which Mr. Bryant selected as emblematic of the Deluge: these delineations present a goddess, crowned, sitting on a rock, at, or from, whose feet flows a river, in which river a man is bathing: or else, this man is a personification of the river itself. In Nos. 5, 6, 8. the goddess holds ears of corn, expressing the fertility of the territory. No. 6. has the additional idea of an eagle on the head of the goddess, holding in its beak a wreath (perhaps of laurel). And this eagle may refer to a province or mountain, Ætia. The temples of Bavani, and Mahadeo, which the Indian delineation places on the banks of the Ganges, are also traced at large, on our plate (Nos. 2, 3.) for the purpose of comparison with certain medals (Nos. 4, 5.) of the same city as the former, which represent a temple, with an eagle inside it, in No. 4.; and before it a river, in which a man is swimming, or bathing: this eagle connects with No. 6. as does the swimmer also. In No. 9. the bird in the temple is an owl.

We acknowledge, that we were long in doubt, whether this man denoted a religious person bathing in the river, or were the River itself, personified; but No. 7. a medal of Tarsus, shews the same goddess, crowned; at her feet the waves flowing, and the man as usual; but, he has horns on his head: which is expressly noted in the margin of Liebe, Goth. Numm. p. 452. Fluvius caput cornutum ostentat; being too small to be distinctly marked on the plate. This symbol strongly alludes to the horns on the Cow's Head, the rock through which the Ganges passes; and proves this figure to be that river. For, this figure cannot represent the Cydnus, a river of Tarsus; as Liebe supposes: for, what buisness has the Cydnus with these horns? Compare what is said in explanation of the medals of Tarsus, on PLATE XXXVII. Nos. 1, 2, 3. and PLATE CLXIII. Nos. 5, 7. Now, the reader will observe that this symbol of the goddess and the man, that is, the River flowing from her foot-(and what is very extraordinary, on all the medals of this subject known to Mr. Bryant, and to ourselves, this figure, whatever be his action or attitude, is never separated from the foot of the Goddess) occurs in our Plates on Medals of Antioch in Syria, of Carrhæ, of Damascus, of Ptolemais, of Rhesen, of Singara, of Shinar, of Tartus; also of King Tigranes (PLATE XXXVIII. Nos. 17, 18, 19.) and in fact, we find it on coins of very many other cities;-cities of the greatest antiquity; cities situated in the midst of deserts, and wanting water themselves; cities very distant from each other, and by no means likely to appropriate each other's device. The inference is conclusive, therefore, of a common and early origin of this type; and that origin could be no other than the country whence all these people drew their own origin; or, derived from localities, the memory of which they all desired to preserve; as in their religious rites, so also on their public tokens. But, if it be granted that these people commemorated the country of their common and early origin, and that origin was at, or near, the sources of the Ganges, it will lead to a conclusion, for which it has been the intention of this paper to prepare the reader.

No. DV. ON THE RIVERS OF PARADISE, INDICATED BY MOSES. GEN. ii. 8.

WHETHER the Ganges were one of the four famous Rivers of Paradise, or not, it is well to be acquainted with a stream which is not only esteemed sacred at this day, but which, so far as we can trace throughout the most remote antiquity, was no less sacred, and no less famous. Why should the most ancient cities known be those which most significantly commemorate the issue of the River Ganges? and, why employ the same (Hindoo) symbol? Why should the cities of Mesopotamia, PART XVIII. Edit. 5.

D

Carrhæ, Edessa, Nisibis, Rhesen, Side, Sinar, and others, some of which had no plenty of water to boast of, but stood in dry and thirsty deserts-why should these take such interest in a distant River? What was the Ganges to them; or what were they to the Ganges?-Nothing as a River: but, if the source of the Ganges were the first seat of Idolatry-if it were the spot where the deities first alighted on Earth—if from thence distant countries derived their religious rites-then, it was but natural that some token of this communication should be preserved, notwithstanding the clear recollection of it was lost in the lapse of ages.And farther,

With these tokens we should connect the traditionary accounts, which long continued among the heathen, of that most memorable catastrophe the Deluge. There can be no doubt, but what many memorials of that event were popular, and even were venerated, throughout Asia: and with little risk we may affirm, that the country in which the second great father of mankind resided, gave occasion to various emblems, and to figures as well compound as simple, which entered deeply and extensively into the rituals and the mysteries of those tribes of his descendants which formed colonies and obtained settlements in distant parts.

In contemplating the Deluge we must acknowledge, that the highest Mountains on the surface of the globe would be the last overwhelmed by the mighty waters, and the first relieved from their prevalence. Here, then, would naturally be the first station of our renovated race; and if the same locality might also have been the first station of our original parents, we have not far to seek for the streams which took their rise in the Garden of Eden.

This train of argument_demands that we should shew in the first place, that the mountainous district of Imaus, largely taken, is really the highest land existing. Those who know that within these few years these mountains have attracted great attention, have been measured at various distances, and, so far as was practicable, by barometrical experiment, would admit this without farther explanation. To others, it may be satisfactory to learn that our excellent geographer, Major Rennell, distributes the elevated regions of Asia into three distinctions; and of that more immediately under our contemplation, he says,

"Mount IMAUS is situated beyond the fountains of the Oxus (Jihoon) and Jaxartes and which forms the western border of a yet higher and more extensive region than either of the former (regions). This THIRD portion of elevated region of Asia is very unequal in point of breadth. In the western quarter it is necessarily limited by the approach of the Caspian and Persian Seas, towards each other; but expands to a much greater breadth, beyond the Caspian, till again narrowed into a kind of Isthmus, by the valleys through which the Oxus and Indus flow: and whose fountains are separated only by the high ridge of the Indian Caucasus, or Hindoo Kho," Geog. Herod. p. 177.

From this most elevated region flow the Burhampooter, the Ganges, the Indus; all great rivers, which run south; and on the north the Jihoon, and the Jaxartes, with others. Whether the sources of these ever communicated by means of one vast lake, it would be presumptous to affirm; but, while one of these Rivers retain the name of the Jihoon, which reminds us of one of the Rivers of Paradise, we cannot but inquire, whether it be justly entitled to this distinction.

As the article GIHON in the Dictionary is but meagre, the reader will be pleased to meet with some farther account of that River here. Our first extract is from Kinneir's Memoir of the Persian Empire, p. 178. Lond. 1813.

Syed Mahomed Hassan, a respectable native of Sacterre, one day's journey north of Bockhara, informed General Malcolm, that he had been at the mountains

of Pameer, where the Oxus (Jihoon) has its scource. He describes them as being thirteen marches, of thirty-six miles each, East of Fyzabad, in Buduk Shan, uninhabited, inaccessible, and always white with snow. He had followed the banks of the Oxus for hundreds of miles

Ibn Haukal in his "Oriental Geography" affords a copious description of this River, and the provinces lying on it; we shall at present content ourselves with a few extracts from Sir. W. Ouseley's Translation.

"The River Jihoon is frozen in winter, so that loaded carriages pass over it. The ice begins at Khuarezm, which is the coldest place on the Jihoon.. on the banks is a mountain called Cheghagher: here the ice continues from winter till near the end of summer." p. 244.

"Of the places on the River Jihoon, we shall place Bokhara in Maweralnahr first : it is situated on a plain; the houses are of wood, and it abounds in villas, and gardens, and orchards: and the villages are as close to one another as the groves and gardens, extending for near twelve farsang by twelve farsang: all about this space is a wall, and within it the people dwell winter and summer; and there is not to be seen one spot uncultivated, or in decay. It has been at all times the seat of government." P. 245.

"In all the regions of the earth, there is not a more flourishing or a more delightful country than this, especially the district of Bokhara. If a person stand on the Kohendiz (ancient castle) of Bokhara, and cast his eyes around, he shall not see any thing but beautiful green and luxuriant verdure on every side of the country: so that he would imagine the green of the earth and the azure of the heavens were united... The walls, and buildings, and cultivated plains of Bokhara, extend above thirteen farsang by twelve farsang: and the Soghd, for eight days journey, is all delightful country, affording fine prospects, and full of gardens, and orchards, and villages, corn fields, and villas, and running streams, reservoirs and fountains, both on the right hand and the left. You pass from corn fields into rich meadows and pasture lands: the fruits are the finest in the world: among the hills and palaces flow running streams, gliding between the trees. In the mountains are all kinds of fruits, of herbs, and flowers, and various species of the violet: all these it is lawful for any one who passes by to pull and gather." p. 237.

"Garments of silk and linen are brought from Balkh, and Nishapour. The best sheep are those of Ghizni, and the best water is that of the Jihoon." p. 227.

"In Ferghaneh [in the neighbourhood of the Jihoon] there are mines of sal-ammoniac, and of copperas or vitriol, and quicksilver and brass; and also of gold, and of turquoise stone; and in this mountain are springs of naptha, and of bitumen and resin; also a stone that takes fire and burns." p. 250.

Elsewhere he mentions the ruby, and other precious stones, as yielded by the mines of this country. Now, the reader will do well to bear in mind that, this was the original country of Abraham, and his family:-the motives which induced that patriarch to quit such a delightful situation must needs have been very cogent.

We know that the Burhampooter and the Ganges overflow, annually, the lower provinces through which they pass; and we know the same of the Gihoon; but, whether the latter river was ever worshipped, as the others were, and are, we are not sufficiently acquainted with its history to determine. The probability is, that as all considerable streams were held sacred, so was the Gihoon; and the same may be thought of all rivers that flowed from the mountains of Imaus. This, at least, is certain, that no locality on the globe offers the same peculiarities, or affords probabilities of equal power. These mountains combine elevation with fertility; the most

friendly temperature to life in some parts, notwithstanding eternal snows in other parts: fruits of all kinds in the most perfect maturity, timber trees in vast forests in the utmost luxuriance; and streams, the most pellucid and refreshing in every direction.

It should be considered, that it is only within a few years our knowledge of these mountains has been in any degree correct; and that even now on many parts we are obliged to rest satisfied with descriptions at second hand, obtained from the reluctantly communicative natives.

No. DVI. HINDOO OPINIONS ON THE SITUATION OF PARADISE.

MANY attempts have been made to fix the site of the Garden of Eden. Some have placed it in Syria; others at the head of the Euphrates, in Armenia; Huetius placed it lower down on the Euphrates, approaching the mouth of that river. The Siberians told the Czar Peter, that Paradise was in Siberia; while the supposition that it might be covered by the ocean, has been entertained by some, because they could not ascertain its locality on terra firma; which very reason has led others to suggest, that the Paradise of Heaven was once let down to earth, but after a time was taken up again.

We have inferred from sundry considerations, that Paradise was placed on a Mountain, or at least in a country diversified with hills, because only such a country could supply the springs necessary to form four heads of rivers; and because all heads of rivers rise in hills, from whence their waters descend to the sea. Such a country has been found in Armenia, with such an elevation, or assemblage of elevations, also, as appeared to be requisite for the purpose. On these principles, the Phasis was the Phison of Moses, and the similarity of sound in the name seemed to confirm the opinion; it was a natural consequence, that the Araxes should be the Gihon; since its waters are extremely rapid, and the Greek name Araxes, like the Hebrew Gihon, denotes the dart, or swift.

Such were the principles most generally entertained among the learned; when lo, forth comes Capt. Wilford from his study of the Indian Puranas, and opens what is at least a new source of information; to which we shall direct our attention, yet suspending our assent, till after it has been fully and fairly examined. The following are Extracts from "A Dissertation on Mount Caucasus ;" in the Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. p. 455.-Lond. Edit.

"Persian authors are constantly confounding Bámiyan and Báhlac together; the first they call Balkh-Bámiyan, and the second Bálkh-Bhkhárá. When they speak of the metropolis of the fire-worshippers, it is to be understood of Bámíyan alone, according to the followers of Buddha, and the author of the Buddha-dharmacharya Sindhu. According to Persian authors, Rámíyan must have existed before the flood; but the followers of Buddha insist that it was built by a most religious man called Shama, who appears from particular circumstances to be the same with the famous patriarch Shem; and that his posterity lived there for several generations. Hence Bálkh-Bámíyan is said to be originally the place of abode of Abraham (Th. Hyde, p. 29. and 494.) who, according to Scripture, and the Hindu sacred books, removed with his father to distant countries westward."

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According to Diodorus the Sicilian, Bámíyan existed before Ninus: for this historian, like the Persian Authors we have mentioned, has mistaken Bâhlac for

Bámíyan; which he describes as situated among steep hills: whilst Bahlac is situated in a low, flat country, and at a great distance from the mountains."

"The natives look upon Bámíyan, and the adjacent countries, as the place of abode of the progenitors of mankind, both before and after the flood. By Bámíyan and the adjacent countries, they understand all the country from Sistán to Samarcand, reaching towards the East as far as the Ganges. This tradition is of great antiquity, for it is countenanced equally by Persian authors, and by the sacred books of the Hindus."

"According to the Puránas, Swayambhuva or Adima, Satyavrata or Noah, lived in the north-west parts of India about Cashinir.'

"From particular circumstances it appears, that Satyavrata, before the flood, lived generally in the countries about the Indus, between Cabul and Cashmir; and if we find him in Dravira or the southern parts of the Peninsula, it seems that it was accidentally; and that he went there only for some religious purpose. Even after the flood, he resided for some time on the banks of the Indus. According to tradition, which my learned friends here inform me is countenanced by the Puránas, he lived and reigned a long time at Bettoor, on the banks of the Ganges and to the south of Canoge."

"Thus, according to an uniform tradition of a very long standing, as it is countenanced by the Hindu sacred books and Persian authors, the progenitors of mankind lived in that mountainous tract which extends from Bálkh and Candahar to the Ganges; we may then reasonably look for the terestrial Paradise in that country : for it is not probable, that Adima and Adime or Iva should have retired to any great distance from it. Accordingly, we find there such a spot, as answers minutely to the Mosaical account; a circumstance, I believe, not to be met with any where else on the surface of the globe. A small brook winds through the Tágavis of Bámíyan, and, falling into a small lake, divides itself into four heads, forming so many navigable rivers. The first, called Phison, compasses the whole country of Chavila, where gold is found; and the gold of that country is good: there is also Bdellium and Sardonyx.' The country of Chávilá is probably that of Cabul: it is a very ancient denomination; for Ptolemy calls its inhabitants Cabolite, and the town itself Cabura, which is obviously a corruption from Cabul: so the Persian name for a shed or penthouse is indifferently pronounced Cabul and Cabur. Tradition says, that Cabul was built by an ancient king of that name; and the place where he lived is still shewn near Cabul: they generally call him Shah Cabul. Gold is found in the sands of the Indus, above Derbend, but in greater quantity about Cábul-grám, to the north of Derbend, and in the rivers, which fall into the Indus from the west. It is found also near the surface of the earth in these parts, but the natives are too indolent to dig for it. The gold found in the sands, I am told, is not so pure as that found by digging the earth to a considerable depth. This country abounds with divers sorts of precious stones, such as the Lapis Lazuli, the Yacuth or hyacinth; crystal, marble of various colours, and razor stones of a superior quality. The Phison appears then to be the Landi-Sindh, or lesser Sindh, called also Nilab, from the colour of its waters, which are deep and limpid. This river is also denominated the Nila Ganga, or simply Ganga, by Hindus; and it is called Ganges by Isidorus, when he says that the best Asa-foetida grows on the mountains of Oscobagi, at the source of the Ganges. Oscobagi is obviously derived from Jeshu Beg, the lord Jeshu, another name for the famous Ra'sala or Brongus who dwelt at Bámíyan, whose colossal statue is to be seen there to this day, and of whom I shall speak more fully