1849.] Visit to Bewangari. 69 



partly of stone and partly of timber, some all of timber. They had 

 most of them rather a delapidated appearance, and several were wholly 

 deserted. The temple is about a mile and a half from the residence of 

 the Rajah. The path between appears to have been at one time lined 

 with houses, but their sites are now overgrown with jungle, the former 

 occupants having settled in our territories. The path from the temple 

 winds along the northern face of a mountain, overlooking a valley, in 

 which there is some appearance of cultivation. About half a mile from 

 the temple we came suddenly on a stone obelisk built on a projecting 

 spur of the hill, rounding which, a fine view was obtained of the Rajah's 

 house and village. Several similar obelisks standing boldly out on the 

 most prominent eminences formed a peculiar feature in the landscape. 

 They are all of the same form — a square pedestal with projecting base, 

 and cornice gradually diminishing from a height of six or eight feet, by 

 steps, to the base of a globe, which is surmounted by a spire. I was 

 informed that they were constructed entirely for ornament ; this appears 

 a degree of refinement to which we could scarce have supposed the 

 Bootias had attained, yet their varied but always effective situations 

 supported this motive for their erection. They had each a tablet with 

 inscriptions, most probably in laudation of the person who built them. 

 I had unfortunately no one with me who could read the Bootia charac- 

 ter. The Rajah's house is situated on the ridge of a lofty hill com- 

 manding an extensive view of the plains of Assam to the south, and 

 having a fine open valley with cultivation to the north. The village 

 appeared to consist of but few houses, and these scattered and dilapi- 

 dated, as if the proprietors cared little for preserving them. Whilst 

 making a hasty sketch of the view from the obelisk, some of the Rajah's 

 people, with caparisoned ponies and a mule came up, and one of these 

 they insisted on my mounting. 'They also mounted my chaprassies 

 and thus we proceeded to the Rajah's dwelling, and surrounded by a 

 dozen wild Bootias, who held me on the poneys back, some by the legs, 

 others by the tails of my coat, whilst they kept up an incessant exhort- 

 ation to the animal in their own language, all of which they assured 

 me he perfectly understood, to be careful how he stopped and proceeded. 

 The vice-regal lodge is a large upper-roomed square stone building, with 

 gable ends, a very low and wide doorway, and five large windows in a 

 row in the upper story, four of which have projecting covered balconies 



