CHAPTER XIV. 
D urijstg my residence at Bombay I frequently visited the exca- 
vations of Canara and Elephanta: the former are hewn in the 
central mountains on the island of Salsette, contiguous to Bombay; 
the latter in a similar situation on the isle of Elephanta, seven 
miles from thence, and nearer to the continent. Soon after my 
return to England, an engraving was published from my drawing 
of the large temple at the Elephanta; and the views of those stu- 
pendous works on both islands, since delineated by Mr. Daniell 
with the accuracy and effect which characterize all his produc- 
tions, give a correct idea of their general appearance. 
The nations of Asia, as well as of Europe, continued long 
ignorant of the origin and purport of these extraordinary caverns: 
later researches have thrown a light on their obscurity: the author 
of the “ Indian Antiquities” has taken great pains to illustrate 
them ; his minute investigations have the glow of oriental poetry, 
and are enriched by interesting anecdotes. If his comparisons be- 
tween the tenets of the Hindoo religion and the rites of the Eleu- 
sinian mysteries, together with his other hypotheses, do not entirely 
satisfy, they at least afford pleasure to the inquiring mind. 
My first visit to Salsette was in the beginning of 1774; that 
