NOTES.

{141}

_The Banian Tree._--XIII. p. 4.

The _Burghut_, or Banian, often measures from twenty-four to thirty feet

in girth. It is distinguished from every other tree hitherto known, by

the very peculiar circumstance of throwing out roots from all its

branches. These, being pendant, and perfectly lax, in time reach the

ground, which they penetrate, and ultimately become substantial props to

the very massy horizontal boughs, which, but for such a support, must

either be stopt in their growth, or give way, from their own weight.

Many of these _quondam_ roots, changing their outward appearance from a

brown rough rind to a regular bark, not unlike that of the beech,

increase to a great diameter. They may be often seen from four to five

feet in circumference, and {142} in a true perpendicular line. An

observer, ignorant of their nature, might think them artificial, and

that they had been placed for the purpose of sustaining the boughs from

which they originated. They proceed from all the branches

indiscriminately, whether near or far removed from the ground. They

appear like new swabs, such as are in use on board ships: however, few

reach sufficiently low to take a hold of the soil, except those of the

lower branches. I have seen some do so from a great height, but they

were thin, and did not promise well. Many of the ramifications pendant

from the higher boughs are seen to turn round the lower branches, but

without any obvious effect on either; possibly, however, they may derive

sustenance, even from that partial mode of communication. The height of

a full-grown Banian may be from sixty to eighty feet; and many of them,

I am fully confident, cover at least two acres. Their leaves are similar

to, but rather larger than those of the laurel. The wood of the trunk is

used only for fuel; it is light and brittle; but the pillars formed by

the roots are valuable, being extremely elastic and light, working with

ease, and possessing great toughness: it resembles a good kind of

ash.--_Oriental Field Sports_, vol. ii. p. 113.

{143}

----_The Well_

_Which they, with sacrifice of rural pride,_

_Have wedded to the Cocoa-Grove beside._--XIII. p. 5.

It is a general practice, that, when a plantation is made, a well should

be dug at one of its sides. The well and the tope are married; a

ceremony at which all the village attends, and in which often much money

is expended. The well is considered as the husband, as its waters, which

are copiously furnished to the young trees during the first hot season,

are supposed to cherish and impregnate them. Though vanity and

superstition are evidently the basis of these institutions, yet we

cannot help admiring their effects, so beautifully ornamenting a torrid

country, and affording such general convenience.--_Oriental Sports_, p.

10.

_Tanks._--XIII. p. 5.

Some of these tanks are of very great extent, often covering eight or

ten acres; and, besides having steps of masonry, perhaps fifty or sixty

feet in breadth, are faced with brick-work, plastered in the most

substantial manner. The corners are generally ornamented with round or

polygon pavilions of a neat appearance.--_Oriental Sports_, vol. ii. p.

116.

{144}

There are two kinds of tanks, which we confound under one common name,

though nothing can be more different. The first is the _Eray_, which is

formed by throwing a mound or bank across a valley or hollow ground, so

that the rain water collects in the upper part of the valley, and is let

out on the lower part by sluices, for the purposes of cultivation. The

other kind is the _Culam_, which is formed by digging out the earth, and

is destined for supplying the inhabitants with water for domestic

purposes. The _Culams_ are very frequently lined on all the four sides

with cut stone, and are the most elegant works of the

natives.--BUCHANAN.

Where there are no springs or rivers to furnish them with water, as it

is in the northern parts, where there are but two or three springs, they

supply this defect by saving of rain water; which they do by casting up

great banks in convenient places, to stop and contain the rains that

fall, and so save it till they have occasion to let it out into the

fields: They are made rounding, like a C, or half-moon. Every town has

one of these ponds, which, if they can get but filled with water, they

count their corn is as good as in the barn. It was no small work to the

ancient inhabitants to make all these banks, of which there is a great

number, being some two, some three fathoms in height, and in length some

above a mile, some {145} less, not all of a size. They are now grown

over with great trees, and so seem natural hills. When they would use

the water, they cut a gap in one end of the bank, and so draw the water

by little and little, as they have occasion, for the watering their

corn.

These ponds, in dry weather, dry up quite. If they should dig these

ponds deep, it would not be so convenient for them. It would indeed

contain the water well, but would not so well, nor in such plenty, empty

out itself into their grounds. In these ponds are alligators, which,

when the water is dried up, depart into the woods, and down to the

rivers, and, in the time of rains, come up again into the ponds. They

are but small, nor do use to catch people, nevertheless they stand in

some fear of them.

The corn they sow in these parts is of that sort that is soonest ripe,

fearing lest their waters should fail. As the water dries out of these

ponds, they make use of them for fields, treading the mud with

buffaloes, and then sowing rice thereon, and frequently casting up water

with scoops on it.--KNOX, p. 9.

_The Lotus._--XIII. p. 5.

The lotus abounds in the numerous lakes and ponds of the province of

Garah; and we had the pleasure of comparing {146} several varieties;

single and full, white, and tinged with deep or with faint tints of red.

To a near view, the simple elegance of the white lotus gains no

accession of beauty from the multiplication of its petals, nor from the

tinge of gaudy hue; but the richest tint is most pleasing, when a lake,

covered with full-blown lotas, is contemplated.--_Journey from Mirzapur

to Nagpur_.--Asiatic Annual Register, 1806.

_They built them up a Bower, &c._--XIII. p. 5.

The materials of which these houses are made are always easy to be

procured, and the structure is so simple, that a spacious, and by no

means uncomfortable dwelling, suited to the climate, may be erected in

one day. Our habitation, consisting of three small rooms, and a hall

open to the north, in little more than four hours was in readiness for

our reception; fifty or sixty labourers completed it in that time, and

on emergency could perform the work in much less. Bamboos, grass for

thatching, and the ground rattan, are all the materials requisite: not a

nail is used in the whole edifice: A row of strong bamboos, from eight

to ten feet high, are fixed firm in the ground, which describe the

outline, and are the supporters of the building: smaller bamboos are

then tied horizontally, by strips of the ground rattan, to these upright

posts: {147} The walls, composed of bamboo mats, are fastened to the

sides with similar ligatures: bamboo rafters are quickly raised, and a

roof formed, over which thatch is spread in regular layers, and bound to

the roof by filaments of rattan. A floor of bamboo grating is next laid

in the inside, elevated two or three feet above the ground: this grating

is supported on bamboos, and covered with mats and carpets. Thus ends

the process, which is not more simple than effectual. When the workmen

take pains, a house of this sort is proof against very inclement

weather. We experienced, during our stay at Meeday, a severe storm of

wind and rain, but no water penetrated, nor thatch escaped: and if the

tempest should blow down the house, the inhabitants would run no risk of

having, their brains knocked out, or their bones broken; the fall of the

whole fabric would not crush a lady's lap-dog.--SYMES's _Embassy to

Ava_.

_Jungle-grass._--XIII. p. 6.

In this district the long grass called jungle is more prevalent than I

ever yet noticed. It rises to the height of seven or eight feet, and is

topped with a beautiful white down, resembling a swan's feather. It is

the mantle with which nature here covers all the uncultivated ground,

and at once veils the indolence of the people and the nakedness {148} of

their land. It has a fine shewy appearance, as it undulates in the wind,

like the waves of the sea. Nothing but the want of greater variety to

its colour prevents it from being one of the finest and most beautiful

objects in that rich store of productions with which nature

spontaneously supplies the improvident natives.--TENNANT.

_In such libations, pour'd in open glades,_

_Beside clear streams and solitary shades,_

_The Spirits of the virtuous dead delight._--XIII. p. 6.

The Hindoos are enjoined by the _Veds_ to offer a cake, which is called

_Peenda_, to the ghosts of their ancestors, as far back as the third

generation. This ceremony is performed on the day of the new moon in

every month. The offering of water is in like manner commanded to be

performed daily; and this ceremony is called _Tarpan_, to satisfy, to

appease. The souls of such men as have left children to continue their

generation, are supposed to be transported, immediately upon quitting

their bodies, into a certain region called the _Peetree Log_, where they

may continue in proportion to their former virtues, provided these

ceremonies be not neglected; otherwise they are precipitated into

_Nark_, and doomed to be born again in the bodies of unclean beasts; and

until, by repeated {149} regenerations, all their sins are done away,

and they attain such a degree of perfection as will entitle them to what

is called _Mooktee_, eternal salvation, by which is understood a release

from future transmigration, and an absorption in the nature of the

godhead, who is called Brahm.--WILKINS. _Note to the Bhagvat Geeta_.

The divine names are always pleased with an oblation in empty glades,

naturally clean, on the banks of rivers, and in solitary spots.--_Inst.

of Menu_.

_Voomdavee._--XIII. p. 7.

This wife of Veeshnoo is the Goddess of the Earth and of Patience. No

direct adoration is paid her; but she is held to be a silent and

attentive spectator of all that passes in the world.--KINDERSLEY.

_Tassel Grass._--XIII. p. 8.

The _Surput_, or tassel-grass, which is much the same as the

guinea-grass, grows to the height of twelve or fourteen feet. Its stem

becomes so thick as to resemble in some measure a reed. It is very

strong, and grows very luxuriantly: it is even used as a fence against

cattle; for which purpose it is often planted on banks, excavated from

ditches, to enclose fields of corn, &c. It grows wild in all the

uncultivated parts of India, but especially in the {150} lower

provinces, in which it occupies immense tracts; sometimes mixing with,

and rising above coppices; affording an asylum for elephants,

rhinoceroses, tygers, &c. It frequently is laid by high winds, of which

breeding sows fail not to take advantage, by forming their nests, and

concealing their young under the prostrate grass.--_Oriental Sports_,

vol. i. p. 32.

_Lo, from his trunk, upturn'd, aloft he flings_

_The grateful shower, and now,_

_Plucking the broad-leav'd bough_

_Of yonder plane,--he moves it to and fro._--XIII. p. 9.

Nature has provided the elephant with means to cool its heated surface,

by enabling it to draw from its throat, by the aid of its trunk, a

copious supply of saliva, which the animal spurts with force very

frequently all over its skin. It also sucks up dust, and blows it over

its back and sides, to keep off the flies, and may often be seen fanning

itself with a large bough, which it uses with great ease and

dexterity.--_Oriental Sports_, vol. i. p. 100.

_Till his strong temples, bathed with sudden dews,_

_Their fragrance of delight and love diffuse._--XIII p. 9.

The Hindoo poets frequently allude to the fragrant juice which oozes, at

certain seasons, from small ducts {151} in the temples of the male

elephant, and is useful in relieving him from the redundant moisture,

with which he is then oppressed; and they even describe the bees as

allured by the scent, and mistaking it for that of the sweetest flowers.

When Crishna visited Sanc'ha-dwip, and had destroyed the demon who

infested that delightful country, he passed along the bank of a river,

and was charmed with a delicious odour, which its waters diffused in

their course: He was eager to view the source of so fragrant a stream,

but was informed by the natives that it flowed from the temples of an

elephant, immensely large, milk-white, and beautifully formed; that he

governed a numerous race of elephants; and that the odoriferous fluid

which exuded from his temples in the season of love had formed the

river; that the Devas, or inferior gods, and the Apsarases, or nymphs,

bathed and sported in its waters, impassioned and intoxicated with the

liquid perfume.--WILFORD. _Asiatic Researches_.

_The antic monkeys, whose wild gambols late_

_Shook the whole wood._--XIII. p. 10.

They are so numerous on the island of Bulama, says Captain Beaver in his

excellent book, that I have seen, on a calm evening, when there was not

an air sufficiently strong to agitate a leaf, the whole surrounding wood

{152} in as much motion, from their playful gambols among its branches,

as if it had blown a strong wind.

_Not that in emulous skill that sweetest bird_

_Her rival strain would try._--XIII. p. 10.

I have been assured, by a credible eye-witness, that two wild antelopes

used often to come from their woods to the place where a more savage

beast, Sirajuddaulah, entertained himself with concerts, and that they

listened to the strains with an appearance of pleasure, till the

monster, in whose soul there was no music, shot one of them, to display

his archery. A learned native of this country told me that he had

frequently seen the most venomous and malignant snakes leave their

holes, upon hearing tunes on a flute, which, as he supposed, gave them

peculiar delight. An intelligent Persian, who repeated his story again

and again, and permitted me to write it down from his lips, declared, he

had more than once been present when a celebrated lutanist, _Mirza

Mohammed_, surnamed _Bulbul_, was playing to a large company, in a grove

near _Shiraz_, where he distinctly saw the nightingales trying to vie

with the musician; sometimes warbling on the trees, sometimes fluttering

from branch to branch, as if they wished to approach the instrument

whence the melody proceeded, and at length dropping on {153} the ground,

in a kind of ecstacy, from which they were soon raised, he assured me,

by a change of the mode. I hardly know, says Sir William Jones, how to

disbelieve the testimony of men who had no system of their own to

support, and could have no interest in deceiving me.--_Asiatic

Researches_.

_No idle ornaments deface_

_Her natural grace._--XIII. p. 10.

The Hindoo Wife, in Sir William Jones's poem, describes her own

toilet-tasks:--

Nor were my night thoughts, I confess,

Free from solicitude for dress;

How best to bind my flowing hair

With art, yet with an artless air,--

My hair, like musk in scent and hue,

Oh! blacker far, and sweeter too!

In what nice braid, or glossy curl,

To fix a diamond or a pearl,

And where to smooth the love-spread toils

With nard or jasmin's fragrant oils;

How to adjust the golden _Teic_,[30]

And most adorn my forehead sleek;

{154}

What _Condals_[31] should emblaze my ears,

Like _Seita's_[32] waves, or _Seita's_[33] tears;

How elegantly to dispose

Bright circlets for my well-form'd nose;

With strings of rubies how to deck,

Or emerald rows, my stately neck;

While some that ebon tower embraced,

Some pendent sought my slender waist;

How next my purfled veil to chuse

From silken stores of varied hues,

Which would attract the roving view,

Pink, violet, purple, orange, blue;

The loveliest mantle to select,

Or unembellished or bedeck'd;

And how my twisted scarf to place

With most inimitable grace,

(Too thin its warp, too fine its woof,

For eyes of males not beauty-proof;)

What skirts the mantle best would suit,

Ornate, with stars, or tissued fruit,

{155}

The flower-embroidered or the plain,

With silver or with golden vein;

The _Chury_[34] bright, which gayly shows

Fair objects aptly to compose;

How each smooth arm, and each soft wrist,

By richest _Cosees_[35] might be kiss'd,

While some my taper ankles round,

With sunny radiance tinged the ground.

See how he kisses the lip of my rival, and imprints on her forehead an

ornament of pure musk, black as the young antelope on the lunar orb!

Now, like the husband of _Reti_, he fixes white blossoms on her dark

locks, where they gleam like flashes of lightning among the curled

clouds. On her breasts, like two firmaments, he places a string of gems

like a radiant constellation; he binds on her arms, graceful as the

stalks of the water-lily, and adorned with hands glowing like the petals

of its flower, a bracelet of sapphires, which resemble a cluster of

bees. Ah! see how he ties round her waist a rich girdle illumined with

golden bells, which seem to laugh as they tinkle, at the inferior

brightness of the leafy garlands which lovers hang on their bowers, to

propitiate the god of {156} desire. He places her soft foot, as he

reclines by her side, on his ardent bosom, and stains it with the ruddy

hue of Yavaca.--_Songs of Jayadeva_.

_Sandal-streak._--XIII. p. 10.

The Hindoos, especially after bathing, paint their faces with ochres and

sandal-wood ground very fine into a pulp.

The custom is principally confined to the male sex, though the women

occasionally wear a round spot, either of sandal, which is of a light

dun colour, or of _singuiff_, that is, a preparation of vermilion,

between the eye-brows, and a stripe of the same running up the front of

the head, in the furrow made according to the general practice of

dividing all the frontal hair equally to the right and left, where it is

rendered smooth, and glazed by a thick mucilage, made by steeping

lintseed for a while in water. When dry, the hair is all firmly matted

together, and will retain its form for many days together.--_Oriental

Sports_, vol. i. p. 271.

_Nor arm, nor ankle-ring._--XIII. p. 10.

Glass rings are universally worn by the women of the Decan, as an

ornament on the wrists; and their applying closely to the arm is

considered as a mark of delicacy {157} and beauty, for they must of

course be past over the hand. In doing this a girl seldom escapes

without drawing blood, and rubbing part of the skin from her hand; and

as every well-dressed girl has a number of rings on each arm, and as

these are frequently breaking, the poor creatures suffer much from their

love of admiration.--BUCHANAN.

_The dear retreat._--XIII. p. 11.

There is a beautiful passage in Statius, which may be quoted here: It is

in that poet's best manner:

Qualis vicino volucris jam sedula partu,

Jamque timens quâ fronde domum suspendat inanem,

Providet hinc ventos, hinc anxia cogitat angues,

Hinc homines; tandem dubiæ placet umbra, novisque

Vix stetit in ramis, et protinus arbor amatur.

_Achil_. ii. 212.

_Jaga-Naut._--XIV. p. 14.

This temple is to the Hindoos what Mecca is to the Mahommedans. It is

resorted to by pilgrims from every quarter of India. It is the chief

seat of Brahminical power, and a strong-hold of their superstition. At

the {158} annual festival of the Butt Jattra, seven hundred thousand

persons (as has been computed by the Pundits in College) assemble at

this place. The number of deaths in a single year, caused by voluntary

devotement, by imprisonment for non-payment of the demands of the

Brahmins, or by the scarcity of provisions for such a multitude, is

incredible. The precincts of the place are covered with

bones.--CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN.

Many thousands of people are employed in carrying water from Hurdwar to

Juggernat, for the uses of that temple. It is there supposed to be

peculiarly holy, as it issues from what is called the Cow's Mouth. This

superstitious notion is the cause of as much lost labour as would long

since have converted the largest province of Asia into a garden. The

numbers thus employed are immense; they travel with two flasks of the

water slung over the shoulder by means of an elastic piece of bamboo.

The same quantity which employs, perhaps, fifteen thousand persons,

might easily be carried down the Ganges in a few boats annually. Princes

and families of distinction have this water carried to them in all parts

of Hindostan; it is drank at feasts, as well as upon religious

occasions.--TENNANT.

A small river near Kinouge is held by some as even more efficacious in

washing away moral defilement than {159} the Ganges itself. Dr Tennant

says, that a person in Ceylon drinks daily of this water, though at the

distance of, perhaps, three thousand miles, and at the expense of five

thousand rupees per month!

No distinction of casts is made at this temple, but all, like a nation

descended from one common stock, eat, drink, and make merry

together.--STAVORINUS.

_The seven-headed Idol._--XIV. p. 15.

The idol of _Jaggenat_ is in shape like a serpent, with seven heads; and

on the cheeks of each head it hath the form of a wing upon each cheek,

which wings open and shut and flap as it is carried in a stately

chariot, and the idol in the midst of it; and one of the _moguls_

sitting behind it in the chariot, upon a convenient place, with a

canopy, to keep the sun from injuring of it.

When I, with horror, beheld these strange things, I called to mind the

eighteenth chapter of the _Revelations_, and the first verse, and

likewise the sixteenth and seventeenth verses of the said chapter, in

which places there is a beast, and such idolatrous worship, mentioned;

and those sayings in that text are herein truly accomplished in the

sixteenth verse; for the _Bramins_ are all marked in the forehead, and

likewise all that come to worship the {160} idol are marked also in

their foreheads.--BRUTON. _Churchill's Collection_,

_The Chariot of the God._--XIV. p. 15.

The size of the chariot is not exaggerated. Speaking of other such,

Niecamp says, _Currus tam horrendæ magnitudinis sunt, ut vel mille

homines uni trahendo vix sufficiant._--i. 10. § 18.

They have built a great chariot, that goeth on sixteen wheels of a side,

and every wheel is five feet in height, and the chariot itself is about

thirty feet high. In this chariot, on their great festival days, at

night, they place their wicked god _Jaggarnat_; and all the _Bramins_,

being in number nine thousand, then attend this great idol, besides of

_ashmen_ and _fackeires_ some thousands, or more than a good many.

The chariot is most richly adorned with most rich and costly ornaments;

and the aforesaid wheels are placed very complete in a round circle, so

artificially, that every wheel doth its proper office without any

impediment; for the chariot is aloft, and in the centre betwixt the

wheels: they have also more than two thousand lights with them: And this

chariot, with the idol, is also drawn with the greatest and best men of

the town; and they are so eager and greedy to draw it, that whosoever,

{161} by shouldering, crowding, shoving, heaving, thrusting, or any

violent way, can but come to lay a hand upon the ropes, they think

themselves blessed and happy: and, when it is going along the city,

there are many that will offer themselves as a sacrifice to this idol,

and desperately lie down on the ground, that the chariot-wheels may run

over them, whereby they are killed outright; some get broken arms, some

broken legs; so that many of them are so destroyed, and by this means

they think to merit heaven.--BRUTON. _Churchill's Collection_.

They sometimes lie down in the track of this machine a few hours before

its arrival, and, taking a soporiferous draught, hope to meet death

asleep.--CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN.

_A harlot-band._--XIV. p. 19.

There are in India common women, called Wives of the Idol. When a woman

has made a vow to obtain children, if she brings into the world a

beautiful daughter, she carries her to _Bod_, so their idol is called,

with whom she leaves her. This girl, when she is arrived at a proper

age, takes an apartment in the public place, hangs a curtain before the

door, and waits for those who are passing, as well Indians as those of

other sects among whom this debauchery is permitted. She prostitutes

{162} herself for a certain price, and all that she can thus acquire she

carries to the priest of the idol, that he may apply it to the service

of the temple. Let us, says the Mohammedan relater, bless the almighty

and glorious God, that he has chosen us, to exempt us from all the

crimes into which men are led by their unbelief.--_Anciennes Relations_.

Incited, unquestionably, says Mr. Maurice, by the hieroglyphic emblem of

vice so conspicuously elevated, and so strikingly painted in the temples

of Mahadeo, the priests of that deity industriously selected the most

beautiful females that could be found, and, in their tenderest years,

with great pomp and solemnity, consecrated them (as it is impiously

called) to the service of the presiding divinity of the pagoda. They

were trained up in every art to delude and to delight; and, to the

fascination of external beauty, their artful betrayers added the

attractions arising from mental accomplishments. Thus was an invariable

rule of the Hindoos, _that women have no concern with literature_,

dispensed with upon this infamous occasion. The moment these hapless

victims reached maturity, they fell victims to the lust of the Brahmins.

They were early taught to practise the most alluring blandishments, to

roll the expressive eye of wanton pleasure, and to invite to criminal

indulgence, by {163} stealing upon the beholder the tender look of

voluptuous languishing. They were instructed to mould their elegant and

airy forms into the most enticing attitudes and the most lascivious

gestures, while the rapid and graceful motion of their feet, adorned

with golden bells, and glittering with jewels, kept unison with the

exquisite melody of their voices. Every pagoda has a band of these young

syrens, whose business, on great festivals, is to dance in public before

the idol, to sing hymns in his honour, and in private to enrich the

treasury of that pagoda with the wages of prostitution. These women are

not, however, regarded in a dishonourable light; they are considered as

_wedded to the idol_, and they partake of the veneration paid to him.

They are forbidden even to desert the pagoda where they are educated,

and are never permitted to marry; but the offspring, if any, of their

criminal embraces are considered as sacred to the idol: the boys are

taught to play on the sacred instruments used at the festivals, and the

daughters are devoted to the abandoned occupations of their

mothers.--_Indian Antiquities_.

These impostors take a young maid, of the fairest they can meet with, to

be the bride, (as they speak and bear the besotted people in hand) of

_Jagannat_, and they leave her all night in the temple (whither they

{164} have carried her) with the idol, making her believe that

_Jagannat_ himself will come and embrace her, and appointing her to ask

him, whether it will be a fruitful year, what kind of processions,

feasts, prayers, and alms he demands to be made for it. In the mean time

one of these lustful priests enters at night by a little back-door into

the temple, deflowereth this young maid, and maketh her believe any

thing he pleaseth; and the next day, being transported from this temple

into another with the same magnificence, she was carried before upon the

chariot of triumph, on the side of _Jagannat_ her bridegroom: these

_Brahmans_ make her say aloud, before all the people, whatsoever she had

been taught of these cheats, as if she had learnt it from the very mouth

of _Jagannat._--BERNIER.

_Baly._--XV. p. 26.

The fifth incarnation was in a Bramin dwarf, under the name of Vamen; it

was wrought to restrain the pride of the giant Baly. The latter, after

having conquered the gods, expelled them from Sorgon; he was generous,

true to his word, compassionate, and charitable. Vichenou, under the

form of a very little Bramin, presented himself before him while he was

sacrificing, and asked him for three paces of land to build a hut. Baly

ridiculed the {165} apparent imbecility of the dwarf, in telling him,

that he ought not to limit his demand to a bequest so trifling; that his

generosity could bestow a much larger donation of land. Vamen answered,

That, being of so small a stature, what he asked was more than

sufficient. The prince immediately granted his request, and, to ratify

his donation, poured water into his right hand; which was no sooner done

than the dwarf grew so prodigiously, that his body filled the universe!

He measured the earth with one pace, and the heavens with another, and

then summoned Baly to give him his word for the third. The prince then

recognised Vichenou, adored him, and presented his head to him; but the

god, satisfied with his submission, sent him to govern the Padalon, and

permitted him to return every year to the earth, the day of the full

moon, in the month of November.--SONNERAT's _Voyages_, vol. i. p. 24.

_The sacred cord._--XV. p. 30.

The Brahmans who officiate at the temples generally go with their heads

uncovered, and the upper part of the body naked. The _Zennar_, or sacred

string, is hung round the body from the left shoulder; a piece of white

cotton cloth is wrapped round the loins, which descends under the knee,

but lower on the left side than on the {166} other; and in cold weather

they sometimes cover their bodies with a shawl, and their heads with a

red cap.--The _Zennar_ is made of a particular kind of perennial cotton,

called _Verma_: it is composed of a certain number of threads of a fixed

length: the _Zennar_ worn by the Khatries has fewer threads than that

worn by the Brahmans, and that worn by the Bhyse fewer than that worn by

the Khatries; but those of the Sodra cast are excluded from this

distinction, none of them being permitted to wear it.--CRAUFURD.

_The City of Baly._--XV. p. 31.

Ruins of Malâbalipûr, the City of the great Baly.

A rock, or rather hill of stone, is that which first engrosses the

attention on approaching the place; for as it rises abruptly out of a

level plain of great extent, consists chiefly of one single stone, and

is situated very near to the sea-beach, it is such a kind of object as

an inquisitive traveller would naturally turn aside to examine. Its

shape is also singular and romantic, and, from a distant view, has an

appearance like some antique and lofty edifice. On coming near to the

foot of the rock from the north, works of imagery and sculpture crowd so

thick upon the eye, as might seem to favour the idea of {167} a

petrified town, like those that have been fabled in different parts of

the world, by too credulous travellers. Proceeding on by the foot of the

hill, on the side facing the sea, there is a pagoda rising out of the

ground, of one solid stone, about sixteen or eighteen feet high, which

seems to have been cut upon the spot, out of a detached rock, that has

been found of a proper size for that purpose. The top is arched, and the

style of architecture according to which it is formed different from any

now used in those parts. A little further on, there appears, upon a huge

surface of stone, that juts out a little from the side of the hill, a

numerous group of human figures, in bass-relief, considerably larger

than life, representing the most remarkable persons whose actions are

celebrated in the Nahâbharit, each of them in an attitude, or with

weapons, or other insignia, expressive of his character, or of some one

of his most famous exploits. All these figures are doubtless much less

distinct than they were at first; for upon comparing these and the rest

of the sculptures that are exposed to the sea-air, with others at the

same place, whose situation has afforded them protection from that

element, the difference is striking; the former being every where much

defaced, while the others are fresh as recently finished. An excavation

in another part of the east side of the great rock appears {168} to have

been made on the same plan, and for the same purpose, that Chowltries

are usually built in that country, that is to say, for the accommodation

of travellers. The rock is hollowed out to the size of a spacious room,

and two or three rows of pillars are left, as a seeming support to the

mountainous mass of stone which forms the roof.

The ascent of the hill on the north is, from its natural shape, gradual

and easy at first, and is in other parts rendered more so, by very

excellent steps, cut out in several places where the communication would

be difficult or impracticable without them. A winding stair of this sort

leads to a kind of temple cut out of the solid rock, with some figures

of idols in high relief upon the walls, very well finished. From this

temple there are flights of steps, that seem to have led to some edifice

formerly standing upon the hill; nor does it seem absurd to suppose that

this may have been a palace, to which this temple may have appertained;

for, besides the small detached range of stairs that are here and there

cut in the rock, and seem as if they had once led to different parts of

one great building, there appear in many places small water channels cut

also in the rock, as if for drains to an house; and the whole top of the

hill is strewed with small round pieces of brick, which may be supposed,

{169} from their appearance, to have been worn down to their present

form during the lapse of many ages. On a plain surface of the rock,

which may once have served as the floor of some apartment, there is a

platform of stone, about 8 or 9 feet long, by 3 or 4 wide, in a

situation rather elevated, with two or three steps leading up to it,

perfectly resembling a couch or bed, and a lion very well executed at

the upper end of it, by way of pillow; the whole of one piece, being

part of the hill itself. This the Bramins, inhabitants of the place,

call the bed of Dhermarâjah, or Judishter, the eldest of the five

brothers, whose exploits are the leading subject in the Mahabhârit. And

at a considerable distance from this, at such a distance, indeed, as the

apartments of the women might be supposed to be from that of the men, is

a bath, excavated also from the rock, with steps in the inside, which

the Bramins call the Bath of Dropedy, the wife of Judishter and his

brothers. How much credit is due to this tradition, and whether this

stone couch may not have been anciently used as a kind of throne, rather

than a bed, is matter for future enquiry. A circumstance, however, which

may seem to favour this idea is, that a throne, in the Shanscrit and

other Hindoo languages, is called _Singhâsen_, which is compounded of

_Sing_, a lion, and _ásen_, a seat.

{170}

But though these works may be deemed stupendous, they are surpassed by

others that are to be seen at the distance of about a mile, or mile and

half, to the south of the hill. They consist of two pagodas, of about

30 feet long, by 20 feet wide, and about as many in height, cut out of

the solid rock, and each consisting originally of one single stone.

Their form is different from the style of architecture according to

which idol temples are now built in that country. These sculptures

approach nearer to the Gothic taste, being surmounted by arched roofs,

or domes, not semicircular, but composed of two segments of circles

meeting in a point at top. Near these also stand an elephant full as big

as life, and a lion much larger than the natural size, both hewn also

out of one stone.

The great rock is about 50 or 100 yards from the sea; but close to the

sea are the remains of a pagoda built of brick, and dedicated to Sîb,

the greatest part of which has evidently been swallowed up by that

element; for the door of the innermost apartment, in which the idol is

placed, and before which there are always two or three spacious courts

surrounded with walls, is now washed by the waves, and the pillar used

to discover the meridian at the time of founding the pagoda is seen

standing at some distance in the sea. In the neighbourhood of {171} this

building there are some detached rocks, washed also by the waves, on

which there appear sculptures, though now much worn and defaced: And the

natives of the place declared to the writer of this account, that the

more aged people among them remembered to have seen the tops of several

pagodas far out in the sea, which, being covered with copper, (probably

gilt,) were particularly visible at sun-rise, as their shining surface

used then to reflect the sun's rays, but that now that effect was no

longer produced, as the copper had since become incrusted with mould and

verdigrease.--CHAMBERS. _Asiatic Researches_.

_Thou hast been called, O Sleep! the friend of Woe,_

_But 'tis the happy who have call'd thee so._--XV. p. 36.

Daniel has a beautiful passage concerning Richard II.--sufficiently

resembling this part of the poem to be inserted here:

To _Flint_, from thence, unto a restless bed,

That miserable night he comes convey'd;

Poorly provided, poorly followed,

Uncourted, unrespected, unobey'd;

Where, if uncertain Sleep but hovered

Over the drooping cares that heavy weigh'd,

{172}

Millions of figures Fantasy presents

Unto that sorrow wakened grief augments.

His new misfortune makes deluded Sleep

Say 'twas not so:--false dreams the truth deny:

Wherewith he starts; feels waking cares do creep

Upon his soul, and gives his dream the lie,

Then sleeps again:--and then again as deep

Deceits of darkness mock his misery.

_Civil War_, Book II. st. 52, 53.

_The Aullay._--XVI. p. 40.

This monster of Hindoo imagination is a horse with the trunk of an

elephant, but bearing about the same proportion to the elephant in size,

that the elephant itself does to a common sheep. In one of the prints to

Mr. Kindersley's "Specimens of Hindoo Literature," an aullay is

represented taking up an elephant with his trunk.

_----Did then the Ocean wage_

_His war for love and envy, not in rage,_

_O thou fair City, that he spares thee thus?_--XVI. p. 40.

Malecheren, (which is probably another name for Baly), in an excursion

which he made one day alone, and in {173} disguise, came to a garden in

the environs of his city Mahâbalipoor, where was a fountain so

inviting, that two celestial nymphs had come down to bathe there. The

Rajah became enamoured of one of them, who condescended to allow of his

attachment to her; and she and her sister nymph used thenceforward to

have frequent interviews with him in that garden. On one of those

occasions they brought with them a male inhabitant of the heavenly

regions, to whom they introduced the Rajah; and between him and

Malecheren a strict friendship ensued; in consequence of which he

agreed, at the Rajah's earnest request, to carry him in disguise to see

the court of the divine Inder,--a favour never before granted to any

mortal. The Rajah returned from thence with new ideas of splendour and

magnificence, which he immediately adopted in regulating his court and

his retinue, and in beautifying his seat of government. By this means

Mahâbalipoor became soon celebrated beyond all the cities of the earth;

and on account of its magnificence having been brought to the gods

assembled at the court of Inder, their jealousy was so much excited at

it, that they sent orders to the God of the Sea to let loose his

billows, and overflow a place which impiously pretended to vie in

splendour with their celestial mansions. This {174} command he obeyed,

and the city was at once overflowed by that furious element, nor has it

ever since been able to rear its head.--CHAMBERS. _Asiat. Res._

_Round those strange waters they repair._--XVI. p. 44.

In the Bahia dos Artifices, which is between the river Jagoarive and S.

Miguel, there are many springs of fresh water, which may be seen at low

tide, and these springs are frequented by fish and by the sea-cow, which

they say comes to drink there.--_Noticias do Brazil_. MSS. i. 8.

The inhabitants of the Feroe Islands seek for cod in places where there

is a fresh-water spring at the bottom.--LANDT.

_The Sheckra._--XVII. p. 65.

This weapon, which is often to be seen in one of the wheel-spoke hands

of a Hindoo god, resembles a quoit: the external edge is sharp: it is

held in the middle, and, being whirled along, cuts wherever it strikes.

_The writing which, at thy nativity,_

_All-knowing Nature wrought upon thy brain._

--XVIII. p. 69.

Brahma is considered as the immediate creator of all things, and

particularly as the disposer of each person's {175} fate, which he

inscribes within the skull of every created being, and which the gods

themselves cannot avert.--KINDERSLEY, p. 21. NIECAMP. vol. i. p. 10.

§ 7.

It is by the sutures of the skull that these lines of destiny are

formed. See also a note to Thalaba, (vol. i. p. 260, second edition,)

upon a like superstition of the Mahommedans.

_Quand on leur reproche quclque vice, ou qu'on les reprend d'une

mauvaise action, ils répondent froidement, que cela est écrit sur leur

tête, et qu'ils n'ont pu faire autrement. Si vous paroissez étonné de

ce langage nouveau, et que vous demandiez à voir oú cela est ecrit,

ils vous montrent les diverses jointures du crâne de leur tête,

prétendant que les sutures même sont les caracteres de cette écriture

mysterieuse. Si vous les pressez de dechiffrer ces caracteres, et de

vous faire connoitre ce qu'ils signifient, ils avouent qu'ils ne le

sçavent pas. Mais puisque vous ne sçavez pas lire cette ecriture,

disois-je quelquefois à ces gens entêtés, qui est-ce donc qui vous la

lit? qui estce qui vous en explique le sens, et qui vous fait connoitre

ce qu'elle contient? D'ailleurs ces pretendus caracteres etant les memes

sur la tête de tous les hommes, d' oú vient qu'ils agissent si

différemment, et qu'ils sont si contraires les uns aux autres dans

leurs vues, dans leurs desseins, et dans leurs projets?_

{176}

_Les Brames m'ecoutoient de sang froid, et sans s'inguieter ni des

contradictions oú ils tomboient, ni des consequences ridicules qu'ils

etoient obligés d'avouer, Enfin, lorsgu'ils se sentoient vivement

presses, toute leur ressource éloit de se retirer sans rien dire._--P.

MAUDUIT. Lettres Edifiantes, t. x. p. 248.

_The Seven Earths._--XIX. p. 77.

The seas which surround these earths are, 1. of salt water, inclosing

our inmost earth; 2. of fresh water; 3. of _tyre_, curdled milk; 4. of

_ghee_, clarified butter; 5. of _cauloo_, a liquor drawn from the

_pullum_ tree; 6. of liquid sugar; 7. of milk. The whole system is

inclosed in one broad circumference of pure gold, beyond which reigns

impenetrable darkness.--KINDERSLEY.

I know not whether the following fable was invented to account for the

saltness of our sea:

"Agastya is recorded to have been very low in stature; and one day,

previously to the rectifying the too oblique posture of the earth,

walking with Veeshnu on the shore of the ocean, the insolent Deep asked

the God, who that dwarf was strutting by his side? Veeshnu replied, it

was the patriarch Agastya going to restore the earth to its true

balance. The sea, in utter contempt of his pigmy, form, dashed him with

his spray as he passed along; on, which the sage, greatly incensed at

the designed affront, {177} scooped up some of the water in the hollow

of his hand, and drank it off: he again and again repeated the draught,

nor desisted till he had drained the bed of the ocean of the entire

volume of its waters. Alarmed at this effect of his holy indignation,

and dreading an universal drought, the Devatas made intercession with

Agastya to relent from his anger, and again restore an element so

necessary to the existence of nature, both animate and inanimate.

Agastya, pacified, granted their request, and discharged the imbibed

fluid in a way becoming the histories of a gross physical people to

relate, but by no means proper for this page; away, however, that

evinced his sovereign power, while it marked his ineffable contempt for

the vain fury of an element, contending with a being armed with the

delegated power of the Creator of all things. After this miracle, the

earth being, by the same power, restored to its just balance, Agastya

and Veeshnu separated: when the latter, to prevent any similar accident

occurring, commanded the _great serpent_ (that is, of the sphere) to

wind its enormous folds round the seven continents, of which, according

to Sanscreet geography, the earth consists, and appointed, as perpetual

guardians, to watch over and protect it, the eight powerful genii, so

renowned in the Hindoo system of mythology, as presiding over the eight

points of the world."--MAURICE.

{178}

The Pauranics (said Ramachandra to Sir William Jones) will tell you that

our earth is a plane figure studded with eight mountains, and surrounded

by seven seas of milk, nectar, and other fluids; that the part which we

inhabit is one of seven islands, to which eleven smaller isles are

subordinate; that a god, riding on a huge elephant, guards each of the

eight regions; and that a mountain of gold rises and gleams in the

centre.--_Asiatic Researches_.

"Eight original mountains and seven seas, BRAHMA, INDRA, the SUN,

and RUDRA, _these are permanent;_ not thou, not I, not this or that

people. Wherefore then should anxiety be raised in our minds?"--_Asiatic

Res_.

_Mount Calasay._--XIX. p. 77.

The residence of _Ixoru_ is upon the silver mount _Calaja_, to the south

of the famous mountain _Mahameru_, being a most delicious place, planted

with all sorts of trees, that bear fruit all the year round. The roses

and other flowers send forth a most odoriferous scent; and the pond at

the foot of the mount is inclosed with pleasant walks of trees, that

afford an agreeable shade, whilst the peacocks and divers other birds

entertain the ear with their harmonious noise, as the beautiful women do

the eyes. The circumjacent woods are inhabited by a certain people {179}

called _Munis_, or _Rixis_, who, avoiding the conversation of others,

spend their time in offering daily sacrifices to their god.

It is observable, that though these pagans are generally black

themselves, they do represent these _Rixis_ to be of a fair complexion,

with long white beards, and long garments hanging cross-ways, from about

the neck down over the breast. They are in such high esteem among them,

they believe that whom they bless are blessed, and whom they curse are

cursed.

Within the mountain lives another generation, called _Jexaquinnera_ and

_Quendra_, who are free from all trouble, spend their days in continual

contemplations, praises, and prayers to God. Round about the mountain

stand seven ladders, by which you ascend to a spacious plain, in the

middle whereof is a bell of silver, and a square table, surrounded with

nine precious stones, of divers colours. Upon this table lies a silver

rose, called _Tamora Pua_, which contains two women as bright and fair

as a pearl: one is called _Brigasiri_, i. e. _the Lady of the Mouth;_

the other _Tarasiri_, i.e. _the Lady of the Tongue_,--because they

praise God with the mouth and tongue. In the centre of this rose is the

_triangle_ of _Quivelinga_, which they say is the permanent residence of

God.--BALDÆUS.

{180}

_O All-containing Mind,_

_Thou who art every where!_--XIX. p. 80.

"Even I was even at first, not any other thing; that which exists,

unperceived, supreme: afterwards I am that which is; and he who must

remain, am I.

"Except the First Cause, whatever may appear, and may not appear, in the

mind, know that to be the mind's _Máyá_, or _delusion_, as light, as

darkness.

"As the great elements are in various beings, entering, yet not

entering, (that is, pervading, not destroying,) thus am I in them, yet

not in them.

"Even thus far may inquiry be made by him who seeks to know the

principle of mind in union and separation, which must be _everywhere,

always_."--_Asiatic Researches_. Sir W. JONES, _from the Bhagavat_.

I am the creation and the dissolution of the whole universe. There is

not any thing greater than I, and all things hang on me, even as

precious gems upon a string. I am moisture in the water, light in the

sun and moon, invocation in the _Veds_, sound in the firmament, human

nature in mankind, sweet-smelling savour in the earth, glory in the

source of light: In all things I am life; and I am zeal in the zealous:

and know, O Arjoon! that I am the eternal seed of all nature. I am the

understanding {181} of the wise, the glory of the proud, the strength of

the strong, free from lust and anger; and in animals I am desire

regulated by moral fitness.--KREESHNA, _in the Bhagavat-Geeta_.

_Heart cannot think, nor tongue declare,_

_Nor eyes of angel bear_

_That Glory, unimaginably bright._--XIX. p. 81.

Being now in the splendorous lustre of the divine bliss and glory, I

there saw in spirit the choir of the holy angels, the choir of the

prophets and apostles, who, with heavenly tongues and music, sing and

play around the throne of God; yet not in just such corporeal forms or

shapes as are those we _now_ bear and walk about in; no, but in shapes

all spiritual: the holy angels in the shape of a multitude of flames of

fire, the souls of believers in the shape of a multitude of glittering

or luminous sparkles; God's throne in the shape, or under the appearance

of a great splendour.--HANS ENGELBRECHT.

Something analogous to this unendurable presence of Seeva is found amid

the nonsense of Joanna Southcott. Apollyon is there made to say of the

Lord, "thou knowest it is written, he is a consuming fire, and who can

dwell in everlasting burnings? who could abide in devouring flames? Our

backs are not brass, nor our sinews {182} iron, to dwell with God in

heaven."--_Dispute between the Woman and the Powers of Darkness_.

_The Sun himself had seem'd_

_A speck of darkness there._--XIX. p. 82.

"There the sun shines not, nor the moon and stars: these lightnings

flash not in that place: how should even fire blaze there? God

irradiates all this bright substance, and by its effulgence the universe

is enlightened."--_From the Yajurveda. Asiat. Res._

Hæc ait, et sese radiorum nocte suorum

Claudit inaccessum.----CARRARA.

_Whose cradles from some tree_

_Unnatural hands suspended._--XXI. p. 92.

I heard a voice crying out under my window; I looked out, and saw a poor

young girl lamenting the unhappy case of her sister. On asking what was

the matter, the reply was, _Boot Laggeeosa_, a demon has seized her.

These unhappy people say _Boot Laggeeosa_, if a child newly born will

not suck; and they expose it to death in a basket, hung on the branch of

a tree. One day, as Mr. Thomas and I were riding out, we saw a basket

hung in a tree, in which an infant had been exposed, the skull of which

remained, {183} the rest having been devoured by ants.--_Periodical

Accounts of the Baptist Missionaries_.

_That strange Indian Bird._--XXI. p. 93.

The Chatookee. They say it never drinks at the streams below, but,

opening its bill when it rains, it catches the drops as they fall from

the clouds.--_Periodical Accounts of the Baptist Missionaries_, vol. ii.

p. 309.

_The footless fowl of Heaven._--XXI. p. 93.

There is a bird that falls down out of the air dead, and is found

sometimes in the Molucco Islands, that has no feet at all. The bigness

of her body and bill, as likewise the form of them, is much the same as

a swallow's; but the spreading out of her wings and tail has no less

compass than an eagle's. She lives and breeds in the air, comes not near

the earth but for her burial, for the largeness and lightness of her

wings and tail sustain her without lassitude. And the laying of her

eggs, and breeding of her young, is upon the back of the male, which is

made hollow, as also the breast of the female, for the more easy

incubation. Also two strings, like two shoemaker's ends, come from the

hinder parts of the male, wherewith it is conceived that he is fastened

closer to the female, while she hatches her eggs on the hollow of {184}

his back. The dew of heaven is appointed her for food, her region being

too far removed from the approach of flies and such like insects.

This is the entire story and philosophy of this miraculous bird in

_Cardan_, who professes himself to have seen it no less than thrice, and

to have described it accordingly. The contrivances whereof, if the

matter were certainly true, are as evident arguments of a Divine

Providence, as that copper-ring, with the Greek[36] inscription upon

it, was an undeniable monument of the artifice and finger of man.

But that the reproach of over-much credulity may not lie upon _Cardan_

alone, Scaliger, who lay at catch with him to take him tripping wherever

he could, cavils not with any thing in the whole narration but the

bigness of wings and the littleness of the body; which he undertakes to

correct from one of his own which was sent him by _Orvesanus_ from Java.

Nay, he confirms what his antagonist has wrote, partly by history and

partly by reason; affirming, that himself, in his own garden, found two

{185} little birds with membranaceous wings utterly devoid of legs,

their form was near to that of a bat's. Nor is he deterred from the

belief of the perpetual flying of the _Manucodiata_, by the gaping of

the feathers of her wings, which seem thereby less fit to sustain her

body, but further makes the narration probable by what he has observed

in kites hovering in the air, as he saith, for a whole hour together

without flapping of her wings, or changing place. And he has found also

how she may sleep in the air, from the example of fishes, which he has

seen sleeping in the water without sinking themselves to the bottom, and

without changing place, but lying stock still, _pinnulis tantum nescia

quid motiuncule meditantes_, only wagging a little their fins, as

heedlessly and unconcernedly as horses while they are asleep wag their

ears to displace the flies that sit upon them. Wherever Scaliger

admitting that the Menucodiata is perpetually on the wing in the air, he

must of necessity admit also that manner of incubation that Cardan

describes, else how could their generations continue?

Franciscus Hernandeo affirms the same with Cardan expressly in every

thing: As also Eusebius Nierembergius, who is so taken with the story of

this bird, that he could not abstain from celebrating her miraculous

properties in a short but elegant copy of verses; and does {186} after,

though confidently opposed, assert the main matter again in prose.

Such are the sufferages of Cardan, Scaliger, Hernandeo, Nierembergius.

But Aldrovandus rejects that fable of her feeding on the dew of heaven,

and of her incubiture on the back of the male, with much scorn and

indignation. And as for the former, his reasons are no ways

contemptible, he alledging that dew is a body not perfectly enough

mixed, or heterogenial enough for food, nor the hard bill of the bird

made for such easie uses as sipping this soft moisture.

To which I know not what Cardan and the rest would answer, unless this,

that they mean by dew the more unctuous moisture of the air, which as it

may not be alike every where, so these birds may be fitted with a

natural sagacity to find it out where it is. That there is dew in this

sense day and night, (as well as in the morning,) and in all seasons of

the year; and therefore a constant supply of moisture and spirits to

their perpetual flying, which they more copiously imbibe by reason of

their exercise: That the thicker parts of this moisture stick and

convert into flesh, and that the lightness of their feathers is so

great, that their pains in sustaining themselves are not over-much. That

what is homogeneal and simple to our sight is fit enough to be the

rudiments of generation, {187} all animals being generated of a kind of

clear crystalline liquor; and that, therefore, it may be also of

nutrition; that orpine and sea-house-leek are nourished and grow, being

hung in the air, and that dock-weed has its root no deeper than near the

upper parts of the water; and, lastly, that the bills of these birds are

for their better flying, by cutting the way, and for better ornament;

for the rectifying also and composing of their feathers, while they swim

in the air with as much ease as swans do in river.

To his great impatiency against their manner of incubation, they would

happily return this answer: That the way is not ridiculous; but it may

be rather necessary from what Aldrovandus himself not only acknowledges

but contends for, namely, that they have no feet at all. For hence it is

manifest, that they cannot light upon the ground, nor any where rest on

their bellies, and be able to get on wing again, because they cannot

creep out of holes of rocks, as swifts and such like short-footed birds

can, they having no feet at all to creep with. Besides, as Aristotle

well argues concerning the long legs of certain water-fowl, that they

were made so long, because they were to wade in the water and catch

fish, adding that excellent aphorism, τὰ γαρ ὄργανα

πρὸς τὸ ἔργον ἡ φύσις ποιεῖ ἀλλ᾽ ὐ

τὸ ἔργον πρὸς τὰ ὄργανα, so may we rationally

conclude, will they say, that as the long legs of these water-fowl {188}

imply a design of their haunting the water, so want of legs in these

Manucodiatas argue they are never to come down to the earth, because

they can neither stand there nor get off again. And if they never come

on the earth, or any other resting-place, where can their eggs be laid

or hatched but on the back of the male?

Besides that Cardan pleases himself with that Antiphonie in nature, that

as the Ostrich being a bird, yet never flies in the air, and never rests

upon the earth. And as for Aldrovandus, his presumption from the five

several Manucodiatas that he had seen, and in which he could observe no

such figuration of parts as implied a fitness for such a manner of

incubation, Cardan will answer, Myself has seen three, and Scaliger one,

who both agree against you.

However, you see that both Cardan, Aldrovandus, and the rest do jointly

agree in allowing the Manucodiata no feet, as also in furnishing her

with two strings, hanging at the hinder parts of her body, which

Aldrovandus will have to be in the female as well as in the male, though

Cardan's experience reacheth not so far.

But Pighafetta and Clusius will easily end this grand controversy

betwixt Cardan and Aldrovandus, if it be true which they report, and if

they speak of the same kind of Birds of Paradise. For they both affirm

that they {189} have feet a palm long, and that with all confidence

imaginable; but Nierembergius on the contrary affirms, that one that was

an eye witness, and that had taken up one of these birds newly dead,

told him that it had no feet at all. Johnston also gives his suffrage

with Nierembergius in this, though with Aldrovandus he rejects the

manner of their incubation.

But unless they can raise themselves from the ground by the stiffness of

some of the feathers of their wings, or rather by virtue of those

nervous strings which they may have a power to stiffen when they are

alive, by transfusing spirits into them, and making them serve as well

instead of legs to raise them from the ground as to hang upon the boughs

of trees, by a slight thing being able to raise or hold up their

light-feathered bodies in the air, as a small twig will us in the water,

I should rather incline to the testimony of Pighafetta and Clusius than

to the judgment of the rest, and believe those mariners that told him

that the legs are pulled off by them that take them, and extenterate

them and dry them in the sun for either their private use or sale.

Which conclusion would the best solve the credit of Aristotle,

who long since has so peremptorily pronounced ὄτι πτηνὸν μόνον

ὐδὲν ἐσιν ὥσπερ νευσικὸν μόνον ἐσιν ὶχθὸς. That there is not any

bird that only flies as the fish only swims.

{190}

But thus our Bird of Paradise is quite flown and vanished into a figment

or fable. But if any one will condole the loss of so convincing an

argument for a Providence that fits one thing to another, I must take

the freedom to tell him, that, unless he be a greater admirer of novelty

than a searcher into the indissoluble consequences of things, I shall

supply his meditation with what of this nature is as strongly

conclusive, and remind, that it will be his own reproach if he cannot

spy as clear an inference from an ordinary truth as from either an

uncertainty or a fiction. And in this regard, the bringing this doubtful

narration into play may not justly seem to no purpose, it carrying so

serious and castigatory a piece of pleasantry with it.

The manucodiata's living on the dew is no part of the convictiveness of

a Providence in this story: But the being excellently well provided of

wings and feathers, _tanta levitatis supellectile exornata_, as

Nierembergius speaks, being so well furnished with all advantages for

lightness, that it seems harder for her to sink down, as he conceits,

than to be borne up in the air; that a bird thus fitted for that region

should have no legs to stand on the earth, this would be a considerable

indication of a discriminating Providence, that on purpose avoids all

uselessness and superfluities.

{191}

The other remarkable, and it is a notorious one, is the cavity on the

back of the male and in the breast of the female, for incubation; and

the third and last, the use of those strings, as Cardan supposes, for

the better keeping them together in incubiture.

If these considerations of this strange story strike so strongly upon

thee as to convince thee of a Providence, think it humour and not

judgment, if what I put in lieu of them, and is but ordinary, have not

the same force with thee.

For is not the fish's wanting feet, (as we observed before,) she being

sufficiently supplied with fins in so thick an element as the water, as

great an argument for a Providence as so light a bird's wanting feet in

that thinner element of the air, the extream lightness of her furniture

being appropriated to the thinness of that element? And is not the same

Providence seen, and that as conspicuously, in allotting but very short

legs to those birds that are called Apodeo both in Plinie and Aristotle,

upon whom she has bestowed such large and strong wings, and a power of

flying so long and swift, as in giving no legs at all to the

manucodiata, who has still a greater power of wing and lightness of

body?

And as for the cavities on the back of the male and in the breast of the

female, is that design of nature any more {192} certain and plain than

in the genital parts of the male and female in all kinds of animals?

What greater argument of counsel and purpose of fitting one thing for

another can there be than that? And if we should make a more inward

search into the contrivances of these parts in an ordinary hen, and

consider how or by what force an egg of so great a growth and bigness is

transmitted from the ovarium through the infundibulum into the processus

of the uterus, the membranes being go thin and the passage so very

small, to see to the principle of that motion cannot be thought less

than divine.

And if you would compare the protuberant paps of teats in the females of

beasts with that cavity in the breast of the she-manucodiata, whether of

them, think you, is the plainer pledge of a knowing and a designing

Providence?

And, lastly, for the strings that are conceived to hold together the

male and female in their incubiture, what a toy is it, if compared with

those invisible links and ties that engage ordinary birds to sit upon

their eggs, they having no visible allurement to such a tedious

service?--HENRY MORE's _Antidote against Atheism_, book 2. ch. 11.

{193}

_And Brama's region, where the heavenly hours_

_Weave the vast circle of his age-long day._--XXIII. p. 113.

They who are acquainted with day and night know that the day of Brahma

is as a thousand revolutions of the _Yoogs_, and that his night

extendeth for a thousand more. On the coming of that day all things

proceed from invisibility to visibility; so, on the approach of night,

they are all dissolved away in that which is called invisible. The

universe, even, having existed, is again dissolved; and now again, on

the approach of day, by divine necessity, it is reproduced. That which,

upon the dissolution of all things else, is not destroyed, is superior

and of another nature from that visibility: it is invisible and eternal.

He who is thus called invisible and incorruptible is even he who is

called the Supreme Abode; which men having once obtained, they never

more return to earth: that is my mansion.--KREESHNA, _in the

Bhagavat-Geeta_.

The guess, that Brama and his wife Saraswadi may be Abraham and Sarah,

has more letters in its favour than are usually to be found in such

guesses.--NIECAMP, p. i, c. 10. § 2.

The true cause why there is no idol of Brama (except {194} the head,

which is his share in the Trimourter,) is probably to be found in the

conquest of his sect. A different reason, however, is implied in the

Veeda: "Of Him, it says, whose glory is so great there is no image:--He

is the incomprehensible Being which illumines all, delights all, whence

all proceeded;--that by which they live when born, and that to which all

must return."--MOOR's _Hindu Pantheon_, p. 4.

_Yamen._--XXII. p. 99.

_Yama_ was a child of the Sun, and thence named _Vaivaswata_; another of

his titles was _Dhermaraja_, or King of Justice; and a third

_Pitripeti_, or Lord of the Patriarchs: but he is chiefly distinguished

as Judge of departed souls; for the Hindus believe, that, when a soul

leaves its body, it immediately repairs to _Yamapur_, or the city of

_Yama_, where it receives a just sentence from him, and thence either

ascends to _Swerga_, or the first Heaven; or is driven down to _Narac_,

the region of serpents; or assumes on earth the form of some animal,

unless its offence had been such, that it ought to be condemned to a

vegetable, or even to a mineral prison.--Sir W. JONES.

There is a story concerning Yamen which will remind the reader, in its

purport, of the fable of Love and Death.

{195}

"A famous penitent, _Morrugandumagarexi_ by name, had, during a long

series of years, served the gods with uncommon and most exemplary piety.

This very virtuous man having no children, was extremely desirous of

having one, and therefore daily besought the god Xiven (or Seeva) to

grant him one. At length the god heard his desire, but, before he

indulged it him, he asked him, whether he would have several children,

who should be long-lived and wicked, or one virtuous and prudent, who

should die in his sixteenth year? The penitent chose the latter: his

wife conceived, and was happily delivered of the promised son, whom they

named Marcandem. The boy, like his father, zealously devoted himself to

the worship of Xiven; but as soon as he had attained his sixteenth year,

the officers of Yhamen, god of death, were sent on the earth, to remove

him from thence.

"Young Marcandem being informed on what errand they were come, told

them, with a resolute air, that he was resolved not to die, and that

they might go back, if they pleased. They returned to their master, and

told him the whole affair. Yhamen immediately mounted his great buffle,

and set out. Being come, he told the youth that he acted very rashly in

refusing to leave the world, and it was unjust in him, for Xiven had

promised him a life only of sixteen years, and the term was expired. But

{196} this reason did not satisfy Marcandem, who persisted in his

resolution not to die; and, fearing lest the god of death should attempt

to take him away by force, he ran to his oratory, and taking the Lingam,

clasped it to his breast. Mean time Yhamen came down from his buffle,

threw a rope about the youth's neck, and held him fast therewith, as

also the Lingam, which Marcandem grasped with all his strength, and was

going to drag them both into hell, when Xiven issued out of the Lingam,

drove back the king of the dead, and gave him so furious a blow, that he

killed him on the spot.

"The god of death being thus slain, mankind multiplied so that the earth

was no longer able to contain them. The gods represented this to Xiven,

and he, at their entreaty, restored Yhamen to life, and to all the power

he had before enjoyed. Yhamen immediately dispatched a herald to all

parts of the world, to summon all the old men. The herald got drunk

before he set out, and, without staying till the fumes of the wine were

dispelled, mounted an elephant, and rode up and down the world, pursuant

to his commission; and, instead of publishing this order, he declared,

that it was the will and pleasure of Yamen, that, from this day forward,

all the leaves, fruits, and flowers, whether ripe or green, should fall

to the ground. This proclamation was no sooner {197} issued than men

began to yield to death: But before Yhamen was killed, only the old were

deprived of life, and now people of all ages are summoned

indiscriminately."--PICART.

_Two forms inseparable in unity,_

_Hath Yamen._--XXIII. p. 120.

The _Dharma-Raja_, or king of justice, has two countenances; one is mild

and full of benevolence; those alone who abound with virtue see it. He

holds a court of justice, where are many assistants, among whom are many

just and pious kings: _Chitragupta_ acts as chief secretary. These holy

men determine what is _dharma_ and _adharma_, just and unjust. His

(_Dharma-Raja's_) servant is called _Carmala_: he brings the righteous

on celestial cars, which go of themselves, whenever holy men are to be

brought in, according to the directions of the _Dharma-Raja_, who is the

sovereign of the _Pitris_. This is called his _divine countenance_, and

the righteous alone do see it. His other _countenance_, or _form_, is

called _Yama_; this the wicked alone can see: It has large teeth and a

monstrous body, _Yama_ is the lord of _Patala_; there he orders some to

be beaten, some to be cut to pieces, some to be devoured by monsters,

&c. His servant is called _Cashmala_, who, with ropes round their necks,

drags the wicked over rugged {198} paths, and throws them headlong into

hell. He is unmerciful, and hard is his heart: every body trembles at

the sight of him.--WILFORD. _Asiatic Researches_.

_Black of aspect, red of eye._--XXIII. p. 120.

Punishment is the Magistrate; Punishment is the Inspirer of Terror;

Punishment is the Defender from Calamity; Punishment is the Guardian of

those that sleep; Punishment, with a black aspect and a red eye, tempts

the guilty.--HALHED's _Gentoo Code_, ch. xxi. sect. 8.

_Azyoruca._--XXIII. p. 121.

In Patala (or the infernal regions) resides the sovereign Queen of the

Nagas, (large snakes, or dragons:) she is beautiful, and her name is

Asyoruca. There, in a cave, she performed Taparya with such rigorous

austerity, that fire sprang from her body, and formed numerous

agnitiraths (places of sacred fire) in Patala. These fires, forcing

their way through the earth, waters, and mountains, formed various

openings or mouths, called from thence the flaming mouths, or juala

muihi. By Samudr, (Oceanus,) a daughter was born unto her, called

Rama-Devi. She is most beautiful; she is Lacshmi; and her name is

Asyotcarsha, or Asyotcrishta. Like a jewel she remains concealed in the

ocean.--WILFORD. _Asiat. Res_.

{199}

_He came in all his might and majesty._--XXIV. p, 124.

What is this to the coming of Seeva, as given us by Mr. Maurice, from

the Seeva Paurana?

"In the place of the right wheel blazed the Sun, in the place of the

left was the Moon; instead of the brazen nails and bolts, which firmly

held the ponderous wheels, were distributed Bramans on the right hand,

and Reyshees on the left; in lieu of the canopy on the top of the

chariot was overspread the vault of Heaven; the counterpoise of the

wheels was on the east and west, and the four Semordres were instead of

the cushions and bolsters; the four Vedas were placed as the horses of

the chariot, and Saraswaty was for the bell; the piece of wood by which

the horses are driven was the three-lettered Mantra, while Brama himself

was the charioteer, and the Nacshatras and stars were distributed about

it by way of ornaments. Sumaru was in the place of a bow, the serpent

Seschanaga was stationed as the string, Veeshnu instead of an arrow, and

fire was constituted its point. Ganges and other rivers were appointed

its precursors; and the setting out of the chariot, with its appendages

and furniture, one would affirm to be the year of twelve months

gracefully moving forwards.

"When Seeva, with his numerous troops and prodigious {200} army, was

mounted, Brama drove so furiously, that thought itself, which, in its

rapid career, compasses Heaven and Earth, could not keep pace with it.

By the motion of the chariot Heaven and Earth were put into a tremor;

and, as the Earth was not able to bear up under this burthen, the Cow of

the Earth, Kam-deva, took upon itself to support the weight. Seeva went

with intention to destroy Treepoor; and the multitude of Devatas and

Reyshees and Apsaras who waited on his stirrup, opening their mouths, in

transports of joy and praise, exclaimed, Jaya! Jaya! so that Parvati,

not being able to bear his absence, set out to accompany Seeva, and, in

an instant, was up with him; while the light which brightened on his

countenance, on the arrival of Parvati, surpassed all imagination and

description. The Genii of the eight regions, armed with all kinds of

weapons, but particularly with _agnyastra_, or fire-darts, like moving

mountains, advanced in front of the army; and Eendra and other Devetas,

some of them mounted on elephants, some on horses, others on chariots,

or on camels or buffaloes, were stationed on each side, while all the

other order of Devetas, to the amount of some lacs, formed the centre.

The Munietuvaras, with long hair on their heads, like Saniassis, holding

their staves in their hands, danced as they went along; the Syddhyas,

who revolve about {201} the heavens, opening their mouths in praise of

Seeva, rained flowers upon his head; and the vaulted heaven, which is

like an inverted goblet, being appointed in the place of a drum, exalted

his dignity by its majestic resounding."

Throughout the Hindoo fables there is the constant mistake of bulk for

sublimity.

_By the attribute of Deity_

_----self-multiplied_

_The dreadful One appeared on every side._--XXIV. p. 124.

This more than polypus power was once exerted by Krishna, on a curious

occasion.

It happened in _Dwarka_, a splendid city built by _Viswa-karma_, by

command of _Krishna_, on the sea-shore, in the province of _Gazerat_,

that his musical associate, _Nareda_, had no wife or substitute; and he

hinted to his friend the decency of sparing him one from his long

catalogue of ladies. _Krishna_ generously told him to win and wear any

one he chose, not immediately in requisition for himself. _Nareda_

accordingly went wooing to one house, but found his master there; to a

second--he was again forestalled; a third, the same; to a fourth, fifth,

the same: in fine, after the round of sixteen thousand of these

domiciliary visits, he was still forced to sigh and {202} keep single;

for _Krishna_ was in every house, variously employed, and so

domesticated, that each lady congratulated herself on her exclusive and

uninterrupted possession of the ardent deity.--MOOR's _Hindu

Pantheon_, p. 204.

Eight of the chief gods have each their _sacti_, or energy, proceeding

from them, differing from them in sex, but in every other respect

exactly like them, with the same form, the same decorations, the same

weapons, and the same vehicle.--_Asiat. Res_. 8vo, edit. vol. viii. p.

68. 82.

The manner in which this divine power is displayed by Kehama, in his

combat with Yamen, will remind some readers of the Irishman, who brought

in four prisoners, and being asked how he had taken them, replied, he

had surrounded them.

_The Amreeta,_

_or_

_Drink of Immortality._--XXIV. p. 129.

Mr Wilkins has given the genuine history of this liquor, which was

produced by churning the sea with a mountain.

"There is a fair and stately mountain, and its name is _Meroo_, a most

exalted mass of glory, reflecting the sunny {203} rays from the splendid

surface of its gilded horns. It is clothed in gold, and is the

respected haunt of _Dews_ and _Gandharvas_. It is inconceivable, and not

to be encompassed by sinful man; and it is guarded by dreadful serpents.

Many celestial medicinal plants adorn its sides; and it stands, piercing

the heaven with its aspiring summit, a mighty hill, inaccessible even by

the human mind. It is adorned with trees and pleasant streams, and

resoundeth with the delightful songs of various birds.

"The _Soors_, and all the glorious hosts of heaven, having ascended to

the summit of this lofty mountain, sparkling with precious gems, and for

eternal ages raised, were sitting in solemn synod, meditating the

discovery of the _Amreeta_, the Water of Immortality. The _Dew Narayan_

being also there, spoke unto _Brahma_, whilst the _Soors_ were thus

consulting together, and said, 'Let the Ocean, as a pot of milk, be

churned by the united labour of the _Soors_ and _Asoors_; and when the

mighty waters have been stirred up, the _Amreeta_ shall be found. Let

them collect together every medicinal herb, and every precious thing,

and let them stir the Ocean, and they shall discover the _Amreeta_.'

"There is also another mighty mountain, whose name is _Mandar_, and its

rocky summits are like towering {204} clouds. It is clothed in a net of

the entangled tendrils of the twining creeper, and resoundeth with the

harmony of various birds. Innumerable savage beasts infest its borders;

and it is the respected haunt of _Kennars_, _Dews_, and _Apsars_. It

standeth eleven thousand _Yojan_ above the earth, and eleven thousand

more below its surface.

"As the united bands of _Dews_ were unable to remove this mountain, they

went before _Veeshnoo_, who was sitting with _Brahma_, and addressed

them in these words: 'Exert, O masters! your most superior wisdom to

remove the mountain _Mandar_, and employ your utmost power for our

good.'

"_Veeshnoo_ and _Brahma_ having said, 'it shall be according to your

wish,' he with the lotus eye directed the King of Serpents to appear;

and Ananta arose, and was instructed in that work by Brahma, and

commanded by _Narayan_ to perform it. Then _Ananta_, by his power, took up

that king of mountains, together with all its forests and every

inhabitant thereof; and the _Soors_ accompanied him into the presence of

the Ocean, whom they addressed, saying, 'We will stir up thy waters to

obtain the _Amreeta_,' And the Lord of the Waters replied, 'Let me also

have a share, seeing I am to bear the violent agitation that will be

caused by the whirling of the {205} mountain!' Then the _Soors_ and

_Asoors_ spoke unto _Koorna-raj_, the King of the Tortoises, upon the

strand of the Ocean, and said, 'My lord is able to be the supporter of

this mountain.' The Tortoise replied, 'Be it so;' and it was placed upon

his back.

"So the mountain being set upon the back of the Tortoise, _Eendra_ began

to whirl it about as it were a machine. The mountain _Mandar_ served as

a churn, and the serpent _Vasoakee_ for the rope; and thus in former

days did the _Dews_, and _Asoors_, and the _Danoos_, begin to stir up

the waters of the ocean for the discovery of the _Amreeta_.

"The mighty _Asoors_ were employed on the side of the serpent's head,

whilst all the _Soors_ assembled about his tail. _Ananta_, that sovereign

_Dew_, stood near _Narayan_.

"They now pull forth the serpent's head repeatedly, and as often let it

go; whilst there issued from his mouth, thus violently drawing to and

fro by the _Soors_ and _Asoors_, a continual stream of fire and smoke

and wind, which ascending in thick clouds, replete with lightning, it

began to rain down upon the heavenly bands, who were already fatigued

with their labour; whilst a shower of flowers was shaken from the top of

the mountain, covering the heads of all, both _Soors_ and {206}

_Asoors_. In the mean time the roaring of the ocean, whilst violently

agitated with the whirling of the mountain _Mandar_ by the _Soors_ and

_Asoors_, was like the bellowing of a mighty cloud. Thousands of the

various productions of the waters were torn to pieces by the mountain,

and confounded with the briny flood; and every specific being of the

deep, and all the inhabitants of the great abyss which is below the

earth, were annihilated; whilst, from the violent agitation of the

mountain, the forest trees were dashed against each other, and

precipitated from its utmost height, with all the birds thereon; from

whose violent confrication a raging fire was produced, involving the

whole mountain with smoke and flame, as with a dark-blue cloud, and the

lightning's vivid flash. The lion and the retreating elephant are

overtaken by the devouring flames, and every vital being, and every

specific thing, are consumed in the general conflagration.

"The raging flames, thus spreading destruction on all sides, were at

length quenched by a shower of cloud-borne water, poured down by the

immortal Eendra. And now a heterogeneous stream of the concocted juices

of various trees and plants ran down into the briny flood.

"It was from this milk-like stream of juices, produced {207} from those

trees and plants and a mixture of melted gold, that the _Soors_ obtained

their immortality.

"The waters of the Ocean now being assimilated with those juices, were

converted into milk, and from that milk a kind of butter was presently

produced; when the heavenly bands went again into the presence of

_Brahma_, the granter of boons, and addressed him, saying, 'Except

_Narayan_, every other _Soor_ and _Asoor_ is fatigued with his labour,

and still the _Amreeta_ doth not appear; wherefore the churning of the

Ocean is at a stand.' Then _Brahma_ said unto _Narayan_, 'Endue them

with recruited strength, for thou art their support.' And _Narayan_

answered and said, 'I will give fresh vigour to such as co-operate in

the work. Let _Mandar_ be whirled about, and the bed of the ocean be

kept steady.'

"When they heard the words of _Narayan_, they all returned again to the

work, and began to stir about with great force that butter of the ocean,

when there presently arose from out the troubled deep, first the Moon,

with a pleasing countenance, shining with ten thousand beams of gentle

light; next followed _Sree_, the goddess of fortune, whose seat is the

white lily of the waters; then _Soora-Devee_, the goddess of wine, and

the white horse called _Oochisrava_. And after these there was produced

from the unctuous mass the jewel _Kowstoobh_, that glorious {208}

sparkling gem worn by Narayan on his breast; also _Pareejat_, the tree

of plenty, and _Soorabhee_, the cow that granted every heart's desire.

"The moon, _Soora-Devee_, the goddess of _Sree_, and the Horse, as swift

as thought, instantly marched away towards the _Dews_, keeping in the

path of the Sun.

"Then the _Dew Dhanwantaree_, in human shape, came forth, holding in his

hand a white vessel filled with the immortal juice _Amreeta_. When the

_Asoors_ beheld these wondrous things appear, they raised their

tumultuous voices for the _Amreeta_, and each of them clamorously

exclaimed, 'This of right is mine.'

"In the mean time _Travat_, a mighty elephant, arose, now kept by the

god of thunder; and as they continued to churn the ocean more than

enough, that deadly poison issued from its bed, burning like a raging

fire, whose dreadful fumes in a moment spread throughout the world,

confounding the three regions of the universe with the mortal stench,

until _Seev_, at the word of _Brahma_, swallowed the fatal drug, to save

mankind; which, remaining in the throat of that sovereign _Dew_ of magic

form, from that time he hath been called _Neel-Kant_, because his throat

was stained blue.

"When the _Asoors_ beheld this miraculous deed, they {209} became

desperate, and the _Amreeta_ and the goddess _Sree_ became the source of

endless hatred.

"Then _Narayan_ assumed the character and person of _Moheenee Maya_, the

power of enchantment, in a female form of wonderful beauty, and stood

before the _Asoors_, whose minds being fascinated by her presence, and

deprived of reason, they seized the _Amreeta_, and gave it unto her.

"The _Asoors_ now clothe themselves in costly armour, and, seizing their

various weapons, rush on together to attack the _Soors_. In the mean

time _Narayan_, in the female form, having obtained the _Amreeta_ from

the hands of their leader, the hosts of _Soors_, during the tumult and

confusion of the _Asoors_, drank of the living water.

"And it so fell out, that whilst the _Soors_ were quenching their thirst

for immortality, _Rahoo_, an _Asoor_, assumed the form of a _Soor_, and

began to drink also: And the water had but reached his throat, when the

Sun and Moon, in friendship to the _Soors_, discovered the deceit; and

instantly _Narayan_ cut off his head as he was drinking, with his

splendid weapon _Chakra_. And the gigantic head of the _Asoor_, emblem

of a mountain's summit, being thus separated from his body by the

_Chakra's_ edge, bounded into the heavens with a dreadful cry, whilst

his ponderous trunk fell, cleaving the ground asunder, and {210} shaking

the whole earth unto its foundation, with all its islands, rocks, and

forests: And from that time the head of Rahoo resolved an eternal

enmity, and continueth, even unto this day, at times to seize upon the

Sun and Moon.

"Now Narayan, having quitted the female figure he had assumed, began to

disturb the _Asoors_ with sundry celestial weapons: and from that

instant a dreadful battle was commenced, on the ocean's briny strand,

between the _Asoors_ and the _Soors_. Innumerable sharp and missile

weapons were hurled, and thousands of piercing darts and battle-axes

fell on all sides. The _Asoors_ vomit blood from the wounds of the

_Chakra_, and fall upon the ground pierced by the sword, the spear, and

spiked club. Heads, glittering with polished gold, divided by the

_Pattees'_ blade, drop incessantly; and mangled bodies, wallowing in

their gore, lay like fragments of mighty rocks, sparkling with gems and

precious ores. Millions of sighs and groans arise on every side; and the

sun is overcast with blood, as they clash their arms, and wound each

other with their dreadful instruments of destruction.

"Now the battle is fought with the iron-spiked club, and, as they close,

with clenched fist; and the din of war ascendeth to the heavens. They

cry 'Pursue! {211} strike! fell to the ground!' so that a horrid and

tumultuous noise is heard on all sides.

"In the midst of this dreadful hurry and confusion of the fight, _Nar_

and _Narayan_ entered the field together. _Narayan_, beholding a

celestial bow in the hand of _Nar_, it reminded him of his _Chakra_, the

destroyer of the _Asoors_. The faithful weapon, by name _Soodarsan_,

ready at the mind's call, flew down from heaven with direct and

refulgent speed, beautiful, yet terrible to behold: And being arrived,

glowing like the sacrificial flame, and spreading terror around,

_Narayan_, with his right arm formed like the elephantine trunk, hurled

forth the ponderous orb, the speedy messenger and glorious ruin of

hostile towns; who, raging like the final all-destroying fire, shot

bounding with desolating force, killing thousands of the _Asoors_ in his

rapid flight, burning and involving, like the lambent flame, and cutting

down all that would oppose him. Anon he climbeth the heavens, and now

again darteth into the field like a _Peesach_, to feast in blood.

"Now the dauntless _Asoors_ strive, with repeated strength, to crush the

_Soors_ with rocks and mountains, which, hurled in vast numbers into the

heavens, appeared like scattered clouds, and fell, with all the trees

thereon, in millions of fear-exciting torrents, striking {212} violently

against each other with a mighty noise; and in their fall the earth,

with all its fields and forests, is driven from its foundation: they

thunder furiously at each other as they roll along the field, and spend

their strength in mutual conflict.

"Now _Nar_, seeing the _Soors_ overwhelmed with fear, filled up the path

to Heaven with showers of golden-headed arrows, and split the mountain

summits with his unerring shafts; and the _Asoors_ finding themselves

again sore pressed by the _Soors_, precipitately flee; some rush

headlong into the briny waters of the ocean, and others hide themselves

within the bowels of the earth.

"The rage of the glorious _Chakra_, _Soodarsan_, which for a while burnt

like the oil-fed fire, now grew cool, and he retired into the heavens

from whence he came. And the _Soors_ having obtained the victory, the

mountain _Mandar_ was carried back to its former station with great

respect, whilst the waters also retired, filling the firmament and the

heavens with their dreadful roarings.

"The _Soors_ guarded the _Amreeta_ with great care, and rejoiced

exceedingly because of their success. And _Eendra_, with all his

immortal bands, gave the water of life into _Narayan_, to keep it for

their use."--MAHABHARAT.

Amrita, or Immortal, is, according to Sir William {213} Jones, the name

which the mythologists of Tibet apply to a celestial tree, bearing

ambrosial fruit, and adjoining to four vast rocks, from which as many

sacred rivers derive their several streams.