1845.] across the Peninsula from Mangalore. 649 



On the rounded pinnacle of a magnificent conoidal mass of this 

 porphyritic granite overlooking the whole rock, stands a small, but 

 picturesque temple to Busuana. 



I descended by a deep fissure in the rock to the temple at the S. E. 

 base, where some Brahman priests and their servants still remain. Here 

 may be traced the vestiges of the old gardens of the Poligar builder 

 of the fort — Kempye Goura. 



Along the North base are a few caves formed by the covered spaces 

 between large granitic blocks. I regret being unable to get a specimen 

 of the Shin-Nai, or red dog, which Buchanan heard was to be found 

 in the forests of Severndroog, and which is said to kill even the tiger 

 by fastening itself on its neck. 



The Shin-Nai, Buchanan says, is quite distinct from the wild dog, 

 which is said to be very common here. The forest abounds with good 

 timber trees, most of which Buchanan describes, and among which may 

 be enumerated the sandal-wood. 



Iron furnaces. I have previously mentioned that a magnetic iron- 

 sand is found in great abundance in the beds of the rivulets of this 

 hilly tract. Furnaces for smelting it are said to exist at Hurti, Kuncha- 

 kanhully, Timsunder, Naigonpully, Ittelpully, and Chicknaigpully. I 

 visited those of Kootul, (or Cotta,) of which a description will be given 

 hereafter. At Ghettipura, in Tippoo's time, steel is said to have been 

 made. 



Taverikairy. From Kootul the Arkawatty river is crossed : country 

 undulating, and rocky ; for the most part uncultivated, and jungly. 

 The principal rock at Taverikairy is gneiss, with fragments of iron shot 

 quartz, green actynolitic quartz, felspar, fragments of hornblende, schist, 

 gneiss, granite, and basaltic greenstone scattered over the face of the 

 country, and occasionally patches of kunker. 



Bannawar. Near Bannawar I found diallage rock projecting in large, 

 angular, scabrous blocks, from the top and sides of a low elevation. 

 The great mass of the rock was chiefly white felspar and quartz. The 

 crystals of diallage were well defined, and passed from dull olive-grey 

 shades, to the lively decided green of smaragdite. There was more 

 quartz in this diallage rock than is seen usually in the euphotides of 

 Europe ; and the external aspect of the blocks was almost trachytic in 

 its roughness. Not far hence, the gneiss, with which the diallage is 



