[48] In a note to the article on Whist, in the Foreign Quarterly Review, No. 48, previously referred to, this pack of cards is noticed, and the suits are thus enumerated: "While this article was in the press, we have been favoured with a sight of two packs of cards in the possession of the Royal Asiatic Society: and, as truth is more strange than fiction, one of these, consisting of Ten Suits, certainly does represent the Ten Avatars or incarnations of the Vistnou, or Vishnava, sect.... The suits are:
- 1. The Fish.
- 2. The Tortoise.
- 3. The Boar.
- 4. The Lion.
- 5. The Monkey.
- 6. The Hatchet.
- 7. The Umbrella (or Bow.)
- 8. The Goat.
- 9. The Boodh.
- 10. The Horse.
"The Dwarf of the 5th Avatar is substituted by the Monkey; the Bow and Arrows of the 7th by the Cattashal or Umbrella, which gives precisely the same outline; and the Goat there, as often elsewhere, takes the place of the Plough."
On the pack of eight cards, which was probably one of those previously noticed in the present volume, the writer of the article makes the following observations: "The other pack has eight suits, of eight cards and two court cards each; eighty in all. [The number of cards, inclusive of the honours, in each suit, is twelve, as has been previously observed.] The Parallelogram, Sword, Flower, and Vase, answer to the Carreau, Espada, Club, and Copa of European suits: the Barrel (?), the Garland (?), and two kinds of Chakra (quoit) complete the set."—The Sword is plain enough, and so is the parallelogram. The Flower and the Cup, I confess, I have not been able to make out; and I question much if the Parallelogram—which in another pack, subsequently described, represents a royal diploma or mandate—be the original of the Carreau or Diamond on European cards. The "two kinds of Chakra" are simply two circular marks.
[49] Engravings of those subjects, as well as their description, will be found in 'Religions de l'Antiquité, considerées principalement dans leurs formes symboliques et mythologiques; ouvrage traduit de l'Allemand du Dr. Frederic Creutzer, par J. D. Guigniant.' Planches, premier cahier, p. 11, 8vo; Paris, 1825.
[50] "Espèce de roue enflammée, symbole de la force vivante qui pénètre et meut l'univers."
[51] The Institutions of Moses and those of the Hindoos compared. By Joseph Priestly, LL.D. p. 56. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1799.
[52] Beshbur.
[53] Kumbur.
[54] The names of the suits are thus explained: Taj, a crown. Soofed, white, abbreviated from the original appellation, zur-i-soofed, a silver coin; figuratively, the moon. Shumsher, a sabre. Gholam, a slave. Chung, a harp. Soorkh, red, or zur-i-soorkh, gold coin; figuratively, the sun. Burat, a royal diploma, or assignment. Quimash, merchandize.