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akhaz and wine; who drinks water after straining it, and looks before he walks, is the true Rámsanèhí who hath attained his purpose.

3.- RAʼMA is the sea of happiness and destroyer of misery-abandon him not, O RA'MCHARAN, but be constant in his worship.

Song in the Pánjábí language.

The faqir who is enamoured of the beauty of the All-Merciful is drowsy throughout the eight prahars*, because he is fully intoxicated with his love. He (or his spirit) has come from an inaccessible region, and entered the corporeal frame, and after having witnessed all the troubles of the world will return to that region. As long as He (or the soul) occupies the serai (i. e. mansion of the body), he gives its proper rent (i. e. discharges the duties of humanity) and abandoning his desires, resigns himself to the will of his deity. He wanders about at ease, forms no attachments, seeks only his beloved (God), and bestows a portion (of bread or any other thing) upon all who need it. He points out the path to heaven, rescues others from perdition, conforms to the duties of this world with his faith, and is influenced by no private motive. RA'MCHARAN says, that few individuals have followed the example of such a faqír, who gives no thought to the world, but is content with his present condition.

2nd Song in the Panjabi language.

The faqir whose heart is firm (in God) is above all amírst; for he is a true pírt. Knowing that the body is a hell, he places not his affections on the world, and keeps aloof from it by frequently meditating on the Alif of Allah. Restraining his heart from going astray, he has laid it at the feet of the Almighty, and remembers him at dawn, in the morning, at noon-time, and evening. He absolves himself in the water of faith, and tells the beads of fatwa§. His cave is in the sky (i. e. abstraction of mind), where he sits in contemplation. RA'MCHARAN says, that people do not understand the secret motive of such a faqír, which is to obtain the indescribable Being|| in his body, whom he always serves. 4. The darvesh is always happy who is free from desire. Either remain at one place, or roam about in the four quarters (of the earth): roam about in the four quarters, and labour for the salvation of your soul. Be awake or asleep, but entertain no selfish motive. Let your hair grow as long as was that of Sahaka and others, or shave your head bare: for he who is free from desire is always happy. Practise benevolence, and make your heart as pure and soft as wax, and look down upon your feet. Be patient, speak the truth, and dance without a mistake (i. e. discharge your duties properly). Having once placed the hand of your spiritual guide upon your head, never be so shameless as to undress yourself (i. e. refrain from all intercourse with women). He has subdued his mind and heart, and taken his seat in perseverance. RA'MCHARAN says, this is the height of devotion, as a person who attains it has cooled (subdued) his Pir (senses), and never covets the society of women. He is not given to intoxication, love, or adultery, but is always engaged in contemplation, and from leading a solitary life, his mind is free from all affection.

* An eighth part of the twenty-four hours.

† A chief or grandee.

A saint, or spiritual father.

§ Divine knowledge.

||The human soul is believed to be a portion of the Supreme spirit, and consequently worshipped as such.

5. If having fed yourself through the charity of mankind you sleep at ease, with outstretched limbs, and fail to offer worship to HARí, the punishments of Yama* will not be mitigated: do not take thy meals without adoring the lord supporter Ra'ma, but abandoning thy habits of idleness, worship him day and night. Abandon thy habits of idleness, and walk not without the fear of God. If you neglect to follow (this advice), you are a hypocrite, and shall be doomed to pass through the eighty-four (transmigrations). As a powerful creditor collects his dues from his weak debtors by severe beating, so shall you be punished if you take your food without adoring RA'MA.

6. The ignorant person who commits a sin becomes free from it by the acquisition of knowledge, but the man of knowledge, who is guilty of vice, is like a newly varnished pot, from which the dust (should any fall upon it) never goes off. He is like a newly varnished pot from which the dust never goes off, or like a blue ștain (upon linen). A sin committed at a holy place of pilgrimage is like a waking dream. As the stupid man who mistakes his way in the day-time can never discover the true path at night, so the person who possessed of knowledge perpetrates a sin can never emancipate himself from it.

7. He is a real faqír who makes the stone his bed, whose tent is the sky, whose arms are his pillows, and who eats his food from earthen vessels: he is the master of the four quarters, and is not regarded as low. The prince and the peasant fall prostrate at his feet, and he subsists by begging.

8.-You must die one day, whether you live in the city or the wilderness†. Some (i. e. the wicked) are taken bound in chains, while others (i. e. the good) are summoned (by death). They are sent for who have renounced the world, who have none to weep (for them), and who have always taken the name 'RAʼMA.' RA'MCHARAN says, the good abandon their homes, because they know that they must one day perish, whether they inhabit the city or the wilds.

We should mourn over the corpses of the dead, if weeping could restore them to life. If doctors could save mankind, then none of the wealthy would die, but it is not in the power of any to escape death. Enquire of this from place to place, and weigh it thoroughly in your mind. Life and death were created by the Lord, who can do whatsoever he willeth. We should mourn over the corpses of the dead, if they could be restored to life by weeping. You blame RA'MA, and cry :— "Oh RA'MA, what have you done, who will support my family, and who will superintend my household works? What have you done, Oh RA'MA? you have as it were sunk the vessel in the middle of the stream." You know not how long you may live, and RA MCHARAN declares without this knowledge you fall off from HARI', because you blame RA'MA, and exclaim, 'Oh RA'MA, what have you done?'

19. You may have followers, eloquence, and fame, without using any exertion to obtain them; you cannot therefore fathom the will of RA'MA. I look not for means; every thing comes to pass of its own accord. The will of HARÍ is powerful, who can revert it? Whatever happens is accomplished by RA'MA; for I am incapable of performing any thing, it is the very height of folly.

* The Indian Pluto, and king of Patal or hell.

+ Meaning the souls of those persons.

The figures correspond with the number of paragraphs in the MS. selec

2nd Leaf.

1.-Man clad in scented garments walks forth with conceited strides, but while all in his outward appearance is fair, his inside is corrupt. He views his features in the glass, and is puffed up with pride; but is ignorant, that his body will suffer dissolution at last, and that not even the fair skin (which now) covers the filthiness within him, will remain.

2.-Woman and the objects (met with in this world) persuade the heart to terrestrial enjoyments, and often level the most exalted mind; such is their nature, therefore abandon them, Oh RA'мCHARAN! You can obtain nothing, Oh RA'MCHARAN, in this world without money, but to an ascetic money is nothing. To an ascetic money is as worthless as a kowri shell; it destroys devotion, knowledge, and ascetism; it ruins devotion, knowledge, and ascetism; for it increases the appetites and eats up (i. e. destroys) the integrity of those three qualities. Like achavan*, it absorbs every virtue; wherefore an ascetic sets no value upon money.

3.-The body is the shrine of which the all-perfect RA'MA is the god; the anxiety (to see him) is the artit, and to remember him is true devotion. No worship is better than the constant remembrance of him, and no offering is more proper than resignation. Leave your heart's individuality (or pride), and God will listen to your adoration. He is quite content, Oh RA'мCHARAN, who has understood this secret truth, that the body is the shrine of which the all-perfect RA'MA is the god. Destroying your works (i. e. abandoning the merit of them hereafter), enjoy the sweets of humility, contentment, charity, and peace. Speak the truth, curb your inclination and your tongue, repeat the name (RA'MA) inwardly, and acquire divine knowledge. Give up your desires, sit down contented, retire to the woods, and immerse yourself in the pleasant ocean (of contemplation). The faqir who has drunk of the love (of God) constantly meditates on him, his aspirations and respirations are not in vain; for whether awake or asleep, he never forgets his God. He is merciful, subdues his anger, and neither indulges in avarice or delusion: he worships none but RA'MA, and cares not if the remaining three hundred and thirty millions of gods are displeased with him.

4. The ascetic is always awake, and meditates himself, and makes others meditate (on God). Whenever slumber comes upon him, he sings a hymn -whenever he lights a lamp, he thinks of the safety of animals, and covers it either with abhra or cloth; by this means, the followers (of this doctrine) never incur guilt, but attain virtue. CHÍTAN says, that many have obtained salvation by avoiding desire, and disclaiming all merit in their works.

5.—What will you achieve in lying, oh KABÍR ?-—lying will bring on sleep while death is near the pillow, like the bridegroom at the turan. What will you achieve in sleeping, oh KABIR ?-awake and meditate upon Marání‡, for you must sleep one day with your long legs outstretched. What will you accomplish in sleeping, ob KABÍR; strive to keep yourself awake, for this life is as valuable as a diamond or ruby, and should be given up to (meditation on) the Lord. What

* The ceremony of sipping water before eating.

+ The ceremony of turning a light about the face of an idol.

A name of Krishna.

M

will you accomplish in lying, oh KABÍR? Arise and sorrow for nothing-how can he whose abode is in the grave (i. e. who reflects on the evanescence of this life) -(how can he) sleep in quiet?

6. By adoring RA'MA, the state of Brahm is attained; this has been fully proved by his votaries. Let, therefore, all the Rámsanèhís meet together, and raise a halelujah to RA'MA.

7-Should the devotee go forth in the autumn, and trampling upon the numerous animals which are born at that season, occasion their death, he forfeits his innocence, inasmuch as he destroys the feelings of his heart, and thereby commits sin at every instant. TULSI says, this is not devotion either in mind, deed, or speech, but the devotee who is careful to remain quietly at home observes the rules of virtue.

(These verses are dated Tuesday, the 6th day of Chait, in the Samvat year 1855 (A. D. 1798), the year of RÁMCHARAN's decease.)

II.—Journal of a Tour through the Island of Rambree, with a Geological Sketch of the Country, and Brief Account of the Customs, &c. of its Inhabitants. By Lieut. WM. FOLEY. With a map, Plate iv.

(Continued from page 39.)

January 15th.-It had been my intention to cross over Jeeka, and proceed from thence towards the town of Rambree, through the Northern Hong*. My host of Oogah, and the guides he had furnished me with, were, however, so fearful of accident, and unwilling that I should incur any risk by passing over this wild and almost inaccessible part of the island, that I abandoned the design, and consented to be taken along the sea-shore to the south-west of the mountain, with the view of putting up at Singhunnethe, a village in the Southern Hong. I afterwards discovered that had the day been any other than what it was, (Wednesday,) I might have succeeded in inducing the guides to take me over Mount Jeeka. The Mughs pay a superstitious deference to what are termed the fortunate and unlucky days for any undertaking. Wednesday (Boduh-hoo), happened to be among the latter number. Pyatho (January), is held to be a very unfavourable season for building a house, and marriages are never celebrated in the months+ Wajho, Wagoung, Todelin and Tsadinkyot. I left Oogah by the sea-beach, and passing a few sandstone rocks, with an island resembling the knot in appearance and structure, found myself at the foot of Jeeka. Its elevation above the sea is probably as much as 3000 feet; the very abrupt manner in which it rises above the range with which it is connected, gives it, at a dis

*Hong is one of the circles in the island; there are two Hongs, (North and South.)

† July, August, September and October.

tance, the aspect of an isolated hill. A dense forest, with little variety of shade, covers the mountain from top to bottom. The ground on the summit is said to be level and clear, but it remains uncultivated, as no Mugh will fix his habitation in a spot which not only abounds with wild beasts*, but is, in his opinion, the abode of fairies, and evil spirits, equally destructive with the former. I observed the prints of elephants' and tigers' feet in several places on the road, and from the diminutive size of some of the prints, it was evident that these animals had been accompanied by their young. The guides remarked that a herd of elephants may frequently be seen during the evening feeding upon the long grass and underwood at the foot of the mountain. By their account, the elephants were particularly troublesome in the months of October and November, (when the rice crops are becoming ripe,) at which time they descend into the plains and do a great deal of mischief. Although elephants are continually shot in the Sandoway district for their teeth, no attempt has yet been made to catch or destroy the elephants on Mount Jeeka and its neighbourhood, from the absurd opinion entertained by the inhabitants, that they are not only invulnerable, but are endowed with such superior sagacity as to render all endeavours to ensnare them futile.

I had hoped to find in Jeeka some departure from what had hitherto been the prevailing character of the formations on this side of the island. The almost impervious nature of the jungle at the base of the mountain, and the great danger that I should have incurred in endeavouring to ascend the hill on a quarter hitherto undisturbed by man, obliged me to confine my observations to the ground over which my path lay, and there I could find no one geological feature distinct from what I had already met with. A brown ferruginous sandstone regularly stratified, with an inclination to the south-west, was the only rock visible on the surface; whether the sandstone appears on the summit of the mountain, or is succeeded by some other rock, I was unable to ascertain ; but so anxious am I to satisfy myself on this point, and to view the Fairy Land above, that I shall take an early opportunity of renewing my visit to Jeeka. At a little distance beyond the mountain, and at the foot of a small range bounded by the sea, stratification of the sandstone is beautifully distinct. The several layers rise from under each other for a considerable extent; exhibiting a similarity of appearance with the sandstone that covers the lignite coal of Phooringooé, an island to the east of Combermere Bay.

* Among these, are the elephant, the tiger, and the bison; I have in my possession a horn of the last mentioned animal, which measures 1 feet in circumference. I only wait for an opportunity to present it to the Society.

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