250 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1792. 



at Mongueer,* it is more likely to agree with the Nadeea than Benares patra. 

 As one of Mr. Wilkins's Benares patras came from Salsette, we may conclude 

 thai this almanac is in use in that part of India. The inscriptions too, found at 

 Salsette and Dehli,-|- confirm the opinions that this manner of dating is in use in 

 both these places, as both are dated by the day of the bright side of the moon. 



It appears from P. du Champ, and P. Patouillet, and probably Abraham 

 Roger, that in the part of India from which they write, the civil year begins at 

 the new moon before the beginning of the astronomical year ;+ which seems to 

 show that the Benares manner of dating is in use in great part of the coast of 

 Coromandel ; but there is some reason to think, that in the neighbourhood of 

 Madras and Pondicherry, they date in a manner difi^erent from that used either 

 at Benares or Nadeea : for Mr. Gentil makes the month Chitra or Sitterey, as 

 he spells it, correspond with the sign Mesh, in which he agrees with an almanac 

 published by an European at Madras, which seems to show that in those places 

 they date by solar months, but make Chitra correspond with the first sign. Mr. 

 Wilkins thinks he has heard of 1 or 2 places on the east coast of the peninsula, 

 and in particular Orissa, at which almanacs are computed ; but he is not ac- 

 quainted with the nature of them. 



Mr. C. now gives a more particular account of the 3 almanacs. The 2 Benares 

 patras are preceded by a preface, which begins with an invocation to the Deity, 

 and then gives a whimsical account of the 4 Yoogas, or ages, and of the in- 

 feriority of each succeeding age to that preceding it, and concludes with astrolo 

 gical remarks. There are no titles to any of the columns of which the almanacs 

 are composed, nor is any explanation of them given in any part of the work ; but 

 by a careful examination of the numbers, a person acquainted with astronomical 

 computations may, without much difiiculty, find out their meaning. The ca- 

 lendar part contains ] page for each half of the lunar month. At the top of each 

 page is given the year of the eras ot Veekramadeetya and Salavrdiana. After this 

 comes the name of the month, and in one almanac is given also the name and 

 number of the month used by the Mahometans. 



The part below this consists of 1 1 columns. The first gives the day of the 

 month, according to the civil reckoning ; the next the day of the week; and the 

 2 following contain the time of the day, that is the danda and pala at which the 

 lunar teethee ends. The 5th column contains the name of the nakshatra§ wliich 



* Asiatic Researches, vol. 1, p. 127. — Orig. f Asiatic Researches, vol. I, p. 363, 379. 



i Narsapour, from whicli P. Patouillet writes, is near the coast, and in die latitude of I()|°' n. 

 Chrisnabouram, from u'hich P. du Champ's Memoir is sent, is in nearly tiie same latitude, but about 

 2'^ inland, and Paliacat, where Abraham Roger resided, is on the coast, in the latitude of 13^°, or 

 near ^ a degree n . of Madras. This author however has expressed himself so inaccurately , that I am 

 not sure whetlier they begin the year at that time or not. — Orig. 



§ Otherwise called the 27 lunar mansions. — Orig. 



