816 March between Mhow and Saugor, 1838. [Oct. 



are in general so averse ; and though at first, it is not a little alarming 

 to find them falling every instant on your face and person, as they get 

 disabled in their constant battles above ; yet they never sting, and 

 you soon become accustomed to their buzzing around, and crawling 

 about you. If once provoked however, their vengeance is dreadful ; 

 and the chief of a Math of Gosains attached to the temple, assured me 

 that on some few occasions when this has happened, it was not safe to 

 approach the place for days. He likewise hinted that if a persecutor 

 of their master approached the Ling, Mahadeo's Fouj would instantly 

 detect him, and probably sting him to death. A Moonshi with us had 

 laughed at the story; but just at this moment the wind grew high, 

 and the scattered insects were blown about our faces in hundreds : our 

 Mussulman friend evidently thought they had found him out, and 

 much to our amusement, and most especially that of the Mahunt, we 

 observed him quietly stealing off, and saluted him with a peal of 

 laughter. 



The Gosains of the Math, above alluded to, reside in a small court in 

 front of the temple. As usual in these monasteries they were very civil 

 and communicative, and though now poor,* (the few lands on which 

 they have rights affording little else but pasturage,) boasted largely 

 of their former fortunes, and assured us that the establishment was of a 

 very ancient date ; an assertion in some measure borne out by several 

 venerable looking Samadhs, the graves of former Mahunts. They pre- 

 tend indeed that the Apsara was founded by Bhoj, or that at least it 

 was coeval with the temple ; which claims may not be credited, but 

 cannot be disproved,— all the papers and grants of the Society having 

 been lost (in a fire, I think) many years ago ; which leaves the ques- 

 tion in a convenient un certainty. t 



Bhojpoor is at present a small poor village of mud huts, and if we 

 may judge from the scantiness of its ruins, was never a town of any 

 size or consequence. The only building worth visiting besides Bho- 

 jeswar, is a Jain temple, remarkable for an image twenty feet high. 

 Statues, of such large dimensions are approached, to be worshipped, by 

 stone steps, which are built close to the wall on either side of the 



* I think the Mahunt calculated the yearly value of the lands at 750 rupees ; the ac- 

 tual members of the establishment are about 30,— the residents not more than 10 or J 2. 



f Hyat Mahomed of Bhopal renewed their Sunnuds (we could not however get a 

 sight of the Tambaputras, ) and from his time only their history can be depended upon. 

 They read to us the list of Mahunts, all whose names have the distinctive termination 

 of Bun. 



