Henry Thomas Colebrooke, the subject of this memoir, was born in London, on the 15th. June, 1765, and was the youngest of seven children. His father, Sir George Colebrooke, Baronet, was for many years chairman of the East India Company.

As a boy, he was of a quiet retired disposition, seldom mixing in any of the usual amusements of childhood, and was distinguished at an early age among his brothers and sisters for his extreme fondness for reading. In allusion to this, he used to say to them, that by his habits and tastes he was best fitted for the profession of a clergyman, and expressed a strong desire to his father that he might be placed in the church.

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.

The earliest inquiries into the religion, chronology, and history of the Hindús, ascertained that there existed a body of writings especially devoted to those subjects, from which it was sanguinely anticipated much valuable and authentic information would be derived. These were the Puránas of Sanscrit literature, collections which, according to the definition of a Purána agreeably to Sanscrit writers, should treat of the creation and renovation of the universe, the division of time, the institutes of law and religion, the genealogiès of the patriarchal families, and the dynasties of kings; and they, therefore, offered a prospect of our penetrating the obscurity in which the origin and progress of the Hindú social system had so long been enveloped. A formidable difficulty, however, presented itself in the outset, arising from the voluminous extent of this branch of the literature of the Hindús, and the absence of all facilities for acquiring a knowledge of its nature. The Puránas are eighteen in number, besides several works of a similar class, called Upa, or minor, Puránas. The former alone comprehend, it is asserted, and the assertion is not very far from the truth, four hundred thousand slokas, or sixteen hundred thousand lines, a quantity which any individual European scholar could scarcely expect to peruse with care and attention, unless his whole time were devoted exclusively for very many years, to the task. Nor was any plan, short of the perusal of the whole, likely to furnish satisfactory means of judging of their general character: few of them are furnished with anything in the shape of an index, or summary of contents, and none of them conform to any given arrangement; so that to know with accuracy what any one contains, it is necessary to read the entire work. The immensity of the labour seems to have deterred Sanscrit students from effecting even what was feasible, the publication or translation of one or two of the principal Puránas, and to the present day not one of them is accessible to the European public.

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.

In Captain M'Murdo's able report on the Peninsula of Kattywar, which was published in the first volume of the Transactions of the Bombay Literary Society, he alludes to Gumli in these brief words:— “Jaitwar, inhabited by the Jaitwa Rajpoots, comprises that part of the coast within thirty miles of Poorbundur, which is the seat of authority of the present sovereign family; they are styled Ranas, and originally dwelt at the city of Goomlee, the ruins of which, are still to be seen and admired, at the bottom and on the summit of the Burda hills.” And again, “The Burda hills which have been mentioned under the head of Jaitwar, consist of a clump of mountains near Poorbundur, running from Goomlee on the north, to Kundoora on the south extreme about twenty miles; this range is not above six miles in breadth, and the southernmost end is the lowest; they are in many places covered with low wood, and possess abundance of good water on their summits; an account of the ruins of Goomlee would be a curious paper.” I was prompted by these remarks to visit Gumli, and though few of its edifices are now standing, enough remains to merit description.

In the fifth number of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, p. 100, there is a translation, by Mr. Wathen, of the Bombay Civil Service, of inscriptions on copper-plates, said to have been found at Karda in Dekkan. At the bottom of the page there is a note explanatory of the phrase in the invocation, “Uncreated, Triple, Celestial Trio,” in which Mr. Wathen says, “This is an invocation to the Trimúrti, or united form of Brahmá, Vishnu, and Siva, the Hindú triad: the centre figure in Elephanta.”

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.

The accompanying Inscriptions were found in the neighbourhood of “Dees,” a Bedouin town, a few hours' distant from Ras Sherma, on the southern coast of Arabia.

The natives who came off to the ship, represented it as a populous well-cultivated district, abounding in vegetables and fruit of various descriptions. Having learned from these persons, that there were many ancient buildings, and some writing in a character unknown to the Arabs, we naturally felt an inclination to make a personal inspection of them; and to effect this with security, Captain Haines sent our pilot, a native of the place, on shore, to request the ruling Shaikh to grant us his firman, and a few Bedouin attendants. In reply, a letter was sent off, making a most exorbitant demand of money, rice, copper, and sundry other very useful articles, specifying the individual quantities with much nicety and precision, as the price of his protection: this, of course, was politely declined; and from a subsequent conversation with some of the party themselves, they appeared not only to regret the exercise of their cupidity, which had deprived them of, at least, a few presents from the ship, but seemed to be sensibly ashamed of a conduct so much at variance with the hospitable treatment we had universally met with, since leaving Maculla.

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.

I enclose the abstract translation of a Proclamation by the Governor in Council of Ceylon, dated the 11th of August, 1686, and which furnishes a curious illustration of the principles on which the country was administered under the Dutch East India Company.

This system was progressively ameliorated under the British government, until the forced services of the native inhabitants were finally abolished by an Order of the King in Council, issued in 1830. The inhabitants of Ceylon are now secured in the possession of their lands, without reference to distinctions of caste.

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.

There are few facts in Eastern history better authenticated than the invasion of India by Mahmúd of Ghizni: the details of his sack of Pattan Somnath have been narrated, in some detail, even by the accurate Gibbon, and a few particulars, therefore, regarding the present condition of this far-famed temple and city, collected in October, 1830, may not be unacceptable to the Society.

To all those who take an interest in the early condition of India, and who are anxious to see that obscurity which hangs over the periods of its history prior to the Mohammedan invasion, dissipated, in however partial a degree, some most acceptable glimmerings of light have been presented in a recent continental publication. This work is derived from Chinese literature, and has been made accessible to European readers, by the talents and industry of some of the most eminent of those who have rendered Paris illustrious as a school for the cultivation of the language and literature of China. In the course of last year, a book, which was announced some years ago, but was suspended by the lamented death of its distinguished translator, the late M. Remusat, and again interrupted by the demise of another celebrated Orientalist, M. Klaproth, who had undertaken to continue it, was brought to a completion, and published by M. Landresse. It is entitled the “Foe Kúe Ki,” or “Relation des Royaumes Buddhiques,” and is an account given of his travels by Shi Fa Hian, a Buddhist priest and pilgrim, who went upon a pilgrimage to the chief seats of the Buddhist religion in India, at the close of the fourth century of our aera. Shi Fa Hian, or simply Fa Hian, a name which signifies, according to M. Remusat, “Manifestation de la Loi de Sakya,” or “Manifestation de la Loi,” quitted China with this purpose in the year of our Lord 399. He was six years on his route to Central India, including of course a residence, more or less protracted, at various places on the way; he spent six years in India, and was three years on his return, arriving in China a.d. 415. The accounts which he gives are such as might be expected from his religious character, and, to say the truth, are somewhat meagre, relating almost exclusively to the condition in which the religion of Buddha existed at the different places which he visited. Such as they are, however, they are exceedingly curious and instructive, even in this limited view, and exhibit a picture of the state of Buddhism in India, flourishing in some situations and declining in others, which, although we were not wholly unprepared to expect, yet we were hitherto without any accurate means of appreciating. Besides, however, their especial subservience to an authentic history of the religion of Buddha, the travels of Fa Hian are of great value, as offering living testimony of the geographical and political divisions of India at an early date, and one at which we have no other guide on whom we can rely. I have, therefore, thought that a summary review of the principal subjects which are described in the Chinese traveller's journal might not be unacceptable to the Society.

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.

This coast having but lately been brought under subjection to the British arms, had not as yet been travelled over by any British officer, and it remained to be proved how far the inhabitants could be confided in, either in the capacity of servants, or as guides and porters on a march.

The Tavoyers have no inducement to make long journeys. The Siam frontier is to them a Rubicon,—while they can reach the towns and villages on the north and south, much easier by water than by land. There are no carriage-cattle on this coast, like the bullocks of India. A few slight carts drawn by buffalos, one only to a cart, are used for short excursions when the roads admit of their being made, or the fields are dry enough to be crossed. Their roads are, however so very bad, that perhaps five miles may be reckoned the greatest distance in a straight line in any one given direction, and from any point, to which one of these vehicles can proceed without encoutering broken-down bridges, gaps in old causeways, sloughs, and rocks.

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.

On a former occasion I had the honour of laying before this learned Society a collection of Molluscs and Zoophytes, from the northern part of the Bay of Bengal; I shall to-day take the liberty of calling their attention to some sketches of fishes from the same locality, and the estuaries of the Ganges, which I had an opportunity of making during my sojourn there, while discharging the medical duties on the Honourable Company's surveying vessels. By reference to the ichthyological works, from different Indian localities, of Dr. Russell, Dr. Hamilton, Baron Cuvier, and Mr. Bennet, it would appear that at least one-third, perhaps one-half, out of upwards of a hundred species, which I examined between Calcutta and the twenty-first degree of north latitude, are not noticed by the above authors. Dr. Hamilton, indeed, in the introduction to his work upon the Gangetic fishes, is of opinion, that while in the rivers above, where the tide reaches, not more than one kind in five has escaped his notice, of those found in the estuaries he has not probably described above a half, a great number of which have been noticed by Dr. Russell. The fact is, I have observed many species, which, inhabiting a more southern latitude, are brought up towards the mouths of the Ganges, by the strong flood-tide prevailing during full moon, while others only temporarily enter the rivers during the spawning season. Thus many fishes, found in abundance by Russell on the Coromandel coast, are very scarce, or not met with towards the northern part of the Bay of Bengal, and of those species from Ceylon, figured and described by Mr. Bennett, I have observed none.