Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume I Part 22

[Footnote 103: These important inscriptions are explained and described in the Selections from the Records of the Madras Government, Report on the Elliot Marbles (p. 191) by R. W. Taylor, Madras, 1857.]

Most astonis.h.i.+ng and gratifying is the immense number of casual visitors that frequent this inst.i.tution for advancing education. The book for inscribing names lying in the Museum, showed for a single month no less than 36,522 visitors, mostly natives, and this it seems has been about the average number since the foundation of the Museum. There is also a small, valuable library, which, by means of purchases, gifts, and exchanges, is being visibly added to with each year, and is accessible to visitors of all cla.s.ses, the custodian and inspectors being all natives.

The Madras Literary Society, an offshoot of the Royal Asiatic Society in London, and now reckoning but a small number of a.s.sociates, publishes from time to time the most valuable information as to the latest achievements of science in India, and serves in a measure as a medium by which to compare the intellectual progress of Asia and Europe. To the members of this society the naturalists of the _Novara_ Expedition are specially beholden for their great attention during their stay in Madras, as also for their hearty partic.i.p.ation in the objects of the Imperial Expedition as evidenced by their sending copies of their own various and useful publications.

There are in Madras numerous inst.i.tutes devoted to the diffusion of useful knowledge among the ma.s.ses, part founded and maintained by Government, part by private enterprise, and this liberality is the more praiseworthy that the European community of Madras does not comprise much more than 1600 persons, of whom only a very few settle any length of time. The Europeans resident here are chiefly military men and merchants, who leave the country after remaining five or ten years, as almost every one regards his stay in this hot, sandy capital of the desert Coromandel coast, as purely provisional, and views it as a stepping-stone towards attaining some better post, or becoming suddenly wealthy by some favourable conjuncture of circ.u.mstances. That the majority of these inst.i.tutions have more practical objects in view admits of ready proof, and is but one instance the more of the moulding power of surrounding circ.u.mstances. In the school of arts for instance, under Dr. Hunter's superintendence, there are 20 pupils, mostly Hindoos, who are receiving instruction in drawing, sculpture, lithography, woodcutting, etching, and photography. But in order to reduce, as far as possible, the expenses of this inst.i.tution, there is also included a manufacture of earthenware, the proceeds arising from the sale of which are applied to the support of the school.

Another eminently useful inst.i.tution, the Medical College, which, as well as most of the other professional foundations, we visited in the company with our hospitable and influential friend, Dr. Kelly, possesses one division, in which such of the natives as purpose to set up as apothecaries, are at the same time so far educated as to be able, in case of necessity, to perform a few of the minor surgical operations. Of the hundred of an auditory who at the period of our visit were attending a lecture on chemistry, the majority were half-blooded Indians, dressed in the European fas.h.i.+on, with a sprinkling of barely 9 or 10 Hindoos in their white robes, and with the Vishnu or Siva marks on their forehead. We frequently heard the professors, among whom are several gentlemen of high scientific attainments, such, for instance, as Messrs. Evans, Lorimer, Mudge, Montgomery, Mayr, &c., express their regret at the severe check which the development of science sustained by the outbreak of the late revolt. Plans for a new university, a hospital, and a medical school to correspond are all ready, and but for that ruinous catastrophe would have been by this time in working order.

In other respects the present Infirmary is an ugly and unsuitable building, making up about 100 beds for patients. Several of these were occupied by soldiers, who had been severely wounded under Havelock at the storming of Delhi. The introduction of punkahs, or wind-fans, into the wards has proved so salutary, that there is an intention to have them worked without intermission day and night, by means of water power, instead of by manual labour as. .h.i.therto. In order to be able to estimate the boon conferred by such an improvement upon the condition of the poor invalids, we must call to mind that the average annual temperature of Madras is about 94 Fahr., which is slightly in excess of the average temperature at the equator, although Madras is 10 degrees north of the line. Under such climatic conditions, it is no wonder that the invigorating wholesome breeze is known at Madras as "The Doctor."

Among the benevolent inst.i.tutions visited by us, we found the twin asylums for male and female orphans of soldiers well worthy of notice in many particulars. These are for the most part the offspring of European soldiers married to native women, and are known as "half-castes," or "Mestizoes." In the Military Female Asylum, there were at this time 216 girls, who were brought up to all manner of female work, as well as taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, and remained in the inst.i.tution until suitably provided for in marriage. The marriage outfit, as also a small wedding present of Rs. 50 (5), for each girl is provided by Government, and the entire working expenses, which amount to about Rs. 30,000 (3000) annually, are defrayed by a Government grant of Rs. 1000 (100) a month, together with the interest of the funded capital, upon which Government pays 8 per cent. interest.

The Military Male Orphan Asylum was founded in 1788 by means of voluntary contributions, supplemented by a Government Subvention, and possesses a special historical interest from the circ.u.mstance that it was here that Dr. Bell, who held the post of Head-Master in the establishment, first projected and put into execution the method of imparting elementary instruction, afterwards so widely renowned as the Lancastrian method of teaching, which since that period has traversed the globe, and has been introduced into every capital in Europe. The course of instruction of the inst.i.tution includes writing, reading, arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, English, Tamil, and music. The capital of the inst.i.tution is vested by Government in the 4 per cent. stocks, paying 8 per cent.

interest, which, with the large amount realized within the establishment itself, is sufficient to defray all expenses without any further a.s.sistance. The number of boys is about 242. The head teacher, who obligingly conducted us over the whole establishment, which is very handsome, called a dozen boys forward just as we were leaving, who played a few simple pieces on wind instruments, on which they performed a variety of national airs with great precision. The music master was a German.

Among its casual attractions, Madras has occasionally flower shows, and exhibitions of industry, and it is exceedingly gratifying to observe how European science is even here called in to elicit the treasures of nature, and administer to the necessities of mankind. The catalogue of the industrial exhibition of 1857 shows, _inter alia_, 17 sorts of spices, 20 varieties of resin, 64 plants suitable for the distillation of oil, and 41 different drugs, and Dr. Kirkpatrick, a physician in Mysore, has taken the trouble to enumerate, by their botanical and Indian names, 240 native drugs, which had been sent to the Madras exhibition, as also their market value, and at the same time has subjoined the modes in which the natives use them.

Among the most remarkable private museums which have been formed at Madras for the ill.u.s.tration of the history and monuments of the southern provinces of the Deccan, must undoubtedly be included the collection of native inscriptions and ma.n.u.scripts of the well-known Colonel Mackenzie, which first attracted the attention of all friends of Oriental science, as also the British Government, through a memoir[104] of Alexander Johnston, Esq. It is a magnificent testimony to the conservative spirit of the British resident among heathen nations, as compared with the barbarous spirit of destruction that characterized the Spanish colonists. From an erroneous idea that they were in so doing promoting the interests of Christianity, these Romanist conquerors destroyed all sculptures and monuments of the pagan Indian races, and, by this fanatical Vandalism, at the same time prevented the hand of science from unfolding, as it might have done from these important vestiges, the history of these very remarkable races from the most remote ages.

[Footnote 104: On Colonel Mackenzie's Collection, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain. London, 1835, p. 4, vol. ii.]

In the immense old palace, surrounded by adjacent edifices and gardens, once occupied by the King of the Coromandel coast, the renowned nabob of the Carnatic, the offices of the English Government _employes_ are at present located. The last of these sovereigns died a few years since, and his former minister receives from the British Government a pension of Rs.

1300 (130) a month. Great men who have fallen do not ordinarily like to be sought out or gazed at. There is, however, on the contrary, no difficulty in obtaining access to the last minister of the last monarch of the Coromandel coast, who seems to feel flattered by a visit from strangers. On our entering, the venerable old gentleman rose from a rich thick carpet, on which he was sitting cross-legged, held out his hand in the most affable manner, and did us the honour of accompanying us through the palace. He had a long white beard, and wore a white turban on his head, while his person was enveloped in white linen. A splendid staircase conducted to a council-room, adorned with a portrait of the late nabob, life-size, executed in London. A second room has a likeness of George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales, dedicated to his friend, Omadal-Omrah, nabob of the Carnatic, 1st January, 1797, and of Lord Cornwallis, arm in arm with a nabob, the former represented as walking among pines, the latter among palms. In the harness-room and coach-house adjoining, our obliging attendant revealed to us an endless array of golden howdah trappings, gilt with cunning hand, which seemed to have formerly borne the mighty nabob, when riding on his elephant. As we emerged from this lumber room, filled with dust and mud, we perceived in the square before us an immense dust-cloud, which approached nearer and nearer in its gyrations, and gradually a.s.sumed the shape of an elephant.

It was a gigantic and magnificent specimen, and proved to be the favourite elephant of the last nabob, which, like the minister himself, was reduced to eat the bread of charity. His enormous tusks were sawn half off, for which his attendant a.s.signed the singular reason that the tusks of an elephant must be cut, just as we pair our nails! This pensioner-elephant, however, seemed to find himself in very good quarters, and was a carefully-tended gentle creature, who carried about his chain with his proboscis, and knelt down at the word of command.

Among the other s.p.a.cious apartments of this deserted palace was the banquetting hall, as it is called, which was represented by various writers as one of the largest rooms in the world, which, however, is a transparent fallacy. It is hard to believe that above a thousand persons could find room in it. At the period of our visit this apartment was used as a barrack for the English troops, in consequence of which the splendid full-length pictures already mentioned were carefully covered. One of the soldiers, anxious to show them to us, tore away the covering of one before we could interfere, when we found it to be a splendid likeness, painted in London, of Sir Thomas Monroe, a former governor of Madras.

In the first few days of our stay in Madras, we made an excursion to the fort of Vellore, distant about 80 miles (English) from Madras, formerly a renowned native fort, which is now reached in a few hours by rail. This line pa.s.ses through a flat uninteresting country, which is barely relieved here and there by a couple of solitary palms or a Hindoo temple, and altogether presents a strongly African character in its scenery. Only at those points, at which there are tanks, or artificial basins, either excavated or formed by damming the water, does there occur a luxuriant green vegetation covering the parched, brown, dusty soil. These tanks are filled in the rainy season, and during the dry season, which continues for months, supply the rice-fields with water for irrigation, the culture of that plant requiring an unusually large supply of water.

If English railroads are proverbially comfortable in the mother-country, they certainly fall off lamentably in that particular in the cars used in India. This deficiency is the more provoking and remarkable, considering the various other appliances for comfort which are to be found in this country. The conductor, as well as the other servants of the Company, was a Hindoo. On the entire line we saw but five or six white men employed.

The fares are pretty moderate, that for the entire distance, 80 miles, being Rupees 7-1/2 (15_s._), for first-cla.s.s, and Rupees 3 (6_s._), second (about 2-1/4_d._ and 1_d._ per mile, respectively). The line is to be extended from Bej.a.poor, so as to unite the eastern and western coasts of the peninsula. There are also lines projected from Madras to Bombay by Poonah and Bellary, and from Madras to Calcutta. The Governor, who (the evening previous to our departure, as we were being entertained at his summer residence, Guindy Park,) had been apprized of our intention to visit Vellore, was so attentive as to order the commandant to be informed by telegraph of our projected excursion at a late hour of the evening, and when we reached Vellore at 11 A.M., Captain Stevens was awaiting us at the station, to greet the voyagers by the _Novara_ in the name of the commandant of the fort, and convey them to the fort, three miles off, in a waggon drawn by oxen, as is the custom of the country. The waggon was about as large as an ordinary sized sitting-room, and contained several arm-chairs and cane stools, the position of which could be altered at pleasure.

Vellore was once one of the strongest fortresses in India, the wells of which were formerly rendered inaccessible by numerous colonies of alligators. These Hindoo fortifications have, however, lost their military importance for Europeans, as they are on all sides "overcrowed," as Rittmeister Dugald Dalgetty would say, by eminences, from which they could easily be cannonaded. Within the fort itself are several extraordinary buildings, once paG.o.das and houses of entertainment for priests and pilgrims (_choultries_). The former sanctuary, now used as an a.r.s.enal, is a _chef-d'[oe]uvre_ of architectural skill, with splendid _relievos_ and figures sculptured in granite blocks. Most of the divinities have four arms, symbolical of the universality of their power. The various edifices seem to have been once an abode of Brahmins, a sort of Hindoo monastery in which, in addition to the paG.o.da, there were ranged all round, a temple, colonnades, and halls for the residence of the priests. In some of the smaller apartments there still are openings for windows, with a finely carved grating hewn out of the solid granite, the workmans.h.i.+p of which even the stone-cutters of our own days might feel proud of. Captain Mitch.e.l.l, an English officer stationed at Madras, had hit upon the idea of photographing the most interesting of these monuments.

The fortress of Vellore has been fortified for about 1000 years! Captured by the English at the close of the last century, the then Nabob, a Mussulman, was taken prisoner, and his descendants have ever since inhabited the fort as State prisoners, without ever being permitted to leave it. We inquired of the officer who accompanied us, whether the Nabob was permitted at least to make use of the s.p.a.ce within the fortress for exercise in the open air. "The Mussulmen," replied the cautious Englishman, "do not care to show themselves in public; they prefer taking their exercise in the court in front of their residence, or in the garden." Accordingly, the aged prince is rarely known even to take an airing in a palanquin. The town of Vellore itself is, in a great measure, another place altogether, whose inhabitants are Mahometans, about 80,000 in number, chiefly engaged in rice culture.

We originally intended to return the same day to Madras, the length of the journey, as well as the distance of the fort from the railway station, having been represented to us as much shorter than was actually the case.

Accordingly, we telegraphed to the Austrian Consul, M. Campbell, Esq., an exceedingly courteous gentleman, that we should not return till the following morning. How great was our astonishment to find that the telegraph _employes_ at Vellore, both in the transcribing department, and in the management of the apparatus, which was on Morse's system, were Hindoos, with their curious marks upon their foreheads, and their old-fas.h.i.+oned costume! They went, however, through the duties connected with this modern invention with great adroitness. The telegraph is already in operation to Bombay, and in this direction has two separate lines.

There are, moreover, other lines in course of construction,--along the coast to Calcutta,--along the coast to Pondicherry by Adam's Bridge,[105]

from Madras to Point de Galle, and from Madras to Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Bellary.

[Footnote 105: Adam's Bridge--called by the Hindoos Rama's Bridge,--is a bank extending between Ceylon and the mainland of Hindostan, by the islands of Manaar and Ramisseram. It is about 30 miles in length, running in a N.W. by W. direction, about a quarter of a mile in breadth, and princ.i.p.ally composed of shelving sand, through which are three main openings or channels, that admit the pa.s.sage of boats of very light draught.]

In proceeding from the fort to the town of Vellore, which is charmingly situated and regularly laid out, and is inhabited by numerous pensioners of the East India Company, we must cross the river Palaar (or Peliar), which, during the rainy season, is a headlong dangerous torrent, while in the dry season its bed, 1000 feet wide, is but a bare expanse of sand. It is only by dint of strenuous exertions that the traveller is able to pa.s.s this sand waste in a waggon, as it sinks at some points above the hubs of the wheels. We had four buffalo oxen yoked, and even then had to be propelled at certain points by the a.s.sistance of some 30 coolies or Indian porters besides. This serious inconvenience was shortly after our visit to be remedied by the erection of a splendid bridge of solid masonry, which was to span the river by 42 arches, and will reduce the time of transit from the station from 1-1/4 hour to 20 minutes. Hereabouts oxen are usually employed for draught, which are of the same humped species as those we had previously seen in Ceylon. These animals trot with uncommon swiftness, so that the rapidity of transport may stand comparison with that where horses are employed.

A few miles distant from Vellore, and visible from the hills around, lies Arcot (Arucati), the residence of the nominal nabob of the Carnatic, who has long been a pensioner of the British. The population of Arcot are mostly Mahometans, who speak a dialect of Hindustani, and drive a very active trade.

At Vellore we resided in the house of the hospitable Lieut.-Colonel McCally, who, in the absence of the Commandant, did the honours of the Fort to the members of the _Novara_ Expedition. Here we experienced a most cordial reception, and pa.s.sed a few most delightful hours in the domestic circle of his amiable family. In the evening we made out an excursion to an adjoining eminence, 1400 feet above sea-level, 300 above Vellore, from which there is a commanding view over the town and neighbourhood. Seen from this point, the Fort looked charming, presenting itself to us, surrounded as it is by moats and watercourses, like an island in the foreground. On the top of this hill is the bungalow or country-seat of the collector of revenue, W. A. Sulivan, Esq., where we revelled in the enjoyment of the exquisite natural scenery, and partook of refreshment.

In the evening a number of officers, with their wives, met us at dinner at Lieut.-Colonel McCally's house. The gaieties were prolonged till far in the evening, music and songs alternating with round games and dancing, so that we had hardly composed ourselves to sleep ere we were awakened by the servants, in order to avoid missing the train, which leaves Vellore for Madras at 6.30 A.M. By 11 A.M., we were once more in the chief city of the Carnatic.

The same afternoon the officers of the _Novara_, and the naturalists of the Expedition, were invited to an Indian fete, which Lord Harris gave every year at this season in his palace at Guindy Park, and to which it was customary to invite the majority of the European residents at Madras, together with their families,--military, civil service, and mercantile community, all being honoured with cards. This festival originated in a children's entertainment, which the governor had been in the habit of giving on the birthday of his son; the latter had long since gone to an English University, but the custom had survived, and the day was equally carefully observed this year also, having been looked forward to for months before by the "white" young folks of Madras. The entertainment still retains the character of a children's party, inasmuch as on the present occasion there were a.s.sembled above 250 children of both s.e.xes, varying from 5 to 12 years of age. The total number of guests who, in addition to these, shared in the festivities was probably more than a thousand. The fete began with the performances of some 30 Indian jugglers and acrobats, on a large lawn in the park. These, as may be conceived, had been selected from among the most athletic and skilful. They presented a singularly-picturesque appearance, from the diversities of age, agile boys, athletic young men, slender voluptuous-looking _Bayaderes_, old grey-headed men, and marvellous-looking old hags, with streaming white hair, and dark, piercing, gleaming eyes, recalling in their manners and appearance our own gipsies. All played at once, and performed with the most astonis.h.i.+ng precision a succession of breakneck feats, that set the spectator's hair on end. It was a spectacle entirely _sui generis_, thoroughly Indian in short, to behold these wild-looking brown figures, unawed by the presence they were in, going through their various performances and feats of agility. In front of us knelt an old man who played with a dozen knives, which he kept circling around him with wild yells, apparently without looking at them, till he finally turned them in such a manner that it seemed as though the sharp points of the knives had transfixed his hand. Next youthful acrobats sprang through paper balloons set on fire,--girls in boys' dresses climbed up bamboo poles 100 feet high, in the midst of continual yells,--boys executed on the damp meadow ground the most extraordinary feats of agility and contortions of the limbs, while one old fellow, to the intense astonishment of the a.s.sembled children, swallowed swords, as also tow and other combustible matter, whereupon flames presently seemed to issue from his month. These, indeed, are feats of conjuring which have been performed in Europe, _usque ad nauseam_, but here all was done with such precision and dexterity (each man especially playing entirely _con amore_, evidently not to impress the spectators, but because he felt a pleasure in it himself), that the whole exhibition left quite a different impression from anything of the sort elsewhere.

After this introductory amus.e.m.e.nt, the children invited were regaled with a refection under an enormous tent. This was for the grown-up guests another source of great amus.e.m.e.nt. More than 300 children took their seats at a long well-covered table, while their fathers, mothers, governesses, &c., stood behind the benches, and took special care to supply the little watering mouths with a sufficient supply of the many delicacies before them.

A distribution of souvenirs to the various children present succeeded the repast, the various articles being fastened to a gigantic tree under a tent. The tree was profusely hung with elegant paper lamps, and although there were no pine-branches, only palm leaves, the "_tout ensemble_," bore a strong resemblance to a genuine Christmas tree. Fathers and mothers expressed to us their own feelings of pleasure at beholding the glee of their children, and, indeed, seemed to think this the most entertaining part of the fete. The distribution lasted a considerable time, and many of the children affected to coquette disparagingly with the presents of their neighbours, which these latter held fast with both hands, till at length the whole joyous train were dismissed homewards, thoroughly pleased with the day's proceedings.

After this interlude there were fireworks on the lawn for the grown-up children, which seemed intended to serve merely as a stop-gap to while away the time between the distribution of the presents to the children and the supper, which was laid out in the brilliantly-illuminated dining-room of the palace. The fine band, which a few days previously had so pleased us by its performances during dinner at Guindy Park, drew up on the large lawn fronting the ball-room, and during this interval played a few select pieces with admirable precision. At last, supper was announced by a flourish of trumpets. Despite the s.p.a.cious proportions of the apartment, the company was too numerous to admit of all sitting down at once. We calculated the number of guests still remaining at at least 500. The ladies supped first, and afterwards the gentlemen--the Governor, Lord Harris, doing the honours in person, in the most courteous and kindly manner. After supper the party proceeded in couples to a splendid ball-room, where dancing speedily began, while over their heads an omnipresent punkah, of rich tapestry-paper, and elegantly adorned with beautiful arabesques, swung to and fro, and kept the half-breathless dancers continually fanned by its currents of air.[106] In spite, however, of this artificial ventilating machine overhead, one must have had an extraordinary love for the dance to find pleasure in a polka or galop at a temperature of 86 of Fahrenheit.

[Footnote 106: In many English families in India there prevails a sort of punkah mania, so that there is a regular hurricane incessantly blowing over their heads. Undoubtedly these artificial gales are particularly agreeable in apartments where, a large number of persons being a.s.sembled, the atmosphere becomes intolerable--as, for instance, courts of justice, churches, hotels, and hospitals. Under such circ.u.mstances, they are, indeed, a most valuable contrivance. But their application is entirely overdone; and there are persons who, even while they are sleeping, have a Hindoo servant continually working the punkah, which, under such circ.u.mstances, is usually worked from an adjoining room by means of silken cords, so that the motive power is not visible from the apartment, but only the effect felt. Strangers at first find these artificial currents very apt to superinduce headache, until continued residence makes him regard the punkah as a most necessary article of furniture.]

Lord Harris had taken measures for ensuring our proceeding direct from his residence in Guindy Park upon the favourite excursion from Madras--that, namely, to the Seven PaG.o.das. We had accordingly provided ourselves with only what was indispensable in the way of luggage; and towards 1 A.M., we left the ball-room, and proceeded on our way to the renowned Hindoo Temples to the south of Madras. A waggon conveyed us to the Adyar bridge, where a Government boat was in waiting for us, together with some Hindoo servants of the Governor, who were to be our guides to the Seven PaG.o.das.

One of these _peons_, as they are called in India, named Iritschapa, presented us with a doc.u.ment, in which he was commissioned to place himself at our disposal during the whole period we were absent, and antic.i.p.ate all our requirements without further authorization, to the best of his ability, so as to ensure our comfort and a.s.sist the objects we had in view. The Government boat was supplied with everything that could minister to our comfort, a second boat following us exclusively for the conveyance of our heavy baggage, personal effects, tents, and provisions.

Towards 2 A.M., we embarked on the Eastern Coast Ca.n.a.l, which goes as far as Sadras, and by which we reached the Seven PaG.o.das, called also Mahamalaipuram, the city of the Great or Holy Mountain, at 9 A.M.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HOLY MOUNTAIN.]

These singular and majestic specimens of architecture are about 3 miles from Sadras, being situated on the coast northwards, and about 500 paces from the ca.n.a.l. They consist of temples, grottoes, bas-reliefs, cisterns, stone-benches, and thousands of sculptures in long ranges of bas-reliefs, which afford an abundant store of antiquarian research. They go by the name of the Seven PaG.o.das (from _Baghavati_--Holy House, whence the European corruption, PaG.o.da), from the circ.u.mstance, that there are, upon the very brink of the ocean, seven temples hewn out of one piece of rock.

The Brahminical legends speak of an entire city having existed here, of which only the fragments are now washed by the sea. But, according to Babington's and Heber's minute researches in this neighbourhood,[107] there seems no doubt that there never existed any large city here, but that the whole was a mere myth of the Brahmins, who procured a royal gift, an Agrabaram in this neighbourhood, and with subtle forethought left here a caste of stone-cutters, who from time to time, under the guidance of their priests, executed these sculptures for the adornment of their sanctuary, which are justly the objects of wonder to their descendants. To this day, even, there dwell here certain families of stone-cutters, who work these singular rocks as granite quarries, and make money by the trade. The Seven PaG.o.das, specially so-called, are monolith temples, hewn on the spot out of ma.s.sive blocks of rock. The mountain itself, a huge block of granite, to which the entire locality owes its reputation as a site of works of art, is covered, behind as well as in the front slope, with innumerable figures.

[Footnote 107: Benjamin Guy Babington. An Account of the Sculptures and Inscriptions of Mahamalaipuram, ill.u.s.trated by Plates I.-XVIII., in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain, London, 1819, p. 258. Bishop Heber's Narrative, London, 1828, Vol. III., p. 216.]

After our arrival, we made a hasty circuit through the place, so as first of all to be able to identify them, and be in a position to recognize the various sculptures and bas-reliefs cut out in the solid granite rock. The greater number of the sculptures represent either the one or the other descriptions of the Avatars (the incarnations or transfigurations) of Vishnu, to whom the larger proportion of the temples is dedicated. In one of these temples, we perceived the G.o.d Vishnu in the fifth, or Dwarf Incarnation, in the course of which he had, under the guise of a Brahminical dwarf, begged of King Balitscha-Kravathi--who, by his piety, had acquired so much power over the G.o.ds, that they had to transfer to him the dominion of sea and land, and had in consequence waxed arrogant--as much soil as he could traverse in three steps! The wealthy Rajah made no objection to complying with the apparently moderate request of the pigmy being before him. On the opposite wall of the temple we now see, in a large admirably executed bas-relief, how Vishnu, represented on this occasion with eight arms, at once embraced heaven and earth with his left foot, and as there was thus no more room left for the next step, Vishnu released the haughty Rajah from his promise, on condition that he should descend to the infernal regions. From this feat, Vishnu bears the name of Triwikrama and Tripadas (thrice-stepper).

In the next rock grotto we came to, we beheld the Life of Krishna, the shepherd-G.o.d, represented, first as tending his sheep, surrounded by cows, goats frisking about, &c. Walter Elliot names this representation "Krischna's Choultry," or the abode of the priests. The temple has a frontage of 50 feet, is from 30 to 40 feet in depth, and has about twenty figures.

From this spot, our guide, a Brahmin, brought us to what is called the Ganeza Temple, a monolith PaG.o.da. When we expressed a wish to touch the face of Ganeza (a son of Siva), cut in stone and plentifully besmeared with oil and lard, one of the Hindoo attendants hurried forwards to prevent us from being guilty of insult to this much-beloved divinity. The inscription to the right, in front of the niche in which Ganeza, hewn out of a single block of granite, is represented in a sitting posture, consists of verses and prayers to Siva, written in Sanscrit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE G.o.d GANEZA.]

We also remarked, on our way to the village, an ellipsoidal block of rock, 68 feet in circ.u.mference, by 25 in height, which, from its very peculiar position, seems to s.h.i.+ft every moment, and presents a very extraordinary appearance.

As we were proceeding to the beach, we came upon the PaG.o.da of Kovulgobrom, which is at present in use (first constructed in the days of Rajah Apatsch, 400 or 500 years since), situated on a large oblong plot of ground, which is surrounded by a wall from 6 to 8 feet high. We were not permitted to cross the threshold of the paG.o.da, the door of which always stands wide open, and the minor apartments of which, so far as we could discern at a little distance away, were quite empty. We could just descry a few sculptures on the walls.

The whole village contains at present about 400 inhabitants,[108] who reside in eighty small dwellings. Of these, three, built of bricks and with tiled roofs, belong to the caste of Brahmins, thirty to the Pariahs, five to families occupied in fis.h.i.+ng, and two mere hovels of palm-wood to the Willis, the lowest and most wretched caste of all. The families of stone-cutters reside outside the village. One remarks here that the walls of the houses are hidden by heaps of cow and horse-dung, which the inhabitants, as in Egypt, use for fuel, and which they pile up to dry against those of the walls which are most exposed to the sun. The _peon_ of the settlement, by name Randghajaneik, a sort of overseer, gave us a drawing of the various groups of houses, their inhabitants, and also the names of the various castes in Tamil, engraved as usual with an iron tool upon palm-leaves, and very elegantly rolled up in a small envelope. Among the customs and fas.h.i.+ons of the inhabitants which attracted our notice, we were informed that they always burn their dead from four to five hours after life has departed--usually four hours and forty minutes--alleging that the released soul takes that length of time to reach heaven! The bones are collected and thrown into the sea. Widows are no longer required, on the death of their husbands, to ascend the pyre with them.

Accordingly, the mortality upon this score is small enough in Mahamalaipuram. All seem hale and hearty, although for the most part they live upon rice and fruits, tasting flesh but seldom, as it is never used by the Brahmin caste. The Brahmins will not even eat eggs, because they are the produce of hens; nor drink milk because it is procured from cows!

The girls generally marry at thirteen. They are, however, usually betrothed from the time they are two or three years of age, the bridegroom-elect taking the bride-elect to reside with himself.

[Footnote 108: Of these inhabitants 50 belong to the Brahmin caste, 250 to the Malabar, Sentu, and Siva castes, and 100 are Pariahs.]

All the natives whom we fell in with could read and write, but the Sanscrit inscriptions on the rock-temples were quite unintelligible to them, as they only spoke Tamil, Telugu, and Malabar. The greater number had their foreheads painted according to the caste they belonged to. Those wors.h.i.+pping Siva wore, suspended by a cord round the neck, small silver amulets, called Lingams, which have images of Siva enclosed. The adherents of Brahma, as already mentioned, wear no distinguis.h.i.+ng mark upon the forehead, except that those that are married wear a five-ply cord (_panul_), tied obliquely across the upper part of the body. One must not, however, attach too much faith to these varieties of external markings, since many tattoo their foreheads with red, or yellow, or ashen-gray punctures, which usually have no special signification, but simply imply that on account of the pressure of business requiring frequent absence, they have neither time nor opportunity to have the distinguis.h.i.+ng insignia of their caste properly designed. According to the natives, the yellow colour is procured from the crushed, yellow-tinted root of the _Curc.u.ma longa_, (a species of spice), the red from the Cardomum (_Amomum repens_), citron-juice, and red rice; while the white is prepared from common chalk.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BIVOUAC AT MAHAMALAIPURAN.]

Lord Harris had, with true Indian hospitality, made the most admirable arrangements for our accommodation while at the Seven PaG.o.das. When, after our first survey of the locality, we came down to the beach, we found two large and two small tents ready pitched, and a number of men collected round a fire preparing our breakfast. But how great was our astonishment, on entering the first tent, to find it spread with carpets, with an elegant sleeping-apartment with two large commodious bedsteads, and fitted up with all the usual necessaries for the toilette; while, in the pa.s.sage which ran between the inner and outer walls of the tent, stood two immense baths ready filled with soft water to reinvigorate our exhausted frames!

Ere we had recovered from our surprise, we were advised of the voice of the Government Peon, apprising us that breakfast was served in the second tent. This was used exclusively as a dining and reception room, and was also furnished with every conceivable appliance to promote our comfort.

His lords.h.i.+p was even so attentive as to send his own travelling canteen for our use on the excursion. This tent, likewise, had double walls, with a pa.s.sage between; the exterior wall being lined with blue, by means of which the glare of the sun and of the blinding white sand was rendered less painful and more tolerable to the eye. A number of coolies were employed in sprinkling water from time to time upon the fine-grained sand, which produced a most refres.h.i.+ng coolness all around. The Government Peon, as also the chief of police of the district, wore their best uniforms of white, with bran new bandoliers over their shoulders, of broad deep-red scarves, with gold-lace edgings, and, in the centre, a gilt plate, with the words, "Government Peon" engraved on it. A number of men and children ran hither and thither,--in a word, the whole village seemed in an uproar to see the strange gentlemen, and supply them with flowers, in the hope of receiving some trifling present. At 12.30 P.M., the thermometer suspended within the tent marked 84 Fahr., although a gentle breeze was blowing from seaward through the fragrant luxuriant gra.s.s (_Kus-kus_, or _Vetiveyr_), which hung like a curtain over both entrances. It is an exceedingly happy idea to use this fragrant _Kus-kus_, (_Andropogon muricatum_) in the manufacture of mats, which are intended to be suspended in the entrance-halls of houses, and to be sprinkled with water, whereupon the penetrating, hot, parching wind is pa.s.sed through the fine damp texture, which thus at once tempers the heat, and fills the air with perfume.