580 



PRIMEVAL MAN, 



remains, bearing the date of February 28, 1855, from wbicb 

 the following observations are extracted : — 



' The Jumna Alluvium collection consists of specimens in part pre- 

 sented by Captain E. Smith and Lieutenant Burt of the Engineers, but 

 the great number by Sergeant E. Dean. 



' Captain Smith's specimens were readily discovered, and among them, 

 besides those enumerated and figured in the Journal, I found the perfect 

 astragalus of a Hippopotamus distinct from the Sewalik Hill species, 

 and apparently identical with the Nerbudda Tetrapvotodon. But 

 Sergeant Dean's series proved to be in such confusion, that under the 

 pressure of an approaching departure for Europe, I felt that I could not 

 afford them the time they required, and left them unarranged. ... I 

 regret this the more, as I consider the Jumna fossils to be the most 

 promising of results bearing upon the human period, and I strongly 

 recommend them to any one who is able and willing to undertake the 

 task of investigating them.' ' 



IV. 



I shall now pass to the more immediate researches on the 

 same subject with which I have been connected in Europe. 



Strange and improbable as the assertion may appear, it is 

 nevertheless true, that the most superficial deposits of the 

 earth's crust, forming the very ground under our feet, have 

 been in many respects the least satisfactorily investigated 

 of geological formations. The Palseozoic rocks at the most 

 distant extremity of the chain of life upon the globe have, 

 by an admirable series of researches by great observers, been 



itself forcibly on the attention of man ; 

 and the question arose : could, as in the. 

 instance of the ' Gigantic Tortoise,' any 

 reflection of its former existence be de- 

 tected in the ancient traditions or lan- 

 guages of India? Following iip the 

 inquiry, I was informed by Eaja Kadha- 

 kanta Deva, the eminent Indian scholar 

 and author of the Sanscrit Encyclopaedia, 

 that the Hippopotamus of India is re- 

 ferred to under different names of great 

 antiquity, significant of Jala-Hasti, 

 ' Water-Elephant,' or ' Living in the 

 water.' This inference is confirmed by 

 the opinion of Henry Colebrooke and 

 H. H. Wilson. No definite result -was 

 arrived at ; but referring to the line in 

 italics contained in the above extract, 

 there is published evidence that in 1855 

 I was engaged, in connection with palae- 

 ontological researches, upon the same 

 question to which my attention was 

 directed between 1836 and 1844, namely 

 the remote existence of the human race 

 in India. 



1 The fossil remains here mentioned 

 are those to which allusion has been 

 made (p. 572) as having been yielded 

 by the Ancient Alluvium of the Jumna. 

 Much precious material was irretrievably 

 lost from heedlessness during the earlier 

 part of the seven years' operations : 

 but enough was preserved to be of 

 high interest. The supposed Human 

 Bones proved to be either inconclusive 

 or mistaken determinations. But among 

 the other fossils I identified a molar 

 tooth of the extinct Elephas Namadicus, 

 a low^er jaw with teeth and a perfect 

 astragalus of the true Indian Hip- 

 popotamus, H. (Tetraprotodoii) Pcda- 

 indicus, both forms belonging to the 

 Pliocene fauna of the Nerbudda Valley. 

 The ancient Indian Hippopotamus 

 differs in a very essential manner from 

 the existing African species, the large 

 and small pairs of incisors of the jaws 

 occupying reversed positions respec- 

 tively in the two species. A quadruped 

 so remarkable for its size, form, and 

 habits, must everywhere have impressed 



