SOME SKETCHES OF THE SOUTH 59

have been if the five hundred, mile long river had not
enriched the soil with its waters; why do the peasants, in
spite of all these rich crops and lands, give an impression
more of poverty than of contentment and happiness;

what would the towns have been if, through the
centuries, the ancestors of these peasants had not
cultivated the earth and contributed to their -wealth and
their temples of antiquity........

O'er the hills that rise above the plains of Madura,
over the mountains on whose heights and slopes are
forests of teak and other timber; plantations of tapieca
bananas, pine-apples and wild flowers, and plams and
verdant trees; o'er these hills and beyond is the
territory of the kings—vassals of Sri Padmanabha—the
Vanchidasas of Travancore.

Long before engineers laid the winding railroads
uphill, down dale, and through tunnels, pilgrims from
the farthest north, too, trod their weary mountain road
to reach the land famed for its temple where the
preserver of the Hindu Pantheon, Vishnu, chose to rest
on his mighty serpent, Ananta. In Trivandrnm, today,
stands the renowned shrine of Padmanabha, The
sculptors who carved this idol must have been master
craftsmen; for in its presence, the mind is calm and the
reposanfc attitude of Padmanabha inspires peace.

As the eye takes in the beauty of the landscapes of
Travancore—the red earth, the hills and the verdant
trees, the backwaters that reflect the glory of the setting
sun—a thought crosses the mind, and it is a question;

was it the beauty of this land that tempted even a
god to recline and weave the garland of repose ?