286 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



quite sick and faint when brought in contact with the 

 orgies of Indian heathens, "mad upon their idols." 



A little beyond the walls of the town, the hills, 

 which come down in a semicircular sweep from the 

 flanks of Gi'rnar, converge quite closely, leaving only 

 a narrow passage for the escape of the river Sonarica. 

 Mr Graham, one of the Bombay merchants I have 

 previously referred to, and who had made a day's 

 excursion up to Girnar shortly before, had suggested 

 to me that the natural basin thus formed might, at a 

 very insignificant expense, be turned into an immense 

 reservoir for the supply of Jiinaghar with pure water, 

 of which it stands very much in need, judging from 

 the number of the inhabitants who suffer from guinea- 

 worms and tape-worms. The greater part of this 

 immense basin has little in it except scrub jungle ; 

 it has little or no cultivation ; and a lake as large as 

 Grassmere could easily be formed there by making a 

 single embankment only about fifty yards in length. 

 This would not only supply Junaghar, but would also 

 provide water sufficient for a canal from that city to 

 the seaport of Vairawal, thus both aiding the fertility 

 of the country between and providing easy and cheap 

 means of conveyance. I spoke of this matter to 

 Salahindi, and he seemed much pleased with the 

 idea ; but I am not aware that anything has been 

 done about it. 



Another interesting point connected with this basin 

 is the question whether it may not contain gold. The 



