height, is built of stones, thirty-two feet in length, and runs round a circuit of four miles.

The pagodas at Conjeveràm are magnificent specimens of art-the roof of the hall in that at Little

Conjeveràm is supported by a hundred pillars, and that at Great Conjeveràm by a thousand. Some of these columns are plain; but most of them are richly carved in bas relief, with figures of different gods, or groups of animals and human beings. Some of the pillars are cut into the shape of vases and adorned with chains or wreaths of flowers, beautifully wrought, and hanging gracefully and freely separate from the column, though carved from the same block.

The "Goprums" are peculiar to Southern India, at least in their form-they are tall oblong pyramids, composed of stages or steps ascending from each of the four sides, till they end in a high narrow ridge. The sides of these steps are often elaborately carved, and the ridge is decorated with ornaments like the crockets of Gothic architecture; and the height and solidity of the whole structure often give it an imposing appearance. These Goprums are built over gateways, sometimes only at the outer entrance, sometimes (as at Seringham) between the inner courts. At the famous pagoda at Chillumbrun there are two in one of the inner courts that stand detached from the rest of the buildings; and it is a

remarkable circumstance (occurring I believe only there) that the unoccupied space between the two is considered as the most sacred part of the whole temple, far more so even than the shrine. It seems to be a lingering ray of the long lost truth that "God is a Spirit."

The walls of a pagoda contain many other buildings besides those for ornament or for worship. The dwellings of the officiating Bramins-Choultries, sometimes very handsome, for the accommodation of pilgrims and devotees—Mandarums, or open buildings, in which the idol rests during its occasional progresses round the temple, are all to be found there, besides a large tank, on which some of their religious ceremonies are performed.

A curious appendage to some of the pagodas is a tall stone pillar, erected near the most sacred spot, with a square ornament suspended on it, almost like an English harrow, with little bells (not used) hung in the compartments; it is always so placed as to face the shrine. I have never met with any one who could explain its meaning, but you will see a representation of it in the accompanying plate, which also shows the form of the goprum, the tank, and the general appearance of a pagoda.

We have been wandering among the pagodas till we have almost forgotten our journey, and we must hasten on to Tanjore itself, the capital of the province.

As you approach the town your memory will turn to one whose name has been associated with your earliest feelings of interest in missionary labours, and it will be a pleasant thought that you are now witnessing the scenes and passing over the very ground so often traversed by the revered Schwartz. Nothing now exists to tell us where he lived or died; his grave alone remains; but as we view the black marble bull, or visit the pagoda whose spacious precincts with their solemn quietness, painfully remind us of our own cathedrals, we shall not fail to think how often his spirit must have been stirred by scenes like these.

The present line of Rajahs of Tanjore are of Mahratta origin; in 1685, the then reigning sovereign invited the Mahrattas to assist him against the power of Trichinopoly. Sevagi, the famous Mahratta chief, sent his brother Eccogi on this service, who, as usual in Eastern history, dethroned the sovereign he was sent to protect, and possessed himself of the kingdom.

The wars among the native princes in the last century, in which we were called to interfere, considerably lessened the power of Tanjore, and it afterwards became tributary to our Indian government.