Hindoo, and the author of the entire work. The writer of this introduction has not added or altered a single line or word; and is given to understand that the Baboo has derived no literary assistance whatever from any one, whether Native or European. The Baboo has given his solemn assurance that he is the sole author of the narrative of his travels, and there is no reason whatever for doubting his words. Indeed, he has displayed in personal intercourse an amount of observation and thoughtfulness fully equal to that which characterizes the story of his sojournings. The value of the accompanying volumes is thus abundantly manifest. The Travels of the Baboo in India are not the sketchy production of a European traveller, but the genuine bona fide work of a Hindoo wanderer, who has made his way from Calcutta to the Upper Provinces, and looked upon every scene with Hindoo eyes, and indulged in trains of thought and association which only find expression in Native society, and are wholly foreign to European ideas. European readers must be generally aware of the limited character and scope of the information which is to be obtained from the ordinary run of European travellers in India; the descriptions, often very graphic, of external life; the appreciation of the picturesque in external nature; the perception of the ludicrous in Native habits, manners, and sentiments; and a moral shrug of the shoulders at all that is strange, unintelligible, or idolatrous-all, however, combined with an utter want of real sympathy with the people, or close and familiar acquaintance with their thoughts and ways. Now, however, with the assistance of these 'Travels,' Englishmen will be enabled, for the first time in English literature, to take a survey of India with the eyes of a Hindoo; to go on pilgrimages to holy places in the company of a guide who is neither superstitious nor profane, but a fair type of the enlightened class of English-educated Bengalee gentlemen.

Our traveller perhaps does not tell us all he knows. Probably, like the candid old father of history, he has been fearful of meddling too much with divine things, lest h should thereby incur the anger of the gods. But so far as he delineates pictures of Indian life and manners, and familiarizes his readers with the peculiar tone of Hindoo thought and sentiment, his Travels are far superior to those of any writer with which we have hitherto become acquainted. Even the observant old travellers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, who went peeping and prying everywhere, mingling freely with Natives, and living like Natives, never furnished a tithe of the stock of local traditions, gossiping stories, and exhaustive descriptions which are here presented to English and Indian readers.

Here it may be advisable to furnish a brief sketch of the author, and to describe the circumstances under which his travels were undertaken. In so doing free use will be made of such personal particulars as he himself thought proper to supply, in addition to such details as could be obtained from more general sources of information. Indeed, upon these points it will be advisable under the circumstances to enlarge more considerably than would otherwise be necessary; for unless the reader is familiarized with the particular religious ideas of the traveller, he will fail to take that interest in the Travels which they are well calculated to excite.

Baboo Bholanauth Chunder is at present a man of about forty years of age. He is by birth a Bengalee, and an inhabitant of Calcutta. He belongs to the class of Bunniahs, a caste of Hindoo traders, who hold the same rank as that of the ancient VAISYAS, or merchants, in the caste system of Maun, which comprises BRAHMANS, or priests; KSHATRIYAS, or soldiers; VAISYAS, or merchants, and SUDRAS, or servile cultivators. A history of the Bunniahs of Bengal would present many points of interest,

even to European readers, and would prove an important addition to the history of the civilization of the human race. In the tenth century of the Christian era an attempt is said to have been made by the famous Raja of Bullala, in the ancient Bengal metropolis at Gour, to degrade the class of Bunniahs, probably from differences of religious opinion and sectarian feelings, of which, however, nothing whatever is known beyond the bare tradition of the fact. It is curious also to note that the Bunniahs have ceased to wear the sacrificial thread, that ancient and significant emblem which is worn in three strings, and which separates the three twice-born castes of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas from the caste of Súdras. The result has been that whilst the Bunniahs of Bengal have evidently sprung from the same common origin as the Bunniahs of Hindoostan and Guzerat, there is no relationship or social intercourse existing between the two. Geographical separation, and differences of habits, local usages, and religious opinions, have perhaps tended in a great measure to render them aliens towards each other; and indeed thore is as little sympathy and recognition of consanguinity between the Bunniahs of Bengal and those of Hindoostan, as there is between the Brahmans of the two countries. But the great mark of distinction is the sacrificial thread, which is still worn by the Bunniahs of Upper and Western India, but has been denied to the Bunniahs of Bengal; and there can be no doubt that in by-gone generations some heart-burning was felt in Bengal on account of this thread. Very recently a Bunniah millionnaire of Calcutta attempted to revive the practice of wearing it; but in this age of religious indifference and apathy, the movement met with little response. During the present generation the sacrificial threads of the old Hindoo legislator have fallen very considerably in the public esteem, and they are thrown

off altogether by that sect of monotheistic reformers who are known as the members of the Brahmo Somaj.

Notwithstanding, however, the attempt of the Raja of Bullala to lower the Bunniahs in national esteem, their opulence and enterprise have always maintained the respectability and dignity of the class; and a mercantile aristocracy has arisen among them, which has held the purse-strings of the nation, and of whom the rich family of the Mullieks of the present day are a favourable example. Many of the Bunniahs may be traced as having gradually migrated in by-gone generations from Gour through Moorshedabad, Beerbhoom, and Burdwan, and finally settled at Satgong, in the district of Hooghly. It is this latter class of adventurous Bunniahs who chiefly carried on mercantile transactions in the sixteenth century with the Portuguese of Hooghly; and in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with the Dutch of Chinsurah, the French of Chandernagore, and the English of Calcutta. From this circumstance it is said that the Bunniahs first imbibed a tincture of European refinement and delicacy towards females, which until late years was little appreciated by the rest of their countrymen.

Our traveller, Baboo Bholanauth Chunder, was naturally bred in the hereditary creed of his parents, who were Vaishnavas, or worshippers of Vishnu. This deity is generally worshipped through the medium of incarnations, of whom Ráma and Krishna are the most famous; but Krishna is worshipped by Bunniahs generally as the incarnation of Vishnu. Here it should be remarked that the god Vishnu is to the mind of his Hindoo worshippers the one Supreme Being, who created all things and exists in all things. According to a widely-spread belief, Vishnu became incarnate in succession in the two heroes, Ráma and Krishna, for the purpose of delivering the human race from

Baboo Bholanauth Chunder is one of those Deists who believe in God, but who disbelieve in rites and forms; and who adore the Supreme Being, and simply recognize all the national gods of the Hindoos as the traditional deities of their forefathers. It might also be remarked as a significant fact connected with the social history of the Hindoos, that under the Mussulman rule the public worship of idols was generally suppressed; for wealth and idolatry were alike concealed from the eyes of the tyrannical and grasping Nabobs. Under the tolerant rule of the late Company the natives of Bengal displayed their wealth and brought out their idols without fear; and as they acquired new fortunes, so they added to the number of the idols in their households. In later times however wealth has been more generally diffused, and is obtained by steady industry rather than by lucky speculations, and consequently idolatry is going out of fashion, as it is popularly believed that fortunes are no longer to be obtained by propitiating the gods. Some ten or fifteen years ago at least five thousand images of Doorgá were annually made in Calcutta for the celebration of the Doorgá festival; but in the present year scarcely a thousand have been made in all Calcutta; and it was especially remarked that there was a great falling off in 1866, which was the memorable year of the famine.

Turning, however, to the individual subject before us, it may be remarked that the Baboo is thoroughly in earnest in his desire to extend his own views as regards religion and religious worship amongst his fellow-countrymen. In the present day, whilst superstitious ideas have begun to die out of the land, the number of pilgrims to sacred places and shrines has largely increased; as all the wealthier classes, and especially the females, avail themselves very considerably of the safe and speedy mode of travelling by the Rail, as an easy means for going on pilgrimage to Benares and Brindabun,