Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/439

 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.