Soil.] The soil of India may be generally described as fertile, and perhaps exhibits fewer varieties than might be expected in so vast a tract of country. The depth of vegetable earth is in some places not less than six feet. The substratum of the soil in Hindostan Proper is in many places calcareous; in other parts it is clay or rock. PRODUCTIONS.] We can only devote a few hints to the natural history of this country, rich though it indeed be both in vegetable and mineral treasures. Vegetable Kingdom.] India produces those species of grain which are most common to Europe; but rice, as it forms the chief food of the inhabitants, is the great object of culture, and is a grain which the levelness of the country peculiarly fits it for producing. There are no fewer than 27 varieties of it cultivated; and under the best cultivation the land brings forth crops all the year round. The Hindoos equal not the Chinese in their attention to manuring; but the superior fertility of their country renders it less necessary. This fertility has probably been the cause of the prevalent slightness of cultivation; at any rate it sufficiently compensates for the defect. Maize seems next to rice to be the most extensive crop, at least in the western provinces, but wheat and barley are likewise successfully cultivated. Sugar-canes and cotton are reared in many places; but the tobacco of Hindostan is said to be inferior to that of America, probably because it is cured with less skill, and perhaps with less attention. Mulberry-trees are carefully reared for the purpose of breeding silkworms; this being the country from which the western parts of the world have been supplied with these animals. Indian silk, however, is considered inferior to China silk by 9, and to Italian silk by 11 per cent. The impenetrable forests with which some parts of Hindostan are covered have been already mentioned. The species of trees are very numerous. Among them may be distinguished several species of the numerous and peculiar family of palms, of which that producing the cocoanut (cocos nucifera,) is the most remarkable. This palm is seldom seen wild; but is every where cultivated on account of its nuts, which, in the eastern countries, are chewed with betel. A vigorous tree will yield 500 full grown nuts in the season. On the coasts of Malabar and Canara these palms are very abundant. The large fan-palm has leaves of which one is sufficient to cover ten men, and only three or four to thatch a cottage. The leaves of the smaller fan-palm are used as paper, and from its trunk, as also from the nut-bearing palm, is procured a liquor called palmtoddy, the palm wine of Africa, which becomes arrack after it has undergone the vinous fermentation; and, when boiled down to a syrup, is called jagary, and serves as a substitute for sugar. The plantain produces a fruit, which in many places is used as bread, and the teak-tree (Tectona grandis) is said to excel British oak in the building of vessels. The bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea) is a most valuable tree, or, to speak more correctly, reed. It will shoot up to the height of 60 feet in a season; in one year it attains its full growth, and during the next the wood consolidates. The fruits of Hindostan are very numerous. Cocoa-nuts and plantains have just been mentioned; to these may be added pomegranates, citrons, dates, almonds, grapes, ananas or pine-apples, and tamarinds. In the northern provinces, apples and pears are plentiful. Oranges and lemons are also found, but are said to be of an inferior quality. The fruit called mango is said to be one of the most exquisite of all the fruits of India. It is found abundantly to the westward of the bay of Bengal. But the mangisteen is the most delicious fruit that grows in British India. The durion is a fruit of a most offensive smell and exquisite taste. The small fruited banana has in all ages been the food of the Indian philosophers. Many trees and shrubs useful in medicine or the various arts are found, though in these respects the country cannot vie with the Eastern archipelago. Among those used in medicine are the cassia fistula, nux vomica, and the laurus cassia. Among those useful in the arts, are the tree whose gum is well-known by the name of gamboge, and the cæsalpina sappan used in dying red. The cotton-tree also flourishes here. Many of the trees yield wood of a beautiful grain, capable of the finest polish, and consequently much used in cabinet-work. Sandal-wood is almost exclusively confined to the S.W. of Mysore. The pepper-vine is found native in some places of India. The papaver orientale, from which opium is obtained, thrives in almost all the provinces. Indigo is cultivated on a large scale in Bengal, Bahar, Oude, and Agra. The value of this article annually produced in India was recently estimated at £3,000,000. Zoology.] The zoology of India is extensive, but our limits preclude us entering into details. Among the domestic or tame animals, may be enumerated: elephants, buffaloes, oxen, horses, asses, and mules. The Indian elephants differ from those of Africa in having the transverse ridges of enamel in the teeth smaller, and more numerous, and a toe more upon each foot. Nine feet is the standard height for male elephants, and such an animal will carry a load of nearly a ton. The dromedary is found in some places, but appears not to be common in every part of Hindostan. The horses are numerous; but as the breed is not equal to that of Arabia, the wealthy are supplied from that country and from Britain. The oxen and buffaloes are of a large size; they are always used in carriages, and sometimes they are made use of in riding. When intended for these purposes, they are trained to a step quicker than that which is natural to them, and are managed by a rope fastened to a ring which is passed through the gristle of the nose. The sheep have large tails, and they are covered with hair instead of wool, except in the northern districts; and even there, perhaps from want of care, the wool is of a bad quality. The wild beasts are numerous, particularly in such parts of the country as are but thinly peopled. The lion has been supposed to be unknown in Hindostan, but our countrymen have both hunted and killed lions in the neighbourhood of Bombay. The chief haunts of the tiger are near the banks of the Ganges. His leap is said to be sometimes not less than 100 feet-an assertion in itself not very probable, and the truth of which it would be difficult to ascertain. It is from this spring that the tiger gets his name: he, as it were, shoots himself at his prey, and tiger, in the Armenian language, signifies ⚫ an arrow.' If at the first leap he misses his prey, he is said by some naturalists to retire without ever making a second attempt; but this is contradicted by others, who affirm, that, in pursuit of his prey, he sometimes makes use of his speed in running, no less than of his agility in leaping. The minor animals of prey are: leopards, jackals, wolves, bears, wild boars, panthers, byænas, lynxes, and foxes. In the forests near the Circars, the ourang outang is found, and apes and monkeys of different kinds are plentiful. The rhinoceros is common in northern Hindostan, and is said Trees are rented in Bengal just as lands and houses are in this country. A mango tree produces one rupee annually, a cocoa nut eight anas, a jack one rupee, a tamarind one rupee, a betel-nut four anas, a date two anas, a lime four anas. to occur in some of the isles of the Ganges. Different kinds of antelopes are numerous; with red deer, fallow-deer, musk deer, and elks. In the northern parts are many species of small animals, among which may be mentioned the musk-weasel. The birds and insects of India are remarkable for their number and beauty. The radiant hues of the peacock still gild the thickets in all parts of the country; and all the domestic fowls now common in Europe, seem to be natives of this part of Asia, from which they have been successively carried to other countries. The inhabitants are tormented by innumerable swarms of flies, white ants, musquitoes, and bugs. Scorpions, snakes, and rats are plentiful; with lizards of a green colour, and of a harmless nature. The Ganges is inhabited by a species of crocodile, which has a false belly into which it receives its young in the time of danger. Nowhere are the serpent-tribe more formidable, either for their muscular strength, or their poison. Mineralogy.] Generally speaking, India may be considered as what geologists style a primitive country, the rocks being commonly granite or syenite. Animal and vegetable remains do not appear to be numerous either in the rock or the soil of India. This part of Asia has been celebrated, from the earliest ages, for its diamonds. Stones of this kind are now found in Brazil, but they are of a quality greatly inferior. The most remarkable Indian diamond-mines are those near Visiapour belonging to the Mahrattas, and Golconda, in the territories of the nizam; at Colore, on the southern bank of the Kristna, there is another diamond-mine. The other places mentioned as productive of diamonds are: a district of the river Mahanada, south of Sumbulpour,—Gandicotta, on the southern bank of the Ponnar,—and Penna, in the territory of Bundelcund, south of the Jumna. Those various mines give employment to a great number of workmen. It is said that the recent extension of British territory into the Birman dominions has given us possession of several very rich diamond-mines in that quarter. The other kinds of precious stones found in this country are sapphires and rubies; but the latter are more frequently found in the territories belonging to the Birman empire. Gold, which is said to exist among the mountains of Tibet, and to be washed down by the branches of the Ganges which proceed from these mountains, is not known to exist in Hindostan. Some travellers affirm that in this country there are mines of silver; while others assert that it affords no indications of that metal. We are certain that if it be at all found, the quantity is extremely small; since the inhabitants, from the earliest ages have constantly demanded bullion in exchange for their commodities, while, by strict laws, its exportation has been prohibited. Mines of lead, iron, and copper, are said to exist; but these metals appear to be scarce. It appears from discussions in the Bombay journals that the coal long known to exist in Cutch promises to be of use in steam navigation. As yet, however, the specimens which have been tried have been found to be of a bad quality; but when it is considered that they have been procured without digging, where the stratum has appeared on the surface, or, as it is called, has cropped out,' the result cannot be deemed discouraging. Surprise has been justly expressed that the court of directors have never employed Europeans of science to ascertain what mineral riches are to be found throughout their vast territories. The discovery of good coal in Cutch might very much facilitate the steam-navigation of the Red sea, the route by which a steam communication between India and Europe is most practicable. In one of the Bombay papers the island of Socotra is pointed out as an eligible place for the deposit of coal in the event of this navigation being attempted. CHAP. IV.-INHABITANTS-MANNERS AND CUSTOMS-RE- WE have already stated, that any estimate of the immense population of India, must be a mere approximation; and have given the elements of one approximation, by which it is reckoned at 134,000,000. Hindoos.] The Hindoos, or native inhabitants, still form the most numerous tribe in this country, "though there are differences in the personal appearance of the Hindus, in some cases arising from the districts of which they are natives, and in others from the nature of their occupations, yet"-observes a sensible writer in the Picture of India,' an admirable book recently published-" yet there is generally speaking, a family likeness among them, which sufficiently marks, them as one people. The mountaineers of the north are strong and muscular; the inhabitants of the south of more slender frame; but they are generally what one would term 'clean made,' and capable of enduring much more, both of privation and fatigue, than one would, at first sight, be disposed to believe. They are unlike any of the races that have been found, as it is usual to say, native in tropical countries. Their features are much finer than those of any of the Negro races, and they have neither the fiery eye nor the sinister look of the Malays; at the same time, they are without the impassioned aspect of the Arabs and Persians. The general expression is soft and retiring; but there is a dash of cunning about it; and when a Hindu humbles himself to the dust before you, you are not wholly free from the apprehension of treachery. Perhaps that has been produced by the long habit that has been forced upon them by their oppressive rulers, of concealing their circumstances lest they should be plundered. On the part of the low castes, it no doubt arises in so far from the inferior situation in which they find themselves, without any blame on their part, or merit on that of those on account of whom they are humble; and in the Brahmins there is often a most hypocritical expression occasioned by the overacting of pretended sanctity. "The face of the Hindu is oval, with a reasonable but not very large forehead; the eyes have a tinge of yellow in the white, and the black of the iris is soft and dull; their eye-brows are in general well-formed, the mouth and nose of rather a European cast, though the former has a little the character of that of the Jews. The hair is black and long, but rather soft, and has no natural tendency to curl. The females of the inferior castes, from the harsh treatment they meet with, and the severe labour they must undergo, are of diminutive stature, never handsome, and very early in life have a haggard appearance; but even then they are capable of enduring a great deal of fatigue, and in some of the mountain-districts the whole labour of the field devolves upon them, the men being trained to The women of the high castes are very different; their forms are delicate and graceful, their limbs finely tapered and rounded, their features mild, their eyes dark and languishing, their hair fine and long, their complexions glowing, as if they were radiant, and their skins remarkably polished and soft. The only feature about them that does not quite har nize with European notions of female symmetry, is the size and pro arms. of their ears; but, with this exception, nothing can be more lithe and sylph-like than a genuine Hindu beauty." 10 The dress of the Hindus is remarkably simple, and, except in the fineness of the cotton-cloth of which it is made, there is very little difference in that of the rich and the poor, the distinction of the former consisting more in their jewels and attendants. The two grand divisions of the Hindu or Brahminical faith, are distinguished by the position of a white line on the face, which is made with chunam or lime-rather chalk and clay mixed-found in some holy places in Gujerat. The followers of Siva wear the line perpendicular, and those of Vishnu horizontal. The adoration of Siva has at one time been more prevalent on the west coast, and that of Vishnu on the east; but they are now in so far blended. Still the Brahmins of Siva, on some parts of the west, consider themselves of a caste so transcendently high and holy, that they will not eat with those of any other place. The distinguishing badge of the castes is a string tied round the shoulders; the number, form, colour, and order of the theads in which, indicate the particular rank that the wearer holds in his caste. No member of an inferior caste is however allowed to wear so many threads in the string as the very lowest order of the caste above him; and the Sudra is not permitted to wear any string. The men in India have two fashions of dress,-one which they are described as having worn in the days of the Romans, and no one knows how long before 106 I thought it remarkable that though most of the male deities are represented of a deep brown colour, like the natives of the country, the females are usually no less red and white than our porcelain beauties, as exhibited in England. But it is evident from the expressions of most of the Indians themselves, from the style of their amatory poetry, and other circumstances, that they consider fairness as a part of beauty, and a proof of noble blood. They do not like to be called black, and although the Abyssinians, who are sometimes met with in the country, are very little darker than they them selves are, their jest-books are full of taunts on the charcoal complexion of the Hubshee.' Much of this has probably arisen from their having been so long subjected to the Moguls, and other conquerors originally from more northern climates, and who continued to keep up the comparative fairness of their stock by frequent importation of northern beauties. India, too, has been always, and long before the Europeans came hither, a favourite theatre for adventurers from Persia, Greece, Tartary, Turkey, and Arabia, all white men, and all in their turn possessed themselves of wealth and power. These circumstances must have greatly contributed to make a fair complexion fashionable. It is remarkable, however, to observe how surely all these classes of men in a few generations, even without any intermarriage with the Hindoos, assume the deep olive tint, little less dark than a Negro, which seems natural to the climate. The Portuguese natives form unions among themselves alone, or if they can, with Europeans. Yet the Portuguese have, during a three hundred years' residence in India, become as black as Caffres. Surely this goes far to disprove the assertion, which is sometimes made, that climate alone is insufficient to account for the difference between the Negro and the European. It is true, that in the Negro are other peculiarities which the Indian has not, and to which the Portuguese colonist shows no symptom of approximation, and which undoubtedly do not appear to follow so naturally from the climate as that swarthiness of complexion which is the sole distinction between the Hindoo and the European. But if heat produces one change, other peculiarities of climate may produce other and additional changes; and when such peculiarities have three or four thousand years to operate in, it is not easy to fix any limits to their power. I am inclined, after all, to suspect that our European vanity leads us astray in supposing that our own is the primitive complexion; which I should rather suppose was that of the Indian, half-way between the two extremes, and perhaps the most agreeable to the eye and instinct of the majority of the human race. A colder climate, and a constant use of clothes, may have blanched the skin as effectually as a burning sun and nakedness may have tanned it; and I am encouraged in this hypothesis by observing, that of animals the natural colours are generally dusky and uniform, while whiteness and a variety of tint almost invariably follow domestication, shelter from the elements, and a mixed and unnatural diet. Thus, while hardship, additional exposure, a greater degree of heat, and other circumstances with which we are unacquainted, may have deteriorated the Hindoo into a Negro, opposite causes may have changed him into the progressively lighter tints of the Chinese, the Persian, the Turk, the Russian, and the Englishman." Bishop Heber's Indian Journal. |