478 Essay on the Ancient Geography of India. [No. 6. 



ing to Arrian procured from the island of Socotora ; and was supposed 

 to be the indurated juice of a tree by the Arabs, in whose language 

 Derder is the name of a tree, supposed to be either the Ash, or the 

 Elm. 



The pebbles I mentioned before, are of the size of the larger sort of 

 millet, called Jawdr, and have the same colour with all its variations, 

 such as a light red, and a pale yellow with a small addition of red or 

 faint brass colour : hence they are termed Tdmra, brass or copper : 

 and Philostratus says, that near the Tomerus the stones and the very 

 sand were brass. In their rough state in the quarry, they look exactly 

 like corn coarsely ground, in Hindi Dardara, or Grit in English. For 

 this reason, they are supposed by pilgrims, to be the remains of 

 Bhavani-Devis cookery, turned into stones. After being rubbed 

 together, for a considerable time, the outward coat disappears ; and 

 then they assume a fine polish. They are afterwards perforated at 

 Nagai'-Tatha, or Shah-bandar ; and sold to pilgrims one thousand for 

 a rupee, who make chaplets of them. There is a smaller sort of them 

 of the size of that kind of millet called Bdjard, or Bdzzara : but 

 these are rejected. Buzzard was called Bosmorus by the Greeks ; 

 who wrote it at first BO^^OPO^, and probably through the inaccuracy 

 of transcribers, it was afterwards written BO^MOP©3 : thus the 

 second % being inverted, became the letter M. 



The author of the Scanda-purana has introduced also the 84 lingas 

 of Hinglaj, which is a contraction for 84,000, the number of regenera- 

 tions, through the animal, and vegetable kingdoms. Hinguld-devi, 

 or Pingdle'swari is mentioned in the Scanda-purana, in the Reva- 

 khanda. There the author, relating the different forms of Devi, and 

 their Sthdns, says Payosht'ydm-Pingale'swari ; the place of this god- 

 dess is payosht'yam, in or near the waters of the sea. In her character 

 of C handled, or Dardduri, she is also styled Salurd, or Saluri, 

 synonymous with the latter ; and both signifying the goddess in the 

 shape of a Bull-frog. She resided in an island called Selira, or Selera 

 for Salurd, according to Philostratus, who places it near Balara, or 

 rather Badara. Nearchus calls it Nosala, from the Sanskrit Ndsdla, 

 or the place of ruin and destruction. At some distance, but further 

 off at sea, was another island called Folia or Palla, which is not now 

 to be found, and as it has not disappeared, it probably never existed. 



