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ON DRUIDICAL AND 



gateway at the top of the flight of steps has a very 

 Egyptian character. In the town below the pagoda are many 

 inferior swamy houses (mantapams), and sculptured cromlechs. 

 A monument to a Sati is also curious. The railing of a flight 

 of steps leading to the choultry and formed of the trunks of 

 two elephants is remarkable. Some sculptured cromlechs in a 

 field near the bungalow deserve attention. In the side of 

 the Usur hill is a cave containing a Lingam. Before the 

 Mysore kings assumed the government of this country Usur 

 belonged to the polygar chief of Bangalore. I collected a 

 few old copper coins here. 



Ellavanka (from Bangalore). — Here is an old fort built 

 by the Polygar Magady Kempe Gauda. In a field near the 

 village are some veraculls (monumental stones) having 

 representations on them of warriors fighting. The large 

 reservoir near the village and a small temple standing upon 

 its bank are believed to be the work of a Chola-Eajah. 



Chinna Battapur. — I counted no less than thirty-one 

 veraculls standing along the right side of the road between 

 this place and Nandidrug. Formerly many others stood here 

 subsequently broken up by the ryots or by Tippu, who is 

 said to have used the stone pieces when his shot was expended, 

 during his conflict with Colonel Eeade at Nandidrug. Many 

 of the veraculls are buried under the soil. These monuments 

 are well worth the attention of the curious and of photo- 

 graphers. The figures sculptured on them are dressed in 

 hauberks of ring mail reaching nearly to the knees, and armed 

 with spears, shields, daggers, swords, and bows and arrows. 

 On my way to see the veraculls I observed many small 

 images of Naga, and of the Matsya Avataram of Vishnu 

 grouped together round pippal trees on the bank of a large 

 tank. I was struck with the identity of this form of Vishnu 

 with our fabled mermaids, and have no hesitation in saying 

 that it is their prototype, brought in remote times from the 



