Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/100

 boob; notices. 87 THE tlRAUNS. The Uranus have hitherto, for tho sake of con* OOflh been elaaacd with tho Kotbft. hot we find that they are out wuuwtol with the Kolnrion tribe* who took possession of C hutii .Sagpur | the] by their language aud their own traditions that thfty aro cognates or tho Driri than race, aud a branch tribe of the lUijmahal bill-people. They aro tho la.*t or those aboriginal tribes who so tight nacker in tho forests of tan Nagpur plateau, and they have now b be npot mere than 17*X" years. It ia evident that during inch a period muny of their original habit* huvy either boo or modified by constant contact with tho Mnndaa aud the Aryun conquerors*, who have been u lording it" over them «-■ the confederate govern- mwii of the Kalhs had to give way to the mou. arohiral constitution forced upon them t*y the ancestors of the N URuviuui ttj, It is therefaro not at all surprising to find thrir language Atorked with Hindi and Munda words, and to flea them celebrate the Munda festivals and execute the duneca aud many of tho c.ongs of tho bitter. They are some- what iuferier in physique to the Mundas, but their limbs are more pliable and enduring cind full of vigour. An Crauu thinki it quite natural to dance tho whole night ou the Akhra (dancing-plac*! and to go to hie work at once on leaving it in the morning. They are of ou exceedingly cheerful disposition and as truthful a* thn Kollm. Thi only one drawback to thin amiable picture of the Uraiinu, and tktxt tfl shell rhimt. Prank- enuesa u the national vice of the tribe, B Inidy drinks, and formerly it waa not at all an uncommon thing to find a whole village completely drunk ; nnw-a-days they repair in groups of two or three to tho grogshops, established In every respectable Urauu village, a? early aa eight o'clock a.M.i in rirdr-r to take their morning cup, — Frumd af India, 10th Dec. 1874 BOOK NOTICES. fttcoen* or tui Fur : befrur Xnohia Tmtululim;* of ti>* AHjrnfta and Egyptian Uooonaola. Puhfi*h*d under tlw etaetkamf the Society uf UMiial Arfhamkfj A«rnan Tcxti. Vol II. Egyptian Tciia. Those little volumes of tra nidation* are of very great antiquarian interest, from the remote anti- quity of the terta they translate, ae well an their unique character. The relumes aro brought out under thy general editorship of Dr. S. Hindi, but the t runalii! n rod a* received, and each t ran n later ia only responsible for his own portion Of the work;" and to moke the volumes "aa popular aa posuihle, and make the information m simple aa it can lie given, the translations arc unly accompanied by auch uotea aa are absolutely required to ciplain intelligibly a few of tho more re passages." We could have wished that the notes had been lar mora . and that the editor had added reference* from one |*per to another und inod to obtain more uniformity of spelling: bendah* at l.) r and ' Utor and ' lEtt-cigaV (p. 135) I while Mr, H. Fox Talbot baa at p. 03 " liarkamudi/ nod ' J -in ..' and ' H (pu M4J, The principal translator* in the first volume are Hot. A II a Talbot, (leorge Smith, and Sir 11. ILtwltti-on; and, aa might tie expected, the work of each ia n model roc ill Mw> uf aneiont iiworipUMiw i each lino of the original is tramkited by itself, but ao expressed that we read on line after hue without mnou feeling the grvat difficulty which the tranaiutor has tkua bad to grapplu with. The Aaeyrian volume consists of inscriptions uf Kiruiunii-Xirari, Khumniurabi. BamaavjtnilfttQO) two ry Under* and thn private Will of Sennache- rib. Annals of Aaiurbanipal. the Bebtstnn In« aeriptioiu KttordAmn, i'rirata Contract Tabkta, Legend of lahtar, and Aatronemlcal Tahlea. Or tho Exorcism a. which are all very much alike, we may quote one—" [Oa] '.*«> «iok man by means of aacrincea may perfect health »hin>.< llko broom i may the Son-grwl giv- bhfe nun life; may Muro- dacb r the ehktft Son ef the deep, (give him) stirngth, preapcrity, alth; may the king of heaven praaurve, may the king of carl I aer^ The Legend of lahtar, the goddess of Love, deaoeiiding 10 Haded la curious, though tho iiurru- tlvodoee nor. aiata tho object of her deaeost. Wi quote Mr, H- Fox f i * *ir.n in *tltn*e: — und of Hade*, ef ( . . ., 1 a Lthtar, daughter of tho Moon-god Sun, tortuad her no nd, * and thu daughter of San tun! ii.-r mind [to eeAflre]a l i Eternity . ig oTkhegOcI IrhiBa .- * to the men enter — hut cannot dupnrt from; * to tho Boed m itoaanotretorn. TTheabode m kuma aud famine, " where Earth i food: their oourlati B light ia not mi farkjAM the-y dwell -. » gh0tla Kke blfda, lluttertheirwiiigathnvi n <>t* the door and poate the duat liwi undisturbed. M " When lahtar arrived at tho gate of Bailee, is to tho In gate a wool she spoke j » * O koopor of tho i opon thy gatol '* 'OfKin