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viii could be realized, some idea as to environment, and that "inseparable accompaniment of beauty"—its fitness, seemed called for. The grim portals of Tibet—difficult as they were to open before—are now more hermetically sealed than they have been for centuries, and my only hopes lay in an investigation of these conditions as maintained in the neighbouring country of Nepal. Through the kind offices of the British Resident, Lt.-Col. Manners-Smith, V.C, I was enabled to put my desires into effect and to pay an extended visit to the Valley. The tour was a revelation, as it soon demonstrated to me that this comparatively small area was a veritable art museum of a particularly interesting character, with all the drawbacks to such an institution removed but with many an added charm. The results of my study of the artistic monuments of the Nepal Valley, and that series of examples from a kindred source in the Government Art Gallery, Calcutta, to which I have had such free access, are incorporated in the following pages.

To the Nepal Durbar, and especially to the