but retired to a greater distance, where they anxiously waited the signal for skinning and cutting up the slain, for with them the fat of a tiger is a panacea; the tongue dried and pulverized a sovereign specific in nervous cases, and every part applicable to some use; even the whiskers they deem a deadly poison, und most anxiously, but secretly, seek them, as the means, in drink, of certain destruction to an enemy.

THE ZINORE COUNTRY.

In the Zinore purgunna, a country little known in the annals of Hindostan, I saw human nature almost in primitive simplicity, but far removed from the savage condition of the Indians of America, or the natives of the South-sea islands. The state of civil society in which the Hindoos are united in those remote situations, seems to admit of no change or amelioration. The brahmins pass their lives in listless indolence with in the precincts of the temples, with little profit either to themselves or the community. Among the inferior castes, whose minds are uncultivated, and who have no communication with the rest of the world, I found it next to an impossibility to introduce a single improvement in agriculture, building, or any useful art or science. In any nation, where the art of printing is unknown, and no books are introduced, the higher classes can enjoy but little intellectual pleasure. I sometimes frequented places where the natives had never seen an European, and were ignorant of every thing concerns ing us there I beheld inanners and cus. toms simple as were those in the patriarchal age; there, in the very style of Rebecca and the damsels of Mesopotamia, the Hindoo villagers treated me with that artless hospitality so delightful in the poems of Homer, and other ancient records. On a sultry day, near a Zinore village, having rode faster than my attendants, while waiting their arrival under a tamarind tree, a young woman came to the well; I asked for a little water, but neither of us having a drinking vessel, she hastily left me, as I imagined, to bring an earthen cap for the purpose, as I should have polluted a vessel of metal; but as Jael, when Sisera asked for water, gave him milk, and "brought forth butter in a lordly dish," so did this village damsel, with more sin cerity than Heber's wife, bring me a pot of milk, and a lump of butter on the delicate leaf of the banana, "the lordly dish of the induos. The former I

gladly accepted; on my declining the latter, she immediately made it up into two balls, and gave one to each of the oxen that drew my hackery. Butter is a luxury to these animals, and enables them to bear additional fatigue.

The more I saw of the Hindoos in those remote districts, the more I perceived the truth of Orme's remark, that Hindostan has been inhabited from the earliest antiquity, by a people who have no resemblance, either in their figure, or manners, with any of the nations contiguous to them; and that although conquerers have established themselves at differeut times, in various parts of India, yet the original inhabitants have lost very little of their original character.

Those towns on the banks of the Nerbudda, so famous for brahmin seminaries, contain numerous schools for the education of other boys; these are generally in the open air, on the shady side of the house. The scholars sit on mats, or cow-dung floors, and are taught as much of religion as their caste admits of; also reading, writing, and arithmetic; the two latter by marking letters and figures in sand upon the floor. Education, like every thing else among the Hindoos, is extremely simple: that of the girls is generally confined to domestic employments.

Near Zinore were several monuments in memory of those devotees, so often mentioned, who bury themselves alive, in hopes of expiating their sins, or of pleasing the destructive powers by such a sacrifice; and under the lofty banks of the Nerbudda, as on the shore of the Ganges, I was told the Hindoos some times drown their sick and aged parents, In this respect they certainly act directly contrary to our ideas of filial affection, and common humanity; but I am willing to hope it proceeds from a good motive, Similar customs prevailed in many ancient netions.

In the out-skirts of Zinore, separated from all other inhabitants of the town, were a number of poor Chandalans, the outcasts of society; objects of compassion to every thinking mind, from the deprivations and degradations they are compelled to submit to by impolitic and inhuman laws. Their condition appears the more humiliating, when contrasted with the luxurious brahmins, in their calm recesses, surrounded by the ramjannees, and every kind of indulgence allowed to their privileged caste: the une pampered by voluptuous indulence,

the

CHANDODE.

No place in the western provinces of Hindostan is reputed so holy as Chandode; none at least exceed it; its temples and seminaries almost vie with the fanes of Jaggernaut, and colleges of Benares. Two thirds of the inhabitants are brahmins and devotees of various descriptions: Hindoos of every caste from all parts of Guzerat, and pilgrims from a greater distance, resort thither, at stated festivals, to bathe in the Nerbudda, and perform their religious ceremonies on its sacred banks; every temple has its respective images, every burr tree its holy lingam, or tutelary deity. There the brahmins seem to be almost idolized, and inflated with the appellation given them in the code of Menu, of " something transcendantly divine." Such may they be thought by their deluded disciples; to other observers their earthly origin is sufficiently conspicuous. My duty led me thither on occasional visits to collect the Company's share of the revenue in their holy districts. I lived near four years within a few miles of the solemn groves where those voJuptuous devotees pass their lives with the ramjannees, or dancing-girls attached to the temples, in a sort of luxurious superstition and sanctified indolence unknowu in colder climates.

BURIAL SERVICE.

During the funeral ceremony, which is solemn and affecting, the brahmins address the respective elements in words to the following purport: although there may be a different mode of performing these religious rites in other parts of Hindostan.

O EARTH! to thee we commend our brother; of thee he was formed; by thee he was sustained; and unto thee he now returns!

O FIRE! thou hadst a claim in our brother; during his life he subsisted by thy influence in nature; to thee we commit his body; thou emblem of purity, may his spirit be purified on entering a new state of existence!

O AIR! while the breath of life continued, our brother respired by thee: his last breath is now departed; to thee we yield him!

O WATER! thou didst contribute to the life of our brother; thou wert one of his sustaining clements. His remains are now dispersed: receive thy share of

flight.

GENERAL CASTS.

I have occasionally mentioned the most striking features in the moral and religious character of the Hindoos. It would be endless to enter into the various shades of caste and different ceremo. nials observed among them; nor are they of importance to an English reader. One doctrine which I have not particu. larly adverted to, has the greatest pos sible influence among all the eastes, and keeps them in that extraordinary state of distinction and subordination which forms their peculiar characteristic; it is that the four grand divisions, or castes, proceeded from Brahma, the creating power, in the following manner: The brahmin issued from the mouth, implying WISDOM; to pray, to read, and to instruct. The chetleree proceeded from the arms, implying STRENGTH; to draw the bow, to fight, and to govern. The bice came from the belly or thighs, which implies NOURISHMENT; these must provide the necessaries of life by agriculture and commerce. The sooder came from the feet, which means SUB JECTION; these are born to labour, and

HUMAN SOUL.

It was a prevailing idea with the Grecian and Roman philosophers, and, as is often mentioned in these memoirs, it is equally so among the enlightened BRAHMINS, that the spirit of man origi nally canates from the GREAT SOUL OF BEING, the Divine Spirit; and when, by the inevitable stroke of death, it quits its tenement of clay, it is again absorbed into the immensity of the Deity. This, they taught, was to be the final state of the virtuous, while the souls of the wicked were doomed to punishments proportionate to their crimes.

Sir William Jones, and other oriental writers on the Hindoo mythology, agree with the narrations of Bernier, Chardin, La Cioze, and many celebrated travellers in former days, as to the brahminical faith in the purity and sublimity of Oue Supreme Being, under the name of Brahma, or the Great One; "that he is the spirit of wisdom, the universal sout that penetrates every thing; `that God is as upon a sea without bounds; that those who wish to approach him, must appease the agitation of the waves; that they must be of a tranquil and

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estimation; sacred and profane writers extol their beauty and value; the Romans, under their luxurious emperors, carried this extravagant superauity to the utmost prodigality. Diamonds with them do not appear to have been in so much request as pearls, of which they possessed some immensely valuable; oue, presented by Julius Cæsar to Servilia, the mother of Brutus, cost him forty-eight thousand pounds ster. ling. The celebrated pearl ear-rings of Cleopatra were valued at one hundred and sixty thousand pounds.

AURUNCABAD.

From Petwah we travelled over a tract of land, once filled with crowded streets and populous mansions, now a cultivated plain, covered with trees and verdure, unless where a falling mosque or mouldering palace reminded us of its former state. These ruins increased as we drew nearer the city, until at length we travelled through acres of desolation. An universal silence reigned; nothing indicated our approach to a capital, nor did we meet with "one sad bistorian of the mournful plain," without the gates of Almedabad !'

QVIB.

Et seges est ubi Troja fuit. or rather let me quote a similar scene in the expressive language of the prophetical writings, of a city still more magnificent than either Troy or the capital of Guzerat, that it should be. come a heap of ruins, a dwelling-place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant; the wild beasts of the desert should be there, and the houses full of doleful creatures; the owls should dwell in their habitations, and the satyrs dance in their pleasant places. Such is now the desolation round the circumscribed walls of All medabad; it is literally the resort of tigers, hyenas, and jackals; the abode of monkeys, guanas, serpents, and noxious reptiles!

princely structure are mouldering into dust, and some parts quite obliterated!

We first entered by a lofty gateway in to a vast area called the Jellougah, or the place where the imperial guards paraded; the gates here, as in most other oriental palaces and cities, being intended for the admission of state elephants, with the exalted houdar on their backs, are on a large scale, and add much to the general grandeur. From the Jellougah we ascended a noble flight of steps into another spacious court, on the western side of which was the duan aum, or public hall of audience, and opposite to it the nobat khani, or music-gallery. On approaching the hall of audience, a timid hare started from the spot where stood the musnud of Aurangzebe; that throne where the proudest monarch in the world was seated in all his glory! The throne was elevated in the most conspicuous part of this superb hall; the hall itself was filled with ameers of the first distinction, and the spacious court crowded with haughty warriors, and other nobles, while the air echoed with the swelling notes from the nobat khani, and the voices of the chopdars and heralds loudly proclaiming, "May the king of the world live for ever!" From that throne, which the proudest nobles then approached with awe and palpitas tion, now sprang forth a terrified little hare!

THE TAJE MAHAL.*

This grand mausoleum, which stands due north and south, on the southern bank of the river Jumna, was built by command of the Emperor Shah Jehan for the interment of his favourite sultana Momtaz mehl, or Montazal Zamani, the "Pre-eminent in the seraglio, or Paragoz of the age," and at his death his remains

Taje Mabal, standing due north and south, on the southern bank of the river Jumma, was built by command of the Em peror Shah Jehan, for the interment of his

eminent, or mics noncmed of the seraglio; or Momtaz al Zusani, superior of the age; both having been the tiles of the empress.

is mausoleum is commonly called Taje Gunse, or Tuje Makat, meaning the repository, or the abode of the diadem, alluding allegorically to her as the most brilliant gem of the seraglio. The word scraglio being an Italianization of serah, ov mohl strah, signifying the female apartments held sacred amongst the Mahomedans. The posthumous title of the empress was Mehd Aaica, which means "Reposing in Heaven."

were also here deposited, by order of his son Aurangzebe.

This building, in point of design and execution, is one of the most extensive, elegant, commodious, and perfect works that was ever undertaken and finished by one man. To this celebrated architect the emperor Shah Jehan gave the title of Zerreer dust, or Jewel-handed, to distinguish him from all other artists.

It is built entirely of pure white mar ble, on an immense square platform of the same material, having a lofty minaret of equal beauty at every corner. On each side, and behind the imperial mau soleum, is a suit of elegant apartments also of white marble, highly decorated with coloured stones. The tombs and other principal parts of this vast fabric are inlaid with wreaths of flowers and foliage in their natural colours, entirely composed of cornelians, onyxes, verdantique, lapis-lazuli, and every variety of agates, so admirably finished as to have rather the appearance of an ivory model set with jewels.

It was commenced in the fifth year of the reign of the emperor Shah Jehan, and the whole completed in sixteen years, four months, and twenty-one days. It cost ninety-eight lacks, or nine millions eight hundred and fifteen thousand rupees, equal to one million two hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds sterling: although the price of labour then was, and still continues to be, very reasonable in India.

AHMEDABAD.

The imperial city of Ahmedabad is situated in the latitude of 23° north, and in 72° 37' east longitude, and is built on the banks of the river Saber. matty, which washes its western walls. From being formerly one of the largest capitals in the east, it is now only five miles and three quarters in circumference, surrounded by a high wall, with irregular towers every fifty yards, in the usual style of Indian fortifications; there are twelve principal gates, and several smaller sally-ports.

On every side, nodding minarets, decaying palaces, and mouldering aque ducts, indicate the former magnificence of Ahmedabad. It was then enriched by commerce, peopled by industry, and adorned by wealth. Long wars, unstable and oppressive governments, and the fluctuations of human establishments, have brought it to state of decay from which it seems doomed never to reCover.

MONTHLY MAG. No. 250.

Ahmedabad, like other proud capitals, seemed hastening to its dissolution; from covering an extcut of thirty miles, it had dwindled to less than six; much of that space, even within the walls, was covered with rains, or appropriated to corn-fields and fruit-gardens. Some of the streets were broad, but not planted with rows of trees, as mentioned by Mandesloe, and other travellers; neither are they paved. The triumphal arches, or three united gates, in the principal streets, with the grand entrance to the durbar, still remain. The mosques and palaces of the Pattaus still give evidence of their original magnificence. streets were spacious and regular; the temples, aqueducts, fountains, caravansaries, and courts of justice, well ar ranged. Commerce, art, and science, met with every encouragement; when a splendid court was kept in this city, it was then the resort of merchants, artists, and travellers of every description; it now exhibits solitude, poverty, and

desolation!

MOGUL NEWSPAPERS.

The

In Ahmedabad, as in most other large oriental cities, are a sort of news-wri ters, or gazetteers, who at midnight record all the transactions of the preceding day, and send them off by express halcarras, or messengers, to their correspondents in distant provinces. During the splendour of the Mogul government, in the capital of every district, the emperor maintained a gazetteer, am historiographer, and a spy, to collect and record the occurrences of the day; and immediately to transmit them to a pub. lic officer at the imperial court, who laid such as were of importance before. the sovereign.

two

MOGUL SUMMER PALACE. Among other excursions from Ahme dabad, we spent a delightful day at ShuhBauhg, or the royal garden, a summer palace two miles from the city, pleasantly situated on the banks of the Sa bermatty. Although built near hundred years before by the emperor Shah Jehan, when sultan Currim, viceroy of Guzerat, it was still in excellent repair. The saloon, spacious and lofty as the building, was a fine room; the wall covered with sheli chunam, a white stucco, polished like the finest marble, and the ceiling painted in small compart ments with much taste. The angular recesses led to eight small octagon rooms, four below and as many above, with separate stairs to each; they are fi 4 I

nished