Government; and the road, as it now stands, and with all its inconveniences, is probably sufficient for the intercourse which either is, or is likely to be, between the Concan and the Deckan.

The views offered from different parts of this ascent are very beautiful, and much reminded me of some parts of the Vale of Corwen. The mountains are nearly the same height (from 2000 to 3000 feet above the level of the sea,) with the average of Welch mountains; and the freshness and verdure which clothes them during the rains, as well as the fleecy clouds continually sweeping over them, increased their likeness to the green dells and moist climate of Gwyneth. In one respect, and only one, the Ghâts have the advantage, their precipices are higher, and the outline of the hills consequently bolder. That outline, indeed, is remarkable, consisting, in by far the majority of instances, of a plane table summit, or else a long horizontal ridge, supported by sides as steep and regular as if artificially scarped, with natural terraces at uncertain heights, each with its own precipice, affording a striking specimen of what is called the trap formation. There is a good deal of forest timber on the sides of these hills, and the gorges of the valleys are thickly wooded. The trees, however, are not, singly taken, of any great size, either here or in the Deckan, or in Bombay, a circumstance in which these countries seem remarkably contrasted with Guzerât, and the greater part of northern India.

Near Candaulah is a waterfall, which flows all the year, and at this season is very full and beautiful. It falls in three or four successive descents down one of the highest precipices I ever saw, not less, I should apprehend, than 1200 feet, into a valley of very aweful depth and gloom, through which its stream winds to join the sea, nearly opposite to Tannah, under the name of the Callianee river. On a knoll above this waterfall, and close to the great precipice, Mr. Elphinstone has a small house, where he passes a part of each cold season. I saw it only from a distance, but should suppose it to be a delightful residence.

Candaulah is a poor village, but with a tolerable bazar, and, besides the Government bungalow for travellers, which is mean and ill-contrived, has a tavern, kept by a Portuguese, consisting of one waste room, like a barn, with an inscription in broken English over the door, announcing that "at the Hotel of the Santa Anunciation, all nexeary victuals may be prquired."

In ascending the Ghâts to Candaulah, I was met by six armed horsemen, part of an escort obligingly sent me by Mr. Chaplin, the Commissioner in the Deckan. This is now more a mark of respect, and calculated to conciliate the respect of the natives, than a measure of any real necessity on this road. The population, however, of these mountains used, at no long time ago, to be frequently troublesome and dangerous to passengers, and still, sometimes indulge in their old habits towards native travellers, though with Europeans they seldom if ever venture to meddle. They are of the same caste and family of people with the Coolies of Guzerât, and call themselves by that name. They are, however, less tall and robust than those hardy barbarians, and seem a link between them and the Bheels, The Bheels themselves are not found farther south than the neighbourhood of Damaun; and on the hills which overhang the southern Concan, a tribe of nearly similar habits but different language, the Canars, takes the place of the Coolies. The plain country, both of the Concans and the more elevated level of the Deckan, is inhabited by Maharattas, a peaceable and industrious race, among whom there should seem to be fewer remarkable crimes against society than, with a similar population, is found in most parts of India. The horsemen who were sent to me were natives of Hindostan, in the service of the police. They had been originally in Colonel Skinner's corps, wore its uniform, and appeared much delighted to find that I knew all about their old commander, and had been, myself, at Delhi.

The cottages both in the Concan and in the Deckan are small and mean, with steep thatched roofs, and very low side walls of

loose stones, and there is a general appearance of poverty both in the dress and farming-implements of the people. Their cattle, however, are of a larger and better breed than those of Bengal; and notwithstanding the long drought, were, when I saw them, in better case than I could have expected.

In the afternoon of this day, (the 28th,) I rode on horseback, accompanied by Dr. Barnes, the stage between Candaulah and Carlee, diverging from the road about a mile to visit the celebrated cavern which takes its name from this last place, and which is hewn on the face of a precipice about two-thirds up the side of a steep hill, rising with a very scarped and regular talus, to the height of, probably, 800 feet above the plain. The excavations consist, besides the principal temple, of many smaller apartments and galleries, in two stories, some of them ornamented with great beauty, and evidently intended like those at Kennery, for the lodging of monks or hermits. The temple itself is on the same general plan as that of Kennery, but half as large again, and far finer and richer. It is approached by a steep and narrow path winding up the side of the hill, among trees and brushwood, and fragments of rock. This brought us to a mean and ruinous temple of Siva, which serves as a sort of gateway to the cave; a similar small building stands on the right hand of its portico, and we were immediately surrounded by some naked and idle brahmin boys, who, with an old woman of the same caste, called themselves the keepers of the sanctuary, and offered their services to shew its wonders and tell its history. I asked them who was its founder, and they answered, "King Pandoo," who is, indeed, as Mr. Elphinstone afterwards told me, the reputed architect of all these cave temples, and in general, like our Arthur, of all ancient monuments whose real history is unknown. King Pandoo and his four brethren are the principal heroes of the celebrated Hindoo romance of the Mahabharat, and the apparent identity of his name with that of the "Pandion" of whose territories in India the Greeks heard so much, is too remarkable to be passed unnoticed.