another threefold division of the Indies, the first India extended from Persia to the Indus; the second, from the Indus to the Ganges; while the third comprehended the Ultra-Gangetic countries.* Under the familiar phrase, the East Indies, adopted from the Portuguese, the islands of the Indian archipelago are generally included; and it is singular, that the name of the West Indies, which has led to this distinction, should now designate only a groupe of islands, colonized by Whites, and peopled with Africans. The mistake of Columbus, who at first supposed that he had reached India by a transatlantic course, has been perpetuated, strangely enough, in the misnomer by which the aboriginal population of the Americas, the copper-coloured race, are denominated Indians; that is, Ethiops or blacks. It would be useless, however, to attempt to correct a nomenclature so long established. The word India has fortunately retained a specific meaning, notwithstanding the difficulty of determining its proper geographical extent; and though Hindostan may be deemed, in some respects, the preferable appellation, (as corresponding to Hindoo and Hindostanee, the terms applied to the natives and their vernacular dialect,) the more classical and more convenient name of India seems likely to prevail; more especially as British India is the only convenient designation of our vast and ever-growing territory in those regions. The more popular word has, therefore, been adopted as the title to the present volumes, in

baia (in the peninsula of Gujerat); the kingdom of Semenath (Sumenat, near Point Diu); and lastly, that of Kesmacoran, supposed by Major Rennell to be Kej-Mekran: Cutch is possibly intended.

* Marsden's Marco Polo, note 1454. "In the early part of the fifteenth century, we find the definition of India made to comprehend nearly the same portion of the globe as that on which we so vaguely bestow the appellation of the East Indies."

which it will be used as generally synonymous and convertible with Hindostan, but admitting of a somewhat wider latitude.

We are not yet in possession of exact data for determining the superficial extent of this vast region, even were its northern and eastern boundaries better defined. Mr. Hamilton estimates its extreme length, from the Himalaya mountains to Cape Comorin, at about 1900 miles, and its extreme breadth, from E. to W., at about 1500; but, on account of the irregularity of its figure, the total superficial area cannot, he thinks, be estimated at more than 1,280,000 English square miles. This statement, which has been adopted by M. Malte Brun, assigns 553,000 square miles to the British territory, 550,000 to the territories of British allies and tributaries, and 177,000 to the independent states, as they stood in the year 1820. Within this area is included a population which has been supposed to amount to at least 134 million souls. M. de Humboldt, however, allowing only 109,200 square marine leagues to Hindostan, estimates the total population at only 101 millions, being 925 by the square league. The population of the British empire in India, including that of the allied and tributary powers, which Mr. Hamilton estimates at 123 millions, is rated by M. de Humboldt at only 90 millions; a difference of 43 millions, or nearly a third. It is reasonable to suppose that a mean estimate may approximate to the truth. At present, we can do no better than give the items of these widely discordant calculations, which

The extent of Hindoostan Proper is about equal to France, Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, and the Low Countries collectively; and the Deccan and Peninsula are about equal to the British Islands, Spain, and Turkey in Europe."— RENNELL'S Memoir, p. xix.

may at least shew the manner in which the population

* In 1801-2, the returns made to the Governor-general, with regard to the state of the Bengal Presidency, gave the following results:

+ In the territories of the Mysore Rajah, in 1804, there were 482,612 families, including 2,171,754 souls. Of these families, 17,000 were Mohammedans; 25,370 Brahmins; 72,627 Lingaits; and 2063 Jains.

According to Humboldt +

The three Presidencies, with Pro- Leagues Population. League.

Squ. Marine

By the Sq.

vinces newly acquired

Humboldt, Pers. Narr., vol. vi. pp. 337, 8. In these estimates, the population of Ceylon and the Isles is not included. Mr. Wallace gives the following as the nearest approximation to the fact that he could arrive at.

Under the direct government of Great Britain.... 60,000,000 Under the direct influence of the British Govern

The population of Orissa is supposed to be about 4,500,000

**In these provinces, the Mohammedans are as 1 to 10; except in Khandeish, where they are as 1 to 6. In the district of Chittagong,

The following table will exhibit the geographical divisions according to what has appeared to us the most convenient and distinct, if not an unexceptionable arrangement.

containing 2987 square miles, the population is estimated at 1,200,000, in which there are 3 Mohammedans to 5 Hindoos. Assam, which may now be regarded as a British possession, contained, in 1801, a population of about 500,000 souls, scattered over 60,000 square miles.