144 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



cedars, I noticed a row of cypress-trees, that looked 

 as if they had been planted at regular intervals. 

 This ledge, he said, had formerly been the retreat of 

 a very holy Gossein, who having devoted himself 

 to the service of Mahadeo, became so much dis- 

 gusted with his fellow-men, that he attempted self- 

 destruction, by throwing himself into the Ganges ; 

 but the god whom he worshipped, taking the shape 

 of a Brahminy kite, caught him as he fell, and bore 

 him to that ledge of rock, where he lived for many 

 years on food brought up to him by birds, until, 

 having become purified by penance, he was ab- 

 sorbed and incarnated in the divinity itself. Our 

 path, which was often very imperfectly indicated, 

 lay for a considerable distance over tracts covered - 

 with loose rocks and angular boulders, which ap- 

 peared clean and sharp-edged, as if they had been 

 newly quarried, with scarcely a particle of inter- 

 vening mould or a trace of vegetation ; and as we 

 went along, we frequently came across hummocks 

 and abrupt elevations, which owed their origin to 

 land-slips from the cliffs above. These chiefly take 

 place in the cold season, when the water (caused 



