The entrance was up a marble staircase at one corner of the lowest terrace, and there was a similar stair at the opposite corner. Each of the entrances was guarded by fierce griffins, like those already described at Rangoon, and the carving was by no means of an ordinary character. The wood-carving on the ornamental parts of the building was generally well done, and the boys spent some time in examining the various designs. They climbed to the top of the edifice and looked down on the roofs of the lower buildings that surrounded it; some of these were the residences of the priests that had charge of the temple, and others were intended as lodging-houses for strangers who came there to worship, and intended to spend several days in the place. The priests were in yellow robes, like those of Bangkok, and their general appearance was much the same. The architecture of the temples, and certain parts of the worship of the Burmese, have no resemblance to the Siamese forms, but the principles of the religions are identical. Buddha is the divinity in the one country as in the other. The steam-whistle called our friends back to the boat, and in a little while they were heading up the river once more. As they turned a bend above Myanaong, the captain pointed to a plain that stretched away for several miles along the bank of the river, and was backed by a dense forest. "On that plain," said the captain, "I saw a fine example of the superiority of the European mode of warfare over that of these sleepy Orientals. I have already told you how we overset a fleet of their war-boats without endeavoring to do so, and now I'll tell how we dispersed an army of several thousand men in about five minutes:[5] [5] For these two incidents the writer is indebted to the author of "Up and Down the Irrawaddy." "The steamer that I was on during the second Burmese war was ordered to come up the river to prevent any re-enforcements going to the Burmese in Rangoon before we assaulted the place. Just before reaching this point we heard the sound of gongs and trumpets; it grew louder and louder, and we slowed our engines and crept gently along. Soon we discovered a great flashing and sparkling all over the plain, and from the mast-head we made out that an army was marching to the relief of Rangoon.