As the Greeks and Romans employed for this purpose the god Terminus, the Indians use their deity _Gannesha_, who by the common people, not well acquainted with the Samscred language, is called _Poleyar_. This god has the head and trunk of an elephant, four hands, the body and legs of a man; and is represented sitting cross-legged, according to the manner of the Chinese and Indians. On some monuments he is represented with a semicircle or half-moon around his head, holding in one hand an iron style, which the Indians use for writing on palm leaves, and in the other a palm leaf, or perhaps a bundle of such leaves, covered with writing. On other monuments he has in one hand a pomegranate, or a key in the form of a hook, like those used in the early ages, when doors had no iron-work, and were shut only by a wooden bar on the inside. Instead of the _Vahana_, or riding-animal, he has always under him a mouse, which is held in the utmost abhorrence by the elephant. This mouse, according to the Indians, represents the wicked demon, the enemy of wisdom, or, in other words, the devil. Indian women, who are married, wear an image of this deity, which they call _Taly_, suspended from their neck by a string. It supplies the place of a love-pledge, and serves as a token of their chastity and conjugal fidelity. The literati honour this deity as their protector; and salute him always at the beginning of their writings with the words _Namà Guru_, Adoration to the Lord; or _Sal Gurve Namà_, Adoration to the true Lord; or _Gannabadàye Namà_, Adoration to _Gannabadi_ the Lord. They are accustomed also to paint the elephant’s trunk of _Gannesha_ before the first line of their letters, as a symbol of wisdom and prudence.