it not been for a sudden illumination caused by a troop of beauteous maidens, who had simultaneously launched into the river a great number of little boats, formed of cocoa nuts, garlanded with flowers, and gleaming with a lamp, whose flickering flame each viewed with anxious hopes of happy augury. The followers of the king, aided by this seasonable diffusion of light, perceived their master just as he was nearly sinking, exhausted by vain efforts to reach the shore, and guiding a boat to his assistance, arrived in time to snatch him from a watery grave. This is the common, though not the universal interpretation of the origin of the festival. Whatever may have been the motive of its institution, the scene which is exhibited on the occasion of its celebration is exceedingly beautiful. The banks of the Ganges are brilliantly lighted up on the evening of the festival, and numerous flights of rockets announce the approach of a floating palace, built upon a raft, and preceded by thousands of small lamps, which cover the surface of the water, each wreathed with a chaplet of flowers. The raft is of considerable extent, formed of plantain trees fastened together, and bearing a structure which Titania herself might delight to inhabit. Towers, gates, and pagodas, appear in fantastic array, bright with a thousand colours, and shining in the light of numberless glittering cressets. BHEELS (Coolies, Ramoosees). The Bheels, a race of people who inhabit the northern part of the chain of Ghauts running inland parallel with the coast of Malabar. On one side they are bordered by the Coolies, and on another by the Goands of Goandwana. They are considered to have been the aborigines of Central India; and with the Coolies, Goands, and Ramoosees, are bold, daring, and predatory marauders; Occasionally mercenaries, but inva riably plunderers. There are, however, many shades of difference in the extent of the depredations of these several people, in which the balance of enormity is said to be considerably on the side of the Bheels. They are, nevertheless, described as faithful when employed and trusted, and the travellers who pay them their choute, or tribute, may leave untold treasure in their hands, and may consider themselves as safe with them as in the streets of London. "Their word is sacred, their promise unimpeachable." The Bheels are a distinct and original race, claiming a high antiquity, and that they were masters of the fertile plains of India, instead of being confined, as they now are, to the rugged mountains, and almost impenetrable jungles. The Rajpoot princes deprived them of the fairest portions of their country, leaving them the wild and uncultivated tracts which they now inhabit. The Bheels are divided into many tribes, the chief of which claim a distinct celestial origin, in addition to their common divine descent. Some of these tribes have been converted to Mahomedanism, but the larger part of them are professedly Hindoos. They worship the same deities, but limit their ceremonies to propitiating the minor infernal deities, particularly Sita Maya (Shetula), the goddess of the small-pox, whom they invoke under various names, in the hopes of averting its dreadful ravages. They pay great reverence to Mahadeo. BHEESTY, properly Bihishtee, a water-carrier. Hanging a "sheepskin on his recreant hip," filled with the fluid obtained from wells, tanks, or rivers, the bheestee supplies water to the domestic establishments in India (pumps being unknown in the houses) and the troops on the line of march. BHOGUEWITTER, from bhogu, enjoyment, possession, and oottin, a maintenance to any person. A Hindoo grant. one of the Hindoo goddesses, more correctly called Parvati, which see. BHOWLEY, the term, as applied to land, used under the native governments of India, where the produce of the harvest is divided between the government and the culti vator. BHOWNUGGUR, a small town in BHILSEA, a large town on the east | BHOWANEE, the popular name of side of the Betiva, about thirty-two miles to the north-eastward of Bhopal. It is celebrated for the tobacco of the surrounding district, which is carried to all parts of India. BHOOJ, the capital of Cutch. It is situated inland in Lat. 23 deg. 15 min. N., Lon. 69 deg. 52 min. E. It is a modern town, having been founded by the Rao of Cutch, about the commencement of the seventeenth century. It is tolerably well built, and contains about 20,000 inhabitants, among whom are artists remarkable for their ingenuity in working gold and silver. This town was nearly destroyed in June, 1819, by a severe earthquake. BHOOTEAS, inhabitants of Bootant, a division of the province of Kumaoon in India, q. v. BHOOWANI, a town in the pro vince of Coimbatore, which, being situated at the conflux of the rivers Bhoowani and Cavery, is considered a sacred place, and is in consequence much resorted to by the Hindoos. BHOPAL is a Mahomedan principality, founded in the latter part of the seventeenth century by a Pathan chief, to whom the district was assigned as a reward for his services by Aurungzebe. His family still continue to hold the government, having succeeded in maintaining their independence against all the attacks of the neighbouring Mahratta chiefs, without any aid from the English, until 1816, when, in consequence of the widely increasing power of the Pindarees, the British government found it necessary to take his state under its protection. Bhopal has ever since remained in peace. BHOPAL, a town situated about 100 miles to the eastward of Oojein, on the frontier of the province of Malwa, having one gate in Malwa, and the opposite one in Gondwana. It is the capital of the nabob of Bhopal, but in other respects is not a place of any particular note. D BHUND MOORG, the jungle cock. This bird is pretty generally known to Indian sportsmen. It is found in almost every part of the country where there is jungle. Being exceedingly shy, and frequenting the thickest cover, an elephant is necessary for this sport, though an occasional bird may be shot on foot.. The cock weighs about 3lbs. 2oz., being something smaller than the game bird; the hen smaller still, and of a dirty brown colour, except here and there, where she shows the game feather. The bills of both are much shorter and more curved than the common or game fowl, and the spurs of the cock much longer and thicker, and he has a peculiarly brilliant feather in the wing, which the other cannot boast of. They occasionally rise in pairs, affording an easy shot, though likely to flurry a young sportsman on first coming across them. BHURRAL, or bunbhera, or nahoor, the wild sheep of the Himalays, is a variety of the ovis amnon, the argali of Siberia, or the Asiatic argali, and the ovis musmox. BHURTPORE, the capital of the Bhurtpore rajah, one of the principal Jat Chieftains, is situated in Lat. 27 deg. 17 min. N., Lon. 77 deg. 23 min. E. This place is much noted on account of its siege in 1805 by the English, who four times assaulted it, and were repulsed with severe loss. The rajah, however, fearing to continue his resistance, sent his son to the English camp with the keys of the fort, and submitted. This chief, who so gallantly defended his capital, died in 1824, and was succeeded by his son, who also died immediately afterwards, leaving a son, then seven years of age, under the guardianship of the mother and an uncle. In 1825, a cousin of the young rajah murdered the uncle, and seized the person of the rajah, on which the British government being compelled to interfere, Bhurtpore was once more attacked by the English, and in January, 1826, was taken by assault after a siege of six weeks. The town was subsequently restored to its lawful chief. BIJANAGUR, on the bank of the Toombudra, in Lat. 15 deg. 14 min. N., Long. 76 deg. 37 min. E. About 30 miles north-westerly from Bellary, are the ruins of the ancient Hindoo city of Bijanagur (Vijayanuggur, the city of victory). Though long uninhabited, except by a few Brahmuns, the numerous pagodas, choultries, and other buildings, composed of massive blocks of granite, still in excellent preservation, bear witness to its former grandeur. Amongst other remarkable buildings, there is at a part of the town called "Humpee," a magnificent temple dedicated to Mahadeva, the gobrum of which is of ten stories, about 160 feet in height. Including Anagoondy, on the opposite bank, this celebrated city is said to have been twenty-four miles in circumference. It was founded in the year 1336. BIJNEE, a dependency of the province of Bengal. It adjoins Kooch Bahar, having on the north Bootan; east, Assam and the Garrows; and, on the south, the Bungpoor district of Bengal. This district is separated by the Brahmapootra into two divisions, the northern called Khuntaghat, and the southern Howraghat. It is fertile, and, if well cultivated, would be a very valuable district, being well watered and open, and having an excellent soil. The chief productions are rice, wheat, barley, betel, and sugar. It also possesses the mulberry-tree, which, however, has not as yet been made use of for the rearing of silkworms. The principal town is Bijnee, situated in Lat. 26 deg. 29 min. N., Long. 89 deg. 47 min. E. BIKANEER, in the province of Ajmeer, is situated in the midst of a very desolate tract of country, Lat. 27 deg. 57 min. N., Long. 73 deg. 2 min. E. It is a fortified town, and the capital of the rajah. BIMLIPATAM, a seaport, and place of considerable coast trade in the district of Chicacole, in the Northern Circars. The chief articles of export are cotton cloths, commonly called "piece goods," which are manufactured in various parts of the district. BINTANG is a small island, lying off the south-eastern end of Malaya, in Lat. 1 deg. N., about thirty-five miles in length by eighteen in breadth. It belongs to the Dutch, who have a town there, named Rhio. BISHNOTTER (correctly, vishnootter), from Vishnoo and oottur, i. e., a grant of land under the native government of India for the worship of Vishnoo. A Hindoo grant. BISMILLAH! Persian. "In the name of God!" an exclamation constantly in the mouths of Mahometans, who pronounce it on all occasions before commencing even the most common operations of life: it is prayer, invocation, blessing. BOBBERY, BOBBERY WALLAH, noise, a noisy fellow. The word is properly Bapré. BO-GAHA, the Botree, or "God-tree" of Ceylon. It is considered sacred by the natives of Ceylon, as being the tree under which Budha, when in the island of Ceylon, was accustomed to sit and preach to the people, and against which he leaned at his death. Those bogahas that grow near the wiharas, or temples, are generally enclosed with stones, to the height of three or four feet, the roots carefully covered with earth, and the space around swept clean. Sometimes the natives carry their veneration for the tree so far, as to erect an altar, or place a table under it, and burn lamps near it, and offer flowers, &c., to it daily, as they do to the images of Budha. If they find one of these trees in the jungle, the place is cleared round it, and it is protected with as much care as those near the temples. It is held to be a work of great merit to plant these trees, as he who does so is sure to enjoy heavenly beatitude hereafter. It grows to a great height, and has long spreading branches. BOKHARA, in Tartary. It stands about six miles from the southern or left bank of the Zur-Ufshan, in Lat. 39 deg. 43 min. N., Long. 64 deg. 30 min. E. This is a city of great antiquity, and particularly celebrated amongst the Mahomedans from its having been at an early period conquered and converted to their faith. On this account, as well as because of the number of learned men whom it produced, its Mahomedan rulers gave it the title of shureef, or holy, by which name it soon became distinguished in the east. It was for many centuries a very rich and populous city, but in common with all other places under Mahomedan rule, it has undergone many changes,,and has long ceased to be of any importance. The present city is about eight miles in circumference, and is surrounded by a wall having twelve gates. It has a great many mosques with lofty minarets, particularly the Great Mosque, part of which was built by the renowned Tymoor, besides colleges of various kinds, said to be 366 in number, frequented by students from all parts of the country. It has a population of about 150,000, including about 4000 Jews of a remarkably handsome race, emigrants from Meshid in Persia, and about 300 Hindoos, chiefly Shikarpoorees from Sind. In this city may be found Persians, Turks, Russians, Tartars, Chinese, Afghans, and Indians, all assembled together in the same bazars. This city is remarkable for the prevalence of guinea-worm, nearly one-fourth of its population being attacked by it in the course of every year. BOLAUK, a nasal trinket, worn by native Indian women; it is flat, and has a small ring, with hook and eye, at its narrowest part, for the purpose of appending it to the middle of the nose, by means of a gold ring passing through the septum, or division between the nostrils; the ornament lying flat upon the upper lip, and having its broad end furnished with pendants. It is inconceivable what the Hindoo women undergo for the sake of displaying their riches in this way. Not only does the bolauk interfere with the operations of the lips during meals, but ulcers of the most unsightly description are often created in that very tender part to which the ornament attaches. BOLEAH, a small covered boat, used on the Ganges. BOMBAY, in the province of Aurungabad, is the third principal English town in India. It is situated in Lat. 18 deg. 56 min. N., Long. 72 deg. 57 min. E., on a small island, about ten miles in length and three in breadth, lying south of Salsette, from which it was formerly separated by an arm of the sea about 200 yards across, but now communicating with it by a causeway, which was completed in 1805. The first European settlement here was formed by the Portuguese, who acquired possession of the island in 1530, from the chief of Tanna in Salsette. In 1661 the Portuguese ceded it to the English. It is a place of very extensive commerce with every part of the world. Its harbour is the best in India, and its dockyards large and good. Vessels of the largest size, as well for the British navy, as for the merchant service, are built here by Parsee shipwrights, perfectly equal to those constructed in the dockyards of England. The population of the town of Bombay is estimated at 200,000 persons, comprising a mixed multitude of Hindoos, Parsees, Mahomedans, Portuguese, Jews, and a few Armenians. About five miles eastward from Bombay is a small island named Elephanta, in which is a remarkable cave, formerly used as an idol-temple. It is eighteen feet high, fifty-five feet long, and as many broad, and iş filled with large idols, of which the principal is a colossal Trimoorti, or three-formed figure, combining Brahma, Vishnoo, and Siva. cavern is not now used as a place of worship. Near the landing-place, leading to the cavern, is a large elephant hewn out of the rock, from which the Portuguese gave the island its present name. There are also other remarkable excavations at Kanneri in Salsette. The BOONDEE, a handsome, well built city, in Lat. 25 deg. 28 min. N., Long. 75 deg. 30 min. E., the residence of the rajah of the district, in the province of Ajmeer. BOORHANPOOR, formerly the capi tal of the province of Khandesh, is situated in a fine plain on the banks of the Tuptee, in Lat. 21 deg. 19 min. N., Long. 76 deg. 18 min. E. This is one of the largest and best built cities in the Deccan, and abundantly supplied by water brought into the town by aqueducts, and distributed through every street, the stream being conveyed at a certain depth below the pavement, and the water drawn up through apertures by means of leather buckets. The grapes grown in the vicinity of this town and Asseergurh are considered the finest in India. BOORRAUK, a proper name in Persia for a swift horse. Literally, "lightning." BOOSA, chopped straw; food given to cattle in India. BOOSSAH (Hindostanee), chaff. BOOTAN. The province of Bootan is adjacent to the northern frontier of the province of Bengal. It is bounded on the north by the Himalaya mountains separating it from Thibet; east, by China; south by Assam, and the frontier districts of Bengal; and west, by the river Teesta, separating it from Sikkim. It has no divisions worthy of particular notice. Its rivers are numerous. The principal are the Teesta, on the west; the Gudhadhur towards the centre; and Monas or Goomaree, to the eastward; all flowing from the Himalaya range, the Teesta into the Ganges in the province of Bengal, the others into the Brahmapootra. The northern portion of this country consists of an irregular assemblage of lofty mountains known by the general appellation of Tangustan, some covered with snow, others clothed with forests. Amongst these are populous villages, surrounded by orchards and plantations; at the base of the hills, towards the Bengal frontier, is a plain of about twenty-five miles in breadth, covered with luxuriant vegetation, and marshy forests abounding with elephants and rhinoceroses. From its mountainous character the climate of Bootan varies greatly, the inhabitants of the more elevated parts shivering with cold, while a few miles lower down the people are oppressed by intense heat. Every favourable spot is cultivated, the sides of the mountains being industriously cut into terraces. Its principal productions are wheat and other grains, numerous fruits and vegetables, including peaches, apricots, strawberries, and other fruits; bees' wax, ivory, and coarse woollen manufactures. In the forest there is a variety of useful timber, such as the ash, birch, yew, pine, and fir, the last growing to a considerable size; and the hills yield abundance of limestone. Wild animals are not numerous, with the exception of those in the low country. Monkeys of a large and handsome kind abound, and are held sacred. Bootan has also a peculiar breed of horses, noted for strength and activity. They |