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JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
and thirty feet. The whole consists of four 
stages, or stories, diminishing in size as they 
ascend. The ground story only has wings. 
The centre of the building consists of a solid 
mass of masonry : over this, and rising from 
the last story of the building, is a steeple, 
in form not unlike a mitre, ending in a thin 
spire, which is crowned with an iron um¬ 
brella, as in the modern temples. Round 
each stage of the building is an arched corri¬ 
dor, and on one side a flight of stairs leads 
all the way to the last story. We ascended by 
this flight, and found it to consist of a hundred 
and sixty steps, giving a height which may be 
estimated at eighty feet. The whole height of 
the building, including the spire, we were in¬ 
formed by our guides, was a hundred and thir¬ 
ty-five cubits, or about two hundred and ten 
feet. Round this temple, like all the rest, there 
is a court fenced by a brick wall, with gate¬ 
ways. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of 
this temple, as well as of almost all the other 
buildings of Pugan, is the prevalence of the 
arch. The gateways, the doors, the galleries, 
and the roofs of all smaller temples, are invaria¬ 
bly formed by a well-turned Gothic arch. It 
had been alleged, that the art of turning an arch 
has been lost by the modern Burmans. There 
