1843.] Memoir on Indian Earthquakes. 1033 



that human efforts were judged expedient to preserve it from ruin : and 

 the repairs which it has lately undergone, have completely modernised 

 its external appearance. The body of it is constructed of large flat 

 stones, over which is a coat of fine white plaster, which adds to the 

 neatness, but has destroyed all outward pretensions to antiquity." 



Several hot springs in the vicinity of this temple are then described. 

 One is received in a large cistern, which is called the Tapta-cund, and 

 forms a warm bath for the pilgrims, supplied by a hot spring issuing from 

 the mountain through a subterraneous passage. The water of the 

 Tapta-cund is as hot as a person can bear, and from it issues a thick 

 smoke or steam, strongly tainted with a sulphureous smell. A little 

 to the left of it, is Surya-cund, another hot spring, and besides these, 

 are many more, all of which are turned to due account by the Brahmins 

 of the Temple. 



The large town of Barahal on the Bhagiruttee river, also a favourite 

 resort for pilgrims, is the only other place in this neighbourhood which 

 is specifically mentioned as having been injured by the Earthquake 

 under notice. All its temples were more or less shattered, and many 

 of its houses ruined, so that when visited by Mr. Fraser in 1815, it 

 presented a miserable spectacle of dilapidation and filth. Before this 

 catastrophe, it is said to have had fifty or sixty shops with a well fre- 

 quented bazaar and numerous shrines and temples; after it, a few mud 

 huts with the ruin of former buildings alone remained. Whether 

 since the period of Mr. Fraser's visit it has recovered any portion of its 

 former prosperity I am not aware, but it is still largely frequented by 

 pilgrims, and abounds in Bramins and Fakeers. 



I have not been able to obtain any specific information relative to 

 the ravages of the Earthquake in Kumaon, beyond the fact, that they 

 were not less severe there than in Gurhwal, involving the destruction 

 of life and property to a great extent. 



The information obtained is not sufficiently precise to warrant any 

 attempt being made to define the extreme limits of the shock of 1803, 

 nor to trace it to any special spot as its focus of emanation. Accord- 

 ing to Captain Hodgson's statement, it injured buildings throughout 

 the whole plains of Hindoostan, and if so, it must have been one of the 

 severest shocks ever experienced in this country. Its fearfully in- 

 creased intensity in the mountains, shews very distinctly that it was 

 in them it had its source, and I have therefore had no hesitation in 

 assigning it to the Central Himalayan tract. It can only however be 

 thus referred in general terms, since to do more would require details 

 much more minute and specific than, from the nature of the case, it is 

 practicable to collect. This remark, I may here state, applies gene- 

 rally to the arrangements employed throughout this summary. The 

 precise spots from which Earthquake waves diverge, have been fixed in 

 some cases, particularly in Scotland, but to do this has required the 

 employment of careful and constant observation, aided by registering 

 instruments. The same effort cannot be made in India until the same 

 materials have been collected, and all I have attempted is therefore 



