60 ESSAY ON 



This trade was carried on, exactly in the same 

 manner, 1 500 years ago, according to Arrian's Pe- 

 ripUis. On tlie confines of China, says the author, 

 there is a nation of men, of a short stature, with a 

 large forehead, and flat noses. They ^xecTiWt A Sesatce, 

 (and by Ptolemy ijfl'.iWfl?). These come, every year, 

 to the frontiers ; not being permitted to enter the 

 country. They make baskets of certain leaves, as 

 large as those of the vine, which they sew together, 

 with the fibres of bambus, called petri ; and fill them 

 with the leaves of a certain plant, rolled up into balls, 

 Vv'hich arc of three sorts, depending on the quality 

 and size of the leaves ; and are of course denominated 

 balls of the larger, middle, and smaller size ; and arc 

 carried all over India. Petri could not be the name 

 of the bambus, but of the leaves, called in Hindu 

 patra. These leaves are probably those of the Dhac 

 tree*, used iiU over India to make baskets, and made 

 fast together, with skewers, from the fibres of the 

 bambu, or other similar plant. These Basacke were, 

 in my opinion, a wandering tribe, still called Bisati'\j 

 who live by selling small wares and trinkets ; for 

 which purpose they constantly attended markets, fairs, 

 and such places, where they think they can dispose of 

 their goods. These Bisati, or Besadce, from their 

 features, must have belonged to some of the tribes 

 living on the eastern borders of Bengal, whose fea- 

 tures are axactly such as described by the author of 

 the Periplus. IVIr. Buchanan mentions two places 

 called Pal^, perhaps Pou eul, and Palaung, in the 

 mountains to the N. E. of Jva, where they pickle the 

 tea leaves, used all over the Bur man Empire. 



There is another route, in the Peutingerian tables, 

 leading from Taliora, (or Tahaura, in Major Ren- 



* Bulea frondosa. 

 t See Asial. Researches, Vol. 7lh. p. 4<55. 



