Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume I Part 23

Towards 5 P.M., the heat having somewhat abated, we strolled to the Five PaG.o.das, distant about one English mile from our encampment. The prevalent tree in this locality is the _Palmyra_ palm, which, though it does not boast the majestic proportions of the _Oreodoxia Regia_, or the cocoa-nut palm, presents, nevertheless, a very imposing appearance. Generally speaking, however, the district is quite bare and dest.i.tute of trees; and, in short, like all the rest of this coast, has very much the appearance of the flat coasts of Africa.

Of the five monolith temples, four were dedicated to the brothers of Vishnu, Dharma Rajah, Bimen, Nagulan, and Sawadewen, the fifth being excavated in honour of Dubrotis, the consort of Dharma Rajah. The legend relates that the four brothers lived in a state of Polyandry, or plurality of husbands, and had but one wife in common, who was a species of Amazon.

All these temples are tolerably sculptured, which, indeed, const.i.tutes their chief claim to attention; but they are far from showing the artistic finish of the bas-reliefs and sculptures, at what is known as the Holy Mount.

Rhanganatha Swami, for instance, is the finest, though not the most important of these artificial grottoes. The sculptures here are incontestably the most highly-finished. The upper portion, to which access is obtained by some steps cut in the rock, rises above the huge granite block, known as Jamapuram; the lower portion is a temple hewn out of one piece of rock, and with the most marvellously-executed allegories.

Among the reliefs on the north wall is perceived Donga, Siva's wife, riding on a lion (according to the natives, on a tiger), and bending her bow in conflict with Mahishasura, a giant with the head of a buffalo, who brandishes a club. According to Elliot's interesting interpretation, this represents the contest between the matronly Amazon and heroine, Donga, the representative of active virtue, and the bull-headed Mahishasura, the personification of brute strength and animal pa.s.sion. Over the head of either figure, a parasol, such as is used by the natives, is outspread, giving a most grotesque appearance to the group.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BAS-RELIEF ON ONE OF THE MONOLITH TEMPLES.]

The relief on the southern wall represents a sleeping Vishnu (Rhanganatha), 9-1/2 feet high, apparently representing the idea of the Creation, as the serpent, Sescha, with its five heads, encircles his head.

At his feet one perceives two rajahs or princes, and one female figure, in a praying att.i.tude, with uplifted hands, only the bust being represented.

In one of the niches at Swami are two busts, life-size, of Siva, and his wife Paravathi, the latter holding an infant at the breast, his offspring Supramanion. Above this representation, and, like them, only showing from the shoulder upwards, are represented on the right Brahma, on the left Vishnu, each with four arms, symbolical of their power and dominion.

The superstructure of these rock sculptures is a sort of platform of loose stones accurately fitted to each other without mortar, so as to make an ornamental whole. The interior is adorned with much more highly-finished specimens of art, to view which, a large number of Hindoos, doing penance, annually climb, with great difficulty, into this part of the building, and make their way into the unfinished interior apartments. While we were giving free scope to our surprise at all we saw, we were greatly annoyed in our contemplations by the natives, who offered us bouquets of flowers, wreaths, and fruit. Also, a couple of flute-players (_Pulanpolen_) who were pa.s.sing, made their appearance to give us a specimen of their musical skill. One old man, of whom we procured a curious figure of Vishnu, neatly carved in wood, as also several ma.n.u.scripts, remarked that there was in the neighbourhood, written upon Palmyra leaves, a ma.n.u.script, known as the _Istalam-puranam_ which gave the history of the Seven PaG.o.das, written in Tamil.

The late president of the Madras Society, the learned Walter Elliot, who formed an extensive collection of the various valuable Hindoo ma.n.u.scripts and inscriptions of Mahamalaipuram, and has partly published a translation of them,[109] told us afterwards, that this renowned Tamil Ma.n.u.script consisted of nothing but fables, and did not give one single reliable particular as to the history of the Seven PaG.o.das.

[Footnote 109: Journal of the Madras Literary Society, 1846, Nos. 30 and 31.]

In Varaha Swami, one of the paG.o.das at present in use, and surrounded by a modern walled cemetery, there is visible, on the exterior of the Temple, an inscription in Tamil, which is, however, utterly unintelligible to the natives. This inscription, deciphered latterly by Babington, refers to a donation to the paG.o.da by a sincere Hindoo believer, and gives the most complete detail, together with signature of the donor. The name Mahamalaipur,[110] the "City of the Sacred Hill," occurs frequently in it.

[Footnote 110: Dr. Elliot writes Mamallaipuram; the natives call the place Mahawalipuram, obviously a mere corruption of the customary mode of spelling.]

In the course of conversation with some of our Hindoo followers, we remarked that they made no difference between a "kovul" or praying-house, in which the divinities are never produced, but are guarded under lock and key, and a paG.o.da, which is a residence of the G.o.ds, from which they can be carried forth and afterwards brought back. Hence it is that a paG.o.da is more readily accessible than a kovul, the sanct.i.ty of which it is forbidden him to violate.

In 1845, Mr. Elliot, by a private arrangement with the Brahmins, was permitted, on payment of Rs. 30 (3), to break away the part.i.tion which divided the inscriptions into two portions, in order to prepare three copies, and have them translated by three Tamil scholars. One of these translators was the learned Tandavaraya Mudaliar, of Chingleput. The inscription contains the history of two donations, on the enlargement and laying the foundation-stone of the temple, accomplished by the "Kanattan"

of the village, and, lastly, a gift of 90 goats by the Siva Brahmin Paramesvara-Mahavara, on the stipulation that a lamp should be kept constantly burning in the temple: the whole dating from the year 1073. It results from this interpretation that the inscription was put up towards the end of the 11th century, thus supplying some clue to the age of this rock temple, which, according to Mr. Elliot's researches, does not exceed a thousand years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENTRANCE TO ONE OF THE TEMPLES.]

To this Vahara Swami, which seems to contain their whole history, the natives wander regularly every morning, and sometimes two or three times during the day, to offer flowers, cocoa-nuts, and other fruits. A flight of steps cut in the rock leads to the highest platform, whence there is an excellent view over these monumental edifices.

That fancy has been called in to invest these unique unfinished sculptures with the character of pleasure-grottoes, baths, &c., &c., of historical personages, is readily intelligible. Thus, for example, the guide does not fail to point out to the stranger a sort of stone cistern hewn out of the solid rock, traditionally reported to have been once the plunge-bath of Dubrotis. This colossal basin has about 2-1/2 feet water during the rainy season, which gradually evaporates, or is drawn off for use. The water, tinged with the yellow colour of the soil, leaves a mark behind on the stone sides, which naturally becomes very visible during the dry season.

This the natives maintain marks the height of the water as often as Dubrotis, (Dharma Rajah's consort), bathed herself in it. Another similar block of gneiss was transformed into a stone couch, and is called Dharma Rajah's bed, at the upper end of which, near the head, a tiger is crouched to guard it. This gigantic ellipsoidal block of rock, which seems as though balanced on a sharp point, could neither be displaced nor made to oscillate by continued leaping. Some ma.s.ses of rock piled up above the grottoes were once Siva's kitchen, and so forth. All these spots, however, have in reality not the slightest historic significance; it is only the present generation that have tacked on to them legends, traditions, and interpretations, which a.s.suredly never were in the intention of the constructors.

On a slope on one side of the mountain are a number of sculptures of remarkable beauty, representing the history of Tapasa, or the deep penitence of Ardschuna. On the right hand, close to the figure of the penitent Ardschuna, one perceives a mult.i.tude of people, two elephants as large as life and wonderfully finished, a tiger, and a figure, half woman half serpent. This relief, one of the finest we have seen, is a huge sculpture on the rock, 20 feet long by 30 in height, comprising hundreds of figures, with an idol in the centre, to which from all sides wors.h.i.+pping deities, men, and beasts, bow the knee in supplicatory att.i.tudes; along the edge are elephants, life size, with their young. The colour of the rock, somewhat resembling that of the animal, tends still more to deceive the eye, and make the beholder doubt whether he is looking upon sculptures or upon living elephants. Elliot and others who have described these rock temples, a.s.sign to them, as already mentioned, a comparatively small antiquity. They are representations borrowed from the poem of Mahabharata, in the Hindoo mythology. The five roundish temples to the south of the village are beyond all question the oldest of these monuments. They are paG.o.das that have never been completed; solid, and here and there showing marks of work, but only adorned externally, the interiors being ma.s.ses of unhewn granite; each of these temples is 30 feet in length by 20 in breadth and height. Thus far, the inscriptions have been ascertained to be in threefold characters, of which two are as yet undecipherable. Babington was the first to attempt to decipher them, or at all events to find the key by which to decipher them. The most important has been copied and interpreted. But neither the inscriptions nor the various representations give the slightest historical clue as to the object of these monuments. Taylor's researches seem to establish the fact, that in the 17th century this district was inhabited by the Corumbas, a half-civilized race of the Dschaina religion. About this period, or a little later, in the reign of Abondai, one of the princes, whose capitals were Conjeveran and Tripetty, the Brahmins were introduced to this neighbourhood. The extent of these works, however, their nature, and the immense expense incurred, all point to a long-continued influence of the Brahmins. Most of these temples seem to have been first erected in the 17th century, under Prince Sinhamanayadu, and Elliot a.s.signs to several even a much later date.

As for the report of a smaller paG.o.da, of which only an old pyramidal paG.o.da-stone is visible on the very edge of the sea, peering up from amid the furious foaming surf, it seems to be altogether a myth, so that such enquirers as Ellis, Mackenzie, and Heber, making allowance for what Hindoo traditions are known to be, will no longer take the trouble of searching for any traces of the sunk paG.o.da, or of seeking to recover the ruins of the submerged city. Several writers, indeed, are of opinion, that the sea on the Cormandel coast is retiring; but this appears to be a mistake, for here the sea seems encroaching rapidly, as is the case at Fort St. George, which 80 years ago was at some distance from the sea-sh.o.r.e, whereas its walls are at present washed by the tremendous surf.

But the inroads of the sea could hardly have been so sudden and extensive as to have swallowed up an entire city, without leaving any traces. Not one of the natives to whom we spoke in the place could say for certain, that the sea had materially gained upon the land within the memory of man.

Nowhere are there any traces visible of the ruins of a city. One can safely a.s.sert that there never existed such a city at Mahamalaipuram, but that it has always been a mere abode of priests, with temples, sanctuaries, &c., without any more extensive settlement, similar to Copan, Quirigua, or Peten, in Central America, but altogether larger and more artistic, and evidencing a far higher culture on the part of the artist.

The supposed antiquity of the sculptures at Mahamalaipuram is too low, to admit of our supposing that since their erection the greater part had been swallowed up in the sea. None of the sculptures that we saw belonged to any period (before the flood extended so far), whereas they are all susceptible of explanation out of the modern Hindoo mythology, with the aid of the Epic poems of Mahabharata, all referring to Vishnu and his world of deities.

While some of the _Novara_ expedition were visiting Mahamalaipuram, others made out a trip to the Pulicat Lake, near the sh.o.r.e, northwards from Madras. About 40 or 50 miles on the road thither, the Neilgherries (or Blue Hills), with their jagged outline, came into view on the gray horizon to the N.W., the height of which may be about 1,500 to 2000 feet. A narrow bulwark or quay of unequal breadth, varying from 20 feet to 5 miles, separates this salt lake from the ocean, the fierce surf of which, at some narrow places, actually breaks over, and mingles its waters. The lake varies in breadth, from 5 to 10 miles, and is about 60 to 70 miles long.

The level of its bed is so remarkably regular, never exceeding from 3 to 5 feet, that when the wind fails, the boats that navigate the lake can be pushed along with poles, and one everywhere sees the naked inhabitants of the coast standing in the very middle of the water, with their landing or drag-nets, or busily occupied with rod and line! Being but a few hours distant from Madras, the lake is connected with the city by an artificial ca.n.a.l, along both sides of which are a number of outlets, carefully faced with masonry, so as to convert the adjoining land into lagoons, in which during the rainy seasons the strongly brackish water enters, and is used to make sea-salt.

In the ca.n.a.l there is considerable trade, as well by fis.h.i.+ng-boats, as by those laden with wood and fruit, which they convey to the city for disposal. Most especially remarkable is the enormous number of fen-birds, which frequent its sh.o.r.es and all around it. At several places where the sh.o.r.es, for a width of about a mile, are mere swamps with barely a foot of water, they are literally covered with myriads of curlews, which fly about in flights of incredible numbers, and stretch out like clouds. Long rows of flamingoes stand, their bodies half bent to the earth, seeking their food in the mud; far as the eye can reach, one saw whole ranks of these birds blending with storks, perched upon scattered stumps; while in the water itself, vast flocks of sea-mews swam about, and the sea-swallows, in pursuit of their prey, flew to and fro in the air. As evening came on, the naturalists of the _Novara_ were sailing as though in a sea of fire. Hundreds of fish, as they sprang out of the water, left a fiery wake behind them, like a rocket, while a flame-coloured ever-widening circle marked the spot at which they struck the water again.

Hundreds of various notes of birds, above, near, and round the boat, united with the singular melancholy cry of the jackal, which resounded from the sh.o.r.e, while overhead flights of birds flew restlessly about in the air, whirring in the ear like the rustling of disembodied spirits.

From the lake, a short excursion was made to one of the artificial ca.n.a.ls, which unite this basin of water at various points and in different directions with the surrounding country, so as to get to the Strihoricotta Forest, which supplies Madras with fuel. This consists of a sort of underwood or brush, which grows again within the extraordinary short s.p.a.ce of ten to twelve years. _Sisyphus vulgaris_ (_Rhamnea_), _Gardenia Ficus_, tamarinds, and several species of Mimosa, form the princ.i.p.al part of the forest, which is thickly grown with immense quant.i.ties of climbers. The wood is cut by the natives, who have constructed huts in the jungle, into pieces of about 2 feet in length, which are transported in ox-carts to the sh.o.r.e, whence they are forwarded by boat to Madras.

When the members of the _Novara_ Expedition had returned, greatly pleased, from their various excursions, the Madras Club gave a grand banquet in honour of the captain and staff, to which the _elite_ of Madras society were invited. Immediately on our arrival the managing committee of the club had the courtesy to place the officers and scientific members of the Expedition upon the free list of the club during the s.h.i.+p's stay. The Madras Club-house, though not so luxurious or magnificent as the Clubs of London, fairly surpa.s.ses them in extent and commodiousness. It is, in fact, a small portion of the city in itself, in which one finds a.s.sembled all that can conduce to a comfortable, agreeable mode of existence; parlours, with wide arm-chairs and American rocking-chairs; reading-rooms, in which are all the best journals and an excellent a.s.sortment of the best and newest literature; dining apartments, in which one can dine in either the English or French style; billiard-rooms, shower and plunge-baths, and a large swimming-bath. Members from the country, or strangers, can be accommodated with lodging as well.

At the splendid banquet in honour of the Expedition, at which above 200 persons sat down, the chair was taken by the Chief Justice Sir Christopher Rawlinson--next to the Governor, the most influential person in the community. The extremely friendly disposition manifested on that occasion found its expression in toasts on all sides, which in few, but appropriate words, welcomed the foreign guests; while, on the other side, they gave unmistakable evidence of the admiration and sympathy which the voyagers by the _Novara_ carried away with them from the hospitable sh.o.r.es of Madras.[111]

[Footnote 111: After the customary official toasts had been proposed by the chairman, and thanks returned by the Commander-in-chief of the Expedition, the health was also proposed of the scientific staff, on which occasion one of the naturalists present expressed his thanks for this honour, in his name and that of his colleagues, in the following speech, which may be permitted to find a place here, as best showing with what impression the members of the Expedition left Madras.

"Gentlemen,--It is not without some feeling of anxiety that I am rising, for I have so many things to say, and yet it is but the thousandth part of what I, of what my fellow travellers all feel! Surely, it is always flattering to a man to be distinguished by his fellow-men; but such a distinction becomes the more honouring if those who concur to distinguish him are--as this is the case with you--a most estimable part of the _British_ nation! Of a nation, which has done more than any other on the globe for the propagation of Christianity, the diffusion of knowledge, the advancement of science, for the progress of civilization, industry, and commerce. I do not intend, gentlemen, to return with the s.h.i.+ny currency of flattery the many proofs of attention and kindness which all the members of the Expedition have witnessed during our short, but most pleasant, ever-remembered stay in this city, the birth-place of hospitality! What I say is but truth! Every page in modern history certifies my words! Which nation has done more for the propagation of Christianity among savage tribes all over the world? Some years ago, when I was rambling in British America, and along the north sh.o.r.es of Lake Superior, I often found villages of 300 or 400 Indians, and but one single white man amongst them.

And who was that white man, who voluntarily shared their misery, their wants, and their privations? He was an _English missionary_!

"And again! Which nation has made greater and more serious efforts to suppress the slave trade, and to abolish slavery in all countries where it still exists, a shame to the nineteenth century?--Slavery! that hideous leprosy on the limb of the gigantic body, called the United States! Who is even now anxiously engaged to open, with the heartblood of its n.o.blest sons, a vast empire--the Chinese kingdom--to civilization, to Christianity, to the traffic of all seafaring nations of the globe!

"And is not this very city, Madras, where we have been so heartily welcomed, the best proof of the energy and perseverance of the political and commercial greatness of the British nation? Nothing but English steadiness and English perseverance could succeed to build on this barren, inhospitable, and even most perilous coast, a vast, flouris.h.i.+ng city, rivalling in size and the number of inhabitants the largest capitals in Europe! And what is still more pleasing and satisfactory, is the intellectual and physical condition in which one finds the Indians, especially if compared with the condition of the natives in North and Central America, &c. There he meets a population, rapidly dying away, in proportion as the axe of civilization is resounding from the backwoods.

One may almost determinate the day when the last of the red men will have disappeared from the North American Continent, the land of his ancestors!

Here in India, on the contrary, the traveller meets with a thriving, industrious population. Who can see Hindoos, Malabar, Sentus, &c., occupy most important employments at the observatory, at the telegraph offices, at the railroad, in any branch almost of the public service, and still believe the Hindoo race like the Indians of North America to be a _doomed_ people--to be a people that has no future? No, it HAS a future, and, under the wise and humane government of the British Crown, I am sure the coloured race of India will even have a most _glorious_ future!

"These are the impressions and feelings, gentlemen, with which we part from Madras, with which I and my scientific colleagues bid you all a most sincere and heartfelt farewell."]

As a number of our new-found friends expressed a wish, notwithstanding the difficulties of getting out to, and back from the roads, to visit our s.h.i.+p, the commodore invited some forty guests, shortly before our departure, to a "tiffin" on board. Although the frigate rolled pretty heavily, yet we, nevertheless, had the pleasure of the company of some twenty gentlemen and ten ladies. After "tiffin," which was served on the p.o.o.p, under a tent improvised with flags for the occasion, all felt sufficiently comfortable to try a dance on the quarter-deck, our band of music being called into requisition for quadrilles, polkas, and waltzes; and, indeed, our guests paid so little attention to the approach of night, that their return was postponed till it was absolutely dark, of which opportunity we gladly availed ourselves to light our pleasant guests homewards with Bengal lights.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE VII.--TRACK FROM MADRAS TO THE NICOBAR ISLANDS.]

At length, on 10th February, shortly after noon, we set sail. As the frigate was perceived, from Fort George to weigh anchor, a thundering salute was fired of 21 guns--an extraordinary honour and mark of attention, to which we responded by a similar salute. In consequence of calms and light winds, we were 48 hours ere losing sight of land; and it was not till the 12th February we could proceed on our voyage. For several evenings after, that magnificent, and as yet unexplained, phenomenon, the Zodiacal light, which is conjectured by the greatest physicist of our age, to be the beams radiated from a vapour-like, flattened ring, revolving in the s.p.a.ce between the orbits of Mercury and Venus, was visible with much regularity. What was afterwards observed, however, of this remarkable zone of light, during the course of our voyage, will be found detailed in the meteorological portion of the scientific volumes. Unbroken fine weather accompanied us during our entire voyage to the Nicobar Islands, our next station. But although, as was rendered necessary by the climate so near the Equator, we were clothed entirely in summer apparel, and there was nothing to remind us of its being winter and carnival at home, our sailors did not let Shrove Tuesday pa.s.s over without celebrating that day, to be marked with a white stone, by masking and dancing according to ancient custom. Jack has an especially good memory for the return of such junketings, and is by no means p.r.o.ne to letting the sensible vicinity of the Equator put him out of his reckoning; so he danced near the line also, not because he had any pleasure therein, but because it has always been his custom to do so at carnival-time!

The state of health of the s.h.i.+p's company was excellent, there being but eight on the sick list, of whom only two were seriously ill.

On the 22nd February towards 10 A.M. the Island of Kar-Nicobar hove in sight, and towards afternoon we found ourselves but a few miles distant.

The land seemed for the most part level, only a low eminence thickly covered with frost rising towards the centre. The coast was overgrown with cocoa-nut-palm. In the N.W. and S.E. we could see three Malay boats at anchor. On the beach were some huts of beehive-like shape, in and out of which naked brown figures were seen moving; while, as night fell, numerous lights glimmered from the sh.o.r.e.

The following morning, Tuesday 23rd February, 1858, we anch.o.r.ed off the N.W. side of the island, in 14-1/2 fathoms coral sand, about 2 miles distant from the sh.o.r.e, and just between the two villages of Mosse and Saui, each consisting of a few huts. One can approach within 3 or 4 cable-lengths of the sh.o.r.e, where there are still 10 fathoms, with clay bottom. Several natives, some naked, some with their bodies covered in the most ludicrous fas.h.i.+on with cast-off European clothes, approached the frigate while she was being secured, in small but elegant canoes, and called out anxiously when within hailing distance, in an inquisitive tone and a broken English, "No fear? good friend?" which we interpreted into an inquiry as to whether they had anything to fear, and whether we were disposed to be friendly. When, however, we did not immediately throw them a rope to make fast their little canoes, and they got sight of our numerous guns, they speedily turned tail and hurried away.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARRIVAL AT KAR-NICOBAR.]

END OF VOL. I.