3 66 FURTHER INDIA. BOOK VIII. arrangement of the older ones. The travellers who have visited the country have been silent on the subject, principally because the monasteries are, in almost all instances, less magnificent than the pagodas to which they are attached, and are, with scarcely an exception, built of wood a practice destructive of their architectural character, and also depriving them wholly of that monumental appearance of stability which is so essential to true architectural expression. This peculiarity is not confined to the monasteries ; all residences, from that of the poorest peasant to the palace of the king, having been constructed from time immemorial of this perishable material. The custom has now passed into a law, 455. Burmese Kyaung. (From Col. Symes ' Embassy to Ava.') that no one shall have the power of erecting buildings of stone or brick, except it be the king himself, or unless the edifices be of a purely religious character. Even this exception is not always taken advantage of, for the king's palace itself is as essentially a wooden erection as the dwelling of any of his subjects. It is, however, not the less magnificent on this account rather, perhaps, more so immense sums being spent on the most elaborate carvings, and the whole being lacquered, painted, and gilt, to an extent of which we have no conception in our more sober clime. The general appearance of the fagade may be realised from the annexed view (Woodcut No. 456) ; but its real magnificence
