

4 2 4 On Egypt and the Nile 



that he became infenfible of all worldly affections, and indifferent both to 

 the praife and cenfure of men : he ufed, therefore, to wander over the coun- 

 try, fometimes dwelling on hills and in woods, fometimes.in a bower, rare- 

 ly in a houfe, and appearing like an idiot in the eyes of the vulgar, who, 

 in ridicule of his idle talk and behayiour, called him Pe't'hi-suca, Panjara- 

 fuca, or Sdld-fuca, meaning bhe parrot in a chejt, a cage, or a hovfe, which 

 names he always retained. When he grew up, and fat on the throne, he 

 governed his people equitably and wifely, retraining the vicious by his juft 

 feverity, and inftrucling the ignorant in morals and religion: by his wife 

 Ma'risha' he had a fon called Me' d hi -Sue a, to whom at length he 

 refigned his kingdom, and, by the favour of Iswara, became jivanmuffa. 

 or releafed, even during life, from all encumbrances of matter; but the 

 ilory of Ma'risha' and his fon has been related in a preceding fection. 

 Med'hi, or Me'r'bi means a pillar, or a poji to which viclims are tied, or any 

 ftraight pole perpendicularly fixed in the ground; and Patty am, I belisve, 

 fignifies a crofs flick, or a wooden bar placed horizontally; fo that Pattyam- 

 iuca might have meant the parrot on a perch-, but why the thirteenth prince 

 had that appellation, I am not yet informed ;. Sue a is alfo a proper name ; 

 the fon of Vya'sa, and principal fpeaker in the Bhigavat, being called 

 Sue a-de'v a. Now many obeli/ks in Egypt were faid to have been railed by a 

 king named Suchis; (a) and the famous Labyrinth, to have been con- 

 structed by king PETEsuccus-./^yby Mirhiwe may ceitainly underffand ei- 

 ther a pillar or an obelifk, or a {lender and lofty tower, like the Mendrahs 

 of the Mufelmans, or even a high building in a pyramidal form. The 

 Hindus affert, that each of the three Sucas had a particular edifice afcribed 

 to him; and we can hardly doubt, that the fi'b£n of Pe'thi-suca was the 



[a) Pjin. L. 36. C. 8. \h) Plin. L. 36. C. 13. 



