XXI AUSTRALIAN AND POLYNESIAN RACES 477 



alist, who visited Cambodia in 1858 and died there in 1861. 

 His plans, sketches, and descriptions of them were, however, 

 published in France, and an English translation in 1864. 

 Later on Mr. J. Thomson photographed some of the ruins, 

 and the more important of these were engraved in Fer- 

 guson's " History of Architecture," one of the fragments of 

 the great temple in the deserted city of Ankhor-Thom being 

 here reproduced. (Fig. 77) It was not, however, till 

 Garnier and Delaporte made their careful explorations, the 

 results of which were published in Paris in 1873 and 

 1880, that we obtained any adequate idea of the vast 

 extent, great artistic talent, and wonderful mechanical 

 skill of this interesting people, by means of the accurate 

 plans, photographs and restorations of these ancient 

 monuments given in their works. 



Delaporte, in his Voyage cm Camhodge informs us that 

 the ruins of Ankhor-Thom, the ancient capital of the 

 Khmers, show that it occupied a space of about eight 

 square miles, and was surrounded by a wall thirty feet 

 high, backed by a thick earthen rampart. Outside the 

 wall there was a deep and wide ditch crossed by several 

 bridges whose parapets were supported by five hundred 

 statues of giants. A special gate, profusely ornamented, 

 led to the great temple of Baioil, which was so buried 

 in tropical vegetation at the time of Delaporte's visit 

 that he had to employ over sixty workmen for two 

 weeks in clearing away the undergrowth, etc., so as to 

 enable him to draw plans and obtain clear views of the 

 whole structure. 



He describes this temple, the centre of the Brahminical 

 religion of ancient Cambodia, as being about 340 feet 

 square, but surrounded by a highly ornamented double 

 cloister, upwards of 500 feet square. The central tower 

 of the temple is 165 feet above the platform of the outer 

 court and its surrounding cloisters, which are them- 

 selves considerably elevated, so that the temple was about 

 200 feet above the adjacent parts of the city. 



Captain Delaporte, who was a student of architecture 

 and excellent draughtsman, thus sums up the main 

 impression produced by it. Speaking of the hundreds of 



