BY. THE ANCIENT HINDUS. 



229 



The proportion of saltpetre varies, as some take 4 or 6 

 parts instead of 5, but the quantities of sulphur and charcoal 

 remain unaltered. 114 These two are the usual receipts. 

 Nevertheless the mixture is often changed when the gun- 

 powder is to be of a particular color or if it has to serve a 

 special purpose. The three principal ingredients are mixed 

 in different proportion, and realgar, opiment, graphite, 

 vermilion, the powder of magnetic iron oxide, camphor, lac, 

 indigo, and pine-gum are added to the compound according 

 as they are required. 115 



It seems peculiar that powder should not have been 

 mentioned in Sanskrit works, but this is not an isolated 

 instance of the silence observed in them on matters of his- 

 torical importance. It is most probable that the very common 

 occurrence of gunpowder interfered with its being regarded 

 as something extraordinary and worth mentioning. The 

 actual mode of preparing the different sorts of gunpowder 

 may on the other hand have been kept a secret in certain 

 classes, and such a state of affairs coincides with the Indian 

 system of caste. Explosive powder either used for rejoicings 

 as fireworks or for discharging projectiles- was known in 

 India from the earliest period, and its preparation was never 

 forgotten ; but as India occupied in ancient times such an 

 isolated position, it is not singular that the knowledge of 

 this compound did not earlier extend to other countries. 

 However wonderful the composition and however startling 

 the detonating effect of powder may be to the uninitiated 

 outsider, to those who have been familiar with them from 

 their earliest youth all seems natural and intelligible. India 

 is the land of fireworks; no festival is complete without 

 them, and as the materials for their manufacture are all 

 indigenous, and of easy access, there is no difficulty in 

 gratifying such desires. 



114 See Chapter V, si. 143. 



115 See Chapter V, si. 146-148. 



