no inconsiderable part of my duty) are an excuse for my neglect of writing letters; and indeed I find by experience, that I can take up my pen for that purpose but once a year, and I have a hundred unanswered letters now lying before me, but my Anna, who is my secretary of state, and first or rather sole lady of the treasury, has written volumes. Loves and regards to all who love and regard us; aš to compliments, they are unmeaning things, and neither become me to send, nor you to convey.

1

I am,

With great regard, dear Madam, Your faithful and affectionate servant,

WILLIAM JONES.

Sir William Jones to Dr. Patrick Russel.

Crishna-nagur, Sept. 28, 1786.

Various causes contribute to

render me a bad correspondent, particu

larly the discharge of my public duty, and the studies which are connected with that duty, such as the Indian and Arabic laws in their several difficult languages, one of which has occupied most of my leisure for the last twelvemonth, excepting when I travelled to Islamabad, for the benefit of the sea air and verdant hil

locks, during the hot season. It is only in such a retirement as the cottage, where I am passing a short vacation, that I can write to literary friends, or even think much on literary subjects; and it was long after I left this solitude last autumn, that I had the pleasure of receiving your most agreeable letter.

I am tolerably strong in Sanscrit, and hope to prove my strength soon by translating a law tract of great intrinsic merit, and extremely curious, which the Hindus believe to be almost as old as the creation. It is ascribed to Menu, the Minos

of

of India, and like him, the son of Jove. My present study is the original of Bidpa's fables, called Hitopadesa*, which is a charming book, and wonderfully useful to a learner of the language. I congratulate you on the completion of your two works, but exhort you to publish them. Think how much fame Koenig lost by delaying his publications. God knows whether any use honourable to his memory will be made of his manuscripts. Think of Mr. D'Herbelot, whose posthumous work, like most others, had the fate of being incorrectly published. Printing is dear at Calcutta ; but if government would print your works (as they ought) I could cheerfully superintend commas and colons. I am delighted with your botanical pursuits. They talk of a public garden on the banks of the river near Calcutta. How I wish for our sakes, you

Translated by Sir William Jones, and published in his Works, vol. vi.

could

"

could be allured from the Sircars! I long to visit them, however, and to view your collections; though I must be so honest as to own, that accurate botanical descriptions give me more pleasure than an herbal, I mean where the fresh plants can be examined. For this reason I have not begun to collect specimens, but describe as well as I can; and for brevity in coarse Latin, Lady Jones assists me by her accuracy in drawing and colouring.

The province of Chatigan (vulgarly Chitigong) is a noble field for a naturalist. It is so called, I believe, from the chatag, which is the most beautiful little bird I

ever saw.

The hills and woods abound with uncommon plants and animals; indeed, the whole Eastern peninsula would be a new world to a philosopher, I wish poor Koenig had left his papers to you; Banks has too much of his own to employ him, and Macpherson, who loved the

sage, would I dare say have persuaded

Lord

Lord Cornwallis to raise the best monument to his memory, a good edition of his works. I have carefully examined a plant, which Koenig mentioned to me, and called pentapethes protea, from the singular variety of leaves on the same tree. The natives call it Mascamchand; and one. of its fragrant fleshy blossoms, infused for a night in a glass of water, forms a mu cilage of a very cooling quality. The pentapethes phoenicia, which now beautifies this plain, produces a similar mucilage, which might answer the same purposes as that of the Arabian gum, if not other and more important purposes. But I mention this plant, because Koenig told me, that Linnæus had inverted nature in his description of it, by assigning to it five castrated filaments, to each of which were annexed three prolific ones; whereas, said he, (I am sure I did not mistake him) the flower has fifteen castrated, and five prolific; so that in truth it would have been

pentan