almost out of the water; but whether they were attracted by the fresh
supply of water or the sacred images covered as they were with votive
offerings of milk and rice, flowers, &c., the fish or the Brahmins
alone can tell.

Tradition states that an infidel Christian officer once killed three of
these fish, and having eaten one of them, died shortly after. Putting
their sanctity out of the question, however, the little creatures
are so tame and so numerous that few people would be inclined either
to kill or to eat them. While feeding them with bread, I could have
caught any number with my hand; and holding a piece of tough crust
under water, it was amusing to feel them tugging and hauling at it,
making occasional snaps at one's fingers in their efforts. They were
generally about half a pound in weight.

Our baraduree was built of wood, in the usual style, with latticed
windows of various designs, and having one room overhanging the
stream which ran through the centre of the house from the sacred
tanks. Directly below the place we occupied was a little waterfall,
which conversed pleasantly day and night; and by taking-up a loose
plank in the floor we could see as well as hear it. Learning that
there were some ruins in the neighbourhood, supposed to have existed
from before the birth of our Saviour, we started in the afternoon for
a place called Bowun, or more popularly Mutton, about two and a half
kos off.

The sun to-day we found very hot in this same valley of coolness,
its rays coming down on the backs of our heads in a very searching
and inquisitive manner. Along the entire path there were running
streams in every direction: and what with these and the magnificent