Having thus disposed of the whole of the evidence adduced against the Mahratta version, I must be allowed to make short work with the remaining observations of my antagonist. His insinuation that the Serampore missionaries did not translate from the Greek, because they have supplied the ellipsis of the original in the above passage after the English version (in a similar way to that in which it is supplied in many other versions) is perfectly inconclusive, and comes with a very bad grace from the man who, on a former occasion, sneeringly charged them with "an affectation of following the Greek verbally," when the version differed from the English. He next reiterates the stale objections of the Abbé Dubois, and inquires how the Hindus are "to be brought to understand and believe in the dogmas of original sin, remission and pardon of sins, expiation, atonement, justification, &c., or even the fundamental mystery of Christianity, a trinity in unity." In reply I would simply say, in the same manner, by the same means, and by the influence of the same Holy Spirit by which the nations of Greece and Rome, or our own Pagan ancestors, were brought "to understand and believe them. Those "ideas" were as totally "unknown" to these nations, and in as "direct opposition to the ideas they had imbibed from their infancy," as among any of the various tribes of India; and the fact that hundreds of Hindus have already believed to the saving of their souls, is a triumphant reply to these unbelieving objections. I must leave the determination of the question whether

"

få denotes “ atonement" or not, to the Rev. Mr. Morton, who has adopted it in his "Sanscrit Renderings," only observing that Colonel Vans Kennedy, in the English part of his Dictionary, gives it as equivalent to "expiation." The unintelligibility of the " Arabic" and "Romaïc " Scriptures, alleged by Colonel Vans Kennedy, I hesitate not to affirm, is wholly unfounded; and I possess the means, and may hereafter embrace the opportunity, of proving such to be the fact. Equally unfounded is the account given by my opponent of the mode in which the Serampore translators conducted their work; for a correct statement of which I would refer the reader to pp. 4-8 of my "Defence of the Mahratta Version." For a satisfactory refutation of the allegations of the Quarterly Review, cited by Colonel Vans Kennedy, against the competency of the translators, I have much pleasure in referring the reader to the able pamphlet of my friend T. P. Platt, Esq., Honorary Librarian of the British and Foreign Bible Society, entitled "Facts respecting certain Versions of Holy Scripture, &c." Finally, the circumstance of another version in Mahratta (as well as Goozarattee) having subsequently been published at Bombay, proves nothing against the accuracy of the preceding version, unless no other cause could be assigned for the publication. But as long as difference of character, local idioms, and various other causes shall continue to produce new translations, the existence of such versions can never fairly be urged, without positive evidence to that effect, against the intelligibility of a prior version.

In conclusion, and in addition to the testimony of Rung-nath, formerly Asiat. Jour.N.S. VOL.6. No. 22.

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chief moonshee in the Mahratta language to the Honourable East-India Company at Calcutta (see Defence of the Serampore Version, p. 13), I would beg leave to adduce an interesting fact, which in itself is a sufficient reply to all the objections against the Mahratta version. It is detailed in a letter from the Serampore missionaries to the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and published in the Report for 1815 (p. 337): "Of the utility of this Version," they observe, "we have increasing testimony; among which, a fact lately come to our knowledge, furnishes à remarkable instance. At Nagpoora, the capital of the Mahratta dominions, a gentleman, friendly to the Scriptures, gave a copy of the New Testament to a Brahmin, a man of high estimation. He received and read it, but discovered no peculiar regard to the Gospel till about a fortnight before his death, when he openly declared, that he gave up all hope in his own religion, and trusted only in the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his life a ransom for sinners. His astonished family expostulated with him, and even manifested resentment; but all in vain: the dying man had obtained a view of the Friend of sinners, and he appeared to cleave to him to his last moments."

I am, Sir, your's respectfully,

WM. GREENFIELD.

CONSUMPTION OF BRITISH MANUFACTURES IN INDIA.

THE following is an extract of the evidence of Mr. R. D. Mangles before the Lords' Committee, 4th March 1830.

"Q. To what extent has the ryot become the purchaser of British manufactures ?-A. Hardly at all, I should say.

Q. To no greater extent than thirty years ago?—A. He consumes more, certainly, than at that period. I suppose that there is a good deal of cottontwist used by the native weavers in making up the cotton cloth which the natives wear, but that has only come into use within three or four years.

Q. Are they generally clothed in British cottons ?-A. No; the British cottons are not used; they do not wear so well, I understand, as their own manufacture: but I have heard that the best cloths are those made in India by the hand from the English twist.

Q. Who are, in India, the great purchasers of British cottons ?—A. I should think the higher classes; but I have not made these subjects much a matter of inquiry, not having been employed in any branch of the service directly connected with them."

DESCRIPTION OF RUSSIAN ARMENIA.

FROM ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS.-BY M. KLAPROTH.

THE province of Armenia, conquered by the Russians in their last war with Persia, consists of the two territories of Eriwan and Nakhchiwan; the city of Eriwan is its capital and the seat of government. The mahhaleh, or districts, are administered by naibs, or chiefs chosen by the inhabitants themselves. All questions, civil and criminal, are decided according to the laws of Russia; but the natives are allowed their former privilege, which they enjoyed under the Persian rule, of adjusting their differences amongst themselves. The nomade tribes of the province have two sultans; one, Peer Murad Sultan, governs the tribes which inhabit the banks of the river Abaran, the valley of Darachitchakh and the vicinity of Lake Gok-chai; the other, Aslan Sultan, reigns over the tribes who have their winter pasturage on the Araxes.

The province of Eriwan is bounded on the north by the cantons of Shurageli, Bambaki, Kazakh, and Shamshadilo, as well as the circle of which Ganjah, called by the Russians Elisavetpol, is the capital: a lofty chain of mountains separates it from those places. To the eastward, its frontier follows the course of the Great Arpa-chai, also called Arpa-chai of Sharoor. This river divides the territory of Eriwan from that of Nakhchiwan. To the south, the Araxes forms the frontier with Persia and the Turkish Pachalik of Bayazid, from which the province of Eriwan is separated likewise by mountains and by the Little or Western Arpa-chai, which serves also as a boundary on the side of the Pashalik of Kars. The province of Eriwan is situated between 39° and 42° long. E. of Greenwich, and 39° and 41° N. lat. From the Bambakhi frontier to the southernmost extremity of the country it is reckoned about eighty English miles; and from the east, that is from the frontier point of Daralaghez, to the west, eighty-two miles. A high chain of mountains extends along the northern frontier of the province; it has two general denominations; its principal peaks, from west to east, are the Garakhach, the Ala-ghoez, the Barat, the Maralji, the Dagh-nachakh, the Siwukh-bulak, the Jan-tap, the Kirkhitly, and the Oda-tap, which adjoins the canton of Daralaghez. About three miles from this village, a branch detaches itself from the northern chain, and runs towards the south-west, along Lake Gok-chai. This branch divides into two, beyond the village of Meidan. One of its arms takes a north-westerly direction, and follows the borders of the lake as far as the river Zanghi; whilst the other stretches to the south as far as that part of the Persian frontier where the Great Arpa-chai falls into the Araxes. From this point there occur, along the southern and a portion of the western frontier, the following mountains: Great and Little Ararat, Kellatokheng-ghedooghi, Kha-ghedooghi, Jeghenloo, Zorghedooghi, Gwioojag-ghedooghi, Aslani-ghedooghi, Abas-elghedooghi, Jibrael-ghedooghi, Ajamsyn-agha, Parly, Sharaw, Khash-khash, and Mount Karogly. The Garakhach, already mentioned, forms the northwest frontier.

Lake Gok-chai, or Sewanga, is situated in the north-west part of the province of Eriwan; it is surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains. Upon one of its islands is the convent of Sewanga, or Wo-wank. The lake is thirtyfour English miles and a-half long and upwards of thirteen broad. Its water is sweet and never freezes, but the Turks who dwell in the neighbourhood assert that it is very unwholesome, and they neither use it for drinking nor for cooking their food. The Gok-chai, as well as the rivers which fall into it, such as the Balykchi, the Tokhloujoo, and the Aghrija, abounds in fish, of

which we shall have occasion to speak presently. The Tokhloujoo has its source on Mount Jan-tap, and the Aghrija on the heights of the Kirkitly. The water of these rivers is good and wholesome.

The Araxes takes its rise in the Pashalik of Erzeroum, near the little town of Kolli, in the mountains which separate this pashalik from that of Bayazid. It falls into the Kur, opposite the village of Jevat, in Shirwan, and on the frontier of the provinces of Karabagh and Talysh. The Araxes forms the boundary between Persian and Russian Armenia, and Karabagh. This river receives at first, on the right, the southern Karasu, which comes from Ararat, then, on the left, the Little Arpa-chai, which runs along the western frontier of the province of Eriwan and of that of the canton of Shuragheli. Lower down, the Araxes is joined by the northern Karasu and the Abaran, which come from Mount Alaghoez, and the Great Arpa-chai: the sources of the latter are in the mountains on the north, not far from the deep valley of Daralaghez. Before it disembogues, this Arpa-chai divides into several arms, between which is situated the village of Sharoori, whence its other name.

The river Zanghi joins the Gok-chai to the Araxes: as it is not navigable, it is of no advantage to the country which it traverses. The other rivers of this province are the Korob-chai, the Adiyaman, the Kizil-wank-chai, and some others which do not deserve particular notice. All of them abound in fish, but are not deep, so that in summer they are fordable; even the Araxes may then be crossed in some places; its principal fords are opposite Echmiadzin and Eriwan.

The favourable position of this province, and the delightful climate it enjoys, are the causes of its prosperity and of its abounding in products which are rarely found together in any other country in the world. A dark and fertile soil prevails throughout most of the cantons between Eriwan and Lake Gokchai, on the borders of the Zanghi. On the northern bank, the soil is mixed with an argillaceous earth. Marshes of unknown depth adjoin the mouths of the two rivers called Karasu (black water). The soil between the Araxes and Ararat is saline. Calcareous rocks, limestone, and sometimes unctuous earth, constitute the soil at the foot of the mountains.

It is computed that in the province of Eriwan there are more than 22,330 houses, which gives a population of 113,000 of both sexes. The proportion of the population to the whole extent of the country may be stated at eight persons to a square verst. If, however, we take into consideration the mountains, marshes, and other physical inconveniences of the country, and even the mode of life of the nomades, of which there are not more than about 16,000, we may reckon, without much risk of considerable error, that onehalf of the superficies of this province are uninhabited.

The inhabitants of the province of Eriwan may be divided into two classes, permanent, who have fixed dwellings in the town of Eriwan and the villages, and who are employed in agriculture; and nomades, who wander about the country with their flocks. In the town of Eriwan there are 1,806 Mahomedan houses or families, 323 Armenian, and 402 families from Azarbaichan, but a small number of whom are Mahomedans, most of them being Armenians. The agricultural population of the province amounts to 16,450 families; about 4,000 being Mahomedans, 4,680 Armenians, 3,770 from Azarbaichan, and 4,000 from Bayazid, Kars, and Erzeroum. The nomades amount to 3,153 families; they are of four tribes, Kurds, Seljukide Turks, Kara-papaks, and Bohemians (Tsingani). The Kurds are Shyite and Sonnite Mahomedans. The Shyites are called Milli and Kirachorlu; these consist of 400 families, the

Alikhanlus 35, and the Poossiani 109. To the Sonnites belong the numerous tribes of the Silians, who in the late war between Russia and Persia took up their abode in this country. This tribe consists of 181 families of Biriuks, 224 Jalals, 3 Malans, 15 Irajins, 1 Sibyker, 1 Jiunik, 1 Charmanlu, 1 Arizanlu, 1 Geltoor, and 1 Khaissanlu. Consequently there are 544 Shyite families, and 429 Sonnites.

After the Seljukide Turks had got possession of the north-west part of Armenia, and had established themselves there for several generations, they extended themselves insensibly as far as the centre of Armenia, or the vicinity of Ararat. From them descended the following tribes: the Airiumlius, 654 families; the Zeidlius, 108; the Akhsalius, 119, and the Tashanlius, 10; in all 891 families.

The Kazakhs were in Armenia as early as the eleventh century; they established themselves in the district of Kazakhi and are divided into two principal tribes, the Chobonkars and the Kara-papakhs. The former are subdivided into seven branches, consisting in the whole of 420 families. The latter consist of Kara-papakhs properly so called, 677 families, and five smaller branches, consisting of 100 families. The two great tribes of Kazakhs include, therefore, 1,197 families.

The Tsingani, Bohemians or gipsies, are distributed into three tribes: the Karachis, who are Mahomedan Shyites, 42 families; the Mootriuns, who are Sonnites, 7; and the Boshas (Armenians), 46; in all 95 families.

In respect to moral qualites, the Shyites, Sonnites, and Armenian Christians differ considerably from each other. The Shyites are eloquent, and accompany their discourse, which is always sprightly, with expressive gestures. They are, at the same time, flatterers and have much cunning; honesty is not their prime virtue, and their covetousness makes them guilty of the basest actions, and frequently of falsehood. To this must be added an invincible propensity to theft. These vices render intercourse with them very dangerous, notwithstanding their apparent complaisance and exterior politeness. It is the same with the nomades belonging to this sect, with this single difference, that the latter observe strictly the laws of hospitality: their manners are more rude than those Shyites who have fixed habitations, but both are equally deceitful.

The Sonnites differ from the Shyites as well in their mode of dress as in exterior generally. They dress like the Turks, and are almost always very corpulent; whilst the Persians, who are for the most part Shyites, are thin. Their features are coarse; their motions are indicative of indolence, and their mode of speaking and of expressing themselves is by no means engaging. They practise hospitality but little, and are as greedy as the Shyites. They appear, however, at first sight, less submissive than the latter, and upon longer acquaintance they are found to be less tainted by perfidy than the followers of Ali. The most prominent traits in the character of both are irrepressible national pride, and a courage carried even to the boldest temerity. The Shyites as well as the Sonnites are very irascible, vindictive, debauched, and in the highest degree immoral.

Neither can much be said in favour of the Armenians. Oppressed, as they have been for some centuries, by the heaviest of despotisms, they have long lost their national character; they have exchanged their ancient virtues for the

• Booyuk-chobonkar, eighty-eight; Sarachliu, eighty-eight; Kerim-bekliu, eighty-nine; Kafarliu, eighty-four; Demoorchaliu, thirty; Shikzier, eighteen ; and Karkoinliu, twenty-three families.

Chakharliu, forty-two; Kalan, twenty-one; Jamkitt, five; Karabaglar, twenty-two; and Karnibamliu, ten families.