an inhabitant of the west'. An English translation and a critique on the version of Langlois is given in the Asiatic Journal, Feb. 1828. The writer suspects M. L. to have taken great, if not unwarrantable liberties with the original: "The style is florid and redundant, and often appears to us to savour much more of France than Hindoostan." 2. The second story is the Marriage of Rookmini the daughter of Bhishmaka, and, as we have already seen, the favourite mistress of Krishna. The exploits of that god could not disarm her brother Rookmi of his hatred; and he prevailed on his father to promise Rookmini's hand to one of his royal allies in the war so unsuccessfully waged against the incarnate deity. On the day appointed for the marriage, however, Krishna arrived with a few attendants, carried off the princess, and thus secured the happiness of both. 3. The third story, The Entertainments at Dwaraca, are curious from their exhibiting a picture (necessarily concise) of the manner in which the ancient inhabitants of Hindoostan amused themselves on occasions of public festivity. 4. The fourth is The Death of Rookmi. That prince, the successor of Bhishmaka, had a daughter, Soobhangi; and as he had renounced his enmity against Krishna, he consented to bestow her on Radyoomna, the son of that hero and his sister. Balarama is present at the nuptials, and is inveigled into play with Rookmi and other princes. He loses, is ridiculed for his want of skill, becomes so violently enraged that he overturns the table, and afterwards kills Rookmi with the chess-board. r Wilford, and after him Colonel Francklin, are quick-sighted enough to find Deucalion, in the Indian words, Deva Cala Yavana. This is almost as bad a derivation as we have somewhere seen of chez from apud. 4. Ramayana. There are many poems bearing this name, and all relating to the same subject. The achievements of Rama, its hero, have been sung by profane as frequently as by sacred poets. His history occupies a considerable place in many of the Puranas, and is the sole object of Valmiki's poem, and of another entitled Adhyatma Rámáyana, which is ascribed to Vyása. There are also others by Bhavabhûti, Murâri-Misra, PakshaDhara-Misra, etc. The most complete and valuable of them all, however, is the great epic, the Ramayana of Valmiki. It narrates the banishment of Rama, under the name of Chandra, (resembling the moon,) a prince belonging to the dynasty of the kings of Ayodhyâ; his wandering to the peninsula; the seizure of his wife by the giant ruler of Ceylon; the miraculous conquest of this island; and the restoration of Rama to the empire of his ancestors. It consists of 24,000 distichs, divided into seven books, which are again subdivided into chapters or raphsodies. Some idea of the esteem in which this poem is held by the Hindoos, may be formed from the following passage from the introduction: "He who sings and hears this poem continually, has attained to the highest state of enjoyment, and will finally be equal to the gods." Analysis of the Ramayana in Ward's View of the History, etc. of the Hindoos, ed. 2. tom. ii, p. 187. Langlès in Catalogue des mss. Sanser. p. 13, 14. Craufurd, Researches on India, vol. i, p. 188. Colebrooke, in Asiatic Researches, vol. x, p. 426. Polier Mythologie des Hindous, and, after him, Görres in the Heidelb. Jahrb. 1810, vol. vi, p. 245, sqq. Heeren's Ideen. Discours prononcé au Collège Royal de France à l'ouverture du Cours de langue et de littérature Sanskrite, par Mr. de Chézy, Paris, 1815, 8vo. where p. 17-26, is given an extract from the Ramayana3. A very valuable manuscript of the Ramayana is mentioned in the Supplement to Howell and Stewart's Oriental Catalogue for 1827, p. 99*. A notice on the three Paris mss. of the Ramayana in • M. Chézy, in the discourse above quoted, says of this poem, "It is more especially in epic poems that the Sanscrit seems to bear the palm from all other languages; and among the Indian poets, the great Valmiki, in his Ramayana, seems to have best understoood the art of displaying all its beauties. Under his magic pencil it becomes pliant, and yields, without effort, to every variety of tone and colour. If he would paint gentle and affecting scenes, this beautiful, sonorous, and copious language, furnishes him with the most harmonious expressions; and, like a winding rivulet creeping softly over banks of moss and flowers, it carries with it, imperceptibly, our ravished imagination, and transports us into an enchanted world. Yet, in subjects requiring energy and strength, as in martial combats, his style becomes rapid and animated as the action itself. Chariots roll and rebound; furious elephants destructively move to and fro their enormous tusks; neighing steeds clash their metalled hoofs on the resounding plain; clubs are violently struck together; arrows hurtle; confusion and death rage on every side: we no longer read, we are in the midst of the terrible conflict." See Le Moniteur, 1815, No. 23, and A. W. v. Schlegel's Ind. Bibl. vol. i, p. 35. This high-flown praise, however, others have endeavoured to lessen : Sainte-Croix in his Observat. prélimin. to the Ezour-Vedam, p. 131, and Ward in his Views of the Literature, etc. vol. i, p. 513. Yet it seems sanctioned by one, certainly equally well, and perhaps better, qualified to form a just and enlarged view of the subject than either of these critics, who has cited the whole passage in the Quarterly Review (vol. xlv, p. 3). Even his sanction, however, may be considered as modified by what follows: "If we may presume to judge, from all that is yet before the European public, the excellence of the Indian poets lies rather in softness than energetic action; their battles want the truth, the life, the distinctness of Homer: they seem rather turgid and exaggerated than sublime; though, after all, we must take into the account the vast and unwieldy character of Asiatic warfare. Still, we shall, we conceive, sooner find a parallel in their works to the garden of Alcinois, the isle of Circe, or even the parting of Hector and Andromache, than to Achilles standing on the trench and averting the tide of Trojan victory." It is No. 4414, written in the Bengalee character, and priced 61. 16s. 6d. the introduction to J. L. Burnouf's La Mort d' Yadjnadatta. The Ramayana was at an early date translated into Bengalee; and from this version Sir William Jones rendered an extract from the last book into English: see his works, vol. vi, p. 399–411. The first portion of a complete translation into English at length appeared, under the following title, but only a very small number of copies were struck off: The Ramayana of Valmeeki, in the original Sungskrit, with an English prose translation, and explanatory notes by William Carey and Joshua Marshmann, Serampoor, 1806, 4to. vol. i, containing the first book"; vol. ii, containing the first part of the second book, ibid. 1808; vol. iii, containing the latter part of the second book, ibid. 1810. This work, which it was calculated would make ten 4to. volumes, seems to have been interrupted from want of sufficient support. The second part of the three which have appeared is no longer to be procured, as the vessel in which they were embarked for Europe was wrecked. The first part was reprinted at London in 1808, and the whole at Calcutta, 1813, 3 vols. 4to. The translation was reprinted without the original text, under the title of The Ramayuna of Valmeeki, translated from the original Sungskrit, with explanatory notes, by W. Carey and J. Marshmann, London, 1808-1814, 8vo*. Three parts. An ample review " This portion of the work is priced at 5l. 5s. in the catalogue of Parbury, Allen, and Co. for 1831: vol. iii, is priced in the same catalogue at 31. 15s. These also occur in Howell and Stewart's Catalogue, but in none of them do I find any mention of vol. ii. × I find the following: The Ramauana of Valmeeki, a poem, translated from the original Sungskrit, by W. Carey and J. Marshmann, vol. 1, containing the "first book," 8vo., Dunstable, 1808. See Parbury and Allen's Catalogue of Oriental Literature, 1831. of this publication, by Doctor Wilkins, will be found in the Heidelb. Jahrb. 1814, April, No. 24. A Bengalee version of the entire poem was printed at Calcutta, in 5 vols. 8vo. Ramayun, a Prose Translation into Persian, from the Sanscrit of the very interesting History of Ram, and his wife Sita, and brother Latchman, etc., a manuscript in the Supplement to Howell and Stewart's Oriental Catalogue for 1827, p. 100. A poetical abridgement in Hindostanee appeared with the following title: Kavita Ramayuna, in the Devanâgari character, at Khidirpoor in Bengal, 1815, 8vo. See Catal. de la Biblioth. de M. Langlès, p. 158, No. 1367. The Ramayuna, or the Exploits of Rama, abridged and translated in the Tamul language from the celebrated Epic Poem of Valmiki, Madras, 1822, 4to. The opening of the poem, translated into German verse, is found in Fr. Schlegel's Uber die Sprache und Weisch. d. Indier, p. 231-271. Proeve van Indische Dichtkunde volgens den Ramayon; naar het oorspronkelyk Sanskritisch gevolgd door Jacob Haafner, en uit deszelfs nagelatene Papieren in licht gegeven door C. M. Haafner, Amsterdam, 1823, 8vo. A. W. von Schlegel announced a new and complete edition of the Ramayana in the original Sanscrit with a Latin version, in a prospectus printed at London in 1823. The first part of this edition has made its appearance with the following title: Ramayana, id est, Carmen Epicum de Rama rebus gestis, poëtæ antiquissimi Valmici opus. Textum codd. mss. collatis recensuit, interpretationem Latinam et annotationes criticas adjecit Aug. Guill. a Schlegel, etc. Voluminis primi pars prior, lxxii, and 380, pp. large 8vo. Bonn, 1829, typis regiis, sumptibus auctoris. It contains the |