322 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



diil me the good service of quieting the priests and 

 pilgrims ; for evidently a being who did not hesitate 

 to go up alone at night to interview the Dread Mother, 

 and probably to be devoured by her, might be allowed 

 some privilege in the way of visiting perspiring 

 statues. 



An ascent of 600 feet, chiefly up steep stone stair- 

 cases, took me to the shrine of the Universal Mother, 

 or the Mother of Gods. Daylight was fading as I 

 reached the top of the Amba Mata Peak, and the 

 ancient weird-looking temple which covers the shrine ; 

 and it is by no means wonderful if something, at 

 least, of 



" A weight of awe, not easy to be borue, 

 Fell suddenly upon my spirit, cast 

 From the dread bosom of the unknown past." 



Inside, the temple is blackened with smoke, and it 

 looks as if it might be of any antiquity. The paint- 

 besmeared stone which occupies the shrine can hardly 

 be said to represent anything in particular ; but it 

 is held in the profoundest veneration, not only by 

 Hindus, but even by the Jain pilgrims. Mr Burgess 

 informs us that the goddess has the following in- 

 scription to her honour ; but he does not tell us where 

 it is to be found, and I think it is not in this Amba 

 Mata temple : 



" The destroyer of doubts and fears, the accom- 

 plisher of all human desires and wishes, who causes 

 to be completed the designs of the devout, such a 



