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CHAP. I. MONASTERIES. 367 consists in the profusion of gilding and carving with which every part is covered, and to which it is impossible to do justice on so small a scale. The same profuse decorations are bestowed upon the monas- teries, one of which is represented in the annexed woodcut (No. 455), showing a building in which all the defects arising from the use of so easily carved a material are carried to excess. Fafade of the King's Palace, Burma. (From a Sketch by Col. Yule.) If the colouring and gilding could be added, it would represent a building such as the West never saw, and, let us hope, never will see; for, however dazzling its splendour, such barbaric magnificence is worthy only of a half-civilised race.
