18 
Ancient Javanese Remains. 
[No. 1, 
roof, rising in terraces apparently. But it is in too great ruin to allow 
of one’s determining its exact form. When perfect the temple must 
have been a noble structure. 
The material is a close-grained but not heavy volcanic stone, well 
cut, and very finely jointed, but without mortar. It is much cracked, 
and whole surfaces of wall threaten to come down. 
This absence of mortar is common to all the ancient buildings that 
I visited, and the result is a degree of dilapidation far greater than 
age, or even perhaps earthquake, need have occasioned in structures 
otherwise so solid, a dilapidation which is rapidly advancing and 
cannot be materially retarded. 
The absence of mortar is also a notable feature in the ancient brick 
temples of Pagan in Burma, in the temple at Buddh-Gya, (but that is 
certainly Burmese work), and I believe also in the Ceylonese remains, 
as it is in the topes of Sanchi and Benares. It would be curious to 
ascertain what is the earliest Indian building in which the joints are 
set in mortar, and whether the absence of it is peculiar to Buddhist 
or to sacred buildings. There was no ignorance of the use of lime, 
as I shall mention presently. 
^¥he greatest singularity of this, as of some others of the temples in 
Java, consists in the strange combination of Buddhism and Brahminism 
which they present. In fact an intelligent Madras servant who was 
with me, and who explored everything with great interest, hit the 
right nail on the head in saying “ Master ; inside temple like Burmese, 
outside like Hindoo.” The inside cell is about 20 feet square rising 
vertically 16 or 18 feet and then tapering upwards by the projection 
of each successive la} T er of stone an inch or two beyond that which 
underlies it, like the under side of a staircase. It is in fact a form of 
aspiration towards the arch which is found in primitive buildings in 
many parts of the world, in the Pelasgian remains of the Pelopon¬ 
nesus and of Asia Minor, and in the tombs of Kertch and of Etruria, 
in the so-called Piets’ houses of Northern Scotland, in the ancient 
palaces of Yucatan, and in the arcades of the Kootub at Delhi; and 
is identical in principle with the timber sanga with which the 
Himalayan mountaineers span successfully rivers of more than 100 feet 
in width. 
The cell contains three colossal images, carved in a hard and 
polished granular volcanic stone probably trachyte. The central one, 
