What Was To Be Done?

I was resolved upon seeing them, and had but little time to lose, so I decided upon retracing my way.

I only provided myself with a small stock of provisions, and immediately mounted one of the horses from the captain's stable, which brought me past the rocky pass in a good hour. The road towards the temples here turns off to the right into desolate, barren mountain valleys, whose death-like stillness was unbroken by the breathing of an animal, or the song of a bird. This place was well calculated to raise and excite expectations.

The temples, twenty-seven in number, are excavated in tall perpendicular cliffs, which form a semicircle. In some of the cliffs there are two stories of temples, one over the other; paths lead to the top, but these are so narrow and broken, that one is frequently at a loss where to set the foot. Beneath are terrible chasms, in which a mountain stream loses itself; overhead, the smooth rocky surface extends several hundred feet in height. The majority of the temples are quadrangular in form, and the approach to the interior is through verandahs and handsome gateways, which, from being supported on columns, appear to bear the weight of the whole mass of rock. These temples are called "Vihara." In the larger one I counted twenty-eight, in the smallest eight pillars. On one, and sometimes on both side-walls, there is a very small dark cell, in which most probably the priest lived.

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