598 
Co.v's Burmhan Empire . 
ward, parallel to it, I passed through a 
breach in the eastern curtain, and think 
I saw the north angle bastion, about 
700 yards from me. It is probable, 
therefore, that the fort was not larger 
than the present one at Amarapoorah ; 
or they may have fixed dimensions for 
their imperial forts. The wall is com¬ 
posed of small bricks and mud. about 
fourteen cubits thick; and has the 
remains of a dry fosse without. I 
sketched the figure of one of the most 
perfect and the largest I saw. My view 
is of the west front, which measures at 
the base about 183 feet, and, as nearly 
as I can judge by my eye, is about 200 
feet in height. Its interior is similar 
to one I have described, but in better 
preservation. It is built of bricks of 
two dimensions, the largest, which are 
used in the body of the building, are 
seventeen inches long, eight and a half 
broad, and three and a half thick. 
The least are fourteen and a half long, 
seven aud five-eighths broad, and one 
and a half thick. They are well burnt, 
and joined together with great skill 
and nicety. Their surface and edges 
being ground, perfectly correspond, and 
lie so close as that not the least cement 
can be seen between them; if any was 
used it must be a very fine gluten. As 
far as relates to the exterior surface of 
the body of the building, the masonry 
is the best I have ever seen, but I doubt 
much whether this holds good through¬ 
out ; perhaps it is only observed in the 
cannon revetements. The whole build¬ 
ing has been plastered over in the usual 
manner, and it is where this plaster 
has scaled off that the workmanship is 
to be observed. 
A little further to the eastward, with¬ 
out the walls of the fort, is another 
about the size of the one I sketched, 
but somewhat different in form. It 
has been repaired and beautified by the 
present Prince of Pagaan, and is de¬ 
serving of more attention than my time 
or circumstances would permit me to 
bestow on it. It is also quadrangular, 
but its porticos project further, and the 
spire is loftier, and it has two vaulted 
galleries surrounding it, in the walls of 
which are numerous niches filled with 
various images of their deities. In the 
four principal centre niches are four 
erect colossal gilt images of Godomah, 
about twenty-five feet in height, stand¬ 
ing on the lotos flower. It is remark¬ 
able that these have all crisped hair! 
The Poonghees deny that they have 
any affinity with Caffres, but say that 
when Godomah assumed the religious 
habit he cut off his hair with his sword, 
leaving it rugged or furrowed, aud the 
features of a genuine .Burmhan have a 
good deal of the Caffre cast. These 
principal nichps form a kind of sanctum 
sanctorum , and are railed off so as to 
prevent the too near approach of the 
multitude. Over each figure is sus¬ 
pended a chattre of dominion. In the 
vestibule of the western front is a large 
stone with the prints of the feet of Go¬ 
domah. These are only representa¬ 
tions of those sacred impressions which 
he has left in various parts of the earth, 
particularly in the Burmhan dominions. 
The following are the rough dimensions 
which I took of the building, to forma 
ground-plan from :—The outer wall of 
the portico fourteen feet thick, breadth 
of the passage ten feet. Portico or ves¬ 
tibule, length forty feet, breadth twen¬ 
ty-one, height thirty-five, passage of 
ditto to first cloister or gallery fourteen 
feet length, breadth ten feet. First 
gallery greatest length 143 feet, breadth 
eighty-six, passage thence to the inner 
gallery fourteen feet, breadth ten feet; 
inner gallery greatest length 101 feet 
ten inches, breadth eight feet six inches. 
Nicli for the idol, breadth twenty feet, 
depth seventeen feet, height thirty-five 
or forty feet. The partition wall be¬ 
tween the two galleries, aud the outer 
wall also, had several small arches for 
the passage of air and light at different 
heights. To get to the second story it 
Avas necessary to creep along a cornice, 
about fourteen feet above the pavement, 
and only sixteen inches broad ; a risk 
which neither our devotion or curiosity 
could tempt us to encounter. I have 
only to add that the avenues to the 
inner cloister had great folding grated 
gates; but the only precautions used 
are seemingly intended to keep out cat¬ 
tle. We are permitted to traverse and 
examine every thing without molesta¬ 
tion ; a few persons, who, I suppose, 
were slaves to the pagoda, attending us 
out of curiosity. However, to recon¬ 
cile them to our measuring, See. I told 
them we had nothing of the kind in our 
country, and if I was not particular in 
writing down the length, breadth, &c. 
the people there would not believe that 
there was such a building in the world. 
In the two galleries of the lower story 
I think there are at least 2,000 images 
in the niches, of stone and wood gilt, 
the carving tolerable ; and in little 
compartments on the outside of the 
surbase, were figures in relief, of green 
varnished 
