Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-09-03

EHET the general de saD
ton are the ruins what was oIce a great
temple. These villages are only three or
four out of hundreds to be found in the
great empire. Now and then their his
tory can be traced back to some terrible
plague which depopulated them in a
month, and again the desolaton is due
to war between tribes and factions. As
a rule, no native will approach one of
these ruins, and no attempt is ever made
to rebuild the towns. In 1868, while
was at the village of Bheeta, about thirty
miles from Garrow, the Government
sent commission of three officials to
survey and inspect the village with a
view of restoring it by offering to re-
build the temple and give free deeds to
allsettlers. l was invited by the com.
mission to go along, and this appearing
splendid opportunity for an extended
inspection of the historic ruins | gladly
accepted. Including servants there were
twelve OF us in the party. On arriving at
small village cliled Mussan, six miles
east of the village we meant to survey,
we were told Of some strange things that
had lately happened. 1t was declared
that spirits had taken possession OF the
ruins. Strange lights had been seen dit
ting about at night, and hunter whose
ardor had led him among the ruins had
heard the sound of stones being moved
and had been pelted with rocks. He
had bad brulsc on the shoulder to prove
the latter statement. While the most
intelligent natives of India are full of
superstition, the common Villagers aud
farmers are so thoroughly imbued with
it that signs and dreams guide most OF
their daily transactions. The commits,
sion was headed by an Englishman named
Grant of the civil service. The second
was Mr.. Artwell of the same branch,
and the third Mr.. Martin, who was a
civil engineer. With them, as secretary
and clerk, was a young man named
Thomasson.
Little attention was paid to the stories
of the villagers, and next day we moved
over and camDed in a grove on the
stream, about half mile above the
head of the desolated town. The site
was covered with shrubs and grass and
vines, and here and there were groves of
young trees. No tigers had been seen
in that I-aighborhood for years, but the
place looked like paradise for panthers,
wolves, hyenas and serpents. The town
had pNtpDHnl alCnu fhn e
stream for mile and half. That
evening, while we were settling down in
our new quarters, a number of stones
from some unseen assailants were sud
denly thrown with great force at one of
the natives who had strayed beyond the
limits of the camp, hitting him on the
head and rendering him insensible for
several minutes. The missiles came
from thiCkct between us and the first
ruins OF the town, and after we had
located the direction we fired volley
from our guns and put an end to the dis
turbance. The native servants were
thrown into a state of great consterna-
ton, believing and arguing that our
presence had offended the spirits keep.
ing guard over the ruins, and but for
Mr.. Grants threats the crowd would
have bolted and left US.
81 think can see into this business, :"
he explained to us after the sci wants had
quoted down. These ruins have either
been taken possession of by band of
robbers or there is party here hunting
for treasure. In either case our presence
is undesirable, and that demonstration
was to drive us away. Well try to
make it a bad job for them, whoever
they arc"
The explanation was a reasonable one,
and when | asked the gentleman if
ruin as old as this ever yielded up treas
ure, he replied:
"Bless you, yesl 1t has been my luck
to be Sin on two jobs as old as this.
If tribal war depopulated this town,
then more or less treasure was hidden
away because it could not be carried of.
If a plague appeared, then those who
hurried away thought only Of saving
their lives, and took little or nothing
with them. Somewhere in or about
that temple We are pretty sure of finding
plant worth picking up
lie was still talking when queer lights
appeared at intervals among the shrub
berry, aud strange, wild cries were
heard from amcng the ruins. The ma
tiycs fell down and covered their heads
with cloths, too frightened to even cry
out, but the Commissioner calmly con.
tinucd:
"Iou have been wondering how it
came about that such treasures were left
undisturbed so long Here is the ex-
PLANTATION at hand: Such survivors as
knew OF its existence feared to return.
No native Of India would give an Eng
lishman pointer on treasure. We have
gathered IN plenty of loot since the
mutiny, but never with their assistance
They call it robbing the dead. If the
party there are after the treasure they
belong 10 some clan up among the
mountains They rob each others ruins,
but never their own.
BY and by the lights disappeared and
silence reigred over the ruins and we
turned in again. Soon after daylight
came one Of the natives, who had now
recovered a portion OF his natural cour.
age, inspected the sbrubbcry and found
plenty of evidence that it had been oc-
cuped by men during the night. Some
Of the stones thrown at US were found
to have been freshly broken from large
blocks.
cts gang of treasure hunters for
sure, said the Commissioner after this
last proof had tcen submitted, "and it
Is quito needless to caution you that