eems to have
been originally pure, inculcating the belief of an Eternal Being,
possessed of every divine perfection. Their subordinate deities,
Brahma, Vishnou, and Sheevah, are only representatives of the wisdom,
goodness, and power of the supreme god Brahma; whom they call the
principles of Truth, the spirit of Wisdom, and the Supreme Being; so
that it is probable that all their idols were at first only designed
to represent these attributes: they believe in ten Avators, or
incarnation of the Deity, nine of which have taken place for the
punishment of tyrants, or removing some great natural calamity; and
the tenth is to take place at the dissolution of the universe. Several
of the Avators inculcate the transmigration of souls, and the ninth of
them, which forbids the sacrifices of animals, gave rise to the
religion of Gauda Boodma, or Fo.

Their deities are extremely numerous, and are generally supposed to
have first originated in Italy and Greece.

After stopping six days, I proceeded to Bombay, and on the 30th of May
I arrived there. After delivering my passport, I made application for
a ship for England, and was some time before I could get one; and the
great expense I incurred in living at a tavern, made me entirely
pennyless, so that I was forced to dispose of the shawls which I had
presented me by the Rajah of Omrouty, and for which I received three
hundred rupees each. But before I was finally settled, I had not above
ten rupees left.

Bombay is an island of Hindostan, on the west coast of the Deccan,
seven miles in length, and about twenty-one miles in circumference;
the ground is barren, and good water scarce; it was formerly
considered very unhealthy, but by draining the swamps and bogs the air
is much improved; the inhabitants are of several nations and very
numerous, but are principally Persians.

The religion of the Persians is, generally, Paganism, directed
principally by the priests of magi, men of strict austere life,
forbidding the use of either ornament or gold; making the ground their
bed, and herbs their food. Their whole time is spent in offering to
the gods the prayers and sacrifices of the people, as they only might
be heard.

The people are _Gentiles_; as to their religion, they worship the sun
and moon, and various heavenly bodies, from whom they suppose they
derive every blessing of light and warmth; and every morning they
gather themselves round the beech and present their morning obl