188 ON THE CAVE TEMPLES OF INDIA, 



company for that purpose ; you have on the right a pagoda, in 

 which I saw an old faqueer, who had lost all his fingers from 

 disease. In front of this is a lofty portico, supported at the 

 entrance by two high octagonal pillars. The walls are all 

 covered with sculptures of men and women, as large as life ; and 

 on each side project the trunks, heads, and fore-legs of three 

 elephants, of great size, and well executed, carved, like all the 

 rest, out of the solid rock ; two of the trunks only remain entire. 

 Several inscriptions in character and language unknown, one of 

 which I copied on the spot, appear on the pillars, and on different 

 parts of the portico ; they are as legible as if done a few years 

 ago. From the portico, a small door leads at once into the grand 

 cave, which at first appears almost like magic, and surpasses 

 anything I had ever imagined. Elephanta and Kanari cannot 

 compare with it, and probably only those of Ellora may be 

 superior. 



The general outline resembles an old Gothic cathedral. On 

 each side is a row of eighteen pillars, supporting an arched roof, 

 lined with ribs of teak wood. The pillars are octagonal, with 

 round bases. The first fifteen are surmounted by two elephants, 

 each having on his back a male and female figure, with their 

 arms entwined. On the other side of the Elephant, out of sight, 

 are two horses couchant, which would have escaped my obser- 

 vation, had not a native called me behind the pillar, where it is 

 almost dark, to point them out. The height of the temple is 

 about fifty feet, its length 120, and extreme breadth forty-eight 

 feet. The nave between each row of pillars is just twenty-four 

 feet, leaving twelve feet for the aisles on either side, the passage 

 along which is very dark. At the farther extremity is a large 

 solid stone structure, round, and the upper part shaped like a 

 dome, the circumference of which is forty feet. This dome is 

 surmounted with a pedestal, narrow at the base, and becoming 

 gradually broader like an inverted pyramid. In this is fixed a 

 large open umbrella, made of strong teak wood, reaching very 

 nearly to the roof. This sort of altar is called a " Dagoba," and 

 is found in most all the cave temples of Buddhist origin. Innu- 

 merable large bats are hanging from the roof, or flying about, 

 and a species of squirrel, with vertical black and grey stripes, is 



