J06 ADAM'S PEAK. 



made by lime and sand. The impression, which is five and a half feet 

 broad, and nearly two feet deep, is encircled by a border of gilded copper, 

 in which are set a few valueless gems. This foot mark is an object of 

 deep reverence by the pilgrims, some of whom believe it to be that of 

 their god Buddhoo; but the Arabs gave it to Adam our first father. 

 Mr. Marshall found about fifty pilgrims here, who had ascended the 

 peak in an opposite direction; they performed their devotions without 

 taking any notice of the travellers, and then left the mountain suddenly, 

 without looking on either hand. On the shelf of the rock on which the 

 foot is traced, there is also a small temple, dedicated to Vishnu, whom 

 the pilgrims propitiate with offerings of small sums of money, Mr. 

 Marshall and his friend remained upon the peak all night, to watch the 

 singular atmospheric effects, and the rising of the sun in the morning. 

 " By midnight," says he, " the clouds had subsided to the lower strata 

 of the atmosphere, and appeared to be all lying on the surface of the 

 earth. The moon shone bright, by which means we had a magnificent 

 view of the upper surface of a dense stratum of white fleecy cloud. It 

 is impossible to convey in words the grandeur of the scene. The 

 surface of the earth was overspread with a covering, resembling the finest 

 white down, through which many dark colored mountains and cliffs 

 projected. Could we conceive a white sea studded over with islands, 

 extremely various in size and figure, a faint idea may be formed of the 

 prospect from the peak during the night. The clouds continued to rest 

 undisturbed on the bosom of the earth, until a little after six o'clock. 

 For sometime before sunrise the sky towards the east had a bright flame 

 colour, indicative of the approach of day. The sun burst forth suddenly 

 in all his glory; not a cloud intervened to dim his splendour. Immediately 

 after the rising of the sun, the shadow of the peak appeared like an 

 immense cone or triangle, stretching to the edge of the western horizon. 

 In a few minutes the base of the shadow approached the foot of the 

 mountain. Soon after the appearance of the sun, light floating vapours 

 began to rise from the upper surface of the clouds, which were qnickly 

 dissolved in the superincumbent stratum of the transparent air. The 

 travellers descended the cone by the opposite route, leading to Safiragam, 

 which they found to be still more abrupt than the one by which they had 

 ascended. In several places it led them across bare, slippery, precipitous 

 rocks. There were no steps cut, as on the other side of the cone, but in 

 the more difficult and dangerous places there were strong iron chains, 

 fastened to the rock, to assist ascent and descent. At two or three turns 

 the view downward was grand and awful in the extreme, the cone at 



