It appears from these laws, which are in general use; from the religious practices of the Brahmans, the origin and attributes of their duties; from their division of time, their festivals, and their calendar; from the many conical and pyramidal buildings found in India; from the etymology of various Samscred words, and from many other circumstances, that the Indians are a very old people, whose character has a striking resemblance to that of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Persian Magi. Sir William Jones was induced, therefore, to conjecture that a great emigration must have taken place in the twelfth century, before the birth of Christ, by which the religion and religious practices, as well as the arts and sciences, of foreign nations, were conveyed from Egypt to India. According to my researches, and the testimony of the most respectable authors, the origin of all these inventions is to be deduced from the successors of the Noachites, who first settled in the province of _Kurdistan_, and thence spread themselves to India and other places. CHAPTER X. _Music, Poetry, Architecture, and other Sciences of the Indians._ It is a certain truth, long known, that the art of poetry flourished in the earliest periods among the eastern nations. Thus the Hebrews had their hymns, and their popular songs, long before they were acquainted with any method of committing their thoughts to writing. As a proof that they had made considerable progress in this art, I need mention only the Book of Job, and the ancient Song which is to be found in the writings of Moses. It may be readily conjectured that the Indians also, a people who attained sooner to cultivation than many others, were not destitute of poetry some thousands of years ago; and indeed several pieces which belong to that period are still extant. Of this kind are some War Songs, which celebrate the exploits and heroic deeds performed by the god _Ràma_, the Indian Bacchus, in the island of _Lanca_, or Ceylon. They contain panegyrics on the first Indian warriors and heroes, on the love of one’s country, on the virtues of the people, and the happy condition of India during the remotest periods; all objects which give full scope to the imagination, and animate the soul with a desire of achieving splendid actions. The reader will be better enabled to form an idea of these different kinds of poetry from the following specimens: WAR-SONG IN THE SAMSCRED LANGUAGE. Mada gagia padanàndam Vigghna vicèsha daksham Sarasigia bhava giàyàm bhàradi sòma mìsham Nisiciara cula càlàm Ràghavam giàna kinciam Pradidinam anubhaktyà naumivanmica màryam. That is: