Nagas or Kukls of Pyta have fixed dwellings on the tops
of hills. They live chiefly on th ©produce -of the chase, eat
elephants,;tygers, jackalls, d©g?s$*,frogs, snakes^ n,nd when
pressed by hunger devour each other.
S ection VII.— General Account of the Physical Characters
of the Natives of India.
Paragraph 1 .—Of the hypothesis- that the Aborigines of
India and of the Himâlaya wore a race of NegfrOes: ■
Before I proceed to collect a statement of facts relative
to tbe.; complexion andform of the : native i-nhabita'UfeaoF
Hindustan, I must take' Soùré notkSè-o-f an opinion which has-
been maintained', that the aborigineS^of that" country- Werfe:
a race of Negroes, of'a tribe of péoplkWith woolly' hûfàlànd
in features resembling the native<Mricans. Altltóttgfe‘Petite,
felt disposed to admit this opinion as probable, I have longf
since ceased to regard it âs such, and I shonl'd sfèatcely have
thought it necessary to bring the subject before my readers-'
had not some countenance heen of date given* to this^hotion
by writers of great learning and research.
The facts whiehibave been thought to favour-the Opinion
that a race of Negroes was once spread through India are
the following :-p É
1. It has been often observed, that the remains hf statuary
and other aneient works of art in India display a different type
of countenance from that of the. modern Hindoos, and seem
to have been formed after a model resembling the counte-
nance of the Négiö* Sir W. Jolies observed, “ that the
remains of architecture and sculpture in India seemt'o'prom
an early- connection between that country and Africain > He
adds, “ the Pyramids of Egypt, the colossal statues described
by Pausanias and others, the Sphinx, and the Hermes Canis,
which last bears a strong resemblance to the Varaha avatar,
indicate the. style of the same indefatigable workmen who
formed the vast excavations of Canârah, the various temples
and images of Buddha, and the idols which are continually
d u g Up a t G a y b ^ o r in J its v ic in ity /’ “ Th ese an d o th e r
ih d u b itap leTfao ts m a y tiu d u c e n o dll%.rounded o p in io n , th a t
El$fi©pia>and H i n d e n t werelipedpled^oE, colonised b y th e
s a ^ ^ e x -tra o ié d in a ry -r^ e ; in confirmation?} o f w h ich i t may
’bk. ad d ed ^ lth at th e m o u n ta in e e rs o f B e n g a l an d Bah&r can
hardly»b'#dist4figuashed in . sourer d f- th e ir fe a tu re s, p a rtic u la
r ly in th e ir lip s arid*noses, from th e m o d e rn AbyssLmians.”#
I t haSi. been: o b s e rv e d b y -spheral writers* wh o h a v e de*-r
scribed,, th a c k le b r a te d cav e ru i» ',th e Islefeof E le p h a n ta , th a t
th e Hindudgbds^dherer b g u r e d h av e African -features. D r .
F . B. Hamilton',. ywjell k n bw n as a p h y sic ian o f .g re a t
le a rn in g . tp cT jlld ^ e id eU t, wh o sef ^ r% .s'ch av ed c o n trib u te d
much$|fe$rre,#endi->o u r knowled-gedof ’j th e ra p e s -o f p eo p le in
In d ia a n d ttfee ad j-o in b ig ^O p fin fi^ ^ say s^ th a t w h e p -h e v isited
th e cave o f E le p h a n ta , a lth o u g h t h e n unaccpaainted -w ith the.
c o n tro v e rsie s c o n c e rn in g ^ h e o rig in o f th e sc u lp tu re s w h ich
i t t^ o n t a in ^ h e .w a s s t r u c k w ith th e African- a p p e a ra n c ê ^ o f
the*, im a g e s? p a rtic u la rly , o f th e ir, -h air and^ features*,; a n d
conceived th em to h e .th e w o rk o f Bespstris, as h e h a d
im b ib jd ^ th e v u lg a r id e a th a t th e y were- n a g fth e id p ls .o f-
th e B ra hm a n s . T h is latte^iaoifcion lie a fte rw a rd s e n tire ly
la id asidei: In fa c t i t a p p e a rs th a t th e cav e, o f E le p h a n ta
d isp lay s in these^sculptu-res th f e e ld e s t form- o f th e In d ia n
re lig io n , th a t o f th e Sm a rta l B ra hm a n s , sin c e the*attributes-
p f th e th r e e person^*®i;^he T ria d .are th ere- e x h ib ite d a s
u n ite d in one fig u re , w h ich re p re s e n ts th e su p rem e d iv in ity
h o ld in g c o n jo in e d th e a ttrib u te s of|>Creator, P re s e rv e r, a n d
D e stro y e r. T h e same A fric an .c h a ra c te r-in th e s e im ag es
was o b serv ed b y M r. H u n te r, t who; * g av e a t a n e a rlie r
p e rio d a d e sc rip tio n o f th e ssamé c av ern
I t h a s ;been o b serv ed in p a rtic u la r o f th e sta tu e s o f
B u d d h a , th a t th e y d isp lay in m a n y p a r ts fe a tu re s re s em b lin g
th e Negfro. E v e n th e h a ir o f «-the fig u re s o f B u d d h a is
said to b e re p re s e n te d as wo o lly , o r a t le a s t in sm a ll c u rls ,
h a rd ly d is tin g u ish a b le from wool.-t -
• * The third‘biscourse, óf the Bmdóos, "Xiiatic 'Researches', vól. 1, page 427.
t Huntef iri Archseologia, vol. 7.
■ t Captain Colin Mackenzie haS described a statue of Buddha in an ancient
temple at Villigaam, oh the coast of Ceylon, of which he say#, that “ the