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a braying noise as to dismay them completely from the attempt ; they took to their heels, resolving to try the scaling of heaven in the opposide side ; that is, where the gate or outlet was in the beginning of the sign Capricorn : but there they were equally disappointed ; for Pan, that is to say, Capricorn, being placed there, on seeing them come near his gate, set up so great a noise, that even the Gods themselves were terrified with it ; and the Giants, being panic strtick, were glad to save their lives by a precipitate retreat. This second War between the Gods and the Giants is noticed in some Hindu books, as having taken place in the next age after Rama, in whose time I have shown the first took place. Having thus far giving a short view of the Wars between the Gods and the Giants, and shown the times to which they respectively referred, we may now enter on the subject of the labours of the astro- nomers in the west, and other circumstances, during the period assigned to the last of these wars. During the period of the first War between the Gods and the Giants, which, according to some ac- counts, lasted 10,748 days, the Hindu astronomers were employed in forming the stars into constellations, Digitized by Google 44 THE ANCIENT ASTRONOMY or groupes^ under regular figures, and assigning to each of the Lunar Mansions its proper deity, drawn from the theogony, which is supposed to have been then, for that and other purposes, invented. The western astronomers, having, after the Is^bc of some years, received information of what was dane in the east, conceived the idea of following the example, and of forming the stars into constellaticms also. The period employed for that purpose, in imitation of the eastern astronomers, was likewise termed the War between the Gods and the Gujtnts, which is said to have lasted something more than ten years^ But though the astronomers of the west had thus far followed the notions of those of the east, and adopted their astronomy and rules, yet, in forming the constellations, they deviated from them both in their number and figures; and instead of dividing the zodiac into 27 or 28 constellations, as the Hin- dus had done, they adopted, in preference, as per- haps more convenient, a division of twelve, and in the forming of which they were guided by particular circumstances, some of which it may be proper to notice. I have already mentione4, that the earth in ancient times was considered as flat, and that it was sup- pose to be surrounded with the sea on all sides, till it touched the starry heavens in the solstitial points^ which were supposed to be always in the same plane therewith. It isi therefore obvious, that in these two opposite points, the constellations must be formed after such animals a^ were capable of existing in such a situa- tion. The only animals that could be simposed capable of existing both in the sea and air, must be amphibious: the astronomers, therefore, placed at Digitized by Google OF THE HINDUS. 46 one poiat the constellation of a Crab, and in the opposite one that of a Sea-goat, both amphibious, and capable of living in or out of the sea. On the one side, the top of the head of the goat is about 8^ above the water of the sea, and his chin nearly touching it ; on the other side, the extremity of the head of the Crab is also about the same height above the sea ; and on a level with the sea, the star S in the breast of Cancer stands (see Plate IV.X to point out that the solstitial Colure then passed through it. These two constellations being thus adjusted to their proper situations, all the rest would be easily settled, from the fables or fictions on which they were respectively founded. Some of them appear to have been derived from the Hindus. Thus the Hindu Ihirga, and the Lion on which she is feigned to ride, were converted into the constellations Virge ^nd Leo, which may be proved from the position. Durga, as I have already shown in the first section, was feigned to be bom on the first ofAswina; which month, in the ancient astronomy of the Hindus, always coincided, from its beginning to end, with the sign of the ecliptic now called Virgo. The con- stellation Aries, and perhaps Capricorn, in part, I suspect to have been derived from the same source. Aries, or the Ram, is to be found in the ensign of Agni, who, according to the fictions of the Hindus, was feigned to ride that animal. The first half of Kritika, over which Agni is considered as the pre- siding deity, corresponds with the end of the con- .stellation Aries; and therefore the positions may be sufficiently near to warrant the conclusion drawn in this respect. But in respect to Capricorn some diffic,ulty arises, from having neither position nor time of the year to guide us in the investigation. In Digitized by Google 46 THE ANCIENT ASTRONOMY the Hindu books, I mean the Puranas, time is per- sonified under various shapes and names. Siva, which is the greatest of all the Hindu deities, is time. He is feigned, in these books, as marrying Durga, the daughter of Daksha. Durga, as already noticed, was a personification of the year, in a feminine form; and it would appear that Daksha, her father, was Coelus, or the ecliptic, or, as some may have it. Atlas, as giving rise to all the Lunar Asterisms. Siva, his son-in-law, is said to have cut off his head, in consequence of not being invited to a feast given by Daksha; but repenting of the act, he restored him to life, and placed on him, in lieu of his own, the head of a goat. Here, to my apprehension, a change in the commencement of the sphere, or the year, is to be understood by the fiction, and that by such change, the year was made to commence from the winter solstice, which was in fact the case 1181 B.C.; and therefore I think it is from this fiction that the idea of the constellation Capricorn first arose. In like manner, some of the other constellations may have been derived from Hindu fiction. The constel- lation Gemini may, I think, have arisen from the story of the Aswini KumaraSy though we cannot deduce direct proofs at this time. But whether these conjectures be correct or otherwise, it is of no material consequence, as the object in view is the determination of the time when the constellations were framed, and not the various sources, from which the ideas respecting their formation may have origi- nally sprung, which can only be of a secondary consideration. The constellations of the zodiac having been all framed and named according to the animals or things intended to be represented under such figures, the Digitized by Google OF THE HINDUS. 47 astronomers then divided the ecliptic into 12 parts of .30 degrees each, commencing the division from the vernal equinoctial point To these divisions, which are called signs, they assigned the same names they had done to the constellations — the first sign, be- ginning at the vernal equinox, being called ^ne^; •and as 8 Cancri was then in 3*, or the beginning of Cancer, the beginning of the sign Aries, or the equi- noctial Golure, was of course three signs more to the west of that star. The signs being named after the constellations, the next important; step was to determine the year and the month, and to assign appropriate and signi- ficant names to the latter, corresponding either with the times of the year, or the signs of the ecliptic with which they then respectively coincided. If the year was precisely of the same length, as the space of time it would take the sun to pass, or run his annual course through the twelve signs, we should not be able to ascertain the time when they were first framed ; because the months would always coin- cide with the same signs with which they began : but if there was any deviation, however small, by the constant accumulation of that deviation, the time would become known when they were first framed and settled. The Egyptian year, of all others, there- fore, appears the best calculated for this purpose, and presents us with the jrequisite data. For, 1st, the Egyptian year contains only 365 days, and there- fore falls back, with respect to the signs of the ecliptic, at the rate of 14' 35" 15 per annum; and, 2ndly, the names of the Egyptian months are also their names of the signs with which, at the time of their formation, they coincided, as will appear from the following table : — • Digitized by Google 48 THE ANCIENT ASTRONOMY Egyptian Months. Arabic Names.