Page:Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (IA journalofstrait561880roya).pdf/234

 about six hundred and twenty feet either way. The exterior line of the ground plan, though apparently a perfect square when viewed at a distance, is not exactly of that form, as the centre of each face, to a considerable extent, projects many feet, and so as to cover as much ground as the conical shape of the hill will admit: the same form is observed in each of the terraces. The whole has the appearance of one solid building, and is about a hundred feet high, independently of the central spire of about twenty feet which has fallen in. The interior consists al- most entirely of the hill itself."

The more careful examination of the building, which has been made since Sir STAMFORD RAFFLES wrote this, shews that his description is not absolutely correct in all points, but it is sufficiently so to give a good idea of the whole.

It was, as we have seen, part of Raffles' original purpose to cause plans and drawings of the building to be made, and he says in a note to the passage just quoted:—"Drawings of the present and former state of this edifice and illustrative of the sculptural ornaments by which it is distinguished have been made and have been long in the hands of the engraver."

But not many of these seem to have appeared. Dr. LEEMANS suggests that possibly they may have remained amongst papers that Sir STAMFORD left behind him at his death. A few were printed, and reproduced in various publications; Possibly the frontispiece to the second volume of CRAWFURD'S "History of the Indian Archipelago" comes from this source. Afterwards, from time to time, drawings of various parts of the building and of objects in the building appeared. But after Sir STAMFORD RAFFLES left Java in 1815, until the year 1844, no serious attempt was made to produce a complete series of drawings.

There had, meanwhile, been any proposals, some of them countenanced by the Netherlands-India Government, to have Boro Budur thoroughly measured, described and illustrated. But the difficulties in the way of accomplishing the task seemed again and again insurmountable.

At last, in 1844 the idea was entertained of making use of photography to obtain correct views of the building, and in July, 1845, a German artist named SHAEFIR, who was employed by the