,^90 THE SHOEMADOO AT PESO. 
double terrace, one raised upon another. The 
greater terrace is about ten feet above the natura pjt 
of the j3p-oun(], forming an exact parallelogram : the 
and lesaer terrace is similar in shape, and rises • 
twent)' feet above the lower terrace or thirty 
level of the country. I judged a side of the lower ® 
to be 1391 feet; of the upper 684. The walls tliai 
tained tlie sides of the terrace, both upper and 
in a ruinous state; they were formerly covere 
plaster, wrought into various figures; the 
lower is strewed with the fragments of small jii 
buildings, but the upper is kept free from filth, af 
tolerable good order. There is reason to conclu 
this building and the fortress are coeval, as ® ^ 
which the terraces are composed appears to 
taken from tlie ditch ; there being no other #1' 
in the city, or in its neighbourhood, that could h® 
forded a tenth part of the quantity. jtep*' 
The terraces are ascended by flights of 
wliich al-e now broken and neglected. On each 
dwellings of the Rhahaans, raised on timbers , ot ^ 
feet from the ground ; tliese houses consist ' j, 9 ^ 
large hall ; the wooden pillars that support t ’ 
turned with neatness; the roofs are covered w' ^ 
and tlie sides are made of boards ; and ^'’®f jj-Ji 
number of bare benches in every house, on ^ 
Rhahaans sleep ; but we saw no other furniture- j 0 
Shoemadoo'is a pyramidical building, eomp ,,ii? 
brick and mortar, avithout excavatiop or 
sort ; octagonal at the base, and spiral at top ; 
of the base measures 162 feet; this immense ^ 
niinishcs abruptlj', and a similar building has no ^ ^ 
been compareil in shape to a large speaking 
Six feet from the ground there is a wide p ^ 
that surrounds the base, on the plane of which 
seven small spires of equal size, and equidistan ^ 
tliem measured twenty-seven feet in height, tl’* ^ 
circumference at the bottom. On a higher 
IS another row, consisting of fifty-three spires 
shape and measurement. P 
A great variety of mouldings encircle ^ ' 
and ornaments somewhat resembling the “ 
