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278 SIAM.
situations, surrounded with brick walls or bamboo
hedges, and the enclosure contains numerous rows of
buildings, disposed in straight lines. They consist of
one spacious and, in general, lofty hall, with narrow
but numerous doors and windows. Both the exterior
and interior are studded over with a profusion of mi-
nute and singular ornaments of the most varied de-
scription. It is on the ends, and not on the sides of
the exterior of the building, that the greatest care has
been bestowed in the disposition of the ornaments.
A profusion of gilding, bits of looking-glass, China
basins of various colours, stuck into the plaster, are
amongst the most common materials. The floor of the
temple is elevated several feet above the ground, and
generally boarded or paved, and covered with coarse
mats. The wildest stories of Hindoo theology figure
on the walls. Sometimes, the painter's hand, by accident,
perhaps, more than design, has portrayed human
passions with a degree of spirit and of truth worthy
of better subjects.* At one end of the temple, a sort
of altar is raised, on which is placed the principal
figure of Buddha, surrounded by innumerable smaller
ones, and by those of priests ; and here and there is
disposed the figure of a deceased king, distinguished
by his tall, conical cap, peculiar physiognomy, and
rich costume. The figures of Buddha have a cast of
the Tartar countenance, particularly the eye of that
race. It will scarcely be credited how numerous are
the images of Buddha in the temples. They are dis-
posed with unsparing profusion on the altar, of all
sizes, from one inch to thirty feet in height. In the
* Here, for the first time, Mr. Finlayson observed obscene paint-
ings in a temple dedicated to Buddha. ' '
In Ceylon, they would
have been deemed altogether profane."