98 
BOO T A N. 
yaimee ocnn , carved in relief. As the inscription, of course, begins at 
opposite ends on each side, the Booteeas are careful, in passing, that 
they do not trace the words backwards. This kind of monument very 
frequently occurs at Chuka, Ivepta, Pauga, Noomnoo, Wangoka, the 
foot of the bridge below Tassisudon, and in many other places. 
In front of the palace, a pampered bull sometimes disputed the 
passage with us. He was the fiercest of his breed, and we were seldom 
inclined, therefore, to engage in so rude a contest. He appeared to 
enjoy his existence, upon the same easy terms as the village, or Brah- 
mennee d , bull in Bengal; and indulgence had rendered him intolerably 
insolent. Familiarity with the lord of the creation, had subdued his 
fear, (the great principle of subjection) and taught him to despise a 
Creature vastly his inferior in corporeal strength, and totally at his 
mercy, whenever he chose to exert his savage powers, and indulge in 
the mischievous excesses of licentious liberty. 
A little further on, nearer to Tassisudon, was a long line of sheds, 
full of furnaces and anvils, at which some of the sons of Vulcan, 
found employment in forging brazen gods, and various other orna¬ 
ments disposed about their religious buildings. Nor must I pass 
unnoticed, that most excellent orchard, which we so often visited in 
our way home, stored with delicious fruits. When raspberries and 
strawberries failed, they were succeeded by apricots and peaches; and 
hence we constantly obtained a plentiful supply. A small gratuity 
% 
<1 Brahmennee, or sacred bull, of the Hindoos, rambles about the neighbourhood with¬ 
out interruption ; he is universally caressed and pampered by the people, and to feed him 
is deemed a meritorious act of religion. 
