ceremonies, and purified himself, returned to his own city, aquelles tambem pasmados de esperarem pelo Sol, que nam chewhere he governed the kingdom. Having (again,) O Rag-gava, cuidaram que se acabàra para elles a luz; imaginavam hura! possessed of abundant wealth, obtained their king, his que se acabava o mundo: tudo era lagrimas, tudo assombres, tude people rejoiced; their sorrow was completely removed; they horrores, tudo confusoens. — VIEYRA, Sermoens, tom. ix. p. 505. increased in wealth and prosperity, and were freed from disease.

"Thus, O Rama! has the story of Gunga been related at large by me. May prosperity attend thee: may every good be thine. The evening is fast receding. He who causes this relation, securing wealth, fame, longevity, posterity, and heaven, to be heard among the Brahmans, the Kshutriyas, or the other tribes of men, his ancestors rejoice, and to him are the gods propitions: and he who hears this admirable story of the descent of Gunga, ensuring long life, shall obtain, O Kakootstha! all the wishes of his heart. All his sins shall be destroyed, and his life and fame be abundantly prolonged." End of the thirty-fifth Section, describing the descent of Gunga.

Parvati.-X. 2, p. 584.

All the Devatas, and other inhabitants of the celestial regions, being collected at the summons of Bhagavat, to arrange the ceremonials of the marriage of Seeva and Parvati, first came Brahina, mounted on his goose, with the Reyshees at his stirrup; next Veeshnu, riding on Garoor, his eagle, with the chank, the chakra, the club, and the pedive in his hands; Eendra also, and Yama, and Cuvera, and Varuna, and the rivers Ganga and Jumna, and the seven Seas. The Gandarvas also, and Apsaras, and Vasookee, and other serpents, in obedience to the commands of Seeva, all dressed in superb chains and habits of ceremony, were to be seen in order amidst the crowded and glittering cavalcade.

Surya.-X. 16, p. 586.

Surya, the Sun. The poets and painters describe his car as drawn by seven green horses, preceded by Arun, or the Dawn, who acts as his charioteer, and followed by thousands of genii, worshipping him, and modulating his praises. Surya is believed to have descended frequently from his car in a human shape, and to have left a race on earth, who are equally renowned in the Indian stories with the Heliadai of Greece. It is very singular that his two sons, called Aswinau or Aswinicumarau, in the Dual, should be considered as twin brothers, and painted like Castor and Pollux; but they have each the character of Esculapius among the gods, and are believed to have been born of a nymph, who, in the form of a mare, was impregnated with sunbeams.-Sir W. JONES.

That sun, O daughter of Ganga! than which nothing is higher, to which nothing is equal, enlightens the summit of the sky with the sky enlightens the earth with the earth enlightens the lower worlds; enlightens the higher worlds, enlightens other worlds;-it enlightens the breast, -enlightens all besides the breast. Sir W. JONES, from the Veda.

Forgetful of his Dragon foe.-X. 16, p. 586. Ra'hu was the son of Cas'yapa and Dity, according to some authorities; but others represent Sinkica' (perhaps the sphinx) as his natural mother. He had four arms; his lower parts ended in a tail like that of a dragon; and his aspect was grim and gloomy, like the darkness of the chaos, whence he had also the name of Tumas. He was the adviser of all mischief among the Daityas, who had a regard for him; but among the De'vetas it was his chief delight to sow dissension; and when the gods had produced the amrit, by churning the ocean, he disguised himself like one of them, and received a portion of it; but the Sun and Moon having discovered his fraud, Vishnu severed his head and two of his arms from the rest of his monstrous body. That part of the nectareous fluid which he had time to swallow secured his immortality: his trunk and dragon-like tail fell on the mountain of Malaya, where Mini, a Brahman, carefully preserved them by the name of Ce'tu ; and, as if a complete body had been formed from them, like a dis

And now, Seeva, after the arrival of all the Devetas, and the completion of the preparations for the procession, set out, in the utmost pomp and splendor, from the mountain Kilas. His third eye flamed like the sun, and the crescent on his forehead assumed the form of a radiated diadem; his snakes were exchanged for chains and necklaces of pearls and rubies, his ashes for sandal and perfume, and his elephant's skin for a silken robe, so that none of the Devetas in brilliance came near his figure. The bridal attendants now spread wide abroad the carpet of congratulation, and arranged in order the banquet of bliss. Nature herself assumed the appearance of renovated youth, and the sorrowing universe recalled its longforgotten happiness. The Gandarvas and Apsaras began their melodious songs, and the Genes and Keeners displayed the magic of their various musical instruments. The earth and its inhabitants exulted with tongues of glorification and tri-membered polype, he is even said to have adopted Cetu as his umph; fresh moisture invigorated the withered victims of time; a thousand happy and animating conceptions inspired the hearts of the intelligent, and enlightened the wisdom of the thoughtful: The kingdom of external forms obtained gladness; the world of intellect acquired brightness. The dwellers upon earth stocked the casket of their ideas with the jewels of de-astronomical ; Ra’hu and Ce’tu being clearly the nodes, or what light, and reverend pilgrims exchanged their beads for pearls. The joy of those on earth ascended up to heaven, and the Tree of the bliss of those in Heaven extended its auspicious branches downwards to the earth. The eyes of the Devetas flamed like torches on beholding these scenes of rapture, and the hearts of the just kindled like touchwood on hearing these ravishing symphonies. Thus Seeva set off like a garden in full blow, and paradise was eclipsed by his motion. - MAURICE, from the Seeva-Pooraun.

own child. The head, with two arms, fell on the sands of Barbara, where Pi'the'na's was then walking with Sinkica', by some called his wife: They carried the Daitya to their palace, and adopted him as their son; whence he acquired the name of Paite he'nasi. This extravagant fable is, no doubt,

astrologers call the head and tail of the dragon. It is added, that they appeased Vishnu, and obtained re-admission to the firmament, but were no longer visible from the earth, their enlightened sides being turned from it; that Ra'hu strives, during eclipses, to wreak vengeance on the Sun and Moon, who detected him; and that Ce'tu often appears as a comet, a whirlwind, a fiery meteor, a water-spout, or a column of sand. - WILFORD. Asiatic Researches.

Thereat the heart of the Universe stood still.-X. 2, p. 584. Long after these lines were written, I was amused at finding a parallel passage in a sermon:

Quando o Sol parou às vozes de Josuè, aconteceram no mundo todas aquellas consequencias, que parando o movimento celeste, consideram os Filosofos. As plantas por todo aquelle tempo nam creceram; as calidades dos elementos, e dos mixtos, nam se alteraram; a geraçam e corrupçam com que se conserva o mundo, cessou; as artes e os exercicios de hum e outro Emisferio estiveram suspensos; os Antipodas nam trabalhavam, porque, lhes faltava a luz, os de cima cançados de tam comprido dia deixavam o trabalho; estes pasmados de verem o Sol que se nam movia;

He was the son of MAY, or the general attracting power, and married to RETTY, or Affection, and his bosom friend is BESSENT, or Spring. He is represented as a beautiful youth, sometimes conversing with his mother and consort in the midst of his gardens and temples; sometimes riding by moonlight on a parrot or lory, and attended by dancing girls or nymphs, the foremost of whom bears his colors, which are a fish on a red ground. His favorite place of resort is a large tract of country round Agra, and principally the plains of Matra, where KRISHEN also, and the nine GOPIA, who are clearly the Apollo and Muses of the Greeks, usually spend the night with music and dance. His bow of sugar-cane or flowers, with a string of bees, and his five arrows, each pointed with an Indian blossom of a heating quality, are allegories equally new and beautiful.

It is possible that the words Dipue and Cupid, which have the same signification, may have the same origin; since we know that the old Hetrurians, from whom great part of the Roman language and religion was derived, and whose system had a near affinity with that of the Persians and Indians, used to write their lines alternately forwards and backwards, as furrows are made by the plough. Sir W. JONES.

-

In this

tance in a short space of time; and if they are thrown into a
river, with a stone tied to them, they nevertheless will not
sink. In order to deprive any one of this wicked power, they
brand his temples, and every joint in his body, cram his eyes
with salt, suspend him for forty days in a subterraneous
cavern, and repeat over him certain incantations.
state he is called Detche-reh. Although, after having under-
gone this discipline, he is not able to destroy the liver of any
one, yet he retains the power of being able to discover another
Jiggerkhar, and is used for detecting those disturbers of man-
kind. They can also cure many diseases, by administering a
potion, or by repeating an incantation. Many other marvel-
lous stories are told of these people. AYEEN ACEERY.

An Arabian old woman, by name Meluk, was thrown in prison, on a charge of having bewitched, or, as they call it, eaten the heart of a young native of Ormuz, who had lately, from being a Christian, turned Mahommedan. The cause of offence was, that the young man, after keeping company some time with one of her daughters, had forsaken her: he himself, who was in a pitiable condition, and in danger of his life, was one of her accusers. This sort of witchcraft, which the Indians call eating the heart, and which is what we call bewitching as sorcerers do by their venomous and deadly looks, is not a new thing, nor unheard of elsewhere; for

country of the Triballes, as we learn from Ortelius, who took the account from Pliny, who, upon the report of Isigones, testifies, that this species of enchantment was much in use among these people, and many others whom he mentions, as it is at present here, especially among the Arabians who inhabit the western coast of the Persian gulf, where this art is common. The way in which they do it is only by the eyes and the mouth, keeping the eyes fixed steadily upon the person whose heart they design to eat, and pronouncing, between their teeth, I know not what diabolical words, by virtue of which, and by the operation of the devil, the person, how hale and strong soever, falls immediately into an unknown and incurable disease, which makes him appear phthisical, consumes him little by little, and at last destroys him. And this takes place faster or slower as the heart is eaten, as they say; for these sorcerers can either eat the whole or a part only; that is, can consume it entirely and at once, or bit by bit, as they please. The vulgar give it this name, because they believe that the devil, acting upon the imagination of the witch when she mutters her wicked words, represents invisibly to her the heart and entrails of the patient, taken out of his body, and makes her devour them. In which these wretches find so delightful a task, that very often, to satisfy their appetite, without any impulse of resentment or enmity, they will destroy innocent persons, and even their nearest relatives, as there is a report that our prisoner killed one of her own daughters in this manner.

Mahadeva and Parvati were playing with dice at the ancient game of Chaturanga, when they disputed, and parted in wrath; the goddess retiring to the forest of Gauri, and the god repair-many persons practised it formerly in Sclavonia, and the ing to Cushadwip. They severally performed rigid acts of devotion to the Supreme Being; but the fires which they kindled blazed so vehemently as to threaten a general conflagration. The Devas, in great alarm, hastened to Brahma, who led them to Mahadeva, and supplicated him to recall his consort; but the wrathful deity only answered, That she must come by her own free choice. They accordingly despatched Ganga, the river goddess, who prevailed on Parvati to return to him, on condition that his love for her should be restored. The celestial mediators then employed Cama-Deva, who wounded Mahadeva with one of his flowery arrows; but the angry divinity reduced him to ashes with a flame from his eye. Parvati soon after presented herself before him in the form of a Cirati, or daughter of a mountaineer, and, seeing him enamored of her, resumed her own shape. In the place where they were reconciled, a grove sprang up, which was named Camavana; and the relenting god, in the character of Cameswara, consoled the afflicted Reti, the widow of Cama, by assuring her that she should rejoin her husband when he should be born again in the form of Pradyumna, son of Crishna, and should put Sambara to death. This favorable prediction was in due time accomplished, and Pradyumna having sprung to life, he was instantly seized by the demon Sambara, who placed him in a chest, which he threw into the ocean; but a large fish, which had swallowed the chest, was caught in a net, and carried to the palace of a tyrant, where the unfortunate Reti had been compelled to do menial service. It was her lot to open the fish, and seeing an infant in the chest, she nursed him in private, and educated him, till he had sufficient strength to destroy the malignant Sambara. He had before considered Reti as his mother; but the minds of them both being irradiated, the prophecy of Mahadeva was remembered, and the God of Love was again united with the Goddess of Pleasure. WILFORD. Asiatic Researches.

Eating his very core of life away. - XI. 5, p. 588. One of the wonders of this country is the Jiggerkhar, (or liver-eater.) One of this class can steal away the liver of another by looks and incantations. Other accounts say, that, by looking at a person, he deprives him of his senses, and then steals from him something resembling the seed of a pomegranate, which he hides in the calf of his leg. The Jiggerkhar throws on the fire the grain before described, which thereupon spreads to the size of a dish, and he distributes it amongst his fellows, to be eaten; which ceremony concludes the life of the fascinated person. A Jiggerkhar is able to communicate his art to another, which he does by learning him the incantations and by making him eat a bit of the liver-cake. If any one cut open the calf of the magician's leg, extract the grain, and give it to the afflicted person to eat, he immediately recovers. Those Jiggerkhars are mostly women. It is said, moreover, that they can bring intelligence from a great dis

This was confirmed to me by a similar story, which I heard at Ispahan, from the mouth of P. Sebastian de Jesus, a Portuguese Augustinian, a man to be believed, and of singular virtue, who was prior of their convent when I departed. He assured me, that, in one of the places dependent upon Portugal, on the confines of Arabia Felix, I know not whether it was at Mascate or at Ormuz, an Arab having been taken up for a similar crime, and convicted of it, for he confessed the fact, the captain, or governor of the place, who was a Portuguese, that he might better understand the truth of these black and devilish actions, of which there is no doubt in this country, made the sorcerer be brought before him before he was led to his punishment, and asked him, if he could eat the inside of a cucumber without opening it, as well as the heart of a man? The sorcerer said yes; and, in order to prove it, a cucumber was brought he looked at it, never touching it, steadily for some time, with his usual enchantments, and then told the captain he had eaten the whole inside; and accordingly when it was opened, nothing was found but the rind. This is not impossible; for the devil, of whom they make use in these operations, having, in the order of nature, greater power than all inferior creatures, can, with God's permission, produce these effects, and others more marvellous.

The same father told me, that one of these sorcerers, whether it was the same or not I do not know, having been taken for a similar offence, was asked if he could eat the

spirit within their breasts. -The guardian deities of the firmament, of the earth, of the waters, of the human heart, of the moon, of the sun, and of fire, of punishment after death, of the winds, of night, of both twilights, and of justice, perfectly know the state of all spirits clothed with bodies - O friend to virtue! that supreme Spirit, which thou believest one and the same with thyself, resides in thy bosom perpetually, and is an all-knowing inspector of thy goodness or of thy wickedness. If thou beest not at variance, by speaking falsely, with Yama, the subduer of all, with Vaivaswata the punisher, with that great Divinity who dwells in thy breast,-go not on a pilgrimage to the river Ganga, nor to the plains of Curu, for thou hast no need of expiation. Ch. viii. pp. 84, 85, 86. 91, 92.

The Aunnay Birds. - XII. 6, p. 590.

The Aunnays act a considerable part in the history of the Nella Rajah, an amusing romance, for a translation of which we are indebted to Mr. Kindersley. They are milk-white, and remarkable for the gracefulness of their walk.

The Bannian Tree. - XIII. 5, p. 591.

Some of these tanks are of very great extent, often covering eight or ten acres; and, besides having steps of masonry, perhaps fifty or sixty feet in breadth, are faced with brickwork, plastered in the most substantial manner. The corners are generally ornamented with round or polygon pavilions of a neat appearance. Oriental Sports, vol. ii. p. 116.

There are two kinds of tanks, which we confound under one common name, though nothing can be more different. The first is the Eray, which is formed by throwing a mound or bank across a valley or hollow ground, so that the rain water collects in the upper part of the valley, and is let out on the lower part by sluices, for the purposes of cultivation. The other kind is the Culam, which is formed by digging out the earth, and is destined for supplying the inhabitants with water for domestic purposes. The Culams are very frequently lined on all the four sides with cut stone, and are the most elegant works of the natives. - BUCHANAN.

Where there are no springs or rivers to furnish them with water, as it is in the northern parts, where there are but two or three springs, they supply this defect by saving of rain water; which they do by casting up great banks in convenient places, to stop and contain the rains that fall, and so save it till they have occasion to let it out into the fields. They are made rounding like a (, or half moon. Every town has one of these ponds, which if they can but get filled with water, they count their corn is as good as in the barn. It was no small work to the ancient inhabitants to make all these banks, of which there is a great number, being some two, some three, fathoms in height, and in length some above a mile, some less, not all of a size. They are now grown over with great trees, and so seem natural hills. When they would use the water, they cut a gap in one end of the bank, and so draw the water by little and little, as they have occasion, for the

These ponds, in dry weather, dry up quite. If they should dig these ponds deep, it would not be so convenient for them. It would, indeed, contain the water well, but would not so well, nor in such plenty, empty out itself into their grounds. In these ponds are alligators, which, when the water is dried up, depart into the woods and down to the rivers, and, in the time of rains, come up again into the ponds. They are but small, nor do use to catch people, nevertheless they stand in some fear of them.

The Burghut, or Bannian, often measures from twenty-four to thirty feet in girth. It is distinguished from every other tree hitherto known, by the very peculiar circumstance of throwing out roots from all its branches. These, being pendent, and perfectly lax, in time reach the ground, which they penetrate, and ultimately become substantial props to the very massy horizontal boughs, which, but for such a support, must either be stopped in their growth, or give way, from their own weight. Many of these quondam roots, changing their out-watering their corn. ward appearance from a brown, rough rind to a regular bark, not unlike that of the beech, increase to a great diameter. They may be often seen from four to five feet in circumference, and in a true perpendicular line. An observer, ignorant of their nature, might think them artificial, and that they had been placed for the purpose of sustaining the boughs from which they originated. They proceed from all the branches indiscriminately, whether near or far removed from the ground. They appear like new swabs, such as are in use on board ships: however, few reach sufficiently low to take a hold of the soil, except those of the lower branches. I have seen some do so from a great height, but they were thin, and did not promise well. Many of the ramifications pendent from the higher boughs are seen to turn round the lower branches, but without any obvious effect on either; possibly, however, they may derive sustenance even from that partial mode of communication. The height of a full-grown Bannian may be from sixty to eighty feet; and many of them, I am fully confident, cover at least two acres. Their leaves are similar to, but rather larger than those of the laurel. The wood of the trunk is used only for fuel; it is light and brittle; but the pillars formed by the roots are valuable, being extremely elastic and light, working with ease, and possessing great toughness: it resembles a good kind of ash. — Oriental Field Sports, vol. ii. p. 113.

|

The corn they sow in these parts is of that sort that is soonest ripe, fearing lest their waters should fail. As the water dries out of these ponds, they make use of them for fields, treading the mud with buffaloes, and then sowing rice thereon, and frequently casting up water with scoops on it. Knox, p. 9.

The Lotus.-XIII. 6, p. 592.

The lotus abounds in the numerous lakes and ponds of the province of Garah; and we had the pleasure of comparing several varieties; single and full, white, and tinged with deep or with faint tints of red. To a near view, the simple elegance of the white lotus gains no accession of beauty from the multiplication of its petals, nor from the tinge of gaudy hue; but the richest tint 18 most pleasing, when a lake, covered with full-blown lotus, is contemplated. — Journey from Mirzaput to Nagpur.· - Asiatic Annual Register, 1806.

...... the Well

Which they, with sacrifice of rural pride, Have wedded to the cocoa-grove beside. - XIII. 6, p. 592. It is a general practice, that, when a plantation is made, a well should be dug at one of its sides. The well and the tope are married; a ceremony at which all the village attends, and in which often much money is expended. The well is considered as the husband, as its waters, which are copiously furnished to the young trees during the first hot season, are supposed to cherish and impregnate them. Though vanity and superstition are evidently the basis of these institutions, yet we cannot help admiring their effects, so beautifully ornamenting a torrid country, and affording such general convenience. Oriental Sports, p. 10.

They built them here a Bower, &c. - XIII. 7, p. 592.

The materials of which these houses are made are always easy to be procured, and the structure is so simple, that a spacious, and by no means uncomfortable dwelling, suited to the climate, may be erected in one day. Our habitation, consisting of three small rooms, and a hall open to the north, in little more than four hours was in readiness for our reception; fifty or sixty laborers completed it in that time, and on emergency could perform the work in much less. Bamboos, grass for thatching, and the ground ratan, are all the materials requisite: not a nail is used in the whole edifice. A row of strong bamboos, from eight to ten feet high, are fixed firm in the ground, which describe the outline, and are the supporters

of the building: smaller bainboos are then tied horizontally, I even used as a fence against cattle; for which purpose, it is

The antic Monkeys, whose wild gambols late Shook the whole wood. XIII. 12, p. 593. They are so numerous on the island of Bulama, says Captain Beaver in his excellent book, that I have seen on a calm evenNote to the Bhagvating, when there was not an air sufficiently strong to agitate a lenf, the whole surrounding wood in as much motion, from their playful gambols among its branches, as if it had blown a strong wind.