M. Jallabert had given-me a particular account of a seminary at _Virapatnam_, in which young Indians who embraced the Christian religion were educated. As education is an object which deserves the particular attention of the traveller, we made a little excursion thither from _Puduceri_. _Vira_, in the Samscred language, signifies strong or courageous; and _Patna_, or _Patana_, a city. _Virapatnam_, therefore, signifies the _strong city_. This place, at present, is a small town situated at the distance of six miles from _Puduceri_, towards the south west, on the banks of a river, which takes its rise in the mountains on the east, and, flowing part _Virapatnam_, discharges itself into the sea on the south side of _Puduceri_. _Pudu_ in the Tamulic and Malabar languages, signifies new; _Puduna_, newness; _Ceri_, a town: _Puduceri_ therefore signifies the _new town_. From this etymology it is clear that _Puduceri_ cannot be a place of any antiquity; and it was indeed built by some emigrants from _Virapatnam_. When the Arabians first came to India, several cities lying on the sea coast arose in the like manner. It is therefore ridiculous when certain geographers, who endeavour to explain Ptolemy’s geography, consider cities first built in modern times to be the same as some of those mentioned in that author, though they must undoubtedly have been unknown to him, as they were not then in existence. It deserves also to be remarked, that Ptolemy, in giving the distances of places, generally errs from two to three degrees of latitude. The reason is, that the ancient travellers were accustomed to reckon the latitude according to the length or shortness of the day; and, consequently, to determine the distance of one place from another in the same manner. But as the day and night near the equator are almost always of equal length, it may readily be conceived, that the degree of latitude in which a place was situated could not be accurately ascertained in that manner; and that Ptolemy, and all those who depended upon him, must have fallen into errors[20]. The case has been nearly the same with M. D’Anville, as will be shewn hereafter.