384 WONDERS OF ART, 
that sombre light. We remained for several minutes Y'pgil'' 
speaking, or looking particularly at each other : ft . jiiJ 
when more familiarized to the cavern, my compst^'® joi; 
remaining silent, I expressed some fear of having 
warm in my description, and that, like most other o 
the reality fell short of tire anticipated pleasure, .m ^ 
relieved my anxiety by declaring, that, however 
had raised his Imagination, he was so absorbed in 
ment and delight, on entering this stupendous 
forget where he was. He had seen tire most 
jects of art in Italy and Greece ; but never any 
filled his mind with such extraordinary sensations. . ^ sP' 
raptured was this artist with the spot, that, after stay‘d » 
til a late hour, he qtwtted it most reluctantly. 
The caves of the Isle of Elephanta cannot be i)’* 
admired, when the immensity of such an undertak»’»’ f 
number of artificers employed, and the extraordni" 
• - - — tl* 
nius of its projector, are considered, in a countiT J 
accounted rude and barbarous by the now enligh*^®’!- 
tions of Europe. Had this work been raised from ^ 
lion, like other structures, it would have excited m® ‘ 
ration of the curious 
{oC 
■^5 
but when the reflection jjP' 
that it is hewn inch by incji in the hard and solid 
great must the astonishment be at the conception ^n 
pletion of the enterprize ! 
TEMPLES OF SALSETTE. 
High ovei'-head, sublime. 
The niishty gate-way’s storied roof was spread) 
Dwarfing the puny piles of younger time. , 
With the deeds of days of yore 
The ample roof was sculptur’d o’er, 
And many a god-like form there met the eye, 
And many an emblem dark of mystery. 
Such was the city, whose superb abodes 
Seem’d scoop’d by giants for the immortal gods* 
Now all is silence dread, 
S’ilence profound and dead, 
The everlasting stillness of the deep ! 
The excav.ations of the Island of Salsette, also ^ 
to Bombay, are hewn in the central mountains, ^ 
temple is excavated at some distance from the sn 
steep mountain, in a commanding situation. This s 
