1872.] President's Address. 20 



" This noble river flows for many hnndi'ed miles through British territory, 

 " ii'rigating its fields, transmitting its merchandize through the country, and 

 " leading up to the very doors of China ; and yet no one has had the curi- 

 " osity, courage or encom^agement to search out from whence it comes." 

 But a little reflection -serves to give another aspect to the question. Amongst 

 oriental peoples, we English are now suffering a penalty consequential to the 

 greatness and proximity of our power : I can conceive nothing more natural 

 than that the ruling classes (at the least), whatever may be the case with 

 the population, of countries bordering on India should dread the sight of an 

 English or European explorer, and be glad, almost by any means to keep his 

 foot from their soil. This was not so formerly. The feeling of jealousy, 

 and the determination to exclude, is probably even now deepening and 

 extending, as the reputation of om^ strength and avidity for dominion spreads 

 and radiates. Shaw's Tartary and Kashgar abounds with facts, which tend 

 to support such a conclusion. The fate of a Schlagintweit and of a Hayward 

 shows how relentless and unscrupulous is the hostility which these motives 

 generate in our northern and eastern neighbours. The wonder, truly, is 

 that, when to explore and observe means to carry your life in your hand, 

 private efforts at geographical inquiry should be so persistent and successful 

 as they are. 



I desire, before I close this short addi-ess, to bring under your notice 

 two expeditions which have recently been made to Orissa m furtherance of 

 archaeological inquiry. The first of these — a party of draughtsmen and 

 moulders who had been especially trained for the work by Mr. H. H. Locke, 

 Principal of the Government School of Art — went to Bhobaneswar in 1869, 

 and there executed casts of the more remarkable of the mouldmgs and 

 scidptured figures, which form the decoration of the exterior of the ancient 

 temples. Babu Rajendralala Mitra accompanied this field party, and during 

 the short time he was with them, selected subjects for then* earlier operations. 

 From Bhobaneswar he visited the neighbouring rock-cut-temples, or caves of 

 Khandagiri, and you will doubtless remember that he not long ago gave us 

 in this room some of the results of his observations. The second expedition — 

 also a party of Mr. Locke's students, this time under his own personal 

 superintendence — proceeded to Orissa in the end of December last, and has, 

 I believe, hardly yet completed its labours. Mr. Locke's principal object on 

 this second occasion, was to obtain casts and drawings of the best and most 

 characteristic carvings in the Khandagiri caves. He, however, made use 

 of an opportunity, which occurred to him, to go to Jajpur, and to procure 

 some excellent photographs to be made by Mr. Heritage, of the celebrated 

 monolithic figures, and column at that place. 



I need not expatiate on the value of work, such as that effected by 

 these two expeditions, to those who are engaged in archaeological and histori- 



