DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12673#0031
14 GOA AND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.
" lions," such as Severndroog " the Golden Fortress,"
Rutnageree " the Hill of Jewels," and the Burnt
Islands,* or Vingorla Rocks. The voyage, therefore,
will be an uninteresting one—though at this season
of the year, early spring, it will not be tedious.
The ancient Hindoos have a curious tradition
concerning the formation and population of this
coast. They believe that Parasu Rama, one of
their demigods, after rilling the earth with the blood
of the offending Kshatriya, or regal and military
caste, wished to perform an expiatory sacrifice.
As, however, no Brahmin would attend, his demi-
godship found himself in rather an awkward pre-
dicament. At length, when sitting on the mountains
of Concan (i.e. the Sayhadree Range, or Western
Ghauts), he espied on the shore below, the putrefied
corpses of fourteen Mlenchhas (any people not
Hindoos), which had floated there borne by the
* They He in lat. 15° 52' 30", about thirty-five miles from
Goa, and seven off the shore, from which they are separated
by a deep channel. The group consists of more than twenty
small rocks, amongst which are six or seven about as large as
the Sirens Isles in the Gulf of Salerno. The Greeks called
them IrjaEKpeuvat, which Mr. Hamilton understands to signify
" black rabbits;" and Vincent supposes them to have been
so termed, because in form they may be fancied to resemble
those animals crouching.
" lions," such as Severndroog " the Golden Fortress,"
Rutnageree " the Hill of Jewels," and the Burnt
Islands,* or Vingorla Rocks. The voyage, therefore,
will be an uninteresting one—though at this season
of the year, early spring, it will not be tedious.
The ancient Hindoos have a curious tradition
concerning the formation and population of this
coast. They believe that Parasu Rama, one of
their demigods, after rilling the earth with the blood
of the offending Kshatriya, or regal and military
caste, wished to perform an expiatory sacrifice.
As, however, no Brahmin would attend, his demi-
godship found himself in rather an awkward pre-
dicament. At length, when sitting on the mountains
of Concan (i.e. the Sayhadree Range, or Western
Ghauts), he espied on the shore below, the putrefied
corpses of fourteen Mlenchhas (any people not
Hindoos), which had floated there borne by the
* They He in lat. 15° 52' 30", about thirty-five miles from
Goa, and seven off the shore, from which they are separated
by a deep channel. The group consists of more than twenty
small rocks, amongst which are six or seven about as large as
the Sirens Isles in the Gulf of Salerno. The Greeks called
them IrjaEKpeuvat, which Mr. Hamilton understands to signify
" black rabbits;" and Vincent supposes them to have been
so termed, because in form they may be fancied to resemble
those animals crouching.