HO NAM A AND HIS MEN. 71 



firm sand, extended from our promon- 

 tory to the rocky headland which closed 

 its southern end, and the approach to 

 the town was by this sandy beach. 

 The fort was a massive rectangular 

 enclosure, a relic of the old days of 

 Mahratta supremacy, standing between 

 the hills and the town in a position 

 either to protect or overawe its inhabit- 

 ants. Nothing remained of the build- 

 ings inside the enclosure but roofless and 

 ruinous walls, and a few vaults under 

 ground. Ancola itself was a little 

 old-world looking town, embowered 

 in groves of mango, jack, and cocoa-nut 

 trees ; the bazaar in its main street was 

 screened from the sun by scaffolding and 

 canopy, as at Cairo, and on the tiled 

 roofs of its ancient houses the grass 



