SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CAVE, ic,. 425 



ranee. Several of the columns have been levelled, 

 and the figures mutilated, as I am informed, by the 

 Portuguese, who were at the trouble (and no small 

 one) of dragging cannon up the hill, for the better 

 execution of this exploit. — Destructive Superstition 

 seeks not for merit; she commits to the flames and to 

 destruction, members of a community most valuable, 

 and structures doing honour to human ability ! 



The wall at the upper end of the cave is crowded 

 with sculpture ; the attention is first arrested by a 

 grand bust, representing a being with three heads; 

 the middle face is presented full, and expresses a dig- 

 nified composure; the head and neck splendidly cover- 

 ed with ornaments. The face on the left is in profile, 

 and the head-dress rich ; in one of the hands is a 

 Rower, in the other a fruit resembling a pomegranate; 

 a ring like that worn by the Hindus at present is ob- 

 served on one of the wrists ; the expression of the 

 countenance by no means unpleasant. Different is 

 the head on the right ; the face is in profile, the fore- 

 head projects, the eyes stares ; snakes supply the place 

 of hair, and the representation of a human scull is 

 conspicuous on the covering of the head ; one hand 

 grasps a monstrous Coha de Capella (the hooded 

 snake) the other a smaller; the whole together cal- 

 culated to strike terror into the beholder. The height 

 of this bust is about eighteen feet, and the breadth of 

 the middle face about/w/r; but the annexed drawing 

 of this piece of sculpture will give a better idea of it 

 perhaps than words. 



Each 



