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many may run for miles into the jungles for what we know; the whole of the country is capable of being turned into a vast Tea garden, the soil being excellent, and well adapted for the growth of Tea. On both sides of the Buri-Dehing river, as will be seen by the map, the Tea grows indigenous; it may be traced from tract to tract to Hookum, thus forming a chain of Tea tracts from the Irrawaddy to the borders of China, east of Assam. Ever since my residence at Sudiya this has been confirmed year after year by many of my Kamtee, Singpho, and Dewaneah acquaintances, who have traversed this route. It is therefore important for us to look well to our Eastern frontier, on account of our capability to extend our Tea cultivation in that direction. England alone consumes 31,829,620 lbs. nearly four laks of maunds, annually. To supply so vast a quantity of Tea, it will be necessary to cultivate all the hills and vallies of Assam; and on this very account a post at Ningrew becomes doubly necessary. A few years hence, it may be found expedient to advance this frontier post to the top of the Patkai hill, the boundary line of our eastern frontier. Any rupture with Burmah would add to our Tea trade, by taking from them Hookum and Munkoom, and having the Irrawaddy as our boundary line. These countries are nominally under the Burmese, as they pay a small annual tribute; but this can never be collected without sending an armed force. They are said to be thinly inhabited, the population being kept down by the constant broils and wars, which one petty place makes upon another for the sake of plunder. All the inhabitants drink Tea, but it is not manufactured in our way; few, it is said, cultivate the plant. I have for years been trying to get some seeds or plants from them, but have never succeeded, on account of the disturbed state in which they live. The leaves of their Tea plants have always been represented to me as being much smaller than ours.

Muttuck is a country that abounds in Tea, and it might be made one extensive, beautiful Tea garden. We have many cultivated experimental tracts in it; we know of numerous extensive uncultivated tracts, and it appears to me that we are only in the infancy of our discoveries as yet. Our Tea, however, is insecure here. It was but a month or two ago that so great an alarm was created, that my people had to retire from our Tea gardens and manufacture at Deenjoy and Chubwa, which will account for the deficiency of this year's crop. Things must continue in this state until the government of the country is finally settled; for we are at present obliged, in order to follow a peaceful occupation, to have the means of defending ourselves from a sudden attack, ever since the unfortunate affair at Sudiya. Before the transfer of the Tea tracts in this country can be made, it will be

necessary, in justice to all parties, to know if Muttuck is, or is to become, ours or not. The natives at present are permitted to cultivate as much land as they please, on paying a poll-tax of two rupees per year; so that if the country is not ours, every man employed on the Tea will be subject to be called on for two rupees per annum, to be paid to the old Bura Senaputy's son, as governor of the country. This point is of vital importance to our Tea prospects up here. Many individuals might be induced to take Tea grounds, were they sure, that the soil was ours, and that they would be protected and permitted to cultivate it in security.

In looking forward to the unbounded benefit the discovery of this plant will produce to England, to India,-to Millions, I cannot but thank God for so great a blessing to our country. When I first discovered it, some 14 years ago, I little thought that I should have been spared long enough to see it become likely eventually to rival that of China, and that I should have to take a prominent part in bringing it to so successful an issue. Should what I have written on this new and interesting subject be of any benefit to the country, and the community at large, and help a little to impel the Tea forward to enrich our own dominions, and pull down the haughty pride of China, I shall feel myself richly repaid for all the perils and dangers and fatigues, that I have undergone in the cause of British India Tea. JAIPORE,

10th June, 1839.

ART. VIII.- Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

(Wednesday Evening, the 7th August, 1839.)

The Honorable Sir E. RYAN, President, in the chair.

Read the Proceedings of the last Meeting,

Read the following letter from Professor WILSON :—

Library, East India House, London, 12th April, 1839. DEAR SIR,-The continued serious illness of Mr. J. PRINSEP, and the uncertainty of its termination, render it impossible to communicate with him on the affairs of the Asiatic Society, and I must therefore trouble you on a subject on which he wrote to me on the Society's behalf sometime ago. Under the authority I then received, I applied to Sir F. CHANTREY to furnish the Society with a copy of his bust of Mr. COLEBROOKE, and of one of Sir W. JONES, from the head of the statue in St. Paul's Cathedral. Both have been prepared under his superintendence by a sculptor of great merit, his pupil Mr. WEEKES, and are nearly completed. The cost is severally sixty

and seventy guineas, (1367. 10s.) and it should be paid as soon as the busts are removed. I am not aware however if any arrangement has been made to remit the above sums, although I apprised Mr. PRINSEP of the amount. His lamented indisposition, and hurried departure from India, will probably have prevented him from taking any steps on the occasion. If the remittance has been made, I shall be obliged to you to inform me in what manner; if not, as is most likely, I shall be obliged to you to ob tain the authority of the Society to the money being sent me without delay.

It is very probable that a similar omission may have occurred in regard to the amount of Dr. MILL's bust, which you will therefore be kind enough to correct by forwarding the amount either to him or to me The plaster model of his bust is completed, and is most excellent, both as to its general character and individual resemblance. It and the other two will form most admirable, as well as appropriate decorations of the Society's apartments. Yours very truly,

H. H. WILSON,

The Secretary informed the Meeting that the draft for 1367. 10s. has been remitted to Dr. WILSON by the last Overland; and that subsequent inquiry had shewn that Mr. PRINSEP had a larger sum than that required at the credit of the Society in the hands of his London Agents.

Read a letter from J. FORSHALL, Esq., Secretary to the British Museum, acknowledging receipt of No. 80 of the Journal Asiatic Society.

The Secretary brought to the notice of the Meeting that the present Pundit, RAMGOVIND GOSSAMEE, has been found incompetent to decypher the Inscriptions to which the Society are most desirous to give publicity, either in their monthly publication, or in their Transactions, he therefore proposed that the celebrated KAMALAKANTHA VIDYALANKA be appointed for that office, and also as the Librarian for the Oriental Books.

The proposition was unanimously carried,

Library.

The Secretary informed the Meeting of the arrival of several books selected by Professor WILSON and Dr. CANTOR, amounting in cost to 637. 4s. 6d., as per list forwarded by the booksellers, Messrs. ALLEN and Co.

Lindley's Fossil Flora, 3 vols. 8vo. boards.

Agassiz' Fossil Fishes, Parts 1 to 9 and 11, folio and 4to.

Russell's Fishes of the Coromandel Coast, 2 vols. folio.

Russell's continuation of the Coromandel Serpents, 2 vols. folio.

Cuvier and Valenciennes Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, vols. 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Do. additional plates, to vol. 11, 8vo.

Crouch's Introduction to Lamarck's Conchology, coloured 4to. boards.

Gould's Himalayan Birds, 1 vol. imperial folio.

Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia-from the Booksellers.

Literary and Antiquities.

Read the following reply from Government to the request of the Society for a subscription for a certain number of copies of the "Sharya-ul-Islam," which the Society has undertaken to print in conjunction with the Nawab JABAWUR JUNG.

General Dept.

To the Officiating Secretary to the Asiatic Society.

SIR, I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 2d May last, and in reply to inform you, that the Honorable the President in Council will take 25 copies of the Skarya-ul-Islam at 20 Co's Rs. per copy, for the use of the Seminaries of education which give instruction in Arabic Law. On the receipt of the copies the

necessary orders will be issued to discharge your bill on presentation at the General Treasury.

Council Chamber, 24th July, 1839.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

H. T. PRINSEP,
Secy. to Govt. of India.

Read a letter from Captain P. GERARD, forwarding two boxes of stone Idols discovered by his late brother, Dr. J. G. GERARD, and Lieut. Col. Sir Alexander BURNES, near Manikayala, on their route to India, 1833 and 1834.

'I take this opportunity of acquainting you for the information of the Asiatic Society, of having despatched by water two boxes to your address, to the care of my agents Messrs. COCKERELL and Co., who shall be apprized of the same. One is a large square box containing a Stone Idol in excellent preservation and beautifully executed, and complete excepting the face of one of the female figures, which is wanting. The face of the other female figure was accidentally broken off, but it has been carefully packed up in paper, and with a little cement it can easily be united, and appear as if nothing had occurred to it.

"The other is a small square box containing fragments of Idols. The whole were dug for at considerable expense in Afghanistan, at or somewhere near Manikayala by my brother, the late Dr. J. G. GERARD, while he was on his return route to India, during 1833 and 1831, from Meshid in Persia, where he separated from his companion and fellowtraveller, Lieutenant (now Lieutenant Colonel) Sir Alexander BURNES, Kt. May I therefore request that you will do me the favour of presenting the contents of both boxes on their arrival, to the Asiatic Society on my part, as having been the discoveries of my brother, the late Dr. J. G. GERARD.

I regret to say that no particulars of their locality were found amongst my late brother's voluminous MS. papers, relating to his interesting journey, owing unfortunately to the circumstance of two-thirds of the whole having unaccountably disappeared, or been lost, which is much to be regretted, as they contained valuable information respecting Heerat and Kandahar, and the countries between Meshid and Cabul, especially about the resources of these parts, their trade, manufactures, and productions. What remained of his papers (with the exception of his meteorological observations during his absence from the end of 1831 and beginning of 1832, till March 1834, which I shall take an early opportunity of transmitting to the Society for publication at this interesting period,) were forwarded to Europe in 1836.

Last year I was promised the necessary information respecting the Idols from Moonshí MOHUN LAL, but not having received it, I was unwilling to delay their dispatch any longer. Should he favour me with any particulars on the subject, I shall have great pleasure in communicating the same to the Society.

P. GERARD, Captain.'

The boxes and contents were safely received. The thanks of the Society were voted to Capt. GERARD for this acceptable donation.

A stone Pillar of exquisite beauty and genuine Hindu style, considered to belong to the 13th century, was presented by Mr. W. S. ALLEN, by whom it was discovered with several fragments of a ruined temple, &c., on one of the shallows near Pubna. Lieut. KITTOE has undertaken to prepare an account and drawing of this Pillar for the next number of this Journal.

Translation of a play exemplifying the popular tone of the Burmese Drama was presented by Mr. BLUNDELL.

Physical.

Daily Observations of the Tide at Singapore for February, March, and April, 1839. With reference to the resolution of the Meeting held on the 2nd January last, the Secretary apprised the Meeting that he had received a letter from Messrs. TAYLOR and WALTON, stating that they will supply such impressions of their Anatomical Wood-cuts as the Society may require.

Upper Gower Street, May 7th, 1839.

SIR,-Your letter of the 10th of February to DR. QUAIN on the subject of the Illustrations in his Elements of Anatomy has been handed to us. In reply, we beg to inform you that we shall be happy to forward the views of the Society by supplying whatever number of impressions from our engravings the Society may require. As much of the work in the Wood-cuts is very delicate, we should run a great risk of seriously injuring the blocks, by attempting to take casts from them. On this account we are prevented furnishing the metal casts, but the former plan we shall be happy to carry out in any way the Society may desire. We think your work would be much improved by the engravings being worked in this country, as the appearance of a wood-cut depends quite as much upon the printing as upon the engraving, and of course wood-cut printing has as yet been but little attended to in India. If you determine upon having the impressions, perhaps you will have the kindness to send us the following particulars :

1st. The size of the volume for which the Plates are required.

2nd. The Number of Copies required.

3rd. The arrangement you would wish of the subject; how many on each plate; and in what order?

4th. Whether you would require the same number of the steel plates of the Brain, &c.

We remain, Sir,

Your obedient servants,

TAYLOR AND WALTON.

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