24 Notes of a tour in the Tributary Mehals. [No. 1, 



touch of Moses. The temperature of the water was, strange to say, 

 much higher than that of the air, but cooled in a sorai it was delicious. 

 A broad seam of coal is here seen underlying the sandstone. It burns 

 well, but I say no more about it, as the Sirgoojah coal from this 

 vicinity has been fully reported on by my predecessor Col. Ouseley. 

 To continue the ascent of the hill, you repass the gate, and proceed by 

 an easy path three parts round the hill to its southern face, and then 

 as best you can up, by an exceedingly difficult zig-zag path, some- 

 times a mere ledge cut out in the rock. Just at the commencement 

 of the difficult part of the ascent, you pass a large boulder of sand- 

 stone with nothing to distinguish it externally from many others that 

 are lying about, but which has been hollowed into a chamber of suffi- 

 cient capacity to allow of a man sitting in it at his ease, and with an 

 aperture just large enough for a slender man to creep in by. The open- 

 ing is not seen from the path ; so that an unconscious pilgrim might find 

 himself exhorted by a voice from the bowels of a rock in a manner 

 truly awe-striking. Crowning the most difficult part of the ascent, 

 so perched that you cannot obtain a good view of it without looking 

 right up to the sky, from a position that makes it unpleasant to throw 

 your head back to the necessary angle, is a second gateway, which is in 

 better preservation, and is the best executed and most beautiful architec- 

 tural antiquity of the entire region. Though its origin is equally 

 unknown, it is unquestionably a more modern work than the other 

 gateways and temples on the hill. It belongs to that description of 

 Hindu architecture which bears most resemblance to the Saracenic. 

 Instead of a flat lintel over the gate, we have an arch formed of three 

 voussoirs of stone. The soffit of this arch is cut into a wavy scroll, 

 terminating on the abutments, in heads of some animal not clearly 

 discernible. There is an exterior and interior arch of this description, 

 springing from fluted pilasters, and the space of about three feet be- 

 tween them is covered in by another loftier arch similarly formed. 

 Entering, you find yourself in a small court, at the bottom of a flight 

 of steps. A projection of the rock has been scarped to form this 

 resting place, and from it a most extensive view south and west is 

 obtained. The steps are to the right as you enter, to the left there is 

 a projection with stone breastwork used as a look-out. Opposite the 

 entrance, there was a covered colonnade, but this has fallen in. 



