and vetches, are general articles of food. Only the lowest castes take interi cating liquors or drugs. Bang made from hemp, and toddy, of the palm, the chief intoxicating substances. Tobacco and betel are generally used.

The diseases most fatal to Europeans are fevers, and few such retain for years a good constitution in India. Many of the diseases of Europe are common, and in the cholera, Europe has received the destroyer from Asia. The first outbreak of this frightful disease was in India, and its ravages were rendered more appalling by the mystery of its origin and the superstition of the natives. A spasmodic cholera has always existed in India, but it was not until 1817 that it assumed the epidemic character. In the beginning of Au gust it broke out with unprecedented malignity at Jessore, 100, miles from Calcutta. From that time to the present it has gradually spread over the most populous parts of Asia, and a considerable portion of Europe. It is com puted that it has destroyed not less than 50 millions of people. It prevails over every variety of climate, every natural barrier, or artificial defence. Its origin, nature, and cure are unknown. It proceeds capriciously, though ge nerally on the great roads or routes of communication, raging mostly where there are large bodies of people. In the spasms the pain is terrific. The striking characteristics are great debility, extinction of the circulation, and sudden cooling of the body. Having proceeded from India, to the countries of southern Asia, it entered Europe by the way of Astracan, and followed the course of the Volga. It attacked the cities in Russia, Austria, Prussia, &e, and was next communicated to England, where its ravages have hitherto been slight, while at Paris and its vicinity, they are at the present time (the spring of 1832) beyond all parallel. In France it has attacked all classes; in other countries the victims have been chiefly the destitute, which are principally the lower classes. The manner in which the disease is communicated is not yet satisfactorily known. It has hitherto defied medicine and science.

A common mode of travelling, is in palanquins, a sort of litter carried by means of poles on the shoulders of men. These vehicles are covered, and have curtains and cushions. The bearers are changed at convenient distan ces, on long journeys. They go from three to four miles an hour.

The Hindoos are a gentle and quiet race, whose character and customs are more moulded on old observances, than can be said of any other people, even of the Chinese. Whatever they do or believe is prescribed by ancient forms. The separation into castes is carried to an astonishing extent, and no change of government, or innovation seems to have the power to weaken it. The chief castes, subject however, to many subdivisions and classes, are four; the Brahmins, or priests, a holy class; the Chsepterees, or warriors and rulers; the Vaissyas, or cultivators, merchants, tradesmen, &c; and the Sudras, or laborers and menials. The Brahmin is lord of all the rest, many of whom it is pollution for him to come near. He is the fountain of knowledge, and no other caste may read the sacred books. No crime that he may commit, can degrade him. Of the acknowledged impure castes, there are not less than 36, and some so vile that their shadow is supposed to contaminate whatever it passes over. The out-casts, the most degraded of all castes, are the Pariahs, who live in forests and caves, and hold little communication with A Nair, that is, a soldier, or a proprietor of land, may stand be side a Brahmin, but not touch him; a Tair must stand off 36 yards; liar 60; and a Poliar 96. These in turn must maintain their own distances from each other. A Poliar, or laborer in Malabar, must not come near any other, but must cry aloud to them. He is, however, a gentleman, compared with a Pariah, who is altogether out of the pale of society. None can quit the caste wherein they were born, or without pollution perform the offices of another caste. The Brahmins receive frequent presents from the other castes, for which they sometimes perform services. One of the common ones, is Dherna, or a particular, and effectual mode of collecting debts. It implies

other men.

a

Mu

te

an

T

that the creditor must perish, if the debt be withheld. The Brahmin, who often takes the creditor's place, sets at the debtor's door with a dagger, and a phial of poison, and with one he would destroy himself, should the latter attempt to escape. While the Brahmin refrains, the same must the debtor do, and wo is his if he suffer the holy man to perish by famine. He therefore pays the debt. Error is often more deeply rooted in the mind, than truth, and this distinction of castes is apparently so deeply ingrained with the Hindoos, that it is now as strong as it was centuries ago.

The Europeans in India, pass frequently a dissipated life; and adopt readily the oriental habit of profusion and show. One of these, even in a common situation, has many domestics; not one of which will perform any service out of his own grade, or division of service. The servants of a household are therefore very numerous, and the followers of a camp are treble in number to the soldiers.

The ceremonies are so many, that the people have little time for amusements. None dance but the professional dancing girls, who are of a religious order. They are generally handsome, and dressed with elegance. The wrestlers are very adroit, and the jugglers are unequalled. The people have an adventurous mode of swinging. They are lashed at the end of a long horizontal bamboo, which revolves upon a perpendicular post, which is carried swiftly round by means of a rope below. The game of chess is common, as in other parts of Asia. The English often engage in the chase of the ferocious, as well as of the timid animals.

Pagodas are very numerous throughout the country. The ceremonies prescribed to the Hindoos are various. There are many wandering fakeers or fanatics, and many devotees live in solitude. It is considered meritorious to torture themselves. Some hold their hands in a perpendicular posture, till they are withered, and others clench their hands together, till their nails grow. into the flesh. Others are swung round with a hook passed under the muscles of the back, attached to a line which is made fast to a pivot on a post. The most grotesque as well as repulsive means of self torturing are followed.

The suttees* or sacrifice of widows on the funeral piles of their husbands, and infanticides are now prohibited by government. Juggernaut the

*After waiting a considerable time, says Hodges, the wife appeared, attended by the Bra mins, and music, with some few relations. The procession was slow and solemn; the victin moved with a steady and firm step; and apparently with a perfect composure of counterance, approached close to the body of her husband, where for some time they halted. Ste then addressed those who were near her, with composure, and without the least trepidation of voice or change of countenance. She held in her left hand a cocoa-nut, in which was a red color mixed up, and dipping in it the fore-finger of her right hand, she marked thom near her, to whom she wished to show the last act of attention. At this time I stood close to her, she observed me attentively, and with the color marked me on the forehead. She might be about twentyfour or five years of age, a time of life when the bloom of beauty has generally fled the cheek in India, but still she preserved a sufficient share to prove that she must have been handsome: her figure was small, but elegantly turned; and the form of her hands and arms was particularly beautiful. Her dress was a loose robe of whe flowing drapery, that extended from her head to the feet. The place of sacrifice was higher up on the bank of the river, a hundred yards or more from the spot where we now stool The pile was composed of dried branches, leaves, and rushes, with a door on one side, and arched and covered on the top; by the side of the door stood a man with a lighted brand, From the time the woman appeared, to the taking up of the body to convey it into the pile, might occupy a space of half an hour, which was employed in prayer with the Brahmins, m attention to those who stood near her, and conversation with her relations. When the body was taken up, she followed close to it, attended by the chief Brahmin, and when it was de posited on the pile, she bowed to all around her, and entered without speaking. The mo ment she entered, the door was closed; the fire was put to the combustibles, which instantly flamed, and immense quantities of dried wood and other matters were thrown upon it. This last part of the ceremony was accompanied with the shouts of the multitude, who now became numerous, and the whole seemed a mass of confused rejoicing.

From a town called Buddruck, in the province of Orissa, Dr Buchanan writes, under date of 30th May, 1806: We know that we are approaching Juggernaut (and yet we are more than 50 miles from it) by the human bones which we have seen for some days strewed by the way. At nine o'clock this morning, the temple of Juggernaut appeared in view, at a great distance. When the multitude first saw it, they gave a shout, and fell to the ground and worshipped. I have heard nothing today but shouts and acclamations, by the succes sive bodies of pilgrims. From the place where I now stand, I have a view of a host of people, like an army, encamped at the outer gate of the town of Juggernaut; where a guard of soldiers is posted, to prevent their entering the town, until they have paid the pilgrim's tax. This tax is a source of revenue to the East India Company, who probably make about £1000 a year by it. It was originally imposed by the Mahrattas and Mohammedans. On the 14th of June, Dr Buchanan writes: I have seen Juggernaut. The scene at Buddruck is but the vestibule to Juggernaut. No record of ancient or modern history can give, I think, an adequate idea of this valley of death: it may be truly compared with the Valley of Hinnom. The idol, called Juggernaut, has been considered as the Moloch of the present age; and he is justly so named, for the sacrifices offered up to him, by self-devotement, are not less criminal, perhaps not less numerous, than those recorded of the Moloch of Canaan. This morning I viewed the temple; a stupendous fabric, and truly commensurate with the extensive sway of the "horrid king." As other temples are usually adorned with figures emblematical of their religion; so Juggernaut has representations, numerous and various, of that vice which constitutes the essence of his worship. The walls and gates are covered with indecent emblems, in massive and durable sculpture. I have also visited the sand-plains by the sea, in some places whitened with the bones of the pilgrims; and another place a little way out of the town, called by the English the Golgotha, where the dead bodies are usually cast forth, and where dogs and vultures are ever seen. The vultures generally find out the prey first and begin with the intestines; for the flesh of the body is too firm for their beaks, immediately after death. But the dogs soon receive notice of the circumstance, generally from seeing the hurries, or corpse-carriers, returning from the place. On the approach of the dogs, the vultures retire a few yards, and wait ull the body be sufficiently torn for easy deglutition. The vultures and dogs often feed together; and sometimes begin their attack before the pilgrim be quite dead. There are four animals which are sometimes seen about a carcase; the dog, the jackal, the vulture, and the Aurgeela or adjutant, called by Penant the gigantic crane. On the 18th of the same month, Dr Buchanan writes: I have returned home from witnessing a scene which I shall never forget. At 12 o'clock of this day, being the great day of the feast, the Moloch of Hindoostan was brought out of his temple, amidst the acclamations of hundreds of thousands of his worshippers. The throne of the idol was placed on a stupendous car or tower about 60 text in height, resting on wheels which indented the ground deeply, as they turned slowly under the ponderous machine. Attached to it were six cables, of the size and length of a ship's cable, by which the people drew it along. Upon the tower were the priests and satellites of the idol, surrounding his throne. The idol is a block of wood, having a frightful visage

loch idol has also been in a great measure deprived of his victims. In consequence of a belief in transmigrations, no Hindoo will take the life of an animal. Some are so careful in this point, that they brush the ground lest they tread upon an insect. At Surat there is a Banian hospital, where wounded or helpless animals are received, and treated with care. The wards are filled with camels, goats, horses, birds, and even rats, mice, &c. Beggars are sometimes hired to expose their flesh to the bites of insects, from a desire to serve even these. Dying people are removed when possible, to the Ganges, and the funeral obsequies are performed 96 times in the year. The Mohammedan religion is generally spread over India, and there are about 200,000 native Christians, the remains of the Portuguese on the coast of Malabar. On the west coast are some Jews and Parsees, or followers of Zoroaster. The government establishment is that of the church of England, and there is a Bishop at Calcutta. The missions are numerous, and will be mentioned hereafter. The Hindoos made early, considerable progress in astronomy, &c, and they have much literature, chiefly epic, or dramatic poetry. At Calcutta, the government maintains a Sanscrit college, in which there are funds for the support of 100 indigent students. There is also a Mohammedan college for instruction in the Persian and Arabic languages, and in the Mohammedan law. There are also important colleges for Hindoo literature at Benares, and Agra, and the Brahmins have several ancient seminaries.

The Hindoo religion admits of no proselytes. They believe in numberless gods; and their mythology has some resemblance to that of the Greeks. They believe in the immortality and transmigration of the soul. They regard the cow with such veneration, that none will taste its flesh; and a Hindoo at sea will die of hunger, if all the ship's provisions have been expended but beef. The religious and civil laws of the Hindoos were supposed to be compiled by Menu, 800 years before the christian era. The Vedas or sacred volumes were of still earlier origin. The Supreme Being is styled Brahma, and he is supposed to possess a triple divinity, under the names of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, in relation to his creating, preserving and destructive powers. The holy race of the Brahmins, are supposed to have sprung originally from the forehead of Brahma, and the reverence with which the other castes regard them, is in accordance with this supposed origin.

17. HISTORY. The ancient history of this country reaches to a very remote antiquity. Sesostris, Darius, Alexander, Seleucus and Antiochus invaded the country at different periods anterior to the christian era. Mohammed of Ghizni established here the Mohammedan power in the 11th century. The Venetians were the first Europeans who travelled to India, and the Portuguese who discovered the passage round the Cape of Good Hope, were the first that established themselves in the country. The Dutch, English and French followed. Since the middle of the last century the dominion of the English has, by a system of usurpation, intrigue and bloodshed, been extended over the greater part of the country.*

painted black, with a distended mouth of a bloody color. His arms are of gold, and he is dressed in gorgeous apparel. After a few minutes, it stopped; and now the worship of the god began. A high priest mounted the car in front of the idol, and pronounced his obscene stanzas in the ears of the people, who responded at intervals in the same strain. "These songs," said he, " are the delight of the god. His car can only move when he is pleased with the song." The car moved on a little way, and then stopped. The characteristics of Moloch's worship are obscenity and blood. After the tower had proceeded some way, a pilgrim announced that he was ready to offer himself a sacrifice to the idol. He laid himself down in the road, before the tower as it was moving along, lying on his face, with his arms strecthed forwards. The multitude passed round him, leaving the space clear, and he was crushed to death by the wheels of the tower. A shout of joy was raised to the god. He is said to smile when the libation of blood is made. The people threw cowries, or small money, on the body of the victim, in approbation of the deed. He was left to view a considerable time; and was then carried by the hurries to the Golgotha.

As a specimen of wholesale butchery by which the English have established their power

CHAPTER CVIII.—THIBET.

1. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. Thibet is bounded north by Tartary, eas by China, south by the Birman Empire and Hindoostan, and southwest by Hindoostan. It contains about 400,000 square miles.

2. RIVERS, &c. Thibet at first view appears to be one of the least favored countries under heaven, and in a great measure incapable of culture. It erhibits only low rocky hills without any visible vegetation, or extensive and plains, both of the most stern and stubborn aspect, promising as little as they produce. The principal river of Thibet is the Sanpoo, or Burrampouter which is also a river of Hindoostan. The Ganges likewise has its source among the mountains of Thibet, as have also the Chinese rivers Hoanho and Kianka, the great river Maykan of Laos and Cambodia, and Sarjoo or Gagra, which, after a course of about 550 miles, falls into the Ganges, near Chupra.

3. MINERALS. Gold is found in great quantities and very pure; sometimes in the form of gold dust in the beds of rivers, and sometimes in large masses and irregular veins. There is a lead mine about two days' journey from Teeshoo Loomboo, which probably contains silver. Cinnabar abounding in quicksilver, rock salt, and tincal, or crude borax, are likewise among the mineral productions of this country: the last is found in inexhaustible quantities.

4. CLIMATE. The climate of Thibet is cold and bleak in the extreme, from the severe effects of which the inhabitants are obliged to seek refuge in the sheltered valleys and hollows, or amidst the warmest aspects of the rocks In the temperature of the seasons, however, a remarkable uniformity prevails, as well as in their periodical duration and return.

5. CITIES. Lassa or Lahassa, is considered as the capital of Thibet, and is situated in a spacious plain; the houses are not numerous, but they are built of stone, and are large and lofty. The celebrated mountain of Putala, on which stands the palace of the grand lama, is about seven miles to the east of the city.

Teeshoo Loomboo or Lubrong, the seat of Teeshoo Lama, and the capital of that part of Thibet which is immediately subject to his authority, is, in fact, a large monastery, consisting of three or four hundred houses inhabited by gylongs (a kind of monks or priests,) beside temples, mausoleums, and the palace of the pontiff, with the residences of the various subordinate officers, both ecclesiastical and civil, belonging to the court. It is included within the hollow face of a high rock; and its buildings are all of stone, none less than two stories high, flat-roofed, and crowned with a parapet.

6. MANUFACTURES, COMMERCE. The manufactures of Thibet are principally shawls and woolen cloth. The exports, which go chiefly to China and Bengal, consist of gold-dust, diamonds, pearls, coral, musk, rock-salt, woolen cloth, and lamb-skins; in return for which, silk, satin, gold and silver brocade, tea, tobacco, and furs of various kinds, are received from China; and, from Bengal, the productions of that country, and a variety of English com modities and manufactures.

The people are rather stout and hardy and of a ruddy complexion, for the mountain breezes bestow health and vigor. They are of various distinct tribes little known. The language is the same which is used on the frontiers of China.

in Hindoostan, read the following cool declaration of the Duke of Wellington, then Colonel Wellesley, commanding the British forces against the Mahrattas in 1800. I have taken and destroyed Dhoondiah's baggage and six guns, and driven into the Malpurba, where they were drowned, abore five thousand people. Dhoondiah's followers are quitting him apace, as they do not think the amusement very gratifying."