Snakes abound : the coluher naia, cobra de capello, the most poisonous of all the species, is one of the most common in Malabar, where there is also a snake resembling, in the rings round its body, the coluber natrix of Europe, but much smaller, and very poisonous. The mountain snake of the Ghauts seems to resemble the boa constrictor, as it is represented by Bartolomeo, as being from SO to 40 feet long, and as thick as a fed ox, and as devouring hogs, deer, cows, and other animals, which it seizes by twisting itself round their bodies. Mrs. Graham mentions the same kind of snake as common in the vicinity of Bombay, where the cobra de capello, and the cobra manilla, and a small bright speckled snake, and, in short, snakes of all sizes, are con stantly gliding about.
The insects are also .very numerous, and in great va riety in all parts of India. The termes fatale, or white ant, which is particularly noticed by Herodotus and A aria)), is very destructive to furniture, cloths, Ste. ; they are eagerly devoured by the Chansu Carir, a wretched and de serted caste in the Carnatic. The meloe trianthema is found in great quantities in the Doab, and in that track which stretches along the right bank of the river Jumnah; it seems to feed on the solanunt melongena, and makes its appearance at the commencement of the rainy season. The meloe cicorei is principally found in Bengal, Berar, and Oude ; it subsists on the flowers of the cucurbitaccous plants, and also on those of the hibiscus and sida species ; it is most abundant during the rainy seasons. Both these Species of meloe may be used as medicine instead of the Spanish blistering fly. The fire-fly is very common in In dia, and is one of the most beautiful insects 'of that coun try ; the trees are sometimes so completely covered with it, as to appear like ac pyramids of light." The most trou blesome insects are, the flies, muskettoes, and chinches, or bugs ; and the small worm which deposits its eggs under the skin ; this last is particularly troublesome.
In our account of the fish of India, we must be equally concise as we have been in describing some of its quadru• peds, birds, snakes, and insects. In the Ganges there is great variety and abundance of fish; but of all the kin& found either in this river, or in any other part of India, the most delicate and high flavoured is the mango fish : it re ceives the name, because it appears in the rivers while the mangoes are fit for use. The Europeans in India esteem them most highly, especially during the time when they are full of roe. The other kinds of fish in highest repute for their flavour, by Europeans, are, the cockup, and the sable fish. The coast of Chittagong is celebrated for oysters, par ticularly near the island of Cutubdia ; they are here small, hut of an excellent flavour, and are sent by the inhabitants to Dacca and Calcutta. Oysters are also exceedingly plen ty in the rivers of Cochin, where they are fished for in the same manner as the pearl-oyster. Turtle are found in the Ganges, but small and of inferior quality. The sal mon frequents the sea coast, and the rivers of Malabar ; and pilchards in immense abundance are found on this coast. In the Alacananda river there are a great many fish of the cyprinus genus, particularly C. denticulatus, which grow to the length of four or five feet ; there arc some, it is said, even seven or eight feet long ; these are represented as very beautiful ; the scales on the back and sides, which are very large, and of a fine green colour, with a bright gold edge ; the belly is white, with a slight tinge of gold colour ; the tail and fins are of a dark bronze colour. This fish is very delicate and rich in its flavour ; and many of them are so remarkably tame, that they take bread, &c. out of the hands of the Brahmins, by whom they are daily fed. Alligators and porpoises are common in the Ganges. The whale, which the natives call the sea elephant, is sometimes seen off Cape Comorin. The sword fish is very abundant in almost all parts of the Indian seas. Crabs are represented as poisonous, or rather very unwholesome, in the months of October and November, in consequence, it is supposed, of their feeding on poison ous aquatic plants. The sea hedge-hog ; sea-star.; pipe corillino ; sea nettle, S.:c. are common in the Indian Seas.
The mineralogy of India has not been very carefully or thoroughly explained ; there are, however, some parts of it which are well ascertained, and are very important and interesting. To begin with the Ghauts: these mountains are composed of a granite, in which the felspar and quartz, both of which are remarkably white, bears more than the usual proportion to the mica, which is of a dark green co lour. The particles are angular, and of a very moderate size. These are evidently strata, but in general they are so very much confused and broken, that the line cannot well be defined. In the Coimbetoor province, however, the strata of the Ghauts evidently run north and south, and are vertical ; they are much intersected and broken by fissures, which renders the stone not of much use in building. Many of the masses of rocks in the Mysore
country, on which the almost impregnable fat tresses of Tippoo were built, are of granitic porphyry, and rise into high sharp peaks. Granite seems to form the principal mountains in Hindostan, as well as the Ghauts ; it is found mixed with the soil in the neighbourhood of Rajamal, a town situated on the south-west side of the Ganges, in la titude 55° 2', but not lower clown the river. Limestone is found in many places, particularly among the hills near the i bed of the river Palar, in the vicinity of Arcot, where it is found in tke form of nodules. This species of limestone is the chunam, that is used by the natives along with the areca•nut and betel. Chunam is also met with in almost inexhaustible quantities in the Si!hit district of Bengal; and from this dish Calcutta, and the most remote parts of the province, are supplied with it. In the neighbourhood of Bombay a good deal of chunam is made from shells, and the natives are very particular in gathering them, and In burning each sort separately, as it is said that the elm nam varies in its qualities and value, according to the kind of shell from which it is made. The Madras chunam is smooth, hard, and polished as marble. Most of the pub lic offices in this town are built of it. There are marble quarries of considerable extent, which yield marble of ex cellent quality, in the province of Ajmeer, near the town of Pookshur, which is much employed in building. Other stone proper for building, particular Iv what is called the Theban stone, is very abundant over Hindostan Proper, and is by no means rare in the Dccan and the south of India. In Bombay there are large quarries. In one of the branches of the Ganges, as well as in other rivers, a very rare stone is found, which is regarded with much veneration by the followers of Vishnou. It is described as very heavy, com monly of a black colour, and sometimes violet ; round or oval in its form ; a little flat, and nearly resembling a touch stone. It is hollow in the inside. There is only a small hole on the outside, but within it is almost concave, and furnished in the interior coats, above and below, with spi ral lines, which terminate in a joint towards the middle, and in many these two points touch ; (Sonnerat, i. 41.) In the province of Oude, lapis lazuli, of an excellent qua lity, which sells in England for nine guineas an ounce, is found.' The diamond mines of India have been long known and celebrated. The most remarkable is that of Pannah, which seems to have been known to Ptolemy. The Emperor Acbar, among his other plans of improving and enriching his territories, paid great attention to this mine, from which he drew eight lacks of rupees annually. The native chiefs of Bundelcund, (in which district of Allahabad, beyond the range of mountains extending from Rhotas to Ajmeer, Pannah is situated), as well as the last Mahratta con querors of this district, also drew considerable revenue fi om this mine. Subsequently, however, it seems to have de clined ; for in the year 1756, they yielded to the Rajah only four lacks of rupees. Of their present state, nothing accurate is known. Besides the diamond mine of Pannah, there is one other to the north of Decan, near Sumbhul poor, in the province of Gondwana, near the junction of the lIebe with the Mahanuddy. In the year 1766, a jour ney was undertaken to this mine, tinder the direction of Lord Clive, by Mr. Motte ; but he was not permitted by the Rajah to reach it. From the information which he col lected, however, in Sumbhulpoor, we learn, that the a na tives search in the river Ilebe after rains for red earth, washed down from the mountains, in which earth the dia monds are found." This matrix was examined by Mr. Motte ; it was a clay nearly as red as burnt bricks: Till the period that this district was overrun by the Mahrattas, the natives informed Mr. Motte that they used to go to the mountains and dig for diamonds; but this practice they have discontinued, as it would only increase -the tribute which they were obliged to pay to their conquerors. The other diamond mines in Hindostan are to the south of the Nerbuddah. About the middle of the t7th century, the diamond mines in Sedhout, a district in the Balaghaut ced ed territories, were very productive, but these, as well as all other diamond mines of Hindostan, have long ceased to he very valuable, being either exhausted or neglected. There are also mines at Raolcondah, about 40 miles N. IV. from the junction of the Beehmah and the Krishnah ; at Colore, on the southern bank of the latter river, not far from Condavir, in the Gentoor circar; and in •Golconda. Carnelian and other opake stones are found near Carnbah and garnets near Hyderabad.