INDIAN CHRONOLOGY INDIANS. 



63 



offerings are the following: the Jaga, or Jagum, 

 consecrated to the sun and the nine planets, is a 

 burnt-offering, in order to obtain the holy fire, with 

 which the funeral piles of departed Brahmins may be 

 kindled, in order to exempt them from further penance 

 after death, and translate them from the ashes to the 

 courts of Brahma. It requires great preparations. 

 A hundred learned Brahmins select a place, which 

 must be consecrated by prayer and holy water ; a 

 large tent is then erected in the middle, and around 

 it several small ones; in the large one is a square 

 floor, from the centre of which rises a wooden pillar, 

 with a cord fastened at the top, the two ends of the 

 cord hanging down ; around lie nine kinds of wood, 

 particularly holy, of which also the priests hold each 

 a piece in their hands. Pieces of arasa wood are 

 then rubbed together till they take fire ; after which 

 a he-goat, or ram, without blemish, is brought into 

 the circle, and various magic words whispered in his 

 ear ; after which he is strangled; his liver is taken 

 out, washed with milk, besmeared with butter, and 

 roasted by the sun and fire, but the animal itself is 

 burned; the liver is divided among the Brahmins, and 

 eaten; the high priest takes the sacred fire home 

 with him. Homa, or Homan, is a sacrifice made to 

 Aghni, the god of fire; it is called, in distinction, 

 Deivafagna (the divine sacrifice), and is offered on 

 the occasion of all important undertakings. A puri- 

 fied Brahmin, clothed in white, takes a seat on a 

 wooden stool, and repeats some schloken (stanzas); 

 before him are placed a bell, a burning torch, and a 

 vessel of liquid butter, or cocoa-nut oil; at his sides 

 large banana leaves, on which the things to be 

 sacrificed are deposited round the altar, e. g. eagle- 

 wood, branches of the camphor tree, red sandal, 

 nutmeg, &c. This wood is set on fire, the bells rung 

 over it, butter is poured into the fire, and then rice, 

 plants, &c., are thrown in and burned, while prayers 

 are repeated; several cocks are killed, and, reeking 

 with blood, thrown into the air; an iron hook is then 

 thrust through the back of some pious m;m, on which 

 ne is swung and borne about, amid acclamations, 

 shouts, and benedictions. Pidrajagna is an expiatory 

 offering for the deceased. Bhudagagna is an offer- 

 ing rendered to the spirits of evil. Adithipugia is 

 the offering of united friends; in this rite, the image 

 of the common deity is placed in the court of the 

 house, strewed with flowers, amid the prayers of the 

 two friends, and the feet of the stranger are washed. 

 Arkja is an offering of flowers for the happiness of 

 souls. The Mahabharata (translated by Wilkins) is 

 said to contain all the great mysteries of the religion 

 of the Brahmins. (See the work of William von Hum- 

 boldt, Uber die unt. d. N. Bhagavad-Gita bekannte 

 Episode des Mahabharata (Berlin, 1826.) Poliers' 

 Mythologie des Indous (1809) has too little credibility 

 to be used as an authority. We refer the reader 

 to the Maeurs, Institutions et Ceremonies des Peuples 

 de I' Indie, by the abbe Dubois, who lived upwards of 

 thirty years among the Indian castes (Paris, 1825, 2 

 vols.). There is a sect among the Hindoos, which 

 styles itself Sander (worshippers of God), rejects the 

 worship of idols, and offers nothing but religious 

 hymns to the Divine Being. These Indian Quakers 

 are required to abstain from luxury, from dancing, 

 wine, tobacco, and are forbidden to offer violence to 

 man or beast; they are enjoined to practise industry, 

 alms-giving in secret, and prayer: they are regular 

 and obedient citizens, and mostly merchants. 



INDIAN CHRONOLOGY. See Epoch. 



INDIAN CORN. See Maize. 



INDIAN OCEAN; that great body of water, 

 which has Asia on the north, the Sunda isles and 

 New Holland on the east, Africa on the west, and 

 the Antarctic ocean on the south. The cape of Good 



Hope, in 21 27' E. Ion., and the southern extremity 

 of Van Diemen's Land, 147 26' E. Ion , may be 

 considered its extreme limits from east to west. Its 

 length, from north to south, is about 2400 leagues; 

 "ts breadth varies from 2200 to 1200 leagues. Its 

 principal gulfs are the Red sea, the Arabian sea, and 

 the bay of Bengal. Its islands are Ceylon, Mada- 

 gascar, the Laccadives, Maldives, Socotra, Andaman, 

 Nicobar, the Isles of France and of Bourbon, Ker- 

 Efuelen's Land, &c. Numerous rocks, and coral 

 reefs, render the navigation dangerous. The Ganges, 

 Burrampooter, Irawaddy, Indus, Euphrates, empty 

 the accumulated waters of Southern Asia into the 

 Indian ocean. The trade-winds prevail here between 

 the tropic of Capricorn and the 10th degree of south 

 latitude; to the north of this region the monsoons 

 are felt. 



INDIAN RUBBER. See Caoutchouc. 



INDIANS; a name common to the aborigines of 

 the American continent. We can give no opinion 

 respecting their origin. The only hypothesis on this 

 subject, founded on any better evidence than con- 

 jecture, is that America was peopled by the way of 

 Beering's strait. It is certain that an easy commu- 

 nication has existed between the two continents at 

 this point for several centuries. However, arguing 

 merely from this fact, it is as easy to prove that the 

 old world received its inhabitants from the new, as 

 the contrary. With the exception, perhaps, of the 

 Esquimaux, all the Indians have the same physical 

 characteristics. The bronze or copper colour, the 

 straight, coarse, black hair, the hazel eyes, the high 

 cheek bones and erect form, are common to them all. 

 There is, indeed, some difference in the stature ot 

 different tribes. The Osages are very tall, and the 

 Shoshonees are below the middle stature. Each race, 

 and, indeed, each tribe, has its peculiar physiognomy. 

 To a European or Anglo- American, all Indians look 

 alike; but one accustomed to them can distinguish 

 the tribes with almost unerring certainty. Thus a 

 Dahcotah is as readily distinguished from a Chip- 

 peway or a Winnebago by his features as his dress. 

 Yet the difference is not so great as to induce a belief 

 that all the tribes are not descended from the same 

 stock. The Esquimaux of Greenland and the eastern 

 part of the continent differ from the red Indians in 

 complexion, stature, and in the position of the eyes, 

 which are set obliquely in their orbits. As we go 

 eastward, along the northern shore of America, we 

 find the Esquimaux as tall as other races of men. 

 After passing the mouth of Mackenzie's river, they 

 are found to blend with the Indians in every parti- 

 cular, so that it is hard to say where the Esquimaux 

 become Indians, or where the Indians become Esqui- 

 maux. As low on the coast of the Pacific as Nootka 

 sound, the natives have some characteristics of the 

 Esquimaux race. Whether these people be of the 

 same stock as the Indians or not, it is almost certain 

 they have a common origin with the savages of the 

 northern shores of the old continent. Perhaps the 

 diminutive stature of the eastern Esquimaux is owing 

 to their mode of living, which continually exposes 

 them to every hardship and privation. There is yet 

 another point of difference between this people and 

 other Indians : from cape Farewell to Beering's 

 strait, the Esquimaux speak one language, and derive 

 almost their whole subsistence from the sea; whereas 

 the red Indians never resort to fishing where they 

 can do otherwise, and speak a great variety of dia- 

 lects, even when the language of the several tribes is 

 radically the same. Considering the Esquimaux as 

 Indians, a brief description of them will not be amiss. 

 The average height of those in Greenland and the 

 eastern part of America is beneath five feet. They 

 are deficient in physical strength, and the muscle of 



