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may be objected to their bein<^ the produce of U'lndn 

 artists ; but it is well known, tliat the formation of 

 letters undergoes great changes in the course of ages, 

 and that such may l>e the case, with respec-t' to the 

 excavations on this side of India, may l)e fairly in- 

 ferred, from the dithculty Avith which the ingenious 

 ^Ir. Charles Wilkins traced and recovered, as I 

 have been ijiformed, some inscriptions. in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Ghya. But I am inclined to think, 

 that we are not sufficiently acquainted with the cha- 

 racters of tlie south of India, such as the Tinnfwlc, 

 A)^ee, Kimiraa, and TeUnghee, to prour)unce on their 

 affinity to tho^e in the excavations, which -will be 

 fully submitted to the scrutiny of the learned in Mr. 

 Wales's intended work. 



Though I have above mentioned my j>ersuasion, 

 that the generality of the excavations I have seen, 

 not only at FJlora, but elsewhere, are dedicated to 

 Maiidlw; yet I do not mean tliereby to abandon 

 an idea, that the most nordierly caves of Ellora^ 

 occupied by the naked sitting arxl standing figures, 

 are the works of the ScxiTas or Jatttefi, who, by the 

 Brahrnens, are estdbrned schismatics, and whose sect, 

 called Srazt'uk, is very nunuTous in GazcraL The 

 tenets, observances, and habit, of tlie Seicras are 

 peculiar, and in many points very different from 

 other Hindm. Their adoration of the deity is con- 

 veyed through the mediation of Adnaut and Pa- 

 ris xaut, the visible ol>jects of their worship, perso- 

 nified as a naked man sitting or standing. 'Vhis sect 

 is supposed to be of a comparatively modern origin, 

 if so, and the foregoing hypothesis of the dedication 

 of the tenij)lcs to tlieir idol, be admitted, the limit 

 of their possible antiquity follows, but without ascer- 

 taiuiuir, or affecting, that of the others. 



On this very interesting point, I mean the anti- 

 quity of these astonishing works, I shall here trouble 

 you with the different accounts of two intelligent 



men, 



