Island Na- Withrefpeft to inland navigation Hindoftan'forms a.ftriking'pqatraft
tjgation. Qiiina. In the fourteenth çentury Ijejoz? JJI, ;of the Patatvdynafty,
ordered fome Ihort canals to | be dug in: the ■ pejghhourhoodj of Delhi j
•atid had an-intentfomas Isififid of uniting ,$vitfc, the Indus,
or Sëtlege* Thisj intended canal, which would; not 'have been Above
one quarter the length of the great canal pf China, has beeiviptaifed as
a grand and wcaiderful defignf afoificient proof
of the Hindoos, and their Mahometan vhfïOEV in the_foRd[msid ufefol
arts.
Manufâc- The manufactures of Ilindoftan have-been ^^fciated fiom eai-ly^n-
tiquity, particularly, the mullins and other fabrics from cotton. Piece
goods, as we call them, are mentioned by the author, of jthe Periplus,
and other ancient writers,' who.pràife the manufacture; and the beautiful
colours with which it was idyed*^à'The-Hindoos, in the tim.e..^pif
Strabo, were alfo noted for elegant works in metals- and. ivory. Tliefe
circumftances however afford- no proof of fuch.early .civilization as is
inferred ;-for the Romans, with the fame; materials, cpnld at that period
have equalled; i f not ^seeded the Hindu,og;.;.--and yet the Romans werre
barbarians till three ©r four centuries before-the ehriftian aera. ; The fine
linen of Egypt feems to have been of far more remote antiquity. | Nor
is Hindoftan celebrated7at this day for any manufacture, except thofc.of
mullins and calicoes,, the other exports confiding of diamonds,
with a few wrought filks, fpices, drugs, Sue. The fhawls, ofÆalhmif
are alfb defervedly efteeméd; being there woven, from a jnaterial
chiefly fupplied by- Tibet. Sonnerat'4 has illuftrated with fome care the
.. arts and trades of the Hindoos. Painting is in its infancy and they
are" ftrangers to fhadeand perfpeftive. In the painted mullins ■ and
calicoes, the brightnefs of the tints is owing -to nature rather:than .art.
Sculpture is as little advanced as painting, the defign and execution
being alike bad ; yet the temples are fóriréti'mes majeftic and folemn. In
moft trades very few tools -are employed. The fimple loom- is reared in
the morning under a tree, .and carried home in the evening.
Native Pro-v But it is the abundance of native prodiifts,. whiph has in all âges rén-
" - - dered Hindoftan the centre of great trade. Diamonds, and fome other
b ’Toftie I. page P9‘.
precious
preeioAs > ftones,f{ are; 'próduébs' klmoft pecufla^; kS well as niafly fpices,
aromatics, and drUgs.f.iln modfem 'tina^^héntea. and pdiscelkiin' iof
fitMkia, arfdr<otheE. oriental artiefos'hsliajjvé'.il&een vaguely, ineludedi among
thofe-'of ti&b jRaft IndM5»*' But rice, fagar, and many article? ó f luxury
are produitfts ofiHindofta». «ft
me |6hê ^imateiandïdeaffins aitëd cqj^deraWy{Sfeèrflfied byiAifference of
latitude* anAfoeallkUatinti., 'VeiifiJ^eïïêral^jthottglt/thélnorthern Alps
foqpef Where iss £©aie fimilarity of
climate through Are wade regions of Hindaftam ! ■) in; Bengal the hot,
or dry feafon,. begins with March, and fcondkines -to the''end of May*
the tiffirmometer :fametime?a rMingc W'^ mSs- this; üntenfe heat is, foihe-
tislês intrètnipte A by .violentj thuaderafiorms ifróm’ the : north wteft, the
feat of the;grandi :Aips of Afia.e The. fogfe aie. -not öfily;èoahmon, but
hoiriMy'thick and rimheakhyi: jVaiwmfi^ ankeeéolagicar^oütnals; kept,
in Bengal* arepublifhed in .the Afiatic RefeaicheS, Whence a complete
idèa.may bfe fipittned ofihè &afDüSi Thé ramyifèafon continués &onl
June to i September: the three laft months of the year are generally
plesfant; but éxcfeffive fogs often prevail in January add Eebcuary*.'
The periodical rains are alfo felt in Sindefic. Hindoftan, except
in Caihmir, where. they Idem to he excluded'by the furrounding tnoury-
tains. In the .r^ft of Hindnlfo«3iMifey almoft delbge th«‘ country,
defoeaafdiriglike .nkarafts from thevdouds, abd the Ganges bnd other
rivers|fpréad to a wide extent^ the. inundatibn ceafing in September.
By the latter end of June the Ganges has rifen fifteen feet and a half,
out of thirty-two, which is the total of its ove’rflow.'5 In the mountains
the rainy feafcn begins early in April:} hut rarely in the plains till
the latter end of June. “ By the; latten énd o f . Jnly all the lower parts
of Bengal, contiguous, to the Ganges and Burrainpooter, -are .overflowed,
and form an inundation of more than a hundred miles in width;
fiothing appearing but villages and trees, excepting very rarely the
top of an elevated Ipot (the artificial mound of fome deforted village)
appearing like an ifland.”
In the fouthern divifion thé chains of the Gauts, or mountains of
Malabar and Coromandel, fupporting the high table land in the centre,
'* Rjnpell, 34^>
N a t iv e
P r o d u c t s . -
Climate and
Seafons.
intercept