The western corner of the cliff beyond the large idol, is much destroyed; on this, the force of the current would have acted:  a breakwater occurring along the returning face.

The caves are very numerous, but are confined chiefly towards the base of the cliffs, not scattered over them as I believe Burnes represents.  These are of no size, finish, or elegance, and it is only their number, and the extreme obscurity of their history, that makes them interesting; the roofs are usually arched, and the walls are often supplied with niches, and covered with a coating of tar of some thickness, and intense blackness.  The galleries are low, arched, and admit one person at a time, or a line of persons with ease; they often form the ascent to the upper caves now inhabited, but originally they were enclosed in the rock, they are defended in such cases by a parapet.

The largest caves are those about the idols, but I see none of any size.  They are often domed, the spring of the dome is ornamented with a projecting frieze, some of these are parallelogramic, in one instance with an ornamented border thus.

[Part of a frieze in caves near Bamean:  m402.jpg]

Some of the caves are situated as high as, or even above the tops of the idols; all parts within the rock are lighted by small apertures.

Access to the large idol is destroyed; the smaller one is gained by a spiral staircase of rude construction, and by galleries.  The floor of the galleries is rugged, the steps and the cement of the conglomerate having worn out from between the masses of rock.  The images all occupy niches in the face of the hill:  two are gigantic, the rest not very large.  They are generally in the usual sitting posture, and rather high up, while the larger ones are erect, and reach the base of the cliffy portion of the rock.  They are all male, and all obviously Boodhistical; witness the breadth, proportion, and shape of the head, and the drapery; both are damaged, but the smaller is the more perfect, the face of the large one being removed above the lower lip; the arms are broken off, showing they were occupied by galleries.  The drapery is composed of plaster, and was fixed on by bolts which have fallen out, leaving the holes.  The arms in the smaller one are supported by the falling drapery.  The height of the large image in the niche is 135 feet.

The pictures are much damaged, the plaster on which they were painted being mostly very deficient, all the faces are damaged by bullets or other missiles:  their execution is indifferent, not superior to modern Burmese paintings; the colours however are good, the figures are either grouped or single, and one is in the style of the time of Henry VIII, with a hat and plume, others represent groups flying—­one a golden bird, another a man with a hemispherical helmet, all are much damaged.  The hair in some is dressed as in the modern Burmese top-knot, often surrounded by a circle.