LITERATURE OF THE BURIMAS. I95 



eluded, that in the fixth century before the birth of 

 Christ, the whole Hindu race were equally ignorant 

 with their Perfian brethren. Such realbning would, 

 however, I conceive^ be inconclufive. Why might 

 not the Hindus of Mdtura or Cafimere be as much fu- 

 perior to their countrymen of Perjia^ as the Arabs of 

 Nineveh or of Babylon were to the wanderers of the 

 defert? But even allowing the Hindus to have been 

 incapable of inventing fcience, might they not have 

 received inftru6tion from the eaft, as well as from the 

 weft? Their eaftern neighbours, at this time, had 

 made very confiderable progrefs; fuch, indeed, as en- 

 abled them, about this period, to produce a Confu- 

 cius. But that the Hindus -were themfelves capable 

 of obfervation, fo as to make advances in fcience, their 

 undoubted invention of cyphers, in arithmetic, is a 

 clear proof. 



During our flay at Aviarapura, befides the alma- 

 nacs, which were probably conftrufted by Brahmens, 

 I alfo faw feveral treatifes, faid to be on aftronomical 

 fubjefts. Johannes Moses^ A kunxvicn of Haynthazvade^ 

 gave Captain Symes a delineation of the fixty-eight 

 Burma conllellations, with a fliort explanation in the 

 Burma language. I have here given a copy of the 

 delineations, and a tranflation of the written part, 

 which, for the benefit of thofe who wifh to know the 

 ftru6lure of the language, I have made verbal, follow- 

 ing exaftly the arrangement of the words in the ori- 

 ginal. In explaining thefe conftellations, it is to be 

 obferved, that to each a fanciful figure is annexed, in 

 the fame manner as our conftellations are delineated 

 on globes or maps. This figure is called the Thadan, 

 or pifture of the conftellation ; and the name of the 

 object reprefented by the piclure, is often the fame 

 with that of the conftellation: but, more commonly, 

 the names are quite diftin6t, and that applied to the 

 conftellation is either arbitrary, or a Pali v.-ord, with 

 which language my interpreter was not acquainted. In 

 the written account, there is, in fome caies. a difte- 



(> 2 r'?nce 



