89 The Island and Bridge of Sivasatnudram. [January 



RAYEN. The cause of Achyutara yen's enmity against his bro- 

 ther-in-law, Gangarayen, was as follows. 



It was a habit of Minatcii am-'a, Achyutarayen's wife, the 

 sister of Gangarayen, to boast, in the presence of her husband, 

 of her father's possessions ; and among other things, she would talk 

 in vaunting lerms of the brass gates of her father's fort at Sivasa- 

 mudram. One night in particular, as she was in bed with Achy- 

 tiTARAYEN her husband, she said to him, that she heard the sound 

 of the brass gates of her father's fort closing. Acii yutara yen, 

 provoked at her remarks, the next morning besieged the town with 

 all his troops. Gangarayen, apprehensive of a severe attack, 

 and finding the bridges now unsafe, had them both broken down, 

 by which means he was enabled to hold the island against the en^my 

 for twelve long years ; at the end of which time, they finding it still 

 impregnable, bought over Oanga ray en's confidential secretary, 

 and through his treachery, Achyutarayen was enabled to enter 

 the island with all his troops through a secret pass. Gangarayen, 

 on discovering this treason and its fatal effects, collected the whole 

 of his family and relations together into the castle, and entermg 

 himself last, sprung a mine which had been prepared, and with all 

 his family was buried in the ruins. "When Achyutarayen enter- 

 ed the city, and witnessed the dreadful scene of havoc in the palace, 

 of which he had been the cause, he was immediately struck with re- 

 morse, and returned to his own possessions. But one of the Sar^ 

 dars, a Musselman, established himself in the island, and kept pos- 

 session of it for about fifteen years ; at the expiration of which time, 

 as he was one night going through the streets of the city, he was 

 attacked by a seven-headed cohra da capella : as soon as he saw 

 it, he attempted to strike it, but the serpent spitting forth his venom, 

 laid him dead upon the spot. After this, the island becoming a de- 

 pendency of the Mysore territory, was scarcely inhabited, and went 

 to utter decay. All these sovereigns were worshippers of Ranga- 

 swami and Somes-'waraswami. 



Account of the Island since it came into Ramaswamts possession, 



I first visited the island in the year 1805, in attendance on Colo- 

 nel WiLKs, then British Resident at the court of Mysore ; and it 

 was at that time the abode of tigers and other wild beasts, the jun- 

 gle being almost impenetrable, and all the buildings were in a state 

 of utter ruin. 



