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CONCERNING ANCIENT INDIA.

that mighty river , far superior to any of theancient continent in magnitude " , and no lessdistinguished by the fertility of the countriesthrough which it flows. This journey of Megast.hen es to Palibothra made Europeans acquaintedwith a large extent of country, of which theyhad not hitherto any knowledge ; for Alexanderdid not advance farther Cowards the south-east,than that part of the rives*Hydraotes or Rauvee,where the modem city of Lahore is situated, andPalibothra, the site of which, as it is a capitalposition in the geography of ancient IndiaI haveinvestigated with the utmost attention, appears tome the fame with that of the modern city of Alla-habad , at the confluence of the two great rivers,Jumna and Ganges As the road from Lahoreto Allahabad runs through some of the most cul-tivated and opulent provinces of India, the morethe country was explored the idea of its valuerose -higher. Accordingly , what Megasthenesobserved during his progress to Palibothra, andhis residence there, made such an impression uponhis own mind, as induced him to publish an ampleaccount of India, in order to make his countrymenmore thoroughly acquainted with its importance.From his writings the ancients seem to have derivedalmost all their knowledge of the interior state ofIndia, and from comparing the three most ampleaccounts of it, by Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, andArrian, they appear manifestly, from their near

" See NOTE XII. " See NOTE XIII.

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