DR. BALFOUR'S " CYCLOP/EDLA. OF INDIA."

THESE three volumes contain an enormous qnantity of informa- tion about India and Southern Asia generally, and it would be impossible to name any other publication which supplies any- thing approaching the same amount of facts and figures bearing on the past and present condition of that large quarter of the world. We say this with a fall knowledge that there are inaccuracies here and there ; but these do not seriously detract from the merit of Dr. Balfour's great work, on which be has expended the thought and labour of a life-

time. The Cyclopedia is his own unaided production, the result of much discursive reading and no incon- siderable research, guided by an Indian experience of fifty years. It would have been better certainly to have confined the contents to India, with a brief description of the neighbouring countries; but Dr. Balfour's error is on the right side, and one for which the general inquirer will not blame him. Considering that Siberia is the only region of Asia entirely excluded from Dr. Balfour's pages, the wide range of his subject may be realised; and it will be admitted that, with comparatively slight additions, it might be converted into a cyclopa3dia of the whole of Asia. In short, Dr. Balfour has placed within reach of every student the principal details of every material element in the national life of the people of India. He has added to that a record of many facts relating to their neighbours which it is useful to have in so accessible a form. His volumes are quite

indispensable to all dealing with Indian questions, whether in the Press or in Parliament, for it would be hard to name a single subject on which be has not collected much curious and useful information. With regard tc, the scope of the work, we cannot do better than quote what the author says in his preface :—

"The first edition of this Cyclopae ha was published in 1858, in India, the second, also in India, in 1873, and the years 1877 to 1884 inclusive have been occupied in revising it for publication in England. During this process, every likely source of further information has been examined, and many references made. I am under obligations to many learned men, to the Secretariat Officers of the Indian Govern- ments, and to the Record and Library officers of the India Office, Colonial Office, and British Museum, for their ready response to my applications for aid. This edition contains 35,000 articles and 16,000 index headings relating to an area of 30,360,571 square kilometers (11,722,708 square miles), peopled by 704,401,171 scads. In dealing with subjects in quantities of such magnitude, oversights and points needing correction cannot but have occurred ; but it is believed that errata are not many, and will be of a kind that can be readily remedied. It is inevitable that difficulties in transliteration should be experienced, owing to the variously accented forms which some words assume even among tribes * The Cyclopedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia ; Commercial. Industrial, and &bailie. Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Hug. dome, Useful Arts and Manufactures. By Surgeon-General Edward Balfour. vole. Third Edition. London: Bernard Quaritah. 1%5.

of the same race, also to the different values accepted in many languages for the same letters, and especially to the want of corre- spondence in the letters of the several Eastern alphabets; but in this work traditional and historical spelling has not been deviated from, and the copious indices will guide to words of less settled ortho- graphy. Men of the same race, habits, and customs, plants and animals of the same natural families, genera, and even species, are so widely distributed throughout the Smith and East of Asia, that local histories of them are fragmentary and incomplete. India in its ethnology, its flora and fauna, can therefore only be fairly dealt with by embracing a wider area. This is the reason why the Cyclopeedia and my work on the timber-trees include all Eastern and Southern Asia."

A cyclopedia as a collection of knowledge is necessarily a work which does not lend itself to the purposes of a review. The functions of criticism may be considered as performed when it is stated that the information covers a certain field, and that it is to be found within these volumes. We may, however, single out a few of the many passages which have caught our eye as being of particular interest, giving a word of especial praise to all the articles on objects of natural history. The population of India, including the native States, is 240,000,000. The majority of these are of Aryan race, and they are divided by two broad distinctions of creed into Hindoos and Mahomedans. But the earlier races who held the Peninsula before the wave of Aryan immigration broke over it have left some permanent trace of their presence in the rude and semi-savage tribes which hang on to the fringe of English civilisation in the country. These tribes are of little or no political importance. They only present features of interest to those who care to inquire into the primitive condition of the human family as illustrated by their manner of living. This is what Dr. Balfour has to say on the subject :— "In British India, in the south-east of Asia, and in China, many of the races dwelling in political dependency are supposed to be the prior occupants, and on that account are distinguished by this term. Some of them are in large nationalities, others broken, dispersed, disconnected, even homeless. The daces of the first arrivals in British India are, however, wholly unknown. But the bulk of the immigrants seem to have come from beyond the Himalaya on the north, at inter- vals ranging between 3,000 and 1,000 years before the Christian era. Small bodies is the north-west corner of the peninsula appear to be of western origin. There are also peoples in the southern parts of the peninsulas of India and Malacca with marked negro features, and such recur as large or small nations in the Andamans, the Malay Peninsula, and in the Archipelago islands, with traces also in the valleys of Northern India, as if there had once been a great Negro wave setting to the east, or had been prior Negroid races occupying the southern parts of Asia. A great bulk of the original settlers in India—labourers, farmers, foresters, shepherds, cowherds, artificers, and professional races—seem to have come down the valleys of the Indus, of the Ganges, and Brahmaputra, and to have streamed through the gaps in the Himalayas ; and from the practice followed of living apart, as castes who neither eat together nor intermarry, most of the immigrant tribes and races are now as distinctly marked as on the days of their first appearance."

While this is interesting enough with regard to the aborigines in general, the history of each particular race is treated at con- siderable length. We may mention the Bhils as being specially well done. Another description of a somewhat similar character comes under the head of "Boats and Ships of the Ganges," wherein an exceedingly graphic account is given of the occupa- tions of the riverine population. The classes and crafts of which the Indian people are composed are distinguishable from each other by as clearly marked features as if they were distinct peoples. We can best illustrate this fact by quoting what Dr. Balfour writes about the Banjara, who are chiefly grain and salt merchants, and who are to be found in different parts of India :—

" The Banjara generally possess large herds of cattle, which they convert into pack-animals ; even cows are made to carry burdens, which, as a rule, no other class of natives do ; and it is no unusual thing to see among a herd of Baujara bullocks several cows laden with burdens, with young calves at their heels. One or more of their best bullocks are selected as leaders ; their horns and the crests of their pack-saddles are ornamented with cowries, scarlet cloths, peacocks' feathers, tassels of cotton variously coloured, Sec.; their necks are encircled with a band of scarlet cloth or leather, to which is fastened numerous bells, which give out a monotonous sound. The selected animal is supposed to be deified, forming the protector of the herd, and is termed Guru Bail. The jingle of the bells and the ornamentation of the animals are said to frighten away beasts of prey in their lonely and jangly marches. The cattle are let loose as soon as the march is over, to enable them to pick up what they can by browsing in the vicinity. The Banjara is independent of villages generally in his travels. As soon as the encampment is fixed ou, he unloads his bullocks, and packs the loads in tiers, and over them he stretches an awning of cloth or a cumbly, as protection from the weather. At night the cattle are tied round the packages in a circle ; in the midst, the Banjara lights a fire and lies down to sleep. He is up at sunrise, loads his bullocks, and proceeds to the next stage; the distance travelled is generally from ten to fifteen miles a day. On these journeys one or more of their women accompany them. These men were the great grain-carriers of the Moghul armies, and csane down with them into the Dekhan early in the seventeenth century. Two brothers of the Charans, one of the three great tribes. into which the Banjaras are divided, are said, in the year 1730, to have possessed 180,000 bullocks, which carried Asaf Jah's provisions for him during his raids. So much were these carriers prized by that Wazir that he gave to these two brothers Jhangi and Bhangi prescriptive rights

engraved upon copper in gold letters This was to induce them to keep up with the army and stop their complaints of want of grass and water for their cattle. The descendants of the house of Bhangi still possess the above engraving."

We have referred to the special excellence of the articles de- scribing the natural productions of the country ; and the chief sources of wealth, such as tea, coffee, indigo, opium, and cotton, are well and exhaustively described. Trees and plants are necessarily handled with great skill and intimate knowledge by one who has written the standard work on the subject of Indian timber. The special feature of these volumes must, no doubt, be considered its accurate and interesting contributions to the natural history of Southern Asia. The reader will find, besides the solid facts connected with each subject, many curious bits of information picked up in odd corners, and throwing light on the habits of the people and also on the origin of many things now in common use, but of which the early history is either unknown or forgotten. As a specimen of this, we may quote some parts of the article on curry :—

" Two hundred years before the Portuguese had appeared in the Indian seas, Ibn Batnta describes the natives of Ceylon as eating curry, which he calls in Arabic conchan ;' in modern Arabic idaan ' is the name. In the 119.javali, also, this article of diet is mentioned as in use in Ceylon in the second century of this era. Nevertheless, several writers have suggested that the word has been introdaced from the Portuguese. The name is probably from the Tamil word kadai ' or karai,' a bazaar ; and Tamil children in the Peninsula sing a nursery song : — 'Kai vies ammah kai vies

Kadi ki polarn kai vise.'

Swing your band, mother, swing your hand; Let us go to the market, swing your hand.'

Curry in Urdu is called &din,' in Tamil'kern,' in Telugu koors,' in Persian nan-khurish.' Corry is daily used in every family on the Indian sea-coast wherever the Bengali, the Tamil, Telugu, and Mabratta people have spread, and in greater or less quantity, according to the means of the family, always with vegetables and with mutton or fowl, as they can afford. The ingredients are usually brought fresh from the market daily ; but Europeans in India often grind and keep the dry materials in powder. There are very numerous receipts; but almost every household has one of its own, and up to the middle of the nineteenth century many houses prided themselves on their curries."

Animals receive not less attention at the hands of Dr. Balfour, and be provides graphic accounts of the larger beasts, such as the elephant, the tiger, &c.; while the most destructive of all the enemies of man, the snake, is treated of under three separate headings—reptiles, snakes, and serpents. The loss of life caused by these creatures is enormous and almost incredible, and up to the present time, the efforts of the Government and the people themselves have proved not less abortive in reducing their numbers than the attempts of science have been to discover an antidote for their poison. One of the most curious descriptions of animals is that of the wild dog of Nepal :—

"In the Nepal hills the dhole or wild dog are found in packs, vary- ing from fifty to two hundred, and the havock committed by them among the flocks of sheep and hill-cattie is incredible. Their destruc- tion of deer, also, is immense, and their mode of hunting may be worthy of mention. In size, the wild dog is little larger than the common jackal of India, but longer in the body, and possessing mach greater power, with a very formidable set of jaws. Colour, a rich reddish brown ; with scenting qualities of the highest order. Soon after nightfall the pack assemble at a given cry, when they disperse in threes and fours in search of game. The first party that hit off the trail open, when the whole pack rash to them, and when all are assembled, fasten to the trail and off they go. The deer soon become alarmed and double, when the pack immediately tell off in parties, each one rushing to the different passes for which deer are known to make, and on the deer attempting to pass either, it is immediately seized by the party, who utter a simultaneous cry, and the whole pack then rush in, and the deer is at once devoured. Fresh game is next sought, and in the same way destroyed; and this species of bunting is continued, according to the size of the pack, till all their appetites are appeased, when they retire to their almost inaccessible fastnesses in the rocks, and remain for three or four days, until hunger again drives them forth on another excursion. From their destructive qualities, the wild dogs hardly ever remain longer than a month in the same locality, having in that time effectually seared away all the deer for miles

around."

Among other sources of Indian wealth may be mentioned jewels, of which pearls and diamonds are the most remarkable. During the last century the trade in these articles was at its height of prosperity, and some of the most famous stones now in Europe were then brought from India. Dr. Balfour gives an account of all the historic stones in existence ; and, on the subject of diamonds, he also writes :—

"Diamonds in the rough are unattractive pebbles. Even with these who profess to be acquainted with precious stones, the white sapphire and topaz occasionally pass for the diamond. Some of the Ceylon diamonds which the Singhalese offer for sale are made of rock- crystal. The art of cutting diamonds is practised to some extent in India. A knowledge of this art, however, is not very common, as may be concluded when we mention that all Europe only possesses in Amsterdam one great diamond-cutting establishment filled by work- men of the Jewish race, and in London another. The diamonds seen in such abundance amongst the wealthy natives of India are almost all out in Europe."

These passages will serve to indicate the value of this work as a book of reference. We can give it no higher praise than to say that it has absolutely no rival, and hardly a competitor, in this respect. To those who desire an easy and simple means of learning something about India, and of following the course of events in that country, Dr. Balfour's Cyclopcedia is absolutely indispensable.