H aving briefly mentioned the animal and vegetable productions 
of Bombay, I shall proceed to describe its inhabitants, commenc- 
ing with the Hindoos, the aborigines of Hindostan. From the 
northern mountains of Thibet and Tartary, to the southern pro- 
montory of Cape Comorin; and from the western shores of the 
Indus to the eastern banks of the Ganges, extended the boundaries 
of the vast empire of the ancient Hindoos; a country comprising 
nearly as much land as half the continent of Europe, and con- 
taining about seventy millions of inhabitants. 
The Persians gave it the name of Hindustan, from being the 
country of the Hindus, or Hindoos; but in more early ages it was 
called by themselves Bharata, and sometimes Punyabhumi, or the 
land of virtues: a name expressive of the gentle government, and 
flourishing condition of a mild and happy people. The Greeks 
derived the name of India, which has been so generally adopted, 
from the Persian appellation; and in modern times, India has 
been used as a general name, not only for the extensive region 
abovementioned, but the still more eastern tracts of country, with 
the island of Ceylon, and those in the oriental archipelago. 
The origin of the Hindoos, like that of most other nations, bu« 
