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lations mentioned in the Aycen Akbery, the schools of Hindostan 

 obtained a new form; and the colleges became the lights and 

 ornaments of the empire. 



I have omitted geomancy among the sciences taught in the 

 schools of Akber, as undeserving a place in his liberal plan of 

 education; but, distinct from the diviners and soothsayers lately 

 mentioned, there are in Ahmedabad, Baroche, Dhuboy, and 

 most cities in India, a class of females, skilled in astrology, 

 geomancy, and fortune-telling; these women were well known 

 among the Greeks and Romans; and in our translations from 

 the Hebrew they are called wise-women, which exactly answers 

 to their appellation amongst the modern Indians. It was to 

 one of these that Joab thus addressed himself, after David had 

 banished Absalom. " I pray thee feign thyself to be a mourner; 

 put on mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil; but be 

 as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead; and 

 come unto the king, and speak in this manner unto him. So Joab 

 put his story into her mouth." From the kind respectful manner 

 in which the king treated her, after hearing the melancholy tale, 

 we may judge of the high estimation of these wise-women in those 

 days. They are frequently introduced by the ancient poets under ' 

 the denomination of enchanters, diviners, and charmers. Their 

 power was supposed to be very great; and they used various 

 devices to accomplish their purpose. Ovid introduces one who 

 had power over all the elements; and another mentioned by 

 Theocritus, as consulted by a love-sick swain, exactly corre- 

 sponds with a circumstance which came immediately within my 

 own knowledge. 



