INTRODUCTION. 3 Maria Stuart, puts the following appeal in the mouth of the captive Scottish Queen :- “Eilende Wolken ! Segler der Luefte ! Wer mit euch wanderte, mit euch schiffte ! Gruesset mir freundlich mein Jugendland !" (“Hurrying clouds' Ye sailors of the air O that one could wander and sail with you Greet kindly on my behalf-the land of my youth'.) Kalidasa, however, was not the first to treat the cloud as a messenger. A Chinese poet of the 2nd century A. D. named Hsiu Kan, who, according to Professor H. Giles (see his Chinese Literature, p. 119), translated the famous work of Nagarjuna, entitled “Poranyamula-shastra-tika”, had sung 200 years before Kalidasa in the following strain :- “O'floating clouds that swim in heaven above, Bear on your wings these words to him. I love... Alas ! You loat along nor heed my pain And leave me here to love and long in vain." Of the numerous pithy remarks imbedded in the CloudMessenger, perhaps the best known is :- 'याच्जा मोघा वरमधिगुणे नाधमे खव्ध-कामा ।” ansanmuna) (1) Meghaduta,
