CONTENTS.
Introductory—Temples of Nakhon Wat, Ongcor Thom, Paten ta Phrohm, &c.
Introductory.
Since the exhumation of the buried cities of Assyria by Mons. Botta and Mr. Layard nothing has occurred so startling, or which has thrown so much light on Eastern art, as the discovery of the ruined cities of Cambodia. Historically, they are infinitely less important to us than the ruins of Nimroud and Nineveh; but, in an architectural point of view, they are more astonishing; and, for the elucidation of certain Indian problems, it seems impossible to overrate their importance.
The first European who visited these ruins in modern times was M. Mouhot, a French naturalist, who devoted the last four years of his life (1858-1861) to the exploration of the valleys of the Mekong and Menam rivers. Though the primary object of his travels was to investigate the natural productions of the country, he seems to have been so struck with the ruins of Ongcor Wat that he not only sketched and made plans of them, but wrote descriptions of all the principal buildings. Unfortunately for science and art he never returned to Europe, being struck down by fever while prosecuting his researches in the northern part of the country; and, though his notes have been published both in this country[633] and in France, they were not prepared for publication by himself, and want the explanatory touches which only an author can give to his own work. Though his melancholy death prevented M. Mouhot from obtaining all the credit he was entitled to for his discovery, it has borne rich fruit as far as the public are concerned.
The next person who visited these ruins was the very learned Dr. Adolph Bastian;[634] who has written a most recondite but most unsatisfactory work on the Indo-Chinese nations, in five volumes. He has also written an account of the ruins in the ‘Journal of the Royal Geographical Society’ (Vol. xxxv.), and four papers in the ‘Ausland’ (Nos. 47-50). It is impossible to find out from all these whether Dr. Bastian has satisfied himself who built these temples, what their age is, or to what worship they are dedicated. If he does know anything about these matters, he has carefully concealed it from the uninitiated, under a confused mass of undigested learning that it is impossible to fathom.
His visit to these ruins was followed by that of Mr. J. Thomson, a professional photographer at Singapore, who, at considerable expense and risk, carried his photographic apparatus to the spot, and brought away a plan of the great temple of Nakhon Wat, with some thirty photographs of it, besides views of other places in the neighbourhood.
Since that time the French have sent two thoroughly well equipped expeditions to the place: the first under a Captain Doudart de la Grée in 1866, the second in 1873. As the main object of the first was the exploration of the Mekong river, they were able to devote only a portion of their time to antiquarian researches, and the unfortunate death of their chief on the frontiers of China prevented his ever working out his results to the extent he no doubt would have done had he lived to return home. They were, however, published as he left them, by Lieutenant J. Garnier, the second in command of the expedition, with notes and additions of his own.[635]
As they, however, could not complete the investigation, a second expedition was fitted out, under Captain Delaporte, who had taken part in the previous expedition.
They returned to France in 1874, bringing with them not only detailed plans of most of the temples, but copies of nearly all the inscriptions they could find, and a large collection of antiquities and casts. The latter are now arranged in the Château of Compiègne, and accessible to the public. The drawings and inscriptions are in course of publication, and, when available, they will supply materials from which we may reason with confidence, not only as to the arts but as to the history of this wonderful people.[636] At present we are hardly in a position to do so. What has hitherto been collected has been got together in too fragmentary a manner, and it has not yet gone through the sifting process which is indispensable before it is possible to separate the wheat from the chaff.