118 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
one named Shwe-ku, or the golden gourd. 
This is distinguished from the rest, by being 
built upon a high terrace; and it therefore 
makes, though small, a very good appearance. 
It has no wings, but a porch leads to it, and it 
consists of a single chamber, the roof of which 
is a dome, having over it a spire, as in the 
larger temples, an ornament indeed inseparable 
from all these buildings. In the wall of this 
temple, before entering the chamber, we saw 
the only inscription in modern Burman which 
we met with. It is, as elsewhere, written on 
sandstone. The character differs a little from 
that at present in use, and the language is some¬ 
what obsolete; but these presented no great 
difficulties, and Mr. Judson easily made a trans¬ 
lation, which is as follows :—“ In the year Ma- 
k’ha 913? on the 2095 year after the Omniscient 
God passed into Nibban , in the reign of the 
elder brother and monarch. Lord of the World, 
he emancipated the disciples—-the inherited pro¬ 
perty of the monasteries throughout his domi¬ 
nions.* He also caused that the duties should 
* Prisoners of war and others, are frequently condemned 
to be hereditary slaves for the service of the temples, and 
this class of persons seems here to be alluded to. According 
to this practice, we found at Rangoon a large body of Talains 
under a chief of their own, who were considered slaves to the 
Shwe- dagong Pagoda. 
