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pose. There are also mines of quicksilver; one was discovered in the neighbourhood of Columbo. Ceylon contains some hot-wells, the waters of which possess but few mineral qualities.

Mr. Percival concludes his account with some general observations on the state and value of this new acquisition to the British crown. Notwithstanding the excellent temperature and fertile soil of Ceylon, the Dutch were so negligent of the cultivation of the island, that it has never yet produced a sufficient quantity of rice and wheat for its own consumption. Twenty years ago the revenue of the island defrayed its own expenditure; but from the mismanagement of late years, the establishment has been a charge to the mother-country, which, indeed, easily made up the deficiency by the exportation of spices, by the profits of the pearl-fishery, and by the imposts laid on the several articles imported into Ceylon from other parts of India. There is every appearance, however, of a more prosperous policy under the English go. vernment. A system of kindness and conciliation to the Candians, as well as to the Cinglese, is adopted by the present active, intelligent, and humane governor, Mr. North; who has already pursued such measures as materially to have encreased the revenue, and who certainly will receive with thankfulness those numerous and important hints for the improvement of the island, which are interspersed in the volume before us. Governor North has taken a tour round the island in person, accompanied by several gentlemen well calculated to examine its various natural productions with skill and accuracy. Roads will doubtless be cut to obviate the present difficulties of communication: forests will be cleared, and jungles stubbed, and marshes drained in those parts where the partial insalubrity of the climate arises from fogs and an obstructed circulation of air. The best sorts of cinnamon will, of course, be selected for cul

ture, and the inferior species abandoned;
the importance of attending to the tea-
plant and the
sugar-tree and sugar-cane,
cannot possibly escape the sagacity of
the governor, who will see the policy of
encouraging a spirit of industry among
the natives, who will impress them with
a sense of the power with which he rules,
by the vigour and promptitude of his
measures, and of the humanity of his
administration, by tempering the se-
verity of justice with the tenderness of
mercy.

Mr. Percival closes his volume with a journal of the embassy to the court of Candy under general Macdowal, in the year 1800. The object of this embassy is not unfolded; we are only made acquainted with one demand, which was urged on behalf of the British government, and peremptorily rejected: the demand was, that the king of Candy would allow a road to be made, and a communication to be opened from Trincomalée to Columbo through his territories, as it would avoid the circuitous route which letter-bags, &c. are now obliged to travel. His majesty would on no account suffer any connexion or intercourse between his subjects and Europeans-the Portugueze and Dutch are ever present in his mind In this journal some further particulars concerning the interior of the Candian dominions are related, for which we must refer to the volume.

After the very ample review which we have taken of this work, it is unnecessary to make any general remarks on its merits. Mr. Percival writes in a plain, unstudied manner; he has collected such a body of information as is rarely to be met with in the same compass. That information, intrinsically interesting, and of peculiar value to Englishmen, since the country to which it refers has recently become a part of the British dominions, will plead our apology for the unusual length to which this article has been extended.

ART. VIII. A Voyage in the Indian Ocean, and to Bengal, undertaken in the Years 1789 and 1790. Translated from the French of L. DE GRANPRE. 8vo. 2 vols. Pp. 560.

M. GRANDPRE begins his book I hoped to find a good price and a ready with remarkable honesty.

"I was at the Isle of France in the year 1790, with a vessel too large and too sharp for the country. Not being able to dispose of her, I resolved on a trip to Bengal, where

market, though her construction was ill adapted to the navigation of the Ganges. But appearances being in her favour, this defect I trusted would be overlooked, and I was not mistaken.”

We have had sentimental travellers, and philosophistical travellers, and lying travellers from France: M. Grandpré is an ingenuous traveller; this candid account of his business at Bengal is only to be paralleled by the honourable declaration of the peer who affirmed that he would cheat his own brother in horse flesh.

Our voyager touched at the Sechelles islands; he remarks that it is singular the islands of this little archipelago should have soundings at a great distance from shore: this he accounts for by supposing that the bases of these granite mountains have for a long succession of ages stopped the refuse and extraneous bodies which the tides and currents bring, and by this gradual aggregation formed the bank upon which the islands rise. The port and road of the Sechelles is represented as of the greatest importance to France, being at so small a distance from the Mauritius as to be able to annoy its trade, and cut off its communication with India. But the islands are valuable on other accounts. When the French had succeeded in pilfering some spice plants from the Dutch, their cultivation was attempted in the Isle of France; the trees degenerated, though under very favourable circumstances of culture; as the latitude of the Sechelles was similar to that of the Moluccas, it was thought proper to try the experiment there: a few plants were secretly set in the island of Mahé, and trusted to nature. The success was beyond expectation; the cloves and nutmegs throve well, and the cinnamon trees spread so rapidly as to cover the canton, wherever the forests did not obstruct their growth. At this time the war of 1778 broke out, the governor of the isles of France and Bourbon gave orders to destroy the plants if the English should attempt to take possession of the island. A French ship put in to water, the overseer mistook her for an enemy, set fire to the spice trees, and destroyed them all. Such was the worthy result of this Dutch policy. But the preserving power of nature prevailed; the birds had carried the seeds to the interior of the island, and they were in so promising a state when M. Grandpré saw them, that he asserts that France might derive from the Sechelles, notwithstanding their little extent, a sufficient quantity of spices for the consumption of the republic. It .. ANN. RET. VOL. II.

seems however that the French government have neglected them, hoping to be supplied from Cayenne.

These islands produce the sea or twincocoa, which is peculiar to them; the fruit perfectly represents the human posteriors, and is in request through all Asia on account of its scarceness. The rice is excellent.

Some interesting circumstances occurred upon this passage.

"The tides during the south-west monislands and the Laccadives, that we are subsoon are so violent between the Maldiveject to lose our reckoning, especially if we are not able to make observations of longitude. To prevent gross errors, and that a vessel may not fall in unexpectedly with the land, which might be dangerous in the night, there is one remark to be made, which is rather of a singular nature.

"After passing the meridian of the Maldives, and when we are between them and the coast of Malabar, there is seen on the surface of the water a great number of living serpents, floating without movement, their bodies rolled up, the head erect, and the look stedfast. They begin to appear as soon as we get within the Maldives; but they are not very numerous till we arrive at about eight or ten leagues from the coast, and their numbers increase as we approach. It is supposed, that they are forced down the rivers of the coast of Malabar, which are swelled by the abundant rains that prevail at that season, and which carry off with them whatever they meet in their passage. These floods are sometimes so considerable, that the sea is tinged by them six or seven leagues from the shore.

have mentioned, I discovered land about six Two days after losing the Manillese I in the evening. The weather was thick and cloudy, with rain and light airs at intervals. I found myself too near the coast, and hauled my wind to stand off. I was borne by the currents with astonishing rapidity; in the evening the rain increased, and the wind fell quite calm. As, however, there was a very heavy swell, the ship rolled considerably, and the wet sails, by beating against the masts, were soon rent to pieces. It became necessary to unbend the topsails, and thus for a while to remain under bare poles, exposed to whatever heaven might please to ordain. While fresh sails were bending, I ordered the lead to be hove constantly; and I saw with pleasure, that the tide carried me on the course I wished to go as accurately as if I had been able to manage the ship.

"About eleven o'clock the swell became less, and in the course of a few minutes was completely gone: then the sea seemned on a sudden to be on fire. This phenomenon has been observed by several navigators, who

E

have described it. I find it impossible to give an idea of its appearance: the light does not resemble that produced by the track of a vessel and fish in phosphoric seas; it is absolutely fire, or at least appears to be so, and extends to the utmost limits of the horizon, so that the ship seems to swim on a burning ocean. The sca was gently agitated, and each undulation foamed like the waves of a river when the wind sets against the stream. It was this foam that sparkled, each small surge resembling a body of tire. "The crew was very much terrified, and even the officers were alarmed. I explained the wonder, and told them, that it was by no means novel. I repeated what captain Cook had said on the subject, and observed to them, that this phenomenon was particularly mentioned by navigators as common near the Maldives. Wishing to prove to them still more satisfactorily that their fears were absurd, and that they had not the least danger to apprehend, the fire which they saw being nothing more, according to report, than a small phosphoric animal, I ordered a bucket of water to be drawn up and preserved till the next day, intending to examine it with them attentively. The sea appeared thus inflamed for the space of half an hour, when it wholly disappeared. The next day I enquired for the bucket of water, but it was not to be found; curiosity had fled with the fear of danger, and they preferred relying on my explanation, to giving themselves the trouble of examining what could have caused the phenomenon. To my great regret I thus lost an opportunity of making remarks on an object, which has justly excited the curiosity of the learned, and on which nothing satisfactory has yet been advanced. All that I was able to observe was, that as soon as the water was in the bucket it lost its brilliancy, and differed in no respect from its ordinary appearance."

M. Grandpré now comments upon the miserable policy of the French in India, and enters into some details respecting the fortifications of Pondicherry and Trincomale. We pass over these parts of mere local and temporary interest, and proceed to the more important subjects of his work.

I

For every thing relating to the languages, customs, and religion of India, the author refers us to Sonnerat. have traversed the country, he says, with his book in my hand, and have verified his accounts. This present volume, however, contains some interesting remarks, and the following is perhaps the most important.

"I shall not treat of the different casts, that object being so well known as to render it unnecessary; but to those with which we are acquainted, there is a new one to be

added, that increases considerably, and perhaps will end one day in over-running all the rest, the Bramins excepted.

This is the cast produced by the alliance of Europeans with the natives of every other cast. The first unions of this kind were formed by the Portugueze at the time of their brilliant conquests. The race has taken their name, and is known by it. This Portugueze filiation has not always continued white; some branches are again become black, while others have so nearly approached the European complexion, as at first sight not to be known; which is the less surprising, as the Indians, with the exception of colour, have nothing in their features to distinguish them from Europeans."

Ever remember, say the Bramins to their children, that you are born to command other men: this lesson has been inculcated in every possible form by these villainous impostors from generation to generation. Whatever exists in the universe, says the book of their law, is all the wealth of the Bramin, since the Bramin is entitled to it all by his primogeniture and eminence of birth; he is born above the world, the chief of all creatures; through the benevolence of the Bramin, indeed, other mortals enjoy life. Their very birth is a constant incarnation of Dherma, the God of justice. What created being can surpass him, with whose mouth the gods of the firmament feast on clarified butter, and the manes of ancestors on hallowed cakes?

M. Grandpré reasons very absurdly respecting this cast. They were probably indebted, he says, for their ascendancy at first "to their physical powers and their arms; and they preserved it by their virtues and understanding. The consideration they still enjoy rests on a similar foundation, the knowledge they possess. It is certainly from the opinion which is formed of their virtue and sagacity, that they are placed in the first rank." Their power must indeed have been established originally by force as well as fraud; but to attribute their present rank to the opinion of their virtue and sagacity, is as philosophical as it would be to assert that the thrones of Europe are held by the same tenure. Had the author forgotten that the Bramins are a cast, and that they must maintain their power as long as they can support their detestable superstition? M. Grandpré speaks of Sonnerat: but he seems to have read that able writer to very little purpose,

for he is grossly ignorant of the Hindoo faith. He tells us, "the dogma of Brama is not without dissentients: some worship Chiven, or the bad principle." It would be impossible to exhibit more ignorance in so few words. What is meant by the dogma of Brama? If he means that all the Hindoos do not ac knowledge Brama to be the chief object of their worship: the truth is, that he is so acknowledged by none, for the compleat conquest of his sect is sha dowed out in the fable of his contest with Veeshnoo. So also M. Grandpré is equally mistaken in identifying the evil principle with Chiven, or rather Seeva, for as the English have written best, and laboured most assiduously upon this dark subject, their nomenclature has the fairest claim. Seeva is god the destroyer; but destruction in a system of perpetual renovation, only implies change, and has nothing in common with evil.

"In their chauderies," says the author, "the Hindoos lie down to sleep without order or distinction; if an European be present, they have the complaisance to leave him a little corner to himself." If this complaisance be explained, it means that they avoid him to escape pollution. We know no writer whose errors, and ignorance deserve to be exposed with more severity than is justly due to M. Grandpré. Witness the insolence and detraction of the following passage:

"Some modern authors, and particularly the English, have made us acquainted with passages of their sacred books, their Veidam and their Ezourveidam; and in the national library at Paris is a translation of the Cormovedam. I respect the profound knowledge of these authors; I pretend not to call their honour in question; but would rather believe, since they affirm it, that the translations they give us are authentic, or at least that they think so themselves. I shall only remark, how much it is to be wished, that this sacred language of the Bramins were publicly known, that we may all be enabled to profit by the light which must result from an acquaintance with the annals of so ancient and so learned a people. I am far from wishing to throw doubts upon such supposed books of theirs as have been made known to us: my opinion, besides, would have but little weight against authorities so great; yet it appears to me, that whoever has been personally acquainted with the Bramins, and has studied their character and prejudices, must be struck with the unusual marks of confidence which the communication of such passages implies, and the

inferences to which such confidence would lead. If a person thus acquainted with them were disposed to make objections as to these passages, he might say,The Bramins are by no means communicative; it is a point of their religion even, to conceal from all the world the knowledge of their language and their books. We must therefore suppose, that some of their chiefs, for they alone have the custody of the books and the law, have conquered the aversion they naturally entertained for foreign casts; have lost all remorse at so flagrant a renunciation of their precepts: and have chosen to risk their be they value above life itself, rather than dising excommunicated from their cast, which oblige a stranger, who might have asked them for so important communications."

"I am aware, that these writings are now matters of general notoriety; that the most celebrated authors are eager to propagate them: fragments of these sacred books are printed in almost every publication; travel

have even professed to have acquired a Bengal. All this is so common, that I ought perfect knowledge of the sanscrit language at to believe it, and I do so, though these Bramins are greatly under the influence of their religion, which imposes a law upon them to conceal from us what we thus pretend to know; though a much lighter fault will subject them to the loss of their cast, a calamity which they will sacrifice every thing to avoid, or, when this has happened, to regain the privilege; though even when lost irrecoverably, the person so situated still remains invariably attached to it, and does not on that account the less completely despise all other casts; consequently, never endea vours to avenge himself by betraying his own: in short, though it were possible to believe, that, to get rid of the importunities of those who solicited them, they had entered into an agreement among themselves, to communicate merely indifferent circumstances, with the hope of being left quiet as to other matters, or had even invented what has been told us, for the express purpose of putting an end to the inquiries of Europeans, by pretending to satisfy us, and thus conceal more effectually all knowledge of their real mysteries,-in spite of all this, can I do other than believe what has been told us by so many respectable authors? But let me be suffered once more to remark, that if the communications which the ramins have made to us be true, they rust have transgressed the laws of their religion; that if they have so far betrayed their trust, they must have lost that inviolable attacament to it, which for so many ages has maintained in them the most profound secresy upon the subject; that if the spirit of exclusion to wards strangers be destroyed in them, the line of demarcation by which they were separated from the rest of the world must be destroyed; and, that if the secrets of their cast are unveiled, the respect which it has

hitherto inspired will soon be lost and anni- man declared he would not suffer any hilated."

We are then to disbelieve Sir William Jones, Mr. Halhed, and Mr. Wilkins, upon the authority of M. L. D. Grandpré, an officer in the French army, whose business in India was to sell a

ship, which he knew to be unfit for the navigation of the Indian seas; and who had no other opportunities of becoming acquainted with India, than what he found while upon this knavish errand.

M. Grandpré, in deference to the Concordat, occasionally uses the language of catholicism, and gives us to understand that he is within the pale of the Gallican church, but he has been studious to discover his own private opinions, and they are such as were to be expected from a man so ignorant, and so satisfied with his own ignorance. The Jews, he tells us, were "a petty nation, of so little consequence as to have no customs of their own." So much for this gentleman's knowledge of

laws and customs!

It has been well said, that there is no book, however bad, from which something may not be learnt. Believing this: for what reviewer but must, for his consolation, wish to believe it? we shall proceed, and rake for pearls. This description of the dancing girls may form a note for the story of Ali Baba, or the Forty Thieves.

thing diabolical to go on in his presence. M. Grandpré is even more credulous than the old English chaplain.

"In deceptive tricks, such as vomiting fire, pieces of flaming hemp and flax, a considerable quantity of thorns, and appearing by the mouth, and swallow them again, to draw away the whole of their intestines with other facetious performances of a similar kind, they succeed by main force, and carry the art to astonishing perfection. In these feats of strength, there is no delusion, no slight-of-hand, no deception: what we sce is precisely what we think we see. One of these performances is of a nature to contradict all the laws of anatomy, and which nessed it. I have known some who were no surgeon could believe till he had witeven incredulous after they had seen it, and who refused to trust the evidence of their eyes.

"An Indian, naked like his fellows, with no muslin round him, nor any clothing

whatever to serve a sa cloak and facilitate deception, takes a sword, the edge and point of which are rounded off and blunted, and putting it into his mouth, buries it completely, all but the haft, in his throat and

intestines.

"I have observed some of these men from whom the momentary irritation caused by the insertion of this strange body has forced tears; others to whom it gave an inclination to cough, which, as they were not able to satisfy it, obliged them to withdraw the blade instantly, to prevent suffocation. In

fine, when the sword has entered as far as it can, to the depth of more than two feet, it, and bear its explosion: they then draw they fix a small petard to the hilt, set fire to out the sword, which is covered with the humidity of the intestines.

"I know that a fact of such description will be regarded by readers in general as a fable, to which they conceive they should give no credit. At this I shall not be surprised: till I had seen it I refused myself to believe it; but I was under the necessity at last of yielding to the force of evidence."

"Sometimes, during the dance, they play with Moorish poniards; an exercise at which they appeared to be expert. One of them, who was considered as eminently dextrous, was sent for one evening to the house of the Malabar chief, to dance in my presence. Seemingly some one had given her a hint; for she took infinite pleasure in frightening me with her poniards, the points of which she presented to me suddenly, turning quickly round every time she passed near me, but stopping with great precision within a In the construction of large buildinger's breadth of my breast. This move-ings, the Hindoos supply the want of rent was directed and timed by a stroke of the small cymbal which the dancing-master struck unawares at my ear, and which never failed to make me start, to the great amusement of the crowd, which this exhibition generally draws together."

The ceremony of charming snakes is described, but the attempt at solution is very awkward.

When Tavernier was in Hindostan, a juggler who exhibited before him was stopped in the midst of his performance, by the English chaplain; for the good

mechanical knowledge by a singular substitute. When the first row of stones is raised, they throw up a slope of earth, up which the stones are rolled for the second row; and thus they go on burying the edifice as it rises. M. Grandpré speaks of the French Jesuits in Hindostan. We did not know that the Jesuits existed any where as a body.

Calcutta is described as disgustingly filthy: dead animals are left to putrefy in the streets; and even the wretches who perish in the streets from want or

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