S02 AN ESSAY ON THE 



that in the present wicked age and degenerated 

 times, they had disappeared. This is also the opi- 

 nion of many divines in India., who believe, that 

 in Cali-yuga these seas have disappeared, or are 

 turned salt, and bitter, and also, that the white 

 island, is become black, on account of the sins of 

 mankind. Onesichitus, to whom Calenus was 

 speaking, was probably unwilling to give credit to 

 these seas of milk, wine, and honey, but could have 

 no great objection to spring's only of the same. 

 One of the seven seas is called Cshaudra-Sagara, or 

 sea of honey, . I believe, in the Siddlianta-Sh^omeni. 

 There is another division of the world into seven 

 dwlpas, more complete than the preceding, but its 

 origin is not mentioned. Their names are, Jambu, 

 in the center; to the West, reckoning from North 

 to South, are the dxv'ipas of Vardha Cus'a and 

 ^Sancha; to the East, reckoning from South to 

 North, Yarnala, or Alalaya, Yama, and Anga. The 

 dzvtpas of Cus'a and Yama, are acknowledged to be 

 East and West with respect to India. Jambu here 

 appears again in a different light. It includes In- 

 dia, the elevated plains of Tartary, and mount 

 Meru,, and extends towards the West to the Cas- 

 pian sea and the Persian gulf. The followers of 

 J IN A, in India, vepiesent Jambu nearly in the same 

 light, except that they make it larger, and seem 

 to exten-l it as far as the shores of the Eu.vine and 

 Mediterranean seas. Varaha dwipa being situated 

 in the North West quarter of the old Continent, 

 is Europe, as will appear more fully in the course 

 of this work. The dwipa of Cusa, according to 

 this new division, includes the lesser Asia, Arme- 

 nia, Syria, and Arabia. There seems also to be a 

 third dwipa of Cus'a near the equator, which in- 

 cludes Ethiopia, &c. The Paurdn'ics account 

 plausibly for these three different situations as- 

 signed to Cu^'ay by supposing it owing to the 



