POLITICAL IMPORTANCE....LANGUAGE, &C.

63

habitants of the British provinces at 30,000,000.* It is pro bable, however, that half the number would be the nearest.

Political importance.]-The political importance of this vast region is divided among so many different states that nothing determinate can be said on this subject. India may be considered as forming within itself a distinct political world.

Language.]-The Sanscrit is the original language of at least a considerable part of this country. It contains fifty-two characters; and is now a dead language. Many vulgar dia. lects, however, are spoken, which are totally different from each other. Almost every considerable division of the country has a distinct and peculiar language, and commonly a par ticular alphabet.

Literature.]-The literature of the Hindoos, like every thing else in their system, is intimately connected with their mythology. The translations of their best works, that haveyet appeared, display a capricious imagination destitute of sound judgment, vigorous genius, and elegant taste. They are wholly ignorant of history; and their chronology, which reckons by millions of years, is too romantic and ridiculous to merit the least attention. The antiquity of their mythology, their literature, and their astronomy, has been a subject of inquiry among many learned writers, and seems to have misled the sound sense and excellent judgment of Mr. Bailly, Dr. Robertson, and a whole host of literati. The want of history and chronology throws a shade of uncertainty over every thing in India, and the Hindoo æras and dates are blended together in one mass of absurdity and contradiction.† The most impor tant books are the Vedas; but if we except some moral maxims and rules for the conduct of life, there appears a striking deficiency of good sense in Hindoo literature. A smattering of astronomy, sufficient for the calculation of eclipses, with the absurd ideas of judicial astrology, constitute the whole extent of Braminical science. The polite arts are yet in their infancy. In painting they are strangers to the rules of perspective: the images of their gods are destitute of form and symmetry: many of the temples are majestic and solemn; but ↑ Ibid. vol. 5. p. 315.

Asiatic Res. vol. 4. p. 23.

INDIA.

without any architectural beauties. Rudeness and inelegance are seen in all the Hindoo works of wealth and magnificence.*

Education.]-The Bramins confine all, Hindoo science, such as it is, to their own cast, and have many universities, among which that of Benares is one of the most celebrated.

Persons, manners, and national character.]-The Hindoos are of a good stature in the northern and mountainous parts, but lower and of a weaker frame in the plains and the southern provinces. They are, however, in general, formed with exact symmetry, and although greatly inferior to the Europeans in strength, surpass them in agility and easiness of motion. Their features are regular and their complexion either copper or olive, but both with various shades, and some are almost black. Their hair is always black and long; and the white part of the eye is generally tinged with yellow, which gives to the countenance but little animation. Their peculiar customs and manners have been frequently described. The horrible custom of widows burning themselves, in testimony of affection to their husbands, was practised in the times of remote antiquity, an instance of which was exhibited by the wife of a general in the army of Eumenes; and the ancient Brachmans, as exemplified in the person of Calanus, sometimes burned themselves in the same manner on a funeral pile lighted by their own hand. The continuance of practices so revolting to human nature, during the space of 2000 years, shews how seldom customs are changed in India. The Hindoos are remarkable for their abstemiousness, which excludes the use of animal food and intoxicating liquors; but they indulge in polygamy. They are of a quick and subtle genius; but mild and inoffensive in their manners.§ Pusillanimity is considered as a distinguishing feature in their national character. But the history of Indian affairs seems to furnish numerous exceptions to this general representation. Their fre quent subjection to foreign powers seems to be ascribable ra ther to their want of discipline than their deficiency of courage,

* Orme's Ess. on the government and people of Hindostan, ch. 4. † Ibid. Essay, vol. 2.

Diod. Siculus, lib. 19. cap. 2.

§ Orme's Essay on the Effeminancy of the Hindoos.

and their behaviour, when trained and commanded by Europeans, justifies the supposition. The Moors or Mahomedans of Hindostan are a more athletic and vigorous race, and distinguished from the Hindoos by a fairer complexion. Their exterior deportment is ceremoniously polite, but their general character presents an assemblage of almost all the vices.* The number of Hindoos exceeds that of the Mahomedans in at least a tenfold proportion.

ISLAND OF CEYLON.

THIS valuable and celebrated island, the Taprobana of Ptolemy, is of a triangular form, with a rounded base on the south, being about 260 British miles in length, and 150 in breadth, nearly equal to Ireland in extent. The shores are flat and low to the distance of six or eight leagues within land; but the interior consists chiefly of high mountains, covered with prodigious forests full of aromatic trees and plants. These mountainous districts give rise to numerous streams, which diversify and fertilize the plains. The highest of the mountains is that called Adam's Peak by the Mahomedans, and celebrated in Hindoo fables. The rivers are small, and the narrow extent of the country can afford them only a short course. Ceylon is opulent in every department of natural history. It possesses a rich and varied mineralogy of gold, iron, plumbago, &c. with immense fossil wealth in various precious stones, among which are enumerated the genuine ruby, the sapphire, the topaz, the amethyst, the jacint, the peridot, and as some say the emerald, with several others of inferior note and value. The opulence of the sea also corresponds with that of the land, in a valuable pearl fishery on the north-west shore, which begins about the middle of February, and continues till about the middle of April, when the south-west monsoon commences. During the season of the fishery, the village of Condatchey is crowded with a mixed assemblage of people of different colours and countries, with numerous tents, huts, and

Orme on the government and people of Hindostan, book 2. chap.

shops, while the adjacent sea is covered with boats. The divers are mostly Christians or Mahomedans, who descend to a depth of five or ten fathoms, and remain under water about two minutes, each sometimes bringing up about 100 pearloysters in his net. The soil in the valleys and plains near the coast, is rich and amazingly fertile in rice, and other vegetable products. This island affords pepper and various other spices; but its peculiar and most valuable product is cinna mon, the best in the world. The immense forests are the haunts of innumerable elephants, which in beauty yield only to those of Siam. The buffalo is common, and wild boars numerous and exceedingly fierce. There are also tigers, bears, and various tribes of deer and monkeys. The alligators are sometimes eighteen feet in length. Many other wild animals and tremendous reptiles might also be enumerated. And amidst a great variety of beautiful birds, Ceylon is remarkable for the numerous peacocks that ornament its forests.*

Candy.]-Candy, the capital city and royal residence, is situated on the banks of the river Mowil, nearly in the centre of the island, amidst impervious forests and lofty mountains, which render it almost inaccessible to an enemy, all the approaches being through intricate defiles known only to the natives.

The Portugueze, however, in 1590, found means to explore the labyrinth of woods and mountains, and to capture the city. Our knowledge of Candy and its king is at present obscure; but several of our brave countrymen being now prisoners in that capital, it may be hoped that on their return they will communicate interesting intelligence concerning this deep recess of barbarian power.

Columbo.-The chief town of the Portugueze, Dutch, and English possessions successively, is Columbo, which is handsome and well fortified. The governor's palace is neat, but it consists of only one floor with a balcony. The fine harbour of Trincomalee, on the eastern side of the island, is of great importance, as there is none on that side of the continent. At Matura, near the southern promontory called Dondra, the

For the Nat. History of Ceylon, see Pennant's View of Hindostan, vol. 1.

Dutch used to collect great quantities of excellent cinnamon, and a variety of gems abound in the vicinity.

The natives of Ceylon, called Cingalese, are undoubtedly of Hindoo origin; but they are not so black as those of Malabar, as the exposure of the island on all sides to the sea, renders the climate more cool and salubrious than that of southern Hindostan. Their manners differ little from those of the other Hindoos. Their religion is that of Boodh, which is supposed to have originated in Ceylon, and thence to have spread to Hindostan, to exterior India, and afterward under corrupted forms to Thibet, China, and Japan. Others, however, contend that the worship of Boodh originated in exterior India. Nothing is said of the literature of the Cingalese, or of their arts and sciences, nor do they appear to carry on any manufacture. The valuable commerce of Ceylon, has always consisted of its celebrated productions, cinnamon and gems, which have long been an inexhaustible source of wealth to the Dutch, and promise to be such in future to Great Britain.

The ancient history of Ceylon is little known, and would probably be as little interesting, although its commerce, as well as that of the Indian continent, has been important and celebrated from the times of remote antiquity. It may, however, be remarked, that in the reign of Claudius an embassy was sent to Rome from a raja or king of this island.* In 1506, Ceylon was seized by the Portugueze, who, as already observed, took the capital 1590, and retained possession of the shores till 1660, when they were expelled by the Dutch. During the late war, the Dutch settlements on the coast were taken by the English, who still remain in possession, but not without being long engaged in hostilities with the king of Candy.