Preface. vii 



tleman of fortune well grounded in Sanskrit and other oriental 

 studies at Paris, is come to Calcutta, ' about to retrace the steps 

 of the French naturalists Duvaucel and Jacquemont in the 

 interest of the antiquarian, as they travelled in that of the phy- 

 sical sciences. 1 He contemplates exploring Gaur, Patiliputra, 

 Magadha, Mithila,Kdsi,Ayudhya, Nipdl. Kemaon, the Panjdb 

 Afghanistan, Tibet ; then the Jain provinces, as they may be 

 called, of Marivdr and Malwa, and finally the cave antiquities 

 of Western India*. 



We wish M. Theuoulde every success, we proffer him every 

 aid ; yet we do so not without a blush that any thing should be 

 left for a foreigner to explore ! India, however, is large enough 

 for us all to run over without jostling, and we cannot allow that 

 inactivity is at the present moment a reproach against our Socie- 

 ty or our governors. We have expeditions in Cashmir, Sinde, Bho- 

 tdn, Ava, Maulmain, all well provided with scientific adjuncts, 

 and contributing to our maps, our cabinets, and our commerce. 

 Our Societies were never more vigorous. The Agricultural of 

 Calcutta is become exceedingly active. The Geographical of 

 Bombay has opened the field with an interesting volume and a 

 journal of proceedings ; and in science we have to boast of the 

 brilliant progress of experiment and magnetic discovery due to 

 one whom we should be happy at having enlisted among our 

 own members. With his colleagues of the Medical College, 



* We cannot omit to notice here another laudable demonstration of the 

 greater honor that awaits literary merit at Paris than in London—making 

 full allowance for the proverbial truth that a prophet must seek honor out 

 of his own country. We have just learnt that the French Government 

 has ordered a gold medal to be struck for, and the decoration of the 

 Legion of Honour to be bestowed on Mr. B. H. Hodgson, in return for the 

 valuable donation of Sanskrit manuscripts presented by him to the Asiatic 

 Society of Paris, — and in token of their appreciation of the great services 

 he has rendered to oriental literature. Neither in this case is the reward 

 blindly given, nor the present disregarded ; for we know that the Sanskrit 

 scholars of Paris have already dipped profoundly into the contents of the 

 Nipalese Buddhist volumes, and in a short time we may expect a full 

 analysis of them. As a comment on this announcement we may add that 

 similar donations more extensive and more valuable were long since pre- 

 sented by the same party to the Royal Asiatic Society and to the College 

 of Fort William, and that (with exception of the Tibetan portion so well 

 analysed by M. Csoma) they remain as yet sealed books. 



/ 



