S51 
Gf Gr'anite in India. 
whole is as much as two workmen can easily manage. They 
seat themselves upon, or close to the stone they are to polish, 
and, by moving the block backwards and forwards between 
them, the polish is given by the friction of the mass of wax and 
corundum. 
Granite finished in this way, is the most common material of 
which the tomb-stones of princes and great men in India are con- 
structed. As a beautiful glossy black, it is scarcely if at all in- 
ferior to the finest black marble ; and, referring both to ancient 
Indian monuments and to the observations of Colonel Straton, 
it would appear that the polish thus given to granite, may be 
said to be as imperishable, as the material itself to which it is ap- 
plied. 
I had an opportunity of making these observations while en- 
gaged in erecting a granite monument, ornamented with black 
pilasters. The workmen succeeded most perfectly in giving the 
black polish to the granite, in the manner I have described. 
* In the end of the year 1794, 1 had an opportunity of visiting the aneient city 
of Warankul, and of seeing a granite gateway, standing within the bounds of the 
palace, the fine black polish of which appeared to have lost nothing of its original 
lustre. It was almost the only remains of the royal residence, and we were told 
had been originally one of four similar gates which led into a court in the interior 
of the palace. The other three had been removed for the sake of the materials. 
This beautiful gateway deserves also to be mentioned for the very durable manner 
in which it was constructed. The stones were fitted to each other most accurately, 
so that the joinings were as close as those of a modern marble chimney-piece ; and 
as no mortar, nor cement of any kind, had been employed, it seemed perfectly se- 
cure, both against the attacks of vegetation and the influences of the weather. But 
for these circumstances, it could not have escaped being attacked by the seeds of 
the banyan-tree, and would probably have been entirely subverted long before the 
time of my seeing it. On the contrary, it seemed quite secure from the attacks of 
this irresistible enemy of Indian architecture, and was in every respect so perfectly 
fresh, that, unless by the application, of external force, it seemed to be capable of 
lasting for ever. 
According to Colonel Wilkes, the city of Warankul was founded A. D. 1067, 
and captured by the Delhi Patans in 1323, when the dynasty was subverted. The 
gateway in question could therefore scarcely have been less than 500 years old, and 
might probably have been considerably older. 
