we are lost in wonder at the idea of forming a vast mountain into almost eternal mansions. The mythological symbols and figures throughout the whole leave no room to doubt their owing their existence to religious zeal,-the most powerful and most universal agitation of the human mind." Speaking of Keylas, Sir Charles says, "This wonderful place is approached more handsomely than any of the foregoing." Of Visvacarma, he observes, "This excavation, in beauty, is inferior to none; in form it is unique, and in design elegant." The account of all is very concise, occupying, as before observed, only forty-two pages of large type, and with a considerable margin. It is true, he speaks in terms of panegyric of them all; and who could help doing so?

Lieutenant-Colonel Fitzclarence, in his journey across India (with public despatches), notices them en passant. His description occupies twenty pages of a quarto with a large margin (a modern and censurable innovation in the craft and mystery of book-making). The Colonel observes, enraptured with the objects before him, "Having returned, though dreadfully fatigued, I will not permit my feelings to pass away without recording them on a more secure tablet than that of my memory. My eyes and mind are absolutely satiated with the wonders I have seen the first are weary with objects so gigantic and extraordinary, to which they were totally unaccustomed, and the latter has been

so much on the stretch, being crowded and overwhelmed with ideas so overpowering and various, that I despair of ever forming any calm judgment upon them. The gross superstition, the cause of their formation, becomes even respectable and venerable, from the admiration which I experienced of these early and stupendous works of human genius, of unremitting toil and perseverance. I felt a sensation of gratitude, and almost of esteem, towards the religion which had effected a labour so immense and remarkable. Every thing around me spoke of other times, of individuals, nations, and arts, long since passed away; and I took a hurried view of the present state of India, looking in vain for any class of men great, or, I may almost say, omnipotent, enough to venture on so prodigious an undertaking; a work which has successfully withstood the barbarous attempts of the Mahometans, and outlived the name or era of its founder, which is hidden in the most remote antiquity. The Brahmins and the Hindoo nations, in their original purity, long before our era, who had here concentrated their religious institutions and power, and made the very mountains subservient to their superstitions, and the various changes which had taken place throughout India within the last two thousand years, all passed with the velocity of a vision; and as I stood in Keylas, casting a rapid glance, from those ages concealed in impenetrable darkness, in which the stupendous

monuments of art before me had arisen, down to the present moment, I sought in vain for any incident in the lapse of time which could convey an equal conception of the power of man over matter."

Again, speaking of the temples, the Colonel says, "Some of the sculptured decorations, and the taste in the ornaments, would do credit to the best period of the Grecian school, though in general an evidently uncultivated style of architecture predominates; and the irregular shapes and devices on the shafts of the pillars, with their plain capitals, in the principal temple, are, in my opinion, more rich than the plain Grecian pillar with its ornamented capital, though not so chaste. The fluting of the Corinthian order is but a poor attempt of this description. Some of the minute ornaments are even classical."

"In the lower parts of sculpture, applicable to architectural ornaments, the Hindû chisel has, perhaps, seldom been surpassed; its light and airy foliage, its elegant volutes, and the variety of its subjects, vie at once with Italian art and Gothic fancy, to which last style it has, indeed, occasionally a remarkable likeness."-Thus writes Mrs. Graham, the authoress of two interesting books on India, but who never visited Elora, although she has Karli and Elephanta. In corroboration of what I myself have advanced, I have given the authority of a lady of talent, of a soldier, and of a civilian,

and will close with that of a former chief engineer at Madras.

"It may be safely pronounced (says Colonel Call), that no part of the world has more marks of antiquity for arts, sciences, and civilization, than the peninsula of India, from the Ganges to Cape Comorin. I think the carvings on some of the pagodas and choultries *, as well as the grandeur of the work, exceed any thing executed now-adays, not only for the delicacy of the chisel, but the expense of construction, considering in many instances to what distances the component parts were carried, and to what heights raised."-Philosophical Transactions, p. 354, vol. xlii.

* Choultries in general are large, open stone buildings; they are mostly placed near tanks of water in villages for the accommodation of travellers, and are built at the expense of liberalminded natives. In the Carnatic and Mysore, I met with them at almost every stage.

CHAPTER X..

Northern Range of Temples-Their Aspect-Temple of Jugnät -Personal Narrative-Bhudism-Letter to AurungzebeTemple of Adnaut-Residence at the Caves.

IF the Hallalcores' habitation, which we have just quitted, is designated by the basest of names, the first excavation, or the one situated at the northern extremity of the range, has an appellation of the highest order, being dedicated to no less a personage than Juggut-Naut, or Jugnät (Jagernaut) the Lord of the Creation. From this temple *, to the one at the extremity of the southern range, is considerably upwards of a mile, being nearly, as I could ascertain by measurement, about one mile and three hundred and fifty yards. The ground in some places is a good deal

* Since the foregoing remarks were first penned, a rich Hindoo has died, and left about 35,000l. towards making a road from Casi, (Benares) the holy city, to the celebrated temple of Jagernaut, in Orissa. As we have a line of military communications in the route, and military cantonments in the neighbourhood, it is very useful for guns, artillery, carts, &c.; but as Jack (the familiar name he has got from us) has fallen off in his sanctity and repute, the money otherwise might have been better bestowed by the devout Hindoo. In 1820, I believe, there were no human victims, and when I was there in 1821, in my journey from Nagpoor to Calcutta, the number of votaries was reduced a fourth; nor were sufficient numbers procurable voluntarily to drag his ponderous clumsy car.