Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/310

266 we arose, and went by moonlight to the foot of the mountain; then, as the moon set, commenced the ascent by starlight, with a guide. The way, which at first was not difficult, was soon made plain by the approaching dawn. Passing a small temple of Krishna, a favourite but vile incarnation of Vishnu, we ascended for some distance along an inclined plane made with slabs of stone. Beside this stone-paved way, was a watercourse of granite, bringing down water into a granite reservoir twelve feet in diameter and six feet deep. In the rainy season, this reservoir is filled; and here pilgrims to the summit stop and bathe. Following the stone walk upward, we came to a saddle between two hills, which ended the first stage of the ascent. On the level space thus furnished, were shade-trees for the weary, a tank for refreshment, a mundapam for rest, and a small temple for religious worship; and what was the object of worship in this high place? It was an image of one god ferociously ripping open the bowels of another!

Turning here to the right, we ascended the higher of the summits by steps, formed sometimes with slabs of stone, sometimes cut from the solid rock. The whole hill is a mass of