CURIOSITIES OF BOMBAY. 
697 
with a mephitic vapour, that a candle can scarcely be kept burning in 
them. Six lions’ heads, placed on the two sides of the temple, serve 
as spouts to carry away the water. The ascent to the top is by a 
staircase of a very singular structure. It is built with stones incrusted 
in the wall, and projecting six feet out ; so that being supported only 
at one end, they appear to be suspended in the air. 
The walls, the roof, and the columns of this edifice, have suffered 
nothing from the injuries of time ; and did not the hieroglyphics, by 
being corroded in some places, mark its antiquity, it would appear to 
have been newly built. The solidity is such, that unless people make 
a point of destroying it, the building must last for a number of ages. 
Except the colossal figures, whose heads serve as an ornament to the 
capitals of the columns, and which are sculptured in relievo, the rest 
of the hieroglyphics which cover the inside are carved in stone. To 
the left of this great building we meet with another, much smaller, at 
the bottom of which is a sort of altar. This was probably the sancr 
tuary of the temple of Osiris. 
Curiosities of Bombay. 
Among the curiosities of Bombay, Mr. Ives mentions a very 
large terapin, or tortoise, kept at the governor’s house, the age of 
which was upwards of two hundred years. Frogs, which abound 
every wherethrough the East Indies, are very large at Bombay. Our 
author saw one that measured twenty-two inches from the extremities 
of the fore and hind feet when extended, and he supposes that its 
weight could not have been less than four or five pounds. On the 
sea shore, round the island, are a great variety of beautiful shells, 
particularly the sort called ventle-traps, or wentle-traps, held in great 
esteem among the ladies some time ago. Several pounds sterling 
are said to have been given by a virtuoso for one of these shells, 
when commodore Leslies’ collection of shells was sold by auction. 
Mr. Ives enumerates the following kinds of snakes found in this 
island and other parts of the British empire in the East Indies. 1. 
The Cobra de Capella, which grows from four to eight or nine feet 
long. Their bite kills in fifteen minutes. 2. The Cobra Manilia is a 
small blueish snake, of the size of a man’s little finger, and about a 
foot long, frequently seen about old walls. A species of these, found 
at Bombay, kill much sooner than even the former. 3. The Palaeira, 
a very thin beautiful snake, of different colours ; its head is like that 
of the common viper, but much thicker than the body. Our author 
saw one that was four feet long, and not much thicker than a swan’s 
quill. 4. The Green Snake is of a very bright green colour, with a 
sharp head ; towards the tail it is much smaller than in the middle. 
The largest part of it is no bigger than a tobacco-pipe. 5. The Sand 
Snake is small and short, but not less deadly than the others. 6. 
The Cobra de Aurelia resembles an earth-worm, is about six inches 
long, and no bigger than a small crow-quill. It kills by getting into 
the ear, causing madness, &c. 7. The Manilia Bomba is a very 
beautiful snake, of about the same size throughout the whole length, 
except at the two ends, where it comes to a point. It is white in the 
4 T 
