wherewith to pay for the usual festivities. The cost falls on the father of the bride and it is a very heavy tax which it is not possible to avoid. The girl must be married before she is twelve years of age; display, the giving of gifts, feeding and bestowing clothes on Brahmans, relatives and caste officials involve an expenditure which in Europe would be looked on as excessive, and frequently involves the parents in indebtedness for life. On the other hand, so far as the women of the family are concerned, the sacrifice is almost more than willing, and is tempered by no after regrets; the event is recalled in the years to come, as the culmination of the family grandeur. In the higher castes re-marriage is out of the question, and a widow's lot is sad indeed, involving not only numerous penances, much fasting and coarse clothes, but the reputation of being unlucky and as such to be shunned at family gatherings. In the lower castes there is more latitude as to re-marriage. The women usually wear a good deal of jewellery, and unfortunately the children do the same, a custom which has led to many murders, children being decoyed to lonely places and then killed for the sake of their ornaments. The family jewellery is in fact the savings bank of the people, when times are good any savings. are converted into ornaments, a statement literally true as the silversmith fashions the rupees, given to him, into the ornament desired, very often in the customer's verandalı; should hard times arrive the jewels are sold, and as their value consists mainly in the metal used, one anna in the rupee (one-sixteenth) being usually paid for fashioning, a good price is realised. The difference between the silver in the rupee and its nominal value as a coin has interfered with this form of thrift.

The children, I should say, are universally happy, their parents are kind and devoted to them, and food must indeed be scarce before they suffer; the climate does not necessitate any large amount of clothing, and until they are five or six years old they are not troubled with any. There is lots of sunshine, ample room to play, and every effort is made to procure for them such amusements as may be had, which not infrequently consist of displays to which all are welcome. The household god is worshipped daily by libations of water and offerings of flowers, but otherwise their religious observances are confined to a few great festivals, on which occasions the people turn out in their thousands to visit the temples and have a kind of bankholiday. The devotions do not include listening to addresses or reciting prayers; offerings are made to the idols, alms bestowed on priests and mendicants and the religious part of

the festival is accomplished. The rest of the day is spent in visiting shops, shows and roundabouts and chatting with friends.

There is at present a college at Cuttack which educates a few of the more promising youths to the standard of the Calcutta University B.A. degree, and if on graduating the young man obtains a Government appointment, it is held that western learning has its uses. In the majority of cases I doubt whether their beliefs, tastes, or home life are influenced in any appreciable degree by the knowledge they have acquired. Material benefits such as umbrellas, kerosine oil, cheap cloth and railway travelling are welcomed, but how far the thoughts or scientific knowledge of the intruding European have been assimilated is a matter for conjecture; diligent attendance at lectures or even satisfactory answers to examination papers do not, I think, afford any solid grounds for a reply.

I have endeavoured to give you some little information regarding the history of Orissa for a period approaching 3,000 years, and to roughly sketch the country and its people as they at present exist. The main features, in either case, are all that I could attempt to present, and to many of the statements made there are side lights and qualifications of all kinds and sorts. Even with a far fuller knowledge than I possess, the mystery of even a small part of India involves difficulties of which not European will ever possess the key.

The CHAIRMAN in proposing a hearty vote of thanks to the Author, which was carried unanimously, then made the following observations:

My friend Mr. Odling's paper is of special interest to me, because between the years 1898 and 1903, when I was in Bengal, I went down into Orissa three times on inspection duty, and visited the important centres of Cuttack, Puri and Balasore, which are referred to at such length in his notes. On the first occasion I reached the capital by sea and canal, so that even less than nine years ago access to the heart of the Province was difficult. But before Mr. Odling and the irrigation officers constructed the canals, which, while primarily intended for irrigation purposes, can be used for passengers, it can be imagined that, although the district was in miles not very distant from Calcutta, it was not easy to travel far

into it. The name of one of its chief rivers, Vaitarani, the River of Death, is perhaps one indication of the dread the Indian felt in penetrating Orissa. The chief cause was the number of great rivers which crossed the land and the want of roads. The former difficulty prevented the construction of a railway, and any one who now goes down into the heart of the country on towards Madras, by the line which passes through or near all the places mentioned by Mr. Odling, will appreciate the magnitude of the task and the triumph of the engineers who, to the credit of our country, have opened up such an interesting and valuable province. Its value is indeed great, for it is one of the chief rice-growing tracts in the world. At the time of one of my visits all the railway platforms were loaded with it. There are several points on which I should like to make a few remarks, or rather to ask a few questions. The first is as to the history.

It is said that when the last Hindu ruler of Bengal, Lakhmanya Sen, the Vaidya or Physician-King of Lakhnauti, was driven out from his capital' by an Afghan conqueror, he fled into Orissa. I should like to ask if there is any trace of him there? Is his the Gangetic line of 1324?

This brings me to Jaganath, or the Lord of the World. We are told that his cult is Vishnuism pure and simple. May we not go a step further and say it is really modified Buddhism? Do not some authorities hold that the image contains Buddhist relics? The idol itself is changed at fixed, though varying intervals; but it is said that its virtue resides in the relics inside it, the nature of which only a few priests know-are they Buddhist? I had an opportunity of examining the image in August, 1902, when the cars. were out in the road-in consequence of that of Jaganath's brother, Balbhadra, having run into the parapet of a bridge-which on account of etiquette (which exists amongst gods as well as men) did not permit the Lord of the World and his sister to proceed past their brother on their homeward journey from their country-house to the temple.

The images were all shapeless wooden blocks-as usually described, Another reason given for the want of form is that the divine architect, Visivakarma, who made the first image, was disturbed by the curiosity of the prince for whom it was constructed before his work was completed; so that curiosity once more in the world's history

stood in the way of perfection. The ornament on many modern temples at Puri is very Buddhistic. Hindu ideas of sanctity of images are very strange, as shown, for example, by the difficulty in bringing these gods home. When the pilgrims who attend for the car festival have left for their own villages, the parsimony of the priests, in paying too little for the hired labour to bring them back, was the real cause of such accidents as that to which I have referred, but the native papers, of course, blame the Government.

Mr. Odling does not give us an idea that the population is a wealthy one. It is indeed now poor as regards money. I would ask him then whether it was different in ancient times. I think many indications are given that it must have been so; for example, architecture was in a great state of perfection. We have been told of the town of temples at Bhuvaniswar; but there is one at Kanarak north of Puri styled the black pagoda, representing the sun-god in his chariot, in which the carvings in the hardest stone are of wonderful skill and richness. Then again the dress or rather the jewellery carved on many of the figures is of a most sumptuous character. Is it possible that gold to pay for such work was found in some quantity Is the name of the river north of Balasore, the Suvarnarikha, the river of golden sands, any indication of this? Is there much promise of other mineral wealth?

It is curious how in Orissa, as in other provinces, the remains of the different waves of civilisation which have passed over India still exist. Hinduism we still have, and some traces of Buddhism. Mohamedanism made few inroads, but Mr. Odling's reference to the Meruah sacrifice of the Khonds points to the most ancient primitive beliefs.

Can he tell us whether there is still regret amongst these people at our extinction of a practice, which is so like that of the Aztecs? Would not this, like Sutti and similar practices, revive if ever Hindus became paramount?

There are one or two further points which may interest, as, for example, when I was last at Balasore, I was shown the site for a new hospital which included part of the land on which our first factory in Bengal stood, close by the Dutch monuments, which are those to which I suppose Mr. Odling refers-although there are some very curious and very large ones, with English names in a small graveyard at a little distance off-amongst them one to Mr. Ricketts, whom he

named. Then as to the Uriyas, who work in Calcutta-perhaps Mr. Odling will remember the modern exodus of many of these men when the plague scare occurred?

I may add to the notice of the work of the Ravenshaw College in Cuttack, the flourishing medical school; and lastly, in thanking Mr. Odling for the pleasant recollections which he has stirred up, I should like to say that, in addition to the names of the three worthies who, he has told us, are still recollected in the country, he may rest assured that those of himself, and of his irrigation friends, who gave the blessings of water to the land, will not soon be forgotten.

REPLY BY THE AUTHOR.

I wish to thank Colonel Hendley and my audience for the indulgent, I may perhaps say appreciative, manner in which they have listened to the remarks I have been able to offer on a part of India which at present is but little known.

With regard to Colonel Hendley's question as to the origin of the Gangetic line, no decisive answer is, I believe, possible. The weight of the evidence according to Sterling and Hunter indicates a southern origin, though a northern source has been suggested and the name— the Gangetic line-appears to favour this view.

In respect to the suggestion that the cult of Jaganath may be modified Buddhism, the fact appears to be that it is a remnant of the worship of the ancient races of Orissa, who preceded both Buddhism and Brahmanism. The most famous legend, that of Basu the fowler, relates the manner in which the idol was captured from the Savars and became known as Jaganath, the Lord of the World. The absorption of the Buddhist priests has been mentioned in my paper. The temples of Kanarak are architecturally superior to those at Bhuvinasar, and several views of the Black Pagoda have been shown. The mineral resources of the country are not at present well known. Iron is smelted in small quantities and gold exists in the sands of some of the rivers. Coal of inferior quality has been located.

The people generally are inclined to look on the past as the golden age, chiefly because food was so much cheaper, so late as thirty