Goverdhun. It is a sublime idea to erect altars to the Almighty upon the pinnacles of his mountains.

The scenes of many of the incidents recorded in the Bhagbut are extremely uncertain. Antiquarians may differ as to the site of Muttra or Brindabun, but of Goverdhun there is no doubt. This landmark of nature has remained unchanged through all vicissitudes, and is the first tangible monument to furnish evidence in favour of resuscitated Vishnuvism. The mount uplifts its head from the level of an alluvial plain, and extends ten miles long, running north, south, and southwest. It is impossible to describe the singular appearance of this ridge, which is believed to be a fragment of the Himalayas dropped by Hunuman-its lonely and isolated position may well originate such a legend. But it must be a mere pebble compared with the giant from which it has come. They say the ridge was once twenty miles long-ten of which has disappeared underground. It was then high enough to have cast its shadow as far as Muttra. There may be some truth in this, as the rocks look to have been made higher than they are, and their summits, worn and weakened by the action of the elements, have crumbled and fallen, strewing the country immediately around them with fragments. The whole mount is said to have been on one occasion taken up by Krishna on his little finger, and held as an umbrella over the heads of his cattle, his fellow-townsmen, and his favourite milkmaids, to defend them from an overwhelming deluge of rain. But it is not necessary to draw upon false and frivolous

legends to give interest to the scene-the majesty of nature is enough. No more do the Europeans paint Atlas with a globe on his shoulders, than do the Indians paint Krishna with Goverdhun on his little finger.

The popular version about the origin of this range of sand-stone hills at Goverdhun is, that Luchmun, the brother of Rama, having been wounded by Ravana, the demon king of Ceylon, his surgeon declared that his wound could be cured only by a decoction of the leaves of a certain tree, to be found in a certain hill in the Himalaya mountains. Hunuman volunteered to go for it; but on reaching the place he found that he had entirely forgotten the description of the tree required; and to prevent mistake, he took up the whole mountain upon his back, and walked off with it to the plains—a mountain upon the back of the men of former days, was no more than a bundle of grass upon the back of one of the grass-cutters in the present day. It was night when Hunuman passed Goverdhun; and the lamps were seen burning in a hundred towns upon the mountain he had upon his back-the people were all at their usual occupations, quite undisturbed. Left as a regent, Bhurut, the third brother of Rama, then happened to be in Goverdhun. He saw Hunuman passing with the mountain, and, thinking him to be one of the king of Ceylon's demons about mischief, let fly one of his arrows at him. It hit him on the leg, and as he made a false stop, the sudden jerk caused this small fragment of his huge burden to fall off. In his agony he called out Ram, Ram. from which Bhurut discovered his mistake. He went

up, and with kind attentions sought to relieve his pain. Learning from him the object of his journey, and fearing that his wounded brother Luchmun would die before he could get to Ceylon with the requisite remedy, he offered to send Hunuman on upon the barb of one of his arrows, mountain and all-a more expeditious mode of travelling than through the Pneumatic Tube of our day. To try him, Hunuman seated himself with the mountain upon the barb of the arrow, as desired. Bhurut placed the arrow to the string of his bow, and drawing it till the barb touched the bow, asked Hunuman whether he was ready. "Quite ready," said Hunuman; "but I am now satisfied that you are really the brother of our Prince, and regent of his kingdom, which was all I desired. Pray let me descend, and be sure I shall be in time to save your wounded brother." Bhurut let him pass on, but he remained lame for life from the wound. This accounts very satisfactorily, according to popular belief, for the halting gait of all the monkeys of that species those who are descended lineally from the general, inherit it of course; and those who are not, adopt it out of respect for his memory, as all the soldiers of Alexander contrived to make one shoulder appear higher than another, because one of his happened to be Hunuman reached Ceylon with his mountain, the tree was found upon it, and Luchmun's wound curedleaving behind him the small but insignificant fragment, on which the town and temples of Goverdhun now stand.'

So.

'Goverdhun,' says Sir William Jones, 'is the Par

nassus of the Hindoos.' Indeed, taking Krishna for Apollo, the Gopinees for the Muses, and the Mans-gunga -a large beautifully infaced tank-for the fount of Castalie, it out-and-out justifies the comparison. One may not become an inspired poet here, but a desperate inamorato either of which, for a professional man, is a catastrophe to be avoided.

Many are the hallowed localities in and around the mountain-the great holy object which is the centre of attraction for most pilgrims. The present town stands upon the belt of rocks, about two miles from the northern extremity. It is of small size, and scanty in population. The inhabitants are in a great measure Brahmins, supported on the endowments annexed to the tombs of the Jaut Rajahs of Bhurtpore and Deeg, whose bodies are burned and their ashes inhumated at this town. The sides of the mountain are covered with dwelling-houses, temples, and tombs; and while the summits present nature in her wild form, the bases are adorned with all the beauty of architecture and art-of tanks, orchards, and gardens, forming a most pleasing scenery. In little cells, there reside many a monk, who spend the day and night in ascetic abstraction, and whom no temptations of the world will draw out from their retirement. There is nothing of interest in the modern city of Goverdhun-its history is connected with the past. The traveller may stand at the foot, and imagine Indra pouring down his vials of wrath in a deluging rain, while Krishna lifts up the mountain to hold it as an umbrella; or wander through

the narrow streets to mark the spots where he frisked with the milkmaids, and spent his days among cattle and trees. Besides the interest attached to this place by reason of its great antiquity, and the many holy events of which it has been the scene, it is to be remembered also for being the place where Lallah Baboo ended his days in a cave, that is pointed out to you among other curiosities.

Little can be added by us to the warm tints of description that have been lavished upon Goverdhun. The principal temple upon the mount is dedicated to Krishna under the form of the infant Gopala. The image is typical of a child crawling on all fours, with a pera in his right arm. This form of worship was first introduced by Bullubha Acharya, who must have been influenced 'to do away with the legends that scandalize Vishnuvism in the eyes of its adversaries. His followers form a separate order from the Byragees of Choitunya. Indeed we are inclined to think, that many of the adventures and miracles commonly attributed to Krishna form but a mystified account which Vishnuvism gives of its own reverses and triumphs. The holding up of Goverdhun against Indra, the replacement of the cattle stolen away by Brahma, and the destruction of Kaliya-Nag, are not incidents in the early life of Krishna, but in the history of the early progress of Vishnuvism-bearing a reference to its infant struggles with Indraism, Brahmaism, and the ophiolatory Nagas. In like manner, the flirtations with the Gopinees are many of them pure inventions,