124 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
West, and, we may suspect, most probably by 
those of some Hindoo adventurer. 
There are some circumstances connected with 
these curious remains, which require a few words 
of explanation. The antiquity ascribed to them 
may at first view be doubted, when the perish¬ 
able nature of the materials of which they are 
composed is considered. It must be remem¬ 
bered, however, that those that are in the best 
state of preservation have been carefully attend¬ 
ed to, and bear evidence of having been repaired 
or restored. The materials also are excellent of 
their kind; and the arch, which so frequently 
prevails, is well suited to give them stability. 
The climate also, although a tropical one, is, 
from the nature of the soil, well calculated to 
give durability to buildings. The temples may 
be said to stand on a rock; and such is the 
sterility of the soil, that the buildings have suf¬ 
fered little or no injury from trees or smaller 
vegetables insinuating their roots or branches 
into the walls. In tropical countries generally, 
the greatest destroyers of neglected buildings 
are the banyan, the sacred and other fig-trees; 
but among the ruins of Pugan we did not see 
a single example of these plants having insi¬ 
nuated themselves. From demolition by the 
hand of man, these temples have been suffici- 
