EXCAVATED TEMPLE. 
273 
which are not distinguished by the slightest ornament. 
Upon entering the temple you are struck by the ex- 
treme exuberance of the sculpture. It is larger than 
the Elephanta cavern,, and much more lofty. A 
splendid colonnade of octagonal pillars decorates three 
sides of the area, which forms a parallelogram. 
Some of these pillars are elaborately wrought, others 
are comparatively plain., though none are without 
ornament. 
The roof is vaulted, there being circular ribs of teak 
wood corresponding with the arch, and extending 
nearly to the capitals of the columns on either side. 
For what purpose they were placed there does not 
appear, though Bishop Heber takes them to be an ar- 
gument against the remote antiquity of the cavern; 
but this is about as conclusive an argument as to say 
that Windsor Chapel was not built before the reign of 
Charles the Second, because some of the ornaments of 
the choir were carved by Gibbon, who was born during 
the reign of that monarch. The teak ribs may have 
been added since the temple was excavated ; or if they 
have existed without showing signs of decay for six- 
teen or eighteen hundred years, the latest probable date 
assigned even by Bishop Heber himself to these ex- 
cavations, there surely can be nothing to obviate the 
inference that their existence may not have doubled 
that period. 
In this beautiful chamber we passed the night ; 
and by way of affording the reader some entertain- 
ment while he supposes us to be taking our rest, I 
will give a description of an elephant hunt, just com- 
municated to me by Mr. Benjamin Torin, at which 
