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THE CAVES OF ELLORA AND KARLI
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forms of wooden construction. The Dehwarra, adjoining the Carpenter's Cave, measures one hundred and ten by seventy feet, two rows of massive rock pillars joining the floor and roof. In the Jain caves beyond, cross-legged tirthankars sit in meditation in carved cells, archaic prototypes of the fairy marble alcoves on Mount Abu.

Sated with wonders, we were carried up the steep hill to the Nizam's dak bangla, where brass bedsteads with wire springs and double hair mattresses were as great a surprise as the architectural wonders that had stunned us. With great consideration, we omitted from the khansamah's menu all dishes requiring long preparation, in order that we might dine as soon as possible and go to those mattresses the earlier. At the end of two hours of calling and waiting on the "Very well, madam," we crossed the dark lawn to the cook-house door to make a final demand for food of some kind. White figures and turbans flitted about in the lighted interior, making an admirable picture within the frame of the door, and we stood in darkness, silently appreciating it, and wondering if it would be attainable by kodak in daylight. We saw the cook strain the soup into the tureen through the end of the dish-cloth he had used and flung on his arm while we watched, and then we cried aloud. Cook, khansamah, and bearer all leaped aside, soup and dish-rag dropped to the floor, and they retreated to far corners of the cook-house mumbling and wailing: "Oh, memsahib! Please, memsahib!" etc. I had long revolted at the taste and smell of the ordinary