perfect in the extreme. The plough merely scratches the ground; no idea is entertained of the advantages of a scientific rotation of crops; and manure is almost entirely neglected. The only part of Indian hubsandry which can edify an European observer, is irrigation, in effecting which considerable skill as well as industry is displayed. Ponds, tanks and reservoirs are formed on a large scale for retaining water, which is raised from the lower grounds into the higher, and small canals are dug for distributing it over the fields.

Manufactures. India has long been celebrated for her manu factures, particularly for cotton goods, which are distinguished into muslins and calicoes. Both are manufactured in almost all India, but particularly in Bengal and the northern part of the coast of Coromandel. These superb fabrics, the pride of the East, have by British skill and capital been produced more cheaply and abundantly, but by no means of equal richness, beauty and durability. Yet the Hindoos know nothing of that splendid machinery on which the science of Europe has been exhausted. The weaver is a mere insulated individual. His instruments are simple, and all made by himself. With his own hands he carries the cotton through all the processes preparatory to its being put into the loom. He has no sure vent for his commodity, but merely makes a web, as the tailor a coat, or the shoe-maker a pair of shoes, when a customer orders it.

Chief Towns.] The cities of Hindoostan are in general built on one plan, with very narrow and crooked streets, a great number of reservoirs for water, and numerous gardens interpersed. The houses are variously built, some of brick, others of mud, and still more of bamboos and mats.

The following are the principal towns in Gangetic Hindoostan. 1. Calcutta, the capital of all the British possessions in India, and one of the largest cities in the world, is on the E. bank of the Bhagirathi or Hoogly river, about 100 miles from the sea. It is a place of immense commerce in sugar, salt, silks, muslins, calicoes, opium, &c. and is inhabited by merchants from every part of Asia and Europe. The houses of the natives are generally mud cottages, but those of the English are splendid brick palaces. The population is estimated at more than 500,000. 2. Moorshedabad, formerly the capital of Bengal, is on the E. bank of the Bhagirathi river, about 120 miles above Calcutta. 3. Patna is a celebrated city on the S. bank of the Ganges 250 miles N. W. of Calcutta. The population is estimated at 500,000. 4 Benares, the ancient seat of Brahminical learning, is on the N. bank of the Ganges 120 miles W. of Patna. It is denominated "the Holy city," and the Hindoos conceive that a person dying here is certain of paradise, a notion which contributes to the increase of its population. The number of inhabitants is estimated at 580,000, and during the festivals the concourse is great beyond calculation. 5. Allahabad, situated at the junction of the Jumna with the Ganges, is resorted to every summer by multitudes of pilgrims from all parts of India. 6. Agra, on the Jumna, 800 miles N. W. of Cal

cutta, was at one time the capital of India and contained 600,000 inhabitants. It is still a populous city. 7. Delhi, on the Jumna, 150 miles N. W. of Agra, is the residence of the great Mogul, who is still nominally the emperor of Hindoostan, but in fact is reduced to a state of the most humilating dependence, his family and establishment being supported entirely by revenues allotted to him for that purpose by the British. 8. Hurdwar or Haridwar, situated 86 miles N. of Delhi, on the W. bank of the Ganges, near the place where it issues from the mountains, is celebrated for its annual festival and fair, at which pilgrims are collected from all parts of India and the neighboring countries. Every twelfth year the number is much greater than usual and has been estimated at 2,000,000. 9. Dacca, 180 miles N. E. of Calcutta, is the most cel ebrated place in India for the manufacture of muslins.

The following are the principal towns in Sindetic Hindoostan. 1. Moultan is a large town situated near the Chunab, one of the five rivers of the Punjab, in lat. 30° 20′ N. 2. Lahore, on the river Ravee, in lat. 31° 50′ N. lon. 73° 48′ E. was formerly the capital of Hindoostan, and the great Moguls expended large sums here in the erection of palaces and gardens. The population is estimated at 150,000. 3. Cashmere or Serinagur stands in a beautiful country on the river Jhylum, in lat. 34° 20′ N. lon. 73° 44′ E. The population is estimated at 150,000 or 200,000. 4. Attock, on the east bank of the Indus, is celebrated as the place where Alexander the Great, Tamerlane and Nadir Shah, crossed that river in their invasions of India.

Central Hindoostan contains the following large towns, 1. Cambay, at the head of the gulf of the same name. 2. Surat, on the S. bank of the Taptee, 12 miles from its mouth, is a place of great trade, and is celebrated as the port where the Mahometans of India embark on their pilgrimage to Mecca. The population is estimated at 500,000 and is composed of a great variety of nations. 3. Bombay, 170 miles south of Surat, is on a small island, separated from the continent by a narrow strait, and connected with the large island of Salsette by a causeway. It is the capital of all the British settlements in this part of India, and carries on an extensive commerce with various parts of Europe, Asia, and America. Ship building has also been recently carried on to a great extent, and the city has become one of the most important naval arsenals of the British. The population is estimated at 220,000, of whom about three-fourths are Hindoos, 8,000 Parsees, 8,000 Mahometans, and 3,000 or 4,000 Jews. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions have employed several missionaries in this city and its neighborhood since 1814. In 1819 they had translated the whole of the New Testament and a considerable part of the Old, into the Mahratta language, which is spoken not only in Bombay but by many millions on the neighboring continent. The schools established by the missionaaries contained in 1819 more than 1000 pupils. 4. Juggernaut, the seat of a famous Hindoo idol is on the coast of Orissa, in lat. 19° 49' N. More than 1,000,000 Hindoos annually visit the temple

at this place. Multitudes perish on their journey, and the country for 50 miles round is strewed with human bones and skulls.

The following towns are in Southern Hindoostan. 1. Madras, the capital of all the British possessions in the south of India, is situated in a low sandy plain on the coast of Coromandel in lat. 13° 5' N. It carries on an extensive trade with different parts of Asia and Africa; but suffers for want of a good harbor. The population is estimated at 300,000. 2. Arcot, the capital of the Carnatic, is on the Palar, 73 miles W. S. W. of Madras. 3. Seringapatam is on an island in the river Cavery, 290 miles west of Madras. It was formerly the capital of Mysore, and strongly fortified. The British took it by storm in 1799 after a short but celebrated siege. 4. Goa, the capital of all the Portuguese settlements in India, and once the seat of a noted Inquisition, is on the western coast in lat. 15° 30' N. 5. Travancore, the capital of the country of the same name, is near the southern extremity of Hindoostan. 6. Tanjore is situated in a plain between two arms of the Cavery 156 miles S. S. W. of Madras. 7. Pondicherry, on the coast of the Carnatic, in lat. 11° 56' N. is the capital of the French establishments in India. 8. Cochin is on an island on the western coast in lat. 9° 58′ N.

Religion.] The Hindoos generally believe in the existence of one Supreme God, whose attributes are described in the most sublime and lofty terms; they consider him, however, as taking no interest in the affairs of the universe, but fixed in perpetual repose. The government of the world devolves on the Triad, consisting of Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Siva, the destroyer. Vishnu is the most active member of the Triad, and has gone through a series of incarnations for the deliverance of the human race from various dreadful evils to which they have been exposed. Besides these, there are an innume. rable host of lesser deities, some of whom are personifications of the sun, moon and planets, and some are a rebel race who correspond nearly to the Giants and Titans of the Grecian mythology, and have often obtained a temporary possession of heaven. The cow is the object of the profoundest reverence, and most devout worship throughout all Hindoostan, and the monkey is much honored. The Ganges also is adored as a Deity; the sight of its waters purifies from the most heinous sins, and to die on its banks is a sure passport to heaven. In regard to a future state, the Hindoos believe that those rigid aseetics, who withdraw from the world and spend their lives in self-torture will attain the supreme felicity of being absorbed into the divine essence; while the souls of the less holy will transmigrate into the bodies of men and brutes.

Religious Customs.] Suicide and self-torture are regarded by the Hindooss as meritorious actions. They believe that whoever drowns himself in the Ganges or buries himself alive will be happy for ever. Formerly they sawed themselves to death; the saw being so constructed that the person wishing to sacritice himself,

would set it in motion with his feet, and instantly tear himself to pieces. Infanticide is very common, and in the west of India there is a race of Rajpoots, who put all their female children to death. It is estimated by Mr Ward that about 5,000 widows every year burn themselves to death on the funeral piles of their husbands. Self-torture is also practised in various ways. Sometimes the man stretches himself on a bed of spikes or of burning coals; sometimes he hangs in the air suspended on an iron hook, plunged through the flesh of his back, and sometimes he lies on the ground for years together, with his eyes open, gazing at the

sun.

Casts.] The Hindoos are divided into four casts or classes. 1. Bramins or priests. 2. Kshatryas or soldiers. 3. Vaisyas or merchants. 4. Sudras or laborers. These casts are all kept distinct and are not permited to intermarry, or even to eat and drink with each other. Each class is obliged to adhere rigidly to a series of minute and painful observances, otherwise a loss of cast would be incurred, which is much dreaded by the Hindoos, as it involves an exclusion from all the benefits and charities of life; the sufferers being viewed by their nearest friends as things utterly odious and abominable. These outcasts are called Pariahs, and are supposed now to constitute one fifth of the population of India.

Literature.] The literature of the Hindoos is founded entirely on their religion. The design of their serious works is to expound the doctrines and duties of religion, while their gay compositions narrate the exploits of their gods, goddesses and deified heroes. The sacred books are called Vedas; the Shastras are a commentary on the Vedas; and the Puranas contain the history of the gods. All these writings and all their poems are puerile and extravagant to the last degree. None of the sciences dependent on fact have any existence. History and geography are entirely unknown, and in astronomy the calculations are carried on by mechanical rules, without any idea of the principles upon which they depend.

Domestic Life. The Hindoos universally marry. A man at 25, and a female at 15, unmarried, would be considered as extraordinary phenomena. Women, however,are held in contempt; the idea of their being companions to the husband is out of the question. The husband who enters into familiar conversation with his wife, is despised even by herself. She is not even permitted to eat with him. In the event of the husband's death, the widow must for ever remain unmarried. On the other hand, when the wife dies, the husband loses not a moment in chusing a second partner.

Character.] The first impression made upon Europeans, by the Hindoos, was very favourable. The delicacy of their form, their polished and flattering address, the absence of all bustle and turbulence, joined to the display of pomp and wealth in their eourts, gave the idea of a refined and elegant people. A more intimate acquaintance, however, has proved that notwithstanding

this apparént politeness, entire selfishness forms the basis of their character. The love of money is the supreme idol of the Hindoo, and to obtain it he is unscrupulous to a degree of which no idea can be formed by an European. Throughout all India there is said to be scarcely such a thing as common honesty. Lying and deliberate perjury are also universal.

Population.] The population of Hindoostan is estimated by Mr. Hamilton at 101,000,000; including, however, the Hindoos subject to the king of Cabul, as well as the inhabitants of Bootan and Assam, who are tributary to the Chinese. The great mass of the population consists of Hindoos, but about one eighth part are Mahometans descended from the Arabs, Afghans and Tartars, who have at various periods conquered large portions of the country.

Mahrattas.] The Mahrattas are a warlike race of Hindoos, whose original seat was the country in the N. W. of the peninsula between the rivers Nerbuddah and Godavery, including the province of Khandeish with part of Berar and Aurungabad. This territory is of very uncommon natural strength, being everywhere interspersed with mountains and defiles, which are defended by forts, and cannot be penetrated without extreme difficulty by an invading army. The Mahrattas first began to make a figure in Indian history about 150 years since, and in the height of their power, their dominions extended as far south as the Kistna and north to the Ganges. They were recently divided into several tribes under independent chiefs, the most celebrated of whom were Scindia, Holkar and the Peishwa, all of whom have been subdued in their recent contests with the British, and reduced to a tributary and dependent condition. They still continue, however, to bite the curb, and are ever prepared, should occasion offer, to erect anew the standard of independence. Their troops consist entirely of horsemen.

Pindarees.] The Pindarees are another warlike race occupying the mountainous region along the north side of the Nerbuddah. They are intimately connected with the Mahrattas, but differ from them in their faith, which is that of zealous Mahometans. Plunder has always been extensively practised by the Mahrattas, but the Pindarees are robbers on a great scale.

Seiks.] The Seiks are a new religious sect, who originated in the fifteenth century, and now occupy the province of Lahore in the N. W. of India, together with the western half of Delhi and a part of Moultan. Their religion is pure Deism, the founder of the sect intending to unite the Mahometans and Hindoos by dwelling on those points in which they both agreed. They are warlike and, it is said, can bring 100,000 horsemen into the field.

Syriac Christians.] The province of Travancore, at the southern extremity of Hindoostan, is peculiarly interesting, as the residence of the Syriac Christians, who it is supposed, were converted by the apostle St. Thomas. They have preserved the institutions of Christianity in a considerable degree of purity, although surrounded for ages by the darkest idolatry and wickedness. They were discovered by Dr. Buchanan in 1806, and the English have 66