of the Old World. 5 



to that of any building. The fruit is a small fig, 

 which is of a bright scarlet colour when ripe, 

 affording sustenance to monkeys and birds of 

 various kinds, which dwell among the branches. 

 We killed several dozen green pigeons, besides 

 others of different kinds, the morning of our 

 arrival, but the next day they came just as nume- 

 rous as ever. 



Having seen that our tents were properly 

 pitched and our horses firmly picketed, we accom- 

 panied the Killadar to his quarters in the fort, the 

 ascent of which is very steep, and almost imprac- 

 ticable for horses, and he took us round the forti- 

 fications, which were tolerably strong for a native 

 fort, consisting, as usual, of a loop-holed wall, 

 with square bastions of masonry, and a kind of 

 fausse brae, with a line of interior defences, which 

 formed the citadel. He appeared to think the 

 place impregnable, and neither Walter nor myself 

 cared to undeceive him, although we both made 

 up our minds that it would take our troops some- 

 thing less than an hour to get into it. 



He showed us some curious old native guns, 

 one of which was of very large calibre, being 

 formed of bars of iron welded together and 

 fastened with large iron hoops, and the shot, 

 which were of stone, we found to be rather 

 heavier than we could lift. 



