IN THE ISLAND OF ELEPHANT A. 429 



The part of this surprising monument of human 

 skill and perseverance hitherto described, is generally 

 called the great cave ; its length is 135 fcet t and 

 breadth nearly the same. A plan accompanies this 

 account, which, however, I cannot venture to pro- 

 nounce perfectly correct, having mislaid a memoraiu 

 dum of particular parts which were deduced, and with 

 sufficient correctness perhaps from the general mea- 

 sures preserved. But there are compartments on 

 both sides, separated from the great cave, by large 

 fragments of rock and loose earth, heretofore proba- 

 bly a part of the roof. That on the right is spacious, 

 and contains several pieces of sculpture: the most re- 

 markable is a large figure, the body human, but the 

 head that of an elephant. The Jingam is also en- 

 closed here. Above each of a line of figures, standi 

 ing in a dark situation, is a piece of sculpture, pointed 

 out to me as an inscription : however (with the assist- 

 ance of a torch) I found one an exact copy of the 

 other, and with little resemblance of characters. 



The compartment on the other side contains seve- 

 ral sculptures, and among the rest, a figure with an 

 elephant's head and human body. A deep cavity in 

 the rock hereabout contains excellent water, which, 

 being sheltered from the influence of the sun, is al- 

 ways cool, and deservedly held in estimation by those 

 whom curiosity leads here through a scorching atmo- 

 sphere. A traditional account of the extent of this ca- 

 vity, and thecommunicationof its waters by subterra- 

 enous passages, with others, very distant, was given 



me 



