﻿HINAJOSA. 



HINDUSTAN. 



which the Greeks were entirely victorious. This battle was con- 

 temporary with (tradition said it was fought on the same day as) 

 the battle of SaJamis. In the Athenian invasion of Sicily the 

 Himersans took the part of Syracuse. After existing as a flourishing 

 town for 240 years, it was totally destroyed by the Carthaginians B.C. 

 408, and its ornaments caiTied off. The inhabitants who svirvived this 

 calamity established themselves at Thermie, not far from the site of the 

 ancient town (Cicero, ' In Verr.,' ii. 35), and enriched their new abode 

 with such works of art as they had saved from the wreck. Upon 

 the capture of Carthage, Scipio restored to the people of Therma;, of 

 Gela, and other Sicilian towns, those monuments of art of which they 

 had respectively been plundf red in their wars with Carthage. (' In 

 Verr.,' iv. 33.) Thermae derived its name from its hot springs, which 

 still remain. It was a flourishing place under the empire, and 

 received a colony in the reign of Augustus. The site of Thermse is 

 occupied by the modem town of Termini, in which are numerous 

 Roman remains. Termini is about 8 miles \V. from the mouth of 

 the Fiume Oraiide, the representative of the ancient Uimera. At 

 the mouth of the Fiume Grande there are no ruins, but many ancient 

 relics, such as vases, bronzes, &c., and numerous sepulchres have been 

 discovered — strong presumptive evidence that Uimera stood at the 

 mouth of the river, and nut as some say on the left bank of the 

 Fiume di Termini, opposite Termini, where no remains have been 

 found. Himera was the birthplace of the poet Stesicborus. 



Coin of Himera. 

 Britbh Museum. Actual sire. Silver. Weight, 269} grains. 



HINAJOSA. [Cordova.] 



HINCKLEY, Leicestenihire, a market-town and the seat of a Poor- 

 Law Union, in the parish of Hinckley, is situated on the Chester and 

 Liverpool high road, in 52° 33' N. lat., 1° 21' W. long., distant 

 13 milea S.W. from Leicester, and 99 miles N.W. by N. from London. 

 The population of the town of Hinckley in 1851 was 6111. The 

 living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Leicester and diocese of 

 Peterborougk Hinckley Poor-Law Union contains 14 parishes and 

 townships, with an area of 27,415 acres, and a population in 1S51 

 of 16,560. 



The parish church of Hinckley, supposed to have been built in the 

 reign of Edward III., is a commodious structure, with a beautiful old 

 oak roofl Trinity church is a new building. The Baptists, Inde- 

 pendents, Wealeyan Methodists, Quakers, Roman Catholics, and 

 Unitarians have places of worship in the town. There are in Hinckley 

 a Free school, a OrecnCoat school, a school supported by the Roman 

 Catholics, and an Infant school ; baths and washhouses ; and a savings 

 bank. The town w lighted with gas. A county court is held. The 

 market-day is Monday : fairs are held five times in the year. Cotton 

 and woollen hosiery is the staple manufacture of the town. 



HINDl.V. [C'AMDKisn.] 



HINDON. [Wiltshire.] 



HINDOO-KOOSH. [Ajxjhamistaj*.] 



HINDUSTAN, that is, in the Persian language, the country of the 

 Hindiu, or Hindoos, is the name which has been adopted by 

 geographers to designate that part of India, or the East ludies, which 

 was formerly called the Peninsula within the Ganges, and which 

 extends from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya Mountains. As the 

 long declivity of this extensive mountain chain slopes towards the 

 plains of Hindustan, the Himalaya Mountains are properly included 

 in Hindustan. The seas which surround Hindustan on the south- 

 east, south, and west, and the mountains which inclose it on the 

 north-west and north-east, mark distinctly its boundary on these 

 sidoL On the east, where the valleys traversed by the lirahmaptitra 

 and tBe Soormah open into the plains of Bengal, the boundary-line is 

 uncertain ; but we may fix it at 92° 80' E. long. Withiu these 

 boundaries Hindustan extends from Cape Comorin, 8° 4' N. lat., to 

 Attock on the Indus, 34° N. lat., and from Cape Monze, west of 

 th^ delta of the Indus, 67° 30' to 92° 30' E. long. Its length 

 from north to south is about 1 800 miles, and its greatest breadth 

 between Cape Monze and Silhet, along the parallel of 25° N. lat., is 

 about 1500 milea The area is about 1,300,000 square miles, or more 

 than ten times the area of Great Britain and IrelancL 



'Die coast-line of Hindustan amounts, according to a rough calcu- 

 Inti'.ti, to about 3280 miles, of which 1830 miles ai-e washed by the 

 Iijilian Ocean, and 1290 miles by the Bay of Bengal ; about 160 miles, 

 or somewhat more, extend along the Qulf of Munaar and the Palk 

 Strait. Beginning with the innermost comer of the Bay of Bengnl, 

 at Chittagong, the coast for about 320 miles is traversed by the 

 numeroos niootbs of the Ganges, all of which are navigable either for 



small or large vessels. Contiguous to the Hoogly branch of the 

 Ganges is the open Bay of Balasore, with a coast of 120 miles, 

 terminating at Cape Paluiynis. From this point the coast stretches 

 in a south-west direotidu to the mouth of tlie Kistna for about 420 

 miles, .and is without htirbours, except that of Coringa, near the 

 mouth of the Godavery, From the mouth of the Kistna to Cape 

 Calymere, an extent of about 430 miles, no harbour occurs, even for 

 vessels of moderate size. Between Cape Calymere and Cape Comorin, 

 about 160 miles, there U only the sm;Jl harbour of Tuticorin. The 

 coast, which stretches north-uorth-west, and afterwards nearly noi-tli, 

 between Cape Comorin and the innermost corner of the Gulf of 

 Cambay, a distance of about 1150 miles, contains a great number of 

 small and several very .good and safe harbours. The coast-line of the 

 peninsula of Gujerat, which is about 380 miles in extent, has several 

 harbours for vessels of moderate size. The coast-line of the island 

 of Cutch extends about 150 miles. The coast intersected by the 

 several mouths of the Indus e.itends as far as Cape Monze, about 

 150 miles, but it cannot be approached by vessels of more than 

 50 tons burden, except at the harbour of Curache, which admits 

 vessels of moderate size. 



Following what may be called the natural divisions of Hindustan, 

 we shall distribute our description of it under the following beads : 

 — 1, Southern region, comprehending the southern extremity as 

 far north as the Gap of Coimbatore ; 2, the Deceau, which extends 

 to the river Nerbudda; 3, Mountain region of North Hindustan, 

 comprehending the ten-aces north of the Nerbudda, together with 

 the peninsulas of Gujerat and Cutch ; 4, the Plain of the Ganges ; 

 and 5, the Plain of the Indus. To these may be added, as a sixth 

 natural division, the Himalaya Mountaius. [Himalaya Mountains.] 



I. TVte Southern liegion. — The nari-ow sea which separates Hindustan 

 from the island of Ceylon is traversed by a chain of islands and 

 sand-banks called Adam's Bridge. [Adam's Bkidqe.] The island of 

 Rameserum is low, saudy, and not cultivated, but celebrated for its 

 great pagoda, the extent aud splendour of which have called forth 

 the admiration of many travellers ; it is still visited by pilgrims from 

 all parts of Hindustan. At the western extremity of the island is a 

 small place called Paumben, where travellers cross the Paumbeu 

 Passage to the continent. It is about a mile wide, and has 6 feet of 

 water at high tide. The coast from Point Calymere to Cape Comorin 

 is low and sandy, but at a short distance from the sea some sand- 

 hills occur, between aud behind which are numerous salt swamps and 

 lagoons. Behind them the country risis very slowly to the foot of 

 the mountains on the west, a distance of from 40 to CO miles. This 

 tract is well supplied with water, numerous small rivers descending 

 from the mountains, and supplying plentiful means of irrigation. It 

 is accordingly well cultivated aud presents a succession of rice-fields 

 and palm-groves. Amom; its rivers the chief is the Vaygaroo, which 

 passes near the town of Madura, and falls into the sea not far from 

 the Paumben Passage. [Carnatic] 



At the foot of the mountains the plain may be about 300 feet 

 above the sea. Of the mountain regions which border on it on the 

 west little is known, except that b«tween 9° 10' aud 10° 20' N. lat. 

 they occupy a considerable surface, and some of their ridges rise to 

 a height of 7000 or 8000 feet. This isolated mountain region there- 

 fore may be considered as the highest land in Hindustan, south of 

 the Himalaya range. The Aligherry Mountains, south-west of 

 Madura, another oSset of the same stock, rise to 4200 feet. South of 

 9° N. lat. the mountain mass runs southward in one single range, 

 which is lower, but continues at a considerable elevation to a distance 

 of about 20 miles from Cape Comorin, where it suddenly lowers about 

 2000 feet. The remainder is a low ridge of granite overgrown with 

 thick forests. Two passes are at present known to exist across these 

 motmtains. The northern, called the Ariangawal Ghaut, occurs near 

 9° N. lat., and leads from Tiimevelly on the east to Qiiilon on the 

 west, through Cntallum. The southern, the Amboli Ghaut, lies about 

 20 miles from Cape Comorin. The country which lies to the west of 

 the mountains exhibits a much more diveraified surface than that to 

 the east of them. Nuuhtous offsets consisting only of low hills 

 advance towards the coast and leave a level tract along the sea some 

 miles broad. This tract is traversed by a chain of lakes, which 

 extend from Trivandrum to Cochin, The low country which extends 

 east of the lakes some miles inland, is in many i)laces swampy, and 

 used as pasture-ground in the dry season, or covered with jungle and 

 forest-trees; but the higher tracts produce rice and other grain in 

 abundance. These tracts are mostly uninhabited. The villages are 

 built farther inland on the low ranges of the hills, where they are 

 surround'tl by extensive plantations of palms, plantains, and mangoes. 

 Still farther inland the mountains rise with a steep ascent, and are 

 covered with forests, especially of teak. A very heavy surf always 

 runs along this coast, and renders landing diflicult. 



The southern part of this tract belongs to the Haja of Travancore, 

 and is about seven-eighths of the whole ; the northei-n part belongs to 

 the Raja of Cochin. Trirandfum, the capital of Travancore, a few 

 miles distant from the sea, is a large and well-peopled place, with a 

 castle. Anjenffo is a small harbour. QuUon has a small harbour, but 

 a considerable population. [Cochin.] 



The Gap of Coimbatore or Ponany, which extends between 10° 40' 

 and 11° N. lat., is a long valley, which unites the wide plains of the 



