AND RUINS AT MAVALIPURAM; I55 



" faid Hirinakajfap ; and, riling from his feat, ftruck 

 " the pillar with his foot ; upon which ViJIinoo, in the 

 61 Narafinghah Azutar, that is to fay, with a body like 

 " a man, but an head like a lion, came out of the pil- 

 " lar, and tore Hirinakaffap in pieces. Vijhnoo then 

 " fixed Pralhaud on his father's throne; and his reign 

 " was a mild and virtuous one, and as fuch was a con- 

 " traft to that of his father. He left a fon, named Na~ 

 " mackee, who inherited his power and his virtues, and 

 " was the father of Balee, the founder of the once mag- 

 " nificent city of Mahdbalipoor, the fituation of which 

 " is faid to be defcribed in the following verfe, taken 

 " from the Mahabhdrit" 



nStfalS tt^FCrattf OTT35Hf° =13^°" 



The fenfe of which is literally this : 



il South of the Ganges two hundred Yojen, 

 ** Five Yojen* weftward from the Eaftern Sea, 



Such is the Bramin account of the origin of this 

 place. The fequel of its hiftory, according to them, 

 is as follows : 



N2 "The 



* The Yojen is a measure often mentioned in the Shanscrit books, 

 and, according to some accounts, is etjual to nine, according to 

 others, twelve, English miles. But at that rate the distance here 

 mentioned, between this place and the Ganges, is prodigiously ex- 

 aggerated, and will carry us far south of Cej/lone. This, however, 

 is not surprising in an Hindoo poem ; but, from the second line, 

 it seems pretty clear, that this city, at the time this verse was com- 

 posed, must have stood at a great distance from the sea. 



