The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c16.60.2

v2.c16.60.2

I shall have occasion, elsewhere to record my obligations to him for the valuable assistance—most cheerfully and promptly rendered—often under very trying circumstances—while labouring under ill-health, or overwhelmed with official work—for which I feel deeply grateful to him. His pupils also prepared a series of costs of the sculptures of Bhuvaneśvara, which have been of much service to me in getting up some of the illustrations of the first volume. They have been as faithfully executed as the Udaygiri series and are of equal value to the antiquarian, as they help very materially in determining the true position of Hindu architecture as a fine-art. Mr. Fergusson, in his “Rude Stone Monuments,” speaks very disparagingly of these casts. He says, “In 1869, the Government sent an expedition to Cuttack of draftsmen, photographers, &c., but they knew so little what was wanted, and they wasted their time and money in casting minarets and sculptures of no beauty or interest, and having earned their pay, returned *re infecta*”. As one of the party who had for some days the direction of the works, though I drew no pay, I feel it my duty to repudiate the charge as utterly groundless. The draftsmen and photographers could not waste their time “in casting minarets,” even if they had wished to do so, because they could not cast;