Page:Provincial geographies of India (Volume 4).djvu/204

188 On a raised masonry and boarded platform was piled an irregular maze of buildings, mostly in Burmese style, but mingled with some of modern design. East and west, with gilded roofs upheld by lofty pillars of teak, were spacious audience halls, each with its golden throne; for the most exalted ceremonies, in the east, the Lion Throne; in the west, where the ladies of the court paid obeisance, the Lily Throne. Seven other thrones were used on various occasions. Towering above the eastern hall was the famous tapering nine-storeyed spire. Between the two halls were the royal apartments, quarters for princes and princesses, courtiers, maids of honour and pages, offices for ministers, the State Theatre, the Treasury. At the south-eastern corner stood a wooden tower of recent date. Near the eastern gate, beyond the outer wall, was the turret on which was placed the bohozin, the great drum sounded to mark the hours and to give assurance that the king was in his palace. Between the inner wall and the main building stood a small gilded monastery and opposite it the Hlutdaw or Council Chamber where also was the Record Office. Not far away was the shed of the white elephant. The ornamentation of the buildings on the platform was tawdry and barbaric; even the wood-carving was not of special distinction. As a whole, the palace is more curious and interesting than beautiful. But the central pyathat is a model of grace and the pillared halls have a majestic dignity.

Within the enclosure, like Kubla Khan's pleasure-dome, the palace was surrounded by lovely gardens, bright with sinuous rills, where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree and gorgeous tropical flowers, with here a graceful bridge, there a gay pavilion. Here was the summer house where King Thebaw surrendered to General Prendergast. Afterwards this little house acquired even a better title to respect as the temporary abode of Lord Roberts. It has now disappeared.