THE SACRED ISLES IN THE WEST. 133 



of earth, and for the same purpose. This they call 

 the primeval Z/;z^«; wliich was represented in the 

 west, and to this day in the Dekhin, by a cone, ac- 

 cording to Arnobius and other authors. 



The steps, stories, and retreats are always omitted 

 in India : but I was told, that it was considered as 

 immaterial. The seven stories, however, are marked 

 by lines, in a delineation of the worldly temple and 

 tomb (jf Budd'ha, in a large map of the world, ac- 

 companying the Csh^tra-samasa, a geographical trea- 

 tise in m.y possession. This representation of the 

 mountain of God struck me forcibly, and was the 

 occasion of further inquiries into this subject. It is 

 of the same shape with the pyramids of J^o-j/p/: the 

 base only is a little shorter, with a small flat top, with 

 a chapel in honour of Budd'ha. The sides are smooth, 

 as in the pyramids ; but the seven stories are repre- 

 sented hy lines, which brings it still nearer to the 

 tower of Babel. The pyramids of Egypt are not all 

 alike : some are in the shape of a cone ; one with 

 recesses is mentioned by De Non, who notices also 

 another with a circular base. The square base of 

 this worldly temple is peculiar to the Baudd'hists of 

 Tibet ; for in India the Brdkme?2S, and the Jainas, 

 always give it a circular form. In the representation 

 of it in the Cshetra-samdsa, it is a square. Though 

 the dimensions are much neglected, yet in all these 

 monuments at Benares, the most modern, and of 

 course the most perfect, are of a conical figure ; the 

 perpendicular section of which, through the center, 

 is an equilateral triangle. There is always a small 

 temple on the summit, except one near Benares^ 

 at a place called Camow'if. Such of these monu- 

 ments as belong to the Bauddlias are called the 



K 3 



