Chap. XXV. TRICHINOPOLy. 425 



Tricliiuopoly late one night, and found the road so execraWo 

 in some places, that it was necessary to go off into the fields, 

 and make a long circuit. The country between ]\Iadura 

 and Trichinopoly is chiefly cultivated with dry grain, but 

 there are occasional patches of rice. Eanges of rocky 

 liills intersect the plain, covered with underwood and low 

 trees, which the natives are allowed to use for firewood, 

 but, Avhen they cany it off for sale, in cart-loads, there is 

 a small duty. I walked most of the distance under the shade 

 of the peepul and banyan-trees which line the road, and 

 reached Trichinopoly after a journey of a day and two 

 nights. 



Tricliinopoly is a large military station, and the Eurojjean 

 houses, therefore, are very numerous, and occupy a consider- 

 able space, as they are generally surrounded by large parks 

 or compounds. A bridge over a small tributary of the 

 Cauvery leads to the bazar and native tovm. ; and the view 

 from the bridge is very pretty, with cocoanut-trees and bushes 

 coming down to the water's edge, and houses embosomed in 

 trees, whence flights of steps lead down into the water. Be- 

 yond the bridge there is a picturesque mosque of white stone, 

 and the bazar, a long street leading to the principal part of 

 the town, in the centre of which the famous rock of Trichino- 

 poly rises up abruptly. Brahmins and other traders were 

 sitting in their shops, before piles of earthenware and copper 

 chatties, cotton cloths, and numerous kinds of grains and 

 pulses in baskets. The rock is a mass of granite, 400 feet 

 high, crowned by a small Hindu temple ; the ascent is cut in 

 steps out of the solid rock, and from the summit there is a 

 most extensive view, including the city, the fine bridges over 

 the Coleroon and Cauveiy, the gopurams of the great pagoda 

 of Seringam on an island in the river, and a vast expanse of 

 rice cultivation and palm-groves, with Tanjore on the distant 

 horizon. The native town contains several large handsome 



