high antiquity and authority, a the Hindoo law, how far his histonative epithet applied to the river rical contributions can be supported Soane, which closely approaches by Indian authorities, the prothe name preserved by the Greeks duction of those authorities will in its radical consonants and sound. decide. This epithet is HIRANYABAHU, the golden armed; and though accompanied by several others, it has the precedence of the rest, immediately following SONA, the name in common use. * Strabo, though he does not give the second river any name, also places the capital of the Prasii at the confluence of two rivers. Hence Patna would be excluded, were it not for the well supported tradition, on which Major Rennell relies, that the Soane formerly joined the Ganges under its walls. This tradition has received a complete corroboration from the testimony of your intelligent correspondent W. Young, Esq. His vivid and interesting description of the country in the vicinity, depicted from local knowledge, and illustrated by the answers of the natives to his enquiries, requires that we should reason on the circumstance as if the old point of confluence was recorded in history to be Patna. But what does this authenticated tradition surmount? An objection which unrepelled would operate as a decided negative. But it is illogical to build on the dissipation of a negative, as if an affirmative were proved, while other objections remain unanswered. Your correspondent's description of the bank of the river would likewise form a good answer to any objection founded on the disproportion of the breadth of the modern city to its length: but independent of the encroachment of the river, the insensible declension to which a city is liable which has ceased to be the seat of empire, is enough to repel any such objection. As to the testimony of the learned Pundit, who was an oracle in * Amera cosa, p. 14. The remote antiquity of Patna, and the mention of it in native works under the name of Pataliputra, is abundantly attested. "Even in their dramas," remarks Sir William Jones, we may find as many "ancient characters and events as a future age might find in our plays, if all his"tories of England were, like those of "India, to be irrecoverably lost; for "example, a most beautiful poem by "SOMADEVA, comprising a very long "chain of instructive and agreeable sto"ries, begins with the famed revolution "at Pataliputra by the murder of King "NANDA, with his eight sons, and the "usurpation of CHANDRAGUPTA, And "the same revolution is the subject of a tragedy in Sanscrit, entitled, The Co"ronation of Chandra, the abbreviated "" name of that able and adventurous usurper.' Patna is likewise intended in the following passage: "On the banks of the river Bhagee"rathee there is a remarkable city called "Pataleepootra, where there was for"merly a Raja, endued with every noble "quality, whose name was Soodarsana.”† The essays of Major Wilford, to be afterwards cited, contribute some valuable gleanings from native poems and other works, tending to dispel some of the obscurity which veils the history of Pataliputra when it was a royal city; although his conclusions are unfavourable to the claim of its hav ing been the capital of the Prasii at the period to which the classic authorities refer. any Not to deprive Major Rennell of the support of virtual auxiliary, I subjoin the note attached to the passage above cited from Dr. Vincent's translation of Arrian in Indicis : Tenth Anniversary Discourse, by Sir William Jones, Asiatic Researches, 4to. vol. iv. p. 6. The Heetopades, translated from the Sanskreet, by Charles Wilkins, LL. D. "After all the disputes about the site of this city, I subscribe to Sir William "Jones's opinion, that it was at the con"fluence of the Soane and the Ganges; "for the Erranaboas, c. iv. is coupled "with Kossoanus and Sonus, and the "want of ruins at this junction is no ar "gument against it, if we consider it, as Arrian does, a city built of wood "and plaister. Patna is not twenty miles "from this junction, and some of our "English gentlemen have found an old << name for it, resembling Pali-putra." The first remark which I shall offer upon this commentary is, that the occurrence, in a preceding chapter, of Erranaboas as a distinct river from the Sonus, is, upon the face of it, an objection to their identity. Sir William Jones had anticipated such an objection, and to obviate it, supposes that Arrian, or his original authority Megasthenes, mistook an epithet of the Soane for a distinct river, and multiplied rivers in his catalogue which had no separate existence but this supposition will scarcely allow the passage to predicate any thing distinctly, or leave any part on the correctness of which we may rely. The second observation which The positive objections to Patna are, chiefly, if not solely, the disagreement with Pliny's itinerary in the distance at which this city stands from the confluence of the Jumnah and Ganges, and the absence of any hills within a circuit of thirty miles. Some comparative when we come to consider the objections to Patna may evolve, grounds on which the fourth and fifth points have been assumed, and to present all the ancient notices relating to the subject in one fasciculus. Independently of the classical authorities, the native testimonies that Patna anciently bore the name of Pataliputra lay a foundation for a strong presumptive argument in its favour. That ancient name is sufficiently like Palibothra in sound to allow us to suppose that it might the Greeks. When this single cirbe transmuted into the latter by cumstance is announced, for the first time, to the reader of a dissertation on the subject, it is calculated to have the same effect had on the Oriental scholars who as the discovery of it originally first met with it; the striking resemblance in the name comes upon the mind with a force approaching The Dr. Vincent's note gives occasion for, is, that he seems to prefer the present junction of the Soane and that of internal evidence. Ganges to Patna. We may still consider him, however, as an unresearches of Major Wilford, and willing ally of Major Rennell; the enquiry of Col. Francklin, furand if he had lived to see the nish, however, what for the preevidence which has since accumusent I shall call a counterpoise to it. On which side the preponlated, that the confluence was formerly at Patna, and that the old derance lies, the reader must dename which he speaks of so slight-tify the site of another ancient city cide, when their attempts to ideningly, is tangibly preserved in extant Indian authorities, he must called Bali-putra and Paliputra have been laid before him. either have quitted the neighbourhood altogether, or taken refuge (To be continued.) at Patna. To the Editor of the Asiatic Journal. SIR,-According to your wishes I have submitted the subjoined account of the Ellora caves for your Journal. Ellora is distant about thirty miles from the famous fort of Dowlutabad; the caves, so justly celebrated, in number twelve, are si tuated in a range of tremendous mountains contiguous; a description of one will serve to afford you a tolerably correct idea of the whole. The cave is formed inside the mountain, which is of a species of mouldering clay, but when exposed to the action of the atmosphere becomes perfectly hard and impenetrable; the excavation extends about eighty feet, and the height is proportionate. In first working, the excavators allowed different huge parts or pieces of the mountain to remain untouched; these, when the extent of the cave is finished are formed and moulded into pillars frequently of an ex traordinary shape, yet always possessing an imposing appearance, not unmixed with beauty, figures of giants, elephants, and many other representations of animals and forms equally monstrous; and very often, of a species that never existed but in the uncultivated imaginations of the carvers. Although these caves appear to the spectator both wide and heavy at first sight, that semblance or impression wears off, when he considers the admirable proportion of them, and the many elegant and tasteful decorations which the ingenuity of the artist has suggested in the more ornamental parts of the pillars and fantastic images; and he is the more astonished when his mind reflects upon the time, the immense labour, and the persevering toil and patience which must have been expended and suffered before one single cavern could have been fully completed. The features of the gigantic figures of the men which are introduced are totally dissimilar from any race now living, or that ever were seen in the world. From being so well adapted by the solemn silent gloominess which prevails throughout, every cave is an object conceived to be sacred, each has its peculiar deity which is worshipped by the different casts of the superstitious natives. These excavations are so essentially unlike any thing of a similar nature in other parts of the world that it is impossible to describe them by comparison, except by what may be seen at Elephanta. At the time, Mr. Editor, this sketch was written, the late journey of Mr. Legh in the country beyond the cataracts in Upper Egypt was not begun; by him an excavation resembling very considerably the caves at Ellora I think, has been discovered at Guerph Hassan. In a note subjoined to that part of Mr. Legh's book, which gives the description of the temple at that place, is a comparison drawn between it and the wonders of the isle of Elephanta, and the well known question respecting Egypt and India, which is unnecessary to be treated of here at present, by Your obedient servant, London 8th April 1818. To the Editor of the Asiatic Journal. SIR,-It has been the invariable custom of his Majesty's Government during the late war, to promulgate immediately the particulars of every battle which have been fought, accompanied by a correct list of those who have suffered in the action. On the contrary, when similar events occur in India, the result is made a profound secret, and the friends and relatives of the officers engaged, are doomed to a state of the most agonizing suspense and uncertainty. I beg of you, Mr. Editor (for, from the correctness of your intelligence, you seem well acquainted with the secrets of the prison house"), to inform me, whence proceeds this difference in the conduct of the two governments, and why the friends and relatives of men engaged in fighting the battles of their country in India, should be denied one of the fairest privileges of humanity. At the instant I am now addressing you, the battles which have been fought at Poonah are known but by report, and the more recent intelligence from the country of our ally, the Berar Rajah, is hidden in mystery. At such an immense distance, the causes which operate in favour of secrecy when near the scene of action, cannot be urged as a reason for this cruel and unaccountable mode of proceeding; and I do venture to hope that the Court of Directors will no longer suffer an anxious father or a distressed wife, to be bandied from the India House to the Board of Control, and from the Board of Control to the India House, receiving satisfaction from neither, and hearing each accuse the other as the cause. The courteous and uniform attention shewn to the public in every department of the Company's service (other than that of which I complain), I need not say is proverbial.-I am, Sir, yours, &c. 8th April, 1818. EPIDEMIC IN BENGAL. We are indebted to a gentleman at Calcutta for the following extracts describing a fearful disease which has swept off multitudes of the natives at that city and at Murshadabad and Jessore. We would particularly call the attention of our readers to the conduct of the Brahmans on the melancholy occasion, and we will add, spite of the misanthropic slanderers of British morality, to that of our countrymen. We recite the opinions of various correspondents respecting the cause of the disorder. A res Epidemic. A great diversity of opinion seems to prevail, respecting the probable cause of the epidemic which has lately committed such ravages at Jessore and Calcutta; and, as we are sorry to learn, all over the Zillah of Rajeshy. pectable cotemporary is of opinion, that although the species of food to which it is charged, when taken in an excessive degree, may produce considerable derangement in the system, yet that they are not sufficient to account for the rapid progress of the disease, and the suddenness of its termination in death. He adds, that the extreme heat at this season of the year, the want of free ventilation in native towns, the local situation of Jessore surrounded by jungle and luxuriant vegetation, and the sheets of water, which, from the late heavy falls of rain, PATER cover the surface of the ground, combined together, seem to have given a virulent character to the disorder, which has probably been increased by some peculiarities in the atmosphere. This disorder has also made its appearance near Moorshedabad, where, “in some of the "villages, from ten to fifteen of the na❝tives are carried off daily." It is des cribed as similar to the mortality at Jessore; and the patient is said to die in a few hours. A fact is also stated by the writer of a letter from Moorshedabad, from which we may infer that the sablefish have contributed to produce the disorder in that neighbourhood. It is said, that "at a fishing place for sable-fish, twenty-five fishermen died in one day."* The disorder, says another writer, owed its origin to the deleterious qualities of new rice; and consisted in the fatal * At Jessore, however, the use of sable fish had no share whatever in the production of the disease, for it is stated that the use of that atricle of food had been restricted for nearly two months before the epidemic began to rage, and when it did appear, very little sable fish could be procured in the Bazar. + Both of these may have been what medical writers call the occasional cause of the disease, but as to the predisposing cause, or that which induces such a habit of body as to render a person liable to suffer from food which he might otherwise use with impunity, we are quite in the dark. The present rainy season has been one of effects resulting from the use of paddy, recently cut, as food, before the grain had time to season through age and exposure to the sun. The symptoms, in every instance, we are informed by our correspondent, were precisely similar, being very sudden in their attack, and alarming in their appearance and result. A few hours after the admission of this unwholesome, or rather poisonous food, into the stomach, the patients were seized with general uneasiness over the body, accompanied with violent headache and giddiness, succeeded by insensibility, profuse and cold perspirations, at the same time breaking out on the forehead and different parts of the body. To these incipient symptoms, in rapid suc cession, followed repeated vomitting of a clear liquid resembling water, gripings and purging, accompanied with sinking of the pulse, and its total extinction at the wrist and temples; together with spasms of the superior and inferior extremities, hollowness of the eyes, a falling in of the abdomen, and general emaciation visible even in subjects who, previous to the attack, were remarkable for the robustness and stoutness of their bodies. Upon the first appearance of this disorder, the native inhabitants declared their total ignorance of any cause to which it could be referred excepting a visitation of Providence, and under the influence of a real or pretended panic fled with the utmost precipitation into unusual length, and throughout Bengal there has been no considerable inverval between the falls of rain. Observations, by a hygrometer, would probably shew, that the general state of moisture of the atmosphere during the season has been much beyond the usual average. We do not think that any inference, as to sable-fish, is to be drawn from the fact, mentioned in a letter, of twentyfive fishermen (at a sable-fish station) having died in one day. We do not know what proportion this number bore to that of those employed at this particular place. Last week we were acquainted with a very alarming instance of the fatality attending this disease in the vicinity of Calcutta. Of about seventy people, employed at a particular spot, eleven died in the course of twenty-four hours. Of about eleven hundred prisoners in the Jessore jail seven had fallen victims, and two of the sepoys on duty at the station. A prohibition was issued against the use of new rice, and strictly enforced; after this only one case of the disease occurred, and that in the person of a female prisoner, who it was discovered had concealed a small quantity of the new rice, and was seized a few hours after eat ing it. Asiatic Journ.--No. 29. the neighbouring villages, leaving the bazar at Jessore wholly deserted for several days. At length the servants of a gentleman who were attacked coufessed that the disorder in them had arisen from eating the new rice, of which it appears the natives are extremely fond, from the richness and sweetness of its taste; and the lower classes in particular indulge freely in its use, on account of the comparative cheapness of its price. Since then, various inquiries which have been set on foot, and examinations made of persons attacked by their friends, have fully established the fact of the disorder having been produced by the cause which has been mentioned. The origin of the disorder having been ascertained, and the cause fully explained to the natives, the number of new cases almost instantaneously decreased; and by the unremitted and humane exertions of the judge, in restraining, so far as was possible, the employment of the pernicious article, and rigorously preventing its sale to the convicts, the distemper has nearly disappeared, and was removed from the jail in less than fortyeight hours, although the number of cases had there previously increased to an alarming extent. In some cases death followed the commencement of the symptoms in three or four hours, but in general the fatal result was prolonged to about twenty-four hours from the beginning of the attack. Dissection of the body, we are informed, exhibited an appearance of inflammation affecting the internal coats of the stomach and intestines, the latter being also inflated, and the former containing a quantity of offensive vitiated bile, but no traces of the rice which had been swallowed. The greatest number of those who fell victims to the fatal effects of gratifying their palates, though at the risk of the most dangerous consequences, in great measure suffered from their own obstinacy in pertinaciously refusing to have recourse to any excepting Bengali medicine, till it was too late. But we are much gratified from hearing that a vast number of lives have been saved, and by means of a very simple practice; the free use of calomel, administered upon the first appearance of the symptoms, and continued so long as the presence VOL. V. 3 M |