OBELISK OF A SINGLE STONE AT SERINGAPATAM. 315 



Inscription on the Pedestal. 



Erected to the memory of 

 JOSIAH WEBBE, Esq. 



BY 



PURNEAH DEWAN, 



A tribute of respect and veneration, 



For splendid talents, 



Unsullied purity, 



And eminent public virtue. 



No tribute to public merit was ever more spontaneous and 

 sincere ; and the inscription was made as exact a transcript as 

 possible of the avowed sentiments of the extraordinary Bra- 

 min Minister, by whom the obelisk was raised. 



It is obvious, that the mode of erecting a column must be 

 very different from that of raising the immense stones which 

 we see in the walls of Indian temples. These stones are mo- 

 ved, end foremost, up an inclined plane of solid earth, of as 

 small an angle with the horizon as circumstances admit, to the 

 spot which they are to occupy in the wall. Long bamboo 

 poles, lashed to the stone, at right angles with its length, and 

 at such distances as merely to admit the efforts of rows of la- 

 bourers between, constitute the chief means of propelling it, by 

 main force, up the inclined plane ; and its ascent is facilitated, 

 by means of rollers of small diameter, successively introduced 

 under the stone, and prevented from sinking into the earth, 

 by rows of planks placed on each side of the stone, parallel to 



the 



