1845.] the River Soane and Site of Palibothra. 145 



Then rolling onwards, like a line of clouds, 

 That girts in rain and thunder Vindya's Peaks, 

 Environ with portentous storm the City, 

 And lay its proud Walls level with the ground. 



That Patalipootra was not only in the neighbourhood of the Soane 

 but also on the banks of the Ganges, is evident from the following 

 soliloquy uttered by Chundragupta from the terrace of the Suganga 

 Palace, at the festival of the autumnal full moon, that is, in the height 

 of the rainy season, when the river is full and rapid in its course. 



How beauteous are the skies at this soft season, 

 'Midst fleecy clouds, like scattered isles of sand 

 Upon whose breast the white Heron hovers, flows 

 In dark blue tides the many channelled stream ; 

 And, like the pearly blossoms that unfold 

 Their petals to the night, the stars expand. 

 Below is Gunga by the Autumn led, 

 Fondly impatient, to her Ocean Lord, 

 Tossing her waves as with offended pride, 

 And pining fretful at the lengthened way. 



In this Play the city of Chundragupta is called by the personages 

 of the Drama by several different names, viz. Pushpapoor, Kasumapoor, 

 " The City of Flowers/' and Patalipootra. The first cannot be identi- 

 fied with the name of any place in the neighbourhood. With respect 

 to the second, it may be remarked that in the tradition above given 

 from the Brihudkutha, the name of one of the sons of Patlee was 

 Koosum, from which Koosumapoor may not unreasonably be supposed 

 to have been derived. " Koosum" in Sunscrit means " Flowers," and 

 Koosumapoor, the City of Flowers. There are several names of similar 

 import at present in the vicinity. Phoolwaree, the name of a town 

 situated on the bank of the old bed of the Soane, about six miles from 

 Patna, means " a place of flowers," and one of the muhullas, or divi- 

 sions of the present city of Patna, is denominated u Goolzar Bagh," 

 which in Persian has nearly the same meaning, and which may have 

 been the Mohamedan translation for Koosumapoor. Indeed it is pos- 

 sible, (though I cannot say it is very probable) that the different names 

 given to the city in the Sunscrit Play, may have been the names of 



