163 
1895.] Alexander E. Caddy— Asoka Inscriptions in India. 
the foot of the Baiblidr hill. It is near the Asura's house ( Jarasandha 
ka baithak). Ceylonese authorities claim it as being the cave which 
corresponds most to the description in the Mahavanso. 
The authority mostly in favour of the Son Bhandar being the 
Saptaparna is General Cunningham, while Mr. Beglar claims this distinc¬ 
tion for a cave I have been unable to discover or identify on the north 
of Baibhdr , except it be for.the series of the great northern caves I have 
mentioned. Mr. Fergnssou has accepted Mr. Beglar’s idea, without 
being certified as to the existence of the cave described by him. 
35. Great interest in the ruins of the ancient city of Rajagrilia 
attaches itself to the almost cyclopean walls, embankments, and high¬ 
ways which endure to the present. The highway leads over the em¬ 
bankments and city walls to the crest of the hills forming ramparts 
which an invading army of old‘would have found a complete obstruction. 
One wonders who would seek this barren waste, whose stony ground 
produces nothing but thorn and scrub bamboo, where trees occur at 
great distances apart and are all stunted. Yet at one time we hear of 
these embankments, to which a miraculous origin is ascribed, converting 
the country into a smiling garden and the city into a famine-proof 
granary. * 
36. We hear, too, of King Bimbisara and his chariot — how he 
had a highway built up the side of Chatagiri to the rocks of Sailagiri , and 
how he went in state to hear the words that Buddha had to say for the 
comfort of humanity ; for among these rocks which overhang so and 
threaten the timid, there are crevices and caves which were holiest 
places to the successive bands of Buddhists who have sought refuge here, 
where the great teacher lived and taught. From these rocks, right up 
to the Very crest of Sailagiri , were built stupas and vihdras which were 
made waste and laid low, when a newer religious fervour directed its 
hate towards Buddhism, — in its turn to be forgotten for many a century 
past. 
37. I traversed this highway several times — noted the stupa built 
right in the road, which marks where King Bimbisara dismounted from 
his chariot, and where again, on arriving at the upper flat in front of 
the caves, another stupa records his sending back of the crowd, if we 
take Fa Hian’s account to guide us. Here, crossing over the boulders 
lying in the now dry bed of the mountain torrent, I was able to again 
follow up the old road, which leads to the two principal caves by a 
direct stair to each, and which I was only able to discover after having 
the jungle cleared for two or three days. Some six or seven caves, none 
of any size, exist here. The rocks having naturally fallen info their 
present position, which I should say is barely different from what it was 
