Hydaspes or Jelum, and Alexandria-Bucephalos ;to the Acesines or Chunaub, and the town of Spatura ;to the Hydraotes (or Rauvee) and Laboca (supposed to be Lahore);—to the Hyphasis, and afterwards the Zadadrus (Satadru), and the town of Tahora or Tihotra, the birth-place of Sami-devi ;-to Ketrora or Cshetriwara in the Lacky Jungle ;—to the Jumna at Cunjpoora, and to the Ganges at Hastinapoor (Bacinora, Storna), about twenty miles S.W. of Daranagur;-to Calinipaxa* on the river Calini;to Rodapha (Rhodopa, Rapphe);—to Allahabad, and thence, along the southern bank of the Ganges, by Sagala (Mirzapoor), to Palibothra.+ The total distance from the Indus to Allahabad appears to be, by this route, 1040 miles; and from Allahabad to Palibothra, about 400 or 430 more.+

The direct road from the Gangetic provinces to China, is represented as coming from Carsania in the Gangetic provinces, supposed to be Carjuna, near

* Conjectured by Major Rennell to be Canoge.

† As. Res., vol. ix. pp. 51-7. See also Rennell, p. 51.

No point in ancient geography has been more contested, than the site of this celebrated capital of the Prasii. D'Anville, who is followed by Dr. Robertson, placed it at Allahabad. This is certainly sanctioned by Arrian's account, who clearly refers to the Jumna under the name of the Erannoboas, which, he says, is reckoned the third river in India. Major Rennell, at one time, conjectured it to be Canoge, but subsequently adopted the opinion that it was unquestionably Patna. We have placed it, (p. 108,) on the authority of Major Wilford, at Raj-mehal, about twenty-five miles above the confluence of the Coosy and the Ganges. Dr. Murray fixes it at Boglipoor (or Bhagalpoor); but he admits that this as ill agrees with the statement of Pliny on the one hand, as Patna does on the other. According to Pliny, from the junction of the Jumna with the Ganges to Palibothra, was' a distance of 425 miles; and from Palibothra to the mouth of the Ganges, was 638. From Allahabad to Patna, it is not much above 200 miles. See Murray's Discoveries, vol. i. pp. 487-492. Rennell, pp. 50-54. Robertson's India, note xiv. Rooke's Arrian, vol. ii. pp. 192-203:

Burdwan; and passing by Scobaru (Cucshabaru), near Jarbarry, to the N. of Dinagepoor, to Aspacora or Aspacara in Tibet; where it met another road from Tahora and Hari-dwar. It is supposed to have been by this route, that the Cingalese and Malays traded to China. "There can be no doubt," remarks Major Wilford, "that they went first by sea to the country of Magadha or the Gangetic provinces, where their legislator Buddha was born, and his religion flourished in the utmost splendour. There they joined in a body with the caravans of that country, and went to China, through what Ptolemy and the Author of the Periplus call the great route from Palibothra to China. It was in consequence of this commercial intercourse, that the religion of Buddha was introduced into that vast empire in the year 65 A.D.; and from that era, we may date the constant and regular intercourse between Magadha and China, till the extirpation of the religion of Buddha and the invasion of the Mussulmans." +

That the trade of Palibothra and of the kingdom of Magadha, in the days of its splendour, was very considerable, is attested by Ptolemy, the Author of the Periplus, the Peutingerian Tables, and, in later times,

*Asiat. Res., ix. 58, 59.

+ Asiat. Res., ix. p. 41. In citing the statements of Major Wilford, the Editor is quite aware of the very doubtful nature of many of his ingenious hypotheses, and of the apocryphal character of much of the supposed information upon which he too credulously relied. But, without suffering ourselves to be misled by his learned reveries, we may be allowed to avail ourselves of his unquestioned learning and extensive research on points on which he was not likely to be deceived by his pundits. M. Klaproth tells us, that, when in London, he was told by several members of the Asiatic Society, that Wilford was master of (possédât parfaitement) the Sanscrit and the vernacular languages of Hindostan, but "il manquait totalement de critique."-Journal Asiat., tom. vii. p. 14.

by the Chinese historians, and by Mohammedan travellers. The merchants of Magadha, we are told, formed not only a peculiar class, but a particular tribe called the Magadhi. Magadha had also its bards and learned men; and "it is universally acknowledged," says Major Wilford, "that the kings of Magadha gave every possible encouragement to learning, which they endeavoured to diffuse through all classes, by encouraging learned men to write in the spoken dialect of the country. Tradition says, that there were treatises on almost every subject in the Magadhi or Pali dialect. I believe that they were doomed to oblivion by the Brahminical class, who by no means encourage the composing of books in the vulgar dialects. Should they exist, they are to be found among the followers of Jina."* The fact, that the worship of Buddha was not introduced into China prior to the first century of the Christian era, seems to prove, however, that there was little or no intercourse between China and the Gangetic provinces in more ancient times; and the chief trade of Palibothra must have been carried on by means of the Ganges and the Indus.

The maritime trade with India was long monopolized by Egypt, which, under the Ptolemys, became transformed into a naval power. The old Egyptians were never navigators; the ships of all nations except their own, laded in their harbours; and their merchants contented themselves with being the factors of the lucrative trade of which the Nile was the channel. Thebes and Memphis, their two most famous capitals, were consequently both inland. The system of the Macedonian monarchs was the reverse; and on taking possession of Egypt, Ptolemy transferred the

Asiat, Res., ix. 75,

seat of government to the capital which Alexander had founded with the express view of making it the emporium of the Indian trade, and which grew up to be the first mart in the world. The most strenuous exertions of the Greek sovereigns of Egypt were devoted to the promotion of commerce and geographical discovery. "Their immense library contained copies of all the memoirs and documents written by the officers who attended Alexander on his grand expedition. These, with other materials, were, for the first time, embodied by Eratosthenes, the librarian, into a general system of geography, calculated for the use both of the learned and the mercantile reader. Aided by these lights, and stimulated by their own enterprise, the merchants of Alexandria did not long content themselves with receiving Indian goods by the channel of Arabia Felix. The first recorded voyage to India is said to have been performed by an adventurer of the name of Eudoxus, who afterwards employed all his efforts in attempting to circumnavigate Africa. The details of his voyage are not given; nor is there any other account of the steps by which the vessels of Egypt found their way into the Indian seas. Our only full knowledge of this navigation is derived from the valuable work entitled, The Periplus of the Erythrean sea.*

"The port which formed the centre of almost all the Egyptian navigation on the Red Sea, was Berenice. As it would have been too arduous an under.. taking for ancient navigators, to steer directly across the Gulf, they began with sailing up to Myos Hormus (N. of Cosseir), whence, by keeping in view Cape

* Translated and illustrated by the learned Dr. Vincent. The Author, Arrian, is supposed to have been an Alexandrian merchant in the reign of Claudius Cæsar.

Mahomed, they could reach the other side without quite losing sight of land. They touched first at Leuke Kome (the fair village), the modern Moilah. Hence they communicated with Petra, the capital of Idumea, which, while the policy of Egypt remained inimical to commerce, had been the emporium of almost all the commodities of India, whether brought up the Red Sea or by the caravans across Arabia. Now, however, when this trade centered in Egypt, and Alexandria was become the commercial metropolis of the world, the port of Leuke Kome sank into a secondary mart; though a garrison was still maintained there, to collect a duty of 25 per cent. on all the cargoes landed. After leaving this place, they had a long course to make along a truly dangerous coast, beset with rocks, and affording neither roadstead nor harbour. If they were thrown on the coast, or even approached too near, they were attacked by the barbarous inhabitants, who plundered the vessels and made slaves of the crews. Contrary, therefore, to the general practice of antiquity, they stood out as far as possible to sea, till they came to Gebel Tor, on the borders of the modern Yemen. Here they found a mild and friendly people, subsisting by pasturage and agriculture, and affording full protection to merchants and visiters. The principal port was Moosa,* which had no harbour, but a good road.”+

After passing the straits of Babelmandeb, they sailed 120 miles, and came to the excellent harbour, called by the Romans Arabia Felicis Emporium, the modern Aden. This had been a place of extensive

The modern village of Moosa is a considerable way inland, but is supposed to mark the site of the ancient port, the waters of the gulf having retired in this place. See MOD. TRAV., Arabia, 330. † Murray, i. 33-6.