Star.
London, England, 1824-05-21 00:00:00

CORN-EXCHANGE, MARK-LANE, MAY 21.

The arrivals of this week are—Wheat, 2,600 quarters ; Barley.
800 qrs. Oats, 2,950 qrs. Irish Oats, 760 qrs. Flour, 3,050 .0. as.
These quantities are small, but several more vessels with Nithecf.
Barley, and Oats, are fresh up this morning. Fine dry Wheat sells
well at about the same terms as last quoted, but scarcely any busi-
ness is doing in other qualities. There is hardly any trade for Bar-
ley at present. Brans obt4in rather higher prices. Peas have no
further alteration. Oats find buyers readily at Is. per quarter ad-
vance on the 'emu, of last Alitisklay.
London Averages for the week erded May 15.—Wheat, 4,711
quarters, at 6.55. 2d. Barlev, 3.074 qrs. at 365. 9d. Oats, 9,041
qrs. 375. 7d.
qrs. at 275. sd. Beans,l,o4o qrs. At .36! 256

smatiFIELD MARKET, MAY 21.
ibis mu:ning's Market was the fullest we have seen for a length
of time on Fridays, in consequence of which the prices of all de-
scription, of Cattle are lower that: nn last market day: Prime
Oxen and good Lamb were in demand.
Beef, per srotie of sibs. 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. Mutton, ss. 6d. to
4s. 6d. Veal, 4s. 6d. to ss. 6d. Lamb, 51. 6d. to 6s. 64.

Conversations on the Bible. By a Lady. 12mo. pp. 444
The authoress has been at considerable pains to con-
dense into a small compass the historical contents of
the Sacred Volume. The manner adopted is that of
conversation, and the dialogue is very appropriate. As
a whole, the performance is respectable, and calculated
to be useful, in communicating not merely to young
people, but to many adults who are shamefully igno-
rant, a more connected view than they have yet ob-
tained of the important events recorded in the Bible.
The Wonders of Elora ; or, The Narrative of a Journey
to the Temples and Dwellings excavated out of a
Mountain of Granite, and extending upwards of a
mile and a quarter. at Elora, in the East Indies, 4t.
Jrc..tc. By Capt. J. B. Seely. Bvo. pp. 559.
May not the Reader expect wondets in a volume with
such a title? He will not here be disappointed. Elora
does indeed present wonders, and Capt. Seely describes
them with a feeling and warmth that carries the Reader
along with him in his detail. In the opinion of our
Author—and our Readers will probably be of the same
mind when they have heard him—" no monuments of
antiquity in the known world are comparable to the
Caves of Elora, whether we consider their unknown
origin, their stupendous size, the beauty of their archi-
tectural ornaments, or the vast number of statues and
emblems, all hewn and fashioned out of the solid

rock I
" On a close approach to the temples, the eye and
imagination are bewildered with the variety of interest-
ing objects that present themselves on every side. The
feelings are interested to a degree of awe, wonder, and
delight, that at first is painful, and it is a long time be-
fore they become sufficiently sobered and calm to con-
template, with any attention, the Surrounding wonders.
The death-like stillness of the place, the solitude of the
adjoining plains, the romantic beauty of the country,
and the mountain itself, perforated in every part, all
tend to impress the mind of the stranger with feelings
quite new, and far different from those felt in viewing
magnificent edifices amidst the busy haunts of man.
Everything here invites the mind to contemplation, and
every surrounding object reminds it of a remote period,
and a mighty people, who were in a vale of high civi-
lization, whilst the natives of our own land were bar-
barians, living in woods and wilds •
"Conceive the burst of surprise at suddenly coming
upon a stupendous temple, within a large open court,
hewn out of the solid rock, with all its parts perfect
and beautiful, standing proudly alone upon its native
bed, and detached from the nei..;hbouring mountain by
a spacious al ea all round, nearly 250 feet deep, and 150
feet broad : this unrivalled fane rearing its rocky head
to a height of nearly 100 feet—its length about 145
feet by o'2 broad—having well-formed door-ways, win-
dows, staircases to its upper floor, containing fine large
rooms of a smooth and polished surface, regularly di-
vided by rows of pillars ; the whole bulk of this im-
mense block of isolated excavation being upwards of
500 feet in circumference, and, extraordinary as it may
appear, having beyond its areas three handsome figure
galleries, or virandas, supported by regular pillars, with
compartments hewn out of the boundary sem p, contain-
ing 42 curious gigantic figures of the Ilindoo mytho-
logy—the whole three galleries in continuity. enclosing
the areas, ant occupying the almost incredible space of
nearly 420 feet of excavated rock; being, upon the ave-
rage, about 13 feet 2 inches broad all round, and in
height 14 feet and a half; while, positively, above these
again are excavated fine large rooms. Within the court,
and opposite these galleries, or virandas, stands Keylas
the proud, wonderfully towering in hoary majesty—a
mighty fabric of rock, surpassed by no relic of anti-
quity in the known world.
" This brief outline will impart to the reader some
idea of the Wonders of Elora ! and if these temples do
not excite in the mind emotions of astonishment and
delight, I have quite misunderstood my own feelings.
To -build the Pantheon, the Parthenon at Athens, St.
Peter's at Rome, our own St. Paul's or a Fenthill Abbey,
is a ta'.k of science and labour ; but we understand how
it is done, how it proceeds, and how it is finished: but
to conceive for a moment a body of men, however nu-
merous,. with a spirit however invincible, and resources
however great, attack a solid mountain of rock, in most
parts 100 feet high, and excavating by the -slow pro-
cess of the chisel, a temple like the one I have faintly
described, with its galleries, or Pantheon—its vast area,
ani indescribable mass of sculpture and carving in end-
less profusion—the work appears beyond belief, and the
mind is bewildered in amazement.
" I think the caverned temples of Elora far surpass,
in labour, design, &c. any of the ancient buildings that
have impressed our minds with admiration; nor do I
think they yield the palm of superiority to anything we
are told of in Egypt
" Nothing can be more romantic or interesting than
the view down the great hall, or into the large rooms, ex-
cavated in the northern and southern sides of the moun-
tain facing you; or, if you wish to quit this gloomy gran-
deur, only cross the bridges through the small rooms,
to the balcony over the gateway, and there is the open
country, with beautiful nature robed in all the luxu-
riance and richness of oriental verdure
" The principal figures, in point of rank, in the great
hall, are easily recognised. Lakshmi (the wife of
Vishnu, a god of the Hindoo triad); she presides over
marriages and prosperity. My Brahman called the next
figure represented Raj Janekas, a famous hero of old,
who had the good fortune to be succoured by the god-
dess Site, when an infant, being found in a box in a field.
Another is the figure of Guttordass ; but some of the
Brahmans, who were present at the time, called him
Raj Booj. These are larger than life, and are well exe-
cuted. The two warlike brothers, Pundoo and Couroo,
are displayed here ; their feats are fully described in the
Iloly War in the Mhalibarit (or Mahabarat), and fully
detailed in the epic poem of that name. As their deeds of
prowess are truly miraculous, and as the five brothers
will more than once appear in exploring the temples
here, I shall offer no apology for at once introducing
them to notice, more especially as the Hindoos, high
and low, learned and unlearned, of ancient and modern
times, attribute the whole of the temples, both here
and at Karli, to the labours of the Pandoos—that they
were constructed by them by means of the heavenly in-
fluence and the supernatural powers they possessed.
FABULOUS HISTORY OF ELORA, OR YEROOLA.
" Dhrutarass, a blind and holy man, much favoured
by Brahma, had a son called Couroo, and a brother
named Pundoo, or Pandoo: it was so ordered, that the
uncle and nephew were to govern the world; but it

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