a fountain, and the point is a centre of life and action; crowds
of people surge back and forth, almost trodden underfoot by the
ever-present, ponderous elephants, camels, and bullocks, drawing the
little _ekkas_,--every one disputing the right of way. Proceed in any
direction and more unusual street scenes present themselves along a
single block than can elsewhere be found, and this in a city less than
two centuries old! It is due, however, to the barbaric character of an
environment where a gorgeous Maharaja, tigers, leopards, and elephants
all figure in the scene, where the crowds always seem happy and life is
one large "merry go round."

[Illustration: _Street scene in Jeypore_]

The Palace of the Wind is a peculiar structure; visitors are not
admitted, and it is usually reserved for the guests of the Maharaja on
State occasions, the ruler being very hospitable. It is said that a
polite intimation on the part of a tourist that he desires to visit the
interior, coupled with some slight credential, will cause one or two
elephants and a body-guard to be placed at his disposal for the
expedition.

Not much of the "Palace of Occupation" was seen; a large audience room
was finely proportioned, but looked uninviting, as the rugs were rolled
up and the furniture covered. The stables adjoining were, however, of
great interest, as three hundred horses were in the collection, some of
them of rare value. Later, we visited the elephant stalls and the
leopard and tiger cages. In another locality the observatory, covering a
large open space, was filled with the quaint old devices, now obsolete,
for studying the heavens.

The long streets are lined with bazars of the usual plan but much
larger; workers in brass predominated, that being a specialty of
Jeypore. There is a flourishing Art School where old forms of vases,
lamps, and boxes are reproduced, the original designs being loaned from
the Victoria and Albert Memorial Museum, which occupies an artistic
building in the centre of spacious grounds. There one may find a rare
collection of old brass, gold and silver enamel, wood carving, weaving
and embroidery, all classified and arranged in historical order.

A native school, or college, greatly interested us; there were groups of
boys in a number of rooms, all belonging to the best Rajput families.
There are special rooms devoted to Sanskrit, English (here the boys
recited a poem in unison), history, logic, philosophy, and the