Chap. XXV". Malabar and Coromandel. 
in the Indies^ where the Heat of the Sun 
Beams invites the Inhabitants to pafs away 
the middle of the Day (when they arc 
Hnfit; for Bufinefs) at their eafe. They 
have alfo a conltant Guftom of wafiiing 
their IMouths after Dinner. About three 
or four a Clock in the Afternoon they 
take their Tea, and after that a Walk j 
the Evenings and Nights being pretty cool 
and very j)leafant here, efpecially when 
the Moon Hiines. They lup commonly 
about 7 or 8 a Clock, but very moderate- 
ly, and go to flcep about lo or i i upon 
Fiutber- Quilts, Feather- beds being not us'd in 
beds- mt the Indlts : But care muffc be taken to co- 
^f'^J'y^^- vcv \vc\] your Belly, Hips and Legs, for 
" fear of the Cramp, efpecially if you lie 
expos'd to the open Air in Moon-fliiny 
Nights, the negled of which often proves 
fatal to the Soldiers and Seamen, after 
they have heated therafelves with ^jy?^, 
or other ftrong Liquors. 
Thus much of the manner of Living 
of the Hollanders in the Eafi-Indies. Con- 
cerning the different Clans or Families of 
the Indians^ the manner of Living, Au- 
flerity and Prerogatives of the Brahmans^ 
their redam Fafts, Marriages, FeaOrs, 
Burials, Mr. yibraham Rogerius has given 
fo exad an account, that it would be need- 
Icfs to repeat them here. The Foundati- 
on, Strength and Magnificence of their 
Tagodes^ efpecially of thofe dedicated to 
Wifnou and Efwara^ with their Revenues 
and Idols, arc likewife mofb exadly de- 
fcrib'd by the fame Author and among 
other things, that their Pagodes have no 
other Light but what they receive thro a 
Hole on the top^ that they are divided 
into three feveral Vaults, fupported by 
Storle Pillars: The firfl: whereof ftands 
open to all Goers and Comers : The fe- 
cond has two ftrong Doors, which arc 
kept open in the day time, and guarded 
by a certain number of Brabmans : The 
third part is always kept clofe, being the 
Refidenceof the Idol, before which hang 
Lamps, which never ceafc to burn. But 
of the religious Wor&ip of the Inhabi- 
tants of Coromandel, Malabar andCejylon^ 
vtre ftiall treat more at large in the third 
Part of this Treatife. 
And fince we have had occafion to fpeak 
fo much of the Places between the Rivers 
Indus and Ganges^ commonly known by 
the Name of India on this fide the Ganges, 
we muft alfo fay fomething concerning 
G^n ^'^^'^ ^^^^^ Rivers. The Ganges exone- 
rates it felf into the Sea of Bengale, call'd 
otherwife Sinus Gangettcus and Sinus Arga- 
ricm by Ptolomey^ dividing the moft 
Eafterly Part of the Indies from the 
Weftern Parts ^ the firft whereof com- ■^-/'--^ 
prehend Bengal, Aracan, Pegu, Malacca, Baldxus, 
Sumatra, &c. According to the opinion 
of St. Aujlin, St. Jerojn, Ambrcfe, and 
many others of the antient Fathers, ths 
Ganges is the fame which is in the Holy 
Scripture caird Pijbn; butCorndnu a La- 
pidc has fiifiiciencly demoafliatod that 
Pifon cannot be tiie River Ganges, no more 
than Gihoniht Nilus. The general Opi- 
nion is that the Source of the Ganges is 
in the Mount CaUcafiis, as thofe of the 
Eufljrates and Tigris are in the Aymenian 
Mountains, and that of ihz Nile among 
the Alountains of the Moon, near the Cape 
of Good Hope on the African Coaft ; tho 
Father Kircher puts the original Rife of 
the Nile in the Country of Agaos near 
Sagela bordering upon the Kingdom of 
Gojam. The Source arifes in a Plain on The Source 
the very top of the Mountain, furround- "ff^^^ 
ed with delightful Trees ^ but does not^^^° 
gather into a Rivulet till at the Foot of 
the faid Mountain j and being augment- 
ed by the accefllon of divers other Brooks, 
gathers into a Lake of 30 Leagues in 
length, and 14 in breadth. From hence 
it purfues its Courfe, and by various 
Turnings and Windings returns near the 
Place of its Source, whence palTing thro 
the Rocks and Precipices, it continues its 
Courfe into the middle of Ethiopia. Ifaac '^L.z.c.jz, 
ro/fim derives the Rife of the Nile out of ^^gn%; 
Goyome^ a Province of thz Abyjfmes, and ftiaNili, 
fays, that among other Titles that King ^thiopes 
makes ufe of this : King of Goyome, where aucemejus 
the Nile has its Rife. The antient Egyp- 
tians had fo great a Veneration for the 
Nile, that they bellow'd the Title of the 
Arm of Oftr'vs upon it : For as the Pagans 
nurabred the reft of the Elements among 
the Gods, fo they had no lefs opinion of 
the Waters, efpecially in the Great Ri- 
vers. Hence it is that the Inhabitants 
near the Ganges call it the Heavenly Ri- 
ver, and are of opinion, that the Wa- 
ters of that River cleanfe them from their 
Sins; nay thofe of Bengale arefo fuper- 
ftitious in this Point, as to carry theic 
fick and dying Friends to this River,' 
where they lay them up to the middle in 
Water : And for fuch as have no Oppor- 
tunity or Strength to be carry'd thither, 
they are perfwaded, that if they wafli 
themfelves with any other Water, and at 
the fame time think upon the faid River, 
faying, Ganges, purify mc, they (hall be 
cleanfed from their Sins, f j'tTwi* ob- f AnnorJ 
ferves, that it was the general Opinion li^;^- 
of the Heathens, that the Water would 
cleanfe them from their Sins : Which 
fccms to agree with what is related of 
PUate„ 
