The Makámát of Abul Feteh el Harírí, in its own particular department (that of rhetorical gracefulness), is the leading classic of the Arabs. The principal merits then are those we cannot see. A language must be known in its familiar and habitual applications; its relations to all the characteristics of a people and a country, must not only be understood, but felt, pursued, and admired by foreigners, before the merits of style can be properly appreciated. We must wander with them over their deserts, watch with them beneath their skies—join in the pride of the past—the capriciousness of the present—the carelessness of the future—master every national peculiarity, and delight in each—before we can enter into the intellectual system that resulted from the whole.

The route to Martaban had not before this period been explored by Europeans, nor frequented by the natives since 1810, when an army marched by it on the way to attack Junk-Ceylon; and a dread of the Siamese had caused it to be almost abandoned by the subjects of his Burman Majesty. To ascertain the nature of the intervening country seemed desirable, as well in a geographical light, as on account of the interest which it would claim in the event of the new conquests being permanently retained by the British. Most of the baggage, and the sick, were sent off by sea. My escort consisted of a native officer, two non-commissioned officers, and eighteen sepoys, two interpreters, two guides, four servants, and about 100 followers) to carry baggage and provisions; which, however, were found inadequate afterwards, so that more were hired at Yea.

A Singular coincidence exists between the history of the Greek word δαιμων, and the Sanskrit (bhúta). The Greek word is applied by Homer and early Grecian writers, as is well known, to the highest intelligences, and means one possessed of superior knowledge. The Sanskrit Bhúta is derived from the verb which signifies existence, and is applied to the elements of nature, and even to the great God Siva himself. But as δαιμων, with a change of religion, lost the sense of a deity, and came to be fused down to mean a demon or evil spirit, so now, in the Indian languages derived from the Sanskrit, Bhúta is entirely confined, in common speech, to a wandering ghost or malicious spirit. Again, as the term δαιμων was, among the Christian Greeks, frequently applied, in a bad sense, to the gods their fathers worshipped; so among the Brahmanized Hindús, the term Bhtita is applied contemptuously to the Ante-Brahmanical objects of worship. In all my intercourse, however, with those classes who worship these Bhútas, I never found them spontaneously apply this term to the objects of their adoration. They style them (deva) and (grámadeva), gods and village gods, but never (bhúta), devils. Yet again, they do not deny that the term Bhúta is applicable to these gods; but they make the acknowledgment in the spirit of those English South-American travellers, who, when robbed and stripped at a distance from their lodgings, and their horses taken from them, and most glad to employ the services of a despised animal to carry them home, would confess that they rode a donkey.

Danodhar is the name applied to a large irregularly shaped and lofty hill, situated on the edge of the Runn of Cutch, about twenty miles NW. from Bhooj; attached to this place is the popular tradition, accounting for the present appearance of the Runn, and which also, at some remote period, appears to have been the means of founding the sect of Jogís, commonly known as Kánphatís.

An Inscription on fine Chinese paper was, some months since, presented to the Society by one of its Members, John Romer, Esq., to whom it had been given by the Captain of a vessel returning from the East, who did not remember how or where he had obtained it. It is four feet eight inches in length, by two feet four inches in width; and a reduced copy of it is herewith given. After it had been suspended a short time in the Society's Meeting Room, a letter was received by the Director from John Shakespear, Esq., with a transcript of this singular document in the ordinary character, and a translation. It is not easy to account for the origin of this inscription. It was certainly done in China, as appears from the stamps attached to it, which were made before the inscription was written, unless room was purposely left for placing them. The characters are drawn with freedom, as though executed by one accustomed to such writing. They are, however, so distorted, that some time elapsed before it was even suspected that they were Arabic.

The Pádma Purána, which in the Pauranic lists occupies the second place, and in its own enumeration the first, is a work of considerable extent; according to the best authorities, and to its own statements, it consists of fifty-five thousand slokas, and the copies that are current actually contain little less than that number, or about 50,000.

The architecture of the building in which the figures are represented, points it out as the interior of a hamam or warm bath. The apartment is the first room, which is kept at a moderate temperature, and has usually, as is here exhibited, a fountain of cold water playing in the centre. The figures are females, and from their dress are at once recognised to be Christians, who are not suffered in Mohammedan countries to wear the bûrka, or entire veil of the ladies of Islam; but are merely permitted, when walking the streets, to conceal the lower part of the face by a white muslin cloth.

In taking a critical review of a language, it is essentially necessary, as in all other similar cases, to divest the mind of all preconceived notions and prejudices which have been imbibed from habit or education, and to view it solely with regard to its object and use; viz., a clear and distinct representation of ideas.

The following journal of a route through Makran was performed in the year 1809, by Captain Grant, a young Indian officer of great promise, who was assassinated by a rebel Persian chief in the following year. The geographical results of this tour have been published elsewhere; but the journal itself, which, together with some further information concerning the unfortunate writer, was presented to the society by his friend, Sir Henry Worsley, has not hitherto appeared. In the present conjuncture, when public attention is drawn to the countries lying between India and Persia, the details of this tour may be of some utility, and with this object a copy was taken to India by Sir James Carnac. It is a plain description of the country, evidently not intended for publication in its present form; but the untimely death of the writer prevented any correction.

The following transcript of a Persian Newspaper, lithographed and printed at Tehran, is given as a specimen of the political advancement of the Persians, among whom a printing press is but of very recent introduction. The newspaper was undertaken a few years since, under the editorship of Mirza Salih, one of the public secretaries of H. M. the Shah of Persia, who has been employed on a diplomatic mission in this country. The original is lithographed on two large folios, printed on one side only; it is closely written in a plain hand, and is surmounted by the Persian emblem of the Lion and Sun.

In the year 1818, the attention of the Madras Government was directed to the subject of the introduction of improved descriptions of agricultural produce into India. At that time I held the situation of Commercial Resident of Salem and Coimbatore, and instructions were sent to me by the Board of Trade, to attempt to introduce the cultivation of Bourbon cotton into those districts.

The successful cultivation of cotton depends on a variety of circumstances, to each of which attention should be paid; amongst the foremost in importance are, attention to the climate, and to the soil. In endeavouring to introduce into one country the mode of cultivation, long known and practised with success in another, the local peculiarities of the country, as influenced by the form of the surface, the vicinity of hills, and nature of the surrounding countries, together with the consequent modifications of atmospheric phenomena produced by it, must be observed. These, in connexion with the capacity for heat, the radiating power, the rapidity of evaporation, and the structure and composition of the soil, both physical and chemical, require investigation. These points are all of vital importance, and must be studied both in detail and in connexion with each other, to obtain useful results.

Iron has been applied to numerous useful purposes, by every civilized nation, for thousands of years; but never has it been so extensively employed as at the present period. We have iron roads and iron carriages; the “wooden walls of old England” will probably be made of iron in another century; numerous steam-boats are already constructed of that material; the cushions of our chairs are stuffed with iron in place of horsehair; and not only our bedsteads but even our feather beds (to use an Hibernicism) are made of iron.

In the month of June, 1837, the Managing Directors of the Indian Iron and Steel Company received a letter from Robert Clerk, Esq., Secretary to the Madras Governor, forwarding a copy of your letter of the 17th of February, 1837, addressed to the Governor of Madras, requesting information on the subject of wootz*, or Indian steel: the purport of Mr. Clerk's letter was to ask us to furnish the information and specimens required by you, provided we could do so without inconvenience or detriment to our own interests.