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BIRMAH. 85
ing, inside partitions, and sometimes the floor. But
commonly the latter is made by splitting the material
into quarters, laying them down in a series, and
tying them to the transverse poles with split rattans.
Leaves of the Nipah tree, called here donee, compose
the roof; and a house not positively uncomfortable,
and sufficiently capacious for a small family, is con-
structed at the moderate expense of thirty or forty
rupees. Men of high rank and ample means build
their houses in the same form with posts of teak ; the
sides, partitions, and floor are boards of the same
wood, and the roof is made either of leaves or of flat
tiles. These tiles are burnt like bricks, each about
eight inches long, five broad, and nearly one thick,
jutting over at the head about an inch, by which they
retain their positions upon the rafters. They are laid
double, the lower edges of one series projecting over
and lying upon the heads of the next lower series;
thus forming a defence from wind and rain, and presenting
a good degree of security from exterior fires.
The monasteries are built in the same manner, having
two or three roofs elevated one above another, and in
many instances, their cornices, angles, and eaves
ornamented with carved work of flowers, figures of
elephants, of priests, and of other forms which have
no existence but in the superstition of the people.
The posts of the houses and monasteries, being inserted
from two to four or five feet in the ground, are subject
to the depredations of white ants, and to rapid decay.
The old palace at Amarapoora is built of teak: the
roofs piled upon each other to a great height, and
diminishing in size as they ascend, present the
appearance of a lofty spire. The exterior and interior
parts are covered with gold leaf, and the whole
exhibits a resplendent object to the beholder. His
present majesty, who ascended the throne of his