Malecheren, (which is probably another name for Baly), in an excursion which he made one day alone, and in disguise, came to a garden in the environs of his city Mahâbalipoor, where was a fountain so inviting, that two celestial nymphs had come down to bathe there. The Rajah became enamoured of one of them, who condescended to allow of his attachment to her; and she and her sister nymph used thenceforward to have frequent interviews with him in that garden. On one of those occasions they brought with them a male inhabitant of the heavenly regions, to whom they introduced the Rajah; and between him and Malecheren a strict friendship ensued; in consequence of which he agreed, at the Rajah’s earnest request, to carry him in disguise to see the court of the divine Inder,—a favour never before granted to any mortal. The Rajah returned from thence with new ideas of splendour and magnificence, which he immediately adopted in regulating his court and his retinue, and in beautifying his seat of government. By this means Mahâbalipoor became soon celebrated beyond all the cities of the earth; and on account of its magnificence having been brought to the gods assembled at the court of Inder, their jealousy was so much excited at it, that they sent orders to the God of the Sea to let loose his billows, and overflow a place which impiously pretended to vie in splendour with their celestial mansions. This command he obeyed, and the city was at once overflowed by that furious element, nor has it ever since been able to rear its head.—Chambers. Asiat. Res.
Round those strange waters they repair.—XVI. p. 44.
In the Bahia dos Artifices, which is between the river Jagoarive and S. Miguel, there are many springs of fresh water, which may be seen at low tide, and these springs are frequented by fish and by the sea-cow, which they say comes to drink there.—Noticias do Brazil. MSS. i. 8.
The inhabitants of the Feroe Islands seek for cod in places where there is a fresh-water spring at the bottom.—Landt.
The Sheckra.—XVII. p. 65.
This weapon, which is often to be seen in one of the wheel-spoke hands of a Hindoo god, resembles a quoit: the external edge is sharp: it is held in the middle, and, being whirled along, cuts wherever it strikes.
The writing which, at thy nativity,
All-knowing Nature wrought upon thy brain.
—XVIII. p. 69.
Brahma is considered as the immediate creator of all things, and particularly as the disposer of each person’s fate, which he inscribes within the skull of every created being, and which the gods themselves cannot avert.—Kindersley, p. 21. Niecamp. vol. i. p. 10. § 7.
It is by the sutures of the skull that these lines of destiny are formed. See also a note to Thalaba, (vol. i. p. 260, second edition,) upon a like superstition of the Mahommedans.
Quand on leur reproche quclque vice, ou qu’on les reprend d’une mauvaise action, ils répondent froidement, que cela est écrit sur leur tête, et qu’ils n’ont pu faire autrement. Si vous paroissez étonné de ce langage nouveau, et que vous demandiez à voir oú cela est ecrit, ils vous montrent les diverses jointures du crâne de leur tête, prétendant que les sutures même sont les caracteres de cette écriture mysterieuse. Si vous les pressez de dechiffrer ces caracteres, et de vous faire connoitre ce qu’ils signifient, ils avouent qu’ils ne le sçavent pas. Mais puisque vous ne sçavez pas lire cette ecriture, disois-je quelquefois à ces gens entêtés, qui est-ce donc qui vous la lit? qui estce qui vous en explique le sens, et qui vous fait connoitre ce qu’elle contient? D’ailleurs ces pretendus caracteres etant les memes sur la tête de tous les hommes, d’ oú vient qu’ils agissent si différemment, et qu’ils sont si contraires les uns aux autres dans leurs vues, dans leurs desseins, et dans leurs projets?