362 



Statistics of the 



[No. 38, 



possibly arising from engrafting the style of those countries their 

 ancient monarchs had subdued. Colonel Hamilton Smith mentions 

 a circumstance significant of the traduction of the race that first co- 

 lonized Egypt, in the earliest Semetic tribes, possessing a tradition 

 that the Indus was anciently named the u Neel-ab," a name they also 

 applied to the great Egyptian river. 



The religious system of two countries show likewise many affini- 

 ties, a circumstance by no means astonishing with races, who it is 

 supposed may have issued from the same starting point. The ancient 

 theology of Central Asia appears to have been made up of elemental 

 worship, and astronomical conceits, the sun naturally being the su- 

 preme object of adoration. The Abbi Pluche refers all Mythology to 

 Sun and Planet worship, but it is not unreasonable to suppose hero- 

 worship also lent its aid. The host of heaven were represented 

 under most singular modifications of shape, from the idea of the deity 

 derived from the person of man, to " the Beast and his Image ;" to 

 these were transferred that adoration, that originally had been render- 

 ed to the deity itself : Bamian with its innumerable caves, abounds 

 with images of some such nature. India and Egypt amidst all their 

 revolutions and innovations, have still preserved the leading features 

 of the faith of those lands they migrated from, elemental worship 

 having in both sunk into the adoration of brute matter, symbolized 

 by a variety of animals, possessing certain significant properties. If 

 it be true, as Proclus observes, that lions were specially considered 

 to be solar animals, we can account for their occupying prominent posi- 

 tions in ancient temples, where the principal object of worship was the 

 Sun. They are constantly seen in India, and Egypt, supporting 

 the shrine on which the idol sits, as well as performing the office of 

 guardians to the portal of the temple : the same observation will apply 

 to the lotus flower, typical of the Sun by its calyx opening and 

 shutting with its influence, the use of which is very frequent in the 

 temples of both countries ; to this we may add in support of a com- 

 mon origin : a variety of animals sacred to both faiths, from some sup- 

 posed qualities of their own, originating in the same common idea, 

 modified by various causes, of which the principal are the Crocodile, 

 Snake, Cow, Bull, Monkey, Ibis, &c. 



The date for the introduction of Buddhism into the peninsula, is 

 supposed to have been about the commencement of the third centu- 

 ry, flourishing until the 7th, when either embarrassed by a cumbrous 



