1838.] at Dhauli in Cuttack. 435 



escaped notice until the assiduous inquiries of Lieut. Kittoe brought 

 them to light, and once more realized the moral adage of « eyes and no 

 eyes.' — The more credit is due to him, that Colonel Mackenzie with 

 his myrmidons had been at Bhuvaneswar and had ransacked the coun- 

 try round about: — General Stuart and other of the minor class of 

 antiquaries had been there too, and had in their usual fashion stripped 

 and carried off all the images and fragments of old stones they could lay 

 hands on : which would have been enough to explain the shyness of the 

 priests in the neighbourhood at pointing out other remains, but that for 

 those of Buddhism they would have had no repugnance at giving in- 

 formation, and would doubtless have been glad to turn the attention of 

 the invader upon them to save the spoliation of their own temples. 



Mr. Kittoe's recent expedition in search of coal gave him an oppor- 

 tunity of revisiting Dhauli and of taking sketches of the various caves 

 in the neighbourhood which he had no time on his former visits, to do 

 more than inspect. I here insert an extract from his Journal on the 

 subject, and make public acknowledgment to him for the numerous 

 lithographs in illustration of it, all of which, drawn by himself, are 

 faithful, and not exaggerated, representations of the venerable and de- 

 serted grottos of the Buddhist priesthood. 



Note by Mr. Kittoe on the Aswastama inscription at Dhauli near 

 Bhuvaneswar in Orissa, fyc. 



"The province of Oiiss a boasts of more ancient temples, sacred spots 

 and relics than any other in Hindustan, and though many of its more 

 noted antiquities are well known to us, yet, there is reason to believe 

 that some, (perhaps even more worthy of notice,) remain hidden. That 

 which forms the subject of this paper, I had the good fortune to discover 

 by the merest accident : a byragi priest, native of Mirzapoor near Be- 

 nares having described it to me ; such, however, is the aversion the 

 Ooriyahs have, to our- going near their places of worship, that I was 

 actually decoyed away from the spot, when within a few yards of it, 

 being assured that there was no such place, and had returned for a mile 

 or more, when I met with a man who led me back to the spot by torch- 

 light. I set fire to the jangal and perceived the inscription which was 

 completely hidden by it. I subsequently returned and copied it. 



" The Aswastama is situated on a rocky eminence forming one of a 

 cluster of hills, three in number, on the south bank of the Dyah river, 

 near to the village of Dhauli, and close to the northwest corner of the 

 famous tank called Konsala-gang, said to have been excavated by raja 

 Gangeswara Deva, king of Kalinga in the 12th century in expia- 

 3 i 



