RAYEN. The cause of ACHYUTARAYEN'S enmity against his brother-in-law, GANGARAYEN, was as follows.

It was a habit of MINATCHAM'A, ACHYUTARAYEN's wife, the sister of GANGARAYEN, to boast, in the presence of her husband, of her father's possessions; and among other things, she would talk in vaunting terms of the brass gates of her father's fort at Sivasamudram. One night in particular, as she was in bed with ACHYUTARAYFN her husband, she said to him, that she heard the sound of the brass gates of her father's fort closing. ACHYUTARAYEN, provoked at her remarks, the next morning besieged the town with all his troops. GANGARAYEN, apprehensive of a severe attack, and finding the bridges now unsafe, had them both broken down, by which means he was enabled to hold the island against the enemy for twelve long years; at the end of which time, they finding it still impregnable, bought over GANGARAYEN's confidential secretary, and through his treachery, ACHYUTARA YEN was enabled to enter the island with all his troops through a secret pass. GANGARAYEN, on discovering this treason and its fatal effects, collected the whole of his family and relations together into the castle, and entering himself last, sprung a mine which had been prepared, and with all his family was buried in the ruins. When ACHYUTARAYEN entered the city, and witnessed the dreadful scene of havoc in the palace, of which he had been the cause, he was immediately struck with remorse, and returned to his own possessions. But one of the Sardúrs, a Musselman, established himself in the island, and kept possession of it for about fifteen years; at the expiration of which time, as he was one night going through the streets of the city, he was attacked by a seven-headed cobra da capella: as soon as he saw it, he attempted to strike it, but the serpent spitting forth his venom, laid him dead upon the spot. After this, the island becoming a dependency of the Mysore territory, was scarcely inhabited, and went to utter decay. All these sovereigns were worshippers of RANGASWAMI and SOMES WARASWAMI.

Account of the Island since it came into Ramaswami's possession.

I first visited the island in the year 1805, in attendance on Colonel WILKS, then British Resident at the court of Mysore; and it was at that time the abode of tigers and other wild beasts, the jungle being almost impenetrable, and all the buildings were in a state of utter ruin.

The restoration of the island to its former sacred and charitable purposes, had long been the subject of my anxious thoughts; and accordingly, in the year 1818, I made proposals to Government, the conditions of which were, that the island of Sivasamudram being given over to me and my heirs in perpetuity, together with a tract of jungle land, purposed to be occupied by inferior castes, I undertook to clear the island of the jungle, to erect a wooden bridge on the eastern branch of the Cávert from the Coimbatoor side to the island, to build a bungalow for travellers, and to restore some of the religious edifices.

My proposals were accepted; and in the year 1819 I made preparations for these arduous undertakings. From further inquiries, and after due consideration, I was of opinion that a wooden bridge would neither be lasting nor safe; and I accordingly determined, without applying for any additional remuneration, to construct an edifice of permanent materials. The site of an old bridge was pointed out, and I resolved to erect the new one at this spot, and on the same principles of construction as the former appeared to have been.

The edifice was accordingly undertaken, and completed in the year 1821, according to a plan, a copy of which accompanies this memoir.*

The clearing of the island, and other works which I had undertaken to execute, proceeded at the same time with the construction of the bridge; and the difficulties which I had to encounter were greater and more numerous than I am able to detail. The climate of the island and surrounding country presented an obstacle hardly to be overcome; very many of the work-people, all of whom were brought from a distance, died from fever and dysentery; others were obliged, after having been attacked by sickness, to seek recovery elsewhere; and not a few deserted the works from the fear of the diseases, which they saw making such sad havoc among every description of workmen.

To all of them I had been under the necessity of making advan ces of money; and my losses from their deaths, sickness and desertion, were very great. The rates at which all my people were paid were necessarily high; and being also obliged to provide them with food, and comforts of all kinds, my disbursements were far beyond

* This will account for the want of perspective in the plates. See Plate 1.

all my previous calculations, and my trials and vexations were almost too great for endurance.

Having however undertaken the task from a sense of religious and charitable feeling, and also with a view to public utility, I persevered, and I have at length the happiness to think that I have succeeded in many of my objects, although at a pecuniary expense of a much greater extent than I could have contemplated.

The jungle has been in a great measure removed, and little is now to be apprehended from the climate of the island. The wild beasts have been driven to seek other resorts, and the present colonists of the island are healthy and cheerful. The soil of the island is bad, being rocky and full of loose stones, but cultivation is carried on to a certain extent; and although its continuance must be at much pecuniary loss to myself, it will be persevered in.

The ancient edifices of religion and charity have been rebuilt and restored, and new ones have been erected.

Hitherto the public utility of the bridge (which has been named the Rámshatuva) has been small, as it has only been used by those who came to visit the sacred and charitable establishments on the island; but the benefits which will be hereafter derived from it, when the bridge now under construction on the western branch of the Caveri shall have been completed, may be considered incalculable. By these two bridges, the communication to and from the possessions of the Honourable Company and the territories of his Highness the Rajah of Mysore will no longer be difficult; and the merchant and traveller will not hereafter be liable to the dangers which have attended the passage of the Cáverí in the unsafe basketboats, nor to the inconvenience of detention on the banks of the river, when the passage, from its extreme rapidity and great depth, could not be attempted in such a conveyance.

I had for some years been anxious to see this communication established; and when the Right Honourable the Governor last year paid the island and this part of the country a visit, I took the liberty to express my opinions and wishes to his Excellency. I was in consequence directed to submit my plans and proposals; which I accordingly did, for the consideration of the Madras Government, and of his Highness the Rajah of Mysore, in the month of September 1829.

My proposals were, that in consideration of certain additional grants of land from the Honourable Company, and from his High

ness the Rajah, and being allowed to levy certain transit duties on merchandize, being half of what is now paid to the boat people, I undertook to erect at my own expense a bridge on the western branch of the Cúverí, of the most solid materials, and as soon as might be practicable.

The new bridge which, as a tribute of gratitude and respect to the Right Honourable the Governor, I intend shall be denominated, "The LUSHINGTON Bridge," is already considerably advanced, and if nothing extraordinary occurs to retard its progress, will I hope be finished in the course of next year, or early in 1832. A plan of this bridge, shewing also the progress made in its erection, accompanies this memoir.*

It will be seen that neither the Rámashatuva Bridge, nor the one under construction, is carried in a straight line across the river. Trusting to the skill and judgment of the ancient projectors of the former bridge, I followed the site upon which it appears to have been erected, and I have every reason to be satisfied of the propriety of the resolution which I adopted. The shape is certainly not a common one, but it seems better adapted than any other to the situation. When the river is full, the great body of the water in this branch runs in the centre of the bed; to this the angle of the bridge is opposed, and the force of the stream, which is very rapid, is thereby broken.

The best proof, however, of the excellence of its form and structure is, that it has withstood the violence of repeated floods without sustaining any other than trifling damages, which were easily repaired. The original parapet of the bridge was of solid masonry; but a part of it having been carried away by a great rise of the river, the whole was taken down and replaced by a wooden railing.

The length of the Rámshatuva Bridge is one thousand feet, the breadth of the roadway thirteen feet, and the height, including thé foundation, is twenty-three feet. It is supported by four hundred pillars, which form a hundred and thirteen chesmas, and the stones forming the roadway are not let into sockets, but fastened to the pillars with iron pins and mortar.

The foundations are either cut into the solid rock, or into immense stones placed for the purpose, and in many places to the depth of five feet.

I am not prepared to state, with any thing like precision, the sum

See Plate 2.

which this bridge cost me. The other works I had undertaken were proceeding at the same time, and I have briefly alluded to the causes which rendered the expenditure of money enormous. I was afflicted, not only with mental vexations, but my bodily health also suffered severely. I had repeated attacks of fever, which obliged me to leave the island, and to commit the superintendence of the works to servants, who neither could nor would exercise that strict vigilance over the labours of the work-people, which the peculiarity of the situation required.

The bridge was valued in the year 1823, by an officer of engineers, at 60,000 rupees. I am not acquainted with the data upon which the valuation was made, but I consider it greatly lower than it ought to have been; and I conceive myself borne out in this observation, when a comparison is made between the structure at this island and the Wellesley Bridge at Seringapatam.

This last-mentioned edifice was constructed under the orders of PURNIA, the celebrated Diwán of Mysore, who had of course all the resources of that government, as well as the skilful artificers and numerous labourers of Seringapatam, at his command.

The rates of hire and the prices of materials must, therefore, have been moderate and yet it is well known that the Wellesley Bridge cost between seventy and eighty thousand Canteroy pagodas, or upwards of 2,10,000 rupees. The Wellesley Bridge is on the same principles of construction as the Rámshatuva; the former has a broader roadway, but it is not more than two-thirds of the length of the one constructed by me at this island. The highest of its pillars are from twelve to fifteen feet, while in the Rámshatuva, there are many from eighteen to twenty-one.

When the difficulties which attended the erection of the bridge at Sivasamudram are considered, with the facilities with which the Wellesley Bridge was built, I may without fear assert, that the valuation estimate of the former should have greatly exceeded the sum stated by the officer of engineers.

In concluding this memoir, I may be permitted to dwell with some degree of vanity and self-satisfaction on the works which I have already accomplished from my own resources, and without the aid of one rupee from the public. I have to reflect that I have been the means of restoring to my countrymen access to a place and its religious buildings, held sacred from time immemorial. That I have, by perseverance, rendered lands habitable which were formerly the