JANUARY 5, 1872.]
29
REVIEWS.
squats by the roadside and soon collects a crowd to hear his song. The chorus here is less frequent
ly heard. The people cannot stay, their children are at home, they hear a little and they then pass on.” This is but a specimen of the descriptions of life and manners with which the songs are interspersed— and illustrated.
Here is a pada—selected at random from the twenty eight Kanarese songs with which the book commences :-
“One begs of others for a wife, On her bestows both rule and home He counts her half of all his life.
But when death comes, he dies alone. Chorus.-Of all good things the best are three– Wives, lands, and countless gain. Which is the dearest friend to thee 7
One mounts the throne of mighty kings, His palace girds with fort and wall ; Of his great power the whole world rings, His lifeless corse to dogs shall fall. Chorus.-Of all good things the best, &c. King's grace, good luck, hard work and trade, May load with wealth of coin or land. What tyrants leave, the moths invade ; For riches fly like desert sand. Chorus.-Of all good things, &c. In vain wives mourn, in vain sons weep, Wealth helps e'en less in death's last scene. Two things alone the gulf can leap— The sin, the good, our life has seen. Chorus.-Of all good things, &c. In this weak frame put not your trust, But think on Him with inward calm.
Is your heart clean 2 For Him you lust 7– Then Vishnu is a healing balm. Chorus.-Of all good things, &c.
struck with the sadness that prevails. The world and every soul in it are so sinful, so full of all evil, man should give up all to save his life; and even than can hardly hope to succeed. ‘How to cross the sea of Sin º' becomes the great question. Its current is so strong, its waves so high, its hidden rocks so many, that none but a strong swimmer can dare to hope to reach the other side. Even he is so battered by storm and rock, so exhausted by the contest or worn by exertion, that when he seems able to touch the shore his strength may fail, his heart grow weak, and he sink back into the roaring tide. If things be so with the vigorous manful few, how can the feeble trembling many ever hope to see the golden feet of the god whose help they
crave? It is inexpressibly saddening again and again to note such songs as these, and know that they represent the inmost feelings of the better part of a great nation.” We must pass over the Kurg Harvest and Wed ding songs too—beautiful as they are, and made still more interesting by Mr. Gover's excellent sketches of the attendant ceremonies; the Funeral Song also is full of pathos and striking images, such as:—
Woe! The string of choicest pearls Round the neck of favoured child Is for ever burst and lost
Woe! The clear and brilliant glass, Fallen from our trembling hands, Fallen—broken to the ground !
But it is too long to reproduce. Nor can we find space for quotations from the Tamil songs, though those by Kapila and Sivavakyer, as well as from the Cural of Tiruvalluva—the “typical and honour ed book” of the Tamils—will interest and instruct
Of the three Badaga songs translated—the “Next world” is of weird and wonderful interest: it is a
Vision of Heaven and Hell that might immortalize another Dante. But it is too long for quotation: its concluding verse reminds us of what will strike most readers, asthe prevailing undertone of a large proportion of the translations in this interesting
every thoughtful reader. These occupy nearly a third of the volume. Next come Malayalam songs —five in number; and lastly thirteen Telugu songs close the work, which we heartily commend to all readers. HINDUSTANMAN MUsAFAR1—or JourNAL of TRAvels
volume.
IN INDIA. By Ardaseer Framjee Moos. 8vo. I., Bom “Oh brother, how I wish
bay, 1871.
To reach that blessful shore
Why did I ever come To see such fearful things If when at last I die, A solemn gathering mourns, And fire devours my corpse— If toll be paid to him Who guards the heavenly gates— If this and more he done, Can I obtain that bliss, Or must I sink to hell ?”
“Alas ! my dear sister, I know not of that.” Here as in very many other instances in these
Dravida songs the note of sorrow is clear enough. And, as the author remarks “no one can fail to be
THIS very elegant volume, dedicated to His loyal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, is written in Gujarati, and illustrated by a good map, a photo graph of His Royal Highness, a steel engraving of the author and his travelling companions, and by a series of sixty-six beautiful chromolithographs, prepared by Messrs. Vincent, Brooks, Day and Sons, from photographs collected by the author, of places visited during his travels. The text occupies 292 pages of beautifully printed vernacular, and 40 pages of translations spiritedly rendered from what the author considers the most interesting por tions of his book. In typography, illustrations, and binding, the book has never been equalled in India.
