466 Voyage of the Novara. 



which thus at once tempers the heat, and fills the air with 

 perfume. 



Towards 5 p.m., the heat having somewhat abated, we 

 strolled to the Five Pagodas, distant about one English mile 

 from our encampment. The prevalent tree in this locality is 

 the Palmyra palm, which, though it does not boast the majestic 

 proportions of the Oreodoxia Regia, or the cocoa-nut palm, 

 presents, nevertheless, a very imposing appearance. Generally 

 speaking, however, the district is quite bare and destitute of 

 trees ; and, in short, hke all the rest of this coast, has very 

 much the appearance of the flat coasts of Africa. 



Of the five monolith temples, four were dedicated to the 

 brothers of Vishnu, Dharma Rajah, Bimen, Nagulan, and 

 Sawadewen, the fifth being excavated in honour of Dubrotis, 

 the consort of Dharma Rajah. The legend relates that the 

 four brothers lived in a state of Polyandry, or plurahty of hus- 

 bands, and had but one wife in common, who was a species of 

 Amazon. All these temples are tolerably sculptured, which, 

 indeed, constitutes their chief claim to attention ; but they are 

 far from showing the artistic finish of the bas-reliefs and sculp- 

 tures, at what is known as the Holy Mount. 



Rhanganatha Swami, for instance, is the finest, though not 

 the most important of these artificial grottoes. The sculptures 

 here are incontestably the most highly-finished. The upper 

 portion, to which access is obtained by some steps cut in 

 the rock, rises above the huge granite block, known as 

 Jamapuram ; the lower portion is a temple hewn out of 



