abuse, which may be translated by the English word "scoundrel," although its literal meaning is even still more gross. It is in very frequent use where Turkish is spoken, and is sometimes used jocularly.

GHOSAL KHANEH, a bathing room. The bath is naturally of much use in every house in India, where frequent ablution is requisite. The ghosal khaneh, however, is seldom any thing more than a small square apartment, with a chunam or marble floor, and a sink or gutter to carry off the water, which is obtained from large earthen jars (chatties) or shower baths.

GHURREE, an Indian hour, twenty

four minutes; also, a gong, or copper plate, used to strike the hours, or as a signal.

GHUZNEE, a fortified city in Afghan

istan, situated in Lat. 33 deg. 10 min. N., Long. 66 deg. 57 min. E. For nearly two centuries this place was the capital of a powerful kingdom, commencing with Subuktageen, in A. D. 975, to the time of Mahomed Ghourie, in 1171, who subdued the empire of Ghuznee, and burnt the city. For many years afterwards, however, Ghuznee continued to be one of the principal towns in Afghanistan, and has always been regarded with veneration by the Mahomedans, in consequence of its containing the tombs of numerous distinguished personages of their faith. About three miles from the city is the tomb of the celebrated Sultaun Mahmoud. Ghuznee was taken by storm by the British troops in 1839. Upon the insurrection in 1841, it again fell into the hands of the Afghans, from whom it was recaptured in 1842, when the English entirely demolished the fort, and carried off the sandal-wood gates of Mahmoud's tomb, which had been taken by him from the Hindoo temple of Somnauth in 1024. They also took away the Sultaun's mace as a trophy of their conquest.

GIAN BIN GIAN, the Oberon of the East; the king of the fairies. GIDDH, the Bengal vulture, the vulture Bengalensis of authors, is gregarious to the full extent of the word, not only flying and feeding in flocks, but also building its nest in company. The plumage of the male is dark brown above, deepest on the wings and tail; under parts of a lighter shade of brown, the shaft and middle of each feather being dashed with a dirty white, or buffcoloured streak; head and neck of a dirty livid colour, and destitute of feathers, but scattered over with short hairs; at the bottom of the neck a ruff of long, narrow, and pointed feathers; the crop covered over with short brown feathers, and slightly overhanging the breast; bill, strong, and black at the end, but paler at the base; nostrils, lateral; irides, dark hazel; legs, thick and blackish; claws, black and strong, and not much hooked. Length, 2 feet 7 inches; breadth, 7 feet 5 inches. The female in length 3 feet 1 inch, and in breadth 7 feet 7 inches; the plumage above is much lighter, being of a buff or pale fawn coloured brown ; under parts of a dirty white; irides, dark hazel; bill, strong, and dark at the end, but of a greenish livid colour at the base; the claws are longer and more hooked than in the male. GIRRA, the common teal found in .India. It is identical with the British species, and is one of the handsomest of the duck tribe, as well as one of the most delicate. The girra are generally found in flocks of four to twelve on ponds and jheels, but sometimes they congregate in great numbers. They are birds of passage, and do not breed in India. They are netted in various ways by the natives, and sold in most of the bazars for a mere trifle. The most usual way of netting them is, after having ascertained the place where they resort to feed at night, to surround it by a line suspended by

bamboos, to which are attached nooses, at intervals of a few inches. The teal alight outside of this line, and in swimming towards the place where they find their food, have to pass the nooses, and in doing so a number are caught, and in general this does not alarm the rest. They are permitted to feed a short time unmolested, when the person watching the nets makes a slight noise, sufficient to cause the teals to swim back to the deep water, when they have to repass the nooses. When as many birds are netted so as to create confusion, the birds are secured in a basket, and all being again quiet, the teals return again to their favourite resort for food. Another way is by using the flap net on an extensive scale, when a whole flock may be secured; but it is expensive, and the above is the most common method in use on small jheels. To the gunner the teal presents a difficult shot, particularly if the bird is fairly on wing, taking a sweep through the air. A small charge of shot, and a good charge of powder, is requisite to come up with them, and do execution. In wildfowl shooting, if a bird or two are winged, it is a common plan to stake them down in a favourite resort in the jheel; the teal, when flying over, will be attracted by these birds, and afford good shots. GOA, a Portuguese possession in India, consisting of two towns, Old Goa and New Goa, or Panjim, situated upon a small island on the Malabar coast, in the province of Bejapoor, in India, Lat. 15 deg. 30 min. N., Long. 74 deg. 2 min. E. Old Goa, formerly the most splendid city in India, is now in ruins, the seat of government having been removed to Panjim, which is a handsome and well-built town upon the island of Goa, five miles nearer the entrance of the harbour than old Goa. Though still the residence of the Portuguese viceroy, it has ceased to be a place of any

GOALPARA, a frontier town in India, in the province of Bengal, and the principal trading mart between Bengal and Assam, Lat. 26 deg. 8 min. N., Long. 90 deg. 38 min. E.

GOANDS, or GONDS, or KHOONDS, a wild tribe of Indians, inhabiting the hills of Omerkantuk, at the source of the Sone and Nurbuddah. The Goands are one of the lowest classes in the scale of civilisation to be found throughout India. The manners and customs of these people are peculiar to themselves, and their physiognomy differs very widely from the usual characters found in the natives of the Peninsula. Their skin is much blacker than the ordinary shade, their lips are thick, and their hair woolly, resembling that of an African; their forms are well proportioned, being strong and athletic, and though steeped in the grossest ignorance, there appears no reason to suppose that they are incapable of mental improvement. They had for a long time obtained the reputation of being cannibals, before the unhallowed nature of their banquet was established beyond a doubt. Unlike the general habits of those savages who devour human flesh, they are rather particular in their tastes, and will only partake of a feast afforded by persons belonging to their own tribe; the sacrifice of the victim, and the preparation of the abhorrent food, partaking somewhat of the nature of a religious rite. It appears that when any member of a family is seized with a hopeless malady, or becomes aged, and therefore of no further use to the community, he is forthwith killed and eaten, thus rendering his death a public benefit. When closely questioned, no Goand

will deny this practice, but all indignantly exclaim against the supposition that they would partake indiscriminately of human flesh, and disgrace themselves by eating that of a stranger, or any individual not belonging to their own tribe. This singular and unprepossessing class of persons, who are scattered over the country about Omerkantuk, live in the most barbarous manner possible, upon wild roots and vegetables, and such animals as they can snare or kill, not troubling themselves with the care and cultivation of the soil, and being frequently reduced to great extremity. They construct rude cisterns of bamboo and mud in the most accessible parts of the forest, which, in the rainy season, are filled with water, each family congregating round one of these cisterns, and should all the water contained in it be consumed before the next fall, they wander to another of these rude reservoirs, which are formed at the distance of several miles from each other, and to which they also fly at the approach of an enemy. Partaking of the propensity common to all the inhabitants of India to divide themselves into separate communities or castes, they are tenacious of the customs of their tribe, yet they do not conform to any of the prejudices respecting animals held sacred by other classes of Hindoos; making no scruple of killing and eating the cow, when they can obtain a prize of such magnitude, and feeding without hesitation upon snakes, monkeys, or any thing else that may come in their way. These people have very little intercourse with Goands of different tribes, who live under chiefs in towns or villages, or, until lately, with the more civilised portion of the community residing in the plains, seldom venturing beyond their own districts, except when driven by necessity to barter any of the products of the hills for provisions. The difficulty of procuring the means of existence

prevents them from congregating in large numbers, and there are seldom more than eight or ten huts in one place. In sacrificing their aged or sick relatives to Devi, they consider that they perform a meritorious action,-first, by propitiating the goddess; secondly, by putting their friends out of their misery; and thirdly, by assuring to themselves an ample meal, in addition to the blessing which descends upon all who comply with the insatiable demands of that gloomy deity, who craves unceasingly for blood. Independently of a superstition at once so revolting and degrading, the result of the most barbarous state of ignorance, the Goands are a simple race of people, not addicted to the usual vices of the savage character. It is said, that a growing taste for salt and sugar is now bringing them into more frequent contact with the people of the plains, and could they be induced to estimate the blessings of civilisation, and take back with them the means of improving the condition of their fellow-tribes, they would prove valuable members of the community, since they alone can live throughout the year in the pestiferous atmosphere of their hills. These wild Goands recognise a chief, and many extensive tracts of country belong to their rajahs; the Rajah of Bustar, in the Nagpore country, being one. All the Goand chieftains are in the habit of propitiating the favourite deity, the goddess Devi, by the sacrifice of human victims; their sacrifices being distinct from the immolations before mentioned, which are confined to the more savage tribes, who only murder their nearest relatives. When they have the success of any undertaking very much at heart, they make a vow to Devi, promising a certain number of human offerings, should their wishes be fulfilled. This vow is religiously kept, the victims being selected, if possible, from the Jungum caste, on account of a supposition generally

entertained, that the smallest portions of their bones and flesh will, if buried in fields, render the crops miraculously abundant. If such persons

are not easily obtained, others are procured by the collectors employed by the rajah for the purpose, who seize any strangers that may be passing through. These practices were brought to the notice of the British government, in consequence of complaints having been made by the relatives of persons who were so unfortunate as to fall into such inhuman hands, to the Company's political agent at Nagpore, and since then efforts have been made to put an end to the horrible rites; but they still prevail to a very great extent, and it is dangerous for natives of India from distant parts of the country to venture amongst a people addicted to such frightful religious ceremonies. GODAVERY, the. This river has its source in India, in the Western Mountains, about seventy miles to the north. east of Bombay. It runs eastward through the provinces of Aurungabad and Beder; and turning to the south-east, flows between the provinces of Orissa and Hyderabad, which it separates, and through the Northern Circars into the Bay of Bengal. Its whole course is about 850 miles.

GODOWN, a warehouse, or cellar, in India.

GOGLETT, a small porous earthen jar or vase, used for the reception of water, which it cools and depurates. The goglett is much in use at Bombay, where they are made very light and cheap.

GOHARREAS, a class of Indians, whose profession is to hire themselves out for the purpose of fighting. They usually stipulate for a certain reward, and a provision in case they should suffer imprisonment for any affair in which, having been engaged, they should be apprehended and punished.

GOLAH, Hindostanee. A warehouse. GOLEEAH, a member of a boat's crew

on the Ganges. He has particular charge of the bow, where he either rows the foremost oar, or, when necessary, keeps the boat from running against the bank, or upon shoals, by means of a luggy, or long bamboo pole, first casting it out in the proper direction, and then lapping it round several times with the end of a strong tailstrap, fastened to a ring on the forecastle, so as to prevent the pole from returning. Often the fate of a boat depends on the certainty of the goleeah's throw; especially under a cutchar, or sand-bank, perhaps twenty feet or more in height, under which a strong current cuts away the foundation, occasioning immense bodies of the soil to fall in, attended by a noise competing with thunder. GOMASTAH, Hindostanee. A commissioner, factor, agent. GONDWANA, a province of the Deccan, in India, bounded on the north by Allahabad and Bahar; east, Bahar and Orissa; south, Orissa, the Northern Circars, and Hyderabad; west, Beder, Berar, Khandesh, Malwa, and Allahabad. Of the numerous districts into which this extensive province is divided, the following may be considered the principal: Baghela, or Baghulkhund, Singrowla, Gurra-Mundla, Sohajpoor, Sirgooja, and Sumbhulpoor, belonging to the British dominions, and Deogur, Nagpore, Chanda, Chouteesgur, Wynegunga, and Bustar, belonging to the Rajah of Nagpore. The rivers are the Sone, Nurbudda, Gunga, or WyneGunga, Wurda, and Mahanudee, all, excepting the Wurda, having their sources in this province. The Gunga flows southerly, and joining the Wurda, falis with it into the Godavery. The greatest portion of this province presents a very wild appearance, abounding with rugged mountains, and covered with forests. The eastern and southern districts, particularly, are in an exceedingly savage state. Westward, though traversed by ranges of hills, and in

many parts thickly wooded, the country is more open; and in Chouteesgur and the northern districts there are large tracts of clear and fertile ground. The province in general is poorly cultivated, and thinly inhabited. The climate of the hilly and wooded districts is remarkably unhealthy, and usually fatal to the natives of other parts. The productions are rice, wheat, chenna, jowaree, and other dry grains; sugar, hemp, cotton, opium, tobacco, arrow-root, pan, and bees'wax, dyeing drugs, oils, gum, and coarse silk, of the description called tussur. The forests yield a plentiful supply of teak, saul, and other large | timber; and the lac insect abounds. Diamonds of a large size, and gold, are to be found in the vicinity of the rivers, particularly of the Mahanudee; but the unhealthiness of the climate prevents their being much sought after. Iron, talc, limestone, coal, red-ochre, and marble, are also procured in different parts. The district of Singrowla contains the largest quarry of corundum in India. Wild beasts are numerous, particularly tigers, and bears of a large size, with the gaour, mirjee, a peculiar species of wild dog, and some others, very little known to Europeans. The gaour is a very powerful animal, of the ox kind, resembling the bison. The mirjee, or mouse deer, so called from its head resembling that of a mouse in form, is the smallest of the deer species, being about the size of a jackal. Among the snakes, which abound in this province, is the boa constrictor. The towns are Bandoogur, Saipoor, Gurra, Jubbulpoor, Mahadeo, Chouragur, Choupara, and Mundla, Sohajpoor, Kurgomma, and Oomerkuntuk, Sirnadoo, Jushpoor, Gangpoor, Sumbhulpoor, and Patna, Deogur, Babye, Baitool, Jilpee-Amneer, Nagpore, Chanda, Ruttanpoor, Konkeer, and Byrgur, Wynegunga, Wyragur, and Bustar. This province has received its

general name of Gondwana, as being the country of the Goand or Khoond tribe. The inhabitants are Goands, or Khoonds (q. v.), Hindoos of various classes, principally Mahrattas, and Telingas, from different parts of Hindostan Proper, and the Deccan, and a small proportion of Mahomedans. The language is principally Gondee, Mahrattee, and Jelongo. Many other dialects are spoken by the various wild tribes.

GOOLAL, a red powder, used during the Hoolee festival to besprinkle people, after the manner in which bonbons are scattered by the Italians during the Neapolitan carnival. GOOLISTAN, the Rose Garden, or the Land of Roses, the name of a celebrated Persian poem, written by Musleh ud Deen, of Shiraz, surnamed Sheik Sadi.

GOOLS, balls composed of pounded charcoal, mixed with water, and baked in the sun. When ignited, they are placed in the hookah bowl (chillum), and keep the tumaco (a corruption of "tobacco") constantly burning.

GOOR, unrefined sugar. GOORAL, the chamois of the Himalayas. This animal affords excellent sport to the deer-stalker. He is to be found early in the morning feeding among the long grass, generally on the side of the steepest mountains, but must be carefully approached, as his senses are of a refined order. When wounded, he often leads his destroyer a chase of many a weary mile down the steepest kudds, and over sharppointed rocks, where the trail must be followed by the signs of the mountain dew brushed from the surface of the grass, or the rocks stained by the ebbing blood of the stricken animal.

GOORCHERAS, irregular horse, in the service of the Sikh government. GOORGOORY, a very small kind of hookah, intended to be conveyed in a palankeen, or to be carried about a house; the person who smokes