346 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
eighteen yards round at the base. The Ti, or 
umbrella, is fifteen cubits high, and ten in dia¬ 
meter at the base. The number of pillars com¬ 
posing the stockade is eight hundred and two. 
A small temple within the area was pointed out 
to us, which contained a fine and perfect slab 
of white marble, covered with Pali writing on 
both sides, perfectly distinct and legible. Our 
guides explained to us the most material part 
of the inscription, which they seemed to read 
with tolerable ease. It states that the temple 
was built and endowed by a king of Ava, 
named Tha-lwan, or Tha-1 wan-men-dra-gyi. 
The date of the writing is, “ Monday, the tenth 
day of the increase of the moon Tau-tha-len, in 
the year of the common era 998.” This corre¬ 
sponds with the year of Christ 16^6 ; so that the 
temple was but a hundred and ninety years old. 
This fabric is altogether a heavy and inelegant 
building without taste or just proportions, nor 
is the workmanship in any respect well execut¬ 
ed. Indeed, the temple, it may be said, has 
little to recommend it to notice, but its enor¬ 
mous bulk. The marble slab alone is perhaps 
an exception : it is well polished, and, where 
there is no writing, richly carved: its height 
above the ground is eight feet five inches; its 
breadth, five feet seven inches and a half; and 
