ON MOUNT CAUCASUS. 537 



low Dcrd-Is77uihil. Mirza-Mogul-Beg surveyed 

 it some \ears ago as far as the parallel q{ Mult an, 

 where his survey ended. But he was informed, that 

 it ran a great way to the south in a direction almost 

 parallel to the TnduSi with which it communicates 

 occasionally through the various branches- The Nulla' 

 Sdncdra being the old bed of the Indus is of course 

 considered as the true boundary o{ Indostan, and was 

 admitted as such in the treaty of peace between Na- 

 dir-Sha'h and the emperor o^ India. This dere- 

 liction happened before Alexander's time, as it 

 was recorded by Aristobulus, according to 

 Strabo. 



I CANNOT help taking notice of a curious obser- 

 vation made by a learned Brdhme?!, that whosoever 

 prohibited the crossing of the At lock, meant only 

 that no body making use of the usual modes known 

 at that time, should presume to cross it: but if he 

 could leap over it, or cross it in a balloon, or astride 

 a wild goose, or any other bird, which may be effect- 

 ed through magick, there could be no harm what- 

 ever. 'l\m strange idea brought to my recollection 

 a whimsical story of the Musulmans who inhabited 

 the country of S'ind or Tata: they fancy Alexander 

 by magical art conveyed his whole army over the 

 Indus, every man of his riding astride a wild goose. 

 Alexander was pretty successful in India, they 

 conceive that this would not have been the case if he 

 had crossed ihclndiis either in boats or byswimming; 

 and the most obvious method he could adopt, in their 

 opinion, was to convey his soldiers in the above 

 manner. 



When the unfortunate Raghu-Na'th-Ra'ya or 

 Ragoba, sent two Brdhmens as embassadors to 

 England, they v\'ent by sea as far as Suez, but they 

 came back by the way of Persia, and of course 



VOL, VI, 2 m crossed 



