396 WALLAJAPETTAH. 
the chief deity of the place, on his annual visitation, to another 
pagoda : they were much larger than any I had seen, and though 
disproportioned, must be handsome when decorated with coloured 
ornaments, as drawn by Mr. Salt. At one I again set off. In passing 
the great pagoda, dedicated to Iswara, the priests, and numerous 
dancing-girls, were drawn out to pay their compliments. The latter 
were very numerous, and some of them pretty. The heat of the sun 
was extremely oppressive, the thermometer being at 96°; we were 
therefore able to go but slowly. Villages are thinly scattered, the 
jungle is more frequent, and the soil a dry gravelly sand, which 
being raised by the wind, nearly suffocated me. The choultries 
erected by pious natives to give shade, and often subsistence, to 
travellers, are frequent, but falling into decay. Their greatest enemy 
is the Banian tree : * the seed is carried by birds to the top, and in the 
rainy season it finds nourishment between the large stones, where 
it gradually takes root, separating them, as it increases in thickness, 
till at length the building becomes a heap of ruins. 
Around most of the villages are the remains of a hedge, with a 
rampart, and stone bastions at the gateway and angles. These were 
erected to protect the inhabitants from the incursions of Tippoo's 
predatory horse, who devastated the Carnatic, and carried off the 
inhabitants. He even injured the noble tank at Cauverypauk, which 
is said to be the largest in the Carnatic. It is however now repaired, 
and again fertilizes a large tract of country. As I passed it I ob- 
served the ruins of a fort; but nothing appeared in the town to 
tempt me to visit it. At half after six I reached Wallajapettah, 
where I changed bearers. The night was cool and refreshing. About 
* Ficus bengalensis. 
