1836.] Bombay Asiatic Society, 1836. 305 



study, directly conversant as it is with the works of God, and with the 

 intimations which they give of His wisdom, power, and goodness, is, in all 

 circumstances, possessed of the highest interest, and conduces both to 

 intellectual gratification and to moral improvement ; and in such a coun- 

 try as India, so vast in its extent, and so grand and multifarious in its 

 productions, it is possessed of peculiar charms. It is a study, in many of 

 its branches, so intimately connected with national resources, and the 

 useful arts, and the means of humane amelioration, that it is powerfully 

 recommended to every economist and philanthropist. It is a study in 

 which most who have received a liberal education may engage, and to 

 advance which, all who give it an ordinary share of attention, may consi- 

 derably contribute. The sojourners in Bombay have, in the mountains, 

 forests, and islands, in the neighbourhood, innumerable objects, connected 

 especially with Geology, Botany, and Zoology, which both from their 

 comparative novelty, and intrinsic interest invite attention. The Society 

 cannot do better than encourage their investigation, and imitate in refer- 

 ence to them, the laudable procedure of the sister institution in Bengal, 

 with regard to those of a similar nature more particularly connected with 

 that province, and among whose highest honours must ever be, its having 

 numbered among its members such men as Roxburgh and Walhch, and 

 fostered their earliest attempts to unfold the beauties and mysteries of 

 creation. The report of observation and discovery connected with them, 

 if given in this place, would form an agreeable entertainment even to those 

 who may be most ardent and persevering in their researches into the other 

 important objects of the Society's investigation. That a studious atten- 

 tion to both of them, by individuals, is not impracticable, is well evinced in 

 the cases of Jones, and Colebrooke, and Carey, and others, who have 

 been distinguished in India both for their science and literature; and who 

 have been not less remarkable for their knowledge and expositions of the 

 thought and feeling of man, as connected with the objects of his devout 

 regard, or superstitious reverence, and the language by which he holds 

 communion with his fellows, than for their lively cognizance, and philo- 

 sophic interpretation, of the varied phenomena of nature. 



The Statistics of any country are intimately connected with its Political 

 Economy, and are consequently highly worthy of attention. Their import- 

 ance was not so generally admitted, as at present, on the formation of our 

 Society ; but it is strikingly set forth by Sir James Mackintosh. The 

 tables which he himself presented, connected with the population of 

 Bombay, and the remarks with which he accompanied them, are valuable. 

 Similar ones, of a later date, are desiderata, and when compared with 

 those given by him, would furnish curious information. The Notices of 

 Jambusar and Loni, given in our Transactions, by Drs. Marshall and 

 Coates ; and of certain districts of the southern Maratha Country, and of 

 the Jharejas, of Kach, in the Journal of the home Society, by Dr. Bird, 

 and Lieutenant Burnes, are good specimens of what is required of other 

 localities and tribes. Without the assistance of our liberal Government, 

 little can be done with satisfaction in this department. Such assistance, 

 by instituting special inquiries, and by delivering up documents already 

 in its possession, or which could be procured by application to its judges, 

 and magistrates, and revenue officers, it could easily, and with great 

 advantage to itself, render*. 



Only one paper on the subject of Political Economy, as connected with 



* A proposition has, I understand, been made, by an able and zealous officer 

 Of this Presidency (Capt. T. 13. Jervis) to the different Governments of India, 

 relative to the periodical publication of the returns of population, revenue, and 

 cultivated and waste lands. 



2 R 



