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end of the last reign. An absolute uncertainty therefore remains as to the total duration of this first series, and as to the periods when it began and ended. "Yet, notwithstanding the fabulous circumstances which have been foisted into this succession, we may regard it, as Mr. Wilson does, as Built upon an historical basis, and find in it a subject for some interesting observations. But we cannot adopt the conjecture of the English scholar, who discovers in the title of Khan, given by the chronicles to most of these princes, reason for assigning them a Tartar origin, and who assimilates the same word to the names of Oxycanus and Musicanas recorded by the historians of Alexander. The title of Khan is of recent origin even in Tartury; it cannot have been carried out of it prior to the fifth century of our era; and in the chronicle in question, it discloses the effects of a digestion of the work under the influence of some princes of the race of Genghiz, rather than of the country of those kings to whom it is attributed by a sort of anticipation.

The prince to whom must be assigned, conformably to the combined documents of the Indian history and the abridgers, the first place in the true schronological series of the kings of Cashmere, is Gonarda, or rather Gonanda, the Agnand of the Musulman writers. His epoch is fixed in the original works; but according to the system of Yugas, Manwantaras and Kalpas, that sis of the ages and eras of India,-a system which is still far from being clearly explained, and which always leaves a vagueness of several centuries in the date of events,-Gonanda was contemporary with Crishna and a rélation of Jarasandha, king of Magadha, in aid of whom he led an army against Crishna. His son was killed in an expedition against this personage. The result of this synchronism is subject to difficulties which the Indian authors themselves haye raised, and which Mr. Wilson discusses in a separate note. These difficulties are rather increased than dissipated by what is said respecting the succession of the subsequent reigns. There is no reason, therefore, to be surprised at -finding in the summary of the learned writer a difference of 1,048 years between the date assigned to Gonanda, as it results from the very terms of the original chronicles, if taken strictly (B.C. 2448), and the same date rectified by Mr. Wilson himself with the assistance of different chronological combinations (B.C. 1400), which he has shown with equal sagacity and erudition. bThe space which succeeds the reign of Gonanda is again occupied, in the history of Cashinere, by a line of princes whose periods are not fixed, and of whom a considerable number are not even named. Asoca, one of these princes, is accused in the Ayeen Akberi of having abolished the Brahminical rites and founded the sect of Jains, a circumstance which would again be in opposition with the fundamental epoch of Buddha, if we consider "Asoca, according to the Indian author, anterior to the twelfth century before our era. An invasion of the Mlechas, or barbarians, is likewise placed under the same reign; and it is remarkable that on this occasion Asoca obtained a son to fight against these people, by means of his devotion to Siva, a strange contradiction of what had been said of his attachment to the worship of Buddha, unless the two religions had been then reconciled together, as they were more recently in different countries in the north of India. This prince, named Jaloca, overturned the new religion, expelled the Mlechas, and carried his arms to the north of Persia; which happened, according to the Musulman authors, in the time of Darab, or Darius. The complete establishment of the Brahminical system and of the distinction of castes in Cashmere is traced up to this reign's but although devoted to the worship of Siva, he did fot scruple to grant privileges to the Buddhists to such an extent that He passen ninotrɔɔ lo dɔisnom 3 ditw 919mden) to grid radions yo no boitself .COM.V.wurol sínízk

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1828.] Remarks on Original Hindu Histories. 25 adi od ́es Eniemɔ7 91objedi ziniOS MA grot Jael ads to bis himself for a Bodhisalia, that is, a Buddhist incarnation of the second rank. After a long and fortunate reign, he ended by identifying himself with Siva, adored under the name of Jyeshta Rudra. There is observable in these traditions a singular mixture of ideas borrowed from both the rival creeds of India, and the name of Bodhisatwa, which is introduced, should direct attention to the passage in the Sanscrit chronicle relative to the reign of Jaloça. The successor of this prince was changed into a serpent for having been too tardy in satisfying the Brahmins who asked food of him. He is said to return, even at the present day, in the same form, to the vicinity of the capital of Cashmere. Three Tartar princes (it is thus Mr. Wilson interprets the word Turushka) introduced a religious reform into the country, which became exclusively Buddhist. Subsequently, 300 years after the death of Chakia Sinha, Cashmere appears under the rule of a Bodhisatwa, named Nagarjuna. This passage, which again may serve to fix certain chronological points of Indian history, had been rendered with some inexactitude in the body of the extract of Mr. Wilson. We here give the sense of it according to a more brief translation which he has inserted in his notes. » ?

The triumph of Buddhism in Cashmere was not, however, decisive. Under the succeeding reign, the Nagas (dragons), exasperated by the desertion of the Brahminical rites, afflicted the inhabitants with the torment of intolerable cold. A Brahmin named Chandra, known as a grammarian in the literary history of Hindustan, delivered the country of this double scourge, the severity of the weather, and the heresy of the Buddhists. It is in the reign of this prince, named Abhimanyu, that the Raj-Taringini begins to give its details with more precision, specifying the length of each reign. The Indian calculation would place the end of this reign in B, C. 1182; Mr. Wilson, by the means already referred to, reduces the date to B. C. 388. supardod ar 30 From this point, Cashmerian chronology may be submitted to regular discussion, since, the length of each reign being stated, there is an opportunity afforded of applying the principles by which the succession of princes vis generally governed. The duration, in Mr. Wilson's opinion, is still subject tb reduction in the early periods, because the author has evidently been obliged to lengthen the reigns so as to fill the space of 2,330 years, which he had previously recognized between Gonanda III, and the year 1170 of the Sach era, or A, D. 1148. Under the government of these early princes there were also several religious diversities; some sovereigns are praised for having exerted themselves in re-establishing the ancient worship of the Nagas, of Siva under different invocations, of the lingam, &c. The Brahmin author of the chronicle depreciates with equal solicitude the memory of those princes who deserted the Brahminical system and embraced the worship of Buddha. These vicissitudes can only be explained by supposing that the population of Cashmere was divided almost equally between the two sects, which sought to supplant each other, and succeeded alternately. Some occurrences of this kind are related in the original, with certain poetical embellishments and ornaments of style not unworthy of regard according to the learned translator. Under one of the princes referred to (B.C. 705 agreeably to the Indian computation, 265 according to the reformed method) are recorded a fresh invasion of the Mlechas, and an expedition of the king of Cashmere to Lanka (Ceylon), in the course of which this prince subjugated Chola, Cabati, Lata and other countries in the south of India. Mention is also made, somelater of a second expedition to Lanka, on account ofɛaz sanghinary was carried on by another king of Cashmere with the monarch of Ceylon, in Asiatic Journ. Vol. 25. No. 145.

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order to compel the latter to interdict his subjects from the slaughter of animals. The memory of this expedition beyond the sea is preserved, more"over, if we believe the Indian author, upon certain banners which it is 'customary to carry in particular ceremonies. Whatever opinion may be entertained of the reality of these events, it is important to recover them, for the purpose of comparison with analogous traditions recorded in the Singalese annals. We may probably thence derive some information respecting the route taken by the Buddhist religion, in reaching at the same time Ceylon and the north of Asia; and concerning the connexions inferred as subsisting between these remote countries, from the resemblance of writing, the succession of sacred dialects, and religious traditions.

Another prince, whom the Indian computation places in the first century of our era, is r represented as having extended his authority over the city of Khota (apparently Khoten), Cathay, Chin, and Machin; that is to say, over the northern and southern portions of modern China. A little later, according to the same computation (but, if we adopt the rectifications proposed by Mr. Wilson, towards the end of the fifth century), a Brahmin named Matrigupta was Tiased to the throne of Cashmere by a sovereign of India named Vicramaditya, who had expelled from his territories the Mlechas and subjugated the Sakas. It is we well known that the endeavours of historical critics have not yet succeeded in fixing the age of the different princes who bore the name of Vicramaditya; "if this object had been accomplished, we might have had here a synchronism of so much the more value, inasmuch as a gross absurdity, which occurs immediately after this reign in the Sanscrit chronicle, confounds afresh all the combinations of the chronologist; this is a reign of 300 years, the only such example which is met with in the chronicle, and precisely at that particular juncture when confused traditions and incoherent narratives are about finally to give place to a better organized series of plausible details and data divested "of improbability.

This period is that of the fourth succession, or the dynasty of Karkota. The longest reign which occurs there is one of fifty years: from the commencement of this dynasty, the aggregate of the years of these princes, calculated by retrograding from the recent events which determine the inferior limit, is found to correspond so nearly with the Indian dates, that Mr. Wilson sees no reason to make any essential reform in the computation of his original,

One of the most remarkable events in the space occupied by this dynasty is the expedition of Lalitaditya, who, about A.D. 714, traversed the eastern part of Hindustan, reached the banks of the eastern sea, which in the Cashmerian chronicles means the gulf of Bengal and the mouths of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, followed the coast of the peninsula, crossed the Vindhya mountams, subjugated the petty states on the Malabar coast, returned by the country of Cambojia to the north-west of India, proceeded towards Bokhara, gained three victories over the Musulmans, then, despising the pale Bhoteas, meaning thereby the inhabitants of the northern regions of the Himalaya, or the Tibetans properly so called, entered the country of Asam, and at length reached Tibet, and even Tartary (Uttara-Kara), where he terminated the career of his exploits. Nothing can be more curious, or more adapted to give the student a better acquaintance with the geography of Hindustan prior to the invasions of the Musulmans, than the narrative of this memorable incursion, in the shape in which the Indian author has given it, with the Sanscrit names of the places and countries traversed by the king of Cashmere. Nothing is more worthy of arresting the attention of intelligent minds, even in the poems

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of the Hindus; than the details of ancient geography, which are conected by scholars with so much avidity, Those which occur here, in conjunction with the illustrations of Mr. Wilson, deserved to be carefully studied. It is necessary to examine very closely the approximations which he alleges to exist between the text of the chronicle and the relations of Arabians upon the subject of the wars they had to sustain, about this period, to the eastward of Khorasan. If we had sufficieient space, we should be glad to point out another instance, in the expeditions of the Thupo, or Tibetans, to the Gulf of Bengal. The reports of the Chinese in respect to the Tibetans, Cashmere, and the city of Khoten, might on this occasion be consulted with advantage, The reigns of the other princes of the same dynasty, as well as those of the two succeeding dynasties, furnish other facts which we would willingly stop to notice. But in proportion as we approach modern times the narrative of the Indian authors, assumes a regularity of character, and there are, consequently, fewer difficulties to remove and conjectures to be hazarded. Being unable to give more than a summary of this extract, noticing whatsoever appears to us the most novel, we shall confine ourselves, in order to trace in a few words an epitome of the history of Cashmere, to stating the results contained in Mr. Wilson's chronological chart. The first period, that which begins with Kasyapa, and ends, according to the Indians, at the twelfth century before Christ, but according to their interpreter at the fourth, includes fifty-one reigns, the duration of which cannot be assigned even approximately. The first dynasty, worthy the name, that of the descendants of Gonanda III., contains twenty-one reigns, which occupy a space of 1,013 years, reduced by the translator to 378. The second dynasty has but six princes, whose reigns together amount to 192 years. The third, which is in fact the first re-established upon the throne, has ten princes, to whom is assigned a space of 592 years: it would give, even by the reformed computation of Mr. Wilson, an average of forty-three years, which he considers inadmissbile. The fourth reckons seventeen princes, who occupied the throne for 260 years, from A.D. G15 till 875. The fifth has twelve princes in eighty-four years, from A.D, $75 till 979. The sixth succession, which includes nine princes of different races, lasted sixty-four years, between A.D. 960 and 1024.

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Mr. Wilson has added to this extract an appendix consisting of notes, some of which have been already referred to. It is remarkable throughout for that Indian erudition and profound acquaintance with its sources which strike the reader in the preface to his Sanscrit dictionary, and which few authors, amongst those who apply themselves to the same subjects, are capable of equalling. In the analysis here given, we have merely detached a few features connected with the history of the religions of Hindustan, or the great movements, hitherto almost unknown, which must have agitated the people of that country. Facts of another kind were equally worthy of examination; but there is no individual of those who have addicted themselves to the study of oriental history, who will not read this precious relic of Indian annals over and over again. What we might desire, if the state of the manuscripts permitted it, is that the learned translator would give an edition of it in the original text, accompanied by a complete translation. He would thereby surrender to discussion a literary relic most worthy to exercise the sagacity of occidental scholars, nude gaan naa 89020 715/dce adi duw 10XE

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WE We have received a very long communication from a correspondent, condo talning Suggestions for the improvement of New South Wales," which s conformably to the wish of the writer, we have reduced to more moderateľ: dimensions, without, in our opinion, injuring the contents.qoq oda nsriw o2 10 Our correspondent begins by lamenting that the export of coal should be permitted from the colony to foreign countries before the extent of the supply of that article can be ascertained. In the next place he condemns the: indiscriminate and wasteful destruction of the woods, and suggests that some A government regulation might fix the topography and extent of all the woods-> and forests, which should be reserved for public use. He recommends that q wherever there is wood in the neighbourhood of any water-communication with a large river, or more immediately with the sea, such wood ought to be preserved, and that fa falls of timber of specified dimensions should take place q periodically for the public service, instead of allowing the colonists to do, what they please with the trees, so that some of the farms (according to the statement of of Mr. Atkinson) are left without even fire-wood... Besto09 10 In the third place, he observes: "having accompanied surveys in India, '11 and nd observed the method of the surveying officers there, I could wish to see exploring parties conducted on a different plan in Australia from that usually, pursued; I would recommend travelling from hill to bill, instead of following the course of rivers, or a continued route through plains. I would recom¬{i mend a party destined to penetrate any unknown portion of the interior, from, whatever point they may make their first station, first to reach the most distant hill or range then visible; whence, having planted their flag or surveying staff, and taken the latitude and longitude, bearings, &c., they might take a › fresh departure to the next hill or range which was visible from the top of the last, and reaching that, they should proceed on the same plan as before. By following this course, they would obviate the occasional want of water in arid.,› and nd extensive plains; they would always find some in the gullies, and/defiles f the hills; and on the other hand, they would avoid unknown or unexpected floods in the low countries, which might carry away their tents at night if; pitched there. Secondly, the hills would serve for fresh starting points and 1 halting posts, both in going and returning; by which their observations of latitude and longitude would be made throughout with less liability to con- 1 fusion, and a trigonometrical plan or map of the country might be more easily and correctly laid down." In the fourth place, he proceeds as follows:

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I have read in some foreign author an able discourse on the natural i boundaries of different nations, in which he made it very apparent that a great }, river never was intended by Providence as a boundary; for otherwise, there would be continual conflicts on the water between the inhabitants of the opposite shores during a war, or else the strongest nation would enjoy the... whole dominion, But mountain boundaries are frequently inaccessible, and so, they may be so bleak and barren as to be of no use to the ation on each side; or if fruitful, they are, at the same time, admirablyon lculated by nature for defe defence; and by means of forts, a chain of posts, or to even mere walls, they may be rendered nearly impassable in war, and at all197 times of peace a most prominent boundary, which ignorance itself cannot overlook. I would reduce this theory to the use of smaller communities, and, particularly to Van Diemen's Land, now undergoing the operation of a general survey_1am 1AD) 181 B I am sorry to see, from Evans's map, that that such parishes or townships

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