﻿166 NARRATIVE OF A ROUTE 



Our Mahratta guides, who had accompanied us 

 from Ewunpilly, were, during our flay at Paloonjhah^ 

 quite ftupified with fear left they fhould. be appre- 

 hended. We had, however, difguifed them in fuch a 

 manner that they efcaped undifcovered; and their 

 fpirits began now to revive. Although our preient 

 track was unknown to them, they were of great ufe to 

 us in managing the Tellinghys whom we procured as 

 guides from the Rajah's people. Having now pro- 

 ceeded about three miles, in a narrow defile between 

 two ranges of hills, the road interfected by ravines, 

 and in fome parts ftrongly ftockaded, the hill fort of 

 Sunkurgherry on a fudden opened to our view. The 

 diftance was too great to enable me to judge of the 

 nature of its works j but it had, on the whole, a pretty 

 and romantic appearance. Leaving this place about 

 three miles to the northward of our track, the coun- 

 try continued exceedingly wild, and our road was 

 merely a flight foot path through thick jm;i^/(?5. The 

 few villages that occurred were very poor, and fituated 

 moftly in little fpots of ground that had been cleared 

 for cultivation. By noon we had travelled about 

 eleven miles, when we came to a little fpring, where 

 finding alfo fome fhady trees, I halted, to enable the 

 people, and cattle, to drink and refrefh. In about an 

 hour I moved on, refolving to proceed as far as pof- 

 fible, in hopes of reaching the Company's frontier on 

 the enfuing day. Our road again continued between 

 two ranges of hills, which gradually converged, until 

 we came to the entrance of the ftrongeft pafs I ever 

 beheld, called Mooty Gautty, which is likewife for- 

 tified. It confifts of a narrow paffage, not more than 

 twenty feet in width, and half a mile long; and the 

 rock rifing perpendicularly on each fide. Beyond this 

 the paffage diminifhes to about ten feet; and a little 

 f\ream of water, thatiffues from a rock on the eaft fide, 

 flows through it. After proceeding about a hundred 

 yards, through the narrowefl part of the defile, we came 



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