or ecclesiastical, that I had
ever seen before. The lower story consisted of massive verandahs or
cloisters; the pillars were all of grey sandstone, very simple in form;
and the connecting arch was somewhat Saracenic in its appearance. The
temple was square, and the corridor which ran round it was elevated
considerably above the level of the court: the ascent to it was by two
flights of steps, each guarded by a pair of sculptured winged lions.
Three stories of light belfry-like temples, three upon each side of the
square, surmounted each other in rows; in the centre was a mass of
architecture between a dome and a spire, rising to a height of upwards of
100 feet above the level of the court: the whole formed a pyramidal
structure ornamented with fantastic devices, and undoubtedly Bhuddist in
its character.

The other temple was a two-storied pagoda; its bright colours were faded,
and it appeared far inferior to those of more recent construction. There
were also ruined pyramidal shrines of no known architecture, and
difficult to describe from their complicated nature--antique specimens of
the masonry of ages long gone by, and memorials of a religion doubtless
impure, although Bhuddist in its character and origin.

No less singular were the residences of the old Newar nobility, a race
which no longer exists, and the only remains of which now extant are
their ruined habitations, evidently destined to succumb before long to
the same all-destroying power which has long since obliterated every
trace of their former owners.

How different was the peculiar yet handsome style which distinguished the
dwellings of the Newar nobles at Patn from the tawdry glitter which
characterises the mansions of the present Ghorka chiefs in the modern
capital! Here the carving is more rich, the ornaments more massive, the
houses themselves are more lofty and capacious. Sometimes two or three
elaborately-carved balconies adorn the sombre but not less imposing
exterior; from the projecting eaves wooden tassels, forming a sort of
fringe, swing to and fro over the windows.

The roofs are beautifully tiled, each tile having a double curvature,
while the corners of the buildings are quaintly turned up, giving a
Chinese look to the building. The whole appearance of the houses and
temples carries one far from the mud-huts or close cities of the plains
of India, into the land of chopsticks and small feet, and the traveller
feels much nearer to P