ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



473 



down to Calcutta. When I first 

 saw him at this place, in the year 

 1783, he rode upon a piebald Jan- 

 gun horse from Bootan, and wore a 

 satin embroidered dress given to 

 him by Teeshoo Lama, of which 

 he was not a little vain. He was 

 robust andhale; and his complexion, 

 contrasted with a long bushy black 

 beard, appeared really florid. I do 

 not suppose that he was then forty 

 years of age. Two Goseins at- 

 tended him, and assisted him in 

 mounting and alighting from his 

 horse. Indeed he was indebted to 

 them for the assistance of their 

 hands on every occasion ; his own 

 being fixed and immovable in the po- 

 sition in which he had placed them, 

 were of course perfectly useless.' 



The solemnization of their mar- 

 riages is, as among the Indians in 

 general, simple, and soon conclu- 

 ded: here polyandrism prevails; 

 and, (says Mr. T.) ' the influence 

 of this custom on the manners of 

 the people, as far as I could trace, 

 has not been unfavourable. Huma- 

 nity, and an unartificial gentleness 

 of disposition, are the constant in- 

 heritance of a Tibetian. I never 

 saw these qualities possessed by any 

 people in a more eminent degree. — 

 Without being servilely officious, 

 they are always obliging : the higher 

 ranks are unassuming; the inferior, 

 respectful in their behaviour; nor 

 are they at all deficient in atten- 

 tion to the female sex; but, as we 

 find them moderate in all their pas- 

 sions, in this respect, also, their con- 

 duct is equally remote from rudeness 

 and adulation . Comparatively with 

 their southern neighbours, the 

 women of Tibet enjoy an elevated 

 station in society. To the prlvile-' 

 ges of unbounded liberty, the wife 

 here adds the character of mistress 



of the family, and companion of her 

 husbands. The company of all, in- 

 deed, she is not at all times enti- 

 tled to expect. Different pursuits, 

 either agricultural employments, or 

 mercantile speculations, may occa- 

 sionally cause the temporary absence 

 of each; yet, whatever be the re- 

 sult, the profit of the labourer flows 

 into the common store; and when 

 he returns, whatever may have been 

 his fortune, he is secure of a grate- 

 ful welcome to a social home.' 



Upon an attentive perusal of this 

 narrative of the embassy, we find 

 much that may be deemed instruc- 

 tive ; but there is a minuteness in 

 the descriptions which frequently 

 renders the volume tedious ; and a 

 great part of it has more the ap- 

 pearance of a common diary made 

 for the private eye of the writer and 

 his friends, rather than for that of 

 the public. The best written part 

 of the book is the report delivered 

 to Mr. Hastings : and the reader 

 will find, under the title of " some 

 Account of the vegetable and mine- 

 ral Productions of Bootan and Ti- 

 bet, by Mr. Saunders," ample in- 

 formation compressed into a small 

 compass. The letter, likewise, to 

 Mr. Macpherson is well worthy of 

 perusal; as is likewise the general 

 survey of the situation of affairs in 

 Tibet from 1785 to 1793 ; and the 

 appendix may be deemed the most 

 curious part of the work. 



Ayeen Akbery : or, The Insti- 

 tutes of the Emperor Akber. 

 Translated from the original Per- 

 sian ; by Francis Gladtvin. 2 Fol. 

 Mo. 1800. 



T 



IHIS very curious and truly 

 important work, made its first 



