he Order of Christ, some with armillary spheres, others
with a cross and the words 'In hoc signo vinces,' or with a sphere and
the words 'Espera in Domino.' Where Dom Joao II. was to be buried is a
pelican vulning herself--for that was his device--and in that intended
for his father Dom Affonso V. a 'rodisio' or mill-wheel. A little above
the entrance arches to the chapels the octagon is surrounded by two
carved string courses separated by a broad plain frieze.[123] On the
lower string are the beautifully modelled necks and heads of dragons,
springing from acanthus leaves and so set as to form a series of M's,
and on the upper an exquisite pattern arranged in squares, while on it
rests a most remarkable cresting. In this cresting, which is formed of a
single bud set on branches between two coupled buds, the forms are most
strange and at the same time beautiful.

Inside, the great piers have been much more highly adorned than without.
The vaulting shafts in the middle--which, formed of several small round
mouldings, have run up quite plain from the ground, only interrupted by
shields and their mantling on the frieze--are here broken and twisted.
On either side are niches with Gothic canopies, above which are
interlacing leaves and branches. Beyond the niches are the window jambs,
on which, next the opening, are shafts carved with naturalistic
tree-stems, and between these and the niches two bands of ornament
separated by thin plain shafts.

In each opening these bands are different. In some is Gothic foliage, in
others semi-classic carving like the string below or realistic like the
cresting. In others are naturalistic branches, and in the opening over
the chapel where Dom Manoel was to lie are cut the letters M in one hand
and R in the other; Manoel Rey. (Fig. 59.)

Only the first foot or so of the vaulting has been built, and there is
nothing now to show how the great octagon was to be roofed. Murphy[124]
gives his idea; the eight piers carried high up and capped with spires,
huge Gothic windows between, and the whole covered by a vast pointed
roof--presumably of wood--above the vault. Haupt with his Indian
prepossessions suggests a dome surrounded by eight great domed
pinnacles. Probably neither is right; certainly Murphy's great roof of
wood would never have been made, and as for Haupt's dome nothing domed
was built in Portugal till long after and that at first only on a small
scale.[125] Besides, the well-develope