Izzuttoolla Khan, Syud Sufdur Ali.

tIt was reported originally that two tributary rivers had been stopped, of

which one has set itself free and the other remains closed.

224 The Flooding of the Indus. | No. 3.

The Maha Raja’s Officers in the Fort of Boonjee have on my

applications, sent back several replies said to be from the best in-

formation, that the river (above Chilass) is nowhere impeded, but is.

rolling on with its accustomed volume; the latest report is of 8th

June, 1859 (28th Jait, 1916). Those whom I have seen, inhabitants

of that country, say the same; the two men of Nugegur, whom I

have named above, only add that the bed of the Hoonza is still some-

what encumbered by remaining rocks, and that a guard is maintained

there by the Nuggur Raja to prevent the crossing of the hostile people

of Hoonza by throwing over a bridge of rope or timber. Nasir Shah

of Bimbhul, the man of the Akazye tribe whose information convey-

ed to the Khan of Umb proved so true—although he is very far from

the spot—now writes that during last April there was general alarm

of the flood coming anew, and all people removed their property ;

but that they have now brought 16 back, although no certain inform-

ation has come, one way or the other.

My opinion is, that there is now no real cause of apprehension ;

it is only natural that the rumour should be revived—it was so

after 1841; but the certainty is hard of attainment in a country

so cut off by difficulties, political and geographical—and beset with so

much disunion and enmity and ignorance and jealousy and entire

disregard of all but immediate interests.

As regards the removal of the obstacle (when such an accident

may again occur) by our scientific efforts, I think it is impracticable ;

the labour of removing such vast masses of mountains, or of glaciers,

would be immense; and as our motives would not be understood, the

party would require the protection of an army if in the direction of

Gilgit. None of the Maha Raja’s people even can venture there.

An expedition against Raja Gohraman is now being prepared.

Although it is somewhat beyond the limits of the present enquiry,

I have taken advantage of the present occasion to endeavour to

make sure of the site of the obstruction of 1841, A. D.

Captain Alexander Cunningham places it 280 miles above Iscardo,

near the head of the Shayok branch of the Indus, about half way

in a distance of 50 miles, along which the road to Yarkund was said

to be inaccessible, when he and Captain Strachey and Dr. Thomson

visited Ladakh in 1847; but none of these officers saw the spot thus

indicated.

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 995

Captain Cunningham records three inundations of the Indus

since A. D. 1822, in the years 1826, 1833 and 1841.

In 1887, Mr. Vigne travelled beyond Iscardo, and learnt that a few

years previously (1833) a serious flood had come down the valley of the

Shayok, which was attributed to the bursting of a glacier by which

the waters of a large lake, called the Nubra Tsuh, had hitherto been

upheld ; and he added that “so well was the cause of this inundation

known to the people, that it was believed that the same terrific vi-

sitation might be expected again at no very distant period.”

Captain Cunningham, who quotes this passage, immediately adds

“the expected cataclysm occurred in June 1841, but t¢ was immensely

greater in volume and more devastating in tts effects than the previous

inundation of 1838.

In the edition of 1844, Mr. Vigne adds a note as follows, “Since

writing the above, I observe that a letter from Dr. Falconer dated

Sth August, 1841, has been read at the Calcutta Asiatic Society,

containing a notice of some devastating inundations that have taken

place on the Indus below its debouchure ; and it is highly probable

that the glacier of the Nubra T’suh may have again been broken up.

** #* *% * * Brom the openness of the bed of the river, as seen

from Acho, I should also imagine that the obstruction must have

happened above the place marked on the Map, “ Makpon-i-Shang

Rong.’’*

Captain Cunningham proceeds to give the testimony of the people

of “Chulung,” “ Tartuk,” “and Tertse’’ (places on the bank of the

Shayok river, but about 180 miles below his assumed site of the

accident) and affirms that the effects could in October 1847 be traced

to a height of more than 20 feet above the stream, where straws and

twigs were massed together in lines 2 or 8 feet broad.

As Captain Cunningham’s own route did not include this portion

of the country, the above information was probably collected by

Dr. Thomson. At that season (October) the river always falls con-

siderably, so that these lines of grass and twigs may possibly have

*This spot is opposite Gilgit, and at least 400 miles below Sasserh. It is

described by Captain Cunningham as a place of craggy defiles, where the waters

of 1841 must have been massed up atleast to 100 feet. It is near the point

where the late obstruction of 1858 is asserted to have occurred.

7A, OS

226 The Flooding of the Indus. [No. 3.

been the deposits of the summer high water, or they may have been the

residue of 18838, or of another local flood. It seems certain that

an inundation of the Shayok did occur in A. D. 1833 ; it is corro-

borated by the information I have received in Cashmere; and as

every one knows what pains is required to prevent a confusion of

dates and occurrences in any account given by an Asiatic, and how

difficult it is to keep them to one precise clear account, it is not

improbable that the calamity of 1833 was referred to in the testi-

mony of the inhabitants of Chulung, Tertse, &c., whose Tibetan

language would require an interpreter, and who must have been

ignorant of the flood of 1841, if it took place at any distance below

their villages.

In reading Captain Cunningham’s account, I am impressed with

the idea that a conclusion was at once drawn that the origin of all

the cataclysms of the Indus was from one cause, and at one and the

same point, high up among the glaciers of a tributary stream where

the waters are chiefly generated by the snows.

In my letter of 29th March, I stated that this opinion was not

borne out by native statements, and since I have extended my enqui-

ries, 1 am the more convinced that the great flood of 1841 occurred

about 400 miles below the site specified by Captain Cunningham, *

and was caused by the arrest of the main Indus, across which a moun-

tain called Ultoo Kunn subsided at a narrow place about five coss

south of “ Ghor,’”’ two or three coss above Tuleycha, and four or five

coss below the Fort of “ Boonjee”’ (in the district of Astor or Hussoora,

where the Maha Raja of Cashmere has a garrison).

Boota Khan, a man of Ghor, in the service of the Raja of Nugeur,

now in Cashmere gives the most exact account, and declares that he

saw the actual dam; that some men of his village chanced to be

washing in the river for gold, and were buried by the fall of the soft

soiled mountain, which he attributes to an earthquake. He also saw

the spot after the waters had forced their way.

I directed Meerza Syfodeen, the Cashmere newswriter to refer to

the reports of that time written by his father, Meerza Ahud, to Sir

George Clerk at Umballa; and those of April and June 1841, before

* As near * Sasserh,”

1859. | The Flooding of the Indus. 227

and just after the event, seem to refer it to the neighbourhood of

Hussoora and Gilgit.*

The inundation of 1833, caused by the accumulation of ice in the

Shayok branch, was more local and comparatively harmless; it is not

even known in the plain country of Huzara, Chuch, or Attok. Captain

Cunningham describes that of 1841 as “immensely greater in effect,”

which is hardly to be explained, if the cause and the position was the

same in both. I have not been able to consult Dr. Thomson’s work,

nor the paper of Dr. Falconer addressed to the Asiatic Society

in 1841.

The recent cataclysm of August 1858, is I think proved to have

been that of the Hoonza branch, which at least affords an example

that the site can vary; this is 300 miles from Attok. Yet no remark-

able difference was previously visible in the state of the lower Indus

in Huzara or at Attok; whereas in 1841 (before the flood) the river

was fordable, and shrunk wonderfully to a small stream, I do not think

it would have been so, had only one tributary like the Shayok been

dammed up 600 miles above at Sasserh. Again, in 1841 when, as

I believe, the main Indus, after the junction of many tributaries,

was arrested, when the barrier was burst, down at once in one over-

whelming irresistible wall came the “bore”? of discoloured waters,

defying all hope of escape, while latterly in 1858, the rise though

great was gradual, and afforded a warning for flight.

* Copy of Intelligence from Meerza Ahud in April 1841.

I, “ From Hussoora and Gilgit, news has arrived that in last January a moun-

tain (by reason of an earthquake) fell into the Indus or Attok river, and has

closed the course of its stream, up to the 1st May, 12 coss of lands in the Gil-

git district has been submerged. Jubbar Khan the Chief of Hussoora sent in

a note to Cashmere that the waters would continue pent up for another month,

and after that would force a passage in some direction.”

From the above in June, 1841.

Il. “From Gilgit the news is that the waters of the Sinde or Attok by reason

of the fall of a mountain were brimmed up in the direction of Gilgit for a

long time, and there was a lake reaching to a distance of 18 coss; high hills

were on all sides ; when it had risen immensely, the river forced its way with great

velocity and is now pursuing its natural course—many villages of Yusoofzye,

Chuch and Huzara have been destroyed by the deluge.”

| 24 2

228 The Flooding of the Indus. [No. 3.

It seems then, from what has happened within our knowledge

and from the character of the many tributaries of the Indus, and of

the mountains, and rocks and glaciers which confine and check their

course, that these accidents may often occur, and in many different

places ; it must always be exceedingly difficult to obtain accurate

and timely information, and scarcely possible always to determine

the exact place, but as I believe that a stoppage of any tributary

above Iskardo or at least Ladakh, would hardly affect our territories

on the Indus, and asthe Maha Raja of Cashmere has posts along the

main river, I think that information may always be had through

Cashmere, the authorities being enjoined particularly to observe the

river, and in the event of any suspicious fall or rise to communicate

with Gilgit, Nuggur, Yussun, Hoonza and other countries beyond

their border, with some parties in which, the stronger or the weaker,

they have generally some relations.*

The Deputy Commissioner of Huzara, in the event of a rumour,

should endeavour to obtain intelligence from Chilass and from Koli

and Palus in the Kohistan country, which may best be managed

through the Syuds of Khagan. The Khan of Umb also should

endeavour to cultivate some acquaintance with influential men, or

Moollahs of the Kohistan, and Gilgit country, and the Akhoonzada

of Kotah in Yusoofzye, who has great religious influence, is also a

man likely to acquire the best information, if the several chiefs near

Indus who are his votaries will press the matter on his attention, as

it has now been proved that these calamities may occur at any time.

A little exertion will generate a valuable intercourse, and dispel

the ignorance and marvellous indifference which now exists, and

almost peoples with “ anthropophagi’ the “upper regions’ of the

Indus.

* I may add to the difficulties of communication, that for half the year

the passes in the mountains are closed by snow, and intercourse is nearly impos-

sible,

1859, | On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 229

On the different Animals known as wild Asses.—

By Epwarp Bryre.

At least four distinct species—if the Dshiggitai or Kyang (Equus

HEMIONUS of Pallas) be considered to differ specifically from the

Koulan or Ghor-khur (HK. oNAGER vel Hi. astnus onagur of Pallas)

—have been confounded under the general denomination of ‘ wild

Asses’: and two of the four have hkewise been designated ‘ wild

Horses’; a name to which they are Jess entitled, as all agree in

exhibiting the few structural distinctions that characterize the

Asinine sub-group apart from the Hguie or Caballine.

The systematic names bestowed by Pallas are so far unfortunate,

that they do not apply to the particular species which were known

by them to the ancient Greeks and Komans—one of which latter

has only recently been discriminated by Professor Isidore Geoffroy

St. Hilaire, by the name Equus HEMIPPUs. This (from its habitat)

is necessarily the Hemionus vel Hemippus, or ‘ wild mule,’ of the

ancients ; whilst their Onager (as the name implies) refers as clearly

to the veritable wild E. astnus, which, to this day, as formerly,

exists in nuinerous troops in N. Ei. Africa, if not also in the south-

ern parts of Arabia and island of Socotra. The HEMiIpeus of mo-

dern nomenclature is the representative of the present group in

Syria, Mesopotamia, and the northern portion of Arabia, where de-

signated by Col. Chesney the ‘ wild Horse,’ as distinguished from his

‘wild Ass’ of southern Arabia; and it is the species figured in

Wagner’s Saugtheire (1856), pl. 33, by the erroneous name of

Equus asINUS oNAGER of Pallas, from a living individual formerly

in the Knowsley menagérie.

It should be especially noted that the great naturalist, Pallas, de-

scribed his EK. HumMiIonvs from personal observation of the animal;

whereas he describes his HE. onacer only at second-hand, having

never seen a specimen. Had he personally inspected the latter, it

is exceedingly doubtful if he would have recognised the two as

distinct species, or have considered the western animal to be the

real Onager or aboriginal wild Ass. In his account of the Dshig-

gua, he remarks—“ On ne doit pas le confondre avec Vane des

230 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. [| No. 8.

steppes nommé Kowlan par les Kirguis occidentaux; les détails

que je me suis procurés sur ce denier, m’ont convaincu qu’ il étoit

Pane sauvage, l’Onagre des anciens. Le Koulan se tien par trou-

peau dans les landes montagneuses de Ja Tatarie occidentale, comme

le Dshiggitai dans les deserts de la Mongolie.”’* Curiously enough,

we at present know the Dshiggitat or Kyang more as a mountain

animal, in the elevated wilds of Tibet, and the Koulan or Ghor-khur

more as an inhabitant of the sandy desert.

The late Professor H. Walker referred the Tibetan yang to

Equus HEMIoNvs of Palias; and the Ghor-khur of this country is

even more satisfactorily referable to E. onagur of Pallas, figured by

Gmelin: but Professor Walker committed the extraordinary mis-

take of figuring and describing an Indian Ghor-khur for a Kyang,t

so that the alleged distinctions which he has pointed out are value-

less. However this mistake originated, there is no doubt whatever

of the fact. The animal was procured and sent down to Calcutta

by the late Mr. Thomason, Governor of tle N. W. Provinces; who

was just in the position to obtain a Ghor-khur from the western

deserts, but scarcely a Tibetan KAyang. No doubt it was sold to

him as a Puhdria or ‘ mountain’ Ghor-khur, for this epithet is con-

tinually applied by the natives of India to any creature foreign to

their own province, as the experience of readers who have been in

the habit of purchasing animals in this country will readily testify.

By what route it reached Mr. Thomason we are uninformed, as also

how it came to be accompanied by a Himalayan pony from which it

was inseparable; but having compared Dr. Walker’s figure and de-

scription with stuffed specimens of undoubted SKyangs, and with

three living undoubted Ghor-khurs now in Calcutta, the conclusion

here arrived at is irresistible.

* Voyages de Pallas, 1V, 305 (French edition, 1793).

In p. 309, I observe a statement which is worthy of especial notice, as being

made by Professor Pallas. The existence of the pouch of the Great Bustard

(Oris TarpDA) is denied by Professor Owen, though asserted by the Hon’ble

Walter Elliot to be a characteristic of the Great Bustard of India (Eupoporis

Epwarpsi). Of the former, however, Pallas thus writes—‘ Cet animal a un

petit trou sous la langue, qui sert d’ouverture 4 une bourse aqueuse, qui est de la

grosseur d’un ceuf d’oie, et qui pése souvent plus de trente livres. On ne conndit

point ici la Petite Outarde.” + J. A. S, XVII, pt. 1, p. 1 and pl. 1.

1859. | On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 231

While identifying the Kyang with the Dshiggitai, however, Pro-

fessor Walker little imagined that he was making the same mistake

that he considered M. Frederic Cuvier and others to have done, in

referring the Ghor-khur also to EK. temionus. I find that the Ghor-

khur accords to the minutest particular with the Koulan or HE. ona-

eer of Pallas, figured by Professor Gmelin from an occasional

variety bearing a short humeral stripe (which is not rare also in

Indian specimens of either sex),* from the presence of which the

identity of this animal with the true Ass has been generally but

erroneously inferred. Of the two individuals then at St. Peters-

burgh, which are described by Professor Gmelin, it may be remark-

ed that his male only had the shoulder-stripe, and his female not a

trace of it; and he was informed that individuals had been seen

with a second shoulder-stripe. ‘This I have myself observed in the

domestic Ass, and even a third and fourth, more or less developed,

the additional being of variable length, and given off along the back

as far as the loins ; though it is very rarely that more than a single

stripe occurs, and I have seen only one domestic Ass without the

shoulder-stripe. Many of our Indian Donkeys have also well de-

fined transverse bars on the limbs, which are permanent for life

(not, as described by Professor T. Bell, peculiar to the foal) ; they

are often black and strongly contrasting, placed rather distantly

apart, and they vary much in length. It is remarkable that some

races of Horses also have the same markings. The well known

‘Hel-back dun’ of England is so named from its black dorsal stripe,

bearing a supposed resemblance to an Kel; the Indian Kattyawar or

rather Cutch Horse has generally, in addition, the shoulder-stripe,

and Zebra-markings on the limbs, black and very distinct and con-

spicuous; and the same may be observed of many of the Shan

ponies, from the independent states north of Burma, many of which

are brought annually to Maulmein, and not a few thence to Cal-

cutta. I have seen one of these of the pale drab colour usual in

the Ass, with the cross and the stripes on the limbs deep black and

* Jacquemont notices such a specimen, which he saw in Barrackpore Park.

Voyage dans Inde. 1,170. Vide also J. A. S. XXVI, 240.. In Pallas’s Zoographia

Rosso-asiatica, which I have seen since penning the above, there is a coloured

figure of E. onaGeR, but much too rufous in the particular copy to accord with

the description.

232 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. [No.3

most conspicuous, the dorsal stripe being continued down the tail just

as in the asinine series ; yet in all other respects it was a handsome

robust pony, with copious equine mane and tail, shewing no approxi-

mation whatever to the asinine group in its structure or voice.

‘Those who believe that the domestic Horse is a compound species,

derived from a plurality of aboriginal races, may well infer that

they perceive, in the markings described, indications of certain of

those’ races.*

In some examples of the Ghor-khur, as that figured by Dr. Wal-

ker (from a drawing from life by Dr. Cantor),f there are no traces

whatever of markings on the limbs; others shew slight traces, more

or less distinct, chiefly at the joints; and others again have the

entire limbs strongly marked: but the stripes do not resemble those

often seen in domestic Donkeys, or in the races of Horse referred

to; in general they are wavy lines of fawn, often more or less crossed

or reticulate,—but in some more regular and Zebra-like,—upon ob-

serving which, I remembered the description in Bell’s‘ Travels in Tar-

tary’ (I, 224), of the ‘wild Asses’ found in the country of the

Tzulimm Tartars, “the hair of which is waved, white and brown.

like that of a Tiger:’”? he “ had seen many of their skins.” So far

as the limbs are concerned, this description is quite intelligible with

reference to many Indian examples of the Ghor-khur.

* It does not follow, because the hybrid offspring of the Horse and Ass is

mostly infertile (the male mule perhaps always), that distinct species of the Equine

or Caballine group, or of the Asinine group respectively, should not produce a

prolific intermediate race, hybrid with hybrid. In the London Zoological Gardens

there was formerly a triple hybrid, the sire of which was a Quagga, and the dam

a cross between the Ass and Zebra. i

The curious animal figured by Col. C. H. Smith, in his volume on the Solidun-

gula in the ‘ Naturalist’s Library,’ by the name Asinus hippagrus (vel equuleus),

appears to me to be a Chinese hinny, or offspring of the Horse and she-Ass. Its

stripes might have been derived from either parent, if not and very probably from

both of them. Col. Smith also figures what he terms an ‘ Kel-back dun’ from the

Ukraine, with the humeral cross-stripe but no limb-markings. In the text, bow-

ever, he repeatedly alludes to those markings, as occurring sometimes in the ‘ Kel-

back dun’ race.

+ J. A. §. XVII, pt. II, p. 1, and pl. 1. This published figure is bad, whatever

the drawing may have been. There is no anatomy about it; and the grace and

beautiful contour of the creature are not at all pourtrayed. The head, in particular

and the haunch are exceedingly ill-represeuted,

1859.] On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 238

It would appear that these limb-markings are never seen in the

Kyang ; but a narrow black ring adjoining the hoof would seem to

be constant in this animal, as was first pointed out to me by Major

Robert C. Tytler, the proprietor of the three Ghor-khurs now in Cal-

cutta. This mark is also more or less developed in the Ghor-khur ;

but is by no means conspicuous in either race. In two stuffed spe-

cimens of the Kyang, old and young, in the Society’s museum, there

is no black shoulder-stripe, but in place of it the coat is there dis-

tinctly of a deeper shade of hue, so that the stripe is faintly indi-

cated, as is best seen from a moderate distance. The same is ob-

servable, when especially looked for, in an unmounted skin. In one

only of Major Tytler’s three Ghor-khurs, there is a small narrow

black line, on one side only of the animal, where the cross occurs in

some individuals. In another Ghor-khur, which I saw in the Surrey

Zoological Garden, there was an incipient cross-stripe, about an inch

long on one sid32, and still less (the merest indication of it) on the

other side. In the individual which Jacquemont saw in Barrackpore

Park, he remarks that there was “ une ligne noire transversale sur

les épaules.” Whether this cross-stripe is ever seen in the HEMIP-

PUS remains to be ascertained.

Sir R. Kerr Porter describes a “ wild Ass’’ without even the dor-

sal stripe ; and as he completed his sketch of it from a second indi-

vidual which he killed, our incredulity should therefore abate some-

what, even though his account remains uncorroborated to this day.

All other observers seem to agree in describing the Persian wild Ass

to have the usual longitudinal dorsal streak. Thus, in Morier’s

‘Second Journey through Persia’ (II, 201), we read—* The wild

Ass is of a light mouse-colour, with a dark streak over its shoulder

and down its back,’? which may imply that a cross-stripe was also

observed. Porter, however, states—‘“ The mane was short and black,

as was also a tuft which terminated his tail; no line whatever ran

along his back, or crossed his shoulders, as are seen in the tame spe-

cies.’ Such an animal does not appear to have been met with by

any other person! Prof. St. Hilaire suspects that it will yet prove

to be a distinct species. As an example of the vague misuse of

names in which many authors indulge, it may here be remarked

| 2H

234 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. __[No. 3.

that in Kinneir’s ‘ Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire’

(p. 42), these animals are actually styled “ Zebras or wild Asses !”’ |

The voice of Major Tytler’s Ghur-khurs is a loud shrieking bray.

It is decidedly different from that of an animal which I heard in

the Zoological Gardens, Regent Park, which also was a distinct

bray, but much less harsh and discordant than that of a Donkey.

This animal was probably a numrppus; and Prof. Is. St. Hilaire

remarks that the voice of the HEMrPPUS is notably different from

that of the ‘ Hemione,’ meaning the Ghor-khur. Also that “le

braire de nos Hemiones indiens, si l’on veut se servir pour eux de

ce mot, différe considérablement du braire de |’ Ane, soit domestique,

soit sauvage.”’* When and where the distinguished Professor heard

the bray of the wld Ass does not appear on the record; but the

probability is that it differs little, if at all, from that of the domestic

animal.

The Kyang, according to Major A. Cunningham, “neighs like a

Horse;’? and I suspect that it was upon his authority that Dr.

Walker asserted the same, and that he had never heard the voice

of the Ghor-khur which he described. Again, Mons. Hue remarks,

of the Kyang’s voice, that “le henissement qu’ils font entendre est

vibrant, clair et sonore.’’f On the other hand, Moorcroft asserts

that “his ery is more like braying than neighing;’’f~ and in an

admirable letter, signed ‘ Norinan Leslie, which appeared in a late

No. of the #riend of India newspaper, giving an account of a

Tibetan tour and of the sport obtained in the course of it (includ-

ing the ‘bagging’ of a noble specimen of the wild Yak), the follow-

ing passage occurs relative to the Ayang, which is well worthy of

citation :—

“ As the spectator stands on the elevated land by the water-shed,

he sees to the north the course of the Sutlej running from east to

west through a table-land which is 14,000 feet high, avd intersected

with ravines; the Himalayas to the south look but an ordinary

range of hills scarcely so elevated in appearance as the range beyond

the Sutle] which bounds the view, and in which to the eastward the

* Comptes Rendus, December 21st, 1855, p. 1224.

+ Souvenirs d’un Voyage dans la Tatarie, le Thibet, et la Chine, IT, 221.

t Moorcroft’s Travels, I, 443.

1859. ] On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 235

peak of Kylas rises conspicuous. On the plains between the

ravines herds of Kyang feed; they are more asinine than equine in

appearance, are of a light red colour, with white belly and legs, and

have the hog-mane stripe down the back, and tail of an Ass; the

head is disproportionately large, and they bray instead of neighing.”

I have also been assured by actual observers, familiar with the

voice of the Kyang, that it is “as much like neighing as braying;”

but this I do not comprehend. It must surely be either one or the

other. A neigh is a tremulous expiration only. A dray consists of

alternate expirations and inspirations. And there can be little

doubt that the Ayang will prove to resemble the other asinine qua-

drupeds in braying and not neighing, notwithstanding the highly

respected testimony of Major Cunningham.*

The resemblance of the two animals is indeed exceedingly close,

again notwithstanding the assertion to the contrary of Major Cun-

ningham, Dr. Hooker, and others,—g¢reater even than that of either

of them to the Hrmiprus, which hag a conspicuously smaller head

and shorter ears. ‘The size and figure of the two would seem to be

absolutely alike, with a heavy but well formed head, longish ears,

rather a short neck, and body and limbs of exquisite ¢urnewr, indi-

cative of extraordinary fleetness. I have not seen the living Kyang

or Dyiggetai, but the croup is distinctly higher than the withers in

the living Ghor-khur or Koulan. 'The colour of the Kyang is much

deeper and more rufous than that of the Ghor-khur, and there is

considerably more of white about the latter. The Ghor-khur is of

the isabelline or sandy hue of most animals of the desert, but with

a distinct rufescent tinge; its dorsal stripe would seem to be gener-

ally much broader than in the Ayang, though varying in breadth

in different individuals: but it may be remarked that this stripe

* I have never heard the voice of the Quagga from which that species derives its

name, That of the Ghor-khur is considered by Major Tytler to resemble exceed-

ingly the cry of a mule. The truth might, indeed, be anatomically determined.

Thus, Cuvier remarks, of the Ass,—‘‘sa voix rauque (appellée braire) tient 4

deux petites cavités particuliéres du fond de son larynx.”’ R, A., I, 253. Pennant,

following Pallas, remarks of the Tshiggetai, that—‘' their neighing is deeper and

louder than that of the Horse :” a description which most assuredly cannot be re-

conciled with the shrieking bray of the Ghor-khur !

2 uw 2

236 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. __[No. 8.

varies much in width in the domestic Donkey, at least in the dimi-

nutive Indian race of Asses, being in some individuals of the latter

quite as broad as in any Ghor-khur: this mesial stripe, however,

seems to be broader down the tail in the Kyang, and is continued

down to the black terminal tuft ; whereas in the Ghor-khur (perhaps

with exceptions) the line is narrow on the tail and terminates at

some distance above the tuft. Again, in the Ghor-khur the dorsal

stripe (which in both is of a dark chocolate colour rather than

black) is more or less conspicuously bordered with white—as

likewise in the mrmMippus,—and this white extends broadly and

very conspicuously towards the tail and along the hind-margin

of the buttocks, where in the yang (as also, I since find, in some

Ghor-khurs,) the hue of the upper-parts is only moderately diluted.

Again, there is a much stronger tendency in the Ghor-khur

for the white of the under-parts to extend upwards from the

flanks, in some so much as to join that bordering the broad dorsal

streak, and so insulating the isabelline hue of the haunch; and the

zebra-markings of the limbs, common (though not invariably pre-

sent) in the Ghor-khur have been denied to be ever traceable in the

Kyang, and they certainly are not so in three skins of the latter

under examination. In conformity with the general tendency to

the extension of the white, as before remarked, that of the muzzle

also reaches higher in the Ghor-‘hur than in either the Kyang or

HEMIPPUS; and, lastly, the humeral cross, when apparent, shews

itself differently, being faintly visible in full development and placed

very forward in the Kyang, while in the Ghor-khur, when it does

occur, it is a black cross more or less developed, though never pro-

bably to so great an extent as in the true Ass.

Moorcroft, alluding to the Quagga, remarks that the Kyang is

“without stripes,’ (evidently meaning such as the Quagga exhibits,)

“except a reported one along each side of the back to the tail. These

were distinctly seen ina foal, but were not distinguished in adults.’’*

In tne Society’s stuffed specimens, especially when viewed from

some distance, the dull ruddy-brown or rufous-chesnut hue (approach-

ing to bay, especially on the head,) of the upper-parts becomes

gradually but distinctly darker on the flanks, to where it abruptly

1859. | On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 237

contrasts with the white of the belly ; and in an adult the jowl and

sides of the neck are white, reaching nearly up to the mane at the

setting on of the head, whence the brown above gradually widens

backward to the shoulder ; the white of the under-parts also ascends

above the elbow-joint, and posterior to the very dull indication of

the shoulder-cross, which is not darker than where the body hue

contrasts with the white of the flanks. Tue stuffed foal is generally

a trifle darker, and alittle different in the relative extension of its

shades; the dorsal stripe being also less sharply defined, though

only in consequence of the hair being longer. No doubt that indi-

viduals vary more or less, like individual Ghor-khurs.

Comparing the hoofs together, the only difference that I can

perceive consists in the fact that the Ayang skins before me are

those of wild animals, with the hoofs duly worn by constant action ;

whereas those of a Ghor-khur, belonging formerly to a captive

individual, are much less worn and accordingly are not so shapely.

The limb-bones present no difference whatever. In the skulls, the

only diversity that I can perceive may be fully accounted for by

disparity of age. We have the skull of a mature female Kyang,

with its last molars long in wear; and this corresponds with Major

Cunningham’s figures of the skull of a male Kyang.* With these

I compare that of an adolescent male Ghor-khur, with the penul-

timate molars just coming into wear, the last being enclosed within

their sockets, the two foremost deciduary pre-molars (on each side

above and below) about to be replaced, and a medial pair of permanent

incisors (above and below) just passing through the gums. A Horse

at this stage of development would be reckoned as 25 years old. At

this particular age, I can perceive no further difference than can be

accounted for by incomplete development on the part of the

immature Ghor-khur.+

* Ladak, &c., pl. VI, p. 195.

+ Since the above was in type, the Society has received from Major Lumsden, late

in charge of the Kandahar mission, an imperfect skin and a skull of an adolescent

male Ghork-hur from the vicinity of Kandahar. Its last molars were just coming into

wear, corresponding to about four years old in the Horse. The skin shows the short

summer vesture, and is of the same cream-colour or light isabelline hue as Major

Tytler’s three living specimens,—the true deser¢ colouring ; and this hue suffuses the

238 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. _[No. 3.

Having thus elaborately compared them, it is impossible to agree

with Dr. J. D. Hooker when he asserts that the Kyang “ differs wide-

ly from the ‘wild Ass’ of Persia, Sindh, and Beluchistan,” although

“undoubtedly the same as the Siberian animal.’ He adds, that

“it resembles the Ass more than the Horse, from its size, heavy

head, small limbs, thin tail and the stripe over the shoulder [!].

The flesh is eaten and much liked. The Kyang-lah mountains are

so named from their being a great resort of this creature.”* Tre-

beck’s remarks on the figure of the Kyang, as quoted by Cunning-

ham, apply alike to either race. The accomplished botanist cited

would most assuredly not recognise, as distinct species, two plants

from different regions which differed so very slightly from each

other as the Ghor-khur and the yang differ in the animal king-

dom. Indeed, so far as I can discover, the difference is only in

caudal region, which in Major Tytler’s animals is conspicuously much whiter : the

mesial dark line is very slight—almost evanescent—down the tail, in which respect

all the Ghor-khurs differ from all the Kyangs under examination ; and this stripe

is not broader upon the croup than in an ordinary Donkey: there are no traces

of markings on the limbs. The skull is unfortunately abnormal, being unsymme-

trical and curiously deviating from the straight line, to the left at the occiput and to

the right at the muzzle. The nasal bones are more compressed than in the Kyang

skull; but this difference does not exist in Major Tytler’s younger Ghor-khur skull,

nor certainly in his three living animals, so far as a judgment can be formed on

careful examination of them. There is an obvious deformity in the shape of the

lower jaw, the rami of which approximate almost to contact underneath for a

considerable portion of their length, and not quite symmetrically,

The only equine skull in the Calcutta Medical College is catalogued as that of

a Horse; but it exhibits the true asinine contour, and is nearly as large as that

of the adult Kyang. I do not think that it is a mule-skull; but rather that it

belonged to a fine specimen of the large Levantine race of domestic Asses, which

is occasionally met with in the N. W. of India, chiefly beyond Delhi. Had it been

the skull of a wild animal, it would probably have been registered as such: and

moreover, as a general rule, there is a considerable quantity of dark incrustation

on the teeth of wild grazing animals, which I think is never much observable on

those of domestic beasts: in the present instance, this is exhibited by the skull of

a wild Kyang and that of a wild Ghor-khur under examination, and in no skull

of domestie Horse or Ass, nor in the dubious Medical College specimen.

* ‘Himalayan Journal,’ II, 172.

1859. | On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 23

colouring, and this merely a difference of shades of hue and the

relative extension of them !* :

As regards the geographical distribution of the Kyang or Djigge-

tat, it does not appear that aught has been added to our knowledge

since the time of Pallas; and the same may be remarked of the

distribution of the Ghor-khur or Koulan, excepting that the proper

habitat of the HEMrepus has to be subtracted from that of the

Koulan, and the supposed migratory habits of the latter are not

confirmed by subsequent observation. In the depth of a Khiva

winter, this animal was observed in numerous herds near the west-

ern extremity of Lake Aral by Major James Abbott, who remarks

that he “ascended some high land covered with snow. Wind

scarcely endurable. We every day see herds of wild Asses, and

flocks of the Saiga Antelope. I counted 800 wild Asses in a single

herd.”’+ According to Lieut. Irwin, it is ‘common in Persia, the

western parts of Khorassdn, and the plains of Turkistan, from

which he extends north into the Russian dominions and the centre

of Asia. A few are kept by the Ymacks more for curiosity than

use.” Southward, they are still numerous in the parched and

rugged deserts of Beluchistén, which however are scarcely hotter

than the country about the Aral in summer: there are many of

them in the Pdé or desert between Asni and the hills, west of the

Indus, above Mithur-kote. “In this desert,’? remarks a recent

writer, “ they are to be found wandering pretty well throughout

the year; but in the early summer, when the grass and the water

in the pools have dried up from the hot winds (which are here ter-

rific), the greater number, if not all, of the Ghor-khurs migrate

to the hil!s for grass and water. Some are probably to be found in

* Vide a subsequent notice of the Ghor-khur, p. 240, where individuals are no-

ticed of a very dark colour! But the Dshigyetai, as described by Pallas and

Pennant, does not quite satisfactorily agree in colouring with the Tibetan Kyang !

* Le poil est d’un jaune rembruni, assez clair. Le nez et l’intérieur des membres

sont d’un jaune roux.” (Pallas, Voyage.) Pennant also, translating from the Ger-

man, writes—‘* The colour of the upper-parts of the body a light yellowish-grey,

growing paler towards the sides. Buttocks white, as are the inside of the limbs

and belly.’’ This colouring really applies better to the Ghor-khur.

t+ ‘ Narrative of a Journey from Herat to Khiva,’ &c, I, 23.

i J. A. S. VIII, 1008.

240 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. [| No. 3.

the hills throughout the year, for among them are sandy plains of

greater or less extent. The foaling season is in June, July, and

August ; when the Beluchis ride down and catch numbers of foals,

finding a ready sale in the cantonments for them, as they are taken

down on speculation to Hindustan. They also shoot great numbers

of full grown ones for food, the ground in places in the desert being

very favorable for stalking. *** Some are beautifully striped

on the legs; many are mottled. J have seen one or two of a very

dark colour. They have not generally the stripe on the shoulder,

though I think I have seen some with it slightly marked.’”* East-

ward of the Indus, this animal appears to be fast verging on exter-

mination ; and I am assured that one herd only is left in the Biké-

nir desert, where the foals are often run down, and Major Tytler’s

specimens are from this locality. There are still a few also in the

Runn of Cutch.t “ The wild Ass of Cutch and the north of Guz-

rat,’ remarked Col. Sykes in 1885, “is not found further south in

India than Deesa, on the banks of the Bunnas river in lat. about

23° 30’; nor have I heard of it to the eastward of the 75° of longi-

tude on the southern side of the Himalaya. In Cutch and northern

Guzrat it frequents the salt deserts and the open plains of the

> Again, Masson, in his ‘ Narrative

Opur, Jaysulmir, and Bikanir.’

* India Sporting Review, n. s. IIT, 172.

t+ From information obtained by Major Tytler, it appears that the Bikanir herd

consists at most of 150 individuals, which frequent an oasis a little elevated above

the surrounding desert, and commanding an extensive view around; the animals

being exceedingly shy, and making off on discerning an object of suspicion how-

ever distant. There is a low range of hills several miles off, in which is a water-

course dry during the hot season ;, but at the head of this, about a mile into the

interior of the hills, there is a perpetual spring to which the Ghor-khurs resort to

drink during the night, maintaining the most vigilant caution. Once only in the

year, when the foals are young, a party of five or six native hunters, mounted on

hardy Sindh mares, chase down as many foals as they can succeed in tiring, which

lie down when utterly fatigued and suffer themselves to be bound and carried off,

In general they refuse sustenance at first, and about one-third only of those taken

are reared; but these command high prices and find a ready sale with the native

princes. The profits are shared by the party, who do not attempt a second chase

in the same year, lest they should scare the herd from the district, as these men

regard the sale of a few Ghor-khurs annually as a regular source of subsistence.

1859. | On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 241

of a Journey to Kalat, (published in 1843), remarks that “ the

Ghur-khor, or ‘ wild Ass,’ was formerly to be found on the Dasht

Giran, and in Ghurgh’ina, but has disappeared of late years. It

is still occasionally seen about Kharan. It also ranges the plain of

Dalbanding, on the road from Nashké to Jalk. South-easterly of

Kalat, it is said to be found on the Pat of Shikarpur, between T'am-

bi and Rojan.”

To the west of the range of the Ghor-khur lies that of Asinus

HEMIPPUS, or true Hemionus of ancient writers,—the particular

species apostrophized in the book of Job, and again that noticed by

Xenophon. There is a recent account of it by Dr. A. H. Layard,

in ‘ Nineveh and its Remains’ (824). Returning from the Sinjar,

he was riding through the desert to Tel Afer, and there he mistook

a troop of them for a body of Horse, with the Bedouin riders con-

cealed! “The reader will remember,” he adds, “ that Xenophon men-

tions these beautiful animals, which he must have seen during his

march over these very plains. He faitafully describes the country,

and the quadrupeds and birds that inhabit it, as they are to this

day, except that the Ostrich is not now to be found so far north.*

‘The country,’ says he, ‘ was a plain throughout as even as the sea,

and full of wormwood ; if any other kind of shrubs or reeds grew

there, they had all an aromatic smell; but no trees appeared. Of

wild creatures, the most numerous were wild Asses, and not a few

Ostriches, besides Bustards, and Red Deer (Gazelles), which our

horsemen sometimes chased. The Asses, when they were pursued,

* According to Chesney, Ostriches are still ‘‘ found in the great Syrian desert,

especially in the plain extending from the Haouran towards Jebel Shammar and

Nedja: some of them are found in the Haouran itself ; and a few are taken al-

most every year, even within two days’ journey of Damascus,” &c. (Journal of

Euphrates Expedition, I, 558.) It is well known that Ostriches commouly ac-

company, at the present day, the troops of Quaggas and of Dauws in S. Africa.

The remnant of the Ostrich race in Syria requires close examination. From

some eggs in Major Tytler’s possession, I am strongly inclined to suspect a second

species of Ostrich. These eggs are smaller than the ordinary Ostrich egg, and

have a much smoother and more polished surface, with the pores scarcely per-

ceptible. In the ordinary Ostrich egg, the pores are particularly conspicuous,

Ostrich feathers, whithersoever obtained, are numerous among the Kurds, who

adorn their spears with them,

242 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. _[No. 8,

having gained ground on the Horses, stood still (for they exceeded

them much in speed); and when these came up with them, they

did the same thing again; so that our horsemen could take them

by no other means than by dividing themselves into relays, and suc-

ceeding one another in the chace. The flesh of those that were

taken was like that of Red Deer, but more tender.’ (dAnabd. 1. 1

c.5.) In fleetness,’’ continues Dr. Layard, “they equal the Ga-

zelle ; and to overtake them is a feat which only one or two of the

most celebrated mares have been known to accomplish. The Arabs

sometimes catch the foals during the spring, and bring them up

with milk in their tents. They are of a light fawn-colour—almost

pink. The Arabs still eat their flesh.’’ This will of course be the

animal seen by Mr. Ainsworth at the foot of Taurus, and observed

by him among the lower hills.*

Tt cannot be doubted that this Astnus Hemippus is the Mesopo-

tamian and Arabian ‘ wild Horse’ of Col. Chesney, as distinguished

from his ‘ wild Ass’ of the southern deserts of Arabia. In Meso-

potamia, this author remarks—“‘ We did not obtain a single spe-

cimen, although the Arabs engaged to bring one: they brought a

skin, however, of a light brown colour, without stripes, and having

a mane [! dark streak ?] all along its back. This is more probably

the wild Horse.” !!! Again, treating on the animals of Arabia, he

remarks—* The wild Horse, the wild Dog [? Lycaon piorus ?],

and a kind of wild Cow [Oryx Brarricis (?), Gray], inhabit the

country adjoining the district of Joff, between Tolink Sanou and

Kedrush ; and to the south of these places the wild Ass [Asinus

VULGARIS ?] is found in great numbers. The Sherarat Arabs hunt

them, and eat their flesh, but not before strangers.’”? Hlsewhere he

remarks that—“ The Ass is probably the original animal of its kind

|2. e. species domesticated ?| in the country ; for it is first mention-

ed in connexion with this part of the world (Gen. xii, 16, Exod.

iv. 20), and it was afterwards considered as a royal animal.” + Here

* ¢ Travels in Assyria, Babylonia, and Chaldea,’ p. III.

+ Col. C. H. Smith remarks that the Ass is “ repeatedly mentioned in the Pen-

tateuch before the Horse is noticed, such as, in the sacrifice of Abraham ; in his

visit to Egypt, where he received presents from Abimelech; and in the spoils of

Shechem, where Asses are mentioned with other cattle, but the Horse is not men-

1859. | On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 243

at least two species are indicated, which are likely to be the Astnus

HEMIPPUS and genuine A. VULGARIS in its aboriginally wild state ;

and the wild Asses of the island of Socotra may be presumed to be

no ohter than the latter. They are noticed by the late Lieut.

Wellsted, R. N., who remarks—“ Amidst the hills over Tamarida,

and upon the plain contiguous to it, there are a great number of

Asses, which were described to me as different from the domestic

Ass; but after repeated opportunities of observing them, I could

find no reason for such a distinction. The introduction of Camels,”

he remarks, “ having superseded the necessity of employing them

as beasts of burthen, they are permitted to stray where they please,

and now wander about in troops of ten or twelve, evincing little

fear unless approached very near, when they dart away with much

rapidity.” It is more likely that they are truly aboriginal.

The genuine wild Ass would, however, appear to be chiefly an

inhabitant of N. E. Africa, where considerable troops of these ani-

mals still exist, as described by ancient authors; and being of pre-

historical antiquity, it does not appear upon what grounds the late

Prince of Canino pronounced them to be the descendants of domes-

tic Donkeys, like those (for certain) in the hotter parts only of

America: for it may be remarked that itis only in a hot climate

that the Ass has returned to wildness,* and the domestie Ass is

said to thrive only in a warm climate, and to be reared with diffi-

eulty even in Norway. To this subject, however, I propose to re-

turn in the sequel.

Whether or not inhabiting the southern parts of the peninsula

of Arabia (which our friends at Aden should endeavour to ascer-

tioned.” The Horse is supposed to have been introduced into Egypt by the

Hyksos. In Assyria it was reclaimed at the period of the oldest monuments, as

abundantly demonstrated by the discoveries of Layard and others—since Col.

Smith wrote.

* Azara notices, of those which have gone wild in South America, and especially

about Santa Fé de la Vera Cruz, where he states that the increasing population was

fast destroying them (and may have done so by this time), that those which he saw

** appeared to be somewhat larger than the domestic Asses of Paraguay, but smaller

than the common Asses of Spain; nor does that large rece,” he adds, “ which is

there used for the breeding of mules, exist in these parts. They also appear to

have larger and stiffer ears than in my native couatry.”

tae

244 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. [No. 3,

tain) and also the island of Socotra, it is quite certain® that great

troops of wild Asses, properly so called, exist not only in the sandy

deserts but upon the mountains of N. EH. Africa. And it appears

that a specimen was not long ago added to the Paris Museum, and

was there designated “ ?Onagre d’Abyssinie:’’ it was presented by

M. Degoutin, French Consul at Massoua, and (remarks Professor

Isidore St. Hilaire) “ est certainement un Ane sauvage.” It be-

longed, he tells us, to one of those troops which wander about the

deserts of N. EH. Africa, the existence of which was long ago indi-

cated by Adlian, and which are mentioned also by Leo Africanus in

the sixteenth century, and by Marmol in the eighteenth century.

“The wild Ass, remarks the latter author, is grey. There are a

number of them in the deserts of Lybia, Numidia, and the neich-

bouring countries. ‘Their pace is so fleet, that only a Barb can come

up with them. In our days,” continues M. St. Hilaire, “ these troops

have been met with in various localities by different travellers ;

among others, by M. Caillaud, in Nubia; and to all the testimony

already published, may be added ‘ trois documents inédits,’ re-

spectively by M. Botta (formerly travelling naturalist for the Paris

museum and now Consul at Jerusalem), by M. Trémaux (architect),

and by M. Gouzillot (Coptic Patriarch in Abyssinia).

“ The first observed, in Sennaar, a multitude of wild Asses in

troops, which were very distinct, according to the spoils obtained,

from other animals designated wild Horses [A. HumrIprus ?], which

inhabit the opposite coast of the Red Sea, in Arabia. The second,

in 1848, remarked them in the desert of Naga, in Nubia: their

coat was of a palish grey, and the ears were longer than those of

the Hemione [A. nEmippvus?], but shorter than in the tame Ass [?].

Lastly, M. Gouzillot, who passed six years in Abyssinia, has assured

us of the existence of Onagers in countless herds on the moun-

tains.”

These are of course the wild Asses noticed by Col. C. Hamilton

Smith, as occurring ‘‘on the Nile, above the cataracts; and abun-

dant on the upland plains, between the table-hills below Gous

Regun and the Baber-el-Abiad, in Atbara. (Vide ‘ Voyage on the

Baber-el-Abiad,’ by Adolph, Linaud, and Hoskins’s ‘ Travels in Ethio-

* Jour, Roy, Geogr, Soc. 1835, p. 202.

1859.] On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 245

pia.’)”” According also to Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, they are “ com-

mon in the districts of the Thebaid.”* Hoskins met with them in

the small desert immediately below the fifth cataract. “ This de-

sert,” he remarks, “is sandy, with quartz and flinty slate disseminat-

ed. We saw for the first time three wild Asses, which had been

browsing among the acacias near the Nile. There are great num-

bers of them in the country ; but the peasants very seldom succeed

in catching or destroying them. A mixed breed [!] is sometimes

seen in the villages. From the description of the Arabs, I conceive

that the Zebra [A. Burcuetit], also, exists in these deserts. The

Nile Ass seems larger than the common one; but we were at too

great a distance to observe them particularly. The peasants seldom

chase them, but with a good Horse it is not very difficult.’ +

Both “ wild Asses’ and ‘‘Zebras’”’ are noticed by Mr. W. C.

Kirk, in his ‘ Report on the Route from Tajurra to Ankobar.’t

Riippell has determined this northern Zebra to be the A. Bur-

CHELLII, cor Dauw of the Cape colonists,—the Hguus zebra of

Burchell, as distinguished from his #. montanus,—and undoubtedly

the true Hippotigris of the ancients, if not also the original ‘ Zebra’

of Pigafetta from Congo :§ the wild-Paard of the Dutch colonists,

or ‘ Mountain Zebra’ of Burchell, being the Equus or AsINUS ZEBRA

of modern technical nomenclature. This I mention, because the

French zoologists, from Cuvier to M. Isidore St. Hilaire,|| persist in

the mistake of identifying the “ Zebra de montaigne” with the

Dauw or A. BuRCHELLII.

Bruce notices “‘ Zebras’’ as being “ found in Abyssinia only in the

south-west. extremity of Kuora amid the Shangalla and Gaila, in

Narea and Caff, and in the mountains of Dyre and Tegla, and

thence to the southward.’’—“ Wild Asses,’ too, he remarks, “ I

t ° Travels in Ethiopia,’ p. 41.

t Journ. Roy. Geogr. Soc. XII, 234 ; and for another notice of an African wild

Ass, ibid. X, 461. In the narrative of Lander’s expedition (p. 571), a ‘* wild

Ass,” is mentioned, whatever this may refer to.

§ Col. C. H. Smith considers this northern ‘ Zebra’ to be distinct, and styles it

Hippotiyris antiquorum ; but I think on very insufficient evidence.

|| Comptes Rendus, 1855, p. 1215.

246 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. [No. 3,

have frequently seen alive, but never dead: in neck, head, face, and

tail, very like ours, only their skins are streaked, not spotted!”

Perhaps he alludes to occasional bars on the limbs, like the wavy

lines on those of the Ghor-khur which Bell seems also to refer to.

The wild Ass of N. Africa is not mentioned in Dr. Barth’s work ;

but at the Meeting of the British Association for 1858, Mr. R.

Schlagintweit made some remarks relative to the Ghor-khur (as

reported in the Atheneum), and stated that Dr. Barth had lately

told him, that, according to the description which he (Mr. R.

Schlagintweit) had given him, “he thinks the Asses which he saw

in Africa identical with the Ghor-khurs of Sindh and Beluchistan.”

This can hardly be; and does the following notice refer to the ordi-

nary wild Ass of N. HE. Africa? I very strongly suspect otherwise.

Col. C. H. Swith renarks—“ We have seen a pair of these animals

brought from Cairo; they were equal in size to an ordinary mule,

neatly if not elegantly formed, white in colour, but silvery-grey on

the ridge of the back and nose, with the forehead, neck, and sides

of a beautiful pale ash with a tinge of purple, the mane, tail, and

cruciform streak black.’’*

These I take to be choice specimens of the fine Levantine breed

of domestic Asses, such as are often represented in antique Egyp-

tian paintings, and always with the black crucial mark. From the

remotest times, it seems that two races of domestic Asses were

known in Egypt, and both are represented in the old paintings. In

modern times, Russell (in his ‘ Natural History of Aleppo,’ p. 58,)

remarks, that the Levantine nations have two principal breeds of

Asses; “one very large, with remarkably long ears; the other

small, and much like ours in England.”’ Chardin, again, tells us,

that there are two races of the domestic Ass in Persia: “ Les Anes

du pais, qui sont lents et pesans, commes les Anes de nos pais, dont

ils ne se servent qu’a porter des fardeaux ; et une race d’Anes d’Ara-

bie, qui sont de fort jolies bétes, et les premiers Anes du monde. Ils

ont le poil poli, la téte haute, les pieds légers, les levant avec action

en marchant. L’on ne s’en sert que pour montures: les selles

qu’on leur met sont comme des bats ronds, et plats hardessus, faites

des drap ou de tapisserie, aves les étriers et le harnois. On s’assied

* Naturalist’s Library,’ XII, 312.

1859.] On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 247

dessus plus vers la croupe que vers le cou. On met a plusieurs des

harnois tout argent, tant le maitre est content de la légereté et de

la douceur de leur aillure. Il y en a du prix de quatre-cens francs,

et l’on n’en sauroit avoir d’un peu bons a moins de vingt-cing pis-

toles. On les panse comme les chevaux. Les ecclésiastiques d’qui

ne sont pas encore daus les charges, ou dans les grands Bénéfices,

affectent a aller montés sur les Anes.’’ He then proceeds to explain

how these fine Asses are taught to amble.

The large and small races of Levantine Asses may be said to

bear somewhat of the same mutual relation as Horses and Ponies.

The small kind only have become domesticated in Northern Hu-

rope; and we trace them southward into Darfur, where they are

thus described in Mr. G. Brown’s Travels in that country (1799).—

«¢ The Ass here is of the same appearance and of the same indocile

nature, as that of Great Britain. The only good ones are what the

Jelabs bring with them from Hgypt: yet the animal is much used

for riding ; indeed few persons mount a Horse but the military, and

those who are in immediate attendance at Court. An Hgyptian

Ass fetches from the value of one to that of three slaves, according

to the weight he is able to bear. A slave will purchase three or

four of the ordinary breed; and yet the people are not anxious to

improve them.”

‘The Asses of Upper Egypt, according to Sounini, are particularly

handsome, but they degenerate towards the Delta. Fraser states,

that the Asses of Oman are the best in Arabia, and individuals of

the best breeds sell for extravagant prices.* In Munro’s Syria, we

are told that the Asses of Damascus stand fourteen hands high;

and elsewhere he remarks of one of them :—“ This Ass was the

finest of the kind I ever saw, and the guide asserted that he would

sell for more than both his own Horses. With all the animation

and temper of a Horse, he had the superior qualification of being

quicker and easier in his walk.’’—‘“ This Ass was found, after a long

journey, to refuse his food. On visiting him, after supper, I found

* T have somewhere read that the pedigrees of the best Asses of Omin are

kept with as much care as those of the choicest breeds of Horses in the same

province,

248 . On the different Animals known as wild Asses. [ No. 8,

that the Ass was not eating, and seemed out of spirits. The guide

accounted for this by saying, that he was in the habit of living in

the house with his master, and that he was alarmed at being left

in the dark by himself; wherefore I ordered him into the shed, and

his supper being placed near the fire, he fell upon it with great

avidity ; and had no sooner finished, than he claimed a right to be-

long to the society, by lying down amongst us, to my great amuse-

ment, and the infinite chagrin of my companions, who would have

turned him out but for my interference. During the night he

became restless, and got up in order to lie down on his other side;

in doing which he interfered with the guide’s lees, whom I found

abusing him for being a pig and an infidel, and threatening to spit

on his beard.”

In Irwin’s ‘ Memoir of Afghanistan,’ we are informed that “ the

Ass gradually improves as we proceed westward from the Company’s

provinces. Perhaps the best are those from the west of Khorassan,

but even these are much inferior to the Arabian or the Spanish.

Asses are imported from Kabul into Bokhara, and the north-west

of Turkistan.’’ Buckingham tells us, that ‘one of the peculiarities

of Baghdad ig its race of white Asses, which, as at Cairo, are

saddled and bridled for the conveyance of passengers from one part

of the town to another; and these are equally as large and spirited.

as the Egyptian Ass, and have as easy and speedy a pace. They are

frequently spotted over with colours, and otherwise fantastically

marked over with red henna-stains.’”’ This barbarism, it need not

be told to Indian readers, is commonly practised on Horses in this

country.

At Peshawar, tame Asses of the large race are known as ‘ Bokha-

ra Asses’; and Sir A. Burnes, writing on the domestic animals of

Bokhara, remarks—“ none are more useful than the Ass; the breed

is large and sturdy, and they are much used—both for saddle and

bridle. There is no objection to riding them, as in India. There

are no mules, from a religious prejudice against them.”” His brother,

Dr. A. Burnes, also remarks that—‘* Asses, much larger than those

of India, are to be met with in Sindh, where the Ass attains the

development which it is known to enjoy only within a very limited

geographical distribution.” But are not these fine Asses chiefly

1859. ] On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 249

imported into Sindh, rather than bred there? Albeit the climate

should well agree with them. A correspondent informs me, that

“ what are called Bokhara Asses are frequently brought to Peshawar.

They are very large and strong, and are both of the usual colour

and white. Of the latter, a friend of mine had three, viz. a male and

female, and their offspring. There was one of the usual colour,

larger than either of the two white ones, and I have some idea that

I had heard it said that he was over thirteen hands high; but of

this I will not be positive, having paid no great attention. I think

they were not at all uncommon at Peshawar when the Kafilas were

getting through, and, as far as I remember, the price asked for one

was from 80 to 150 rupees. As for where they came from, that

I don’t know in particular, except that they came with the Kafilas

of Horses from the north. The dark one I have mentioned was an

extremely fine specimen; but my friend got him for (I think)

80 rupees, to use as a baggage Donkey, and as far as I recollect he

was sold cheap, because he declined to act as a stallion to mares,

and was therefore useless for the purpose of begetting mules.” It

would appear, accordingly, that these fine Asses are foreign to

Sindh, and are mostly brought for the purpose of procreating mules ;

in which case she-Asses of the kind are probably scarcely known

there, and consequently the race can hardly be said to be introduced

into the country. It would nevertheless appear to be completely

naturalized in Bokhara.

These superb Asses are bred and duly estimated in America;

and it is time that they were introduced into the Australian colonies,

if not also those of S. Africa. In Capt. Marryatt’s well known

‘ Diary in America,’ the novelist describes a cattle-shew which he

attended in Lexington, Kentucky. The fourth day of the shew

was reserved for the exhibition of Asses. ‘Several were shewn

standing fifteen hands high, with head and ears in proportion: the

breed has been obtained from the Maltese Ass, crossed by those of

Spain and the south of France. Those imported, seldom average

more than fourteen hands high; but the Kentuckians, by great

attention and care, have raised them up to fifteen hands, and some-

times even to sixteen. ‘he prices paid for these splendid animals,

for such they really are, will prove how much they were in request.

250 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. _[No. 3.

One male, of great celebrity, sold for 5,000 dollars, upwards of

£1,000 sterling. <A half share of another male was sold for 2,500

dollars. At the shew I asked the price of a very beautiful female

Ass, only one year old; the owner said that he could have 1000

dollars for her, but that he had refused that sum. For a three year

old male, shewn during the exhibition, 3,000 dollars (more than

£600) were refused. The fact is that mule-breeding is so lucrative,

that there is no price which avery large Donkey will not command.”

With reference to the current statement, that the Ass nowhere

thrives in a cold climate, it should be remembered that these

animals are numerous in Pekin; and that some at least of the

Chinese Donkeys are fine animals, may be inferred from Dr. Hooker’s

remark about the Tibetan mules, which, he says, are often as fine as

the Spanish. He “rode one, which had performed a journey from

Choombi to Lhassa in fifteen days with a man and load.’ Never-

theless, as a general rule and irrespective of recent introductions, the

finest Asses chiefly inhabit Arabia and the Levantine countries, and

the most degenerate are the puny cat-hammed Guddhas of India

generally. As Col. Sykes remarks, some of these are scarcely

larger than a fine Newfoundland Dog; but on what ground Col. C.

H. Smith supposed this to be a wild race inhabiting the Dukhun,*

it is dificult to imagine. There are small Asses also in Persia, as

about Ispahdn, what Chardin (as we have seen) denominated the

race proper to the country ; while he mentions that many of the

large kind are imported into Persia from Arabia. It is curious that

Aristotle states, that in his time there were no Asses in Pontus,

Syria, or in the country of the Celts (meaning modern Germany and

France) ; Syria being now so celebrated for the excellence of its breed

of them. For many ages previously they are known to have existed in

Egypt and Arabia. In short, there seems to be no evidence whatever

to bear out the current notion that the domestic Ass originated in

northern Asia; but, on the contrary, every reason to infer that it

originated in the region where the particular species is still found

wild, and where also the finest and least altered of the domestic

races prevail to this day ; and that the fact should not have been

long ago established, is surely somewhat remarkable.

* Nat. Libr. Mammalia, Vol. XII, 306.

1859. ] On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 251

A writer on this animal observes, justly enough, that—“ The Ass

is, properly speaking, a mountain species ; his hoofs are long, and

furnished with extremely sharp rims, leaving a hollow in the centre,

by which means he is enabled to tread with more security on the

steep and slippery sides of precipices. The hoof of the Horse, on

the contrary, is round and nearly flat underneath, and we accord-

ingly find that he is more serviceable in level countries ; and indeed

experience has long since taught, that he is altogether unfit for

crossing rocky and steep mountains.’ Hill ponies may, indeed, be

cited as exceptions, to a greater or less extent: but the fact is

nevertheless true in the main ; and hence the breeding of mules in

mountainous countries, which should combine the size and strength

of one parent species with the hardihood and sure-footedness of the

other. All of the Asinine tribe seem to be quite indifferent to heat,

and some (at least) of then are equally so to cold, as especially

exemplified by the Aouwlans or Ghor-khurs about Lake Aral; and

the tame Asses of this country, under the fiercest mid-day sun, may

commonly be observed to evince their innate fonduess for the

parched desert, as strongly as a kid manifests its propensity to

clamber rocks, by keeping to the dusty roads, in preference to the

pasture, whenever they are not feeding. Of several species so very

nearly akin, in different couitries, 16 is remarkable that only the Ags

should have been subjected to servitude (save in a few individual

cases at most); but it appears that the experiments which have been

systematically carried on, now for several years, by the Acclimation

Society at Paris, have been attended with considerable suecess ia

breaking in Ghor-khurs, which have been bred there for a series

of generations, and that these animals are now daily mounted and

ridden. Many years ago, the celebrated Sheriff Perkins drove a

pair of Quaggas through the streets of London, as I well remember

to have witnessed when a child.

The following species of the division Asrnus, as defined by Gray,

are now likely to be generally acknowledged.

1. A. Qquacea. The Quagga, from the Cape territories ; and scarce-

ly found northward of the Gariep or Orange river; but still in great

herds southward, associating with the White-tailed Gnu, as the next

does with the Brindled Guu, and both with Ostriches(as in Xenophon’s

2K 2

252 On the different Animals known as wild Asses. __[ No. 8.

time the A. memMrppus did in Mesopotamia). The most Horse-

like in structure of any. The Hippotigris isabellinus of Col. C. H.

Sinith is probably founded on a Quagga-foal, perhaps not very exactly

represented. Such an animal as this, or as the ‘Isabelline Zebra’

of Levaillant, could not have been overlooked by all subsequent

explorers of 8. Africa.

2. A. BURCHELLII, Gray ; Hquus zebra of Burchell. The Daww, or

original Hippotigris of the ancients, and also the original Zebra of

Pigafetta from Congo; but unknown to Buffon, who regarded the

next or Mountain Zebra and the Quagga as the two sexes of one

species, denominated by him the Zebra: Hippotigris Burchell et

HI, antiquorum of C. H. Smith. Extensively diffused over Africa,

even to Abyssinia and to Congo, and southward to the Gariep

river.*

3. <A. ZEBRA: Hqauus montanus, Burchell. The Zebra of modern

nomenclature, or (more distinctively) the Mountain Zebra; Wild

Paard (‘ Wild Horse’) of the Dutch colonists of S. Africa. A tho-

rough mountaineer, and known only to inhabit 8. Africa. Also the

most completely striped of any, down to the very hoofs.

4, A. VULGARIS, Gray: H. asinus, L. The true Onager, Onagrus,

or aboriginally wild Ass; indigenous to N. HE. Africa, if not also to

the southern parts of Arabia and island of Socotra.

5. A. HeEMIpPUS : LH. hemippus, Is. St. Hilaire; H. asinus onager

apud Wagner. The Hemionus vel Hemippus of the ancients; in-

habiting the deserts of Syria, Mesopotamia, and the northern parts

of Arabia.

6. A. onacER: HH. asinus onager, Pallas. The Koulan or Ghor-

khur inhabits W. Asia, from 48° N. latitude southward to Persia,

Beluchistan, and W. India.

7. A. HEeMIonus; EH. hemionus, Pallas: H. kyang, Moorcroft ; #.

polyodon, Hodgson. The Dshiggetai or Kyang. Inhabits Tibet,

and thence northward through the Gobi desert into Mongolia and

southern Siberia.

NV. B.—So far as known for certain, the last two are distinguish-

able by shades of colour only, and by unimportant differences in the

relative extension of different hues and markings. The A. hamar

* To this species appertained the ‘ Zebra’ lately subjected by Mr. Rarey.

—e-

1859. ] On the different Animals known as wild Asses. 253

of Col. C. H. Smith is rejected, as having been founded on insufficient

evidence of the existence of such an animal.

It is highly improbable, also, that other wild asinine species yet

remain to be distinguished.

To recapitulate, I have endeavoured in this paper to establish the

following novel propositions.

1. ‘That the true Onager aud Hemionus of ancient writers were

unknown to Pallas, who has assigned those names to cognate species

or races that were unknown to the Greeks and Romans.

2. That, accordingly, the Koulan of N. Asia is not the true

Onager or aboriginal wild Ass, but that it is identical with the

Indian Ghor-khur.

3. That the true Onager or wild Ass is not an inhabitant of

N. Asia, but of N. E. Africa and the southern portion of Arabia.

4. That the Kowlan and the Dshiggetat or Kyang, instead of being

strongly distinguished apart, as has been asserted, bear so exceedingly

close a resemblance that no decided specifical distinction has yet

been satisfactorily pointed out, however probable that such distinction

may exist.

Why, therefore, the one should be popularly styled a‘ wild Horse,’

and the other a‘ wild Ass,’ is difficult to comprehend. ven Pallas

terms the Dshiggetat “un Cheval sauvage,” though describing it as

“ni Cheval ni Ane,’’—while the other he both designates as the

Ass of the steppes and as the “ Cheval ou Ane,’’ employing the word

‘Cheval’ in its German equivalent evidently in the sense of Equus.

Col. Chesney, as we have seen, terms the Arabian A. HEMIPPUS a

‘wild Horse,’ as distinguished from his wild Ass of 8. Arabia! The

fact is, Iapprehend, that the vague application of these names has re-

sulted merely from the colouring.

April 18th, 1859.

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL,

For Junz, 1859.

LLL LPP LAID LPP PILL LPI PPPS PSD LOSES

The Monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society of Ber gal

was held on the Ist Instant.

A. Grote, Esq., President, in the Chair.

The proceedings of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Presentations were received.

1. From Lieut.-Col. James Abbott, through W. H. Fergusson,

Esq., two boxes of ancient copper coins.

2. From Major Berdmore, Schue Gyen, on the Sitang River,

Tenasserim Provinces, a collection of reptiles and fishes, chiefly the

latter, obtained mostly from the hills in the interior, and comprising

some new generic forms of much interest, with several new species

belonging to other mountain forms of India.

3. From Capt. Hodge, through A. Grote, Esq., a bottle of

specimens preserved in spirits from Port Blair.

4. From the Home Department, Nos. 53 A and 55, of the Selec-

tions from the records of the Madras Government.

5. From Dr. E. Roer and W. A. Montriou, Esq., copy of a

work on Hindu Law and Judicature from the Dharma Sastra of

Yajnavalkya.

G6. From F. E. Hall, Esq., M. A., a work entitled “ A Contribu-

tion towards an Index to the Bibliography of the Indian Philoso-

phical Systems.”

Major R. Tytler, duly proposed at the last meeting, was balloted

for and elected an ordinary member.

R. H. M. Warrand, Esq., B. C.S., proposed by Mr. Atkinsop,

secouded by Mr. Grote, was named for ballot at the next meeting.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 255

Communications were received.

1. From G. H. Freeling, Esq., An account of Pergunonah Maho-

ba, Zillah Hameerpore, Bundelkund.

2. The following extract from a letter dated Aden, April 16,

1859, addressed to Mr. Blyth by Captain Speke, who has lately

returned with Capt. Burton from an exploring journey in the Hast

of Africa:

“ At last we have returned from our African exploration and I

think with tolerable success, considering allthings. Starting from

just opposite Zanzibar we travelled over flattish cultivated and tree-

elad ground, following up the Kinjani river to the Hastern Ghauts of

Africa about 100 miles from the Sea. Thence we ascended from

250 feet and crossed over the mountain belts, averaging from 2000 to

6,000 feet each, until the great central plateau was reached. These

hills are chiefly composed of granite and are very sparely populat-

ed excepting in some few favoured places. Their breadth is about

2 degrees. Still travelling Westward on the parallel of Zanzibar,

the track extends about 6 degrees over a continuous plateau, dotted,

and in some places striped, with small hills, outcrops of granite,

until the greatand extraordinarily depressed Lake Tanganzika is

reached. ‘This is a lovely piece of water surrounded on the North-

ern half, where we visited it, by a nest of hills higher to the north,

and gradually drooping towards the South, thickly studded with a

population of boisterous habits. The water level is only 1,800 feet

or about half the height of the plateau. Some of the fishes are

excellent. I have brought away some specimens of shells. There

is but a limited variety of them. The Lake water is very sweet and

good.

“ On returning from the Tanganzika Lake I left my companion

(who had been almost in a bed-ridden state from the beginning of

the journey) ata place called Unzunzember, Lat. 5° 8. and Long.

33° E.,and went due North up the plateau to 2°S. There I dis-

covered the water of waters, the Nyanza Lake, a broad expansive

sheet at an elevation of 3800 feet, extending certainly 5° or 6° to

the northward and about 90 miles broad. The waters are delicious

and are said to contain a great variety of fish. The whole of its

southern extremity is thickly populated, thickly cattled, and thickly

256 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 38.

cultivated. Iron is found in great abundance, and a little north of

the Line coffee is grown to any extent. By my observations and

from the inability to get any information of atermination to the

Lake northwards, coupled with a story generally known amongst

the Somali of Aden that a large sheet of water exists to the west-

ward of their country, there remainsin my mind little doubt but

that I have discovered the true source of the Nile. How I long to

go back there and finish the work begun bya Bengali. Cotton

and rice grow very well over the plateau, but the people are too

inert to make any good of it. Frankincense and other gums are

abundant in places. The people ofinner Africa are generally speak-

ing mild savages. I was very much disgusted with the great paucity

of game, and animal life generally is not at all what I expected to see.

Asmy companion had a handy servant who could shoot, and stuff

too after I taught him, I did not interfere in the zoological

department but left it to him.

“Perhaps you remember taking me to the Surveyor General’s,

where I showed him my maiden map, asketch of little Thibet,

drawn with the aid of a common compass, and a five pound watch.

I have now done all the mapping in Africa, that has been my

especial province, but this time I have done it astronomically.”

3. The following letter addressed to the Secretary, Mr. Atkin-

son, from Dr. W. Haidinger of the Imperial Museum of Geology

and Mineralogy in Vienna.

My prar Sir,—I beg leave to address you like an old correspon-

dent, though it be the first letter 1 write you. J should observe

however that it is already the second, the first official one having

been sent along with the new numbers of our “ Jahrbuch’’ for the

Asiatic Society of Bengal, along with the acknowledgment of the

receipt of that most welcome and highly valuable set of publications,

you kindly sent over to us through Messrs. Williams and Norgate,

and which came safely to our hands. But I wish to propose to

you andthe Museum ofthe Society in tie name of our Imperial

Museum of Mineralogy, a measure of exchange which I trust, as well

as Dr. Hornes, Director of that Museum, may be advantageous

both to our Museum and to the one under your charge. I enclose

in the first place the list of meteorites aud meteoric irons in our

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 257

Imperial Vienna Collection. Ifyou compare it with Mr. H. Pid-

dington’s Catalegue of the Meteorites preserved in the Museum of

the Asiatic Society, published in 1844, Vol. XIII. No. CLV., N.

S. 71, page 885, you will find that we possess none at all of those

mentioned in your Catalogue, and that in your Catalogue also none

is mentioned of those preserved in ours, if we except the Pallas

iron of Siberia and the Mornay Iron of Sergipe in your Catalogue,

which are the same as No. 94, Krasnojarsk, and No. 104, Bahia, of

ours. Now we propose a fair exchange. Probably since 1st of

January, 1845, your collection may have been considerably enlarged.

I would therefore be very much obliged to you in the first place, if

you would kindly communicate to me a catalogue of the Meteorites

and Meteoric iron, at present in your Museum. To state the num-

ber and weight of specimens, would be most interesting in this

catalogue. ‘Then we should be obliged, and very much obliged in-

deed, for your communicating to us specimens, either fragments or

entire masses, where you possess several of the same fall. If in

some case or other there should not have been any chemical ana-

lysis published, I should be most happy not only to give a new

description of tne Meteoric stone or iron mass, but also to get an

excellent new analysis performed. I should be particularly happy,

to receive from you any information, additional to what is pub-

lished in your journal respecting the fall or other history of the

specimens.

The box containing the specimens might be sent with the Over-

land Mail, directed to “‘ Kaiserlich-Konigliche Geologische Reich-

sanstalt Wien’? with the declaration “ Mineralogical Specimens.”

If you would send specimens for examination, like for instance No,

4 of the Meteoric Irons, the Fulgur Stone of Nepal, “ not examined,

perbaps meteoric” J should be glad to undertake the examination,

and then return the specimen, if you did not entitle me to keep

perhaps a portion of it for our own collection of Meteorites. I

should be glad also to get a portion of your Kurruckpore iron.

But there is the difficulty of cutting offa portion of it. It never

should be treated with a hammer. This spoils the structure altoge-

ther. I should advise you to get a portion sawed off in the direc-

tion here indicated making use of a steel seesaw without teeth, and

2 1

258 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [| No. 3.

emery. With all that however it is a hard job, and a cut of perhaps

five inches in every direction will take a continued work of perhaps

six weeks, the meteoric irons being exceedingly tough. If you

were to cut off in that way a lump of, say, ten or twelve pounds

and send it over, we might have it cut afterwards in smaller speci-

mens here, if you would send specimens also to one or another

Museum in Hurope.

Now I have said a great deal about what we wish you should do.

But I must also say what we are ready to offer you as a fair exchange.

The Imperial Vienna Museum would send you specimens of meteo-

rites new to your cabinet or museum of several localities, of which

there are duplicates, and there are such of a good many of them.

Tf you should fix upon some one or other of them, we should do our

best to have your wishes executed. 1 suppose the greater part of

your Museum will have remained in the possession of the Society.

Some Meteorites may be however also in the possession of the

Museum of practical Geology, and I write also on behalf of the

Meteorites to Mr. Oldham. I should be most happy to hear soon

of your acceding to my proposition. I should have added, that on

account of your most valuable present, we have entered on the list

of our correspondents, your own honored name, as also that of the

President, Hon’ble Sir James Celvile, Vice-Presidents—Baboo Ram-

gopaul Ghose, A. Grote, Hsq., Lieutenant-Colonel R. Strachey,—

H. Piddington, Esq., E. B. Cowell, Esq., Baboo Rajendralal Mittra,

Baboo Gour Doss Bysack; the writs of notification of which have

been accluded to the package of our last numbers.

I have the honor, &c.,

(Sd.) W. Harpinaer.

W. S. Arxrinson, Esq.,

Secy., Asiatie Society of Bengal.

With reference to this letter, the Council announced that they had

appointed a Committee consisting of Mr. Oldham, Dr. Thomson,

and Mr. Atkinson, to examine the meteorites in the Society’s collee-

tions, and to report how far it was possible or desirable to comply

with M. Haidinger’s request. The Committee had presented a re-

port which the Council had adopted, and they now requested authori-

ty to carry out the recommendations contained in it,

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 259

The report was as follows :—

Your Committee have taken the proposition conveyed in Dr.

Haidinger’s letter to the Secretary, into careful consideration, and

beg to report on the question referred to them as follows.

It appears to your Committee highly desirable that the Asiatic So-

ciety of Bengal should, to the utmost of their power, reciprocate the

friendly feeling and desire for co-operation evinced by the Imperial

Cabinet of Mineralogy at Vienna. The collection of Meteorites in

that establishment has for years past had a world-wide reputation,

as being the most complete and valuable in existence, and has been

long known to investigators of such interesting specimens by the

valuable descriptions, &c. of Herr Partsch. Under the able superin-

tendence of Dr. Hornes this collection is steadily increasing in num-

ber. Your Committee think it not only a duty to endeavour to con-

tribute towards bringing such a collection more nearly to complete-

ness, but that the Society will also feel a pleasure in adding to so

numerous and valuable a series which amounts at the present time

to 137 varieties.

Under these impressions your Committee have carefully gone over

all the specimens now in the possession of the Society. On the 1st

January, 1845, Mr. Piddington gave a list of those at that time in

the Society’s collections, amounting altogether to 10 (Jour. As.

Society Bengal Vol. XIII. p. 885.) One of these, the so-called

Lightning stone of Nepal (“ not examined, but may be meteoric’ as

described by Mr. Piddington) your Committee have agreed in think-

ing decidedly no¢ meteoric. It is a fragment of stone very similar to

those so well known in Great Britain, Norway, &c. to collectors of

antiquities, as celts (or commonly called thunderbolts) or of a ful-

ling stone used by weavers for the preparation of their cloth.

To the number as given by Mr. Piddington in 1845 six varieties

have since been added. A complete list therefore of those now in

the possession of the Society would be as follows.

No.1. Fell at Moradabad in 1808, procured from Captain Her-

ring, 3 fragments. The total weight of these fragments is 25 ounces.

No. 2. Aerolite which fell at Allahabad, sent by Dr. Tytler, of

this there are three pieces of good size.

2L2

260 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3.

lb. OZ.

Weighing 3 83

4, 3

I 45

Total 9 0

No. 3. <Aerolite which fell about 40 miles to the west of Umbala

between the Jumna and Punjab in 1832-3, obtained by Captain

Murray; given by Mr. J. Bird to Mr. Cracroft. Weight 3} oz.

No. 4. Fell at Bithour and Shapur 75 miles N. W. of Allaha-

bad on the 80th November, 1822.

Weight 122 oz.

No. 5. Fell at Mow, Ghazeepore, February 1827, procured from

R. Barlow, Esq.

Weight 12% oz.

No. 6. Fell at Manegaon in Kandeish, July 1843, procured from

Captain J. Abbott, Bengal Artillery, and J. Bell, Esq. Bombay

Civil Service, Collector of Kandeish.

Weight 23 oz.

No. 7. A very beautiful specimen, the locality of which is un-

known, supposed to be from Assam : found by Mr. Piddington among

the collections of the Coal and Iron Committee (Jour. As. Society

Bengal Vol. XV. Proceedings June.) Of this there are two frag-

ments which fit each other, and obviously form parts of the same

meteorite. There is also a third fragment presenting the same gene-

ral texture but not belonging to the same mass. This was found

under the same circumstances and also among the collections of the

Coal and Iron Committee.

The weight of these three fragments is as follows :—

lb. OZ.

1 a 1 83

2 ah 82

3 bss 73

No. 8. The Meteorite which fell at Shalka, in Bancoorah, on the

30th November, 1850, described at leneth by Mr. Piddington in the

Society’s Journal Vol. XX. p. 299. Of this there are several frag-

ments both large and small, weighing altogether about 9lbs.

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 261

No. 9. <A very pretty little specimen which fell at Segowlee on

the 4th (6th) March, 1858. Several others are stated to have fallen

with this ; Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, 1854, Proceedings for November.

It weighs 7} oz.

No. 10. Another specimen which fell at the same time as that

just mentioned, and which was procured by the kindness of Mr.

Glover, C. 8. It is longer than the former, but less regular in form ;

Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, 1855, p. 247.

It weighs 1lb. 23 oz.

No. 11. A large meteorite, part of the same fall at Segowlee. At

least thirty are said to have fallen. This weighs 14lbs. Jour. As.

Soc. Bengal, 1856, p. 170.

Meteoric Iron or Stones having a large proportion of it.

No. 12. Meteoric stone containing Iron and Nickel, which fell

at Panganoor in 1811 procured from Mr. Ross of Caddapah. Weight

3% OZ.

No. 18. Small fragment of meteoric Iron, from Siberia, procured

by Pallas.

No. 14. Small piece of meteoric Iron from Sergipe, Brazil, Mor-

nay and Wollaston.

No. 15. The large mass of Iron, described by Mr. Piddington at

some length in Vol. XVII. P. II. p. 5838 of the Society’s Journal.

Weight of mass 1562 lbs.

Of these 15 varieties, your committee have to report that in their

opinion specimens may, without injury to the Society’s collections, be

transmitted to the Vienna collection, of the following.

Ist. Of the large mass of Kurrukpur Iron. They recommend

that arrangements be made for having a portion of this mass sawn

off. They believe that this will improve the specimen for the pur-

poses of the Society’s museum by shewing the internal structure of

the mass (by much the most interesting feature in such irons) and

which is not at present any where visible in the mass.

2d. Of the three specimens of the meteorite from Allahabad,

communicated by Dr. Tytler, they recommend that one be sent to

Vienna.

3d. Of the specimens presumed to be from Assam, they are of

opinion that one could be sent without injury to the Society’s Col-

lection.

262 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 3.

4th. Of the Shalka meteorite, of which there are numerous frag-

ments, they recommend that a good specimen be sent.

5th. Of the large specimen from Segowlee, they would recommend

that a cast be made to preserve a good record of the general form of

the mass, which is peculiar, and that subsequently the smaller por-

tion, at present loose, be transmitted to The Imperial Cabinet of

Mineralogy at Vienna, together with a copy of the cast of the whole.

With reference to the liberal proposal of Dr. Haidinger on his

own part, and that of Dr. Hérnes, they suggest that the anxious

desire of the Society to possess any such additional varieties of the

meteoric stones or Irons, as the Imperial Cabinet of mineralogy can

provide, be communicated to Dr. Haidinger with an expression of

the wish that he would select from their duplicates such specimens

as, after examination of the Indian varieties forwarded, he might

consider most illustrative of the nature of these interesting speci-

mens.

Your Committee would direct your attention to the very cordial

and friendly terms in which the application of the Imperial Museum

of Mineralogy at Vienna has been conveyed, and feel confident that

these feelings will be fully reciprocated.

Time has not permitted of their preparing any more detailed ac-

count of the structure, composition, &c. of the specimens referred

to.

(Signed) T. OLpHamM,

4 W. 8S. ATKINSON,

Fe LT. THomson.

The recommendations of the Council were sanctioned and ordered

to be carried out.

From Baboo Radhanauth Sikdar abstract of the results of the

Hourly Meteorological Observations taken at the Surveyor General’s

office during the month of December last.

The Council reported that they had altered the hour of the general

meeting from 8} to 9 o’clock believing that the later hour would be

more generally convenient, but that as some difference of opinion

had been expressed on the matter, they desired to refer it to the deci-

sion of the members.

The meeting decided that the change was desirable during the

hot weather.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 263

Rev. J. Long read a paper entitled Notes and Queries ona

visit to Orissa in 1859.

The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Long for his in-

teresting paper.

With reference to Mr. Long’s suggestion that the Cuttack Hills

should be examined by a Botanist, Mr. Samuells remarked that

something had already been done in that direction by Lieut. Bed-

dome of the 40th M. N. I. an accomplished Botanist, who, during

his stay in Cuttack took every opportunity of adding to our botani-

cal knowledge of this region. Mr. Samuells feared that Mr. Long’s

expectation of discovering antiquities inthe Cuttack Hills would

not be realised. He himself had traversed a considerable portion

of them and had found no traces of ancient buildings. From the

earliest notices we have of them, they appear always to have been

inhabited by a poor and semi-barbarous race of people.

It was possible as Mr. Long supposed thatthe Hindu city

of Bhubaneswar had been founded on the ruins of a more

ancient Buddhist city, but it might be doubted if Buddhism

had ever become the paramount religion in Orissa. The in-

scriptions over the caves showed, if he recollected right, that the

king who recorded his deeds there, had adopted the Brahminical

faith on ascending the throne. The site of the ancient city of

Kosala did not seem to be quite certain, but Mr. Turnour’s Ceylon

discoveries showed that it had been a city of note in the Kingdom

of Kalinger and that the sacred Book of Buddha had fora time

been deposited there. Mr. Samuells confirmed Mr. Long’s account

of the great beauty of the lintel of the door-way now lying in the

sand near the old temple at Kunaruk commonly called the Black

pagoda. He considered it far superior to any of the sculptures

in the Museum and advised that when a pilot vessel is des-

patched to Pooree in the cold weather, the Government be requested

to allow her to call at Kunaruk and take the stone on board. He

regretted that Captain Dixon’s Photographs had not been laid on

the table to illustrate Mr. Long’s remarks on the caves at Khund-

girl, but bore testimony to the fidelity of his descriptions and the

general value of his remarks.

Mr. Cowell read Professor Max Muller’s paper on the origin of

writing in India.

264: Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. | No. 3.

The thanks of the Meeting were voted to the learned Professor

for his extremely able and valuable paper.

Major R. Tytler exhibited another most interesting selection

from his fine series of photographs illustrative of Indian architec-

ture, for which he received the thanks of the meeting.

The officiating Librarian submitted the usual monthly report.

List of Books received in May.

Presentations.

Prison returns of the North Western Provinces, for the year 1856.—

From THE GovERNMENT N. W. PRovincgs.

Report of the Results of the Administration of the Salt Department

during the year 1857-58.—Do.

Selections from the Records of the Madras Government, No. LILI. A,

viz. Report of the Railway Department for 1857.

No. 55. Report on Civil Dispensaries for 1857.—By THz Home Go-

VERNMENT.

Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesselchaft, Dreizehnter

Band | and 2 Helf. Leipzig, 1859.—By tHe AcaDEMy.

Contribution towards an Index to the Bibliography of the Indian Phi-

losophical Systems. By Fitz-Edward Hall, M. A., Calcutta, 1859.—By

THE AUTHOR.

Atlantis, a Register of Literature and Science, conducted by the Mem-

bers of the Catholic University of Ireland, No. III., January, 1859.

Report of the Government Central Museum, Madras.

Hindu Law and Judicature from the Dharma Sastra of Yajnavalkya,

by E. Roer and W. A. Montriou.—By tHE Epirors.

Report of the Oriental Seminary for the year 1858-59.

Purchased,

Literary Gazette, Nos. 38, 39, 40 and 41.

Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Tome IX., No. 6.

Revue des Deux Mondes for 15th March, 1859.

Conchologia Iconica, Part 183, Crucibulum, Pinna, Columbella.

Atheneum for March, 1859.

Comptes Rendus, Nos. 9, 10 and 11, 1859.

American Journal of Science and Arts, No. 80, March, 1859.

Revue de Zoologie, No. 2, 1859.

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 16, April, 1859.

Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. ILI. No. 2.

Westminster Review, No. 30, April, 1859.

Iistoire de la Litterature Indienne. Par Alfred Sadous. Paris, 1859.

1859.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 265

La Puissance Militaire des Anglais dans |’Inde et Vinsurrection des

Cipayes, par le Commandant, Ch. Martin. Paris, 8vo., 1859.

Revue Americaine et Orientale, No. 1. Paris, 1858, pamphlet.

Die Lieder des Hafis, Von Hermann Brockhaus, Vol. 2, Parts 1 and 2.

Pantschatantrum, Pars secunda, particula prima.

Roussae’s Calcutta Directory, for 1859.

The following additions have been made to the Library since the Meet-

ing in June last.

Presentations.

The Indian Annals of Medical Science, No. XI., January, 1859.

Proceedings of the Royal Society, Vol. IX., No. 34.

London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal

of Science, Nos. 114 and 115, for April and May, 1859.

The Oriental Baptist for June, 1859.—By THE Epitor.

The Calcutta Christian Observer for June, 1859.—By THE SAME.

The Oriental Christian Spectator for May, 1859.—By THE saME.

Rollin’s Ancient History, in 6 Vols. By T. Oldham, Esq.

Narrative of the Mutinies in Oude. By Capt. G. Hutchinson, B. Engi-

neers.— From THE GOVERNMENT oF INDIA.

Observations sur les Mceurs De divers Oiseaux du Mexique, par H. de

Saussure. Genevé, 1858.

Description de Divers Espéces Nouvelles ou peu Connues du Genre

Scolia, par H. de Saussure. Paris, 1858.

Catalogus Codicum Hebraeorum Bibliothecae Academy Lugduno, Ba-

tavae, Auctore M. Steinschneider, 1858.—By THE BATAVIAN SocteEty.

Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, No.

II. May, 1859, Shanghai.

Report on the Land Revenue Administration of the Lower Provinces,

for 1857-58.—By tHe BenecaL GovERNMENT.

Memoires de la Societe Imperiale des Sciences Naturelles de Cher-

bourg. Tome IV. 1856 and Tome V. i1857.—By THe Socizty THROUGH

THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR.

Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. 2, Part 1. On the

Vindhyan rocks and their associates in Bundelkund, with Map.—By H.

B. Mepuicort.—By tHe GroLoGicaAL SUPERINTENDENT.

Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Geological Survey of

India, &c. 1858-59.—Do.

Bibidharta Sangraha for Pous and Bysakha, Saka, 1780-81.—By rue

Hpiror.

266 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 3.

A Panoramic View of the Mountains of Kashmir, sketched by Capt.

T. G. Montgomerie.—By Masor H. L. Tuurtrier.

Abhandlungen fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes—1. Biel, No. 5.

Liepzig, 1859.

Purchased.

The Natural History Review and Quarterly Journal of Science, for

April, 1859.

The Quarterly Review, for April, 1859.

Revue et Magazin de Zoologie, No. 3, 1859.

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. XVII. for May, 1859.

Revue des deux Mondes for 1st and 15th April, and 1st May, 1859.

Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Tome X. No. 1.

Journal des Savants, March and April, 1859.

Comptes Rendus, Nos. 12 to 16, March and April, 1859.

The Literary Gazette, Nos. 42 to 46.

The Athenzeum for April, 1859.

A Grammar of the Arabic language, translated from the German of

Caspari. By William Wright. Vol. Ist, 1859.

Edinburgh Review for April, 1859.

The Unadi Sutras of Ujjaladatia.

For Juny, 1859.

The monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal

was held on the 6th Instant.

A. Grote, Esq., President, in the Chair.

The proceedings of the last Meeting were read and confirmed.

Presentations were received.

1. From Herr Robert Schlagintweit of Berlin a case containing

20 Ethnological copper casts of Heads from India and High Asia,

together with a prospectus of Messrs. Schlagintweit’s collection of

the same.

These casts are a selection from a large collection, comprising 270

casts of the face, and 31 of the hands and feet, made by the Messrs.

Schlagintweit during their recent travels in Asia.

The original moulds have been reproduced by making strong

metallic casts of zinc the basis, and coating them with a galvano-

plastic deposit of copper varied in tint according to the different

degrees of colour of the native Tribes.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 267

The entire series supplies perhaps the most important contribu-

tion, that has yet been made to the study of Indian Ethnology.

Major Thuillier, proposed a special vote of thanks to the Messrs:

Schlagintweit for this very valuable and interesting contribution to

the Society’s Museum.

Carried unanimously.

2. From J. W. Garstin, Esq., Deputy Magistrate, Buxar, through

H. A. Samuells, Esq., 2 stone and 2 iron shot for the wooden guns

previously presented to the Society by Mr. Samuells, and some

broken fragments of the same.

3. From T. Oldham, Esq., a copy of Rollin’s Ancient History in

6 vols. ; Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. II. Pt. I.

and Annual Report of the Superintendent Geological Survey of India,

&c. for 1858-59.

4. From Mons. Garcin de Tassy, a copy of an address delivered

by him, May 5th, 1859, at the opening of his Hindustani course at

the Ecole Imperiale des langues Orientales Vivantes.

5. From Major H. L. Thuillier, part of a Panoramic view of the

Kashmir mountains, sketched by Captain T. G. Montgomerie.

R. H. M. Warrand, Esq,, B. C. 8, duly proposed at the last

Meeting was ballotted for and elected an ordinary member.

The following gentlemen were named for ballot as ordinary mem-

bers at the next Meeting.

C. W. Wilmot, Esq. proposed by Mr. Atkinson and seconded

by Mr. Grote.

Captain J. EH. Gastrell,13th Regiment N. I. proposed by Major

H. L. Thuillier and seconded by Mr. Grote.

J. B. N. Henessey, Esq. Ist. Asst. Great Trig. Survey of India,

proposed by Lieut.-Col. A. S. Waugh, and seconded by Mr. Rh.

Spankie.

Lieut. W. G. Murray, 68th N. I. proposed by Lieut.-Col. A. S.

Waugh and seconded by Major Thuillier.

W. Scott, Esq. chief Draftsman, 8. G. O. proposed by Lieut.-Col.

A. S. Waugh and seconded by Major H. L. Thuillier.

W. T. Blanford, Esq. proposed by T. Oldham, Esq. and second-

ed by Mr. Grote.

J. Obbard, Esq. proposed by Major Thuillier and seconded by

Mr. Atkinson.

268 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3.

Baboo Boloi Chand Singh proposed by Baboo Rajendralall Mitter,

and seconded by Baboo Jadava Krishna Singh.

Maharajah Narendra Narain Bhupa of Cooch Behar, proposed by

Baboo Rejendralall Mitter, and seconded by Mr. Grote.

The President on the part of the Council moved that the Society

do sanction the expenditure of a sum not exceeding Rupees 500 for

the purchase of Books from the Library of the late Dr. Walker now

on sale. Sanctioned.

Communications were recewed

1. From C. Beadon, Esq., Secy. Government of India, Foreign

Department, enclosing copy of a letter to the Government of Bombay

from Her Majesty’s Consul at Zanzibar reporting the arrival at that

place of Captains Burton and Speke on their return from the Equa-

torial African expedition and enclosing asketch map of their route

by Captain Speke.

The following is the letter :—

From Captain C. P. Riasy,

Her Majesty’s Consul and British Agent, Zanzibar.

To H. L. Anperson, Esa.

Secretary to Govt., Bombay,

Lanzibar, March 17th, 1859.

Siz,—I have the honor to report, for the information of the Right

Honorable the Governor in Council, the safe arrival at this port on

the 5th instant of Captains Burton and Speke of the East African

Expedition. Both these officers were suffering from the effects of

exposure and privations, but are already considerably improved in

health, and they proceed to Aden, in an American vessel, which sails

in afew days.

The objects contemplated in sending this expedition into Hast

Africa appear to have been most successfully carried out as far as the

limited time and means at disposal would admit of the exploration of

so vast an extent of country.

The Lake of Tanganyaka situated about 600 miles from the East

Coast, and never before visited by any white man, has been discovered

and partially surveyed. Captain Speke travelled alone through an

unknown country for about 5 degrees to the North Hast of Lake

Tanganyaka and discovered the Lake Nyanza, a vast sheet of water

extending North and South. The south extremity of this Lake is

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 269

situated in 2° 25’ south Latitude and its length is so great, that no

native on its shores has any idea where its northern limit terminates :

and from its great elevation 3700 feet above the sea and the general

slope of the country Captain Speke is confidently of opinion that the

northern end of this great lake will prove to be the source of the

white Nile.

Both Captains Burton and Speke talk in the highest terms of the

assistance afforded to the expedition by His Highness Said Majid,

and his officers, and of the friendly reception they everywhere met

with from the Arab residents in the interior, through being provided

with recommendations from His Highness.

Captain Speke describes the country visited by him as very popu-

lous, the Natives very friendly and courteous, the land well cultivated

producing a great variety of grains and vegetables, Coffee, Cotton,

Sugar cane, &c. also abundance of rich iron stone.

The Belooch Sepoys and Arabs who accompanied the expedition

all talk of Captain Speke with the greatest affection ; by his kind and

considerate treatment of them, he has acquired their entire confidence,

and they are ready to accompany him again to any part of Africa;

from his tact in conciliating the Natives, his resolution, and scientific

acquirements, I am confident he has proved himself eminently quali-

fied for any future African explorations.

I herewith annex a small sketch Map by Captain Speke showing

the routes travelled by the expedition, and the position of the newly

discovered Lakes.

I have the honor to be, &e.

(Sd.) C. P. Riesy, Capt.

2. From Baboo Radhanauth Sikdar, an abstract of the Hourly

Meteorological Observations taken at the Surveyor General’s Office

in the month of January last.

3. From Major H. L. Thuillier a memorandum on the Survey of

Cashmir from the reports of Captain T. G. Monteomerie, Bengal

Engineers, and the Surveyor General of India.

The paper was read by Major '{'huillier, who also exhibited some

fine specimens of topographical plan-drawing executed by the Ofli-

cers of the Trigl. Survey.

The thanks of the meeting were given to Major Thuillier, for his

very interesting paper.

270 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 3.

The Officiating Librarian submitted the usual monthly report.

Special Meeting.

The meeting was then made special, pursuant to notice, in order to

decide upon the reduction in the rates of subscription, and the re-

scinding of rule 49 as proposed by the Council.

The Secretary read the report of the Council recommending, that

the existing rules, which regulate the rate of subscription be rescind-

ed, and that in lieu thereof the following be adopted.

“ Ordinary members shall be divided into two classes, one Resident,

one Non-resident. All members who reside within 30 miles of

Calcutta shall be deemed Resident. Residents shall pay an admis-

sion fee of Rupees 82, and a quarterly payment of Rupees 12. Non-

residents shall pay an admission fee of Rupees 32, and a quarterly

payment of Rupees 6. All payments to be made in advance, com-

mencing from the quarter in which members are elected and

continuing so long as they are residents in India.”

The question having been put by the President, the votes were

found to be as follows :—

For the new rule.

Resident ‘voters.,present, <0) fs (wee gk econ. al Ae eel OES

Non-Resident, ick pee Mer’ eh ee blreid, ie. bo ee

Against

Resident voters presents) 00) cee we ees, / ate 59

Monchesidents, 2.) A cated: ee ee) Dict cir 0

Total,

The new rule was therefore carried.

The Lord Bishop suggested that it might be desirable to provide

for the payment of a single sum by way of composition for the

annual subscriptions.

After some conversation the President undertook to bring the

matter before the Council for consideration.

The question that rule 49, which prohibits the nomination or

election of members on the day of the annual meeting, be rescinded,

was then put and carried unanimously.

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 271

Report of Curator, Zoological Department, for February to May Meet-

ings, 1859.

I have first to report on a few more gatherings from the Andaman Is-

lands, additional to those noticed in Vol. X XVII, p. 267 et seq.

In the class of mammalia, inhabiting the dry land, we still know only

of the human animal and the peculiar Sus anpAMANENSIS ; though Bats

of different kinds have been observed, which as yet are undetermined ;

also a species of Rat, which is not of recent introduction.* A slight notice

and very rude figure of the skull of the tiny Hog from the JLvttle

Andaman are given in Jameson’s Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,

Vol. XVI. (1826-7) ;+ and to the imperfect description of this animal in

my last report, it may be added that the tail is reduced to a mere tubercle

(as in Mr. Hodgson’s PorcuLa SALVANIA). The animal is well clad with

somewhat shaggy black hair.

1. Capt. Neblett, of the Steamer ‘Sydney,’ has presented us with

some bones of a nearly half-grown Duyong (Hauicore), found in an

Andamanese hut. They consist of a lower jaw, the two scapule, and

four ribs; all daubed over in the usual way with stripes of the red pig-

ment with which the islanders besmear their own persons. This is the

first instance we know of the Duyong inhabiting the Bay of Bengal ;

though common in the Straits of Malacca and in the Gulf of Calpentyn

in Ceylon, and also found off the Malabar coast, where known to Euro-

peans as a Seal! The lower jaw from the Andamans exhibits the de-

ciduary premolars worn by attrition to a flat surface, while the first pair

of true molars had not yet pierced the gums, but were about to do so.

In the bird class, the Parrots have not yet been determined. Living

specimens of Hm/MATORNIS CHBHELA and of BLacRus LEUCOGASTER have

* A Mouse has since been taken from the stomach of a TRIGONOCEPHALUS

from Port Blair. It appears to be the ordinary house Mouse of India (Mus

Manet), and is therefore doubtless an importation. I have also information of a

small quadruped from the same locality, which is probably a Turara.

+ All that is stated, however, occurs in the description of an Andamanese hut :—

‘¢ Ranged in a row round the walls, were the smoked skulls of a diminutive Hog ;

the canine teeth shorter than in the other species of Sus in eastern countries, the

jaws fastened together by strips of rattan.” I have only seen the tusks of the lower

jaw, and they are of full proportionate size. In the larger and older of two lower jaws,

the tusks protrude more than 1} in, from the bone, measuring anteriorly ; in the

other they are loose, had protruded more than 1% in., as shewn by the colouring,

and drawn from the socket they measure 4% in. round the curve outside, and 3 in,

in a line from base to ground tip externally.

272 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 3.

been brought from Port Blair; and it appears that the latter species is

common, as might be expected. This fine Sea-eagle preys chiefly on Sea-

snakes ; as the CIRCAETUS GALLICUS does upon Land-snakes, whereas its

near ally, the HHMATORNIS CHEELA, subsists almost wholly on Frogs.

2. We are further indebted to our Secretary, Mr. Atkinson, for a few

sundries from Port Blair, including perhaps a new species of black-naped

Oriole, additional to the five noticed in Vol. XXIV. p. 477; but it

requires to be compared with O. coronatus, Swainson (O. hippocrepis,

Wagler), of the eastern archipelago, of which we do not possess a speci-

men. From O. Macrourus of the neighbouring Nicobar Islands, to the

southward, it is very conspicuously distinct. Some years ago a Javanese

specimen of O. cornonatus was lent to me, from which I took the follow-

ing note. “ Differs from O. InpIcUs in having a narrower nape-mark, a

shorter wing, and by the considerably reduced development of the yellow

on the secondaries and tertiaries.” The Andaman Oriole has no yellow

at all on the secondaries and tertiaries, beyond a small yellow spot tipping

the latter, and a slight terminal yellowish-white margin to the former.

Colour of male brilliant yellow, with the nape-mark, wings beyond the

coverts of the secondaries, and a portion of the tail, deep black. The

female has a duskyish tinge on the mantle, and the exposed portion of the

black part of the wings is tinged with green, as also the middle tail-

feathers for the greater portion of their length. Middle tail-feathers in

both sexes slightly tipped, and the rest successively more so to the outer-

most, with bright yellow. Bill carneous and legs plumbeous, as usual in

the genus. Wing 54 in; tail 92 in.; bill to gape 13 in. NW. B. In

colouring, this species resembles O. Macrovurus of the neighbouring group

of the Nicobars, but it is smaller with narrower nape-mark and propor-

tionally shorter tail, which last is commonly 5 in. in O. MAcROURUS.

EDOLIUS MALAYENSIS, nobis. The Bhimrdj of the Andamans, as was

remarked on a former occasion, is identical with the Malayan species, with

rudimentary frontal crest, I had then only a young bird to judge from, but

have now an adult, with well developed racket-tail, though perhaps a female.

It agrees with some specimens from Pinang, having the frontal crest so

rudimentary as to be scarcely noticeable unless specially looked for, and

therefore accords better than any other with Sonnerat’s figure of his Grand

Gobemouche de la céte de Malabar (so nearly crestless a race being, how-

ever, unknown on the western side of the Bay of Bengal). Some Pinang

specimens, however (perhaps males), have a slight frontal crest, measuring

from % to 4 in. long, when the feathers are pulled straight, and which is

therefore conspicuously noticeable, though small. It is probably longest

OO a a a ne

_ aa

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 273

in particularly fine old males: yet in one specimen from Pinang with

unusually developed racket-tail, the crest is small and inconspicuous.

The length of wing, in Pinang specimens, seems rarely to exceed 6 in. :

in the example referred to, with particularly fine tail, it is just 6 in. In

our adult Andaman specimen, with scarcely a trace of frontal crest, the

closed wing measures 63 in., and 6 in. in our young Andaman specimen.

In three adult examples now brought from the interior of the Tenasserim

provinces by Mr. Atkinson, the length of wing varies from 6 to 62 in.,

and the crest is moderately developed, though still rather small, some of

the feathers composing it measuring 1} in. We have a Tenasserim spe-

cimen, however, with the longest crest-feathers 24 in. in length; wing

6 in.: another from Tippera, with crest-feathers 2% in., and wing 6% in.

But in the ordinary Bhimrdj of Bengal, Nepal, Asam, Sylhet, and Arakan,

the crest-feathers rarely exceed 1? in., and are generally less; while the

wing in adults is commonly from 63 to nearly 7 in. It is probable that

the crest is mostly larger in the male than in the female, and longest in

particularly fine old males—even to the extent represented by Stephens in

his continuation to Shaw’s Zoology, which figure may be contrasted with

that of Sonnerat.

In an example from Ceylon, the closed wing is but 52 in.; and the

frontal crest is little larger than in some Pinang specimens, the feathers

straightening to $ in.: but the bill measures only ? in. from nostril to tip;

whereas in the adult Andaman bird it is here a full inch, about ¢ in. in the

Pinang specimens, and commonly 1 in. in the long-crested specimens from

Bengal, &c. ‘Two examples from the peninsula of India agree exactly, so

far as I can perceive, with ordinary Tenasserim specimens, which seem to

have the crest rather smaller, on the average, than the birds obtained

further north. The Hdolius dentirestris and D. orisse of Dr. Jerdon

(Madr. Journ. XIII, 121,) are much in need of confirmation. After con-

siderable study of numerous specimens from various localities, I can at

present recognise two races only, as sufficiently distinguishable, being the

crestless or almost crestless one from the Andamans and Malayan penin-

sula, and the conspicuously crested race elsewhere. When better known,

each from an adequate series of both sexes and of all ages from whatever

locality, it is probable that these will be acknowledged as two species ;

and then follows the question of nomenclature.

The crested is the Cuculus (!) paradiseus of Linnezus, founded on the

Cuculus siamensis cristatus viridis of Brisson, wherein both the existence

of the crest and the habitat are indicated; ergo HDoLIUS PARADISEUS,

The crestless (more or less so) is the malabaricus as described by

Latham after Sonnerat, but not as figured by Latham and by Stephens ;

274 Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. [No. 3.

but the name malabaricus is inapplicable, as equally rangonensis of Gould !

Wherefore, there seems no help for it but to propose E. MALAYENSIS ;

unless the name retifer of Temminck be adopted, which however refers to

either.

TEMENUCHUS ERYTHROPYGIUS; Sturnia erythropygia, nobis, passim.

Two more specimens from Port Blair, but still wanting the deep ferruginous

colouring on the rump and upper tail-coverts: however, it is faintly indi-

cated, and that intense colouring is probably peculiar to old males. There

can be no doubt about the correctness of the identification.*

KirracIncLa ALBIVENTRIS, nobis. The peculiar Shdma of the Anda-

mins. Three more specimens, all males, and true to the characters

described. It is as fine a songster as the Indian bird, by all accounts.

TRENA PUELLA, Horsfield ; I. indica, A. Hay. Two males and a female.

The Indian race, as distinguished from the Malayan, having shorter lower

tail-coverts.

PERICROCOTUS PEREGRINUS, (L.)

CARPOPHAGA SYLVATICA, Tickell, as before.

It appears that CAL@NAS NICOBARICUS is common ;f also ‘ Water Wag-

tails’ in the cold season, no doubt Moracitna LuzoniEnsIs of the neigh-

bouring countries ;{ and that edible nests are collected in the islands, where

there can be no doubt that the constructors of them, both CoLLocALIA

NIDIFICA and C. LINcHI, occur. Mr. Alexander, in his notice of the Little

Andaman, mentions having seen “flocks of Sand-larks, Curlews, &e.,”

which may be looked for as a matter of course. We are assured that

three or four kinds of Parrot occur, which is probable enough, one being

the tiny Loricu.vs vernatis for certain.

Of reptiles, we know that at least that one VaraAnus exists upon them ;

and Mr. Alexander remarks, of the Little Andam4n, that ‘‘ numerous

Snakes were observed sneaking amongst the bushes. From several we had

narrow escapes. ‘l‘hose that we succeeded in killing, were all furnished

with the poisonous fangs; and many of them bore a striking resemblance

to the Coluber prester or Viper, but they were all spotted.” Most pro-

bably my TrigonocerHaLtus Cantor, described from the Nicobars.§

* Length of a fresh specimen 74 in. by 12 in.; closed wing 43 in.; tail’3 in.

Bill to gape 1g in.; its colour yellow, leaden-blue at base of lower mandible.

Legs ochreous-yellow; the tarse 1 in.

+ Colonel Phayre obtained this bird alive, from the Cocos islands N. of the

Andamans, several years ago.

{ Lately received, both in summer and winter dress, from China (Amoy).

§ Since received, with a Mouse in its stomach ; also the rare HaMADRYAS VIT-

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 275

Mr. Atkinson has brought one Lizard in spirit, which I take to be the

female of a new species of Dinopuyrus, wherein the nuchal crest is very

small, and the dorsal crest is reduced to a mere keel,—perhaps a sexual

distinction: on each side of the occiput a small white tubercle. As we

shall probably soon receive other and male examples, with developed

crests, it is not desirable to describe from this first individual.

Of fishes, only a fine species of Batistss, allied in form to B. Bico-

Lor, Shaw; wholly black, except a white line at base of second dorsal

and another at base of anal fins, and a narrow white edge to the

tail. From the Nicobars we possess B. BicoLor, and another undeter-

mined.

Among the species collected by Dr. Liebig at Port Blair should have

been enumerated SpRATELLA FIMBRIATA, Val.*

Mr. Atkinson has brought a few Crustacea and Radiata ; but as I

have reason to expect more extensive collections shortly, I defer noticing

them further, and this also from want of space on the present occasion.

In the course of a trip to the mountains of the interior, from Moulmein,

Mr. Atkinson collected various specimens, the more remarkable of which

I now proceed to notice. The mammalia are—

Macacus carBonagtius, F. Cuv.; of which I. auratus, Is. Geoffroy,

figured in the Zoologie of Belanger’s Voyage, is a pyrrhous variety. M.

CARBONARIUS is the common long-tailed Macacus of the Burmese coun-

tries, and is nearly akin to M. cyNnoMoLoGos, so abundant in the Malayan

peninsula and archipelago ; but has no crest on vertex, and a blackish face

with white eye-lids, as in the Mangabey Monkeys of Africa. It is a great

devourer of Crustacea, which it finds during the ebb of the tide.

TUPAIA FERRUGINEA, var. peguensis. Common from the Kas’hya hills

down to Mergui.

ScIURUS BICOLOR, Sparrman.

Sc. cuRysonortvs, nobis. Remarkably fine. From the interior.

Sc. Puayret, nobis, J. A. S:. XXIV, 476. A second example of this

well marked species, true to the characters described, and obtained half-

way between Amherst and Moulmein.

TATUS, obtained at Port Blair by Capt. Hales, commanding the ‘ Fire Queen,’ S. V. ;

and from Capt. Hodge, commanding the guard-ship ‘ Sesostris,’ at Port Blair, two

specimens of DENDROPHIS PICTUS, greener or less bronzed than usual ; together

with a fine example of a fish—PTEROIS ANTENNARIUS, some Crabs—GRaAPsus

STRIGOSUS, and larvee of an ACHERONTIA.

* Numerous species of fishes have since been received from Capt. Hodge, which

will be noticed in a future Report.

276 Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. [No. 3.

Sc. arRoporsaLis, Gray. A fine and instructive series of this variable

species, wherein the hue of the under-parts varies from pale buff to dark

maronne, and the black patch on the back—greatly developed in some, is

entirely wanting in others. The face appears always to be reddish, the

ears deep rufous, and the whiskers are conspicuously white, whereas in

the last two species they are black. Tail more or less bushy, its long

hair tipped either with rufous or whitish, and sometimes a distinct white

tip. It would seem that the young are pale rufous-buff underneath, with

no black patch on the back; and one without black upon the back has

the breast pale and the sides and belly maronne, whereas another has

pale under-parts throughout and a large black dorsal patch. A common

species at Moulmein.

Sc. BarBEI, nobis, J. A. S. XVI, 875.

PTEROMYS CINERACEUS, nobis: sent also by Colonel Phayre from Pegu,

as formerly from Arakan; together with a Scruroprera from Pegu,

received formerly from Mergui, and which I considered to be Sc. sacirra,

but shall now designate Sc. PHayret.*

* The ‘ Flying Squirrels’ are among the most difficult of groups in which to

define the species or perbaps local races. Eighteen specimens of PTzERoMyYS were

€xhibited at the Meeting, which are referable to six distinguishable races ; and sixteen

specimens of ScluRoOPTERA, which are referable to seven species or distinguishable

races, that are better characterized than those of Prrromys. The whole are con-

tinental, and there are also various races in the archipelago ; besides which, we have

not yet examples of all of the continental races which have been described, nor of

Sc. Layarpi from Ceylon. I will endeavour to elucidate the grand series, distin-

guishing those of which we possess specimens by prefixing an asterisk.

*1, PreroMys PETauRISTA; Sciurus petaurista (mas), Pallas: Pt. philip-

pensis, Gray, apud Elliot ; Pd. oral, Tickell, Found without variation over the

forests of the whole Indian peninsula and also Ceylon. Ofa dark maronne; having

the fur tipped with white on the head and back: feet, and greater portion of the

tail, black, the latter with occasionally a white extreme tip: lower-parts white more

or less pure.

*2, Pr. cINERACEUS, nobis; Pt. petaurista, var. cineraceus, nobis, J. A. S.

XVI, 865. From the Burmese countries—Arakan, Pegu, Tenasserim. Very like

the last, but the fur more uniformly white-tipped, even on the parachute-mem-

brane; paws black ; and tail generally white almost to the end, but mostly black at

the extreme tip: lower-parts white, more or less pure.

3. Pr. PHILIPPENSIS (verus), Gray. Founded (it may be presumed) upon

Buffon’s description of the Zaguan from the Philippines, in Hist, Nat., Supp.

III, 150.

1859. } Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 207

Of birds, an undescribed Kestrel,—

TINNUNCULUS SATURATUS, nobis, 2. s. Many years ago, the Society

received a specimen from Yé (Tenasserim), presented by the Rev. J. Barbe,

4, Pr, ELEGANS, S. Miiller; by whom figured. From Java. The white-tipped

fur of the back contrasting strongly with the bright rufous-bay sides, limbs, and

also paws ; tail more blackish to the end; head palish rufous: lower-parts much

suffused with rufous.

5. Pr. puncratus, Gray (A. M. N. HW. XVIII, 211). From Malacca. ‘ Bright

bay; back ornamented with white spots [or splashes|. The only species of the

genus that has any white on its back. Skull much smaller than in the other

Asiatic species of Prernomys.” (Gray.) I saw the specimen described, which was

taken to England by Major Charlton.

*6. Pr. 1nornatus, Is. Geoffroy (Zoologie of Jacquemont’s ‘ Voyage’). From

the N. W. Himalaya. Darker than in Prof. Is, Geoffroy’s coloured figure, with

slight hoary tips to the fur, and often not any; the paws infuscated; and the

tail-tip blackish: under-parts white, with mostly a rufous tinge. So far as I have

seen, this and Pr. cINERACEUs grow to a larger size than the others.

N. B.—This would appear to be Pt. albiventer apud Gray, P. Z. S. 1836>

p. 88, and Br. Mus. Catal. ; but not that so named in Hardwicke’s Illustrations.

Pr. Griszoventer, Gray, Br. Mus. Catal., is thus described (?): “a. Beneath

dark grey: J. Beneath paler grey, back edge of the fore-legs browner than a.”’

Habitat not mentioned.

Pr. MeLanotis, Gray, from Java, is not described at all: but Pt. Diardiz,

Temminck, is given as a synonyme, and Pi. nitidus, Gray, of Hardwicke’s Iilustra-

tions, as a doubtful synonyme,

Pr. DIARDI, Tem., is unnoticed in Dr. 8. Miller and H. Schlegel’s monograph

of the genus.

*7, Pr. nitipus Geoff.: Sciurus petaurista, fem., Pallas. From the Malayan

peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. Bright rufous-bay, with black paws and

tail-tip : under-parts rufescent, According to Dr. Cantor, “the part of the head

anterior to the ears, the cheeks, the chest, and the abdomen, are white in some

individuals of either sex, one of which is figured in Hardwicke’s Illustrations of

Indian Zoology, under the denomination of Pt. albiventer, Gray.” The same

observer notices, as a doubtful variety, the Pr. puncrarus, Gray, having the

“back very dark Indian red, with a few dashes of pure white.”

*8, Pr. maGniricus, Hodgson. From the 8. HE, Himalaya—Nipal, Butan,

Asam, and Kas’hya hills. Bay, or maronne, more or less bright, above, and copi-

ously white-tipped : beneath white, sometimes tinged with rufous ; the paws rufous

in some, infuscated in others ; and tail black-tipped to a variable extent.

*Sciuropterus nobilis, Gray ; Pt. chrysotryx, Hodgson. From Nepal and

Sikhim. Vide J. A. S. XVI, 866; and Ladhere to the opinion there expressed that

278 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3.

R. C. M., which is noticed in my Catalogue of Birds (No. 69, I,) as “ per-

this is a mere variety of the last. The series of specimens in our museum de-

monstrates this beyond further question.

9. Pr, LEUCcoGENYS, Temminck, Japan.

These various races of large ‘Flying Squirrels’ with long and cylindrical tail

bear the same relationship together, as do the numerous races of gigantic Squirrels

which inhabit the same geographical region, and which were brought together by

the late Prof. Temminck by the name ScrurUS GIGANTEUS.

The smaller ‘ Flying Squirrels’ with flat and distichous tail constitute the genus

ScrurnopTera, F’. Cuv.

*1. Sc. canicers, Gray: Sc. senex, Hodgson. From Sikhim.

2, Sc. Lavaror, Kelaart, nobis, J. 4. S. XX,165. Mountains of Ceylon.

3. Sc. Baspert (?), nobis, J. A. S. XVI, 866. Trans-Himalayan ?

*4, Sc, FUSCOCAPILLA, Jerdon, nobis, J. A. S. XVI, 867. Malabar. Akin

to the next. (A good species since added to the museum.)

*5, Sc. FIMBRIATA, Gray: Pteromys Leachii (?), Gray. N. W. Himalaya.

*6, Sc. aLBonIGRA, Hodgson: Pteromys Turnbulliiy Gray. S. E. Himalaya.

*7, Sc. vintosa, nobis, J. 4, S. XVI, 866. Sikhim, Butan, Asmese moun-

tains.

8. Sc. Horsrieipi ; Pferomys Horsfieldii, Waterhouse: Pt. awrantiacus,

Wagler. Malayan peninsula.

9. Sc. genrparsis, (Horsfield.) Java, Malayan peninsula.

10. Sc. ueprpa, Horsfield. Java. N.B. This and the preceding race or

species would appear to hold the same mutual relationship as Sc. viLtLosa and

Sc. ALBONIGRA of the 8. E. Himalaya. oa

lS: PHAYREI, nobis. ». s.: Sc. sagitta of Burma, apud nos, passim.

Rangoon, Mergui. Like Sc. axBonzGra, but considerably smaller, and the

tail much less bushy. Length 6 to 6% inches; the tail (vertebrae) 54 in.; hind-

foot with claws 1? in.

*12, Sc. spapicea, nobis, J. d. S. XVI, 867. Size of Sc. voLuceLia;

from Arakan.

13. Sc. momoca, Temminck and Schlegel. Japan.

14. Sc. votans; Sciurus volans, L.: Pteromys sibiricus, Desmarest; Pt.

russicus, Tiedemann. Siberia, Lapland.

15. Sc. votuceLta; Sciurus volucella, Pallas: Mus volans, L.; Sciurus

acrobates, Schreber ; Sciuropterus americanus, Desm. N. America.(’)

16. Sc. saprina; Seiurus sabrinus, Shaw: Sc. hudsonius, Forster. N.

America.

WV. B.—The true Sc. sacirta will bea small Javanese species. M. M. Temminck

and Schlegel unite under this name Nos. 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10, which can be little

more than guess-work. The first three of this series attain to about 2 ft. in total

length: No. 12 scarcely exceeding 9 in.

(‘) Of this we possess a skeleton.

a a

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 279

haps the female of a distinct race, remarkable for the great development

of the black markings of its plumage.” Mr. Atkinson has now brought

a young female of the same race, in which the cap is fuscous, with scarcely

an indication of rufous margining the feathers, the fuscous colour also

predominating over the rufous upon the whole upper plumage, and on the

tail the rufous bands are narrower than the black bands. The adult male

is still a desideratum.

Prricrocotus ELEGANS (2), McClelland, as distinguished from P. rLam-

mrus of S. India and Ceylon. A female (?), of the size of P. rramuuvs,

but the yellow portion of the plumage much deeper than in that species,

and also much more of this colour upon the forehead, where brighter and

better defined than in the female of P. speciosus. P. ELEGANS is describ-

ed from Asam. —

PHYLLOSCOPUS TROCHILOIDES, (Sundevall). Mentioned on account of

the locality.

Of reptiles, ACANTHOSAURA ARMATA, Gray; and a beautiful Gecko

from the interior :—

NAULTINUS VARIEGATUS, nobis, x. s. Unguinal and penultimate phalan-

ges of toes long and compressed. Body and sides uniformly studded

with large tubercles, which gradually disappear on the tail; the lower-

parts covered with large flat scales, bounded by a prominent ridge on each

flank: series of femoral pores extending quite across, and behind these,

anterior to the vent, four scales larger than the rest: a few small scales

posterior to the vent, followed by a series of broad subcaudal plates.

Scales upon head and throat minute, those on the face anterior to the eyes

larger. LKyes large with vertical pupils. Colour grey, beautifully spotted

and marbled with black, set off with subdued white. Lower-parts whitish,

freckled on the tail with black, and gradually more of this to the ex-

tremity, the terminal third being almost wholly blackish ; above, the tail

is irregularly banded. A broad dark streak bordered with whitish behind

each eye, and continued irregularly round the occiput. On the back the

markings appear as irregular bands, paler internally and blackish on their

zigzag borders, most difficult to describe intelligibly ; the head above is

spotted and not banded. Lntire length 63 in., of which the tail measures

3g in.*

A few fishes will be noticed subsequently ; together with Major Berd-

more’s specimens and others.

* Since referring the above species to Nauxtinus, Gray, I have seen his figure

of N. paciricus (Platydactylus Duvaucelii, D, et B.), of new Zealand, in the

Zoology of the Voyage of H. M. 8. ‘ Erebus,’ and perceive no reason to alter the

arrangement,

280 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 3.

3. R. Swinhoe, Esq., of Amoy, has favored us with a collection of

bird-skins from Amoy avd Formosa, supplying fine examples of several

species which have hitherto been poorly represented in the museum.

Among these may be noticed GRAcUPICA NIGRICOLLIS (Pastor tempo-

ralis, Tem.), and TEMENUCHUS SINENSIS (Oriolus sinensis, as distinguish-

ed from chinensis, Gmelin) ; and there are also fine specimens of S. sert-

caus and of ACRIDOTHERES CRISTATELLUS.

Also several species more or less common in Lower Bengal, or hitherto

known only or chiefly from the Himalaya; as HaLcyon sMyRNENSIS,

CERYLE RUDIS, ALCEDO BENGALENSIS, YUNX TORQUILLA, CUCULUS TE-

NUIROSTRIS, HiRUNDO RusTICA (gutturalis), H. Daurica, Dicrurvs

MACROCERCUS, LANIUS LUCIONENSIS (verus), ; CopsyCHUS SAULARIS

(foem.j, IANTHTA RUFILATUS (fem.), PHYLLOscopus FUSCATUS, REGU-

LOIDES PROREGULUS, R. CHLORONOTUS, HEMICHELIDON LATIROSTRIS,

MoraciLLa LUZONIENSIS (summer and winter plumage), CoRyDALLA

RicHaRDI, PIPASTES AGILIS, and some common small waders, as ACTITIS

GLAREOLA and A. HYPOLEUCOS, and TRINGA SUBARQUATA.

Of species new tothe museum, a fine Bat (undetermined), the hand-

some Grosbeak—EorHoNA MELANURA, (Gm.), and several apparently

new species which Mr. Swinhoe will name and describe.

4. J.H. Gurney, Esq., M. P., of Catton Hall, Norwich. Skeletons of

SULA BASSANA and GRACULUS CARBO; and some skins of British birds

of species either previously wanting in our museum, or insufficiently re-

presented, and one of MacrorHaMpPHus GRisEUs from N. America for

comparison with M. sEmipaLMatus, nobis (J. A. S. XVII, 252), of India.

The last named species, of rare occurrence unless on the sea-coasts of

this country, was not admitted as distinct by the late Prince of Canino,

who, had he seen a specimen, would unquestionably have elevated it to

the rank of a separate named division. It is a much larger bird that M.

GRIsEus, with a proportionally longer and still more thoroughly Snipe-

like bill, while the semi-palmation of the toes at once distinguishes it.

The plumage, too, is very different, and in our Indian bird considerably

resembles that of most Ruffs in winter dress: the rump is uniformly

coloured with the back; whereas the other has a pure white rump, be-

coming gradually more mottled to the upper tail-coverts ; and the Indian

bird is almost wholly white under the wings, where the other has every

feather mottled with dusky. The diversity of the two species is accord-

ingly about as obvious as it well can be, while the difference of form is

much greater that in very many divisions separated and named by the

Prince of Canino. Concurring in the opinion that it should be thus sepa-

rated, I propose for it the name PsEUDOSCOLOPAX SEMIPALMATUS.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 281

A fine adult example of a British Peregrine Falcon (Fatco pEreGri-

NUS verus) quite bears out the opinion of the Prince of Canino, Mr. Gould,

and others, that the Baur? Falcon of India should be recognised as dis-

tinct, by the name F. catrpus, Latham. A glance suflices to distinguish

them. The European Peregrine has more colour on the lower-parts,

whcih, however, do not approach in depth of hue those of the Shahin

Falcon (F. pereGRiInaTOR) of India; and it differs both from the Bauri

and Shahin by having the lower-parts, thighs, and beneath the wings,

much more strongly barred, the breast being also much more conspicu-

ously spotted with large well developed ‘ drops.’ In the Bawri the breast

is uniformly much whiter, and the spots are almost confined to a narrow

black mark on the stem of each feather, even this disappearing on a large

proportion of the feathers in some specimens. The Bauri has likewise

much more and brighter yellow upon the cere and base of bill, than has

the European Peregrine. In size and structure they agree; but admit-

ting the Bauri and Shahin to be distinct species, as all must admit that

know them (and these inhabiting the same country—albeit the former keeps

more to the plains and the latter to the hills), there is no alternative but

to consider the European Peregrine as also equally distinct, and likewise

the Australian Fr. MAcRopPUs, Swainson (v. melanogenys, Gould).

Three specimens of the European Rattus aquaticus present the usual

distinctions from R. 1npicus, nobis, J. A. S. XVIII, 820: the Indian

Water Rail being larger, with conspicuously thicker bill and legs, the

latter obviously of a different colour from those of R. aguaticus. The

ash-colour of the lower-parts is invariably much less pure, being always

greatly mingled with brown in R. 1npicus. Again, there is a well marked

dark streak below the eye of R. 1npicus, continued back over the ear-

coverts, which does not occur in R. aguaticus. Length of closed wing,

in three specimens of 1NDICUs, exceeding 5 in.; in the three of aquati-

cus, under 44 in.; vertical depth of bill at base scarcely exceeding 4 in.

in R. aquaticus, about 3 in. (and sometimes even more) in R. 1npicus.*

5. Major W. S. Sherwill. Some minute fishes from the Mutla, taken

in mid-stream during the height of the tide. Among them I recognise

a single individual of a second species of the genus Bocopa, Bleecker,

* The Corn-crake or ‘ Land-rail’ (ORTYGOMETRA CREX) is very rare in India,

though common in Afghanistan, and Afghan specimens are undistinguishablo

from British. It should occur therefore about Peshawur. The well known

sportsman Purpy mentions having killed a Land-rail in Oudh, remarking that

it was the only one he ever saw in India (Beng. Sp. Mag. XIX, 270) ; and this

is the sole instance I know of a Land-rail having been observed in this country.

282 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 3.

and several of a remarkable new generic form akin to the Zeus or ‘ John

Dory.’ These are described, for want of space here, in a paper on new

species of fishes.

6. Babu Rajendra Mallika. The carcass of a male Ostrich, and of

some other animals that had died in his menagerie.*

7. W. T. Blanford, Esq., of the Geological Survey. Skeletons of

GERONTICUS PAPILLOsSUS and ANASTOMUS OSCITANS.

8. Mrs. J. H. Ballin. A bottle of Snakes.

9. Mr. E. C. T. Tate, of the Ganges Company’s Steamer ‘ Mirzapore.’

A fine example of SQUILLA RAPHIDIA.

10. Mr. J. Floyd, Alipore. A four-legged chick, of very singular

formation, which died of paralysis when a month old.

11. Dr. Mouat. Some skulls of Sus aNDAMANENSIS, nobis; and the

skull of a cow Buffalo of the wide-horned type, the horns of which attain

occasionally so enormous a length. (Vide Proc. Zool. Soc. 1855, p. 17.) A

detached pair in the British Museum are each 63 ft. round the curvature.

12. H.H. The Maharaja of Burdwan. A remarkable bezoar taken

from the stomach of a Giraffe. Itis shaped like a short lemon, 3 in. in

greatest length, encrusted with a soft calcareous substance having a

smooth vermiculated surface, beneath which is a layer of the agglutinat-

ed hairs of the animal; and.the same alternation occurs apparently in

successive concentric layers. Among the stuffed mammalia presented by

the Maharaja, as noticed in Vol. XXVII, p. 273 et. seq., we have since

detected specimens of HYLoBATES AGILIS and GAZELLA DORCAS (verus).

13. Capt. Jethro Fairweather. A fine collection of corals from Sin-

gapore; and the skull of a Deuputnus from the Bay of Bengal.

14. Major R. C. Tytler, of the late 38th N. 1. Skull of a DELpuinus

(minus the lower jaw), procured westward of the Cape of Good Hope:

also the skull of a Camel.

* It may be remarked that there are two very distinct types of Ostrich-eggs.

One is the ordinary egg, with numerous very conspicuous pores on the surface

of the shell. The other has no trace of these pores, is generally smaller, and

has a smooth and highly polished surface. I have heard it confidently stated,

that the latter only are found in southern Africa, while both sorts are brought

from the northern portion of that continent. Are there, as the Prince of Ca-

nino suspected, two species of Ostrich ? And does the smooth-shelled egg apper-

tain to the race of Mesopotamia in the days of Xenophon, that yet lingers in

the Syrian desert, and may still occur plentifully in the proximate part of Africa ?

+ I now recognise the Egyptian Gazelle as G. porcas; the Arabian (fre-

quently brought to Calcutta from Aden) as G. cora; and the Indian as G.

BENNETTILI.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 283

15. The Rev. H. Baker, Junr., of Mundakyum, Alipi, Southern

Malabar. A donation of the following specimens from that vicinity.

MAMMALIA.

PRESBYTIS CUCULLATUS; Semnopithecus cucullatus, Is. Geoffroy (badly

figured in the Atlas to Belanger’s Voyage): 8. jubatus, Wagner (in

Schreber’s Supplement, a much better figure): S. Johni apud Martin.

The great black Monkey of the Nilgiris and Malabar ghats, which has

been much confounded with Pr. Jounit (verus), also of the Malabar

ghats, and to which the following synonyms apply :—Simza Johnit, Fischer,

—Semnopithecus hypoleucos, nobis, J. A, 8S. X, 839,—and S. Dussumieri,

Is. Geoffroy. The latter species, or true Jounut, is described as a variety

of the Jonnit by Mr. Martin, who erroneously refers the great black

species of the Nilgiris and Malabar to the same. “ The cry of woo-woo,”’

remarks Mr. Baker, “ heard in the Malabar jungles, was supposed by Mr.

Ovilby to intimate the presence of some Gibbon (Hylobates) ; but it is

simply the call of the Pr. cucutuatus. The Lion Monkey (true sine-

Nus),”’ he adds, ‘‘ is found up to Goa and all through the hills, but only in

the lonely dense forests ; the call of the male is precisely the ‘ cooyeli’

of anative who has lost his way and is shouting for help.’’*

Loris Gracitis, (Geoffroy). Imperfect flat skin.

RHINOLOPHtS AFFINIS (?), Horsfield (vide J. A. S. XXI, 346); a dark-

coloured specimen; and Nycricesus TemMMINnckII, also dark-coloured—

as in fact are most of the skins of mammalia from Malabar and Tra-

vancore.

Flat skins also of ViverRicuLA MALACCENSIS, HERPESTES FuscUs,

H. Griseus, FELIS CELIDOGASTER (v. viverrina, &c.), FE. BENGALENSIS,

and F. caaus; and a skull of Lurra narr, undistinguishable from the

common Gangetic Otter referred to L. sinensis, Gray, v. tarayensis, Hodg-

son.

Of Freis cetipocastTer, Mr. Baker remarks—‘ This wild Cat grows

very large and often kills parzé Dogs, and I have known instances of

slave children (infants) being taken from the huts. I scarcely believed

the fact, tilla very large one was traced up after badly injuring a child

from which it was beaten off, and in the act of killing a young calf. F.

CHAus is very common.” In Bengal the F. cELIDOGASTER is mainly a

* In a subsequent letter, Mr. Baker writes—the Pr. cucuLiatus “is found

in all the Travancore and Cochin woods, also the Nilgiris and Pulneys; but the

Vella Munthee, the other Prussytis of S. India, replaces it in the plains of

Malabar and Coimbatore, and is called Hunuman by the Hindus here, though

they also reverence the Toque, MacacuUs RADIATUS.”

202

284 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3.

fishing Cat; and its habits were erroneously assigned by Buchanan Ha-

milton to F. BenGALENsIs, for which he mistook the species. A newly

caught male, however, in my possession, broke through the partition

which separated him from a tame Leopardess considerably larger than

himself, and killed her during the night. Of F. cetipoGasrsr, I have

seen several adults quite tame and gentle, and suffered even to range

loose about a room; but I never knew either ¥. BENGALENSIS or F.

cHaus to be tameable in the slightest degree, however early in life the

attempt had been made. A propensity for dabbling and seeking their

prey in water is manifested by the kittens of F. cELIDOGASTER at a very

early age.

“On the Nilgiris,” remarks Mr. Baker, “I saw two distinct Otters,

one the large brown nair, and the second not half so large, almost black

on the back and white underneath, and said to be common in the Pykarra

river. I could not procure a specimen.’ Probably one of the Aonyx

group of Otters. ‘‘ The hill people mention also some creature which

lives in holes in the banks of streams in the mountains, with a flat tail;

some describe it as a smaller Otter, others as a Rat, and as large as a

small terrier. They dive in the water, and are said to live on Crabs and

Worms.’’* |

Sorex sERPENTARIUvS, Is. Geoffroy. A species which appears to be this,

but of a much paler and more delicate grey colour than I have before

seen, with hardly a trace of the rufous tips to the fur, is sent as the ordi-

nary ‘Musk Rat’ of Malabar. The specimen is from Tinnevelly. “ It is

not common,” remarks Mr. Baker, “on the Malabar coast, but very much

so on the other side; the specimen has lost all smell now [by no means],

but is perfectly foetid when alive.” As compared with the common S.

CERULESCENS, the present species is much smaller, with the limbs only

half as large in proportion, and a much more slender tail; the teeth are

also much smaller, and the superior quasi-incisors much less hooked. S.

HETERODON, nobis, from the S. E. Himalaya, is nearly affined, but the

teeth are considerably larger in proportion and are of a deep buff-yellow

colour, whereas in 8S. seRPENTARIUS they are pure white. S. HETERODON

appears also (on present evidence) to be rather a smaller species, with

* Mr. Baker since writes—“‘ The small Otter, of which I got a good view in

the Ootacamund museum, is not half the size of the other, and is black on the

back with a white belly. This must be the animal I told you the natives spoke of

in the hill streams.” Seemingly an undescribed species.

Again, he since started a pair of the “small Nilgiri Otter’? in the western

ghits ; but the eagerness of his companions seems to have occasioned their escape.

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 285

proportionately stouter limbs; but I doubt if I have seen a full grown

specimen. ,

S. (?) vigipEscens, nobis, z. s. A flat skin, tail-less, and with only one

hind-foot attached, but nevertheless recognisable as certainly distinct

from 8. SonnERATII, not only by its colouring and quality of fur, but by

having the hind-foot to heel 1, in. long, whereas that of SONNERATII is

barely 12 in. Length to base of ‘tail about 53 in. Colour very dark ; fuli-

ginous on the face to beyond the ears; and the upper-parts slightly, the

lower very conspicuously, tipped with yellowish, which imparts a dingy

greenish aspect, whence the name. Fur unusually short and close, ap-

proximating the velvety character of that of the Mole. Perhaps a new

genus of Soricide. Mr. Baker remarks that this is ‘‘ the common species

of Southern Malabar, the bite of which the natives dread as poisonous.*

* Major Tytler has permitted me to examine four species of SoREX, more or

less well preserved in spirit, from his collection.

1. §S. soccatus, Hodgson, nobis, J. A. S. XXIV, 30, and Ann. Mag. N. H.,

2nd series, XVII, 17. From the Masuri hills. Length of head and body 5 in. ;

of tail 3 in.; and hind-foot to heel in. This is larger than hitherto recorded ;

but I do not hesitate in identifying the species.

oe Se ? Length of head and body 2 in., of tail 1f in.; hind-foot to

heel 54 in. Colour slaty-brown throughout, a little canescent below. The quasi.

incisive teeth particularly large and strong. In bad condition. Masuri.

Set

CRONYX, nobis; but of a much darker and more fuscous brown colour above,

? One of the minute species, from the same locality as 8. MI-

dingy canescent below, and the tail longer and more slender, containing 17 or

18 vertebree: ears smaller and thinner than in S. Mrcronyx; and the quasv-

incisors larger. Length of head and body 13 in. ; tail 1,5, in.; hind-foot to heel

nearly ¢ in. Masuri.

4. §. TYTLERI, nobis, vs. A remarkable species from the Deyra doon, of

a light rufescent sandy-brown colour, unusually well clad, even on the feet and

tail, the last being densely covered with a shortish fur, having numerous long

hairs intermixed. Fur of the body dusky for the basal two-thirds or more, and

tipped with the hue described ; the upper-parts being more rufescent, the lower

slightly paler: form unusually robust, the basal portion of the tail exceedingly

thick. The larger of two specimens, a female, measures—head and body 4% in.,

the tail 2¢ in. Hind-foot to heel 7 in. I do not think it full-grown, though

Major Tytler has not seen any of larger size.

The following new species of typical Sorex is from China (Amoy).

S. SwiInHogl, nobis. Of an uniform duskyish mouse-colour, tinged below with

cinereous ; the ear-conch unusually large; and the fur close and velvety, or

Mole-like. Length of head and body 33 in., of tail 2 in.: hind-foot in. Pre-

sented to the museum by R, Swinhoe, Esq., of H. M. Consulate, Amoy,

286 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3.

Some time ago, Mr. Baker asserted in a communication to a sporting

periodical his belief that a real Mole existed in his neighbourhood !* He

now writes :—‘* I have since had three specimens of the Mole brought

me, but all too far gone for preservation ; they were perfectly black with

white belly. Moles they certainly were.” It is unfortunate that the skulls

were not preserved, or even the entire skeletons in spirit ; but I trust ere

long to receive examples from Mr. Baker, as a Taupa from S. India would

be a very unexpected discovery ; though, as stated in the sequel, we

possess the T. LeEucURA, nobis, from the hilly region bordering on the

valley of the Sitang river in British Burma, where co-existing with a

Tupata and a Hytomys !f

PreRoMYS PETAURISTA, (Pallas); and SclUROPTERA FUSCOCAPILLA, Jer-

don, nobis, J. A. S. XVI, 867. ‘* The common Flying-squirrel [%. e. the

Pteromys| grows much larger than the specimen sent, and they are per-

fect plagues in cocoa-nut gardens. The brown ones are mother and young,

and were taken from a hollow tree; they lived some days, but bit those

attempting to feed them so savagely, that they were killed, to my great

regret.” The latter species has hitherto been only known from the descrip-

tion cited, of a little more than half-grown specimen in rather abraded

pelage, and the condition of that specimen induced the imposition of a not

very appropriate name. Unfortunately, the adult now sent is tail-less,

though otherwise in good order; and the tail of the young corresponds

with that described formerly. The species most nearly resembles the Sc.

FIMBRIATA, Gray, of the Simla and Masuri hills, but has much smaller

ears, and the fringe of long hair bordering the hind-foot (from which Sc.

FIMBRIATA takes its name) does not exist in the present animal. Fur very

dense and soft, that of the upper-parts dusky-ash for the basal two-thirds,

the rest a rich brown with black tips: towards the tail it inclines to be

woolly ; on the crown it is more fuscous, having whiter tips ; and the para-

chute-membrane is mostly blackish above, with a pale edge: lower-parts

* Going through the hills, I often come upon a small black velvet-coated

creature, dead, with the head bitten off. ‘The paws are precisely like those of the

English Mole, with a similar tail; the whole a finger’s length and about an inch

thick. It would be curious to know what kills this animal and whether it be

a true Mole, as I think it.”

+ In a subsequent letter, Mr. Baker remarks—“ With the assistance of the hili-

people we contrived all kinds of springes,trap-falls, &c.,in order to catch the smaller

animals; but we could not manage a common Mole-catcher’s trap, and I was

fairly beaten by a digger whose runs reminded me of those of the Mole at home.

He seemed to beat us by his mining, perhaps however by the numerous rami-

fications of his burrow.”

1859.] Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 287

rufescent-whitish, inclining to pale ferruginous round the border: feet

light brown: moustaches long and black. The young is essentially simi-

lar, with tail indistinctly distichous, reaching (vertebre) when reflected

to between the ears; brown above, black below medially to near its base,

with a slight albescent tip. Length of adult female, to base of tail, 10

in.; of hind-foot (with claws) 2 in.; of ear-conch (posteriorly) $ in.: in

front of and behind the ears are numerous long fine dusky hairs.

* The Flying-squirrels,” remarks Mr. Baker, *‘ being nocturnal animals,

are difficult to procure, except by watching under fruit-trees in moonlight-

nights, or, when a forest is cut down, by observing the hollow trunks and

securing their tenants. The noise made by these creatures at night in

the depths of the old jungles, is sometimes alarming to a stranger to it.’’*

ScluRUS MAxIMUS (?), Schreber, apud Horsfield; but certainly not the

Bombay Squirrel of Pennant, which seems rather to be Sc. ELPHINSTONEI,

Sykes; while the corresponding animal of Central India, so abundantly

brought alive to Calcutta, is intermediate, and is always black on the up-

per half of the fore-limbs, but with never any black upon the croup or

hind-limbs. The Southern Malabar specimens sent by Mr. Baker have

the entire shoulders and upper half of the fore-limbs, and also the entire

croup and haunch, black, advancing medially so as almost or quite to meet

the black on the shoulders. Of hundreds of the large Squirrels from

Central India, I have observed no variation worthy of remark. But

these gigantic Squirrels are equally puzzling with the great Flying-

squirrels (PrreRomys).

The stuffed skin and skeleton of one in the Calcutta Medical College

appears to be of an undescribed race :—

Sc. ALBIPES, nobis, 2. s. Like Sc. mMAcRouRus, Pennant, but of an

uniform dull brown colour above and on the outside of the limbs down to

the feet, the fur very obscurely grizzled, except with whitish on the

anterior half of the head. Paws whitish, with black hairs intermixed

upon the toes. Lower-parts uniformly white, abruptly defined. Lars

blackish externally, with no pencil-tufts. Tail dusky-brown, with a dull

* T extract the following notice from some ‘Notes on Shooting in Kashmir,’

descriptive of the haunts of some species either of Prrromys or SCIUROPTERA,

—probably the former, and the particular species Pr. 1norNnatus, Is. Geoff.

“There are numbers of Flying-squirrels to be got in the forests about Wurdwan ;

they live in the tops of the dead fir-trees, where they make a round hole in the

bark and hollow out a nest for themselves inside. On scraping with a stick at

the bottom of a tree, the animal pops out its head like an Owl,” and is then

easily shot. Indian Sporting Review, n. s. I, 35.

288 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [| No. 3.

white mesial line below. In other respects like Sc. MAcRouRUs of the

southern parts of India and Ceylon. However the latter may vary, the

fore-limbs from the elbow are invariably white, and also a corresponding

portion of the hind-limbs; the crown is blackish, with white muzzle and

white occipital patch; and there is a great admixture of white on the

tail, either merely tipping the hairs more or less, or rarely almost the

whole tail is white or yellowish-white. There is commonly also much

white grizzling the sides of the body. From the dark limbs more especi-

ally, I take that now described to be of a particular race, equivalent to

many others that are named; but the habitat remains to be ascertained.

Fam. Myoxide, Waterhouse.

PLATACANTHOMYS, nobis, 2. g. A most remarkable new genus, having

essentially the dentition, form of skull, and also the hirsute tail of a Dor-

mouse (Myroxus, GrapPHitRus), but the upper-parts are densely covered

with sharp flat spines, mixed with an exceedingly delicate, thin, and some-

what frizzled under-coat; with spines also on the lower-parts, but these

much smaller and finer (more resembling those on the upper-parts of Mus

PLATYTHRIX), and the soft under-coat there predominating; with no

spines on the head and throat, limbs, and hind-portion of the abdomen,

but the hair on the forehead and occiput full and tufty, each hair being

flattened and the series passing gradually backward into spines. The

skull could not be taken out without injury to our only specimen, but on

the skin being relaxed and reversed, all doubt was completely removed

respecting the affinity of this curious animal. The grinders, however,

are only three in number, above and below, of equal size, excepting that

the last above is one-third smaller than the rest; each is surrounded with

enamel, with three or four transverse folds of the same, comparable to

those of the grincers of an Asiatic Elephant, only simple and contiguous

or very nearly so. The descending angle of the lower jaw quite resembles

that of Scrurus; but the coronoid process is obtuse. From what little

remains of the skull, it would seem to resemble very nearly that of Gra-

PHIURUS (vide Waterhouse in Mag. Nat. Hist., n. s., 111. 1839, p. 185),

but the nasal bones do not contract posteriorly, and the inter-orbital space

is also less contracted. Ant-orbital foramen as in Myoxus, but the

maxillary process which forms its outer wall is less than half as broad as in

Myoxus, or more asin GrapHiurus. Rodential tusks quite similar to

those of Myoxus Guis. Comparing the feet with those of the latter ani-

mal, the structure is seen to resemble, except that in the new genus, the

hallux is less developed and is nailless. The tail, too, is less hirsute on

its basal third, the hairs becoming gradually longer from the base to the

middle and being of equal length for the remainder; they are thinner

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 289

and coarser than in Myoxus, straight, and arranged distichously, so that

the hairy tail is flat as in Scturoprmra, and its lower surface is equally

well clad with the upper. The whiskers are very long, some of them

reaching to the middle of the body ; and the soft frizzled fur of the lower-

parts resembles that on the under-parts of Myoxus GLts, only mingled

(except towards the throat and vent) with rudimentary spines. I can

detect only two pairs of (abdominal) mamme.

PL, LastuRus, nobis, n. s. Size nearly that of Myoxus exis; but the

head smaller and shorter: a female measuring 6 in. or nearly so to base

of tail, the tail (vertebra) 33 in., or to end of hair 15 in. more: ear-conch

(posteriorly) $ in., ovoid, and all but naked: hind-foot to heel 1 in.:

longest whiskers 24 in., becoming exceedingly fine towards the extremity.

General colour above (that of the tips of the spines) a somewhat light

rufescent-brown, similar to that of the spines—as distinguished from the

quills—of various Porcupines, only less intense ; the thin slightly frizzled

under-fur being paler. The spines are % in. long, like stiffish thin la-

mine of baleen or ‘ whale-bone;’ they gradually taper to a sharp point

from the middle, and abruptly at the extreme base or point of attach-

ment; being white, excepting at the tips which constitute the surface.

On the forehead and crown, where the hair is very full (as before de-

scribed), the colour is more rufescent than otherwise ; whiskers chiefiy

black ; and the lower-parts are dull or subdued white. The hairs on the

tail are much darker than the body-colour, and may be described as infus-

cated, except at the tip of the tail where they are dull white throughout

their length, forming a conspicuous pale tail-tip.

“T was ignorant of the existence of this animal,” remarks Mr. Baker,

* till about a year ago, when I found it in a range of hills about 3000 ft.

high. It lives in the clefts of the rocks and hollow trees, is said to hoard

ears of grain and roots, seldom comes into the native huts, and in that

particular neighbourhood the hill-men tell me they are very numerous. i

know they are to be found in the rocky mountains of Travancore, but I

never met with them in the plains. I have some hundreds of these hill

people baptized Christians, and shall have no difficulty in procuring you

specimens, including one preserved in spirit.”’*

* Jn a letter received as the above was going to press, Mr. Baker has favored

us with a notice of the habits of this species, which helps to confirm the pro-

priety of its allocation among the Dormice. He remarks—‘“ I have been spend-

ing the last three weeks in the ghats, and among other things had a great hunt

for the new spiny Dormice. They are most abundant, I find, in the elevated

vales and ravines, living only in the magnificent old trees there found, in which

290 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3-

Of Muride two species are sent. A flat skin of the common Mus

FLAVESCENS, Gray; and two ditto, sent as the ‘ Black Rat,’ but not

affined to M. rarrus, L.: so far as can be judged, they resemble M.

INDICUS in size and proportions, including length of tail; but the coat is

different both in texture and colouring. In M. invicus the pelage is

coarse and harsh, of an ordinary rat-brown colour, and quite devoid of

gloss. In the Malabar aninial sent, the pelage is soft and glossy, and

very dark in colour—almost black on the face. On the back the hairs are

ashy-black with slight ruddy-brown tips ; on the sides and under-parts

those tips are more extended and yellowish. Whiskers black. Perhaps

only a dark southern variety of M. inpicus.*

they hollow out little cavities filling them with leaves and moss. The hill-people

called them the ‘ Pepper Rat,’ from their destroying large quantities of ripe

pepper (Piper nigrum). Angely and jack fruit (Artocarpus incisa and integrifo-

lia) are much subject to their ravages. Large numbers of the Shanda palm | Bo-

rassus ?| are found in the hills and zoddy is collected from them: these Dormice

eat through the covering of the pot as suspended, and enjoy themselves. Two

were brought to me in the pots half-drowned. I procured in one morning six-

teen specimens. The method employed in obtaining them was to tie long bam-

boos (with their little branches left on them to climb by) to the trees, and when

the hole was reached the man cut the entrance large enough to admit his hand,

and took out the nest with the animals rolled up in it, put the whole into a bag

made of bark and brought it down. They actually reached the bottom some-

times without being disturbed ; it was very wet cold weather, and they may have

been somewhat torpid; but I started a large brown Rat at the foot of one of

the trees, which ran up the stem into a hole, and four Dormice were out in a

minute from it, apparently in terror of their larger friend. There were no traces

of any hoarding in any of the holes, but the soft bark of the trees was a good

deal gnawed in places. JI had two of these Dormice alive for some time, but as

they bit and gnawed at everything intended to keep them in durance, I was ob-

liged to kill both. I noticed that when their tails were elevated the hairs were

perfectly erect like a bottle-brush. I prepared you twelve skins with the skull

in each of them complete, and two complete skeletons ; but the latter were lost

with the box containing them in crossing a stream, the cooly being carried off

his legs. I hope before long to replace this loss. The skins I will send you

shortly by banghy.”

* Mr. Baker since writes—“ This species replaces on the hills the Mus provid-

ens or indicus of Mr. Elliot (I think), for that is very common on the plains

but is not found in the hills, though the habits of both are precisely as describ-

ed by Mr, Elliot,”

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 291

Of Leporide, Mr. Baker asserts that the Lepus RuFIcAUDATUS, in

addition to L. niGRicoLuis, inhabits his neighbourhood; also the true

Hog Deer (Cervus porcinus), of which Dr. Kelaart presented a living

male from Ceylon, where known as the ‘ Paddy-field Deer’ (his C. oryze).*

EvepnHas. ‘Section of a process taken from the head of a Malabar

wild Elephant having perfect tusks.’ A remarkable concretion of ivory,

taken probably from the tusk-sockct, 4 in. long by 2 in. across where

widest.

Krmas Hytocrivus, Ogilby. P. Z. S. 1837, p. 81: Capra (Ibex) war-

ryato, Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H., X (1842), 267. ‘ Warra-ardu or ‘ Preci-

pice Goat.’”’ (Baker.) ‘ Ibex’ of Nilgiri sportsmea. The skull of an adult

male, with fine arched horns, measuring 15 in. round the curvature.

«* The Ibex-skull I send,” remarks the donor, “I intended to have sent

with his skin. The animal, when alive, was as large as an ordinary

[Indian] Donkey, and so heavy that six men could with difficulty bring

him in. Back almost black, sides brown, legs grizzled with white. Un-

fortunately the skin was quite spoiled, though it had been beautifully

taken off. The female has only two teats.¢ They are very numerous,

feeding like a flock of Sheep on the hill-tops, and only flee to the precipices

when alarmed. They will even hide in jungle and grass. There is a

solitary Roman Catholic church on a rock in the jungles, on the borders

of Travancore and Cochin, where the wild ‘Ibex’ are common’, and

though numbers of people go there on pilgrimage these ‘ Ibex’ walk about

among them and eat the sesamum-seed given them, but do not allow

themselves to be touched. They are considered holy and belonging to

the church.” Elsewhere the same observer remarks, writing of the game

animals of the western ghats, that—“ If the mountains are at all rocky

and precipitous, you will find the wild Goat or ‘ Ibex’ close to the rocks,

often in large herds, * * * J have occasionally seen some of these

animals much smaller than the usual size, and somewhat shagey as to

their colouring. Sportsmen in the Pulneys and Ghats near Cape Comorin

talk of a wild Sheep. I think it is probable.” Searcely so: though we

do read of a “ wild Sheep” as abounding in the highlands of Madura ;f and

* Vide note to p. 297.

+ This also is stated in a 22S. description which the Hon’ble Walter Elliot

favored me with many years ago; whereas the nearly affined Zehr and Goral of

the Himalaya have four developed teats. The Nilgiri animal has commonly two

young at a birth, or at least the females are usually seen followed by two kids,

{ Thornton’s Gazetteer of India. Art. Madura; which province must not be

confounded with the island so named that is close to Java.

92 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3.

I doubt if this refers to the ‘ Jungle Sheep’ of Madras sportsmen (what Mr.

Ogilby very naturally concluded the Nilgiri ‘ Ibex’ to be), which is no other

than the Muntjac, the Kdkur or ‘ Barking Deer’ of Himalayan sportsmen,

and the ‘ Red Deer’ of those of Ceylon! As an article of provender, Mr. Ba-

ker remarks, that “‘a quarter of ‘ Ibex,’ hung as the country people in the

mountains do at home, within a wire or muslin bag and exposed to the air,

is equal to Welsh mutton.” We have now to ascertain what the reputed

‘wild Sheep’ of the highlands of Madura is intended to mean: in all pro-

bability our present animal, rather than any other.

AVES.

Of birds, we are indebted to Mr. Baker for a few specimens, among

them being the head of a young BucrEros cavatus, and a good skin of B.

GINGALENSIS. He enumerates the four species of Hornbill that inhabit

the peninsula of India, viz. CAVATUS, PICA, BIROSTRIS, and GINGALENSIS ;

and remarks that ‘‘in all, the female is shut up with the eggs, and

plasters up the entrance to the nest with its ordure[?|: the male feeds

both mother and young. A few days since I took the mother (B. ginea-

LENSIS) out of its hole ; it had stripped most of the feathers off its breast,

was very weak, and had three white eggs.* The roar of the cavatTus

I have often noticed strangers to the forest to be so alarmed at, as to fly

as if from some terrible enemy.

«The habits of the Hornbills are very similar to those of the South

American Toucans. A friend had a large tame cavarus: it watched a

female terrier that had young, and in two days managed to steal and

swallow three pups during her absence. Its usual food was rice and plan-

tains.” It is curious to see them feed on boiled rice. A large cavatus

will pick it up grain by grain, and successively toss each grain into the

air and catch it in its throat. This I have often witnessed.

The other bird-skins sent are MEGALAIMA VIRIDIS, OxYLOPHUS JACO-

BINUS, DENDROCITTA LEUCOGASTRA, MyloPHONUS HoRrsFIELD1, Bracuy-

URUS TRIOSTEGUS, MERULA NIGROPILEUS, GEOCICHLA CYANOTUS, T'cCHI-

TREA PARADISI, DICRURUS LONGICAUDATUS, CHALCOPHAPS INDICUs, and

GALLUS SONNERATII.

Examples also of the gigantic Spider, Mycane avicunaria; which,

Mr. Baker remarks, is *‘ common in the hills. They live among stones

and old bark, and are really savage creatures and poisonous too, being

easily excited, when they spring upon an exposed limb and bury the fangs

in the flesh in an instant. I have seen cases followed by fever and much

inflammation. The Tamil name is Tella mundalum.”

* Vide also Tickell, in J. 4, S. XXIV, 279 ; and Dr, Livingstone.

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 293

16. From the late Major Berdmore, of Schwe Gyen, in the valley of the

Sitang river, Tenasserim provinces.* ‘T'wo considerable collections, con-

sisting chiefly of small mammalia, reptiles, and fishes, preserved in spirit,

and comprising several species of much interest and many hitherto unde-

scribed.

MAMMALIA.

' Macroeétossts MiIniMvs, (Geoffroy). The Kiodote. The smallest of

Pteropodine Bats (or ‘ Flying Foxes’), hitherto only known from the archi-

pelago, with the exception of an example from Siam noticed by Dr. Hors-

field, as “‘ perhaps a distinct species, with a lengthened nose,”—this cha-

racter being remarkable in the Tenasserim specimen.

SCOTOPHILUS FULVIDUs, nobis, z.s. A small Scotopuitus, (having

two pairs of minute upper incisors,) of a pale fulvous colour throughout,

with black membranes. Length 2%in., of which tail 1 in. ; expanse 7+

in. ; fore-arm 1,, in.; and ear-conch (posteriorly) 3%, in. Four specimens

(females).

Sc. COROMANDELIANUS, (F. Cuv).

Myoris ? Resembles M. PIPISTRELLUs in size and structure, but

is of a dark fuscous hue, the fur slightly tipped with earthy-brown on the

upper-parts, and much more largely tipped with a paler (almost whitish)

brown below ; membranes dusky. Length 34 in.; of which tail 14 in.;

* We have to deplore the loss of this most energetic officer, to whom the

Society has been very largely indebted for specimens in different branches of

zoology for several years past ; during which period he has enriched the museum

to a far greater extent than any other contributor, and has been remarkably suc-

cessful in procuring novelties of more than average interest. The present Re-

port will alone amply show how industriously our lamented friend exerted him-

self to enrich the Society’s collections, and how great therefore is the loss sus-

tained by his decease. His friend the Commissioner of Pegu wrote, (May 31st)

—* You will be sorry to hear that our friend Berdmore is no more. He was truly

an excellent fellow. He had quite worn himself out by hard work. I received

news of his death yesterday by telegram.” It was at the request of Col. Phayre,

many years ago, that Major (then Captain) Berdmore first devoted his attention

to collecting specimens for the Society’s museum; and whatever he could pro-

cure and preserve in spirit, he lost no opportunity of forwarding, and generally

in excellent condition. Formerly in the little explored province of Mergui, and

since in the valley of the Sitang river and adjacent hills, as little trodden by the

naturalist, our deceased friend had better opportunities than fall to the lot of

most people of procuring objects of more than ordiaary interest.

294 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3.

expanse 92 in.; fore-arm 1% in.; ear-conch (posteriorly) $ in. Three

specimens (females).

RuinoLopuus aFFinis, Horsfield (verus, apud Schinz; nec apud Can-

tor P).

Hytomys PEGUENSIS, nobis, 2. s. So nearly resembling the H. suIn.

Lus of the archipelago, figured and described by Dr.S. Miller, that I should

have considered it identical, were it not for the greater development of tail:

Totallength 6 in.; of which tail $ in.; head 1? in. ; ear (posteriorly), 3 in. ;

and hind-foot with claws, ]in. Adult male and female. Hitherto this

genus was supposed to be peculiar to the archipelago.

TaLPa LEUCURA, nobis, J. A. &. XIX, 217. The Sylhet Mole, now for

the first time obtained so far south, and very remarkable as inhabiting

together with the HyLomys.

SorEX NuDIPES, nobis, J. A. S. XXIV, 34.

Scrugus KerRavupDRENII, Lesson.

Sc, BELANGERI, Lesson.

Raizomys suMATRENSIS, (Rafiles).

Mus rogustuuus, nobis, n. s. A stoutly formed Rat, with tail not quite

so long as the head and body, which latter measure together about 6 in.

Colour much asin M. pecumanus, but the feet conspicuously whitish.

Tail with short sete of equal length throughout—not becoming longer

towards the tip.

M. cINNAMOMEDS, nobis, 2. s. Like M. ruavescens but smaller, with

proportionally longer tail, and softer fur of a fine cinnamon-colour (near-

ly as in M. oLeracevs), with inconspicuous black tips; the under-parts

white, which is abruptly divided from the cinnamon hue above. Length

of head and body about 6 in., the tail 7# in., and hind-foot 14 in.

M. ruavescens, Gray (?), var.? A Rat very like M. ruavescens, but

of a darker and much less rufescent hue above, would seem to abound in

Pegu and the Tenasserim provinces, and probably in the Malayan penin-

sula; for we have a specimen of what appears to be the young of this

race from Malacca. It is probably the M. ruavescens of Dr. Cantor’s

Catalogue of Malayan animals; and the M. Brrpmoret, nobis, should

perhaps be referred to it, but of this I do not feel confident at present.

Mus P Very like the young of M. neMorauis, nobis; but the

great development of the destes of the male would seem to indicate an

adult. Head and body 4 in. ; tail 44 in.; and hind-foot 22 in.

M. niriputus, nobis, 2. s. A house Mouse apparently, with tail equal

to the head and body, and uniformly furnished with minute sete to the

end; ears large andample. Total length 63 in.; hind-feet a little ex-

€

ceeding ?in.; and ears (posteriorly) in. Colour nearly that of M.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 295

DECUMANUS, with the under-parts subdued white tolerably well defined.

Of the same subgroup as M. muscutus and M. MANEI.

M. concotor, nobis, x. s. A house Mouse probably, of an uniform

dark greyish ‘ mouse-colour’ above and below; eyes of medium size, and

ear-conch moderately ample ; feet large, and the tail with close rings of

minute sete throughout. Length 3 in., of tail 4 in., and hind-foot $ in.

From the large proportional size of the limbs, it is probably not full-

grown.

M. Banius, nobis, 2. s. Like M. oneraceus, Sykes, but the eye fully

twice as large, and black whiskers; colour of the upper-parts a more

rufous chesnut or cinnamon hue ; of the lower-parts white almost pure.

Length of a female 3 in. to base of tail, the tail 43 in., and hind-foot 3 in.

M. peGuensis, nobis, n.s. A field Mouse, with tail longer than the

head and body, well clad with hairs that become longer to the end.

Length to base of tail 34 in., of tail 3$ in.; ear-conch $ in.; and hind-

foot in. These are the measurements of a female in spirit. A stuffed

male has the tail (vertebre) 45 in. Fur very full and dense, pale yellow-

ish-brown on the upper-parts, slightly yellowish white below: whiskers

remarkably long.*

* Some other Mice in spirit have been sent by Major Tytler for identification.

They are as follow:

Mus NIviventer, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. XV. (1845), p. 267. A well

marked species, rather larger than as originally described. A male measuring

6 in. long, with tail 7 in.; and hind-foot nearly 13 in.: female even larger, or 7

in. long, with tail 74 in. From Masuri.

M. OLERACEUS, Sykes: Syn.? MW. (Vandileuria) dumeticola, Hodgson, ibid.

p. 268. I cannot perceive in what these differ. A specimen from Asam is very

slightly deeper-coloured, but I can detect no further difference. A Deyra doon

example measures 23 in. long, with tail 45 in.

M. nomovurvs, Hodgson, ibid. p. 268. Accords with the description, except

that the largest of several specimens does not quite come up to the dimensions

stated. The males measvre 33 in. to base of tail, and tail the same (having

about 24 vertebre) ; hind-foot plus in. I have been unable to satisfy myself

of the number of teats. Mr. Hodgson states—“It has eight teats only in the

females. The other Mice have ten, and the Rats have twelve.” As compared

with the European M. muscuuvs, the fur is much more Gerbille-like in charac-

ter, the piles less dense and sinuous.

M. cRAssIPEs, nobis, w.s. Like the preceding, but with the tail rather longer

than the head and body. Length 2% in.; tail 34 in.; hind-foot in. The feet

particularly large, and, like the tail, well furnished with coarse short sete, From

Masuri,

296 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 8.

Hapatomys, nobis, x. g. A very distinct new genus of Muride, with

long and delicately fine pelage, and exceedingly long tail, the terminal

tourth of which is remarkably flattened and furnished with hair more

developed than in perhaps any other truly Murine form. Limbs short,

with the toes remarkably corrugated underneath, the balls of the ungui-

nal phalanges greatly developed, protruding beyond the minute claws of

the fore-feet, and equally with the more developed claws of the hind-feet.

Head short; the ears small and inconspicuous. The skull approaches in

form that of Mus 1npicus; but the rodential tusks are broader and flatter

to the front: molars as in the Muride generally, but much worn in the

specimen under examination ; they are considerably less directed outward

than usual, and the bony palate has therefore the appearance of being

narrow : the super-orbital ridges project much outward, in form of a thin

bony plate; and there is a considerable process at base of the zygoma

anteriorly, and posterior to the ant-orbital foramen: zygomata broad and

compressed about the middle.

H. LoneGicauDAtuws, nobis, ms. Length of male 53 in. to base of tail,

of tail 72 in.; of female 54 in., with tail 7% in.: sole ]$in.: ears pos-

teriorly + in., rounded, and scantily fringed with fine long hairs. Fur

long and soft, measuring about § in. on the upper-parts, slaty for the

basal two-thirds, then glistening brown with black tips, and a few long

hairs of very fine texture interspersed : lower-parts dull white. Whisk-

ers black, long and fine; and there is a tuft of fine blackish hair anterior

to the ears.

Specimens of adult male and female, with a young one, were forwarded

by Major Berdmore.

Cervus (Panouia) -—? C. frontalis apud Cantor. The T’hdémine

Stag, found also in the Malayan peninsula: an exceedingly fine head ;

the horns differing as usual from Manipur specimens by being shorter,

M. TytzteERi, nobis, m. s. Length 2% in., tail the same, having about 24

vertebre) ; hind-foot § in. Fur unusually long and full, of a pale sandy ‘ mouse-

colour’ above, isabelline below, and pale on the well clad limbs and also on the

tail laterally and underneath. Whiskers exceedingly fine in texture, and of a

whitish colour. Male. From the Deyra doon. é

M. muscunvs, L.; from England. On comparing fine specimens of the com-

mon English Mouse in spirit with equally fine examples of the Indian house

Mouse (M. Manet), it is seen that M. muscunus has conspicuously larger ears,

much smaller eyes, broader paws, and the tail is one-fourth shorter,—mea-

suring 3 in. in MUSCULUS and 4 in. in Manzi. The fur again is of very different

texture. Accordingly the two species are obviously distinct.

1859. | ’ Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 297

especially the brow-antler, with greater tendency to subdivide at the

crown. When series of horns of both races are seen together, the dif-

ference is very manifest.*

OF birds are sent skins of EurystomMus ORIENTALIS, HARPACTES ERY-

THROCEPHALUS, and LYNCORNIS CERVINICEPS.

Of reptiles, many interesting specimens, comprising Draco LINEATUs,

ACANTHOSAURA ARMATA, CALOTES EMMA (very fine), C. vERSICOLOR,

Le1oueris Reevesit, Aspris BeRMorgt, nobis (fine), Lissonora MAcu-

LATA, XENOPELTIS CONCOLOR, PytHontIAa (n. g.) suMizonata (LTomolopsis

semizonata, nobis, J. A. §. XXIV, 187), Partas (D. and By nec Gray) MACU-

LARIUS, ”. §., CORONELLA NOTATA, ”. S.. XNENODON PURPURASCENS (sever-

al varieties), LrpropHis oRNatTA, Dipsas FERRUGINEA, D. (v. AMBLYCE-

PHALUS) BoA, Homotopsis Sirpoxnit (!), H. peucopatia, Nava TRIPU-

DIENS (dark var.), Hamapryas virratus, and others unnecessary to men-

tion. Also some Batrachia, including an IctHyopruis, which I am neces-

sitated to leave undetermined for the present.

Of fishes, a very large collection, including numerous new fresh-water

species, some of Himalayan types, others akin to those of the plains of

India and Lower Bengal. Descriptions of all of them are awaiting pub-

lication, but they are far too numerous for introduction in this place. The

group of Cobitide (or Loches), in particular, exhibits an extraordinary

* Since the decease of Major Berdmore, we have received two more packets

from him, one of them containing two flat skins of probably does of the Panomta.

They are of a pale chesnut-brown colour, paler on the sides, white below ; spotless

with a dark mesial list which in one of the two specimens is scarcely discernible :

face and limbs more or less infuscated: the tail, if (as it appears) perfect, very

short. Evidently in summer coat. Not unlike C. DUvavcErit in corresponding

garb; but the latter is mostly more or less spotted or menilled, with especially a

row of pale spots along each side of the dorsal list ; and there is no infuscation of

the face and limbs. Among the Hardwicke collection of drawings in the British

Museum is a coloured figure designated as the “ Spotted Bara Singha of the

Sundarbans.” ‘This represents an unusually spotted buck, though I have seen a

doe equally spotted ; and the species does inhabit parts of the Sundarbans. As

with the Hog Deer, some individuals of the Bara Sing’ha are much more spotted

than others in the summer costume, and the does are generally more so than the

bucks. The most spotted buck of the Hog Deer which I have seen was sent alive

from Ceylon by Dr. Kelaart. I think, however, it will be found that the Cingha-

lese Hog Deer (with which the Malabar species is probably identical) has longer

and more Axis-like horns than true C. porcrnvs, the inner prong of the terminal

fork being given off at an acuter angle; the figure of the animal being also some-

what less Porcine.

298 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3.

development of species and of well marked generic forms in the moun-

tain streams of Burma.

Also various Crustacea and shells, for the most part determined, but

an elaborate notice of which cannot be conveniently introduced here.

Tt remains only to add, that a magnificent pair of horns were exhibited

at one of the Meetings, of the great Wapiti Stag (CeRvUS CANADENSIS),

or so-called ‘ Elk’ of the Anglo-Americans, having been Jent for the pur-

pose by J. W. Linzee, Esq. The lenyth of the skull, from vertex to tips

of intermaxillaries, is 212 in.; and breadth of orbits posteriorly 82 in.

Leneth of horn, measuring round the outside, 4% ft.; circumference of

base, immediately about the ‘ burr’ or basal ring, 122 in.; and length of

brow-antler, 17 in. Greatest width of the horns apart, 3 ft. 14 in.; and

the tips are 2 ft. 34 in. apart. This fine specimen was brought from

California. KE. Biyts.

For Avaeust, 1859.

The Monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society was held

on the 3rd Instant.

A. Grote, E'sq., President, in the chair.

The Proceedings of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Presentations were received.

1. From the Officiating Junior Secretary to the Government of

Bengal, a set of Photographic Drawings of the ancient buildings

at Beejapore, sent out by the late Hon’ble the Court of Directors.

2. From the same, two copies of Selections from the records of

the Bengal Government, No. 30, containing Reports of the Districts

of Pooree and Balasore by Henry Ricketts, Esq.

3. From the Royal Society of London, the Proceedings of

that Society.

4. From the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna, several

vols. of the Transactions of the Academy.

5. From the Royal Geographical Society of London, the Pro-

ceedings of that Society.

6. From the Royal Society of Sciences, Stockholm, Parts 1 to 5,

of a Voyage round the world of the Royal Swedish Frigate Eugenie.

7. From Major H. B. Lumsden, 60th N. I., late in charge of the

Kandahar Mission, the skull and incomplete skin of a Ghor-Khur,

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 299

(or so called ‘ wild ass,’) from the vicinity of Kandahar. Also speci-

mens of a Lizard from the same neighbourhood, known as the Rag

Mahi or ‘ Sand-fish,’ the horns of an Afghan Gazelle, and some skins

of Ducks.

8. From Major S. R. Tickell, Moulmein, a large collection of

birds, comprising many species of interest and some novelties,

obtained during a trip to the mountainous interior of the Tenas-

serim Provinces ; and, subsequently, a skin of the Pomarine Skua,

an arctic bird never previously obtained within the tropics.

9. From Captain Hodge, Commanding the Guard-ship Sesos-

tris, at Port Blair, Great Andaman, a highly interesting collection

of objects of Natural History, chiefly fishes.

10. From R. Swinhoe, Esq., of H. M. Consulate, Amoy, a

collection of Chinese birds, with an undescribed species of

Shrew.

11. From Dr. McGowan, Ningpo, a fine specimen of a flake

of balein, or so called ‘ Whale bone,’ perfect and unmutilated. |

12. From Major W.S. Ferris, 12th N. I. a fine head and casque

of Buciros cavatus.

13. From the Rev. J. Baker, Jr., Cochin, a valuable collection

of Natural History specimens from Southern Malabar.

Lhe following gentlemen duly proposed at the last meeting

were ballotted for and elected Ordinary Members.

C. W. Wilmot, Esq., Captain J. E. Gastrell, 13th Regiment, N. 1.;

I. B. N. Henessey, Esq., 1st Assistant G. T. Survey of India.

Lieut. W. G. Murray, 68th N. I.; W. Scott, Esq. chief Draftsman

S.G. O.; J. Obbard, Esq.; W. T. Blanford, Esq.; Baboo Boloi

Chund Sing ; Maharajah Narendra Narian Bhupa of Cooch Behar.

The following gentlemen were named for ballot as Ordinary

Members at the next meeting.

Dr. A Campbell, Darjeeling, proposed for re-election by Mr. Grote,

seconded by Mr. W. S. Atkinson.

Captain J. Sherwill, R. Survey, Dinajpore, proposed by Mr. Grote,

seconded by Mr. Atkinson.

Captain H. Hopkinson, Commissioner, Tenasserim Provinces,

proposed for re-election by Mr. Atkinson, and seconded by Mr.

Grote.

2Q 2

300 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3.

A. K. Russell, Esq., C. S. proposed by Mr. W. Theobald, and

seconded by Mr. Medlicott.

W. L. Wilson, Esq., proposed by Mr. W. Theobald, and seconded

by Mr. Medlicott.

The Reverend F. F. Mazuchelli, D. D. SrupeRea by Captain W.

. Lees, seconded by the President.

Major Seymour Blane, proposed by Captain W. N. Lees, and

seconded by Doctor Thomson.

J. Geogeghan, Esq. C. 8. proposed i Captain W. N. Lees, and

seconded by Mr. Atkinson.

Doctor E. Goodeve, proposed by Doctor Eatwell, and seconded i

Doctor Boycott.

Major Douglas, Assistant Professor of Natural Philosophy and

Astronomy, Presidency College, proposed (for re-election) by Capt.

W. N. Lees, seconded by Major ‘Thuillier.

R. Jones, Hsq., Professor of Moral and Mental Philosophy,

Presidency College, proposed (for re-election) by Capt. W. N. Lees

and seconded by the President.

David M. Garduer, Esq., C. S., proposed by Dr. Fayrer, seconded

by Mr. Atkinson.

THe Councin Reporten.

1. That they had adopted and begged to submit for the adop-

tion of the Society the following report from the Philological

Committee, recommending that the publication in the Biblotheca

Indica of the Arabic Dictionary of Technical Terms, which it had

been agreed to discontinue in consequence of the failure of funds,

should now be proceeded with.

Rerort OF THE PatLoLoGicaL CoMMITTEE.

The publications of the Bibliotheea Indica having been resumed,

a question has arisen as to the expediency of completing the Arabic

works already commenced. The letter of the late Hon’ble Court

of Directors expressly gave permission for such completion, but the

state of the Oriental Fund prevented the Society from proceeding

with them, and it was resolved to leave them to be completed by

private enterprise. Of the two works thus unfinished, the “ Dic-

tionary of Technical Terms’’ has naturally the best claim to be

continued, as its subject is of more eeneral use than the “ Biogra-

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 801

phies of persons who knew Mahammed,” while at the same time it

is much nearer completion.

It appears that of the 1257 pages of the original MS. 717 pages

have been already printed, and only 540 remain. ‘The part already

printed fills 920 pages in the Bib. Indica, but as this embraces

numerous additions by the editing Maulavy, which would be dis-

continued in the remaining portion, it is calculated that the 540

remaining pages of the MS. would barely occupy more than the

same number of printed pages. Captain Lees has undertaken to have

the work edited at the cost of Rs. 3 per form of 4 pages, which would

amount to say 400 Rs. for the whole. The expence of printing say

7 Fasciculi of 560 pages would be somewhat less than 8000 Rs.

Thus the total cost of completing the work would be less than 3,500

Rs., and the publication would probably extend over a year and half.

Under these circumstances the Philological Committee strongly

recommend to the Council that the work, should be completed. It

is a Book of real value in the eyes of Oriental scholars in Europe

as well as in India, and there is no hope, they find, of its being

completed in any other way than by the Society’s undertaking to do

it. At the same time the state of the Oriental Fund amply warrants

our incurring the increased expenditure.

The Report was adopted.

The Council reported 2ndly, that Mr. Theobald has been placed

on the Committee of Natural History.

Communications were received.

1. From R. H. Davies, Esq., Secretary to the Government of

Punjaub, forwarding copy of a letter from Major Becher, Deputy

Commissioner, Huzara, at present on special duty at Cashmir, giving

the result of his enquiries into the origin of the Indus Flood of

August, 1858.

The Secretary remarked that this paper would be published in

the forthcoming No. of the Journal, together with Captain Hen-

derson’s report, which was read on a former occasion. In the

meantime he thought it would be interesting to the meeting, if he

stated shortly the results at which Major Becher had arrived.

From Major Becher’s report it appeared that the warning letter

received at Attock had been traced to two Syuds living at Aalingar

in Huzara.

802 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 3.

Major Becher, confirmed from independent sources by Captain

Montgomerie, stated as the result of his enquiries that the recent

flood of August, 1858, was caused by the stoppage of the river

Hoonza about a day’s journey above the Fort of that name, and 4

or 5 days northwards of Gilgit. The site of the obstruction would

thus appear to be about 300 miles above Attock. ‘It was caused,”

Major Becher said, “ by the subsidence of a mountain side called

Phungurh from the action or rain and snow above, and of the

stream below, in the winter of 1858.”

The obstruction appeared to have continued 6 months before

the accumulated waters forced a passage.

Men had been despatched by Major Becher to make personal

enquiries, and if possible to see the spot, where the landslip oc-

curred, but letters had been received from them from the borders

of Kohistan and Gilgit, declaring that it was impossible to proceed

further, in consequence of hostilities between the chief of Nuggur

and those of Hoonza and Gilgit.

Major Becher thought there was no foundation for the ramour

which was current, that a fresh obstruction had occurred.

Reverting to the flood of 1841, Major Becher shewed that it was

occasioned by the damming up of the main stream of the Indus

across which the shoulder of a mountain was precipitated by an

Harthquake. This mountain was called Ultoo Auun, and was situated

about 5 coss south of “ Ghor,” between Fulzcha and the Fort of

Boonjee, in the district of Astor or Hussoora.

2. From Col. J. Abbott, a few particulars regarding some ancient

copper coins presented by him to the Society in June last.

3. From Messrs. Hermann and R. Schlagintweit, Official Re-

ports on the last journey and death of Adolphe Schlagintweit in

Turkistan.

4. From the Under-Secretary tothe Government of India, for-

warding an Itinerary with memoranda chiefly topographical and

zoological through the southerly portions of the district of Amherst,

Province of Tenasserim, accompained by a map, by Major S. R.

Tickell, together with copious Botanical Notes by the Rev. C. 8.

P. Parish, Chaplain of Moulmein.

5. From W. Theobald, Esq. Jr., Descriptions of some new

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 303

Burmese and Indian Helicidae, with remarks on some previously

described species.

6. From Baboo Radahnauth Sikdar, an abstract of the Hourly

meteorological observations taken at the Surveyor General’s Office in

the month of February last.

The Officiating Librarian submitted the usual monthly report.

Mr. J. G. Medlicott read a ‘“ Note on the Geological structure

of parts of Central India.”

Mr. Medlicott first pointed out, with the assistance of Maps, the

existence of some remarkable features in the physical aspect of a band

of country, which stretching in a generally E. and W. direction, across

Central India, includes the valley of the Nerbudda and that of the

Soane, from Mundlaisir on the former, to Rhotasgur on the latter.

These are, first, the persistently rectilinear direction of two ranges of

hills, one on the north of both these vallies, and the other on the south

of them, and next, the close approach to parallelism maintained by

these ranges throughout a length of between 500 and 600 miles.

It was then shown that each of these parallel lines is a geologi-

cal boundary, and that each of these boundaries is a fault, lastly,

that the movements which caused these faults, occurred with an

interval of, at least, one whole geological period, between them.

Briefly analysing a theory held by many geologists, and which

affirms the synchronous origin of parallel faults, and describing

some of the difficulties attending the satisfactory application to

facts, of this theory, Mr. Medlicott concluded by showing, how, and

to what extent, the example before the meeting must be considered

as furnishing an exception, and as being a case in which the theory

does not hold good. Believing that it was desirable to place on

record instances of this nature, he at the same time deprecated the

idea of hastily discrediting the theory with what may be only an

apparent failure, consequent perhaps on the neglect or erroneous

appreciation of some conditions having vitiated the result of other-

wise careful observations and cautious inductions.

The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Medlicott for his

able paper.

I A

sy 2 ye top he

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Lyle

Pirie a imi

‘be I

JOURNAL

OF THE

PePdAct O&O S OGLE TY.

PP PPP PA LLP A LLL PILL LIL OL LPL

No. IV. 1859.

POPPA LPP VILLI PIII III IPI NS PI SPD LPL SI LIAN INI DLN

Descriptions of some new Burmese and Indian Helicide with re-

marks on some previously described spectes—By W. THEOBALD,

Junr.

H. Uter. n. s.

Testa perforata, suborbiculari, carinata, tenui, lineis undatis et

confluentibus subtilissime impressa, sub epidermide deciduo evanes-

centibus, castanea, pallidissime rubicundula.

-Anfract. 54 vix rapide, crescentibus; ultimo ad aperturam vix

descendente.

Apertura lunari. Perist. recto—

Diam. 1.04. Alt. 0.64.* Habitat. prope Maulmein.

In general appearance this shell resembles a dextral H. retrorsa,

but differs in being more tumid and also in size and sculpture. A

single specimen was presented to me by W.S. Atkinson, Esq. who

procured it with other known species near Maulmein.

H. Atkinsoni, n. s.

Testé depressdé, infundibule-forme-umbilicata, lineis transversis

rugose striata, lineisque spiralibus obscure leviter decussata obtuse

earinata, sordide albida (forsan in meliore specimine corned) semi-

translucente, sutura impressa. Anfract. 5 convexiusculis, Apertura

obliqua. Perist. leviter incrassato, non reflexo.

Diam. 0.54 Alt. 0.20. Habitat prope Maulmein.

A single dead shell was found near Maulmein by Mr. Atkinson, afier

whom I have named it.

* Tnches.

No. C.—New Series, Vou XXIX.,

306 Descriptions of Burmese and Indian Helicide. [ No. 4.

H. Tickelli, n. s.

Testa orbiculata, depresso-conoidea, acute carinat& corned, apice

polito, supra transverse rugose striata, subter glabra, semepolitia—

Anfract. 6} sutura impressa, apertura coarctata. Perist. incrassato

albido, dentibus munito, hoe prope umbilicum, illo prope peri-

pheriam duplicato, sive bipapilloso.

Diam. 0.36. Alt. 0.21. Habitat prope Maulmein, non raro.

This shell closely resembles H. Capessens, but differs from that

shell in the two outer teeth being united to form one double one.

I have much pleasure in naming it after the well known Indian

ornithologist, whose hospitality I experienced at Maulmein.

H. Phayrei, n. s.

Testa lenticulari, infundibuliforme-umbilicata, obtuse carinata

lineis transversis flexuosis et confluentibus fortiter striata, anfract.

6, convexiusculis, sutura impressa, apertura obliqua, subquadrata.

Perist. tenui, reflexinsculo.

Diam. 0.68. Alt. 0.30. Habitat prope ripas Irawadi regno Bir-

manico—inter Ava et Prome.

This shell was procured by Mr. Oldham, whilst attached to the

late embassy to Ava, and is named after the Envoy whose devotion

to Natural History is so well known. It closely resembles H. Rota-

toria, but has a more elevated spire, coarser sculpture, a narrower

umbilicus and is less sharply keeled.

H. Zoroaster, n. s.

Testa umbilicata depresso-globosa, minute striata, cornea ad peri-

pheriam rufro unifasciata ; (interdum non cincta, pallide cornea sive

vitrea;) Anfract. 5. Apertura parum obliqua, rotundato lunari,

Perist. tenui, reflexiusculo.

Diam. 0.62 Alt. 0.34. Habitat prope ripas Irawadi regno Bir-

manico, inter Ava et Prome.

This shell unites the characters of H. Scalpturita, TH. similaris.

and H. Bolus. From the few specimens I have it is not quite clear

if the banded and bandless shells do not represent distinct species,

the bandless shells being rather larger than the rest.

H. Akowtongensis, n. s.

Test lenticulari, depressa acute carinataé infundibuliforme umbi-

licatéa transverse striata fuesco-cornea Anfract. 53 Perist. tenui, re-

flexiusculo.

1859.] Deseriptions of Burmese and Indian Helicide. 307

Diam. 0.58. Alt. 0.25. Habitat ad Akowtong Provincia Pegu,

prope ripas Irawadi.

A single dead shell, occurred with numbers of H. rotatoria, which

it generally resembles, but from which it is distinguished by its

sharper keel, more depressed spire, and simpler sculpture.

H. Poongee, n. s.

Testa turbinate conoided, tenuil, apice depressiusculo, anguste

umbilicata, tumida, fusco-cornea, Antract. 6; convexis. Apertura

rotunde lunari. Perist. recto, acuto.

Diam. 0.26. Alt. 0.20. Habitat prope Maulmein.

A thin brown helix, somewhat resembling the small H. molecula

but with a more elevated spire, which, however, varies a little in

different specimens.

In addition to these, two new helices of a peculiar type and a new

Sheptaxis (S. Sankeyi. B.) have been received by Mr. Benson from

near Maulmein, descriptions of which inay soon be looked for. The

shells forwarded to me by Capt. Haughton have enabled me to rectify

anerror in Mr. Benson’s description of a somewhat singular origin,

viz. that Megalomastoma gravidum is merely the adult shell of

Otopoma Blennus, which should now stand as Otopoma Gravidum.

The only live specimen of O. gravidum procured by me at Maulmein,

was furnished with a thin operculum, without doubt being abnor-

mally formed after the loss of the original shelly one. This oper-

culum was, I believe, sent to Mr. Benson and hence the mistake in

question. The true operculum of O. Grayidum is the same as that

described by Mr. Benson as appertaining to O. Blennus.

There appear to be two species of Streptaxis at Maulmein besides

the new one just received by Mr. Benson. The shell which I take

for 8. Petiti is very variable in size and other particulars, which may

account for some discrepancy in the description and my specimens.

In the largest shells the description holds—* anfract. penultimus

subangulatus,” but in the smaller shells the keel is well pronounced.

The extremes of this species (?) are Diam. max. 0.54 in the largest

specimen and 0.39 in the smallest. The aperture too is more round-

ed than in the next species, in which it is very square.

The other species which I cannot identify is tolerably uniform in

size being about 0.47 in extreme length. The penultimate whorl

2k 2

308 Descriptions of Burmese and Indian Helicida. — [No. 4.

is very sharply keeled and the spire much flatter than in the first

species, and I may here remark that I cannot get over the impres-

sion that H. Bombax is nothing more than the young of the rounder

of these two species of Streptaxis. (S. Petiti?) I regret not hav-

ing paid attention to the respective distribution of these species,

which I had previously confounded together. Together with the

above shells I received a single specimen of Bulimus citrinus (var P)

which I had not myself noticed so far North. It measures only 1.01.

In the May number of the Annals of Natural History for the

present year Mr. Benson expresses his unhesitating conviction that

my H. Castor is nothing more than the young of his H. Oxytes.

I can only account for this by supposing that the specimen for-

warded by me was smashed in transit and that Mr. Benson relies

on some other source for his information. If a writer were unused

to attach any weight to “ habitat” and “ distribution’’ in the diseri-

mination of nearly affined species, he would have some reason per-

haps to regard H. Castor as an extreme variety of H. inversicolor,

wanting it is true the solidity, pronounced sculpture, colour and

the closed umbilicus of that species, but not absolutely differing in

any one character of importance, it is therefore out of the question

associating it with the widely umbilicated H. Oxytes.

H. Pollux is of a similar type with H. Castor, and therefore cannot

be allied to H. Chevalieri—which has, ‘‘ wmbilicus latus’’ or to any

similar shell.

Mr. Benson also alludes to a shell which Mr. W. Blanford con-

sidered to be a young variety of H. Cyclophlax, but a shell which

I received from Mr. W. Blanford, as such, is unquestionably dis-

tinct, though it is most probable that Mr. Blanford only sent home

specimens of H. Cyclophlax, as otherwise Mr. Benson would hardly

have failed I think to recognise a new species in the shell I shall

now describe.

Helix Blanfordi, n. s.

Testa umbilicatd, depressa, late, sive costulate striata, exilissime et

minutissime flexuose granulata, ad peripheriam undata—ferrugineo-

cornea, acute carinata, linea peripheriali tenui albida cincta, ad su-

turam anfractus ultimi notanda—Anfract. 54, ultimo circa umbili-

cum vix perspectivum tumido. Apertura angulate lunari. Perist.

acuto ad umbilicum parum dilato, crassiusculo.

1859. | Descriptions of Burmese and Indian [elicide. 309

Habitat prope Darjiling. Diam. 0.96. Alt. 0.55.

A young specimen of H. Cyclophlax measuring Diam. 0.96.

At. 0.45.

The character on which I chiefly rely in separating the above shell

from H. Cyclophlax is the almost microscopic sculpture it presents,

so different from its allies H. Cyclophlax and H. Oxytes. These two

last are indeed far more closely allied than either to the one above

described. In size, colour, form and sculpture they do not differ more

than is observable in local varieties of one species, the sole material

point of difference seeming to me to consist in tae flattening down

of the mouth of H. Cyclophlax, which is not observable in H.

Oxytes. The wide set striation of H. Blanfordi developés towards

the periphery a slightly undulating outline calling to mind, though

on a sinall scale, the somewhat similar feature in H. Bainbridgei.

Succinea Girnarica, n. s.

(S. prodigium Mss. olim.)

Testa oblonge-ovaté solida non polita, tumida, fortiter striata

rubro-flavescente magis minusve rutilo, aliquando pallescente ; An-

fract. 23 rapidissime crescentibus, ultimo capacissimo. Apertura ro-

tundata. Perist. tenui. Diam. 1.07, 0.61. Alt. 0.42.

Habitat in cacuminibus et locis elevatioribus montis Girnar Pen-

insula Gujeratensi, dicta Katiwar.

Few specimens attain the dimensions here given. The largest

shells are found on the peaks of the Eastern portion of the Girnar

Hills and at a lower elevation of about 2000 feet, the shells are

much smaller and paler coloured. They congregate in large num-

bers together in the crevices of the rocks to which they adhere so

firmly, that it is no easy matter to dislodge them from their retreat.

On the central peaks they are accompanied by the curious little

Camptonyx Theobaldi B. though I did not observe that shell on the

outer hills.

Calcutta, July 1st, 1859.

310 On the influence of Mountain- Attraction [No. 4.

On the influence of Mountain-Attraction on the determination of the

relative heights of Mount Everest, near Darjeeling, and the lofty

peak lately discovered near Kashmir.

Ltead at the Monthly Meeting of the Asiatie Society, Sept. 1859.

In the communication read at the July meeting of the Asiatic

Society by Major Thuillier, the interesting fact was stated that a

mountain has been found in the neighbourhood of Kashmir (about

36° North latitude and 763° East longitude), of which the height

does not fall far short of Mount Everest (Lat. 28°, Long. 87°), the

highest known mountain in the world, and which towers up to

29,002 feet or 53 miles above the level of the sea. The newly

discovered peak is only 724 feet lower than this, and is 122 feet

higher than Kunchinjinga, the highest known before the discovery

of Mount Everest. And hopes are held out that before the survey

of the hills in the neighbourhood is completed, some other moun-

tain may yet be found in that western extremity of the range to

rear its head as high even as the monarch of the east.

2. In the coming contest, then, for the sovereignty between the

East and West of this stupendous range of mountains even a small

circumstance may give the palm to one or the other. It is with

this feeling that I lay the following statement before the Society.

In itself the precise determination of the height of a mountain

is a matter of little importance. It is not to be compared, in a

scientific point of view, with the importance of obtaining correct

horizontal measures and the correct curvature of the arcs measured.

But where mountains are contending for the pre-eminence of being

the highest in the whole world, the question assumes special interest.

3. I take it for granted, that, as the effect of Mountain-Attrac-

tion on the levelling of the instruments of observation has not been

taken account of in the Survey of the Plains, the same course has

been followed in the Survey of the Mountains. It is to the effect

which this disturbing cause must have upon the measurement of

the heights in question, that I wish to call attention. My results

will be only approximations: but I believe they are sufficient to

show the tendeucy of things, and to add one more illustration to

1859. | on the determination of heights of Mountarns. 311

others, I have elsewhere given, of the importance of means being

taken to calculate the effects of this disturbing cause more com-

pletely.

4. The diagram above is an ideal vertical section of the plains

and mountains, intended merely to illustrate the effect of Moun-

tain-Attraction upon the determination of the heights.

OS is the sea-level, (lying on that spheroidal surface, of ellipti-

city =1,, of which the Ocean is supposed to forma part). To this

level all heights are referred in the Survey: a@ and 0 are two sta-

tions of observation, ah the vertical at a perpendicular to the sea-

level: the height of 6 above a is determined by the Survey, and

this being done at each succeeding station the height of the highest

peak is found by adding together the successive changes in height.

In this diagram I have supposed all the stations of observation,

leading from the sea up to the highest peak, to lie in the same

vertical plane. This is not the case, some will lie on one side and

some on the other. But taking this into account would make no

difference in my results.

Draw ae parallel to the sea-level and bc perpendicular to it.

Then bc is the true height of 6 above a. But the plumb-line will

not hang in the line da, but in another line h’a, owing to the Attrac-

tion of the Mountains: and therefore the spirit-level will make ac’

(at right angles to ah’) the apparent level line at a, and not ae.

Hence, if dc’ be at right angles to ac’, be’ is the height of 6 above a,

as brought out by the Survey. This is too small by be—be’.

Let the angle h’ah =», and angle bac = 6. Then

be—be’ = ab sin 6—ab sin (O—v)

= ab sin 0—ab sin 6 cos v + ab cos 6 sin v

= ab cos @ arc v”, because v is very small

= de K are v

312 On the influence of Mountain- dttraction [ No. 4.

Hence Mountain-attraction, if not corrected in the calculation,

will have the effect of making 6 less high above a than it really is,

by a space = ac X arc v”.

5. The same will be the case where the next station (as e) is

lower, instead of higher, than the station from which the observa-

tion is made (as d). The Survey makes the distance of e below d=

ef, whereas it really is ef Hence the effect of Mountain-Attrac-

tion is, as before, to make the successive heights above the sea-level

too small.

6. I will now endeavour to approximate to the aggregate effect

of this disturbing cause upon the heights of Mount Everest in the

Hast and of the newly discovered Mountain in the West.

In communications to the Royal Society (see Phil. Trans. 1855

and 1859) I have shown that if through a point in the meridian of

Cape Comorin and in latitude 83° a straight line be drawn ina

direction EH. 8. E., that line may be regarded as an Axis of the

Himalayas; such that the Mountain-Mass attracts places in the

plains with a force varying inversely as the distance from that axis,

at any rate for stations lying between the foot of the hills and a

distance of about 1000 miles from the axis.

Also it is shown that at a distance of 222 miles from this axis

the deflection of the plumb-line towards the north is 28”, and there-

fore in a direction at right angles to the axis = 28” sec. 22° 30’ =

30”. A line about parallel with the axis at a distance of 156 miles

marks the average commencement of the plains. From this line,

then, the law of the inverse distance according to which the deflec-

tions vary, may be supposed to begin. Within this limit, that is,

within the hill-region, the law will be different. At the line itself,

that is, at the foot of the hills, the deflection northwards will be =

222 222

——28’=40", and the deflection towards the axis = ——30°—43”".

156 156

7. Assuming that these data hold good for the foot of the hills

below Darjeeling and for those below Kashmir, I proceed to find

the accumulated effect of the errors in height at a series of stations,

connecting the nearest point of the sea, viz. the Sandheads due

South, with the foot of the Darjeeling Hills, running over a space

of about 360 miles: and then the same at a series of stations, con-

1859.] on the determination of the heights of Mountains. 3tD

necting the nearest point of the sea, viz. the mouths of the Indus,

with the foot of the Kashmir Hills, running over a space of about

720 miles.

8. In the case, then, of Mount Everest in the Darjeeling Hills,

the line of stations runs up due north over 360 miles to the foot of

the hills, from which the distance due north to the axis = 156 x

sec. 22° 30’ 168 miles. Suppose the stations along this line are

at 12 miles distance from each other in succession (which is about

the average used in the Survey). There will be 80 such stations ,

at the distances 180, 192, ...... 516 miles from the axis of the

Himmalayas, measured due north. Hence at these places the de-

flections of the plumb-line (which vary inversely as the distance

from the axis) are

168 168 LOS ge

erg Be 4g, Sy, DORs e407

180 192 516

Now by para. 4 the difference of level caused by a deflection

40’ = 12 miles x are 40”.

6.0% 1760 x m= 12-3 feet:

180 x 60 x 60

Hence, the aggregate change of level between the foot of the

Darjeeling Hills, arising from this cause,

14, 14 14

==12.3 + INTO AR Ph we We) eo ae et feet:

15 16 4.3

15 16

= 172.2 x 1.098:-= 189 feet.

1 il wy

=un2)—+ pea 4B cles 2D velaataceh sare ofch acs ti

. 43

9. I will now find the change of level at the other extremity of

the range. The range there slightly inclines more to the north.

The axis of the Himmalayas may therefore be taken, for those

parts, to be a line drawn, as before, though a point in latitude 33°

of the meridian of Cape Comorin, but inclined 30° north of west.

This axis runs near Skardo; and is, as before, about 156 miles from

the foot of the hills; which are about 720 miles from the mouths

314 On the influence of Mountain- Attraction [No. 4.

of the Indus, the nearest point of the sea. The line joining the

sea with the foot of the hills passes over 720 miles (or 60 stations

at 12 miles apart) and is about perpendicular to the axis above de-

scribed, which is 156 miles beyond the foot of the hills.

Pursuing the same course as before, I find that the aggregate

change of level of the foot of the Kashmir Hills above the sea

level, owing to Mountain-Attraction not being taken into consi-

deration, 2

43” ( 156 156 156

= 1238 x — —E pe esHcE™ wicripiailafe «is 8 s eqanaee

40” ( 168 180 876

43 1 1] 1 *

= 12.3 x — x 186 —— + — +...

4.0 14 15 73

= 171.9 x 1.694 = 291.2 feet.

These calculations, then, if correct, show that the plains at the

foot of the Darjeeling Hills are higher above the sea-level than the

Survey makes them by 189 feet: and that the plains at the foot of

the Kashmir Hills are higher above the sea-level than the Survey

makes them by 291 feet. This gives 102 feet in favour of the plains

near Kashmir above those near Darjeeling, arising from this cause.

10. I have yet to take into account the effect of Mountain-

Attraction oh the change of level along the line of stations con-

necting the plains with the mountains of which the altitude is

under consideration. The law of deflection begins to alter from

that of the inverse distance as soon as we enter the mass itseli—

just, as is well known, in the case of a sphere; a point outside it is

attracted with a force varying inversely as the square of the dis-

tance from its centre, and therefore increasing as the point ap-

proaches: but as soon as the point enters the sphere it is attracted

with a force varying directly as the distance from the centre, and

therefore diminishing: the attraction at the surface of the sphere

is greater than on any point outside or inside.

* T may observe that I have summed this and the previous harmonic series by

using a table of cosines and secants, and adding up the cosines of the angles of

which the secants are 14, 15, 16, &c.

1859.| on the determination of the heights of Mountains. 315

So with the Himmalayan Mass. Its attraction on points outside

the mass is shown (within certain limits) to be inversely as the dis-

tance from a given fixed line. But when we take a station within

the mountain region this law must cease, and some other one come

into operation. J have not the means of ascertaining what that

law is. But, whatever it may be, it seems probable that.it will be

much the same as we pass in among the Kashmir Mountains, as it

is in passing in among the Darjeeling Mountains. But the dis-

tance of the newly-discovered Mountain near Kashmir is about

270 miles from the foot of the hills, whereas Mount Everest is only

about 100 miles. This circumstance must of itself give a great

advantage to the Kashmir heights over those of the east end of

the range.

11. In the above calculations I have considered the effect of the

attraction of the Mountain Mass lying on the north of India. It

is possible, that other causes may exist which either increase or

moderate this effect. When any such cause is found its influence

should be ascertained. One cause, besides the attraction of the

north, lies in the deficiency of matter in the vast ocean lying on

the south of India. ‘This operates in two ways: (1) by affecting

the plumb-line and producing effects similar to those I have been

considering: and (2) by changing the sea-level at the Sandheads

and also at the mouths of the Indus, that is, at the commencement

of each of the two series of stations I have supposed to connect

the sea with the Mountains in question. In this latter effect also

the mountains give their aid.

The first of these causes will, as in the case of Mountain-attrac-

tion, make the height of Kashmir greater than the Survey makes

it relatively to the east end of the range; while the effect of the

second is doubtful. I have shown in a Paper read in December last

before the Royal Society (see Proceedings, No. 34, p. 599), that

the sea-level at the mouths of the Indus is very probably about 500

feet higher than at Cape Comorin owing to this cause. But how

much higher it is at the Sandheads than at Cape Comorin, I did

not in that calculation determine, as it was not required for the

purposes of the paper. I should imagine that it would be very

much the same as at the mouths of the Indus, as the Sandheads

316 On the influence of Mountain- Attraction. [No. 4.

are situated with reference to neighbouring seas and the vast ocean

very similarly to them.

12. In conclusion, my own persuasion is, that when sufficient

data are obtained to make the calculation complete, it will be

found that Mountain-attraction, combined with deficiency of attrac-

tion of the Ocean, so far affects the levelling of the instruments of

observation, as to cause the Survey to bring out the height of the

newly-discovered Mountain near Kashmir too low by 150 or 200

feet relatively to Mount Everest. And consequently, that if a peak

be found in those western Mountains, of which the height is about

200 feet less than that of Mount Everest according to the Survey

measures, I believe myself, that there will be good ground at least

for hesitating before we pronounce finally which of them is really

the king of the whole range.

J.) Beane.

Calcutta, July 21st, 1859.

1859. | Notes on Kéfiristan. 317

Notes on Kéfiristin—By Captain H. G. Raverrty, 3rd Regt.

Bombay, N. I.

Prefatory Remarks.

Forty years have elapsed, since the Hon’ble Mountstuart Elphin-

stone, on returning from his embassy at the court of Shah Shijahu-

1-Mulk, king of Afghanistan, in his valuable work on “ Caubul,’’

gave a description of that highly interesting and brave race of peo-

ple, the Si’4h-posh Kafirs, supposed to be descendants of the Bakh-

trian Greeks.

Some twenty years subsequent to Mr. Elphinstone, Sir Alexander

Burnes, in the account of his journey into Central Asia, gave a

slight notice of this people, the meagreness of which drew forth the

animadversions of the Edinburgh Reviewer, who, in the number for

January 1835, thus notices the subject :-—

“The remarks which our author makes on the Siah-posh Kafirs,

or black-clad unbelievers, who inhabit the high mountains, which

divide the basins of the Kabul and Badakshan rivers, are in like

manner infelicitous as well as scanty. He tells us that he can add

nothing to the intelligence respecting them collected by Mr. Elphin-

stone. Yet, imbibing the prejudices of his Mahomedan informants,

he calls the Kafirs savages; which is certainly representing them

under a new aspect; and this variance is the more remarkable, since

Mr, Burnes, while at Peshawer, formed an acquaintance with Moo-

lah Najeeb, a respectable man, who had travelled into the Kafir

country at the instigation of Mr. Elphinstone, and who gave, on his

return, a very interesting and favourable account of these brave and

ingenuous mountaineers. ‘ The Kafirs,’ says our author, ‘ live in a

most barbarous manner, eating bears and monkeys;’ a kind of food

which does not appear ¢o ws to afford any incontrovertible implica-

tion of barbarism. The mention of monkeys suggests a well wood-

ed country. We know that the black-coated unbelievers have wine

in abundance, which they boil; and always carry a small vessel filled

with it, suspended from their necks. The missionary Goez heard

with pleasure of a fair complexioned, wine-drinking race of moun-

taineers, who were not Mahomedans; and hesitated not to conclude

318 Notes on Kéfiristin. [No. 4.

that they were Christians ; and he alludes to their name of Siah-

posh, when he gravely informs us, that they always go to church

dressed in black. The language of these people, of which our au-

thor has collected a few words, belongs evidently to the Indian fa-

mily. They are probably the fountain whence large streams of popu-

lation have poured on the country below.* The local situation of |

this aboriginal tribe, and the independence they have so obstinately

maintained, tend alike to increase our interest in them, and our

wish that their secluded valleys, overhung with vineyards, were ex-

plored by some intelligent European traveller.”

Sir Alexander Burnes in his work entitled, “ Kabul, in 1886, ’37

and ’38,” has given a somewhat longer account of this people; yet,

considering the excellent opportunities he must have had, it is far

short of what might have been expected. At page 207 he says,

“The account given by Mr. Elphinstone renders it unnecessary to

repeat many of the details which I have received and which corrobo-

rate his statements.”

” pill appears rather surprizing, that, during a residence of nearly

three years at Kabul, within four or five days journey of the Kafir

frontier—and on one occasion when still nearer, on visiting the Koh-

i-Daman and Kohistan; and when he despatched Messrs. Lord and

Leech to explore the passes of Hindi Kush,—he did not send some

officer into Kéfiristan. He entered Kabul from India on the 20th

September, 1836; and it was only on the 15th November, 1837,

after fourteen months had passed away, that Messrs. Wood and

Lord were sent to Kundiz and Badakhshan.

Situated as he was at the time I speak of, with several intelli-

gent officers at his disposal ; and not knowing how soon he might

have to leave Afghanistan, or how quickly the British Indian Govern-

ment might have to come into hostile contact with the Afghans and

other tribes inhabiting the countries in the vicinity of Kabul, every

effort should have been made to gain all possible information con-

cerning them, without awakening the suspicion of Dost Muhammad

and his Amirs, by over eagerness. He should have deputed one of

the officers associated with him, into the Kafir country, at that time

a matter of no danger.

* They are the aboriginals of the country below probably ; but the Afghans

came from the far west, and are a wholly different race,

1859. ] Notes on Kafiristan. 319

In a note at page 207 of the work to which I have before alluded,

Sir Alexander Burnes remarks that, “Since the British entered

Afghanistan, one of the Kafirs near Jellalabad, sent a congratulatory

message at the arrival of so many Kafir brethren as ourselves.”

Here again a grand opportunity offered for sending an intelligent

officer into Kafiristan, or at least that part of it under the authority

of this Kafir chief. With what contempt, and John Bullish phlegm,

and Indian listlessness, this party of friendly Kafirs was treated,

will be found related below from the information of an eye-

witness.

During a residence at Pes’hawer in 1849 and ’50, I naturally,

felt great curiosity respecting these interesting tribes, who, centuries

azo, had resisted the hordes of Timur-i-Lang ; baflled the legions of

Akbar ; and although surrounded on all sides by the fanatic, warlike,

and ambitious enemies of their faith, have, up to the present day,

preserved their independence, and even exact tribute from some of

them; I was induced to send an intelligent man, a native of Kan-

dahar, into the Kafir country to gain whatever information he could

respecting this people, their country, and their manners and

customs.

After an absence of nearly two years, by which time, I had given

him up as lost,—the man and the money also which I had entrusted

to him for his expenses,—he returned with an account of the Katir-

country and people, as also of Kashkar or Chitral, Panjkorah, and

other little known localities of Hindi Kush.

A Moulvi of Hasht-nagar, in the Pes’hawer district, whom I met

with at Poonah, resided for several years at Dir, the chief town of

Panjkorah, and close to the Kafir and Kashkar frontiers. He has

supplied me with much of his own personal observation, which, toge-

ther with other information gathered whilst at Pes’hawer, from

various persons who had visited Kafiristan and the other petty

states noticed in this paper, has enabled me to compare and check

the different statements, the whole of which I have found generally

to agree on all essential points, and to contain matter of some in-

terest, though more meagre than I could have wished.

I had kept this paper by me, in the hope of returning to Pes‘ha-

wer, and of then adding to the information contained in it, or even

320 Notes on Kafiristan. [No. 4.

to have subjoined my own personal observations; for I had long

cherished the idea of entering the Kafir country ; and I would have

effected it too, had I not been, during a number of years employ-

ment in the Panjab, constantly kept at a distance from Pes’hawer—

the chief city of our possessions in the Afghan country—which

from my knowledge of the Pushto or Afghau language would have

been my proper place.

The country lying between the 34th and 37th degrees of north

Jatitude, and the parallels of 69° 30’ and 74° 30’ of east longitude,

embracing the culminating ridges and slopes of the Hindi’ Kush—

the Paropamisus and Indian Caucasus of the ancients—is, at the

present day, divided into a number of petty independent states,

inhabited by several highly interesting tribes, concerning whom

our information is more scanty and imperfect than could be wished,

and whom modern travellers have but briefly noticed.

These districts and valleys of the Kabul river and its tributary

streams, have, from their rugged nature and strong situation, a natural

tendency to resolve themselves into petty states, which have long

been independent; and which, under their own chiefs, still continue

to maintain their freedom. ‘They are known at present under the

names of Kafiristan, Chitral, or Chitrar, or Kashkar, as it is variously

termed, Panjkorah, Gilgitt, Suwat, Buner, Bajawer, Kuner or

Kémah, and Lamghan, alllying to the north of, and between the

Kabul river (Kophenes) and the Sindhu or Indus. They require to

be noticed in detail.

KAFIRISTAN.

The tract of country inhabited by that highly interesting race of

people, known by the name of Si’ah-posh Kafirs, or “ Black-clad

unbelievers,’ is designated Kafiristén—a compound word derived

from the Arabic y (k4-fir) an infidel or unbeliever, and the Per-

sian participle wii (istdn) a place, a station. It is bounded on the

north by the Uzbak states of Kundtz, and Badakhshan; south by

the cantons or districts of Lamghan or Laghmén and Kaémah,

situated on the northern bank of the Kabul river; east by Chitral

1859. ] Notes on Kafiristdn. 321

or Kashkar, Panjkorah, and Baéjawer; and west by the mountains

on the left bank of the Panjsher river, the eastern boundary of the

valley of that name, the Koh-daman, and the Kohistan or Highlands

of Kabul. Within its boundaries are included the ridges and steep

spurs of the Hindu Kush, enclosing narrow and fertile valleys de-

scending in terraces towards the Kabul river and the Indus, in a

north-east and south-west direction.

The valleys are watered by numerous streams somewhat like

the ramifications and reticulations of a leaf, which running east and

west, at length fall into the five considerable rivers intersecting

the country. These take their rise on the southern slopes of the

Hind Kush, and flow towards the south until they empty them-

selves into the river of Kabul, the Kophenes of the Greeks, which

running east, disembogues into the Aba-sind or “ Father of Rivers’

—as the Indus or Attak* is termed in the Afghan language—a little

above the town bearing the latter name.

Other less important streams, rising in the northern slope of the

mountains, run towards the north, until they fall into the Oxus and

its tributaries.

The largest of the five principal rivers above alluded to, the

most easterly, and separating the upper part of Kafiristan from

Chitral or Kashkar, rises on the southern slope of the Belut Tagh

or Cloudy Mountains (in the Turki language); but known by the

Afghans, and other tribes inhabiting these regions, by the Persian

name of Beluristan or the ‘‘ Region of Crystal’’+ from the quantities

of that substance found there, at the Zélab-i-nil, or “ Blue Lake,’

lying further to the south than that of Sir-i-kol§ visited by Wood,

* S| Attak,in Hindi signifies “a bar, obstruction, or obstacle ;” and, as

may be implied from its meaning, is a name given to the Indus, the river which

Hindus, by their religion, are forbidden to cross.

+ See KavsuuH At Ku4n’s poem in the account of Suwat.

t{ See notice of KAsHkAR; and Moororor?’s TRAVELS.

§ “* An individual who had seen the region between Wakhan and Kashmir in-

formed me that the Kunir river had its principal source in a lake resembling that

in which the Oxus has its rise; and that the whole of this country, comprehending

the districts of Gilgitt, Gunjit and Chitral, is a series of mountain defiles that

act as water-courses to drain Pamir.” ‘ JOURNEY TO THE OXUS.’

322 Notes on Kafiristan. [ No. 4.

which is considered by him to be the source of the Oxus. After

pursuing a south-westerly course, through Kafiristan, Chitral, Lam-

ghan,'and the Kuner or Kémah district, for about three hundred

and eighty miles, it joins the Kabul river ten miles below Jelalabad,

in Lat. 34° 24’ and Long. 702 35’.

At the junction with the latter stream, and for about thirty miles

further up, it is known as the Kamah river, from the name of

the district which it waters, situated immediately to the north and

east of Jelalabad. Some distance further up, the stream is called

the Kuner, from the small town and district on its eastern bank ;

and a short distance still more to the north, it is at times designat-

ed the Nurgil, from the valley and district so called, lying on its

western bank, and from which, as well as from districts still further

to the north, several smaller tributaries fall into it. As we ad-

vance towards its source, it is known as the Chegan-sara’e, from the

town of that name on its western bank. Here it receives a minor

stream called the Pich, from the north-east, which rising in the

Hindai Kush, flows through a valley bearing the same name. By

proceeding along its banks Badakhshan may be reached; but the

road is difficult and lies through the defiles of the mountains.

From Cheghan-sara’e to its source in Beltit Tagh or Belitristan, to

the north-east, it is known as the river of Kashkar or Chitral.*

On the melting of the snows in the spring and summer months,

it can only be crossed by means of rafts, formed by tying together

the inflated skins of beasts and laying straw on the top of them;

for it then becomes much swollen, and increases very considerably

in volume, and rolls along over its rocky bed with great impetu-

osity. From this it is evident, that it must have more than one

considerable influx in its upward course. During the winter months,

the stream, although still rapid, is of no great volume. It is the

Choes of Arrian and the Choaspes of Strabo.

The next river in succession towards the west is the Kow, which

also rises on the southern slope of the Hindé Kush, but much lower

down towards the south. After a course of about seventy miles,

* All these names have confused some authors, and have caused them to make

several rivers of it. Elphinstone and Moorcroft call it by the general name of

Kamel: or Kama.

1859. | Notes on Kadfiristan. 323

it joins the Shtinah, (erroneously styled the Alingar by some travel-

lers) at Tirgériin the district of Lamghan, where it receives the

Najil or Alishéng river, and then takes the name of Alingdr. After

flowing for eight or ten miles further, through the above-named

district, it joins the Kabul river some imiles west of Jelalabad, at

Kergah, a mile to the east of Manderawer, and about twenty-five

miles from the embouchure of the Kamah.

The next river to the west is the Najil or Alishang. It lkewise

takes its rise on the southern slope of the Indian Caucasus, but

somewhat further to the south than the preceding, in the district of

Najil, situated to the north of the darah or valley of Mil;* and

after running for about sixty miles through the $i’4h-posh Kafir

country, almost parallel with, and but a few mules distant from the

Kow, joins the latter river, after which the united stream is known

as the Alingar, as before mentioned.

West of the Alingar is the river of Tagéb or Tagao, which also

taking its rise in the Hindi Kush, flows almost due south for about

ninety miles through Kafiristan. A few miles from its mouth, after

receiving the united streams of Ghorband, Nijrow, Panjsher, and

their tributaries, watering the valleys bearing those names, and

included in the Kohistén of Kabul, it falls into the river of Kabul

about forty miles east of that city.

Numerous small streams, running east and west, and west and

east, fall into the whole of these rivers and greatly increase their

volume. In fact, every valley, with scarcely an exception, has a

rivulet flowing through it, on each side of which is deposited the rich

alluvion washed from the mountains by the heavy rains of the winter

and spring months, that constitutes the chief and most fertile

portion of the land, being well adapted to, aud most easily brought

under, cultivation. ‘This explanation is applicable to nearly all the

alpine districts of the Hindi Kush, and which, though well-watered,

contain, comparatively, but little level land capable of tillage. The

rivers flow over rocky beds, are rapid, and generally clear; and the

five larger ones, when swollen from the melting of the snows in the

summer months, increase considerably in rapidity and violence—in

* Baber mentions that, “the part of Kafiristén nearest to Alishang is called

Miel, and the river of Alishang comes down from Miel.” Memorrs, p. 142.

324 Notes on Kafiristin. [No. 4.

many places falling over precipices and forming cascades—and

attain a breadth of from one hundred to one hundred and fifty

yards.

Another considerable river risesin the northern part of Kafiristan

on the northern slope of the Hindi Kush, at a place designated by

the S?ah-posh, Kandah-i-ntl—kandah in Persian signifying, a dam or

dyke. _

It flows in a direction almost due north, to fifteen or twenty

miles beyond Jerm in Badakhshan; after which, being joined by the

Wardoj river (according to Wood), it runs nearly due west, and

unites with the Panj or upper branch of the Oxus, whose source is

lake Sir-i-kol in Pamir, 15,600 feet above the level of the sea, the

highest table-land in Asia, and probably inthe world. These united

streams (according to the author just quoted) fall into the Oxus

at Kille Chap. He also calls the first mentioned river by the

name of Kokcha; but the Kafirs, in whose country it rises, and the

people towards Jerm, consider it the source of the Ai‘m4n or Oxus.*

In fact they know it by no other name, and what Lieut. Wood calls

the main branch of that river, they designate the Panj.

Besides the large valleys watered by the river rising at Kandah-i-

Nil, there are several others that open into them and wind

amongst the hills in an oblique direction towards Kafiristén. The

whole of them send down numerous small streams to the larger

rivers. Along the banks of these the Kéfirs occasionally make in-

roads into Badakhshan.t

* “Aparena or the west, is the Litoda lake from which issues the Apara-

Gan’dica or Western Gan’dica, called also Chacshu in the Puranas, Oxus by the

Greeks, and Cocshu by the natives. This lake which is the source of the Oxus,

is noticed in some maps: by the natives it is called cud (kol) or the lake; and by

Persian authors Divsaran; Deva-sara in Sanskrit, signifies the lake of the

gods, or the divine lake. According to them it is near the mountains of

Andemas from the Sanskrit And’ha Tamasa, both words implying dark-

ness, (in the Turki language Belit Tagh, previously referred to), but being

joined together, they imply it in a superlative degree ; and it is the name of one

of the divisions of hell. On the summit is the Belwr, or dark country of

the maps. WILFORD ON THE SacRED IsLES oF THE WEST. ASIATIC RESEARCHES ;

Vol. VIIT. Pp. 330.”

+ “ Robat, a deserted village seven miles down the valley. It stands at the

mouth of a little stream on the right bank of the Kokcha, by the valley of which

1859. | Notes on Kafiristan. 325

The Wardoj, which disembogues into the Kokcha, as already

mentioned, rises on the northern slope of the mountains towards

Kashkér or Chitral, through the valley of which, a winding pass,

occupying a journey of three days, brings one to the borders of that

state, and another pass to the west leads into Kafiristan ; but these

routes are only practicable in the summer months. Another small

stream joins the Panj at Ishtarak in Badakhshan ; and by following

up the course for three days, the borders of Kashkar are reached.

The regions in which these rivers rise, and through which those

south of the Hindi Kush flow, have, from the days of Herodotus

downwards, been said to abound in gold, a statement that is fully

substantiated: for in the present day, quantities of the precious

metal continue to be found in the beds of the rivers. I shall offer some

further remarks on this subject in another place.

The physical aspect of Kafiristan is similar to that of the dis-

tricts further east; and consists of a succession of large and nar-

row valleys, through which the principal rivers flow, bounded by

ridges of lofty mountains on each side, which are generally covered

with snow. ‘The large valleys are again crossed in a transverse di-

rection by numerous smaller ones opening into them. These are,

in the same manner, again crossed by others still-smaller and almost

innumerable; and through the whole of these, small streams run

and increase the volume of the larger rivers.

There is much diversity of temperature and variability of climate,

caused by the occasional great difference of elevation—some parts of

the country being considerably depressed. In the more elevated

tracts, the summer heat is never oppressive, and in the winter months

the snow lies on the ground for many weeks together. The more de-

pressed valleys again are well-sheltered from the cutting blasts of

winter ; and, although surrounded on all sides by beetling moun-

tains capped with eternal snows, the heat in the months of June,

July, and August, is considerable. In some of the most secluded

places, it is rather oppressive ; and is sufficient to bring to perfec-

tion great quantities of excellent grapes, and other fruits, consti-

tuting a large portion of the people’s food. From the grapes a good

the Kafirs usually make their inroad into Badakshan.” ‘ Woop: Journry To

THE Oxvs.”’ ,

826 Notes on Kéfiristan. [No. 4.

deal of excellent wine is made, for which indeed the Kafirs and

their country are somewhat notorious in this part of Asia.

The soil of the valleys is, generally, a rich dark-red mould, con-

taining a large portion of clav, mixed with sand and stones towards

the skirt of the hills; whilst that of the narrow and terrace-like

strips of land at the sides of the mountains is mixed with sand in

a greater proportion.

Rain falls in copious showers, but never for any lengthened period.

Tt occurs chiefly during the spring months, and towards the end of

August and September ; although occasional showers fall, as in other

temperate climates, throughout the year. In the winter violent

snow storms are of frequent occurrence, which block up the passes

between the hills, and cut off all communication between the differ-

ent valleys, often for weeks together.

The climate, on the whole, is exceedingly healthy ; and but little

sickness is known. ‘The principal diseases the people are subject

to, appear to be, as in all alpine countries, opthalmia and fevers.

That scourge of the human race, the small-pox, has never yet made

its appearance among them, which may be attributed, in great mea-

sure, to their slight intercourse with foreigners.

The roads or footpaths are narrow and difficult in the extreme,

and every here and there intersected by frightful ravines, yawning

chasms, and foaming torrents. These, the Kafirs cross by means of

rope bridges—now Jeading along the brink of tremendous precipices

and frowning eliffs—now winding through deep and narrow hollows,

dark almost at mid-day. Travellers also incur not a little danger

from fragments of rock and stones, that—either loosened by the rain

or wind, or disturbed by wild animals and the numerous flocks of

goats that crop the herbage on the higher hills and beetling crags,

at the base of which they tread their way—every now and then

come rolling down with a fearful crash reverberated on all sides.

If the road should be a frequented one, these primitive bridges

are made by connecting together four or five stout and strong ropes,

made of goats’-hair, by slighter ones at about six or eight inches

distance from each other, laid transversely just like the shrouds of a

ship’s masts with the ratlines across. ‘These are fastened to the

trunks of trees on either side, and stretched as tight as possible.

1859.] Notes on Kafiristan. 327

Should there be no trees sufficiently near the spot, the ropes are

either attached to strong stakes driven into the ground, or made

fast to the rocks. On each side of this suspension bridge there is

another rope by which a person crossing may steady himself. Some

people crawl along on their hands and knees, and others, less timor-

ous, walk across; still the depth of the yawning abyss beneath,

accompanied at times by the deafening sound of the foaming tor-

rent that seems to shake the very rocks, renders this mode of cross-

ing, even to those accustomed to it, fearful in the extreme.

Other bridges, when the narrowness of the chasms will permit,

and trees of sufficient length are available, are formed by placing

three, four, or more logs side by side. The Kafirs cross the smaller

chasms and mountain-torrents of no great breadth, by meaus of

leaping poles. In the use of these they are exceedingly expert, and

being a particularly active race, can climb the steepest hills.

Horses, mules, asses, and camels, are unknown in the Kafir coun-

try ; aud burdens are either carried by bullocks or on men’s backs,

chiefly by a tribe of people designated Baris, mentioned hereafter ;

although the Kafirs themselves do not disdain, upon occasion, to

earry a load.

They possess numerous herds of cows yielding great quantities

of ghz or clarified butter, a staple article of consumption, and of a

Superior description. The goats are most numerous, and are of a

particularly fine breed, said to be much superior to those of the

neighbouring countries; but sheep are few in proportion. They also

rear an infinite number of fowls. Dogs and cats are common.

For the purpose of milking the cows and goats, the females go

into the pastures, where they graze. When a woman wishes to

milk her cows, she places the milk pail before her, and calls out the

name of the cow she wishes to operate upon first ; for all the ani-

mals have their pecuhar names. On this the cow comes lowing

towards her, and stands over the vessel. Having milked her, the

woman sends her away and ealls out the name of another cow, and

so on until the whole have given up their milk, the greater part of

which is made into butter, cheese, and curds.

The chief vegetable productions of Ké4firistén consist of wheat,

which is cultivated in a greater proportion thau any other grain,

2uU 2

328 Notes on Kafiristan. [ No. 4.

barley, and arzdn or millet, together with small quantities of rice in

the low grounds in the southern parts of the country : for only those

who have been much among Muhammadans, and have seen it cooked,

know how to boil it. A few varieties of vegetables and greens are

grown wherever the land is suitable. ‘They use the spring-water

for drinking purposes, having no wells; and the fields are entirely

dependent on rain, or are irrigated artificially from the imnumer-

able small streams intersecting the country, wherever the situation

of the ground enables them to distribute the water by means of

small cuts or channels. The quantity of land conveniently situated

for this purpose is by no means great; and it is necessary to cul-

tivate all the smallest available spots on the sides of mountains, and

often on the terrace-like ridges. Many of the latter are artificial,

and formed after the employment of great labour, time, and perse-

verance; indeed, no favourable bit of land, be it ever so small, is

neglected. ‘This somewhat unfavourable situation of the tillable

land, and the often barren nature of the soil in many parts of the

country, compels the people to depend, in a great measure, on the

produce of their herds and flocks, and on their orchards and fruit-

gardens, for subsistence.

The slopes and ravines of the Hindi Kush, as wellas many of the

lower ranges of hills, are generally covered with primeval forests,

containing trees of immense size, the growth of ages, especially the

difterent kinds of pine and fir, such as the deodar, chilghozab, and

five or six other sorts; the oak; hazel; alder; zaitvin (wild olive) ;

chinar (plane); horse-chesnut; di’ar; shisham (Sisu Dalbergia) ;

karkarah (species of fir); tut (mulberry); anandar; joz (walnut) ;

rtit; sanjit (jujube tree, or Hleagnus orientalis?); together with

several others. In the year 1849, when the Bombay troops were

at Peshawer, the late Surgeon J. P. Malcolmson collected some

tweuty-five or thirty specimens of timber from the vicinity, amongst

which were many hard, strong, and useful kinds of wood. Many of

the specimens of fir and pine were dark and heavy from the quantity

of turpentine they contained, and were just the same in appearance

as the Riga deals we see in England. )

The dense forests of pine and other trees supply the people of

these Alpine regious with an inexhaustible stock of fuel, as well as

1859. ] Notes on Kifiristan. e29

wood for building purposes. Pine slips are generally used instead

of lamps and torches.

The fruits are produced in great quantities and of fine flavour ;

consisting of grapes of several kinds, pears, apples, apricots,

plums of two or three species, peaches, nectarines, figs, wild

walnuts, quinces, pomegranates and mulberries. The whole of

these are chiefly grown in the sheltered valleys tothe south. There

are a few others growing wild, such as the amluk (a species of Dios-

pyros), pistah (Pistacia Lentiscus), the seed of the chilghozah

(species of pine), ete.

Numerous wild flowers, indigenous to these regions, grow in the

hills; and in the valleys, the gul-i-nargis or narcissus, is to be found

in infinite numbers.

Minerals and Metals.

With regard to the mineral productions of these parts, ib will be

necessary to notice the regions of Hindu Kush generally.

‘ie more elevated regions of Central Asia have ever been famous

for the prodigious abuudance of the precious metals, whether in

ancient or in modern times—under the rule of the Medes and

Persians, the Arabians, or the Moghals—as corroborated by every

writer from Herodotus downwards; and the proofs of these facts,

are so well and so fully authenticated, as to leave no room for any

reasonable doubts on the matter.*

As furas we know hitherto, mountainous regions appear to be

exclusively productive of gold and silver, from whence a great pro-

portion is washed down by the violence of the periodical rains and

melting of the snows, and deposited in the sandy beds of rivers.

The more western parts of the Asiatic continent appear to be but

sparingly possessed of these metals, which are the more abundant

towards the east. The regions I here more particularly refer to,

comprise the ranges of the Hinddé Kush; the table-land of Pamir,

separating Badakhshan from China and Kashmir—the probable seat

of the old Medo-Persian race—and enclosing within its limits

Kafiristan ; Upper and Lower Kashkar; the petty states north of,

and in, the upper valley of the Oxus or Panj ; together with Gilgitt ;

* Hereren’s Astaric Narions. Vol. I. pp. 26.

030 Notes on Kéfiristan. [ No. 4.

Gundut ;* Hunzi; Nagyr; the Dardi country; and other small

independent states on the western bank of the upper Indus, from

which several rivers flow in a south and easterly direction, and

subsequently fall into the latter river. The streams, to which my

remarks are principally confined, are the rivers of Kafiristan and

Chitral or Kashkér, the Panjkorah or Lundaey with its several

tributaries, and the Gilgitt and its feeders. All these yielded, during

the dynasty of the Persians, a great quantity of gold, which was

collected by their tributaries, the people of northern India.+

Herodotus states, that the gold was not only collected from the

sands of the rivers, but was also obtained from mines; and, that

the Indians themselves paid to the Great King their tribute of

thirty-six talents in that precious metal.t

In these regions were placed the fabulous griffins who watched

the gold; and the gold-making ants of the size of foxes—some of

which, according to Ctesias, were to be seen in the menageries of

the Persian kings—that rendered the collection of the metal a

matter of great danger to the Indians. These little animals are also

mentioned in the Sanskrit epic poem of the “ Mahabharata,” or

“The Great War ;’”’ and instead of ants might, and indeed in all

likelihood, have reference to a large species of marmot existing in

these regions: for these, when making their burrows, throw out the

fresh earth, amongst which quantities of gold were found.§

* “There is a district N. E. of Chitral which is called Gunjoot from the gold

which is found in it.” Burnes’ Capoon. This is the district called Gunjit by

Woop in his “‘ JouRNEY TO THE OXxUs.”

+ Heroporus: TuHattia III. 102-105.

{ Isip: THatia IIT. 106.

§ “The story has an Indian foundation, although it has been embellished by

Grecian fancy, and its native form occurs in the Mahabharata. “On the

solemnity of the inauguration of Yudhishthira as universal emperor, his feuda-

tories, princes, and people, bring him the natural or artificial products of their

several countries, as complimentary offerings. Various mountain-tribes bring

large lumps of the native gold denominated Pip-lika, because it is excavated by

Pip-likas,” that is by large ants, such being the meaning of the term ; the Hindus

apparently imagining that the ants cleared away the sand or soil, and left the

ore exposed, and this simple notion was wrought into the extravagant marvels of

Ctesias and Herodotus.” Witson; ARtana ANTIQUA; pp. 136.

1859. | Notes on Kiafiristan. 331

The accounts of the ancients are further confirmed by the

traditions of the people of these countries ; and from the fact of the

precious metal being found washed down by the rivers and minor

streams in Kafiristan, Panjkorah, Bajawer, Suwat, Guilgitt, and

other valleys, west of the upper branch of the Indus, at the present

day.

Gold, at present, appears to be chiefly obtained from the sands

of the beds of rivers alone. Numbers of gold-washers are employed

in the upper branches of the Kunir or Cheghan-sarda’e river, at

Peshut and other places; in the bed of the Chitral or Kashkar, and

its tributaries also; in the river of Kabul near Jeldlabad ; and in

Kafiristan.*

In Bajawar, Panjkorah, and Suwat, quantities of gold-dust are

collected; indeed, much more than the Afghans of these parts care

to, or readily will, confess. They adopt another mode than washing

the sands of the rivers, by half burying sheep-skins in the beds cf

the streains, allowing the wool free play, and in this the particles

of gold becomes entangled. Iam told by the Afghaus of these

parts, that the gold thus obtained, is of a much paler yellow than

that seen in the Panjab and in India, being almost straw colour.

In the Gilgitt valley, and that of Hunzi, and Nagyr, which open

into it from the north-east, and also in Little Thibet,+ the ore is

principally obtained by washing,t

* “The rivers flowing through Kafiristan undoubtedly bring down gold with

them. There are constantly a number of gold-washers employed near Peshat on

the river of Chitral and Kameh (Kunir). The metal is also found in the rivers

of Lamghan, and in the river of Kabul, into which they fall, and is sometimes

collected near Kergah and Charbagh of Lamghan, and again near Jelalabad.”

Masson’s Travets. Vol. I. pp. 213.

+ “Nagyr is celebrated for its gold-washing, and its Raja is said to be in

possession of a very large piece of native gold, found near the edge of the

boundary glacier (in the Basha valley) already alluded to.” Viane ; KASHMIR

Vol. IL. pp. 288.

~ “On the banks of the Basha stream is produced more gold-dust than in any

other part of Little Thibet, and it is the only place the Raja reserves to himself

for that purpose. Any other person may wash the sand for gold elsewhere, but

the value of the quantity collected, and of the time expended, is so nearly

balanced, that I have never seen any gold-washers but once, and that was near

the village of Kerris.” Isrp, pp. 287.

332 Notes on Kafiristian. [ No. 4.

Panjkorah, and the Berahwol valley, situated between it and

Bajawar, contain numerous iron mines, which have been worked for

centuries past, and still continue to supply the surrounding

countries with that useful metal. ‘rhe principal mines are in the

Las-ptir mountains, and the Janddwal and Berdhwol hills, all of

which are covered with dense forests, where fuel may be had for the

trouble of cutting and carrying away. ‘There are also several mines

yielding, red, black, and white antimony.

Wild Animals.

The wild animals of Kafiristan, and the regions north-east and

east, are similar to those found in all the northern parts of Afehdén-

istan, Kashmir, and Ladakh; and which have been so fully described

by the Emperor Baber in his interesting memoirs, and, likewise in

the works of Moorcroft and Trebeck, and by Vigne, as well as other

recent travellers who have written on the subject, as to render any

notice here, beyond the mere enumeration of their names, unneces-

sary.

Lions, tigers and leopards, are said to infest the numerous ravines

and dense forests, but they appear to be neither so fierce nor so

large as those of central and southern India. In the more northern

parts, as might be supposed, bears, both the black and the light

dirty-brown species, are numerous, and make considerable and

constant depredations on the gardens, orchards and vineyards.

There are numbers of hyenas and wolves, which latter assembling in

packs, at times commit great ravages amongst the flocks, together

with jackals, foxes, and other smaller vermin.

In some of the warmer parts of Kafiristan, in the densely wooded

districts, monkeys of the largest size are found, but are not very

numerous; also several varieties of the deer, the antelope, the elk,

the ibex, the kich4r or wild-sheep (ovis argali), the mar-khur, or

snake-eater, etc. ‘The musk-deer, called sarjza’h and sijzah by the

Afghans, is found in Chitral and Upper Kashkar, and in the hills

bounding Kafiristén on the east. The Kafirs of the Kampar and

Kamiz tribes employ a good deal of their time in hunting them

for the sake of their musk, which is an article of barter. The wild

hog is also found in some of the valleys towards the south,

1859. ] Notes on Kafiristan. 333

The other smaller animals are, hares of two kinds, a species of

rabbit or lagomys, porcupines, hedge-hogs, and marmots, together

with numerous minor rat-like animals of several species.

The Gor-khar, or wild ass, is found in some parts of Panjkorah,

Bajawar, and the Merrah or Desert in the country of the Yusufzi

tribe of Afghans, between the mountains of Suwat and the Kabul

river.*

Ctesias gave an account of what has been considered the same

animal, two thousand years ago. He calls it by the right name, but

says it hasa large horn in the centre of the forebead, and thus

turns it into an unicorn.} Adlian in his “ Natural History,’’ has also

referred to it, and has bestowed on it, what Professor Heeren

calls, its Indian name of Kartazonon (xaptalwvos), and which Pro-

fessor Tyschen again pronounces to mean the “swift animal,” or

the “ swift rhinoceros.”’

This he infers to be, “a word compounded of S,5 kerk, the

ancient and still surviving Persian term in use to signify a rhino-

eeros,” and “ wl}4 tadzdn the participle of wol34 tdzedan, to run, to

fall upon;’{ but the Professor appears to have forgotten that the

rhinoceros naturally requires marshy ground, and much water. As

recently as Baber’s time, that animal was found in the Peshawer

district, in the neighbourhood of the Kabul river, where there is

water in abundance, and much marshy land.

We need not, however, turn the wild-ass into a rhinoceros, as

Professor Tyschen appears to have done, nor go so far for the

* Tt is also found in the Lower Derajat about Asuni and further south.

+ ‘“ He (Crustas :) IND. cap. 25) tells us “ That in the mountains of India the

wild ass is found, which is as large and larger than a horse. His body is white,

his head red, and on his forehead he has a horn an ell long, which towards

the bottom is white, black in the middle, and red towards the tip. He is one of

the strongest of all creatures, and so fleet that neither a horse nor any other

animal is able to overtake him. When first pursued he runs leisurely ; but by and

by increases in speed. He defends himself with his horn, with his teeth, and

his hoofs, and often lays prostrate many men and horses.” /@lian has also given

us the Indian name of this animal (Aitran : Hist. Anim: XVI. 20.) Kartazonon

which Tyschen pronounces to mean the swift animal, or swift rhinoceros.”

Asiatic Nations. Vol. I. pp. 98, 99.

{ Ipip: TyscueEn, pp. 367, 368.

BBE Notes on Kafiristan. [No. 4.

original of the, very probably, Hellenized word KAartazonon, which

is evidently compounded of ,4, char, an ass, and wlj4 tdézan, the

present participle of the Persian verb W344 tdékhtan, to run, ete. ;

thus combined—khar-i-tazan, “the swift or fleet ass.’ lian’s

designation for the wild-ass thus appears plain enough, the guttural

kh of the Persians and ‘Arabs, having been dropped for simple &.

Other remarks, however, of Ctesias, that the animal in question

possesses huckle-bones, leads me to believe that neither wild-ass nor

rhinoceros is referred to; and gives me a ray of light in the matter.

That author says he himself saw such a huckle-bone, which resem-

bled that of an ox, but was as heavy as lead, and of a bright red

colour; and moreover that “ the animal was as much hunted for its

huckle bones as for its horns.’’*

The Ghalzi tribe of Afghans, at the present day, are passionately

fond of a game played with a certain number of huckle-bones placed

in a ring something like the game of marbles, and aimed at by the

player with another huckle-bone discharged from between the finger

and thumb. The huckle-bones of an animal known as the takah

are particularly sought after on account of their size, strength, and

great weight. These are coloured red by exposing them to the smoke

of a fire. The game is called dijal-bdzi from bijal a huckle-bone ;

and is very ancient. The animal is described as being about the

size of an ass or pony ; in figure like a deer, but more stoutly built.

The hair is deep fawn colour, and grows to six or eight inches in

length on the shoulders; belly white; horns long, black, and very

stout, and sloping parallel to the neck; and from catching in the

branches of the trees on the animal’s raising its head whilst grazing,

often occasion its capture, which otherwise is very difficult from its

swiftness, and its always keeping to the mountains. The ¢akah is

found in all the alpine regions of Afghanistan as far south as Kalat-

i-Ghalzi, and as far west as the mountains of the Hazarahjat between

Kabul and Herat. This is evidently the Kartazonon which has

puzzled the philosophers.

The rivers of Kafiristan and the surrounding regions of the Hindt

Kush abound in fish ; but they are not used by the Kafirs for food,

being held in great detestation by them; and they do not appear

* IBID: Pp. 335, 336.

1859. | Notes on Kafiristan. 339

to be relished by the Yisufzi Afghans. Otters are captured in great

numbers, in the Chitral or Kashkar, and upper branches of the

Panjkorah rivers, for the sake of their skins, which are made into

cloaks.

The birds consist of several species of the eagle and falcon, and

hawks of many descriptions and great beauty, used by the Yusufzi

Afghans of these parts, who are passionately fond of falconry.

Afghans formerly might have been constantly seen in the Kissah

Kh’ant Bazar, at Peshawer, near the Kabul Gate, and also in the

villages round, with hawks on their fists. These birds often fetch

a high price, varying from ten to a hundred and a hundred and fifty

rupees each, and sometimes more. The other birds are, wild-geese,

duck, teal, and other water-fowl, kulang, cranes, herons, partridges,

quail, chikor (the bartavelle or Greek partridge) which is larger

than the common bird, and found in immense numbers on the sides

of the rocky hills; the Impeyan pheasant, said to be of two or three

kinds; jungle fowl; pigeons, doves, magpies, larks of several species,

the goldfinch, bullfinch, sparrow, and other common birds.

Snakes and other venemous reptiles are few ; but there is a species

of snake, called the kaochah or kawchah, in Pushto, of a dirty earth

colour with red spots, whose bite is mortal. It is very thick in

proportion to its length, being about the size of a man’s arm and

under a yard in length, and altogether very repulsive in appearance.

It infests rocky and stony places.* |

In tilling the land both in Ka4firistan and the districts to the south

and west, men and women alike assist. In the valleys, or wherever

the land is sufficiently level, oxen are used for ploughing, at the

rate of one to each plough; but on account of the generally irregular

face of the couatry, the Si’ah-posh tribes, as well as their Nimchah

and Mukammadan neighbours to the south and west, are obliged to

sow their grain wherever they may be fortunate enough to obtain

available spots of land. These mostly consist of narrow terraces or

plateaux on the sides of steep hills, sometimes natural, but often

* “The gunnus or aphia (ois?) is said to be very poisonous; it is about a

yard in length, and very thick, and its appearance altogether, I was informed,

was very repulsive. It is found in rocky places on the eastern side of the valley

(of Kashmir).” Vicne: Kasumir Vol. II. pp. 21.

Ay ay:

336 Notes on Kafiristan. [ No. 4.

constructed at the expense of great time, labour, and perseverance,

where oxen could not be brought; and in these places the soil is

ploughed by hand.

The plough used by the Kafir tribes is a very rough and primitive

affair, consisting of a piece of wood about eight feet in length,

terminating in three prongs of about a foot long, and somewhat in

the form of a trident, save that it is slightly curved towards the

prongs or teeth. A rope of goat’s hair is fastened to this machine,

at the middle, and this the woman or man holds with both hands.

Should the plot of ground be of any size, the back of the individual

—generally a female—is turned from the plough; and with the rope

over one shoulder, she pulls it along, whilst a man guiding and push-

ing it forward with one hand, scatters the grain with the other, from

a little bag fastened round the waist, as he goes along. If the plot

be small, as is generally the case, the woman stands on one side of

the little field with her face turned towards the plough, whilst her

husband, father, or brother, as the case may be, stands at the other.

She then merely draws the plough towards her, whilst he guides it,

and sows the seed as before described. By this method the soil, as

may be easily conceived, is merely turned ; but when an ox can be

attached, it is done in a better manner. The ploughing and sowing

having thus been completed, both persons go over the land again,

and cover up the grain with their feet.

The principal harvest takes place in the autumn, and the crops,

which are sown in the spring, greatly depend, as before mentioned,

on the rain to bring them to perfection. When the corn is sufh-

ciently ripe, it is cut down, carried home, and the grain separated

from the straw by oxen treading over it.

Burnes, in his remarks on the Kafirs,—as quoted by the Edin-

burgh Reviewer—“ imbibing the prejudices of his Muhammadan

informants, calls the Kafirs a race of savages,” and says, “There

is nothing either in their customs or religion, which seems to be

any way remarkable. The women do all the out-door work, and

follow the plough: it is even said that they are sometimes yoked in

it along with an ox.” |

Women, as I have related, assist the men in ploughing, as well as

in other agricultural labours, and in the former case only where

1859. ] Notes on Kafiristan. 337

oxen cannot possibly be brought for that purpose; but in uo

instances are women yoked to the plough along with cattle. What

is there more natural than that a poor uncivilized man, possessing

but the bare necessaries of life, and unable either to pay for, or to

obtain help from others, should be assisted by his wife and children

in tilling the scanty portion of land, on which they all depend for

their daily subsistence? Do not women, even in civilized and

polished Europe, up to the present moment, work in the fields, and

perform many other laborious duties, adapted for men alone? and

but too often to support an indolent and drunken husband and

numerous family ? Hear what that honest writer William Howitt,

in his “ Rurau Lire 1n ENGLAND” says on this very subject. “A

person from the South or Midland counties of England, journeying

northward, is struck when he enters Durham or Northumberland

with the sight of bands of women working in the fields under the

surveillance of one man. One or. two such bands of from half a

dozen to a dozen women, generally young, might be passed over;

but when they recur again and again, and you observe them

wherever you go, they become a marked feature of the agricultural

system of the country ; and you naturally enquire how it is that such

regular bands of female labourers prevail there. The answer in the

provincial tongue is—O they are ‘ Boneditchers,’ i.e. Bondagers-

Bondagers! that is an odd sound, you think, in England. What

have we bondage, a rural serfdom, still existing in free and fair

England ? Even so. The thing is astounding enough, but it is a

fact. As I cast my eyes for the first time on these female bands in

the fields, working under their drivers, I was, before making any

enquiry respecting them, irresistibly reminded of the slave-gangs of

the West Indies : turnip-hoeing, somehow, associated itself strangely

in my head with sugar-cane dressing; but when I heard these

women called Bondagers, the association became tenfold strong.

“On all large estates in these counties, and in the south of

Scotland (Burnes’s own country) the bondage system prevails. No

married labourer is permitted to dwell on these estates, unless he

enters into a bond to comply with this system.”

We all know how the women in this country from Peshdwer to

Cape Comorin, work in the fields ; so we are, on the authority of Sir

338 Notes on Kafiristan. [| No. 4.

A. Burnes, to consider the people of India as well as the people of

England, to be “a race of savages.”’ The former “ mild race’? have

certainly—no small: portion of them—lately shown symptoms of

being nothing better than savages and cannibals.

With the exception of a few slaves, the Kafir tribes send but

little out of their country, the only exports being a little wine,

vinegar, wax, and honey. ‘They import all sorts of small goods,

such as needles; horn-combs; scissors; small knives, of Kabul or

Peshawer manufacture, and very roughly made; balls of cotton ;

thread ; coarse cotton cloth, called in India Addé; Lohani chintz—

so called because brought into Afghanistan in the first place by the

Lohdni tribe of Afghdns, who are the great carriers of these regions ;

indigo for dying purposes, and also used by the women for making

false moles on the face; gunpowder; lead and salt.

The Kafirs levy a tax termed kalang from the Muhammadans and

Nimechahs, who dwell in the vicinity of their frontier, and who are

unable to prevent their inroads, at the rate of one skein or ball of

thread or cotton, and a Tabriz sir of salt, equal to about eight

pounds English, for each inhabited house. Any one who chooses

to invest an hundred rupees in the description of goods I have

adverted to, will at the village border of Noyah be able to obtain

two male or female slaves.

The Ké4firs, by their own account, are divided into eighteen

tribes,* viz.; Kat{-h{; S’4h-posh—this word being, however, a Per-

sian derivative, signifying black-clad, cannot be received as the real

or original name of the tribe—Pasha-gar; Pan-di; Wamah ; Man-

dul; Sama-jil; Tapah-kal; Chanak; Dth-tak ; Sa-lao; Katar ; Kam-

par; Kaé-miz; As-kin; Ash-pin ; Wadi-hu; and Wae-kal.

They are termed Kafirs or Infidels by their Muhammadan neigh-

492

bours ; and also by the general designation of SVah-posh, or black

* Masson, in his Travers: Vol. I. pp. 214, makes the following ex cathedra

declaration concerning the Kafirs, which I venture to contradict. ‘“ As rezards

the division of the Seaposh into tribes, none knows, or pretends to know, any

thing about them ;” yet in the same page, he goes on to say that; “on the

Khonar (Kunir not Khonar) frontier, the nearest of their villages are Kattar,

Gamber, and Deh Uz;’’ the first of which is the name and chief village of one

of the eighteen tribes above meutioned.

1859. | Notes on Kafiristan. 339

clad, the same name as applied to the second tribe enumerated

above ; and by this appellation they are now principally known.

Some ofthe Afghans distinguish them as Tor and Spin Kafirs—white

and black—from a slight difference existing in the dress of some of

the tribes, as mentioned in a subsequent page.

The different parts of the country they at present occupy, are as

follows.

| Kéti-hi.

The people of the Kati-hi tribe have to a great extent become

Muhammadans, but in name only ; for they seem to be excessively

ignorant of the simplest tenets of the faith. The chief or head-man

of these is Muhammad Nar. The tribe was formerly settled in

the darah or valley of Parchaghan, on the Panjsher river, where a

few families, amounting to about 2,500, still dwell, along with a

number of Hazarahs under Kadkhuda, Sayyid Mirza, and also

several Tajik families under Kadkhuda, Kazi. The main body of the

KaAti-his is now located in the country lying two days journey, (fifty

miles,) north-east of the valley called Kandah-i-Nil, which is of consi-

derable size, and takes its name from the source of the river rising in

the northern part of Ka4firistan, and known to the people as the

true source of the Aiman or Oxus. It lies to the north-east of the

valley of Parchaghan, east of the Shinah river, and north-west of

the Lamghan district.

S? dh-posh.

This tribe originally dwelt in the darah or valley of Kasi-gar.

The country the Si’4h-posh now occupy, together with a small num-

ber of the Pashagar tribe, lies to the west of the valley held by the

KaAti-his.

Pasha-gar.

The Pasha-gar tribe formerly held the darah or valley of Sée-kal,*

a portion of which, containing the four large towns of Dtmiah,

Kandlah, Paranddol, and Tarht, it continues to retain to the

present time. ‘The people of these places have become Muham-

madans. Of the remainder of the tribe, who follow their ancient

* “ Leaving the dale of Nangnahar therefore, and pushing speedily forwards,

we passed Sae-gal (or Sae-kal) and advanced up the valley of Birain.” BAsur’s

MEMOIRS.

340 Notes on Kafiristan. [No. 4.

religion, some dwell in the country of the Si’ah-posh, and some to

the northward in the valley of Mil.

Pén-dt.

The Pan-dui tribe formerly occupied the darah or valley of Po-han ;

and at present holds the eastern portion of the darah of Mil. Here

they have several villages ; viz, Muku-watt, the Kadkhuda, or head-

man of which is named Déhwi; Niw-li; Teyli; Panda and Parmah-

wal, under Kadkhudé, Hasan. A very few only have become

converts to Islimism. In this district, in particular, might makes

the right ; and the authority lies in the hands of, or is seized by, him

who has the greatest quantity of worldly goods, and the most

numerous kindred. The darah of Najil lies to the west of the valley

of Mil.*

Wamah.

The people of this tribe continue to dwell, in conjunction with the

Tapah-kal tribe, in the valley of Inkar, which is connected with six

smaller ones, named, Bayazid, Bahan, Shankar, Makan-ji, Kadol-

Khand, Landah-gdn, and Darah-i-Ma’isht. Some few of the people

of the tribe have become Muhammadans; but the greater number

still follow their ancient faith, and look down on these converts with

the greatest contempt, and compel them to dwell apart.

Mandul.

This tribe formerly dwelt in the Shamah-kat valley, lying to the

west of the Lamghan district, and containing fourteen smaller

darahs or valleys within it. The Manduls were driven from this

locality as lately as the reign of the Moghal Emperor, Jehangir.

They are now held by the Safis of the Isma’il clan, a small and in-

dependent tribe of Afghans, but accounted among the Suliman Khel

of the Ghalzis. The Manduls, at present, dwell in a portion of the

valley of Kandah-i-Nil, which is also the present location of the

Kati-hi tribe. The Mandils retain their ancient religion.

Samd-jil.

The Sama-jil tribe in ancient times dwelt in the Shamakat and its

contiguous valleys, along with the Manduls; and at the present day

* “The part of Kafiristén nearest to Alishang is Meil (Mil) ; and the river

of Alishang comes down from Meil.” BAzzn,

1859.] | Notes on Kafiristan. 341

they occupy a portion of the valley of Kandah-i-Nil along with them

and the Kati-his. None of the Mandtls have embraced Isldmism.

Tapah-kil.

The tribe of Tapah-kdélis located in the valley of Inkar, which

they have held for some centuries past, along with the convert-

ed Wamah families. The apah-kal are nearly all Muhammadans

by profession, but are, nevertheless, considered by their neighbours

of that faith to be worse than the unconverted Iafirs generally.

Chanik.

The people of this tribe have all become Muhammadans, and

retain their original district—the valley of Mikah—which contains

fourteen villages of no considerable size. It lies to the west of

Tslamabad, a town of Lamghan, and south of Dimiah in the Sae-kal

darah, held by the Pashagar tribe.

Diuh-tak.

The Duh-tak tribe formerly held the districts about Koh and

Korinj, which form the angle betweenthe river Kow and the Najil or

Alishang, just before they unite at Tirgari, a village of the Lam-

ghan district. Some few of the Dih-tak tribe have become converts

to Muhammadanism, and now dwell in the Inkar valley, along with

the small portion of the Wamah tribe, which has, as well as the

generality of the Tapah-kal, embraced the same faith. The larger

number of the Dah-tak tribe, at present inhabits the country to-

wards Chegan-sara’e, through which flows the river of Chitral or

Kashkar, (called erroneously the upper branch of the Kamah, but

really another viver falling into the Kamah here,) and on the borders

of the country of Kashkar-i-Pa’in or Lower Kashkar, known also

amongst the people of these countries as the territory of Shah

Kator, but now ruled by his son Tajammul Shah. ‘This state will be

hereafter described.

Sa-léo.

This tribe in former times, held the darah or valley of Ranah-kot

or S4-l4o, but for very many years past has been dwelling in that

part of the centre of Kaéfiristén watered by the Shtnah river,

towards the highest ranges of the Hindi Kush, also called the Shinah

valley. It lies to the west of the Kati-hi country, north from Lam-

342 Notes on Kafiristan. [No. 4.

ghan, and to the eastward of the valley of Kandah-i-Nil. The

people continue to follow their ancient faith.

Kattar.

This tribe continues to dwell in the darah or valley of Niirgil,

which they held in Baber’s time. He thus notices them. “In

the hill country to the north-east (from Kabul) lies Kafiristaén such

as Kattar and Gebrek ;”’ and again—“ Niretl lies to the west, and

Kunir to the east of the river ; and the lower part of this Tuman

is called Milteh Kandi, below which the country belongs to darah

Nar and Ater.’’*

The Kattars follow the religion of their ancestors, and are

accounted by the Afghans of these parts, as the most bigotted of

the whole of the Si’ak-posh. Abd-ul-Hamid, the Shekh Sazdi, of

the Pus’hto poets, thus refers to them in one of his odes.

Bdiw) 9 125 &) 0 rs) &S us” Wb bnwo Les ou Orel

The Kattar Kéfirs will as soon Beans converts to Islam,

As the guardian (of the beloved) be softened by my tears.

Kampar.

The country inhabited by the Kampar tribe is also situated in

the valley of the Kashkar or Chitral river, and to the north of the

district of Nurgil, in which the Kattar tribe dwells. The Kampars

retain their ancient faith.

| Kamuz.

This tribe inhabits the valleys lying to the north of the Kampar

district of Nurgil, and between the Kashkar river and the highest

range towards Badakhshan, bounding the territory of Lower Kash-

kar to the south. They pay a small tribute to Tajammul Shah in

acknowledgement of his supremacy ; but none of them have become

converts to Muhammadanism.

The tract of country occupied by the three preceding tribes of

Kamuz, Kampar, and Kattdr, through which the Kashkar or upper

portion of the Kdmah river flows, is the most easterly portion of

Kafiristan, and forms the boundary between them and the above

named state, as also of Panjkorah and Bajawer. The tract here

mentioned as inhabited by these three tribes of Kamuz, Kampar,

and Kattdr, is the same, in all probability, as that alluded to by

* Memoirs; Page 140.

1859. | Notes on Kafiristan. 343

Baber on taking Chegan-sara’e in 1514, at which time, he says, the

Kafirs of Pich came down to the assistance of the people of that

place.

Askin.

The Askin tribe holds the upper valley of the Tagab river, towards

the highest range of the Hindi Kush. They have for the most

part become converts to the Muhammadan faith, and are subject

to Tajammul Shah, son of Shah Kator. Those of the tribe who

retain their ancient religion pay this ruler a trifling tribute.

Ashpin.

The Ashpin Kafirs dwell in the same district as the Askins.

Numbers of them have changed their religion, and are also subject

to Tajammul Shah of Lower Kashkar. The remainder are tolerated

in their ancient religion on the same terms as mentioned with

reference to the preceding tribe.

Wadt-hu.

The Wadi-hu tribe continues, as heretofore, to inhabit the darah

or valley of Inkar. A few have become Muhammadans.

Wée-kal.

The country of the Wae-kal tribe, lies to the southward of Lower

Kashkar, along the eastern bank of the Kashkar or Chitral river, and

bounds the Kampar district on the north. ‘They have not changed

their faith, but they pay a small tribute to Tajammul Shah of

Kashkar, in acknowledgement of his supremacy.

From the foregoing account, it will have been perceived, that,

out of the eighteen original divisions or tribes into which the

Si’ah-posh are divided, only ten; viz., the Kati-hi, Si’ah-posh, Pa-

shagar, Mandul, Samajil, Sa-lao, Kattar, Kampar, Kdmtiz, and Wae-

kal, retain their ancient faith, and observe their former customs.

They may be considered along with the tribes of Péndi, Wamah,

Duhtak, and Wadi-hi—a few only of whom have embraced Mu-

hammadanism—as now constituting the whole of the real Kafir race ;

for the Tapah-kal, Askin, and Ashpin are for the most part of that

religion; whilst the whole of the Chanaks have become converts

to Islamism.

344 Notes on Kifiristan. [No. 4.

“Those who have thus abandoned the religious observances of

their forefathers, and who dwell in the valleys and hills bordering

on the Afghan territories to the south and west, are called by the

latter, Nimchahs ; but they are by no means a separate race of

people, as considered by Burnes and others, being really the

converted portions of the Si’4h-posh Kafirs I have above alluded to, -

and the descendants of those who have intermarried with their

Afghan neighbours, or the offspring of Afghan females whom they

may have captured in their forays. The very name of Nimchah

(S=+8)—a Persian derivative from oe nim, half or the middle, and

&= chah, a particle added to nouns to form diminutives, and to

express somewhat of contempt—alone would suggest this solution

of the question ; even if the valleys, which the Nimchahs are stated

by those authors as inhabiting, did not exactly agree with the

names of districts and tribes of the Kafirs, mentioned in the fore-

going account, as residing in the vicinity of the Afshans. The names

of the valleys I allude to, are, Darah-i-Shinah, Atti, Darah-i-Inkar,

Darah-i-Wadf-hi, Mardamtak, Darah-i-Nil, Panda Darah, Darah-

i-Tapah-kal, and Darah-i-Mashamund; seven of which are inhabited

at the present day by six out of the eight tribes I have noticed as

having abandoned the religious customs of their ancestors, and

become, in name, followers of the Muhammadan faith. The two

tribes of Askin, and Ashpfn, are not termed Nimechahs by the

Afghans, who know little of them, as they are subject to the Shah

of Kashkaér or Chitral, and are very distant from the Afghan

boundary.

As recently as the reign of the Moghul Emperor Jehangir,

several families of the tribes inhabiting the valleys to the west of

Lamghan, consisting of the darah of Shamatak, and fourteen smaller

ones contiguous, embraced the Muhammadan faith. These places

are now occupied by the small Afghan tribe of Safi.

In the reign of the sovereign just alluded to, we find from the

Persian work entitled Khuldssat-ul-Ansab of Hafiz Rahmat Khan,

an Afghan of the Kotah-khel, that in his days, even, the Afghans

undertook expeditions against the Kafirs or Infidels of several parts

of Afghanistan, taking their wives and children prisoners; and at the

sume time remarks, that the infidels of Darah Lamghan, Darah-i-

1859. | Notes on Kéfiristan. 345

Pich, Darah Kuner, belonging to Kabul and Jeldlabdd, together

with Talaah, Panjkorah, Chimlah, Buner, Dramtawer, Pakli, and

other places, dependencies of Peshawer and Langerkot, were in this

manner made converts to Islam.

The so-called Nimchahs continue to intermarry with the K4firs and

Afghans indiscriminately. They also act as guides on either side,

when the Kafirs-attack the Muhammadans, or when the latter make

forays into the country of the former, and sometimes even join in

these expeditions. They are excessively ignorant of the Muham-

madan creed, and most of them even appear ignorant of the neces-

sary forms of prayer. They all drink a strong undistilled wine,

which they keep a long time before broaching, another proof of their

connection with the S?ah-posh tribes.

The Si’ah-posh tribes have no history, as far as I can discover,

by which we could attempt to trace their origin, neither have they

any written character whatever ; and the whole of the different

tribes speak the same language. They, however, claim brotherhood

with the Frangis; and during our occupation of Afghanistan, they

attempted to enter into friendly intercourse with us, and even sent

delegates from their country with this view, to the late Sir W. H.

MeNaghten, Bart., whilst at Jelalabad in 1839; but these simple-

minded and confiding people were, in true John Bull fashion, harshly

and coldly repulsed. The circumstance was thus related to me by

an eye-witness, an officer who served in the Shah’s Coutingent, and

one of the prisoners with Lady Sale.

In the end of 1839, in December, I think it was, when the Shah

and Sir W. Macnaghten had gone down to Jeldldbad for winter-

quarters, a deputation of the Siali-posh Kafirs came in from Nirgil

to pay their respects, and, as it appeared, to welcome us as relatives.

If [ recollect right there were some thirty or forty of them, and

they made their entry into our lines with bag-pipes playing.

An Afghan Peon, sitting outside Edward Conolly’s tent, on

seeing these savages rushed into his master’s presence exclaiming ;

“ Here they are, Sir! They are all come! Here are all your rela-

tions!’ Conolly amazed, looked up from his writing, and asked what

on earth he meaut; when the Peon, with a very innocent face,

pointed out the skin-clad men of the mountains, saying, “'There!

346 Notes on Kafiristan. | No. 4.

don’t you see them? your relatives, the Kafirs ?”? I heard Conolly

tell this as a good joke, he believing at the same time, that his Afghan

attendant was not actuated by impudence in attributing a blood

connection between his master and the Kafirs.

“The Kafirs themselves certainly claimed relationship ; but I fear

their reception by poor Sir Wiliam was not such as pleased them;

and they returned to the hills regarding us asa set of purse-proud

people ashamed to own our Country Cousins.

“ During the remainder of our sojourn in Afghanistan nothing more

was seen or heard of this singular race, at least not that Iam aware

of; and I cannot but regard it as most unfortunate, that, when so

favourable an opportunity presented itself of becoming acquainted

with these tribes and the country they inhabit, they should have

been allowed to depart unconciliated, and no advantage have been

taken of their visit.”’

The rare opportunity for sending a European Officer back with

them to explore their country was thus, as usual, neglected and

altogether lost.

The Kafir tribes appear to have been at enmity with their

Muhammadan neighbours to the south for ages past; but they are

generally on friendly terms with the people of Badakhshan and

Chitral or Chitrar, and Upper Kashkar, and occasionally enter into

treaties with them.*

Timur made an unsuccessful attempt to reduce them when on

his way to invade Hinddstan, at which time, he detached ten

thousand men against them. ‘Phis force advanced to Inderab, a

town of Badakhshai, and thence proceeded by Ferijan, on the south-

ern slope of Hindi Kush, into the Kafir country ; and in the valley

of Pohun—the former residence of the Pandu tribe—on the summit

of a lofty mountain, kuown as Mount Kahun, the invaders found

the remains of a vast fortress. This they repaired; and it is

ealled “ Timur Hissar,” or “ Timtr’s Castle,” to this day. A more

particular account of it will be found in another place. The Mo-

* “The Kafirs are on good terms with the Chitralis, and occasionally mix

with them—my authority is the grandson of the exiled Raja of Chitral, who was

driven out by Shah Kutor. I saw him in Little Thibet.” Viann’s Guuzyi

KABUL, ETC. pp. 235.

{

1859. | Notes on Kéfiristan. : 347

ghal troops, however, seem to have met with but little success,

and being unable to bring the Kafirs under subjection to their yoke,

soon abandoned the attempt, and retired, somewhat precipitately,

through the Kawak Pass.*

The emperor Baber, in his “ Memoirs’’ gives an account of his

several forays into Kafiristén; but he does not appear to have

entertained the idea of permanently occupying any part of the

country, and probably saw the difficulty of such an undertaking

from the determined opposition he met with from these hardy

mountaineers.

About the end of the last century, the Muhammadan chiefs of

Bajawer, Panjkorah, Kunir, and others, confederated together and

entered the Kafir country, where they burnt some hamlets and forced

several persons to embrace Islamism, and these are now included

armonest the Nimchahs; but the invaders were soon compelled to

retreat, after sustaining severe loss.

Five or six years since, the Bajawer chief made an inroad into that

part of Kafiristan adjoining his own district; burned and sacked

some villages ; and succeeded in carrying off a number of people, whom

he subsequently sold into slavery.

In mode of dress the Kafirs somewhat differ from each other; but

all wear the black goat-skin garments, from which they derive the

general name of Si’ah-posh, or Black-clad.

The men wear a tuft of hair on the crown of the head, but the

beard is worn according to individual taste—some never shave, others

merely shave round the mouth, and others again cut off the beard

entirely.

The dress of the Si’ah-posh, Kamtiz, Kampar, Kattaér, and Wae-kal

tribes is precisely alike, viz.;—a shirt, drawers neither very tight nor

very loose, and a léngi or scarf, all of coarse cotton, besides a black

dress similar to that worn by the fakirs or devotees at Kabul, consisting

of a wide chokah or cloak with short, wide sleeves, made of a pecu-

liar sort of wool. This they put on over the under-dress; and over

all are worn the goat-skin garments. Herodotust in his account of

* Hist DE Timur Bec. Vol. III. p. 5.

+ “ The Caspians clothed in goat-skin mantles, and carrying bows made of

cane peculiar to their country, and scimetars, joined the expedition. * * *

348 ; Notes on Kéfiristan. | [No. 4.

the army of Xerxes, mentions several nations who dressed in a similar

manner, consisting of tribes from the east and north-east of the

Caspian Sea, and adjoining the Sea of Aral—the Caspii, the Utii, and

others; as also the inhabitants of the mountainous regions on the

south-eastern boundary of Great Bucharia, the people of Beluristan

or Land of Crystal,* Gilgitt, and others.

The remaining tribes—the Kati-hi, Pashagar, Pandfi, Wamah,

Mandul, Samé-jil, Tapah-kal, Chanak, Dth-tak, Sa-lao, Askin, Ashpin,

and Wad{-hé, wear a dress called a chakman, which is sometimes

brought to Kabul for sale, and is manufactured from wool of various

colours ; drawers called buzo also made of wool; and a shirt of coarse

cotton cloth, as worn by the other tribes.

In the winter season, on account of the snow which lies on the

ground for several months, in the more elevated districts, they are

in the habit of wearing shoes of black goats-hair, woven strongly

together; but in the summer they substitute the charwk—a sort of

half-boot made of goat-skin with the hair outwards, to lace up in

front, and similar to the boots worn by the mountaineers of Panj-

sher, who are, by all accounts, converted Kafirs, and the shoes of skin

with the hair on, worn by the Scottish Highlanders.

Few of the Kafirs cover the head; and when they do so, it is with

a narrow band or fillet made of goat’s hair of three different colours

—red, black, and white—about a yard or a yard and a half in length,

wound round the head.

The females dress in a similar style to the women of the Kohistan

or Highlands of Kabul, viz.; loose drawers tight at the ancle; a long

shirt or chemise ; a chadar or veil; and a small scull-cap under which

the hair 1s plaited.

Their ornaments or trinkets consist of flat bracelets on the wrists,

necklaces, and ear-rings, and rings on the fingers. Those of the rich

The Pactyes also wore goat-skin mantles, and had bows peculiar to the country

and daggers.” HrRoporus: Boox VII. Polyhymnia 67. The Pactyes here

referred to are the inhabitants of Pactyice, supposed to be the present district of

Pakli, on the left bank of the Indus just above Attak, but more probably the

little known parts on the opposite bank, to the north of the districts held by the

Yasufzi Afghans.

* See description of Kashk4r and Chitral.

1859.] Notes on Kafiristan. 349

are mostly of silver, and rarely of gold; whilst the ornaments of the

poorer classes are generally of brass and copper. The men wear rings

in the ears and on the fingers only.

Those females whose fathers or husbands may have slain one or

more Musalmans, have the peculiar privilege of ornamenting their

eaps and locks with £auri shells.* Young virgins, instead of the

scull-cap, fasten a narrow fillet of red cloth round their heads, which

they adorn with shells, if entitled to the privilege.

The manners and customs of the different tribes are alike: they

celebrate their joys and their griefs, their marriages and their

funerals, after one and the same fashion.

When a guest enters a house, whatever eatables and wines are at

hand, are immediately set before him. When he has finished his

repast, the people of the house eat, but not before. If the visitor

should be a Muhammadan, or of any other religion than their own,

they bring him a goat or a sheep that he may slaughter it himself

according to the custom of his own faith; and after he has selected

a portion for his food, which he is also permitted to cook himself, the

family take the remainder for their own use.

After a guest has once crossed the threshold, the master of the

house alone waits on him; the brother of the host, or the other

members of his family being prevented from supplying the stranger

with anything, even water to drink, without his sanction, so much

do they respect the rights of hospitality. In the same manner, no

person of the village where the guest may be staying, is allowed to

entertain him without the consent of the host. If this be done,

quarrels arise, in which lives have been frequently lost. With the

* Cypreea moneta.

+ BurckHarpr remarks, “ Among the Arabs of Sinai there is a custom

which, I believe, is common to several other tribes on the ‘southern limits of

Syria, that if a stranger be seen from afar coming towards the camp, he is the

guest for that night of the first person who descries him, and who, whether

a grown man or a child, exclaims, “‘ There comes my guest.” Such a person has

a right to entertain the guest that night. Serious quarrels happen on these

occasions ; and the Arabs often have recourse to their great oath.—“ By the

divorce (from my wife) I swear that I shall entertain the guest ;” upon which all

opposition ceases. I have myself been frequently the object of such disputes, in

which the Bedouin women took a very active part, assembling in the females’

Dey 4

350 Notes on Kafiristan. [ No. 4.

sanction of his entertainer, a stranger is permitted to visit the other

people of the village, the headman in particular ; and, on entering a

house, at whatever hour of the day it may be, wine and victuals are

immediately placed before him, of which he is pressed and expected

to partake.

The guest, whether male or female, sleeps in the same apartment

with the family ; and all, it is said, are in puris naturalibus. I sus-

pect by all accounts, however, that the meaning of the word “ naked”’

is, that they take off their outer garments when they retire to

rest, a natural and cleanly habit, and far preferable, in many ways,

to the custom of their Musalman neighbours, who sleep in the same

dress they wear throughout the day. |

Last year (1848) a Kafir of the Kati-hi tribe came to the Muham-

madan village of Moyah, where he put up at the house of an ac-

quaintance. When bed-time arrived, the Muhammadan host, pointed

out to his Kafir guest where he was to sleep. The latter became

exceedingly angry and said, “ You came to my house and slept in the

same place as my wife and children slept in, whilst I bemg your

guest, you have given me a separate place to sleep! what sort of

hospitality is this?” The host, after much trouble and entreaty, at

length succeeded in pacifying the Kafir by making room for him in

the sleeping-place occupied by his wife and family.

The Kafir towns and villages, several of which contain three and

four hundred houses, are almost invariably built on the steep accli-

vities of the mountains, on account of the general irregular nature of

the country they inhabit, and also, as being better in a defensive point

of view, in case of invasion. Some few are situated in the valleys and

on the table lands, towards the northern parts of the country. They

never dwell in tents; but some are said to dwell in caves.

Their houses are generally built of stone, in frames of wood, with

flat roofs, and of one story in height. Some dwellings contain,

according to the means of the owner, several rooms, furnished with

apartment of the tent where I sat, defending the rights of their husbands with

all the loquacity that their lungs could supply. It is a received custom in every

part of the Arabian Desert, that a woman may entertain straugers in the absence

of her husband. Some male relation then does the honours, representing the

absent owner of the tent.” ‘ Norges on THE BeDoUINS AND WAHABYS.”

1859. | Notes on Kafiristan. B51

wooden benches or tables, stools made of wood, and sometimes of

wicker-work covered with goat-skin: for the Kafirs cannot squat

down in the Oriental fashion ; and in this point, in particular, they

bear a striking resemblance to Europeans in being unable to sit-cross-

legged with any comfort.* Their beds are made of wood, and similar

in form to the Indian charpae—a simple frame with short legs, over

the frame of which they lace bands of leather.

The Si’4h-posh tribes are rich in herds of oxen and cows, and flocks

of sheep and goats, the latter of a very superior breed. They also

rear immense numbers of fowls. They eat beef, but the flesh of sheep

and goats, particularly the latter, is more commonly consumed, as

also the game they capture in the chase, such as deer, antelope, ibex,

—the antlers of which they set up in their places of worship—and

the kichar or mountain sheep, and other smaller animals. They

sometimes eat the flesh of bears, but this is very seldom. Burnes

describes them as eating monkeys, whichis not truly the case; and

as far as I can discover, these animals, if they really exist in the

country, are extremely rare. Monkeys are found generally in tropical

climates, not in such localities as the valleys of the Hindu Kush, where

snow often lies on the ground for months together, and which are

surrounded on all sides by mountains capped with the snows of ages.

It is possible, that, in the more sheltered valleys—which are said to

be much warmer than the nature of the country and climate might

lead us to expect, and where grapes attain great perfection—these

animals may be found, but only in small numbers.

Their other articles of food, consist of unleavened bread, milk,

curds, butter, honey, a few herbs, vegetables, and fruit, which latter

their country produces in great quantities, and of excellent flavour.

All classes of people drink a great deal of wine,t as do most of the

* Lieut. Woop in the account of his journey to the Oxus, says of a Kafir he

met with—‘“ Crossed-legged he could not sit, for in this respect the Kafirs differ

from all eastern nations, and like Kuropeans prefer a chair, or anything raised, to

a seat upon the ground.”

+ “In the winter season they fatten numerous poultry.” BAser’s Memorrs.

{ “In this sequestered tract of country grapes and fruit are produced in great

abundance, and it also produces a large quantity of wine, butin the making they

boil it. The people are wine-bibbers—they never pray, neither fear God nor

2 4 2

302 Notes on Kafiristan. [No. 4.

inhabitants of the neighbouring countries professing the Muhamma-

dan religion—the Chitralis or Kashkaris, who are considered to be

of the same stock as the Kafirs—the people of Gilgitt, and Gunjut,

belonging to Yaésin—the Badakhshdnis and the Nimchahs, who are

either converted Kafirs, or descendants of those who have intermar-

ried with their Muhammadan neighbours. On public occasions the

Kafirs are very liberal with it, and it is put into vessels and placed in

convenient places, where all who come may help themselves. There

are stringent regulations regarding picking the grapes before a certain

day, and great care is taken in their cultivation.

The wine is much better in flavour than in appearance, and does

not seem to be of a very intoxicating nature, judging from the deep

potations in which they indulge, without becoming over excited or

quarrelsome. In the manufacture they boil it, and use it without

filtering, which is the cause of its untempting appearance.

Bread, the staple article of food, is made from three different kinds

of grain—wheat, barley, and arzun or millet mixed together aud

ground into flour in a hand-mill. This is made into thick cakes or

bannocks, baked in an oven, or on an iron dish, called in Scotland a

“ oridle,’? suspended over the fire.

Their method of slaughtering cattle is strange and superstitious.

The animal intended to be killed is brought out, and is seized by the

head by one man, whilst a second ‘strikes it a blow on the neck with a

sword or long and sharp knife. If the head is severed from the

body by one stroke, which is generally the case, the flesh 1s considered

pure and fit for food, but if not, they give the carcase to the Baris, a

certain tribe residing amongst them, held in the light of Pariahs, or

as Helots amongst the Greeks, and who would seem to be the

remnant of the aboriginals of the country—the Paropamiside of the

classical authors. These people carry on all the mechanical trades, such

as blacksmiths, weavers, carpenters, cutlers, etc. The Kéfirs themselves

look upon such occupations as mean and disreputable, and consider the

profession of arms and agriculture alone to be creditable. On jour-

man, and are infidels. So prevalent is the use of wine amongst these people, that

every Kafir has a khig or leathern bottle full of wine hung round his neck, for

they drink wine instead of water.” BAser’s Memorrs.

1859. ] Notes on Kafiristan. 353

neys these Baris are employed to carry baggage, and in all meaner

occupations.

It is a mistaken idea to imagine that the Kafir tribes sell their

own children, as Burnes mentions, at the rate of twenty rupees the

span. Whenever the people of Chitrar or Chitral, and Lamghan, who

are generally at peace with them, come into their borders for the

purpose of barter and for purchasing slaves, they sell them the

children of the Bari tribe, before alluded to. Yet, uncivilized as they

are, 16 is rather improbable that they would show much hesitation

or compunction, for a good reward, to kidnap and sell their neigh-

bour’s children if opportunity offered ; nevertheless, it is of rare

occurrence.

All broken victuals are kept for these Baris, who sometimes come

and stand behind a person whilst eating, to receive whatever may be

left unconsumed. But if a Bari chances to come in front of a Kafir

whilst eating, it is considered defilement, and the aggressor is well

abused, and soundly beaten also for so doing; and cases have been

known wherein Baris have been killed by the enraged Kafirs, although

the commission of the capital crime is likewise accounted defile-

ment.

Some few years since, a man of the Wamah tribe, on an occasion

of this nature, in a fit of rage killed a Bari, and from that day to this

his own wife has neither lived in the same house with him nor eaten in

his company ; and whenever she happens to see him, she says, “ Oh

mean one! thou hast slain a Bari: thy hand is unclean !”

Once every year the Ka4firs hold a grand and ancient festival which

continues from twenty to forty days. Great preparations are made

for its celebration ; and large quantities of wine, clarified butter,

fruit, and other eatables, are collected by the people before hand. On

this festive occasion they do not eat at home, but visit their

acquaintances in rotation, with whom they remain four and five days

at a time. When the day arrives, a large cauldron of clarified butter,

which has been set aside for the purpose, is kept ready heated in

every house; and round it drinking vessels are arranged. Every

person who enters the house is expected to take a cup-full from the

cauldron and drink it off, otherwise it is accounted an insult, and

enmity immediately springs up. During this festival, the villagers

Bo4 Notes on Kafiristan. [No. 4.

assemble together in the open air and make merry. The men perform

a sort of war-dance; and the women fasten little bells round their

waists and dance together. Their only musical instruments are a sort

of tambourine, a pipe or fife, together with a description of bag-pipe.

The day preceding the termination of the feast, the whole of the

people—male and female, young and old—congregate on the green

in front or in the centre of the village, where all assemblies take

place—the females on one side, the males on the other ; and feasting

aud carousal—singing and danciag—are kept up with great spirit,

until about midnight, when on a given signal, the lights are suddenly

extinguished ; the men rush on the women; and each man seizes the

hand of the nearest female, or one whom he may have selected before

hand, if he can manage to approach her in the scuffle which now

ensues. He then takes her away to some private place and retains

her until the morning. On these occasions it makes very little dif-

ference who the fair one is, whether his own wife or that of another—

his own daughter or sister or another’s; and as might be supposed,

very ludicrous, as well as painful mistakes, are apt to occur. This

particular day is called the Chilum Chuti (she oe); and takes place

about the Hindu month of Sirad.

This horrid scene of debauchery is similar to that enacted at the

festival in honor of Venus, celebrated by the ancient Babylonians ;

and which is mentioned by Rollin in the following terms. “ There

is nothing more horrible, or that gives us a stronger idea of the

profound darkness into which idolatry had plunged mankind than

the public prostitution of women at Babylon, which was not only

authorized by law, but even commanded by the religion of the

country, upon a certain annual festival, celebrated in honor of the

goddess Venus, under the name of Mylitta, whose temple, by means

of this infamous ceremony, became a brothel, or place of debauchery.

This wicked custom was still in being and very prevalent when the

Israclites were carried captive to that criminal city ; for which reason

the prophet Jeremiah thought fit to caution and admonish them

against so scandalous an abomination.’”’* These licentious rites are

similar to those instituted by Pir Roshan, the founder of the Ro-

shanian sect, amongst the Afghans, in the sixteenth century.

* Roun. ANCIENT History. Vol. I. pp. 219, 220.

1859. | Notes on Kifiristan. 355

Several of the Kafir customs, and that just related, in particular,

bear a strong resemblance to those of the Yezidis or Devil Worship-

ers, mentioned by Morier in his “ Travels.’ He says :—“'The

Yezidis, or the worshipers of Satan, as they are frequently called, are

one of the numerous sects which were formed in Mesopotamia, among

the Musalmans, after the death of their prophet, and extended them-

selves more particularly among that ancient people, the Kards.

“ By the true believers they are looked upon as accursed ; their name

is synonymous with blasphemers, barbarians, and men of blood.

Owing to the want of written records, itis very difficult to procure

any accurate information concerning them, as they preserve great

secrecy in matters of religion. ‘The general report is, that the first

principle of the Yezidis is to ensure the friendship of the devil, and

to defend his interests by the sword. They never mention his name,

and even adopt all sorts of circumlocution rather than pronounce any

word or sound which expresses it. Whoever approaches their

habitation must be careful not to pronounce the word “ Shaitén’’ and

“ lahnat’—*“ devil” and “accursed,” for fear of being ill-treated, or

even put to death. The evil spirit has no precise name in their

language. ‘They designate him the Shekh Mazin, or the great chief.

They admit of the Prophets and the Saints revered by Christians,

and respect the monasteries bearing their names, situated within their

territories.

“Without prayers, without fasts, without rites, they have no

religious festivals, except one on the 10th of August, when they

assemble in great numbers in the neighbourhood of Shekh Adi. At

that time many Yezidis come from the most distant points; the

festival lasts all that day and the night following; and during their

passage to the place of congregation, they do not scruple to rob and

plunder. Married women go in numbers to the surrounding villages,

and on that night it is said, after having eaten and drank their fill

(male and female together) the lights are extinguished, and nothing

- more is said until the morning.”

To return to the Kafirs—The day succeeding the Chilum Chuti,

and the last of the festival, all the people assemble together, and

those who are desirous of making an inroad into the territories of their

Muhammadan neighbours, get up and stand on one side. On this,

356 Notes on Kafiristan. [ No. 4.

one of the elders, or chief men of the tribe arises, and like a

Kowal or Bard proceeds to harangue the audience on the deeds and

the prowess of their ancestors; how many Muhammadans they had

killed in their lifetime; how many of their villages they had

plundered and destroyed ; and enjoins them to take example there-

from. Ifthere should be any one amongst the assembly, distin-

guished for his actions against the enemies of their faith, they are

recounted and enlarged upon, as also the deeds of any other indivi-

duals the orator may recollect.

When the Bard has finished his address, the people, with the

exception of those who have come forward to invade the country of

their enemies, disperse to their several homes, and the latter make

arrangements for their departure on the crusade,*

Until they have matured their plans, and the expedition is ready

to depart, no individual of the party either eats or sleeps in his own

dwelling ; and in whosesoever house he may happen to be in the

evening, there he sleeps for the night.

When the morning arrives for the warriors to set out, the people

of the village or villages, as the case may be, give them provisions

and wine for their journey; and those requiring arms are supplied

with them. Some conspicuous hill or other place is then determined

on, at which a beacon-fire is to be ighted on their return, in order

that the villagers may come out to meet them. The necessary fuel

or combustible for this beacon is then got ready and piled up at the

appointed place ; and in case any one might be so malicious as to set

fire to the pile, or that it might accidentally take fire, all other per-

sons are strictly forbidden to approach the spot, under pain of severe

punishment.

Having shared the focd and wine given to them by the villagers,

each man places his portion in a small goat-skin bag, kept for this

purpose. Before leaving the halting-ground every man conceals

under a stone or in some other place, a day’s provisions to serve him

* “The Spartans never went to fight without first imploring the help of the

gods by public sacrifices and prayers ; and when that was done, they marched

against the enemy with perfect confidence and expectation of success, as being

assured of the divine protection, and, to make use of Plutarch’s expression, as

if God were present with, and fought for them.” Rorrin: AnctEnr History,

Vol. I., pp. 236.

1859. | Notes on Kifiristan. aot

on his return. This is done each morning before setting out for the

next stage.

The war-party having arrived near the borders of the territory of

their foes, determine on some spot as the base of their operations ;

at which place also they agree to meet, if possible, every night.

On this arrangement being completed, they roam throughout the

hills, forests, and valleys, in search of enemies—sometimes alone, and

sometimes in parties of two or four, and at times in larger bodies.

In the evening they meet together at the place agreed upon, and

relate to each other the adventures of the day, and the number of

Muhammadans they have killed.

A few years ago the Si’ah-posh had no fire-arms whatever amongst

them; but at present they are much better provided with flint-lock

pieces than the people of the Kohistan of Kabul, Lamghan, Badakh-

shan, or Panjkorah. Where these fire-arms come from, I cannot

discover—probably, they are of Russian manufacture, imported by

way of Kokan to Chitral, with the people of which latter state they

are on friendly terms. I see no other route by which they could

obtain flint-lock pieces, unless made in the Panjab or Kashmir, and

thence carried into their country by way of Gilgitt and Chitral.

The Afghans have, generally, match-locks only.

The original weapons of offence used by the Kafirs are bows and

arrows, the former about four feet in length, the latter nearly two ;

and along and broad knife of a peculiar curved shape, and about

two feet in length. They also use a smaller knife, about twelve or

fifteen inches in length, for cutting their food with. Some few

possess swords, the spoils of their enemies.

They so much exceed the Muhammadans, by whom they are

surrounded on all sides, in point of intrepidity and skill in their

mode of warfare, that, hitherto, none of their enemies—save for a very

short period, and then only in far superior numbers—have been able to

oppose them with success.

Their mode of fighting is, to lie in ambush near the villages and

grazing erounds of their enemies ; for they very rarely attack them

openly or in large numbers. Being very strong and active, they

seem particularly fitted for stratagem, in which they are infinitely

superior to their neighbours.

358 Notes on Kafiristan. [No. 4.

Ifa Muhammadan falls into the hands of a party of Kafirs, and

they kill him, they gain no honour thereby collectively ; the credit

alone attaches to him who may have first laid hands on the victim.

Those who have succeeded in slaying an enemy, will not eat or

drink in the company of their less fortunate comrades; but each as

he succeeds in killing a foe, is again received into their society.

Those who cannot accomplish the task must be content to remain

separate from the others. |

They go on in this manner, day by day, for twenty days or a

month, on the expiration of which time, if the expedition has turned

out tolerably successful, they set out on their return ; and on arriving

at the beacon, fire it, in order to warn their friends in the village of

their approach. The villagers—young and old—rich and poor—

male and female—come out to meet and conduct them in triumph

home. Those who have killed a Muhammadan in the foray, are

raised on the shoulders of the crowd, before whom the young maidens

dance, sing, and clap their hands, until they reach the hamlet.

Those of their comrades who have not been so fortunate, have to

follow behind on foot; and until they succeed, on some future

expedition, in killing a follower of Islam, they are not allowed to sit

in the assembly of the tribe, neither to eat nor drink with their

fellow-countrymen, and are excluded from participation in all public

diversions. ‘They become, in fact, outcasts of society, are not at

liberty to marry, and are not even permitted to cook victuals for

themselves, but must live by beggary ; and food is handed to them

over the giver’s left shoulder ; even their own wives and children look

upon them with contempt. When they have succeeded, however, in

taking the life of a Muhammadan, they are re-admitted to their rights

as freemen, and become honorable men again.

These stringent and severe customs bear a striking resemblance to

the warlike system of the Spartans, towards those who fled from a

stricken field or survived a defeat, who were thereby deprived of their

rights as freemen, and were subject to all sorts of indignity and

contumely.* Herodotus also quotes a similar usage prevailing

* “VWence it is that a mother recommended to her son, who was going to

make a campaign, that he should return either with or upon his shield: and that

another, hearing that her son was killed in fighting for his country, answered,

1859. | Notes on Kajiristdn. 359

amongst the Scythians. He says :—“ Once every year, the governor ~

of a district, each in his own circuit, mingles a bowl of wine, from

which those Scythians drink, by whom enemies have been captured :

but they who have not achieved this, do not taste of the wine, but

sit at a distance in dishonour ; this is accounted the greatest disgrace.

Such of them as have killed very many men, having two cups at once,

drink them together.’’*

To escape from this disgrace as soon as possible, if may naturally

be imagined, that these unsuccessful foragers lose no opportunity in

going again to seek their enemies ; and that the young men require

no stronger stimulant to urge them to the destruction of their

natural foes. Those who, during their life-time have never volunteered

to set out on one of these expeditions, or may never have had the

opportunity of so doing, are not subjected to these rigorous rules,

which only refer to those, who, of their own free will, have set out

for the express purpose of making an imroad into the territories of

their enemies, after the termination of the annual feast ; still, all who

have not killed at least one Muhammadan during their lives, are not

held in much esteem.

Notwithstanding the natural animosity of the SVah-posh Kafirs

towards the followers of the Prophet of Mekka, who constantly make

inroads into their country for the purpose of capturing and carrying

off slaves and cattle; and, that the former lose no opportunity ir

making reprisals, and are constant in their endeavours to destroy

them, as enjoined by their religion and ancient custom, as will have

been seen from the preceding remarks: yet when a Musalman throws

very coldly, “I brought him into the world for no other end.” This temper of

mind was general among the Lacedemonians. After the famous battle of Leuctra,

which was so fatal to the Spartans, the parents of those that died in the action

congratulated one another upon it, and went to the temples to thank the gods

that their children had done their duty; whereas, the relations of those that

survived the defeat were inconsolable. If any of the Spartans fled in the battle

they were dishonoured and disgraced for ever. They were not only excluded from

all posts and employments in the state, from all assemblies and public diversions,

but it was reckoned scandalous to make any alliances with them by marriage ;

and a thousand affronts and insults were publicly offered them with impunity.”

Roti: Ancient History. Vol. I., pp. 236.

* Heropotus: Book IV. Melpomene. Chap. 66,

oA 2

360 Notes on Kéjfiristan. [No. 4.

himself on the generosity, and places faith on the word, of a Kafir, he

treats him in the most hospitable and generous manner. If one of

the former people falls by chance into the hands of the Kafirs, when

not on their yearly crusade, and says that he is a friend or acquaint-

ance of a certain Kafir of a certain tribe, they release him; and

even if such person happens to be accompanied by a second party, he

has merely to say, “ ‘This man is my friend, and Iam the friend of

such and such a Kafir (mentioning his name) of a certain village,”’ in

order to obtain his companion’s release also.

If a S’dh-posh and a Muhammadan wish to enter into a truce of

friendship, as they sometimes do with the people of Badakhshan and

Chitral or Kashkar, but rarely with the more cruel and bigoted

Afghans, they exchange weapons, and until these are again returned,

they remain at peace ; but after they have been given up, the friendly

intercourse ceases, and the fire of enmity burns as fiercely as before.

Another custom is to kill a goat and dress the heart, of which

each of the contracting parties takes a portion, and afterwards salute

each other; but this mode of agreement is not so binding as the

former, which is considered sacred. This latter mode of making

covenants with their enemies, is something similar to that described

by Mr. Elphinstone in his work on the “ Kingdom of Kabul.”

The Kafirs follow a different practice in entering into agreements

amongst themselves. These are made in the following manner. ‘They

take a piece of gold, or a golden ornament, and place it in a cup filled

with water, and the terms of the compact or promise having been

stated, each of the contracting parties drinks off a small quantity of

the liquid, after which the agreement is binding. ‘I'his form they de-

signate sdén-wuruk (S)9 Wg), or sin-ao-wt (C59! Ys), stm being

the term for gold, and wuruk or ao-wi, the name for water.

Another method is to take a piece of salt which each party tastes,

and the bargain is complete. ‘This method, however, is observed

amongst most eastern people.

Somewhat similar usages to the foregoing were prevalent amongst

the Medes; and are mentioned by Roxx in the following words.

“'The manner these people had of contracting an alliance with one

another is very remarkable. Besides other ceremonies, which they

had in common with the Greeks, they had this in particular—the

{

1859. | Notes on Kajfiristin. 361

two contracting parties made incisions in their own arms, and licked

one another’s blood.”* Hnroporus also describes an analogous

custom of entering into engagements as observed amongst the Scy-

thians. He states:—“The Scythians make solemn contracts in

the following manner, with whomsoever they make them. Having

poured wine into a large earthen vessel, they mingle it with blood

taken from those who are entering into covenant, having struck with

an awl or cut with a knifea small part of the body; then, having

dipped a scimitar, some arrows, a hatchet, and a javelin in the vessel,

when they have done this, they make many solemn prayers, and then

both those who make the contract, and the most considerable of their

attendants, drink up the mixture.’’+

Ifa young man falls in love with the daughter of any one, and

wishes to marry her, he takes an arrow, which he has previously

covered with blood, and discharges it into the house of his mistress’s

parents or guardians, as the case may be; but at the same time

taking good care that the arrow injures no one. He then goes

away to one of the chief men of the village and acquaints him of the

circumstance. ‘The girl’s father, or master, if a slave, having dis-

eovered the arrow, makes enquiry amongst his neighbours if they

know who has discharged it into his dwelling. On this, the con-

fidant of the lover comes forward, and makes known the name of the

party, and proposes to the tribe that the girl be given to him in

marriage; and if they agree, which is generally the case, they fix the

amount of dowry, consisting of cows, goats, sheep, land, and orna-

ments; and these must be made over to the damsel’s parents, or

master, by the intended bridegroom, on or before a certain day. If

he has sufficrent property of his own for his marriage expenses, 1t is

well, otherwise the tribe raise a subscription amongst themselves, and

set him up in the world.

The day for the celebration of the marriage having been fixed, the

people of the village and the neighbouring hamlets are informed of

the same, and invited to attend the festival. The father feasts the

suests sumptuously for a period of from five to ten days according

to his means, during which time singing and dancing are kept up

* Ancient History. Vol. L., pp. 146.

+ Hzxopotus ; Book LY. Melpomene. Chap. 70.

362 Notes on Kéjfiristan. [No. 4.

with great spirit, accompanied by a sort of tambourine and a pipe or

fife. On these occasions the wine is not spared.

On the last day but one of the festival, the father gives his

daughter whatever dowry his means will afford, and which generally

consists of a suit or two of clothes, a few brass or silver ornaments,

a few goats, some household utensils, and if his circumstances will

permit, a cow or two. Rich fathers add one or more slaves.

On the last day of the bridal, the bride and bridegroom are decked

out in their best apparel, and brought into the centre of the place

where the guests are assembled together. <A goat is then brought ;

the bride is placed at its head, and the bridegroom at the tail. One

of the elders present, then rises up, and stands at the side of the goat,

between the couple; and commences to relate the warlike and vir-

tuous actions of their respective ancestors, and*exhorts them to follow

their example and live happily together. After he has concluded his

address, he slaughters the goat, which he gives to a priest as his fee;

and the bridegroom takes his bride away to his own home: and thus

ends the marriage ceremony.

The age for marriage is from twenty to twenty-five for males, but

mainly depends upon whether the person can afford to support a wife.

The period of marriage for females varies from fifteen to twenty years

of age, and even older. Polygamy is rare, although not considered

unlawful; but it is only men, well off in the world, who can afford to

purchase female slaves. Adultery also is of rare occurrence, and its

punishment is divorce.

In some of their customs and ceremonies, the Si’ah-posh tribes bear

a strong resemblance to the Gabrs or Fire-Worshippers, known in

India by the name of Parsis.

Within a short distance of every village, there is a building erected,

and entirely set apart for the reception of females during certain

periods, and also after child-birth, when they are considered impure.

On a female becoming aware of the first mentioned circumstance,

she must at once retire to the building referred to; and clothes

bedding, food, and such other things as she may require, are brought

to her. After some days, she bathes, puts on clean clothes, and

returns home.

In cases of child-birth, the parturient woman is removed as quickly

1859. | Notes on Kafiristén. 363

as possible after the signs of labour are apparent, to this general

lying-in house, where she remains with her offspring for a period of

forty days, during which time every thing she may require, is brought

to her. After the expiration of the forty days, she performs her

ablutions; puts on clean apparel; and returns home with her

child.

During both the periods referred to, a female must on no account

put her hand to any vessel used for food, or for drinking purposes.

If she should do so, it must be destroyed: for her touch is considered

pollution.

On the demise of any person, the females wail and beat their

breasts, as is the custom throughout most eastern countries. A like-

ness or image of the deceased, whether male or female, is then made

of wood, and as like the defunct as possible. Should he have been

blind, or have lost an eye, the image is thus represented; and they

even go so far in their imitation, that if the deceased had any marks

or scars on his face or body, however minute, or any otlier peculiarity

whatever, the same is portrayed on the wooden image. When this

has been completed, the body being first arrayed in its best apparel,

is placed in a wooden coffin, the lid of which is well fastened down ;

and is afterwards conveyed to the place of cemetry, situated about

a quarter of a mile in front of each village, or as nearly opposite as

possible. The women, weeping and wailing, precede the corpse, which

is placed on a cot or sort of bier, and borne by four or six persons ;

the men at the same time follow chaunting the praises of the de-

ceased. When the corpse is set down occasionally to relieve the

bearers the men dance round it, at the same time continuing to

chaunt in a low voice.

On reaching the burying-ground, the coffin is set down and left in

the open air, and the procession returns home. After this, it is

necessary that the relations of the deceased person should kill an ox

or cow, according to the number of guests to be entertained, besides

sheep and goats, and give a feast, at which the wine is not spared.

M. M. Hue and Gabet, in their interesting account of travels in

Tartary and Thibet, mention the manner in which the nomadic

tribes of the desert expose their dead. One mode bears a strong

resemblance to the Kafir practice of exposing their dead bodies,

364 Notes on Kafiristan. [No 4.

They say :—“ The manner of interring the dead among the Tartars is

not uniform. The Lamas are only called in to assist at extremely

grand funerals. Towards the Great Wall, where the Mongols are

mixed up with the Chinese, the custom of the latter in this

particular, as in others, has insensibly prevailed. There the corpse

is placed, after the Chinese fashion, in a coffin, and the coffin in a

grave. In the desert, among the true nomadic tribes, the eutire

ceremony consists in conveying the dead to the tops of hills or the

bottoms of ravines, there to be devoured by the birds and beasts of

prey.’* Exposing the dead to ravenous animals is also prescribed

by the precepts of the Magi. The way in which the Gabrs or

Parsis of the present day expose their dead in the Towers of Silence,

is so generally known as not to require description.

In religious matters the Siah-posh tribes appear to be exceedingly

ignorant, and their few forms and ceremonies are idolatrous. They

consist chiefly of sacrifices of cows and goats to their deities, whom

they call Shurtiyah, Lamani, and Pandu, which latter, the name

would lead us to suppose to be one and the same with the deity of

the Hindi pantheon known under the name of Yudhishthira.

They have hereditary priests who assist at the different feasts and

ceremonies, and who are supported by voluntary contributions, and a

double share of victuals and wines at festivals. Their influence is

very slight; and the elders and chief men of tribes appear to hold all

authority. :

Hach village contains a temple or place of worship, differing but

little from the dwellings of the people themselves, and in which the

wooden representations of the three deities before mentioned are

placed. The walls are generally ornamented with the antlers of

deer.

Fire appears to be necessary in most of their religious ceremonies ;

and a Kafir has great antipathy to extinguish it by water, or even

to blow out a flame with the breath ;+ yet they do not keep up the

* TraveLs IN TarTaRy AND TurBeT (Illustrated London Library) Vol. I.

i) CMe

+ Lreur. Woop remarks as follows of the inhabitants of Badakhshén. “I

have elsewhere mentioned the repugnance with which a Badakshee blows out a

light. Similar lingering remnants of Zoroaster’s creed are to be detected here

1859. | Notes on Kéfiristan. 365

sacred fire like the followers of Zarttisht, and do not even seem to

know anything concerning it. At the same time, a number of their

usages bear great resemblance to those of the Gabrs, of whom they

are probably an off-shoot, but whose characteristics have gradually

declined during the many centuries they have been separated from the

parent stock. The Badakhshanis and others, inhabiting the surround-

ing countries, are probably descended from the same race.

The Magian religion was not exclusively confined to Media, but

extended to the east to Bakhtra, (in which the royal residence was

first situated,) and as far as the stupendous mountains of the Indian

Caucasus and the valley of the Oxus, the whole of which extensive

tracts of country—where numerous ruins attributed to the Gabrs

still exist—were included in the mighty empire of the Medes. It is

also evident from the Zendavesta, that it was in these regions the

religion of Sdpetman Zoroaster “ first took root and flourished, and thus

it became the parent land of the civil institutions of the Medes.’’*

Several authors claim for the Si’ah-posh tribes Hellenic ancestry,

but on what grounds does not appear. They themselves do not put

forth a claim to such illustrious descent; but they pride themselves

on being brothers of the Farangi, and according to the traditions

preserved among them, they affirm, that coeval with the spread of

Islamism, they occupied the countries to the south of their present

location, and have been subsequently compelled to seek for liberty and

for safety, among the mountains and valleys of the Hindd Kush, from

the insupportable tyranny of their Muhammadan neighbours whom

they designate dwddl. They appear, therefore, unquestionably to be

the remnant of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country to the

south of the Kabul river and central Afghanistan as at present

constituted. This is confirmed by the traditions of the Afghans

also; from the existing histories in the Pus’hto or Afghdn language ;

(Wakhan.) A Wakhani considers it bad luck to blow out a light by the breath,

and will rather wave his hand for several minutes under the flame of his pine-

slip, than resort to the sure, but to him, disagreeable alternative.”” JoOuRNEY TO

THE Oxvs.

* Herren: “Asratic Nations.” Vol. I. pp. 149.

566 Notes on Kafirisian. [ No, 4.

and from the writings of other Muhammadan historians.* From

these we find, that in the time of the Ghazniwid Sultans, the Afghan

tribes finding the Késeghar district—situated immediately west of,

and including within it the slopes of the Suliman mountains, forming

the western barrier of the Indus, in which they had for centuries past

been located—much too contracted to yield a subsistence to such a

numerous people as they had now become, were compelled to encroach

upon the territory to the west and north-east, towards the Kabul

river ; and were in the constant habit of plundering the infidels, or

Kafirs, as they called the original inhabitants of the country, making

slaves of them and of their wives and children; and compelling all

those who did not seek safety in flight, to become converts to

Islamism. These events took place during the chieftain-ship of

Malik Abdal, from whom the whole of the Afghan tribes are often

called Abdalis, or, by substituting the letter w for b—a change

common in the Pus’hto and Lranian languages—Awdalis, hence the

name given them by the Si’ah-posh as already related.

The people of Chitral and Kashkar, and according to Wood, the

chiefs of the tribes of Roshan and Shaglindn—two mountain districts

lying in the valley of the Oxus, immediately to the north of Durwaz—

claim lineage from the Macedonian conqueror himself. But until

these countries shall have been explored by some intelligent European

traveller, we cannot arrive at any certainty on this head.

Akhtnd Darwezah, the venerated saint of the Afghans, and oppo-

nent of Bayizid Ansari, founder of the Roshanidn sect, traces his

* See Introduction to my Pus’nTo Grammar, (second Edition): Hertford,

1859, and JouRNAL oF AsraTic CocreTY oF Bene@at. Vol. XXIII. pp. 550.

+ This is also confirmed by the account of Malik Manir quoted by Masson in

his “ Travets.’’ “ He says; In company with Malik Sir Buland of Chaghan-

serae, I went to the Kafir town of Kattar. The Kafirs themselves call the Mu-

hammadans Odal, and say that they have driven them to the hills, usurping the

plains, and eating up their rice.” Vol. I. pp. 233.

t “The chief of Wakhan traced his ancestry to Alexander the Great, a descent,

whether fabulous or true, of which he is not a little vain. Muhammad Rahim

considered his illustrious lineage a fact which none dare dispute, and indeed

his neighbours spoke with equal confidence of his high claim. This honor, as

other travellers have remarked, is not confined to Wakhan, but is one to which

the rulers of Badakhshan, Darwaz, and Chitral are also aspirants.” ‘ Woon’s

JOURNEY To THE Oxus.”

1859. | Notes on Kafiristan. 367

descent from the ancient kings of this region, who claim Macedo-

nian origin. |

The safest mode of entering the Kafir country, is to get one of

them beforehand to become security, after whicha person may go

from one end of it to the other without the slightest danger. Fora

European, the best and safest route, I should say—and_ the one

I myself would not hesitate to follow—would be by way of Gilgitt

to upper Kashkar or Chitral. In penetrating into Kafiristan from

the south, the greatest, and I may say, the sole danger, is from

the Yusufzi Afcehans, whose territory of Panjkorah must be passed

through ; although, with shght trouble, and a little negociation with

the chief, Ghazan Khan, I dare say this obstacle might be soon sur-

mounted by a Huropean acquainted with the Pus’hto and Persian

languages.

When foreigners enter the territory of the S?ah-posh tribes, they

are treated with great kindness and hospitality; but they try by

every means to induce strangers to remain, and even offer them their

daughters in marriage as an inducement. If a man once allies

himself to one of their females, it is extremely difficult to get away

again. Their boasting that the Farangi are their brothers, would

appear a suilicient guarantee for the safety and kind treatment of any

‘European who may penetrate into their secluded valleys.

The Kafirs have Huropean features and a highly intellectual cast of

countenance. They have both blue and dark eyes, arched eyebrows,

long eyelashes, and broad open foreheads. Their hair varies in colour

from black to lightish brown; and both males and females are tall and

well made, and of handsome figure. Some of the females are said to

be particularly beautiful. They all go about unveiled.*

* Lizut. Woop thus describes a Kafir that he met with in Badakhshan. “ He

was an uncommonly handsome man, of about twenty-five years of age, with an

open forehead, blue eyes, and bushy arched eyebrows, his hair and whiskers black,

and his figure well set and active. Crossed legged he could not sit, for in this

respect the Kafirs differ from all eastern nations, and like Europeans prefer a

chair or anything raised to a seat on the ground. He gave us an animated

account of his countrymen, and pressed us to visit them when the passes opened.

As an inducement to do so, he promised us plenty of honey and oceans of wine,”

“ JOURNEY To THE OXxus.”

o B 2

3868 Notes on Kafirestan. [No. 4.

In summing up the character of this unsophisticated and highly

interesting race, 1 may remark that they appear by all accounts, and

even from the descriptions of their enemies, to be of a merry and

sociable disposition ; and though quick to anger are as easily appeased.

Hospitable to a fault, they treat their guests more kindly than brothers.

Even their enemies allow that they are as sincere in their friendship

as in their enmity; are faithful to their agreements; and hold

boasting, lying, and duplicity, in sovereign contempt.

Lieut. Wood, in the interesting work, “ A JouRNEY TO THE Oxus,”

—to which I have already several times referred—remarks concerning

them (in which I most cordially agree) that, “ They resemble Euro-

peans in being possessed of great intelligence, and from all I have

seen or heard of them, I consider they offer a fairer field for mission-

ary exertion than is to be found any where else on the continent of

Asia. They pride themselves on being, to use their own words,

brothers of the Farangis; and this opinion of itself, may hereafter

smooth the road for the zealous pioneers of the Gospel.”

Fortunate indeed will be that man who has the opportunity of first

exploring these regions; and still more so he, who is destined to

disperse the dark clouds of idolatry which now hang over them, by

the bright light of Christianity.

1859.] Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. 369

Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore, Bundelcund.—

By G. H. Freetine, Hsq., B.C. 8.

The re-settlement of Mahoba having become necessary by the

expiration of the old leases, it was accomplished during the cold

weather of 1855-56, and a report submitted for the sanction of

Government, of which the annexed paper is an extract, comprising

all those portions relative to the former history, topography, and

products of the pergunnah, but omitting all the Fiscal review, bases.

of assessment and classification of soils, which naturally formed the

most important part of the report itself, but which seem rather to

belong to the revenue record of the province than to be suited to

the pages of this journal. Want of leisure has prevented the mat-

ter being putin a more popular shape, and must excuse the some-

what formal paragraphs into which its official character necessarily

compressed each head.

Introduction.

Mahoba Proper is situated to the South of the Humeerpore dis-

trict, distant from the Sudder Station 55 miles, and from the Can-

tonments of Banda and Nowgong, 36 and 34 miles respectively.

The Pergunnah is bounded on the North by Jelalpore of Humeer-

pore ahd Kundeh of Banda; on the East by Banda, and the Native

States of Gouriar and Chirkharee ; to the South by the Chutturpore

territory and the Oormel Nuddee; and to the West by another

portion of Chirkharee and the Pergunnahs of Jeitpore and Pun-

waree.

In former days, Mahoba played a very important part in the

history of India, and its princes held sway over a large portion of

the Peninsula. ‘The works of old poets abound with legends of the

heroes to whom it gave birth, and for many generations before the

Muhammadan conquest, the different races of Thakoors, who held

their court there, were among the most celebrated of that warlike

period. To trace them through all their changes would, in such a

report, be out of place; but it may be interesting to notice briefly,

from a comparison of the different papers which have been pub-

lished on the subject, the principal mutations which have at length

reduced the capital of the Chandels to a British Pergunnah.

370 Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. [No. 4.

King Rug.

The inhabitants talk a great deal of a King Rug, of whom all

they know is, that he reigned in the days to which their earliest

traditions refer ; of him, however, I find no authentic history, so

proceed at once to the Chandels, who, according to Major Ellis, are

descendants of Chandra Brahma, (perhaps the same as Chandrama

the “ Moon,’’) whose mother, Hemavati, erected as penitential mo-

numents the temples at Kujraha in Chutturpore, about Sumbut

682. Twenty-one of his descendants followed consecutively, and were

the founders of most of the great buildings in Bundeleund, and have

perpetuated their names by the lakes and reservoirs built by and

ealled after them.

Pamal Deva, the 22nd in descent from the founder, and the

last of any note, gravely insulted the Chouhan King of Delhi,

Prethee Raj, and was slain by him in battle at Bairagarh, near Orai,

about Sumbut 1247. His son Brimaditya met also with defeat and

loss from the same monarch; the Chandels left their ancestral

lands, and emigrated to Mirzapore, Azimgurh and elsewhere to the

East.

The Banafers.

The Banafers also, whose origin Elliot refers to Mahoba, acquired

great celebrity at the time, from the valor of Ala and Oodul, ‘in the

contests with the Delhi army. Many are still to be found in the

Perguunah and in the neighbouring one of Punwaree.

The Chouhans.

After the final defeat of Brimaditya, Chouhan garrisons occupied

the country, but on the Muhammadan invasion of India, by Mah-

mood of Ghuzni, and the fall of Delhi, Mahoba, with other Hindu

States, became also tributary to the conquering power.

Muhammadan Rule.

From this time to that of the Boondelas, little is known of the

state of this part of the Empire. Its greatness had departed, and

it had sunk into a dependant province. Legends, however, are not

wanting among the people, of the presence of their monarchs in

person among them, especially of the powerful Ala Eddin Ghori.

The Boondelas.

The glory, however, of Bundelcund, as it now came to be termed,

1859.] Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. 371

was destined again, in some degree, to revive, in the persons of the

Boondelas, a Rajpoot tribe of spurious descent, a branch of the

royal race of Guhurwars of Casee.

The accounts of their rise are various; Franklin assigning it

to the time of Timour, when the tribe under Dewada Bir are

said to have established themselves in Mhow; while Hlliot refers

them to a somewhat earlier period, the beginning of the 13th cen-

tury, when, “after the Chandels had been humiliated by the Chou-

hans, and they, in their turn, had been compelled to yield to the

supremacy of the Musulmans, the country round Mahoba, must have

been in so distracted a state, as to have invited the attack of the

first Chieftain who could muster a band of followers sufficiently

strong to maintain their occupation.

For the first two or three centuries of their rule, they were

at times independent, at times nominally acknowledging the Mu-

hammadan authority, until, in A. D. 1640, Pahar Sing was installed

and confirmed by the Emperor Shah Jehan in all the possessions of

his ancestors.

About this time, Champat Rao, a Chief of some note, settled

at Mhow, and made himself notorious by his predatory exploits.

His son, Chuttur Sal, who had been absent in the wars of the

Deccan, and also in the Mahratta service, returning, settled at

Punna, overthrew the neighbouring chieftains, seized their territo-

ries, and rendered himself so powerful, that Ahmed Khan Bungesh,

of Furruckabad, was sent with a large force to reduce him to obedi-

ence. In the face of this overwhelming army, he applied for aid to

the Peishwa, Sivajee Bajee Rao, and with his aid defeated the impe-

rial troops, and made himself supreme in Bundelcund. Fearing,

however, the increasing power of the Mahrattas, he, at his death in

1731 A. D., bequeathed one-third of his possessions to his powerful

ally in hopes that, by that means, he might secure the rest to his

children: in this share Mahoba was included.

Mahratta Government.

Mahoba having passed as an integral part of Saugor, and Jalown,

to the Mahrattas, notwithstanding the attempted resistance of Bri-

daya Sah, and Jugat Raj, the sons of Chuttur Sal, which was re-

pressed by Holkar, an officer of his army, by name Casi Pundit, was

372 Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. [No. 4.

entrusted with the Government. His son, Gobind Rao, succeeded ;

but being slain in conveying supplies to the Mahratta army, during

the Abdallee invasion, the management of the province was con-

firmed to his family, and his sons, Balajee and Gungadhur, con-

jointly succeeded. At their death, the elder branch took Saugor,

and Gobind Rao Pundit, known as the Nana Sahib, became sole

master of Jalown, including Mahoba. He, dying in 1879 Sumbut,

left a son Bala Rao, who following his father in 1888, left no heir.

His widow, however, was permitted by the British Government to

adopt any one she pleased, and her devise fell on her own brother,

Gobind Rao.

This was very displeasing to several relations of the late Chief,

and internal discord was the consequence. The Exchequer became

embarrassed, and the possessions were mortgaged, piece-meal, to

greedy farmers, who tyrannized over their peasantry.

British Interference.

To put an end to this, the agent to the Governor-General made

a report in June, 1838, which resulted in the temporary sequestra-

tion of the district of Jalown, which was placed under Lieut. R.

Doolan to be managed for the young Chiet’s benefit, during his

minority.

Kinal Annexation.

On the 11th October, 1840, Gobind Rao died at Banda, not yet

17 years of age, and there being no direct heir, the order of annex-

ation followed shortly after, and the superintendent appointed two

years before in the name of the young ruler, was confirmed on be-

half of Government—the administration of the Province being regu-

lated, so as to resemble that previously introduced into Saugor.

Capt. Ross succeeded in 1842, and Capt. Erskine in 1848, un-

der whose management it was, when, in May 18538, Mahoba with

Jeitpore was transferred to Humeerpore in exchange for the Per-

gunnahs of Koonch and Calpee.

Physical Geography.

The general aspect of Mahoba is very unlike that of most parts

of these Provinces, though the same as the neighbouring district of

Banda, and great part of independent Bundeleund. A spur of the

great Vindhya range extends its extreme point in this direction,

1859.] Account of Perqunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. 373

causing ridges varying froma single rock to hills of several hun-

dred feet in height, to rise in all directions out of the plain of black

land, which seems the natural face of the country.

The rock so appearing is, in all instances, primary :—granite

traversed in many places by veins of quartz running North and

South. This is of all degrees of coarseness—in some places of the

finest grain—in others so loosely held together by the feldspar as

to decompose, giving character to the surrounding soil. That a lit-

tle harder, affords, on the side exposed to the weather, a convex

surface in general; and in other places, from the suppression of the

mica, quartz, or horne-blende, it assumes the character of syenite

green stone, and clink stone, the green stone being particularly

abundant about Mahoba Khass.

Soils,

The soils of Bundeleund have been so fully described by Messrs.

Allen, Muir and Edgeworth, that I can only give a resumé of what

they have already written.

The chief varieties, here as elsewhere, are Mar, Kabur, Pundooah

(called in Humeerpore, Purwah and Parooah) and Rakur.

Mar is a rich black soil, oceurring generally in plains of many

hundred biggahs in extent, said by Dr. Adam to contain more argil-

laceous earth and carbonized vegetable remains than is found in

lands to the North of the Jumna. It is peculiar for its power of

retaining moisture, and the rifts and cracks, which its contraction

through drought causes. In the rains, it forms a mire of so clayey

a nature, as to render roads made through it impassable. It is

hence reserved exclusively for rubbee crops; wheat, eram, and Al

being the principal.

Kabur is very similar to Mar, but lighter both in character and

colour. The crops on it are not so good, gram being the favourite.

It is not much sought after by cultivators; it bears high rates, and

is very uncertain ; an excess, or want of rain being equally injurious.

Pundooah is a light earth of a yellow brown colour, very favour-

able for cotton and almost exclusively used for sugar-cane in conse-

quence of its fitness for irrigation.

Of Rakur there are two kinds, termed “ motee”’ and “ patree.”’

Of the former more will be said when treating of rates, as it does

374 Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Fumeerpore. | No. 4.

not appear to be a separate soil; the latter is the poorest of all

soils, and as its name denotes, 18 hard and stony. When the rains

are favourable, it gives good khureef crops, but any lack of moisture

causes a failure. Its power is soon exhausted, and it requires to lie

tallow, and recover itself after every two or three years.

Khera and Kachar are classes of soil, deriving their names rather

from position and circumstance, than from being in themselves differ-

ent.

Khera is that land, generally near the village, which is manured

and irrigated from wells, it may be of many species and often is

rakur. The treatment it receives, however, makes it fertile and the

garden cultivation takes place in it, in which case it is termed

“* kachwara.”’

Kachar is the land in the vicinity of streams, or overflowed by

lakes in the rains. It is generally rich, and of necessity confined to

rubbee crops.

Lakes.

One of the great peculiarities of this Pergunnah is its lakes or

tanks, which are to be found in the neighbourhood of most of the

villages. They, in general, date back to the time of the Chandels,

and in many instances the names of the founders have been pre-

served, as in Mudun Saugor and Keerut Saugor at Mahoba itself,

made by Mudun Brahma and Keerut Singh, the father and grand-

father of that Parmal Deva, of whom mention was made before.

They generally are faced with rough stones of large size, ar-

ranged so as to form steps, with ghats of coarse white granite

in immense slabs; above which, in many instances are the remains

more or less perfect of temples of the same material. Lieutenant

Burgess is of opinion, that they were in former days, used exclu-

sively for irrigation, and the remains of bunds, now broken, in

regular succession on the line of stream through the Pergunnah,

would seem to confirm the notion. The largest is Beejannugger,

near Mahoba, which is nearly two miles long, and a very fine sheet of

water, lately made available for irrigation.

Streams.

Rivers, there are none in the Pergunnah, though several of the

streams rising in the hills become considerable ere discharging

lan

1859.] Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. 375

themselves into the adjacent large rivers, the Kane and Betwa.

Thus the Chundrawul Nuddee, which forms an important addition

to the Kane shortly before it reaches the Jumna, rises near Maho-

ba; and the Oormul Nuddee, another tributary of the same stream,

is the Southern boundary of part of the Pergunnah. The Kane

likewise has its springs here, as also the Urjoon which joins the

Burna, and with it the Betwa below Jellalpur. In every instance

save the last mentioned, the current is to the Eastward ; and all but

one dry up after the rains are over, the Oormel alone retaining

water in its hollows.

Irrigation.

As in the regulation Pergunnah so here, irrigation as a general

means of increasing the fertility of the soil 1s unknown, which may

be ascribed partly to the abundance of land compared with the num-

ber of caltivators partly to the fact, that so much of the soil is

unfavourable to the practice. In but one instance, viz. at Naigaon,

have I seen the “ doogla,’”’ so universal in the Doab, used here. In

some instances, land situated below tanks is watered from them, by

cuts being made in the bund; or, when the proximity of lakes en-

sures the water being close to the surface, kutcha wells are dug, at

a cost varying from 1 to 10 ori2 Rupees, which last one hot season,

aud fall in at the beginning of the first rains.

In some few villages also where Pundooah is the prevalent soil,

and sugar-cane much cultivated, these are more abundant, especially

towards the south; but the practice is by no means general.

Latterly, irrigation has received a great impulse from the ef-

forts of Lieutenant Burgess; who, by constructing extensive works

at the Bejannugger Lake, and raising the bunds and escapes of

several of the neighbouring ones, has caused a large quantity of

land, previously waste, to be brought under the plough, much too

producing the more valuable crops.

Products.

The tabular statement in appendix No. 1, shows the quan-

tity of land under each kind of crop, as furnished by the Khus-

reh survey ; and appendix No. 2, gives the principal exports and

imports, which are treated of more fully under the heading

“Trade.” From the former, it appears that the chief product of

3 C 2

376 Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. [No. 4.

the khureef or summer harvest is “jowar,’’ which occupies nearly

a third of the whole area cultivated; while, contrary to what is the

ease generally, “ bajra’”’ finds little favour: cotton stands next, and

then “sesame” and “kodo.’? In the “rubbee’’ or winter harvest,

wheat occupies more than half the whole cultivation, and among the

others “pulse” (unkhud) stands foremost, and barley, while “ al’

also takes a very fair rank.

There are but two species of cultivation on which I would parti-

cularly remark, —sugar aud pawn.

The former is grown very extensively throughout the Pergunnah,

and is a favourite crop wherever the pundooah soil predominates, and

water is either available from tanks, or near enough the surface for

wells to be dug at little expense (they cost ordinarilly from 1 to 9

or 10 Rupees, and last sometimes one, sometimes two years, accord-

ing to the rains). The sugar produced is generaly inferior, owing

to the poor cane sown. Instead of choosing the best for seed, any,

the most valueless is used.

The peculiarity of this cultivation, however, is, where there is

no water obtainable, the want is artificially supplied by what is

termed ‘‘ pulwar.”” After the cane is planted, the whole surface

of the field is covered over, to the depth of three to six inches,

with leaves, grass and straw, which retains all the moisture the

ground receives from dew or showers, indeed acts as a species of

hot bed; and the sugar so produced seems equal to any other.

This mode of cultivation is, it seems, proper to Bundeleund.

After writing the above Mr. C. Jackson informed me that this mode

of raising sugar is also prevalent in the Agra district.

The pawn gardens (bareja) of Malhoba are well known all over the

provinces, and the leaves form a large item of export to the Doab,

up to Delhi and Agra; indeed sepoys tell me that, in the Punjab

war, the Mahoba pawn was even there in great request. It has been

grown from time immemorial, the soil, tanks, &c. being especially

suited to it. The great requisite is an abundant supply of water,

and this the lakes of course afford. The cultivation is conducted by

a caste termed “ Burai,’’ and the export trade and sale by another,

called “* Tambowlee.” There are three localities in the Pergunnah

where it is carried on, Mahoba Khass, Didioara and Baregurh.

1859.] Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. 877

The plant is a creeper, resembling the convolvolus, but, they

say produces no visible flowers or seed, (this may be because it is a

perennial, rooted up after the first year) it is propagated by cutting

off the upper part, where the leaves are too tender for sale, and every

slip from joint to joint takes. ‘he land is carefully prepared, and

oil cakes, of the husks and stalks of the tillee, used as manure.

In “ Phagoon” and “ Bysagh,’’ the cuttings are planted at a

distance of three or four inches apart, in straight lines termed

“cor,” along light bamboo frames six feet high, allowing a passage

between them of about two feet broad. The top and sides of the

gardens are protected from the sun by screens of grass interwoven

with bamboos, and give the whole a most curious appearance from

without, especially as the doors are of the same material, and very

small, so as to be scarcely discernible.

In the height of the hot winds every line requires careful wa-

tering, from earthen pots, four to eight times day according to

the heat ; but after the rains once every three or four days is suffi-

cient and the leaves are then plucked throughout the cold weather

beginning at the bottom and largest ones. Hach plant, on an

average furnishes twenty leaves; or one “dolly” of two hundred

leaves (the measure they are sold by) is ordinarily produced from

ten plants. The price of these dollies varies by quality; those of

mixed large and small leaves, fetch from one to three annas in

ordinary seasons, while the superior ones, all of first quality, rise to

six and seven annas at the gardens.

The land is generally given on “ thausa’”’ leases, at from ten to

twenty rupees a beegah, but occasionally, as this year in Didwara,

‘the cultivators refuse, and prefer paying per line of one hundred

feet.

Singhara.

The tanks throughout the Pergunnah, are naturally, most fa-

vourable to this crop, which is exclusively cultivated by men of

the Dheemur caste, and is to be found in most villages. In the

end of Jannary, the seed or fruit is scattered, at the rate of a

maund to a local beegah, over the water where it is sufficiently deep

to preclude any idea of its drying up before the rains. It is then

pressed into the mud by sticks, or the feet (very deep water being

378 Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. [No. 4.

therefore never used), and in a month begins to sprout. In June,

just before the rains set in, the excess is thinned out and trans-

planted, the produce of one beegah serving for three or four; the

roots being taken between the Dheemur’s toes, in a curious manner,

and thus fixed in the mud. The leaves appear on the surface of

the water, beneath which in October the fruit forms, and is gathered

in November and December.

The produce sells commonly at from ten to twenty seers per

Sreenugger rupee, and a local beegah produces from three to four

maunds. . The measure is by bamboos 18 feet long, twelve by two

forming the singharra beegah, which pays from one to three rupees

rent, the nature of the soil telling in this as in other crops; a stony

bottom being very unfavourable. The community of Dheemurs,

however, generally take the lake on a “thausah’’ lease, and divide

it among themselves, their respective cultivations being marked by

upright sticks, the removal of which as of boundary marks on shore,

Jeads to many a quarrel.

Their great enemy is an insect called “baudu,” which, in both

stages, of grub and fly, feeds on the plant, eating through the

husks, and thus destroying the fruit, which on being exposed to the

water, spoils. The labour of killing these and clearing away weeds,

is very great.

For the cultivation flat bottomed canoes are used, scooped out

of the trunk of a single mohwa tree, costing about five rupees

each to make, and lasting fifteen to twenty years. They carry two

men, and are pushed on by bamboos; and when not used are sunk

in the water till again wanted.

Castor plant.

The castor plant (Ricinus vulgaris) so very common about Hu-

meerpore and its neighhourhood, is scarcely known here; it is occa-

sionally grown by kachees in little patches; but in only one vil-

lage, “ Karee Pucharee,”’ have I seen a field of it.

Gardens.

Garden cultivation is frequently to be met with, but is by no

means universal. Pepper and vegetables are grown, but by far the

most common crop is tobacco, of which large quantities are pro-

duced in the northern part of the Pergunnah.

1859 | Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. 379

Grass and Hay.

The absence of any large Military station from the neighbour-

hood, and the large tracts of uncultivated land and hills about, ob-

viate the necessity of setting aside any fields especially for hay.

The inhabitants of every village are allowed by the zemindars to

cut the grass they want, but “rakhels’ in the strict sense of the

word, are not met with. The village of Futtehpore is perhaps an

exception ; the land not being good and adjoining Mahoba Proper,

the owners find their advantage in selling the hay, but this is the

only instance where any profit seems derived from this source.

The “ Kaus” grass (Saccharum spontaneum) prevails here as else-

where in Bundelcund, and in some villages, especially those on the

borders of Banda, is a grievous enemy to the husbandman. It rears

its wiry head in the midst of the rising crops, and when once estab-

lished, is nearly impossible to eradicate. Indeed Mr. Edgeworth

(learned in all plants and their habits) declares that the very at-

tempt to remove it by disturbing the earth round its roots only gives

them new strength.

The presence of this weed is a certain sign of good land, as it

only flourishes in the best black soil. There is one village Bela,

which, possessing as fine land as any in Mahoba, has of late years

been quite overrun by Kaus, and does not return one-fourth of its

former produce. Mr. Cust of Banda has proposed treating any vil-

lage where it appears as a case of alluvion and diluvion, and in the

justice of his scheme, I fully coneur.

Horest Trees.

Jungle must formerly have abounded throughout the Pergunnah,

in many of the border villages much even now remains: generally

a low brushwood, of which the wild “corinda’ and “khyr’ tree

are the most common elements. The “ Chool’” bush is also very

prevalent, and is a valuable addition, being useful in all its parts.

The leaves are used for dishes, at weddings, feasts, &c. by all

castes ; the fibres of the roots form a rope which does not swell or

spoil in the rains, water improving and strengthening rather than

injuring it, and from its charcoal the best native gunpowder is pre-

pared.

Groves are very plentiful and invariably of the mohwa tree

380 Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. [No. 4.

(Bassia latifolia) which furnishes the native spirit sold in the

bazars; the mangoe, as is usual this side of the Jumna, being of

very rare occurrence. The former governments greatly encouraged

planting all kinds of trees, granting patches of land rent-free for

the purpose to any one who would take them.

Animals.

The gradual clearing away of jungle, and increase of culti-

vation have naturally thinned the number of the larger beasts

of prey in Mahoba; wolves and hyenas are still, however, found

in some quantity, as the annexed list of rewards given by Go-

vernment during the last twelve months for their destruction

will show. Those killed in Jeitpore are included, and I doubt not

many have been brought away from the Independent Territory close

by; but it proves the existence of a considerable number still in

the neighbourhood. Leopards are occasionally brought in, and

rumours of tigers are sometimes spread, but I have never heard of

one being actually killed in the Pergunnah. In the year 1855 head

money was paid for 16 leopards, 415 wolves, and 239 hyenas, amount-

ing to Company’s Rupees 1,781. Wild pigs find cover in the hills,

and occasionally commit much damage to the cultivation. Antelope

also are numerous, while the tanks and lakes furnish every species

of wild fowl to the sportsman.

Roads.

The great ‘road, leading from the Doab to Saugor, and Cen-

tral India, passes through Mahoba; a’ branch from Humeerpore

joins the main line from Banda at Kubrai, whence it traverses

the Pergunnah till it crosses the Oormul Nuddee into the Chutter-

pore territory at Kaimaha; at Sreenugger it turns off to the canton-

ments at Nowgong; and from Mahoba Proper there are also roads

to Soopa, Chirkharee and Bareegurh, which are annually repaired.

When His Honor the Lieutenant Governor was at Banda last year,

it was proposed that the road from thence to Nowgong should be

metalled and the matter is now under consideration. I have there-

fore drawn up a tabular statement of the traffic which passed along

it last year (Appendix No. II.) from monthly returns of the road

chowkies at Jhur Kaimaha, from which the number of each species

of conveyance can be seen at a glance. The returns from the Hast-

1859.| Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. 381

ward are probably correct enough, but as the Nowgong road turns

off before reaching Kaimaha, those from the Westward omit all the

traffic to and from the cantonments and their neighbourhood.

The road in question is a most important one, but is never in

good order, except just after the annual repairs; it is much in-

tersected with “ nullahs,”’ and in the rains is quite impassable;

that it would be an expensive undertaking I believe, but as it passes

through very little mar soil, and kunkur is to be met with along its

course, I do not think it would be so much so, as most other lines

of communication in Bundeleund, while in importance it yields to

none.

Trade.

From the abovementioned statements, it appears that the chief

exports from Mahoba towards the East are pawn, cotton and ghee,

in return for which are received grain of all kinds, sugar and cloth;

while from the West, iron and kodo are imported in exchange for

cotton. Grain, gram, tobacco, sugar and cloth, likewise pass in large

quantities towards Chutterpore, from whence pawn, soap, ghee, salt,

saltpetre, and iron are furnished for Banda and Humeerpore con-

sumption.

Marts.

Markets here seem only to be held in five or six of the larger

villages, and in them but once a week; Kubrai alone having two

market days, Saturday and Tuesday. In Mahoba Proper, on Satur-

day, and in Sreenugger, on Monday, there is a fair show of goods,

aud local bazars are held at Bareegurh and Bilbai on Fridays. Se-

veral Melas assemble in the year at different holy places of resort,

but they are all for religious aud not for commercial purposes.

Towns.

The three residences of the Amils and Talookas of former days

are naturally still the places of most consequence in the Pergun-

nah, and those containing the largest number of inhabitants. Ma-

hoba itself with the adjacent villages of Dhureeba and Bhuttepura

has a population of 7,846, aud is the head-quarters of an Assistant

Magistrate and his office. The Tehsildaree and Thanah are also here.

382 Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. |No. 4.

The numerous ruins of temples and dwellings, built of curi-

ously cut granite, attest the greatness and wealth of its kings in

former days; but long after their decay, it was made a place of

importance by a large colony of “ Brinjarees’”’ or grain merchants

settling here. ‘They created as it were a new village to the Hast of

the old town, erecting substantial stone houses, many of which are

still in such good order as to show how recent their occupation was.

There is nothing wonderful in their choosing this spot, situated as

if is on one of the great roads to Central India, as the centre of

their operations; but their sudden disappearance from the scene

cannot fail to create surprise. Mr. Balfour, however, writing of these

people in the Asiatic Society’s Journal for January, 1844, gives a

reason, which may in this matter be accepted as the true explan-

ation. He states that they originally came from Rajpootana, carry-

ing on traffic as grain merchants by laden builocks, welcome every

where in seasons of scarcity, supplying armies in war, and respected

by both parties, each being equally interested in their safety. A

time of hostility or dearth was a period of activity to them, and

they rejoiced in the troublous times that enabled them, and them

alone, to accumulate wealth in safety; but our success restored

peace to India; the troops remain quiet in cantonments, cultivation

is uninterrupted, and the occupation of the Brinjarees gone. When

disease swept away their bullocks, the community being too impo-

verished to purchase others, broke up and dispersed.

Sreenugeur is chiefly known as the Mint from which issued the

Sreenuggur Rupees, the general, and until the last settlement, the

exclusive currency throughout this part of Bundeleund. Previously

the Government Revenue was paid in the local coin, but since this

has been forbidden, the circulation of the Company’s Rupees has

gradually increased, and in many villages they have become the

medium of account. The town itself contains 5447 inhabitants, is

overlooked by the remains of a Fort now in ruins, and is the resid-—

ence of several of the few monied men in the Pergunnah.

Kubrai has nothing remarkable about it, save as possessing a large

market. The village in itself is not very large but Bughwa, Gou-

haree and Morheepoora, which with it form one town, raise its popu-

jation to 4,032 souls.

1859.] Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. 883

Population.

The census of the Pergunnah made in the autumn of 1855 gives

the following return—

Men. Women. Boys. Girls. Total.

22,626 20,347 13,267 9,147 65,387

spread over ninety-one villages, of which the three above described

are the largest. Besides them, but three, Jeouraha, Baregurh and

Bilbai, have above 2,000, and nine others above 1,000 inhabitants.

The recency of the previous census renders any comparison with

it useless, and none of earlier date appear to have been made.

This is the more to be regretted, as in some villages the dispropor-

tion between males and females, especially among the children, is

so great as to raise doubts whether infanticide is not yet more

common here than is believed to be the case, and I have therefore

added the statement in Appendix No. III., and have included in it

the different classes of zemindars who own the villages.

Castes.

There are men of all castes to be found in the Pergunnah, but

the greater number are naturally Rajpoots of different races, the

most frequent perhaps being the Beis Thakoors, who especially

abound to the North. Oorwara, a large village to the South-west, is

the only one where a large brotherhood of Chandels still remain.

KH ducation.

Education here is at a low ebb, in many villages, the Putwaree is

the only scholar ; but this throughout Bundelcund is too commonly

the case. In Oorwara, Sijharee, Sreenuggur, Puhra, and Mukurbai,

however, the children of the kaieths, bunyas, brahmans, and tha-

koors, read at home, and learn the rudiments of Hindee and ac-

counts. Chikehra boasts a school at Pershad Tewaree’s, as does

Kubrai. Mahoba has two; from ten to fifteen boys attend, paying

from three to four annas a month each. Besides this, wandering

teachers at times visit the large villages and remain as long as the

zemindars support them, in return imparting such instruction to the

children as they are able.

3D 2

384 Account of Perqgunnah Muhoba, Zillah Humeerpore. [No. 4.

APPENDIX No. I.

Comparative table, shewing the amount of land in survey Beegahs

under the different kinds of crops of the principal species.

Khareef or Summer Crop. Rubbee or Winter Crop.

Jowar, che. denne... 466267) Wheat, a Se ee Od

Cotton b.4snl aed... 38,959.) Pulee (N ukhid), «- «aver HQyYS4

OO eas, cate pone .2O oe Barley, ee: ~aictmeiebeued oo

SESMMIGIES tin ase se 20,000 | oan, . Se ses 2 sg oe ee SS

Susamemeee ete ee ce LONG Biisedd, 02, ceed alond 1,269

ie Maewewaer. Geddes D,76Aq Vegetables cand: yether

Samah, = 840] garden produce, .... 271

Indigo, ets sp alten DAO ME ONY Us secs, op a aiaccs akan 164

Vetch (alish), « Gaeta + 351 Tobacco, Oe ees 138

Bie. Lt eee 270 | Pulse (Munsoor),.. has 104

Kakoon, CS ee 192 | Safflower, ..... as 96

Vegetables and other Urhur (Pulse),.. pede 68

garden produce, .... 190

HH empyg BA ass. 184

LGDSEEO, 1... Sater iee hs niiis 150

Pal ec eetele sss ys 25

— | © : $85

APPENDIX No. II.

Trafie and Exports from Mahoba towards the Eastward, or Humeerpore and Banda.

; % | ¢ 3 5 pee a 3

; 2 | ° 3 3 23 3 5

= iS, i - :| 2 = as = 3

; 2 IB | 3 g3/3 1/8 a =3 q|a]8

g oi Ba a : 3 $ |" 38] 4 —2 Ss a | 3 WERE 3 3 E|

3s |S|¢ | 3 s s| 3 les|/ ele 5 Si s|a & Slee e/a 3

ee /elSle] 2 |e] 2 1e)21e]2 eels | Essie /F/ ele) 3 | ¢ |e) s8) 28] 218i

Carts, ........./ 6,629 3) 5 0 0) 8 0 909 1 0) 36 4) 214) 72] 124) 3,865) Oo} 2} 75) 37 45 293 6 75 2) 125) 1,019) 154) 13,198

Covered ditto, 2 0} oO} Of O 0} oO of of of oF OF OF OF Of Oo} 0}; OF OF Of 0 Oo} oO of oO} ©} 60} Oo} 162

Bullocks 8,946) 1 0 0) 0) 0 0} 810; 4) 15) 27 2) 450) 24) 2) 328) 5 3) 264) 25 7,434 685) 91 4) 12) 245 - 0} 107, 19,394

Buffaloes, 238 9) 0 0) tv) 0 0) 230) 4) 1 0} 60} 28 2) 95) 3] oO] 32} 27 1 27 90 0 Oo oO 0 4 756

Ponies, .. 155 Oo) 60 0) 0) 0 0) 5 3) 2 4) 0} 8 0| 67 0} 65) 0} 155) 53 18 8} 31 3} 16 89 8,614) 88) 9,232

82 11 0 0 0) 0) 0} 0 0} 0) 15 0 6 0 i) (1) At) ah (en) 0) Oo 3 0) 4 69) 24 10) 237

45 0 0 0 0) 0) 0! 0) Oo oO} O 0 0 Oo} 63) (0) a) ee) 0 60 0 0 0 0) 60 1 1) a) i)

PR ct SE vale =

Total, ., | 16,052 24 5 0) 0) 8 0} 1,954) 12) 18) 82) 6} 706 98 294) 3,696) 79 §} 521) 116] 7,519 971) 181 $2| 32) 529) 9,717) 363) 43,023

Trafic and Lxports from Mahoba to the Westward or Chutterpore. : ; -

i le “|

58] 14] 14) 167] 15 4, 2) 73) 1) 91) 26] oO} Oo} 76) yy 3) Oo} O 15 2} 2] 77| 92) 25) 1,884] 69) 6,308

0} Oo] oO a) oO} Of Oo] OF OF oO} oO} Oo 0} Oo} 0} Oo} oO 0 | 0 7} oO} 1) 104 0} 238

858) 7 24) 1,179} 16) 453) 0} 86) 0} 440) 21 0 0 679 5 Oo} Oo} CO q7| Oo lt 13,338) 144) 186 0} 50 27,086

Butluloes, 13/0) 4) 20) 0} 1} | Oo} O} W) 12) oF O 0} Oo} oO} Oo} O 2) 0} 3} 101 14) 0

Ponies, PL) al ii 3 6} Oo} 2] OF 15) 3] | oO} 31) 11} OO} O} O 9) tal 18] 252} 49) 0

Camels, 25] 0} 0} 0} en) oO} Of Oo} OF 64 6} 6} CF 0} 2) OF 0} O i) 0 Oo 0) Gt 387 6

Asses, ... 14] | 0} 0} i187] oO} 0 o} Oo} Oo} Oo} 0} Oo} of of oO} Of Oo 0 a tole roll volteay ao

| ——-|{ ——;, ——, —| _—<— }§ — | | | | | EE | Ls — ——— ar

Total, ...| 20,627) 6,506) 430) 21) 43) 1,560) 33) 464 4) 161 1) 551) 62 1 0 786, 19 3 o 0 98 4| 19, 13,452) 506) 350) 2,054) nat 41,987

| |

Traffic and Imports into Pergunnah Mahoba from the Eastward, or Humeerpore and Banda.

| | : ie | ae

Carts, .........| 2,824) 7,711) 146] 152) 34) 818) 202 0} 0} 188) 0} 228) 59) 63 0 6) 1 a) 82) an 4 35 247) 106) 321 769) 110, 14,192

Covered ditto, 4 (Oe) 0 0 0 0 12 (0 et) 0 OY) 0 0 a) C1) a) ee) 0 0) 60 0) a) at) 14 198

Bullocks,...... 9,356] 97| 259| 86] 1,056) 109 0} 0] 158] 0} G49] 20) 26) 0] of Of o| Oo 77) 1 0} 90) 1,196) 588) 18 0} 65) 17,268

Butfuloes, 1,078) 28) 11 i) 661) 95) 0; 0) 69) 0 0} 4 ty) 0 1 0) o| 67} «6388 2 0) 66 2} O 2 0) 2,007

Ponies, 58) 0 0 0 8) 2 0 0 4 0) 8) 3 0 0 0) 70) 1! 0} 180 2) o| 18 13} 99| 117) 7,396] 74 8,244

Camels, Oo} 1 OF OO Qo 62 a) 0) 0} 5° 1) O 0} Oo} 6) 6 UO} 6} CO 0 oO} 2) 0} 82) 105 32) .2| 806

Asses, 156 0 0 0 10 2 0 0 0 0} oO 0; 0) 60 0) 60 0} 60} 6Ff 0 (i) 0 4 «(OO oO 60 820

Total, ...| 6,753)18,859| 272) 422) 120) 2,453) 411 12} 0) 419) 0} 890) 87 SI 0 “| 76) 6) 7 381 oy 4) 151) 1,458 879 568) 8,391) 259) 44,215

| |

Praffic and Imports into Mahoba from the Westward or Chutterpore.

| |

Carts, .........| 2,928 2) 6 Oo} 3 2) (0 103| 3 6 27 ol 30} 1) 26) 21 1 13 23] 13) 35] 301) 13, 2) 3) 16 1,854 116) 5,556

Covered ditto, 20) Q oOo oOo} O 0) =O 0) Oo} of Of OF Of 0 (1) a) ee) 0) 0) (a) Ct ee | 166 «60) ~=«187

Bullocks,......) 9,509} 363) 1 0} 12 12} 93] 263) 32) 7 18} 1) 76 5& 2 0} 6) 3) 177} 0} 5,689) 2,091) 3 2} 30) 110 0 103) 18,670

Buifaloes, 60) 1| 8 0 0 0 3 30) 3} 1 Oo 608 1 0 0 2) 3) 63 3 Oo} 6O} 13 0 22 218

Ponies, o 5} of a} 6] Of 4} | 1H no} =. 8} :19} «| 27] OF wl 1 6] 3} 166 22] 0 32/16,306

Camels, 0} oF OC} CO (Oa) 2 o oO oO 7 0) oO 61 6o 0} [:) i!) 0) AL 11, 38; 230

Asses, ... 280) Oo) 0) 0 oF 0 Oo O 0.6 690 0 60 2) oO o| 2 26 Oo 4) 34

| teal | |

ceil sea ae lpall as al al al — [Ge AEA Gee Ge Gala Sis

Total, ...)28,758} 366 24) 0) 18 15} 96) 407, oa 1s 50) 2) 11 146) aal 26) 18] 229) 16) 5,733) 2,480) 25 7| 205) 228 2,001, 815] 41,451

(Signed) G. H. Faererixe,

Settlement Officer.

1859.] Account of Pergunnah Mahoba, Zillah Humeerpore. = 387

APPENDIX No. III.

Population and Castes of the owners in the Villages of the

Pergunnah Mahoba.

Villages. Caste. as uf a oI

2 = o a 6

= FQ O <a

eran, -2..-....-..0...-.| Nudwanee Takoor,.:.| 315; 312). 188) (139). 954

imate 24.. dre c-.(seis Lakoor, ... si... 0, 0 0 0 0

DRE hes cciwap ss | AIS, sre! wvcceeeses 53) 56 48 31| 188

NGA cadets. ens<se---|E omar Takoor, .., .4< 414) 343) 183) 125] 1,065

Oorwara,.........+.....,Chundels and Pari-

nat TaKOOr, «0.5... 310; 307; 191! 140| 948

Bareegurh, ............/Banafer Takoor, ...... 807; 729) 508) 459) 2,503

a Brahmin,,é5....¢ .....| 494) dol! 474) 1199) 1.518

trura Oobaree, ..,...|Liodhee, ........0s0000 262) 223 153 46| 684

EAI MOGED,... ceases | KHALTEC, euegecvesess one 26 25 13 23 87

BERS ONNA, seins .nis.nee << WO MRGO3 nivethes visa sca on 122; 105 67 46| 340

ABW. sive sss sence ..¢.|beis: Dakioor, \..4..0cs 251)) 7 192 89 55| 587

EIU, viccoeis. po OMMEC, Tied. cpedraeacht MOOS kor, | OOO (dO). 2.209

Bilrahee Oobaree,... Parihar Takoor, | ae 149} 126 89 55! = 419

URICE 5 oi cce ceva ene Brahminand Lodhee,| 160! 188) 198; 103! 649

Bumhouriya, ......... GLOSSION,) gah vesanitecne + 53 43 42 30} 168

Bumhouree Purgas,|Banafer "Takoor, . raat 594, 524) 388) 239] 1,745

Bumhouree Kugu, .,!Beis Takoor, ......... 247; 181 84 32| 544

Bwnigs Tala, . 005... Brahmin and Lodhee, 81 78 63 42; 264

Bhgtecer, ...0,......./be1s Takoor,’ ......... 70 52 46 16; 184

Sup.) a Brahitnin\.. soicssase cas 301, 247) 236) 141] 925

Bhuteepoora, ......... Mahomedan, ......... 534, 547) 321! 281) 1,683

Beejunugenur, ......... Banafer,and Brahmin, 34 29 20 10 93

Beale. cise ovc.evsne...| eis Lakoor, 2B ALO UFO) | WTB) 740

Bela, A iccdisedae+s«| MLAPWALER, » 5... 5 46 23 25 151

Pachpubra, ... 46.5... Lodheeand Boondela, 100 87 70 63; 320

Puchuhra, ............|Banafer Takoor,...... 72 67 59 44) 242

Puswara, ............+..|Ditto and Lodhee, se 367} 299) 146) 123) 935

ues), Washes «.sve0%sss-- | 20ondela, Aer 107 88 62 53 310

Powa, socscc--e.+0c--.-(Odhee, ...c.-..0000e| 539} 553] 300| 248! 1,640

Pullea, bic. ., Mahar Takoor, Shane 620} 607; 336) 209 1,772

Tindowlee, .. sara ..{Lodhee, bate so aed cialis 136) 2212 67 41; 356

PANN SS 5. vce ceciens eee Banafer, ER eaves 81 64 34. lot bes

GTOC) opie ivea se ..|[Banafer, Tce ¢ suoae aes 227 195} 151 95} 668

Tontiya Bara, ... ""| Brahmin,.. pias sie 1 i ° 0 2

Teekamow, ............,Koormee and Suno-

; reea Brahmin,...... 180} 140) 114 74 508

Joojhar, ...............|odhee, es 64 51 36 25, 176

Jeoraha, yet de Banafer Takoor, spbtee 774, 659) 428) 283) 2,144

Jhursuhewa, ......... TEnchieas ae acts Uidlvwace: 54 34, 33 35. A 76

SBI... 005 ses 00-|LODHEC, sisyeeseveos see 32 29 4S aaa at AF | a

Chitatya, ....... bp ecas {Uae ; yee 40 40 29 g 118

Chukmurela, ......... Beis and! Banafer, saat 0 0 8) 0 0

Chyndpoora, .,,......|LOdhEe, ..csnesoceess 85 73 63 42) 263

RMOOTUUIB, *... coiccs ss. Modiees | eaners cases: 75 68 52 19} 214

Chhikehra, .........,..| Lodhee, 6261 571) 384 321] 1,902

MICE, 5 se cpaniacves(ASUXESL, sire oasieccioes eee with Mahoba.

Dumowra, ............|banafer Takoor, ...... 100 84 55 63; 302

Didwara,................|Ahiv and Googen, 0 7 | ee) 6 alias org Mame: 4) Maes 157:

Dhoondhut, .........;G@oosaien, ite 172; 138 88 75| 473

388 Account of Pergunnah Mahvoba, Zillah Humeerpore. [No. 4.

Population and Castes of the owners in the Villages of the

Pergunnah Mahoba.— Continued.

Villages. Caste.

Dighuriya, ............|Kachee,

Dubuta, «os. 6. vsdecsece | eS, Lakoor,

Dhrkwaha,. sccciages ses (LPKOOTS, ... ose see

Dhoondaya, .........1/ Brahmin... .....co00.

Rutonlee, ............|Beis and Banater,

Ruhiliya, .. .|Brahmin & Lodhee,

Raepoora Khoord, . _.|Lakoors, SEAR

Raepoora Kullan, . _.(Kangar,

RAWAL, co ce sae nee ces Bugree and Mahar

TakOOr, 3s: =

RSUUIPIG A, ee antemeaann si HIOUNECLs, cua csiecsioaemen

Sijwaha, ........ BH DIGLO, sdaasarcuaanoree

IMATEE, To: oxen Ditto, ae amtenee

Sreenuggur,.... .| Brahmin and Lodhee,

Sookoura, ..... .|Brahmin & Rajpoot,

Sularpoory, ceccosmenert ..|Lodhee, thie aes

Shahpuharee, ......... GORE, Cinisseasabeciean

Shumshera Photera,|Brahmin, Na

Wuttehpore, ..ci..0s: AS ee oe

Karee ames veeee-|Brahmin & Lodhee,

Ga raL cose .|Beis Takoor, ...,.....

ATATee, ... .0sssaaenes0| Od hee, Elan

Kuruhree, .........s..| Deis and Banafer, ...

Koomhroura, ,........ ..|Boondela, ieosckbnreen

PRCA IMAG, Wo cos sceaarinne HOLIIGEL, Coc secs setine wns

Khurka, «03 {s0ver000+0. | ugree Kukoor,).....

Khooreree, ............|Parihar Takoor, ,.....

Kheoraiya, Jeoraiya,|Boondela, ,...........

Rr ee so ce.c asscalseecyoie|| QRVATMU cube rehs toes

Goopalpoor, ......:.. DDAGGO, cc Ademeaiieiyee ses

6 010) 210) 1 0: a Beis ae Bae Beaices

Gouharee, ..... 3 WAGED, scamenere

Ghutuhree, ... ~jBrabimin,

Ghootwai, ............|/Banafer & Brahmin,

Ghoojoura, ............/Banafer aL ie

MaMa, os cesses ..{Lodhee, hese anna fo onal

Mujhuhwara, ......... DDUGTOS . Kasecamenoncen en:

VENUE eee eee ceresin | HCO, fete unsieviiedeses es

Makurbal, i...cs0..-..|(2618 LAakoOOr, ccc

Moodhura Khoord,|Lodhee, ..... Shes cae

Moodhura Kullan, ,.,|Takoors, ...........05-.

Wooraner,.: Scesisarset IOUMCGs: (ieesei udeyecess

Mocheepoora, ......... Brahmin, Sale

DP yiad 1.5, Gaseee a nie Komar Takoory, ......

Mahoba, .............../ Mahomedan and Ka-

chee, Wehaisiee's

ea Tiodhee, pactecssalos s+.

Wuohdoura, ‘yiacss 200.000 ESHA, vac. seeswen ess

Naigoan, ...... .|Beis Takoor, .........

Hurdooah Bulkora, Bugree and Mohar

MAROON. secs bie

——

Total,...

G) H. FREELIN G, Settlement Officer.

22,626| 20,347| 13,267) 9,147| 65,387

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL,

For SErTeMBER, 1859.

PLL LLLIPPPP LPI LILI IIL LILI LL III SD LILI I I

The Monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society was held

on the 7th instant.

A. Grotr, Esq., President, in the Chair.

The Proceedings of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Presentations were received—

1. From the Principal, Grant Medical College, Bombay, a copy

of the Report of that Institution for the Session 1858-59.

2. From the Bombay Government, a copy of the Annual Report

on the Sind Forests, for the year 1858-59.

3. From Captain Hodge, in command of the Sesostris guard

ship, at Port Blair. Numerous specimens illustrative of the Zoology

of the Andaman Islands.

4, From Captain Eales, commanding the Fire Queen, an exam-

ple of the gigantic cobra (Hamadryas vittatus,) also from Port

Blair.

5. From Babu Rajendra Mallika. A dead Orang-utan.

6. From Major S. R. Tickell, Maulmein, skins of a rare squirrel

and of a white-headed Halcyon.

7. From Captain Jethro Fairweather. Skull of a Dolphin, taken

in the Bay of Bengal.

8. From Major R. C. Tytler, another skull of a Dolphin, taken

westward of the Cape of Good Hope.

The following gentlemen duly proposed at the last meeting were

ballotted for and elected ordinary members :—

390 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4.

Dr. A. Campbell, Darjeeling, (re-elected) ; Captain J. Sherwill,

Revenue Survey, Dinajpore ; Captain H. Hopkinson, Commissioner,

Tenasserim Provinces re-elected ; A. E. Russell, Esq., co. 8.; W. L.

Wilson, Esq.; the Rev. F. I. Mazuchelli, >. p.; Major Seymour

Blane; J. Geogeghan, Esq., o. 8.; Dr. E. Goodeve ; Major Douglas,

Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, Presidency College

(re-elected) ; R. Jones, Hsq., Professor of Moral and Mental Philoso-

phy, Presidency College (re-elected) ; David M. Gardner, Esq., c. 8.

The following gentlemen were named for ballot as ordinary mem-

bers at the next meeting :—

Dr. C. Archer, proposed by the Ven’ble Archdeacon Pratt and

seconded by Mr. G. Loch.

Captain J. C. Haughton, Superintendent of Port Blair, proposed

(for re-election) by Mr. Atkinson and seconded by Dr. Thomson.

Augustus Fisher, Esq. proposed by Mr. J. G. Medlicott and

seconded by Mr. H. Scott Smith.

Dr. G. K. Hardie, proposed by Mr. J. G. Medlicott and seconded

by the President.

Lewin Bentham Bowring, Hsq. c. 8., proposed for re-election by

Mr. Atkinson and seconded by the President.

D. Fitzpatrick, Esq. c. 8., proposed by Mr. Beaufort and seconded

by Mr. Atkinson.

Captain Forlong, Madras Army, Moulmein, proposed by Dr.

Fayrer and seconded by Mr. Medlicott.

The Council reported that they had addressed the following

letter to the Secretary of State for India, with the documents an-

nexed, on the subject of the foundation of an Imperial Museum in

Calcutta :—

To the Right How ble the Secretary of State for India.

Rieut Hon’pre Sir,—I am directed by the Council of the

Asiatic Society of Bengal to submit for your consideration the

accompanying correspondence, which has passed between them and

the Supreme Government of India relative to the establishment of

an Imperial Museum in Calcutta, with documents attached, which

appear requisite for the complete illustration of the subject.

The Council desire me to say that although they believe that the

general plan sketched out in my first letter to the Government of

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 391

India is one which is eminently adapted in the present state of

Science and Education in India, to promote the interests of both,

yet that they are far from wishing it to be understood that their

ownis the only scheme to which they are willing to lend their aid.

To advance the interests of Science in the most effectual way is

their sole desire, and they will gladly assist in furthering any

scheme which may appear better calculated to effect this great

object, provided it be compatible with the trusts confided to their

care.

The Council are fully aware that the pressure of financial diffi-

culties at the present time must prevent the immediate adoption of

any comprehensive plan involving a large outlay of money, but they

desire to lay before you the facts of the case, and the arguments in

favor of some such arrangements as they have proposed, believing

that an expression of opinion on the part of Her Majesty’s Secre-

tary of State for India in favor of such a scheme would tend in no

small measure to insure its ultimate success.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

(Sd.) W.S. ATKINSON,

Secy. Asiatic Society.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.

Asiatic Society's Rooms, Calcutta, dated 8th October, 1858.

To C. Breapon, Esq.,

Secy. to the Govt. of India, Home Dept.

Srr,—I am instructed by the Council of the Asiatic Society of

Bengal, to communicate to vou, for submission to the Honorable the

President in Council, that at a General meeting of the Society, held

on the 6th May, 1857, the following resolution, based upon a report

from the Committee of Natural History (of which a copy is annex-

ed), was proposed by the Council for adoption by the Society, and

was passed at a numerously attended meeting—

“ That the Council be authorized to enter into communication

with the Government on the subject of the foundation at Calcutta

3 E

392 Proceedings of the Asvatie Society. [No. 4.

of an Imperial Museum, to which the whole of the Society’s Collec-

tions, except the Library, might be transferred, provided the locality,

the general arrangements, and management be declared, on a refer-

ence to the Society at large, to be perfectly satisfactory to its

members.”

2. The Council were on the point of soliciting the Government

of India to take into its favourable consideration the subject of the

resolution when the terrible events of the last year burst upon us,

The time was obviously no longer suited for such discussions, and it

became necessary to wait till the question could once more be ap-

proached with propriety. This, the Council venture to think, may

now be done.

38. The Council of the Society, first desire Feesat to acknow-

ledge the support which they have so long received from the Govern-

ment ; a support which has in all cases been accorded with liberality

and frankness. At the same time they may express their conviction

that the Society has not been found wanting on itsown part. In the

face of many difficultes, the Asiatic Society has, it is believed, conti-

nued to advance the cause of knowledge from the days of its illustrious

founder to the present time. Large andimportant collections have

been brought together and preserved by its means; and an unbroken

series of publications has been maintained in its Researches and

Journal, which may generally bear a favourable comparison with the

records of the learned societies of Hurope, and among the pages of

which, may be found many most valuable contributions to Litera-

ture and Science.

4. The Council further have to express the high sense be en-

tertain of the liberal and enlightened arrangements which have

recently been adopted for the extension of education and the general

advancement of knowledge in this country; and, speaking in the

name of the oldest of the Literary and Scientific bodies in the East,

they feel that they may beg to be heard on what they deem a most im-

portant element in all such arrangements, the foundation of a Public

Museum on a comprehensive basis.

5. In addressing the Government on this subject, an explanation

may seem due in regard to a former decision of the Society concern-

ing its Geological collections, by which it may have appeared, in

1859. ] Proceedings of the Astatie Society. 399

some measure, to have failed in co-operating with the Government

almost in the very matter on which it now claims assistance. This

decision arose from a conviction, which, if mistaken, was certainly

honorable and justifiable, that the separation of an important portion

of the Society’s collections would be injurious to its interest or even

fatal to its existence; but the Resolution, which empowers the

Council now to address the Government, sufficiently attests the opi-

nions of the Society upon the present question.

6. In proceeding to explain more precisely the nature of their

present proposal, the Council would remark how important it is that

the efforts of all who are interested in the progress of the various

branches of Natural Science in this city should be combined in one

and the same direction. So long as our Collections are broken up

into detached portions, we deprive them of half their value, because

they do not afford to the Scientific investigator those means of com-

parison, which, from the intimate relations between the several

Natural Sciences, are essential to complete and successful research.

The interest of scientific enquiry and the means of useful study must

be greatly diminished, if we lose the opportunity of tracing out the

connections and relations between natural objects. A Museum,

so far as it is practicable, should exhibit unbroken that series of

links which actually exists in Nature. Cordially approving therefore,

the expressed intention of the Government to form in connexion

with their Colleges such Natural History or other collections as

may be requisite for the purposes of instruction, the Council would

most earnestly insist on the superior advantages which must result

from the establishment of one Central and General Museum in which

all our resources, (which on the most sanguine estimate certainly are

not likely to be excessive,) should be concentrated. It is to solicit

the Government to undertake the foundation of such a Museum in

which all our available Natural History Collections might be com-

bined, and in which should be provided a fitting place of exhibition

for other objects of interest whether Physical, Heonomical, or Histo-

rical, that the Council has instructed me now to address you; and

it is for the foundation of such a Museum that the Society is pre-

pared, in the terms of its Resolution, to bestow the whole of its own

collections.

o E 2

394 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4

7. The final acceptance of any terms, which the Government

may see fit to offer, must, under the Resolution, rest with the

Society at large, and it will not be necessary for the Council at

present to enter into any detailed consideration of the arrangements

that might, in their opinion, be best suited for such an Institution ;

but it may be convenient if they explain generally the footing on

which they think a Public Museum might be constituted in Cal-

cutta.

8. The first question to be considered, is, that of locality. Such

a Museum as is contemplated would probably, to say the least, be

as much frequented by Europeans as by Natives. The majority of

its visitors would not be the pupils of any scholastic institution.

Those who would derive most benefit from it would be persons who |

having acquired the first elements of knowledge elsewhere, would

use the Museum and its adjuncts as aids in the further pursuit

of their enquiries. The Museum, therefore, should be conveniently

situated for all classes, and being itself a marked evidence of progress

in civilization, it ought to find its abode in the best part of the city.

The Council is of opinion that the Society’s premises, which are its

own property, afford a very suitable locality. The situation is one

of the most desirable in Calcutta, and the fact that large numbers of

Natives of all classes now visit the Society’s collections, is evidence

that it is not found inconvenient to the native population.

9. A Museum like that contemplated ought not to be viewed as

a portion of any merely scholastic arrangements. Once classified,

catalogued and arranged, the valuable specimens which would form

the main series of such a public Museum, must not be removable,

and more especially must not be subjected to the risk of breakage

and loss which their use in the common class rooms would entail.

From the many duplicates, however, which every such collection af-

fords, a perfectly effective, though limited set of specimens in each

department could readily be supplied for lecturing purposes. A

Public Museum of the kind contemplated would form a most valuable

and a most essential portion of all complete educational arrangements,

but, in the opinion of the Council, it ought not to be made subordi-

nate to any individual School or College. It should, they think, be

viewed rather as an adjunct to the University, than asa part of any

mere collegiate plan. It ought to be, as it were, the general library

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 395

of reference and consultation for all students of all schools, not the

lending library of one alone.

10. And the Council would here venture to make a few remarks

relative to the domicile of the University which they trust will not

be thought inappropriate. The true and logical idea of a University

will, they fear, run some risk of being lost, if it becomes liable to be

identified even in appearance with one of its affiliated Colleges, by

being domiciled under the same roof with it. At the same time, any

College thus connected with the University would be raised to

undue pre-eminence among its fellows. The Council think they are

justified in this view by the history of the London University while

temporarily housed in University College; and if this juxta-position

created a serious misconception of the distinct aims and position of

eachin Great Britain, where the public have been for centuries

accustomed to Collegiate and University arrangements, it will be

infinitely more likely to do so in India, where they-are perfectly novel.

11. The Council are disposed to think, that the natural domicile

of the University if it be housed with any other public body, should

rather be with the Asiatic Society. The one body is charged with

the serious and responsible task of testing the progress of the higher

classes of the students of the country, and of rewarding the success-

ful cultivation of Literature and Science. The other is a voluntary

association of those, who being themselves devoted to the pursuit

of knowledge, have combined for the encouragement of learning and

the advancement of science. The Council believe that considerations

of this kind materially influenced the arrangement that has been

earried out in London, by which the London University is located

with the Royal Society of London, and other Scientific Societies, in

Burlington House.

12. The combination of the several departments of a national

Museum, of the Halls of the University, and of the Meeting Rooms

and Library of the Asiatic Society under one and the same roof,

would therefore appear to the Council to be very natural and very

desirable. They do not think it needful to urge at length the im-

portance of the facility of reference thus afforded, or the value of the

mutual assistance which each department of the Museum, and the

Society itself, would derive from such an arrangement. These ad-

vantages are obvious.

396 Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. [No. 4.

13. Such a Museum would of course be freely open to the Public,

(as that of the Asiatic Society now is) under suitable regulations.

14. With respect to management, if the suggestion above thrown

out were adopted, and the University of Calcutta, the Asiatic Society

of Bengal, and the National Museum, were combined under one roof,

it might be thought that a board selected from among the members

of the University, and of the Asiatic Society, would afford a practi-

cable and effective control. A Board of some sort seems to be es-

sential to provide an efficient general control over the various

departments of which the Museum would consist, and to ensure

steadiness of purpose and system ; and as the nucleus of the Museum

would be the gift of the Asiatic Society, that body might have the

power of selecting some of its own members to share in the manage-

ment. Such an arrangement would probably remove objections to

the proposed transfer entertained by some of our members, who

think that the Society has no right to alienate collections, which they

conceive to be held by it on trust.

15. As tothe extent of the Museum, it must of course, be regu-

lated by the funds that the Government might find itself in a posi-

tion to set aside for such an object. A natural limit might readily

be assigned to it by confining it specially to the preservation of ob-

jects collected in India with such small additions of a typical cha-

racter as might be necessary for purposes of illustration.

16. But the Council will abstain from entering into details in

respect of this, as of other matters, and they will only further add

that in an economical point of view the combination of all the Natur-

al History collections in one Museum, would appear advantageous

not only as respects the staff of Curators, but as it might be made

ancillary to the appointment of Professors of Natural Science, whose

lectures would be accessible to all students, from all educational

institutions, on terms of perfect equality.

17. The Council having thus briefly indicated the general nature

of their proposal, desire to explain the causes which have more im-

mediately led to the present application of the Society. With the

gradual accurmulation of their collections, it has at length become

apparent that the funds of the Society are quite inadequate for the

proper maintenance or display of the specimens. The collections are

still in a satisfactory state of preservation, but the Council cannot

1859.] Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 397

avoid looking forward to the day when they will sensibly begin to

deteriorate, if precautions are not taken for their better preservation,

which unfortunately are beyond the very limited means at the dis-

posal of the Society.

18. From the want of space, and the restricted funds, the ar-

rangement of the collections is also of necessity in a very imperfect

condition ; so much so, that the Museum of the Society, although it

contains a most valuable collection of specimens of all descriptions,

has little claim to be considered in the light of a scientific Institution.

19. The Council are convinced that from want of funds, present

or prospective, the Society is powerless for good in this matter, and

that the only step that can be taken to insure the preservation of

these most valuable collections from eventual destruction, and to

render them really useful in a scientific point of view, is to make their

present proposal. They are aware that at the present time, financial

considerations are likely to constrain the Government to pay the

strictest attention to economy in dealing with this matter. But in

the existing state of the Society, and of the collections, they feel that

they can delay no longer in submitting the question for decision.

20. In conclusion, I am instructed again most respectfully but

most earnestly to commend to the favourable consideration of the

President in Council this important subject, I am to assure the

Government that the Asiatic Society will approach the discussion of

any details connected with it, into which they are prepared to enter in

any manner that may be thought most suitable, with the warmest

appreciation of the liberality with which the Society’s efforts have

always been seconded by the Government, and with the strongest

sense of the enlightened views which have guided the Government

of India in the cause of Education.

I have, &c.

(Signed) W.S. ATKINSON,

Secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

REpPoRT oF THE CoMMITTER OF NatursaL Hisrory.

The Committee of Natural History having been directed by the

Council of the Society to consider the condition of the Natural

398 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 4.

History collections, their first care was to provide for matters of

immediate necessity, and the recommendations which they made on

these subjects have already met with the ready approval of the

Society.

They now propose to enter more fully on the larger question of

the future disposal of the Natural History collections generally.

The Committee have had several meetings, and have enquired

carefully into the condition of the specimens, the accommodation

available in the Society’s house, and the efficiency of the Curator’s

staff.

The Zoological collections are very extensive and valuable, they

have been found on the whole in a fair state of preservation, though

they have certainly not received that amount of care of which they

are deserving. The Society’s collection of Indian Birds is believed

to be the largest and most complete of any that exists in any

Museum in the world, and the series of Quadrupeds is very rich.

The Committee would here beg to bring prominently to notice, as

aresult of their present investigations, that the generally satisfactory

condition in which the specimens in the Museum have been found,

notwithstanding the insufficient care which has been bestowed upon

them, distinctly shows that the idea, believed to be prevalent, of the

climate of Bengal being necessarily destructive to Natural History

collections is altogether erroneous. Zoological specimens are un-

doubtedly perishable objects, but those precautions which will

preserve them in the Cabinets of a European Museum, for

precautions are every where necessary, will certainly be found equally

efficacious in this country also. Any objections therefore to the

maintenance of such collections, based upon the special difficulties

of preserving them in the climate of Calcutta, must be held to be

fallacious.

The Society’s collection of Fossils is also very valuable, especially

those of Tertiary age from the Sewalik range, Ava and Perim

Island.

With reference to the House, we would observe that the interior

arrangements are generally iil-adapted for the purposes of a Museum.

The ground floor is particularly objectionable. The upper story

alone can be considered available for the arrangement and exhibition

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 399

of the perishable collections, or for the location of the Library. The

light is every where defective, especially on the ground floor. The

space is already insufficient for the demands made upon it by the

existing Museum, (including the Zoological and Geological collections

and the Antiquities), by the Library and the Society’s Meeting Room.

The rooms on the upper floor are even now over-filled, and ifa guf-

ficient number of cases were set up for the proper display of the

existing collections, the space would be blocked up in amost ob-

jectionable and inconvenient degree. The cabinets are now exces-

sively crowded, many skins are put away, because there is no room

for them to be set up, and no possible accommodation exists for any

future increase to this part of the museum. The size and position

of the available rooms is awkward, not permitting of the proper con-

secutive arrangement of the several groups of objects in each de-

partment, a point of altogether primary importance in illustration

of those branches of knowledge which are emphatically termed

Sciences of classification.

The establishment maintained for the care of the Zoological col-

lections has of late years been quite insufficient to meet the demands

made upon it for setting up new specimens and for watching or

cleaning those already placed in the cabinets. ‘The Mineralogical

and Geological collections have lately been deprived of any special

custodian, by the removal of the Government Museum of Economie

Geology, and the withdrawal of the grant for many years made by

the Government to the Society, for the purpose of paying a joint

Curator for this department of the Museum. This part of the col-

lections urgently requires re-arrangement, but it is not easy to see

how it can be accomplished under existing circumstances. The Zoo-

logical Curator, Mr. Blyth, is confessedly incompetent to undertake

the duty ; nor indeed, would it be reasonable to expect that any

one man, should possess the requisite attainments in all branches of

Natural Science, to superintend effectively the scientific arrange-

ment or management of the whole Museum; still less, that with

such a salary as that of our present Curator, the services of a man

of education can be retained, or his exclusive and entire attention

secured to the duties of his office.

400 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4.

Under these circumstances, we have to inquire whether the funds

at the disposal of the Society are sufficient to make those altera-

tions in the Building which would make it suitable for the purposes

of a Museum, and whether the Society can maintain such an estab-

lishment as shall ensure the satisfactory custody and arrangement

of the specimens. The Committee is of opinion that the funds are

quite inadequate to any such objects.

And first we have to remark that the entire available balance now

in hand is less than 4000 Rs. But itis clear that the whole of this

could not reasonably be expended on the Natural History Museum.

The library might, with much advantage, have a large portion of

this sum devoted to it, and the repair of the building which will be

again required in less than two years, wil! absorb upwards of a thou-

sand Rupees, for which prudence demands that a provision should

be made beforehand.

Neither is the income of the Society sufficient to give any hope

of such an addition being possible to the Curator’s staff of assist-

ants, as will provide efficient supervision of a scientific character.

The sum placed at the disposal of the Society by the Government is

quite inadequate to secure the services of even one properly qualified

Curator and the means of the Society do not enable it to make good

the deficiency. It need hardly be added that without proper Curators

a Museum almost ceases to be a scientific institution.

On the whole, the Committee is convinced that the Asiatic Society

is not capable of supporting a Natural History Museum on any but

the most limited scale; and that, without a considerable addition

to the Government grant now made, even the existing collections

cannot be maintained. If things are left on their present footing

a gradual deterioration must take place in the condition of the col-

lections, and sooner or later they will pass from their present

unsatisfactory state into one of entire ruin.

Any help which the Government is at all likely to proffer to the

Society would certainly be inadequate to provide for any future ex-

tension of the Museum, and unless some entire change of organiza-

tion takes place, it will, in the opinion of the Committee, be the

duty of the Society henceforth to decline all contributions. ‘To

accept donations of specimens involves a tacit agreement to preserve

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 401

and exhibit them, an obligation up to which the Society will be

quite incapable of acting.

In considering under these circumstances what measures to pro-

pose to the Society, the Committee must first think of what is pos-

sible. Inthe present state of the Society, and with its existing

income, to support a general Museum as a Scientific Institution is

clearly not possible, and it should not be attempted. The utmost

that can be hoped for is to be able to rescue from destruction the

existing collections and to preserve them until some time more

propitious to Science may come. But before tamely accepting such

a result, the Committee would suggest to the Society that an appeal

should be made to the Government on this subject.

The motives which have led the Governments of all other civilized

nations to establish Museums at their capitals apply with equal force

in the case of British India.

Nor would arguments be wanting to show that the obligations on

the British Government to endow a Museum at Calcutta have even

more than usual cogency. For if such a patronage of Science is

fitting in a national Government like that of England which affects

no greater wisdom, no superior civilization, no larger liberality, than

the mass of the citizens, does it not become a paramount duty in this

country where the rulers are a handful of foreigners who claim for

themselves the ability, if not the will, of taxing the lead im all

improvements.

The enlightened views which the Government of India have

already displayed in the establishment of the University of Calcutta

and the Geological Museum, and the intentions which it is under-

stood to have in respect to the formation of College Museums, give

reasonable grounds to hope that a proposition for the foundation of

a National Museum at Calcutta might be favourably received by the

Government at the present time; and considering what has already

been said of the inability of the Society to maintain a Museum on

any really satisfactory footing, the Committee trusts that the Socie-

ty may be disposed to concur with them in the propriety of the

proposal which they have made.

But they are strongly impressed with the conviction that in

dF 2

4.02 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4.

making such a request to the Government, the Society should do

all in its power to show the earnestness of its own views, and to

afford positive proof of its willingness to co-operate with the Go-

vernment in carrying out so important an object, and that the appli-

cation of the Society should consequently be accompanied by an

offer of the contribution of the Society’s collections to form the

nucleus of the Public Museum.

The Committee are aware of the strong objection that is felt by

many Members of the Society to parting with the collections which

have been accumulated under the Society’s auspices and have so

long been preserved in the Society’s house. And fully sympathizing

with these feelings, it is only on what they must consider to be cer-

tain proof of the inability of the Society to maintain and exhibit

those collections in a manner worthy of its reputation as a Scienti-

fic body, or so as to be really available for students, or to lead in any

way to the advancements of Science, that they make this proposal,

They look upon it as quite unreasonable in itself to expect that the

Government should keep up a Public Museum such as they have

advocated, and the importance of which can be contested by no lover

of Science, in addition to the Museum of the Society. And on mere-

ly scientific grounds they conceive that in the event of a really

good Museum being established, such as they trust may be found

possible, it would be most desirable that all the available collections

both of Natural History and Geology should be united, and that

the resources of the Museum, whether in reference to the contri-

butions of specimens, or the means required for its support in men

and money, should be as much concentrated as possible, and not

divided between separate institutions.

The Committee would further remark that the fear expressed by

some Members of the Society that the separation of the Museum from

its immediate custody would lead to the dispersion of the Society or

would diminish its usefulness is, in their opinion, quite unfounded.

The Royal Society of London whick, in the range of the subjects of

which it takes cognizance is more akin to this Society than any of the

other English, learned Societies has never had any Museum; among

those Societies possessing Museums not a few have found them

causes of debt and difficulty, and most prejudicial to their interest ;

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society, 4.03

while several have found it necessary to give up their collections

altogether from reasons similar to those which now press upon this

Society.

The Committee would also wish to explain in referénce to their

proposal that the Society should offer its collections to a National

Museum, that they by no means advise that the collections should

be handed over without conditions to be placed at the disposal of the

Government. It might reasonably be expected that the Government

would see the justice of admitting into the managing body of any

Public Museum some representatives of the Society, which had pre-

sented so valuable a contribution as these collections, and which might

always be expected to contain within its ranks the principal Scien-

tific men of the country. But it does not seem necessary in the

present stage of things to enter into further details on such a sub-

ject, nor would it be proper to introduce the mention of any condi-

tions in first addressing the Government.

The question of the position of the Museum is another of those

points which would require consideration, but the discussion of this

too seems at present premature.

The Committee therefore conclude by rata diae to the Council

that they recommend that the consent of the Society should be re-

quested to authorize the Council to communicate with the Govern-

ment on the subject of the foundation at Calcutta of a National

Museum on a fitting scale, and in a convenient situation, to which

the whole of the Society’s collections might be transferred.

(Signed) KR. Srracuey,

W. S. ATKINSON,

T. Boycort,

Tuomas THOMSON,

EK. SAMUELLS.

Dated, 20th March, 1857.

From C. Brapon, Esq.,

Secretary to the Government of India.

To Tur Srcretary, ASIATIC SOCIETY.

Dated, Council Chamber. The 8th December, 1858.

Srr,—I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter

404 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ No. 4,

dated the 8th October last, submitting, on behalf of

Home Dept. the Council of the Asiatic Society for the consider-

ation of the Government of India, a proposal to found

in Calcutta an Imperial Museum to which the whole of the Society’s

collections, except the Library, should be transferred on such terms

as might prove satisfactory to the Members of the Society.

2. The Council appear to incline to the notion that the Univer-

sity of Calcutta, the Asiatic Society, and the proposed Imperial

Museum, should all be located in one building, namely, the house

belonging to and occupied by the Society, and that the Museum

should be controlled by a Board selected from among the members

of the University and of the Society.

3. Itis apparently contemplated that the whole of the expense

of the Museum, involving not only the maintenance and preserva-

tion of Natural History and other collections now belonging to the

Society, but also their further extension should fall upon the Go-

vernment, and that the Society’s Funds should be charged only

with the expense of the Library and perhaps the repairs of the build-

ing. The liability of the Government on this understanding would

be indefinite or rather limited only by the amount it might choose

to assion for the purpose. It is evident that some considerable

additional expense would have to be incurred at once, as the funds

of the Society, aided as they are by a monthly grant of Rupees 300

from Government, are insufficient for the proper maintenance aud

display of the specimens now in the Society’s possession.

4, The President in Council without at all committing the

Government to an approval of the scheme sketched out by the

Council, recognizes it as a duty of the Government to establish in

the Metropolis an Imperial Museum for the collection and exhibi-

tion of specimens of Natural History in all its branches, and of

other objects of interest, physical, economical, and historical, when

the existing pressure on the public finances shall have been relieved.

At present the project is not one that can be entertained unless the

Society can show that it may be adopted without incurring any

considerable expense, and in that case many modifications would be

necessary before it could be favourably received.

5. Meanwhile if it would be any convenience to the Society to

a -

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 405

transfer its Geological and Paleontological collections to the Geolo-

gical Museum, thereby at once relieving itself of the cost of main-

taining them and rendering a considerable amount of room avail-

able for other purposes, the President in Council is prepared to

renew the proposal made to that effect in my letter No. 1071 dated

the 11th July, 1856, to which the Society at that time declined to

accede.

I have, &e.

(Sd.) C, Brapon,

Secretary to the Government of India.

Krom the Secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

To C. Brapon, Esquire,

Secretary to the Government of India,

in the Home Department.

Asiatic Society’s Rooms, Calcutta, dated 6th April, 1859.

Sir,—The Council of the Asiatic Society having had under coz-

sideration your letter dated December 8th, 1858, desire me to ex-

press the great satisfaction with which they have received the

anouncement it contains that the President in Council recognizes

it asa duty of the Government to establish in the metropolis an

Imperial Museum, although this announcement is coupled with an

intimation that at present the project cannot be entertained unless

the Society can shew that it may be adopted without incurring any

considerable expence. ?

The Council do not wish to disguise the fact that a considerable

outlay will ultimately be required in order to establish and main-

tain a public Museum on a scale befitting the requirements of

Science and worthy of the Metropolis of India.

But a sum which the Council think could not be considered by

the Government considerable, would enable the Society to maintain

their existing collections in satisfactory order till the Public Muse-

um can be established, and provide for their exhibition and their

natural extension.

These collections will eventually if the proposed scheme be car-

ried out, form the nucleus of the Public Museum, and the Council

venture to think that the expenditure which is now required for

their preservation and exhibition, might therefore, consistently with

406 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4.

the declared intentions of Government, be at once provided for at

the public cost.

Total expenditure for the year, 1858.

Curatonypeids ePRewa Ty Hels aso

Taxidermistsy Knolls! .paeowace932

Sexvantayp hae ek eae: dene ls

CHses)y Ae. ccs Oe gS The expense of the Museum

Contingent, ................2389 for the last year in addition to

—-- the allowance made by Go-

Rs.,..........-..... -. 5,894 vernment has amounted to

—— Rupees 2,254.

Deduct present Government

allowance) ao uw sc. G35. oh BE600

Ra, Melew)..ctouaane

The Council has therefore directed me to solicit either a further

grant of Rupees 200 per mensem in addition to the sum now con-

tributed towards the support of the Museum, or, if it be deemed

preferable, that the Government would take on itself the actual cost

of the Museum within the limits of Rupees 6,000 annually under

such check as may be thought suitable.

The aid thus solicited from the Government would, the Council

think, not be perceptible as a burden on the finances, while it would

for the present at least secure the valuable collections of the Society

from the risk of deterioration to which the Council drew the atten-

tion of Government in my former letter on the subject.

With regard to the Society’s Geological and Paleontological col-

lections, the Council desire me to say that in the prospect of the

establishment of a general museum which shall embrace all the

branches of Natural History, it appears to them undesirable to se-

parate temporarily one portion of the collections from the rest.

Such a separation would only be an additional source of expense ;

the objects comprised in the Geological collection are imperish-

able, and their preservation now costs the Society nothing; were

they removed, the rooms they occupy would necessarily require new

fittings at a considerable outlay in order to make them available for

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 407

a better arrangement and display of other portions of the general

collections.

I have, &e.

(Signed) W.S. ATKINSON,

Secy. Asiatic Society.

From W. Grey, Esquire, Secy. to the Govt. of India.

Lo the Secy. to the Asiatic Society.

Dated, Council Chamber, 3rd May, 1859.

S1r,—I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, No.

95, dated the 6th ultimo, and in reply to inform you

Home Dept. that the Governor-General in Council igs unable to

comply with the application preferred by the Council

of the Asiatic Society for a further grant of 200 Rs. a month to-

wards the support of the Society’s Museum.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

(Sd.) W. Grey,

Secy. to the Govt. of India.

Communications were received :—

Ist—From Dr. G. Buist of Bombay, a paper on the Curia Muria

Islands on the north-western border of the Arabian Sea.

2nd.—F rom E. Blyth, Esq., a paper on the Great Rocqual of the

Indian Ocean, with notices of other Cetacea and of the Syrenia or

aquatic Pachyderms.

3rd.—From the same, a paper entitled Notices and Descriptions

of various Fishes.

4th.—From J. D. Gordon, Esq. Officiating Under-Secretary to the

Government of India, Copy of a statement of Doodnath Tewarry, a

convict in Port Blair who had lived for many months with the abori-

gines of the Island.

5th.—From Baboo Radhanath Sikdar, abstract of the results of the

hourly Meteorological Observations taken at the Surveyor General’s

Office in the month of March, 1859.

The Ven’ble Archdeacon Pratt read a paper on the influence of

Mountain-attraction on the determination of the relative heights of

Mount Everest and the Mountains of Kashinir.

408 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4.

The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr. Pratt for his valu-

able and interesting communication.

The Curator and the Officiating Librarian submitted their usual

monthly reports.

LIBRARY.

The following accessions have been made to the Library since the Meet-

ing in July last.

Presentations,

Selections from the Records of the Bengal Government, No. 30, Reports

ot the districts of Pooree and Balasore, by Henry Ricketts, Esq. 2 copies.

—By THE BENGAL GOVERNMENT.

The Oriental Baptist for July, 1859.

The Oriental Christian Spectator for June and July, 1859.

The Calcutta Christian Observer for July and August, 1859.

Bibidhartha Sangraha for Joysto, 1781 Saka.

Reports of the Juries of the Madras Exhibition of 1857.

Official and Descriptive Catalogue of ditto.

Madras Exhibition of 1859 of the Raw products of Southern India.

General Report on the Administration of the several Presidencies and

Provinces of British India during 1857-58. Part II. Appeadices to Part II.

of the Administration Report for 1857-58.

Selections from the Records of the Madras Government, No. 59, —Admin-

istration Report of the Madras Public Works for 1857-58.

Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, Vol. X.

P. II].—By Tue Society.

Taj Bowree or Photographical Drawings at Beejapore.—By THE Hon’BLE

THE CourT oF DIRECTORS.

Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philo-

sophisch-Historische Classe. Band 23, Hefts 1, 2, 3,4 and 5. Band 24,

Hefts 1 and 2. Band 25, Hefts 1, 2 and 3. Band 26, Hefts l and 2. Band

2/;, Hett:k.

Ditts ditto Mathematisch naturwissenschaftliche classe. Band 23, Heft

2, Band 24, Hefts 1, 2 and 3. Band 25, Hefts 1 and 2. Band 26. Band 27,

Heft 1. Band 28, Hefts 1 to 6. Band 29, Hefts 7 to 12. Band 30, Hefts 13 to 15.

Voyage de l’Eugenie.—Physique, Livraison, 1; Botanique, 1 ; Zoologie, 1

and 2; Physique, ]; Stockholm.

Monatsbericht der Koniglichen Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften

zu Berlin, from January to December, 1858, 12 partsin 11. Berlin.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 409

Memoires de l’Académie Impériale des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de

Lyon. Classe des Lettres. Tomes 3, 4, 5 and 6, Classe des sciences, Tomes

3to7. Lyon.

Annales des sciences physiques et naturelles, 2nd series, Tomes 7 and 8.

3rd series, Tome 1.

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, Vol. 14, part 3rd, and Vol.

15th, part 2nd. London. By the G. Society.

Fontes rerum Austriacarum : cesterreichische Geschichtsquellen der Kai-

serl. Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Zweite Abtheilung, Bands 14,

15 and 17.—By Tue Austrian ACADEMY.

Archiv fiir Kunde Osterreichischer Geschichtsquellen, der Kaiserl. Aka-

demie der Wissenschaften, Band 18, 2nd part, Band 19, ist and 2nd parts,

—By THE SAME.

Bijdragen tot de Taal-land-en Volkenkunde Van Nederlandsch Indie.

Tweed Deel, Tweed Stuk. Batavia, 1858.—By roe BaTAVIAN SOCIETY.

Almanach der Kaiserl. Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1858.—By THE

AUSTRIAN ACADEMY.

Notizenblatt, Beilage zum Archiv fiir kunde 6sterreichischer Geschichts-

quellen, Wien, 1857.—By THE SAME.

Monumenta Habsburgica, der Kaiserl. Academie der Wissenschaften, Drit-

ter Band, 1858.—By THE sAME.

Die Principien der Heutigen Physik. Von der Kaiserl. Akademie der

Wissenschaften. Von Dr. Andreas Ritter v. Ettingshausen, Wien.—By

THE SAME.

Festrede bei der Feierlichen Ubernahme der Kaiserl. Akad. der Wissen.

Von Dr. Theodor Georg Von Karajan. Wien.—By THE SAME.

Mémoires sur les Contrées Occidentales par Hiouen-Thsang. Traduit du

Chinois par M. Stanislas Julien. Tome I1.—By THE Roya. Society.

Jahrbucher der K. K. Central-Anstalt fiir Meteorologie und Erdmagne-

tismus, von Karl Kreil, 5th Band. Wien, 1858.—By THE AUSTRIAN

ACADEMY.

Integration der Linearen Differentialgleichungen, von Dr. Jaseph Petz-

val, Sth Lieferung.—By THE SAME.

Denkschriften der Kaiserl. Akademie der Wissens. Bands 8th, 13th and

14th, 1857 and 1858.—By THE SAME.

Abhandlungen der Akad. der Wissensch. for 1857.—By THE SAME.

Mémorie della Reale Academia Della Scienze di Torino. Serie Seconda.

Tome 17.—By THE ACADEMY.

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1857, pamphlet.

Abhandlungen fiir die Kunde des Morgenlandes, Ist Band No. 5, Leipzig,

1859,—By THe GeRMAN ACADEMY.

3.4 2

410 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4.

The Athenzeum for May and June, 1859.—By THE Epirors.

Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. III. No.

3, 1859.—By THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.

Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. XXII. Part 2nd.—By

THE STATISTICAL SOCIETY.

Response Mesurée de M. Stanislas Julien de M. Reinaud. »

Question Scientifique et Persounelle de M. Reinaud, pamphlet, 2 copies.

Paris.

Uber Ghazzalis Leben und Werke, von R. Gosche, der Kaiserl. Akad. der

Wissensch. Berlin.

Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 343.—-By THE RoyAL Socigty.

Oriental Baptist, Vol. XIII. No. 152, for August, 1859.

Annual Report on the Sind Forest for 1858-59.

Ditto ditto of Grant Medical College, Bombay, for Session 1858-59.

Annals of Indian Administration, Vol. III. Part 2, for June, 1859.

Journal Asiatique for Aprik and May, No. 51, 1859.

London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine.—Nos. 116 and

117 of Vol. XVIII.

Purchased.

Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 19, for July, 1859.

Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, Nos. 5 and 6, 1859.

Ditto des deux mondes, for 15 June and Ist July, 1859.

Journal des Savants for May, 1859.

Comptes Rendus, Nos. 21 to 25, 1859.

Tables ditto, Tome XLII.

Literary Gazette, Nos. 51 to 54, 1859.

Westminster Review for July, 1859.

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 411

fieport of Curator, Zoological Department, for September, 1859.

1. From Major H. B. Lumsden, 59th N. I., late in charge of the Kan-

dahar Mission.

The skin and skull of a Ghur-khur (ASINUS ONAGER), as noticed in p.

237; horns of the Aku, or Afghan and Persian Gazelle (GAZELLA SUBGUT-

TUROSA); and skins of TADORNA VULPANSER and FULIGULA FERINA

from Kandahar: with specimens of a Lizard sent as the Reg Mahi from

the same locality.

The species is SPHENOCEPHALUS TRIDACTYLUS, nobis, J. A. S. XXII,

654; but finer than those previously described, which latter were blanched

in spit. Those now sent are of a light brown colour above, paler below ;

with a darker reticulation of the upper parts, indicating the scutation.

Head pale, with three dark lines, more or less broken into spots, one of

them mesial, and the lateral passing through the minute eyes. Tail a third

longer in what appear to be the males, than in what appear to be the females.

Length from snout to vent of a presumed male, 3% 1n., the tail 24 m.; of a

presumed female, 33 and 1% in.

Major Tytler has a pair of true Scincus oFFICcINALIs, Laurenti, also

from Kandahar, and bearing the same Persian name, which he spells Jtaig

Mahie (meaning ‘ Sand-fish’); and both this and the preceding species, it

appears, are sold in a dry state for medicine throughout India, as the true

Scingue was formerly and is even now sold over a great part of Europe !

The latter has not previously been recorded from so eastern a locality.

2. From Capt. Eales, commanding the ‘ Fire Queen’ S. V. A specimen

of the rare HAMADRyYAS viTTraTus (Naia vittata, Elhot, H. hannah ef

ophiophagus, Cantor); from Port Blair!

3. From Babu Rajendra Mallika. A dead Orang-utan.

4, Major S. R. Tickell, Maulmein. A collection of specimens obtained

in the’ «mountainous interior of the/Tenasserim provinceg.

Of Phiinalia: only a fine skin of RHIZOMYS SUMATRENSIS, (Raffles), v.

cinereus, McClelland.

Of birds, a highly interesting series, supplying fine examples of BuLaca

SELOPUTO, laa, Strix pagodarum, Tem.), Bucrros TIckELLI, nobis

teas XLV, 2 285), and Popica pERsonatTa, Gray ; with a few

species hitherto beiyge 4 and numerous specimens of others excellently

prepared.

Huwvua orIeENTALIS; Strix ortentalis, Horsfield: Str. sumatrana,

Raffies, (juv.); Str. strepitans, Temminck ; Huhua nipalensis, Hodgson ;

H., pectoral, Jerdon. A nestling specimen, corresponding to the deseripe

412 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4.

tion of Str. sumatrana, Raffles (Lin. Tr. XIII, 279). Both old and young

are figured by Temmincek, p. c. 174, 229.

Buceros Ticks tut, nobis, J. A. S. XXIV, 266, 285; being a second

species of the genus ANORRHINUS Of Reichenbach. The specimen origin-

ally described was an incompletely mature female, with the casque not fully

developed. ‘T'wo mature males resemble 1t in plumage, except that the

rufescent hue of the lower parts is brighter, and that the wing-feathers are

more conspicuously pale-edged, as in the nearly aflined B. GALERITUS,

Tem. The casque resembles in shape that of B. GALERITUS, but with the

bill is wholly yellowish-white, weakly infuscated on the fore-part of the

casque, and shewing a coral-red spot at the base of the lower mandible.

The frontal feathers behind the nostrils radiate forwards, so as to conceal

the hind-part of the casque, and in one specimen these are much tinged

with pale fulvous. Tips of the coverts of the primaries white, to a greater

or less extent, forming a small spot on the wing. Length of wing exactly

12 in.; of middle tail-feathers the same; bill from gape 42 in., and its total

height, including casque, 2 or 25 in. “ Trides grey within brown.”

Picus arratus, nobis, J. dA. S. XVII, 803. Originally described

from a tail-less and otherwise much injured female. A fine perfect specimen

of a female is now sent, but the male is still a desideratum. The six medial

tail-feathers are wholly black, and the penultimate has only one subterminal

white bar on its inner web, and three on its outer web, besides the white

extreme tip. Chin whitish; the throat with medial black streaks: on the

rest of the lower parts these are narrower and more confused, and the

tlanks are as indistinctly barred; while the pale portion of the feathers is

deeply tinged with golden yellow. Total length 8 in., of which tail 3 in.,

and closed wing 4% in.: beak to forehead lg in. “‘ Tvides carmine.”’*

* Another new Woodpecker of the same group we have lately received from

Port Blair, being as yet only the second new species of bird from the Andaman

islands,—the other being the fine Shama (KITTACINCLA ALBIVENTRIS, nobis,

J. A. S. XXVIII, 269); of which more specimens have since been received,—

unless the Oriole (J. A. S. XXVIII, 272,) should prove to differ from @®. coro-

narus, which I still think probable.

PICUS ANDAMANENSIS, nobis, n. s. Nearly affined to P. anatis, Tem., of Java,

which it resembles in size and proportions,—as also P. PECTORALIS, nobis

(J. A. S. XV, 15),—all three differmg from the common P. Macet of Bengal by

their smaller size and white-spotted middle tail-feathers : in P. Macst, as also in

the affined Himalayan P. Brcennirrons, the four medial rectrices, and in P.

ATRATUS the six medial rectrices, are spotless black; the last named being also

the largest species of this particular group: in P, ANDAMANENSIS the middle

tail-feathers have three distinct pairs of white spots, while in P. PECTORALIS

they have four pairs of white spots of larger size: but the Andamanese bird is

specially pie Le by the large round black spots upon its breast, each

margined with whitish; the ear- coverts, also, are longitudinally streaked with

black, and the flanks are more conspicuously rayed than in the others. In other

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 413

Urocissa MAGNIROSTRIS, nobis, J. A. S. XV, 27. As usual in Burmese

specimens, the bill is larger and the blue of the plumage is distinctly more

intense than in the Himalayan U. occipirauis.* ‘ Male. Ivrides orange.”

Parus susviripts, Tickell, nobis, J. A. S. XXIV, 267. Much injured

specimen, but in finer and fresher plumage than the one previously obtained,

and satisfactorily confirming the species. ‘‘ Female. Irides sepia.”

SIBIA MELANOLEUCA, Tickell, ». s. A fourth species of this genus,f

akin to 8. CAPISTRATA and S. GRACILIS; of a sooty-black hue above, the

crown intense black, and a faint green shine on the wings: lower parts

white, slightly sullied, but a small black space on the chim. Wings white at

base internally, save on the first two primaries. Outermost and penultimate

tail-feathers broadly tipped with white, the rest successively less so, and

merely the extreme tips of the middle pair. Length about 9% in., of which

the tail is half; closed wing 35 in.; bill to gape ¢ in.; and tarse 1 in.

“Male. Ivides sanguine.”

IXULUS STRIATUS, nobis, n.s. A fourth species of this genus, affined to

I. castanicers, Moore, P. Z. S. 1854, p. 141,¢ and like that species with

respects this bird resembles P. Macer (and I believe P. anatis), The lower

tail-coverts are bright crimson; and the crimson tips of the coronal feathers of

the male are less developed than in P. MACEI, especially towards the forehead.

Length of beak to gape 1 in.; of closed wing "32 in; and of middle tail-feathers

24 in.

Our list of Andamanese birds, examined and positively determined, is still

scanty. ‘To the few noticed in J. A. S. XXVII, e¢ seq., and in XXVIII, 271 et

seg., may be added PaLMORNIS ALEXANDRI, P. ERYTHROGENYS, nobis (nicobéricus,

Gould, heretofore only known from the neighbouring Nicobar group), ToprrHam-

PHUS COLLARIS, GRACULA INTERMEDIA, and ANOUS STOLIDA ; but in other classes

(that of fishes especially) we have received largely. Here I shall only remark,

concerning the Parrakeet, that three distinct species of Patmornis have received

the name erythrogenys ; which was first bestowed by M. Lesson on the common

P. LONGICAUDA, (Boddiert; Ps. malaccensis, Gm., nec Latham, of which P.

viridimystax, nobis, proves to be the young),—secondly, by myself on the species

inhabiting the Andamén and Nicobar islands (since designated nicobaricus by

Gou'd), —and thirdly, by Mr. L. Fraser to what appears to be the original BARBATUS,

Gmelin (identical with Luciani, Verreaux, and Fraseri, Moore): the habitat of

the last is still uncertain.

* Ata Meeting of the Zoological Society, held on May 10th. of this year,

“Mr. Gould exhibited specimens of the four known species of the genus Uro-

ctssa,—U. stnrwsis, from China,—U. occiprranis of the Eastern Himalaya,—

U. MAGNIROSTRIS, 5 wndoul: FLAVIROSERIS; and pointed out their distinctive

characters.” Atheneum, May 14th, p. 651. The last three were named by myself

in the Society’s Journal, U. OCCIPITALIS, however, is not from the eastern, but

from the western Himalaya; U. FLAVIROsTRIS is the only species which I have

seen from the eastern Himalaya, and this also inhabits Kashmir, according to

Lord Arthur Hay.

+ Vide J. A. S. XXIV, 271.

{ Here-I may remark that I doubt exceedingly the habitat assigned to this

species—“ Afghanistan.” The late Mr. Griffith’s specimens, in various classes,

from Afghanistan and the Khasya hills, got mixed up together, and in this w ay

several Khasya species have come to be described as inhabiting the widely dif:

3 H 2

414 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4.

graduated outer tail-feathers. Bill moderately stout, as in I. occrPrraLis,

nobis. Length about 5 in., of closed wing 2% in., and of tail the same:

bill to gape 3 in.; and tarse § in. Colour greyish-brown above, each

feather with a white mesial streak ; below albescent throughout : outermost

tail-feather $ in. shorter than the middle pair, and largely tipped with white,

as is also the next, and the ante-penultimate and next within gradually less

so, the outer four feathers successively graduating.

ABRORNIS SUPERCILIARIS, Tickell, m. s. Another of this numerous

group, yellowish- green above, pure yellow below: the cap lhght ashy, with

a well defined white supercilium, and also a white throat : rictal vibrissze

unusually developed: tail uniform yellowish-brown without markings; its

upper coverts yellow ; bill dusky ; and the legs pale and probably yellowish.

Length 4 in., of wing 2 in., and tail 13 1n.; bill to gape 3g in,; and tarse

$in. The short first primary is half as long as the second, and two-fifths

as long as the fourth and fifth which are longest. “ Irides sepia.”

PreLLoRNiIuM TICKELLI, nobis, 2. s.* Smaller than P. ruriceps, but

absolutely typical in structure. Colour uniform brown above, much paler

and tinged with rufous below, the middle of the belly pure white; frontal

and loral feathers pale-centred, more or less. Upper mandible pale dusky,

the lower whitish or probably pale carneous, as are also the legs. ‘ Irides

sepia.” Length 53 in., of wing 25 in., and tail 2 in.; bill to gape 7 in.,

and tarse | in.

To this genus I now refer P. FuscocaPiLLus (Drymocataphus apud nos,

J. A. S. XVIII, 815), from Ceylon; and the DumMeri are barely separ-

able: An example of P. RUFICEFs is with Major Tickell’s specimens.

TuRDINUS GUTTATUS, Tickell, n. s. This deviates a little from the three

species previously described,f in not having the feathers dark-margined (as

in most OrrocincLa#), while the speckling of the sides of the neck is

peculiar. Colour a rich deep ruddy-brown, more rufescent on the tail-

coverts and tail; the throat pure white, bordered on either side with a black

- moustache, above which is a white spot: rest of the lower-parts deep

rufo-ferruginous, tinged with fuscous on the flanks aud lower tail-coverts,

and shewing a slight medial whitish line: loral feathers black with greyish-

white lateral edges; the frontal feathers stiff as usual: ear-coverts brown:

behind the eye an ill-defined streak, and behind the ear-coverts a great

ferent climatal region of Afghanistén. Vide J. A. 8. XXII, 413. The Urva

cancrivora, Hodgson, among mammalia, is another instance, assigned to Afghaén-

istan on the supposed authority of Griffith.

* As the specific name suggested by Major Tickell is a one of the synonymes

of P. ruricers, I therefore name the specimens as above.

+ Vide J. A. S. XXIV. 269 et seq.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 415

patch of feathers, each having an oval white mark set off with black, and

other feathers thus marked across the nape. Bill plumbeous; and legs

plumbeous-brown. “Female. Irides sepia.” Length 6 in., of wing 27

in., and tail 24 in.; the plumage extremely copious over the rump; bill to

gape 1 in.; and tarse 1 in.

TROPICOPERDIX (nobis) cHLOROPUS, Tickell, 2. s. A third species of this

group, which is founded on PERpDix pErsonaTA, Horsfield, of Java, and

P. CHARLTONI, Eyton, of Penang and Province Wellesley, which latter the

present bird exactly resembles in size and structure. The form comes: near

to ARBORICOLA, but the straight claws are much less developed, and there is

a characteristic difference of plumage. The present species differs from

Tr. CHARLTONI, -in having the interscapularies unmottled olive-brown,

crossed with numerous black rays on each feather; the supercilium is more

delicately pencilled, and the ear-coverts are not ferruginous, but white with

black spots like the throat, and below the throat there is a broad ferruginous

band also with round black spots; breast similar to the back, olive-brown

with numerous blackish cross-rays, below which the under-parts are ferru-

ginous, paling at the vent and interior of thighs: the flanks have no well

defined broad black bands, as in T. CHARLTONI, but are prettily mottled

with dusky in a manner difficult to describe ; and the same remark applies

to the wing-coverts: tail freckled and marked with zig-zag dusky bands.

Bill wax-yellow, crimson towards gape in both mandibles; and the legs

yellowish-green. Length of wing 6 in,, of tail 3 in., of bill to gape | in.,

and of tarse 12 in. “ [rides brown.”’

PopIcA PERSONATA, G. R. Gray. Two specimens, male and female:

the former having a black chin and throat; ending in a point half-way down

the neck, and narrowly margined throughout with white which commences

behind the eyes; the forehead also black, continued into a supercilium :

the latter having the chin and throat white, bordered throughout with black

indicating the periphery of the black patch of the male, and beyond this

the same external white border; supercilia black as in the male, but not

the forehead. In both, and in a third specimen formerly sent by the late

Major Berdmore, there is a triangular naked space at base of the upper man-

dible, the base of which is even with the forehead, and the adjacent feathers

behind it being white. Leugth of male 1# ft., of wing 10 in., and tail 5 in. ;

beak to forehead 2 in., tarse 12 in., and middle toe and claw 3 in. “ Irides

of male sepia; of female pale yellow.” The difference, however, has

more the appearance of summer snd winter plumage, than of sexual

diversity.

Various Himalayan (and, more especially, S. E. Himalayan) species form

part of this collection ; of which may be enumerated, as shewing the geogra-

416 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. | No. 4.

phie range, Hrerax EuToLMos, ATHENE Bropiet, VIvIA INNOMINATA,

CissA SINENSIS, LEIOTHRIX ARGENTAURIS, MINLA CASTANICEPS, AL-

CIPPE NIPALENSIS, MUNIA ACUTICAUDA, GAMPSORHYNCHUS RUFULUS,

PRATINCOLA FERREA, RUTICILLA LEUCURA,* ANTHIPES GULARIS, ENI-

CURUS SCHISTACEUS, NILTAVA GRANDIS, CRINIGER FLAVEOLUS, ARACH-

NOTHERA MAGNA, and DuCULA INSIGNIS; also the Psarisomus

DaLHousi£z, accompanied by CoRYDON SUMATRANUS, EURYLAIMUS

JAVANICUS, and the beautiful SeRILOPHUS LUNATUS, which is replaced

in the S. E. Himalaya by S. ERyTHROPYGIUS. Two of the foregoing

species | have also seen in Malacca collections, viz.: Himrax EUTOLMOS

and Munta AcutTicaupDA. A superb male of SrRILopHUS LUNATUS has

the silky-white crescent not confined to the side of the neck, but passing

completely across in front. ZosteRops FLAVUS (Diceum flavum, Horsfield,)

is also sent, being previously known to inhabit only Java and the Philippines.

The specimens of DucuLa INSIGNIS in the Society’s museum, from

Sikhim and Arakan, were considered by Dr. Jerdon to be distinct from his

D. cuprea of 8. India, which latter perhaps is the true BaprA of Raffles.

The Tenasserim specimen now received (a female) is pure pearl-grey on the

crown and checks, and more distinctly ashy on the lower parts, than in a

Sikhim female; which latter has the crown, cheeks, and lower parts much

tinged with ruddy; whilst an Arakan specimen (also probably a female) is

intermediate.

Two packages have since been received from Major Tickell. The first

containing an Arctic bird, most remarkable for occurring within the torrid

zone, “in Lat. 16° 22’ North !”

CaTARRACTA POMARINA, (Tem). In adult plumage. ‘“‘ It was picked up,”

remarks Major Tickell, “ or rather T should say knocked down, by some vil-

lage boys in a swampy meadow about five or six miles south of Moulmein.

There had been very heavy weather in the Bay for some days past; but the

singular thing is, that this bird should have ranged so wide from its usual

haunts as to come within the influence of our tropical monsoon.

“The fact 1s more curious even than that of the EMBERIZA AUREOLA, a

Siberian bird, being found in such vast flocks here every cold weather. It

supplies with us, in fact, the place of the ‘ Baghairi’ (CALANDRELLA BRACH-

YDACTYLA) in Bengal.

* Another singular occurrence is the breeding of the ‘Gargany’ (ANAS

QUERQUERDULA) in this part of the country. I have a young one now

* Muscisylvia and since Myiomela leucura, Hodgson. I agree with Major

Tickell that this species can hardly be separated from RuTIcrLLa,

1859.] Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 417

alive which was brought to me, when just fledged, from a pond or small

lake about twelve miles off.’’*

To the foregoing notices may be added the fact that I procured a speci-

men of PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS in the Calcutta provision bazar, on May

11th, 1846. Though so late in the season, it had not begun to assume the

summer colouring ; and it was miserably lean, though the plumage was in

good order for stuffing. The late Prince of Canino records the occurrence

of this species so far south in America as the lake of Nicaragua (the Coc?-

bolea of the aborigines), in lat. 12° aorth !

Still more remarkable, Dr. L, C. Stewart obtained a specimen of Lopirres

HYPERBOREUS, an arctic species very rare even in North Britain, in the

vicinity of Madras! It is now, together with the last, in excellent pre-

servation in our museum.

The delicate CALLIOPE CAMTSCKATKENSIS is common in the neighbour-

hood of Caleutta during the cold season ; but I have never seen it from any

part of the Himalaya. Von Wrangell, however, tells us that this particular

species (which cannot well be confounded with any other) arrives “ early

in April, with the Snowfleck, in the Lower Kolyma district” in Northern

Siberia !

The ‘ Pomarine Skua’ sent from Burma by Major Tickell is in adult

plumage! In general, the young of migratory birds proceed further equa-

torially than the adults; and, as instanced by the present species, various

arctic birds that have occurred in the British islands or surrounding seas

* In Tom. XLII, p. 644, of the Comptes Rendus, the late Prince of Canino

remarks—“ Mon Lestris Hardyi vw’ est admis comme espéce ni a Leyde ot on le

nomme Lestris parasiticus? ex Malasia, Boié; ni 4 Berlin ot le seul qu’on

posséde a été pris en pleine mer entre les Philippines et les tiles Sandwich. M.

Cabanis l’a étiqueté Lestris crepidata.”

The Gargany andthe Pintail are the two commonest species of Ducks in Lower

Bengal during the cold season, at least they are brought in by far the greatest

iumbers to the provision-bazars, and are, pre-eminently, the ‘wild Duck’ and

‘Teal’ of our tables. Our most common Pochard is the ‘ White-eye’ (FULIGULA

wyroca). The Gadwall, Shoveller, Widgeon, and true Teal, are tolerably common,

as also the Red-crested, the Tufted, and the Dun Pochards: the Shieldrake is

not rare: but the Mallard I have never seen yet, though assured that it has been

shot so near as at Raniginj. CasaRCA RUTILA is common, of course; and the

non-Huropean species I here pass over.

It may be remarked, however, that a Duck from Abyssinia which Dr. Riippell

sent us for A. PACILORHYNCHA, and which is described as A. Ruppelli in J. A. S.

XXIV, 265, proves to be A. FravrrosTRis, A. Smith, figured in the Zoology of

S. Africa. ‘The only difference is, that the neck in the figure is represented to

be minutely speckled, instead of being streaked with a dark median line on each

feather; and there is no discernible dusky mark through the eye in the Society’s

Abyssinian specimen. ‘The description, however, demonstrates their identity.

+ Vide J. A. S. XXIII, 214.

~ ‘Narrative of Expedition to the Polar Sea,’ Sabine’s translation, p. 52.

418 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4.

have visited them only in the garb of immaturity. The Pomarine Skua is

there an exceedingly rare winter visitant in its adult dress; and a recent

instance of such a specimen occurring, at the Land’s-End, is made the sub-

ject of a paper appended to ‘the Fortieth Annual Report of the Royal

Institution of Cornwall’ (1858), which I have just received.

Major Tickell’s subsequent package contains the skin of a Squirrel, which

is only our second specimen of—

Sciurus Berpmorel, nobis, J. A. S. XVIII, 603. This species, accord-

yng to Major Tickell, “‘infests paddy fields. It is im fact more terrestrial

than arborial, or at least fully as much so. You will remark its long muzzle

and flat head—strongly resembling that of the Tupaia.” Nevertheless,

though approximating—it cannot range in the peculiar group designated

Ruinosciurus by Dr. J. E. Gray; undescribed by him, but a species from

Singapore noticed by the name of Ru. TuPAtorIDES, Gray, in p. 195 of his

‘Catalogue of the Specimens of Mammalia in the British Museum.’ It 1s

also doubtfully referred by him to Sc. LaTicaupatus, Miller, figured and

described by Dr. S. Miller and Prof. Temminck. We also possess what

must doubtless be Dr. Gray’s species, from Singapore; and it can hardly

be other than that noticed by Dr. Cantor in J. A.S.XV, 251. Dr. Cantor,

however, describes the fur to be “‘ soft and delicate.’ In our specimen (and

I selected it from others like it) the fur 1s somewhat coarse, and the piles do

not lie straight and smooth, but have a harsh and rough appearance. He

also describes his Pinang species to “‘ differ from the diagnosis of Sc. LATI-

CAUDATUS, from the west coast of Borneo, in having neither the first nor

the fifth molar of the upper jaw very large. Both are of nearly equal size,

and much smaller than the rest.”” In our Singapore specimen, the first

upper molar is unusually large for a Scrurus, but not more than half so

large as the last of the series, which latter is of equal size (or very nearly

so) with the fourth. The skull exactly agrees with that of Sc. LaTICAU-

DATUS, as figured by Dr. 8. Miller, as does also the size of the first upper

molar; and there is the same remarkable elongation and reduced vertical

depth of the maxillaries, with their inferior outline exhibiting a straight

line from the rodential tusks to the molars; the upper rodent teeth are also

singularly small, and the lower elongated and almost straight,—their

enamel being of a pale orpiment-yellow colour; the ear-conch is remark-

ably short, bearing a great resemblance to that of Tupata; and, as

viewed from a little distance, it is curious that there is even the same

pale line on the side of the neck as im the Tupaia, but broader and

less defined or more diffuse. In this specimen the tips of the caudal hairs

are white, imparting a grizzled hoary appearauce; and the fur of the upper

parts, head aud limbs, is much more mixed with black than in Dr. 8.

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. . £19

Miiller’s coloured figure of Sc, LaricaupaTus, and of the lower parts dull

white without any rufescent tinge. The two are probably affined species

rather than identical.

In Sc. BerpMorer the skull is that of an ordinary Scturus of the

‘ Palmist’ group, to which the species strictly appertains, as indeed is further

evidenced by the markings of its coat; it being the largest of the Palmists

with which I am acquainted; and moreover the habits (as described by

Major Tickell) are just those of other Palmists. Neither in the form of

its ear-conch, nor in the attenuation of the maxillaries and reduced size of

its gnawing teeth, does it approximate the RHINoscIuRUS type; and the

enamel of the tusks is of the usual dark brownish-orange colour. The fur,

however, is very like that of a Tupata, but for the usual longitudinal

stripes that distinguish the Palmist Squirrels.* The specimen formerly

presented by the late Major Berdmore from Mergui was a fine male, of

a brighter colour than Major Tickell’s female now sent, having in fact a

newer or less worn peiage ; but the species is obviously one and the same.

It has three dorsal black stripes from the shoulder to the croup, the lateral

bordered externally by a yellowish-white stripe, and there is another yellow-

ish-white stripe on each side below, separated and set off above and below

with blackish; lower parts white with a strong rufous tinge, and in the

Mergui specimen more especially this rufous is rather deep on the internal

border of the thighs and at the base of tail underneath; the head is very

rufescent in both specimens; and the tail in that from Mergui is deep

rufous underneath along its middle, with first a narrow and then a broad

longitudinal band, the latter set off with yellowish-white tips, which grizzle

also the upper surface of the tail. In the other specimen, which appears

to have been younger, in addition to having more worn and abraded fur,

the colouring of the tail is the same, but much duller. Length of head and

body about 8 in., with tail of the usual proportions: skull just 2 in. long.

HALCYON LEUCOCEPHALUS, (L).; H. gurtal, Pearson. Variety, with

albescent cap, sufficiently so quite to explain the specifical name, if founded

upon a specimen thus coloured.

Since this Report was drawn up, Major Tickell has favored the Society

with more elaborate descriptions of his specimens, which are awaiting

publication. We have also received from him a fine specimen of a fish from

Port Blair, the SyNANCEIA BRACHIO, C. V., of the Histoire des Poissons.

KE. Buyru.

* ¢Palm Squirrel’ isa misnomer; these animals shewing no particular par-

tiality for palms, that ever I could perceive.

PAAARRAPAR APIDOS ILL IID ESL RPO

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATICG SOCIETY.

PDA PP PPP P LPP PPL PL I PSPSPS L LISP LLL PLS LL LLL LLLP ALLO

No. V. 1859.

SOP PPP I PIII IIIS NII ALIN SI SNP SA NON ES ORR IRIR INN

Itinerary, with Memoranda, chiefly Topographical and Zoological,

through the southerly portions of the district of Amherst, Province

of Tenasserim. With a Map.—By Major 8. BR. Ticket, 31st

Regt. B. N. I. and Deputy Comnussioner of Amherst.

And Copious Botanical Notes—By the Rev. C. 8S. P. Parisu,

Chaplain of Moulmein.

The following observations pretend to little more than to furnish

the route through an extremely wild, in parts utterly unknown and,

generally speaking, uninteresting country and people. A consider-

able portion of this journey was through a tract hitherto unvisited

by any European, and in this region were traversed wide intervals,

utterly devoid of human inhabitants of whatsoever kind. Wild

and unprofitable as the country may now appear, it forms part

however of the most accessible line of inland communication between

Moulmein, and the capital of Siam, Bangkok; and for this reason

alone, the notes here collected may not be altogether useless.

A glance at any Map which includes this part of the world, on

however small a scale, shows that the province of Tenasserim is 2

comparatively narrow strip of land, forming a seaboard to the

great southern spur or branch of the Himala, called in Arracan and

Burma the Yomadoung (or back bone mountains) which extends

southward skirting the districts of Amherst, Tavoy and Mergui,

till it passes into the Malayan peninsula. This narrow strip has

for its western boundary, from the furthest south, the sea, as far

north as Amherst, whence the demarcation is continued northward

No. CI.—Nnzw Series, Von, XXIX. 3.1

422 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. |No. 5.

along the Thanlweng (Anglicé Salween) river as high as about

Lat. 17° 52’ N. about which parallel commences the Shan territory

of Zimmey.

Between the above parallel and that of 15° 20’ N. the land slopes

down from N. E. and S. to the basin of Moulmein, so that at, or

close to that town, the waters of the Thanlweng from the N., the

Gying from the N. H., and the Attaran from the S., all join together,

ere pouring into the sea. It is a rare topographical feature to

find rivers running in such directly opposite courses in so small an

area, and having their confluences at such obtuse angles as the

Gying and Houngthrau. It is evident however that the great

watershed is to the S. E. from whence the rivers flow, until stop-

ped by the drainage from the north, the main receivers of which

are the Thanlweng and Gying, into which the rivers from the

southward of necessity flow, and are forced back by the former into

a common current debouching into the Thanlwene.

These rivers may be briefly thus described. The Thanlweng

which comes from far to the northward in a straight course and

from very elevated regions (perhaps 15,000 feet above the sea) is

clear, sandy and rapid; until within forty miles of its mouth. The

Gying, a very short and tortuous river, is muddy, deep, and sluggish ;

and the Thoungyen, and Houngthrau are narrow, rocky, sandy, but

not very swift hill streams, of great length for their size; while the

Attaran 1s muddy, narrow, slow, very deep, and navigable for one

fathom draught for about fifty miles from its junction with the

Gying. At this spot (fifty miles up) two hill streams, the Zum-

mee, and the Wenyau, clear, sandy, shallow, and not very rapid,

join; and their united waters constitute the Attaran.

The whole of the country traversed by these rivers may be briefly

described as buried under one vast forest, dense in the hills and

their spurs, and on the banks of the streams running from them ;

and opening out into extensive swamps between the rivers, where

the ground usually sinks below the level of drainage, and, being

annually flooded by heavy rains, does not admit of the growth of

forest trees, or of more persistent vegetation than giant grasses and

Arundinaceous plants. Between these two extremes, the natural

slope of the land admitting of drainage, and consequently of

a are

2) 2 Saeed tee.

1859.] Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 423

moderate natural irrigation, the ground is seized upon for culti-

vation—chiefly of rice, and, in higher spots, of certain favorite fruit

trees, the amount of orchard compared to cereal culture being very

large. ‘The whole area thus under cultivation at one time, (for

many of the fields, which get exhausted and are never manured, are

abandoned every fourth or fifth year to renovate themselves by

lying fallow) may be reckoned at one twentieth of the whole coun-

try. The cleared and cultivated patches in the hills themselves are

too few to interfere much with this calculation.

The population of the district 1s of course most dense at and

near Moulmein. Biloogewn island, most parts of the east banks of

the Thanlweng, the Gying, and the lower parts of the Attaran, are

tolerably well peopled, and inhabited by Talyngs. Further up the

rivers and near the foot of the hills the population is chiefly Karén,

and scattered, and two or three localities are stocked with Toung-

thoos, a tribe whose head quarters appear to be in the Martabau

district. These, with a sprinkling of Shans along the Houngthrau,

constitute the population, irrespective of settlers from Kast Bengal

and Coringa.

Having now attempted a general view of the country and its

inhabitants, without entering too much into dry statistical details,

I proceed to give a slight retrospect of our journey up the Attaran

and Zummee, through the Shan districts of Kyouk-khoung* and

Leneka, to the Houngthrau river, and down it, after a divarication

to the highest point of the range on its Hast, home—the journey

occupying from the 31st January to the 7th March, 1859, and com-

prising a tour of 450 miles in length.

January 31st, 1859.—Mr. Parish and I left Moulmein (or rather

Obo, its north-easterly suburb) at Oh. 830m. Pp. mM. We were travel-

ling in boats, one, a seven oar, for ourselves, and four others of

about the same dimensions conveying our baggage and followers,toge-

ther with office writers, clerks, and police. These boats, which are of

Burmese build and exceedingly long for their beam, are hollowed out

of a single tree (the Hopea Odorata or Thengar) and built up with

teak topsides, thwarts, flooring, and lockers ; and with bamboo and

* Literally “ Hollow Stone” a remarkable cleft, gully, or narrow pass amongst

rocks, from which the district takes its name.

3 a”?

424 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. [No. 5.

mat awnings. They are pleasant enough for two or three hours, but

get terribly irksome afterwards, from the confined crouching position

they entail. We had the flood tide with us, and, rapidly skirting

the suburb of Obo, turned into the Attaran river about 1 Pp. um. and

proceeded up it at the rate of about five to five and a half miles an

hour. Stream at its mouth about 150 yards wide; deep and muddy,

with low country on either bank. High grass and mangrove-like

jungle to our left hand, and the open and populous space surround-

ing Moulmein to our right. Course 8S. and 8S. E. Scattered hamlets

on either side, with low (high bush) jungle, till 2 Pp. Mm. when we

got to Kyik parang, where we were to have halted ; but, finding it too

early, proceeded and reached the next eligible place for passing the

night, Kwan-ngan, at 5.15 p.m. Heartily wearied. We brought the

flood the whole way with us, and I calculated the distance at twenty-

three miles. About three miles back we passed most romantic scenery.

A range of perpendicular rocks, called the Pya doung, of murai lime-

stone, rise sheer out of the water to six or eight hundred feet, ou

the right or eastern bank of the river; and some extraordinary

bold, scarped, insulated rocks are scattered also along the opposite

side. On the pinnacles of these rocks we observed numbers of

adjutants. These huge birds breed here annually and the rocks are

in many places conspicuously white with their dung. There are

two species of adjutant—Leptoptilos Argeela (our old Calcutta

friend) and ZL. Javanicus (a rarer visitor in Bengal), and both breed

together on these inaccessible places. The Argeela is notably

larger than the other: but the eggs of the two species are hardly

to be distinguished apart. The villagers of Kwan-ngan are Talyngs.

—a heavy, large, good tempered set. They had prepared and cleaned

out for us a tolerably comfortable zeyat or serai. Close to this

was the village Kyoung, which is always a handsome substantial

wooden building, occupied by Phoongyees or priests, and serving

generally as schools for the village children, who are taught reading,

writing and cyphering by the phoongyees; the latter thus make some

return for the benefits they receive from the parents, and this miti-

gates in some respect the disgust that the whole system of priest

worship in Burmah excites.

Rated the Chronometer at 8 vp. m. and found it had sensibly

changed, in spite of the very gentle motion it had had.

1859.| Ltinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 425

February 1st—Thick fog at 7 a. m. and Thermometer 68°.

Halted till noon. Took Observation at 8.380 a. m. for error of Chro-

nometer (assuming this spot to be 8’ E. of Moulmein or 6h. 31m.

K. of Greenwich, which it is as nearly as possible). Took meridian

Observation © and made Latitude 16° 20’ N.

Started at 2 p. Mm. and reached Attaran at 5h. 20m. Pp. m., distance

fifteen miles. River as yesterday. Thick jungle on both banks

and elephant grass. On the way we passed a range of limestone

rocks similar to those of yesterday, and on the same (the east) side

of the river, but considerably higher, rising perhaps to 1500 feet.

The range is about one and a half mile in length, nearly parallel to

the river, but at last joining it at avery acute angle, and jutting into

the water, where the rocks form most fantastic caves, hollow domes,

and pendents like stalactytes hanging over the stream. At the

southerly end of the range, they are completely permeated by an oven

shaped cave, through which a small tributary falls into the Attaran.

We pulled into and through this singular water vault, and from the

other side I made a sketch of the scene, looking back to the main

river. The limestone here was very hard and compact, in fact a

coarse marble, but the people told me it had never been worked.

The land at the back of the rocks was being cleared by a roving

band of Karéns. Adjutants were numerous on the summit.

Attaran, which is a tolerably large hamlet, is built in the elephant

erass, which absolutely overshadows the doors; and though this

species of vegetation fosters musquitoes to a degree quite unknown

in Hindustan, and though the clearing the whole village of the

grass would not be a day’s job, yet so lazy and apathetic are the

people that they will not take the trouble to cut down a blade!

Their only resource is to sit uPthe evening, and sleep in smoke that

would excite universal opthalmia in less callous beings. I need

scarcely say that from suuset till we got inside our curtains, I and

my companion were in a state of complete torment.

February 2nd.—Procured a specimen of the little “ black and red

Indian falcon,” (Hierax Hutolmos) a beautiful little burlesque on the

large and savage falconidx. The country in the interior (we are on the

left bank) is an immense extent of high grass, scattered sparsely

with timber, many of the trees dead.

426 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. (No. 5.

Observation at noon gave Latitude 16° 12’ 39” N. ; Longitude by

Chronometer 97° 49’ E. or 12’ East of Moulmein.

Started at 2h. 20m. P. M., ebb against us one hour. Reached

Padowk at 5h. 30 P. M., run fifteen miles. Course S. E. by-E. Six

miles from Attaran we reached the site of the old fort of that name,

opposite which the Zummee and Wenyau join. The latter comes

from the 8S. The Zummee from H. 8. E. We turned into the

latter. The river very deep, 100 to 140 yards wide, banks mud,

and high grass. Flood tide sensibly helping us. Padowk we found

buried in elephant grass. ‘The musquitoes swarmed and stung us

to madness, and we were obliged to eat our dinner sitting in the

smoke of wood fires.

Kebruary 3rd.—Uatitude 16° 6’ 23” N.; Longitude 98° E.

Started at 35m. P. M. against the ebb. River much as yesterday,

but more abruptly winding. Banks are increasing in height, rise

and fall of tide (springs) about four feet. Little of note to be seen

in the monotonous forest on both banks, save a few fishing monkeys

(Macacus cynomolgus) peeping at us through the bushes, and

immediately quarrelling with each other. At 8h. 25m. reached

KXya-eng. Runnine miles. Course E.S. E. The banks were high

and our temporary hut in a pretty cleared space, cheerful, and I am

thankful to say, free of musquitoes. ‘The village is some way inland,

through a pretty wood. Shot a specimen of that beautiful bird

Psilorhinus Sinensis. There were three of them, and I have never

seen them so bold. Generally this bird is as difficult to approach

as our Magpie in England. Psdlorhinus flavirostris, which is the

well known “ blue Magpie’? of Darjeeling, has a chatter precisely

like that of the British Magpie; while its congener Sinensis, which

scarcely differs from the other in plufhage, has a soft wailing whistle

like the note of some birds of prey.

February 4th.—Thick fog at 7 a. Mm. and Thermometer 64°. Took

a stroll inland with my gun, but saw nothing new. The country is

a thin forest of “ Eng’’ trees (a species of Dipterocarpus very like

the Saul) and here and there swampy patches. Ayd-eng, Latitude

16° 1’ 49’ N.; Longitude 98° 6’ 30” E.

February 5th.—Left at 9 a. M. and about seven miles up the stream

lost the last traces of the tide. It thus ascends in the springs by

1859.] Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 427

computation sixty-nine miles. I could not find out the site of old

Zummee, a fort or stockade from which the river takes its name,

and which in Captain O’ Brien’s map is placed somewhere here. The

Talyngs and Karens would not, or could not, tell me. These people

seldom speak the truth, when questioned respecting the country

they livein. The Karens especially are the most annoying in this

respect, but whether they mislead purposely, or from sheer stupi-

dity, is a question most difficult to determine. At 11.30 a. M.

came to for a meridian Observation. Left again at 25m. P.M. At

2 Pp. M. we passed the first scour or rapid. The banks still muddy:

but shingly bottom at intervals. At 8h. 30m. P. M. reached Kapé,

a little Karen settlement of two houses. Some children were

squatting down, looking at the wonders coming on shore from the

boats. They, both boys and girls, were very pretty and interesting,

and clothed in long shirts, like the calico night shirts little boys

used to be clad in when put to bed. Great numbers of Carpophaga

Sylvatica (the “imperial pigeon” of Moulmein) flying about. We

shot five: a great addition to our dinner, for these birds are of

excellent flavor. ‘l'o-day’s course 8. S. I., run sixteen miles.

February 6th.—Thermometer 64° at 7 a.m. Hot and muggy to

the feel. Kapd, Latitude 15° 58’ 18” N.; Longitude $8e¢ 12’ E.

Rtemarked two very fine Gaur skins belonging to a Mooksho

or hunter, who had killed them on the Wenyau river, and left them

here, together with a heap of horribly offensive barbecued meat for

sale. The Karens especially delectate in this kind of carrion.

Weighed at 1h. 30m. p. mu. River winding and stream strong

and shallow in parts. It is now very clear, but mud has not

eutirely disappeared. Saw some monstrous limestone rocks about

fifteen or twenty miles to the westward. ‘They proved to be the

“« Alanteya,”’ a range on the east bank of the Wenyau, and must be

above two thousand feet in height. Reached Shanzoo at 4h. 35m.

P. M.; run nine miles ; course S. by E.

Shanzoo or Nyoung Zummee is a pretty cleared spot, with a few

very neat houses, pleasantly shaded by large peepul trees, and

overlooking the stream from a high retired bank. The village is

peopled by a colony of Shans from Kyouk-houng to the Southward,

an intelligent and interesting people. The community had formed

428 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. [No. 5.

a really valuable and carefully tended garden or orchard, about four

acres in area, and well stocked with plantains, jacks, mangoes,

limes or oranges, chillies, and cotton. Of the last however the

chief cultivation was round the village. These Shans have a

singular appearance, from their shaving their heads all but the

vertex, on which the hair is allowed to grow in a patch to about

two inches in length, so that each man looks asif he had ornamented

himself with a shoe brush, on the top of his skuil. There were

several Hoolocks (Hylobatis lar) dark colored Lungoors (Presbytes

Phayret) and large squirrels (Sctwrws bicolor) on the huge trees over

our heads; the branches of which were also crowded with different

species of the Zreron (green pigeons), Carpophaga Sylvatica, and

one or two large hornbills (Buceros Cavatus). They had all become

so familar with the presence of men (in the shape of the quiet

peaceable Shans) that it was not till after several shots from our

ruthless guns that the animals, both bird and beast, departed to

safer precincts. The air has been close and oppressive, and we had

some thunder and lightning at night.

February 7th—Nyoung Zummee. Latitude 15° 48’ 46” N.;

Longitude 98° 13° 15” E.

We started at 25m. p. m. The river very picturesque, from its

high wooded banks and clear rippling stream. We met fewer rapids

or scours than yesterday, and occasionally reaches of very deep and

tranquil water. At 4h. 35m. vp. M. arrived at Thalaya Zy’k. Course

S. by E.; run ten miles.

This spot we found to be a mere landing place on the east bank,

from whence a path leads to the wretched scattered hamlets of the

Karéns a mile or so inland. We took up our quarters in a bamboo

zeyat which the Goung Gyoup or Tahsildar of the division (who

accompanied us) had caused to be furbished up for our use, in a

partially cleared space of some forty yards diameter, surrounded by

dense thickets and forest. The spot was some fifty or sixty feet

above the river which forms here a beautiful deep pool, full of fine

fish, which sport here quite unheeded by the Karéns, who prefer this

food in the half salted, half putrid state, in which it is sold in the

Moulmein markets. The truth I suspect is, they are too indolent

to be at the trouble of catching them.

1859.| Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 429

This spot ended our voyage. The river is navigable further up

for such boats as ours: but so many rapids occur that progress is

very tedious. Our journey onwards is by land on elephants, of

which we found a considerable assemblage, with their motley wild-

looking drivers, all Karéns from neighbouring settlements.

When young, these people are by no means bad looking. Some boys

we remarked amongst them to-day were quite pretty, but the Mon-

golian roundness of their faces, which in youth gives an innocent

and pleasing air, imparts an inane heavy expression in after years.

And the filthy practice of chewing pawn is carried by them (from

the earliest age) to such an extent, as to be absolutely odious. Few

reach maturity with more than blackened stumps instead of teeth

in their gums (from the corrosive nature of the lime mixed with

the pawn) and at all hours, at all ages, and with both sexes, the

reddened saliva may be seen running out of their disfigured lips, or

discharged in incredible quantities from their mouths. ‘The teeth

become at first permanently red, and by the age of twenty perma-

nently black, so that the prettiest girl of the tribe when she smiles

is changed into a very gorgon. All of them, big and little were

furnished with pipes, made out of the curved roots of bamboos with

a reed mouth-piece; and when not chewing pawn, they were smok-

ing these. ‘he tobacco they use is grown by themselves on the

river banks, and is mild and rather flavourless; but they preferred

it to my “ honey dew” and “ solace.”’

The dress of the Karéns consists of a long night-shirt looking

garment, into the loose sleeves of which both arms or only one (as

convenient) can be thrust. The hair they wear long, and bound

into a knot on the top of the head, perhaps a little on one side to

look rakish. Over the shoulder is hung their invariable travelling

bag of stout cotton cloth, white, red, or striped. And in the hand

is generally carried the da (an awkward lumbering implement half

knite, half chopper) which like the Lepchas of Sikkim, the Niwars

of Nepal, or the Bhotias of Tibet, they apply to all imaginuble uses.

A few of them, wear large mis-shapen turbans, and one man a

Saukay, or patriarch, was dressed out in a Burmese shaped engee

(a short shirt coat) of good English superfine blue broad cloth,

garnished with the name, in gold letters, of the firm whence it had

439 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. No. 5.

emanated, conspicuously placed in front of his raiment, like the

most noble order of the Tower and Sword.

It would encroach too much on my limits to give more than an

introductory sketch of these people, whose history moreover has

been already presented to the world by abler writers than myself.

I will only remark that the Karéns we have now to travel with

locate themselves along the Zummee river in clearings, which they

quit aiter every two or three years. They are less civilized than

the Karéus of the neighbouring Houngthrau river, and although

the latter stream is not more than twenty miles distant, they seldom

visit it. The Karéns on the Houngthrau possess buffaloes and poultry.

Those of the Zammee nothing of the kind, subsisting solely upon a

vegetable diet which consists not only of rice and the usual orchard

produce, but of jungle fruits, roots, leaves, and even bark, sub-

stances which ove would suppose nothing but a famished monkey

or squirrel would turn to for aliment. To this may sometimes be

added a scrap of dry salt fish or barbecued meat obtained by barter

from some Moulmein trading boat. The animals, birds, and fishes

with which their forests and streams are stocked, they seem neither

to make use of, nor notice. They have neither fire-arms nor bows

and arrows, nor fishing implements.

In singular contradistinction to such traits of destitution ig the

fact of their wealth in elephants. Every householder appears to

possess one if not two of these animals. They are brought chiefly

from the Shan territories: but how these people procure the money

to purchase them I never could clearly discover. Many are stolen

no doubt. The animals are generally small, valuing at from two

to four hundred rupees. They carry little more than what would

load a good up-country bullock in India, and from want of proper

training are wretchedly slow.

From Thalayé Zyk, a path extends in a north-east direction to

Meetan, alarge Karén village on the Houngthrau distant two days’

journey. There is no direct access to that river from any point

further south on the Zummee, owing to intervening ranges and

masses of limestone rocks, which are utterly impassable. These

extend as far south as Thoon zoo (Lat. 15° 19’) where they can be, in

wilitary parlance, turned. Our course then lies along their western

border to that place, and thence north-eastward.

1859.] Ltinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 431

In the evening wandering gun in hand, I was fortunate enough

to shoot an entirely new (undescribed) species of wood partridge

(Arboricola). It was running so fast down a small hill that I took

it at first for a rat or some such animal.

February 8th—Halted—all our elephants not having assembled.

Took Observation at noon, and made Thalaya Zyk Latitude 15°

43’ 16” N. and Longitude 98° 15’ E.

The heat in our little bungalow was frightful. The people of this

country thatch with the sole view apparently of keeping out rain, not

sun. We tried to make matters bearable by heaping boughs over-

head. In the evening saw a specimen of that superb bird Hurosto-

podus cerviniceps high in the air. It has much the flight of our

fern owl or goat sucker, but on a grander scale.

February 9th.—Started at 6h. 45m, a. M. and walked till 10 through

dark scrubby jungles, affording cover for any amount of wild beasts:

but saw nothing out of the common way, except two or three wood

partridges, one of which I shot. Hills were perceptible through the

jungles to the eastward. Our course seemed 8. H. At 10, mounted

my elephant and at 11h. 20m. reached Py’ngwen, distance about ten

miles. Our encamping place was in a low dell near the Meetaget

river, in jungle so close and dark that it seemed twilight all day.

@, and in

for)

running up the little booths in which we eat and sleep, and lucky

The Karens are very expeditious in clearing and feilin

it is for us they are so, for with houses we have now done. About

a mile from our resting place is a Karen clearing, stocked with

plantains, some cotton and two or three half dilapidated huts,

utterly uninhabitable to us from their filth. The Aleetaget runs

through forests at one time abundantly stocked with teak trees,

which have now, however, been nearly all felled and taken away to

Moulmein. The clear rippling waters of these brooks gave us a most

delicious bath after the heat of the day’s journey.

February 10¢h.—Our march to-day was to Meepra, on a branch of

the Meetaget. Latitude 15° 37° 5” N. and Longitude 98° 17’ E.

Course 8. W. through dreary and dark jungles ; distance about eight

miles. Some Karen women and girls came to see us from their

clearing about a mile off. One of them was remarkably pretty and

seemed to know it.

dK 2

432 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. [No. 5.

February 11th.—Ueft at Gh. 45m. a. Mm. Course S. E. by S.

distance eight miles to Poonkhau. Latitude 15¢ 32’ 58” N.; Lon-

gitude 98° 20’ E. It is a picturesque little clearing with one

or two houses on the junction of the Kyoon and Meetaget. Here

we had breakfast, and after taking a meridian observation left at

25m. p. M. and reached Meetabwee at 2h. 45m. Distance about

seven miles 8.8. E. The march lay through a dense forest and

along the roots and spurs of a chain of limestone rocks which ran

along to our Hastward ina vast wall, with a fantastic castellated

ridge, shooting up to 2,000 and 2,500 feet. This is part of the great

barrier between the Zummee and Houngthrau, which I have already

alluded to. But it is only during this march that it comes skirting

the road so near, and shows itself in its vast proportions. We en-

camped in a most romantic dell, close to the rocks. At night I

heard singularly wild and to me new cries from the direction of the

latter: but strange to say, nothing of interest in Zoology has yet

been met with, except perhaps to-day, when we captured a most

beautiful snake which had climbed up a bush. It was black, banded

with zigzags of bright vermillion, with drops in the interspaces of

pure white. It was harmless, having teeth along the maxillary or

upper jaw bones.

February 12th.—Left at 6h. 40m. a.m. We have descended sen-

sibly and left the dry stony jungle for a rich moist soil, the nullahs

(small streams) we cross being muddy and boggy. Our course was

S. S. E. and Southerly, through profound forests, in some places

dark with shade: and always looming over our heads to our left

hand (Eastward) the monstrous rocks ran along like an enormous

wall. Here and there near swampy places the ground was thickly

marked with the traces of deer and pigs; and peafowl were calling

all around, but we could see nothing worth shooting! At 10h.

15m. reached Kroontau, a spot at the junction of a stream of that

name with the Meykatha—which comes tumbling in from the Hast-

ward through an interruption or gorge in the limestone wall. The

Zummee here therefore ceases, according to the Karéns: but in

truth the Kroontau is nothing but the Zummee followed higher up.

Took Observation at Aroontau—Latitude 15° 22' 49” N. and

Longitude 98° 20’ 30” E,—and proceeded on our journey. Course

1859.| Ltinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 433

S.S. HE. ascending a little into dryer undulating country, through

an arid scanty jungle, where the sun beat fiercely. Halted at a

nasty spot close to a deep bogey pool, covered with tangle and

underwood, near the ruins of an ancient entrenchment or stockade

of the Burmans called Axkanoo—day’s run 17 miles.

Ankanoo appears to have been the furthest Southerly position of

the Burman Army, which invaded this Province. The Talyngs fled

before their conquerors and took refuge in the Shan states, and in

Bangok the Siamese Capital itself, where they settled and became

naturalised, intermarrying with the Shans—most of whom in this

direction speak Talyng.

We received here intimation that the Shans (whose territories we

are getting near to) had barricaded the only pass into their coun-

try—not with hostile intent but from fear of our infecting them all

with small-pox, which indeed was then prevalent at Moulmein. I

therefore sent off a civil letter to the Governor of the district we

had to enter, giving a clean “ bill of health,’ and intimating that it

would be excessively inconvenient for us now to turn back.

February 18th.—Marched to 'Thoonzoo, about five miles E. by S.

through a light scattered forest. Passing heedlessly by a pond in

the jungle, I suddenly put up a pair of that rare and handsome

bird Anas Melanogaster (of Blyth, who however I think makes it a

Sarcidiornis.) It is a noble species of duck, as large as a barnacle,

and I felt much chagrined at not having been ready with my gun

to secure such a valuable specimen.

In this march we turned the flank of the limestone barrier, which

appears now to trend to the Hastward and to break up into innu-

merable insulated groups of rocks. These unite again to the South

of Thoonzoo but lose their mural form, and run in parallel rounded

ridges from E. to W., the black bare rocks and the scanty burnt

up jungle on them, giving a most dreary appearance to the country.

But Thoonzoo itself cheers the eye by displaying a tolerable extent

of open down—a relief to the senses only to be appreciated by

those who have journeyed for days through the monotonous forests

of Tenasserim. We stopped here to breakfast; examined a little

spring welling out of the grass, round which tiger’s foot-prints

were numerous; noted the three mounds of stones, or cairns, which

434 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. — [No. 5.

were erected here by Captain (now Lieut.-Colonel) Macleod, to

mark the boundary between the British and the Siamese posses-

sions, and which the latter people have now decorated with flags,

&e., as places of worship; and after taking an observation started

at 1 Pp. M.

Thoonzoo, 15° 19’'9” N. Lat. and 98° 27’ 30” EH. Long.; Ther.

88° at noon.

Height by Aneroid above Moulmein 701 feet.

The remainder of our march to-day was the worst we have expe-

rienced. Course N. E. by E. and at about two miles entering the

district of Kyouk K’houng (Shan States). I rode an elephant.

The path lay up and along a prodigiously steep hill, and it was

most nervous work proceeding along the face of it, for the track

was just the breadth of the animal’s foot and no more, and a slip

would have been annihilation: but these elephants never do slip—

nobody can recollect such an accident having happened, and one

speedily gets to feel at ease on places which would make a stranger

shudder. After descending this hill, we proceeded along a muddy

quagey nulla, ina deep dark gerge, which was, I think, the worst

part of the trip. The unfortunate elephants sunk at nearly every

step to their shoulders, and wrenched their bulky bodies out of the

tenacious mud and quicksands with wonderful strength and_perse-

verance. ‘To add to our comforts, we were by and bye all brought

up in an inextricable mob by the barricade, for the Karéns who had

preceded and headed our column, not daring to break it down had

waited for our coming up. As evening was approaching and we had

a good deal more of the vile quagmire to pass, no time was to be

lost, and I commenced yelling at the people to demolish the barrier:

but not a soul would attempt it, till I had struggled and squeezed

through to the front, where my own Chuprassies and people cleared

the obstacle away, and handed me a gubernatorial edict which was

discovered suspended over the abbatis “ banning and barring” fur-

ther progress. Beyond this spot we had about two miles more of

the boggy stream, ina dense ratan jungle between steep thickly

wooded hills, and at length at 5 p.m. we emerged into a pretty

cleared spot, shaded by fine timber, in which lay the village of

Weytamaryng.

ee ee _

1859.| Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 435

Our little encampment of booths and wigwams was outside the

village, and shortly after our arrival the Governor and suite came

to visit us. He was a civil good-natured old man, and all the people

a simple pleasing set. ‘They are of the class called Shan Talyngs,

to whom allusion was made before; and their countenances are far

more pleasant than those of the pure Shans, especially as they do

not cut their hair into a brush. We had a long interview with the

Governor ; who, whether it is etiquette with them, or whether he

was deaf, or imagined I was, bawled out every word like a stentor.

He spoke in Shan, which was interpreted into Talyng, and that into

Burmese. Before parting I civilly remarked to the old gentleman

that it would be more considerate to travellers to put his cordon

sanitaire at the commencement, instead of near the end of a difficult

journey! Total march to-day 13 miles.

February 14th.—The place being pleasant to look upon, and ae-

counts of the next march most dismal, we halted to-day.

Weytamaryng, Lat. 15° 20’ 31” N.; Lone. 98° 40’ E.; Thermometer

55° at 65 a. M., 84° at noon. Height above Moulmein 524 feet.

The extremes of temperature have so disturbed the rate of my

Chronometer, that, want of time preventing my stopping long

enough anywhere to re-rate it, I must trust to Latitude and dead

reckoning to fix my positions in future.

In the evening took a stroll through the village. The houses are

large, well raised on bamboos, of which they are entirely composed,

and very flat in the pitch of the roof, like Swiss cottages. The

houses stood embowered in plantain trees (these people being exclu-

sively frugivorous) and the low spurs of the hills all round were

cultivated with cotton. The marks of pigs were so abundant that

I was nearly tempted to sit up at night for them. My offer of ten

rupees to any villager who would shoot me one was however met

with general merriment as something “ really too ridiculous’”—not

a fowl, duck, or buffalo was to be seen, and all the way from Thaldya

zy to the Houngthrau river, we have to depend on our own com-

missariat for supplies. Fortunately the possession of a good quan-

tity of Grimwade’s desiccated milk, allows us the real luxury of a

good cup of tea and coffee in the mornings; no traveller in such

inhospitable regions should be without this admirable substitute for

436 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. [No. 5.

fresh milk. It is the only successful preparation of the kind I have

ever met with, but lest I should be suspected of “ towting’’ for

Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell (who sell the commodity) I will sing

no more of its praises.

February 15th.— We started at 7 a. m. along a dismal bottom be-

tween densely wooded hills, threading a nulla—not so horribly

boggy as the last. Then up and along a lofty hill and down its

Eastern slope across an extent of low hot grass jungle, to Tharaw4,

a little wretched clearing, where we stopped to breakfast. Course

about N. E; distance eight miles. Latitude 15° 21’ 24” N. and

Longitude 98° 36’ E.

At 1h. 30m. P. M. we started again, and proceeding N. E. mounted

into a fine tableland about 2000 feet above sea level (by Aneroid).

At 53 Pp. M. reached Loongtikouwng, a charming little village of some

six houses surrounded by small rounded hills, entirely cleared from

jungle, for several acres. It reminded us of a Swiss chalet for the

houses of these Shan Talyngs are very Swiss in appearance. The

poor people and their pretty but dirty children stared at us in pure

astonishment, for we were the first “white mans’? they had ever

seen. <A few kind words, however, soon encouraged them, and pre-

sently a couple of sturdy urchins were vying to be foremost in

getting Mr. Parish Orchids and other flowers. We found it very

cold at night. Thermometer 58° at 10 p.m. Our day’s run has

been about sixteen miles.

February 16th.—Thermometer 52° at 7a.u. At 9 a. M. Ther-

mometer 63°. Water boiled at 210°.4 giving [918 feet above the

sea. The Aneroid gave 1929 feet. Took a sketch of the village, and

a look at the surrounding country from a neighbouring height.

Lanki pha a remarkable limestone rock close N. of Zhoonzoo bore

W. by 8. peeping above the tableland we had crossed yesterday,

and the whole Northern horizon was shut in by a tumultuous sea

of hills through which the gorge, along which runs the Meykatha

could be here and there distinguished.

Lat. 15° 23’ 384” N. Long. 98° 42’ HE. Thermometer at noon 87°.

Left Zoongtikoung at 30m. Pv. M., course E. N. E., and reached

Mongtoosd at 2h. 45m. Pp. M. stopping to rest a little at Mey-

katha, alittle hamlet close to the hill stream of that name, the

1859. | Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 437

mouth of which we had seen at Kroontau on the 12th. It was

surprisingly large and deep, considering the length of its course,

and its beautifully clear waters tempted strongly to a bath. The

Meykatha comes from near a lofty abrupt mountain which the

Karéns pointed out, apparently twenty miles off to the 8.8. E.

The hill said to be stockaded and the head-quarters of the Governor

of Lengka, a district we enter to-morrow. It is called by the

Burmese “Lengka tat’? (Lengka fort); by the Shans “ Kho-ya;’’

and by the Karéns “ Klong p’hado”’ (great hill). At Mongtoosé is

a small colony of Shan Karéns, who, men and women, sat close round

never taking their eyes off us while day-light lasted. Our ablutions

and toilettes seemed to excite the most intense astonishment, and

an examination of my telescope, sextant, and especially the Chro-

nometer with its solemn tick, set them all wild.

February 17th.—Our course this morning lay N. N. HE. up and

along the ridge of a hill called “ 'T’hee bo” and towards the highest

point of the ridge “ Pansanouk’’ where the Aneroid stood at 27.1.

On the way I had a snap shot at a barking deer and missed.

(One of our party more fortunate killed one the other side of

Loongtikoung, the venison of which was excellent). A fine polecat

looking animal also crossed the path, but too quickly to be fired at,

and also a bevy of the Rollulus cristatus,a singular genus of quail

procurable occasionally at Mergui. Hitherto I have done nothing

in the Zoological way myself, and as to the people, they of course

do nothing to help one. The ascent up this interminable hill was

most fatiguing, and after four hours climbing, I was glad to sit down

on the summit where we had another view of the “ Lengka tat’’

about thirty miles S.S. E. The rest of our day’s march was a steep

descent into a hot grass jungle bottom, and at noon we halted at

Toongban by a stream for breakfast, having entered a moderately

undulating country, buried in heavy grass jungle and thinly

scattered forest trees, interspersed with rugged blackened limestone

rocks.

After breakfast, before resuming our journey, there was much deli-

beration and discussion amongst our Karéns, and we were at length

given to understand that the path onward was planted with tiger

traps: things about as unpleasant to meet as the animals them-

3 1

438 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. |No. 5.

selves, Our order of march was therefore thus. ‘The most expe-

rienced of the Karéns, a slow going imperturbable old fellow, led

the way with a large bamboo held to his stomach as if he were

angling for eels. The object of this manceuvre will be shortly

apparent. Immediately behind him protruded the barrels of my

Westley Richards, loaded with ball twelve to the pound, and grasp-

ed by myself in readiness for all comers. Mr. Parish, also advanced

similarly armed, and our rear was covered by a column of clubs,

some spears, and one or two antique muskets (probably unloaded).

We had not proceeded in this order very far, before we came on a

little bamboo rail, placed there to warn the passenger that a trap is

close ahead. Our pace then became funereal. Our Karén leader

struck his bamboo on the ground at every step, and presently hit

the trap, which went off with a crack, driving a sharp pointed bam-

boo dagger or spear head across the path in a manner which would

have smitten the foremost of us hip and thigh, had it not been for

the angling apparatus afore mentioned. For about three miles we

plodded on in this manner, passing four or five traps, three of

which had been let or shot off, one most evidently by a tiger: for

we found the bamboo spear-head, covered with blood and unmistak-

able black and white hairs. These traps [which are, I fancy, of

Malay or Chinese origin] are on the principle of the bows set by

our “ Bagh Mars” in India. A strong stiff bamboo, with a sharp-

ened pointed piece slightly inserted at right angles into one end,

is placed horizontally at about two and a half or three feet from the

eround, close to and parallel with the path, and the unarmed end

firmly lashed to stakes or posts. The free extremity is then bent

back and secured in that position in such a manner, that any object

moving along the path and pushing before it a line extended across,

detaches the fastening of the bent bamboo, which suddenly

straightening, drives the spear-head with great force across the

path. These spear-heads are smeared with the poisonous juice of

the “as’hyk ben” (a large tree) found in the hills (a sample

of which I take this opportunity of sending to the Society).

At 8h. 30m. we entered a verdant line of forest and found our-

selves on the banks of the Zaylo a beautifully clear hill stream,

falling into the Houngthrau about ten miles to the North. We

1859.| Ltinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 4:39

have therefore passed the water-sued between the Meykatha and

the Houngthrau, and may be said to have commenced our journey

homeward. We encamped for the night on the banks of the stream,

in thin bamboo jungle, and were grievously tormented during our

stay by the insupportable stench of a species of Acacious creeper

“ Soo-bdék-ben”’ like assafoetida: of which there were four or five

plants about. The effluvium is so strong as to be plainly percep-

tible two hundred yards off, but strange to say both Karéng and

Talyngs use it to flavour their food! Our march to-day has been

fifteen miles. Course N. N. E.

Hebruary \8th.—There was an alarm last night of a tiger, so that

the trumpeting of the elephants, the shouting of the Karéns, and

the fragrance of the abovementioned creeper, gave us a charming

time of it! At 7 a.M. we were off down the Easterly bank of the

Taylo, and then along a hot arid grass valley, with rugged limestone

rocks in all directions. Several tiger-traps were found here also.

This part of the country is said to be full of tigers, and indeed

to-day’s and yesterday’s jungle looked as if made on purpose

for them. Nothing could induce the Karéns to follow, with or

without me, the tracks from any of the traps which had been let

off, to find a wounded animal. The Koles of Singbhoom would

have done it in a moment: but the Karéns know nothing of wood-

eraft. We reached Zaylo,a small Karén settlement on the banks

of the stream it gives its name to, at 11 a. M.—a nine mile march.

Observation at noon, Zaylo, 15° 36’ 2” N. and Longitude 98° 47’

H.; at noon Thermometer 88°, at 4 Pp. mM. 75°; Aneroid 28° 15,

Towards afternoon the sky began to look threatening, and we

were obliged to remove ourselves and valuables underneath one of

the Karén houses for shelter. To have occupied the house itself

was impossible as the floor was of split bamboo which would have

let the leg of a chair or table through directly, so we had no re-

source but to put up in the filth under the house, or get wet

through and lie in the rain all night. Jaréns’ houses are raised

about nine feet from the ground, so we did not want for room be-

low: and by dint of diligent brooming and scraping, matting below

and around, and ceiling with cloths of all kinds above, we manag-

ed to ensconce ourselves pretty well.

44.0 Itinerary tn the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. |No. 5.

February 19th—Left Taylo at 7h. 15m. a. mM. and reached the

Wenkadoung, a small stream, at 10h. 45m. course North Westerly,

distance about ten miles. The march was entirely through a dreary

waste of burnt up grass, black rocks, and a few scattered trees. Our

encampment was on the bank of the stream.

Observation at noon, Lat. 15° 39’ 18” N., Long. 98° 36’ E.

Ther. 88°.

After breakfast proceeded and reached the Lamba, another stream,

about eleven miles. Towards the close of the march we entered

very dense jungle, and at our halting-place had to cut down and

clear away almost solid masses of thickets to make a little room.

Last night’s wetting has made some of our people ill. The Lamba

falls into the Houngthrau about ten miles off to the North East.

February 20th.—Marched to the Lynkama, a small stream about

eight miles to the North West. The path through a thick shady

forest. It appeared full of birds but we are too hurried to admit

of proper exploring for specimens. ‘To-day and yesterday we were

annoyed during our noon breakfast by countless swarms of bees,

drones, and flies of endless variety—especially a small indefatiga-

ble bee, of which Mr. Parish and I had presently whole hives dang-

ling to our backs, hats, &c. Fortunately they did not sting. At

breakfast we were heartily sickened by seeing the Karéns devour

the raw bloody body and entrails of a Monkey I had shot. They

swallowed the intestines “

au naturel” like macaroni. Towering

over the trees near us, was a singular rock, like a huge truncated

steeple, full 1000 feet high. At 1h. 40m. continued our journey

and reached the Meytowang, another stream [at 4h. 40m. distance

six miles] and had a most delicious bath in its crystal waters. On

the way I saw a flight of a species of Horn-bill quite new to me,

and which I fancied were Buceros Carinatus, but there was no get-

ting near them. It is a general idea that birds (and other animals)

are tame and unwary in regions where they seldom or never see man:

but this is contrary to my experience. They are wildest where

they see and feel too much of man, as in England, where any

tolerably uncommon bird has a shot at him before he can take two

hops in any direction. But they are also wildest where they never

see man. The ornithological collector must go where he can find

a juste milieu.

1859.| Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 441

Noon Observation, Lynkama. Lat. 15° 50’ 42” N.; Longitude 98¢

26’ E.; Thermometer 88°. Run to-day fourteen miles ; course N.N. W.

February 21s¢t.—Started at 7 a. M. in a thick fog travelling

through thinly wooded tracts of grass jungle. Came across three

of those singular birds Corydon Sumatranus. They are as stupid

nearly as boobies or noddies. One that I shot at and missed,

remained quietly till I loaded again and killed, the other two

sitting looking on. We passed some dried up ponds or pools thickly

marked with the foot prints of Gaur and Sambur. The Karéns

say the Gowers resort to these plains in great numbers in October,

at the close of the rains. As we neared the Houngthrau, the

ground rose and afforded us glimpses of the magnificent hills to. the

Kastward, Napulloo, Dweepameekwyn and Mogadook, but we soon

plunged into thickets of tropical density, and pressed our way

through them till we stood on the banks of the Houngthrau,

a beautiful crystal stream, here about fifty yards wide, and running

with considerable force. It was so deep that the elephants were

all but floated off in crossing, and I ordered a raft to be made for

the Chronometer, which on ordinary occasions is carried suspended

to a pole. A steep high bank on the other side brought us into a

forest of high trees, and further on a large but much neglected

orchard, filled with plantains, jacks, mangoes, and oranges (the

last eatable only by a Karén). Passing through this we came

to the village of Meetan, quite a city after the deserts we had

passed through! Our encamping-place was on the right bank of

the Houngthrau, and we had the satisfaction of seeing our fleet

ready for us, the rest of our journey being by water. We had

the pleasure here of getting our letters, papers, fresh supplies, &c.,

not having heard from Moulmein since the 2nd ; and the grand luxury

of fresh eggs and milk.

Meetan contains about fifty houses of Karéns and a considerable

deal of cultivation. It is the highest point generally which trading

boats from Moulmein reach. They bring up dried fish and such

condiments as the Karéns use, also cloth, beads, crockery, glasses,

&c., which they barter for hill rice, tobacco, cotton, wax, &c. Smaller

boats can ascend a couple of days’ journey further, to a place called

Kozey Ko Gewn (the ninety-nine islands) where they extend

4.42 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. —_[ No. 5.

their traffic to the Shans. I was much disappointed in not seeing

this singular place, where the stream is split into numerous channels

by small islets, but the Karéns, whether from design or stupidity it

is hard to say, brought me past it, and i¢ was now too late to retrace

my steps two days up theriver. Journey to-day ten miles, N. N. W.

February 22nd.—Took Meridian Observation, Latitude 16¢ 1’ 1’

N.; Longitude 98° 23’ E. ; Ther. 90°.

At 40m, Pp. M. we got on board the fleet, and went merrily down

the pure waters of the Houngthrau. Our boats are mere canoes

calculated to pass over the shallows and scours of the stream, and

propelled by two paddles forward and one astern to steer, the

motion of paddling is smooth and pleasant, and with an awning of

leaves and mats overhead, we glided down the stream in great luxury

at arate of six to eight miles an hour. On approaching rocks,

narrows, or rapids the bow paddle man stood up, and with a light

bamboo in his hand fended us cleverly off the rocks as the current

swept us swiftly past them. Now and then as the reach of the

river turned to the Hast, magnificent mountains met the view. At

others, the eye swept up long vistas of graceful trees bending over

the stream, or perpendicular banks and rocks thirty to forty feet

high, past which the glassy waves rushed hurriedly, or spreading

into pools, eddied gently along, so pellucid that the pebbles at five

or six feet depth were distinctly visible. In fact a more delightful

way of travelling than this cannot be devised. We reached the

mouth of the Kyik, a hill stream running in from the Eastward at

1 past 4 Pp. Mm. and encamped on the banks for the night. The weather

looked threatening again, so had the roof of our wigwam double

matted and sloped down as much as possible and made all as snug

as we could against a bad night.

February 23rd.—Towards morning the rain commenced, and in

spite of all precautions the roof began to leak pitilessly, and we had

to turn out, roll up bedding, and stow every thing away into the

smallest compass. It had been our intention to start for Mooley-it

—a celebrated peak about thirty miles to the North Hast—to-day,

and endeavour by forced marches to reach it in two days: but the

rain forbad all hope of travelling on elephants through the jungle,

aud as Mr. Parish’s leave had nearly expired, he could not afford

;

1859.|] Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 4AB

to wait for the weather clearing up, and proceeded at once towards

Moulmein. This was a most mortifying conclusion to our journey :

for Mooley-it is in fact the only object of much interest in the

country: and moreover we lost the benefit of his botanical know-

ledge in the very place where it would have been the most advan-

tageously exercised.

The sun has approached the zenith too nearly now to allow of a

Meridian Observation in the artificial horizon, so took the latitude

by 2 P.M. altitudes and made it 16° 8’ 58” N., and Longitude by

Acct. 98° 12’ 30” E.; Thermometer 85° at 1 P. a., at 9.30 a. mw 78°.

Aneroid 30.1.

February 24th.—-Determined to pay Mooley-it, a second visit

(Thad been there in February, 1855,) to verify its altitude by

boiling water, my first observation having been made with inferior

apparatus. Set off at 7 a. m. crossing the Kyik rivulet, through a

flat forest for four miles to the Karén village of Kyik, a mile beyond

which we began the ascent of the Kyik hills, a range leading to the

Mooley-it mountain. It was severe labour at first, being up through

Karén clearings “on which the sun blazed without the grateful

intervention of foliage. By 12 o’clock I was quite knocked up and

mounted my elephant, and at 1 P. mM. we reached Teewap’hado

(“ water and great bamboos’’), the altitude of which I made by the

Aneroid to be 1236 above Kyik. The air was here sensibly cooler

and more bracing. Thermometer at 1 P. um. 83° our encampment

was in a hollow on the hill side, where trickled a small rill, which

our numerous elephants and their unruly drivers soon rendered

filthy. The thick forest shut out the view: but by occcasional

glimpses I could see we had been journeying along a narrow ridge,

which ascended the whole way, and still kept ascending ahead of us.

To our feet both Northward and Southward ran parallel ridges at a

distance of about three miles. The whole buried under dense

jungle and enormous trees. The path we came by was a mere track,

requiring in places great caution in the elephants: and walking on

foot was most irksome by reason of the ground being thickly strewn

with dead leaves, whose glazed surfaces made it abominably slippery

and added infinitely to the toil of the ascent—distance eleven miles.

February 25th.—Off at 6h. 45m. a, M. and walked slowly, gun in

444 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. | No. 5.

hand till 113 a. M. resting at several places as the ascent was con-

tinuous, terribly slippery, and the path choked up incessantly by

fallen trees. At 113 a.m. mounted my elephant, but it was fatiguing

and nervous work : for the poor animal could scarcely have gone a

mile an hour, and the ascents and descents over slabs of rock, &c.

were so steep that he had to go at times entirely on his knees

and elbows. We stopped at Thembauley, a pretty little cleared spot

on the ridge, where the people had built one or two small pagodas,

and from hence had a magnificent view of Mooley-it and its neigh-

bour Napulloo, now distant about twelve miles. The Aneroid stood

at 25° 25/ (far out of the tabledrawn up for it). 1 P. mu. Ther. 78’.

From this spot I walked on to Theethoungplee, about three miles

along the ridge and descending the whole way, and here we

bivouacked at 3 Pp. m.—distance about twelve miles.

While brushing through the jungle, near Thembauley, one of my

people, following with a spare gun, uttered a sudden ery of pain,

and turning round I saw him writhing in such a way that I felt sure

a scorpion had stung him. In about two minutes he was prostrate

and groaning with torture. The Karéns seemed to know or guess what

had happened, for they commenced an eager search in the offend-

ing bush, and presently pointed out to me a rectangular shaped

green caterpillar, with a back bristling with star-headed spines. This

they seized between two twigs smashed all to pieces, and rubbed

upon the spot where the man had been stung. In two or three

minutes the pain ceased and he continued his journey! I have

myself been stung by these little urticarious abominations: but this

one must have been of a peculiarly malignant species.

At night we had thunder and lightning and a little rain.

February 26th.— Halted to allow some expected supplies to come

up. Boiled water at 9 a. Mm. at 205°. 2; Ther. 71°; giving 3746 feet

altitude. Thembauley is about 4000 feet. The Aneroid is quite

useless at this height and its reading worked out by La Place’s

formula gave something outrageous. Thermometer at 7 a. mM. 638°,

February 27th.—Started at 7 a. M.; ‘Ther. 60°. Path pretty good,

level and descending by turns for three miles, then ascending for four

more to “ ‘leemeebong”’ (“ yellow sand’’), a little partially cleared

deil full of bees and gad-flies and a most abominably offensive

1859.| Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 4.45

species of underwood, Cloaca seu Stercus olens, worse actually than

the “Soo bék ben” of evil memory, which had regaled us on the

Taylo. Here I had breakfast. Aneroid 24°6. Thermometer 71

at noon. At 2 Pp. M. continued our journey and reached the foot of

Mooley-it, after going through a belt of smail reed or cane-like bam-

boos, at 43 Pp. M.—distance four miles. It was thundering, and

looking dreary in the dark hollow, and overhead the clouds were

seudding past the peak. So hoping to get above the level of the

threatening rain, pushed on, on foot, and after a steep ascent reached

the plateau of Mooley-it at 5 p.m. It was hazy and bitterly cold,

but so charming to see an open down like a Cumberland “fell”

after the monotonous jungle, that I ran about in extasies, to the

amazement of my retinue. ‘Ther. 51° at sun-set. They had made

me up a snug little hut or booth under the lee of some dense

copse-wood which sheltered our encampment from the driving mist

and bitter wind, and it only wanted a congenial companion to make

everything pertect.

February 28th.—6 a.m. Ther. 51. The open down or upland

which forms the plateau of Mooley-it is about six or eight acres

in extent. It is covered with a short harsh grass, the soil every

where trodden and pitted by Gaur’s feet.* Over this are scattered

little insulated patches of rocks (granite) and stunted shrubs,

among which the Botan tea (a species of Qumellia) and a showy

white Rhododendron were most conspicuous. This open space,

everywhere undulating, slopes down to the Kast, and after a

descent of three or four hundred feet is met by the jungle. Up its

steep western face we had ascended yesterday. To the North it

appeared extended in a jungly ridge at right angles to the one we

had journeyed along, and to the South, out of a belt of dense

copse-wood (very like the Cape bush jungle), rose the peak of Mooley-

it, a bare granite dome, about five hundred feet higher than the

plateau. Though the situation of the plateau is beautiful, its area is

too limited for a Sanitarium, and moreover water is scanty and has

to be brought up a toilsome ascent of some five hundred feet from

* These animals come up from the valleys in great numbers during the rains,

to graze on this upland: secure during that inclement season, in the unbroken

solitude of the mountain.

o M

4.46 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. _[No. 5.

the jungle on the Eastern face. At 1.30 P.M. water boiled at 200.4.

Ther. 66° 5 (86° at Moulmein) ; giving 6676 feet above that place.

Took 2p. m. altitudes,@, for Latitude,and made it 16° 12'53” N.;

Longitude by Acct. 98° 42’ H. }

At 24 Pp mM. went up to the peak, the awful grandeur of which

was scarcely less impressive at this second visit, than at the first.

The path from my encampment lay South, through the thick copse,

then emerged into an open ridge, being the edge of the summit of

a vast bulging wall of bare granite that to the West sloped down-

wards indefinitely, its base being hidden by its own convexity.

This isthmus led about two hundred yards south, and then rose up

into a cone of bare granite, on the summit of which the indefatigably

zealous Buddhists had erected years ago two small pagodas. I have

been in the Himala both at Darjeling and in Nepal, and also on Table

Mountain, but have seen nothing approaching the tremendous

sublimity of this most singular pinnacle. It is, to East, South and

West, a nearly symmetrical dome, perfectly bare and smooth, saving

where here and there a boulder juts out, as if about to plunge into

the abyss below. The convexity of the dome conceals three-fourths

of its depth, so that the eye glances from its outline at once as it

were into infinity; and this gives an impression of immensity

which actual measurement does not realize. Below our feet a roll-

ing sea of white mist concealed the further side of the near valleys :

but beyond and above these the air was clear, and tier upon tier of

vast mountainous ridges lay sharply defined before us. To the South

the bluff precipices of Napulloo,*—a mountain the superstitious

Karéns dare not tread,—confronted us; while, sweeping round by

the East to North East, the ranges of Dweepa Meekwyn, beyond,

that of Mogadook, and beyond, that of Pynkloong, each rising high-

er, up to probably nine thousand feet, closed up the horizon like a

tumultuous sea. From between these ranges, along the valleys, dim

in the far depths, ran the streams of the Meeklan, and Meetan,t

to the Houngthrau South West; and the Meekla to the Thoungyen

North East, with their countless tributaries, all radiating away from

’ spirits and demons.

* The name is compounded of “ nat” and “ biloo,’

+ Mee or Mey is the Shan or Siamese for a small river, and Meynam for a

large river.

1859.] Ltinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 447

this great water-shed. Tothe North East the above ranges sink

into a wild expanse of flat jungle, concealing the Thoungyen, and

bounded by the distant Hills of Yahyn in the Shan territories. ‘To

North and North West we looked along a chaos of mountain tops,

vanishing into distant haze, and forming in fact the great back bone

or range which continues from the Yomadoung of Burma proper ;

and to the West we traced the ridge we had traversed, and the

valleys of the Kyik and Teepoo Shanley. The whole of this vast

expanse was one sheet of jungle: one sea of thick umbrageous

forest: save where a land-slip here and there exposed a patch of

red soil on the mountain side, and where the grassy plateau of

Mooley-it itself lay smiling at our feet. These mountains are ut-

terly uninhabited, and except in one direction, [between Lampha

on the Houngthrau, and Myawadee on the Thoungyen] never tra-

versed or visited by human being. The Karén hunters confiue

themselves to the spurs next the Houngthrau—Mooley-it itself is a

place of pilgrimage, and beyond it, as far as the Thoungyen river,

is an unknown blank.

At 3 Pp. M. Ther. 68°. Water boiled at 199.6. Ther. at Moulmein

88°. Difference of altitude 7171 feet. The aneroid 23.105. Took

the bearings of the principal mountains, and a rough sketch of the

sublime view. Amused ourselves rolling huge stones down into the

abyss, and by sunset returned to our encampment.

The boiling point in the above obervations was obtained from

repeated violent ebullitions and carefully noted. The Thermometer,

an instrument graduated to .04” was immersed in a tall narrow pot

up to as far nearly as the mercury would rise; no lid, and steam

allowed ready egress. Finally the error of the Thermometer was fix-

ed from numerous observations made at Moulmein and at Amherst

(sea level). The Tables from which the results are worked, are

computed from formula given in Bourne’s Treatise on the Steam

Engine.

In 1854-55, when trying the altitude of Mooley-it, I placed the

Thermometer in an open wide-mouthed pot, to the depth of about

five inches. The mereury had therefore to ascend a considerable

portion of tube exposed to the colder draughts of air. It did not

therefore rise to more than 198.8, which with a mean temperature

3M 2

448 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasservm. (No. 5.

of 78°. 8” gave 7571 feet for the altitude, and by Tredgold’s formula

7479. Being respectively 400 and 308 feet too much.

On the 1st March, I left this interesting spot, and on the 7th

reached Moulmein, travelling from Kyik Khyoungwa (“ Kyik river

mouth’’) by water. The route as follows :

Kyik Khyoung to Asoon 30 miles.

bE) Kyaeng 30 ,, } stoungta river.

i Migaloon 14 _,,

2? Gying 10 99

i Damatha 18 ,, Gying river.

a Moulmein 12 _,,

Descriptions of some birds procured in the Tenasserim forests and

believed to be new species.—The skins forwarded to the Asiatic

Society.

1. Strigide—Ketupine—PrILosKELos* AMHERSTILS (Genus

et species mili.)

Specimen. A nestling—sex not distinguishable.

Dimensions. Length 1/33." Wing 103.” Tarsus 13 Femur 44.

Bill 142.

Details. As far as developed, similar to those of Knrupa, but

tarsus short, as in Buso, and covered with plumes to the foot, inclu-

sive of the lst phalanges of the toes. Egrets.

Color. Iris sepia (a marked difference from all the known Bubo-

nine or Ketupine, which have the iris yellow). Bill and feet pale

flesh color, latter with a yellowish tinge; claws blackish, horny. Head,

neck and body, including scapularies and wing-coverts, dirty white,

tinged more or less deeply with orange-tawny. Hach feather mark-

ed near its end with an arrow-headed bar of sepia. Head and

nape with spots of the same. On the breast these marks take the

form of wide broken bars, lapping round the neck. Wing-coverts

also irregularly barred. All this plumage is immature and deci-

duous: but the remiges (which usually at once assume the permanent

coloring) are ashy sepia, barred broadly and softly with full sepia,

with marbled interspaces. Downy plumes of legs white.

* (nriAov, a soft feather, and oxedos, a leg.)

+ Honva ortentatis, (Horsfield), juv., vide p. 411 ante. Our, As. Soc.

1859.| Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 449

The aberration from Kutupa proper in this bird is an important

one, as it argues difference of habits. ‘The Krrupa, with its length-

ened and nude tarsi, is known to plunge down upon shallow marshy

bottoms, or into liquid mud up to its knees, and stand or take a

few steps about such localities, in search of small Snakes, water Efts,*

or fish. Whereas the true horned Owls, Buso, Asto and Eprntanrss,

with their long femora and short tarsi, snatch their prey from its

perch, or from the surface of water, without wetting or soiling the

plumose covering of their legs. The PrrnosKeLos is therefore probably

a partly terrestrial bird, as its blunt Aetupine claws indicate: but

restricts itself to dry spots and is consequently not piscivorous.

The nestling here described was brought from the islaud of Be-

loogewn and died shortly after. I have hitherto failed in procuring

the old birds, from whom of course more satisfactory deductions

could be drawn. But in answer to any argument ascribing the

mixed nature of this bird to immaturity, I must bring forward the

fact that both feathered and naked legged Owls show their several

conditions in that respect, as soon as hatched. I have picked a

young Eputaures out of the ege, and found its legs and toes covered

with well developed setz. On the other hand, I have reared two

nestlings of Kutrupa Javanica, and their legs were perfectly bare

from the first. The dark iris may not perhaps beso good a distinctive

generic trait: for I have observed the color of this organ to vary

in Eeutaures from pale yellow, to orange, and sepia also.

2. Sphenuride—Mixornis (Hodgson) oLIvacevs (mihi).f Spec. |

male. Woods of 'l'eewap’ hado, 1100 to 1500 feet. February 24th,1859.

Dimensions. Length 53’. Wing 2%.” Tail 23..” Bill 3.” Tarsus 1.”

M. toe 14".

Details. Typical. But it carries a straighter and better raised tail

than the type mM. cHLoRiIs. Which gives it a more Sylvian than Tima-

lian look.

Color, M. and F. Iris blood red-brown. Bill horny with dusky

culmen. Legsand claws fleshy horn. All upper parts reddish olive

brown. Wing and tail quills burnt umbre-brown, edge reddish. Fron-

* I know of no Salamandride in these regions. Cur. As. Soc.

}] + Pretiornium TIcKELLI, Bl., ante, p. 414.

450 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. [No. 5.

tals and face paler and tinged fulvous. All lower parts from chin,

clear pale fulvous, mesially albescent, except on breast.

Not uncommon in the hill-forests, frequenting bamboos and un-

derwood ; manners active and restless: silent.

3. Sphenuride—Turpinus (Blyth) e@urrarvs (mihi). Spee.

female. March 2nd, 1859. Woods near Theethoungplee. 8000 ft.

Dimensions. Length 6%”. Wing 213", Tail 24”. Bill 42”. Tarsus

13,”., M. toé 2”.

Details. Typical. (See Appendix to Blyth’s report for December

meeting 1842. Continued from Vol. XII, p. 1011, Journal As. Soe.)

Plumage of front, lores, and chin stiff and setaceous: but rictal

bristles not much developed.

Color. Fem. Iris sepia. Lids nude and dull smalt. Bill horny,

dark on culmen, pale and livid on crura. Legs horny, claws pale.

Crown and upper parts rich vinous olive-brown, brightening to full

vinous, rusty on upper tail-coverts and outer webs of remiges. ‘Tail

as back, obscurely barred blackish. Feathers of crown edged black,

a few pale spots on sides of occiput. Frontals ash, striated black.

Auriculars dusky, bounded beneath by a white line, which joins a

patch of white on ramus continued to bill. Chin and throat pure

white, separated from ramus by a black line which spreads into a

patch on side of throat. From top of eye down sides of neck and

across upper back a space of acuminate, black-edged, white feathers.

All underparts from throat rich orange rusty, deepening into vinous

brown on vent.

I shot a pair of these birds on the date mentioned above: but

could not find the.male. It was however exactly similar to the

female, and as they allowed close approach, I could easily remark the

plumage. Habits active—Scandent (asin Mucanurvs, &c). Lurking

in dense thickets. Voice a low grating chatter.

This is the third new species of the genus I have discovered in

Tenasserim. The other two were sent by me to the Society (through

Mr. Blyth) in 1855, and named by that gentleman 7. BREVICAUDATUS

and T. CRISPIFRONS. The latter species with its large tail is rather

an aberrant form, if retainable in the genus.

[pe

1859.| Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 451

4. Corvide—Garrulacine.

Srpra (Hodgson) proata (mihi.)*

Spee. male. February 28th, 1859. Plateau of Mooley-it. 6600 ft.

Dimensions. Leneth 83". Wing 33”. Tail 43,. Bill 43. Tarsus 14.

M. toe 2.

Details. Typical. The tail less developed than in 8. PIcaorpgs,

which in other respects it closely resembles more so than it does

S. CAPISTRATA.}

Color. M. Iris blood-red brown. Bill black. Legs horny brown.

Head and cheeks coal black with greenish gloss, diluting into intense

vinous soot-color on back, and that again into ashy soot on upper

tail-coverts. Wings soot, shining a little withindigo. Tail centre

pair of feathers as back but paler, the rest blacker, obscurely barred

darker, and tipt white, more and more so to external feather which

is half black half white. Mere chin black, all from thence down-

wards milk white.

Evidently exceedingly rare, or confined to elevated peaks. A pair

only seen, of which the male was secured. Lively and restless,

with a prattling whistle like s. capistRatTa. Incessantly hopping

and flitting about the stunted trees found at that altitude (6600 ft.).

‘This adds, 1 believe, a fourth to the known species of this genus.

5. DMerulide—Saxicoline.

Ruticiuta (Brehm) arrocmRuLpa (mihi).t

Spec. Male. February 28th, 1859. Eastern slope of Mooley-it.

About 5500 feet.

Dimensions. Length 7”. Wing 314. Tail 22. Bill 3. Tarsus 1,4.

M. toe 2.

Details. Typical. Outline identical with R. Frontarts.

Color. M. Iris sepia. Bill and legs black, plumage ashy black all

over. Frontals dull smalt, extending ina line over eye. Nareals,

rictals, and all round close to bill velvet black. Obscure tinges of

* §, MELANOLEUCA, p. 413, ante. Cur. As. Soe.

+ So far as I can perceive, it differs from S. carisTRATA and 8, GRACILIS only

in colouring. Cur. As. Soc.

t Muscisylvia and since Myiomela leucura, Hodgson, vide p. 416, ante. Cur.

As, Soe.

452 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. [No. 5.

smalt here and there on upper parts and on each side of breast, at

point of the wings (carpal angle) a small patch of rust colour: being

the edges of 2 or 3 feathers. Point of wing pale smalt. Small co-

verts blackish indigo. Largest coverts brown black, tipt ferruginous-

Remiges black edged grey. Upper tail coverts washed with smalt.

Tail black. The rectrices between the centre and outer pair have

their basal half outer webs white, extending more and more to-

wards centre. Belly and under tail-coverts fringed white.

The only specimen seen, sitting on the skirt of a dense thicket,

close to a small blind brook. Quiet and still, without the vibratile

motion of the tail habitual to all the known Redstarts. But in its

conformation, it is undoubtedly a Redstart.

6. Pyecnonotide.

Pycyoynotus (Kuhl) Nnawnus (mihi).*

Spec. male. March 2nd, 1859. Near Teethoungplee, 3000 feet.

Dimensions. Length 5,5;. Wing 23. Tail 24. Bill 7%. Tarsus ¢.

M. toe 2.

Details. 'Yypical. Crested.

Color. M. Iris blood red brown. Bill dark horn. Legs reddish

horn. Upper parts, including a blunt crest, ashy brown. Each

feather shafted whitish. Remiges and centre pair of rectrices red-

dish clay brown. Rest of tail, dusky sepia, more and more tipt,

white externally. Chin, throat, and all under parts ashy white.

The only one of the species observed. It was shot on a large tree

in company with many other small birds.

7. Tyrannide—Muscricapme.

Muscicapa (vera) PUSILLA (mihi).

Spec. male. February, 28th 1859. Plateau of Mooley-if. 6600 feet.

Dimensions. Length 45”. Wing 2,3,. Tail 13. Bill ,5. Tarsus 3.

M. toe 3.

Details. Typical. Legs a trifle shorter tian in the type (M. ATRI-

CAPILLA).

Color. Male Iris sepia. Bill and legs coal black. All upper parts

jet black, deepening into intense indigo black on back. A broad

* TXULUS STRIATUS, Bl., p. 413, ante. + MuscicaPULA MELANOLEUCA, Bl.

1859.] Ltinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 453

superciliary band of white passing down sides of neck and nearly

surrounding the occiput. Greatest secondary coverts white with black

bases, the white extended along outer margins of 3 als. Remiges

brown-black. ‘Tail centre pair of feathers black. The others white,

deeply tipt black, which extends laterally, till it occupies nearly all

the outermost web. All under and anteal parts milk white.

This is one of the smallest known species of true Flycatcher. A pair

were flitting from bush to bush, settling generally on the summits.

The female, which appeared brown and white, escaped.

8. Lyrannide—Tyrannine.

PHYLLOPNEUSTE (Meyer). Subgen. Puayiitoscorus (Boié) suprr™

CILIARIS (mihi).*

Spec. Sex not noted. February 24th, 1859. Woods of Teewap’hado.

1100 feet.

Dimensions. Length 43". Wing 143. Tail 1,9;. Bill 3. Tarsus 13.

M. toe 53.

Details. Are those of Cuticrpera, (Blyth), but it lacks the mesial

light stripe along the crown. If that indeed be a distinction from a

Wood-wren that I sent to the Society’s museum in 1855, agreeing

to my thinking with CuLicrpEra TRIVIRGATA, (Temminck). It was

named by Mr. Blyth PHYLLOSCOPUS VIRIDIPENNIS (n. sp.),} although

it had the coronal stripe prominently. The present subject has a

considerably grosser bill than the last named, or than Pu. aFrFrnts,

(mihi) ; and so wide basally as to be almost Muscicapine.

Color. Iris sepia. Baill blackish horn, reddish at edges. Lees

fleshy horn. Head olive darkened with ash: auriculars paler and

greenish. A broad dull white supercilum. Chin and throat white,

and all the rest of under-parts pure gamboge-yellow. Upper parts

olive-green; pure and yellowish. Remiges and rectrices dusky

brown, edged green. Lining of wings sulphur-yellow. Inner webs

at ends of three outermost pairs of rectrices margined sand colour.

9. Phasiande—Perdicine.

Arzoricoua (Hodgson) cHtoRropus (mihi).+

* ABRORNIS SUPERCILIARIS, ante, p. 415. Cur. As. Soc.

+ A true REGULOIDES. Cur. As. Soc.

{ TRopicorpERDIX CHLOROPUS, p. 415, ante. Cur. As, Soc.

454 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. [No. 5.

Spec. Female. February 8th, 1859. Thalaya on the Zummee river.

Dimensions. Length 113”. Wing 53”. Tail 24. Bill 3”. Tarsus 114,

M. toe 12”.

Details. Typical, but, taking a. TORQUEOLA as the type, bill slen-

derer and claws less lengthened.

Color. M. and F. Iris hazel, lids red, orbital skin blackish. Bill

dull orange red, dark on culmen, yellowish at tip. Legs and claws

greenish yellow. Crown, back of neck, and all upper parts, passing

round breast, full olive-brown, barred rather largely black.—Wings

the same, but on ternals and great coverts the pattern confused,

larger, ground color paler, and ashy marblings in interspaces.

Secondaries reddish fulvous, mottled darker, and primaries dusky

espia, margined rufous. A few rufous bars on tail, at end and laterally.

Auriculars brown. Rest of head including frontals, chin and throat,

and a superciliary stripe which extends on each side hind-neck,

white spotted black. Fore-neck orange rusty, spotted black; lower

breast and belly orange rusty, candescing descending, with semicir-

cular and arrow-headed parallel bars alongthe flanks. Lower belly

and vent whitish: with broad centering of sepia to the feathers on

sides, crossed with brown bars. Femorals mottled brown.

~ This is the second new species of wood Partridge I have been

fortunate enough to discover in Tenasserim. (The first was sent to

the museum: As. Soc. in 1855 as ARBORICOLA BRUNNEOPECTUS.)

It appears tolerably numerous: but as far as my observations go, is

entirely confined to the forests on the banks of the Zummee river.

Unlike its known congeners, it avoids mountains, and inhabits low

though not humid jungles, where the ground merely undulates or

rises into hillocks. Like the rest of its tribe, it is difficult to flush,

and runs with great rapidity, jumping adroitly over obstacles,

and diving into impenetrable thickets for security. arly in the

mornings these birds come out on the pathway, scratching about

amongst the Elephants’ dung, and turning over the dead leaves,

for insects. They do not appear to have any crow or call, though

during the pairing season this may not be the case. The Karens

did not even know the bird: but this is no proof of its rarity,

for these people pay no attention to the living products of their

forests.

1859.] Ltinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. 455

The sexes are precisely similar in plumage and size. The flesh

rather dry and tasteless.

In addition to the above 9 species, which I believe to be hitherto

undescribed, I have the pleasure to forward to the Society two speci-

mens, male and female, of that little known bird, the Poptca prr-

sonata of G. R. Gray: who has named it from a specimen from

Singapore sent to the British Museum by Lord Ellenborough.

The following observations are taken from fresh subjects.

Tribe. Macrodactyli.

Family. Fulicide—Genus Poptca, species PERsoNATA (G.R.Gray).

Spec. Male and Female, March and April 1859. Kokanee river,

near Moulmein.

Dimensions. Male. Length 22”. Spread of Wings 30”. Wing 92”.

Tail 42” Bill 2”. Femur 84. Tarsus 2”. M toe 28’. Female, rather

smaller. |

Details. Body plump and flat as in Awas, not so heavy as in the

Grebes. Neck lengthened: but less so than in Hetrornis. Legs so

far back as to compel a nearly upright position when the bird stands.

Wings and tail nearly as in Anas. Bill asin GatuicreEx, longer than

in Furica, straight, long, compressed, with rounded culmen. Tip

deflexed gradually, and without notch. Nostrils large, midway, ovo-

linear, horizontal, pierced at anterior end of a large membrane,

which is strongly relieved from culmen above and tomia below.

Gonys angulated and short. Gape deflexed and wide. Culmen

ends in a straight line across forehead, protruding a little flap on the

forehead (as in Parra), but smaller, (This quite disappears in the

dry skin.) Tongue linear and simple. Leg as in Funtca, pretty

stout in depth: but compressed laterally (not so much as in Popiceps),

narrow transverse scute anteally, rest of leg and toes reticulated.

Toes long, the outer and middle ones subequal, inner one shortest.

All three lobated, the inner flap of inner toe being broadest. The

scallops (one to each phalanx) about as broad as in the Coot.

Thumb plain, reticulated, not very short. Claws hooked, long and

sharp.

Wings tolerably ample, pointed, as is each remix. 38rd primary

oN 2

456 Itinerary in the district of Amherst, Tenasserim. [No. 5.

longest, 2nd subequal. 43’. Shorter, 1st one inch shorter. Tail

round, acuminate, rather short: coverts long. 14 rectrices with

stiff strong quills. Plumage as in Anas, @. e. not so dense as in the

Grebes, or Coots.

Color. Male. Iris sepia. Bill horny yellow, dark on culmen and

green on forehead. Legs a delicate rice-green, the lobes margined

yellow and claws whitish. All upper parts olive-brown, reddest and

clearest on wings and tail, and on top of back dulled with greenish

ashy. Crown and mesial nape a clearer ashy blue green. Forehead

extending ina point to vertex, and again laterally over each eye,

black, which covers also chin, face, throat and anteal neck, ending

ina point half way to breast. This black space is margined all

round with white, starting from posterior canthus of eye, and

another small space of white borders the bill at lorum. Breast and

flanks pale ashy olive brown, femorals the same. Under tail-coverts

and flanks next belly barred white. Belly and lower breast dull

brownish white.

Female. Has the iris straw-color; chin, throat and anteal neck,

where black in the male, white with a margin all round of black,

which extends a little over lorum, and has the same white outer

border, as has the black mask of the male. Czetera pares.

These very rare birds in Tenasserim are met with in shady, deep,

narrow streams in forests, whether in the tide-way, or remotely

inland. ‘They swim rapidly: but seldom dive, and although emi-

uently aquatic in conformation, resort, strange to say, for safety to

land. Scrambling up the steep banks when shot at, and running

with unexpected rapidity into dense thickets, its flight is like that

of the Coot, or Water-hen: squattering along the surface of the

water. The eggs I have not seen.

PALL ILLL DPD

1859. | Botanical Notes. 457

Botanical Notes made during a month’s tour from Moulmein to the

three Pagodas and in the Shan States, in the month of Hebruary,

1859.— By Rev. C. ParisH.

Having been asked by Major Tickell, to furnish him with a few

botanical notes to add to his sketch of a short tour we lately made

in company to TLhoonzoo, or the “ three Pagodas,’ and thence,

through the Siamese Shan States, to the Houngdrau river, I do so

with pleasure, though with some diffidence, as my acquaintance with

the Flora of these Provinces is exceedingly limited.

We left Moulmein on the last day of January, and proceeded up

the Attaran river in boats.

As the point where we began our journey is so near the sea

(only some thirty miles) it may be as well to commence by stating

what the prevailing vegetation is between Moulmein and the mouth

of the river. Here, then, on the muddy shores, is seen, as usual

in such places, the mangrove; but the most noticeable feature in

the vegetation, is a continuous jungle of the graceful Sonneratia

apetala, stretching far in, wherever the land is subject to tidal inun-

dation. Underneath the Sonneratia is a dense growth of our com-

mon thatch leaf, Mipa fruticans. The elegant little Palm, Phenia

paludosa, is not unfrequent ; and Cerbera manghas may be noticed

all along the banks, suspending its apple-like fruit over the water.

These are the trees that will probably attract particular attention,

as one ascends our large river to Moulmein.

Leaving this now, and supposing ourselves to be ascending the

Attaran, the plant that appears most abundant is Paritium tilia-

cewm, which grows all along the water line for several miles, forming

a perfect tangle with its twisted stems. A very large and hand-

some Batatas may be occasionally noticed twining about it. Sonne-

ratia acida has here taken the place of S. apetala. Barringtonia race-

mosa, and one or two species of Diospyros occur here and there.

These are close to the water’s edge, while, on the bank, and form-

ing a narrow belt of jungle (inside which is paddy cultivation)

Butea frondosa grows in profusion. Salmalia malabarica, Barring-

tonia acutangula, and Acacia elata or stipulata, are also abundant.

4.58 Botanical Notes. [ No. 5.

Lagerstrema regine is frequent, with Pongamia atropurpurea,

Vitex arborea, Ficus, and other trees. About the villages, the follow-

ing wild fruit trees are commonly found: Mangifera oppositifolia,

(Burm. Mayan) ; (of this tree there are two varieties, one with

sweet, and the other with acid fruit); Prerardia sapida (Burm.

Kanazo), and Kleagnus confertus (Burm. Mengu) ; Sandoricum indi-

cum, (Burm. Thit-to) is a frequent tree, the fruit being also eaten:

so is Hriodendron pentandrum, cultivated for its silky cotton, used

to stuff beds and pillows. d/esua pedunculata also occurs, though

rarely.

The site of the Burmese villages is almost invariably marked by

cocoa-nut and palmyra trees; the latter planted wherever there is

a Pagoda, or monastery. The Phoongees also show their taste by

cultivating near their monasteries Amherstia nobilis, Mesua ferrea,

and Calophyllum inophylium.

Some distance up the river, where the plains on either side are

too high to be subject to periodical inundation, they are covered

with vegetation continuously inland from the banks, and then the

prevailing tree is the “ Hng”’ of the Burmese, Dipterocarpus grandi-

jiorus. Sometimes this is the only tree for many miles, when it

forms a thin open forest, intensely hot, as the trees prevent the free

circulation of the air; while, from their scanty foliage, they afford no

protection from the rays of the sun. The leaves of the young tree,

however, are very large, and are collected by the natives for roofing

their houses; also for the sides, when they cannot afford the Mipa

thatch, or procure the long grass (lmperata cylindrica) which is

the roofing material in other places. Often intermixed with the

Hing, grow Careya arborea, Dillenia aurea, two or three species of

Erythrina, Gardenia, Randia, and a small Quercus. In these forests

there is little or no undergrowth, but here and there, in the swampy

places, patches of high grass.

The fern of the river banks 1s Drynaria quereifolia, which clothes

the trunks of all the old trees from top to bottom. Orchidee appear

generally to be rare by our river sides, although one would be dis-

posed to think that the moisture would favour their growth. Loran-

thus pentandrus 18 ® common parasite, and Viscum moniliforme a

rare one. Itis in such places that are found those three beautiful

1859. | Botanical Notes. 459

creepers, Echites macrophylla, E. rhynchosperma, and E. paniculata.

The first of these yields a considerable quantity of Caowtehouc. A

very elegant Rosaceous creeper is frequent on the river. banks ;

other kinds too are numerous, whose foliage is handsome, but whose

flowers I have never seen.

Higher up the river (twenty or thirty miles or so), still within

tidal influence, but where the banks are not so muddy as they are

below, Paritium tiliaceum ceases, and a species of Salix (S. tetra-

sperma?) takes its place, and continues until, at about the point

where the flood tide fails, it is in turn succeeded by a willow-like

Euphorbiaceous plant, Hematospermum neriifolium, as, the front

occupant of the bank. The Salix has here assumed the propor-

tions of a tree, and overhangs it. The same Huphorbiaceous shrub

also covers the small islands, which are frequent in the shallow and

rapid parts of the river.

The appearance of the vegetation has now changed considerably.

The banks of the river are steep and high, and the jungle much wil-

der and more dense. Bamboo, (Bambusa tulda 7) is abundant; long

rafts of it are floated down to Moulmein for building purposes, and

other uses. Tall rank grass crowns every spot on the bank that is des-

titute of trees. Calamus draco, C. verus and C. rotang, are frequent ;

the two last ascending to the tops of the highest trees and forming

an impenetrable tangle below. Nothing can be more elegant than

the shining glossy foliage of these slender canes as they wave to

and fro to the wind.

Now Butea superba will be detected by its deep orange-coloured

blossoms, seeming to be those of some large forest tree, at the very

top of which they delight to open out. The huge pods of Hntada

pursetha catch the eye. The bright yellow flowers of a species of

Ochna (O. lucida 7), having the fragrance of the violet, are a great

ornament to the banks. The modest flowers of Capparis trifoliata

may be frequently noticed, and the petals of creeping Bauhinias

are seen floating down the stream. acourtia cataphracta is a not

uncommon tree, and here and there, towering above every thing else

(the true giant of the forest), a huge wood-oil tree, Dipterocarpus

alatus or turbinatus ? Duabanga sonneratioides is common in some

spots. This is a handsome tree with very large leaves, and branches

460 Botanical Notes. [No. 5.

which spread out horizontally. The inflorescence consists of large

terminal corymbs of white flowers, whose weight causes the branches

to droop elegantly.

Here too grow many other trees, of which I must confess myself

ignorant. Among them, a very graceful one with light birch-like

foliage, is especially noticeable, being so abundant as to give quite

a character to the vegetation. It had neither flower nor fruit when

we passed.

We left the boats at a place called TPhaliya-zerk, about eighty

miles or so from Moulmein by the river course, which is very tor-

tuous ; and thence proceeded by land to Zhonzoo or the three Pago-

das.

During the whole of our journey, from the time we left the Atta-

ran until we struck the Houngdrau river (thirteen days), one and

the same Geological formation prevailed, viz. mountain (?) lime-

stone; there was consequently a general sameness in the character

of the vegetation. It will not, therefore, be necessary to do much

more than throw together the names of those trees and other

plants, which I noticed in the journey as being known to me.

For the benefit of those who have not travelled in the Tenasse-

rim Provinces, and are not perhaps aware how rank is the vegeta-

tion all over them, it may be as well to mention, that while we con-

tinued on low ground, it was a rare circumstance to see more than

a hundred yards in advance; and so dense in many places was the

jungle, that an occasional sight only was obtained of the tops of the

magnificent perpendicular limestone rocks, at the very foot of which

we were passing. And afterwards, among the mountains, the case

was very generally the same. Anything that could be called a view

of the country was rarely obtained, an occasional glimpse of some

distant feature in the landscape being all that we could catch

through the trees.

At the spot where we left our boats, Thalia, the alluvial plain,

which, nearly up to this point, bad stretched far away on either

side of the river, may be said to have been fairly left behind.

Indeed, for some miles before reaching Thaliya, the high banks were

seen to consist almost entirely of rolled pebbles, cemented into a

coarse conglomerate, as if the river, as it wound its way about the

1859. | Botanical Notes. 461

base of the low hills, which begin here, had cut its bed through an

ancient sea-beach. From this point our course lay in a gener-

ally S. E. direction, through undulating country, having a gradual

rise, until at “ Thonzoo”’ a height of some seven hundred feet had

been gained. As we advanced, the surface of the ground became

more rugged and broken, and more denuded of soil, the limestone

rocks protruding more and more frequently, leaving at the “three

Pagodas’’ little else than bare rock.

Along this course, in many places, thick bamboo jungle prevailed

with large trees thinly interspersed. In other parts what we com-

monly understand at home by forest was passed through. The

forest portions were generally dry and for the most part desti-

tute of undergrowth. It was in the damp hollows, and near the

streams, or under the shade of some high rock, that the shrubs

and herbaceous plants were rank.

In the forest or drier parts of the jungle, the following trees

formed a great part of the vegetation. Dullenia aurea, and D.

speciosa, the fruit of both of which is eaten by the Burmese and

Karens in their curries, or rather boiled mixtures, on account of

the enlarged permanent fleshy calyx, Careya arboreu, Lagerstremia

Reginae, and probably two or three other species, one being abun-

dant, which had knotty protuberances on the trunk, which I had

not noticed before on Lagerstremias. These nodes were frequently

so sharp as to offer serious obstacles to those who climb with naked

feet. Bignonia stipulata, B. crispa, and others were also common.

I do not recollect to have noticed B. (Spathodea) Indica, which is

frequent about Moulmein. I also observed Pterocarpus Indicus,

Dipterocarpus levis, and Hopea odorata, the two last of which

become scarcer as the soil becomes more shallow and rocky, several

species of Dalbergia, Inga xylocarpa, Acacia elata (7?) and huge fig

trees. The teak (Lectona grandis) was very local, and only small trees

are now left standing, but these in considerable abundance. Gordonia

floribunda which in the neighbourhood of Moulmein and 'Tavoy is

a comnion tree was here very rare. Two or three species of Ster-

ceulia, form large trees, Viter arborea and V. alata, EHrythrina

Indica, E. stricta, Nauclea, Terminalia and others, several species

of Bauhinia; Pterospermum semisagittatum, and Pt. lanceofolium.

2 O

462 Botanical Notes. { No. 5.

Besides these, two of the most abundant and remarkable trees were

those called by the Burmese Yamanay, and Myouk Kyan. The

former (Gmelina arborea) is a tree of middle size (fifty to sixty feet)

with a diameter of perhaps two to two half feet, a rather short

trunk, and singular meazly bark, covered with depressed scar-like

spots, by which the tree is at once recognized. It was in full

flower, and the ground was strewed with the fallen Corollas every

morning. I have good dried specimens of it. The latter, Myouk-

kyaw, Homalium tomentosum, meaning the monkey slipping tree, is

so called, because not even a monkey can climb it. This pecu-

liarity arises from the smooth lively green bark being covered with

a white pulverulent substance, which comes off upon the hands,

when an attempt is made to grasp the trunk; so that neither man

nor monkey can succeed in climbing it. For the same reason,

epiphytes cannot attach themselves to this tree. Not an orchid,

nor a moss, nor so much as a lichen, is ever seen upon it, unless by

chance a plant becomes lodged in a fork, which I once only noticed

in the case of a bunch of Cymbidium aloifolium. The tree is tall,

about eighty feet high, with a diameter of not more than eighteen

inches, or, at the most, two feet, and has a straight trunk, destitute

of branches up to a considerable height. The foliage is scanty.

Mr. Mason, in his book on the Natural Productions of Burmah

calls it “'Tenasserim Lancewood’’ and thinks it is a species of

Dalbergia, but the leaves are simple and alternate, not pinnate or

compound. The undergrowth, in these jungles, where abundant,

consists in great part of the following: Huphorbiacee (this order is

largely prevalent) ; Randia, Gardenia, Irora, Morinda, Pavetta In-

dica, Mussaenda Wallichii, and other Cinchonacee ; Connarus,

Poivrea, Combretum, Unona, Uvaria, Melastoma Malabathricun,

Memecylon ramiflorum, Leea, Helicteres, Ardisia villosa, and A.

umbellata, Clerodendron nutans, and infortunatum ; Barringtonia

acutangula, Krythroxylon laurifolium, Urtica, Hibiscus, &e. The

most strikingly abundant of these are Mussenda Wallichii, Mela-

stoma Malabathricum, and Clerodendron infortunatum.

The herbaceous plants are mostly gregarious dcanthacew in the

dry and hilly parts, and Zingiberacee in the damp valleys. One

large species Zingiber squarrosum (?) is the most abundant of these.

1859. | Botanical Notes. ie

Of annuals, at this dry season, none were visible. In the swamps

and dark hollows, the vegetation is peculiarly tropical in appearance.

In such places grow various species of Calamus, Corypha Taliera (?),

Licuala peltata ?, Zalacex edulis, Caryota urens ?, Wallichia caryo-

toides, Areca, Pandanus, Arum odorum, Colocasia antiquorum,

Pothos scandeus, P. Lasia, P. gigantea, Scindapsus officinalis, aud

S pinnatifida. Kerns too rejoice in such localities: for here flourish

Gomopteris lineata, Angiopteris crassipes, Dictyopteris macrodonta,

Sagenia hippocrepis, Pteris longipinnula, and other species. These

grow on the ground, while Lomaria scandens and Leptochilus axil-

laris (the former especially) climb to the tops of the trees, and add

much to the denseness of the foliage and to the gloominess of

such spots.

In waste places, near the sites of deserted. villages, the “ rude-

rales” are Sida acuta, Urena lobata, (both these used for cordage in

Moulmein), Lewcas Zeylanica, Gendarussa adhatoda, Blumea gran-

dis, Cyanotis (Sp.?), Momordica mixta, and other species, Lpomea

vitifolia, and others. |

Among the orchids collected on this journey, I may just mention

Vanda gigantea, of which plant, though only once met with on this.

occasion, there was more in one mags, than could be conveniently

packed away on an elephant. 1t was indeed a most wonderful

aerial growth. The Dendrobes were D. Dalhousianum, D. Pie-

rardiu, D. Aggregatum, D. formosum, D. clavatum, D. teres, D.

moniliforme (7), and two more handsome species with large orange-

coloured flowers, whose names are not known to me. I observed

also Saccolabium guttatwm, Aerides cornutum, a fine species allied to

A. affine, Cymbidium alovfolium, two or three species of Oberonia,

a very handsome species of Limatodes, one species of Cirrhopeta-

lum, and two species of Cypripedium, one with very large flowers.

These were nearly all in flower. Besides these, many kinds of

small orchids were collected. I must not forget to add one other.

(Cyrtosie species P) a singular leafless plant, which I met with only

once. Its roots (few and fleshy) were in the ground, and its stem,

which was of the thickness of a small cane, was thirty feet in length !

The place of leaves was supplied. by fleshy stipulate bodies, which

were alternate, having an aerial root opposite each one, by which

a8 aie

464 Botanical Notes. [No. 5.

it attached itself to a tree and scrambled among its branches. The

flowers were numerous, at the end of the branched stem in loose

panicles, rather large, boat-shaped, yellow. The whole plant has

been sent to Sir William Hooker for determination with many

other things.

Of other epiphytes, there were various kinds of Aeschynanthus,

Hoya, and Hedychium. The most frequent creepers or climbing

plants, were Butea superba, Congea velutina, and Thunbergia lauri-

folia. These three may be said to be ubiquitous. It is extremely

remarkable that the last-named plant should have remained, until

so very lately, undescribed, when we consider that several Botanists

have visited our jungles, that it is almost impossible to walk two or

three miles in any part of the Provinces without meeting with it,

and that it is in flower nearly all the year round. The beauty of the

jungles was much increased by these three fine creepers, as they

were all in full flower at this time. A species of Pongamia, with

small purple flowers, is a great ornament also. A large thorny

Mimosa is common, Paratropia digitata occasionally occurs, and a

species of Clematis, also different kinds of Asclepiadeae, Bauhinia,

Dioscorea, Momordica, Cucurbita, Ipomoea, Mucuna, §e.

The ferns gathered, or noticed, besides those mentioned above,

were Drynaria quercifolia, D. irioides, Alsophila gigantea ? Asplenium

nitidum, Neottopteris nidus, Digrammaria esculenta, Drymoglossum

piloselloides, Polybotrya setosa, Nephrodium molle, Lygodium scan-

dens, Pteris pellucida, Pt. biaurita, Pt. aquilina, Adiantum Capillus

Veneris, Trichomanes Javanicum, Schizoloma ensifolia, Platycerium

Wallichti, Ophioglossum pendulum and others. Drynaria quercifolia

strange to say, was never seen in the hilly district of the Siamese

Shan States, but its place was there supplied by D. Coronans, which

in like manner, was entirely absent from the plains. With the Also-

phila Tam puzzled. A. gigantea is said to grow fifty feet high, and

the ‘lenasserim Mountains are given as one of its habitats. I have

seen something of the Tenasserim jungles and hundreds of this

plant (specimens of which sent to Sir W. Hooker have been named

A. gigantea) but never one with a true caudex or one that could be

fairly called a tree fern. Itis generally from five to six feet high

only, the fronds themselves being that length. I have, however,

1859.] Botanical Notes. 4G5

seen one plant, though only one, with a pseudocaudex, such as

Lastrea filix mas and dilatata occasionally have at home, about

18 inches long. It is one of the commonest of our ferns, and it

is strange, that if it does ever attain the height given, I should

never have seen one at all approaching to it. Iam disposed to

think that there are no tree ferns in the Provinces. Those ferns,

whose habitats are trunks of trees, were dried up, such for instance

as some of the genus Davaillia, otherwise the list would have been

much larger.

Of Lycopodia, I met with two species, both pendulous; Lycopo-

dium Phlegmaria, and L. ulicifolium. Of Selaginella, two species,

I think, S. Willdenovit and S. flabellata. These were not in our

territory, but in the district of Kiouk-Koung. They do, however,

grow within our Provinces.

Mosses are scarce in Burmah. Of terrestrial branched kinds like

our beautiful Hypna, there are none, or scarcely any, and those on

trees are few, and nowhere in abundance. The only moss which

I have seen growing with anything like the luxuriance of those in

temperate climates, is Meteortwm squarrosum, which, in damp dark

jungles, hangs gracefully from the small branches of the underwood to

the length of six or eight inches. This species, with Octoblepharis

albida and serrata, Leucoloma Taylort, Funaria hygrometrica, and

half a dozen others (barren) constitute my whole collection of mosses

made on this occasion.

I have already alluded to the magnificent limestone rocks, at the

foot of which our path frequently lay. They are a striking feature

in the scenery of this part of the provinces. They have a general

course S. HK. and N. W., and though now broken up into detached

masses and often separated by many miles, were plainly, at one

time, continuous. At TZhonzoo (the three Pagodas) a distance of

some ninety miles, as the crow flies, from Moulmein, we seemed to

have reached nearly the last of these remarkable rocks, though not

the end of the limestone formation. The site of the (so-called)

three Pagodas (really nothing more than three heaps of stones

raised to mark our boundary in this direction) is nearly as rugged

as the top of one of them, worn away as the summits of all of

them are into needle-like points ; the rocks protruding through the

466 Botanical Notes. [ No. 5.

scanty soil in all directions, in large masses. The plants conse-

quently growing at this spot, are for the most part, the same as

those which are found on similar rocks near to and even north of

Moulmein, and which are not found anywhere but on these rocks.

Such are Cycas circinalis, two species of Dracena,-and what I take

to be a species of Caralluma, though I have never seen the flower.

Near Moulmein, one would have to climb the rocks to a consider-

able height to find these plants, while here they are gathered with-

out climbing, the general rise of the country being about equivalent

to the height at which they grow there.

This is a most interesting spot to a Botanist, abounding with a

number of curious plants, and well deserving a longer stay than

we could afford, only two or three hours. A want-of water for

men and elephants, in the dry season, makes it necessary to push

on beyond it. <A profusion of orchids grow on the rocks, and on

the small stunted trees (chiefly Mugenias) that cover the rocks.

I gathered here the first Cypripedium I had met with in the coun-

try, Dendrobium clavatum, D. formosum, D. teres in abundance, also

two or three other ¢erete-leaved orchids of different genera, one a

Cymbidium, and one I think an Aerides, with a number of smaller

sorts.

Thonzoo is a wild desolate spot, with more of open country about

it, than we had as yet seen. The jungle is thin, composed chiefly

of Dillenia, Careya, Erythrina, Hugenia, and a species of Diptero-

carpus, all of which are stunted and weather-beaten from exposure

to the S. W. Monsoon, to the full force of which this spot is open.

The few plants mentioned as gathered here all grow within the

space of a few hundred yards. I had no time for more than the

most cursory examination of this place, and this was done at mid-

day, when the heat of the sun reflected from the rocks was intense.

Judging from what I gathered in the time, and from the numerous

dried remains of herbaceous plants, I fancy that a rich harvest

would be reaped here by a Botanist, who should visit it during the

rainy season, or immediately after its close. Oyperacee appeared

especially numerous, and other bog plants would probably be found

in abundance, as I noticed here (for the first time in the provinces)

patches of genuine black spongy peat-soil in the hollows, which still

retained moisture ; n0 trace, however, of Sphagnum could be detected.

1859.] | Botanical Notes. 4G7

Leaving Zhonzoo we entered the Siamese State of “ Kiouk-

Koung,”’ and our course lay at first Hastward, then Northward and

HKastward, until, in seven days, we again reached our boundary on

the Houngdrau river. The country crossed in the interim consists

of a mass of limestone hills, whose height averages 2-3000 feet,

clothed from top to bottom with the densest jungle. Although

apparently of the same geological formation as the perpendicular

rocks before mentioned, they have a rounded outline, and are cover-

ed with a rich clayey soil, in some places of considerable depth, the

colour of the clay varying from red to yellow.

Unless I am altogether mistaken in considering the rocks to be

geologically indentical, it appears strange that two contiguous por-

tions of the same formation should have so strikingly different an

outward character ; the one, that of interrupted chains of rock with

perpendicular faces, and singularly rugged and fantastic outline :

and the other, that of an ordinary mountainous district of alternat-

ing valleys and hills. It appears difficult to understand how one

portion could have been subjected to eruptive forces from beneath,

which would not have equally affected the other, seeing that they

are so close, some of the abrupt rocks actually running into the val-

leys of (what I call) the hilly portion!

The difference, however, in the direction of the strata may per-

haps be one cause of the marked difference in their form; for, where-

asin the perpendicular rocks (as seen near Moulmein) the strata

dip at a considerable angle to the Hastward, in the hilly district of

Kiouk-Koung they are horizontal or nearly so; and I imagine that

those rocks which present their edges to the action of the weather,

are more liable to be worn into a rugged outline than those whose

strata are horizontally disposed.

It was sufficiently easy to observe the disposition of the strata, as

the beds of the hill streams form, generally, the only practicable, path

across this wild district ; and, in these water-courses, the streams

fall over a series of regular steps, formed by perfectly flat slabs of

rock overlying each other horizontally ; these slabs being often from

ten to twenty feet broad, and two or three feet thick. And that

they are Limestone was shown by the fact that small stalactites

were of frequent occurrence on the perpendicular faces of the steps

468 Botanical Notes. [ No. 5,

where the stone was hollowed out underneath. In making these

remarks, I do not affect any acquaintance with Geology, I only note

what I observed.

I was struck with the wonderful luxuriance of the vegetation of

this district. It surpassed anything I had seen within our bounda-

ry. At the first village, Waytamaraing, where we halted, it was

particularly remarkable. This village lies in a valley enclosed by

hills on all sides, and has an elevation above Moulmein of some

five hundred feet. A small stream called “ Thoung Kaliya’ runs

through it, whose waters flowing S. EF. eventually fall into the

Menam. At this place the rankness of the vegetation, even at this

dry season, was surprising. All the plants previously mentioned as

growing in damp shady spots grew here, and with increased luxuri-

ance. The jungle was impenetrable from the abundance of various

species of Bambusa, Calamus, Zalacca, Licuala, Corypha, Caryota, Sc.

The trunks of the large trees were clothed to the top with

Aroidece, or the frequent Lomaria scandens. Almost every avail-

able fork had Neottopteris nidus seated in it, the fronds of which

were six feet long ; while different species of Hoya, Aeschynanthus,

Hedychium, and the larger Orchidee@, loaded and festooned the

boughs. The undershrubs were covered with small Orchidee, the

pendulous Meteorium squarrosum, and Jungermannie; and the

ground, was, in many parts, knee-deep in beautiful Selaginelle.

Two epiphytes, seen here, struck me as new: one, a very graceful

Aeschynanthus, with small ovato lanceolate leaves, and pretty pinkish

flowers, which hung down from the branches, to the length of three

or four feet: the other, a small erect species of Peperomia. Ifound

too a small Tetranthera here, which I had never seen before.

But that which delighted me most, was avery beautiful tree of

middle size in full flower which had not occurred before. I cannot

describe it better, in a general way, than by saying that it exceedingly

resembles the common Horsechesnut. No one could see it without

being at once struck with the resemblance. It is a dense umbrage-

ous tree, about forty feet high. On examination, my surprise

equalled my delight; as it proved to be a true Aesculus.*

* Mr. Parish’s horsechesnut is Aesculus Punduana, Wall. It extends from the

Khasia mountains along the tropical belt of the Himalaya as far west as Sikkim

and specimens of it occur among Dr. falconer’s Moulmein Collections. T. T.

1859. | Botanical Notes. 469

The leaves are opposite, palmate, with seven leaflets. The in-

florescence is a terminal, erect, rigid panicle about eighteen inches

high. The flowers appear to be diceceous for I could find no trace of a

germ in any which I gathered. The Caly« is tubular, 5-parted, irre-

gular. The petals are four, a fifth being wanting in front. Their

colour is white, the two upper ones being beautifully tinged with

red and yellow. The stamens are seven, long, filiform. The anthers

are versatile, 2-lobed, opening longitudinally. My dried specimens

are fortunately excellent, and the flowers have preserved their colours

perfectly. ‘They will shortly be sent to Sir W. Hooker.

The vegetation in the low valleys of this district is such as I

have attempted to describe. That on the hills is mainly composed

of Bambusa gigantea (Burm. Wa-bo,) with large trees interspersed,

mostly of the genera before named, with the addition, however, of

many, which I regret that my limited acquaintance with the forest

trees, prevents me from specifying. Perhaps the most abundant

trees are Dullenias and Gmelina arborea. Hopea, and Dipterocarpus

still occur, but scantily ; nor do they attain the gigantic proportions

which they reach in the lower lands. ‘lwo very useful cordage

plants appear to be plentiful; one is Hibiscus macrophyllus and the

other a Sferculia. An excellent rope of great strength is made of

these materials by the Burmese and Karens ina few minutes. The

undergrowth on these hills is chiefly made up of Cinchonacew, and

gregarious Acanthacee. In the rainy season the ground would be

covered with Zingiberacee, the decayed leaves of which were seen

every where. Nearly the only species that remains green in the hot

season is the before mentioned Zingiber squarrosum, the fine broad

Jeaves of which form a conspicuous feature in all the damp shady

hollows. I must not forget to mention that the beautiful Thun-

bergia laurifolia, never left us for a day even here, scarcely for an

hour, so universal is it in this part of the world. In the higher

valleys that fine sombre Palm, Avrenga saccharifera (Saquerus

+ Rumphii Roxb.) is abundant. Although, according to Seemann,

this Palm is applicable to so many domestic purposes (yielding

toddy, sugar, and sago, besides a valuable substance for cordage in

the strong fibres about the base of the petioles,) Iam not aware

that it is put to any single use whatever by the natives here. The

3 P

470 Botanical Notes. [ No. 5.

same Palm grows also in our Provinces on the hills that lie between

Kankareet and the Thoungyeen river.

On an extensive tableland, with an elevation of about two

thousand feet, which we crossed, I think on the third day after

leaving “ Thonzoo,”’ the vegetation was almost as rank as in the low

valleys. We passed through a great deal of tall grass. Bamboos

were plentiful, and the prevailing trees still Dillenias and Gmelina

arborea with large Sterculias. Here also grew abundantly a fine

Pandanus ; it had no aerial roots, but shot up perfectly straight for

some thirty or forty feet, and then branched once or twice dicho-

tomously. The leaves drooped as in other species. The extent of

this tableland was considerable, giving an area, I should gay, of

several square miles. ‘he soil was evidently rich, and the high

hills which surround it on all sides, supply it abundantly with water.

If the approach to it were only more practicable, it would offer a

fine, as well as most picturesque site for a settlement.

On the third or fourth day after leaving Thonzoo, we arrived

about sunset, after a long march, over very steep hills, at an unusu-

ally romantic spot; at least, so it appeared to us. Perhaps, how-

ever, the great charm was that we here emerged for awhile from

the jungle and could see a mile or so before us. A small extent of

country suddenly opened upon us clear of jungle. The only vege-

tation was long grass, recently burned, with Péteris aquilina, and

here and there a Dillenia, and the ever-recurring Yamanay Gmelina.

Snugly ensconced in a hollow lay a Siamese village of a few houses,

reminding us at once of a Swiss Chalet. This effect is produced by

the form of the houses which have low pitched roofs and widely

projecting eaves, also by their generally rustic character. The

Wa-bo (Bambusa gigantea) forms the whole material for house-

building. Whole bamboos furnish the posts; portions of the same,

split and interlaced in various ways, the sides and floors, which

according to the universal custom here and throughout Burmab,

are raised some six or seven feet from the ground, while the roof is —

composed of Jong lengths of half bamboos, with their coneave and

convex sides alternately uppermost, and overlying each other after

the manner of rounded tiles. The name of the village is Loon-t he-

Koung. The clearing, though extensive, was, no doubt, artificial,

1859. | Botameal Netes. 471

since the higher hills all round were covered with the usual thick

jungle. It is strange how Pteris aquilina should find its way to

such a clearing, and at once. establish itself! The elevation is

about 2000 (1919) feet above Moulmein. The Thermometer, just

before sunrise on the 17th or 18th of February, stood at 52°, a

temperature which sensibly affects those who have been walk-

ing, but a few hours before, in a noonday sun, and a tempera-

ture of 126°. On an adjoining hill about 500 feet higher, stood a

tall solitary specimen (apparently) of Borassus. I could not ap-

proach it for the jungle, but there can be little doubt but that it was

wild, as that hill had never been cleared. Besides which the Karens

cultivate no Palms whatever and the Burmese gave it the name of

Tou-tan or wild Palm. A small stream, rising in the higher hills,

flows near this village; and on its banks the same Sali#, which,

fringes our river sides, at or near the level of the sea, in the form of

amere bush, is seen growing toa large tree having a height of

some forty feet, with a diameter of 18 inches. Besides the Sadia,

the three most prevalent trees, by all the hill streams, were the

Aiseulus before mentioned, Meliosma (Millingtonia Roxb.) simplici-

folia, and a very fine large-leaved, large-flowered Hugenia (Li. aquea ?

Roxb.) We have, then, at this place, with an elevation above the

sea-level of some 2000 feet, Aisculus, Salix, and Pteris aquilina,

growing in company with Sorassus, Dillenia, Dipterocarpus, Pan-

danus and other tropical forms. I may mention that I found Pt.

aguilina growing on as low a level as 1000 feet above the sea in this

district, also Funaria hygrometrica. At about the same level I

gathered also Adiantum Capillus Veneris, on rocks in the Megatha

river.

The Karens, who inhabit this wild district, are few, and their

villages many miles fromeach other. They live entirely on vege-

tables, and have no domestic animal but the dog. Thongb their

jungles abound with wild fowl, they keep no poultry. The pur-

chase of eggs or milk, of anything indeed, but rice, is, therefore,

hopeless. Their cultivation is of the rudest kind, a fresh clearing

being made every year for their rice-crop, which is their chief food.

Besides rice they grow, however, tobacco, sesamum, cotton, sugar-

cane, and chillies. They seem fond of flowers, for a quantity of

3 P 2

472 Botanical Notes. [ No. 5.

warigolds were growing in the paddy clearings, also a small yellow

everlasting flower, and occasionally I noticed a patch of the red

plumbago.

On descending again into the plain, there was a daily repetition of

the plants already specified. The only trees not noticed before

were Jonesia, Citrus, Panax, and a Cinnamomum, to which I may

add a fine species of “* Calanthe” and one of that curious order

Cytinacee.

We struck the Houngdrau river at Meetan on the 22nd day after

leaving Moulmein, thence dropped down the river to a place called

Kyik, from which lies the path leading to the top of Moolee-it, a

mountain according to Major Tickell’s measurement some 7000

feet in height. My chief object in undertaking this journey was to

make the ascent of this mountain; but it was not my good fertune

to do so. I here left Major Tickell, and dropping down the river in a

light canoe, reached Moulmein in two days.

Note by Dr. TP. Thomson.

Excellent specimens collected by Mr. Parish have enabled me (at

his request) to introduce into this most interesting account of the

vegetation of the Attaran river, the names of the Homaliwm Ascu-

lus and Gmelina. I am further responsible for the name Duabangha

which I know from the Wallichian Herbarium to be a native of the

province, and which I think I can recognize beyond mistake in Mr.

Parish’s description. I can suggest no other alterations save that

the Padouk of Pegu and Tenasserim is, I believe, rather Pterocarpus

dalbergioides than P. indica as stated in the text, and that the tree

with light birch-like foliage mentioned at page 460 is probably Cono-

carpus acuminata.

LPABIPL_O PIII III OOOO

1859.| History of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon. 473

On the History of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon.—By Lieut.-

Col. A. P. Puayre, Commissioner of Pegu and Agent to the

Governor-General of India.

The great Pagoda at Rangoon, known as the Shwe Dagon or

Golden Dagon is the most celebrated object of worship in all the

Indo-Chinese countries. Like most Boodhist pagodas in Burmah it

is simply a solid mass of masonry. But this building derives its

peculiar sanctity, from having enclosed in its interior shrine, below

the surface of the ground on which it stands, relics of the last

Boodha Gautama, and personal implements or garments used by

the three preceding Boodhas.

The legend of the first building of the Shwe Dagon pagoda dates

from a very early period in the history of the Mon or Talaing race.

Before the birth of Gautama, a King reigned over the Talaings in

the Delta of the Irrawaddy at a city called Okkalaba.* The site of

the city so named was originally at a spot now known as Twantay,

situated about sixteen miles West from Rangoon. Near that city

lived a pious merchant named Tha-ka-lai and his wife Tha-ta-bhan.

On account of his worthiness, and by virtue of his former works of

merit, he received a title and high distinction from the King of the

country. He had two sons named Pa-oo and Tapau. ‘The first sig-

nifies in the Mon language dove, the second plenty; both names

being derived from gifts and alms offered and bestowed by their

parents at the birth of these children. The two young men having

heard that a famine existed in the Western countries, determined

* Tt is curious to observe how remote and obscure traditions linger among

semi-civilized races and influence their present actions. In the autumn of 1858

a poor fisherman near Twantay, having dragged up in his net from a stream a

small image of Boodha, believed this to be an omen of his high destiny. In

accordance with Boodhist principles he believed he would rise in the scale of

being, restore the Talaing kingdom, and revive religion.

A few desperate characters, willing to profit by his fanaticism, gathered round

him. They took possession of the town, issued proclamations, and were pro-

ceeding to the temple to inaugurate the fisherman in his new calling, when they

were stopped in their career, and all arrested. The fisherman escaped for the

time, but was given up by the villagers the same night.

A7 A History of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon. [No. 5.

to convey there a ship-load of rice, to distribute among the people.

They sailed, and in due time cast anchor on the coast of the coun-

try, which it is presumed was the shore at the mouths of the

Ganges. From thence they proceeded, one day’s journey to the

city of Ban-da-wa.* They hired there five hundred carts ; returned

with them to the ship; loaded the carts with rice, and proceeded

again towards the city. What next befel them is thus narrated in

the chronicles of the Pagoda :—

* As the brothers went on, she who in a former state of exist-

ence had been their mother, now the guardian Nat of a tree, asked

of them, * Whither go ye to buy and sell ?? They replied, ‘ We go

to the city of Ban-da-wa.’ The Nat said, ‘ Desire ye goid and

silver merchandize, or rather desire ye heavenly treasure?’ The

brothers replied, ‘ We desire heavenly treasure.’ The Nat answer-

ed, ‘ If that be true, then go ye to the place where the Lord is.’ ”

Guided by the Nat for several days the two brothers reached the

place where Gautama then was. The date of their arrival is said

to have been Wednesday, the 13th day of the waning moon Wa-

khoung in the year 103.f

The interview of the brothers with the Boodha Gautama is

recorded in the life of the philosopher, which has been translated

and illustrated with a luminous commentary by the Right Reverend

Bishop Bigandet, Vicar Apostolic in Ava and Pegu.

The following is the passage in Chapter V. of the Bishop’s trans-

lation :

“ At that timet two brothers named Tapoosa and Palakat, mer-

chants by profession were going with their carts from the village of

Oo-kala to the country of Mit-zi-ma where Phra was then residing.

A Nat who had been formerly their relative, stopped by his power

the wheels of the carriages. Surprised at such a wonder, the mer-

* The only place now in Bengal which I know with a name similar to this

city, is Pundooa in the district of Hoogly.

+ This date is 103 of the era established by king Thee-ha-noo, the grand-

father of Gautama. It is equivalent to B. C. 588, or 45 years before Gautama

entered Neib- ban.

+ At this time Gautama is stated to have been a short distance West of

Bau-di-beng or the sacred tree of Budh Gaya.

1859. | listory of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon. 475

chants prayed to the Nat guardian of that place. The Nat assum-

ing a visible shape appeared before them and said to them, “ ‘The

illustrious Boodha who, by the knowledge of the four great truths

has arrived to the nature of Phara, is now sitting at the foot of the

Linloon tree ; go now to that place and offer him some sweet bread

and honey; you shall derive therefrom great merits for many days

and nights to come.’ The two brothers joyfully complying with the

Nat’s request, prepared the sweet bread and honey, and hastened

in the direction that had been indicated to them. Having placed

themselves in a suitable position and prostrated before Boodha, they

said; Most glorious Phra, please to accept these offerings; great

merits, doubtless, will be our reward for many days to come. Boo-

dha had no patta to put those offerings in, for the one he had re-

ceived from the Brahma Gatigara had disappeared, when Thoodzata

made him her great offerings. Whilst he was thinking on what he

had to do, four Nats came and presented him each with one patta,

made of nila stone. Phra accepted the four pattas, not from

motives of covetousness, but to let each Nat have an equal share in

such meritorious work. He put the four pattas oue in the other,

and by the power of his will, they on a sudden became but one.

patta, so that each Nat lost nothing of the merit of his offerings.

Boodha received the offerings of the two merchants in that patta

and satisfied his appetite. The two brothers said to Boodha, “ We

have on this day approached you, worshipped you and respectfully

listened to your instructions—please to consider us as your devoted

followers for the remainder of our life.’”?. They obtained the position

of Upa-tha-ka..'They continued addressing Boodha and said, “ What

shall we henceforth worship ?’? Boodha, rubbing his hand over his

head gave them a few of his hairs that had adhered to his fingers,

bidding them to keep carefully those relics. The two brothers,

overjoyed at such a valuable present, most respectfully received it,

prostrated before Boodha and departed.’

In the history of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, this interview of the

merchants’ sons with Gautama, is expanded into a more particular

narrative, to connect it with the fortunes of Pegu. The young men

in reply to Gautama, state that they come from a far and obscure

couutry, and the Lord Gautama reveals to them that his predeces-

476 History of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon. | No. 5.

sors the former Boodhas, had left in Pegu a bathing garment, a

water dipper and a staff, hid in the Thein-goot-ta-ya Mount, under

a wood-oil tree. Then giving four of the hairs of his head to each

of the brothers, one of them he named ‘Ta-poo-sa and the other

Pha-le-ka, and charged them to deposit those hairs with the relics

of the former Boodhas.

The two brothers then set out on their return, joined their ship

at Ban-da-wa and sailed towards their own country. On the way

they enter a port called D-ze-ta or H-za-ta,* the King of which ap-

propriates two of the hairs. They proceed on and cast anchor at

Cape Negrais,f the Naga or Dragon of which, also demands two of

the hairs. These are reluctantly yielded ; after which, the brothers

continue their voyage, and reach Oo-ka-la-ba in seven days. The

eight hairs bestowed by Gautama are then found complete in the

golden casket, in which they had from the first been deposited by

the brothers.

The father and mother of the young men rejoiced exceedingly,

saying, ‘‘Our children have indeed returned with. heavenly trea-

sure,’ and represented all that had occurred to the king of Oo-ka-

-la-ba.

The King with his Queen and nobles with the merchant, his wife

and children proceeded to where the ship was, and received the

relics with due honour. But no one could point out where Mount

Thein-goot-taya was situated. At length the Guardian Nat of the

Earth appears, and with his assistance the Mount is discovered,

and the tree under which the former relics were deposited, was

felled.

“ Then the tree, (so proceeds the legend), as the three divisions

of the Mount were not equal in height, remained poised horizon-

tally on its centre on the highest peak; its top touched not the

* These names cannot be recognized.

+ The word Negrais has been adopted into European Geography through the

old Portuguese voyagers. It no doubt is a corruption of the Burmese word

“ Naga-nheet” or ‘“ Naga-reet,” as by the Burmese tradition the Naga, or Sea

Dragon, there lies in wait to sink the ships of those unbelieving voyagers who

pay him no respect.

1859.| History of the Shwé Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon. 477

ground, and its root touched not the ground. Therefore the place

was called in the Mwon language ‘ Dagon.’ ’’*

A shrine or relic chamber was then prepared under-ground, to

receive the sacred relics, which were deposited therein with great

ceremony, by the Nats, the King, the Merchant Tha-ka-lai, now

surnamed 'Thoo-wan-né, and the inhabitants of the country. Nu-

merous valuables, gold, silver and precious stones were also deposit-

ed in the relic chamber, and the golden model of a ship, with the

two brothers holding the helm, floated miraculously, on a mimic

sea. A small pagoda, not exceeding eighteen cubits in height, was

then erected over the relic. The city then founded on the ground

around the present pagoda, was called Oo-ka-la-ba. This is the

first account of a place of worship being erected on the site of the

present Shwé Dagon. The date of this event is stated to be 103

of the era established by Gautama’s grandfather, or B.C. 588.

The dynasty of this Sovereign of Oo-ka-la-ba ceased after thirty-

two generations, and the city of Oo-ka-la-ba and the Shwé Dagon

Pagoda fell to ruins.

* Much doubt has existed regarding the origin and meaning of the word

Dagon as applied by the Burmese to the Great Pagoda at Rangoon. It has been

supposed to be a corruption of the Pali word Dagoba from whence the European

Pagoda, is, by transposition of the syllables derived. Several other supposed

etymologies might be mentioned; but the name appears to be most probably

derived from a word in the Mon or Talaing language. The obscurity in the

meaning has resulted from that language having become nearly extinct in Pegu

and from the Burmese authors of histories of the temple, seldom being acquaint-

ed with that language. The tree mentioned in the text appears according to the

Talaing legend to have fallen “Tagvin” or “Takin,” that is athwart or across

the hill, and to have been sustained horizontally in that position. The term

Taguén, though strictly applicable to the object so placed across the hill, appears

afterwards to have been used to designate the spot itself; and also the Pagoda

built upon it, in commemoration of this remarkable event. The word has been

changed by the Burmese into “ Dagon” or “Dagiin.” The word Shwé, meaning

Golden, is a translation of the original Talaing word prefixed to “ Ta-gén.’’’ It

is now used as a term indicative of excellence and respect.

The tree being sustained by the hill in the position mentioned was probably

deemed to mark the original spot where the relics of former Boodhas had been

deposited, and to indicate the destined site for the new Pagoda.

478 History of the Shwé Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon. {No. 5.

Subsequently in the year 514* Tha-ma-la and Wee-ma-la, two

brothers built a city and called it Han-tha-wa-tee. Their dynasty

became extinct after twenty-seven generations and the city was

abandoned. The city of Martaban was then built, and after seven

generations the city of Han-tha-wa-tee was rebuilt. It was not

until the reign of Ban-gya-ran in the year 808,+ that anything

was done to restore the Shwé Dagon Pagoda. The work was con-

tinued by his successors and in the Burmese year 863% a female

Sovereign Sheng-tsau-boo, having succeeded to the throne, land was

set apart, and hereditary servitors were appointed for the perpetual

service of the temple.

At this time the height of the pagoda is stated to have been 86

cubits or 129 feet.

It eannot be credited that during the life of Gautama the

Talaing people had through their own means, any communication

by sea with India; or that Budhism was introduced into the delta

of the Irrawaddy at so early a period. The first building of a pagoda,

on the site of the present Shwé Dagon, cannot from the Talaing or

Burmese histories be fixed with certainty. Indeed the first reliable

accounts connected with the pagoda in native history, are those

which relate to occurrences in the reign of the Queen Sheng-tsau-

boo, so late as the beginning of the sixteenth century of the Chris-

tian era. Since then the pagoda has from time to time been en-

larged, and probably did not assume the beautiful form it now pre-

sents, springing majestically up to the height of 320 feet, until the

reign of Tshen-phyoo Sheng, the son of Alompra. It is certain

that in that King’s reign the present Htee or spire was placed on

the pagoda, about the Burmese year 1130 or A. D. 1768. Pegu the

ancient capital of the Talaing kingdom being abandoned, after the

conquest of the country by the Burmese under Alompra, it became

the policy of the Burmese Kings to increase the splendour of the

* This era is believed to be the era of religion established from the death of

Gautama; 514 will therefore be the year 29 B.C. Han-tha-wa-tee is the old

city of Pegu. It received its name from two birds Han-tha or Han-za being

seen at the spot selected for the city. The Han-za thence became the emblem or

standard of the kingdom of Pegu.

7 A.D. 1446. ft A.D. 1501.

1859. | History of the Shwé Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon. 479

pagoda at Rangoon, so that it might surpass the ancient temple

where the Talaings had for so many ages worshipped, and which.

was associated with recollections of their national independence.

This no doubt prompted the Burmese to add to the size and beauty

of the original building at Rangoon, and give it a Burmese form.

In the travels of the well known Mendes Pinto about the year

1545, he speaks of the city or port of Dagon, which no doubt refers

to a city at or near, the present site of Rangoon. He makes no

mention of the pagoda which he could scarcely have failed to do

had it been of the size of the present building. The pagoda how-

ever appears to be mentioned by Gasparo Balbi a Venetian in 1583.

In concluding this notice of Shwé Dagon Pagoda, I purpose

adding a few words on similar buildings in Burmah generally. They

may be arranged into four classes, as follows :

Ist. Dat-daw Tsédee or those containing relics of a Boodha or

Rahbanda.

2nd. Pa-ree-bau-ga Tsé-dee or those containing implements or

garments which have belonged to Boodhas or sacred personages.

3rd. Dhamma Tsé-dee, or those containing sacred books or scrolls

with texts.

4th. Oo-deit-tsa Tsé-dee or those built from motives of piety, and

containing images of Boodha or models of sacred buildings gener-

ally in precious metal.

Hence in Burmah a pagoda is worshipped as being the deposi-

tory of a relic; a monument to Boodha; or as representing Dham-

ma that is Divine Law.

The form of the most ancient pagodas in India appears to have

been hemispherical, an expanded umbrella wrought in stone, being

generally placed at the summit. Such was probably the shape of

the original Shwé Dagon. Gradually however the form has been

altered in Burmah, until the normal shape of a modern pagoda has

become that of a cone, or circular pyramid of solid brick work,

more or less ornamented, and crowned by a tapering spire of gilt

iron net work. ‘This is called the Aéee or umbrella.

The accompanying elevation of the Shwé Dagon Pagoda, exhibits

the outline of that building and appended thereto are the terms

used by the Burmese to designate the several parts of the fabric.

3 Q 2

480 History of the Shwé Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon. [No.5

Names used to designate the several parts of the building.

Oo 8 s

Bre S

-S

Ses

sss :

® 3 =| Burmese name. Translation. Remarks.

Ses

Se See eT ETERS ESD je oe ‘eee

1 |Bhe-nat dau. Sandal, being the

base or plinth.

2 to 3 |Pa-leng Khon or Pan-|Throne or pedestal ;;The name flower-stand or re-

ten-gon or Pa-ta-| flower-stand or first} ceptacleis given, because the

ma pits-tsa-ya. gradation. offerings of flowers are fre-

quently laid upon this part.

3 to 4|Doo-te-ya pits-tsa-ya.|Second gradation or

story.

4 to 5 |Ta-te-ya pits-tsa-ya. [Third gradation or

story.

5 to 6 |Kyé-waing. Circular frame. A frame used to hold metal

gongs which are used as

6 musical instruments.

d Khaung-laung. Bell. This name is given from the

8 general resemblance of the

part to a bell. It is divided

into two parts by a band

called the girdle. (7) The

portion below the girdle is

more especially “the bell.”

The portion above is called

* Thabeit mhouk,” that is

‘inverted Monk’s dish.”

8 to 9 |Phaung reet. Circular cornice. These are generally nine in

number,

9 to 10 Kya-lan. Lotuses __ reversed,

! with a circle of

them.

10to11|Nghet-pyau boo, Plantain bud. So named from being in the

shape of that object.

12 |Kyé-tsa-loung. Copper lid. Placed as a lid or cap at the

top of the masonry.

13 |Htee. Umbrella. The modern shape of this is

derived apparently from the

shape of the King’s crown

or cap of state. It is fre-

quently called by the same

name Ma-gait.

A tree so named. Name derived from the shape

of the tree, or its bud.

15 |Tsein bwen. Diamond blossoms. {Ornaments so called.

16 |Nghet-ma na, or|The birds light not,/Name for the vane.

| Nghet-myat na. or, the excellent

14 |Tshap-tliwa phoo.

eas light.

17 |Tsein phoo. Diamond bud. The highest part of the spire.

beads dividing

1859. | On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. 481

On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean, with Notices of other

Cetals, and of the Syrenia or marine Pachyderms.—By Lywarp

Buyru.

The gigantic Whales (Balenide) of the intertropical regions of

the ocean have been little studied. The existence of them is even

ignored by Dr. J. E. Gray, in his elaborate synopsis of the known

species of Cetacea, published in the Zoology of the Voyage of

H. M.S. ‘ Erebus’ and ‘ Terror’ (1846), and again in the Proc. Zool.

Soc., 1847, pp. 88,118; but there happens to be avery early notice of

them at the northern extremity of the Arabian sea, in the narrative

of the famous voyage of Nearchus, the Commander of Alexander’s

fleet which sailed from the Indus to the Persian Gulf B. C. 327.

Not only did the ancient navigator encounter a troop of these huge

animals; but it would appear that they were at that time not

unfrequently stranded on the coast of Mekran, where the Icthyophagt

of that woodless region used their bones for building purposes.*

* The generality of the people live in cabins, small and stifling: the better

sort only have houses constructed with the bones of Whales ; for Whales are

frequently thrown up on the coast, and when the flesh is rotted off they take

the bones, making planks and doors of such as are flat, and beams or rafters of

the ribs or jaw-bones: and many of these monsters are found fifty yards in

length. Strabo confirms this report of Arrian; and adds, that the vertebre or

socket-bones of the back are formed into mortars, in which they pound their

fish, and mix it up into a paste, with the addition of a little meal.” Vincent’s

Voyage of Nearchus, p. 267.

Again, “ Nearchus says, that on the morning he was off Kyiza or Guttar, they

were surprised by observing the sea thrown up to a great height in the air, as

if it were carried up by a whirlwind. The people were alarmed, and inquired of

their pilot what might be the cause of the phenomenon ; he informed them, that

it proceeded from the blowing of the Whale, and that it was the practice of the

creature as he sported in the sea. His report by no means quieted their alarm ;

they stopped rowing from astonishment, and the oars fell from their hands.

Nearchus encouraged them, and recalled them to their duty, ordering the heads

of the vessels to be pointed at the several creatures as they approached, and to

attack them as they would the vessel of an enemy in battle: the fleet imme:

diately formed as if going to engage, and advanced by a signal given; when

shouting altogether, and dashing the water with their oars, with the trumpets

sounding at the same time, they had the satisfaction to see the enemy give way ; for

482 On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. [No. 5.

Tt is somewhat remarkable, however, that I have been unable to

discover a single record, from the days of Nearchus to the present

time, of the occurrence of great Whales in the Indian seas north

of the equator; with the exceptions only of one huge fellow,

described to have been 90 ft. in length and 42 ft. in diameter, which

was stranded upon the Chittagong coast in 1842, another of 84 ft.

in length, which was stranded upon an islet south of Ramri and east

of Cheduba on the Arakan Coast in 1851 (as noticed by myself in

the Society’s Journal, J. A. S. XXI, 358, XXII, 414),—and to

these two notices may be added the statement in the Rev. F.

Mason’s work on the Natural History of the Tenasserim Provinces,

that—* The Whale is found south of Mergui, and Capt. Lloyd

named a bay a few miles south of the parallel of 12° North, ‘ Whale

Bay,’—from the circumstance, he says, ‘of its being resorted

to by numerous Whales, and its being the only part of the coast

where I have seen them,’’’* —

upon the approach of the vessels the monsters ahead sunk before them, and rose

again astern, where they continued their blowing, without exciting any further

alarm. All the credit of the victory fell to the share of Nearchus, and the

acclamations of the peopie expressed their acknowledgment, both of his judgment

and fortitude, employed in their unexpected delivery.” Jbid., p. 269.

* continues Mr. Vincent, “ bespeaks its

“The simplicity of this narrative,’

truth ; the circumstances being such as would naturally occur to men who had

seen animals of. this magnitude for the first time: and the better knowledge our

navigators are possessed of, who hunt the Whale in his polar retreats, shews that

he is sometimes as dangerous an enemy as he appeared to the followers of Nears

chus.”

* [ have since obtained information of one of the largest size which was

stranded near Kardchi some years ago, and also of two during the present year

(1859) in Ceylon, one near Galle, the other near Trincomali. Referring to Dr.

Kelaart’s Prodromus Faune Zeylonice (1852), we find it there stated that

“Whales are very rarely seen. A dead one is occasionally stranded. The skele-

ton of one cast ashore, some twenty years since at Mount Lavinia, is still in the

museum at Colombo.” Sir J. Emerson Tennent, in his recent work on Ceylon,

mentions their being frequently captured within sight of Colombo.

Since the above was written, I have received a letter from the Rev. H. Baker;

Junr., of Alipi, 8. Malabar, in which that attentive observer states—‘* Whales are

very common on the coast. American ships, and occasionally a Swedish one, call

at; Cochin for stores during their cruises for them; but no English whalers ever

come here that I have heard of. One said to be 100 ft. long was stranded on

1859. ] On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. 483

They are, nevertheless, so far from being rare, indeed the sight

of a shoal of these huge animals is so familiar a spectacle to mariners,

that to this very circumstance—combined with the fact of their

being of little commercial value—may be attributed the extraordinary

absence of such memorial. Had the appearance of a shoal (‘ schule’.

or ‘school’ in nautical language) of enormous Whales in tlhe Arabian

Sea or Bay of Bengal been a phenomenon of unusual occurrence,

it would unquestionably have been recorded from time to time.

From reliable information which I have obtained, I am enabled

to state, with confidence, that they are still occasionally observed

within the Persian Gulf,—rarely however in shoals, but generally

one or two stragglers at a time. It may be concluded, therefore,

that a shoal of them may yet be now and then seen off the coast

of Mekran, at the head of the Arabian Sea a little further to the

east, where Nearchus and his fleet encountered them; and that a

carcass may still occasionally be stranded on the same rarely visited

coast, and the bones even yet be applied to like purposes by the

seanty fish-eating population of that inhospitable woodless region.

It appears, from much enquiry I have made on the subject, of

competent observers, that only one species of Whale is met with

in these seas, and all accounts agree that it is a ‘ Finner,’ § Fin-back,’

* Razor-back,’ ‘ Pike-whale,’ or Rorqual (BanmNorrEra), of enormous

size. I cannot learn that a ‘ Huncheback’ (Mucaprera of Gray) has

been observed north of the equator. An observant nautical friend

writes word that “the Whale most generally seen in and about the

Bay of Bengal, often in numerous herds, exhibits the dorsal fin; at

least,” he adds, “all that have come under my observation, and if

my memory serves me correctly, the dorsal finis about one-third or a

the coast. I saw some of the vertebre and ribs about three years ago: last

year, another, 90 ft. long, got among the reefs at Quilon, and was murdered by

some hundreds of natives with guns, spears, axes, &c., and was cut up and eaten

(salted and dried as well as fresh). ‘The Roman Catholic fishermen of the coast

pronounced it ‘first chop beef’ The Maldives and Seychelles are said to be

tbe head-quarters of the whalers who seek for these Whales. Iam sorry I never

noticed the jaw-bones sufficiently, for I saw them on the beach. We have the

Dugong on the coast, and Porpoises come up the back-waters in March when

they are salt, but the Susu I do not think is known here,”

ASA On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. [ No. 5.

little more from the head and is well developed.” To cite further

communications of the kind would be mere repetition.

No other Balenide attain the dimensions of the largest Batm-

NOPTER®, including the known examples stranded within the Bay

of Bengal; and the peaked dorsal] fin is of itself a distinction.

Moreover, the finless or ‘ Right Whales’ are restricted to cold lati-

tudes, where only, it would seem, they can obtain a sufficiency of

their peculiar food: the Rorquals subsisting mainly on Cephalopoda.

According to Scorseby, the great Northern or Greenland Whale (B.

MYSTICETUS) “has never been seen beyond the limits of the Arctic

Ocean.’ Another (B. saponica, Gray,—B. australis of 'Temminck

apud Gray,) descends more southward in the comparatively cold

oceanic region of the Northern Pacific. In the southern hemisphere

there would also appear to be two species (recognised as such by

seamen with whom I have conversed),—B. austratis, Desmoulins

(le Grand Balein du Cap, Cuvier,—B. antarctica ? Lesson),—and

B. anrarcorica Gray, (vel antipodum, Gray, figured in Dieffenbach’s

‘New Zealand).’ In the Timor seas, ‘ Black Whales’ in addition to

‘Sperm’ are stated to exist in considerable numbers ; but those ‘ Black

Whales’ I have been assured are ‘ Hunch-backs’, which are much more

nearly akin to the ‘ Pincers’ or Rorquals : though I suspect them to be

a small kind of Cachelot subsequently noticed (HUPHYSETES GRaAII).*

* The locality known as Wal-visch (i. e. ‘Whale-fish’) Bay, latterly spelt

tropic ; but the name may well refer to Cachelots or ‘Sperm Whales.’

In a short account of Timor, published in Moor’s Notes on the Indian Archi-

pelago, we read that the coast people of the island of Selvi (one of the Timor

group) “are such expert fishermen that they constantly take the species of Whale

called Black-fish, which are often 20 ft. long, and which afford oil inferior only

to the spermaceti, having the same substance in the head as the Spermaceti

Whale. They do not boil the blubber, but expose it to the sun in an inclined

situation with a ditch at the bottom into which the oil drains.” A small species

of the PHysETER group must be here intended; but the Black-fish of the Bay

of Bengal is GLOBICEPHALUS INDICUS, nobis. As for the Sperm-whale fishery

in the eastern seas, the Sulu or Mindoro Sea, between Borneo and the Philip-

pines, in from 50° to 100° E. L., is at present I believe the grand resort of the

whalers.

‘Sperm Whales’ were formerly hunted off the shores of the Antilles. Thus, the

excellent observer, Mr. Richard Hill, of Spanish Town, Jamaica, writes to his friend

1859. ] On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. 485

The B. mysticrrvs is generally believed to be the largest of the true

Batzn#; and it rarely attains to 70 ft. long, according to a very

high authority, the late Rev. Capt. Scoresby : but Mr. Polack, whose

work on New Zealand contains much original matter concerning the

ereat Cetals of the Southern Ocean, states that B. awrarcrioa “ not

unfrequently attains the length of 70 ft., and the breadth where

the flipper is placed (which is the thickest part) is often 18 ft. The

female is invariably the larger.” B. ausrratis is stated rarely to

exceed 50 ft. in length. Again, the head in BaLmna approaches to

one-third of the entire length, while in the ‘ Finners’ and ‘ Hunch-

backs’ it constitutes about a fourth. Lastly, the configuration of

the chief bones of the ‘flipper’ or limb is very different in the

BaL“n# to what is seen in the others, as shewn by Cuvier’s figures

in the Ossemens Fossiles. ‘These various considerations enable me

to pronounce, with confidence, on the genus of the two great indi-

viduals which have been stranded, of late years, on the eastern

shores of the Bay of Bengal.

The following notice of the 90 ft. specimen (as alleged), that

was cast upon the Chittagong coast in 1842 (in about Lat. 21° N.),

is taken from a letter that appeared in the ‘ Friend of India’ news-

paper for Sept. 15th of that year. It appears that “early on the

morning of the 15th August, the attention of the people of Cox’s

Bazar, and those of Muskal island, were attracted by something in

appearance like a capsized hull of a large vessel, floating on the

surface of the sea, coming towards the mouth of the Muskal river,

and when it approached near the land they perceived that it was a

living creature, by its continually spouting up water into the air,

and by the middle of the day it cast itself on the shore of the west

Mr. P. H. Gosse, that—‘ Moreau de St. Meri, in his History and Description of the

old French Colony of St. Domingo, relates that in his time (1785), in the months

of March, April, and May, as many as five and twenty vessels from the North

American States could be seen on the coast off Sale Trou near Jacmel, fishing

for Cachelot Whales, and, he adds, for Soufflewrs (BALMNOPTERA) ; and that this

fishery was with equal spirit pursued within the Gulf to the west of the colony ;

—that is, within the bight, in which I saw the Cachelot breach. The whale-

fishers resorted to Turk’s Island to boil their oil”’ 4 Naturalisé’’s Sojourn in

Jamaica, p. 353.

486 On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. [ No. 5.

side of Muskal island. By the assistance of the flood and the surf

of the sea, it was brought completely on shore, where, as soon as

it was landed, it appeared to be in great distress; for it roared very

loudly, similar to the roar of an old Elephant. As soon as all the

Mugh inhabitants, both of Cox’s Bazar and Muskal island, heard

of the circumstance, they all sallied to the spot, and found that it

was a laree Whale. They then measured it, and found it to be

60 cubits (equal to 90 ft.) long and 28 cubits (equal to 42 ft.) in

circumference. They then cut up the animal and each one helped

himself to a large portion of the blubber, from which a quantity of

oil was extracted. Two flakes of its gill [! flakes of baleen] were

’ remarks the writer, “which are indeed a great

brought to me,’

curiosity.” The foregoing details were obtained from a Mueh

Christian, who is not likely to have remarked the presence of a

back-fin.

The other recorded example, stated to have been 84 ft. in length,

was thrown up dead upon Juggu or Amherst islet, about 2° further

south, during the rainy season of 1851. <A few of the bones were

collected in the following year by the present Major T. P. Sparkes,

then Asst. Commissioner of Ramri, and were presented by him

for the Society’s museum. They consist of the two ram? of the

lower jaw, a right rib (probably the third of the series), the left

vyadius, and, five vertebre. The proportional length of the radius

indicates the animal to have been a BALmNoprzERA or Rorqual ; while

the remarkable slenderness of the lower jaw suffices to prove it a

distinet species from any hitherto described Rorqual. .

The only Whale, indeed, that I can find to bear comparison with

it is one described in the Philosophical Transactions (Vol. I, 11),

as cited by Dr. Gray, who refers it to his MrGaprnrs AMBRICANA,

founded upon the tracing of a drawing of a species stated to be

common off the Bermudas (an almost subtropical locality). That

Whale is thus described :—“ Length of adult 88 ft.; the pectoral

26 ft. (rather less than one-third of the entire length); and the

tail 28 ft. broad,’ &c. From the medium length of the radius of

the Indian animal, the species must be very different,—in faet

a BALMNOPTERA as distinguished from a typical MuGarrrra or

* Hunch-back.’

1859. | On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. 487

But the lower jaw is remarkably slender for a BaLmNopTERa,

even more so than in BaLmNA MyYsTICETUS (as viewed laterally,

vide Oss. Foss. pl. XX VI, f. 9); while the coronoid process is well

developed, as in Gray’s figure of the lower jaw of BALM@NOPTERA ROS-

trata (Zool. Voy.‘ Hrebus’ and ‘Terror, Cetacea, p\. 2); the base of the

jaw, however, posterior to the process is not deeper as in that figure,

but the reverse, and the jaw is proportionally much longer anterior

to the process. The entire length of each ramus is within less than

2 in. of 21 ft., shewing the head to have been about a fourth of the

total length. Vertical diameter, 3 ft. in advance of summit of coro-

noid, 18 in. (measured by callipers) ; at 3 ft. from tip, 133 in. ; and,

where most contracted posterior to the coronoid, 15 in. only: ex-

treme depth, at coronoid process (inclusively), 262 in. From mid-

dle of coronoid to summit of condyle posteriorly, in a direct line,

3874 in. The shaft of the ramus is more approximatively of the same

thickness throughout than in BaLmNa MYSTICETUS, tapering quite

evenly.

The radius is 88% in. long, nearly similar in shape to—but more

curved than—that of MucarrEra porsKop (Rorqual du Cap, Cuvier,

Oss. Hoss. pl. 227, f. 22, ¢.). The shape of this. bone in Banana

(as figured by Cuvier) is remarkably different.

The rib is proportionally small, measuring only 8 ft. 2 in. round

its curvature to superior articulation. It is probably the third of

the series, on the right side. |

Of the five vertebra, two are dorsal, about the 6th and 7th; but

they have been much hacked and are mutilated of their processes.

Body of the vertebra (hind surface) 113 in. deep by 15 in. broad.

A lumbar vertebra, probably the first, has the body (measured pos-

teriorly) 183 by 163 in. broad; antero-posterior diameter, 14 in. ;

spinal apophysis 27 in. (or a trifle more, allowing for the extreme

tip which is broken off),—measured from the front, and sloping back-

ward at an angle of nearly 45°.* Another lumbar vertebra, proba-

bly the 5th or Gth, with spinal apophysis 8 in. in antero-posterior

* In the figure of the skeleton of the great Northern Rorqual in the Volume

on Cetacea in Jardine’s Naturalist’s Library, pl. V, the apophyses of the dorsal

verlebre are represented to slope forwards !

ok 2

488 On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. [No. 5.

diameter, and lateral processes 12 in. long and 84 in. broad. Last-

Jy,a caudal (?) vertebra,* about the 4th; the body (pesteriorly) 15

by 173 in. broad.

In ds. Res. XV, App., p. xxxiv, “a large jaw-bone of a

Whale” is recorded as having been presented by Mr. J. Kyd,

(1822-5). It was only the basal portion of one, and is now much

injured by long exposure to the weather out-of-doors; but it ap-

pears to have belonged to a rather smaller individual of the same

species, which I think we may safely venture on designating Ba-

LHNOPTERA INDICA.

In As. Res. XVII, 624, and Gl. Sc. II, 71, “ the vertebree and

cranium of a Whale’”’ are recorded as having been presented by G.

Swinton, Esq. (1830). These also are now much damaged and most-

ly valueless, from long exposure to all weathers,— the result of want

of accommodation for such bulky specimens in our excessively over-

crowded museum building. The length of this Whale was about 80 ft.,

of which the head was abouta fourth. Probably the young of Bata.

NOPTERA INDICA, rather than another and smaller species. A fine

skull of the same, with rami of the lower jaw measuring 10 ft.,

was obtained by the late Professor H. Walker from a friend in

Arakan, and is now in the museum of the Calcutta Medical College.

It is most probably from the Bay of Bengal.f

There are other remains of BaL“NID®# in our museum, the origin

of which I have been unable to trace,—at least when and by whom

presented: but they were in the collection prior to my taking

charge of it in 1841. Portions of one skeleton appear to be refer-

able to BALmya AusTRALIS, Desmoulins (le Grand Balein du Cap,

Cuvier), or ordinary southern ‘ Right Whale.’ These consist of

three vertebra, a pair of humert, and a pair of seapule. One hume-

rus and one scapula have now been injured by long exposure out of

doors; but the others are in tolerably good preservation, and well

agree with Cuvier’s figures in the Ossemens Fossiles ; the acromion

* T mean one of the series with inferior * V-bones’ attached ; not one of the

small caudal that support the tail-flukes.

+ In the Society’s 30 ft. specimen, the bases of the lower jaw are mutilated,

only the shafts remaining ; but in the Medical College skull the coronoid, &e.,

of the lower jaw accord with those of our 21 ff. jaw.

1859. | On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. 489

being present only in the injured scapula. The scapula measures

41 in. long by 473 in. in the extreme breadth. The humerus 22 in.

long by 15 maximum and 94 in. minimum breadth. Of the verte-

bre, one is worked inte a fancy chair, and is an uninjured first dor-

sal; body 8} by 10% in. broad, measured posteriorly; the lateral

processes 12 in. long. Another is probably the third dorsal; and

the remaining one is probably the fifth dorsal, 18} by 14 in. poste-

riorly, and 12 in. in antero-posterior diameter : the spinal apophyses

of both are broken away above their ale. It will be understood that

I merely adjudge these to be portions of the same skeleton.

Of two pairs of the internal ear of “ The Whale,” one pair is

likely to belong to the last noticed individual, the other pair perhaps

to the 30 ft. BanmnopreEra, which, however, is less probable, judging

from their great size. It is not likely that they appertain to the

same species, as one pair is nearly equal in size, while in the other

the left is much larger than the right. From this great inequality,

I am inclined to suspect that the latter pair belong to a Cachelot

or ‘Sperm Whale.’ A large left internal ear, without a right to

match it, is probably that noticedin J. A. 8. V, 374, as having been

presented by the late James Prinsep ; and there is even anotner left

cochlea only. On present data, I cannot venture on attempting to

identify the precise species or even genera to which these specimens

belong.

The Cachelots or ‘Sperm Whales’ (Catodontide of Dr. Gray), I

Lumbly consider to constitute a subfamily rather of Delphinide ;

especially since the discovery of that very remarkable small species,

the Eupnyspres Grait of Mr. W.S. Wall, Curator of the Austra-

lian museum, Sydney. That gentleman well argues the matter, in

his ‘ History and Description of a new Sperm Whale,’ &c., Sydney,

1851; of which he favored me with a copy. Unless the ear-bones

before referred to belong to this group, we have only five teeth of

a ‘Sperm Whale,’—by whom presented I have been unable to dis-

cover.*

* Mr. Polack has a curious statement regarding the ‘Sperm Whale,’ to which 1

invite attention, He says-~“ The Cachelot is covered with an outer cuticle, as

transparent as ‘ gold-beater’s skin,’ beneath which it is covered with hair per-

490 On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. [ No. 5.

Of ordinary Delphinide, one of the most common species in the

Bay of Bengal is that generally known as the ‘ Black-fish’ to sea-

men, and named by me GLoBicePHaLus tnpicus in J. 4. 8. XXI,

358. This was first noticed in XIX, 426; a large herd or ‘ school’

(z. e. shoal) of these animals having been carried into the salt-water

lake E. of Calcutta during the month of July, 1852. It is remark-

able that two specimens which I have since obtained were procured

during the same season of the year, viz. one taken in the Hugli

near Serampore, 63 ft. long (in 1858), and a newly born young dur-

ing the present year (1859), which was brought to the Calcutta fish-

bazar. The species is well distinguished from Gu. DEDUCTOR of the

Atlantic, of which we have a fine skull of an old animal for comparison.

The inter-maxillaries of the Indian species are shorter and one-fourth

broader, and the teeth are considerably stouter. Colour of the ani-

mal uniform leaden-black, slightly paler underneath. Length of an

adult male 14 ft. 2 in.; the flippers 2 ft., and 6 in. in greatest

breadth. Length of dorsal fin 2¢ ft., and height 11 in. Breadth

of tail-flukes 3 ft.; and from vent to cleft of tail 4 ft. 10 in. Adult

female rather smaller. The skeleton of a female set up in our

museum has a series of 49 vertebre, additional to the united

cervical. There are 11 dorsal or costal, 12 lumbar without the

articulated ‘ V-bones,’ 16 with the latter, and 10 small caudal

within the tail-flukes. We possess skeletons of the adult male and

female, the latter set up; the 6} ft. example mounted as a stuffed

specimen ; and the new-born young as a skeleton. There is also

a skull of this species in the museum of the Calcutta Medical Col-

lege.*

fectly sleek and black, covered with an uliginous matter, the texture and length

resembling the clothing of the Seal tribe.”

* T had much trouble in securing our two skeletons of this fine Cetal. The

animals were floundering about in all directions in the shallow water, and groan-

ing painfully, vide J. A. S. XIX, 426. From what I afterwards learned, there

must originally have been several dozens of them, which the natives towed off

into the river as they died, having no notion of extracting oil from their car-

cases. ‘The weather was terrifically hot; but I succeeded the first day in secur-

ing two pairs of the largest, male and female, and had them safely tied up to-

wards evening for operations on the day following, They were all cut adrift during

’

1859. | On the Great Rorgual of the Indian Ocean. 491

There is a GLOBICEPHALUS also in the China seas, of which a

description, with details of its anatomy, is published in the Chinese

Repository for January, 1833, p. 411. The specimen (a male) was

taken near Leu-chen ; and, though designated Gu. Rigsir by its de-

scriber, is probably of a distinct species. Colour black above, light-

er on the belly. Length 9% ft. “ Head 18 in. long, and average cir-

cumference 3 ft. There were only five blunt and eroded teeth in

the lower jaw. The dorsal fin was triangular and almost immove-

able, 15 in. long; pectorals 14 in.; and all remarkable for their

firmness and strength. ** * Thisspecies does not spout a jet,

though their breathing is distinctly heard. at a short distance: they

swim near the surface ; and we had several opportunities of observ-

ing their habits during the voyage. The sailors term them ‘ Cow-

fish,” ;**

Another small Cetal of which we possess a stuffed specimen is

that described as DELPHINUS PERNIGER, Elliot, J. A. 8S. XVII, 250,

from the Bay of Bengal: the species distinct from any of those

described by Dr. Gray, and having the teeth proportionally large.

Of other Cetaceous remains, we have the Narwhal tusk presented

by Mr. Lumsden (4s. Hes. XIV, App.); the skulls recorded in

J. A. S. VIII, 969, from Greenland; and the two skeletons from

Norway, J. dA. S. XV, Proc. 1X. Also two skulls of STENO Ros-

TRATUS, (Cuv.), one of an animal taken near the Nicobar islands,

the other from the Red Sea: and a skull which seems to be that of

ST. ATTENUATUS, Gray (Zool. Voy. ‘ Hrebus’ and ‘ Terror,’ Cetacea, pl.

28), being probably that mentioned of “a Dolphin found near the Isle

of France,” As. Res. XII, App. XXIV. Lowerjaw 14 in. Teeth 42.

Another lower jaw, “ from the High Seas,”’ with series of 88 teeth,

presented by Mr. C. Hervey, J. 4. S. X, 937; and two skulls,

toothless, and wanting the lower jaw, with series of 39 tooth-sock-

ets. Length 15 and 153 in. Origin unknown, but presented by

myself. All of these would appear to be the same; but the left

ramus of a lower jaw, with series of 43 teeth, is vertically much

the night ; and the work had to be begun again: and I considered myself fortunate

in succeeding so well as I did, in obtaining two perfect skeletons for the Society’s

museum,

492 On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. [N 0. 5.

deeper at the symphisis, and therefore undoubtedly appertains to

a distinct species.

Also a skull according with Deteninus rurYNOME, Gray, and

another with D. onscurus, Gray; which, together with the Red

Sea example of Steno RosTRATUS, were made over to the Society’s

museum from that of the Caleutta Medical College in 1843. Last-

ly, the skull of a Dolphin affined to D. prLenis, L., and “ procured

during the voyage from England to India,” J. 4. 8S. XVI, 886. Pre-

sented by the late R. W. G. Frith, Esq.,and probably an undeserib-

ed species. With a general resemblance to that of D. pELPats, the

inter-maxillaries—united as far as the middle of the rostrwm—are

vaulted so that the section of their united middle portion forms a

complete semi-circle, rising abruptly from the maxillaries, and being

there only as broad as the exposed portion of each maxillary ; pro-

bably a distinctive specific character. Teeth a If confirmed as

a new species, D. Frirutt, nobis.*

Of the Gangetic ‘Susu’ (PLATANISTA GANGETICA), we have a stuff-

ed male, presented by M. Alfred Duvaucel, As. Res. XV. App. xxxil.

A stuffed female, and also a stuffed example of a young female, pro-

cured by myself. With skulls of adult male and feinale, the former

toothless, and presented by Dr. Wallich, As. Res. XII, App. xxvi.

The entire skeleton I have long been trying to obtain. ‘There is a

fine series of skeletons of this species in the museum of the Cal-

cutta Medical College.t

* Since the above was written, Capt. Jethro Fairweather, commanding the

ship ‘ Forfarshire,’ has favored us with the skull of a small but not young Srs-

NO, which seems to be St. ATTENUATUS, Gray. It was procured not far from the

Sandheads, out of an innumerable herd of them, “ as far as the eye could reach

in all directions,’ and was of a palish lead-colour,—not therefore, however, the

D. MALAYANUS v. plumbeus, which is a much larger species common in the Bay.

Teeth Bee

Major R. C. Tytler, also, has presented a skull taken W. of the Cape G. Hope,

which agrees or very nearly so with the two heads minus the teeth and the lower

jaw, mentioned in the text.

* Though abounding in the river Hugli, the ‘ Susu’ is extremely difficult to

procure, at least in the vicinity of Calcutta; and too often when a fine example

is taken the captors saw off the rostrum, rendering it useless for a museum spe-

1859. ] On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. 493

The skull of a ¢ Susu’ from the Indus, presented by the late Sir

Alexander Burnes, is of a conspicuously distinct species, which I

designate

Pu. rnpI, nobis, 2. s. Maxillary crests wanting in the specimen.

Larger and much more robust than PL. Gan@Erica, with the same

number of teeth which are more than twice as stout as in the other,

being much ground down by attrition in the specimen. Length of

skull 203 in.; greatest width at zygomata 9% in.; depth of the two

jaws, with teeth in si¢wbus, measured in the middle of their length,

31 in.—in Pu. cGaneutica barely 1$ in. Length of symphisis of

lower jaw ll in. Depth of zygomatic arch 2% in.

A coloured figure of probably the identical individual that fur-

nished the skull above described occurs among the Burnes’ draw-

ings. The rostrum is represented as short in proportion to the

length of the animal, and the neck to be more contracted than in

the Gangetic species, which may be an error of the draughtsman.

Colour also much paler, the lower-parts dull albescent, abruptly de-

fined in a line from the gape to the tail-flukes. The specimen is

evidently female; whence the male should have a longer rostrum.

The dimensions assigned are “7 ft. long by 1 ft. 3 in. deep.” Rudi-

mentary dorsal fin as in the Gangetic species.

eimen. In what I believe to be the adult male, the symphisis of the lower-jaw

measures 17 in.; in the adult female only 12 in.; the rostrum being thus 5 in.

longer in the former.

The ‘Susu’ ascends very high up the rivers, if not quite to the foot of the

mountains. Hardwicke’s drawing was “ made from a living specimen 1000 miles

above Calcutta.” Major Tytier assures me that he has seen’them about 40 miles up

the Jumna, and also at Raj-ghat Mundi in the Dehra Dhoon. Likewise in the

Indus and Sutlej near Ludiana; but these were doubtless of the species proper

to the Indus and its tributaries. The Gangetic ‘ Susu’ is common throughout

the valley of Asim, in the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. Whether inhabiting

the Irawadi and other Burmese waters I am unaware ; but have been assured that

no such animal exists there. From the minuteness of its eyes, this creature is

obviously adapted for turbid rather than for clear water ; and it has never been

observed out to sea, It is migratory, as it occurs towards the Gangetic outlets

only in the cold season, as remarked by Dr. Cantor ; but at what particular season

it is observed in the Upper Provinces I have been unable to ascertain.

3 a]

e wn

494 On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. [No. 5.

Further information respecting the ‘ Susu’ of the Indus and its

tributaries is very desirable.*

Of the Syrenia, or Gravigrada of de Blainville, the Cetacea Her-

bivora of the Cuviers (which Professors de Blainville and Owen have

shown most satisfactorily to be much more nearly akin to the qua-

drupedal Pachydermsft), we have only the genus Hattcorn or

Duyong. The skull and the lumbar and caudal portion of the vertebral

column of an adult, I made out long ago to pertain to H. ausrra-

Lis, Owen, the Australian Duyong as distinguished from that of the

Indian seas, or H. 1npicus, F. Cuvier: but how we came by an

Australian specimen was an enigma only very recently solved. In

Corbyn’s India Review, III, 46 (1838), there is a memoir of the

late Dr. Robert Tytler, of the Bengal Medical establishment ; and

in this memoir we read that—“ During his various expeditions, Dr.

Tytler made some valuable collections of natural curiosities, of

which he largely and liberally contributed to the Asiatic Society of

Calcutta. In 1827, he read a paper on the Duyong, or Dayoung.

The bones of four different individuals were picked up by Dr. Tytler

at Raffles Bay, on the north coast of New Holland. In one in-

stance they were sufficiently numerous to form nearly an entire

skeleton of the animal. This creature is nob uncommon in the

eastern archipelago, but its existence on the coast of New Holland

was made known for the first time by Dr. Tytler.”—Hence, obvi-

ously, our bones of Haticorz ausrratis.{ Iam not aware that it

is yet generally known to zoologists that the H. ausrratts differs

* The existence of the Susu of the Indus, as a particular species, is referred to

"in Prof. Reinhardt’s admirable paper on the Gangetic species, a translation of

which (by the late Dr. Wallich) appears inthe Ann, Mag. N. H. for 1852, pp. 162,

279, and vide p. 291. An excellent figure of the animal accompanies that paper.

+ Vide Proc. Zool. Soc. 1838, p. 45, &e.

+ The existence of a Duyong on the Australian coast was recognised so long

ago as by Peron, in his account of the Voyage of Discovery to Australia, made

by the corvettes ‘ Geographie,’ ‘ Naturaliste,’ and goelette ‘ Casuarina’ (1800-4),

—“ edited by M. Francis Peron, naturalist to the expedition,” and published in

1807. Dampier mistook them for Hippopotami ; but he only saw a head, “ half

* and the tusks doubtless helped to mislead him, for

decomposed by digestion ;’

little in his time was known of Hippopotami beyond their tusks, our accurate

acquaintance with this animal being still quite recent.

1859.) On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. 495

conspicuously in external colouring from H. typtcus ; but such ap-

pears to be the fact from the following notice :—

Peron only saw a few teeth; but he mentions one of these animals which “ lay

extended on the beach, of 20 to 22 decimétres [63 to 7 ft. English] in length,

already half-decomposed by putrefaction, and which appeared to our sailors,”

he adds, “ so different from the Phoce, that they thought they ought to bring

its remains to me. Unable to bring the entire head, on account of the extreme

stench which it exhaled, they tore from it seven teeth, which they offered me. It

was easy for me to discover that these teeth belonged to a herbivorous animal.

They proved, in fact, to be the teeth of a Dugon, a mammiferous sea-animal, but

little known, and which appears to be confined to the Indian Ocean.” He then

cites Leguat’s account; but this worthy writer observed them at the Mascarine

Islands (Mauritius, Rodriguez, &c.), where they are now, so far as I can learn,

quite extinct, and the species may have been different,—perhaps that from the

Red Sea, styled H. rapernactuLt by Dr. Riippell: it may, however, still be found

off Madagascar and the neighbouring coast of Africa.

Leguat, with his party of French protestant refugees, settled on the then unin-

habited island of Rodriguez in 1691, and remained there for two years. His ac-

count is celebrated for the description of the now extinct ‘ Solitaire ;’ and his

accuracy in other matters has been established. He mentions Duyongs as inha-

biting the shores of the Mascarine Islands “in great numbers. They attained

fo 20 ft. in length, and fed in flocks like Sheep in three or four fathoms’ water,

making no attempt at escape when approached. Sometimes they were shot at

the end of the musket, sometimes laid hold of and forced on shore. Three or

four hundred were met with together, and they were so far from shy that they

suffered themselves to be handled, and the fattest were thus selected. The larger

ones were avoided, not only on account of the trouble they gave in the capture,

but because their flesh was not so good as that of the smaller and younger ones.’’

(Penny Cyclopedia. Art. *‘ Whales’.)

The H. rapernacut of the Red Sea, Dr. Riippell “ saw swimming among

the coral banks on the Abyssinian coast near the Dalac Islands. The fishermen

harpooned a female, which he dissected, 10 ft. long. The Arabs stated that they

live in pairs or small families, that they have feeble voices, feed on alge, and

that on February and March bloody battles take place between the males, which

attain to 18 ft.’ &c. (bid.)

Sir Stamford Rafiles remarks that “ the Duyongs are seldom caught at Singa-

pore above 8 or 9 ft. in length; but how mucl larger they grow is not ascer-

tained, as, when they exceed that size, their superior strength enables them to

make their escape.”

Barchemitz remarks, of those of Australia, that— Each of these enormous

jish is more than 21 ft. long; the male is a little larger than the female: their

heads resembled that of an Ox. They live upon a green grass which grows upon

the banks,”

a 9 32

496 On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. [No. 5.

“In Morton Bay and on the neighbouring coast the aborigines

eagerly pursue the Duyong, a species of small Whale, generally

known to the colonists as the ‘Sea-pig.’ This animal has a thick

smooth skin, with a few hairs scattered over its surface. Its colour

is bluish on the back, with a white breast and belly.* In size the

full-grown male has never, we believe, been found more than eigh-

teen or twenty feet long. The food of the Duyong consists chiefly

of marine vegetables, which it finds at the bottom of inlets, in com-

paratively shallow water, where it is easily captured. Its flesh re-

Some of the sailors of the expedition that Peron accompanied were once

** alarmed by a terrific howling which resembled the roaring of a bull, but much

stronger, and seemed to come from the neighbouring reeds.”’ This was near the

Swan River; and it may be remarked that Mr. Fraser, in his description of the

Swan River, when it was surveyed by Capt. Stirling in 1826, notices that--

“‘ while attending to a boat on the river, I distinctly heard the bellowing of some

huge animal similar to that of an Ox, from an extensive marsh further up the

river.” Peron justly remarks that ‘ this terrific roar could only belong to one

of those great animals which the Indian Ocean nourishes within its seas ; but of

all those with which we are acquainted, the Dugon alone presents analogous

dimensions to the terrific noise which it makes,”

Now the Arabs described to Dr, Riippell that the Duyong of the Red Sea had

a feeble voice !

The Australian Duyong is met with on the north coast of that island-continent,

within the great barrier reef, at Swan River on the western side, and at Morton Bay

on the eastern, It certainly appears to be a distinct species from that of the Malayan

seas ; but additional species to these two are less satisfactorily established, and the

total disappearance of these animals from the vicinity of the Mascarine Islands

is worthy of attention, and may be borne in mind with reference to the extra-

ordinary fact of the seeming extinction of the Rytinus Stellert in the N. Pacific.

We want information, however, respecting Duyongs at the various coral groups

of the Indian Ocean, within ten or twelve degrees of the equator. The same

species may well inhabit the whole of them. It is remarkable that the Malays

consider that two species of these animals exist. Vide Proc, Zool. Soe. 1888,

note to p. 43.

* M. F, Cuvier figures the Malayan Duyong of an uniform pale slaty or plum-

beous colour, with some darker blotches on the sides. In the Atlas to the Voy-

age of the Astrolabe, the Duyong is figured of a pale fulvous hue with white

under-parts, which laterally are blotched with the colour of the back. Hardwicke

figures it of an uniform slaty-black, albescent on the head (unless this be meant

for shine or reflected light). There is a wood-ent shewing the mode in which the

female carries her young in Sir J. EH, Tennent’s work on Ceylon.

1859. | On the Great Rorqual of the Indian Ocean. 497

sembles good beef, and is much esteemed. The oil obtained from

its fat is peculiarly clear and limpid, and is free from any disagree-

able smell, such as most animal oils are accompanied with. It has

not yet been produced in sufficient quantities to acquire a recog-

nized market value. The blacks devour the carcase of the Duyoneg

roasted, after expressing the oil for sale to the colonists.’’*

Of the Indian Duyong we possess a small stuffed specimen, pre-

sented by the Batavian Society in 1845; and the lower jaw, scapu-

le, and four ribs of a larger but still young individual, recently

found in an Andaman hut. The Andaman islands are the most

northern locality as yet ascertained for the species in the Bay of

Bengal; and it must be rare there, or the bones would more fre-

quently be found to decorate those rude lairs (huts they cannot

justly be termed, together with the skulls of the small Sus anpa-

MANENSIS and of Turtles. On the west coast of Ceylon, Mr. Layard

notices that Duyongs are common in the Gulf of Calpentyn; the

flesh of this animal being there also held in esteem. Sir J. E.

Tennent, again, remarks their occurrence in all the salt-water inlets

from the Gulf of Calpentyn to Adam’s Bridge. They are found

likewise along the shore and in the salt-water inlets of the Concan,

where, as not long ago ascertained by the Rev. J. Baker, Junr., of

Mundakyum, Alipi, on that coast, they are known to Europeans

as “ the Seal.”’? That gentleman tock some pains to discover what the

animal could be, and found that it was the Duyong, which came to

feed on the vegetable matter found about the rocks, as well as to

* <The Three Colonies of A ustyalia’ (p. 337). By Samuel Sidney. London

1852. In a recent anonymous work, entitled ‘ Rambles at the Antipodes,’ &c.

(1859), the Duyong is mentioned as the Yangan of the aborigines. This author,

like every other (from the time of Sir Stamford Rafiles and before), describes the

meat of the Duyong to be excellent. ‘‘ When fresh having the taste of tender

beef, and when salted nearly resembling bacon.’’ Hence, perhaps, the appellation

‘Sea Pig.’ The Duyong, it is added, “ yields an oil, which is found, in cases of

scrofula and other diseases, to be more efficacious than cod-liver oil.”? The latter

would seem to be rising in demand; worse luck for the animal! A friend

informs us that it is most difficult to obtain evena portion of Duyong meat at

| Malacca ; as, no sooner is a specimen captured, than it is at once cut up and

_ cooked by the Malays. Hence the difficulty of obtaining museum specimens.

498 Literary Intelligence. [ No. 5.

bask and sleep in the morning gun (!). Forbes, in his ‘ Oriental

Memoirs,’ gives an account of these so-called ‘ Seals’ as “ abound-

ing in the salt-waters of ‘Travancore ;” but his description of them

is either inaccurate, or ib must refer to some other animal (which is

exceedingly unlikely). He says—“ The Travancore Seal has a round

head, short ears, thick neck, tapering body, and flat tail, like a fish ;

it is web-footed, and the skin covered with a soft oily hair. Seals,’’

he adds, “vary in size and appearance in different countries: at

Anjingo they seldom exceed 4 ft. [!] in length: they are gregarious

and sociable; form parties on the banks of the rivers, but always

plunge in at the approach of a stranger.’ (2nd edition, I, 227.)

In our Andaman specimen of a lower jaw, the first molar has a

minute forked crown and proportionally very large root. Then fol-

low three deciduary pre-molars, ground to a perfectly flat surface ;

and behind these a tuberculated permanent molar, which had nearly

pierced the gum when the animal came by its death.

A. complete skeleton of an adult Duyong would be extremely ac-

ceptable for the Society’s museum; no matter how roughly prepar-

ed, provided no bones are wanting. Skulls, also, of adults of both

sexes are desirable.

PLB ILI LPL III IIL IIIS awa

Literary INTELLIGENCE.

The following is extracted from a letter to Dr. W. N. Lees from

Mr. Wright of Dublin, dated 16th October, 1859.

“Tdo not think that 1 have ever written to you to thank you

for your last present, the Introduction to the (wI! wl=® In my last

- parcel from Williams and Norgate I have just received the Per-

sian text of that work, and the 3rd and 4th vols. of the Kash-

shaf; which I was glad to see is advancing so rapidly. At home

but little of consequence has been done in the Arabic line, except-

ing Wiistenfeld’s Histories of Mecca (el-Azraki, Kotb-al-din, &c.) and

Life of the Prophet by Ibn Hisham, and an edition of Mutanabbi by

Dieterict of Berlin. Sprenger is busy with his life of Mohammed,

as I see from his last letter to me. A volume has lately appeared

at Gotha, containing a catalogue of the Persian MSS. there, by a

young scholar named Pertsch. Vuller’s Persian Lexicon scems to

‘

a Ae

1859. ] Literary Intelligence. 4.99

have come to a stand still. In Sanskrit I can announce the issue

of Max Miller's History of early Indian Literature (on the Veda

and the works connected therewith). Aufrecht has published within

the last year an edition of the Unddi-sutras with commentary by

Ujjvaladatta, and is now editing a small lexicon by Haldyudha. Both

works are accompanied by glossaries and notes. The first vol. of

his catalogue of the Sanskrit MSS. in the Bodleian Library ought to

appear by the end of this year, I think, if the curators assent to

its separate publication. I hope you have received copies of the

Ist vol. of my Arabic Grammar, which I directed Williams and

Norgate to send to you. Iam now busying myself with the 2nd

vol., which should appear in the course of next year. I am also

just making up a list of corrections on my vol. of Al-Makkart. The

5th and last part of the work (Indices and corrections) will go to

press shortly. Dozy is, 1 may mention, just bringing out a new

edition of his “ Recherches sur histoire Sc. de V Espagne,” more po-

pular in style than the 1st vol. was, and contained in two vols. 8vo.

The work will probably be translated into English. This is, I think,

all the literary news with which I can at present furnish you.

Wars and rumours of wars render literature as flat as merchandize.”’

Dr. Sprenger writes from Berne in a letter dated 31st October.

“You have of course seen Wright’s translation of Caspari’s

Arabic Grammar. It is admirably done and much required. It is

a great pity that oriental scholars in India never learn the rudi-

ments of the oriental languages. The consequence is that, wher-

ever criticism and European mind are required, they are completely

out, and their Moonshees are of no great use in such cases. Lane

is advancing fast with his gigantic Arabic Lexicon. Hlse I believe

there is not much doing in Hneland. In France Mons. Renan

begins a new epoch,—he is a man of genius and extensive learning,

and instead of quarrelling about words and letters as the school of

De Sacy used to do, he enters into the spirit of the ancient history

of the East. There are some excellent contributions of his in the

Revue Germanique, a periodical which you ought to have. Slane

_ is at Paris and engaged with translating Ibn Chaldtin’s Philosophy

of history, the text of which has been edited by Quatremore. It

500 Literary Intelligence. [ No. 5.

is the most remarkable book in the Arabic language. The doings

of Germany you learn from the Zeitschrift. Dr. Juynuboll is engaged

with bringing out [bn Hawgil’s Geography. Ile works conscien-

tiously, but it would be a mercy if he would spare us his erudite notes.

In that respect the edition of Ibn Batuta is a pattern—exact and

critical without childish show of erudition. Amari, a noble fellow,

who was in 1848 a member of the provisional Government of Sicily,

is going as Professor of Arabic to Florence, and it is to be hoped

that, under his influence, oriental literature will make progress in

Italy. His book on the history of the Arabs in Sicily is a work of

great merit. Professor Dorn of St. Petersburg is engaged with a

history of the Persian provinces on the Caspian Sea and was last

summer in England to collect materials.”’

In Sanskrit Lexicography Messrs. Bohtlingk and Roth have com-

pleted the letter @, and Dr. Goldstucker has issued a 8rd part of his

voluminous undertaking which reaches to the word afaga. We

regret to find that the unwieldy plan with which he commenced,

becomes only more and more gigantic with every fresh fasciculus.

The last part (containing 80 pages) only bi ta to ten pages

of Wilson’s second edition.

Prof. Behrnauer of Vienna is engaged mm bringing out an edition

of Abu Schamah’s Gah~s 9,4} CUS which he is publishing also in the

Bairut Journal, entitled jAYjadyon,

The breaking up of Capt. Tripe’s establishment by the Madras

Government is a step which will be regretted by all who take an

interest in Indian antiquities. It is gratifying, however, to hear that

he has completed photographs of the curious Buddhist sculptures

which were brought to Madras several years ago by Mr. Walter

Elliot from Dipaldinni on the Kistna, as well as of the temples and

remains at Madura. Capt. T. succeeded also in takiug a photograph

of the ancient Tamil inscription round the base of the great tem-

ple at Tanjore. Is it too much to hope that Col. A. Cunningham,

to whom, we are aware, Mr. W. Elliot has forwarded a copy of the

drawings, will give us his interpretation of the Buddhist sculptures ?

Syud Abhmed’s Oordoo account of Delhi, published some four

years ago, is being translated by M. G. de Tassy and will shortly ap-

pear cither in the Journal Asiatique or the Revue de Orient.

—s

1859. | Notices of New Works. 301

Notices oF New WorkKS RELATING TO SANSKRIT LITERATURE.

Ujjwaladatia’s Commentary on the Unadi Sutras, edited from a MS.

in the Library of the H. I. H.—By Tuzopore AurFreeut. Lon-

don, 1859.

The Unadi Stitras are well known in connection with one of the

most interesting, questions discussed by Indian grammarians, viz.

whether it be possible or not to derive all nouns from verbal roots.

On the one hand Gargya and Patanjali deny it, while Yaska and

Sakatayana maintain the affirmative.* The Unadi Stitras are a very

old attempt to carry out the latter principle, by inventing a system

of rules to explain those words which, if derived from a verbal root

at all, have diverged from any direct connection with its meaning,—

and in some instances from all apparent connection direct or indi-

rect, as in ‘ naku,’ an ant-hill, from ‘ nam’ to bend, or ‘ maytira,’ a

peacock, from ‘ mi’ to hurt. Fanciful as many of these derivations

may seem, they at any rate are conducted on a system and principle,

and are thus far superior to the random guesses of the Greek gram-

mariaus, as in the Etymologicum Magnum.

The Unadi Stitras are older than Panini (1. e. 300 B. C.) as they

are thrice quoted in his Stitras (ili. 3.1, 2. i. 4. 75.) and it is not

improbable that they may have been composed by ‘Sakatayana.

They derive their name from the affix, which is mentioned in the

initial sitra, “ kri-va-pd-ji-mi-swadi-sadhy-as ibhya un.”

Dr. Aufrecht has given us a very valuable edition of these Stitras

with an hitherto unpublished commentary. The only previous edi-

tion had been that in the Siddhanta Kaumudi with a commentary

by Bhattoji Dikshita (reprinted by Dr. Bohtlingk, 1844), but both

the edition and its reprint were marred by innumerable errors, and

many of the worst description. ‘The present commentator is earlier

than Bhattoji, his age being fixed between two limits. ‘ He very

frequently quotes Mahéswara Viswaprakasa, a lexicon written A. D.

1111, and is in his turn mentioned by Rayamukuta, who composed his

commentary on Amara in 1431.’ (Dr. Aufrecht’s preface, p. xiv.)

The Unadi Stitras (like the Prakrit Stvitras of Vararuchi) have

suffered by interpolations of examples and even whole rules, and

* See Prof. Muller’s Ancient Sanskrit Lit. pp. 164-169.

3 FT

502 Notices of New Works. [ No. 5

many words at present appear in them which can hardly be recon-

eiled with such an early date. Dr. Aufrecht mentions two, ‘ dindra’

(3. 140) and ‘ mehera’ (1. 52), which are evidently connected with

the Latin Denarius and the Persian mzhr. But in the first of these

instances Ujjwaladatta most satisfactorily explains the anomaly. In

the Stitras as given in the Siddhanta Kaumudi, we read @igt we

Sl Start: PIWATW but in Ujjwaladatta’s earlier recension

we have the following valuable addition @\e1 az 3 Nl ale Wey |

SRR] ITIG ASTHAT | aiait gawacy | eafee aden

Zqem qa wall “after the root ‘ ding’ in the sense of ‘ de-

struction,’ the suffix dran is employed with the augment » (nut), as

dindra, ‘a golden ornament.’ This Sutra is not found in the Deva

and Sutt commentaries.’ The same remark is made in several other

places.

In the editions hitherto printed, ‘ besides many other faults, su-

tras were often given as commentary,* aud the commentary turned

into sutras’ (Pref. p. xx.); these faults are here all corrected, and

we have now an edition of this very valuable part of ancient Indian

Grammar which criticism may safely depend upon. At the end,

the editor adds a very useful philological Glossary, and a list of the

principat Unddi suffixes which actually occur in Sanskrit. From

the latter we extract the following,—the Sanskrit accent being

marked by the Italic letter; ‘ w,—the oldest suffix of the Indo-Ger-

manic languages. Ex. a’su aki, urw évp’, gure Bapv, tanw ravi, pas’

pecu, purw odd, prithu Aart’, bahw zaxv, bahu apxv, madhu pébv.

Compare in Latin genu, veru, curru, &c.”’

Pantschatantrum sive quinquepartitum de moribus exponens, ex Codd.

MSS. edidit J. G. L. Kosrcartrmn. Pars If. 1859.

Professor Kosegarten has here given, as a sequel to the first part

published several years ago, a more ornate version of the stories of

the Panchatantra. Beside the occasional purpuret panni of rheto-

rical description which are inserted here and there, we also find

several variations in the stories themselves, and many of them ap-

* Thus in Bohtlingk’s ed. p. 15, we have in 1, 129, a new siitra drindteh shug-

ghraswas'cha disguised as part of the comm,

1859. | Notices of New Works. 503

pear to bear a closer resemblance to those in the Kalila wa Dimna.

The present fasciculus contains the first nine fables of the first book.

Zwet Vedische Texte tiber Omina und Portenta von A. WEBER.

1, Das Adbhuta Bréhmana des Sima Veda. 2, der Adbhutadhydya

des Kaus’aki-sitra. Berlin, 1859.

Dr. Weber in this brochure has given us the text of two Vedic

works on omens and portents, accompanied by a translation and

running commentary. The papers were read before the Royal

Academy of Berlin, on the 10th and 24th of June, 1858, and they

are now republished from the Academy’s Transactions.

The Adbhuta Bréhmana is the concluding part of the Shadvin’sa

Brahmana of the Sama Veda, and consists of twelve sections. Hach

section (from the 8rd) gives a formula to avert certain inauspicious

phenomena,—each being directed to a different deity. The first is

to be directed to the East and belongs to Indra, the second to the

South and Yama, the thirdto the West and Varuna, the fourth to

the North and Vaisravana, the fifth to the Earth and Agni, the sixth

to the Atmosphere and Vayu, the seventh to the Sky and Soma, the

eighth to the highest Heaven (param divam) and Vishnu, the ninth

to the nether Quarter (adhastdd dis‘am) aud Rudra, the tenth to

every Quarter and to Sirya. The two last are not found in some

MSS. and are probably a later addition.

One of the most remarkable passages in this Brahmana is that

which mentions certain portents connected with the temples and

wmages of the gods (S my:

aqaaaita aaa eaaufaur wats wai eater wizia feqay-

avata faateta 1 “If the temples of the gods are shaken, or if che

images of the gods laugh, sing, dance, burst, sweat, open or close

their eyes.”

Dr. Weber appears, by his note on § 5, to entertain some doubt

as to patanga meaning a ‘grasshopper’ as well as ‘a bird;’ but in

the Kumara Sambh, iv. 20, Mallinatha expressly explains it by

S‘alabha.*

* The line in the K. 8. is easily understood by any one who has scen his lamp

covered with the pharingas (@fey) of Bengal.

504: Notices of New Works. [No. 5.

The Braéhmava is followed by the 13th book of the Kaus‘ika

Stitras, which treats the same subject in a much fuller manner. The

rules, however, are here given without any apparent order or method,

and Dr. Weber argues for them a higher antiquity.

One of the most interesting passages is that which gives the

formula to be used in case two ploughs become entangled. In the

hymn here used we find a direct personification of the furrow, Sita,

—“ black-eyed, bearing a lotus, beautiful in every limb, decked with

a golden garland, the golden wife of Parjanya, the god of rain.”

Two ofthe most living creations of the later Indian muse are thus

dissolved by modern criticism into ancient personifications of natural

objects,—the Sita* of the Ramayana into the Vedic ploughman’s

‘furrow,’ and the Urvasi of Kalida4sa into the dawn which awoke

him to his daily toil !

* Cf, Ram. i. 66.

By a Aa: Va BlIFarstaat aa: |

SH WIAA TA Area Stata fazar

Errata In Vou. XXVIII.

P. 4. 1. 19, for opposition read apposition.

P, 28. 1. 2, infra, for al read Sut.

PLLA LL LL PL LLLP LLL LILLE LLL ILL

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

ASTATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL,

For Octoper, 1859.

PLDI

The Monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society was held

on the 12th instant.

A. Grote, Esq., President, in the chair.

The proceedings of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Presentations were received.

1. From the Superintendent of the Ordnance Survey Office,

Southampton, a copy of the account of the Principal Triangulation

of the United Kingdom.

2. From the British Association for the Advancement of Science,

Report of the 27th Meeting of that institution.

3. From the Royal Asiatic Society of London, Vol. XVII. P. 1,

of the Journal of that Society.

4, From Prince Mahomed Buhram Shah, two copies of Marsh-

man’s History of India, translated into Persian by Abdurraheem.

5. From Dr. G. Buist—A series of specimens of the rocks

around Point de Galle. These (Dr. Buist states) were of granite, fresh

and decomposed, for the most part devoid of hornblende or mica. They

abounded in crystals of cinnamon stone, and scales ofiron glance. The

specimens shewed the rock in all its stages of decomposition. Pass-

ing on the one side to kaolin, on the other to laterite, the quartz

in both eases slowly resisting change, but becoming absorbed in the

general earthy mass at last. The laterite again was in many cases

concentrating its iron into a red-black oxide. In some it had been

broken up, and re-cemented into a conglomerate.

506 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 5.

6. From R. Swinhoe, Esq., of H. M. Consulate, Amoy—A collec-

tion of Chinese bird skins, arrived but not yet received, in consequence

of the closure of the Custom House during the Durga puja holi-

days.* |

7. H.M. the ex-King of Oudh. A snake, DEnDROPHIS ORNATA.

8. Prince Mahommed Jalaludin, of Baligunge. A snake, the

Raj-samp of the Bengalis, Bunearvs ANNULARIS. .

9. Dr. Crozier, two skulls of Horses.

10. Capt. W. H. Lowther, in command of the Ist Assam Local

Battalion. The skin of a Binturong, Arcrictis BrintuRoNG, killed

on the Singpho frontier of Upper Assam, where termed by the

natives Young. Interesting with reference to the geographical

distribution of this remarkable animal. .

11. Baboo Rajendra Mallika, the carcass of a four-horned sheep

the skull of which has been retained for the museum.

12. Capt. Hales, commanding the Fire Queen, the following

specimens from Port Blair: A fish, JuLIs LuNaRis, in spirit, and

stuffed specimens of two other fishes, TprRoDoN PUNCTATUS, and a

_ large undetermined Muranna.

13. Capt. Hodge, commanding the guardship NSesoséris, at Port

Blair. Another considerable collection of fishes, a few birds, com-

prising a Parrot hitherto only known to inhabit the Nicobar Islands,

two harmless snakes, LycoDON AULicus var, and a young Dipsas,

and of mammalia a nearly perfect skeleton of Sus ANDAMANENSIS,

another imperfect skeleton of a young Pig from the Nicobar is-

lands, which appears to be the young of the ordinary domestic race,

portions of the skeleton of a Paradoxurus, the particular species

undeterminable, and the skin of a peculiar Rat.

The following gentlemen duly proposed at the last meeting were

balloted for and elected ordinary members :—

Dr. C. Archer, Captain J. C. Haughton, Supdt. Port Blair (re-

elected), A. Fisher, Esq. Dr. G. K. Hardie, L. B. Bowring, Esq.

(re-elected) D. Fitzpatrick, Hsq. c. s., Captain Forlong.

The following gentlemen were named for ballot as ordinary mem-

bers at the next meeting:

* Since received.

1859.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 507

Major 8. R. Tickell, Maulmain, proposed (for re-election) by Mr.

W.S. Atkinson, seconded by the President.

J. Sanders, Esq., proposed by Mr. HE. B. Cowell, seconded by

Mr. Woodrow.

C. A. Elliott, Esq. c. 8. proposed by Mr. Atkinson, seconded by

the President.

The Council proposed Dr. Frederick of Batavia as a correspond-

ino member of the Society.

Communications were received.

1. From Col. Baird Smith, c. B., officiating Secretary to the

Government of India, 2 memorandum on the Irrawadi River by Lieut.-

Col. A. Cunningham, Bengal Engineers.

2. From Baboo Radanath Sikdar, abstract of the Meteorological

Observations taken at the Surveyor General’s Office in the month of

April 1859.

3. From R. Davies, Hisq. Secretary to the Government of the

Punjab a paper containing remarks on the Cataclysms of the Indus

by Capt. Montgomerie, Bengal Engineers. |

The paper was read by the Secretary. It will be published in the

Journal.

Dr. Buist, Bombay, read a paperon the Curia muria islands to

which remarkable group an unusual amount of attention kad of late

been drawn from their being represented as containing deposits of —

guano. They were five in number, situated in a fine semi-circular

bay on the Southern shore of Arabia, betwixt the Sea of Oman and

the Gulf of Aden, under the seventeenth northern parallel and

fifty-seventh eastern meridian. This was the stormiest portion of

the Arabian sea, subject at all seasons to violent storms of wind and

rain, the occurrence of the latter forbidding the idea of guano being

stored of any considerable commercial value. Though two degrees

south of Bombay where 58° was a degree of cold rarely known, the

Belot or Belood wind from the mountains to the west often brought

down the thermometer to 40 degrees.

The islands are mostly plutonic, consisting of granite, porphyry

and hornblende rocks, corresponding with those on the mainland

508 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 5.

opposite the summit of the magnificent cliff on the northern shore

of Hullany, where it springs up 1645 ft. above the sea, of tertiary

limestone full of marine remains, similar to those prevailing in

Egypt, Scinde, and the Punjab: the islands are nearly waterless,

and are barren in the extreme. In 18385, when the islands were

surveyed, the whole population consisted of thirty-five individuals

nor have we any reason to suppose that they have since then been

on the increase. They belonged to a considerable tribe on the

mainland, who had always considered the Curia murias their own.

A Mr. Ord roving in these seas in 1853 professed to have discovered

enormous deposits of guano on the Curia muria, and ignorant of,

or ignoring, the fact that this must needs have been rendered worth-

less by the rains, he so far gained the ear of Lord Clarendon that

in 1854 H. M.S. Juno was commissioned to ascertain the fact. Sub-

sequently the Imam of Muscat was applied to, to cede the islands,

he having as much right to them as to make over Wight, Anglesey,

or Sky to France. We were now arranging for the Red Sea

Telegraph, and the time was most inopportune for disturbing the

minds of the people on the sea board of Southern Arabia. Mr. Ord

having appeared to claim execution of the treaty represented him-

self as having been resisted and threatened by hordes of natives.

Accordingly a war steamer of the Royal Navy burning coal at £3 a

ton, was sent out 30,000 miles, both to manifest the power and vindi-

cate the honor of England against an enemy not numbering in all

ten adult males—naked and unarmed as at the hour of their birth.

Tt ig needless to add that hostility or resistance were never dreamt

of by a handful of harmless barbarians who had nothing to do but

surrender at pleasure. But then the people of England were

assured of their triumph, and the guano speculators were promised

fortunes. Since 1857 shipping to the extent of 80,000 tons has

visited the Curia murias, and the adventure utterly hopeless from

the first, has in man-of-war and merchant-shipping charges pro-

bably occasioned a loss to the Commonwealth of not less than a

quarter of a million sterling. In reality there is a small quantity of

guano of excellent quality found in caves and crevices where the

rain never reaches and the reports of the chemists on this mislead as

to the remainder.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 509

The thanks of the meeting were voted to Dr. Buist for his inter-

esting communication.

The Officiating Librarian submitted the usual monthly report.

LIBRARY.

The Library has received the following accessions since the Meeting in

September last.

Presentations.

Account of the Principal Triangulation of England, with a vol. of Plates.

—By THE ORDNANCE SuRVEY OFFICE.

Report of the British Association for the advancement of Science for

1857.—By THE ASSOCIATION.

Tareekhé Hindosthan, being a Translation of Marshman’s History of India

in Persian, 2 vols —By Prince BUHRAM SHAH.

The Oriental Christian Spectator for September, 1859.—By THE Epiror.

The Oriental Baptist for October, 1859.—By rue Epiror.

The Caleutta Christian Observer for October, 1859.—By THE Epiror,

The Athenzeum for July, 1859.—By rue Epiror.

Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 35.—By tHe Roya. Socizry

oF Lonpon.

The Atlantis, No. IV. for July, 1859.—By THz MemBerRs oF THE Ca-

THOLIC UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND.

Monographie des Guépes Sociales par Henri de Saussure cahiers 10 and

11, with two plates.—By THE AUTHOR.

Official Correspondence on the System of Revenue Survey and Assess-

ment in the Bombay Presidency, 1859.—By tHe BomBAay GovERNMENT.

Bijdragen tot de Taal-land-en Volkenkunde von Nederlandsch Indie,

Tweede deel, Derde Stuk.— By THE BATAVIAN SOCIETY.

Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, No. IV.—By

THE SOCIETY.

Purchased.

_ Literary Gazette, Nos. 55 to 59.

Methode pour etudier la langue Sanscrite. Par E. Burnouf.

Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Tome X. No. 5.

Deutsches Worterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm. Dritten

Bandes Zweite Lieferung.

Mutanubbii Carmina cum Commentario Wahidii. Fasciculus Tertius.

The American Journal of Science and Arts for July, 1859.

The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society for August, 1859.

The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal

of Science for August, 1859,

EM ty

510 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 5.

The Annals and Magazine of Natural History for August, 1859.

Comptes Rendus, No. 26 of Tome 48 and Nos. 1, 2 and 3 of Tome 49.

Grammaire Sanscrite par Jules Oppert.

For NovEMBER 1859.

The Monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society was held

on the 2nd instant.

A. Grote, Esq., President, in the chair.

The proceedings of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Presentations were received.

1. From Lord Ulick Browne, Under-Secretary to the Govern-

ment of Bengal, two sets of Photographic Drawings of the ancient

buildings at Beejapore, the Ashar Mobarick, and the Mehteree

Mehal, transmitted for the Society by the Right Hon’ble the Se-

eretary of State for India,

2. From Baboo Kaliprosunno Singh, groups of Figures in clay

on two platforms, by a native artist of Nuddea, the one represent-

ing a Bazar the other an Indigo Factory.

3. From the same, a copy of the Govind lelamrita by Roop

Goswami.

4, From R. Swinhoe, Esq., H. M.’s Consulate, Amoy. A collec-

tion of sundries from South China and Formosa: among them is the

skull of a Deer, sent as that of the Spotted Deer of Formosa: it is

apparently of an undescribed species, akin to the British Red Deer,

and totally different from the Spotted Deer of India. Also a skull

of the smail Chinese Muntjac Deer; and some fine skins, including

one of Mustoza Sibirica, and a flat skin of the common Indian Pango-

lin: and of reptiles, alarge Python molurus from Formosa and a

fine new Bungarus, &e.

5. Rev. H. Baker, Junior, of Mundakyum, Alipi, South Malabar.

A dozen skins of the new spiny Dormouse Platacanthomys lasiurus ;

and other skins of field Rats, and of Shrews from that vicinity.

6. Captain Hodge, commanding the guard ship Sesostris, at

Port Blair. A few bird skins, comprising a fine new Woodpecker ;

several reptiles, bringing the number of now ascertained Leptilia

from the Andamans to 12, of which 5 are Lizards and 7 Snakes, 3

1859. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 511

of the latter being venomous; another fine collection of fishes

chiefly in spirit, and some Crustacea and sundries. A snake of the

genus Trigonocephalus now arrived has fangs of extraordinary

length, and, to all appearance it should be one of the most formid-

able of the tribe.

7. Baboo Ram Sehay Lall, native Doctor attached to the Police

Levy, a double headed kitten, forwarded by Adjutant KE. Berril of

that corps.

8. Baboo Rajendra Mullick, two dead monkeys.

Reap A LErrer

From Dr. D. T. Morton, Tounghoo, desiring to withdraw from

the Society in consequence of his intended departure for Europe.

The following gentlemen duly proposed at the last meeting were

balloted for and elected ordinary members.

Major S. R. Tickell, Moulmein (re-elected). J. Sanders, Esq.,

Presidency College, C. A. Elliot, Esq., C. 8.

Dr. Frederick of Batavia was also elected a corresponding mem-

ber.

The following gentlemen were named for ballot as ordinary mem-

bers at the next meeting.

The Hon’ble J. P. Grant, Lieut.-Governor of Bengal, proposed by

the President and seconded by Dr. Thomson.

Moulvie Futteh Ally proposed by Mr. Atkinson, and seconded by

the President.

F. Fisk Williams, Esq., proposed by Major Tytler, seconded by

Mr. Atkinson.

F. A. Goodenough, Fsq., proposed by G. G. Morris, Esq., and

seconded by the President.

H. Leonard, Esq., C. E., proposed by the President and second-

ed by 'T. Oldham, Esq.

Report from the Council.

The Council beg to announce that they have adopted the recom-

mendations of the Philological Committee contained in the following

report, and request the Society’s approval of the same.

Report oF PHILnoLnogicaL CoMMITTEE.

“The Philological Committee recommend to the Council, that a

new series of the Bibliotheca Indica should be commenced, it hav-

aU 2

512 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 5.

ing been already resolved, that no new works should be undertaken

in the existing series.

“They would also recommend that the translation of the Surya

Siddhanta, as well as that of the Surya Siromani, (the former by

Pundit Bapu Deva of Benares,) which Archdeacon Pratt has com-

municated to the Society, and which he has undertaken to superin-

tend the publication of, be forthwith sent to the press to form the

commencement of the new series. The Surya Siddhanta has already

appeared in the original in our first series, and the translation will

be a most valuable addition, as it will make the Sanscrit Astronomy

intelligible to the scientific world in general.

“The Siromani is a shorter treatise, which serves admirably as

an appendix to the larger work.”’

The Council in submitting the above report, beg to add that the

present state of the Oriental Fund, quite justifies the Society in

undertaking this new series. The assets, including Rs. 3,500 Com-

pany’s Paper, amount to about Rs. 15,3800 while the liabilities for

editing charges, and unpaid printer’s bills, &c., amount to about

Rs. 6,000 leaving a balance in favor of the Fund of Rs. 9,800

COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED.

1. From Lieut.-Col. A. P. Phayre, a paper on the History of the

Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon with a sketch of its elevation.

A paper was read entitled an Itinerary in the Tenasserim Provin-

ces, by Major Tickell with Botanical Notes by the Rev. C. S. P.

Parish.

These papers will shortly appear in the Journal.

LIBRARY.

The following accessions have been made to the Library since the Meeting

in October last.

Presentations.

The Oriental Baptist for November and December, 1859.—By THE

EpITor.

The Calcutta Christian Observer for ditto ditto.—By THE EprTrors.

The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, Nos. 119

and 120 for September and October, 1859.

Bibidharta Sangraha for Magh, 1780.—By Tue Eprror.

Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 56.-By Tur Boyan Socinry.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 513

Aunual Report of Superintendent of the Geological Survey of India for

1858-59.—By THE SUPERINTENDENT.

Journal Asiatique, Tome XIII. No. 32 for June, 1859.—By Tue Asiatic

Society oF Paris.

Pointed and Unpointed Romanic Alphabets compared, by G. G. Thomp-

son.— By THE AUTHOR.

Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. Ist, Part III. 2 copies.

—By THE Home GOVERNMENT.

Address at the Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society.

—By THE SOCIETY.

Journal of the Statistical Society of London for September, 1859.—By

THE SOCIETY.

Madras Journal of Literature and Science for October and March, 1858-59.

Transactions of the Royal Geographical Society from May, 1857 to May,

1858, Vol. XIV.—By THE Society.

The Oriental Christian Spectator for October 1859.—By THe Epiror.

Geographical Notice of the Royal Illustrated Atlas—By Dr. Norton

SHAW.

The Atheneum for August and September, 1859.

Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government, No. 51. Me-

moir of the Ruins of Babylon. By William Beaumont Selby, with plans.—

Byt HE BomBAY GOVERNMENT.

Purchased.

Revue des Deux Mondes for 15th August, Ist and 15th September and

Ist October, 1859, 4 Nos.

Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Tome X. No. 6, Tome XI. Nos. 1 and 2.

The Literary Gazette, Nos. 60 to 68.

Comptes Rendus, Nos. 4 to 11, from 25th July to 12th September, 1859

Journal des Savants for July, August and September, 1859.

Die Religion des Buddha von Carl Friedrich Koeppen, Zwerter Band.

Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, Nos. 7, 8 and 9.

The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Nos, 21 and 22.

Die Lieder des Hafis, Zweite Band Drittees Heft.

Conchologia Iconica, Parts 186 and 187.

Numismatique des Arabes avant l’ Islamisme, par Victor Langlois.

Philosophie und Theologie, von Averoes, von Marcus Joseph Muller.

Westminster Review for October, 1859.

The Natural History Review for July, 1859.

The American Journal of Science and Arts for September, 1859.

Dr. Max Muller’s Origin of the Introduction of Writing in the East,

514 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 5.

For DrcrmpBer, 1859.

The Monthly General Meeting of the Asiatic Society was held

on the 7th instant.

A. Grote Esq., President, in the chair.

The proceedings of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Presentations were received—

1. From C. H. Lushington, Hsq., Secretary to the Government

of India, specimens of rupees recovered from the wreck of the P.

and O. Company’s Steamer Ava by the divers of the H. M. S.

Retribution, sent by Commodore Edgell. :

2. From the Superintendent Geological Survey of India, memoirs

of the Geological Survey, vol. I. p. III.

8. From the Bombay Government No. 51 of the Selections from

its Records being a memoir of the Ruins of Babylon, by William

Beaumont Selby, with plans.

4. HK. 8S. Layard, Esq., in charge of the Museum in Capetown.

A valuable collection of skins of mammalia and birds from South

Africa comprising 28 species of mammalia and 39 species of birds, of

which 21 species of mammalian and 18 species of birds are wholly

new to the Society’s collections.

5. Babu Rajendra Mullick, several dead birds, comprising one

of the desiderata in every zoological museum, a magnificent male

specimen of the Golden Pheasant.

6. Captain Hodge, commanding the guard-ship Sesostris at Port

Blair. A further collection of sundries from the Andaman Islands.

7. Rev. J. Cave-Brown. A collection of reptiles, msects, &c.,

preserved in spirits from Subhatoo.

The following gentlemen duly proposed at the last meeting, were

ballotted for and elected ordinary members.

The Hon’ble J. P. Grant, Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal.

Moulavee Futteh Ally, serishtadar of superintendent of the

Mysore Princes’ Office.

F. A. Goodenough, Esq., and H. Leonard, Hsq., C. E.

The following gentlemen were named for ballot, as ordinary mem-

bers at the next meeting.

Prince Mahomed Jallaluddin of Mysore, proposed by Mr. Atkin-

gon, and seconded by the President.

1859. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society: 515

T. R. Grant, Esq., proposed by Dr. Boycott, and seconded by Dr.

Eat well.

H. V. Bayley, Esq., proposed (for re-election) by the President,

and seconded by Dr. Thomson.

W. J. Rivett Carnac, Esq., proposed by the President, and second-

ed by Captain W. N. Lees.

Baboo Preonuath Sett, proposed by Babu Rajendra Lall Mittra,

and seconded by the President.

Dr. Theodore Duka, proposed by the President, and seconded

by Mr. Stainforth.

Major J. J. M. Innes, Bengal Engineers, proposed by Mr. Atkin-

son, and seconded by Col. Baird Smith.

G. Lindsay, Esq., proposed by Mr. A. Fisher, and seconded by Mr.

H. Blanford.

Rev. J. C. Thompson, proposed (for re-election) by Mr. Jones,

and seconded by Dr. Boycott.

C. Oldham, Esq., proposed by Mr. T. Oldham, and seconded by

the President.

Capt. Alexander Fraser, Bengal Engineers, proposed by Mr.

Atkinson, and seconded by Capt. Dickens.

David K. Mair, Esq., proposed by Mr. A. Fisher, and seconded by

Dr. Boycott.

| Read a Letter

From B. H. Hodgson, Esq., conveying to the Society his deep

sense of the honor it had conferred on him by electing him an

Honorary Member, and assuring the Society of his hearty interest

in its welfare.

Communications were received—

1. From R. B. Chapman, Esq., Under-Secy. to the Government

of India, forwarding copies of statements of Doodnauth Tewary,

and Jhindoo, converts in Port Blair.

2. From Baboo Radha Nath Sikdar, an abstract of the hourly

meteorological observations taken at the Surveyor General’s Office

in the month of May last.

Colonel Baird Smith exhibited and explained to the Society the

series of plans of Delhi, that have been prepared to illustrate the

topography of the place, and the late operations against it in

1857.

516 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. \

The thanks of the meeting were voted to Colonel Smith, for his able

and interesting explanation of the plans exhibited to the Society.

The Officiating Librarian submitted the usual report.

—— =

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4} ——1

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[stole ayer a alala EIEIEI=I Le\efetol

fofelefetafofelopsyspaps

FVaVavavavaVayay NOV OVO OY YOY: Gal a

Thanthi cs a4

i ‘a

Megales

5 Ry High we

Moruncaber 3 )

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Tarana

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SS 5

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PO Ds

Old. Maran

S Samia

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THE SOUTH EAST PORTION OF THE

DISTRIUT OF

COP,

Reconnoitered and partly Compiled

wy :

‘ GLO a

ce Tayer oe Ti Dahil

Bish Mag! NL. Depty, mssr. Amherst.

EXPLANATIONS.

Termanint villages are marked? — Tanporary

silllermt® — Sakans or halting plax® Names

x Zane tat.

(0 Fort)

<— Ss

LS)

Mecklay

undelinal are of places fied by Latitude and

Trengitude by Account, (a Crronernder takin on the

Journey rat bang trustworthy) Altitudes not actually

muasurad are marked with”

Hh sland fer Khyoung a small river. er crak, 8 for

sakan (halting place) 2 for Lik, a landing place.

Miles of Stat. and Trang: are assumid to be qual.

ars WS). | =

wt “y Why Zea Was PA\)

ESI ha, Wy Bat

S 0 Msg bes re Zen

Yara

ay oh

ysog ov

spabpl porn

SUMoFUNOY

ano SUPONLY)

AAPO A Se

SJONSY3I9y

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PTE LCR

Payer (PUL

vilinany

i é OG UO.LOULIYY.

bats 1 24. 0008 ‘

- habnwim myng

obobuy a

AKA LOTT |

aquatnroliuy IX Teale

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VULAYV SBA E>

o.LohaLay

PPAYOM,

Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of January, 1859.

Latitude 22° 33’ 1” North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

Feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Dailv Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

se = 3

aes Range of the Barometer mo Range of the Tempera-

“Ep E 5 during the day. p = ture during the day.

eo, | __ As

Date. a ES

eS | Max. | Min. | Diff | $8 | Max. | Min. | Dift.

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. Oo o 0 0

KE 30.032 | 30.120 } 29.953 0.167 | 65.8 74,4) 59.6 | 14.8

2 | Sunday.

3 .057 .128 | 30.006 122 66.5 75.6 58.6 | 17.0

A .027 112 | 29.958 .154.| 67.6 q7 2 61.4 | 15.8

5 29.998 074 .958 116; 69.0 76.4: 62.6 | 13.8

6 30.014: .093 .953 .140 70.1 76.5 66.4 | 10.1

vi .032 Pi lied 3 974 157 69.7 79.6 61.0 | 18.6

8 .062 188 994 144 67.6 75.4 OL.S | 13.6

9 | Sunday.

10 .054: 138 992 | 146 67.8 G7 2 60.9 | 16.3

11 .070 163 | 30.001 162 68.0 78.1 59.8 | 18.3

12 .065 -160 | 29.997 163 68.4 78.0 59.9 | 18.1

13 044 «LoD .995 .140 68.2 78.6 60.0 | 18.6

14,.|° 1 029 .100 979 121 68.9 79.2 61.6 | 17.6

15 .057 1384 | 30.011 123 69.4 79.8 61.2 | 18.6

16 | Sunday.

{

AW .067 148 .007 | 141 69.6 78.6 63.8 | 14.8

18 .018 .096 | 29.947 | 149 69.4. 79.2 60.8 | 18.4

19 29.938 .025 .885 .140 69.0 79.6 60.4 | 192

20 9383 | 29.993 891 102 iD 82.8 62.6 | 20.2

21 30.005 | 30.105 952 | mi HSS 69.2 78.2 62.8 | 15.4

22 29.959 .069 .888 181 66.0 76.8 57.0 | 19.8

23 | Sunday.

24 914 .000 .866 134, 67.5 79.2 57.6 | 21.6

25 .928 021 .870 L511 68.7 81.2 58.4 | 22.8

26 906 | 29.975 851 124 | 70.5 83.6 60.2 | 23.4:

27 -969 | 30.037 925 112 70.8 82.0 61.0 | 21.0

28 .993 .077 941 136 71.0 82.3 61.0 | 21.3

29 .964 .059 905 154 71.9 84.4 62.0 | 22.4

30 | Sunday.

SL .914 | 29.976 .859 mm I rg 74.3 85.2 66.0 | 19.2

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the twenty-four hourly observations made during

the day.

il Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of January, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—(Continued.)

5 tial bile 6 Be eee ecg:

5 SB AS aioe bee ee

2 § = & & cee Bh ah lieu se

= e EB = 3) eS 80°3 2 oI 2 5

Daten ae 2 a is = a9 Se lee Dag

oo 2 Ss = ay os a ae fees

g rae a Ris a. os oes eee

ie S as Fo See 25 eS eS

Doe Ee 5 Ay oF C=! nee 3S

2 a || oe ive |e oS eee a

fr) Cy) o o Inches:| T. gr) Tar:

1 59.3 6.5 55.4 | 10.4 0.4.49 4.98 2.06 0.71

2 | Sunday.

3 61.6 4.9 58.7 7.8 501 5.55 1.64 17

ZI 63.4: 4.2 60.9 6.7 .539 96 48 .80

5 65,1 3.9 63.1 5.9 .080 6.39 ay | 82

6 66.3 3.8 64.4: 5.7 .605 66 37 83

7 64.0 5.7 61.1 8.6 043 5.97 .96 aS)

8 61.7 5.9 58.2 9.4 493 45 .99 13

9 | Sunday.

10 62.5 5.3 59.3 8.5 511 64 84: 75

11 62.8 5.2 59.7 8.3 518 73 80 76

12 62.9 5.9 59.6 8.8 516 70 92 75

13 63.1 5.1 60.0 8.2 523 78 .80 .76

14, 64.0 4.9 61.5 7.4 .500 6.07 67 78

15 64.1 5.3 61.4 8.0 048 04: 82 ak

16 | Sunday.

17 63.9 5.7 61.0 8.6 541 5.95 95 wo

18 62.9 6.5 59.6 9.8 .516 .68 2.18 72

19 62.9 6.1 59.8 9.2 .520 73 .03 74:

20 64.9 6.2 61.8 9.3 .000 6.10 18 74

ra 62.2 7.0 58.7 | 10.5 OL 5.02 .29 ee

22 58.2 7.8 53.5 | 12.5 421 4.67 Al .66

23 Sunday.

24, 60.8 6.7 56.8 | 10.7 470 5.19 23 70

25 62.5 6.2 59.4 9.3 013 .66 03 74

26 63.6 6.9 60.1 | 10.4 .525 Heir 36 TL

27 64.0 6.8 60.6 | 10.2 004 86 04: 72

28 64.6 6.4 61.4 9.6 048 6.02 23 73

29 65.5 6.4, 62.3 9.6 -069 18 30 73

30 Sunday.

31 68.0 6.3 | 64.8 9.5 613 69 43 13

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorological Observations. ill

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of January, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

S 2 |; | Range of the Barometer = 5 Range of the Temperature

aga for each hour during p.2 for each hour during

m > o the month. bo the month.

saa eee as

a oO ae C < 3 2 :

342 | Max Min Diff se | Max. Min. Diff.

= =

Inches. | Inches.| Inches.) Inches. ty) Oo 0 )

Mid- és

night. 30.002 (30.093 {29.907 0.186 65.0 70.0 60.8 9.2

1 |29.996 .089 894 195 64.2 69.6 60.2 9.4

2 .988 .078 .885 193 63.5 69.0 59.7 9.3

3 .982 .065 .878 .187 62.9 68.9 59.6 9.3

A, 977 .060 871 .189 62.4 68.2 58.8 9.4

5 -988 .070 .879 «LOL 62.0 67.0 58.3 87

6 |30.003 -084 896 188 61a 67.0 57.0 10.0

7 .027 101 .922 179 61.1 66.0 57.0 9.0

8 -060 143 951 .192 64.6 68.6 60.7 7.9

9 .079 154 .965 189 67.9 71.6 64.2 7 A

10 084 .163 975 .188 708 74.6 67.0 7.6

11 .063 141 .959 Pate | Bear ell Ma Efe 69.0 8.4

Noon. .031 .107 921 .186 76.2 81.0 71.6 9.4

1 {29.999 .082 .896 186 78.0 83.4, 74.0 9.4

2 972 .04:7 .864: 188 78.9 85.0 74.2 10.8

3 954 .031 .852 179 79.1 85.2 74.4 10.8

A, .948 .030 851 179 TTX 83.7 Wlis 12.2

5 .953 .0387 .853 184 75.3 82.2 70.1 12.1

6 961 043 ,868 175 72.9 78.8 67.4 11.4

z 977 .062 .892 .170 70.6 76.2 65.8 10.4

8 .991 .075 .908 167 69.0 74.8 64.6 10.2

9 130.002 | .087) .922 | .165| 67.8| 732) 63.0 10-2

10 .006 127 .920 .207 66.8 72.6 62.0 10.6

11 .000 .092 .922 170 65.9 72.0 61.2 10.8

The Mean Height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

during the month.

iV Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of January, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—(Continued_)

8 z 2-4 E 3 eae oe ees

a E Se ie 2 P Sapien ie eos

Qu = a) SiS io) “

ites > E S & O"S Bae a oo. Ss

ou ° wo ° nop bi YRS 2 ae)

Hour...) eS. |e! ey | So ee oes

z 2 3 Sh ee ee Ce ae

=e = = B45 8 eS =. a= e eles,

8 3 aa A, al Pe ee fe ee ae

= 5 b g pe | Sr | 8 oo eee ee

a fa S) A = Se ee es

0 o ) ) Inches. |Troy grs.|Troy grs.

nee 61.7 3.3 | 59.7 5.3 | 0.518 5.76 111 | 0.84

1 61.2 3.0 59.1 ai b -508 .65 04, .85

2 60.6 2.9 58.6 4.9 499 .56 0.99 .85

3 60.0 2.9 58.0 4.9 A89 45 .98 .85

4 59.7 2.7 57.8 4.6 486 43 90 .86

5 59.3 ale) 57.4 4.6 .480 36 89 .86

6 59.0 2.5 57.2 A..3 476 Be 83 287

vi 58.7 2.4, 56.8 4.3 470 Bis 81 87

8 61.2 3.4: 59.2 5A .509 .67 Vite 84

9 62.8 5.1 59.7 8.2 .518 73 .78 76

10 64.0 6.8 60.6 10.2 084 86 2.34 72

11 65.3 8.4 61.1 | 12.6 .043 92 3.04 .66

Noon. 66.2 10.0 61.2 15.0 544 92 TA 61

1 66.7 1S 61.0 17.0 541 (85 434 57

2 67.1 11.8 61.2 ART 544 88 .59 56

3 67.1 12.0 61.1 18.0 543 86 67 .56

4, 66.1 11.0 60.6 16.5 534 78 14 58

5 66.2 9.1 61.6 i Roey 052 6.00 3.40 64

6 66.3 6.6 63.0 9.9 078 oO 2.41 72

7 65.4 5.2 62.8 7.8 O74 col 1.84 BYE

8 64.5 4.5 62.2 6.8 .063 .20 56 .80

9 63.7 4.1 61.2 6.6 544 O11 AT .80

10 63.0 3.8 60.7 6.1 .5386 5.93 .008 82

ah 62.4 53) 60.3 5.6 528 .86 .20 Rots)

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorological Observations. Vv

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of January, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

31} 138.0

ee |S

ae |e 2d

| 28 |S & 8| Prevailing direction General Aspect of the Sky.

2) wns |23°e of the Wind.

Ss ss oS

Als” |pee

fe) Inches

1; 134.0 a N. W. &N. Cloudless.

2| Sunday.

38| 131.0 N. Cloudless till 6 a. m. Scatd. \i and “i

till 4 Pp. mw. cloudless afterwards.

4) 125.7 N.& N. W.& BE. | Cloudless till 5 a. m. Scatd. -i till 6

Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

5 N.W.&N.& W. | Cloudless till 5 a. m. Scatd. clouds

afterwards.

Ol vias st, th Notes MWe Cloudy till 6 P. mM. cloudless afterwards,

7| 187.8 z N. & N. W. Cloudless.

8) 134.2 s W.&N Cloudless,

9} Sunday.

roe’, 133.7 . N. Cloudless.

By 135.2 ts N. &8. Cloudless.

12} 136.0 ae 8. W. &S. Cloudless.

£5), 133:6 a: N. W.&N. Cloudless.

14; 135.0 oe N. W.&N. & W. | Cloudless.

15| 1386.0 ay W.&N. W. Cloudless.

16| Sunday.

Uy (eGo sais N.W.& W.&N. | Scatd. i till 11 a. m. cloudless after-

wards.

18! 138.0 sie W.&N., Cloudless.

19} 138.0 N. W. &N. Cloudless.

20) 140.0 S. W. & E. Cloudless.

2h), (1382.0 N. W. & W. Cloudless.

22) 138.2 N.W.& W.&N. | Cloudless.

23) Sunday.

24; 141.0 Bie Pri, WasGcN Cloudless till 3 Pp. M. Scatd. \i and “i

till 8 Pp. Mm. cloudless afterwards.

25| 188.0 W.&S8S. W. Cloudless.

26| 140.0 Ss. W.& N. W Cloudless.

27). 138.5 N. &S. W. Cloudless.

28) 137.0 W. Cloudless.

29; 143.0 W.&E. Cloudless.

30) Sunday.

W.&S. Cloudless.

Ni Cirri, “i cirro strati, %1 cumuli, ~i cumulo strati, \-i nimbi, —i strati,

\ni cirro cumuli,

vi Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

wn the month of January, 1859.

Montupty ReEsvunts.

Inches.

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, -- 30.002

Max. height of the Barometer, occurred at 10 a. M. on the Lith, e. 30.163

Min. height of the Barometer, occurred at 4 P.M. on the 26th, «s 20.88

Extreme Range of the Barometer during the month, ate se) i O:3L2

Mean of the Daily Max. Pressures, a ee fe 200,085

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, .. ee ate na) pp to-08D

Mean Daily range of the Barometer during the month, .. -- 0.140

)

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, as we 69.1

Max. Temperature, occurred at 3 P. M. on the 31st, an — 85.2

Min. Temperature, occurred at 6 and 7 a. M.on the 22nd, ee 57.0

Extreme Range of the Temperature during the month, .. ot 28.2

Mean of the Daily Max. Temperature, ote =e ve 79.2

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, ars os 61.1

Mean Daily range of the Temperature during bie month,. ste 18.1

Co)

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, fie te 63.3

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer, .. 5.8

Computed Mean Dew Point for the month, af 60.4

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed Mean Der Point, os 8.7

Inches.

Mean Elastic force of vapour for the month, .. A at 0.530

Troy grains.

Mean weight of vapour for the month, ie ae GP 5.84

Additional weight of vapour required for complete saturation, a 1.94

Mean degree of Humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.75

Inches.

Rained No day. Max. fall of rain during 24 hours, os oe Nil.

Total amount of rain during the month, es 50 ee Nil.

Prevailing direction of the Wind, .. oe oo |) Ww NaN. Wi

Meteorological Observations.

vil

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of January, 1859.

Monrury REsvuuts.

Table showing the number of days on which at a given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour,

when any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Hour.

Midnight.

KH OOO arir WNe

Noon.

Ao OW H

ROMO

= =

MDOHOMMDOWOWOMOOMO

TSI OTNATTE WWW D SD

| le] |e} lé

ejAle ales

elz ie} BE. lelale

No. of days

1 iL

A 1

3 1

2 2 1

2 2 al

1 iE ]

1 1

] 1

1 ih

1 1

9 |

bbw hw wh Ww Ww

a OS

ee pe Se ee

ee! OLOUDS DO DO WD & Ww & Ww

DNNNNWWOrE BOO

S| [8] -/8]./8]3

sl |e leslel2

ele lala las [cS

5 6

6 6

6 6 1

5 8

5 7 i

7 4,

6 6

2; 5 1

3 A

5 5

4A, 3

9 3

13 4

6 8

10 7

15 6

12 4,

7 6

8 5

9 5

9 6

8 6

7 6 1

Meteorological Observations. 1x

sibstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of February, 1859.

Latitude 22° 33’ 1” North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

So 2 Range of the Barometer eS 2 Range of the Tempera-

es ES during the day. Fe A ture during the day.

TAA Aa a8

: ao ° =

2 e= 3 Max. Min. Diff. So Max Min. | Diff.

Gs) eee

la a =

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. o re) oO o

1 | 29.966 | 380.056 | 29.909 0.147 73.9 83.6 65.6 | 18.0

2 974 051 .932 .119 73.8 85.6 | 63.8 | 21.8

3 955 048 884, 164 gal 86.3 | 67.4 | 18.9

4 .950 074. 931 143 73.1 82.4 652 | 17.2

5 |30.013 .106 .959 147 ner 82.8 63.0 | 19.8

6 | Sunday.

v4 .054 134 | 30.013 ADL 73.8 83.2 66.6 | 16.6

8 015 104 | 29.950 154 74.4 85.2 168.5 |. 16.7

9 | 29.989 074, .923 Le 73.6 84.0 Gd.5) 1 G8.5

10 .978 .066 .910 .156 75.8 84.0 69.0 | 15.0

11 | 30.083 .098 .978 .120 75.1 85.6 65.8 | 19.8

12 .J0d8 129 996 sao 76.2 86.8 66.6 | 20.2

13 | Sunday.

14 .020 .108 .957 151 733 81.8 66.6 | 15.2

15 .049 .146 .993 153 70.9 81.0 62.0 | 19.0

16 .088 141 .961 .180 70.0 80.6 61.0 | 19.6

17 | 29.975 .062 .900 .162 Tsk 81.4 61.0 | 20.4

18 948 .024 .908 116 Viecal 83.0 64.0 | 19.0

19 .961 .050 .900 .150 76.1 85.8 68.2 | 17.6

20 | Sunday.

21 .907 | 29.990 .838 .152 78.6 89.4: 70.24; 19.2

22 .895 .963 .839 124 79.8 89.6 74.0 | 15.6

23 .960 | 30.080 891 | .189 78.0 86.8 | 72.2 | 146

24 .968 .030 .878 152 rivey! 89.2 40.0 | 19.2

25 .970 .049 .885 164 73.9 83.0 68.0 | 15.0

26 981 .020 .855 .165 73.8 82.4 65.8 | 16.6

27 | Sunday.

28 .900 | 29.977 .823 154 76.6 86.0) “GS 21717:8

bem mann a

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers, are derived from the twenty-four hourly observations made during

the day.

x Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of February, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—(Continued.)

: : glee |£8

En P ° A o ao way ee

Z| 2 =| 2 Ke Om =

SI ne ES o ° Sa ww & Bu

e = e eS weit = eee

Date. | 5 . = 3 = = Beles

o = 2 ES aS o's la o8|/n28

ae 2 2 So; Ss = SB (ga! o's

o Ss = as 2. Suo|/ tas

so ma = is Es s* (83 0/ 2 @ ao

6 8 is 5 Pa oF | Sale eeeelhS SS

= A s) e = = his a

o 0 oO o Inches. | T. gr. | T. gr.

1 66.1 7.8 62.2 11.7 0.563 6.14 | 2.87 | 0.68

2 66.8 7.0 63.3 10.5 084 7 61 71

3 68.4: 6.7 65.0 10.1 617 AY is: 61 72 |

4 64.9 8.2 69.8 12.3 5387 5.88 ol 67

(| 62.7 9.0 58.2 13.5 .493 29 | 3.04 64 |

6 | Sunday. ;

7 69.5 — 48 67.3 6.5 .666 7.27) (ead 81 :

8 68.7 5.7 65.8 8.6 .634 6.91 | 2.24 .76

9 68.5 bk 65.9 Tif .636 95 | 1.98 | .78

10 70.5 5.3 67.8 8.0 677 7.36 | 2.18 arid q

11 67.4 re 63.5 11.6 588 | 639] .95]| .68 .

12 68.5 Wak 64.6 11.6 .609 62 | 3.04 .69

13 Sunday.

14 66.6 6.7 63.2 10.1 .082 36 | 2.48 72 i

15 62.5 8.4 58.3 12.6 494 5.42 SL .66 |

16 61.9 8.1 57.8 12.2 486 35 65 67 |

17 63.6 7.5 59.8 11.3 .520 70 .08 .69 }

18 66.7 6.4 63.5 9.6 083 6.42 | .87 73

19 70.0 6.1 66.9 9.2 657 7.15 48 TA

20 | Sunday.

pi W117 6.9 68.2 10.4: .686 A3 95 72

22 73.6 6.2 70.5 9.3 .739 98 ued 74

23 70.3 re 66.4. 11.4. | 646 00 | 3.19 | .69

24 70.3 7.4 66.6 11.1 651 .05 .05 .70

25 67.3 6.6 64.0 9:9 O97 6.52 | 2.49 72

26 65.5 8.3 61.3 12.5 .046 5.96 | 3.02 .66

27 =| Sunday.

28 70.1 6.5 66.8 9.8 .655 7.11 | 2.66 iy 6:

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants.

Meteorological Chservations, x1

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of February, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

F dependent thereon,

og . | Range of the Barometer for = 5 Rane beni Res keip iit

Ses each hour during the moo pate woe eget Bows

09S eh RE during the

Hour.| 2 = aN ae month.

Pt tee Se -- A=

= Gan” } 3 sm b

Ba Max. Min. Diff. a Max. | Min. |: Diff.

= =

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. ra) Oo O Oo

Mid-

night. 29.984 | 30.050 | 29.898 0.152 70.2 75.2 | 64.8 | 10.4

1 975 .051 891 .160 69.6 75.0 64.0 | 11.0

2 .966 045 873 172 68.9 75.0 63.2 | 11.8

3 .958 .039 867 a 68.8 74.8 63.0 | 11.8

4: .958 .038 .856 182 67.8 74.0 62:0 | 01.7

5 964. .046 867 179 67.5 TAA 62.0 | 12.4

6 .982 .059 881 178 67.0 74.8 61.2 | 13.6

7 {30.006 .C89 902 187 66.9 74.0 61.0 | 13.0

8 .037 123 942 181 69.6 76.0 65.5 | 10.5

9 .057 138 .958 .180 72.8 78.4: 69.0 9.4

10. .065 146 .963 183 75.6 81.0 70.6 | 10.4

11 051 .126 954: 172 78.4: | 82.8 74.0 8.8

Noon.| .024 114 Jit 203 | 81.1 85.4: 77.0 8.4

1 | 29.987 081 881 .200 83.1 87.9 78.6 9.3

2 .956 .050 .855 .195 84.0 88.9 79.6 9.3

3 .932 .023 838 185 84.5 89.6 80.6 9.0

zs) 921 .013 .825 188 83.5 89.3 To. | Iva

5 921 O17 -826 LOE 82.1 87.2 78.4 8.8

6 .925 028 823 .205 79.2 84.5 75.6 8.9

7 .939 .037 845 192 76.8 81.9 72.6 9.3

8 .964 .058 854 204 74.6 79.2 70.0 9.2

9 -980 O71 884 187 73.3 78.0 68.8 9.2

10 .990 077 .898 LFS 42.9 76.6 68.0 8.6

il .987 .062 883 Lig 711 75.9 66.6 9.3

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

during the month,

xl Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of February, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

= & [eo | & |se [Bee \ZeB

Hour. oe 3 A fc 2B ae Z ce 3°

oe (2 |e | a | ae cl oo eee

SS s = ae Fs So | Slape ete Se

Be ites Sa | | | aie aS. eee tS

& & p> g aay) Ba) Sac |SPLt ss as

= a O fa) = = < =

re) ) 7) fy) Inches. 1°". gre > Te

ee 3.7 | ‘646 |-6.6-| 0.609 | 670°") 1.35 0.5

night, | 665 83

1 66.0 |, 3:6 | 64.2 | 54 | .602 62 .28 84.

2 65.7 | 32 | 641 | 48 | .599 .60 14 85

3 65.7. lod | 6441 | 4.7 |. 599 .60 Aa .86

4 64.7 | Shy! “G28 4 BO) + B74 135 ie 185

5 64:5) jy BO") GAG wl AS 10) BF2 38 .09 185

6 G41 le 2h r} Goel AaG lo BGR 27 03 .86

7 63.9 |. 80 | “62d | 4.8 1.561 21 07 85

8 65.2 | 44 | 63.0 | 661] .578 .36 54 81

Or | 670) 7b iG4eee &.6 FLd COL 57 Aj ikea |) Re

10 68.4 | 7.2 | 648 | 108 | .613 68 .80 a1

11 69.0 | 9.4 | 643 | 141 | .603 53 3.78 63

Noon.| 70:0 | 11,1 | 644.1 16.7% | ,.605 51 | 4.66 58

i 70.2 | 12.9 | 63.7 | 19.4 | .591 34 5.52 54

Z Wodr |ls | G68as 1|.20:9 | .).580 .20 97 51

3 TOA (edad | 6B) | 22 | | bee 24 6.11 51

4 69.9 | 13.6 | 63.1 | 20.4 580 21 5.79 52

5 70,0) |\4A21 | 63.9 [18:2 | .595 39 12 56

6 | 70.2, 1. 9:0 1 65.7 |,13.6 |. .632 82 | 3.74 65

7 69.5 7.3 65.8 | 11.0 634 | .89 2.94 70

8 68.5) lo Gol) Gotu}, 9:2; 0| %.626 82 38 74

9 68.0 | 5.3 | 65.3 | 8.0 | .623 82 .02 a7

10 67a} Ail ..6d.de) bk 68 1). 1.619 79 1.69 .80

a 66.9 | 42 | 648 | 6.3 613 75 58 82

ult |

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants.

Meteorological Observations. xi

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

- | oe

8 4S

3 as

Abs

iL) 141.0

2; 141.6

3] 141.0

Ay .135.0

5| 140.0

6 Sunday.

7| 129.0

8} 142.3

9} 140.0

10; 136.4

11} 136.5

12} 140.0

13) Sunday.

14) 135.6

15} 139.0

16; 139.0

17; 136.0

18} 140.0

19} 139.0

20! Sunday.

21) 147.0

22} 140.0

23} 131.5

24) 139.4

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of February, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

Prevailing direction

of the Wind.

Rain Gauge

5 feet above

Ground.

jar

oy)

wn ggumy

&8. FE. & E.

Zz nD

-H.& N. &S.

8 Se esae

we cf. O. HH,

- | N. E.&S.GN.W.&N.

0.66 | 8. & 8. E.

General Aspect of the Sky.

Cloudless.

Cloudless. |

Cloudless.

.| Cloudless.

Cloudless, also foggy between 3 and 10

A. M.

Cloudless, also foggy between 2 and 7

A. M.

Cloudless.

Cloudless till 6 a. mM. Seatd. \i and “i

till 6 Pp. m. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 5 a. mM. Scatd. Mi and “i

till 2 Pp. m. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless.

Cloudless till5 a. mu. Scatd. i till 11

A. M. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless.

Cloudless till 8 a. mM. Scatd. “i and “i

till 1 Pp. m. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 7 «a. mM. Seatd. 1i till 3

p. M. cloudless afterwards ; also foggy

between 3 and 7 a. M.

Cloudy till 7 a. m. cloudless after.

wards; also slightly drizzling be-

tween midnight and 1 a. mM.

Scatd. clouds till 8 a. m. cloudless

afterwards.

Cloudless till 5 a. m. Scatd. “i till 2

Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till Noon. Scatd. i till 9 p.

M. cloudless afterwards; also a S.

E. gale with thunder, lightning and

rain between Th. 20m. and Th. 40m.

1s aie

i Cirro cumuli.

XIV Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the Month of Lebruary, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

Shi is eo

39 |88c

.| “7s |OS 5| Prevailing direction General Aspect of the Sky.

ao) ere ee of the Wind.

oS Soa eH

Ql SF l[go0d

) Inches

25, 129.0 | .. | N.W.& other wind.) Cloudy.

: N &

26, 135.0 ; .W.&S. E. & W.! Cloudless till 6 a. mu. Scatd “i and Sy

afterwards,

27| Sunday

28} 136.0 wa 8. Cloudless till 8 a. m. Scatd. “i till 4

P. M. cloudless afterwards.

Meteorological Observations. xv

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of February, 1859.

Montuty Resvtrs.

Inches.

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, ss ale 29.980

Max. height of the Barometer occurred at 10 a. M. on the 15th, uy 30.146

Min. height of the Barometer occurred at 6 P. M. on the 28th, Se 29.823

Extreme range of the Barometer during the month, we 4 0.323

Mean of the daily Max. Pressures, a4 se ae 30.066

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, a ie ee 29.917

Mean daily range of the Barometer during the month, .. le 0.149

)

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, oe es 74.6

Max. Temperature occurred at 3 Pp. M. on the 22nd, ae ee 89.6

Min. Temperature occurred at 7 A. M. onthe 16th and 17th, ae 61.0

Extreme range of the Temperature during the month, .. ve 28.6

Mean of the daily Max. Temperature, $s ee ve 84.6

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, bla ae Sc 66.6

Mean daily range of the Temperature during the month, oe 18.0

)

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, Be ee 67.6

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb Peet ‘ 7.0

Computed Mean Dew-point for the month, .. ie oe 64.1

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed mean Dew-point, .. 10.5

Inches.

Mean Elastic force of Vapour for the month, ey ‘e 0.599

Troy grains.

Mean Weight of Vapour for the month, se a oe 6.52

Additional Weight of Vapour required for complete saturation, a 2.68

Mean degree of humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.71

Inches.

Rained 2 days, Max. fall of rain during 24 hours, tt oe 0.66

Total amount of rain during the month, an os °s 0.66

Prevailing direction of the Wind, oe os S.& W.&N.

Xvi Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

an the month of February, 1859.

Montuuy Resvtts.

Table showing the number of days on which at a given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour when

any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Hour.

51.16 : Sit ale S|. |S) ./eis

ej st je] le} |ete je] ley = |sfelei2

Njo iz cf] E. [oa S. Be] S. [St os el W. lad a [ofS jae

No. of days.

Midnight. | 3 | 2) 11 5 2 1

1 3 2 it (Ee 2 1

2 3 | 2 11 5 2 1

3 3 2| {10 4 3

4 3 2 9 5 4

5 4 2 9 5 2

6 te | 2 8 3 A t

7 ae (et) 2 a 3 4 1

8 6 4 6 3 1 Ay

9 6| jl 3 5 2 2 3

10 6| | 2 3 4 2 3 2

11 5} 1 38 2 3 A i) 4

Noon. 7. 3 2 5 2 1 2, 2

1 5} | 2 2 5 Loo A 4

2 5 ee ee 3 3 Z| 16 5

3 at 42 3 3 tS bee A

4 Aire 2 4 f 7 5

5 2} | 4 3 2 10 2

6 Pa | 4 2 10 1

7 Zi ies 6 3 6 3

8 2, 13 Mee | 41/116 3

9 3, 13 LK 4 4 3

10 es es: 7 3 5 3

11 3| 13 F| 3 5 3

Meteorological Observations. XVII

sbstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of March, 1859.

Latitude 22° 33’ 1” North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

Sete

® o

se sl Range of the Barometer a & Range of the Tempera-

"to & = during the day. As ture during the day.

o = Pe °

Maa Aa |

‘ so” a)

2 san Max Min Diff s es Max Min. | Diff

aes =

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. oO Oo 0 oO

1 29.824 | 29.898 | 29.745 0.153 79.4: 89.6 71.2 | 18.4

2 795 .867 .736 ake 76.9 87.6 | 72.3 || 15.8

a 838 893 780 A113 72.9 80.0 68.8 | 11.2

4 .862 948 .807 141 67.2 70.0 63.4. 6.6

5 .849 922 .807 115 67.6 73.2 63.6 9.6

6 | Sunday

7 .867 .940 .808 132 Tove 79.8 69.3 | 10.5

8 .855 922 .809 113 73.9 83.2 66.5 | 16.7

9 .830 .906 162 144, 14.2 86.3 70.4 | 15.9

10 .810 .867 -756 LES 79.0 86.8 73.2 | 18.6

17. B54 934 791 148 79.6 87.6 75.0 | 12.6

12 .886 979 Retsis) .146 79.7 88.0 73.8 | 14,2

13 Sunday

14 -766 851 .719 132 79.2 87.0 74.0 | 13.0

15 .826 .909 763 146 76.9 85.4 70.6 | 14.8

16 .860 -952 814 .138 76.6 86.1 68.6 | 17.5

17 .846 .925 hehe 155 78.6 88.6 70.4) 18.2

18 .862 .935 .805 .130 80.2 91.4 72.2) 19.2

19 .896 972 .830 142 81.3 90.4: 74.2 | 16.2

| 20 | Sunday.| .

mm 21 958 | 30.041 893 148 82.4: 90.2 76.6 | 13.6

i 29 952 027 .887 140 81.3 91.0 | 73.6 | 17.4

23 977 .069 9038 .166 80.4 90.8 74.2 16.6

24 .937 O10 .872 138 81.6 92.0 73.6 18.4

25 894 | 29.959 nol 142 81.7 91.4 74.8 | 16.6

26 -891 .950 8388 ai Wy 82.4 89.6 77.4) 12.2

27 | Sunday.

28 912 992 .83 «165 84.6 93.2 79.0 | 14.2

29 -925 994. .865 129 83.5 89.6 78.6 11.0

30 .959 30.055 .867 -188 83.2 91.8 77.6 14.2

31 991 .077 .922 ~L5D 84.1 93.3 76.2 gpl

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the twenty- -four hourly observations made during

the day.

XVill Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of March, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

: Senger? oui) ag Iemweahe yg

sl a ° (a) -) Fei (roy o 2 S

A 43 < 2 Re Nh oR

ial ~ 3 o & iS +2 2 f os

= F a 8 ee co 5 m5

Date. | 5 6 = 3 Se leis} sé

= S “5 2 ae) Se ieee oe

are = g 2.324.) eS alee a 3

2 = 3 as = Soyo] SF Bs

s oO a A. ‘3 Es aS (6 30] 6 2 a

3 4 be e Pe oF) | SSS Sens os

= A O a oa =a I< a

0 o oO oO Inches. | T. gr.| T. gr.

1 72.3 al 68.7 10.7 0.697 (02° |e. O.7 E

2 73.3 3.6 71.5 5.4 763 8.30 | 1.56 84,

3 69.5 3.4 67.8 5.1 677 TAL 02 85

4 64.9 2.3 63.5 3.7 .088 6.50 | 0.85 88

5 65.5 2.1 64.2 3.4 .601 65 “vi5) 89

6 | Sunday.

7 69.5 3.8 67.6 5.7 672. | 7.85°|\ 1.49 83

8 69.1 4.8 66.7 7.2 .653 13 88 79

9 (pile 6.0 68.2 9.0 .686 44} 2.51 75

10 73.5 5.5 70.7 8.3 744 8.05 45 Yi)

il feist 5.9 10.7 8.9 “744 03 -66 “75

12 73.4 6.3 40.2 9.5 132 7.89 83 74

13 Sunday.

14 Tea 8.0

568 6.17 Bots) .63

15 67.3 9.6 62.5 14.4

67.2 12.0 664 17 | 3.39 68

16 66.2 10.4 61.0 15.6 41 5.87 -90 .60

17 70.0 8.6 65.7 12.9 632 6.84: 54 .66

18 hile’ 8.4: 67.6 12.6 672 7.25 63 67

19 76.7 4.6 74.4: 6.9 838 9.02 | 2.22 .80

20 | Sunday.

21 73.0 9.4) 68.3 14.1 688 7.39 | 4.22 64

22 70.0 11.3 64.3 17.0 603 6.49 75 08

23 72,4 8.0 68.4 12.0 .690 7.44 | 3.50 68

24 73.7 wo 69.7 11.9 720 74 .60 .68

25 76.1 5.6 73.3 8.4 .809 S707! | 2d th,

26 77.9 4.5 75.6 6.8 871 9.35 26 81

27 =| Sunday,

28 76.3 8.3 f2.1 12.5 00 8.31 | 4.08 67

29 78.6 4.9 76.1 7.4: 885 9.50 | 2.50 79

30 74.6 8.6 70.3 12.9 £734 7.87 | 4,02 .66

31 75.3 8.8 70.9 13.2 748 8.02 lie) 66

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants.

Meteorological Observations, XIX

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of March, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

Range of the Tempera-

Sete Qa ke

ae Range of the Barometer for| = 5

22s each hour during the as ear eis hour

= on month. P a eel he ‘

Hour. | Be, iE Az month,

eo : Ses ‘

sox Max. Min Diff. S 5 Max. | Min. | Diff

=) =

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. o () ra) o

Mid-

night. 29.876 | 29.978 | 29.738 0.240 15.2 81.7 64.0 | 17.7

1 864 972 (31 241 74.6 81.8 64.4 | 17.4

2 852 .953 721 .232 T7414 80.5 64.2 | 16.3

3 .843 949 @L9 .230 73.6 80.4 64.6 | 15.8

4: .845 974 724 .250 73.6 80.2 64.0 | 16.2

5 .860 .986 744 242 73.4 79.6 63.8 | 15.8

6 874 |30.017 -763 254, 73.0 79.3 63.6 | 15.7

7 901 031 A79 252 73.2 ao) 7 64.0 | 15.7

8 .932 .055 822 .233 75.5 81.8 65.4 | 16.4

9 .945 O77 B41 236 77.9 83.4 66.0 | 17.4

10 951 O71 851 .220 80.4, 85.4 66.6 | 18.8

11 943 .O76 .838 .238 82.7 88.0 66.2 | 21.8

Noon.| .921 | .032 | .814 218 84.6 | 91.2 | 648] 26.4

1 891 | 29.994, 792 .202 85.9 92.4 65.4 | 27.0

2 860 .966 -761 .205 86.2 92.6 | 67.4 | 25.2

Br) tesr~ | 949, | .734..| 216+ 1 863. |) 93:8 \| 698| 295

4 .832 .929 “749 .180 85.7 93.0 69.2 | 23.8

5 822 922 723 «199 84.2 91.6 68.6 | 23.0

6 833 .926 "724 .202 81.8 88.8 65:6 | 23.2

| a 849 .943 719 224 79.7 86.7 65.0 | 21.7

| 8 872 .983 .749 234 78.1 84.8 64.8 | 20.0

9 886 | 30.003 -761 242 “ied 84.2 65.8 | 18.4.

10 896 .005 775 .230 76.2 82.0 65.0 | 17.0

11 893 .019 -782 207 75.6 82.0 63.4 | 18.6

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

during the month.

xXx Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

an the month of March, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

pa a =) B o eS) Se ay 4

o o Ss 2) oO CO ors °

Panui, el, bah | RM RNP PE et

E S S 3 & 2.8. lee ae

Hours) 8 A G @B | boy = ‘2

32 2 re Sit aS Stall |S Seem

S g = = Bs Es Sis § Ses

<6 aa = ee a = 2 oS ae

& & Pe 5 Pan SO en

= a So) Q = = <

) 0) ) ) Inches. | T. gr T. gr

be, 449) \. B38.) ¥O2 4) 5.0.) 0.7324 7.97 1.40

1 71.6 | 3.0 70.1 4.5 | .729 95 25

2 71.3 2.8 69.9 42 | .725 92 15

3 709 |).2i7 69.5 aac! 705 82 1

4 "11 2.5 69.8 3.8 | .722 89 04

5 70.8 | 2.6 69.5 3.9 | .715 82 05

6 70.5 2.5 69.2 | 3.8 | .708 "5 Ol

7 70.7 2.5 69.4 | 3.8 718 80 02

8 78 (937 69.9 5.6 | .725 88 58

ge || oi | O85) |. he. sel. cre 77 | 239 |

10 73. 7A 69.3 7111 711 66 3.28

11 73.3 9.4 | 68.6 | 14.1 695 4G 4.26

Noon.| 73.1 | 11.5 673 | 178 666 12 5.27

1 73.5 | 12.4 67.3 | 18.6 666 09 78

2 73.2 | 13.0 66.7. | 19.5 653 6.94 6.05

3 72.9 | 18.4 66.2 | 20.1 642 84 18

A 73.1 | 12.6 66.8 | 18.9 655 .98 5.82

5 79.7 | 11.5 66.9 | 17.3 657 7.03 21

6 72.6 | 92 68.0 | 13.8 681 32 4.08

7 72.6 rial 69.0 | 10.7 704 | 59 3.13

8 72.2 5.9 69.2 8.9 708 67 2.55

9 W190 |) ‘BZ 69.3 78 711 .70 (22

10 VLG. i a6 69.3 6.9 711 72 1.94

11 71.5 4.1 69.4 | 6.2 713 Ti val

complete

being

saturation

unity.

Mean degree of Hu-

midity,

0.85

erat

£0

.80

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants,

a ee ee a

Meteorological Observations. Xx1

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of March, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

p. M, cloudy till 7 p. M. cloudless

afterwards.

ed | SE

Og |S.0d

.| @s |OS &| Prevailing direction General Aspect of the Sky. .

$] #3 |888| of the Wind.

ela jase

co) Inches.

1} 137.0 oa Cloudless till 7 a. m. Scatd. i till 1

Cloudless till 4 a. mM. cloudy after-

wards; also raining at 2 and 3 and

6 and 7 P. M.

Cloudy the whole day; also thunder-

ing and lightning between Midnight

and 2 A. M.; also drizzling at 1 a.

M. and 7 and 8 P. M.

Cloudy the whole day; also thunder-

ing and lightning at 11 a. M. and

constantly raining.

N. HE. & E.

N. HE. & EH.

2} 129.0 ' 146 |S. E.&S.

err tes Bc

ore tsi. 1.80

J) eee) 0.97 | N. H. & HE. Cloudy the whole day; also con-

stantly raining ; also thundering and

lightning between 5 and 8 P. M.

6} Sunday.

- - re ah 0 Cloudy till 7 ep. m. cloudless afterwards,

also slightly drizzling between 1 and

212.) We

8} 143.0 Be ie Spule co Oe WV, Cloudless till 11 a. mu. Scatd. “i till 4

p. M. cloudless afterwards ; also foggy

between 6 and 7 a. M.

9} 140.2 pat pee dS. We. Cloudless till Noon. Scatd. i till 3 p.

M. cloudless afterwards, also foggy

between 4 and 7 a. M.

10} 1381.0 é S.&N.W.& W. | Cloudless till 6 a.m. Scatd. i and “i

till 3 p. M. cloudless afterwards.

11! 135.0 S. W. &S. Cloudy till 7 a. mM. Scatd. i till 11 a.

mM. Scatd. “i till 7 P. m. cloudless

afterwards; also very slightly driz-

‘| zling at 1 a. M.

12| 139.4 ‘ | s.&8. W. Cloudless till 5 a. um. Scatd. Ni or “i

till 11 a. M. cloudless afterwards,

13) Sunday

14) 133.2 te | We Oi Ss Cloudless.

15} 132.0 AP W. Cloudless.

16; 188.0 a S.& W.&S. W. Cloudless.

i17| 136.0 wae fin, Re Oa Cloudless.

18} 139.0 we 8. &8. W. Cloudless till 11 a. m. Scatd. Ni till 3 p.

M. Scatd. “i till 6 P. m. cloudless

afterwards.

Ni Cirri, i Cirro strati, Xi Cumuli, ~i Cumulo strati, \-i Nimbi, —i Strati,

Wi Cirro cumuli,

Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

H oe

5.9

g| 4s

~~ os

te)

19} 130.8

20) Sunday.

21} 139.9

22; 144.0

23; 134.0

24) 137.2

25} 136.0

26} 130.0

27) Sunday.

28; 136.0

29 ee

30; 134.0

31} 134.9

5 feet above

Rain Gauge

Ground.

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of March, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

Prevailing direction

of the Wind.

& GB

General Aspect of the Sky.

Cloudless.

cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 2 a.m. cloldy till 7 a. M.

Cloudless.

Scatd. “i till 7 a. m. cloudless after-

wards.

Scatd. clouds.

Seatd. 91 till 9 a. m. Scatd. i till 7

P. M. cloudless afterwards,

Cloudless till 3 a. M. Scatd. clouds till

9 vp. M. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 4 a. M. cloudy till 11 a,

mM. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 5 a. Mm. Scatd. “i and “i

till 8 p. m. cloudless afterwards.

Meteorological Observations. XXu1

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of March, 1859.

Monruity REsvu.rs.

Inches.

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, oF oe 29.878

Max. height of the Barometer occurred at 9 a. M. on the 31st, ese 30.077

Min. height of the Barometer occurred at 3 A. M. and 7 P. M. on the 14th, 29.719

Extreme range of the Barometer during the month, “3 ee 0.358

Mean of the daily Max. Pressures, a = “5 29.955

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, ig ia is 29.816

Mean daily range of the Barometer during the month, .. as 0.139

)

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, ae ee 78.7

Max. Temperature occurred at 3 Pp. M. on the 31st, or oe 93.3

Min, Temperature occurred at 11 P. mM. on the 4th, BA 63.4

Extreme range of the Temperature during the month, .. ae 29.9

Mean of the daily Max. Temperature, ae és me 87.2

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, ae ae oe 72.6

Mean daily range of the Temperature during the month, ee 14.6

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, a bie 72.1

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer, .. 6.6

Computed Mean Dew-point for the month, .. oF ae 68.8

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed mean Dew-point, .. 9.9

Inches

Mean Elastic force of Vapour for the month, ee ale 0.699

Troy grains.

Mean Weight of Vapour for the month, ae oF a 7.56

Additional Weight of Vapour required for complete saturation, a 2.85

Mean degree of humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.73

Inches.

Rained 6 days, Max. fall of rain during 24 hours, we ae 1.80

Total amount of rain during the month, .. An : 4,23

Prevailing direction of the Wind, ops ab S.&8. W. & W.

XXIV Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor Greneral’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of March, 1859.

Monruty Resutts.

Table showing the number of days on which ata given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour when

any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Sette 5 5 = een | en leis =

Ee a Z ale. |< el > |spslal2

Netz ea] E. [ofS Bee S. le] of [el W. le) a leis late

xe tans

Midnight. D2 eS 17 3 1

1 1h 2) ab ON lis) hs 1

2 1] a} 2 Bley 3 i)

3 hal Q 3] 115 A 1

4 3 2/ 113 3 3

5 2 4‘) 112 A 3

6 3 3 8 7 A 1

7 2 3 A 6 5 5 1

8 1} yl 4 3 8 5 A L

9 2} | 2] ab 3 2 8 5 5

10 3 4) J ik 7 vf 5

11 ty 42 i 2 6 6 A Acgl ab

Noon. if 1 Z| Epis 3 9 6 1 1

1 ; 3 1 3 | 114 5 9 2

2 2} 1)1 3 5 6 7\ 4) 3

5} 1 2a 7 7 |e 6 3

4 TAs Aa | eae 6 6 A 4 1

5 at) AS tach 6 6 5 i; 1

6 A} 1] 2 3) 11 7 2 a 1 1

7 4) 3] 1 3/119 2 4 2 2

8 3| 21 2 1; 3 10 2 5 2

9 3; 1) 2 3. | Wid 9 Ay 2

10 31 1] 2 4 | (1 2 4 1

ll 3 3 4 11 9 A

ee eee ee

a ee ee ee ee eS ee

\ ~ ™

ee ee ee

Meteorological Observations. XXV

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of April, 1859.

Latitude 22° 3371” North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

Feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

eG aes

2 DS Range of the Barometer oo |Range of the Tempera-

“Eo 5 3 during the day. ~ 8 ture during the day.

eee ae

Date. eS ot « 2

3 4 Ss Max. Min. Diff. Sa Max. | Min. | Diff.

s a

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. ) ) Co) oO

1 29.987 | 30.060 | 29.902 0.158 | 84.5 92.8 76.6 | 16.2

2 956 027 .867 160 | 84.9 95.4: 77.0 | 18.4

3 Sunday.

4, 846 | 29.921 787 134 | 85.1 96.4 78.4 | 18.0

5 837 894 762 132 + 85.1 94.2 109° G23

6 814 890 737 153 | 84.2 92.8 (6.6 \916.2

q 802 874 122 hb Ze) 85.1 92.2 078.8. | e.4

8 .799 859 712 147 | 84.8 92.6 79.2 | 18.4

9 814 879 WENE sfoSeiecSl.7 90.6 74.2 | 16.4

10 | Sunday. |

11 .868 965 eS) 166 | 78.7 87.0 68.9 | 18.1

12 833 922 £739 L8Se i h7 9-2 89.6 74.0 | 15.6

13 816 .886 £752 134 | 80.9 90.4: 73.0 | 17.4

14 822 909 745 164 | 81.8 92.6 74.6 | 18.0

15 848 .926 778 148 | 81.2 90.2 73.6 | 16.6

16 827 .902 £78 144) 84.8 94.8 76.2 | 18.6

17 | Sunday.

18 746 840 .683 “LO Ru es BBe4 91.8 76.2: e5.6

19 “762 836 .697 139 | 849 94.0 (8.8 | 15.2

20 759 .816 686" |). + 1.15051,3 86:3 95.4: (9.8 \wi5.6

21 740 812 658 ) .154 | 87.2 96.4: 79.8 | 16.6

22 “724 6794 647 147 | 87.2 98.0 79.5 | 18.5

23 731 fO7 .666 131 | 86.4 96.0 79.2 | 16.8

24 | Sunday.

25 “715 .790 .632 158 | 86.6 93.8 80:8) j3:0

26 754: .806 672 134 | 85.5 92.8 76.4 | 16.4

27 795 870 725 145 | 85.7 94.4 75.6 | 18.8

28 .830 892 £748 144 | 86.3 95.8 80.1 ek5.7

29 809 .890 716 7S be 87.1 95.6 79.6 | 16.0

30 795 878 701 lt 88.2 97.2 | (9.9 117.8

| |

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the twenty-four hourly observations made during

he day.

XXV1 Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of April, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

E a Wee S ee laa |

: he phe aM: = ge tue ee

eS Aaa ie Boo) Be ol Saeea ene:

Date. at 4 a fa a es fal Oe |e a

> u a 2 % e reps = pe » 8e

ae 2 [ = alee 3 |= o8| P83

So = 2 B43 RS a eS big

: a Stele =, « |S528| oma

f=!) a iS) ans S amie oO sn 6

& 8 mn z bay SF oe (Seale es

2 aq lao. fer ite |e hee es

oO C) o o Imches. (7-4. ger | er

1 73.2 11.3 G7 25- ein .0 0.670 7.17 5.18 0.58

2 74.1 10.8 68.7 | 16.2 .697 AA, 05 ,60

3 | Sunday.

4, 74.9 10.2 69.8 | 15.3 722 71 4.86 61

5 76.0 a0 TAWA. (hei 8.12 45 .65

6 77.5 6.7 74.1 | 10.1 .830 .89 3.00 13

. 79.7 5.4 77.0 8.1 910 9.73 2.84 17

8 78.8 6.0 75.8 9.0 .876 roe 3.09 75

9 75.4 6.3 72.2 9.5 871 8.38 2-99 74

10 | Sunday.

11 72.8 5.9 69.8 8.9 722 7.81 .60 75

12 72.6 6.6 69.3 9.9 711 67 89 We

13 73.5 7.4 698 } 11.1 «722 .78 3.32 .70

14 76.2 5.6 73.4 8.4 11 8.73 2.67 Art|

15 75.4 6.1 72.0 9.2 .776 80 .86 Py 5)

16 78.1 G7 The: Yoel koa 846 | 9.05 | 3.41 73

17 | Sunday.

18 74.7 8.7 FOr te 43.1 784.) 7.87 | 4.09 .66

19 78.2 6.7 74.8 | 10.1 .849 9.07 3.42 73

20 78.6 rer 74.7 | 11.6 .846 OL A.OL 69

2). 77.2 10.0 72.2 0) 15.0 (ites 8.29 5.08 .62

22 Riad 9.5 72.9 14.3 797 49 4.88 64

23 78.4 8.0 74.4 | 12.0 838 93 13 .68

24 | Sunday.

25 79.8 6.8 76.4 | 10.2 .893 9.53 3.61 73

26 79.0 6.5 75. 9.8 873 .o2 40 713

27 79.2 6.5 75.9 9.8 879 88 A2 73

28 79.5 6.8 76.1 | 10.2 .885 AA 08 73

29 78.3 8.8 73.9 | 13.2 824 8.78 4.55 .66

30 79.0 9.2 74.4 | 138.8 .838 .89 87 .65

“All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorological Observations. XXV1l1

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of April, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

oS 3 uz | Range of the Barometer = & Range of the Temperature

sags for each hour during pag for each hour during

Hour = S the month. mo the month.

our, a a e a g

go 5 ; <2 ¢ :

Sax Max. Min. Diff. Se, Max. Min. Diff.

= =

Inches. | Inches.| Inches.! Inches. 0 Oo 0 Oo

ond 46, 79.9] 848| 7

night. 29.821 (30.060 |29.714 0.346 4 A,, 3.8 11.0

1 .806 .048 704: 344 79.7 83.8 75.0 8.8

2 «794: .027 .696 301 79.2 83.8 74.8 9.0

3 -786 .009 .689 .020 78.9 82.4 74.2 8.2

4 -789 |29.992 -700 .292 78.4 81.8 TAY 10.1

5 .805 .982 725 2257 78.0 82.1 69.8 12.3

6 825 |30.002 744 .258 77.8 82.4, 68.9 13.5

7 .846 .020 £763 257 78.5 83.0 69.8 13.2

8 .860 .027 «774: .253 81.4 86.0 72.5 13.5

9 .877 -054: .758 .296 84.6 88.2 77.8 10.4

10 .875 .049 .759 .290 87.3 92.2 80.8 11.4

11 .865 .037 a7 .280 89.4 93,2 81.6 11.6

Noon. 844, .018 (32 .286 91,5 95.6 85.2 10.4

z 816 (29.981 724, .257 92.3 96,0 83.8 12.2

2 787 ~ 943 701 242 93.0 98.0 82.8 15.2

3 159 .921 .678 .243 93.0 97.8 85.4 12.4

4, et .909 647 .262 92.4 97.2 87.0 10.2

5 yy ead .907 .632 .275 90.5 95.4 81.0 14.4

6 747 .902 641 261 87.9 93.9 77.0 16.9

4 -766 .936 .663 .273 85.1 90.8 75.8 15.0

8 “791 .962 682 -280 83.7 89.2 74.6 14.6

9 .823 .987 .698 .289 82.4 87.2 74.8 12.4.

10 .830 |30.000 719 281 81.4 86.0 74.8 11.2

11 .826 (29.979 .726 .253 80.8 85.2 75.0 10.2

The Mean Height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

‘during the month.

XXVIll Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of April, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

= < + E =) | 36 Cog l es

a eB | 3 |A 2) ./b 24 oo) eee

° ee Bl ie 5 S62 | @e2 |] See

Es > E > & 2 moe Ss oe 6

2 bie hike A | ° 25 Ee yemh ea: 2

Hour. | 2S 3 = S S. a Sc Re

g ae) KS Os a; “3 5 o Sree |S Se

so = = = Uo 28 | eearen he = ss

$8 FQ A. AE Se | oe Bee See

= ie Ps = Po. o> Bees = a ra) = S =

a fa) S) fa a Pe sete gs

ry Oo o cy) Inches. |Troy grs.|Troy grs.

Mid | 75.6 | 43 | 734 | 65 | 0811 | 875 | 208 | O81

oa 75.5 4.2 73.4 6.3 811 76 1.96 82

2 74.9 4.3 72:3 6.5 £792 56 2.00 81

3 | 74.9 4.0 | 72.9 | 6.0 | .797 63 1.84 82

A 74.6 3.8 2G 5.7 792 .58 73 83

5 74.4 3.6 72.6 5.4 790 7 62 84

6 74.4 3.4 VE 5.1 woe 09 54 85

yr | 749 | 3.6 | 732 | 54 | .808 70 65 84

8 76.5 4.9 74.0 7.4 827 SoU 2.36 79

9 774A Gea 73.8 10.8 822 78 3.61 71

10 | 78.1 9/9 | ¥3.eyvl 18.801, S14 65 | 4.76 65

11 78.7 10.7 73.3 16.1 809 56 5.69 .60

Noon.t| | 79.200 12a lo 73e i 1854) (801 A3 6.72 56

1 79.6 12.7 73.2 nis ai .806 48 7.02 50

2 79.5 PBiD 72.7 20.3 -792 Rss) 48 ys)

3 73.9 14.1 71.8 21.2 aria a) Bg ol

A 78.8 13.6 720 20.4: 776 .16 38 .09

5 78.1 12.4 71.9 18.6 173 .16 6.56 59

6 foes: 10.1 72.7 15.2 792 42 5.22 .62

9 tial 8.0 72.0 12.0 .803 .b8 3.99 .68

g | 76.5 #9 \ 172.9) 10.8) |). ‘797 5A 53 71

9 76.3 6.1 73.2 9.2 .806 .66 2.95 75

10 | 76.1 BommeTeuem 'S.Ovnl. Sil 73 BA 78

11 76.1 4.7 73.7 fe) 819 83 24 .80

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorological Observations. XXIX

dbstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

an the month of April, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

ao |ooe

SS =) iS) ic

O-rm S23

.| 2a |S & &| Prevailing direction General Aspect of the Sky.

| AN oy Sil eS of the Wind.

S ox eS

Als” |aee

o Inches,

1; 126.0 S. GH. &N, Cloudy till 7 p. m. cloudless afterwards.

2) -147.0 8S. &S. W. Cloudless till 11 a. mM. Scatd. i after-

wards.

3| Sunday.

4) 1386.4 S. & 8S. W. Scatd. “ior i till 7 Pp. M.; cloudless

afterwards.

5] 1380.4 ae s. Scatd. clouds till 8 a. mM. Scatd. “i till

5 Pp. M. cloudy afterwards.

Gre depo)...» | 8. Scatd. clouds till 11 a. m.; cloudless

afterwards.

a). 1275 - Ss. Scatd. ‘i and +i till 9 a. m. cloudless

till 1 vp. wm. Scatd. i till 7 Pp. mu.

cloudless afterwards.

Seeder) .. |S. & 8. HE. Nearly cloudless till 11 a. M.; clouds

of various kinds afterwards.

Si 119.0 S. & EH. Cloudless till 9 a. mM. Scatd. “i or “i

afterwards.

10) Sunday.| 0.97

OM, (1270 a S. E. & EB. Scatd. “i.

12} 126.0 : Variable. Scatd. clouds.

13} 130.6 s. Cloudless till 7 a. mM. Scatd. “i till 5

P. M. cloudless afterwards.

d4) 131.5 | 0.17 |S. Scatd. clouds; also slightly raining

between 7 and 8 P. M.

Ta) 130.5) .. | Variable. Nearly cloudless.

16; 142.0 Ae 8. &8. E. Cloudless till Noon. Scatd. i till 8

Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

17| Sunday.

18} 140.5 Sabet Wie 0) IN Scatd. \i and -i till 6 Pp. m. cloudless

afterwards.

7) 143.0 | .. S. Scatd. \i and “i. ;

mo et4es |) ... | 8. Cloudless till 7 a. mM. Scatd. %i till 7

P. M. cloudless afterwards.

21' 136.0 2) | oe WV cos Scatd. clouds till 7 a. M. cloudless

afterwards.

22} 134.0 S. Cloudless..

“ni cirro cumuli,

Ni Cirri, “-i cirro strati, i cumuli, ~i cumulo strati, V-i nimbi, —i strati,

XXX Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of April, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

,o O

ee Se

3.2 |88,;| Prevailing direction

Sh gs PSs of the Wind. General Aspect of the Sky.

KO a 0

= aa on te o)

Ale: 3 19 &

Oo Tuehes

2a SSO cc. | BS.e We Cloudless till 11 a. mM. Seatd. “i till 4

p. M. cloudless afterwards.

24) Sunday '

25i' 128,0-ho8.10 AS) GS: HE: Scatd. -i till 5 a. m. cloudless after- .

wards. hi

26; 124.0 | 0.15 |S. Cloudless till 8 a. mM. Scatd. +i till 2

Pp. M. cloudy afterwards; also rain |

with thunder and lightning from 9 4

to 10 P. M.

270, 15:0. uten is Scatd. clouds of all kinds.

23} 1390] .. |S.&9.E.&W. |Scatd. Ui till 11 a.m. cloudy after-

wards ; also slightly drizzling at 5

P. M.

29; 144.0; .. | W.&S. Cloudy nearly the whole day.

30; 1445] .. |S. &S8. W. Scatd. clouds.

Meteorological Observations. XxXxl

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of April, 1859.

Montuty ReEsvutrs.

Inches.

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, = we)», 29.809

Max. height of the Barometer, occurred at midnight on the Ist, -- 30.060

Min. height of the Barometer, occurred at 5 P.M. on the 25th, -- 29.632

Extreme Range of the Barometer during the month, By we 4 O1428

Mean of the Daily Max. Pressures, ue oe -- 29.882

Ditto ditto Min, ditto, .. ae ss oe 29 Tae

Mean Daily range of the Barometer during the month, .. Js, ) SOR50

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, i 84.5

Max. Temperature, occurred at 2 Pp. M. on the 22nd, ae . 98.0

Min. Temperature occurred at 6 A. M.on the 11th, ae 68.9

Extreme Range of the Temperature during the month, 5 ote 29.1

Mean of the Daily Max. Temperature, 46 me ne 93.6

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, x ie Viggah

Mean Daily range of the Temperature during oh month,. oe 16.5

Co)

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, a 76.8

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb BR rsctor os (|

Computed Mean Dew Point for the month, or "9.9

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed Mean Dew Point, ae 11.6

Inches.

Mean Elastic force of vapour for the month, .. ae oe 0.797

Troy grains.

Mean weight of vapour for the month, re we ae 8.52

Additional weight of vapour required for complete saturation, . 3.83

Mean degree of Humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.69

Inches.

Rained 4 days.—Max. fall of rain during 24 hours, oh te 0.97

Total amount of rain during the month, bs ie oe 1.29

Prevailing direction of the Wind, . * «oo SCO go Siw.

XXXii Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of April, 1859.

Monruuy ReEsvuxts.

Table showing the number of days on which at a given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour,

when any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Hour. of | S| 5] .| 6 é}.-/ : ols

S(S |e] elele| |siFls| js £\ 2

Slaele co loach l=

# No. of days.

Midnight. 2 5 1

1 11 1 5

2 irl: 1 2 1 2

3 2 5 nt 2 2

4 2 5 2 2

5 1 2 3 3 3 l 1

6 3) he) ice 2 2 3) fl

” 2 [2 3 2 1) 73

9 Bit 2 1 5} 4 2

10 ARR Fi a i Slog

Noon. 1 2 : 2 6

‘i 9 on 5} 3l fa

2 i) 2) 4, 6 1

4 US Se Ra Nile iy

5 3 oy 12 We2h cel

4 thi 2 y 4s

8 La 5 2 J

11 1 ae lie! 4 4

Meteorological Observations. XXXIL

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of May, 1859.

Latitude 22° 33’ 1” North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

Feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

Seg 2 sf

hi : 2 Range of the Barometer a 3 |Range of the Tempera-

“Ep 5 5 during the day. > ture during the day.

Pee Ag

Date. FA as «2

3 a = Max. Min. Diff. oe Max, | Min. | Diff.

Ss =

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. |} Inches. ft) fy) o 0)

1 | Sunday.

2 29.798 | 29.859 | 29.717 0.142 | 85.0 94.2 77.4 \ 16.8

3 773 841 674: al67 |x 87.1 97.0 79.6 | 17.4

4. 778 905 .652 253 | 85.5 97.3 72.6 | 24.7

5 7h 878 708 170 | 78.9 91.4 72.0 | 19.4

6 775 872 .696 176 | 82.9 91.0 | 73.4 | 17.6

7 739 786 671 115 | 81.6 93.9 75.1 | 18.8

8 | Sunday.

9 769 838 701 137 | 85.3 93.0 78.6 | 14.4

10 747 830 .660 170 | 87.0 95.6 80.0 | 15.6

iL .689 761 063 198 | 88.1 98.2 81.2 | 17.0

12 .685 731 588 143 | 86.7 96.4 80.0 | 16.4

13 674 730 094 136 | 89.0 99.4: 80.6 | 18.8

14 .686 742 .602 140} 87.9 98.6 81.2 | 17.4

15 | Sunday.

16 .689 755 606 149 | 87.6 98.6 78.6 | 20.0

17 691 “749 .618 aol) Be.5 98.4: 80.4 | 18.0

18 752 824 -679 145 | 85.8 95.0 76.2 | 18.8

19 649 715 554 161 88.5 95.3 83.2 | 12.1

20 597 .660 000 160 | 88.4 95.8 Gl.7 | TA

21 627 678 027 pl. | 87.1 97.5 79.5 | 18.0

22 | Sunday.

23 651 707 579 128 | 88.9 96.8 83.0 | 13.8

24, .667 .710 .590 120 | 87.3 93.6 77.4 | 16.2

25 672 722 557 165 | 84.8 95.4 | 76.0 | 19.4

26 661 yr ely .090 140} 86.0 93.8 77.6 | 16.2

27 692 781 629 152 | 85.9 93.2 | 77.4 | 15.8

28 677 £750 .580 170 85.3 94.4; 76.2 | 18,2

29 | Sunday.

30 .602 674 506 168 | 88.4 97.8 82.2 | 15.6

31 .640 £709 .569 140 | 82.6 90.5 78.0 | 12.5

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the twenty-four hourly observations made during

the day.

XXXIV

Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of May, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.— ( Continued.)

Date.

COnNQrbdab -

Mean Wet Bulb Ther-

mometer.

Sunday.

75.7

78.6

76.7

73.4

75.9

75.7

Sunday.

79.3

80.1

80.2

78.5

80.0

79.6

Sunday.

79.3

78.8

82.9

81.6

80.1

Sunday.

81.9

78.0

SU ee

Dry Bulb above Wet.

OO Ord ow

Computed Dew Point.

GohS)

78.4

75.5

77.4

78.2

77.5

78.6

75.7

Dry Bulb above Dew

Point.

ca)

9.8

6.9

Mean Elastic force of

Vapour.

Inches.

0.751

835

.783

“741

785

792

.890

899

.887

838

868

865

857

.860

862

1.005

0.946

885

.998

.952

.868

.922

.946

.925

.958

873

Mean Weight of Vapour

in a cubic foot of air.

Deer,

pour required for com-

Ky |Additional Weight of Va-

plete saturation.

ye)

2.78

3.67

2.30

dity, complete satura-

Mean degree of Humi-

tion being unity.

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorological Observations. XXXV.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of May, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

S s a Range of the Barometer = 3 Range of the Temperature

sags for each hour during faa) S for each hour during

Hour - S the month. Po the month.

Peed Bea ee ae

ao oO fs : S & . R

S44 | Max. Min, Diff. acy oi Max. Min. Diff.

= =

Inches. | Inches.| Inches.' Inches. Oo 0 0 0

| 29.71 B 7 | 0.245, 8L7| 85.6] 7 2

night. 9.714 (29.852 {29.60 2A : ‘ 2.8 -12.8

i 4 .702 .827 .590 287 81.4 85.1 72.8 123

2 691 .805 579 .226 80.9 85.5 72.0 13.5

3 .682 .805 .562 243 80.8 84.8 72.4 12.4

4. .689 797 Ay All .226 80.1 84.7 72.4: 12.3

5 705 .808 593 215 79.8 84.6 72.6 12.0

6 719 812 615 197 79.9 84.8 Ws. 11.8

" .736 .837 634, .2038 81.1 85.8 TAA 11.4

8 749 .870 644, .226 85.1 88.6 79.2 9.4

g .758 .878 .660 218 87.5 90.6 81.6 9.0

10 -756 872 .655 217 89.9 94.1 83.2 10.9

11 743 .856 641 .215 92.0 95.2 84.2 11.0

Noon. 727 .825 .626 199 93.3 96.7 85.4 VS

1 .698 795 .603 .192 94.3 98.4 86.9 SOEs

2 .668 GT .559 .212 94.7 99.2 84.2 15.0

3 .642 742 220 217 94.3 99.4 83.3 16.

4, .623 .761 .900 261 93.3 98.6 76.2 22.4

5 .618 Afi .506 211 91.1 96.2 75.2 21.0

6 .640 .728 526 .202 88.7 94.0 yaya 18.9

7 .665 746 Boga. L9o 85.8 90.2 76.8 13.4

8 .691 .803 582 .221 84.3 88.0 76.4 11.6

9 Bal at .905 .617 288 82.7 87.4 72.6 14.8

10 .720 .863 .630 233 82.2 87.4 73.6 13.8

11 ef aly, 836 .631 | 205 Sez 86.4, 73.0 13.4

The Mean Height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

_ during the month.

XXXVI Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Result of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of May, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

° 5 a Caer) C=

2 3 = E S) i) Senet d Sasa

fa] = ° is ® my Seay ce a

o Ned 5 O:-n on D ns Ore

ran o E > & 2 Eh tie =| ae

5) 2 Q rQ Ps ee) os ao > an

g ee = =e Se an 5 2

eo | 3 3 |2¢)] e9 | Fee) Sea) sos

® & FQ Su n= Sa sta So oa

= g ) ws ae sad lees

=o > > Ss css oa. Le See Soe

Z| = ° x Sao es as

o oO ft) ty) Inches. |Troy grs./Troy grs.

Mid- | m4 | 43 | 752 | 65 | 0860 | 924 | 213 | 082

night.

iL 774 4.0 | 75.4 6.0 | .865 82 1.95 83

2 TMT IBE 3.6 75.5 5A .868 Be 2. 84

3 Vir 3.5 75.5 5.3 868 .37 70 .85

4, 76.9 3.2 75.3 4.8 .862 wool ASS .86

5 76.7 3.1 75.1 4.7 857 .20 .bO .86

6 76.9 3.0 75 A 4.5 .865 04 44, o7

G 77.8 3.3 76.1 5.0 885 bod 64 85

8 79.6 5.5 76.8 8.3 -905 .67 2.90 fT

9 80.6 6.9 ripe 10.4 913 72 a1 72

10 81.5 8.4 Ts 12.6 .919 ote 4.74 .67

11 81.9 10.1 76.8 15.2 .905 4 5.82 62

Noon. 82.2 11.1 76.6 16.7 .899 44, 6.51 59

1 82.5 11.8 76.6 Be gr 899 42 99 57

2 82.7 12.0 76.7 18.0 02 45 7.15 57

3 82.2 12.1 76.1 18.2 885 28 13 57

4, 81.7 11.6 75.9 17.4 .879 24 6.71 58

5 80.7 10.4: 75.5 15.6 .868 16 5.81 61

6 | 79.5 92 | 74.9 | 18.8 | .851 02 4.94 65

7 78,8 rik) RA ewe 8 ile 840 8.98 3.85 70

8 77.9 6.4 BAT Ter O36 846 9.05 23 74,

9 Tio 5.4 74.6 8.1 843 05 2.67 10

10 77.3 49 | 74.8 7.4 849 13 41 79

i WD Viet 4.6 74.8 6.9 849 13 24, .80

—_————— ——— ae SS ae STL | ae eT -— — —_

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

ef ee ney

Meteorological Observations. XXXVii

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of May, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

2 = {fe

a ro) EO: se

aa. |sorcd

.| 28 | S €| Prevailing direction General Aspect of the Sky.

= Bos Hie 2 of the Wind.

Sou las]

A; S™ [awd

re) Inches.

1) Sunday.

2} 137.0] .. |W.&8S.& 8. E. | Cloudless till Noon. Scatd. i till 6 P.

mM. cloudless afterwards.

oe 140.0). | 8. & 8. E. Cloudless till 8 a. m. Scatd. “i till 4P.

M. cloudless afterwards.

4) 139.9! 1.36 |S. Cloudless till 34. m. Seatd. clouds till

3 P. M. cloudy afterwards ; also raining

& thundering & lightning between 6

& OP. M.

5| 1240) .. |S. 5. Scatd. clouds or cloudy the whole day ;

also thundering at 2 P. M.

me 2299 fee | SEH: Cloudless till 8 a.m. Scatd. °i& “i

afterwards.

7) 125.0 | 0.26 |S.E. Scatd. clouds till 2 p. m. cloudy till 7

Pp. M. Scatd. \i & i afterwards ; also

raining & thundering & lightning be-

tween 3 & 6 P. M.

8| Sunday

148.0} .. |S. &S.E.&calm. | Cloudless till'7 a. m. Scatd. “i & 11

afterwards.

10) 1362) .. |S.&S8.E.&8.W. | Cloudless till 7 a. mu. Scatd. “i after-

wards.

11} 139.2 8. &S. W. Cloudless till Noon. Scatd. %i till 4 P.

M. cloudy till 8p. mu. Scatd. \-i after-

wards.

12) 140.2] .. |S.E. &S. Scatd. clouds till 7 aA. m.; cloudless till

Noon Scatd. “i &c. afterwards.

13; 1426] .. |S. W.&S. E. & E.) Cloudless till 34. m. Scatd. 11 & “i

till 5 Pp. m. cloudless afterwards.

fpdee0!} .. |S. &E. Cloudless till11 a. m.Scatd. -itill 3 Pp.

mM. cloudy afterwards.

15) Sunday.

ro 14278) .. | N.&S5.& E. Scatd. clouds till 6 A. m. cloudless till 1

Pp. M. Scatd. 91 till 8 Pp. M. Scatd.-i

afterwards.

mar, 1a89| .. |S. Cloudless till 3.4. m. Scatd. -i till 7

A. M. cloudless till 11 a. mu. Scatd.-i

till 3 Pp. mM. cloudy afterwards; also

| thundering at 7 P.M.

18; 129.8 ats 8S. GE. Scatd. clouds of various kind.

ao) 1a0.4) .. |S. Scatd. clouds of various kind till 7 p. m,

cloudless afterwards.

| 20} 129.0 we S. Scatd. clouds till 7 a.m. Scatd. \i &

i till 4 p. mM. cloudless afterwards.

Ni Cirri, “i cirro strati, %i cumuli, ~i cumulo strati, Wi nimbi, —i strati,

Wi cirro cumuli,

XXXVI

Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of May, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

Max. Solar

radiation.

Oo oO

=P Piet Sue),

Sea of the Wind.

gos

‘Bee o

Sis

Inches

<s |. OS. Be cs

0.78

ee S.

0.50 |8. & EH.

. |S &N.E.&E,

0.12 |S.&H. &S8. H.

oo) Wd Se) WV

ee Ss. & BE.

0.16 | HE. &8. H.

General Aspect of the Sky.

CKD qm Se ee es Geen

Cloudy till 4 4. mM. Scatd. -1 & 1i till

6 p. M. cloudy afterwards ; also slight-

ly drizzling at 8 P. M,

Cloudless till 7 a. M. Scatd. “i

afterwards.

Scatd. clouds; also lightning and driz-

zling at 9 P. M.

Cloudy, also raiing & thundering &

lightning at 6 & 7 P.M.

Cloudless till 5 a. mM. Scatd. i till 5 p.

mM. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 3 a. M. cloudy afterwards ;

also thundering & lightning & driz-

zling between 8 & 11 P. M.

Scatd. clouds ; also drizzled slightly at

Midnight,

Cloudless till6 a.m. Scatd. “i& 1

afterwards,

Cloudy till6 P.M. cloudless afterwards ;

also drizzled between 3 & 6 A. M.

Meteorological Observations. XXXIX

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of Alay, 1859.

Montrury Resunts.

Inches.

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, ae o.) 29.699

Max. height of the Barometer, occurred at 9 P. M. on the 4th, =. ‘29:90a

Min. height of the Barometer, occurred at 4 P.M. on the 20th, -» 29.500

Extreme Range of the Barometer during the month, by age 0.405

Mean of the Daily Max. Pressures, oe Ac we 29.16

Ditto ditto Mins. ditto.) <. 46 ae ee ZOO

Mean Daily range of the Barometer during the month, .. SC AMng 005) 5p

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, ae NA 86.1

Max. Temperature, occurred at 3 P. M. on the 13th, os oe 99.4

Min. Temperature occurred at 2 a. M.on the 5th, Ae 72.0

Extreme Range of the Temperature during the month, .. ae 27.4

Mean of the Daily Max. Temperatures, 5s sie ne 95.5

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, Er, a pasane 78.4,

Mean Daily range of the Temperatures during the month, a8 17.1

ry)

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, a Me 70.2

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer, .. 6.9

Computed Mean Dew Point for the month, re ae "5.7

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed Mean Dew Point, ae 10.4:

Inches.

Mean Elastic force of vapour for the month, .. es kc 0.873

Troy grains.

Mean weight of vapour for the month, e oe ae 9.32

Additional weight of vapour required for complete saturation, Ao 3.63

Mean degree of Humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.72

Inches.

Rained 9 days.—Max. fall of rain during 24 hours, oe oe 1.36

Total amount of rain during the month, ihe ie fe 3.18

Prevailing direction of the Wind,.. on ols S.&8. H.& 2B,

x] Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of May, 1859.

Montuiy Resvxts.

Table showing the number of days on which at a given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour,

when any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Hour.

Rain on.

Missed,

—— |

|] | i OO | —| ——|—_ | —— ] —— | —_ ff

No. of days.

Midnight.

KOOMDNOAMA WDE

[eed cendll SIE sell cool meelll one ll eel aod aeelll need ae

ll ceed dll SOO SOON eel eel ll

ppp BobhwwLeaL

= Sd OM GS OU OU G SO Ot OU Ov

= —

vo e be

ONNPNRNEe&

fed es et et ed

fd fet et ed ed

Aus ODO =

—

HM DONAWHEENNNh

Oowtpe sea Bows

See Se

o> bo bo bo

bo B® AT OU bo bo

— RE aa

et Se bo

Noon.

Fe De ee

eee

rFPooeean

en ae a inee Y

of ‘

Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the lesults of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of June, 1859.

Latitude 22° 33’ 1’ North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &¢. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

fom Set Oe

a = 2 Range of the Barometer ea Range of the Tempera-

“a = iS during the day. FQ E ture during the day.

‘© 5 Po

maa Ad aa

: ae , : go i

8 Si8 Max. Min. Diff. = Max Min. | Diff.

a |e =

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. oO o ve) oO

1 | 29.616 |99.661 | 29.550 | 0.111 82.9 88.6 | 80.2] 8.4

2 616 661 570 091 82.6 87.8 i 80.7.) 71

3 678 .730 631 .099 82.3 87.8 | 79.4] 8.4

4 637 692 -550 142 82.9 88.4 | 80.0] 8.4

5 | Sunday.

6 672 720 .629 .091 80.2 84.6 WW 5 (a

7 .667 11 595 116 84.7 90.2 80.8 9.4

8 .651 698 .590 108 85.6 90.8 81.8 9.0

9 .638 694 O77 Bi | 86.2 92.2 81.8 | 10.4

10 .624 697 541 .156 | 86.8 93.0 2.07.) LO

11 552 .612 Ad4 .158 86.9 94.6 82.8 | 11.8

12 | Sunday.

13 A422 521 ool .190 85.6 90.5 82.4, 8.1

14, .303 368 217 151 86.9 93.8 4 /80.2| 43.1

15 .287 348 .228 120 86.4 91.6 | 820] 96

16 .368 438 803 135 88.4 96.8 83.8 | 13.0

17 470 524 ALS .109 87.7 94.8 | 82.6] 12.2

18 502 556 Ad1 -105 85.1 90.6 | 814] 9.2

19 | Sunday.

20 246 2088 152 .186 81.1 85.4 79.0 6.4

21 .200 429 .059 3870 79.5 82.2 77.8 AAs

22 494 54 A19 135 81.4: 85.0 78.0 7.0

23 558 602 521 081 84:4 88.6 | 81.1]. .7.5

24 585 .633 033 .L00 84.7 90.0 81.0 9.0

25 .603 .650 556 094 84.1 89.5 | 80.0] 9.5

26 | Sunday.

27 .602 .655 535 120 83.4: 89.4 79.9 9.5

28 .090 .663 .536 Bi ly 7 83.6 88.5 81.0 “ea

29 595 643 549 O94 85.5 91.1 80.8 | 10.3

30 595 .637 040 .097 86.1 91.0 82.2 8.8

| The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean ae ata Wet Bulb

_ Thermometers are derived from the twenty- -four hourly observations made during.

the day.

il Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of June, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.— (Continued.)

é é SJ) B, alpen einer

is " e A o eyelet = a

a 43 Ss : SS eee hee

2 E am 5 wo [oo e| Os

Date. faa] ° o 2 ss Bos of

4 ZS a 2 a : eo 0 | ee a8 ® Oo

Bt = & 2a AB [es eRe) Pas

s a 5 as = a fsgs eee

a Oo my 5 Eis Ss = ®t ie F ap

=e b> a by Se | 3S Were ieibo. c.5

= A S) a = =a |< a

0 0 0 0 Inches. ; T, gr. | T. gr.

1 79.6 3.0 77.9 5.0 0.937 | 10.06 | 1.73 | 0.85

2 79.4 3.2 77.8 4.8 934 .03 .65 86

3 79.6 2.7 78.2 4.1 946 Pa | AL .88

4 79.6 3.3 77.9 5.0 937 061)" vara “85

5 | Sunday.

6 78.2 2.0 77.2 3.0 | 916 | 9.89, 0.99 | .91

7 81.3 3.4 79.6 5.1 989 /10.58 | 1.84 | .85

8 81.5 Al 79.4 6.2 .983 AQ | 2.27 82

9 81.3 4.9 78.8 7.4 964 .29 70 79

10 81.6 5.2 79.0 7.8 .970 33 | 88 | .78

il 81.9. 5.0 79.4 7.5 .983 Ad .80 19

12 | Sunday.

rs 81.6 4.0 | 79.6 | 6.0 .989 56 20 83

14 82.2 Ale 1) FOS. tek 7d 999 60} .65 | .80

1d $1.8 4.6 79.5 6.9 .986 ol M535) 81

16 81.3 fel Vk 10.7 .931 9.88 | 3.96 ek

17 82.7 5.0 80.2 7.5 1.008 |10.71 | 2.85 79

18 Si 4.0 79.1 6.0 0.973 40 ay 83

19 | Sunday.

20 78.3 2.8 76.9 4,2 .908 9.78 | 1.39 88

21 VET 1.8 76.8 2.7 905 771 0.89 92

ae (hers os 75.8 5.6 .876 43 | 1.84 84

23 79.9 4.5 77.6 6.8 .928 93 | 2.38 81

24 80.4 4.3 78.2 6.5 946 | 10.11 ol 81

25 80.4 3.7 78.5 5.6 .955 29 | 1.98 84

26 | Sunday.

27 80.0 3.4 78.3 5.1 £49 18 78 85

28 80.1 3.5 78.3 5.3 949 18 .85 85

29 80.8 4.7 78.4 7.1 952 L7 | (2,65 .80

30 81.5 4.6 79.2 6.9 976 41 04 80

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants.

SS a ee Se ee Se Oe ee ee ee ee ee

- ~ ==

Meteorological Observations, iil

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of June, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

‘6 S _ | Range of the Barometer for = 3 LS Mae Pom pens

AES : s ture for each hour

<§-s each hour during the Ao duane tite

a = a month. za 5 omen

Hour. ms 2 fa s .

of 3)

5 a = Max. Min. Diff. 5 = Max. | Min. | Diff.

= =

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. 6) oO fe) oO

Mid-

nicht. 29.541 |29.698 | 29.172 0.526 82.3 86.2 78.3 7.9

1 .530 .682 162 .520 82.1 86.0 78.1 7.9

2 527 .670 149 1521. 81.7 » 86.0 78.0 8.0

2 .508 .662 140 522 81.4 84.9 77.8 7

4 .510 .672 3o a7 81.1 $4.4 Rib 6.9

5 518 .678 LAs .Dd3 81.0 84.0 77.8 6.2

6 537 .688 Ril is: Bars; 81.2 84.3 78.0 6-3

7 J} 550 || .696.| 091. |. i605 82.1 | 85.8 | 78.2 | 7.6

8 .560 715 .059 .656 83.6 86.6 78.3 8.3

9 072 724 . L166 .558 85.3 88.6 78.4 |} 10.2

10 {57D .730 .205 525 86.4 89.8 79.0 | 10.8

11 .570 716 .230 .486 87.1 92.6 80.2 | 12.4

Noon.| .557 | .705 .250 455 87.9 93.2 | 80.8 | 12.4

1 or .690 249 441 88.3 94.6 80.8 | 13.8

2 515 .668 sails 453 88.7 96.6 80.5 | 16.1

3 495 642 .188 454 88.1 96.6 80.5 | 16.1

A ATT 641 Lye 469 87.6 96.8 79.9 | 16.9

5 A479 .631 152 79 86.6 95.8 79.6 | 16.2

6 .490 | 634 168 .466 85.6 92.6 79.6 | 13.0

7 .509 .663 .183 480 84.4: 88.8 79.7 9.1

8 529 .691 191 .500 83.7 88.3 79.6 8.7

9 548 .705 | 189 516 83.4 87.8 78.6 9.2

10 558 712 186 |*) 26 83.1 87.4 78.2 9.2

|) 662,’ | -7oe | 1188 | 1325 | 82.9

A sae

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

during the month,

~ —_——_—

iv Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor Generals Office, Calcutta,

in the month of June, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

required

for complete satu-

ration,

Additional Weight of

Vapour

1.35

.20

a 3 z 5 2 ie

= ee ‘8 a 5 ae

2 Sy) Pell an a am St

5 2 o 2 cs sence’

~ Bey es]

= 8 5 e £2 = a> me

§ 5 fag g pea |) Set erane

= a s) Q = =

ees | | pa a | NE Oc wh Rie Me ey

to) ) 0 ) Inches, | T. gr.

nk 79.7 2.6 78.4 3.9 | 0.952 | 10.23

1 79.3 2.8 77.9 4.2, 937 .08

2 79.4, 2.3 78.2 3.5 946 17

3 79.0 2.4 77.8 3.6 934 05

4, 78.8 2.3 77.6 3.5 928 9.99

5 78.6 2.4: 77.4 3.6 922 93

6 78.8 2.4 IAG 3.6 928 99

vs 79.3 2.8 77.9 4.2 937 10.08

8 80.2'| 3.4 78.5 5.1 955 25

9 81.0 4.3 78.8 6.5 964, 29

10 81.4 5.0 78.9 7.5 967 30

11 81.7 5.4 79.0 8.1 970 33

Noon. 82.0 5.9 79.0 8.9 970 31

1 82.1 6.2 79.0 9.3 970 31

2 82.1 6.6 78.8 9.9 964 20

3 82.0 6.1 78.9 9.2 967 28

4 81.6 6.0 78.6 9.0 958 19

5 81.0 5.6 78.2 8.4 946 09

6 80.9 4.7 78.5 "1 955 21

| 80.5 3.9 78.5 5.9 955 28

8 80.3 3.4 78.6 5.1 958 28

9 80.2 3.2 78.6 4.8 958 28

10 80.1 3.0 78.6 4.5 958 28

eT 80.0 2.9 78.5 4.4 955 27

complete

being

saturation

unity.

Mean degree of Hu-

midity,

0.88

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants.

Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

~ | Date.

xe)

OoOowTono if

Max, Solar

radiation.

5 feet above

Rain Gauge

Ground.

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of June, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

Prevailing direction

of the Wind.

S. W. & E.

8. EH. & E.

N. W.&N. EH. &N.

N. & 8. EH. &S.

eee

General Aspect of the Sky.

Cloudless till 5a. mM. Scatd. i &i

till 9 a. mM. cloudy till 6 Pp. Mm. Scatd.

i afterwards: also raining between

10 4.M.&1?. M,

Cloudless till 4 a. m. cloudy afterwards,

also drizzling at 6 and 7 and 10 a. M.

& at Noon & 3 Pp. M.; thundering and

lightning at 3 P. M.

Cloudy ; also raining between 1&3 &

likewise between 10 & 11 a. M.

Scatd. clouds, also raining at Noon,

also between 4 & 6 P. M.

Cloudy ; also constantly raining.

Cloudy with rain at 1 P.M.

Scatd. “1 till 6a. mM. Scatd. clouds

afterwards.

Cloudy till 7 a. m. Scatd. i afterwards.

Cloudless till 4 a4. mM. Scatd. i till 4

Pp. M. Scatd. clouds afterwards.

Scatd. clouds.

Scatd. “i till 2 a. mM. cloudy till5 P. M.

Scatd. i afterwards ; also raining at

8 a. M & between 10 a. m. & Noon.

Cloudy ; also raining at land 3 4, M. &

also at 3 P. M.

Cloudy ; also drizzling at 3&4 a.M.

& between Noon & 1 P. M.

Cloudy ; also raining at 7 & 10 PB. M.

Cloudy ; also raining at Midnight and

2 A. M. as likewise at 5 & 6 P. M.

Cloudy ; also drizzling between 1 and 6

P.M.

Cloudy ; also drizzling at 7 and 8 a. M.

as likewise at 5 & 10 Pp. M.

Cloudy ; also drizzling constantly.

Cloudy till 7 ep. m. cloudless afterwards ;

also raining at Midnight 1 a. Mm.

11 a.m. Noon &3 P.M,

Scatd. clouds.

Mi Cirri, -i Cirro strati, "i Cumuli, ~i Cumulo strati, “i Nimbi, —i Strati,

Wii Cirro cumuli.

Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of June, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

Solar

radiation.

Max.

)

117.8

120.5

Sunday.

5 feet above

Rain Gauge

Ground.

Prevailing direction

of the Wind.

General Aspect of the Sky.

Scatd. clouds; also very slightly driz-

zling at 1la.M. & 11 P.M,

Cloudy.

Cloudy; also drizzling between 1 & 2

A. M. & between 5 & 8 P. M.

Cloudy; till2Pp. m.Scatd. “i till 7

p. M. cloudless afterwards, also driz-

zling between 10 & 11 4. M.

Cloudless till 8 a.m. Scatd. i till6

Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 2 a.m. Scatd. “i & i

till 7 Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

Meteorological Observations.

Vil

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of June, 1859.

Monturty ReEsvutts.

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, oe ee

Max. height of the Barometer occurred at 104. M. on the 3rd, ae

Min. height of the Barometer occurred at 8 a. M. on the 21st, ee

Extreme range of the Barometer during the month, oe os

Mean of the daily Max. Pressures, a ae ee

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, : an ne

Mean daily range of the Barometer during the month, ..

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, se Ap

Max. Temperature occurred at 4 P. M. on the 16th, AP oo

Min. Temperature occurred at 4 a. M. on the 6th, fe a

Extreme range of the Temperature during the month, ..

Mean of the daily Max. Temperatures, oe

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, ae

Mean daily range of the Temperature during the month,

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, Se ae

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer,..

Computed Mean Dew-point for the month, ..

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed Mean Bow -point,

Mean Elastic force of Vapour for the month,

Inches.

29.532

29.730

29.059

0.671

29.594

29.463

0.131

80.4

4.0

78.4

6.0

Inches

0.952

Troy grains.

Mean Weight of Vapour for the month, aie be ee

Additional Weight of Vapour required for complete saturation, ae

Mean degree of humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity,

Rained 20 days, Max. fall of rain during 24 hours,

Total amount of rain during the month, °

Prevailing direction of the Wind,

10.19

2.12

0.83

Inches.

2.96

12.48

Ss. & 8. W.

vill Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

an the month of June, 1859.

Monvury ReEsv.ts.

Table showing the number of days on which ata given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour when

any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Rain on.

Midnight.

he =

[oll poll aeoelll ae

WwW WO eH See eS

LO ell eel Nell oe ol

— =

li fo)

leoiiloelll onli

HOODNOMAWNEH

WHDNYHEMHH DDD O&O

Robrpwwwwo woe

FoOwnmryyNPweanpbdn

NNHE EN HEN HEE DD

fet et

pe See a

PORES LETT LE EE

Orb

ho ke

et et ed

ow } &

—

NN WReE be

—_

fet) SRLS)

— a)

KODMYHUOR WH =

DED NHNWNNHHE NH DA

WNNNHRWWRROWIN

bent

ew COD OUD wb wR OD ON

—

ee eS

Meteorological Observations. Ix

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of July, 1859.

Latitude 22° 331” North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

Feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

Sent hy eater

be . s Range of the Barometer 3 3 antes of the Tempera-

“Bp = 3 during the day. be ture during the day.

os a) =

Date, | 7 = Es : 5 o

sS2 | Max. | Min. | Dif S& | Max, | Min. | Diff.

s a

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. fo) fe) oO

1 29.625 | 29.693 | 29.584 | 0.109 | 85.8 90.0 82.4 7.6

,2 .678 723 627 096 | 84.7 90.0 79.6 | 10.4

3 | Sunday.

4, .699 744, 647 097 | 85.8 S12 82.0 9.2

5 .688 751 642 109 | 85.4 91.8 81.8 | 10.0

6 .616 677 047 LoOn e873 94.0 81.8 | 12.2

7 581 648 526 122 | 86.5 93.8 79.6 | 14.2

8 549 588 498 .090 | 88.5 94.1 84.4 | 9.7

9 .602 .667 032 1385 | 88.1 94.0 83.4 | 10.6

10 | Sunday.

11 685 722 622 .100 | 87.0 93.2 82.9 |:10.3

12 716 762 651 pt Tees 720 93.4 82.2 | 11.2

13 703 747 638 109 | 86.8 93.6 82.4 | 11.2

14 683 736 .625 LD oe S627 92.0 83.0 2.0

15 646 .699 582 Vee S0.0 92.2 2.2). \e¥O:@

16 .590 633 524 109 | 85.8 93.8 82.2 | 11.6

17 | Sunday.

18 487 548 407 141 | 87.6 94.8 82.4 | 12.4

19 A24 485 41 144, 84.9 89.4 82.0 7.4:

20 396 464: 348 116 | 84.0 88.2 80.9 7.3

21 3.98 452 322 ASOn) 6 83:1 89.5 80.8 8.7

22 AGL 615 403 112 83.4: 91.4 80.1 | 11.3

23 464) 512 402 LOS ig S556 89.8 80.2 9.6

24 Sunday.

25 262 339 158 .181 | 85.0 91.6 81.0 | 10.6

26 154: 257 012 245} 81.1 85.8 77.8 8.0

27 113 446 | 28.721 725 | 80.4 83.8 78.0 5.8

28 490 552 | 29.451 101 | 837 87.8 80.1 7.7

29 .536 581 481 -L00 | 85.7 92.0 81.4 | 10.6

30 533 586 465 121 | 85.9 90.9 82.6 8.3

ol | Sunday.

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the twenty-four hourly observations made during

the day.

x Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of July, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.— (Continued.)

o E S Bes ee Oa ak

e ° RS oe s

= 3 a |e g Mien hes te Re We

= : 8 = | SB lege ss

ate. Steg = =) a toe eS ete |) 2.8

as =| 2 i ie fq 5 = 5B Sie e|| So S

= a 3 aia 3 Eu @ -

a6 an a 5 as | gS |e62| #28

® & a a ane Ss > Se Wee ho ae ce

| = a O A A = Ee a

o 0 o Riches’) pis 3) Base

1 81.4 A.A, 79.2 6.6 0.976 | 10.41 2.42 81

2 81.1 3.6 79.3 5.4: 979 48 1.94 84

3 | Sunday.

4, 81.5 4.3 79.3 6.5 979 44 2.39 81

5 81.3 4.1 79.2 6.2 976 3 25 .82

6 83.2 4.1 81.1 6.2 1.037 | 11.04 O7 82

7 82.0 4.5 Ey 6.8 0.992 | 10.57 53 veel

8 84.4 4.1 82.3 6.2 1.077 | 11.44 44 82

9 83.9 4.2 81.8 6.3 .060 26 46 82

10 | Sunday.

11 81.3 5.7 78.4 8.6 0.952 | 10.12 aL7 16

12 81.1 5.9 78.1 8.9 943 04: 25 16

13 81.4 5.4 78.7 8.1 961 24 2.97 78

14, 81.1 5.6 78.3 8.4: 949 12 33-06 Wad

15 81.5 4.5 79.2 6.8 976 AL 2.50 81

16 81.5 4.3 79.3 6.5 979 4 39 81

17 | Sunday.

18 81.6 6.0 78.6 9.0 958 10 3.93 75

US 81.4 3.9 79.6 d.3 .989 58 1.91 .85

20 81.3 2.0 Te) 4.1 .998 .69 48 88

2). 80.6 2.5 79.3 3.8 O79 51 13) .89

22 80.5 2.9 79.0 4.4, O70 42 4 87

23 81.0 2.6 C27 3.9 992 63 | .40 .88

24 | Sunday.

25 81.1 a0 cf 79 5.9 973 40 2.13 83

26 78.2 ried) 76.7 A.) .902 O72 1.45 87

27 78.2 2.2 iy Pas 3.3 913 86 .08 .90

28 80.9 2.8 79.5 4.2 986 | 10.57 -50 88

29 82.3 3.4 80.6 5.1 1021 .90 .90 85

30 81.8 4.1 (a 6.2 0.992 .59 2°28 82

Sl | Sunday.

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorological Observations. xl

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of July, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

Range of the Temperature

‘Oo 8 |; | Range of the Barometer = 5

eq 3 for each hour during jaa S for each hour during

inte = So ee the month. ame) the month.

aes eh oS aes

co” : = 2 :

3-54 | Max Min. Diff. se, | Max. Min. Diff.

= =

Inches. | Inches.| Inches.| Inches. ) Oo o 0

Mid- 9 54 "7 lof

night. 9.543 '29.726 |28.933 | 0.793 82.9 85.6 18.2 7.4

1 .518 723 .866 857 82.8 | 85.0 78.8 6.2

2 513 es, .816 .903 | 82.5 85.2 78.8 6.4

3 .002 704) 726 978 | 82.2 85.0 78.8 6.2

4 499 .698 721 977 | 82.1 84.7 78.8 5.9

5 516 .708 “749 .959 | 82.0 84.6 78.8 5.8

6 531 £728 .796 .932 82.0 84.4: 78.0 6.4

| .546 37 .870 S07? S27) 85.0 78.6 6.4

8 .563 754 .969 785 84.4 86.6 78.0 8.6

2 572 .758 |29.064 694 |} 85.9 88.4 78.4 10.0

10 572 -762 .140 622) 87.7 91.0 78.6 12.4

il 964 .760 .183 577 89.1 92.2 79.2 13.0

Noon. .553 “745 eM .568 | 89.6 93.2 80.9 12.3

1 .536 723 .156 OTe SOsE 94.0 80.6 13.4

2 518 710%} .140 .570 | 90.3 94.1 82.8 11.3

3 499 .680 | .126 .554 | 89.6 94.8 82.2 12.6

: 4, 478 .651 .100 51 88.3 93.6 81.2 12.4

| 5 482 .670 .069 601 87.4 | 92.1 79.9 12.2

) 6 495 .685 .063 622 | 86.4 90.4 80.4 10.0

7 .513 .700 .064 .636 | 85.2 | 89.2 79.5 Or

8 533 .718 | .069 649 | 84.4 | 88.2 78.9 9.3

org) 654 1 737) 1082 | .655 | 84.09] 87.4] 77.8 9.6

10 .559 .740 .040 -700 | 83.6 86.6 78.8 7.8

11 .505 .738 .012 726 | 83.3 86.8 78.8 8.0

The Mean Height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

| Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

during the month.

xil Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of July, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

a ss = E oO zo ScSe|[s8

Cae ll VEEsast eA dlbonBatad) Gece eee

o = o = cS = aoe 5) Sass

ele va B te & 2 ‘Cc = S8 OD SI

ore 5 ras 5 ° 25 ESS pe 5

Hou. | Pes | Soe) Be Se 2 | ees ce

g a o a= ie S 5 ~ 4 eeeee| i Se

o 5 Fa a A .= ae ogi aa") owe giato

a g Be. | eee | eg, eee mn cee

= la iS) a = =) Pe ae as

oO o o ) Inches. |Troy grs./Troy girs.

Mid | 805 | 24 1 79.3... 86.| 0.979..! 1051. | 1ae. | 0.89

night. . . Geo ; . e ° ° .

1 80.4: 2.4 79,2 3.6 .976 A8 27 89

2 80.3 2.2 79.2 3.3 976 50 14 .90

3 &0.0 2.2 78.9 3.3 967 AL 13 .90

4 80.0 Papa 78.9 3.2 .967 A1 .10 .90

5 80.0 2.0 79.0 3.0 .970 44, .03 ok

6 80.0 2.0 79.0 3.0 .970 4 .03 91

| 80.4: 2.3 79.2 3.0 .976 48 24 .89

8 81.0 3.4: 79.3 5.1 979 48 83 85

¥) 81.6 4.3 79.4 6.5 .983 AT 2.40) 81

10 82.3 5.4 79.6 8.1 .989 o2 3.04 .78

11 82.8 6.3 79.6 9.5 .989 48 .64 74:

Noon. 83.0 6.6 79.7 oS 992 ol 82 73

1 83.0 au 79.4 10.7 983 .o9 4.15 72

2 83.3 The @ 79.8 10.5 .995 51 AZ 72

3 82.9 6.7 79.5 10.1 .986 45 3.88 73

4 82.6 5.7 mou &.6 02 0d 27 76

5 82.2 5.2 79.6 7.8 .989 .o2 2.93 78

6 81.7 4.7 79.3 Via 979 44 .62 .80

a 81.4 3.8 79.5 5.7 .986 od 08 84

8 81.1 3.3 79.4 5.0 .983 ol 1.80 85

9 80.7 3.3 79.0 0.0 .970 40 a7 7! 86

10 80.7 re] 79.2 4.4; .976 48 OD 87

it 80.7 2.6 79.4 3.9 983 04 39 88

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants.

Meteorological Observations. xlil

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of July, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &e.

ee [be

i aa

2/ x3 [838 of the Wind.

= oS om

Al S7 |ged

oO Inches.

1 P Cloudless till 4 a. m. Scatd. clouds

afterwards.

2 ‘ 0.26 |S. &E Cloudy; also drizzling between 2 and

3A. M. & also at7 & 9P.M.

3) Sunday.

4| 120.0 ds S. & 8S. W. Cloudless till 3 a. M. Scatd. clouds till

8 Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

5| 118.0 ae S. & 8S. W. Cloudiess till 2 a. M. Seatd. 71 till 1

Pp. M. cloudy afterwards, also drizzling

between6 &8P. M.

6}. 125.0 : S. &S. E. Scatd. \i & “itill 8 a.m. Scatd. i

afterwards.

Mi MARA 0.12: | 8. Cloudy till 4 a.m. Scatd. i after-

wards ; also raining at Midnight.

| ae ea? || Se te Calm. Cloudy.

9) 122.0 oP Se Cloudless till 3 a. Mm. Scatd. clouds after-

wards; also slightly drizzling be-

tween 7&8 P.M.

10) Sunday.

Seto es | S.-&8. W. Clouds of various kinds till 7 Pp. m.

cloudless afterwards.

bat A225) os |S. &8. W. Cloudless till 4 a. m. Scatd. clouds

afterwards.

4 Oe a Cloudless till 7 A. mu. cloudy afterwards.

P25 we) | Se Cloudy ; also very slightly drizzling at

5 A. M.

21 ee 0.28 |.S. Cloudy ; also drizzling at 3 & 5 p. mM.

$6).127.0) ... |8.& 8. W. Scatd. i & -itill 7 a. M. Scatd. “i af-

| terwards.

17| Sunday.

iy tat Oh. se, | N. Be & E. Cloudy.

cee 0.11 |N. E. & H. Cloudy ; also raining at Noon & 5 p. M.

BO eine 140 |E.&8. HE. &8. Cloudy; also constantly raining or

drizzling.

Bhs ae 0.35 | H.&N.E.&S8S. B. | Cloudy; also constantly raining be-

tween 1 & 6 P.M.

7 ee 1.05 |S. EB. & EK. Cloudy: also constantly raining, with

two or three loud peals of thunder

at 3 P. M.

23 bi 0.48 | E.& N. E. & 8. E. | Cloudy ; and constantly raining in the

afternoon.

24| Sunday.

- 0.79..| N.& 8.5. Cloudy ; also raining after intervals with

much lightning between 8 & 11 Pp. mM.

Ni Cirri, i cirro strati, Xi cumuli, ~i cumulo strati, Wi nimbi, —i strati,

“ni cirro cumuli,

——

Xiv Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of July, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c,

Hi ) SE oes

ca.2 |3.5-,:/ Prevailing direction

| ga ye S2 of the Wind. General Aspect of the Sky.

a rire} qos

a| S&S [aes

OS. aes

) Inches

AGB) o\\ > N. &N. E. Cloudy; high wind & constant rain

4.04, from 10 a. M. till Midnight.

Zid Bek N.E. &8. & EH. Cloudy; also constantly raining be-

tween Midnight & 1 P.M.

Ae | Nea 0.21 |S. &E. Cloudy ; also occasionally raining.

28). A 2B mek GieS a de Sa Seatd. 91 & “i till 7 p.m. cloudless

afterwards.

30; 116.5 .. | W. & calm. Cloudless till 4 a. mM. Scatd. “i till 2

Pp. M. cloudy afterwards.

31} Sunday.

Meteorological Observations. XV

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of July, 1859.

Montury REsvuLts.

Inches.

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, e< 29.5380

Max. height of the Barometer, occurred at 10 A. M. on the 12th, bie 2OL7 62

Min. height of the Barometer, “occurred at 4 A.M. on the 27th, alas ured |

Extreme Range of the Bar ometer during the month, nye Ww 1.041

Mean of the Daily Max. Pressures, ai ae aes S2OI0 Er

Ditto ditto Raina ‘Cabto, Pi 6. 29.452

Mean daily range of the Barometer during the month, os se | 0.145

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, tah 204 85.4:

Max. Temperature occurred at 3 P. M. on the 18th, By a 94.8

Min. Temperature occurred at 9 Pp. M.on the 26th, he yg

Lixctreme range of the Temperature during the month, Be Ae 17.0

Mean of the daily Max. Temperatures, ny? ae a 91.2

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, ae ih 81.4

Mean daily range of the Temperatures during the month, Ss 9.8

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, Se 81.4

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer, ate 4.0

Computed Mean Dew Point for the month, ee 79.4:

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed Mean Dew Point, “ 6.0

Inches

Mean Elastic force of vapour for the month, .. 4 es) (OL985

Troy grains.

Mean weight of vapour for the month, : & 10.49

Additional weight of vapour required for complete saturation, A 2.19

Mean degree of humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.83

In ches.

Rained 15 days.—Max. fall of rain during 24 Abe Bes Ah 4.04

Total amount of rain during the month, a oe 9.09

Prevailing direction of the Wind, $ AS eC POS Ss SER n

On the 26th July, a high Northerly wind sprung up about 10 4. M. and con-

tinued to blow till5 Pp. m.; after which, a North Easterly wind set in, and blew for

about 3 hours. About 8 p. mu. the wind veered and became Hasterly, which rose

to a gale; the directions of which during several hours of its continuance, were

as follows :

From 8 p. M. till Midnight, . .. Ri iid access lastorly,

From Midnight till 1 a. Mm. on the 27th h July,.« PWiscitabs se ee Lvortberly.

Prom, 1A. MM. till 8 A.M... s..... we evesse.cesse North Hasterly.

At 8 a. M. the gale ceased.

During the prevalence of the gale there was incessant rain, but no thunder and

lightning.

The Ten Minutes’ observations taken during the gale, show that at 8 P.M.

which was the commencement of.the gale; the Barometer stood at 29.069 inches,

it then continuously descended till it became 28.719 inches at 3. h. 40 m. 4. M. After

which, the Barometer began to ascend attaining to the height of 28.870 inches

at 7 a.M. The Ten Minutes’ observations were given up at this hour; but the

Barometer was observed to rise continuously (without indicating the usual tides)

tillthe Midnight of the 28th at which time, the height it stood at, was 29.458

inches,

xvl Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of July, 1859.

Monruiy Resvurs.

Table showing the number of days on which at a given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour,

when any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Hour. ot 1 et Ss] | 6 6 5 6 Eales:

efeje} jeldle) ie Flel ls a\2

NS pz lel BE. let tos ee fod ce loi le Se ss

No. of days :

Midnight. 3) 2) 2) tees ae I 1 2 :

1 Les ae sph de 1 1

2 1) } 3) at 5 | 12 2 1

3. Lop ae OL ps2) 1 ]

4 1} | 3) 1f 3 | 1p 2 3

5 LY AP Se Re int enbed: 1

6 2 Ti Sie Qe} 2 2)

a 1) seo se 4 2 1

8 TP Sieh 3 ete 2 1 1

9 Aa 5 | 2 2) bellied

10 2) | 2 4 | il , 2

11 2) 3) sf By 2yh2 13; | 2

Noon, 2) 7 2) 1b. 2 | 4 5 1

1 212 1) 6 A) | 2

2 2| 1) 2 | 3 2 1

3 2) 17 3]. | | 6 3 2 1

A 2} 982) F 2) 16 2 2 raed ae

5 1 Zim 2 21-6 3) 17 1 2

6 Lea eee at 1G) 2 Bik i!

7 i Sie 2 ida el ib Li 1

8 1} ail) f 4)1)38 2 D

9 1 1) 1) 4 | 2) 4 2 3 1

10 1} | 2) 1) 4) | 4! 1 i!

11 PH PR ae SNe 1

]

Meteorological Observations. XVil

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

an the month of August, 1859.

Latitude 22° 33’ 1’ North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

co vo en

eos Range of the Barometer | = 2 Range of the Tempera-

op = 3 during the day. AS ture during the day.

eS a

maa Aa ‘wana

‘ giant? so

2 = 5 Max. Min. Diff. a Max. | Min. | Diff.

a ips a

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. o o oO )

1 | 29.558 | 29.631 | 29.491 0.140 81.1 87.4 77.0 | 10.4

2 644 01 .080 21 82.3 87.6 77.8 9.8

3 .670 «118 .629 .089 82.8 86.2 C28 6.4

4 664 .726 612 114: 80.9 83.4 79.3 AL

5 701 157 652 105 81.9 84.6 79.8 4.8

6 702 751 .643 108 83.3 88.8 79.9 8.9

7 | Sunday.

8 807 .860 727 133 80.6 86.6 76.2 | 10.4

9 “748 .810 .676 134 82.3 90.0 78.4 | 11.6

10 fol .780 .655 125 83.3 88.5 79.6 8.9

Be .668 ay Al 092 125 82.4: 87.6 oe) 7.7

12 673 739 611 128 81.2 86.1 79.0 oat

13 720 17 .660 LAT 82.2 87.8 78.4: 9.4

14, Sunday.

15 .699 761 .629 132 84.7 89.6 80.3 9.3

16 645 .698 .060 138 85.0 90.6 81.6 9.0

17 613 .667 ool 136 83.3 88.0 79.4 8.6

18 .617 694 .560 134 83.0 86.6 80.0 6.6

19 .683 “749 .628 121 84.1 89.6 80.0 9.6

20 729 780 671 O09 82.3 86.4 81.0 5.4

21 | Sunday.

22 .662 703 607 .096 82.7 90.0 80.2 9.8

23 634 -701 .563 138 83.3 88.8 80.4: 8.4

24 -639 AOL 572 129 82.8 86.8 (i Fte) a0

25 627 684 .560 124 83.5 88.2 80.0 | 8.2

26 098 641 041 .100 81.7 85.3 79.6 5.7

27 596 634 .038 .096 80.0 82.2 78.0 4,2

28 | Sunday. :

29 504 053 434 19 81.5 85.8 78.6 7.2

30 537 .600 491 .109 83.2 87.8 78.6 9.2

31 536 .600 462 138 85.1 89.6 81.3 8.3

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the twenty-four hourly observations made during

the day.

XVlii

Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of August, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.— (Continued.)

: Beier? ed dee Ne

y ° A o OS) Sew st

BH v = o S > Se o s S

3 @ > = ro) ee) Neopcoaerenis Se

Date. pQ Ss o “7 = = 23 . n

o = 3 = Fat gS Oo [a sa) S= &

ee = 2 o: (Se (se pone 2s

ahs ea Sy = Sos s* (S50) ¢ 2 o0

6 # bp 5 aa Se | 88 |S ae] $85

= fan) oO Q a = < a

0 o 0 o Inches. | T, gr.| T. gr

i 78.7 2.4 77.5 3.6 ; 0.925 | 9.96 | 1.21 | 0.89

2 79.3 3.0 77.8 4.5 934 | 10.03 5D .87

3 79.6 3.2 78.0 4.8 940 09 66 86

4 78.6 2.3 77.4 3.5 922 9.93 Bu) 90

5 78.6 3.3 76.9 5.0 908 76 .68 85.

6 79.5 3.8 77.6 5.7 928 95 98 | 83

7 | Sunday.

8 78.4: 7AGs 77.3 3.3 .919 92} .09| .90

9 78.9 3.4 77.2 a 916 85 73 85

10 79.9 3.4 78.2 5.1 946 |10.15 | .78 85

11 80.1 2.3 78.9 3.5 .967 39 22 90

12 G2): 2.0 78.2 3.0 946 19 02 OL

13 99.3 2.9 77.8 AA: 934 05 49 87

14 | Sunday.

15 80.8 3.9 78.8 5.9 964 31 Quit 83

16 81.0 4.0 79.0 6.0 .970 37 TG |) 88

17 80.0 3.3 78.3 5.0 949 AS |) eas 85

18 80.2 2.8 78.8 4.2 964 326 | 46 88

19 80.5 3.6 78.7 5.4 961 31 90 84)

20 80.2 2.1 79.1 3.2 973 AT ay 90

21 | Sunday.

22 80.4 2.3 79.2 3.5 976 48 24 89

23 80.7 2.6 79.4: 3.9 983 54 39 88

24 80.2 2.6 78.9 3.9 .967 39 .36 88

25 80.4 3.1 78.8 4.7 964 B34 .66 86

26 79.7 2.0 78.7 3.0 961 35 02 91

27 78.4 1.6 77.6 2.4 928 .03 | 0.78 93

28 | Sunday.

29 79.1 2.4 77.9 3.6 937 08 | 128 89

30 79.8 3.4 78.1 5.1 943 1D Th 85

31 aie 3.9 79.2 5.9 976 43 | 2.14 83

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants.

Meteorological Observations. xix

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of August, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

o8 Range of the Barometer for = a Mange of the Tempera:

A wis ‘ om ture for each hour

a9 each hour during the = 8 a ee ial,

= os month, PO cr 5

Hour. me Ag month.

oO o

S23 | Max. | Min. | Dif. | $6 | Max. | Min. | Diff.

= =

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. ) ) Oo )

fe 29,670 |29.819 |29.523 | 0.296 | 808 | 826 | 762] 6.4

.657 .809 514 295 80.6 82.5 76.6 5.9

647 792 .009 283 80.3 82.4 76.6 5.8

.628 741 .500 241 80.2 82.2 78.2 4.0

.628 796 491 805 79.8 81.8 77.0 4.8

642 802 493 .309 79.7 81.6 77.0 4.6

815 O11 304 79.6 81.6 77.2 41.4:

674 838 022 016 80.3 82.4: 77.6 4.8

692 854 .530 324 81.7 84.2 78.8 5.4

.700 853 .039 314 83.2 86.2 79.8 6.4

700 .860 41 319 84.5 87.6 79.8 7.8

.689 048 022 .326 85.6 88.0 80.0 8.0

HFODOMTOHOAS we

er)

op)

po fe

Noon.| .674 828 517 311 85.9 90.0 80.0 | 10.0

1 654 799 498 301 895.7 89.6 80.4 9.2

2 629 177 469 .308 85.5 89.8 81.3 8.5

3 .608 .740 444 .296 85.6 90.6 81.2 9.4:

4 587 .679 434 245 85.4: 89.6 80.9 8.7

5 093 127 441 .286 84.7 88.6 81.5 Tig |

6 604 737 °4.57 .280 83.5 87.2 80.0 7.2

a .622 785 470 315 82.8 86.0 79.6 6.4

8 64:7 804 .009 .295 82.1 85.4 79.2 6.2

9 .666 823 .030 293 81.9 85.2 78.6 6.6

10 682 834 .006 .298 81.6 84.8 79.2 | 5.6

11 681 804 528 .276 81.3 84.0 79.2 4.8

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

during the month,

XX Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of August, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

2 SORES Mee See elas Se

= > E Ss S. ‘SS Seo.

z 8 So Bl Bi Sa = Ie eee

Hour.) Sisz 3 A 3 Syl to aic Cemeees S

e2| 2) 8 .)\a BS lens sae en

Pe | @ (8) ail Tel) se. eee oo

Ss b> g poe | SS | SRS |(SPSSisags

= Q os) Q = S < =

Ee | a

te) ) ) 0) Inches, | T. gr T. gi

Mid-

mene 79.1 Avy 78.2 2.6 | 0.946 | 10.19 0.88 0.92

1 78.9 1.7 78.0 2.6 940 13 88 92

2 78.8 1.5 78,0 2.3 940 15 76 93

3 78.6 1.6 77.8 9.4 | 934 09 79 93

4 78.2 1.6 774 2.4 | .922 9.97 48 93

5 78.2 1.5 277A 2.3 922 97 15 93

6 78.0 1.6 Cie 2A! 916 91 78 93

7 78.5 1.8 77.6 Dee 928 | 10.01 90 92

8 Bao 4 O56 |) 770 a GS a e087 08 1.29 89

9 80.0 3.2 78.4 4.8 | 952 21 68 86

10 80.5 4.0 78.5 6.0 955 23 2.12 83

11 81.1 4.5 78.8 6.8 964: 29 47 Sl

Noon.| 81.2 4,7 78.8 71. 964 29 5S 80

1 81.0 | -4.7 78.6 7.1 958 23 57 .80

y 80.8 4.7 78.4 pil 952 17 55 .80

3 81.1 4.5 78.8 6.8 964 29 47 81

4, 80.9 4.5 78.6 6.8 .958 23 45 81

5 80.8 3.9 78.8 5.9 964 2 ie 83

6 80.3 3.2 78.7 4.8 961 31 1.69 86

7 80.0 2.8 78.6 4.2 958 | .30 45 88

8 Tom Vaid 78.5 3.6 955 27 | 24, 89

9 79.6 | 2.3 78.4 3.5 952 23 21 89

10 79.5 2.1 78.4 3.2 952 25 09 90

11 79.3 2.0 78.3 3.0 949 22 02 91

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants.

Meteorological Observations. ‘xxi

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of August, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

21| Sunday.

22 oe 0.46 |8S.&8.H. & EH.

Cloudy till 6 Pp. mM. cloudless afterwards ;

also raining between Noon &3 P. M.

Cloudy till 7 ve. m. cloudless afterwards ;

also slightly drizzling at Noon & 2

P. M.

| 23 Ni ey .B. & B.

es oo

Bits a0 &

O28 |sac

.| 28 |OS 8| Prevailing direction General Aspect of the Sky.

S$} #3 |228) ofthe Wind.

ae ieee

fo) Inches

ane e { ae S. W. &S. Cloudy ; also constantly raining.

21 oe 0.14 )8.&S8. W. Cloudy ; also constantly raining.

3) ee 0.46 |S.&8.H. & 8 .W. | Cloudy; also drizzling in the morning

& raining between 9 & 11 P. M.

- 0.32 |S Cloudy ; also constantly drizzling.

Blo ss - |S &8..W Cloudy ; also drizzling very slightly at

11 a. M.

Gis F196 -- {|S .W.&S Cloudy till 7 a.m. Scatd. \-i till 2 p.

mM. cloudy afterwards ; also drizzling

between 6 & 8 P. M.

7| Sunday. | 0.74

2, ae 0.14 | 8. Cloudy; also occasionally drizzling.

9} 135.0 | 0.32 |S.&8.W.& W. | Cloudy; also raining between 6 & 7

P. M.

HO) ae eg es Wie Goce Cloudy ; also very slightly drizzling

between 10 & 11 P. M.

1 eee 0.70 | W. Cloudy with heavy rain at 1&3 Pp. M.;

also slightly drizzling now and then.

1 | re 0.38 |S. W.&S8. Cloudy with occasional drizzling.

13} 125.0 a 8. &8. H. Cloudy with occasional drizzling.

14) Sunday. | 0.12 .

15} 121.5 Tas Clouds of various kinds till 6 P.M,

cloudless afterwards.

16} 135.0 eee Hee, CoO.) Ws Scatd. clouds.

el wis elie aka eave Cloudy ; also very slightly drizzled bet-

ween 9 & 10 P. M.

18 ee 0.40 | 8. Cloudy, with rain at Noon & 6 P. M.

19; 125.4 ae S.&8.E.&N. EH. | Scatd. clouds, with slight drizzling at

2&11 P.M.

20 sie 1.57 |8S.&N.E.&S8, E. | Cloudy, with drizzling between Mid-

‘night & 2 a. mM. & also raining be-

tween 2&4 P.M.

\i Cirri, i Cirro strati, “i Cumuli, +i Cumulo strati, “i Nimbi, —i Strati

i Cirro cumuli.

* Fallen on the 31st July and Ist August till 8 a. M,

XXil

Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of August, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &e.

28) Sunday.

radiation.

122.5

Rain Gauge

5 feetabove

Ground.

if)

iq?)

0.48

0.37

Prevailing direction

of the Wind.

S. &S. EB.

\S. W. &S. & calm.

General Aspect of the Sky.

Cloudy till 7 P. mu. cloudless afterwards ;

also raining at Midnight & 7 a. M.

Cloudy, with slight drizzling at 1&3

A. M.

Cloudy ; also drizzling after intervals

in the afternoon.

Cloudy, with constant drizzling in the

forenoon.

Scatd.-itill 5 a. m. cloudy afterwards

with drizzling at1&5&8 P.M.

Cloudy, with rain between 3 & 5 a, M,

and slight drizzling at 7 P. M.

Scatd. clouds of various kinds.

50 italia a aes A Pye seh Sea NR ie

Meteorological Observations. XXili

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of August, 1859.

Monturiy ReEsvuts.

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, ee oe 29.652

Max. height of the Barometer occurred at 104. M. on the 8th, ee 29.860

Min. height of the Barometer occurred at 4. P. M. on the 29th, os 29.434:

Extreme range of the Barometer during the month, oe ee 0.426

Mean of the daily Max. Pressures, = ee ee 29.709

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, ae ie ae 29.588

Mean daily range of the Barometers during the month, .. bie 0.121

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, ee ee 82.6

Max. Temperature occurred at 3 P.M. on the 16th, .. oe 90.6

Min. Temperature occurred at Midnight on the 8th, oe ee 76.2

Lixtreme range of the Temperature during the month, .. ee 14.4:

Mean of the daily Max. Temperatures, Se oe ee 87.4

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, aC ee ee 79.4

Mean daily range of the Temperature during the month, sia 8.0

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, xe Bs 79.7

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer,.. 2.9

Computed Mean Dew-point for the month, .. ae ¥ 78.2

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed Mean Dew-point, .. 4.4:

Inches

Mean Elastic force of Vapour for the month, we se 0.946

Troy grains

Mean Weight of Vapour for the month, ee se ee 10.17

Additional Weight of Vapour required for complete saturation, = 1.51

Mean degree of humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.87

Inches

Rained 27 days, Max. fall of rain during 24 hours, — ae 11.56

Total amount of rain during the month, .. aC . 21.22

Prevailing direction of the Wind, ee re S.&8. W

XX1V Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of August, 1859.

Monruzy Resvtrs.

Table showing the number of days on which ata given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour when

any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

S ra r= r| =| =f) ie

ro) fo} ) e} . e) oF ire)

s § 5 sj E |e ae

el E. lefS. Bch S. lel a |e} Ww. eis

| No. of days.

Midnight. | 2 8. 42 1-31. 4) | 23

1 3 3 13 | 4 4/3) 1

2 3 AV | QF4r) ai oa

3 A Gh ads: da Bokty 2

4 4 6 13) (2p 2a a

5 A 6 Spee ge fee ree | |

6 5 3 14.2 20 Ade 7

7 v4 A} 9 | 61h 1

8 2 7 1 ual 4 |i 2

9 2 5 2 £0. 0 Dec ihs

10 1; | 4 5 2 9p Ab eb 1

11 1 4, 3 S19 | 2) 7/11

Noon. 4, 3 3 | 2110 24 6 1

1 4) 1] 3 2/1fo0 | 1f 8

2 Wie | fas 2 3 ee Es (neers

3 S91 1 5 8 | 2410

4 Bia ic 3 7 9;1 1 2

5 1 4 4 LO. 2h 1

6 2 7 12 | 44 6] 2

7 2 5 | 203 |2) 4/1) 1/1 2

8 A 4 11) 2b 24 et 2 2

9 4 5 Pio es 2 2 ‘

10 1) 1 3 i | Aes 2 1

ll 12 2 fallin gs Sion 1] T1

Meteorological Observations. XXV

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of September, 1859.

Latitude 22° 331” North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

Feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

Se 2

% : 7) Range of the Barometer 3 3 Range of the Tempera-

; “Ep 2 3 during the day. > 5 ture during the day.

ae Ag

Date. ay <3

sa | Max. | Min. | Diff S& | Max. | Min. | Diff.

s a

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. ) ) ) Cy)

1 29.540 | 29.589 | 29.474 0.115 | 86.0 90.8 82.8 8.0

2 611 664 561 103 | 83.9 88.8 81.6 1.2

3 598 652 -526 126 | 82.7 88.0 80.3 7.7

4 | Sunday.

5 583 643 510 133 | 83.5 87.6 80.0 7.6

6 585 634 at | PGhOF (184.9 90.2 80.6 9.6

7 603 .655 sage 104} 85.4 90.6 | 81.8 | 88

8 .569 .628 512 116 | 85.0 89.8 82.0 7.8

9 044, .098 A489 BOS 83.6 90.4: 80.1 | 10.3

10 593 .666 527 139 | 83.8 90.0 80.4 9.6

11 Sunday. |

12 702 £783 .653 130 | 84.4 89.2 80.3 8.9

13 693 755 .625 130 | 86.3 91.6 81.4 | 10.2

14 .656 712 .589 123 | 86.9 92.0 81.8 | 10.2

15 658 728 597 MSt Ass. 85.6 77.6 8.0

16 .669 -716 621 4095 |) “79.9 83.4 77.4 | 6.0

iy, .682 741 4620 }|' Sn 21 }) (82.0 86.6 78.6 8.0

18 Sunday.

19 742 a9 695 | .104, 82.0 87.2 80.0 7.2

2\. 781 843 724 LG 79.2 BZ. i76.0-|, seul

21 820 874: UUs) 096 | 81.0 84.4 79.0 5.4

22 .829 .896 775 121 | 82.4 87.0 78.0 9.0

23 778 .845 721 124 83.3 85.0 79.4: 8.6

24 £745 199 683 116 | 389.0 90.0 78.6 | 11.4

25 Sunday.

26 852 .936 .796 140 | 86.0 91.8 82.0 9.8

27 840 907 .768 139 83.1 87.0 81.4 5.6

28 819 871 £798 118 81.9 88.8 80.0 8.8

29 838 908 £786 122 | 82. 86.8 79.2 7.6

80 .864. .938 .800 138 | 83.5 90.2 579.2 || 1.0

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the twenty-four hourly observations made during

the day.

;

)

XXvl Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of September, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.— ( Continued.)

‘ iy ee es kee

aa 2 2 QO >) ie = 8 z E

= x) +5 Sy S } OR) PE os

2 a am = < Be Sp ah eis ed ane

3 5 5 = 5) Lo) eee Se

Date. aie 2 a 6 Suet || Poe tego. Stan

ec 3 | 2 Br giliucg Seta es soe

= 2 oe ey o

Peis) a | ee Bell ee oe eee

a6 pO a = =e eS Ne teae | sabe

o 4 a 5 a oF Soy es owed) veo

a A s) a a = ce a

Cy) 0 o oO Tnekes: | ‘Tiers *| Teer

1 81.9 4.1 79.8 6.2, | 0.995 | 10.62 2.29 0.82

2 80.4: 3.9 78.6 5.3 958 28 1.85 85

3 80.4: 2.3 79.2 3.5 .976 48 24 89

4 | Sunday.

5 80.7 2.8 79.3 4.2 979 51 49 88

1G 82.0 2.9 80.5 4.4: 1.017 89 .60 87

of 82.2 3.2 80.6 4.8 O21 .90 78 86

8 82.3 2.7 80.9 AL .0380 | 11.01 52 88

9 80.8 2.8 79.4 4.2 0.983 | 10.54 AQ .88

10 80.2 3.6 78.4 5.4: 952 21 89 84

11 | Sunday.

12 81.1 3.3 79.4: 5.0 .983 51 80 85

13 81.9 4,4 oem 6.6 992 57 2.45 81

14 81.9 5.0 79.4 7.5 983 45 .80 79

15 80.3 2.8 78.9 4.2 67 09 1.47 88

16 77.6 2.3 76.4 3.5 893 9.64: 14 -89

7 79.2 2.8 77.8 4.2 £934 | 10.05 A2 88

18 | Sunday.

19 79.7 2.3 78.5 3.5 955 Af .20 90

20 77.5 ie 76.6 2.6 .899 SAE 0.85 |, .92

2). 78.9 Pee | 77.8 3.2 934 | 10.07 1.07 .90

22 79.4 3.0 Vico 4.5 937 06 55 87

23 80.1 3.2 78.5 4.8 955 25 .68 .86

24 81.3 3.7 79.4 5.6 .983 49 2.04: 84

25 Sunday.

26 82.0 4.0 80.0 6.0 1.001 .68 23 83

27 80.0 3.1 78.4 4.7 0.952 21 1.65 .86

28 Teel 2.8 ries 4.2 .931 02 AZ 88

29 79.3 3.1 WEL 4.7 .931 .0O 61. .86

30 79.6 3.9 77.6 5.9 .928 9.95 2.05 83

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorologicat Observations. XXVI1

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of September, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

‘so: Range of the Barometer a ies Range of the Temperature

ov 2 sw :

=i for each hour during pas for each hour during

H > 2 the month. aa the month.

Pel They Sa ams

SD oro - = e ‘ 3

aa | Max. Min. Diff. ee Max. Min. Diff.

= =

Inches. | Inches.| Inches.| Inches. o Oo oO oO

Mid- {29.705 |29.869 (29.546 | 0.323; 818] 985.4] 78 7

night. a 29.869 |29.54 . : G A .O

1 ' 693 .853 .b42 Gone 81.5 85.2 78.6 6.6

2 .684 .845 24 .o2L 81.3 85.0 78.4 6.6

3 .679 851 .516 ,o00 81.1 84.8 78.0 6.8

A, -669 .850 .496 by! 80.8 84.6 771.5 Tel

5 .689 848 514 2004 80.6 83.0 76.0 7.0

6 -702 .856 .520 .096 80.4 83.0 76.5 6.5

7 12d .883 536 047 81.2 83.8 76.2 7.6

8 748 .908 .565 043 83.0 85.6 76.7 8.9

Ss .760 .938 O81 ft 7/ 84.2 87.2 77.0 10.2

10 £756 .936 577 .009 85.4 88.6 Lio Tha

11 745 .922 067 6350 86.1 90.6 78.2 12.4

Noon. 722 893 547 046 86.9 91.6 79.1 12.5

1 .699 864 511 .o00 87.0 91.8 80.5 11.3

2 .676 834 Oe 327 86.8 91.8 80.6 11.2

3 654 .824 482 042 86.5 92.0 81.0 11.0

4 .| .646 .817 474, .043 86.5 91.6 80.6 11.0

5 .646 .800 ATT .o20 85.3 90.0 80.2 9.8

6 .662 814 .5D06 .3808 84.3 88.8 80.1 8.7

ie 677 .843 .535 .308 83.5 87.8 80.0 7.8

8 .698 .875 -560 so LS 83.0 88.0 80.0 8.0

9 715 | .889! .562 | .327] 82.5] 86.4| 78.6 7.8

10 £725 .900 579 oak 82.1 86.0 hk 8.3

11 714 .888 bo 304 81.7 85.6 77.6 8.0

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

during the month.

XXVill Meteorological Olservations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of September, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

2 +3 = E i) BO e.6ne ss

=) b ey ne) ae) ar

Set = Ss af

Fo S ° A @ a2 ee Te oy es

o o O:s bn DV we OD -=

dS > E > 2 HS) Sg o»

Gb) (BS ° o ° 5} a) o-— 8

Ss oO ee) Qa 2 S) =) BRS » ee

s — o— ; wn or a0

Hour. es os ES fens on ae og

S| = co) eg SS < Siena Sy

£0 3 = Bw oo eos on ae Ss =o

S 3 FO 2 a S, oe =a = & Get SS BE,

ss g S = es = 8. Soe

ae es > o ce & Ou so aoe

= Ls g at Ss &;. Qicslh tee ‘gs

oo c oO a = < =e

0 ) ) ) Inches. |Troy grs.|Troy grs. ;

‘

ue 79.7 | 21 | 786 | 32] 0,958 | 1032 | 1.08 | 091

Be 496 1.9 78.6 2.9 958 32 0.99 91

2 79.6 ligt) 78.7 2.6 961 30 89 92

3 79.3 1.8 78.4 2.7 952 25 92 92

4 79.0 1.8 78.1 2.7 943 16 Si 92

5 79.1 1.5 78.3 2.3 949 24 77 93 4

6 79.0 1.4 78.3 2.1 949 24: 70 94:

Zi 79.5 17 78.6 26 | .958 32 .89 OZ

8 80.4 2.6 49.1 3.9 973 45 1.37 88

9 80.8 3.4: 79.1 5.1 973 42 82 85 ’

10 81,0 4:4, 78.8 6.6 964: 29 2.39 81

11 81.3 4.8 78.9 7.2 967 2 63 80

Noon. } 81.6 5.3 78.9 S003) 2967 .30 95 78

1 81.7 5.3 79.0 8.0 970 33 96 78

2 81.4 5.4: 78.7 8.1 961 24 97 18

3 81.4 5.1 78.8 aol 964: 27 83 78

4, 81.5 5.0 79.0 7.5 2070 33 ai | 9

5 81.3 AO |< 79.3 6.0 219 46 18 83

6 80.9 3.4 79.2 5.1 976 A5 1.83 85

7 80.6 2.9 oe 4.4, 973 45 55 87

8 80.5 2.5 79.2 3.8 276 48 34 89

9 80.1 2.4 78.9 3.6 967 39 25 89

30 79.8 2.3 78.6 3.5 958 .30 21 .90

i 79.5 2.2 78.4: 3.3 952 25 12 .90

i —

“All the i ygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorological Observations. XXIX

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of September, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

Be | Se

3:8 |S8d

.| 23 | & §| Prevailing direction General Aspect of the Sky.

2| 8S |382) of the Wind.

= S

Se ao

oO Inches

1} 126.0 Calm &. N. E. Cloudy.

2} 119.0; 0.11 | N. EH. & E.&8. BE. | Cloudy, with slight drizzling at 11 a.

mM. and 2 P. M.

is 6 a 0.72 | E. Cloudy, with constant drizzling be-

tween 6 A. M. and 4 P. M.

4) Sunday.

5| 123.0 | 0.56 |S. BH. & E. Cloudy with rain at 3 and 6 P. M.

6} 124.8 - S, Bi. ’&./8. Seatd. clouds.

a 22720 |. LAL! 8, Cloudy, with rain at 8 a. M. and 7 P.M.

8} 118.9 | 0.26 |S. &S. EH. &N. W.! Scatd. “i till 8 a. m. cloudy after-

wards, with rain between 10 and 11

A. M.

9} 126.2 | 0.79 |N. W.& W. Cloudy, with constant rain between 2

and 8 P. M.

LO) are gre | Wi dS. W. Cloudy and drizzling occasionally,

11) Sunday. | 1.34

12 S. ee S. & W. Cloudy till 1 pv. um. Scatd, -i till 8 P.

m. cloudless afterwards.

13; 128.5 ae 8S. W. &S. Cloudless till 8 aA. m. Seatd. Ni and “i

till 6 p. mu. cloudless afterwards.

14; 1380.4] .. N. EH. & 8S. W Cloudless till 5 a. M. Scatd. “i and

i afterwards.

aoe 0.76 |S. W.&N. W. Cloudy, with rain between 4 and 5 a,

M. and also between 8 and 11 P. m.

a 176\.\.5. W. Cloudy, with rain between 4 and 5 a.

M. and also at 9 A. M.

Bie a's 0.16 |S. Scatd, Ni and “i till 9 a. m. Scatd. i

afterwards ; also slightly raining be-

18) Sunday. tween 1] A. M. and 1 P, M.

19} 135.2 | 1.26 |S. & EH. Scatd. “i till 8 a. m. cloudy after-

wards; also raining at 2 and 5 and

6 P. M.

ZO} sie 196 |S. Cloudy, with rain from 8 a. M. till Noon.

| re 0.14 |S. | Cloudy, with slight drizzling at 7 and

10 a. M. and also at 6 P. M.

ye 0.67 | 8. ‘Cloudy till 6 pv. M. with rain from 3

A. M. to 7 A. M., cloudless after 6

P. M.

gay 127.6 | ..- |5.&S. W. Cloudless till 8 a. m. Scatd, -i and i

till 9 vp. M. cloudless afterwards.

24) 135.3 | 0.32 |S.&8. W. Cloudless till 5 a. mM. Scatd. clouds

afterwards with rain at 10 Pp. mM,

Ni Cirri, i cirro strati, \i cumuli, ~i cumulo strati, Wi nimbi, —i strati,

Wi cirro cumuli,

XXX Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of September, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

a | R5

feo Siete ls Prevailing direction

ian Je = of the Wind. General Aspect of the Sky.

o HO |g oe

=| €@ \e2e

al a Mio

) Inches

25| Sunday

96, 142.5 | .. S. Cloudless till 4 a. m. Scatd. “i and “i

till 6 P.M. cloudless afterwards ; also

slightly drizzled at Noon.

27) Gee fe Cloudy till 7 p.m. cloudless afterwards ;

also slightly drizzled between 10 and

11 a. M.

Cloudless till 6 4. Mm. Scatd. i till 11

2S bites cic) Sem rachS A. M. cloudy till 6 P. m., cloudless

afterwards, with slight drizzling at

3 P. M. 8

o9| 127.0 | 0.93 |8.&S.E.&E. | Cloudless till 7 a.m. Scatd. “i and

ni till 8 vp. m. cloudless afterwards ;

also raining at Noon, 1 and 8 P. M.

S0\@ WES8.0' [ieee (PINS Ee Cloudless 6 a. M. Scatd. i till 6 P. M.

cloudless afterwards ; also slightly

drizzled at 3 P. M.

Meteorological Observations. XXX1

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of September, 1859.

Montuty RESULTS.

Inches,

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, ae .e- 29.699

Max. height of the Barometer, occurred at 9 A. M. on the 30th, e. 29.938

Min. height of the Barometer, occurred at 4 P.M. on the Ist, oe 29.4174:

Extreme Range of the Barometer during the month, - -- 0.464

Mean of the Daily Max. Pressures, ae ar ge 4 270k

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, .. oC se we 29,641

Mean daily range of the Barometer during the month, .. wis. 4, OSNZ0

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, a os 83.5

Max. Temperature occurred at 3 Pp. M. on the 14th, oe oe 92.0

Min. Temperature occurred at 5 a. M.on the 20th, oe 76.0

Extreme range of the Temperature during the month, a ee 16.0

Mean of the daily Max. Temperatures, ate ee es 88.4:

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, ap es 0 80.0

Mean daily range of the Temperatures during the month, ae 8.4

)

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, ae ate 80.4

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Lulb Thermometer, .. 3.1

Computed Mean Dew Point for the month, ee oe 78.8

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed Mean Dew Point, ae 4.7

Inches.

Mean Elastic force of vapour for the month, .. ee ee 0.964

Troy grains.

Mean weight of vapour for the month, es e- we 10.34

Additional weight of vapour required for complete saturation, ee 1.66

Mean degree of humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.86

Inches

Rained 21 days.—Max. fall of rain during 24 hours, ats oe 1.96

Total amount of rain during the month, as die ae 11.55

Prevailing direction of the Wind, .. ae oe S.&8. W.

XXXil Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of September, 1859.

Montuiy Resvrts.

Table showing the number of days on which at a given hour any perticular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour,

when any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Rain on.

Hour. S S| |s 6 S|, - S\3

etal elds! \siE AS ale

NSIS ELE. lela lela ela lait lele ce |e

No. of days

Midnight. f 4 2 2 2) 42

1 i A 3 2 2)

2 1 A 3 2 vA all

3°. il 6 1 2) 2 2; 71

4 1. 4 1 2) 4 2) tt 4

5 1 5 1 2) 5 2| 1p1

6 1 5 | 1) 2 2) 6 Li heal

7. 1| [3 Sa) 2) Ps ae a ft TN

8 mae | [sal A 3/1) 6} 1h 4) Psi t4 2

9 Lil Weak A 3} — 8) 114) f 4) 1 1

10 a 6 1] | 9) 24) 4) fd

11 2 3 | 1] 3, 1710) 1) 3) 15

Noon, Al 7 2/| 1) 4) 1p 7 Qf 4) 14 4 1

il Sie 5} 1 7| «| 5) 1p 5

2 Ast) Lp Nae bol vale

3 2) de 6, 37.8) 16) Pal fa

A Li thes| yal Bite le Wit owl Lint imk

5 Cee Wee Q| $15) 1138] § 2) 1

6 Biles (ask 2] 1§15| 2] 3) | 2} 2

Y| siete 1 B| 15) ip 3) aid 1

8 1 1 3; | 4) 2h 1 it

oy) 1| 3| 117) -| 2) | Tf

10 1 3| f17| 2} 2 211

il i) Sean oe wee i) 2 “ale 1

Meteorological Observations.

XXX1i1

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of October, 1859.

Latitude 22° 33’ 1’ North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

dependent thereon.

Ser he

ovo

2 oe Range of the Barometer

‘eo 28 during the da

oS e § Ys

o a

Tak

y go :

2) S25 Max Min Diff.

la =

Mean Dry Bulb

Thermometer.

feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

———

Range of the Tempera.

ture during the day.

(eee i

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches.

1 | 29.837 | 29.899 | 29.767 0.132

9, | Sunday

3 702 etal 641 .130

4 682 Arie 5) .628 <LO7

5 .698 .756 .639 a lig

6 677 W722 .600 12D

7 .688 746 .639 107

8 697 764 626 138

9 Sunday.

10 743 790 693 .097

11 .767 .825 718 .107

12 770 .835 .709 .126

13 768 .829 716 .113

14 781 .850 720 .130

15 772 817 -706 lll

16 | Sunday

17 .739 .804 685 119

18 716 £783 651 132

19 682 -746 625 121

20 696 52 652 .100

21 TU 844 723 121

22 845 914 801 hs

23 Sunday

24, 889 .958 838 .120

25 914 .981 865 116

26 960. | 30.021 .915 .106

27 979 .048 .927 Bile

28 980 053 931 122

29 968 .039 .926 113

30 | Sunday.

31 -967 .027 915 112

82.3

82.8

82.4

81.0

81.8

83.0

82.5

83.3

83.1

83.6

83.3

82.3

82.0

81.5

80.9

79.9

80.8

81.2

80.2

79.4

78.9

78.0

ULES

11.0

12.6

11.6

11.8

12.4

14.1

15.4

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the twenty-four hourly observations made during

the day.

XXX1¥ Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of October, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

E E g.|58 |23

i 4 AQ cP) Snes an) Se

a = = 2 SS Sue hae a

cE S 5 9 s Pes | ae eae

hela) A Gch une 32 (B33/e3

oes . E 3 2 Se Ses] oe

$ 5 Sit mae ee) grey |e eee ee ee

Ss 2 ® ae As |es |S al 2s

a s = cQ Se 4 On 0 Cas

as FQ a, = aS s* (6 30| ¢ 2 w

qa b g ba Se S.2 |S ae) 8 8.9

= a So a = = < a

0 oO o oO Inches. | T, gr.| T. gr.

1 79.8 3.9 17.8 5.9 | 0.984 | 10.01 | 2.06 | 0.83

2 | Sunday

3 78.7 2.3 77.5 3.5 925 | 9.96 | 1.18 | .89

4 77.6 ie 77.0 17 910 85 | 0.56 95

5 78.6 2.1 77.5 3.2 925 .98 | 1.06 90

6 80.0 2.3 78.8 3.5 964 /10.36| .22 90

7 80.3 2.5 79.0 3.8 970 42 33 89

8 79.8 2.6 78.5 3.9 955 27 34 89

9 | Sunday.

10 78.9 2.1 77.8 3.2 934 07 07 90

11 78.5 2e 76.8 5.0 905 | 9.73 67 85

12 79.2: 3.8 773 5.7 919 .86 96 83

13 78.6 3.9 76.6 5.9 899 65 99 83

14 79.9 3.4 78.2 5.1 946 |10.15 78 85

15 80.2 2.9 78.7 4,4 961 38 53 87

16 | Sunday.

17 79.2 4.4 77.0 6.6 910 | 9.75 | 2.28 81

18 78.3 5.0 75.8 7.5 876 39 | 54 79

19 78.1 4.2, 76.0 6.3 882 48 10 82

20 76.9 5.1 74.3 7.7 835 | 8.97 50 78

21 75.3 6.2 72.2 9.3 781 40} 91] «74 .

22 73.7 72 70.1 10.8 729 "7 85 i Seas 71 ‘

23 =| Sunday. |

24 74,2 5.7 71.3 8.6 758 | 818 | 2.601 .76

25 74.8 6.0 71.8 9.0 771. BO) Pa ae ;

26 75.0 6.2 71.9 9.3 773 33 | .88) .74

27 74.3 5.9 71.3 8.9 758 18 | 70.) 2% t

28 73.1 6.3 69.9 9.5 725 | 7.82) (30 | 4

29 Vo4 6.2 69.6 9.3 77 TE Te ae

30 | Sunday.

31 71.3 6.7 67.9 10.1 .679 36 83 te,

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants.

Meteorological Observations, XXXV

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of October, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon,

et) Homie ( : .) a

72 Range of the Barometer for | 3 5 Range of the Tempera

ep Oi : re ture for each hour

<s9gs each hour during the <a) ;

OS g during the

Hour.| 2 3 = Se Evo month

e jae 2, Q S °

3 o 3 ee : ,

son Max Min Diff. Sy Max. | Min. | Diff.

= =

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. oO o oO oO

Sa. 29.799 |29.988 |29.681 | 0.807 79.0 $4.81 74.6 |) 17.2

1 .788 965 .667 .298 78.7 81.6 | 74.0] 7.6

2 .779 .963 655 308 78.4 81.6 73.8 7.8

3 774, 962 .628 334 78.0 81.0 | 73.2 7.8

4 771 .960 637 323 77.8 81.0 72.3 8.7

5 782 .970 .649 321 77.8 80.7 71.8 | 8.9

6 .802 992 657 835 77.3 80.2 71.81 84

a .823 | 30.017 .687 330 78.0 SILO.) "73% 8.4:

8 849 .037 £703 334: 80.7 84.0 76.8 yee

9 .856 053 722 831 82.2 85.6 | 78.21 17.4

10 854, 048 .716 332 83.4 |: 86.5 EVA |e AL:

11 .836 027 693 334 84.6 87.6) eye 8.4

2 810 002 664 338 85.6 88.6 76.8 | 11.8

1 .782 | 29.981 .633 348 86.3 88.8 77" aleg

2 .758 .960 611 349 86.3 89.8 TST adlali

3 747 943 .607 336 86.3 89.3 1o.2'\70Rt

4 TAQ 932 .600 332 85.3 88.3 78.7 9.6

5 754 .933 .630 303 84.3 87.4 78-9) Si

6 764 949 639 310 82.9 85.4 73.8 | 66

7 784 976 652 B24 81.7 84.2 78.0 6.2

8 803 995 678 B17 80.9 83.6 76.6 | 7.0

9 816 | 30.007 692@} .315 80.2 82.8 758.\ | TO

10 .820 .007 692 B15 79.7 82.5 75.0 | 7.5

11 808 | 29.995 691 304 79.2, 82.0 MSS 4 Se

_—~—

—<<$$

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

\ . .

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

during the month.

XXXVI Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of October, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

Buiieh Bol) Boe OME RSE Vie Se ee

2 > z > 9° iS i

S 9 ® 3 SS Oe eee

Hour, |) 2 | 2 A |s 28.) foc ie eee

32 2 S 2 | 2h os Be eee

Es 3 3 Bs FA ss SCS SsSsisfbs

20 a a. 2a Pig a 3.6.5 Sian oe j

® & tp g hale™ ae Sack |ISPLtioaas .

= a S) a = a < =

oO oO ) Inches, | T. gr T. gr .

Mid- | 68 | 22| 75.7 | 33 | 0873 | 945 | 105 | 0.90

cal Yew | o0| way | 30-1. 1878 5 0.96 91

2 76.4 2.0 75.4 3.0 | .865 37 94 91

3 76.0 2.0 75.0 3.0 | .854 25 94 91

o 459 1.9 74.9 2.9 | .851 22 91 91 i)

5 76.0 ine 75.1 27 857 .28 85 92 ‘

6 75.4 1.9 74.4 2.9 838 10 .88 91 :

y| 75.9 21 74.8 3.2 849 .20 99 90

8 77.0 | 3.7 75.1 5.6 857 23 1.81 84,

9 G74, | 4.8 75.0 7.2 854 18 2.36 80

10 77.6 5.8 74.7 ey .846 .06 .90 76

11 77.9 6.7 74.5 | 10.1 84.0 00 3.39 73

Noon.| 78.1 7.5 VAS es idl8 835 8.92 | .84 70

1 78.2 8.1 VA malo. .830 85 4.17 68

y 78.2 8.1 Pepe ile. 830 85 t7 68

3 78.3 8.0 74.3 | 12.0 1835 90 12 68

4 77.5 7.8 aor aa led 817 72 3.92 69

5 77.6 6.7 74.2 | 10.1 832 91 37 73

6 77.9 5.0 75.4 7.5 1865 9.28 2.51 79

7 78.0 3.7 76.1 5.6 885 51 1.86 84

8 77.8 3.1 | 76.2 47 .887 56 54. 86

9 77.5 2.7 76.1 4.1 885 55 33 88

10 77,1 2.6 75.8 3.9 876 AG 26 88

11 76.9 2.3 75.7 3.5 873 43 13 89

~All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich constants.

Meteorological Observations. XXXVI1

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of October, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

| Date.

Prevailing direction

of the Wind.

Bis | eo'e

= 6s

aa |S

. 5)

we lae 2

= = fa Ye) ras)

fe) Inches

139.6 | 0.16

Sunday.

ue 0.80

ee 0.79

ee 1.37

141.7 se

Sunday. | 1.59

.25

129.3 Se

136.0 se

134.0 es

135.0 oe

Sunday.

138.2 ee

140.0 ee

135.2 ae

140.0 ee

“ni Cirro cumuli.

S.&N. EB. & E.

S. EH.

HE. & S.

8. H.&8. & E.

N. W. &N.

W.&N.

N.& W.&N. W.

Ni Cirri, +i Cirro strati, \i Cumuli, ~i Cumulo strati, “i Nimbi, —i Strati

General Aspect of the Sky.

Cloudless till 7 a. m. Scatd. i till 2

Pp. M. cloudy till 6 P. m. cloudless

afterwards; also drizzling at 3 & 4

P. M.

Scatd. “i till 8 a. mM. cloudy after-

wards; also drizzling at 9 a. M. &

Noon &5 &7 P.M.

Cloudy the whole day with thunder &

lightning at 11 Pp. m.; also rained

incessantly between 4 A.M, & 3 P.M.

Cloudy ; also constantly raining between

Midnight &5a.M.; alsoat 1 &8&

9 P. M.

Scatd. \i & i till 8 a. mM. cloudy till

6 p. mM. Scatd.i\ & “i afterwards ;

also slightly drizzled between 1 & 2

P. M.

Cloudy, ; also drizzled’at 6 a.m. & 3

P. M.

Cloudy the whole day with lightning

at 4A. M.; also drizzled at 10 P. M.

Cloudy ; also raining at 5 & 6 a. M.

Cloudless till 6 a. Mm. Scatd. —i& i

till 9 p. um. cloudless afterwards.

Scatd. “i & i till 5 Pp. Mm. cloudless

afterwards.

Cloudless till 8 a. mu. Scatd. clouds till

6 Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

Seatd. clouds.

Cloudless till 6 a. M. Scatd. clouds af-

terwards; also drizzled at 1 P. M.

Cloudless till 8 a. Mm. Scatd. i till 5

Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 8 a. M. Scatd. +i & “i

till 6 p. mM. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 6 a. m. Scatd. “i & Ti

till 6 p. mM. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 11 a. M. Seatd, i till 5

P. M. cloudless afterwards.

XXXVI

Meteorological Observations.

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of October, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

| Date.

Max. Solar

radiation.

)

143.0

140.0

Sunday.

141.0

132.5

144.0

145.0

140.2

144.0

Sunday.

142.2

Rain Gauge

5 feet above

Ground.

Inches.

Prevailing direction

of the Wind.

W.&S. W.

N. W. & W.

W.& EH.

W.&N.&N.W

W.&N. W.&N.

N.&N.W. & W.

W.&N.W.&S.

W. &S. W.

General Aspect of the Sky.

Cloudless.

Scatd. oi & “i till 6 P. M. cloudless

afterwards.

Scatd. clouds till 7 a. M. cloudless af-

terwards.

Scatd. “i till 9 a. m. cloudless till 6

Pp. M. Scatd. i afterwards.

Cloudless till 5 a. M. Scatd. “i till 5

Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 5 a. M. Scatd. i till 11

A. M. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless till 8 a. M. Scatd. “i & 71

till 4 P. um. cloudless afterwards.

Cloudless.

Meteorological Observations. XXXIX

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of October, 1859.

Montuity RESULTS.

Inches

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, ci oe 29.796

Max. height of the Barometer occurred at 9a. M. on the 28th, we 30.053

Min. height of the Barometer occurred at 4. P. M. on the 6th, oe 29.600

Extreme ranye of the Barometer during the month, oe ae 0.453

Mean of the daily Max. Pressures, ae ve ee 29.858

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, ae Ne au 29.741

Mean daily range of the Barometer during the month, .. a 0.117

Co)

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, oe ee 81.5

Max. Temperature occurred at 2 Pp. M. on the 1st, an ee 89.8

Min. Temperature occurred at 5 & 6 a. M. onthe 31st, .. ee 71.8

Extreme range of the Temperature during the month, .. ee 18.0

Mean of the daily Max. Temperature, - .. aa ate 87.2

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, ‘a Ae oe 77.3

Mean daily range of the Temperature during the month, an ag

fo)

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, oi oe 77.2

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer, .. 4..3

Computed Mean Dew-point for the month, .. Se ee 75.0

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed Mean Dew-point, .. 6.5

Inches.

Mean Elastic force of Vapour for the month, wi es 0.854

Troy grains.

Mean Weight of Vapour for the month, we oa oe 9.18

Additional Weight of Vapour required for complete saturation, se 2.13

Mean degree of humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.81

Inches,

Rained 10 days, Max. fall of rain during 24 hours, os o« 1.59

Total amount of rain during the month, ea an es 4.96

Prevailing direction of the Wind, bio ee W.&N.&N. W.

x] Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of October, 1859.

Monruuy kesvurs.

Table showing the number of days on which ata given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour, when

any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Hour.

S| .j6 5 6 =] een ae | tee (sie

[Sle] le} ls e[EB le] jefe lstelsl2

No ]Z ee] E. ce |S. Ele] S. [ea] of [a] We led A leds ee 1S

No. of days.

Midnight. | 5) 4 1 3 |i) 2 bs 2 7 3

1 5} | 1 3 /1f 2 3 2 7 3

2 Beal 3/1) 2 3 2 "7 3

3 3} | 1 Ay | Mee 2 2 "7 3

4 A 4 | 2h 2 2 2 6 A

5 4) | 1 31a, 2/13 | 11 2 6 3

6 4| J 1 3 es ass 3 "7

7 6 2/i1f 2 Ay 3 A 5

8 8 1/1) 2 4 1 7 2

9 8 1 aw 13 9 2

10 5 1 3 Bhat 9 5

11 G1 1 2 a WN 9 2

Noon. vl if 2 114 1 2 8 2

1 6 il Bape i 9 rei

2 8 i 3 2 |2 8 4

3 q 1 aaa 2 |i 2 9 1.3

4 6) bah a ii 3 1 7 5 2

5 3} | 2 3/111 2 8 6 1

6 4 | 2 3 2 1 9 A 1

7 a 13 7 3/12 1 9 5

8 2, 13 2 vial ae 1 9 5

9 3| | 4 2 1/113 if 6 5 i

10 3\ [alu 2 jl 3 1 6 5 il

11 Fle ee 2 1 3 7 5 5 2

a il eel ee

Meteorological Observations. xi

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of November, 1859.

Latitude 22° 33’ 1” North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

Feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

o> oOo

So ES

Date. ec a

os Ss

Inches.

1 29.963

2 .898

3 .865

4 .876

5 .953

6 | Sunday.

7 .965

Fe) .970

9 .996

10 975

11 .968

12 30.000

13 | Sunday.

14 29.993

15 .993

16 30.000

17 29.982

18 957

19 .925

20 Sunday.

21 .940

22 OT5

23 984

24, 94:7

25 939

26 .966

37 Sunday.

28 972

29 .931

30 -908

Range of the Barometer

during the day.

Inches.

30.055

25.970

.938

.939

30.011

042

.033

.070

044.

0388

.068

054

067

074

041

016

29.999

30.017

.045

.076

04:2

019

.033

051

.007

29.979

Min.

Inches.

29.894:

-839

810

807

904

910

ELG

944,

916

924: |

947

919

938

931

.925

.909

.860

891 |

923

922

892

887

919

.908

869

566

Diff.

Inches.

0.161

131

128

132

107

132

114

126

128

114

A21

135

129

143

116

107

139

126

-122

154

.150

132

114

143

138

113

a 3 Range of the Tempera-

pb & ture during the day.

é H Max Min. | Diff.

76.1 84.8 68.6 | 16.2

76.5 84.2 69.6. | 14.6

76.0 82.8 70.2 | 12.6

76.5 84.2 70.6 | 13.6

76.7 83.6 72.0 | 11.6

76.5 84.0 714 | 12.6

74.7 84.5 68.0 | 16.5

74.0 83.6 66.6 | 17.0

74.3 83.8 66.8 | 17.0

74.3 82.8 66.4 | 16.4

72.5 79.0 67.6 | 11.4

73.7 82.2 68.6 | 13.6

va 81.6 64.8 | 16.8

71.3 80.6 63.0 | 17.6

@1.5 §1.0 64.5 | 16.5

72.7 $1.6 66.8 | 14.8

71.8 80.6 64.8 | 15.8

71.6 81.1 64.8 | 16.3

71.6 78.9 65.6 | 13.3

a0.7 79.8 63.7 | 16.1

69.9 80.0 62.3 | 17.7

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the twenty-four hourly observations made during

the day.

xhi Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of November, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

5 an ties Be [ag |3¢

2 3 314 “ ss iS 8 | BE

E i zr) 2 oS = a ai tke

a a @ 3 BS in} Sie nee ne a tes

e 2 5 c 3S |f08| 323

+ 54 3 us) & LgOrS E = 5 p28

aes 5 fog | a SS) a ee

BS e a Be ee. ee

| S om 5. 3 a 5 2 & Ss a Ps

° 5 0 SNS)

6 A P z saan oF Sift . eeneeitbe "a os

a B 0 R a = e =

oO ty) o 0 Inches.| T. gr. | T. gr

1 71.6 6.0 68.6 | 9.0 0.695 | 7.53 | 2.54 | 0.75

2 71.2 6.3 68.0 9.5 681 38 -66 74

3 70.4 5.9 67.4 | 8.9 .668 26 43 18

4, 72.4 5.3 69.7 8.0 .720 80 30 wt

5 73.3 5.5 70.5 8.3 .739 | 8.00 4d 17

6 | Sunday.

7 70.4 5.7 67.5 | 8.6 670 | 7.29 34 76

8 70.9 5.6 68.1 8.4: 684 43 02 .76

i 71.0 5.0 68.5 | 7.5 .692 53 07 78

10 71.2 5.3 68.5 8.0 .692 53 22 17

11 T0609 5.8 68.0 | 8.7 .681 39 AL 75

12 69.4: Gok 65.8 | 10.7 634 6.89 86 71

13 | Sunday. ;

14, 68.2 6.5 64.9 9.8 .615 71 52 13

15 67.0 7.0 63.5 | 10.5 088 41 63 71

16 68.0 6.3 64. 9.5 613 69 43 73

3 by 67.5 6.8 64. 10.2 599 54 58 72

18 67.6 4.9 65.1 7.4 .619 79 4.342 1.79

19 67.8 5.9 64.8 | 8.9 613 es 2.25 75

20 | Sunday.

21 65.5 6.6 62.2 2) 563 16 37 72

22 64.9 6.4: 61.7 9.6 554: 07 26 | ..785

23 66.4 5.1 63.8 PRE 593 50 | 1.88 78

24 67.4: 5.3 64.7 8.0 611 69 |. 399 By js

25 65.9 5.9 62.9 8.9 576 ol | 2.14 75

26 64.8 6.8 61.4 | 10.2 548 .02 38 12

27 =| Sunday.

28 66.1 5.5 63.3 8.3 584) Al | 1.99 76

29 65.4 5.3 62.7 8.0 .572 .29 89 17

30 63.6 6.3 60.4 9.5 0380 | 5.83 | 2.15 13

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorological Observations. xliit

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of November, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

fea e

7) = wz | Range of the Barometer = 2 Range of the Temperature

aged for each hour during pS for each hour during

Bal (Sen 2a Ae —

ao ‘ a5 ; :

$34 | Max Min Diff. | se | Max. Min. Diff.

= =

Inches. | Inches.| Inches.| Inches. o oO o oO

ke. 29.957 '30.082 [29.857 | 0.175} 70.6! 748] 65.7 9.1

1 .946 .018 .840 178 70.2 74.8 65.5 9.3

2 .940 .005 834 A Wa 69.8 74.0 65.0 9.0

3 931 |29.978 .825 153 68.8 73.6 64.0 9.6

4, 929 .990 .807 .183 68.8 73.2 63.6 9.6

5 947 |30.009 .837 172 68.2 72.6 63.0 9.6

6 964. .018 .860 158 | 67.7 72.4 62.5 9.9

7 -985 .0388 .888 .150 67.9 72.8 62.3 10.5

8 {30.013 .062 .918 144} 72.0 76.6 67.0 9.6

9 .027 .075 .936 139 | 74.4 | 79.8 70.2 9.6

10 024 .076 .933 143 76.5 81.6 72.6 9.0

11 001 052 911 141 78.8 83.6 74.8 8.8

Noon. | 29.972 .018 .882 .136 | 80.8 85.8 75.6 10.2

1 942 |29.989 .847 142 82.1 86.8 77.8 9.0

2 917 .966 .826 140} 82.8 86.8 78.2 8.6

3 .904 947 .820 127 82.4 86.6 774 9.2

4, .904, .956 .810 146 80.5 84.8 76.6 8.2

5 911 .975 817 Aste 78.8 83.4 74.0 9.4

6 924 .968 .825 143 76.6 81.0 71.4 9.6

7 .939 .986 .835 151 5.1 78.8 70.0 8.8

8 .955 |30.003 -839 164 | 73.8 78.6 68.8 9.8

9 .968 .016 .850 .166 72.9 77.0 67.8 9.2

10 .968 .032 .858 174 72.1 76.4 66.8 9.6

11 957 .026 857 169 71.4 76.4 66.2 10.2

The Mean Height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

during the month.

xiv BMeteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of November, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—(Continued.)

We . : Sm '. + Sey ° a .

3 SE eee ee

ae a 2 wm Oo are") 6. 22

o a 5 O:nm ap DE O°

ne > Ee > wa 2 Gh) OS

Ow ° o fe) 4) o-5 2 ovo s

E) a) a we) 2 =O autests Bo = 5

Hour. eS s 3 Ss, ce foe ogg

g 2 3 2 as S a" O | 36-3

= 3 2 ou ae Sue | S Seem je os

aq 5 5 = 2 FM Sis ee Bel be

i 3 pe S > 2 3S a = sad isess

ota ate SU PES sans OOP naam RHF tem Or SS

= A S) 5 = = < as

(rc | Ce ee Oo 3) OO | SO"

) ) oO Inches. |Troy grs./Troy grs

Mids | G71, | 88.) 65:8.) S8ee) 0.623... G86. | 1 zane

night.

i 67.0 3.2 | 65.4 4.8 .626 88 7 86

2 66.8 3.0 65.3 4.5 .623 .86 .O9 .86

3 65.8 3.0 64.3 4.5 .603 .65 .06 .86

A, 66.0 2.8 64.6 4.2 .609 ‘to 0.98 87

5 65.5 2.7 63.9 4.3 .595 08 1.00 87

6 65.1 2.6 63.5 4.2 088 .00 0.96 87

vi 65.3 2.6 63.7 4,2 591 D4 97 87

8 67.6 4A 65.4 6.6 .626 85 1.65 81

9 68.9 5.5 66.1 8.3 .640 99 2.16 76

10 69.4 The 65.8 10.7 634 89 .86 71

11 70.0 8.8 65.6 13.2 .630 82 3.62 65

Noon. 70.8 10.0 65.8 15.0 634 83 4.24, 62

1 70.9 11.2 65.3 16.8 .623 69 82 58

2 70.8 12.0 64.8 18.0 .613 58 5.7 56

3 70.7 Ihe 74 64.8 17.6 613 58 .03 57

4, 69.9 10.6 64.6 15.9 .609 56 A.42 .60

5 70.1 8.7 65.7 13.1 632 84, 3.60 .66

6 70.3 6.3 67.1 S15. 661 Tye 2.60 73

| 69.8 5.3 67.1 8.0 661 .20 14 18

8 69.2 4.6 66.9 6.9 .657 18 1.80 .80

9 68.7 4,2 66.6 6.3 651 12 61 82

10 68.2 3.9 66.2 5.9 642 .03 .00 82

11 67.6 3.8 65.7 5.7 632 6.94, A1 83

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

oo i

Aeteorological Observations. xlv

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of November, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &e.

oS co

ee |e Ss

.| 2s |S & 8)|Prevailing direction General Aspect of the Sky.

= aS 8.29 of the Wind.

oo las

a = pg 1a 0

oO Inches.

mic bo7.0 Me S. W & N. W. Cloudless.

2) 148.0) .. | N.W. & W.&N. | Cloudless.

3| 142.0 rn S. W. & N. W. Cloudless.

4| 147.5 iv S. W. &S. Cloudless.

Ba AALS aa N. & S. Cloudless till 8 a. m. Scatd. “i & 11

till 5 p. mM. cloudless afterwards.

6| Sunday.

Mae) 3.) | No EE. & N. W. Cloudless.

8i-140.0| >. |N.&S. Cloudless till 10 a. m. Scatd. “i & i

till 3 Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

wr boe.O") of N. W. Cloudless till 7 a. m. Scatd. “i & oi

afterwards.

10; 1400; .. |S. W.&N. W.&N,} Scatd. “i & i till 5 P. m. cloudless

afterwards.

ee tov.0 | SW. GN. Scatd. i till 4 a.m. cloudy till 4 Pp.

M. Scatd. “i afterwards.

12} 142.0 x. N. W. & B. & 8. W,| Cloudless till 3 a. m. Scatd. “i & i

. till 7 ep. m. cloudless afterwards.

13) Sunday.

14) 1440) .. |N.& N.W. Cloudless.

15} 141.0 os N.&N. W. Cloudless till 6 a. m. Scatd. “i till 3

Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

16] 146.0 ma E.&N.&S. W Scatd. “i & ™i till 5 Pp. mw. cloudless

afterwards.

17; 143.2 Ae N.& E. Cloudless.

18 ot ar N. Scatd. clouds.

oa aae.07 .. tN Cloudy till 11 a. mM. Rtlse after-

wards.

20) Sunday.

21} 1388.8 a6 N Cloudless,

22| 1388.0 aie N.& W. Cloudless.

Pp. M. cloudless afterwards.

24; 139.0 et N.& N. W. Scatd. “i till 1 Pp. m. cloudless after-

wards.

25| 137.0 ie N Cloudless.

26; 139.0 ‘3 N.&N. W Cloudless till 4 a. mw. Scatd. i till 11

A. M. cloudless afterwards.

27| Sunday.

235, 487.0 = N. Cloudless till 6 a. mM. Scatd. “i tlll 7

Pp, M. cloudless afterwards.

Zo ~ 135.7 ne N. Cloudless till 5 a. mM. Scatd. “i till 11

A. M. cloudless afterwards,

30) 187.5 _ N. Cloudless.

Mi Cirri, “i cirro strati, \i cumuli, ~i cumulo strati, Wi nimbi, —i strati

Mi cirro cumuli,

xlvi Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Caleutta,

in the month of November, 1859.

Montupty REsvuts.

Inches

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, ee ~- 29.955

Max. height of the Barometer, occurred at 10 a. M. on the 28rd, e- 30.076

Min. height of the Barometer, occurred at 4 A.M. on the 4th, e» 29.807

Extreme Range of the Barometer during the month, Be -» 0.269

Mean of the Daily Max. Pressures, wa oe -- 30.028

Ditto ditto Min. ditto; <. ae ae Sed Soo

Mean daily range of the Barometer during the month, .. oa 0.120

ty)

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, ee ee 74.3

Max. Temperature occurred at 1 & 2 P. M. on the 5th, ae ee 86.8

Min. Temperature occurred at 7 A. M. on the 30th, 2s ee 62.3

Extreme range of the Temperature during the month, ee ee 24.5

Mean of the daily Max. Temperatures, oe oe ee 82.9

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, at eee as 67.6

Mean daily range of the Temperature during the month, ee 15.3

)

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, we oe 68.4

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer, .. 5.9

Computed Mean Dew Point for the month, se ee 65.4

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed Mean Dew Point, .. 8.9

Inches

Mean Elastic force of vapour for the month, .. ze oe 0.626

Troy grains.

Mean weight of vapour for the month, ee ee oe 6.82

Additional weight of vapour required for complete saturation, oe 2.30

Mean degree of humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.75

Inches

Rained no days.—Max. fall of rain during 24 hours, ee oe Nil.

Total amount of rain during the month, ss ° Nil.

Prevailing direction of the Wind, .. ade » N.&N.W.&8. W.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of November, 1859.

Monruty Resvtrs.

Table showing the number of days on which at a given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour,

when any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Hour. of .|& 5 5 S S 6

Sane elas! |silse| fs

N.| 2 1Z |oe EB. [ee fos ee fod ce fos oe Ne

No. of days

Midnight. 14) J 1 31 Jal [5 1

it 14 2 1 4 iL 4,

2 13 2 1 4: 1 4. 1

3 13 if 1 1 3 4, 3

4 13 it i 1 4, 1 4 1

5 13 1 1 1 4A 1 4, 1

6 14, 2 2 il 3 ih 3

a 10 4, 3 1 3 2 3

8 12 3 2 2 1 5 1

9 13 5 2 2 1 3

10 14 4, 3 1 2 2

1l 10 5 2 1 2 4 2

Noon, 13 1 3 3 A, 2

1 9 3 2 2 3 a

2 9 3 1 A 3 2 7

3 vi 3 1 i 4, 9 1

4, 5 2 1 2 3 1 12

5 10 it 1 1 2 2 9

6 LI 2 1 1 5 6

7 10 2 il 5 1 6 1

8 i} 2 1 5 A 6

9 11 2 1 5 1 6

10 11 2 1 6 1 5

11 11 2 6} | 1) 15 1

Yeh ep MeN AED al

PIN RIO Oa ONT Te

RIB MEDS Bin aon acts ened Bae

. a) . 4 4 ) Pa

PAE a0

da 4 OPE ee py

a ek ee De a Nive a ve

Cea aed Ne pratt op oe Pree ila) chin eeitaniaia atl

hei aS GERD & bd } a - =e

oS: gb ‘g ane oat : : “

: ee ae He.

PD eo

arieea

age sal

2 he Se Ry

iP te a, ttn if mach aN

“« allied arash en ONC AgS nt bl

“7

Fn hes

a eS ee

Meteorological Observations. xlix

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Caleutta,

in the month of December, 1859.

Latitude 22° 33’ 1” North. Longitude 88° 20’ 34” East.

Feet.

Height of the Cistern of the Standard Barometer above the Sea level, 18.11

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

Se hy ea

: $3 Range of the Barometer a 3 Range of the Tempera-

| SE during the day. b : ture during the day.

Date. | 74 a é: s

& 42 | Max Min Diff, SH Max. | Min, | Diff.

S a

Inches. | Inches. | Inches. | Inches. oy) Oo 0 oO

1 29.894 | 29.973 | 29.821 0.152 | 71.5 80.0 64.0 | 16.0

2 897 961 836 125 | 72.8 80.6 66.6 | 14.0

3 928 992 880 SUD ES, 79.3 66.6 | 12.7

4 | Sunday

5 942 | 30.018 886 Leo 2.7 79.4 67.5 | 11.9

6 .940 013 887 126 | 74.2 79.2 70.8 8.4

7 .963 .029 916 113 | 75.0 81.9 69.9 | 12.0

8 .969 047 924 | 123 | 74.9 81.2 69.0 | 12.2

9 .983 051 931) 120 | 73.5 77.4 70.6 6.8

10 30.019 092 OFS 5 \ tes EL Fee 7 300 79.9 67.8 | 12,1

11 | Sunday. |

12 .061 138 | 30.002 136 | 67.0 TiO 59.0 | 18.0

13 .040 124 | 29.981 143 | 66.7 76.4 59.2 | 17.2

14 .059 .134 | 30.011 123 | 65.6 75.2 58.0 | 17.2

15 .092 163 .050 1131)" 65.1 76.2 56.2 | 20.0

16 -L06 .L66 .065 101 | 66.0 77.6 56.4 | 21.2

17 111 -181 .058 123 | 67.2 78.4 60.0 | 18.4

18 | Sunday. |

19 .030 118 | 29.964 154, 66.6 77.0 58.6 | 18.4

20 29.986 .080 .930 150 | 68.8 79.6 60.4 | 19.2

21 30.003 081 946) 135] 170.8 80.6 64.1 | 16.5

22 O71 156 | 30.023 133 | 66.0 75.6 58.6 | 17.0

23 .090 170 .040 130 | 65.2 | 75.5 56.5 | 19.0

24 105 195 .038 157 | 66.8 76.2 09.0 | 17.2

25 | Sunday. |

26 045 123 | 29.973 150 | 67.2 75.4 60.5 | 14.9

27 021 .099 971 128 | 66.5 | 76.8 58.6 | 18.2

28 .005 081 .955 126 | 66.0 77.0 57.6 | 19.4

29 29.977 | 053 915 138 | 65.3 77.0 56.2 | 20.8

30 -980 .053 933 120 | 642 | 75.6 | 56.8 | 18.8

31 969 | 54,0 | 21.0

| |

050 .916 134 |63.6 | 75.0

The Mean height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

al . . .

pee acer are derived from the twenty-four hourly observations made during

1e day.

Meteorologicai Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of December, 1859.

Daily Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.— (Continued. )

B= |

Date. ate

o A

| =

rT)

1 65.0

2 67.2

3 66.5

4 | Sunday.

5 67.6

6 69.2

q 70.0

8 69.8

9 68.8

10 66.2

11 | Sunday.

12 60.7

13 61.4

14 60.0

15 59.2

16 60.6

17 62.3

18 | Sunday.

19 61.5

20 64.6

21. 66.0

22 59.2

23 59.5

24 61.5

25 Sunday.

26 63.0

27 61.9

28 61.0

29 59.7

30 58.9

31 58.3

Dry Bulb above Wet.

AWA 5

ONHOOL- iD OO

SO ORES SAE

B= OUR EN OU.

OROD WW

64.4

63.8

65.0

66.7

67.5

67.2

66.4:

62.8

56.9

58.2

56.6

55.7

57.4

59.4:

58.4

62.5

63.6

55.1

56.1

58.3

60.5

59.1

58.0

56.3

55.2

54.6

ze | Computed Dew Point.

Dry Bulb above Dew

Point.

Mean Elastic force

Mean Weight of Vapour

in a cubic foot of air.

.63

14;

4.96

pour required for com-

Additional Weight of Va-

plete saturation.

dity, complete satura-

Mean degree of Humi-

tion being unity.

4 Wf

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorological Observations. hi

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of December, 1859.

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.

S 2 ies Range of the Barometer = 3 Range of the Temperature

P= for each hour during pO a for each hour during

= o & the month. Po the month.

Hour. a fs Q, la A

ao? ! rele : i

24 | Max Min Diff. | se | Max. Min. Diff.

= =)

Inches. | Inches.| Inches.| Inches. 0 Oo 0 0

om 30.002 '30.120 [29.880 | 0.240; 63.3] 734] 584 | 15.0

1 {29.998 108 .870 .238 64.5 73.0 57.4 15.6

2 .988 .087 841 .246 64.0 72.8 57.0 15.8

3 981 .078 .836 242 63.3 72.6 56.6 16.0

4, 982 .080 .842 .238 62.6 72.6 56.0 16.6

5 994, .1038 864 239 62.4 72.2 55.2 17.0

6 |30.012 122 .878 244 | 61.9 71.8 54.0 17.8

Wf .033 132 .892 .240 61.7 70.8 54.0 16.8

8 .065 173 914 .259 64.3 71.6 58.3 13.3

9 082 195 .930 .265 67.1 72.4 61.8 10.6

10 .083 184 .936 .248 70.1 76.0 66.6 9.4

11 .066 74 .925 .249 72.9 17.8 69.8 8.0

Noon. 1037 »\"-\,140 .916 224 | '75.5 79.8 72.4 7A

1 004 108 884 BLO ae eal 81.9 74,2 TE

2 |29.978 .083 843 .240 T7.7 81.4: 75.0 6.4

3 .964 .075 .835 240 | 77.2 81.3 74,2 Ga:

4, .959 .065 824 241 75.. 79.8 72.4 7 A,

5 .965 .070 821 249 73.6 78.8 70.2 8.6

6 .979 .090 854 .236 | 71.6 77.8 67.6 10.2

a 994 104, .857 247 69.9 76.2 64.5 11.7

8 |30.009 119 -863 256 68.8 75.8 63.3 12.5

9 | 22 | .126/ .s68°| .258|' 67.7 | 75.01 618 13.2

10 .023 140 .876 .264, 66.9 74,7 60.6 14.1

11 .016 .129 .882 24.7 66.1 74:4 59.2 15.2

The Mean Height of the Barometer, as likewise the Mean Dry and Wet Bulb

Thermometers are derived from the observations made at the several hours

during the month.

lil Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of December, 1859,

Hourly Means, &c. of the Observations and of the Hygrometrical elements

dependent thereon.—( Continued.)

eS 2 2 | FS S38. , 65a) a5 —

i Eval ee ke ee we 2) ee

2 E > ° Chas ae = oa

Hour. | 23 3 = 3 2 tee ge. | abe es

¥ 3 2 oe 2 a = Ope eee Oe elie 3

=o) 3 = Ss Uo SB us. bh Bee ae cs

g 3 a 5, m8 eS | gata | Siete ee

23 b g re |- 8 | go. |e seme as

= fa ts) a = Pata ik) gs

ty) 0 oO o Inches. |Troy grs.|Troy gyrs.

sy 62.2. | 84 | 60.3..!.5.0.| 0.528.) Bez - |) “Reem oes

1 61.6 2.9 | 59.9 4.6 | .521 79 0.97 .86

2 61.1 2.9 | 59.1 4.9 | .508 65 1.00 185

3 60.4 2.9 | 58.4 4.9 | .496 52 0.99 185

A 59.9 2.7 | 58.0 4.6 | .489 AB 92 86

B 59.6 2.8 | 57.6 4.8 | .483 89 94 185 ,

6 59.2 24 | 57.3 4.6 | .478 34 .89 .86

4 59.0 2.7 | 57.1 4.6 | .475 30 .88 .86

g | 60.5.) 3.8 | 57.8 6.5 | .486 AO 1.32 .80

9 | 62.1 5.0 | 59.1 8.0 | .508 62 70 WT

10 | 63.5 6.6 | 60.2 9.9 | .527 79 2.24 72

11 65.0 7.9 | 60g U9 | 34a 91 82 68

Noon. | 66.3 9.2 | 61.7 | 18.8 | .554 6.02 3.44 64

1 67.0 41071) |° 61:9" 9) 15.20). .557 04 .88 61

29 | 67.5 | 10.2 | 62.4 | 15.3 | .567 14 .96 61

3 67.2 | 10.0 | 62.2 | 15.0 |. .563 10 185 61

4 | 66.3 9.251 $61.7 9/188) | 554 02 AA 64

5 | 66.0 76-| 62.2 | 11.4 -|. .563 15 2.78 .69

6 | 65.8 5.8 | 62.9 S7ie) 576 31 09 75

7 | 65.0 4.9 | 62.5 7.4 | .568 .26 1:72 78

8 | 64.4 44 | 62.2 6.6 | .563 .20 bl .80

9 | 63.6 AA WGI AO 6.G01....543 5.99 AT .80

20 | 63.1 3.8 | 60.8 Gils 587 95 33 182

11 | 626 3.5 | 60.5 5.6 | .532 .90 .20 83

All the Hygrometrical elements are computed by the Greenwich Constants.

Meteorological Observations. lili

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta,

in the month of December, 1859.

Solar Radiation, Weather, &c.

‘o-3 |so0d

.| 2s |O § 8] Prevailing direction General Aspect of the Sky.

= 1 Sa Re 2 . of the Wind.

sa os]

ays pg 12 O

oO Inches.

tse.0 |... | N. Cloudy till 10 a. m. Scatd. “i till 4

Pp. M. cloudy afterwards.

134.0 ae N. Cloudless till 5 a. Mm. Scatd. clouds

afterwards.

3} 138384) .. |N.&N. W. Cloudy till 6 a. m. Scatd. i till

Noon cloudless till 4 Pp. m. cloudy

afterwards.

A! Sunday.

Puy t1GO)) | N. & N. W. Cloudy.

ae Se | Nc. We Cloudy.

7| 185.4 “6 N. W.&N. EH. Cloudy till 9 a. m. Scatd. \i and \-i

till 4 Pp. m. cloudless afterwards.

8} 1388.0 Ae N. Cloudy.

9 od aie | IN eds Oo ANI Cloudy.

FO 130.0")... N. W.&N.&N. E.| Scatd. clouds till 4 Pp. mw. cloudless

afterwards.

11) Sunday.

12) 135.5 i W.&N. W. Cloudless.

13) 1384.0 ie W.&N. W. Cloudless.

14) 134.8 ais N. & W. Cloudless.

fay tse.0 | .. |N.&N. W. Cloudless; also foggy morning and

evening.

iG) . 281.0 Ge N. & N. W. Cloudless.

ey 433.0 ah N.& N. W. Cloudless.

18! Sunday.

19; 132.0 sie N. & N. W. Cloudless.

20; 138.2 ue N. &N. EB. Cloudless till 10 a. m. Scatd. \i and

i till 6 p. m. cloudless afterwards.

ftieieso | .. | N..W.&N, Cloudless.

22) 133.7 ie N. Cloudless till 7 a. m. Scatd. “i till 5

P. M. cloudless afterwards.

Pai te2.0 |... | N. W.& N. Cloudless nearly the whole day.

24; 135.0 ca N. &N. W. Cloudless till 11 a. Mm. \i about zenith

till 3 p. m. Scatd. i till 9 Pp. mM.

cloudless afterwards.

25| Sunday.

26} 130.0 ua N.& N. W. Cloudless till 6 a. m. Scatd. i till 4

P. M. cloudless afterwards.

27| 130.0 “ve N.&N. W. Cloudless.

28} 132.9 aa W.&N. W. Cloudless.

29} 135.4 ine N. & W. Cloudless.

30} 133.0 ais N. W. & W. Cloudless.

aly. 132.2 we N. W. Cloudless.

Ni Cirri, i cirro strati, \i cumuli, ~i cumulo strati, Wi nimibi, —i strati

“i cirro cumuli,

liv Meteorological Observations.

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General’s Office, Calcutta,

in the month of December, 1859.

Monruty REsvLts.

Inches

Mean height of the Barometer for the month, ate -- 30.010

Max. height of the Barometer, occurred at 9 A. M. on the 24th, -- 380.195

Min. height of the Barometer, occurred at 5 P.M. on the Ist, aa) 20.021

Extreme Range of the Barometer during the month, ae, ae . 0.374

Mean of the Daily Max. Pressures, Sa as va - 00.087

Ditto ditto Min, ditto, ... an oe aha. O57

Mean daily range of the Barometer during the month, .. as . O.180

to)

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer for the month, ae oe 68.7

Max. Temperature occurred at 1 Pp. M. on the 7th, . oe 81.9

Min. Temperature occurred at 6 & 7 A. M.on the 31st, .. ae 54.0

Extreme range of the Temperature during the month, .. ae 27.9

Mean of the daily Max. Temperatures, my oe ae 77.8

Ditto ditto Min. ditto, ae ee se 61.6

Mean daily range of the Temperature during the month, ee 16.2

)

Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer for the month, 3 =e 63.3

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above Mean Wet Bulb Thermometer, .. 5.4:

Computed Mean Dew Point for the month, - ee 60.6

Mean Dry Bulb Thermometer above computed Mean Dew Point, .. 8.1

Inches

Mean Elastic force of vapour for the month, .. ae ee 0.534

Troy grains.

Mean weight of vapour for the month, ee ee es 5.88

Additional weight of vapour required for complete saturation, c 1.81

Mean degree of humidity for the month, complete saturation being unity, 0.77

Inches

Rained 1 day.—Max. fall of rain during 24 hours, oe ee Nil.

Total amount of rain during the month, ae oe oe Nil.

Prevailing direction of the Wind, .. ee oa N, &N. W. Sue

b.' Stale ott ae eee

Meteorological Observations. lv

Abstract of the Results of the Hourly Meteorological Observations

taken at the Surveyor General's Office, Caleutta,

in the month of December, 1859.

Monyruty Resvuts.

Table showing the number of days on which at a given hour any particular wind

blew, together with the number of days on which at the same hour,

when any particular wind was blowing, it rained.

Hour. Sf is 5 : S of | 5 5

e1S| 5 elsls| |sielsl js

NiJeS |Z [cep EB. [ce fo 62 fos |p joa [ce IE ee

No. of days

Midnight. 14) f 41 21 19 1

1 esis lat 3] 110

2 la al 4| {10

3 12 4| [9 2

4 12) 14 ear 2

5 12} | 5] | 8 1

6 14) J 1 4) 18

7 16] 1 31 18

8 14, | 4 1 4| | 4

9 AR Veto ie Deep. 4

10 16) | 5 1 i) 1| | 3

11 14) 15 | 1 6

Noon. 13 3 1 1 1 8

1 eae wel 1 il 3| | 8

2 9 | 2 Eh 3] 2

3 9} | 2 Lesh ig

A Ve 4) | 8 3

5 11 5| 10 1

6 12) 13 3; 19

7 13} | 3 3| 18

8 14, 13 Bg

9 15] [3 3| | 6

10 15 | 3; 16

3 | 4 | k

8 oa aon py, Ser

s mire = 4 6 bie t~ 4

= |

> =e - j Nee eS 5 i =

i > “5

. id \

= — ~ P ea . > =

iibutes ee 2 Ses eer tea Wierd —

eM aus =? ss 2

: ‘- * s - es

‘

>. ee ~—s _— 2 =

2 ole ae } ~ sdom oa eg _ en _

wont & : 5

~~ _ pe 2 a as a —t - het a0

a Ps

= 8 > x

mes Ht gore _ ns a ~

wal a 3 fe ee rs

e 2 pear =~ clon: = 7 aa ee -

eee ree pe j 5 > ' ey i a ; .

ies teimist he Sp . ep Pt oe ~ ; an a, Ce cary ee ye -

= t2239E, 2 - E oe

sai 3 Pat ane ag — . eS ;

OR ae eens, Me ee. ek. ess _ ~— ae —s Jo . 7”

op pacdateme mat Not er gee ‘g 3 f f

ms F ie / %

Phe a - se: only, geo ae ar “ £

= ne ~

. £ - Sn pe -

ae =

re ae ee . ; 7 of

i < a ai a . i Se h ea

acne: eS ate her i :

3 = 1a ae . Le “ dno mary =

: te a4 ;

— a ee aw _— ‘ od

de i - r 7

ee . “ oan . =! = ‘

4 \

ng ae ree > - ee st -

fii ; : e

a oat w ;=“< :

c .

- :

e .

‘ = i .

- : <

* ,

i - ‘i

f +

a> :

yi 02 Pad : _ . ?y- x.

Oe tain) os ; 2 | : o Ne 7 ‘

5s. ia’ 4 J 1s ' -

F * ¥ :

Ott gn Oe baer) _ ne ’ . ae ew

NOTE BY THE EDITORS.

Mr. Feeling, when giving us a report on our Coin Cabinet, in May,

1857, suggested an appeal to the friends of the Society throughout

India in the following words :

“Tn conclusion I would urge that all friends to the Society, among

whom must of course be specially included all who themselves feel

any interest in Indian numismatics, should be requested to aid in

every mode in their power, so that the coin collection may be placed

in that rank which would so well befit a Society whose Journal is

the depository of the lifelong labours of James Prinsep.”’

He pointed out that our collection was very deficient in Bactrians,

and, though this department has been since greatly enriched by our

purchase of the Stacy Cabinet, it still wants many coins which might

be supplied from the Punjab or from duplicates in private collections.

In Pathans of Delhi and in Moguls we have yet many blanks to

be supplied, though our extreme poverty in these series is less conspi-

cuous since the purchase above mentioned.

When our Cabinet shall have been properly arranged, a list of the

duplicates in our possession which will be available for sale or

exchange will be published in the Journal. We shall be glad to

introduce into the same list any duplicates in private collections which

their owners may wish to dispose of.

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