colossi, twice the height of Goliath, to miniature figures
fit for a penwiper. A great stalagmite, rising up from
the floor to near the brow of the overhanging cliff,
is completely covered with small images o f the Buddha
enthroned, and its summit is crowned by a small
pagoda.
Imposing as is this spectacle, it shrinks to insignificance
when compared with the scene which opens on
entering the cavern itself. In the words of a bygone
BUFFALOES
traveller: “ It is of vast size, chiefly in one apartment,
which needs no human art to render it sublime. The
eye is confused, and the heart appalled. . . . Everywhere,
on the floor, overhead, on the jutting points,
and on the stalactite festoons of the roof, are crowded
together images of Gautama—the offerings of successive
ages. Some are perfectly gilded ; others encrusted with
calcareous matter; some fallen, yet sound ; others
mouldered; others just erected. Some of these are of
stupendous size; some not larger than one’s firtger; and
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