1877.] Chandrasekhara Banurji —The Kaimur Range. 29 
hasram, and presents the only opening to cross the chain. There is a small 
pool on the right side of the pass which retains water over gigantic layers 
of stone. On the left there is a shrine of Tara Chandi, an image covered all 
over except the face, which is plated with silver. The pass is rough, 
and we went up and down over a wild country until we came to a deep 
stream, the banks of which were covered with bushes, affording splendid 
shelter to game. Two miles further on from Tara Chandi, we came across 
the stone quarries which have supplied material for accomplishing that 
giant’s work, the anicut across the Son, a dozen miles off. A light rail¬ 
way runs up to the foot of these hills, and although rail and labour had 
been at work for years and the gigantic Son has been dammed by a stone wall 
thirty to forty feet wide and near three miles long, how little, how very little, 
of the corner of the hill has suffered by continual cutting ! How rich indeed 
is the stock of nature ! From the quarries we turned to the south, and 
proceeded along the base of the chain, which appeared higher the more 'we 
advanced towards the south. At places where the summits rose high, we 
were deceived many a time by the prominent walls of stone which from 
their erect, slender, and rounded layers presented the appearance of some 
crumbling bastion or ruined fort. Forts they are indeed, and may be so to 
those who know how to use them, reared not by man, but by nature ! From 
these heights towards the Son, the country is an even plain, well wooded 
with the bar, pipal, mahua, and the mangoe, and cleared at places for the 
wheat, barley, and, thanks to European energy, the blue dye or indigo. 
The road we took to Tilauthu appeared well-frequented. Traders and 
carts, equestrians and pedestrians, bullocks and tats, trotted up and 
down towards Arah and Palamau, and it will surely be a good thing 
to improve the condition of this ancient route. Such as it is, dusty 
and rough, we followed it up until we found ourselves in a nice 
shady plain, where the neat turrets of a well-finished Math were the 
most pleasant object for the eye to rest upon. The turrets rose from a*midst 
a mangoe tope on the one, and a well cared-for orchard on the other side. 
Four temples of the Banaras type reared their spires in the four corners of 
a square court, and one over a gateway towards the north, enclosed by 
straight plain walls. In the centre of the court stands a huge and higher 
temple with attached turrets round the main spire. Below the turret, the 
temple is surrounded by a square veranda projecting from the main build¬ 
ing, and resting on elegant pillars and arches of slate. This is a 
peculiar type of temple structure, which is much adopted by the Jains in 
this district, and adds both to the strength and beauty of the buildings. 
The pillars are short with twelve flutes on each, and are overlapped both at 
base and the capital with ornamental neatly cut foliage. The ceilings are 
made of broad stone slabs of a length of about 12 feet each. 
