was the immediate cause of bringing forward Colebrooke, so that the mantle of the elder was actually caught as it fell by the younger scholar, who, although he had not yet appeared as an author, volunteered to complete the Digest of Hindu Law, which was left unfinished by Jones.

CHARLES WILKINS, indeed, had preceded him in the translation of several inscriptions in the first and second volumes of the Asiatic Researches, but his communications then ceased, and on Jones' death in 1794 the public looked to Davis, Wilford, and Colebrooke for the materials of the next volume.

SAMUEL DAVIS had already written an excellent paper on Hindu astronomy, and a second on the Indian cycle of Jupiter; but he had no leisure for Sanskrit studies, and his communications to the Asiatic Society now ceased altogether.

FRANCIS WILFORD, an officer of engineers, was of Swiss extraction. He was a good Classical and Sanskrit scholar, and his varied and extensive reading was successfully brought into use for the illustration of ancient Indian geography. But his judgment was not equal to his learning; and his wild speculations on Egypt and on the Sacred Isles of the West, in the 3rd and 9th volumes of the Asiatic Researches, have dragged him down to a lower position than he is justly entitled to both by his abilities and his attainments. His "Essay on the comparative Geography of India," which was left unfinished at his death, and which was only published in 1851 at my earnest recommendation, is entirely free from the speculations of his earlier works, and is a living monument of the better judgment of his latter days.

HENRY COLEBROOKE was the worthy successor of Sir William Jones, and though his acquirements were, perhaps, not so varied as those of the brilliant founder of the Society, yet he possessed a scholarship equally accurate in both the Classical and Sanskrit languages. This soon ripened into a wide knowledge of Sanskrit literature, and his early mathematical bias and training, combined with a singularly

* H. H. Wilson, in his Hindu Theatre, I., 9, calls Wilford a "learned and laborious, but injudicious writer.

sound judgment, gave him a more complete mastery over the whole range of Sanskrit learning,-its religion, its law and its philosophy, its language and its literature, its algebra and its astronomy,-than any other scholar has since acquired. All Colebrooke's papers may be read both with interest and advantage.

In the first year of this century he gave translations of Visala Deva's inscriptions on the Delhi pillar. These were followed by other translations in the 9th volume of the Researches in 1807, and in the 1st volume of the Royal Asiatic Society's Translations in 1824, which exhibit the same critical scholarship and sound judgment. But a more valuable contribution is his "Essay on the Vedas,"* which first gave to the European world a full and accurate account of the sacred volumes of the Hindus. Other essays followed at intervals,—on the Sanskrit and Prâkrit languages; on the Philosophy of the Hindus; on the Indian and Arabian divisions of the Zodiac; on the notions of Hindu astronomers concerning the Precession; and on the Algebra of Brahma Gupta and Bhâskara. The mere titles of these essays are sufficient to show the wide range of his studies. But the grasp is as firm as the range is wide, and these essays still remain our standard works on the subjects of which they treat.

Colebrooke left India in 1815. For several years after his return to England he continued his studies and gave to the world some of the essays which have already been noticed. But his latter years were clouded by family bereavements and continued ill health, under which he at last sank on the 10th March 1837, in his 72nd year.†

In the year 1800 DR. BUCHANAN (who afterwards took the name of Hamilton) was deputed by the Marquis of Wellesley to make an agricultural survey of Mysore. This particular duty he performed with much ability; but the value of his work is greatly increased by several interesting notices which he has given of the antiquities of the country, and of the various races of people in Southern India. The best acknowledgment of the value of this work was the

Asiatic Researches, Vol. IX.

The main facts of this brief sketch are taken from a deeply interesting and instructive memoir written by his son.-See Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. V.

appointment of Buchanan, in 1807, by the Court of Directors, to make a statistical survey of the Bengal Presidency.

For seven years Buchanan pursued his survey through the provinces of Bihar, Shâhâbâd, Bhagalpur, Gorakhpur, Dinajpur, Puraniya, Rangpur, and Assam, when his labours were unfortunately brought to an abrupt close. The results of the survey were transmitted to England in 1816, where they remained unnoticed until 1838, when Mr. Montgomery Martin "obtained permission to examine the manuscripts, which eventually led to their publication." To him we certainly owe the publication of this valuable work; but I must confess that the warmth of my gratitude for this welcome service is absolutely frozen by the coolness of appropriation displayed on the title-page, where the name of Buchanan is entirely omitted, and the districts of Eastern India are stated to have been "surveyed under the orders of the Supreme Government, and collated from the original documents at the East India Office by Montgomery Martin." This singular proceeding has not escaped the notice of M. Vivien de St. Martin, who remarks that the three volumes had been published "sans y mettre le nom de M. Buchanan." It is, however, but fair to say that full credit is given to Buchanan in the introduction, and that the work appears to be satisfactorily edited.

Although the instructions given to Buchanan included neither the history nor the antiquities of the country, yet both were diligently explored by him; and when, after a lapse of upwards of twenty years, a great mass of the matter collected by the survey was found to have become useless, the value of the traditional or recorded history, and of the monuments and relics of antiquity, remained unchanged. All this part of the work has been published by the editor with a fair proportion of plates, from which we learn that Buchanan was amongst the first to perceive the value and importance of detailed plans and exact measurements of remarkable buildings and ancient sites. His notices of the Buddhist remains at Gaya and Baragaon in Bihâr, of Kasia and Kahaon in Gorakhpur, and at many other places, are not less creditable to him because, through delay in the publication of his work, they were partly anticipated by James Prinsep. His historical and archæological researches in the districts of Eastern India are specially valuable for

their sound judgment and conscientious accuracy. I have myself visited many of the places described by Buchanan, and I can vouch for the meritorious minuteness and strict correctness of his descriptions.

The Indian mantle of Jones, which Colebrooke had worn so worthily for twenty years, was not destined to remain without a claimant. Before Colebrooke left India in 1815 HORACE HAYMAN WILSON had become Secretary of the Asiatic Society, and had published his translation of the Megha-duta, or "cloud-messenger" of Kâlidâsa. This was followed in 1819 by his Sanskrit Dictionary, a work of great labour and merit, and in 1827 by his Hindu Theatre, which opened to the European world a novel and interesting variety of the dramatic art. At the same time he contributed many valuable papers to the Quarterly Oriental Magazine, amongst which his translations of stories from Sanskrit and of some episodes from the Mahâbhârata, are perhaps the most pleasing, and his review of the first fifteen volumes of the Asiatic Researches the most important. In 1825 he published an essay on the Hindu history of Kashmir, which gives a clear and very interesting account of the early history of the famous valley.

In the beginning of 1833 Wilson returned to England, where he continued his Oriental studies with unabated ardour. The two principal works of his English career were an account of the coins and antiquities of Afghanistan, contained in "Ariana Antiqua," and his translation of the RigVeda. The geographical portion of Ariana Antiqua, under the head of "Early Notices of Ariana," is full and valuable ; but his account of Masson's collection of coins makes no advance in Indian numismatics, beyond the point which Prinsep had reached at the time of his death. Indeed, Wilson's archæological writings have added little, if anything, to his reputation. His fame rests on his Sanskrit scholarship, and on the many valuable works, both original and translated, which he gave to the world during his long and brilliant career. To the general public, his most popular work is undoubtedly the Hindu Theatre, in which his true poetic taste and feeling enabled him to do full justice to the masterpieces of the Indian drama. This work has just been re-printed, and it is not likely to be soon superseded by any future scholar, as the different qualities required to produce

an adequate poetic translation are very rarely combined in one person as they were in Horace Hayman Wilson.

In Western India the Kanhari Caves in the Island of Salset were described and illustrated by Salt as early as 1806, although his account was not published until 1819 in the 1st volume of the Bombay Transactions. In the same volume appeared Erskine's admirable account of the elephanta caves, which, however, was written as early as 1813. Like Buchanan in Bengal, Erskine anticipated the period when vague and glowing accounts would give place to accurate descriptions and detailed plans. His essay on the Elephanta Caves has been corrected in a few points by succeeding observers; but it is still the best account that we possess of those interesting Brahmanical excavations.*

In the 3rd volume of the same transactions, Colonel Sykes gave the first description of the Muhammadan city of Bijapur, which has since been amply illustrated by the drawings of Hurt and Cumming, and the photographs of Loch, with text by Meadows Taylor and James Fergusson. To Colonel Sykes also belongs the credit of a good account of Ellora, which had been previously illustrated by the drawings of Wales engraved by the Daniells.

The earliest illustrations of Southern India we owe to Thomas Daniell, who, at the close of the last century, visited Madras and made several admirable drawings of the seven pagodas at Mahâmallaipur, which are not surpassed by the best photographs. About the same time Colonel Colin Mackenzie began his antiquarian career in the South, which his successive positions in the Survey Department enabled him to extend successfully over the greater part of the peninsula. His collection of manuscripts and inscriptions is unrivalled for its extent and importance.t His drawings of antiquities fill ten folio volumes; and to this collection Mr. Fergusson was indebted for several of the most

* A new description of the cave temples and other antiquities of Elephanta is shortly about to be published by Mr. J. Burgess, illustrated with plans and other drawings, besides thirteen photographs. As Mr. Burgess has already proved himself a most competent describer of Indian antiquities by his two previous works,-"The Temples of Kathiawâr," illustrated by forty-one photographs, and the "Temples of Satrunjaya," illustrated by fortyfive photographs, his new work on Elephanta will, no doubt, be a most valuable and welcome addition to the library of Indian Archæology.

+ See Taylor's Catalogue of the Oriental Collection of the Library of the College of Fort St. George, 3 Vols., thick, 8vo.