1616.—Diogo de Couto devotes a chapter of 11 pp. to his detailed account "do muito notavel e espantoso Pagode do Elefante." We extract a few paragraphs:
"This notable and above all others astonishing Pagoda of the Elephant stands on a small islet, less than half a league in compass, which is formed by the river of Bombain, where it is about to discharge itself southward into the sea. It is so called because of a great elephant of stone, which one sees in entering the river. They say that it was made by the orders of a heathen king called Banasur, who ruled the whole country inland from the Ganges.... On the left side of this chapel is a doorway 6 palms in depth and 5 in width, by which one enters a chamber which is nearly square and very dark, so that there is nothing to be seen there; and with this ends the fabric of this great pagoda. It has been in many parts demolished; and what the soldiers have left is so maltreated that it is grievous to see destroyed in such fashion one of the Wonders of the World. It is now 50 years since I went to see this marvellous Pagoda; and as I did not then visit it with such curiosity as I should now feel in doing so, I failed to remark many particulars which exist no longer. But I do remember me to have seen a certain Chapel, not to be seen now, open on the whole façade (which was more than 40 feet in length), and which along the rock formed a plinth the whole length of the edifice, fashioned like our altars both as to breadth and height; and on this plinth were many remarkable things to be seen. Among others I remember to have noticed the story of Queen Pasiphae and the bull; also the Angel with naked sword thrusting forth from below a tree two beautiful figures of a man and a woman, who were naked, as the Holy Scripture paints for us the appearance of our first parents Adam and Eve."—Couto, Dec. VII. liv. iii. cap. xi.
1644.—"... an islet which they call Ilheo do Ellefanté.... In the highest part of this Islet is an eminence on which there is a mast from which a flag is unfurled when there are prows (paros) about, as often happens, to warn the small unarmed vessels to look out.... There is on this island a pagoda called that of the Elephant, a work of extraordinary magnitude, being cut out of the solid rock," &c.—Bocarro, MS.
1673.—"... We steered by the south side of the Bay, purposely to touch at Elephanto, so called from a monstrous Elephant cut out of the main Rock, bearing a young one on its Back; not far from it the Effigies of a Horse stuck up to the Belly in the Earth in the Valley; from thence we clambered up the highest Mountain on the Island, on whose summit was a miraculous Piece hewed out of solid Stone: It is supported with 42 Corinthian Pillars," &c.—Fryer, 75.
1690.—"At 3 Leagues distance from Bombay is a small Island called Elephanta, from the Statue of an Elephant cut in Stone.... Here likewise are the just dimensions of a Horse Carved in Stone, so lively ... that many have rather Fancyed it, at a distance, a living Animal.... But that which adds the most Remarkable Character to this Island, is the fam'd Pagode at the top of it; so much spoke of by the Portuguese, and at present admir'd by the present Queen Dowager, that she cannot think any one has seen this part of India, who comes not Freighted home with some Account of it."—Ovington, 158-9.
1712.—"The island of Elephanta ... takes its name from an elephant in stone, with another on its back, which stands on a small hill, and serves as a sea mark.... As they advanced towards the pagoda through a smooth narrow pass cut in the rock, they observed another hewn figure which was called Alexander's horse."—From an account written by Captain Pyke, on board the Stringer East Indiaman, and illd. by drawings. Read by A. Dalrymple to the Soc. of Antiquaries, 10th Feb. 1780, and pubd. in Archaeologia, vii. 323 seqq. One of the plates (xxi.) shows the elephant having on its back distinctly a small elephant, whose proboscis comes down into contact with the head of the large one.
1727.—"A league from thence is another larger, called Elephanto, belonging to the Portugueze, and serves only to feed some Cattle. I believe it took its name from an Elephant carved out of a great black Stone, about Seven Foot in Height."—A. Hamilton, i. 240; [ed. 1744, i. 241].
1760.—"Le lendemain, 7 Decembre, des que le jour parut, je me transportai au bas de la seconde montagne, en face de Bombaye, dans un coin de l'Isle, où est l'Elephant qui a fait donner à Galipouri le nom d'Elephante. L'animal est de grandeur naturelle, d'une pierre noire, et detachée du sol, et paroit porter son petit sur son dos."—Anquetil du Perron, I. ccccxxiii.
1761.—"... The work I mention is an artificial cave cut out of a solid Rock, and decorated with a number of pillars, and gigantic statues, some of which discover ye work of a skilful artist; and I am inform'd by an acquaintance who is well read in ye antient history, and has minutely considered ye figures, that it appears to be ye work of King Sesostris after his Indian Expedition."—MS. Letter of James Rennell.
1764.—"Plusieurs Voyageurs font bien mention du vieux temple Payen sur la petite Isle Elephanta près de Bombay, mais ils n'en parlent qu'en passant. Je le trouvois si curieux et si digne de l'attention des Amateurs d'Antiquités, que j'y fis trois fois le Voyage, et que j'y dessinois tout ce que s'y trouve de plus remarquable...."—Carsten Niebuhr, Voyaye, ii. 25.