Passing by Bamian, where he speaks of the great idols still so famous, he crosses Hindu-Kush, and descends the valley of the Cabul river to Nagarahara, the site of which, still known as Nagara, adjoining Jalálábád, has recently been explored by Mr W. Simpson. Travelling thence to Pesháwar (Purushapúra), the capital of Gandhára, he made a digression, through the now inaccessible valley of Swat and the Dard states, to the Upper Indus, returning to Peshawar, and then crossing the Indus (Sintu) into the decayed kingdom of Taxila (Ta-cha-si-lo, Takshasilá), then subject to Kashmir. In the latter valley he spent two whole years (631–633), studying in the convents, and visiting the many monuments of his faith. We cannot follow his further travels in detail, and can only mention some of the chief points in his devious route. Such are Mathura (Mot’ulo), whence he turned north to Thánesar and the upper Jumna and Ganges, returning south down the valley of the latter to Kanyákubja or Kanauj, then one of the great capitals of India. The pilgrim next entered on a circuit of the most famous sites of Buddhist and of ancient Indian history, such as Ayodhyá, Prayaga (Allahábad), Káusámbhí, Srávastí, Kapilavastu the birthplace of Sákya, Kusinagara his death place, Pátalipútra (Patna, the Palibothra of the Greeks), Gayá, Rájagriha, and Nálanda, the most famous and learned monastery and college in India, adorned by the gifts of successive kings, of the splendour of which he gives a vivid description, and of which traces have recently been recovered. There he again spent nearly two years in mastering Sanskrit and the depths of Buddhist philosophy. Again, proceeding down the banks of the Ganges, he diverged eastward to Kámarúpa (Assam), and then passed by the great port of Támralipti (Tamlúk, the misplaced Tamalitis of Ptolemy), and through Orissa to Kanchipára (Conjeveram), about 640. Thence he went northward across the Carnatic and Maháráshtra to Barakacheva (Baróch of our day, Barygaza of the Greeks). After this he visited Malwa, Kach’h, Suráshtra (peninsular Guzerat, Syrastrene of the Greeks), Sindh, Multán, and Ghazni, whence he rejoined his former course in the basin of the Cabul river.
This time, however, he crosses Pamir, of which he gives a remarkable account, and passes by Kashgar, Khotan (Kustana), and the vicinity of Lop (Navapa) across the desert to Kwa-chau, whence he had made his venturous and lonely plunge into the waste fifteen years before. He carried with him great collections of books, precious images, and reliques, and was received (April 645) with public and imperial enthusiasm. The emperor Tai-T’sung desired him to commit his journey to writing, and also that he should abandon the eremitic rule and serve the state. This last he declined, and devoted himself to the compilation of his narrative and the translation of the books he had brought with him from India. The former was completed 648 a.d. In 664 Hwen T’sang died in a convent at Chang-ngan. Some things in the history of his last days, and in the indications of beatitude recorded, strongly recall the parallel history of the saints of the Roman calendar. But on the other hand we find the Chinese saint, on the approach of death, causing one of his disciples to frame a catalogue of his good works, of the books that he had translated or caused to be transcribed, of the sacred pictures executed at his cost, of the alms that he had given, of the living creatures that he had ransomed from death. “When Kia-shang had ended writing this list, the master ordered him to read it aloud. After hearing it the devotees clasped their hands, and showered their felicitations on him.” Thus the “well-done, good and faithful,” comes from the servant himself in self-applause.
The book of the biography, by the disciples Hwae-li and Yen t’song, as rendered with judicious omissions by Stan. Julien, is exceedingly interesting; its Chinese style receives high praise from the translator, who says he has often had to regret his inability to reproduce its grace, elegance, and vivacity. We cannot here give any idea of the uses which the accounts of Hwen T’sang have served in illustrating geography and history, but must refer to the appended list of works.
Fo-Koue-Ki, trad. du Chinois, par Abel-Rémusat, revu et complété par Klaproth et Landresse, Paris, 1836; H. de la Vie de Hiouen-Thsang, &c., trad. du Chinois par Stanislas Julien, Paris, 1853; Mémoires sur les Contrees Occidentales . . . trad. du Chinois en Français (par le méme), 2 vols., Paris, 1857–58; Mémoire Analytique, &c., attached to the last work, by L. Vivien de St Martin; “Attempt to identify some of the Places mentioned in the Itinerary of Hiuan Thsang,” by Major Wm. Anderson, C.B., in Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, xvi. pt. 2, p. 1183 (the enunciation of a singularly perverse theory); “Verification of the Itinerary of Hwan Thsang,” &c., by Capt. Alex. Cunningham, Bengal Engineers, ibid., xvii. pt. 1, p. 476; Travels of Fah-hian and Sung-Yan, Buddhist Pilgrims, &c., by Sam. Beal, 1869; The Ancient Geography of India, by Major-Gen. Alex. Cunningham, R.E., 1871; “Notes on Hwen Thsang’s Account of the Principalities of Tokharistan,” by Col. H. Yule, C.B., in Journ. Roy. As. Soc., new ser., vol. vi. p. 82 ; “On Hiouen Thsang’s Journey from Patna to Ballabhi,” by James Fergusson, D.C.L., ibid., p. 213.
(H. Y.)
HYACINTH, also called Jacinth, one of the most popular of garden flowers, “supreme amongst the flowers of spring.” It is no new favourite, having been in cultivation prior to 1597, at which date Gerard records the existence of six varieties, which are not indicated as particularly rare or novel. Rea in 1676 mentions several single and double varieties as being then in English gardens, and Justice in 1754 describes upwards of fifty single-flowered varieties, and nearly one hundred double-flowered ones, as a selection of the best from the catalogues of two then celebrated Dutch growers. One of the Dutch sorts, called La Reine de Femmes, a single white, is said to have produced from thirty-four to thirty-eight flowers in a spike, and on its first appearance to have sold for 50 guilders a bulb; while one called Overwinnaar or Conqueror, a double blue, sold at first for 100 guilders, Gloria Mundi for 500 guilders, and Koning Saloman for 600 guilders. Several sorts are at that date mentioned as blooming well in water-glasses. Justice relates that he himself raised several very valuable double-flowered kinds from seeds, which many of the sorts he describes are noted for producing freely.
