conical peak. Thence we coasted the islands of Salsette and Bombay, both rocky, and in some parts considerably elevated, but with the high mountains of the Concan seen rising behind both. Though at a considerable distance from the shore, we passed a vast number of bamboos, planted as fishing-stakes, and a fleet of boats, which, like all others which I have seen on this coast, had large lateen-sails. They were extremely picturesque ; and though, apparently, not very manageable, made their way fast through the water: they could not tack, but wore with great celerity and accuracy; and, though their gunwales were often scarcely above the water, impressed me with the idea of their being good sea-boats, and good sailers. Their style of rigging differs from that of the Mediterranean, in that they have seldom more than two masts, of which the hinder is much the smallest. They have also a bowsprit, and their sails, instead of being a right-angled triangle, have the foremost angle cut off, so as to bring them nearer the principle of a lug-sail. They are very white, being, I believe made of cotton. As the sun set we saw the Bombay light-house, and, about midnight, anchored in the mouth of the harbour.

CHAPTER XXVI.

BOMBAY.

Island of Elephanta-Salsette-Gora-bunder-Bassein-Cave Temple of Kennery-Pareil-Oran Outang-Journey to Poonah—Gháts—Cave at Carlee-Poonah—Conquest and Government of the Deckan-Consecration of the Church at Tannah-Mr. Elphinstone-Description of the Island of Bombay-Departure.

APRIL 26.-My dear wife and elder girl arrived at Bombay after a tedious and distressing voyage, both from weather and sickness. As the journal kept by the former gives a just idea of the principal things which we saw in Bombay and its neighbourhood, I shall merely make a few observations on some of the more striking objects and occurrences.

On the 28th was my visitation (a confirmation of about 120 children had occurred a few days before) attended by the Archdeacon, (Dr. Barnes,) six Chaplains and one Missionary, being all within a reasonable distance of Bombay.

On May 5th the foundation of a Free School, on the same plan with that of Calcutta, was laid. The ceremony was numerously attended, and the institution, which has been for some time in activity, though in a hired and inconvenient building, appears very flourishing, and likely to be productive of great good. The plan and elevation of the in

tended Schools, by Lieutenant Jervis of the Engineers, I think a very elegant and judicious one.

On the 8th we went to see Elephanta, of which my wife has given an account in her journal', and of which a more regular description is needless after all which Mr. Erskine and others have written on it. I will only observe that the Island of Elephanta, or Shaporee, is larger and more beautiful than I expected, containing, I should suppose, upwards of a thousand acres, a good deal of which is in tillage, with a hamlet of tolerable size, but the major part is very beautiful wood and rock, being a double-pointed hill, rising from the sea to some height. The stone elephant, from which the usual Portuguese name of the Island is derived, stands in a field about a quarter of a mile to the right of

'The principal cave is of considerable extent, excavated out of the solid rock, and the roof supported by pillars, now in a state of decay, carved out in the same manner, and handsomely ornamented. The different shrines which contain the emblems of Hindoo worship are placed on either side, and, generally, their entrances are guarded by colossal bas-relief figures, whilst on the walls are sculptured figures of Siva and his wife Parvati, the former in one compartment with a chaplet of skulls round his neck, and with eight hands, bearing his usual attributes of the Cobra de Capello, also of colossal size, and some of the avatars of Vishnu, and other mythological fables of their religion. Even now the whole is sadly defaced, and though an European sergeant has been for some years appointed to preserve it from injury by man, the climate does its work of devastation slowly but surely, and it appears probable that at no very distant period little will remain to shew what this temple had been in the days of its glory. The view from the mouth of the cavern is very beautiful. Although we were out during the hottest hours of the day, in one of the worst months, we never were much oppressed by the heat. In Bengal such an excursion could not have been contemplated.-Extract from Editor's Journal.

the usual landing place. It is about three times as big as life, rudely sculptured, and very much dilapidated by the weather. The animal on its back, which Mr. Erskine supposes to be a tyger, has no longer any distinguishable shape. From the landing-place, a steep and narrow path, but practicable for palanquins, leads up the hill, winding prettily through woods and on the brinks of precipices, so as very much to remind me of Hawkstone. About half a mile up is the first cave, which is a sort of portico supported by two pillars and two pilasters, and seeming as if intended for the entrance to a rock temple which has not been proceeded in. A quarter of a mile further, and two-thirds of the ascent up the higher of the two hills, is the great cavern, in a magnificent situation, and deserving all the praise which has been lavished on it. For its details I again refer to Mr. Erskine, merely noticing that, though my expectations were highly raised, the reality much exceeded them, and that both the dimensions, the proportions, and the sculpture, seemed to me to be of a more noble character, and a more elegant execution than I had been led to suppose. Even the statues are executed with great spirit, and are some of them of no common beauty, considering their dilapidated condition and the coarseness of their material.

At the upper end of the principal cave, which is in the form of a cross, and exceedingly resembles the plan of an ancient basilica, is an enormous bust with three faces, reaching from the pavement to the ceiling of the temple. It has generally been sup

posed, and is so even by Mr. Erskine, a representation of the Trimurti, or Hindoo Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. But more recent discoveries have ascertained that Siva himself, to whose worship and adventures most of the other ornaments of the cave refer, is sometimes represented with three faces, so that the temple is evidently one to the popular deity of the modern Hindoos alone. Nor could I help remarking, that the style of ornament, and proportions of the pillars, the dress of the figures, and all the other circumstances of the place, are such as may be seen at this day in every temple of Central India, and among all those Indian nations where the fashions of the Mussulmans have made but little progress. Those travellers who fancied the contrary had seen little of India but Bombay. From these circumstances, then, nothing can be learned as to the antiquity of this wonderful cavern, and I am myself disposed, for several reasons, to think that this is not very remote.

The rock out of which the temple is carved, is by no means calculated to resist, for any great length of time, the ravages of the weather. It evidently suffers much from the annual rains; a great number of the pillars, (nearly one-third of the whole,) have been undermined by the accumulation of water in the cavern, and the capitals of some, and part of the shafts of others, remain suspended from the top like huge stalactites, the bases having completely mouldered away. These ravages are said to have greatly increased in the memory