BENFEY BENGAL 523 died in Philadelphia, May 5, 1784. His father's family, who were Protestants, removed in 1715 to London, where they became Quakers, and in 1731 to Philadelphia. In 1742 Anthony gave up the mercantile business for which he had been educated, and became instructor of the Friends' English school. He published (1762-'7) tracts in opposition to the slave trade, and carried on an extensive correspondence for the purpose of bringing about its abolition. He founded a school for the instruction of per- sons of African descent, and devised his property for its benefit after the death of his wife. His funeral was attended by a large number of per- sons of all religious denominations, among whom were several hundred negroes. BENFEY, Theodor, a German philologist and orientalist, born at Norten, near Gottingen, Jan. 28, 1809. He studied in Gottingen and Heidelberg, and has been since 1834 professor of Sanskrit and comparative philology in the uni- versity of Gottingen. He translated the come- dies of Terence into German (1837), and re- ceived the Volney prize from the academy of Berlin for his OriecJiisches Wurzellexikon (2 vols., 1839-'42). Among his chief publications are: Die perauchen Keilimchriften (Leipsic, 1847); Die Hymnen des Samateda, with a translation and notes (1848); Vollstandige Grammatik der SantTcritsprache (1852) ; Chres- tomathie (2 vols., 1853-'4) ; Kurze Grammatik der Sanikritspraehe (1855), an English edition of which was published in Berlin in 1863 under the title of " A Practical Grammar of the San- skrit Language ; " a translation of the Pantcha- tantra (2 vols., 1859), upon which he has since published a commentary, as well as upon other Hindoo poetry, in various periodicals, and in his collection entitled Orient und Occident (2 vols., Gottingen, 1863-'4) ; a Sanskrit-English dictionary (London, 1866); and Geschichte der Sprachwissensehaft und orientalischen PTiilolo- gie in Deutschland seit dem Anfange des 19. Jahrhunderts (Munich, 186f). BENGAL, a province of British India, often erroneously termed a presidency. It formerly comprised only the level region watered by the Ganges in the lower part of its course, which is now known as Bengal proper. No such territorial division as the presidency of Bengal has ever in fact existed. The application of that title to the region appears to have origi- nated, by some mistake, from the early acts of the British parliament concerning India, in which "the presidency of Fort William in Bengal " is spoken of. At first this term was evidently intended to describe a district more limited than Bengal itself, and included within it, but it was subsequently applied to a much greater extent of territory. In 1833 the pres- idency of Fort William, thus enlarged, was di- vided for administrative purposes into two parts, one of which was placed under the gov- ernment of the officer known as the lieuten- ant governor of Bengal, and forms the subject of this article. It constitutes one of the ten great political provinces of India, and lies be- tween lat. 19 and 29 N. and Ion. 82 and 97 E., bounded N. by Nepaul and Bootan, E. by Burmah, S. by the bay of Bengal, and W. by the Northwestern and Central Provinces. It is divided into regulation and non-regulation districts. The regulation districts extend over the low, fertile, and densely populated basin of the Ganges, and are subject to a strict and systematic official administration ; they include Bengal proper, the native province of Behar, and the maritime districts of Orissa. The wilder outlying countries are comprised in the non-regulation districts, which embrace the hill region of Orissa, the territory S. of Behar called the Southwest Frontier, and the great country of Assam, through which flow the Brahmapootra and its tributaries. Here civil- ization is far less advanced than in the regula- tion districts, and the government is compara- tively informal. Four native states are under the supervision of the Bengal government : 1, a country on the S. W. frontier, inhabited by aboriginal tribes and little known ; 2, the Gar- row and Cossyah or Khasia hills, mountainous districts which rise to a height of from 5,000 to 6,000 ft., between Assam and Bengal proper ; 3, Tipperah, and 4, Munepoor, two extensive tracts bordering upon Burmah. The area and population of Bengal, according to the official returns for 1872, are as follows : DIVISIONS. Arem In *<[. in.. excl. of riven, wastes, an J forests. Population. 89,488 36,769,785 Behar . ... 42417 19.786,101 Orissa 28,1)01 4,817,999 8."> 1HH 2,207,488 48,901 8,825,671 Total 280,882 66,856,859 Bengal, forming the N. E. corner of Hindo- stan, consists mainly of a level plain of vast extent and little elevation, intersected by the Ganges, the Brahmapootra, and their tributa- ries. The two main streams flow across it to- ward the bay of Bengal and each other, the Ganges from N. W. to S. E., the Brahmapootra from N. E. to S. W. Their waters partially mingle before reaching the coast, as the main trunk of the Brahmapootra unites with an arm of the Ganges at a point about 80 m. inland ; but they enter the sea by different mouths, though not more than two miles apart at some points in their course. According to Sir Charles Lyell, the area of the delta of the combined rivers is considerably more than double that of the Nile. The head of the delta, or point where the first arm is given off, is in the case of each river about 200 m. from the sea. Along the coast of the bay of Bengal for a dis- tance of 180 m. is a perfect labyrinth of streams and inlets surrounding the extensive tract of islands denominated the Sunderbunds, a wilder- ness equal in area to Wales, overspread with jungle and infested by wild beasts. Here the
