contains some particulars respecting the name, object, initiatory ceremonies, secret signs, and seal, of a singular association existing amongst the Chinese, not merely in their own country, but extending to almost every colony of that nation in the east. The name, or title, of this association, is not known with certainty, but seems to be San-ho-hwuy, or The Society of the Three United, or the Triad Society. The three referred to are Theen, te, and jin, i. e. heaven, earth, and man, the three great powers in nature, according to the Chinese doctrine of the universe. This, or a similar society, had, by its secret machinations, nearly produced a revolution in the Government during the reign of Kea King, by whom it was persecuted, and the principals were seized and put to death. The seeds of this association still survived, and the objects of it continue, though the operations of the members are conducted more secretly than before. The design of this association, at first that of mutual assistance, degenerated, at length, into theft, and the overthrow of regular government: it seems, in fact, to have been of a decidedly revolutionary character. It includes amongst its fraternity the idle part of the community, who aid each other in the perpetration of crimes, and in escaping from the hands of justice. What they obtain by plunder is divided amongst the members according to rank. They are well known in Java, Singapore, Malacca, and Penang, where, when a Chinese stranger arrives, he is either laid under contribution, or exposed to their annoyance. The direction of the society is vested in three persons, called Ko, or elder brothers; the members are called Heung-tê, or brethren. The rules of the association are said to be contained in a book, and written on cloth, with ink of peculiar quality, so that the writing is not obliterated by being concealed in a well or pond.

The initiatory ceremonies are secret, and therefore little known. They are said to consist of thirty-six oaths, or imprecations, to secresy; and there is a ceremony called "crossing the bridge." This bridge is formed of swords, held in a peculiar manner, under which a new member takes an oath, sanctioned, in the usual form, by the decapitation of a cock.

The signs consist of mystic numbers, particularly three and its multiples : they also prefer odd to even numbers. The peculiarity of the language, which admits of analysis of individual characters, assists this object. For example, the word Hung, in the title of Hung-kea, or Flood family, another name by which the society is distinguished, contains the number three hundred and twenty-one, and is often used by the members for particular purposes. Certain motions of the fingers constitute a second class of signs; and odes and pieces of poetry are employed as a third.

This

The seal of the society is of quinquangular shape, and the characters engraved upon it are supposed to contain some occult or mystic sense. seal it is impossible to explain without reference to the engraved representation given at the end of the volume, and which (as well as the other specimens of Chinese writing there) exhibits a fine specimen of caligraphy.

Dr. Milne institutes a comparison between this society and that of the Freemasons, though we are bound to say the points of resemblance are not very striking; they consist, 1st, of their pretensions to antiquity; 2d, their mutual benevolence and assistance rendered to each other; 3d, the oath, the arch of steel and bridge of swords, used at initiation; 4th, the three ruling brethren, like the three masonic orders of apprentice, fellow craft, and master; 5th, the signs, particularly motions with the fingers; 6th, the dogma of liberty and equality, in which ""; some have affirmed," says Dr. Milne, "that the grand secret of free-masonry consists," and which the Chinese term Heung-te, may

be

The followers of this sect are called Dhamians; and their dress is after the Hindu fashion, to favour their interpretation of that passage of the Koran which says that Imam Mehedi will appear in disguise. They are to be found in the Panjab, in Gujera, Delhi, Lucknow, Benares, Muthra, Faizabad, and Nagpur; but Panná is their Mecca, Latterly they are said to have made some progress; but their whole number does not exceed 1,500, of which about twenty are employed at their place of worship at Panná, and the remainder are engaged in trade. The present establishment was endowed by Raja Hindupati with a small portion of the diamond mines, which affords subsistence to the devotees employed in their temple, and at the shrine of their founder at Panná. The ninth Article consists of Dr. Whitelaw Ainslie's " Observations on the Lepra Arabum, or Elephantiasis of the Greeks, as it appears in India." This is a very full and excellent account of the history, character, varieties, and modes of treatment, of this frightful malady, which, it appears, " is by no means of rare occurrence in the Indian peninsula, and spares no caste nor sect, though it is more commonly found amongst the poor than the rich, owing, no doubt, to their manner of living, and consequent languid circulation." In Upper India it is supposed to be inflicted as a punishment for sins committed in this world, and that any person dying of it is liable to a return of the disease in his next birth; an evil which, it is imagined, may be averted by a voluntary death. The tenth article is by John Francis Davis, Esq., and entitled Eugraphia Sinensis; or, the Art of Writing the Chinese Character with Correctness : to which are prefixed some Observations on Chinese Writing." The rules prescribed by Mr. Davis are ninety-two in number, including every possible class of written character, and are exemplified by means of specimens, very beautifully engraved, appended to the volume. Skill in writing is much prized in China; but of the two points, correctness and elegance, the first only is absolutely required of students, at their public examination; and Mr. Davis mentions an anecdote, current amongst the Chinese, of a candidate who was absolutely rejected for omitting the horizontal line at the bottom of the character of a horse, with the remark that "it was impossible for a horse to walk without legs."

Mr. Davis makes the following judicious reflections on the necessity of cultivating the study of the Chinese language, in all its departments :

No reasonable person, at the present day, will deny the necessity that there is, for some few, at least,, of our countrymen being possessed of a competent and practical knowledge of the Chinese language. He who ever carries his thoughts back to the past, will allow how ill we should have fared without it, on many critical discussions with a people, of all others the most extravagant in their assumptions, and the most difficult to manage; and he who can look beyond the present day to the future, may not only foresee (as long as our government neglects to make some sort of provision against such contingencies) the possibility of discussions still more embarrassing, and more difficult, than ever yet occurred at Canton; but when he takes into consideration the extension of our Indian frontier to the northward and eastward, he may easily anticipate the chance of our being, some day, unavoidably placed, with respect to the Chinese empire, in relations of a far more weighty and important nature, than such as are simply commercial.

The Chinese, themselves, are cunning enough to know that " knowledge is power;' and though they have, of late years, gradually relaxed in their vigilance, and may at length be considered to have relinquished the point,* the jealousy with which they, not very long ago, regarded the attainment of their language by Europeans, sufficiently shewed the importance that they attached to it, and the consequences that they foreboded, from such knowledge, to their selfish interests.

Every

* It was insisted upon by the British factory, in the discussions of 1814, and at length yielded to them. Asiatic Journ. VOL. XXI. No. 123. 3 C

A.D. 1633, to fly into Gondwáná, and the power of the Bundéla dynasty was broken. The struggles of succeeding chiefs of that dynasty were at length rewarded by the restoration of its representative, Pehár Singh, to the possessions of his ancestors. From this period, the rajas of Bundelkhund, became the feudatories of the Mohammedan government, until Brikramajít, who, in 1812, concluded a treaty with the British, by which his territories are protected by that government from molestation.

Such is the history of the country termed Bundelkhund Proper, situated to the west of the Désán river. But during the contests with the Mohammedans, subsequent to the flight of Jajhár Singh into Gondwáná, a Bundéla chieftain, named Chhatrasál, succeeded in wresting from them a portion of territory to the east of the Désán, and assumed the title of raja. He was defeated and deprived of his conquests; but by the aid of the Peshwa, Sewai Bájiráö, was enabled to recover them, and he bequeathed his extensive territories to his posterity, with the exception of a large portion which he ceded to the Peshwa; this was the earliest territorial acquisition of the Mahrattas in Hindustan, and which, in after times, was transferred to the British. The other portions of the territories, divided between his two sons, after a long series of domestic troubles and civil wars, were parcelled out into a multitude of sub-divisions, which eventually gave rise to the numerous petty states now existing, the progress of which Capt. Franklin minutely traces.

The rest of the paper is devoted to details regarding the geographical features of Bundelkhund, as well as its mines, minerals, and manufactures, its soil, productions and mode of husbandry, its remarkable buildings, ruins and natural curiosities, and its inhabitants and religious establishments. The superior classes consist of the descendants of Yaduvansi Ahírs, the descendants of the Chandéla race, the Raghuvansi tribe, the Bundéla race (who are always in the capacity of chiefs), the Püár tribe, a tribe called Dhandélás, the Gujer tribe of Lampthír, the Mahratta Pundits of Jalawan, and lastly the Chóbés. Of the inferior tribes, the most common are the Lód, Cúrmi, Cúlí, Canghán, Ahír, Chamár, and a caste called Banáfers.

The Bundelas have been generally allowed to be a brave race of men; and there is something rudely haughty about them to the present day. They are certainly attached to the soil they inherit, and have a term, Bhúmiyádi, which may be translated patriotism, and which they use to express their exertions in behalf of their country.

The principal Hindu religious establishment is at Chitracote on the Paisuní river, where Ráma Chandra is said to have rested on his way to Lanca. There are also some Jain temples at Senáwal and Kandalpur for the worship of Buddha (Jina). But the most singular religious establishment is at Panná, and was founded by an enthusiast named Ji Saheb, who emigrated from the Panjab in the time of Rájá Chhatrasál.

This man assumed the appellative of Pránanáth, or Lord of Life, and declared himself to be the promised Imám Mehedi, mentioned in the Koran. His first attempts to set up his new religion were in the Panjab, that fertile spot for religious innovation. Afterwards he removed to Delhi; and finally, to avoid the persecution of the Muhammedans, he fled into Bundelkhund, where he found protection under the rising power of Rájá Chhatrasál.

None but converts to his religion are allowed to read his book, which is entitled Kúlzam; but having procured some extracts from it, and other information concerning it, I ascertained that his principal arguments for the necessity of this new religion are founded on the discrepancy which exists between the practice of Muhammedans and the precepts of the Koran; and he professes to promulgate in his book the remaining 30,000 words, which Muhammed, on the occasion of his miraculous ascent into heaven, was told should be reserved for the coming of Imam Mehedi.

The

The followers of this sect are called Dhamians; and their dress is after the Hindu fashion, to favour their interpretation of that passage of the Koran which says that Imam Mehedi will appear in disguise. They are to be found in the Panjab, in Gujera, Delhi, Lucknow, Benares, Muthra, Faizabad, and Nagpur; but Panná is their Mecca. Latterly they are said to have made some progress; but their whole number does not exceed 1,500, of which about twenty are employed at their place of worship at Panná, and the remainder are engaged in trade. The present establishment was endowed by Raja Hindupati with a small portion of the diamond mines, which affords subsistence to the devotees employed in their temple, and at the shrine of their founder at Panná. The ninth Article consists of Dr. Whitelaw Ainslie's " Observations on the Lepra Arabum, or Elephantiasis of the Greeks, as it appears in India." This is a very full and excellent account of the history, character, varieties, and modes of treatment, of this frightful malady, which, it appears, "is by no means of rare occurrence in the Indian peninsula, and spares no caste nor sect, though it is more commonly found amongst the poor than the rich, owing, no doubt, to their manner of living, and consequent languid circulation." In Upper India it is supposed to be inflicted as a punishment for sins committed in this world, and that any person dying of it is liable to a return of the disease in his next birth; an evil which, it is imagined, may be averted by a voluntary death. The tenth article is by John Francis Davis, Esq., and entitled Eugraphia Sinensis; or, the Art of Writing the Chinese Character with Correctness: to which are prefixed some Observations on Chinese Writing." The rules prescribed by Mr. Davis are ninety-two in number, including every possible class of written character, and are exemplified by means of specimens, very beautifully engraved, appended to the volume. Skill in writing is much prized in China; but of the two points, correctness and elegance, the first only is absolutely required of students, at their public examination; and Mr. Davis mentions an anecdote, current amongst the Chinese, of a candidate who was absolutely rejected for omitting the horizontal line at the bottom of the character of a horse, with the remark that "it was impossible for a horse to walk without legs."

Mr. Davis makes the following judicious reflections on the necessity of cultivating the study of the Chinese language, in all its departments:

No reasonable person, at the present day, will deny the necessity that there is, for some few, at least,, of our countrymen being possessed of a competent and practical knowledge of the Chinese language. He who ever carries his thoughts back to the past, will allow how ill we should have fared without it, on many critical discussions with a people, of all others the most extravagant in their assumptions, and the most difficult to manage; and he who can look beyond the present day to the future, may not only foresee (as long as our government neglects to make some sort of provision against such contingencies) the possibility of discussions still more embarrassing, and more difficult, than ever yet occurred at Canton; but when he takes into consideration the extension of our Indian frontier to the northward and eastward, he may easily anticipate the chance of our being, some day, unavoidably placed, with respect to the Chinese empire, in relations of a far more weighty and important nature, than such as are simply commercial.

The Chinese, themselves, are cunning enough to know that "knowledge is power;" and though they have, of late years, gradually relaxed in their vigilance, and may at length be considered to have relinquished the point,* the jealousy with which they, not very long ago, regarded the attainment of their language by Europeans, sufficiently shewed the importance that they attached to it, and the consequences that they foreboded, from such knowledge, to their selfish interests.

Every

* It was insisted upon by the British factory, in the discussions of 1814, and at length yielded to them. Asiatic Journ. VOL. XXI. No. 123. 3 C

Every step that renders us independent on native aid, in acquiring and making use of the language, may be considered as something gained: not to mention, that such aid is hardly procurable by the student in Europe. The Chinese might, at a future period, revise and greatly increase the penalties against such of their people, as give instruction to Europeans, at Canton; and the very occasions, on which the use of the language was most required, would be those on which the assistance of natives was most likely to be cut off. Besides, as experience has shewn that the local government, notwithstanding its pretended pride and indifference, has condescended to employ spies upon our actions and intentions, these persons, being necessarily acquainted, in some measure, with our counsels, would be the most convenient that it could select for the purpose.

.

"An Account of Greek, Parthian, and Hindu Medals found in India," forms the subject of the eleventh paper in this collection. It is from the pen of that indefatigable orientalist, Major James Tod, and is accompanied by fac simile engravings of some medals, two of which, of Apollodotus and Menander, fill up a chasm in the numismatic series of the Greek kings of Bactria. The epigraphe on each of the two medals is in the Greek language; the inscription on the reverse is in the Zend or Pehlavi character, which affords a decisive proof, as Major Tod remarks, "that both these princes held Bactria, or Balk'h, as the seat of empire; for although the discovery of these coins gives validity to the reported extent of conquest of these princes, yet had they held the seat of government within the Indus, they would have adopted the ancient Nágarí character on the reverse, not that of Parthia."

The coin of Apollodotus,* which is extremely scarce (as well as some rare medals of a Parthian dynasty, probably yet unknown to history") Major Tod obtained from the site of an ancient capital, named Súrapura, on the Yamuna, between Agra and Etawah. The Menandert was found at Mat❜hurá supposed to be the Methoras of Arrian. The history of these two princes, and the geographical details illustrative of their conquests, form the bulk of this very elaborate and erudite essay, which we should mutilate and disfigure by an attempt to compress or epitomize. It contains, as the author observes, matter for others to expatiate upon, who may thereby throw new light upon Indian history.

The concluding article is that, the importance and curiosity of which have induced us to select it for publication (in an abridged form) in this journal. It contains the particulars of one of the attempts of Capt. A. Gerard and his brother, Mr. J. G. Gerard, to penetrate across the stupendous Himalaya, extracted from the journal of the former, condensed in a masterly manner by the learned director of the Society, Mr. Colebrooke. Any remarks of ours upon this most interesting article would be superfluous.

The mass of information, which is shewn by these papers to be accumulating on every subject connected with India and the east in general, will be available by the historian, the philosopher, and the philanthropist. Our efforts at improving the intellectual condition of our Indian fellow-subjects, and our researches into their history, literature, and manners, will go hand in hand, and mutually aid each other. The tendency of both is to bring into closer approximation nations which have hitherto been more widely removed from each other, in many respects, than they ought to be.

*The name of Apollodotus has been obscured by the mistake of Trogus Pompeius (adopted by Justin and Strabo), who confounded it with that of Apollodorus, the historian of Bactria.

+ Plutarch says of this king, that he reigned over the Bactrians with such equity, that the cities had, in common, the care of his funeral rites; that they afterwards contended for his ashes, and at last divided his remains equally amongst them, erecting monuments to him in all.

PRO