384 Notes, chiefly Geological, [No. 173. 



it is shipped for Bombay, &c. It is sent down the Ghaut on loaded bul- 

 locks; the pass not being practicable for bandies. 



The present town of Sircy comprises between 5,000 and 6,000 inha- 

 bitants ; principally Lingayets and Concany Brahmans. The chief 

 bankers and merchants are of these different sects : about 800 Mussul- 

 mans, Mahrattas, and a few Jains. The custom-house and betelnut 

 depot are the principal public buildings. There are three distinct ba- 

 zaars, with one or two broad but dirty and badly- drained streets (1839). 

 The better class of houses are tiled, and often double-roofed. 



The ruins of an old but small fort, said to have been built by the 

 Rajas of Soonda, and of a still more ancient one, the work of the 

 Jaina Skeri Rajas, still remain. On the rising ground in this vicinity, 

 foundations of houses and numerous wells attest the former existence of 

 a large and populous town. There is a temple to Virabhadra, and one 

 to the goddess Mariama, whence a snake, patronized by the Brahmans, 

 is said to make its appearance twice a day, probably to be fed. I had 

 not an opportunity of testing this story ; which however is by no means 

 unlikely. I have often seen offerings of milk and plantains before the 

 holes of the Cobra, which is held in superstitious veneration by 

 most classes of Hindus. This is the veneration born of fear, which in- 

 duced the Egyptians to worship the evil principle Typhon, — produced 

 the Devil-worship of Ceylon, — and compelled the poor foresters of the 

 Eastern Isles to make offerings to Thunder and Lightening. Hence the 

 ancient ophitic worship which prevailed so extensively in Southern India, 

 the emblems of which may still be seen piled up carved on rude stones 

 round the walls, or under the trees which shade the older and more 

 secluded pagodas. 



From Sircy to Savantir and Lakiswar. — The face of the country is 

 undulating and interspersed with low, rounded hills to Savanur, in the 

 Southern Mahratta country, about forty-four miles NE. of Sircy. The 

 Canara boundary is crossed about thirteen and a half miles NE. from 

 the latter place. The country is more open ; the Ghauts are left be- 

 hind, and the table land of the Southern Mahratta territory fairly 

 entered on. 



The intervening rocks are chiefly the softer members of the hypogene 

 series, as seen at Darwar, viz. argillaceous slate clays, white and vari- 



