164 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Sept. 



"3. I agree most fully with the Council of the Asiatic Society, in 

 thinking that photographic representations of the sculptures and 

 inscriptions in the interiors of the caves would he of high interest, not 

 only on account of their architectural beauty but also for the material 

 aid which they would undoubtedly afford towards the illustration of 

 the ancient history of India. Some of these caves, however, as those 

 of Barabar near Gya, are simple excavations with smooth bare walls 

 which offer no subject whatever for photography — others again, com- 

 prising all the examples in Central India, which have been executed 

 in a coarse laterite, are now so ruinous that they possess no remains of 

 sculpture worth the trouble of photographing, and not a single 

 inscription of any kind. I have myself examined the two sets of 

 caves at Dhamnar and Kholvi ; and as the third set at Bag are 

 described by Dr. Impey to be excavated in the same coarse laterite, I 

 am quite satisfied that it would be a mere waste of both time and 

 money to make photographic representations of them. 



"4. After striking out of the list the four sets of caves just 

 described, there still remain the Bombay series of caves which are all 

 easily accessible from Bombay itself, and the two sets of caves at 

 Cuttack and Mahavellipoor, which, as they can be most readily reached 

 from Calcutta, I have called the Bengal series of caves. Under these 

 circumstances, I think that it would not be advisable to employ a 

 single photographer for places so far distant from each other as the 

 east and west coasts of India, but rather to entrust the work to two 

 separate photographers of Bombay and Calcutta to whom the two 

 series of caves would be easily accessible. 



" 5. It is difficult to lay down any specific instructions for the 

 guidance of the photographers who may be employed on this duty* 

 The selection of the best points of view must of course be left entirely 

 to the taste of the photographers themselves. But to secure a complete 

 and satisfactory set of views of the interiors of our Indian caves, I 

 would make the following selection obligatory, and leave the rest to 

 the judgment of the photographers. 



1. One general view of the interior of every Chaitya cave, taken 

 from some point near the entrance. 



2. One general view of the interior of every Vihdr or monasi 



cave. 



