80 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society, 



of gold having been amassed by Indian monarchs, wbo accepted 

 a revenue in gold dust only, from certain sections of their subjects, 

 who were consequently compelled to spend several months of every 

 year washing for it in the rivers. 



The already-quoted facts taken from the pages of the Bible 

 and Herodotus must be accepted as evidence that gold was an 

 export from India, and that to so large an extent, that the sug- 

 gestion that it was first imported may be safely rejected. A 

 large amount, very probably, reached Northern India in the 

 , course of trade from Thibet ; but it is incredible that the vast 

 stores which, as will be shown on a future page, were in the 

 possession of the princes of Southern India about 600 years ago, 

 was, to any considerable extent, derived from extraneous sources. 



Much uncertainty exists as to the date of the famous Indian 

 epic known as the Eamayana. By Wilson, however, it is sup- 

 posed to have been written about 300 b.c. ; but it refers to a time 

 probably contemporaneous with Solomon. It represents India as 

 abounding at that early period in wealth, which we cannot but 

 conclude was mainly of indigenous origin. In the description of 

 the capital town of Ajodhya, as quoted by Heeren,^ we are told 

 " it was filled with merchants and artificers of all kinds ; gold, 

 precious stones, and jewels were there found in abundance ; every- 

 one wore costly garments, bracelets, and necklaces." Again, 

 " The present made to >S'^Y« consisted of a whole measure of gold 

 pieces and a vast quantity of the same precious metal in ingots : 

 golden chariots, golden trappings for elephants and horses, and 

 golden bells are also noticed as articles of luxury and magni- 

 ficence." 



The Indika, by Ktesias, the Knidan (398 b. c.) was the first 

 regular Grreek treatise on India. The fragments of it which have 

 been preserved by Photios and other writers have recently been 

 brought together and carefully annotated by Mr. M'Orindle, to 

 whose work I am indebted for the following extracts bearing 

 upon our subject. Ktesias's knowledge of India was all derived 

 at second-hand from persons he came in contact with at the 

 Persian Court, where he resided under Darius and his successor, 

 Artaxerxes Memnon. 



^ Asiatic Nations, vol. in., chap. ii. p. 355. 



