of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal."

[25] Dr. Helfer, "Asiatic Society of Bengal," vol. viii.

[26] "Asiatic Researches," vol. v.

[27] Dr. Buchanan, "Asiatic Researches," vol. v.

[28] Macrae in "Asiatic Researches," vol. vii.

[29] Eliot, in "Asiatic Transactions," vol. iii.

[30] Eliot, _ut supra_.

[31] For Jan. 1849.

[32] "Transactions of the British Association for the Advancement of
Science," 1844.

[33] "Statistical Sketch of Kumaon," by G. W. Traill, Asiatic
Researches, vol. xvi.

[34] From the Greek _polys_=_many_, and _anaer_=_man_.

[35] Eliot in "Asiatic Researches," vol. iv.

[36] Captain S. C. Macpherson, "Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol.
xiii.

[37] See Lieut. Newbold, "Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. viii.

[38] Lieut. C. P. Rigby, in "Transactions of the Bombay Geographical
Society," May to August 1850.

[39] The Soars of Orissa.

[40] Col. Todd, "Travels in Western India."

CHAPTER IV.

THE SANSKRIT LANGUAGE.--ITS RELATIONS TO CERTAIN MODERN LANGUAGES
OF INDIA; TO THE SLAVONIC AND LITHUANIC OF EUROPE.--INFERENCES.--
BRAHMINISM OF THE PURANAS--OF THE INSTITUTES OF MENU.--EXTRACT.--OF
THE VEDAS.--EXTRACT.--INFERENCES.--THE HINDUS.--SIKHS.--BILUCHI.--
AFGHANS.--WANDERING TRIBES.--MISCELLANEOUS POPULATIONS.--CEYLON.--
BUDDHISM.--DEVIL-WORSHIP.--VADDAHS.

The language called _Sanskrit_ has a peculiar alphabet. It has long been
written, and embodies an important literature. It has been well studied;
and its ethnological affinities are understood. They are at least as
remarkable as any other of its characters.

Like most other tongues, it falls into dialects; just like the ancient
Greek. Like the Doric, AEolic, and Ionic, these dialects were spoken over
distant countries, and cultivated at different periods. Like them, too,
each is characterized by its peculiar literature.

The Sanskrit itself, in its oldest form, is the _Vedaic_ dialect of the
religious hymns called _Vedas_--of great, but of exaggerated, antiquity.

Another form of equal antiquity is the language of the Persepolitan and
other arrow-headed inscriptions. These are of a known antiquity, and
range from the time of Cambyses to that of Artaxerxes.

By _old_ is meant _old in structure_, _i.e._, betraying by its archaic
forms, an early stage of development. It is by no means _old_ in
chronology. In the way of chronology, the English of Shakespeare is
older than the German of