1837.} 



from Punah to Kittor. 



381 



considerable ; and the stream, after being broken by an intermediate 

 projection of the rock, descends in two separate columns to a semi- 

 circular basin of still water. It has, then, nothing very grand in its 

 appearance similar to what is told us of Niagara ; but, in picturesque 

 beauty, may bear a comparison with the other celebrated cataracts 

 which have engaged the attention of travellers. The whiteness of the 

 descending columns ; the glittering rainbow appearance of the dazzling 

 sun-beams on the silvery spray ; the murmuring noise of the water 

 falling into the clear still basin below ; th e black rugged appearance 

 of large square blocks of perpendicular quartz rock abounding in the 

 bed of the river ; and the natural loneliness of the surrounding jungle, 

 conspire to leave behind impressions which may be better felt than 

 described. 



When, however, the stream of the Ghatparba has been swollen 

 by the rains of the monsoon, the cataract will be seen to greater 

 advantage. The breadth of the river at this time cannot be less than 

 a hundred and eighty yards, and the sheet of descending water must 

 form a grand and magnificent object. 



Even the apathetic Hindu could not here contemplate unmoved 

 the majesty of nature, having recorded his admiration of her works by 

 erecting a temple on either side of the cataract ; and dedicating them 

 to that God who, in his creed, possesses supreme power in nature's 

 destructive operations. 



Where the quartz sand-stone hills ascend from the river there is 

 a Mahadeva temple built on each bank, which, judging from the style 

 of the architecture, may lay claim to considerable antiquity. The 

 roofs are formed of long flat slabs of quartz rock, supported by short 

 thick pillars of the same, and must have been constructed at great 

 trouble and expense, when we consider the hardness of the materials 

 composing them. The general figure of the temple is oblong ; and 

 each consists of only one story having several smaller side ones. They, 

 therefore, differ from Hindu temples of modern erection, which are 

 usually pyramidal, and have several stories diminishing in succession 

 to the top. 



The rock in the bed of the river, and near the edge of the cataract, 

 has been formed into deep circular holes of two to three feet in 

 diameter, which have been apparently formed by the eddies originat- 

 ing in a stream of water, that, meeting with resistance, receives a 

 circular motion. 



From the brink of the semicircular basin, hollowed out byths 

 falls, we descended to the water edge in order to view the cataract 



