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This wide difference in the era between the Hindu 

 and the Mahommedan,, must remain, I fear, inex- 

 ])licable; while our attention is necessarily attracted 

 to their agreeing in the person of Eel Eea, or 

 Eeloo rajah, as the author of the excavations, whose 

 being identified as living in the same age Avith a 

 well known character, seems to throw the weight of 

 probability into the Mahommedan' % scale ; and it must 

 be remarked, that however fond the writers of that 

 faith may be of the marvellous, in points of preter- 

 natural agency, according to their own system ; yet, 

 as annalists, they seem more entitled to credit than 

 the Hindus, whose historical and theological chro- 

 nology, is greatly mixed with, and obscured by, 

 fable. 



The Koond, or cistern, mentioned by the Brahmens, 

 is extant, and in perfect preservation, just without 

 the town o? Elloru, and the holiness of its water is 

 still in such high estimation as to render it a Teeritt 

 (pilgrimage) of great reputation and resort, under 

 the apptUation of Sewalla Teeruit, or Koond. The 

 neighbouring temples* probably form a part of the 

 attraction, as they are much frequented by devout 

 Hindus. 



It is necessary to observe, that there are a great 

 many other excavations in the semicircular mountain 

 that commands a view of the fine valley of Ellora^ 

 which, indisposition prevented my visiting. 



Whether we consider the design, or contemplate 

 the execution, of these extraordinary works, we are 

 lost in wonder at the idea of forming a vast moun- 

 tain into almost eternal mansions. The mythologi- 

 cal symbols and figures throughout the whole, leave 

 no room to doubt their owing their existence to reli- 

 gious zeal, the most powerful and most universal agi^. 

 tutor of the human mind. 



5 The 



