and some rather wider, thus making a roadway above so narrow that two carriages cannot pass each other.  In order to strengthen the pillars and keep them in position, a flat slab of stone had been laid on the bed of the river, from the base of the lower pillar to within about two feet of the upper one, and between the end of this slab and the pillar a thick, high block of stone had been wedged.  In this bridge there were 109 pairs of pillars, giving a total length of about 1,000 feet.  I was struck with the difference in the age of the pillars, and with the fact that, whereas some were plain, roughly hewn pillars, others, which had been dressed and chiselled into various forms, were evidently of great antiquity, and I was subsequently informed by the clerk of the proprietor of the island that the latter had been procured from ruined temples in the neighbourhood.  These bridges at first sight seem to be curved in a slight loop up the stream, but a closer examination shows that they have been built in several lines, first slightly up the stream and then advancing by several straight lines to a blunt arrow-like point in the centre of the river, and this was evidently to enable the bridges the better to resist the heavy floods, one of which, as I have previously mentioned, went no less than three feet over the roadway.  As you stand on the edge of the river and look along the centre of the rows of pillars the effect is very curious, as they then present the appearance of a long colonnade of pillars of various shapes, with a flat roof of solid slabs of stone overhead.

After thoroughly inspecting the bridge, I lay for some time in the shade of a tree which stood on the bank of the river about fifty yards below the bridge, and awaited the arrival of the carriage, which I had sent for as the day was getting hot, and as I thus lay languidly observing the long colonnade, and the water which rapidly flowed between the pillars, and looked up the river as it stretched away to the north-west, and enjoyed the cool air which gently moved along the water, I felt a quiet sense of enjoyment which gave me a greater, and certainly a more lasting, sense of pleasure than I had experienced when visiting the beautiful falls I have just endeavoured to describe.  I mention this for the moral, which is, that to enjoy scenery the body must be comfortable and in complete repose.  I would also add that you must be alone, or practically alone, by being out of sight or hearing of your companions.  Presently I was aroused by the rumble of the carriage, and, collecting my party, returned to the bungalow for luncheon.  At about half past four the carriage was brought round, and we drove to our temporary home to dinner, and on the following day reached Bangalore at two o’clock, the whole trip having thus occupied about sixty hours.

FOOTNOTES: 

[4] No less than 291.53 inches fell this year, between April and the last day of September, at a Cardamom plantation on the crests of the Ghauts.