INDIA. 



8*ifc. 



from the wertern to the eastern mouth of the Ganges 

 consists of low islands, divided from one another by in- 

 branches of the river, and intersected in almost 

 -\ i ry direction by creeks. The coast of Chittagong, a 

 district lying at the south-eastern extremity of the pro- 

 vince of Bengal, is divided from that province by the 

 eastern mouth of the Ganges ; and from Aracan, a 

 province in the Birman Empire, by the river Naup. 

 ( )n this coast there is one good port, Islemabad, nbout 

 two leagues and a half off the river of Chittagong. Ships 

 of considerable tonnage are built here. To the south 

 of the river on which Islemabad stands, there is an 

 island called Kuttubdea, separated from the continent 

 by a strait in no place more than two miles broad. 

 This island is about four leagues long, and one league 

 broad : it is divided into two by a creek. To the south of 

 Kuttubdea is Mascale Island, larger and- of greater eleva- 

 tion. The coast which we have described, from Cape 

 Comorin to Chittagong, forms the western side, and 

 the bottom of the Bay of Bengal. The western side 

 stretches from Cape Comorin to Balasore ; that is, from 

 latitude 7 57' to latitude 21 31', and the bottom of 

 die bay from Balasore to Chittagong, or 4 53' differ- 

 ence of longitude. The depth of water on the western 

 side is very great, at a comparatively short distance from 

 the shore, there being no soundings about 30 miles off. 

 At the bottom of the bay, however, the sea is shallow. 

 The British and their allies are in possession of all the 

 sea coast of Hindostan, except that part of it which 

 stretches from the small islands to the south of Bom- 

 bay, in latitude 18 42', to the small islands about 17 

 miles north by west from Goa, in latitude 15 50'. 

 This part of the coast is principally occupied by pirates. 

 The sea coast from the Gulf of Cambay to the river 

 Indus is also occupied principally by pirates. 



CHAP. III. 



Natural History, Botany, Zoology, Mineralogy, 

 Climate, Soil. 



To discuss fully the natural history of India, and 

 particularly those branches of it which relate to botany 

 and zoology, would require much more ample space 

 than can possibly be allotted to this article. It will be 

 necessary to be both select and minute in the descrip- 

 tion of the botany and zoology of India. The mine- 

 ralogy, not presenting either such ample or such cha- 

 racteristic materials, will be treated of with compara- 

 Bouny. tively less brevity. With regard to its botany, we 

 shall select for notices and description those plants 

 chiefly which are used for the purposes of medicine, 

 food, the arts, or domestic purposes, or which are dis- 

 tinguished by the beauty and elegance of their form or 

 flowers. 



Acacia Catechu, Cntechu, called in the province of Ba- 

 bar Cocra, grows in abundance in most of the moun- 

 tainous districts of Hindostan. The extract from it, 

 which is called cult by the natives of Hindostan, ciitch 

 by the English, and by different authors khaath, catc, 

 catechu, &c. is brought to England both from Bengal 

 and Bombay. According to the analysis of Sir Hum- 

 phry Davy, the variety which comes from Bombay 

 contains 109 of tannin, 68 of extractive matter, 13 of 

 mucilage, and 10 of earths, and other impurities in 100 

 parts ; and the variety from Bengal, 97 of tannin, 73 of 

 extract, 16 of mucilage, and 14 of impurities. The 

 name catechu, under which it is now more generally 

 known, is derived from two oriental words, cats a tre, 



and chu juice. This .species of acacia seldom exceeds Su.ti-.ti>>:. 

 1 2 feet in height. The catechu is extracted from the * yW 

 inner wood. Acacia AmLica, the Babul tree of the 

 Hindoos, grows in great abundance all over the Decan. 

 Its flower is rather beautiful, consisting of a bright yel- 

 low ball, which is very sweet scented. The wood is 

 hard and tough, and is considered to make the best 

 wheels and axletrees of any in India. Its bark is 

 used for tanning. The gum drawn from it resembks 

 in its qualities gum arabic so nearly, that it is used in- 

 stead of it for all purposes in Hindostan. In Gueerat, 

 especially in the wastes, the Babul tree is very common. 

 The poor inhabitants of this province used its gum as 

 food. It is planted in some places to protect,the villa- 

 ges and farm-yards. It was formerly supposed that 

 catechu was extracted from the nut of the areca; but 

 this does not appear to be correct. The areca, however, Areca. 

 which is a species of palm, is cultivated nearly over the 

 whole of India for its nuts, which are used by the na- 

 tives, mixed with the leaves of the betel, pepper, and a 

 little quicklime or chunum, in the same manner as to- 

 bacco is used by Europeans. This tree is seldom met 

 with in a wild state. It however grows spontaneously 

 on all the hills in South Concar, and in North Canara. 

 None of it grows above the Ghauts. In Malabar there 

 grows, or is prepared, a sort of red areca, which is used 

 in dying. Besides the areca, there are a great variety 

 of other trees of the palm kind in India. The cocoa Cocoa-nut 

 nut tree is found every where, especially on the coasts tree, 

 of Malabar and Coromandel, as it requires a low sandy 

 soil. On the higher grounds, the cocoa-nut tree be- 

 gins to yield its fruit when seven or eight years old. 

 How long it lives cannot be ascertained ; but it un- 

 doubtedly attains a very great age. If the trees are of 

 good quality and young, they will supply 100 nuts an- 

 nually, which are ripe at all seasons of the year. But 

 the benefits which the natives derive from the tree are 

 by no means confined to its nuts. It supplies oil for 

 the lamp ; coir cables are made from the fibrous cover- 

 ing of the nut; toddy or arrack is supplied by the juice 

 of this and several other species of palm trees ; and 

 though the British confound all the kinds of arrack, 

 the natives have distinct names for each kind of juice. 

 What is drawn off in the night is the sweetest. 

 It is curious to see the bandaris, or toddy gatherers, 

 " climbing the short stems of the palms ; having tied 

 their ancles close together, they pass a band round the 

 tree and round their waist, and, placing their feet to the 

 root of the tree, they lean upon the band, and with 

 their hands and feet climb nimbly up a tree without 

 branches 50 feet high, carrying with them a bill or 

 hatchet to make fresh incisions, or to renew the old 

 ones, and a jar to bring down the toddy, which is re- 

 ceived in a pot tied to the tree, and emptied every 12 

 hours." Graham's Residence in India, p. 26. Properly 

 speaking, the arrack is the juice or toddy prepared by 

 distillation ; and the apparatus employed for this pur- 

 pose is very simple. Besides the toddy, a fermented 

 juice, jaghery, or an inspissated juice, is made from the 

 palmyra, and other species of palm. In Bengal, the 

 toddy and jaghery produced from the wild date are the 

 most esteemed ; but in the Jaghire district of the Car- 

 natic, where the palmyra thrives extremely well, and 

 requires little care or attention, the toddy and jaghery 

 from it are considered the best. The leaves of the 

 cocoa-nut tree are used to cover the houses, and out of 

 two of them plaited together, the peasants form a kind 

 of cloak, which defends them from the rain while 

 working in the fields. 



From the smaller fan palm toddy is also made : its Fan palm. 



