The Syrian or primitive church of Malayála Christians acknowledges Saint Thomas for its founder; and from the earliest dawn of Christianity in India, the tomb of that apostle has been as much venerated in the East as the tomb of Saint Peter was at Rome. This is not asserted on the authority of any obscure tradition, but unites in its favour all the proofs which can warrant its correctness: the accumulated testimonies of the first ages of the church; of Saint Jerome; of Saint John, surnamed Chrysostom; Athanasius, and Eusebius.

The following Paper having been referred by the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society to Sir John Malcolm, for his opinion as to its eligibility for insertion in the Printed Transactions of the Society, was returned by that distinguished and lamented individual, with a Letter of which a copy is subjoined, and which will be found to point out, in a very satisfactory manner, the practical value of Mr. Edye's communication.

As the following remarks by a member of the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society may be considered an appropriate introduction to this subject, they are here prefixed.

I Have perused with attention the report on Hindú Infanticide in Cutch, by Mr. Burnes, affording evidence of the assiduity which marks all his researches.

Its publication in our Journal I should judge every way desirable; for it calls the notice of the public to the circumstance that the total suppression of this practice has not been effected; and we cannot aspire to higher merit than in laudably exerting ourselves to the promotion of such public measures as may tend to the well-doing of our fellow-creatures.

The following remarks refer more particularly to the Southern Peninsula of India; but they may perhaps be considered to apply equally, with regard to her ancient institutions of this nature, to India in general; as the Southern Peninsula has undergone, comparatively, but little change from foreign conquest and domination.

The following, from Colonel Frederick, bears such honourable testimony to the character and merits of the much-lamented author of the accompanying Dissertation, that the Council deems it highly deserving of being recorded.

Much discussion having arisen as to whether the Eastern or Western branch of the Indus was formerly the grand stream of the river, and likewise as to the route pursued by Alexander the Great through Sindh, a few remarks from me may perhaps be excused, although the subject is one from which little profit can be derived, and on which it behoves every one to speak with caution and diffidence. Having, however, travelled over a considerable portion of the country, and by personal observation and inquiry made myself acquainted with many circumstances bearing on this topic, I am induced to offer the following facts and surmises for the consideration of those who are in any way interested in the question affecting the route of the Macedonian conqueror; but before entering on this discussion, it will be as well to describe the general features of the Indus as they now exist, in its course through Sindh.

This vessel, in height, measured nine Chinese inches and two-tenths; its containing depth was eight inches; its circumference, at the top, seven inches and eight-tenths; and at the centre, seven inches and fivetenths. It weighed seven Chinese pounds and twelve ounces, and was capable of containing three quarts. On the back was engraved the above inscription, which is now written Tsun foo Kwei. The last character was the name of the father of Ching-tang, the founder of the Shang dynasty, and the vessel is supposed to have been made by order of Ching-tang, in honour of his ancestor's having possessed himself of the empire. Tsun (a son), the first character, which was the name he assumed, represents him as grasping a sword in each hand: it is considered a very early mode of writing the character. The vessel, which is of a quadrangular form, is highly valued for its antiquity, and its workmanship is considered very beautiful. When sacrificing, two of these vessels were commonly used for containing wine.

The Penal Law of Nepál, a Hindú state, is necessarily founded on the S'ástras; nor is there any thing material in its marvellous crimes, and more marvellous proofs, for which abundance of justificatory texts may not be produced out of the code of Menu, and others equally well known on the plains.

The accompanying illustrations, with their descriptions, have been taken from an ancient Chinese work, entitled, Pŏ-koo-too, which extends to sixteen large Chinese volumes, and contains several hundred plates of sacred vases, jugs, bottles, &c., &c., of the Shang, Chow, and Han dynasties, comprehending about 1784 years. The compilers of this work were doubtless at considerable trouble and expense; for they state that they examined most of the vases, &c., themselves, and that such as did not come under their notice were copied from works of unquestionable authority.

The author of the Tohfat-al-Giráni states, that “the country of Sindh takes its name from Sind, the brother of Hind, the son of Noah. It is reckoned the forty-third of the sixty-one countries of the universe. The line of the second climate passes, from the north, directly through its centre; and although Sindh is situated in the five first climates, it nevertheless chiefly appertains to the second, and, consequently, lies in the region of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.” It would be difficult to discover where the author quoted has found these grandsons of the patriarch; indeed, as is usual in such genealogies, they are probably altogether imaginary. The Hindú writings may, perhaps, afford some more satisfactory explanation of the name; but I have not been so fortunate as to meet with it. As far as I can learn from such sources, this country was called Sindhúdès, or “the country of the ocean,” alluding doubtless to the river Indus, which receives that dignified appellation in their sacred writings. The same authorities also state Sindh to have been governed by a Xhuthi, named Jayadrat'ha, who was slain in the civil wars of the Pandús; and it has, in consequence, sometimes received the name of Jayadrat'hadès, after that chieftain.

[With a view to obtain correct and authentic information on the subject of Nepálese law, both in its theoretical principles and practical administration, Mr. Hodgson addressed a series of questions to several individuals who were judged most capable of replying to them in a full and satisfactory manner. Copies of these series of interrogatories, with their respective answers, have been communicated by him to the Royal Asiatic Society (together with a separate paper on crimes and punishments); and the following article has been drawn up from a careful comparison of the whole, excluding as much as possible the repetitions unavoidably occurring, in many instances, in the various answers to any particular question. A reference to the works of Kirkpatrick, Hamilton, and others, will shew how little has hitherto been contributed to the knowledge of Europeans respecting Oriental systems of jurisprudence, as far as regards the kingdom of Nepal; it is therefore particularly gratifying to be enabled to produce so complete a view of the subject as has been furnished by Mr. Hodgson, whose perseverance and energy in obtaining an acquaintance with these and other matters hitherto kept sacred from all strangers, are only equalled by the intelligent and liberal manner in which he communicates to the public the information he has acquired.—Ed.

In presenting to the Royal Asiatic Society a Model of the Tabernacle of the Hindús (in which they take their principal deities out in procession), it may be necessary to observe, that a number of men having placed it on their shoulders, proceed to the appointed spot, accompanied and preceded by priests, singers, players on musical instruments, and the dancing-girls of the temple. In the book of Numbers, eh. i. v. 50, it is written: “Thou shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all the things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, &c.” It is worthy of observation, with regard to the Hindú tabernacle, that it is carried by priests, where there is a sufficient number; and where not, the highest classes among the laymen perform that office.

The P'hansigárs are a tribe of, perhaps, the most deliberate and decided villains that stain the face of the earth. I hardly know whether they should be called a tribe, for they have no distinct religion or prejudices; they admit into their fraternity persons of all castes and persuasions; and the gangs which are found in different parts of the country appear to have no general knowledge of, or connexion with, each other, further than the diabolical compact existing among a few of the members who may at any period have acted in concert in their trade of villany. The following few particulars I gathered from the examination of part of a large gang which inhabited a village on the western frontier of the Nizáms country, not very far from Bíjápúr.

In the First Volume of the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, page 240, will be found a brief sketch of the nature, constitution, and objects of the secret fraternity called the “Triad Society,” written by the late Rev. Dr. Milne, and communicated by Dr. Morrison. The. Manifesto, of which a copy is subjoined, appears to have been put forth on swearing in members of that Association. It was found in the English burial-ground at Macao, on the night of Sunday the 19th of October 1828.

On the 1st of June 1823, I visited the “Pinjra Pol,” at Surat; a place which is appropriated for the reception of old, worn-out, lame, or disabled animals. At that time, they chiefly consisted of buffaloes and cows; but there were also goats and sheep, and even cocks and hens; some of which latter had lost their feathers, and here, shorn of their plumes, walked about the courts without molestation.

[Since the sheet containing the former paper on this subject, by Lieutenant Burnes, was printed off, the Society has been favoured, by that gentleman, with a copy of his letter to Lieutenant-Colonel Pottinger, detailing the substance of a conversation which took place between himself and some of the Jhárejá chieftains, shortly after the delivery of letters from the Bombay government to the Rao of Cutch, deprecating the continuance of the practice of female infanticide in his dominions. This document is curious as explaining the sentiments of these individuals in regard to this practice, almost in their own words, and will tend to the completion of the evidence in our possession as to the existence of this inhuman custom.]

Circassia is a country as yet unknown to Europeans; and, for this reason alone, it is supposed to be an inhospitable country. This general opinion deprives its inhabitants of intercourse with those nations from whom they might receive the benefits of civilization. Masters of the eastern borders of the Black Sea, between the territories of Russia, their coast is only frequented by the Turks, who are but little capable of refining their manners and diffusing among them the seeds of industry; and it is not therefore surprising that the Circassians, thus left to themselves, should still exist in the state of barbarism which they have inherited from their ancestors.

[The increasing interest connected with the progress of commerce in central Asia, and the scarcity of authentic information illustrative of that subject, renders it probable that the subjoined documents may not be devoid of use with reference to any future researches of the same nature, and it has, therefore, been deemed advisable to place them on record in the pages of this Journal.]—Ed.

[No questions of greater practical importance, perhaps, have ever occupied the attention of the British government in India, than those of the allodial rights of the inhabitants, and the amount and species of revenue which it might be justified in claiming from them. There are certainly none, among the vast number of peculiar and delicate cases connected with the government of our possessions in that country, which have elicited so much conflicting opinion, which have been more ably argued by men of the highest talent and information, or which have appeared more difficult of solution.

The large province of Gujarát, or Guzarát, including the peninsula of Katiawár, extends from Banswárah to Dwarka, or, from east to west, about two hundred and ninety miles; and from Bírgaon, in Jalór, to Damán, or, from north to south, about three hundred miles. It is watered by several considerable rivers; among which the Narbada and the Mahi were known to Ptolemy. This, which is one of the most productive districts of India, supplies the greater part of the commercial articles exported from the port of Bombay: these are cotton, opium, saltpetre, indigo, tobacco, grain, and gold-cloths.