CHAPTER XII.

BOMBAY AND POONAH.

BOMBAY (or Bom-bahia) was ceded to the Portuguese by the Moguls, and came into the possession of England in the reign of Charles the Second, being part of the marriage portion of his bride, the Infanta Catherine of Portugal. In 1668 it was made over to the East India Company, when it became the seat of government of all their possessions on that side of Hindustan. Bombay is about eight miles long from north to south, and three broad in its widest part. It is formed of two ranges of whinstone rock, running parallel with each other on opposite sides of the island, some two or three miles apart; the eastern range being seven miles in length, and considerably longer than the other. On the north and south, belts of sandstone unite them, which rise only a few feet above the level of the sea. The harbour is one of the finest in the world. Owing to the great flatness of the shore, the floods at spring tides used to be most serious, rendering the lower part of the island a perfect swamp, but much has since been done to remedy that evil. The cantonments for our troops were, and still are, at Colabba (or Old Woman's Island), which is a natural promontory, connected by rocks with the south

east extremity of Bombay. On the east side of the harbour, about four miles from Bombay, is Butcher's Island, and behind that the Island of Elephanta, called by the natives Gharipoor. It is celebrated for its caves, and contains one of the most remarkable temples of the Hindoos. The figure of an elephant of the natural size, cut coarsely in stone, stands on the landing-place near the foot of a mountain. A slope leads to a subterranean temple hewn out of the solid rock, some eighty feet long and forty broad. The pillars supporting the roof are massive and about ten feet high. At one end of the cave are gigantic figures of the three Hindoo deities, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, which were sadly mutilated by the Portuguese when the island was in their possession. It was ceded to the English by the Mahrattas, and is only five miles from the Mahratta shore.

These caves are most wonderful, and well worth. seeing. The immense labour of making them beats the industry of the present day, and does credit to the perseverance of the Hindoos in former times. In the city of Bombay there are a great number of Hindoos, and besides the Europeans, you meet Mahometans, Armenians, Jews, and Parsees in abundance. In early youth the Parsee women are often very handsome; the men, too, are not bad looking, but the former age quickly, and grow very coarse. Most Parsees speak English, and many fluently; they are most strict in their religious observances, and in the mornings and evenings may daily be seen in crowds upon the shore, prostrating themselves before the sun, which they worship. Their mode of burying their dead is especially revolting. They

build large cylindrical places, each about twenty-five feet high, the interiors of which are made of masonry to within a few feet of the top; in the centre of them is a well, fifteen feet in diameter. Into this the almost nude bodies of their dead are cast, exposed to the elements, and to the onslaughts of the vultures, who may always be seen waiting for their prey. From time to time the bones. are collected, and dropped into a deeper well, from whence they can be removed at pleasure through subterraneous passages. In those days there were five of these obnoxious tombs within two miles of the fort; now doubtless there are many more.

The most pleasant and fashionable part for houses is Malabar, which is a convenient distance from the city, one of the governor's residences being at Malabar Point. Bombay is a pleasant place to be quartered at, as we afterwards found, the yachting being good and the climate agreeable. But it was many years before we were there to remain any length of time, and when we did so the months we spent there were quiet and uneventful ones, therefore scarcely worth referring to in these pages. We were for nearly a year at Poonah, which is one of the pleasantest stations in Western India, combining a native capital with a British camp and colony. It is raised some two thousand feet above the sea, and consequently the climate is good and the air pure. In fact, during the cold season it may be pronounced perfect.

The greatest wonder of the neighbourhood is the Cave Temple of Carlee. It is about a mile from Carlee (in the province of Aurungabad), which is the last village on the great road across the Western Ghauts, from

Bombay to Poonah, of which I will speak presently. The temple is hewn in the face of a rocky precipice, more than half-way up a steep hill, which is eight hundred feet high. You approach it by a winding path, between rocks, brushwood, and trees.

There are many small apartments and galleries having two stories, which are most beautiful, besides the principal temple. One, erected to Siva, forms a gateway to the cave, but it is in a state of dilapidation. A building of the same description is on the right hand of its portico.

The temple itself is approached by a noble arch, filled up with a sort of screen formed of two stories of columns. On the left of the portico, in front, is an octagonal pillar of large size, surmounted by three lions placed back to back. Inside, to the left, are three enormous sculptures of elephants in alto-relievo. On each a palanquin is represented, with two figures seated in it and a driver. In the vestibule leading to the temple is a screen covered with alti-relievi figures, both male and female, larger than life. The temple is surrounded with octagonal columns, the capital of which is a large bell-shaped cap, finely carved, and surmounted by two elephants with their trunks entwined, on each of which are represented three figures, two males and one female. The roof is of ribs of timber, which seems to be for ornament more than for use, but which contribute much to the perspective of the interior. There is no image of Budda or any other god in this temple, which is about sixty feet long by thirty wide. Around the level fields, where the old Mahratta city stands, rise trap-rock hills with their jagged sides and flat tops, looking like the very things

they have been utilized for in many a fierce contestfortresses. Strange and wild are the legends told of Sivaji," the daring chieftain and founder of the Mah

ratta power. Close to the native city is a beautiful hill, verdant with leafage, on the summit of which stands the famous temple dedicated to "Parvati," the goddess of the hills, and Siva's consort; while down below, sleeping softly at its base, lies a lake, upon the banks of which grow mango and bamboo. The town lies between the hills and the cantonments.

The Mahrattas are better looking than East Indians generally, and are a strong, stalwart race, following out the spirit of "Sivaji," their once valiant leader. The women, carrying their children on their hips and waterjars on their heads, are most picturesque, graceful, and erect. The landscape is a fair mingling of art and nature, a silvery river winding through the cornfields enhancing its beauty. The great bazaar must not be forgotten. It is a handsome street of gaily painted houses, which, during the busy hours of the day, becomes like an animated flower garden, with the many coloured turbans and the brilliant display of fruits, plants, and blossoms. Poonah is by many considered and called the garden of India. Two generations of peace and good government have quieted the fierceness of the Mahrattas, but it is easy to see that the spirit still lives in the Deccan rajahs if you but watch them swagger down the streets. Their magic watchword, "The fire is on the hills," the whisper of which brought them together as surely as swarming bees by hundreds and thousands, is still-Sivaji is dead, but his spirit lives. These are my recollections of