66 
PAJfpAVULA METTA, 
away tlie rock at the higher side to a depth of some six or 
eight inches. The cutting has been done very smoothly and 
accurately. At the extreme upper end of the cave is a stone 
pial some six inches higher than the rock-hewn floor below. 
When first the writer visited the cave, its whole floor was 
covered to the depth of fully a foot with stones and hankar 
washed in by the rains. A section of this was excavated 
and removed. In the lower part of the cave nothing was 
foimd but this alluvial deposit ; but^ as the upper end was 
approached, this debris gradually gave way to an under 
layer of fine black soil directly overlying the rocky floor, 
comparatively free from stones and evidently of much 
greater age than the upper deposit. Nothing was foimd in 
this stratum, however, save a few fragments of burnt pottery 
and some traces of fire ; but underneath it, lying upon the 
stone floor close up to the edge of the pial, there was found 
a bit of much corroded iron of tapering form, some four 
inches in length and as thick as one's little finger. Xothing 
else of interest was found in the cave. The extreme lower 
portion of it was not, however, excavated, and it seems 
probable that further search woidd yield some information 
as to who and what manner of men the inhabitants of the 
cave were. The natives have no name for the cave^ and 
there seems to be no legend connected with it other than 
that which applies to the whole hill. 
As the cave has undoubtedly been the abode of human 
beings, so the rock-cuttings mark the site of ancient dwell- 
ings. The accurate measurements, palatial dimensions, and 
elaborate arrangement of such remains as still exist (and 
they must exist for all time) show that these were no 
ordinary abodes. No trace of hewn stone is found in the 
vicinity of these hills. Had such stones ever existed, had 
carefully-wrought, or even rudely-shaped, stone pillars once 
occupied these numerous sockets, had noble porticos graced 
the entrance to nobler halls, surely some fragment would 
