and army, scarcely any manufactures having been established." Having procured from the minister authority to call upon all the native officers for information, our author, after inspecting the country contiguous to Seringapatnam, proceeded to visit the chief places of the Rajah's dominions, returning at the end of each tour to the capital, as a central situation.

His first tour embraced the districts situated towards the northeast. In this direction much arable land is unoccupied, even near the capital. The depopulation occasioned by the march of hostile armies renders unavailing, at Muduru, the beneficent labours of an antient Hindu prince, for the irrigation of his dominions. Chinapatan possesses manufactures of glass and steel wire, and extensive plantations of coco nut and betel palms in its vicinity. Numerous herds of cows and goats pasture near the banks of the Arcavati. The hilly tract near it is inhabited by a tribe in a very How state of civilization, but whose language attests their Hindu origin.

The trade of Bangalor, formerly considerable for an inland mart, begins to revive. It consists principally in betel nut, black pepper, sandal, and woollen cloths, which are universally worn throughout the Mysor dominions. From Bangalor, Dr Buchanan proceeded north-east, through a country generally level, but mostly uncultivated, to Colar, the birth-place of Hyder. The vicinity of Colar, formerly the capital of a province subject to the Mohamedan sovereign of Vigayapur, is fertile, and well cultivated, but entirely dependent on artificial irrigation. This mart escaped the ruin which awaited Bangalor in the late hostilities, and continues a thriving emporium, whence the imports and productions. of the coasts are disseminated in the interior districts. From Colar in a north-westerly direction to Silagutti, a depopulated country bears only the traces of former prosperity. Little Balapur was formerly a place of great commerce, and is again beginning to revive. It at present contains 400 houses. The soil of the neighbouring lands is fertile, but the scantiness and poverty of the inhabitants impedes its cultivation.

Great Balapur contains 2000 houses, and was formerly the seat of a polygar, become independent after the fall of Vijayanagar. The route to Sira discovered the same marks of present depopulation and former prosperity. That city was ruined by Tippu, who removed 12,000 of the inhabitants to the suburbs of his capital. In addition to the causes so frequently assigned for the scanty cultivation, the dryness of the climate concurs, in Sira, to discourage the labours of the husbandman. From Sira, Dr Buchanan visited the pastoral country which skirts the frontiers of the Nizam's dominions, and returned to Seringapatnam by a different route.

F 4

In

In the same manner, our author pursued his investigations in the countries south of the Caveri; and, penetrating the thick forests which cover the western ridges of the Ghats, he descended into the plains of Malabar. Skirting the coasts northwards, he reached the confines of the Portuguese territory, whence he returned to Seringapatnam by an inland route. To follow Dr Buchanan on this journey, would add only a few features of discrimination to the general character which our readers are already impressed with of the general aspect of the country. This, indeed, is only what might be conjectured of a kingdom recently conquered, and at the expiration of a reign entirely occupied in warfare, during which, hostile armies repeatedly traversed it in every direction.

With respect to the information which these travels afford on the important points suggested by Lord Wellesley, it must be our province, rather to enable our readers to appreciate, than to attempt to detail it. The industry and talents of Dr Buchanan, united with such opportunities as he possessed of procuring information on the spot, might undoubtedly have enabled him to compose a regular and digested account of the agriculture of Mysor. But the work before us is a journal, in which every thing is treated of incidentally, as suggested by some local circumstance, or casual occurrence. Each day something is said of agriculture; and the subject is suspended to speak of the customs or religion of some cast or tribe; and these again recur very frequently in the course of the journey, with new particulars. Nowhere is one subject fully discussed; and the impression left by one day's observation is totally destroyed the next, to revive on a future occasion. This, indeed, is an inconvenience attached to journals, and we therefore impute no blame to Dr Buchanan on this account; yet it is certain that, whoever should attempt to exhibit a distinct and copious exposition of the statistics of those countries, from the work now before us, must undertake a greater literary effort than the author could have made in the composition.

According to the Mogul system of finance, the revenues rise and decline with the improvement of the country. This system, though unquestionably prejudicial to agriculture, was attended with one good effect, that of procuring frequent and copious statistical accounts from every part of the country. The useful hereditary office of the Canungu, resident in each subdivision, preserved and embodied these accounts. Until the permanent settlement of the revenues of Bengal, effected by the Marquis of Cornwallis, the native or English officers transmitted to the Board of Revenue, with more or less detail and ability, annual accounts

of

of the state of their respective districts, as a foundation for the bundubust or settlement of the ensuing year. The great finan→ cial operation of Lord Cornwallis just alluded to, was the result of much investigation and local research. Since its establishment, various circumstances, of an incidental nature, have rendered local inquiries indispensable. The whole of the documents produced by these inquiries are now in the possession of the Bengal government, and constitute ample and authentic materials for a regular statistical work, superior, probably, to any that could be obtained in most kingdoms of Europe. The extension of the permanent settlement to the peninsula, has rendered similar information necessary there. Dr Buchanan's travels show what progress the gentlemen recently appointed to the charge of districts, had already made in procuring valuable and solid materials for judging of the state of the country. The established officers of government had, indeed, many advantages of which Dr Buchanan was destitute. The object of their inquiries was understood and definite. Falsehood would have incurred, and deserved punishment. Previous acquaintance with the districts, long residence, and personal reputation, furnished in abundance the means of detection. Under widely different circumstances were the inquiries of our author conducted. Notwithstanding the adjustment of the treaty, it might perhaps be allowable even for the minister himself to suspect, that a discovery of unexpected resources might pave the way for additional demands by the English government. The inquiries of our author must, on the other hand, have suggested to the peasantry new demands of rent; and concealment and evasion would of course be employed to elude them.

In appreciating, therefore, the correctness of the information contained in these pages, we must never lose sight of the impression under which it was given. Every thing the author has seen is described perspicuously, unaffectedly, and, beyond all question, with the strictest veracity. All that he has heard we are disposed to receive with no common portion of scepticism. Thus, when he describes the simple processes of husbandry employed by the Hindu peasantry, we rely implicitly on his account: But when, advancing further, he attempts to ascertain the produce of the field, and its numerary value, whence an inference might be drawn as to the ability of the husbandman to submit to an increase of rent, our scepticism returns with redoubled force.

One lamentable defect appears to have been unavoidable, from the nature of his instructions,-that of treating subjects which his information by no means qualified him even to investigate; for in nothing, perhaps, is knowledge more requisite, than to enable

us

as to ask proper questions. That one individual should possess previous information on all the subjects indicated by his instructions, was scarcely to be expected. On some we shall have occasion to show that Dr Buchanan was not even free from prejudices. Recommended to the situation by the respectable qualification of scientific attainments, our author possessed no means of communication with the natives but through an interpreter. If any of our readers, in travelling on the Continent, have passed through countries with the language of which they were unacquainted, they will not easily forget the difficulties they experienced in procuring even the most common information, where no concealment was intended. They cannot have forgotten the irksomeness of repeated questions; the aversion to, and incapacity for, conversation; and the eagerness with which the mind, in such circumstances, is disposed to content itself with the first general idea, rather than have recourse again to an interpreter, expressing himself with difficulty and embarrassment in both languages. Let us embody this picture in the person of an English gentleman travelling through Italy with a German servant, who explains to his master in broken English the information furnished by his cicerone.

Quitting the station of the preceding night with the morning's dawn, Dr Buchanan usually travelled eight or nine miles to the next station, when his tents were pitched, and he remained during the rest of the day. Then assembling a number of the inhabitants, he interrogated them on the extent of their farms,their rent and produce, the number of cattle required for a given extent, their casts, marriage ceremonies, religious tenets, the number of their wives, and other circumstances of domestic economy, their opinions concerning a future state, and their notions of heaven, particularly, it should seem, with respect to its geographical position; for he tells us repeatedly, that he found none amongst them who could tell where it was situated. He must know little of mankind in general, and still less of the Hindus in particular, (who seize intuitively the ridiculous in every occurrence), who can think that valuable information may be collected in this manner. Let us suppose an officer, armed with a letter from the Secretary of State, to arrive in a village in Yorkshire, and, assembling the inhabitants, by means of a constable, to question them respecting their prospects in this life, and their hopes in the next. The consequence would probably be, that the respectable inhabitants would treat the whole affair with silent derision, whilst the influence of fear, or the hope of gain, would induce those of a contrary description to say what those motives suggested. But, in the political circumstances of Mysor at that critical

critical period, the arrival of an Englishman for the first time in a sequestered village, loaded with such inquiries, was a portent calculated to spread dismay fifty miles round. We accordingly find, that the higher classes, the Brahmans in particular, were absolutely impenetrable, which is, of course, imputed to profound craft in these artful priests. Some of the lower, on the other hand, appear to have been abundantly loquacious, and to have stated all they knew-and not a little more, on every subject of interrogation. But if any misapprehension arose, little time was allowed for its correction; for the next day's sun usually found Dr Buchanan on his road to the next station, complaining, probably, the whole way, of the inveterate liars and beastly stupidity' he had met with.

It is a circumstance highly honourable to human nature, that • Omnibus in terris, quæ sunt à Gadibus usque

Auroram, et Gangem,'

we cannot associate long and intimately with our fellow-men, without a sincere and reciprocal attachment being excited. The amiable propensities are called into action by the force of collision. We discover good qualities where we did not expect to find them, wit under the mask of dulness, and benevolence under an ungracious exterior. The whole man becomes known to us; and the interest thus excited proves, that, in the aggregate, the good qualities usually preponderate. Whenever, therefore, a very worthy man has adopted unfavourable impressions of a whole. people, we should first inquire into his opportunities of knowing them. We have no hesitation in stating the faculty of conversing with them as an indispensable qualification; and of this Dr Buchanan was totally destitute.

When we read the valuable productions of those great Oriental scholars, whose attainments have placed England on a footing with the Continent in that particular,-those of a Jones, a Wilkins, a Colebrooke, or a Halhed,-we uniformly discover in the Hindus a nation, whose polished manners are the result of a mild disposition and an extensive benevolence. But did the long and habitual intercourse with the natives of India, which enabled those eminent writers to acquire such attainments, qualify or disqualify them from forming correct opinions on national character? Is ignorance of individuals the surest method of judging rightly of the mass? We will venture even to do justice to those exquisitely cunning priests the Brahmans. It should be recollected, that this appellation is that of a cast, and not of a profession. Three fourths of the sons of Brahma are engaged in secular business, and in no shape distinguished from other laymen, but by a somewhat better education." The remainder are employed as

family