chap. xiu. 
APPEARANCE OF THE CAPITAL 
345 
of the house there is a large gilt figure of an eagle with out¬ 
spread wings. Adjoining the north-east angle of the queen’s 
house is the residence of the prince royal, her son. It is 
smaller than that of the queen, but in other respects re¬ 
sembling it, and also surmounted by a golden eagle. 
Stretching along to the north and the south of these royal 
residences, and forming with them a line along the crest of 
the hill, are the dwellings of other members of the queen’s 
family and the chief officers of the government, built after 
the same form as that of the sovereign, and conspicuous 
above all other buildings in the capital. Below these are the 
houses of the other inhabitants, constructed almost entirely 
of wood, with lofty narrow roofs, thatched with rushes or 
grass, and ornamented at the ends, with the long rafters pro¬ 
jecting above the gables. The houses along the sides of the 
hill are built on artificially levelled terraces, from twenty to 
forty feet wide. The sides of the upper part of the hill, 
especially the northern part, are covered with houses; but the 
nature of the ground has prevented any order or regularity 
in their arrangement. They are each often surrounded by a 
low mud or stone wall, forming a sort of courtyard to the 
houses within the enclosure. The lower part of the hill is 
composed of naked broken rocks of granite, mingled with 
clay, and appears in striking contrast with the green grass or 
rice-fields and water courses of the valley below. The uni¬ 
form shape of the houses, the plain uncoloured wood of their 
walls, and the dark brown thatch, gave a somewhat sombre 
aspect to the whole capital, which might easily have been 
prevented by colouring the walls with pink or yellow, as had 
been done with good effect in some of the houses of the ad¬ 
jacent country. A few trees, apparently a species of fig-tree, 
were visible here and there in the higher parts of the city; 
and, though pale and yellow from the effects of the sun or 
the dust, served to relieve, in a slight degree, the sameness 
