vi Bengali; the former being pronounced in Bengal as ch, in Asam invariably as s. in Bengali has the bard sound of the English ; in Asamese it is pro- nounced like z, or rather like the French j, a slight sound of the consonant y being combined with the , as in the word azure, az-yure. For beauty and softness, the Asamese language is much superior to the Bengali; resembling in this res- pect the Hindustani. It is not inferior, in copious- ness, to any of the Indian languages, and is capable of indefinite extension by additions from the Sanskrit. The native pundits, in fact, make no scruple to intro- duce, whenever necessity or convenience requires, any word, however unusual, that may be found in their sacred writings. This is a license which is often abu- sed; native writers being apt to adorn their composi- tions with a profusion of Sanskrit that is quite unme- cessary, and renders their productions wholly unintel- ligible to the common people. The only Asamese books which can be regarded as a standard of good prose writing are the Buronjis, or histories, which have been written during the last two or three hundred years. Besides these there are but few prose works in existence. Translations of sev- eral mathematical and other Sanskrit works are to be found; but the language is less pure than that of the Buronjis. Most of the sacred writings of the Asa- mese are in poetry; which differs so widely from the spoken language, that the student who wishes to ac-
