PEGU, the capital of the former kingdom of Pegu, situated on the Sitang, formerly a large and populous city, the extent of which may be still traced in the ruins of the walls. These were composed of brick badly cemented with clay, about thirty-five feet thick, with small equidistant bastions about 300 yards asunder. The ditch was about sixty yards in breadth, and ten or twelve feet in depth. The ancient city was razed to the ground by the conqueror Alompra, when he took it in 1757, with the exception of the temples, which are numerous; and of these, the great temple of Shoomandoo has alone been renewed and kept in repair. Europeans who visited this city in the year 1600, describe it as a place of great splendour, the streets spacious, and running in a straight line from gate to gate. The king's palace, with walls and ditches, stood in the middle of the town, built like a fortress; but the interior apartments were all composed of wood with gilt roofs, and the population amounted to 150,000.
As stated in the former article, orders were issued by the Birmand monarch to rebuild the ruined city; and the governor of the province was induced to quit Rangoon and to make Pegu his future residence. These measures so far succeeded that a new town was built on the site of the ancient city; and the inhabitants, consisting chiefly of the priests, the followers of the court, and a few poor families, now amount to 7000. The great proportion of the former inhabitants are either extinct, or have been dispersed over the whole extent of the empire. The new city of Pegu is built on the plan of the former city, and occupies about one half of its area; it is fenced round by a stockade from ten to twelve feet high. The plan of the new town is that of one main street running east and west, crossed at right angles by two smaller streets not yet finished. At each extremity of the principal street there is a gate in the stockade, which is defended by a wretched piece of ordnance and a few musqueteers. There are two inferior
gates on the north and south sides of the stockade. The streets are spacious, like those of most Birmand towns; and the town is paved with brick, large supplies of which are found in the old ruins. All the houses, even those of the meanest classes, are raised from the ground, either on wooden posts or bamboos, according to the size of the building. The monasteries of the priests, and the habitations of the higher classes, are raised to the height of six or eight feet. The houses are all made of mats or sheathing boards, the use of brick or stone in private buildings being prohibited by a royal edict. The dwellings being composed of such combustible materials, the inhabitants are in continual dread of fire; and almost every house has earthen pots filled with water on the roof; and a class of firemen perambulate the streets day and night. The roofs are lightly covered; and, as an additional precaution against fire, at each door stands a long bamboo, with an iron hook at the end, to pull down the thatch. There is also another pole with a grating of iron, to suppress flame by pressure. The house of the maywoon or viceroy is a spacious building, possessing, however, few ornaments; gilding is forbidden to all subjects in the Birmand empire; few have even the liberty to paint the pillars of their house, or to use lacquer; and the naked wood gives an unfinished appearance to their houses, however roomy or well adapted to their purposes. The great object that attracts attention in Pegu is the noble edifice of Shoomandoo or the Golden Supreme. This extraordinary pile of building is erected on double terraces, one raised upon another; the lower and greater terrace, about ten feet above the natural level of the ground, forming an exact parallelogram; the upper and lesser terrace is similar in shape, and rises about twenty feet above the lower terrace, or thirty feet above the level of the ground. These terraces are ascended by flights of stone steps. The temple is pyramidal, composed of brick and mortar, without excavation or aperture of any sort; it is octagonal at the base and spiral at the top, and each side measures at the base 162 feet. This breadth diminishes abruptly, so that its form has been compared to that of a speaking trumpet. The extreme height of the edifice from the level of the country is 361 feet; and on the top is an iron tee or gilded umbrella, seen on every building in the Birmand dominions, fifty-six feet in circumference. All around the steps or ascent are placed innumerable marble images of Gaudama their saint. The Rahaans or attendant priests assert that the foundation of this temple was laid two thousand years ago, and that it was brought to its present state of magnificence by successive monarchs. On the south-east angle of the upper terrace are two handsome saloons, supported on pillars sixty feet in length by thirty in breadth; at each angle of the interior and higher terrace is a temple sixty-seven feet in height, resembling in miniature the great temple; and in front are four gigantic representations in masonry of Pailoo the evil genius, half beast, half man, seated on his hams, with a large club on the right shoulder. Long. 96. 12. E. Lat. 17. 10. N.