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dergone in their marches during the rainy season, made them refuse to 
advance further; although he doubtless meant to have extended his 
conquests to the banks of the Ganges. The river Hyphasis, now 
called the Beyah, was the boundary of his march from Persia; from 
thence he commenced his return to that kingdom, and there he erected 
several monuments in memory of his achievements. Nearchus fitted 
out a fleet of near two thousand vessels, of various size and con- 
struction, on the Hydaspes, a branch of the Indus, with which he 
entered that noble river, and following its stream to the ocean, 
proceeded by the Persian gulph to the Euphrates; while Alexander 
himself returned, with the remainder of his army, through Persia. 
The other parts of Hindostan had then remained impenetrated by 
the conqueror; this would abundantly disprove all connexion be- 
tween these works and Alexander’s expedition, did not the total 
absence of any thing Grecian, in the style of architecture, or the 
character of the mythological figures, preclude any such idea. 
Sir Charles Mulct's judicious remarks on the excavations at 
Ellora, which are similar, and most probably contemporary with 
those at Salsette and the Elephanta, throw considerable light on 
these wonderful productions; although in his letter to Lord Teign- 
mouth he does not allow his inquiries to have been entirely satis- 
factory. “ Doubtless they are the works of people wiiose religion 
and mythology were purely Hindoo, and most of the excavations 
carry strong marks of dedication to Maiidew, as the piesiding 
deity. The fanciful analogies of some travellers, (particularly 
that attributed to the eight-handed figure of Veer Budder, hold- 
ing up rajah Dutz in one hand, and a drawn sword in the other, 
with the famous judgment of Solomon) now vanish; and we no 
