178 Travels in India. Part; II. 



which they fetch from a Quarry neer Agra. They cleave Jikc our Slates, fom 

 of them being fifteen foot long, and nine or ten foot broad, yet no/abov^ 

 fix fingers thick, efpccially when you cleave them as you would have them f ? 

 ufe : They alfo make very fair Pillars. The Fortrefs of Agra, the Walls of hu 

 nabat, the King's Houfc, the two Mofauees, and feveral Nobiernens Houfes ar^ 

 all built of this Stone. e 



The Pagod is built upon a great Platform of an OEbogonal Figure, pav'd wirf 

 Free-ftone; being adorn'd round about with the figures of all forts of crel 

 tures, efpccially Apes. There is an afcent ro it two ways of fifteen or fate 

 fteps a-piece, every ftep being two foot broad, for two perfons-to go a-breft 

 One of the afcents leads up to the great Portal of the Pagod, the other behind 

 up to the Chancel. The Pagod does not take up above half the Platform h 

 other half ferving for a Pi*** before it. The Stru&ure is in the form Yf 

 Crofs, like the reft of the Pagods, in the midit whereof a great Duomt with 

 two others of each fide fomewhat Jefs, advance themfelvcs above the reft of 

 ihe building. The out-fide of the building from top to bottom is adorn'd 

 with the figures of Rams, Apes and Elephants, and feveral* forts of Mot>- 

 fters. From one foot below every one of thefe Duomos, to the Roof 

 (uch and fuch fpaces, are Windows, fbme five, fbme fix feet high and tl 

 every Window belongs a Balcone, where four perfons may ftand. Every Bal 

 cone is cover'd with a little Arch, fuppqrted by four Pillars, others by eight" 

 every two touching one another. Round about the Dmmts are Niches hll'd 

 with the figures of Damons. Some with four arms, fome with four lev* 

 Some with mens heads npon the bodies of Beafts, and long tails that han? 

 down to their thighes: There are abundance of Apes 3 and indeed it is an 

 ugly fight to behold fo many deform'd fpedacles. There is but one ereat 

 x?° r t ° J £ e P ^ g0d ' upon cach f,de hereof there are Pillars and Figures of 

 Men and Monfters. The hinder-part is clos'd with a clofe Balifter of Stone- 

 Pillars five or fix inches in Diameter, into which, as into a kind of SanStm 

 Santlorum, none but the Bramins are permitted to enter: but for Money I got 

 in, and faw a fquare Altar fome fifteen or fixteen foot from the door co- 

 ver d with an old Tiffue of Gold and Silver, upon which ftood the great 'idol 

 which they call Ram , Ram. You fee nothing but his head, which is of a very 

 black Marble, with two Rubies inftead of eyes. All the body, from rjie moul- 

 ders to the fret, is cover'd with a Robe of Purple- Velvet, with fome fmall 

 embroidery. There are two other Idols on each fide of him two foot high ap- 

 parelld in the fame manner j only their faces are white, which they caIU«- 

 chor. There I alfo faw a Machine fixteen foot fquare, and between twelve and 

 fifteen foot high i cover d with painted Calicuts, reprefenting the fliapes of De- 

 vils. This Machine running upon four Wheels, they told me, was a moving 

 Altar, upon which they carri'd their great God in Proceflion to vifit the other 

 Gods, as alfo to the River, whither all the people went upon their great Fefti- 

 val. 



The fourth Pagod is that of Tripeti, in the Province of Camatka, toward the 

 Goaft of Coromandel, and Cape Comonn. I faw it as I went to Mafipatan It is a 

 Pagod to which there belong a great number of little lodgings for the Bramins ■ 

 fo that altogether it feems to be a great Town, There are feveral fonds round 

 about it 9 but their fuperfhtion is fo great, that no Pauenger dare take any water 

 out of them, but what the Bramin gives him. 



C H A P. 



