of hemp, and rows of egg-plums. The bow-like
vista of water ends here in monasteries. and trees
at the foot of the hill in which the cave lies hidden.
I land and make my way through fields of purple
beans, and ground creepers, past little huts under the
drooping boughs of the wild plum, into the village.
At its far end, the “ street” tails off into a narrow
avenue, which runs
through the rice-
fields right up to
the entrance of the
cave. The cliffs
rise up abruptly
from the last furrow,
as they once
did from the sea.
At one point they
bend outwards in a
concave curve, and
here, sheltered from
rain and wind, the
strange ornamentation
of the cave
begins. Masses of rock, running parallel to the cliff’s
face, make the outer wall of the first chamber; not
strictly a cave, but a very singular and striking
spectacle. Ten thousand images of the Buddha lie
within the first sweep of the eye, from yellow-robed
figures which line the footpath, to terra-cotta plaques
fixed high on the jutting face of the cliff; from golden
614
AT TH E CAVE’S MOUTH
THE CAVE’S INTERIOR