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erection of this colossal edifice, that now lies a heap of ruins, dis- 

 playing a mass of masonry perhaps unequalled in the world, and 

 serving as a lasting monument of King Mentaragyee's folly. In a 

 tope of mango-trees a little below the ruins is a complete model 

 of what the pagoda was intended to be, and it is from this alone 

 that a correct idea can be formed of the amount of labour and 

 material that yet remained to complete the work. The devasta- 

 tion committed by the earthquake can hardly be described with 

 sufficient effect to convey to the reader's mind the actual amount of 

 damage done. I had read several accounts of the ruins, but none 

 impressed me with the same feeling of wonderment that crossed 

 my mind as I wandered through this sad scene of desolation. 

 The building is rent and re-rent in every direction from top to 

 bottom, tons and tons of solid masonry, hurled some distance by 

 the shock, are everywhere to be seen, while over-hanging the deep 

 yawning chasms are held in suspension by an almost impercepti- 

 ble tie large blocks of brick work, which are proof of the excellence 

 of the materials used and labour employed. It is not improbable 

 that the effects of the earthquake would have been less severely 

 felt, had the building been supported on a more substantial founda- 

 tion. Hiram Cox tells us the superstructure rested on covered- 

 in square wells lined with sheet-lead and beams of the same metal 

 five inches square. These wells were filled with offerings of 

 various kinds, such as glass, silver ornaments, mock jewellery, &c, 

 and one of Dr. Priestley's machines for impregnating water with 

 fixed air.* 



Towards the north-east these ruins may be mounted by a most 

 dangerous ascent. I ventured three-fourths of the way up to get a 

 good bird's-eye view of the surrounding country, in hopes perhaps 

 of discovering, with the aid of my binoculars, some signs of the 

 ficus elastica plantation, but I was disappointed ; the scenery was 

 flat and uninteresting, neither was the plantation anywhere to be 

 seen. I now descended, and felt much more comfortable — though 

 considerably blown — when I got to the bottom ; for all that sup- 

 ported me were the projecting pieces of masonry that served as steps ; 

 but a false selection, and nothing could have saved either my ser- 

 vant or myself from being killed on the spot. The unexpended 

 materials are scattered all about : piles of brick and heaps of linie 

 sufficient to build a handsome mansion, all lie wasted, where they 

 were first thrown. Fronting the east entrance are the remains of 

 two gigantic leogryphs, which, according to Cox, were to have been 

 ninety-five feet high, with white marble eye-balls, thirteen feet 



* Cox's Journal of Residency in the Burman Empire, page 113. 



