426 REMARKS ON SOME ANTIQUITIES ON THE 



rently compofed of thefe; and the level appearance of 

 the linTace of the land, devoid of wood of any long 

 ftanding, except the groves which have been planted 

 by the cultivators of the foil; and the feveral fpecies 

 of palm; with the jungle congenial to a fandy foil. 

 One firll remarks, on the coaft oi Marawar^ fpecimens 

 of the fame coralline or marine produftions, that in 

 greater quantities are dug up at Delft,, and fome of the 

 iflands on the north coaft of Ceylon^ which indicate a 

 connexion of the fame materials, and which probably 

 form the bafis of the flioals, called Adam's bridge, be- 

 tween that ifland and the main. Parallel to the edge 

 of the coafl; we alfo find along the margin of the fea a 

 ib^atum of flat calcareous rocks, forming a kind of 

 eruft, probably a concretion of (hells which abound 

 here and on the coaft of CcyloJi^ (as obferved at Manar) 

 and compofe the greater part of the fand along the 

 beach ; and which probably alfo form the chain of low 

 ifles parallel to that part of the coaft, called the Flat- 

 i/Ies,) in the neighbourhood of the Chanque fifhery. 



The ifle o^ Ram'ifur,^ the utmofl limit of the Hinduvt-' 

 ligion in modern times, and of the conquelts of the 

 Dekan Muffiilman princes, according to Ferisi-ita, lies 

 near this coaft ; and is only feparated by a channel of 

 about two miles, too ftioal to admit veftels of burthen. 

 This ifland is low, fandy, and uncultivated; it is about 

 eight miles to the pagodas (the refort of immenfe crouds 

 of pilgrims at certain leafons) which are built near the 

 fea, having in front an embankment of ftone, yetunfi- 

 nifhed ; the houfes of the Brahmcns are built as ufual in 

 fquares and ft.rait ftreets, clofe to it ; their rows of houfes 

 having mud terraces (Fayah) in front, on which their 

 women and children are often fcen reclining under the 

 fhadc of the thatched roofs. It is remarkable that the 

 fame fair complexion, and caft of features diftinguifli 

 this clafs through all the different provinces, from eight 

 to twenty degrees north latitude (and by all accounts 

 ftill further) among nations varying fo much in both, 



as 



