There are large and lofty cupolas, and idol temples also:
Large forts there are, and mansions of times gone by.
It is a garden of fruits, and a parterre of flowers;
And fit for a king, in the sweet summer time.

In Suwát there are two things more choice than the rest-
These are, rosy-cheeked maidens, and falcons of noble breed.
Wherever, in Suwát, there is a dwelling in repair,
In every room thereof, rosy-faced damsels will be found.
Altho' the whole country is suitable for gardens,
The Yúsufzís have made it like unto a desert wild.
In every house of it there are cascades and fountains;
There are fine towns; fine dwellings, and fine markets too.
Such a country-with such a climate-and such streams,
It hath no homes, no gardens, nothing fragrant or fresh.
They gamble away the country yearly, drawing lots :*
Without an invading army they ravage themselves.
The Yusufzis keep their houses dirty, and untidy too:
Their dwellings are polluted, filthy, full of bad smells.
If there may be panjars,† fleas, and mosquitoes in Suwát;
Who shall give an account of the brorrahs‡ and bugs?
I got fever twice from the effects of these brorrahs.

I was covered with pimples from the rash caused by their bites.
In every house there are as many dogs as human beings;
And in their court-yards, fowls in hundreds strut about.
Every place inside is blocked up with jars for grain :
In grossness of living, Suwátís are worse than Hindús.
The Bá'í-zís subsist in a manner worthy of them;

And the Khwádo-zís are chandlers and naught besides.

They could take, every year, two or three hundred falcons,
Were their customs and their ways like that of the Káfirs unto.§
Although other game in Suwát is plentiful enough;

There is still more of chikor|| in every direction.

There are wild fowl, from one end of the river to the other;

*Referring to the re-distribution of lands, already described.

Name of an insect.

A sort of wood-louse whose bite produces a rash.

SI think there is some mistake of the copyist in these two lines.
The bartavelle, a large description of partridge.

And the rascals' matchlocks are always in uproar on them.
There are mountain goats, wild sheep, and tiny-footed deer;
But the matchlock men, alas! drive them all away.
Since there is so much country included in Suwát.
It is more than the appanage of a single chief.
The boundary of Chitrál is quite close unto Suwát:
Populated and prosperous are its hills and its dales.
The road into Chitrál lieth through its Kohistán :*
A caravan can reach there in the space of five days.
For three or four months this road is good and open;
But, afterwards, hath great dangers from snow and rain.
This road however is not, by travellers, for traffic much used;
But trade is carried on by convoy, through the more level tracts.
There is a road leading to Turkistán by Hindú-koh ;

And another, that leads to Chitrál and Badakhshan.
Another road also that leads to Butan and Káshghár ;
And one more, that goes to Moráng, up hill and down dale.
All these lie on the extreme bounds of Hindústán ;

And there are other routes on the confines of Khurásán.

The Yusufzís in numbers are beyond all compute;

But they are all asses and oxen nevertheless."

On some future occasion, I propose giving a few extracts from the history of the conquest of Suwát, out of the work written by Shaykh Malí, and the book referred to at page 261.

* The tract through which the river of Suwát flows, already described, at page 253.

ERRATUM.

Page 230, line 6 from bottom. For kolat read kotal.

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE, AND CORRESPONDENCE.

Dr. Sprenger writes from Berne to the President, in a letter dated July 28th.

"I am approaching the end of my investigations regarding Muhammad, and after their conclusion I will try whether my eyes, which are still very weak, will permit me to complete my translation of Maqdisy. I have seen Mr. Raverty's four works, which you probably know. They are very creditable. The Dictionary is very full and I have no doubt as complete as it is desirable. The circumstances under which it has been compiled give it all the value of a work done by a native, and we may rely upon it that every word has the signification which he assigns to it. I have examined the Persian and Arabic part with care and find them very well done. The purely Pushto part is naturally still better. His selections are so full that we may say it is the harvest of Afghan literature and not merely gleanings. I had an opportunity to examine the collection of Pushto MSS. which was made by Háfiz Rahmat Khán and is now preserved at Lucknow, and I find that Raverty knows every work of value, though he had not access to that library. The print is clear and correct which naturally enhances the value of the book. The grammar is already known to the Indian public. It is very well calculated for the use of young officers. The translation of mystical verses of the Afghans may be useful for the student of the language, as he finds the original texts in the selections. I hope you will give a very favourable review of our friend's labours in the journal.

Of great use for India may eventually be the pursuits of Professor Brockhaus. After having devoted much attention to the system of transcribing oriental languages in Roman characters, he is proceeding to publish Yusof o Zalykha romanized, and it is to be hoped that the attempt will be followed by other works. Hitherto Missionaries and men like Trevelyan, who were not so much distinguished as scholars as they were as public minded officers, have pleaded for the propriety of romanizing, whilst scholars pronounced themselves rather against it. It is a new era for oriental pursuits if a man of the standing of Professor Brockhaus engages in a system, whose

success in reference to Persian, Hindustani, Turkish, &c., is a mere question of time. Why should you not in your Bibliotheca Indica edit some works like the Hadyqa of Senáy romanized? You can find men in the Madrassa, a system having been laid down, who will transcribe the text.-This year the orientalists will meet on the 24th September at Augsburg."

On the subject of Captain Raverty's work we also add the following extract of a Letter addressed to M. Garçin de Tassy, by M. Nicholas de Khanikoff, Member of the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg.

Paris, February 13th, 1862.

"When on my last travels in Central Asia, the Academy of St. * Petersburg wished me to purchase Afghan Manuscripts for its Asiatic Museum; and I took with me Captain Raverty's Grammar of that language (the Dictionary and Text-book have been published since), for it was in vain to seek elsewhere for details about Pushto literature, at once so interesting and complete as his. I am much pleased to be able to say that his information on this subject was exceedingly useful to me in my search after Afghan works. At the same time, I often consulted, at Hirat, at Sabzawar, etc. etc., the Sirdars (Chiefs) and Moolahs (Priests) as to the correctness of the phrases and examples cited by the Author, in order to prove the rules of his Grammar; and I was especially desirous to take their opinions on the way in which Captain Raverty explains the arrangement and conjugations of the Pushto verbs, so difficult and complicated as they are to unravel; and I am much pleased to repeat, that their opinions were very favourable to the conscientious and intelligent work of Captain Raverty."

The following extracts from letters addressed at different times to the President by a gentleman who has now been for some months residing at Mandaley, give some interesting particulars of the present relations between Burmah and Western China. The brief description too which they contain of such products of the former country as have been brought to him are promising for the advantages soon, it is to be hoped, to be derived from a freer access to the interior.

Mandaley, January 7th, 1862. About my going up the river, or any one's going up the river, to see what can be done at Bamo towards piercing China, I have done nothing. The attempt moreover to go into Yunan at present, would be suicidal. Though the account in the newspapers of a Burmese embassy being sent back from that province is unfounded, for no such embassy was ever sent, yet the whole province is still disturbed, and the fierce civil war which has so long stopped all commercial transactions is only succeeded by the suspicious calm of a successful insurrection on the part of the MUSSALMAN Chinese, or "Panthees," “Panjais,” “Panseys," as they are variously named.

These Chinese disciples of Mahomedanism, are now dominant throughout the South-West part at least of the province, and hold the few roads into Burmah. That road which debouches at Bamo runs through the battle-ground, and the people are yet afraid to trust their persons or their property to the chances of safe transit. Some wealthy merchants who had made the attempt, arrived here about a month since stript of every thing but their clothes. The Chinese (here) have a fortnightly dawk from Bamo, and have heard no news yet, which gives them any hope of the traffic being reopened this year. Some of the "Panjais" arrived here a few days ago, but not from Bamo, they came by a route which has been equally abandoned during the civil strife, but which being more immediately in their exclusive power, has been the first to be reopened, by that from "MOMIEN" through" Theinnee." The whole distance is a tedious land transit, almost due west,-bullocks, asses, and mules bearing the dried pork, opium, walnuts, &c., that form the greater part of their merchandise, copper (and zinc ?) too in small quantities is said to form a part of these imports. More of these are expected to come by this same route, but none of the Bamo caravans are hoped for. The Chinese are the reverse of communicative, but what they have told me in conversation, confirms other sources of information to the effect, that the Bamo route is closed either for going or coming, to Chinese as well as foreigners.

On the 1st November, I left Thyetmyo, and have heard not a word from the authorities on the Pegu side of the frontier, since my departure. Such are the facilities of communication! I have been kept in daily expectation of the arrival of dawk boat or Steamer, or