THE BRITISH CRITIC, For MARCH, 1805. Χαίροιτε δὲ Μοῦσαι, Ye kindred Muses hail! ART. I. Oriental Scenery, confifting of Three Volumes of Views in Hindoftan, containing each Twenty-Four Views. 4. Antiquities of India, containing Twelve Views. 5. Hindoo Excavations in the Mountain of Ellora, near Aurungabad, in the Decan; twenty-Four Views. All drawn, engraved, and coloured, by, or under the immediate Direction of, Thomas Daniell. Atlas Folio. 120 Guineas; the separate Sets in Proportion. Completed in 1804. THOUGH these magnificent works have no immediate claim upon the attention of a literary critic, having no letter-prefs but what confifts of a fhort defcription of each fubject, yet is their collateral connection with hiftory, antiquities, and the arts fo very ftrong, that they ought by no means to be paffed in filence. They offer alfo, in themselves, fo fplendid a monument of British art, induftry, and laudable research, that few productions can have so just a demand upon the liberal critic, for all the aid that can be given by his notice, and public commendation. In no other work can be feen fo fplendid a variety of fpecimens of Oriental architecture, of many different ages, extending even to thofe ftupendous excayations, the exact age of which is unknown; and the flyle -and ornaments of which differ in many respects from any thing R BRIT. CRIT. VOL. XXV. MARCH, 1805. that that our previous knowledge had taught us at all to expect. Our plan will be to mention a few of the moft remarkable objefts in each volume, faying generally, that the whole is, to our tafte and apprehenfion, as beautiful in execution, as it is poffible for any views to be, which are not entirely drawings. The union of engraving with colouring cannot, we conceive, certainly will not eafily, be carried to higher excellence. 1. Architects must give us one or two new codes of their fcience, before we can reduce to any exact clafs, many of the very magnificent buildings which are reprefented in thefe works. They often bear a ftrong refemblance to that which is here popularly called the Gothic, having the pointed arch, the tall clustered column, and many other features esteemed characteristic of that ftyle. Thefe, however, are mixed with va rious other parts peculiar to the Oriental flyle, which, by the breadtly and boldnefs of their arches and projections, produce a grandeur of effect not often attained by architects of any climate. The arch and the steps in the very first plate, reprefenting the eastern gate of the Jumma Musjed at Delhi*, a principal place of Mohammedan worship, afford inftances of these characters. Nothing more peculiar and extraordinary can be feen than the Hindoo temples in the fecond plate, but these are devoid of any beauty, except what refults from the execution of the fmall ornaments. The magnificence of the Emperor Akbar is beautifully exemplified in No. 6, 8, and 9, of this volume. Nothing can be more bold than fome of the effects produced by thefe parts of his palace, while, at the fame time, the richness and beauty of their ornaments is in the highest degree extraordinary. The fingular property of the Banyan tree, called by the natives Bhur, of forming a variety of new ftems by fhoots defcending from its branches, has been remarked by many writers and travellers; but no where have we feen it fo well represented as in two of these plates, the 15th and the 19th. The former of thefe exhibits one which is at Gyah, in the province of Bahar, and is efteemed peculiarly facred. The account of it here given, though short, is well worthy of being transcribed. "It is a fpecies of the fig, and bears a fmall red fruit. In every village they are to be met with. Small temples are usually built under them, where frequently may be observed fragments of mutilated idols, the work of Mahommedan intolerance, which are again often collected by the patient Hindoos, and, though defaced, are ftill regarded with veneration. This tree, the Brahmins affure the people, * Or Friday's Mofque. proceeds proceeds from another more facred one, which is growing within a very ancient temple, under ground, in the fort of Allahabad; and, notwithstanding the distance is not lefs than two hundred miles, the ftory obtains an eafy belief from credulous devotees, who cheerfully pay the facred fee that admits them to a ceremonial adoration of it. Gyah is near three hundred miles N. W. from Calcutta." Pl. 15. We shall mention nothing more in this volume, though much might properly be mentioned, except the 23d and 24th plates. The former reprefents a mofque built by the Emperor Shah-Jehan, which, befides the fingularity of its architecture, has the dazzling ornament of white Cafhmerian marble mixed with a red ftone procured from the neighbourhood of Delhi: the latter is a gate at Chunar Gur, leading to a Musjed or Mofque: of which the artist most properly says, "the effect of this gate, at a distance, is grand, from the bold projection of its fuperior parts; and its ornaments, though numerous, are applied with fo much art and discretion, as to form the happiest union of beauty and grandeur." II. This volume opens with four views of modern Calcutta, and its vicinity; lefs curious and interefting to the antiquary than the other clafs of views, but attractive enough to many individuals, who may wish to know the ftyle in which their countrymen have decorated their Indian capital. Some views at or near Madras are of a fimilar description; but, among these, No. 7, is remarkable for reprefenting, "a part of the Madras roads; and, in the fore-ground, the fea breaking in with its ufual turbulency on this coaft". It gives alfo a view of "the only boats in ufe for paffing through this furge, to communicate with the fhipping, which are called Mafoola Boats. They are flat-bottomed, and built without iron, the planks being fewed together with line made from the outercoat of the cocoa-nut.' At No. 13, we return to antiquities, and have to observe "the Palace of Madura, faid to be principally the work of Tremal Naig-an Hindoo prince of confiderable power and wealth, as appears by the many edifices attributed to him in this neighbourhood. In this building appears a great mixture of the Hindoo aud Mohammedan ftyles of architecture, a circumftance not fo frequently occurring in this part of India, as on the banks of the Ganges. Madura is in lat. 9° 50' north, long. 78° 10' east. About 307 miles from Madras." An interior view of the fame Rajah's palace at Madura, (No. 15) is remarkable for its stone roof, in a ftyle approaching to Gothic, but fufficiently diftinct from it. "The materials" fays the artist," are entirely of flone, not very fmoothly wrought; but from feveral parts ftill remaining, the interior R 2 furface furface was certainly covered with chunam, or ftucco, and richly painted with various colours". The next view is an Hindoo temple, in the unmixed and very curious ftyle of that architecture. The age of the building is uncertain; and the publisher laments his inability, on many occafions, to give the dates of buildings apparently ancient; but hopes, very fenfibly," that his filence will be accepted in preference to conjectures unfupported by facts". We have no kind of hefitation in preferring this modeft filence to all the ambition and fallacy of hypothefis*. No. 18 reprefents a building which, to an European eye, muft appear very highly extraordinary. It is a Choultry, or place of accommodation for pilgrims and travellers, built by the Rajah already mentioned, Tremal Naig. Its dimenfions are prodigious, and the sculpture with which it is adorned is no lefs extraordinary. "Its general form is that of a parallelogram, 312 feet in length by 125 feet in width; and confifts of one large hall, the ceiling of which is fupported by 6 ranges of columns, about 25 feet in height, many of them formed of fingle ftones, and the whole compofed of grey granite. The view contains half the centre ile. On the fecond pillar to the right hand is the effigy of the Rajah, with three of his wives, to whom, for his munificence, the Hindoos ftill continue to pay divine honours. Beyond the Rajah, and on the pillars oppofite to him, are other ftatues, reprefenting his family. In the ceiling the 12 figns of the zodiac, and a number of mythological figures, carved in baffo relievo, are interfperfed throughout the building, which, together with a profufion of other decorations, are executed with an uncommon degree of skill and attention. The Choultry", the publisher adds, is an edifice which, in the Decan, is always found attached to Hindon temples, and appropriated to the use of the religious; they are likewife erected on the public roads, for the accommodation of travellers." The great Bull at Tanjore deferves attention. It is an idol formed of a fingle block of flone, 16 feet 2 inches in length, by 12 feet 6 inches in height; and reprefents a bull couched, with his legs bent under him. The tone being of a kind not to be met with but at a confiderable distance from Tanjore, the natives are inclined to afcribe its fituation there to miraculous means. The time of its conftruction is unknown. III. This volume reprefents objects chiefly fimilar to thofe already defcribed; but among them must be diftinguished a Mofque at Guanpore," in a very fingular, as well as ancient, * See a fill greater Pagoda at No. 24. flyle flyle of building. The Minars are united by the lofty pointed arch, over which, on the infide, there is a terraced platform, for the convenience of the crier, to walk when engaged in calling the Muffulmen to prayers". Many of the plates in this volume give most beautiful views of the general features of the country; Hill-forts, Jungles, &c, The view of Gyah, pl. 15, is peculiarly pleafing. IV. The twelve views in this volume offer to infpection many excavated temples, fome on the coaft of Coromandel, and fome near Bombay; including the entrance, and other parts of the celebrated excavations at Salfette, called by Europeans the Caves of Elephanta. All these are extraordinary, and particularly the twelfth, which shows the interior of an excavated temple on the island of Salfette, with a vaulted ceiling, octangular pillars, and a coloffal idol, 23 feet high, and 49 in circumference; besides many ornaments, compofed of elephants, horfes, and human figures. But thefe works, great as they are, muft nevertheless be eclipfed by the aftonishing extent and magnificence of thofe reprefented in the laft volume. v. The twenty-four plates of this concluding volume may be confidered as prefenting to the eye of the curious the most extraordinary objects, and to the research of the learned, one of the most interefting fubjects that has ever been difcovered, even in that region of wonders Hindoftan. These are the excavations at Ellora. Every thing here is furprifing; and the whole may be confidered as a modern difcovery, to Eu ropeans at least; the first particular account of which appeared in the fixth volume of the Afatic Researches. We shall give a part of the general description, in the words of the editor. "Ellora is an ancient town of the Hindoos, diftant from Aprungabad, in a north-west direction, about 18 miles, and from Bombay, nearly caft, about 230. The mountain in which these extraordinary efforts of human labour, accompanied by a very confiderable degree of fkill, are found, is about a mile westward of the town of Ellora, of a femicircular form. The antiquity of thefe excavations, which unquestionably must be very great, is quite out of the reach of enquiry; the ufe of the greater number of them has evidently been for religious purpofes. Many of the ftatues, basso relievos, capitals of the pillars, and other decorative parts, are executed in a very good style. The rock in which they are wrought is hard red granite; much of the fculpture is by time decayed, and many parts have by defign been mutilated, fome of which have been repaired, though very clumsily. Several of the temples have been painted of various colours; and their ceilings, which have had fuitable decorations, are now generally become fo black, with the fmoke from fires which of late years have been made in them, that scarcely any defign can, but in a few places, be traced. The drawings, from which this feries of views is engraved, were pre fented |