386 Scientific Intelligence — Hydrography. 



have a smaller body of water, but are higher from the rocky 

 sides of the chasm, rising to a greater height, but present similar 

 appearances at the bottom. The chasm itself is strikingly curi- 

 ous, as if an enormous mass of rock had been suddenly rent asun- 

 der by volcanic influence ; the sides are as nearly perpendicular 

 as possible, and the breadth at the middle is said to be 300 feet. 

 Few have descended into the chasm beneath, and in the number 

 of those few we were resolved to be included. The passage 

 across the river was tedious, from the number of rocks to be 

 scrambled over and streams to be forded : this effected, we pro- 

 ceeded along a path, which led to the descent at the farthest 

 end of the chasm. This piece of the journey was easy enough, 

 but the descent was tedious, fatiguing, and not without danger, 

 — now descending a series of rough and irregular steps, and 

 then sliding over the slopping surfaces of huge rocks. Indeed, 

 had it not been for the Nuggar Rajah, it had almost been an 

 impossibility to have reached the bottom, — he placed these series 

 of irregular steps which connect the rocks, and render the pas- 

 sage practicable. On arriving at the bottom we were amply re- 

 paid for our toil. The tremendous rocks in the basin, the stu- 

 pendous precipices on every hand, the foaming streams preci- 

 pitated from these, formed a grand and striking coup cTceil 

 The whole chasm was filled with moisture, floating like mist, 

 rendering the rocks wet and the footing precarious. As we had 

 but a short tifme to spare, our stay in the basin was limited to a 

 period only sufficient to take a hurried view of this curiosity of 

 Nature; besides having our bodies chilled by the cold moist 

 currents, and our clothes perfectly saturated with perspiration 

 in our descent. The height of the precipice was determined 

 some time ago by some gentlemen of this (Madras) Presidency. 

 The mode they adopted was, to erect a sort of stage or scaffold- 

 ing, which projected over the margin of the precipice, and from 

 which was let drop a rope, having a weight attached to its ex- 

 tremity ; people were stationed below, who, on the weight reach- 

 ing the bottom, pulled on the rope, discharged muskets, and 

 waved flags; this was repeated by another gentleman, and the 

 result was almost sufficiently corroborative of the correctness of 

 the former measurement, varying only in 14 feet, a trifling dif- 

 ference, when we consider that a rope of the length necessary 

 to reach such a distance generally stretched more or less, the 



