I am fully sensible that any description I can give of the building to which I have alluded, will fall far short of the reality; in fact no language can convey an adequate description of it. The “_tout ensemble_,” when viewed at a distance, glittering in gold and flowers, recalls to our recollection the brilliant and splendid castles of fairy-land, so bewitchingly set forth in many an idle work of former days. Many hundreds of people have been employed in its erection ever since his death; the centre building is a large open dome, and probably reaches to the height of eighty or ninety feet; it is supported by immense wooden pillars of teak all in one piece--the roof is of various indescribable forms, and differs from any I have ever seen--the parts rise one above another till it comes to a point; from the centre rises a high slender spire, and from the base to its apex cannot be less than one hundred and fifty feet; the roof is covered with brass leaf, which gives it a splendid appearance at a distance: it has a great number of projections with various singular ornaments on their edges and the inside of the roof is dome-shaped: beneath it was erected a small temple, in the same form, having in the centre a high platform, to which we ascended by a flight of steps, over which was a small spire: it is supported upon four pillars and cannot be less than thirty-five feet high--the roof is ornamented with neat carved work and richly gilt--on the platform the body is to be burnt. The whole inside of the building was painted to resemble flowers, profusely gilded, and otherwise richly decorated with gold and silver leaf--the walls were made of matting covered with paper and secured to bamboo-frames, as well as the outer covering, which was painted brown, decorated with large flowers made of brass or copper leaf and pasted on, which gave it a brilliant appearance. Eight temples, one fourth of the size of the great temple, stand about one hundred feet from it, so that the whole forms a complete square, of rather less than five hundred feet on each side; these are similarly gilt and painted, and are connected with each other by a corridor inside; the covering outside is similar to the great centre temple, being painted brown and overlaid with flowers. Around the base of all these buildings are projections of about three feet, like the base of a column, having imitation mouldings: these are overlaid again with sheets of brass leaf, as well as the cornices and architraves. The entrances to all the doors have a profusion of gilt and painted ornaments as well as the base, shaft, capital, and architrave of all the columns. The great building was surrounded at proper intervals (so as not to appear crowded) with small temples or sheds standing on four columns, and neatly gilt and ornamented. A wide space on the east side was left open, on which were erected very high narrow stages, neatly built, for the use of musicians, for