last, for a short way, it becomes a climb of toes and fingers, clutching hold of little places not visible till the hand naturally finds them in ascending; the scarp so steep, that, on looking down, one could see a map of the valleys far below, stretched out between one's knees. Then come more steps; and at the top, at last, appears a fine carved gateway, of handsome masonry, flanked by octagonal towers, and communicating by a wall with other towers, round the top of this strange triangular block, which constitutes the Bala-kila of Sivaji. This craggy loft for fifteen years of constant, and, generally, successful warfare, was the principal residence of the Maharaja―i. e. from 1647 to 1663. His kucheri still stands; and I slept in the teak-pillared hall, ́now very indifferently thatched, where sharp justice was administered by the great robber chief, and under which were buried vast treasures, the sack of Surat, and the plunder of convoys. Here had been concealed gold in bars; sycee from China; dollars of all kinds; English money, too, from the factories; Dutch, French, and Moorish coins; khiluts; valuables; arms; ivory, and gems-"gold and barbaric pearl."

Rajghur has been sometimes confounded with Raighur, a very different place, and which merits some description, though, strictly speaking, it is not a Deccan but a Konkun fort.

When Sivaji began to rise into almost imperial power, Rajghur became too small for his retinue, and in 1662-63 he selected a mountain called formerly Rairee, situated on the edge of the Ghauts, not far from Rajghur. This mountain is like a great wedge, split from the Deccan, and standing off from it, leaving a deep gully, a mile or two across. On its flat summit, a mile and a half in length and half a mile broad, and well supplied with water, the great offices of state were erected; and on the death of his father, here Sivaji was crowned, from hence he issued his coinage, and here he died in 1680. Raighur was soon after taken by the Moguls. Sivaji's son's wife, and her son Shao, were captured in it. The celebrated sword "Bhowanee," and that also which Sivaji had taken from Afzool Khan, were conveyed thence to

Aurungzebe, who long after restored them again to the heir of his ancient foe.

When I visited the neighbourhood, and looked over to the fort, beside many ruins, I only observed the enclosure and temple of Mahadeo, still standing, which rises near the tomb of the great Mahratta; and, as a religious, if no longer a political standard, the bugwajunda (a swallow-tailed pennant of a tawny colour), Sivaji's emblem, as well as Mahadeo's, still waves above the seat of his rock-built royalty.

The fort has only one entrance, andis everywhere else surrounded with a precipice a thousand feet in almost perpendicular descent, which renders any wall or fortification superfluous. The gates and offices were built by Abbaji Sonedeo. All the pageantry of royal state was once enacted on that now desolate rock.

Near it, on the Ghaut edge, is a very curious fort. It is called the Lingana, from its resemblance to the symbol of the Shiva worship. It was built in 1649-50 by Sivaji, at the same time as Tala, Gossala, and another Rairee, in the Konkun, to secure his hold upon the Konkun jaghires he had then conquered. I had often seen, from a distance, this singular fort, which is a vast pillar of basalt on the very edge of the Ghaut. Starting from Poona one morning last cold weather, I took luncheon on the top. of Singhur, and descending early in the afternoon to meet my pony on the west side, pursued a narrow path through the valley, and crossed the Pabek Khind, the peaks of which may be seen from here over the near hills, a little to the right of Torna. Descending on the southern side into the bed of the Valwand, I passed up the valley to the westward, leaving Torna on my left, till I arrived by sun-down at the little village of Geonda, prettily situated on the hill-side.

The path being no longer easily passable for a beast, with some difficulty I secured the services of two stout Mahars as guides, and set out for as wild and beautiful a midnight walk as I ever took. The path lay along the side of the mountain, and rose gradually up its side, till tall ferns began to

appear, and the air grew cooler as we emerged at last on the summit, when I discovered it was a narrow ridge, and immediately on the other side the thick jungles of the Goonjowna river lay below us. Along this ridge, more miles than are shown by the chart, we wound in and out, up and down, the crest of the hill rising and falling like a wave; till, nearing the Konkun edge of the Ghaut, we struck off the hill, and entered a deep and shady forest, on its western declivity. At length, after five hours' walking, we reached a little village, embosomed in the trees, from whence, across a wide and wooded chasm of unseen depth, the black column of basalt of the fort could be dimly seen not far off in the moonlight. It appeared, however, that near as it stood, there was no way of approaching it except by descending a bad foot-ghaut into the Konkun, and then passing round to the other side of the fort. By dawn next morning we were descending the deep jungly chasm, towards a rock-cut path, called by courtesy the Asanallee Ghaut. As daylight broke, we were amid the rushing streams, and sheer precipices of stupendous depth, and great beauty; while, hanging above us, on the top of a black scarp, toppling, smooth, and perpendicular, was the inaccessible haunt of robbers of which I was in search. As we descended into the Konkun, the great mountain of Raighur, close opposite, darkened our path through a Konkun forest, to the little village of Pannee, at the foot of Lingana. The Patel had never been into the fort no one had, since it had been dismantled. However, pushing up the hill, after a fatiguing tug we reached the base of the works, passing the ruins of one or two chowdries by the way. I then discovered that this fort had never had even a rock-ladder; and that the only means of entrance within the walls had been by a long bamboo ladder, long since destroyed, which triced up and let down at the pleasure of the inmates. If I understood aright, there had also been a bridge of some kind connecting the basalt column with the Deccan, across the steep chasm which lay between; but that, too, had been broken away, by an unromantic

invader, with no sympathy for even such interesting thieves as were harboured in this rude fort, which I could see into but could not enter. Descending, therefore, again into the Konkun, I had to re-ascend the Deccan by another of Sivaji's wild paths, called the Nishnee Ghaut, part of which consists of knotches cut in the trunk of an old tree placed nearly upright against the rocks, where the upper overhang the lower, like the mountains which closed in the Happy Valley of Rasselas; and the rest of the path consists of rude sort of steps from stone to stone of a waterfall. I recommend this two days' expedition to any young officer desirous of obtaining an insight into the character of the country; and if he will take a bamboo scaling-ladder with him, he may do what I could not, and describe to us, in a lecture next rains, the details of the fortifications of Linganaghur.

It sometimes happens, that the inaccessibility which nature has bestowed on these crags is such, that nothing beyond a gate is required to defend the path by which they are approached. This is the case with Hurrichunderghur, eighteen miles NW. of Jooneer.

This is described briefly in Murray's Handbook of Western India; and Eastwick says, I think truly, as far as I have seen, that it presents the sublimest scenery in the whole range of the Western Ghauts.

The top of the mountain is of considerable extent, and as it has a small but very comfortable set of caves for residence, and a reputation for bears enough to allure the sportsman (though I

confess I saw only buffaloes), I wonder this cool and lovely solitude is not oftener visited. Lord Elphinstone had the windows measured for glazing, and intended to live there sometimes. It is 4,000 feet above the Konkun, immediately below, and has a scarp of 3,000 feet nearly perpendicular height. A stone pitched over takes eleven seconds before it strikes the first time. Captain Eastwick says a good deal of the tremendous roaring blasts, which seem nearly to have swept him off the spot; but when I visited it, I sat under an unbrella for some hours, on the very topmost peak, which hangs over the abyss, without a single breath of wind,

and amid a deep midday silence, which was almost painfully profound. There are on the lower levels ruined tanks and temples, and near the caves beautiful water in abundance. Altogether it is a delightful spot.

Not far from Hurrichunderghur is a fine fort, interesting as having been the birthplace of the builder of so many others,-Sewnere, near Jooneer. It was granted in 1599 to Sivaji's grandfather, Maloji Bhonslay; and in 1627 the great Sivaji first saw the light within its walls. It was often taken and re-taken, and once, in 1670, the forces of Sivaji himself were beaten back by its Mogul garrison. Besides its five gates, and solid fortifications, it is celebrated for its deep springs. They rise in pillared tanks of great depth, supposed by Dr. Gibson to be cöeval with the series of Buddhist oaves which pierce the lower portion of the scarp. Near the gate, (there is only one into the fort, to which the five others lead up,) they point out the extensive ruins of a large and solid building, said to have been the Raja's palace and Sivaji's birth-place; but at the northern end are the remains of a fine Mussulman structure, in the best style of their architecture, called Bibiche-wara, or the ladies' houses, which may have been standing then, and in which, I think, Jijibai, his mother, probably resided. From its projecting windows, a fine view is obtained down the vale of the Kokuree, a tributary of the Goor and Bheema.

While wandering through this forsaken fortress, one could not help picturing the eager youth who spent his childhood within its walls, and drank in, together with its refreshing breezes, the stories of the Bugwut, the Ramayan, and the Mahabarat, and filled his young heart with hatred of the Mussulman Empire which oppressed his country. That great and gorgeous empire was even then falling to pieces, from its unwieldy size; and his own indomitable spirit, more than any other external cause, assisted to hasten its dissolution.

This fort, with Hursur, Chawund, and Joodhun, commands the road leading to the Nana Ghaut and Malsej Ghaut, at a point formerly one of the great outlets of the country into the Konkun.

Another fort, intimately connected with the life of Sivaji, and consequently with the fortunes of the Deccan, is Pratapghur, or Pertabghur, near Par and Mahableshwur, built in 1656 by Moro Trimmul Pingley, after the assassination of Chunder Rao, Raja of Jowleh, and the storm and escalade of Wasseota and Rohira.

I presume that many of my hearers have, like myself, spent a day within this fortress, and had pointed out to them the localities of the celebrated " wagnuk murder" of Afzool Khan of Beejapore, in 1659, which, more than any other deed, sad to say, helped to consolidate the national independence. I must omit, also, all descriptive mention of Poorundhur and Singhur, which are so near and accessible that they may be well known; each possessing numerous historical associations.

Many others, besides these, I am obliged to refrain from noticing, for want of time; but those I have briefly described may be considered good specimens of their respective kinds.

Some forts possess, in addition to their political and military, considerable religious importance.

Such an one is Trimbuk, a very strong and interesting fort, among the mountains twenty miles south-west of Nassick. This is, perhaps, the most sacred spot to Hindoos in Western India, as from the rocks of its fort rise the first bubbles of the holy Gunga or Godavery. The path which leads to the petta, or village, at the foot of the fort, is always being travelled by strings of pilgrims from even the furthest confines of India, who come to worship in the great temple of Trimbuk, or The Three-Eyed (a name of Mahadeo), and, having washed away their sins in the pool called "Kooshaverut," to visit, in deep reverence, the womb of the holy Gunga. It is a place well calculated to strike awe into the mind of a beholder, and especially so if he be a willing wonderer, from the plains of the Ganges or from the delta of the Godavery. Great detached pillars of rock, 200 feet high, stand round the little valley, like giant sentinels, in the midst of which the Trimbukeshwar temple, of unusual size and beauty, lifts its lofty kullas above the many temples of the petta, and sends

forth, ever and anon, the sounds of its clear-toned bell, as some poor pilgrim takes his longed-for durshun, or 'glimpse" of the god, which is the reward of his toilsome journey.

66

This place has always been a nest of Brahminism; and, since it was richly endowed by Baji Rao, a chaldron of political intrigue. During the mutinies, the brave and energetic Collector of that district penetrated to its inmost recess, dragged out one of its chief Poojaris, a near relative of the Peishwa's and of Nana Saheb's, and there and then hung him, "to encourage the others."

I have enlarged, and copied from "Lake's Sieges," kindly lent me by Colonel Goodfellow, commanding the engineers, a plan of this sacred fortress, illustrative of its capture by our troops under McDowall, in 1818. And it is now time to say a few words illustrative of the way in which these forts have been taken and re-taken. Fortunately, but little professional knowledge is necessary, as their fortifications are generally of the very simplest construction. Art has done little, nature much, for these Native strongholds,—so much, that, according to Lake, a maximum of pluck and luck, with a minimum of science and skill, were generally displayed in our attacks upon them. But "fortune favours the brave," and we have seldom been signally unsuccessful. Before, artillery, treachery, and starvation could alone subdue them, if the garrison were on their guard. A number of forts, however, were captured by Sivaji by surprise -(i. e. Kangooree, Toong, Teekona, Koaree, Bhoorup, Lohughur, and Rajmuchee). This was done by his men disguised as thatchers, who, with bundles of chupper on their heads, beneath which arms were concealed, obtained admittance ; and then, throwing down their burdens of grass and leaves, put the guard to the sword, and possessed themselves of these places. The escalade by night of Singhur by Tannaji Maloosre and his son, with 1000 Mawullees from Torna, is a known instance of early Mahratta courage. It is given by Grant Duff, and has been copied out of his book by Eastwick. The place where it was done is, according to tradition, in the gorge at the back of Singhur-that is, on the south-west

side, where a high wall of solid masonry now completely protects the fort from the highly improbable conjuncture of a similar attempt.

The Moguls used, chiefly, bribery and bad artillery, and once (against Ramsej, which long held out) a cavalier was erected. This was a high wooden platform, from which besiegers could fire over the walls. It did not do, however, and had to be burnt by the retreating army; to whom the garrison called out that they had better cover themselves with its ashes. Frequently, by a severe and continued fire, a fort has been made too hot to hold its garrison.

Escalading has been a favourite method, from the earliest times. The Duke of Wellington, speaking of these fortresses, says he always attempted to blow open the gates, but never succeeded; and adds "I have always taken them by escalade"; which, however, in another place, he says "is uncertain in its issue, unless the attack can be made on more points than one, at the same time, and the advance well covered by musketry, and by enfilading the parts attacked."

McDowall's party approached Trimbuk on the 15th April 1818, and, occupying the petta, found, on reconoitring, that the fort was a stupendous place, having a scarp 400 feet high, five miles round, with only two gateways,one at the south, with no road leading up to it for guns; and one on the north, so precipitous that the ascent might have seemed impossible in the face of anybody who could roll down a stone. That the enemy expected the attack from the south was plain, from the fact that the wells on the south side were poisoned. Fifty Europeans, 150 horse, and 50 sepahis guarded it, with two six-pounders, lest the garrison should escape. On the north side, a battery was erected in the night, and a few sixpounders and howitzers got ready by the morning; and soon after opening, they silenced the fort's guns, seventeen of which were in good order. A party of men were sent up, to make a rush for a ruined hamlet about 100 yards from the towers of the gate. They, however, thought it was no use waiting till all was ready to support them; and,

therefore, instead of staying quietly under cover of the ruins, had the inconceivable hardihood to try, in broad daylight, to force their way up a bluff 200 feet in perpendicular height, and through a gate in a curtain supported by two towers, at the top of it! This was too much, even for a Hindoo garrison-down came the big stones, accompanied with a sharp fire of small-arms, and cleared away the assailants with some loss; but, strange to say, the desperate courage shown, in making the attempt, so cowed the killedar, that he begged to be allowed to give in, and was graciously permitted to do so.

Thus Trimbuk fell-the strongest and most sacred fort in that country; and I confess, that when I stood last year upon the high wall surrounding the temple, and looked up at that great flight of natural steps which leads to- | wards that gate, so steep at the top that only one can move up at a time, and he must do so with both his hands as well ás his feet, I could not help feeling that THERE was enough to account for, if not to justify, English rule of India -that Englishmen could do that, and that Natives of India could not prevent them. Seventeen other forts surrendered after Trimbuk; and the whole country became ours, almost without a struggle. Lake says, that thirty fortresses, each of which with a man as its master would have defied the Anglo-Indian army, fell in a few weeks after; and this vast Mahratta Empire, which had overshadowed all the East, soon became an example of the instability of thrones, the foundations of which are not laid in the affections of the people.

Trimbukji Dainglia tried to retake the fort two months after, by the stale device of pretending religious zeal to worship the source of the Gunga; and though he managed to murder the sentry, the gate was shut; those who had got in were kept in, and the rest of the party were instantly hurried down the precipice more speedily than they had come up.

I shall close these remarks by sketching, for the sake of those of us in the habit of visiting Singhur, the siege and capture by the English of that great fortress in 1818. On the 20th February,

our troops, under Pritzler, arrived in the valley to the south of the fort, with the exception of the 2nd battalion 9th Regiment N. I., and a party of horse sent to invest it on the north. The fort is so well known that I need not describe it to this audience. The garrison was 1,200 men, who were secured from bombs, in the caverns which are still observable. On the 22nd and 23rd, batteries A and B* were constructed, and five howitzers placed in them, under cover of the rise of the hill. At night on the 23rd, a road, still existing, was made to D on the west post, and to C on the centre post. On the 24th, at night, two guns were placed, and opened from E at daybreak. The carriages having broken, were replaced, and two more six-pounders set up. Two 18-pounders during the next two days were placed at C, and two at D. These guns opened on the 28th, at 10 o'clock, as well as one more howitzer. The enemy were firing briskly all this time; but on the 1st March, at 9 o'clock, the Konkun gate being in the battered state you may now still see it in, a white flag was hoisted, negotiations commenced, and, on the 3rd, terms were finally arranged,-after we had expended 1,417 shells and 2,300 eighteenpound shot, many of which may still be seen in the fort. General Farrell, who still holds a command in this army, was, I believe, present at this siege, which seems to have been carried on slowly and scientifically enough to please the most fastidious engineer.

We naturally ask, why are these forts now of such small account, compared with what they once were? Without pretending to go into all the military questions involved in the answers, I may call attention to the pregnant words of the Great Duke, who, in 1801, in his celebrated memorandum on Seringapatam, points out both the value and valuelessness of fortresses. "In fact," he says, no fortress is an impediment to the operations of a hostile army in this country, excepting it lies immediately in the line on which the army must necessarily march; or excepting it is provided with a garrison of such strength and activity as to afford detachments to

66

* In the plan exhibited..