C H A P T E R X X X I I I
THE CAVES OF PHA-GAT
A BOLD promontory of rock with its crowning pagoda,
i l reaching far over into the territories of the river,
marks the western gateway of the Salwin at Pha-gat.
I land here and make my way past monasteries, where
scholars are at play, down a footpath sheltered by
great trees, to the entrance of the cave. The stark face
of the overhanging cliff is decorated with little images
of the Buddha, fixed very close together in successive
lines, which look like an inscription on the stone. . The
interior of the cave is dark and chaotic. Its floor, with
beams flung across its pitfalls, suggests an abandoned
mine. In the half-lit middle of the cave there is a
rough ladder, which leads to a hidden chamber in the
roof. The first part of the roof over the long entrance
hall is clean and level, save where, in places, half-
spherical domes have been carved out by the departed
sea. In these shadowy places, and especially in the
deep gloom of the cave’s interior, the bats hang like
soot. As we enter with flaming torches, myriads of
them, disturbed, wheel in circles overhead, and the
cave is filled with the humming of their wings. In
610
THE SALWIN FROM PHA-AN