66 IJVJ?IA 
religions, could have found a few hundred 
thousand years quite as ample as three or 
four millions to beget that obscurity, uncer- 
tainty, and contradiction which have afforded 
ample scope for the exploitation of all sorts 
of theories and for the construction of sys- 
tems innumerable. Histories of India^ which 
are rarely, if ever, read, burden the shelves 
of all libraries. But, if its chronology is to 
the last degree confusing, and, indeed, in- 
comprehensible, the country itself surpasses 
all others in that which interests the traveler 
and fascinates the reader. The terms mag- 
nificence, grandeur, and splendor do not 
reach the limit of hyperbole without the pre- 
fix Oriental,” and India is the country, of all 
countries, which has given this adjective to the 
vocabulary. Its luxuriant forests and inter- 
minable jungles abound in the noblest game 
that ever falls before the sportsman’s rifle. 
Accounts of travels through the country are 
therefore sure to be diversified with thrilling 
adventure. Its temples surpass those to be 
found in any other country, not only in num- 
ber, but in colossal grandeur and exquisite 
delicacy of architecture ; the antiquity of its 
ruins and their wonderful extent give the arch- 
seologist the widest scope for research; and its 
native princes, although shorn of much of 
their former glory, still live in a magnificent 
luxury, which revives the glories of the “Ara- 
bian Nights,” and makes even those imagi- 
native tales seem at least to be founded in 
fact. There is a marvelous fascination in 
accounts of this strange land, and when the 
narrative is rehearsed by an impressionable 
and enthusiastic Frenchman, whose imagi- 
nation is keenly alive to the scenes through 
which he passed, and who has unusual skill 
in depicting with pen and pencil the won- 
ders he witnesses, we have a book of travels 
not only interesting and valuable for the in- 
formation it conveys, but which, in its exter- 
nal attractions, reaches the dignity of a 
work of art. Such a volume is that superb 
quarto, “India and its Native Princes: 
Travels in Central India in the Presidencies 
of Bombay and Bengal,” by M. Louis Rous- 
selet, just issued in this country by Messrs. 
Scribner, Armstrong & Co. M. Rousselet’s 
journeys in India covered a period of between 
four and five years, — from 1864 to 1868. 
During this time he visited the extreme south- 
ern part of the peninsula, reaching Seringa- 
patam and Outakamand, Hyderabad and 
Aurungabad. To the northward he visited 
Agra, Delhi, Meerut, and the mountainous re- 
gion of Peshawur, meanwhile traveling exten- 
sively in the interior. Crossing the country. 
he stopped at Lucknow, Benares and Patna, 
thus reaching Calcutta, whence he visited 
all the points of interest in the adjacent 
country. Then going down the coast to 
Madras and Pondicherry, he made a short 
stay in Ceylon, and so returned home. This 
brief itinerary is sufficient to indicate the 
thoroughness with which M. Rousselet pros- 
ecuted his explorations. No other work of 
travels in this extremely interesting country 
gives so comprehensive a view of it, and none 
other sketches with such fidelity and sus- 
tained interest its wonderful ruins, its mag- 
nificent temples, and the characteristics of 
its people and their rulers. 
Without following M. Rousselet step by 
step — for this would involve a reproduction 
of the volume itself— we shall present, with 
slight abridgment and disconnectedly, a few 
of his picturesque descriptions and instruct- 
ive paragraphs. 
Reaching Bombay in the midst of the 
rainy season — in July, 1864 — our traveler 
was detained there until it should be practi- 
cable to penetrate the interior. But the two 
or three months spent in this active com- 
mercial city and its vicinity were industri- 
ously improved. A glance at the map will 
show that the island of Bombay forms part 
of an important group of islands, which, 
placed in front of the estuary of a river, ap- 
pear to form a kind of delta. It is the port 
of arrival for all who come from Persia, from 
Arabia, from Affghanistan, and the coast of 
Africa; and from it the pilgrims from Hindus- 
tan, bound to Mecca, Karbala, or Nujilf, take 
their departure. Besides the indigenous races, 
which still present great variety, one meets 
the Persian with his high cap of Astrakhan ; 
the Arab in his Biblical costume ; the Tomale 
negro with fine, intelligent features ; the Chi- 
nese, the Burmese, and the Malay. The 
corpulent Buniahs of Kutch or Goojerat, 
with their pyramids of muslin on their heads, 
raise their voices in rivalry with the natives 
of Cabul or Scinde ; the Hindu fakir, naked 
and hideously painted, elbows the Portu- 
guese priest in his sable robe, and the beg- 
gar, clad in tatters and repulsive in the ex- 
treme, clamors for alms. 
Bombay supplies the products of Europe 
to two-thirds of India. The trade of which 
it has legitimately the command, apparently 
ought to be sufficient to satisfy the ambi- 
tion of its merchants, but M. Rousselet re- 
minds us of a time when they boldly 
grasped after more, and, failing, plunged the 
community into the disorders of a terrible 
crisis. The series of events which had this 
