2 Notes on Assam Temple Buins. [No. 1. 



the antiquities supposed to appertain to the period of which he 

 treats, and this lias induced me to string together and submit, with 

 a few sketches my own, notes on the ruins I have visited. 



Mr, Kobinson has assumed that Gowhatty was the ancient, as it 

 is the modern capital of the valley. Its former importance is indeed 

 well attested by the immense extent of its fortifications, the profusion 

 of carved stones which every excavation in the modern town brings 

 to light, the remains of stone gateways, and the old stone bridges 

 that are found within and without the city walls. 



These walls, partly of masonry, embrace a tract several square 

 miles in extent, including hills and plains, through the midst of 

 which, confined to its main stream by natural bastions of rock, and 

 broken and diversified by rocky islands, flows, in a basin from three- 

 fourths of a mile to a mile in breadth, the noble Brahmaputra. 



Budh could not have selected a more lovely spot for the dissemi- 

 nation of his doctrines or the close of his career. 



The zeal and devotion of the age decorated every prominent point, 

 in this beautiful scene, with a shrine or Choityo, in honor of the 

 divinity or saint that hallowed it. Stone temples appeared blend- 

 ing with every rock ; each island was adorned with a shrine ; the 

 peaks of the hills were similarly crowned ; and for the pilgrim who 

 sought retirement less obtrusive altars were raised in the recesses 

 of valleys or groves. 



But peace did not always reign in this holy vale, and the labour 

 bestowed on the entrenchments, tells of many a hard fought struggle 

 with an invading force. 



In the fortifications of the old city care was taken to use and 

 improve the natural defences afforded by the ranges of hills, which 

 surround or are enclosed in them. In some precipitous places, a 

 causeway with a breastwork, for the protection of the besieged, and 

 semi-circular projections, as watch-towers and flanking defences, 

 were all that were considered necessary ; but, where- the natural 

 obstacle was wanting, a lavish expenditure of labour has raised 

 embankments from hill to hill, from 25 to 40 feet in height, and not 

 less than 30 feet in breadth on top, with a moat 100 feet wide. 



The entrances to the city were by gateways of stone, some of 

 which were subsequently replaced by archways of brick. On a 



