Chapter XIII (4)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[156] This goddess _Lakshmi_ is, by Sonnerat, called
_Latschimi_. See his voyage, vol. I. p. 132. She is
the goddess of riches, and, according to the Indian
mythology, married _Vishnu_, and with him produced
_Manmodi_ the god of love. In Fra Paolino’s Latin
work, a German translation of which was published
at Gotha, in 1797, with engravings, may be seen,
Plate XII., three figures of _Lakshmi_, taken from
brass images, preserved in the Museum at Velitri. In
that work she is called the wife of _Vishnu_: and
all the names given to her by the Indians are there
enumerated. Among these are: _the goddess of good
fortune_, _the woman in labour_, _the mother of the
world_. Here the author calls her the _fruitfulness
of the earth_, and, a little farther, _the goddess
of riches_. It will be, in general, necessary in
reading this part of the author’s book, to compare
with it Sonnerat’s Voyage to India; also the _Code
of the Hindoos_, or the _Ordinances of Menu_, by
Jones and Hüttner, Weimar, 1797; and, lastly, the
_Gentoo Laws_, by Raspe, Hamburgh 1778. These works
contain many things which will serve to illustrate
what is here said by the author. _F._

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

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

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

[160] The _Kaida_ of Rhude Hort. Malab. as well as
the _Keura athrodactylus_, and the _Pandanus
odoratissima_ is not a wild ananas, but a plant,
the male flowers of which have a farina of an
exceedingly agreeable smell. In Arabia and India
people bestrew their heads with it, as we do ours
with perfumed powder. _F._

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

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

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

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

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

[164] P. 28. and 29.

[165] Dialog. iv. De Legibus.

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

[167] This is a Portuguese word.

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

[169] A German translation of this _Systema Brahmanicum_
was published at Gotha in 1797, with thirty
copper-plates, under the title of _Darstellung der
Brahmanisch-Indischen Götterlehre_. _F._

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

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

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

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

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

[175] P. 45, 46, 47.

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

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

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

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

[180] See _Phoc._ in _Vit. Apoll. Tian. cod._ cclii.--_L.
Vives Comment. in lib._ xiv.--_S. Aug. de Civitate
Dei_, p. 1734. edit. Paris.--_Euseb. in Chron._ p.
72. edit. Scalig.--and _Philostrat. in Vita Apoll._
lib. iii. cap. 6. and lib. iv. cap. 6. _A._

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

[181] See _Historischer Versuch über die Zigeuner_,
Göttingen, 1787. _A._

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

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

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

[185] See the _Asiatic Researches_, vol. i. p. 160, and
vol. ii. p. 123.

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

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

[188] The goddess _Adidi_, or _Didi_, is the mother of
the wicked dæmons, who in the Samscred are called
_Asuri_, and who are exceedingly spiteful. See,
on this subject, Father Hanxleden’s dictionary,
under the articles _Adidi_ and _Asuri_. _Bali_,
who of all these _Asuri_ was the most wicked, and
possessed the most insupportable pride, made it his
continual business to torment the gods and men.
_Vishnu_ therefore assumed the form of a dwarf,
overcame him, and punished him as he deserved.
Other writers consider the above apparitions as
an allegory respecting the history of the first
king of the Assyrians called _Bel_ or _Belus_, who
reigned at Babylon 1322 years before the birth of
Christ, and caused himself to be worshipped as a
deity. According to this opinion the Assyrians are
to be here understood under the appellation _Asuri_.
The author of the _Masabhàràda_, already often
mentioned, relates, that _Báli_, or _Mahàbàli_,
that is, _Bali the Great_, had a hundred sons, the
first-born of which was _Bánnen_. _A._

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

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

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

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

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

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

[195] See, on this subject, the _Asiatic Researches_, vol.
ii. § 15, p. 225, _On the Astronomical Computations
of the Hindoos_; and § 16, p. 289, _On the Antiquity
of the Indian Zodiack_, by W. Jones; also Sonnerat,
_Voyages aux Indes_, vol. ii. b. 3. p. 178. and p.
201. _A._

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

[197] Lib. viii. cap. 17.

[198] See the _Asiatic Researches_, vol. ii. § xvi. p. 289.

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

[200] In page 317, the author enumerated several Indian
words which have a great similarity to Latin
words of the same signification; and here we have
another instance in _aghni_, ignis, fire. I shall
take this opportunity of remarking, that several
Lithuanian words have a great affinity to the Latin.
Thus _awis_, ovis, a sheep; _Dièwas_, Deus, God;
_dantis_, dens, a tooth; _senis_, senex, an old man;
_arru_, aro, I plough; _wirs_, vir, a man; _gentis_,
gentilis, a relation; _rossa_, ros, dew; _angis_,
anguis, a snake; _lupus_, lupus, a wolf; _naktis_,
nox, noctis, the night; _tu_, tu, thou; _trys_,
tres, three. _Dus Diewas dantes, dus Diewas dunes_;
dat Deus dentes, dat Deus panem.

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

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

[203] _Shuga tarunni_ signifies, in the Samscred, the
female papagay, the symbol of _Sarasvadi_, the
goddess of eloquence. _A._

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

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

[206] One of the favourite pieces of the people is the
_Pàvakali_, or so-called buffoon dance. This word is
compounded of _Pàva_ and _Kàli_, the former of which
signifies a merry-andrew, and the latter a play or
dance. The comedies, in which dancing is always
introduced, are called _Nàdaca_ or _Nadya_. The
dance is called _Nadana_; a comedian, _Nàden_, or
_Nàdaken_; a female dancer, _Nrtagui_; and theatric
singing, _Gàna_, or _Guita_. _A._

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

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

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

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

[211] See, on this subject, _Sonnerat Voyage aux Indes_;
Vol. II. chap. 4. where engravings are given of the
principal pagodas on the coast of Coromandel. As the
Brahmans divide themselves into two different sects,
one of which worship fire, and the other water, as
the principal deity, there are also two different
kinds of temples. _Tirunamala_, _Cialembron_, and
_Tiruvalur_, belong to the _Shivanites_: _Tirupadi_,
_Ciringam_, and _Cangipuram_, to the _Vishnuvites_.
The pagoda at _Cialembron_ contains some ancient
inscriptions with Indian characters: and these
serve as a certain proof that the old Indians had
characters peculiar to themselves; for the coast
of Coromandel was never under the dominion of the
Greeks. _A._

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[219] Lib. viii. cap. 10.

[220] Hist. Indica, cap. 10.

[221] See _Herbelot. Bibl. Orient._ p. 206 and 456.
_Oberlin. Litterarum omnis Ævi Fata._ Argent. 1789.
Tab. I. _Traité des plus belles Bibliothèques de
l’Europe_, p. 33. and Sketches of the History,
Religion and Learning of the Hindoos, p. 92 and 93.

[222] A certain kind of white East Indian chintz.

[223] It is indeed true, that a great part of the gold
and silver brought from Brasil and Spanish America,
passes first into the hands of the industrious
Norlanders for timber, iron, flax, hemp, linen, and
other merchandize; and then goes to China and the
East Indies for articles of luxury, drugs, &c. But
England, at any rate, does not lose much, as it
draws large revenues from its extensive possessions
in India, and has in its hands almost the whole
trade of that part of the world. _F._

[224] Lib. vi. cap. 17, et 22.

[225] This observation of the author does not display
much penetration. Commerce is the bond which unites
the most distant nations with each other. Without
trade our artists and manufacturers would have much
less employment; and much less opportunity would be
afforded them for exercising their ingenuity and
invention. Ignorance and want of mental culture
prevail in all those countries which are contented
with their own productions. Providence requires more
general benevolence, and less selfishness among men;
and the only means for accomplishing that end, are
the arts and manufactures, navigation and trade.
They are indeed shamefully abused; but the friends
of humanity ought to cherish a hope, that good will
one day arise from this evil. _F._

[226] In the observations with which the author begins
this chapter, he hazards assertions very erroneous.
The intense heat in the tropical regions is
destructive both to men and to animals. At Calcutta,
which lies at a considerable distance from the line,
wild pigeons sometimes drop down dead at noon,
while flying over the market-place. People who
are then employed in any labour, such as writers
in the service of the East India Company, whose
correspondence often will not admit of delay, sit
naked immersed up to the neck in large vessels, into
which cold water is continually pumped by slaves
from a well. Such a country cannot be favourable to
health or longevity. What are properly called the
northern regions, are also a wretched and melancholy
residence for the human race. It is only a moderate
climate, such as that of Greece, Italy, and other
countries lying under the same latitude, that can
exalt men’s ideas, and produce the utmost degree of
happiness. These gave birth to those illuminating
rays which have contributed to the improvement of
the human mind; and which, diffused thence to colder
climates, still exercise their beneficent influence.
_F._

[227] How the Marsians, a people long settled in Italy,
should be here introduced among the Cimbri, the
Teutones and the Huns, is to me incomprehensible.
They inhabited their country so long that they might
be considered as the first people by whom it was
cultivated. Their history may be seen in a very
scarce book, entitled _Mutii Phœbonii Marsi Historia
Marsorum_, Napoli 1678, 4to. _F._

[228] On this very just assertion of Hippocrates, which is
confirmed by Camper, some of our modern philosophers
have founded their system of different races;
according to which, the negroes are incapable of
possessing moral qualities, and exhibit certain
proofs of it in their looks. I have, however, seen
thousands of these men, against whom so partial a
sentence has been passed, and could observe nothing
of the kind in their countenances, which often
displayed great benevolence. Climate, manner of
life, clothing, food, and other circumstances alter
the soft parts of the body, as well as the features
of the face; and the solid parts even, from the same
causes, assume gradually a different form. Thus
whole tribes acquire a peculiar cast of visage;
and the shape, size, and turn of the body become
changed. But this cannot destroy the powers of the
mind, the passions, and the moral qualities, which
alone constitute the character and the valuable part
of man. _F._

[229] The sedentary mode of life which prevailed among
the higher classes of the Grecian women formerly
occasioned diseases of the like kind. In the history
of the Argives, about the time of Megapenthes,
we find that their women, on account of their
sedentary life, occasioned by their spinning,
weaving, embroidering, and other labours of the like
kind, and perhaps also by impure air in confined
apartments, and by the use of wine, brought on
disorders which had some resemblance to the real
_Tarantismus_ (not that occasioned by the bite
of the tarantula). Bias, and Melampus the son of
Amythares, were celebrated for curing this disease.
Music and songs sung by handsome young men, kind
treatment, and perhaps also dancing, brought back to
Argos all the women, who had wandered to the forests
and mountains. _F._

[230] See _Lettre à M. Sonnerat à l’Isle de France, de
l’Imprimerie Royale 1784_, chap. vi. p. 102.

[231] The _Bangue_ is nothing else than our hemp, the
leaves of which, when smoked, have an intoxicating
quality. _F._

[232] See _Tractatio medico-practica de Lue Venerea,
Hermanni Boerhaave_, Lugd. Bat. 1751.

[233] From the name Malabar china, I suspect that the
_Vèppa_ is the _Swietenia febrifuga_, five _rubra_,
lately made known by Dr. Roxburgh. _F._

[234] Perhaps the _Averrhoa carambola_ LINN. _F._

[235] Perhaps the root of the _Cissampelos pareira_ L.

[236] This kind of plums are produced by the _Phyllanthus
Emblica_ L.

[237] See Rheede _Hort. Malabar_. vol. i. t. 57. What the
author here says is incorrect. The wild cinnamon is
the bark of the _Karuvà_, and is the _Laurus Cassia_
L. On the other hand, the true _Cassia lignea_ is
the _Katou Karuà_ in the _Hort. Malab._ vol. v. t.
53, and the _Laurus Malabathrum_ L. _F._

[238] In the _Hort. Malab._ vol. vi. p. 19. and in the
System _Guilandina Moringa_ L. _F._

[239] Amomum Curcuma LINN.

[240] Perhaps the _Melissa officinalis_ L. or our common
balm. _F._

[241] This sensitive plant, according to every appearance,
is a _Mimosa casta_ LIN. _F._

[242] The _Vayambu_ of Rheede, _Hort. Malab._ vol. xi. t.
60, is the _Acorus calamus_ LIN. _F._

[243] Lib. xii. cap. 5.

[244] Lib. xiv. cap. 38.

[245] The author probably here means the order of
Cincinnatus. _F._

[246] All these are now in the hands of the British
government.

[247] This kingdom, as well as the capital of the same
name, was called by the old geographers _Candia_;
but the more modern give it the name of _Candy_. The
translator, however, has adhered to the orthography
of the author.

[248] Lib. vi. cap. 23.

[249] An account of Thibet by Father Giuseppe, chief
of the mission, may be found in the _Asiatic
Researches_. There is also a letter on the same
subject in the _Philosophical Transactions_. _F._

[250] This tree produces a singular kind of berries, which
taste and smell as if a great number of spices were
mixed together. _A._

[251] According to the author’s description we might be
induced to believe that there were burning volcanoes
among these mountains of Africa; but on the southern
coast there are no volcanoes, and the flames seen by
the author arose from the dry grass which the wild
inhabitants of these districts are accustomed to set
on fire. _F._

[252] As the whale is viviparous, and nourishes its young
from the milk vessels which lie on each side of the
matrix, the above substance cannot be the spawn
of the whale. It is rather, as I know from my own
researches, the embryo or eggs of the sea-nettle.
_F._

[253] These fruits do not grow in the interior parts,
but in districts which have been cultivated by the
Europeans, particularly German and French settlers.
The case is the same with the beautiful oranges
and the vines from Schiras, which grow on the
plantations of Constantia. _F._

[254] On the side of the island opposite to the harbour,
where ships generally anchor, or E. by S. there is
a high mountain, which, according to its external
appearance, is of a calcareous nature, and which in
the year 1775 I actually found so. It produces a few
herbs, which afford a wretched support to the wild
goats. In a valley on this mountain there is also
a kind of spring, but it yields very little water.
To the north east of the anchoring place there was
also a spot amidst the volcanic flag, which was well
covered with grass. _F._

[255] The man-of-war bird (_Pelicanus Aquilus_ LINN.)
These birds are so careful of their eggs and
young, that, rather than desert them, they suffer
themselves to be caught by the hand. _F._

[256] I much doubt that these burning holes in the
northern mountains of India are real volcanoes. They
appear much rather to proceed from some inflammable
matter under the earth, like that at _Baku_ on
the Caspian Sea, arising from the remains of old
volcanoes. _F._

[257] See _Lettre à M. Sonnerat par Charpentier de
Cossigny, à l’Isle de France_, 1784, p. 58-60.

[258] It is remarkable that the northern lights should be
seen in so low a latitude as that of the Azores. I
have seen them in Prussia and England, but never in
any part of Europe so far to the south. _F._