The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.42.4

v1.c9.42.4

A monkey has got his tail caught in the fork of a branch, and is hanging down in pain, while another with an anxious look is coming forward to release him. One is happy, having mounted on the back of a crocodile, which is darting forward to escape from the unusual load. This frightens two juveniles, one of which is climbing up a branch in great haste, while the other, having got to a safe distance, is grinning at the sight of the fun. In a third group there is a domestic scene. Mater familias is seated at her ease with a young hopeful in her lap, while one kind neighbour is busy picking out lice from her head, and another is occupied in the, to her delightful, task of eating them. In a fourth group a crocodile has caught a monkey by the tail which wriggles in great pain, while some good-natured companions crowd around, anxious, but unable, to help it. Altogether there are about two dozen groups of this kind, some including deer, elephants and other animals and they have been designed and executed with a degree of skill, vigour, and fanciful spirit that makes them look more like the work of a modern French caricaturist than that of an old Uriyā of the 7th or 8th century. The original has suffered much from long exposure, and my sketch of it is an exact fascimile taken with a *camera lucida*, and must therefore appear rough ;