60 
ried in obscurity,, and lost in fable, has baffled the researches of 
the ablest investigators. Megasthenes, who was sent ambassador 
by Seleucus, to Sandracottos, king of Practri, whose dominion 
now forms the fertile provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Oude, wrote 
an account of his embassy, which Arrian has preserved in his his- 
tory of India; and that narrative, written two thousand years ago, 
when compared with the modern history of the Hindoos, convinces 
us how little change they have undergone in that long period: nor 
have the conquests and cruelties of their Mahomedan invaders, 
nor their commercial intercourse with the Europeans settled among 
them, been able to alter the long established manners and customs, 
so deeply interwoven with their religious tenets. 
The Hindoos are divided into four principal tribes; the Brah- 
min, the Cshatriya, or Ketterree, the Bhyse, and the Sooder; and 
these chief tribes, or castes, are distinguished as the followers of 
Vishnoo, and Seeva; called Vishnoo-bukht, and Seeva-hukht. 
The Brahmins study religion, astronomy, arts and sciences: 
they are the instructors of youth, take care of the dewfahs, or 
temples, and perform every kind of charity. The Cshatriya tribe 
includes kings, nobles, magistrates, officers, and the superior orders 
of mankind. The Vursya, or Bhyse, are employed in commerce, 
agriculture, arms, and the occupation of shepherds and herdsmen. 
The Sudra, or Sooder, includes manufacturers, mechanics, servants, 
and all the lower classes of society. Each of these principal tribes 
is subdivided into a number of classes, or castes, amounting in ail 
to eighty-four; who neither intermarry, nor intimately associate 
with each other. So that each caste dithers in features, dress, and 
appearance, as much as if they were of different nations; and by 
