s m ° • BUm5 ° yS iflaóds ^ ich ^/pfcces n^ar f t i^ th e 'Maidiv.es5 ;which, in
grap BYk a acceptation of his fenfe, muft have been much further to the
north, to havé cprfefponded with Goflellin’s opinion. The,Ranges of
Taprobana is^ thé MowiI Ganga of Ceylon : the Soana, in 'the weft,
inay alfp have a cofeefponding'modern-name, but cannot the the Qoan
which runs V the eaft into’ the great Ganges. 2. Taprobana is|thjply
peppled with a few tribes, unknown in ancient ^fcriptiong, pf Jn-
j d*a 5 ant^ fhe wftole form, and central ridge of mountains bear no re-
femblance whatever to the Deccan, but on the contrary approximate
nearly to thofe óf Ceylon. 3. The long’ ftrait mentioned bytÓpff^lljn
is unknown in the map of Ptolemy, which’on the contrary .rather juftly
reprefents the. fea betweén the coaftfof Coromandel and Ceylon,' and
his ifle of Gory feems to be that now corruptly called Cira’jliipd g on the
contrary a long ftrait muft have been’ heceflh'ry. df'’Ptofemy ;%d intended
the Deccan, which is far wider in the north, than in the fouth ;
whereas Taprobana is reprefented' narrower, hire 'CeylM!1 4! i f e
Commarta^oi Ptolemy feems^pa^bTy -fö Teprefenf
Comorin, and that geographer juftly adds that" ft'is an extreme prdmoh-
tpry v m like manner o&ér'rivm,'.^^^^
in Ptolemy’s India, which really belonged to ’ the Deccan, though*Vhe
latitudes be very erroneous,
/’Upon the whole it feems evident that Ptolemy’has been milled in
his delineation of India, by information fo grofsly fallacious as cannot
be eafily accounted for; but the carididapofogy ofan'ahfe judge ought ’
not to be omittedf efpecially as it relates to the greateft error of the
’ father of geographical pretifion.3 " We ought to refleft that Ptolemy’s '
ideaa were collefted from the people who failed alopg the coaft, and
who -defcribed what they had feen and heard wididbt 'fe|krd to'Whlt
lay beyond it- and moreover made life of too wide a fcale; as com-
mouly happens when thé fohere of knowledge is confined, and; the
geographer works ad libitum, from the coaft towards the interior of an
unknown continent. Whoever, confults Ptolemy Vmap of India ftiould
carry thefe ideas in his mind : that the fofiftruaionbfit is founded on
three lines; one of which is that pfthe.wfeolejcoaft, from the gulphof
I Rémrêft/ § •
Cambay
Cambay, round fOithe Ganges $ afeeorfdy.the ceurfe of the Indus,, and Pkoores-
ihe gulphs of Clutch and Cambay; -äriÜdbe1 third, the’cdnimdn road
from the Tanjab to the mouths 'of the Gar^öSs ^The-oBjeifts within
thefe lines have a relative d'ependance eäch dinfe’ fefpeaftfely; and
are invariably.placed»at to© great a! dlfta^fe’ iSvfthinJ,fhem: if thefeföte’ ''1
happens that-an abjtQjtwhiefbfhpnld-dfave^occupidd a ‘p'l®eKd’e'af 4>hef of
thddines^isahtuft 'towards the'Middle'of .the Map*$lndftht&'bedrig^a
generahteafe, places tetn "öpp’öÖfetfidfe’s Ihdia'tSffe^cFO'^ded( fe^tfer'f' as
Arcot 'and-. Sägur' •(*S&gh‘e'da)' aref t At tahfo the 'ceiftral pa'rts
airrwb©lly}6hiitted^ &s being' irr fibll lDdf .
graphe'r diäfeSS nofili^whv'ef d,xpkifi/ih,dw^oJ^^,s;map''pf 'Ceylon'happened
to rref>refehf that ifllan4d five* ti‘m{M*m©fa-rge;f ' Ä fimftar inftarice^
in'debd,*ÖcfclirlrihJ,‘B'?fhöp Eefilmsiriap or Scotland, in 'wnfcn pReiile|pF' }
Hii’ta,,-J'8r^St‘nK.iIda, is ;reprefentddilaSJ thile'tltfies as5 large as“ Muli-ji.
and perhaps thtf'exterft of Taprobana was^iiilike Manher'lwelled'Irom
ifs^teltebrity-j dr drawn by fdriie marrne'f, krid followed by 'Ptolemy in.
his defcfiptioh withoufbbiferving thefiz’e ot the*fc#e.
However this be^qiere'can be no doubt .that D'AnvlltL: in hft-large ,
mkp of tfiewoijd as known'to the ancientjs, 176,3, has Jnigep crab;,
affigned the names ^iveri by Ptolemy to theiy uftfcnafitioj\s, though
Gcn^ih correct with' great juftice tbatkUe'geog^ghprVde.lineatijpg^pfi ,t .
Indlil bey ond th e,’Gangesl It wptdd be foreign do the prefent purppfe |
to'enter into anyrdetail 3. hnjt afew„n,ame^9f^jyei:sjinay l^e indica|edyt,.s
After .the Indus the rivers dpjineated by. Etojfpiy ^ p th e weft6?!1'coaft t
are the, IVIophides, the rNamadus, followed by a Targepfiver with ikn
Delta called rthe- Nanäguna, -which is fu;db^ded:?by two fniall ftreams,:
the Pfeudaftomu's and the Baris, = ;. It is well known that no river qf.any -
lengtn ffews fo the w'^ft» after pa-ffing the Taptee of Surat, but navigar .
tors un'acgukinted with the interior may eafily ftave miflaken (fjlfeks for-
eftuaries; and D ’Anvilte fuppofes that Baris i'dheim q f t'fo n th e rn ,in
the heighboprhö'pd df Gqä. ,„It is bowevp^fotbe.wfbed -that .a map of :
ancient I - P t o l e m y , and other authorities,
applied to the recent informatiön; contained* in Major Renhell’Sb excellent
map. Nor is ,it eafy,:to conceive h®v®D*Anv-il,l'e.~c,äme fa d e -tf;'
xp lineate ,