76 OF THE ORIGIN OF 



titij by laying waste and devouring the har\Tst, as 

 the Hippopotamus.; the latter diiimal not being a 

 native of Hindosta??, it was natural to sup{3ly its 

 place with one which had similar characteristics, 

 if the Hindu rehgion was brought from Egypt into 

 India, the importers of it would see the same phe- 

 nomenon of the annual risino- of the river: but thev 

 would observe, that in this country it was accom- 

 panied with heavy rains, thunder, lightning, and 

 storms of wind, an apparent war of the elements. 

 Hence the buffalo-headed symbol of the inundation 

 was erected into a giant, at the head of avast army, 

 'warring against the Gods: the novelty of these 

 phenomena, to the first comers, would suggest to 

 them this poetical personification. The title borne 

 by Ca'li, in this character, is Durga', or rather 

 DuRGATi Na's'ini, the remover of difficulties; as 

 she is a form of Ca'li, she has the same bloody rites. 



The Abb^ mentions the Campus, as a jar or 

 pitcher of water, intended to make the people ac- 

 quainted with the exact progress and increase of 

 the inundation : he adds, that they used to mark 



these jars with the figure I , or a small cross ^^ 



■ita 



to express the increase and swelling of the river. 

 Canob is the Egyptian word, which is rendered CV/- 

 mpos hy the G/reks; the information, which this 

 seems intended to convey, was so particularly ne- 

 cessary to the Egyptians, that it is no wonder it 

 should, in course of time, cease to be considered as 

 a mer/? sign, and acquire a place amongst the Dei- 

 .ties themselves. The word Ca??oij, by the analogy 

 of the Sanscrit language, becomes Cunibh, which 

 signifies ajar or vase: it gives name, in the Hindu 

 Zodiac, to the sign Aquarius. This Cumbh, G'hat'a, 

 or jar, is the principal o])jcct in the celebration of 

 the Hindu worship. It is considered as almost the 



