74 SPORTING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES. 



Kings x. 22 " For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish 

 with the navy of Hiram : once in three years came the navy 

 of Tharshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and 

 peacocks." 



As I am not presumptuous enough to enter into competi- 

 tion with the many able and learned men who have published 

 long and elaborate descriptions of those astounding monu- 

 ments of human labour and ingenuity, I shall content myself, 

 and I hope my readers, with a very brief sketch of my own 

 impressions and ideas on my first visit to them, and confine 

 myself to one or two of the most remarkable. I subse- 

 quently visited the Caves of Elephanta, near Bombay, but 

 they bear no comparison whatever with those of Ellora. 

 The largest and by far the most elaborately carved temple is 

 that of Key las, which is hewn out of the solid granite rock, 

 and separated from it by a space two hundred and fifty 

 feet deep and one hundred and fifty broad. In this space 

 or area stands a magnificent temple or cathedral, formed 

 according to the strictest rules of architectural symmetry, 

 with all its aisles, naves, pillars, &c., of gigantic size, and 

 exquisite proportions, covered with the most minute and 

 elaborate bas-reliefs and carvings. The size of this enormous 

 specimen of separate excavation is five hundred feet in 

 circumference ; a fabric surpassed by no other relic of anti- 

 quity in existence. 



It is difficult to form a conception of a body of men, how- 

 ever numerous, possessing skill, courage, and enthusiasm, 

 and with resources however great, sufficient to excavate from 

 the hardest rock, and with the chisel alone, an edifice like 

 this, with all its galleries, chambers, statues, and carving 

 in endless profusion, and the imagination becomes lost and 

 bewildered in the magnitude of the idea. 



It must be borne in mind that Key las is only one of about 

 twelve caves and excavations that extend for about two 



