906 
lancholy contrast is observable at Angamalee, 
and many other formerly opulent christian 
towns and villages,” 
The new or Portugueze christians 
have suffered the same lamentable re- 
verse of fortune. When their own em- 
pire fell the Dutch protected them; the 
rajah of Cochin has now turned a great 
part of them out of his dominions, by 
compelling them to accept some trifling 
consideration for their landed estates, and 
the rest he treats, if possible, more se- 
yerely than his own Hindoo subjects. 
We are glad to find that Mr. Wredé 
designs to publish a translation of the 
Annals of Malabar, known by the name 
of Kerol Oodputtee. 
14, Account of an Hereditary living 
Deity, to whom devotion is paid by the 
Bramins of Poona and its neighbours 
hood. By Captain Edward Moor. 
** Mooraba Gosseyn was a Bramin of 
Poona, who, by abstinence, mortification, 
and prayer, merited above others the favou- 
rable regards of the Almighty, Gunputty, 
the most common name in this country, 
among the many hundreds of Sree Ganesa, 
accordingly vouchsafed to appear to him, at 
Chinchoor, in a vision by night; desired 
him to arise and. bathe; and, while in the 
act of ablution, to seize, and hold sacred to 
the godhead, the first tangible substance that 
his hand encountered, The god covenanted 
that a portion of his holy spirit should per- 
vade the person thus favoured, and be con- 
tinued as far as the seventh generation, to 
his seed, who were to become successively 
hereditary guardians of this sacred substance, 
which proved to be a stone, in which the 
god was to be understood as mystically typi- 
fied. This type is duly reverenced, is care- 
fully preserved, and hath ever been the con- 
stant companion of the sanctified person in- 
heriting with it the divine patrimony. 
‘© This annunciation happened about the 
year A.D. 1640, and six generations have 
since passed away. 
*« Tt doth not now appear what was the 
precise extent of the divine energy originally 
conceded ; but it is inferred to have been a 
limited power of working miracles :—suach as 
healing sickly uncleanliness, granting to a 
certain degree the desires of pious suppli- 
cants, and the faculty of foretelling. under 
somie restrictions, the events of futurity. 
These gifts appear, indeed, avowedly to 
have been enjoyed in a more extensive de- 
gree by the first possessors, than by the lat- 
ter. “The Bramins admit that the farther 
the remove from the favoured man, in whom 
the god became incarnate, the greater is the 
chance of degeneracy ; although such dege- 
neracy might not have been inevitable. It is 
therefore presumable that the early inheritors 
GENERAL SCIENCE, 
worked more "conspicuous miracles 
have of late been manifested. 
* * * * 
« The Deo is, ex officio, what is called a 
lewanna—but the term ‘ fool’ may not, in 
this instance, as in most others, give the 
best translation of the word. He is totally 
unmindful and ignorant of worldly affairs— 
unable, they say, to hold conversation be- 
yond the proposition, reply, and rejoinder, 
and then in a childish, blubbering manner. 
To some questions, on points of futurity, he 
replies, accordingly as he is inspired, in 
pointed negatives or affirmatives; to others 
enigmatically, or by benignant and indignant 
gesture; sometimes he is totally silent, and 
apparently absorbed in abstract cogitation, 
doth not recognize the suppliant. From 
such data is deduced how propitious or 
otherwise is the Almighty will on the pur- 
suits of the petitioner. 
«© The ordinary occupations of the Deo do 
not differ materially from those of other holy 
men—he eats, takes wives to himself, &e. 
&c. like other Bramins, but by some is said 
to be exempt from illness; others say he is 
subject to Codity infirmities. So regular a 
life, however, in point of regimen, unruf- 
fied by worldly cares, may well ensure a con- 
tinuance of health, and, in general, prolon- 
gation of existence. 
«© As the elder son inherits the spark of 
divinity, it is necessary that he also be a 
fool, as he hath ever proved. ‘To the ques- 
tion * Whether the second son being sane, 
and the other dying without male issue, the 
second, to whom the patrimony then de- 
scends, would become dewanna on his ac- 
cession?’ the Bramins demur: it hath never, 
they say, happened. God made the cove- 
nant, and the means of fulfilling it aze not 
for man to point out.” 
than © 
Captain Moor. visited the Deo. He 
asked him, what would the result of the 
war be between England and France, 
and when it would terminate. This was 
in January 1801. The Deo prophesied 
that it would end triumphantly and ad- 
vantageously for the English within six 
moons; and he gave the Englishman to 
understand, that his favours and prayers 
had not been without their effect in raise 
ing England to its present power and 
prosperity. The Deo has not so much 
the appearance of an idiot as he ought to 
have ; his eyes are keen, and his counte- 
nance expressive and not unpleasant ; 
his son, however, is as stupid as beseems 
the heir-apparent to be. 
15. Upon the Religion and: Manners 
of the People of Ceylon. By Mr. Join- 
ville. 
This is a well-written and curious pa- 
per. We will extract from it an amus- 
