CHILKA LAKE AND GANJAM 63 



tone, which jars horribly with the ideas of people 

 whose notions of sacred architecture have been imbibed 

 under the shadow of the Abbey Church of West- 

 minster. 



In the temple precincts, which were silent (except 

 for the chatter of monkeys, and the cooing of pigeons, 

 and the gibbering of disturbed bats), there stand at 

 the four cardinal points, four groups of quaint, colossal 

 statues. Three of them are strangely reminiscent of 

 the Crystal Palace ; but on the north is a pair of 

 elephants, which in pose and in every detail of form 

 are faithful unto life, the hand of time having also 

 now given them the proper colour. 



Fifteen or sixteen miles to the south-west of Puri 

 is the Chilka lake, which is merely a shallow, marsh- 

 encompassed, narrow-mouthed bay, not quite shut off 

 from the sea by a long, narrow spit of sand. In the 

 winter months it is an ideal place for wildfowl, but 

 they are hard to get at, even with a boat. 



Near the southern end of the Chilka lake is the 

 deserted seaport of Ganjam, which was once the 

 headquarters of a district and of a regiment. Its 

 trade has passed away to the little port of Gopalpur 

 further south, and the civil officials and the military 

 have migrated to more salubrious quarters, and all that 

 now remains to Ganjam is a cemetery and a ruined fort. 



Our first piece of business before we could begin 

 the survey was to buy a surf boat, for which after- 



